Portal:Current events/August 2008

<< August >> Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31   2008

August 2008 is the eighth month of the current leap year and has yet to occur. It will begin on a Friday and will end after 31 days on a Sunday.

Scheduled events

• August 1 - Beijing south railway station, the largest passenger station in Asia, will reopen following a reconstruction project.
• August 1 - Total solar eclipse visible from northern Canada (Nunavut), northern part of Russia, western Mongolia, and China; and seen as partial elsewhere in eastern North America, Europe, and Asia.
• August 2–August 16 - World Gliding Championships will be held in Lüsse, Germany.
• August 4 - My Birthday will be held in America
• August 6–August 10 - Denvention 3, the 66th World Science Fiction Convention will be held in Denver, Colorado.
• August 8–August 24 - The 2008 Summer Olympics will take place in Beijing, China.

File:Beijing 2008 Tiananmen Square1.jpg

The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

• August 11 - Elections to be held in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao: Regional Governor, Regional Vice Governor and Members of the Regional Legislative Assembly following Republic Act No. 9333.
• August 14 - 2008 Formula Zero Championship begins in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
• August 25—August 28 - Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado for U.S. presidential election.
• August 28 - Space Shuttle Atlantis will begin mission STS-125, the final maintenance mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Portal:Current events

August 1, 2008 (2008-08-01) (Friday)

• The International Atomic Energy Agency unanimously approves a safeguards agreement with India, a precondition of the nuclear deal with the United States. (Sify)
• Unemployment in the United States rises to 5.7 per cent, its highest rate in more than four years. (VOA)
• Vietnam's capital Hanoi absorbs the neighboring province of Hà Tây, tripling its area and doubling its population. (Thanh Nien News)
• U.S. government officials conclude that elements of Pakistan's intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence, aided militants in the July 7 suicide car bomb attack on India's embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. The government of Pakistan denied involvement. (The New York Times) (The Wall Street Journal) (AP via The New York Times)
• At least 20 people are killed after a fire breaks out on a passenger train in Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, India. (BBC News)
• 2008 Summer Olympics:
  • The International Olympic Committee and the Beijing Organizing Committee reach an agreement on Internet access for the 2008 Olympic Games. (Reuters via The New York Times)
  • Several restrictions remain as the International Olympic Committee and Chinese organisers BOCOG claim they have lifted all Internet restrictions for media covering the Beijing Games. (The Times) (AFP via Google News)
• King Tupou V is crowned as the 23rd Monarch of Tonga. (The Times)
• At least 11 people die following the collapse of a three-story girls' dormitory due to an explosion in the village of Balcilar in Konya Province in central Anatolia, Turkey. (AP via Google News)
• The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation holds a summit meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with terrorism high on the agenda. (BBC News)
• A total solar eclipse is visible from northern Canada (Nunavut), Greenland, central Russia, eastern Kazakhstan, western Mongolia and China. (AFP via Google News)

August 2, 2008 (2008-08-02) (Saturday)

• Latvia holds a constitutional referendum on whether to allow referendums on dissolving parliament and calling early elections. Although the vote was invalidated, as turnout did not meet the 50% threshold, the results (96% in favour of the change) are considered likely to press politicians to adopt a similar measure nonetheless. (AFP) (Reuters)
• Two climbers from an international expedition perish after ice fall on K2 mountain in the Himalayas, and six members of the team have gone missing. (BBC News)
• The International Olympic Committee strips the United States 2000 Summer Olympics 4×400 metre relay team of their gold medal after team member Antonio Pettigrew admits to doping. (Reuters)
• Members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation meet to discuss trade, terrorism, and poverty. Tensions between India and Pakistan threaten to overshadow the eight-nation gathering. (AFP via Google News) (Reuters)

August 3, 2008 (2008-08-03) (Sunday)

• 162 people die in a stampede at a Hindu temple in Naina Devi in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. (AFP via Google News)
• North Korea says that it will expel "unnecessary" South Korean staff from the Kumgangsan resort and threatens military action in an escalation of tension over the shooting of a South Korean tourist. (Reuters)
• The third launch of privately developed SpaceX launcher Falcon 1 fails to reach orbit. (Spaceflightnow.com)
• Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority launches an investigation into safety at Qantas after three emergencies in two weeks, beginning with the explosion aboard Qantas Flight 30. (ABC News)
• At least 21 street cleaners are killed by a roadside bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia. (CNN)
• 12 people are killed when a minibus explodes in Baghdad, Iraq. (CNN)
• 11 climbers are feared to have died in an avalanche at K2 mountain in Pakistan. (CNN)

August 4, 2008 (2008-08-04) (Monday)

• U.S. conservative political commentator Robert Novak retires after 45 years. The only reason for retirement was a previously discovered brain tumour. Novak is also involved in the CIA leak scandal. (CBS News)
• Eleven climbers from an international expedition are reported dead after ice fall took out the fixed ropes on part of the route on K2 mountain in the Himalayas. (AP via Yahoo! News)
• A police post near Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China is attacked, leaving 16 officers dead and 16 others injured. (BBC News)

August 5, 2008 (2008-08-05) (Tuesday)

• Rwanda formally accuses senior French officials, including former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and late President François Mitterrand, of involvement in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and calls for them to be put on trial. (Reuters)
• U.S. President George W. Bush, on his way to Beijing to attend the Olympics, stops in South Korea and Thailand. (FOX News)
• A 6.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Sichuan, China, according to the US Geological Survey. (RTÉ News) (CNN)

August 6, 2008 (2008-08-06) (Wednesday)

• At least nine firefighters are missing presumed dead after a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter crashes in northern California. (The Oregonian)
• UNICEF releases The State of Asia-Pacific’s Children 2008. The report recommends focus on China and India, where 2.4 million preventable child deaths occur every year. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters) (The Straits Times)
• An explosion on the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline halts oil supplies through one of the biggest pipelines in the world. (Reuters) (Hürriyet)
• Salim Hamdan, the former driver for Osama bin Laden, is convicted of supporting terrorism in the United States in the first military war crimes trial of a terror suspect captured after the September 11, 2001 attacks. (Bloomberg)
• A military coup d'état occurs in Mauritania with the Army, led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, seizing the President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, the Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef and the Interior Minister. (ABC News Australia)
• A UH-1H helicopter of the Royal Thai Air Force crashes in Thailand, killing ten. (The Australian)
• Competitions start at the Beijing Olympic Games two days ahead of the opening ceremony with the Women's football tournament.
• The United States FBI claims scientist Bruce Ivins was responsible for the anthrax scares of 2001 that killed five people and made 17 others ill. (BBC News)
• Leader of Malaysian opposition Anwar Ibrahim is formally charged with sodomy, which he claims is a politically motivated charge. (BBC News)

August 7, 2008 (2008-08-07) (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Georgian-Ossetian conflict:
  • Georgian and separatist South Ossetian forces have exchanged fire again near the town of Tskhinvali, wounding up to 20 people, officials say. (BBC News)
  • The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was concerned over Georgia's "military preparations," while a Georgian official said Russia would further undermine its role as peacekeeper if it failed to convince the South Ossetian side on talks. (Civil Georgia) (Civil Georgia)
  • Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's president, offers an immediate ceasefire to South Ossetian authorities. (BBC News)

