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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)[permanent dead link]
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)
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)
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)[permanent dead link]
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)
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)
An explosion at a police station in the Pakistani city of Lahore kills at least three people, on the eve of the 61st anniversary of independence. (BBC News)
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)
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)
Russia threatens Poland with military consequences for allowing the United States of America to place defense missiles within its borders. (AP via Google News)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
According to general staff in Moscow, Russia has begun troop withdrawals from Georgia, following a pledge by PresidentDmitry Medvedev. However, 'Moscow saying it has the right to keep some troops as peacekeepers in a buffer zone around South Ossetia'. (BBC News)
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)
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)
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)
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. Russianairforce, 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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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 ministerCarl 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)
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)
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)
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)
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has condemned Russia's 'unacceptable' decision to recognise the Georgian rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. (RTE)
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)
Thousands of protesters storm the Thai Prime Minister's office and other government buildings, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. (Reuters)
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)
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)
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)
