Portal:Current events/2008 August 28
August 28, 2008 (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)