Business and economy

• The New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo reaches a $7 billion settlement with Citigroup to buy back auction rate securities from about 40,000 clients throughout the United States. (AP via Google News)
• Claims for unemployment benefits in the United States rise to 455,000, the highest level since March 2002. (USA Today)

Law and crime

• Salim Hamdan, Osama Bin Laden's former driver, is sentenced to 66 months in prison for war crimes. (The New York Times)
• The Mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick is ordered to go to jail for violating the terms of his bond for an ongoing perjury trial. (NPR)

Politics and elections

• The leaders of the 2008 Mauritanian coup d'état promise to hold elections as soon as possible. (Xinhua)
• Pakistan's ruling coalition announces it will seek the impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf. (AP via Google News)

Sport

• The National Olympic Committee officially announces Durban, South Africa, will be the host city of the 123rd IOC Session.(Hong Kong Government Press Release)

August 8, 2008 (2008-08-08) (Friday)

• The 2008 Summer Olympics starts with the 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony at the Beijing National Stadium. (The Christian Science Monitor)
• 2008 South Ossetia War:
  • Around 0:30 AM (local time), Georgia begins a full-scale attack on the breakaway republic of South Ossetia, using tanks, military aircraft, artillery, and infantry. Major-General Marat Kulakhmetov, the commander of a small force of Russian peacekeepers under CIS mandate in Tskhinvali makes a statement that Georgian 'heavy artillery shelling conducted for several hours' and 'has practically demolished the town' (The Times) (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia) (RIAN) After a night of heavy fighting, Georgian forces close in on the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali. (BBC News) (Reuters) Russian commanders reported that Georgian military forces attack a Russian peacekeepers' base in Tskhinvali with heavy artillery and missiles. Several peacekeepers reported dead and wounded. (RIAN)
    • President of Georgia, Milkeil Saakashvili agrees that the timing (the first day of Olympics, with many world leaders in Peking) of the 'major military offensive' of Georgia, during which the 'South Ossetian capital' devastated 'was not coincidental'. (AP via YouTube)
  • The Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin warns Georgia against "acts of aggression" against South Ossetia and later declares that a "war has begun." In response, the President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili declares that Russia "is fighting a war with us in our own territory." (AGI) (The New York Times)
  • Mikheil Saakashvili accuses Russian aircraft of attacking Tbilisi and outlying airfields. (Delfi) He calls for mobilization of Georgia's army, claiming Russia started an aggression on Georgia. (Alfa)
  • NATO and the European Union urge an immediate end to the violence in South Ossetia. (Reuters)
  • The Russian Ministry of Defence claims 10 Russian peacekeepers in the area were killed and 30 wounded so far during the Georgian army offensive. At least 15 civilians are also reported dead. (BBC News via YouTube) The Georgian Interior Ministry claims three Georgian soldiers were killed at an airbase outside of Tbilisi. (BBC News) Both Russian state television and Georgian sources report Russian troops and tanks moving into South Ossetia and approaching Tskhinvali. (CNN) (BBC News)
  • With most of the city of Tskhinvali in ruins, 1400 civilians reported dead during the first day of Georgian offensive. (RussiaToday via YouTube)
  • The United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calls on Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgia. (AFP via Google News) (CNN via YouTube)
• A car bomb in the town of Tal Afar in northern Iraq kills at least 21 people and injures about 70. (BBC News)
• At least 13 people die when a private charter bus falls off a bridge onto a creek north of Dallas, Texas. (MSNBC)
• Studenka Train Disaster: An express train crashes into a bridge near the town of Studenka in the Czech Republic resulting in 7 people dead and around 70 injured. (AFP via Yahoo! News) (AP via Yahoo! News)
• A terrorist group seeking an independent Muslim state in Xinjiang, China releases a video threatening an attack on the 2008 Olympic Games. (The New York Times)
• The President of the United States George W. Bush dedicates a new American embassy in Beijing. (VOA)
• Economic crisis of 2008:
  • UK home repossessions rise by 48%. (BBC News)
  • The OECD reports slower growth and declining employment in the U.S. (BBC News) (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• Former U.S. Senator and Democratic ex-presidential candidate John Edwards admits to an affair with Rielle Hunter after having earlier denied it. (CNN)

August 9, 2008 (2008-08-09) (Saturday)

• 2008 Summer Olympics:
  • Shooter Kateřina Emmons of the Czech Republic wins the women's 10 meter air rifle competition, the first gold medal of the 2008 Summer Olympics, setting an Olympic record for both the qualifying and final scores. (Los Angeles Times)
  • Woman's weightlifter Chen Xiexia sets Olympic records in both the clean and jerk and total weight lifted, winning China's first and the second gold medal of the summer. (BBC News)
• 2008 South Ossetia War:
  • Russia and Georgia continue to fight in South Ossetia and Georgia. The search for the dead and injured continues after at least 2,000 civilians were killed after two days Georgian offensive. Russia reported 12 peacekeepers killed and 30 wounded in the previous day during the Georgian tank and missile bombardment of Tskhinvali. (BBC News) (AP via Yahoo! News) (BBC News) (RIAN)
  • Russian jets attack military targets in the Georgian city of Gori, outside South Ossetia, killing 60 people; two are shot down. (BBC News) (BBC News)
  • Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia launched a military operation to help peacekeepers stationed in the region under UN mandate since the early 1990s defend their position after 15 were killed during Georgian operations and to protect South Ossetians many of whom hold Russian citizenship. (RIA) Russia's Foreign Ministry accuses Ukraine of encouraging Georgia to carry out "ethnic cleansing" in South Ossetia. (Reuters)
  • Georgia's parliament approves a state of war across the country for the next 15 days. (Reuters) Delegates from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, European Union, and United States head to Georgia to broker peace. (BBC News)
  • The Georgian-controlled section of the Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia came under fire from aircraft. Abkhazia's foreign minister Sergei Shamba, said Abkhaz forces had launched an attack aimed at driving Georgian forces out of the gorge. Georgian television claimed the attacks were by Russians. (BBC News)
  • Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili called for a cease fire which his Security Council secretary said means that Georgian troops will withdraw from Tskhinvali and stop responding to Russian shelling. (AP via Google News)
  • Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt evokes the memory of Adolf Hitler in condemning Russia's attacks on Georgia, saying the protection of Russian citizens there does not justify the assault. "Attempts to apply such a doctrine have plunged Europe into war in the past... And we have reason to remember how Hitler used this very doctrine little more than half a century ago to undermine and attack substantial parts of central Europe". (The Local)
• At least 38 Warao Indians are dead in Venezuela from a suspected outbreak of rabies from vampire bats. (CNN)
• A mudslide at an illegal gold mine in Burkina Faso causes at least 31 deaths. (AP via The Guardian)
• Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr announces the formation of a cultural unarmed group of the Mehdi Army militia. (BBC News)
• An uprising in the Burmese town of Taunggok, about 200 km northwest of Yangon, results in arrests. (BBC News)

August 10, 2008 (2008-08-10) (Sunday)

