Portal:Current events/2008 August 8: Difference between revisions

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-<!-- All news items below this line -->{{Current events|year=2008|month=08|day=8|content=
-* The [[2008 Summer Olympics]] starts with the [[2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony]] at the [[Beijing National Stadium]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080812031513/http://features.csmonitor.com/olympics08/2008/08/08/china-welcomes-the-olympics-with-fireworks-%E2%80%93-and-wedding-bells/ (''The Christian Science Monitor'')]
-* [[2008 South Ossetia War]]:
-** Around 0:30 AM (local time), [[Georgia (country)|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 [[peacekeeping|peacekeepers]] under [[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]] [[mandate (international law)|mandate]] in [[Tskhinvali]] makes a statement that [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] 'heavy artillery shelling conducted for several hours' and 'has practically demolished the town' [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4488803.ece (''The Times'')] [https://web.archive.org/web/20080814030551/http://www.mfa.gov.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=459&info_id=7170 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia)]  [http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080808/115890817.html (RIAN)] After a night of heavy fighting, Georgian forces close in on the capital of South Ossetia, [[Tskhinvali]]. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7548715.stm (BBC News)] [https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL768040420080808 (Reuters)] Russian commanders reported that [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] military forces attack a [[Russia|Russian]] peacekeepers' base in [[Tskhinvali]] with heavy artillery and missiles. Several peacekeepers reported dead and wounded. [http://rian.ru/defense_safety/20080808/150187374.html (RIAN)]
-*** [[President of Georgia]], [[Mikhail Saakashvili|Milkeil Saakashvili]] agrees that the timing  (the first day of Olympics, with many world leaders in Peking) of the 'major military offensive' of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], during which the 'South Ossetian capital' devastated 'was not coincidental'. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU5uidyv5OU (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." [https://web.archive.org/web/20080812004146/http://www.agi.it/world/news/200808081050-pol-ren0015-art.html (AGI)] [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/world/europe/09georgia.html (''The New York Times'')]
-** [[Mikheil Saakashvili]] accuses [[Russia]]n aircraft of attacking [[Tbilisi]] and outlying airfields. [http://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/world/article.php?id=17978446 (Delfi)] He calls for mobilization of Georgia's army, claiming [[Russia]] started an aggression on Georgia. [http://www.alfa.lt/straipsnis/193390 (Alfa)]
-** [[NATO]] and the [[European Union]] urge an immediate end to the violence in South Ossetia. [https://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Russia/idUSL859348920080808 (Reuters)]
-** The [[Russian Ministry of Defence]] claims 10 Russian [[peacekeeping|peacekeepers]] in the area were killed and 30 wounded so far during the [[Georgian army]] offensive. At least 15 civilians are also reported dead. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgN6Y8Z3cnU (BBC News via YouTube)] The Georgian Interior Ministry claims three Georgian soldiers were killed at an airbase outside of [[Tbilisi]]. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7548715.stm (BBC News)] Both Russian state television and Georgian sources report Russian troops and tanks moving into [[South Ossetia]] and approaching [[Tskhinvali]]. [http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/08/georgia.ossetia/index.html (CNN)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7548715.stm (BBC News)]
-** With most of the city of [[Tskhinvali]] in ruins, 1400 civilians reported dead during the first day of Georgian offensive. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg5RYFbKVYc (RussiaToday via YouTube)]
-** The [[United States Secretary of State]] [[Condoleezza Rice]] calls on Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgia. [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jp1eLDmQa0nToFoI-0v31t659PkA (AFP via Google News)] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE2cH3uWKjM (CNN via YouTube)]
-* A [[car bomb]] in the town of [[Tal Afar]] in northern [[Iraq]] kills at least 21 people and injures about 70. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7550402.stm (BBC News)]
-* At least 13 people die when a private charter bus falls off a bridge onto a creek north of [[Dallas, Texas]]. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26085940/ (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. [https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080808/wl_afp/czechaccidentrail_080808153106 (AFP via Yahoo! News)] [https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080808/ap_on_re_eu/czech_train_crash_1 (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]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/08/sports/olympics/08china.html (''The New York Times'')]
-* The [[President of the United States]] [[George W. Bush]] dedicates a new [[United States|American]] embassy in Beijing. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080808123315/http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-08-07-voa57.cfm (VOA)]
-* [[Economic crisis of 2008]]:
-** UK home [[repossession]]s rise by 48%. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7548877.stm (BBC News)]
-** The [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]] reports slower growth and declining [[employment]] in the U.S.  [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7549780.stm (BBC News)] [http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)]
-* Former U.S. Senator and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] ex-[[United States Presidential Election, 2008|presidential candidate]] [[John Edwards]] admits to an [[John Edwards extramarital affair|affair]] with [[Rielle Hunter]] after having earlier denied it. [http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/08/edwards.affair/index.html (CNN)]
-<!-- All news items above this line -->}}

Revision as of 04:52, 12 July 2024