Stories about Breaking News from August, 2008
Georgia, Russia: Tbilisi Reports
Three bloggers who are currently in Tbilisi describe what life there has been like in the past few days. According to LJ user oleg_panfilov, everything is quiet in the Georgian capital this night, while tomorrow "there'll be plenty of politics," because presidents of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Ukraine are expected to descend on the city.
South Ossetia, Georgia: Journalists Killed, Foreigners Evacuated
Reportedly, two journalists have been killed amidst the fighting in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, and several others have been wounded. At the same time, foreigners are being evacuated from Georgia and the situation remains tense, while everyone's holding their breath for a ceasefire.
Georgia, Russia: Blogger From Poti Recounts the Bombing
Here is LJ user pepsikolka's account of what it felt like when the Russian planes were bombing Poti, her native city: "[...] Around midnight I heard some roaring, ran up to the window and saw shaft of fire, explosions at the port and heard a deafening noise. I didn't even have the time to get scared, I just knew that if a cistern with oil at the terminal gets hit, there'll be fire and an explosion, so I grabbed the phone, called Tengo, Vika answered, screaming [...]"
Thailand wins a gold medal
Fable, a Brit-American blogger in Bangkok congratulates Thailand for winning a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics. She also explains why the Olympics TV coverage in Thailand is better than in the US.
Georgia, Russia: More Reports On the Conflict From Russophone Bloggers
Blogging from the Georgian port city of Poti, which was bombed by Russian fighter jets shortly after midnight Saturday, LJ user pepsikolka wrote: "It was quiet during the night, but no one went to bed. There's no TV, we're reading the news from our phones. Scary. My friend, a colleague, has been wounded, and there are the dead ones [...]. I've no reason to lie, and those commenters who have doubts just don't know anything about me, I am Russian myself, and that's why I'm writing about facts here, so that you knew, we are alive, but scared. I want peace and this is all." More reports and views in the translation below.
China: Citizen reporter to be deported
The day after live-vlogging the rare phenomenon that is a loud Free Tibet protest in the middle of Tiananmen Square, Noel ‘noneck’ Hidalgo has just tweeted that he is to be deported. Guess he wasn't using Tor.
Arabeyes: Mourning for Mahmoud Darwish
Bloggers around the Arab world mourned the death of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish yesterday. Scores of posts appeared online in Arabic and English even before news of his death was officially confirmed.
Southeast Asia and Beijing Olympics
Close to 200 athletes from the Southeast Asian region are participating in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The big news (as far as the region is concerned) during the opening ceremonies are the exclusion of Brunei during the event and the “improper” waving of the Singaporean flag by the country’s flagbearer.
Georgia, Russia: Cyrillic Bloggers React to the Conflict in South Ossetia
In a brief report sent around noon of Aug. 8 from a hotel basement in Tskhinvali, the beleaguered capital of South Ossetia, Russian journalist Mikhail Romanov wrote this about the nature of the conflict: "The city is under heavy howitzer and mortar fire. An endless cannonade. I've seen many wounded people. Peacekeepers are commenting succinctly: 'This is war.'" Below are more reactions from bloggers in Russia and Ukraine.
China: More foreigners protest, aided by 2.0 tools
Saturday saw another Free Tibet protest in Beijing, this time right from the middle of Tiananmen square. Qik.com vlogger noneck was at the scene to live-stream the protest, but that's not all that's going on right now..
Georgia: The Blame Game
With the international media reporting that Georgian forces are now engaged in direct conflict with the Russian military on the outskirts of Tskhinvali, capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, the situation still remains tense and unpredictable. Yet, with ethnic separatists claiming 1,400 civilians have been killed, views on the conflict remain polarized and ultimately appear to reflect what some see as a conflict over Russian and Western interests in the region.
Georgia: Similarities with 1995 Croatia
Gray Falcon compares the current situation of South Ossetians in Georgia with that of Serbs in Croatia in 1995.
Russia: August Coincidences
In reference to the war in South Ossetia starting on the opening day of the Beijing Olympics, Ruslanas Iržikevičius of Lituanica notes that several catastrophes in Russia started while important events were happening in other parts of the world, and that quite a few of those happened in the month...
Georgia: South Ossetia Update
With local and international media outlets reporting that fighting is spilling over into Georgia proper, the latest military confrontation with Russia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia looks increasingly like war. Bloggers from the region say signs are ominous.
Georgia: War in South Ossetia
Following clashes and allegations of the shelling of Georgian villages by separatists in the breakaway territory of South Ossetia, there are fears that war will once again rage in the volatile South Caucasus. With the media reporting that Georgian troops have surrounded the capital, Tskhinvali, all eyes are on how Russia reacts to the latest developments.
China: Tweeting the Olympics
Have you seen the GVO Olympics Twitter account? Check it out for an idea of what's being tweeted about the Olympics in real time.
Russia: Violence on the Southern Borders
Erik of Sochi Travel comments on two recent disturbing developments in Southern Russia: a blast on one of the Sochi beaches in which two people died, and “Georgia waging new war on it’s breakaway republic – South Osetia”.
Japan: Letter to Google about Street View
One year after its debut in the United States, Google's Street View has arrived in Japan, where it is already drawing criticism. Despite the company's generally positive image in this country, bulletin board threads and blogs are filled with comments questioning the way Google has rolled out its latest service.
Lebanon: Fires and Global Warming
Summer forest fires have been erupting in what is left of the Lebanese wilderness for years now. And every year, the blame game is played; starting with parties and politicians blaming each other for not being prepared, to blaming each other for intentionally starting the flames. So, what do the bloggers have to say about this?
China: Second Olympic terrorism threat video released
Following last month's Olympics terrorism threat/confession video claiming to be from a group called the Turkestan Islamic Party, another video has been released. Judging from the look of it, this clip will be even less convincing than the one before it. See the Xinjiang-based The New Dominion and The Opposite...
Arabeyes: Mauritanian President Ousted in Military Coup d'état
Army commanders ousted Mauritania's first freely elected president in two decades, President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, in a military coup d'état Wednesday after political feuding over the firing of the country's four top generals. Jillian York sums up the reactions of bloggers in neighbouring Arab countries.