• 2008 Toronto explosions:
  • Massive explosions at a propane facility just before 4 a.m. erupt in the Toronto, Canada community of Downsview, resulting in the evacuation of thousands of people. The explosions also caused the closure of Highway 401, Canada's busiest highway, through that area of Toronto. At least 18 people are reported injured, one missing, and one firefighter has died in connection with the incident. (CP via The Globe and Mail)
• Monsoon rains in India kill at least 40 people with flooding heaviest in Andhra Pradesh with flooding in the capital Hyderabad killing 14 people. (BBC News)
• 2008 South Ossetian War:
  • Georgian troops are forced to withdraw from Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia by Russian army. (AP via Google News) According to Georgian field commanders, some units of Georgian army still stay in South Ossetia to fight with Ossetian and Russian forces. (The Times) Georgia withdraws forces that entered South Ossetia on Thursday, August, 7 after suffering heavy casualties. (Bloomberg)
  • Unnamed US official accuses Russia of launching ballistic missiles on Georgia: "They actually launched ballistic missile attacks on Georgian territory." This 'response has been far disproportionate to whatever threat Russia had been citing', he added. (AP via Google News)
  • Black bodies reportedly found among Georgian soldiers corpses on the streets of Tskhinvali. They were 'probably either mercenaries or instructors in the Georgian armed forces', high-ranking South Ossetian diplomat claims. (APA) (Kommersant) (RussiaToday)
  • President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev calls Georgian actions in South Ossetia 'a genocide' and asks Russian prosecutors to investigate and document all cases of murder of civilians in the region. (AFP via Lloyds) (The President of Russia) (NewsRu)
  • According to Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman, some 130 US military advisors that 'teach combat skills' to Georgian troops now stay in Georgia with no plans of pulling them off. US Georgia Train and Equip Program and Georgia Sustainment and Stability Operations Program continued from April, 2002 to September, 2007. (Marine Corps Times) (US Embassy in Georgia) (US Department of State)
  • Authorities in the breakaway Georgian republic of Abkhazia declare full mobilisation. (AP via Google News) S. Bagapsh, the President of the Republic of Abkhazia gave Georgia an ultimatum to withdraw Georgian troops from the upper Kodori Gorge, part of the breakaway republic. (Bloomberg)
• 2008 Summer Olympics:
  • Swimmer Michael Phelps of the United States wins a gold medal in the 400 metre individual medley setting a new world record. (AP via International Herald Tribune)
  • Stephanie Rice of Australia wins a gold medal in the women's 400 metre individual medley setting a new world record. (Fox Sports)
• A number of blasts in China's western Xinjiang province kill at least two people. (Reuters)
• Bolivia holds a Vote of confidence referendum over whether the president, vice president and most prefects should face re-election. Unofficial results indicate that President Evo Morales has won a decisive mandate.(BBC News) (Los Angeles Times)
• Pádraig Harrington wins the 2008 PGA Championship, becoming the first European to do so in 78 years. (AFP via Google News)

August 11, 2008 (2008-08-11) (Monday)

• An air strike by the United States kills 25 Taliban militants and 8 civilians in Orūzgān Province in southern Afghanistan. (The Australian)
• The United States team wins the 4x100 men's freestyle relay setting a new world record with France and Australia finishing second and third respectively. The top five teams all broke the previous world record and Australia's Eamon Sullivan in the lead-off leg broke the record for 100m. (The New York Times) (SI via CNN)
• Taliban fighters force Pakistani troops to retreat from an outpost near the border with Afghanistan. (The New York Times)
• The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the Philippines are holding elections using for the first-time electronic voting as precedent to the Presidential elections in 2010. (ABS-CBN)
• 2008 South Ossetian War:
  • According to Ossetian and Russian sources, Georgian attacks leave 2000 dead in South Ossetia, most of which civilian population of Tskhinvali. (The Guardian)
  • Breakaway republic of Abkhazia launched an attack on Georgian forces in the Kodori Valley, the region of Abkhazia under control of Georgians, where the parallel Tbilisi-backed "Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia in exile" is situated. (AFP via News.Com.Au) (Al Jazeera)
  • Fearing an air raid, the President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili run for cover during an interview in Gori. (CNN) (CNN via YouTube)
  • Russia is attacking Georgia in a cyberwar. (Ars Technica)
  • The President of the United States George W. Bush warns Russia to respect "Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. (The New York Times)

August 12, 2008 (2008-08-12) (Tuesday)

• On August 12, 2008, a class action lawsuit was filed against Facebook, Blockbuster Inc., Overstock.com, Fandango, Hotwire.com, GameFly, Zappos.com, and any additional "John Doe" corporations that activated Facebook Beacon when they released their common member's personal information to their Facebook user friends without their consent through the Facebook Beacon program. The lawsuit alleges the release of the information was a violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act, Electronic Communication Privacy Act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and the California Computer Crime Law.
• A missile strike on a suspected militant training camp in South Waziristan in Pakistan kills at least nine people. (AP via Jerusalem Post)
• Mark David Chapman is denied parole for a fifth time for the murder of ex-Beatle John Lennon in 1980. (AP via Google News)
• The United States Department of the Treasury imposes sanctions on five Iranian companies for assisting the development of the nuclear program of Iran. (Reuters)
• 2008 South Ossetia war:
  • President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev announced that the operation of Russian forces in South Ossetia is completed. He added that 'The aggressor has been punished, having sustained considerable losses. Its armed forces have been disorganised'. Medvedev also ordered the Russian Ministry of Defence to consider awarding the peacekeepers and military personnel that have 'showed their best' during the operation. (InterFax) (BBC News)
  • However, Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, said that signing a 'legally binding document on the non-use of force' by Georgia is a compulsory condition of starting the talks between the sides of the conflict. (BBC News)
  • Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze says that Russian jets are still targeting civilians. (Reuters)
  • BP shuts down two more oil and gas pipelines in Georgia 'as a precaution'. (AFP via Google News)
  • The Georgian security council files a lawsuit against Russia in the International Court of Justice for alleged ethnic cleansing. (AP via Jerusalem Post)
    • However, both South Ossetian and Abkhazian Presidents Eduard Kokoity and Sergei Bagapsh claim that it is Georgia, namely Mikheil Saakashvili, who organized the ethnic cleansing against the civilian population in the breakaway republic of South Ossetia during the conflict. The South Ossetian leader added "no talks are possible with state criminals" and that "they must be trialed, not talked to." (AP via Yahoo! News) (Novy Region)
  • The President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev agree to a six point ceasefire plan proposed by the President of France Nicolas Sarkozy. (CNN)
  • U.S. Senator and Republican presidential candidate John McCain speaks against Russia’s military operations in Georgia, saying: "I know I speak for every American when I say today we are all Georgians." (Reuters)
• Floods and landslides associated with Tropical Storm Kammuri kill 28 people in southwest China and force 11,000 people from their homes. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
• Michael Phelps of the United States wins his third gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 200-meter freestyle and sets a new world record and the 200-meter butterfly in qualifications. (The New York Times)
• The Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox tie a modern MLB record scoring a combined 36 runs. The Boston Red Sox won the game 19-17.

