Portal:Current events/2008 August 19

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)
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)
2008 South Ossetia war:
- Russian and Georgian forces exchange prisoners of war (Reuters Alertnet).
- Russia begins to withdraw troops from Georgia proper according to eyewitness accounts (Reuters).
- Russia temporarily closed 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 reported 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 said. (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), (Delfi). NATO: Russia not honoring cease-fire terms (CNN).

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