August 13, 2008 (2008-08-13) (Wednesday)

• Bill Gwatney, the current state Chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas is shot and killed at the Party headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas. The man who shot Gwatney is later shot dead by police during a pursuit. (CNN)
• Princess Lilian of Sweden is taken to hospital after falling and breaking her hip. (The Local)
• American swimmer Michael Phelps breaks the record for most Olympic gold medals won by an individual athlete at the Beijing Olympics. (ESPN)
• 2008 South Ossetia war:
  • The Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announces a national day of mourning in Russia in connection with the Battle of Tskhinvali and the death of a large number of Russian citizens there. Georgian Orthodox Church Patriarch Ilia II announced the national day of mourning for soldiers and civilians who died during the 2008 South Ossetia war. (ITARTass) (24.UA) (AOL news India) (Newsgeorgia via NitaPress)
  • The investigation of what Russian officials called a 'genocide' started in South Ossetia. Some witnesses say that a church with civilians inside was burned by the Georgian Army in the captured Ossetian village in the first day of Georgian attack. (Mail On Sunday)
    • Journalists may again enter the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali as the city is mostly secured after Georgian retreat. The articles give new evidence of what the city looks like and what people in Tskhinvali think of the recent events. (The Guardian) (BBC News) (AP)
  • No reports of fighting after ceasefire in the war between Georgia and Russia holds.(HRW) (The Times) (Guardian)
  • Saakashvili accused Russia of bombing Tskhinvali, South Ossetia's capital, and invading Gori. However, journalists in Gori report no Russian tanks seen on the streets. Anatoly Nagovitsyn, the Russian military's deputy chief of staff, categorically denied that there were any tanks on the streets of Gori, saying Russian forces were at an abandoned Georgian artillery base near Gori, dismantling it, but not inside the town. (BBC News) (BBC News) (CNN)
    • Sky's Jason Farrell claims he witnessed Russian armor moving at the outskirts of the Georgian town of Gori. (Sky News)
    • British television's Sky Team was robbed near the Georgian town of Gori by a man who 'did not seem to be Russian'. The journalist Andrew Wilson claims 'he could not be sure the men who had pulled their car over were South Ossetian' either. (Sky News)
  • An unnamed 'senior U.S. NATO official' says that USA may withdraw from a major NATO naval exercise with Russia that is to begin on Friday. (Fox News)
  • President George W Bush has said the United States will use military aircraft and naval forces to deliver aid to Georgia. (BBC News)
    • President Bush sends United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Paris and then Tbilisi. (AP via Google News)
• A Fokker F27-500 cargo aircraft operated by Fly540 Logistics Ltd. crashes in Somalia. Three people died. (Bloomberg)
• An explosion at a police station in the Pakistani city of Lahore kills at least three people, on the eve of the 61^st anniversary of independence. (BBC News)

August 14, 2008 (2008-08-14) (Thursday)

• Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister of Poland, announces that the United States and Poland have reached an agreement on basing missile defense in Poland. (AP via Google News)
• The Consumer Price Index in the United States rises by .8 per cent in July 2008 giving an annual inflation rate of 5.6 per cent, the highest in 17 years. (The Times)
• 2008 South Ossetia war:
  • Russia says it will support whatever decision the people of breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia will make during referendum on the future of their land (International Herald Tribune) (The New York Times)
    • Analysts 'see the conflict as a gamble initiated by Georgia, which is seeking EU and NATO membership, to test the strength of its Western allies in the face of Russia's unwillingness to see the West encroaching on its doorstep.' (CNN)
  • An Amnesty International worldwide movement for human rights reported on August, 14, that the assault of the Georgian Army on Tskhinvali included '14 hours of bombardment' of the city. Amnesty International is still gathering information on the reported heavy civilian casualties, as well as reported bombings of non-military targets leading to deaths of civilians and the destruction of civilian buildings. (Amnesty International)
  • Russia appeared 'to be handing over a key Georgian city Thursday', U.S. officials said. Senior U.S. General James Cartwright claims that 'Russian forces seemed to be complying with an internationally-mediated cease-fire'. (CNN)
  • Georgia's Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze claimed that more than 100 Russian vehicles, some of them armoured, had gathered outside the major western Georgian town of Zugdidi. However, Robert Gates, the US Secretary of Defense, said that the Russian army is 'withdrawing their forces back towards Abkhazia and towards South Ossetia' US warns Russia of lasting impact (BBC News)
  • Russian forces say they will start to return control of the key town of Gori to Georgia soon. 'For another two days Russian troops will stay in the region to ... hand over control functions to Georgian law-enforcement bodies, after which they will leave," Major-General Vyacheslav Borisov as quoted by Russian news agencies. (Reuters)
    • Georgian police return to the town of Gori as the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation leave. (CNN)
• 2008 Summer Olympics
  • China's Liu Zige wins the 2008 Beijing Olympics' women's 200-meters-butterfly gold setting a world record of two minutes and 04.18 seconds. (China Daily)
  • The Australian team of Stephanie Rice, Bronte Barratt, Kylie Palmer and Linda Mackenzie wins the 800 metre freestyle relay breaking the existing world record by six seconds. China and the United States finish second and third respectively. (AP via Google News)
• Judge Jamie S. Perri of New Jersey's Superior Court rules that the Communications Decency Act exempts the Wikimedia Foundation from liability in a defamation suit filed by literary agent Barbara Bauer. (Ars Technica)

August 15, 2008 (2008-08-15) (Friday)

• ETS Europe, part of the American-owned Educational Testing Service, is sacked by the British government for bad failures in manipulating Key Stage education tests. ETS agrees to repay some £35 million (USD70 million). (BBC News)
• The Nepalese Constituent Assembly elects former Maoist rebel Prachanda as the first Prime Minister of Nepal as a republic. (BBC News via ABC Australia)
• Leftist former Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo is sworn in as the President of Paraguay, ending 60 years of one-party rule. (AP via CNN)
• Former President Hissène Habré is sentenced to death in absentia by a Chadian court for a military assault on the capital. (BBC News)
• Russia threatens Poland with military consequences for allowing the United States of America to place defense missiles within its borders. (AP via Google News)
• 2008 South Ossetia war:
  • Russia will provide 'at least' 10 billion Roubles (approx. €270 million, US$420 million) aid to South Ossetia to help rebuild Tskhinvali 'leveled' during the Georgian 'lasting artillery shelling' of 7th and 8th of August. (Rossiyskaya Gazeta) (Regnum) (Rian) (RBC)
  • Russian soldiers continue to occupy Georgian towns. (The Independent)
    • Georgian police left the town of Gori and neighbouring villages right after the hostilities in South Ossetia ended and the peace was brokered, says AP. 'The Russian troops had stopped the looting, restored order', while the locals interviewed by journalists say Russians are 'behaving well'. (AP via Yahoo! News)
  • Russia asks for the adequate covering of the conflict from the Western media. High Russian official names the way the anchor treats his guest in a breaking news on Fox a 'total shamelessness'. The journalist interrupts the story of an Ossetian-American girl and her aunt accusing Micheil Saakashvili of the war, and announces commercial break before the two refugees have chance to continue. (InterFax) (Fox via YouTube) (RT via YouTube)
  • The U.S. Secretary of State has flown to Tbilisi for urgent talks to try to bring the Georgia's conflict with South Ossetia and Russia to an end. (Sky News) (Delfi) (The New York Times)
  • Turkish journalists near the border with South Ossetia came under attack by people Sky News supposes are either Russian soldiers or Ossetian militia. (Sky News)
  • The President of the United States George W. Bush assures Georgia that it has US support stating the people of Georgia have chosen freedom and "we will not cast them aside." (USA Today) The president of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, said on Thursday that Russia's strike into Georgia should persuade NATO urgently to give Georgia and Ukraine membership of the alliance, Reuters reports. (Baltic Business News) (Reuters)
    • However, the outcome of the conflict is characterized by many Western media as a 'victory' of Russia, both in politics and warfare. (The Times) (The Economist) (The Times) (The Guardian) (Calgary Sun)
• 2008 Summer Olympics
  • Michael Phelps of the United States wins his sixth gold medal of the Beijing Olympics in the men’s 200 metres individual medley setting a new world record. (The Times)
  • United States swimmers Rebecca Soni and Ryan Lochte win gold medals and set swimming world records in the women's 200-metre breaststroke and men's 200m backstroke respectively. (DPA via the Bangkok Post)
• Five people are arrested in Beijing after unfurling a "free Tibet" banner on the Central TV Tower, the highest building in Beijing. (BBC News)

August 16, 2008 (2008-08-16) (Saturday)

• 2008 South Ossetia war:
  • Georgian officials claim Abkhazian army, backed by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, takes control of 13 Georgian villages. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
  • The President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev signs the six-point peace plan for a ceasefire in the 2008 South Ossetia War. (Press Trust of India)
• 2008 Atlantic Hurricane season: The Governor of Florida Charlie Crist declares a state of emergency as Tropical Storm Fay is due to hit Florida on Monday, possibly at hurricane strength. (AP via The Guardian)
• A bomb explodes outside the house of Mayor Lito Pinol in the city of Mlang, Philippines, but fails to assassinate the Mayor. Police successfully defuse a bomb placed in the market of Kidapawan City. (Khaleej Times)
• At least eight people die and 60 are injured after a passenger train collides with a goods train in Indonesia's Lampung province. (Reuters via International Herald Tribune)
• Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics:
  • Sprinter Usain Bolt of Jamaica wins the 100 metre-title in a world record time. (The New York Times)
• Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics:
  • Michael Phelps of the United States wins his seventh gold medal of the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 100 metre butterfly, tying Mark Spitz's record for gold medals at an Olympic Games. (The New York Times)
  • Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe wins the 200 metre backstroke title setting a world record. (The New York Times)
  • Rebecca Adlington of Great Britain wins the 800 metres freestyle, breaking Janet Evans’ 19-year-old world record in the process. (The New York Times)

August 17, 2008 (2008-08-17) (Sunday)

• Ex-president Chen Shui-Bian is barred from leaving Taiwan over corruption charges. (AFP via Google News)
• Gunmen massacre 14 people at a quinceañera celebration in Creel, Chihuahua, Mexico. (Xinhua)
• 2008 Atlantic hurricane season:
  • Tropical Storm Fay kills at least 4 people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic before heading for the Florida Keys where tourists are being evacuated. (Bloomberg)
  • About 50 people die as a bus is swept away by flood waters near the town of Beaumont in the Grand'Anse department of Haiti. (BBC News)
• The Afghan National Army kills 28 Taliban insurgents as the militants attempt an ambush of a convoy in Zabul province. (Reuters)
• Iran announces it has launched a satellite launch-capable Safir rocket. (Reuters) (BBC News)
• 2008 South Ossetia war:
  • Russian troops continue to withdraw from the Georgian city of Gori, where the major Georgian army base was dismantled by Russian troops soon after the conflict ended. Two Russian APCs still remain at a checkpoint near the city, Reuters reports. (Reuters)
  • The BBC's Richard Galpin, who has spent the past two days travelling from the Black Sea port of Poti to Tbilisi, says Georgian forces seem to be surrendering control of the highway to the Russians. (BBC News)
  • Russia has denied claims its forces have begun withdrawing from the breakaway republic of South Ossetia. (Sky News)
• 2008 Summer Olympics:
  • China, having won 8 gold medals in one day, overtakes its record (32 gold medals) at Athens and leads the medal table with 35 gold medals. (BBC News)
  • Jamaica dominates the Athletics Women's 100 metres event with Shelly-Ann Fraser taking the gold and Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart taking the silver. Officially, no bronze medal is awarded as Simpson and Stewart finish with an equal time of 10.98 seconds in second place. (AP via Yahoo! News)
  • Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian is stripped of his bronze medal in the Men's 84kg Greco-Roman category after throwing the medal to the mat and leaving the medal ceremony in protest at the officiating of his semifinal match. (Reuters)
  • Constantina Diṭă-Tomescu of Romania wins the Women's Marathon with a time of 2:26:44. At 38, she is the oldest woman to win the Olympic Marathon.
  • American swimmer Michael Phelps wins gold as the butterfly leg of the winning Men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay team. With the relay victory, Phelps earns his eighth gold medal (5 individual, 3 relay), setting a record for most golds at an Olympic games, beating Mark Spitz's previous record of 7 set in 1972. (Bloomberg)
  • The Australian Women's 4 x 100 metre swimming relay team of Emily Seebohm, Leisel Jones, Jessicah Schipper and Libby Trickett wins the gold medal in world record time. (Reuters)

August 18, 2008 (2008-08-18) (Monday)

• Taliban militants unsuccessfully attack the United States base Camp Saleno in Khost Province. (AP via Google News)
• 2008 Summer Olympics:
  • Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva sets a new world record of 5.05 m outdoors in the women's pole vault at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. (AP via Yahoo! News)
• 2008 South Ossetia war:
  • According to general staff in Moscow, Russia has begun troop withdrawals from Georgia, following a pledge by President Dmitry Medvedev. However, 'Moscow saying it has the right to keep some troops as peacekeepers in a buffer zone around South Ossetia'. (BBC News)
  • Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Marc Perrin de Brichambaut stated on a press-conference in Vladikavkaz, capital of Northern Ossetia, that 'the will of all the people of the region' need to be 'taken into the consideration' when deciding the future of the breakaway republic of South Ossetia. (OSCE) He then added: 'I made it very clear that the people who live in South Ossetia will have a say in what happens in the country.' (Nasdaq)
    • South Ossetia had held the referendum on independence from Georgia on November, 12th, 2006 with 99% voted in favor of the independence (with reportedly 95% turnout). Both NATO and the US opposed the referendum and did not recognise its results saying it served no purpose other than to 'exacerbate tensions' in the region. (America.gov) (AP via The International Herald Tribune)
  • Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt cancels all exercises and military ties between Sweden and Russia, saying that "[the] Russian invasion of Georgia is unacceptable and a crime against international law. The Russian action has changed [our view] of Russia as an international partner." (PM's Office) (Dagens Nyheter) (AP via The Hindu)
  • NATO convenes an emergency foreign ministers meeting on the crisis. (AP via Google News)
• Pakistan Presidential Impeachment
  • Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who was facing impeachment, announces his resignation as President. Indirect presidential elections will be held within 30 days. (BBC News)
• A US-Poland agreement to deploy a missile defense shield prompts unnamed Russian officials to declare Poland "a legitimate military target" and the deputy of the Russian general staff states that Poland "opens itself to a nuclear strike". (AFP via Google News) (Asia Times)

August 19, 2008 (2008-08-19) (Tuesday)

• The 39th annual Pacific Islands Leaders Forum opens in Niue, but is boycotted by Fijian leader Frank Bainimarama. (The Australian)
• Egypt's upper house of Parliament is destroyed in a huge fire. (Reuters)
• North Korea declares Sweden its enemy and a United States war puppet. (Swedish Armed Forces) (The Local)
• A bomb at a paramilitary police training academy in the town of Issers 60 km east of Algiers kills at least 43 people and injures another 38. (BBC News)
• French forces engage in heavy fighting with Taliban insurgents 50 kilometres east of Kabul, Afghanistan with 10 French soldiers dead. (AFP via Google News) (BBC News)
• 2008 South Ossetia war:
  • Russian and Georgian forces exchange prisoners of war. (Reuters)
  • Russia begins to withdraw troops from Georgia proper according to eyewitness accounts. (Reuters)
  • Russia temporarily closes its borders with Georgia and Azerbaijan to prevent terrorist groups from crossing into Russia. (Delfi) (Reuters)
  • A United Nations aid convoy which entered Gori on Sunday reports evidence of large-scale looting. "While the buildings did not appear to be very damaged, there are clear signs of massive looting of both shops and private accommodations," the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees says. (The Vancouver Sun)
  • Alexander Stubb, the current Chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe says that Russia has agreed to a beefed-up monitoring mission for Georgia's disputed region of South Ossetia. (AP via Google News)
  • NATO cools relations with Russia. (BBC News) (Delfi) NATO says Russia is not honoring cease-fire terms.

August 20, 2008 (2008-08-20) (Wednesday)

• Usain Bolt of Jamaica wins the 200-metre race in the 2008 Summer Olympics setting a new world record. (The New York Times)
• The United States and Poland sign an agreement to place an American missile defense base on Polish territory with Russia warning that its response will go beyond diplomacy.(The New York Times) (Houston Chronicle)
• Spanair Flight JK 5022 with 178 on board crashes on takeoff at Madrid's Barajas International Airport, causing 154 fatalities. (El País) (The International Herald Tribune) (AFP via Mercury)
• At least 11 people are killed and 31 injured in two bombings in the Algerian town of Bouira. (AFP via Google News)
• The United Kingdom Competition Commission recommends that BAA Limited should sell two out of its three airports in South East England (Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted) and one of its Scottish airports (either Edinburgh Airport or Glasgow International Airport) due to competition concerns. (BBC News)
• 2008 South Ossetia war:
  • Human Rights Watch claims both Georgia and Russia violated rights of the civilian population during the conflict. Georgian ground offensive in South Ossetia included shelling of Tskhinvali, capital of South Ossetia, with Grad rocket systems and 'indiscriminate' use of tanks in the city, which caused 'numerous' civilian casualties and 'extensive' destruction. HRW says 'a hospital, apartment buildings, houses, schools, kindergartens, shops, administrative buildings, and the university' in Tskhinvali were 'severely damaged' during Georgian night-long 'uninterrupted' shelling of South Ossetian capital on August 7-8. Russian airforce, HRW reports, carried out bombardments of the two buildings in Georgian village in South Ossetia, 'that could be housing the Georgian military', and attacked presumably civilian convoy of several dozen cars. HRW also confirmed the Russian military's use of cluster bombs in two towns in Georgia, killing at least 11 civilians. (Human Rights Watch)
    • An Amnesty International worldwide movement for human rights reported on August, 14, that the assault of the Georgian Army on Tskhinvali included '14 hours of bombardment' of the city. Amnesty International is still gathering information on the reported heavy civilian casualties, as well as reported bombings of non-military targets leading to deaths of civilians and the destruction of civilian buildings. (Amnesty International)
  • Russia has rejected a draft UN Security Council resolution on Georgia as it did not include the full text of the EU-brokered ceasefire plan (BBC News). Russia then introduced its own draft resolution based on the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan. (ITAR-TASS)
  • Medvedev: Russian troops will pull out from Georgia by Friday. (Xinhua)
  • Russia moves closer to recognizing full independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as both regions are to hold pro-independence rallies within days. (AFP via Google News)
  • The 56 member states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) agreed Tuesday to send up to 100 additional monitors to Georgia at a special meeting of its Permanent Council in Vienna. (Xinhua)
  • Russian soldiers released the Georgian governor of Shida Kartli Region, Lado Vardzelashvili after 2-hour long detention. (Rustavi 2)

August 21, 2008 (2008-08-21) (Thursday)

• Somali pirates captured a total of three vessels in two days. (Xinhuanet)
• US District Judge Jeremy Fogel of the Northern District of California denies a motion by Universal Studios to dismiss a lawsuit against it alleging that Universal sent a DMCA takedown notice in bad faith. (text of the order via EFF) (Ars Technica)
• The United States Food and Drug Administration approves irradiation of lettuce and spinach to kill E. coli and other dangerous germs. (AP via Google News)
• 2008 Wah bombing: Two suicide bombings occur in the cantonment city of Wah Cantonment in Pakistan killing at least 76 people and injuring 110. (Xinhua)
• One student is killed in a shooting at Central High School in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Knoxville News-Sentinel)
• At least 74 people die in northern India as a result of heavy monsoon rains. (AP via Google News)

August 22, 2008 (2008-08-22) (Friday)

• Hundreds of thousands of Muslim Kashmiris demonstrate in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir demanding independence from India. (BBC News)
• Usain Bolt leads Jamaica to a victory in world-record time in the men's 400-meter relay in the Olympics. (Los Angeles Times)
• Vassilis Paleokostas, the most wanted Greek fugitive since 2006 and the alleged mastermind behind the kidnapping of industrialist George Mylonas, is re-arrested by the Greek police. (BBC News)
• More than 60 people are reported to have been killed and 150 wounded during clashes in the Somali port of Kismayo. (BBC News)
• War in Afghanistan
  • The United States-led coalition kills 30 Taliban militants in fighting in western Afghanistan. (AP via Google News)
  • At least 76 civilians are killed following a coalition air strike near the village of Azizabad in the western province of Herat. (AFP via Ottawa Citizen)
• Pakistan will indirectly elect a new President of Pakistan on September 6 to replace Pervez Musharraf. (AFP via The Australian)
• 2008 South Ossetia war:
  • Human Rights Watch confirms the use of cluster bombs by Russia during Georgia bombing, urges Russia to keep within the international norms and warns Georgia to take urgent measures to protect the civilian population in Georgian villages from unexploded ordnance left by Russian attacks. (Rustavi 2)
  • Ten Georgian servicemen, who were detained by the Russian forces in Poti few days ago were released on August 22, the Georgian media sources reported. Twelve others, however, are still held by the Russian troops. (Civil)
  • Russian troops have begun the process of pullout by abolishing the checkpoint arranged in the Igoeti sector of the central highway. (Rustavi 2)
  • Russian troops have abolished several checkpoints in the Shida Kartli region, Georgia, and moved towards the conflict zone. (Rustavi 2)
  • Russian troops say they are leaving Georgia. (Sky News) (CNN) (The Independent) (Alfa) (Bernardinai)
  • US says Russian pullback in Georgia is "far too slow". (Reuters) (Delfi)
• Russia informs Lithuania that Russia is stopping military co-operation with Lithuania. (Delfi)
• Lithuania's Defense Minister Juozas Olekas has called for amendments to national defense legislation, which he says must be thoroughly revised and updated in the face of a potential Russia threat. (Alfa)

August 23, 2008 (2008-08-23) (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• War in Somalia (2006–09)
  • Two journalists and three other people are abducted by gunmen near Elasha, Somalia. (CTV News)
• War in North-West Pakistan
  • A suicide bomber attacks a police station in Swat, NWFP, killing at least six officers and injuring several more. (AP via Contra Costa Times)
• 2008 South Ossetia war
  • Russia announces that its military has pulled out of Georgia, although reports indicate that it has not complied with the cease-fire agreement. (BBC News) (The Independent) (Globe and Mail) (The New York Times) (BBC News) (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

• The death toll from Tropical Storm Fay in Florida rises to 11. (AP via Los Angeles Times)
• A King Air A-100 crashes near Moab, Utah, United States, resulting in the death of the pilot and nine passengers. (AP via Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Health

• The United States Department of Health and Human Services announces plans to implement a rule that would protect healthcare workers from being fired or otherwise penalized for refusing to provide services they find morally objectionable, such as performing abortions or dispensing contraception. (The Washington Post)

Politics and elections

• U.S. presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama picks Senator Joe Biden as his vice-presidential running mate. (CNN)

August 24, 2008 (2008-08-24) (Sunday)

• A suicide bomber attacks a feast in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib district resulting in at least 21 deaths. (BBC News)
• A small plane crashes east of Guatemala City, killing ten and injuring four. (Canadian Press via Google News)
• Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895, a Boeing 737, crashes in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan shortly after takeoff, killing 71 people. (AFP via Google News)
• 2008 South Ossetia War:
  • A train carrying oil products hits a landmine and catches fire. A Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman blamed Russia for the blast. (CNN)
  • The United States Navy's destroyer, the USS McFaul, arrives at the Black Sea port of Batumi to deliver aid for Georgia. (Bloomberg)
  • United States warns that Russia is establishing permanent facilities in Georgia. (Xinhua)
• 2008 Summer Olympics:
  • Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya wins the gold medal in the men's marathon at the 2008 Summer Olympics setting a new Olympic record of 2:06:32. (AP via Yahoo! News)
  • The United States wins the gold medal in men's basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics. (ESPN)
  • The Summer Olympics concludes after 16 days with the closing ceremony. (Xinhua)
• Protesters in the Indian state of West Bengal "lay siege" to the factory producing the Tata Nano, in a dispute over land expropriation. (BBC News)

August 25, 2008 (2008-08-25) (Monday)

• Canadian authorities report 12 people have died in the listeriosis outbreak traced to a Maple Leaf Foods plant in Toronto. (Montreal Gazette)
• The 2008 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party begins in Denver, Colorado. (BBC News)
• Tropical Storm Gustav forms in the Atlantic Ocean and heads for the Dominican Republic and Haiti. (AP via Minneapolis-St Paul Tribune)
• Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announces that he is withdrawing his Pakistan Muslim League (N) party from Pakistan's governing coalition. (Newsweek)
• Russia is considering arming its Baltic Fleet with nuclear warheads for the first time since the Cold War. (Alfa)
• Israel releases 199 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to the President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas as the United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits the area. (AFP via Google News)
• Lovemore Moyo is elected Speaker of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe. He is the first opposition speaker since the country's independence in 1980. (BBC News)
• 2008 South Ossetia war:
  • The Federation Council of Russia, the upper house of the Federal Assembly, urges the President to recognise the independence of Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. (BBC News)
  • Traffic begins to return to Georgia's main east-west highway after the departure of Russian troops who had closed the road. (The Moscow Times)
  • France called a summit of European Union leaders for next week to discuss the conflict in Georgia. (The Wall Street Journal)
  • There is evidence that the Russian army took part in looting in Poti, Georgia. (The Times)

August 26, 2008 (2008-08-26) (Tuesday)

• A Sudanese plane is hijacked shortly after taking off from Nyala in the Darfur region and flown to Kufra in Libya. (CNN)
• Tamil Tigers carry out an air raid on a major naval base at Trincomalee on the east coast of Sri Lanka, injuring four sailors. (BBC News)
• Flight delays hit more than two dozen United States airports because of a communication network problem in a Federal Aviation Administration facility in Atlanta, Georgia. (MarketWatch) (Chicago Tribune)
• At least 28 people are killed after a suicide bombing in the province of Diyala, Iraq. (Reuters via The Ottawa Citizen)
• Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim wins a landslide victory in the by-election in Permatang Pauh. (AP via Yahoo! News)
• 2008 South Ossetia war:
  • Russia recognises the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.(The New York Times) (Earth Times)
    • U.S. President George W. Bush says Russia's president should not recognize two breakaway regions of Georgia as independent countries, despite pleas from Russian lawmakers (Rustavi 2) White House spokesman Tony Fratto says shortly after Russia's recognition that Russia is making a number of "irrational" decisions that puts its place in the world at risk.(AP via Google News)
    • Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt condemns Russia's "deliberate violation of international law", saying that "the Russian government leadership now has chosen this route means they have chosen a policy of confrontation, not only with the rest of Europe, but also with the international community in general".(Warsaw Business Journal) (The Local)
• Hurricane Gustav
  • Tropical Storm Gustav becomes Hurricane Gustav as it approaches Haiti. (Reuters)
  • A Haitian man dies in a landslide caused by Hurricane Gustav. (AP via Google News)
• The Koshi River breaks embankment to pick up the course abandoned over 200 years ago causing floods in the Indian state of Bihar and killing 42 people. (CNN-IBN)

August 27, 2008 (2008-08-27) (Wednesday)

• A flaw in the internet's Border Gateway Protocol that was described ten years ago now "can be used to invisibly eavesdrop on all traffic originating from a particular set of IP blocks." (Ars Technica)
• U.S. presidential election: Democratic National Convention
  • Senator Barack Obama is formally selected by acclamation as the nominee of the Democratic Party. Senator Joe Biden is formally selected as the vice presidential Democratic nominee in the same manner by acclamation. (AP via Google News)
• As many as 71 illegal immigrants are feared drowned after their boat sinks in the Mediterranean off the coast of Malta. (BBC News)
• The Dalai Lama cancels two international trips (Mexico & Dominican Republic) to undergo medical tests due to "exhaustion". (AP via USA Today)
• 2008 South Ossetia war:
  • David Cameron threw his weight behind international condemnation of Russia with a call for the suspension of European negotiations with the superpower. (The Guardian)
  • A Russian armoured personnel carrier raced down the road to where Georgian policemen were manning their checkpoint at the village of Mosabruni, just inside South Ossetia. (BBC News)
  • Georgia PM: War damage is estimated at $1 billion. (Forbes)
  • Georgia is minimizing the level of diplomatic co-operation with Russia, recalling all but two diplomats from Moscow. (Xinhua)(Civil Georgia)
  • French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is expressing concern that Russia, riding high after its victories in Georgia, may target other neighbors, such as Moldova and Ukraine. (USA Today)
  • Russia's MICEX Index fell to its lowest level since September 2006 on Tuesday after President Dmitry Medvedev's recognized South Ossetia's and Abkhazia's independence, and the ruble tumbled to a seven-month low against the U.S. dollar. (Moscow Times)
  • Russia will be looking for unambiguous support from Asian nations, including China, in its standoff with the West over South Ossetia and Abkhazia when the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meets Thursday in Dushanbe. (Moscow Times)
  • Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has condemned Russia's 'unacceptable' decision to recognise the Georgian rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. (RTE)
  • British Foreign Secretary David Miliband warns Russia against starting a new Cold War. (The Independent) (Sky News)
  • U.S. aid arrives in tense Georgia. (CNN)
  • The United States condemns the decision by the Russian President to recognize as independent states the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. (Rustavi 2)
  • Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, said on August 27 Beijing was "concerned of the latest development in South Ossetia and Abkhazia." (Civil)
• Hijackers of a Sudanese Boeing 737 free all 100 passengers at Kufra Airport in Libya but hold on to the flight crew. (AFP via Google News)
• Thousands of protesters storm the Thai Prime Minister's office and other government buildings, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. (Reuters)
• 22 are killed after Hurricane Gustav makes landfall over Haiti. (AP via Yahoo! News)
• An earthquake with a claimed magnitude of 9.0 occurred off the southern coast of Lake Baikal. It was felt strongly in Baykalsk and Slyudyanka, two towns in Slyudyansky District, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. (Information agency The city of News; in Russian language)

August 28, 2008 (2008-08-28) (Thursday)

• U.S. presidential election: Democratic National Convention
  • Illinois Senator Barack Obama accepts the nomination of the Democratic Party at the INVESCO Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado, becoming the first African American to be nominated by a major party for election as President of the United States. (BBC News)
• Mexico's Supreme Court resolves by an 8–3 vote to uphold the constitutionality of the Federal District's 2007 Abortion Law. (CSMonitor) (Guardian) (LA Times)
• Afghan and international troops claimed to have killed over 100 Taliban militants in fighting in the Helmand province over the past few days. (AFP via Google News)
• 2008 South Ossetia war:
  • Russia's PM Vladimir Putin accuses unnamed individuals in the U.S. of orchestrating Georgia's military actions preceding the conflict with Russia. (CNN) Putin says the US provoked Georgia conflict. (RTE)
  • Georgian president, Mikhail Saakashvili announces he will propose a Georgian 'Patriot Act' to Georgian Parliament. (Rustavi 2) Nika Gvaramia, the Justice Minister, stated before that Georgia needs 'a legislature similar to the one which is in the United States, I mean the Patriot Act [...] which will be directed against treacherous statements against the motherland'. Mikhail Saakashvili also added: 'We should finance the political parties and impose strict control to prevent any funding coming from the foreign countries'. Earlier in July, the Parliament of Georgia passed a 'highly controversial' act, depriving 6 oppositional political parties of funding, which was seen as a 'punishment' for boycotting the Parliament after the national elections these parties said 'were rigged'. (Civil.Ge)
  • The EU consider sanctions for Russia over the Georgian crisis. (Sky News) (The Independent) (BBC News) (VOA)
  • 12 Georgian soldiers are exchanged for Georgian General Roman Dumbadze, claimed to be a traitor by Georgians and a political prisoner by Russia. (Rustavi 2)
  • The Shanghai Co-operation Organization refuses to back Russia in Russia-Georgia crisis. (Delfi) (Globe and Mail) (RTE)
  • A mass funeral was planned near Tbilisi for 43 unidentified corpses handed over to Georgian authorities, all of them seriously damaged. (IOL)
  • Georgia buries 26 Unknown soldiers (Civil).
  • 85 Georgian military captives are exchanged for 13 Ossetian hostages. (Rustavi 2)
  • Eka Tkeshelashvili, the foreign minister of Georgia, claims that ethnic cleansing is underway in South Ossetia and will be completed shortly. (AP via USA Today)
• 2008 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Tropical Storm Gustav makes landfall on the island of Jamaica. The storm is responsible for at least 51 deaths in Haiti and 8 more in the Dominican Republic. (CNN)
  • Tropical Storm Hanna forms northeast of the Leeward Islands. (AP via MarketWatch)

August 29, 2008 (2008-08-29) (Friday)

• Protestors from the People's Alliance for Democracy seeking the overthrow of the Government of Thailand force the closure of Phuket Airport, Krabi Airport and Hat Yai Airport. (Melbourne Age)
• Hurricane Gustav reaches hurricane strength en route to the Cayman Islands, Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico. (CNN)
• Georgia cuts diplomatic ties with Russia following Russian recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
• Italian airline Alitalia files for bankruptcy protection. (BBC News)
• John McCain picks Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate for the Republican nomination for the U.S. presidential election. (AP via Google News)
• Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić refuses to enter pleas to charges including genocide and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at The Hague. (AP via Google News)
• At least 11 people die this week and five are missing as a result of floods and landslides caused by heavy rain in Hà Giang Province in northern Vietnam. (AFP via ABC News)
• Energy group E.ON cuts 1,800 jobs as it closes two-thirds of its domestic service centres in Germany. (BBC News)

August 30, 2008 (2008-08-30) (Saturday)

• Mass marches are held in more than 70 cities across Mexico, demanding stronger action against violent crime. (AP via CNN)
• The 2008 Panzhihua earthquake in China's Sichuan province kills at least 15 people and injures dozens more. (Reuters via MSNBC)
• 2008 South Ossetia war:
  • Russia announces that South Ossetia will join 'one united Russian state' (The Times).
• Hurricane Gustav:
  • The National Hurricane Center advises that Hurricane Gustav has strengthened to Category 4 strength. (AP via Google News)
  • Cuba evacuates 60,000 people from the west of the island as Gustav approaches the island at Category 3 strength. (This is London)
  • New Orleans residents start evacuating the city as it is expected to make landfall in the United States west of the city. (New York Daily News)
  • A hurricane watch is issued from High Island, Texas, east to the border of Alabama and Florida. (AP via Minneapolis Star Tribune)
• An overcrowded Indian Army boat carrying dozens of victims of the 2008 Indian floods capsizes killing at least 25 people and taking the death toll to 85. (Reuters via Los Angeles Times)
• The Pakistan Army claims that 30 militants have been killed in Swat, NWFP, in heavy fighting in recent days. (AP via the Guardian)
• Italy compensates Libya for the forced colonization in the 1910s, promising to pay US$5 billion over the next 25 years. (Bloomberg)
• The head of the Mahdi Army in Karbala, Iraq, is sentenced to death over the Battle of Karbala (2007) (AFP)

August 31, 2008 (2008-08-31) (Sunday)

• Hurricane Gustav:
  • New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin orders the mandatory evacuation of the city ahead of Gustav. (NYT)
  • President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney cancel visits to the 2008 Republican National Convention due to Gustav. (Los Angeles Times)
• Heavy rains in central Japan cause flooding in Okazaki city forcing evacuation of thousands of people. (CNN)
• Journalist Magomed Yevloyev, owner of the non-government news agency Ingushetiya.ru, is shot dead in police custody in Ingushetia. (BBC) (The Australian) (AP)
• The death toll of the 2008 Panzhihua earthquake rises to 32, with 467 others injured. More than 250,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed. (BBC)