9 August 2008

Stories from 9 August 2008

South Ossetia: East European Leaders Condemn Russia

  9 August 2008

A Step At A Time reposted a joint statements by the leaders of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland condemning Russia's aggression against Georgia, in which they also call the Western position a “litmus-test for the credibility of the EU and NATO”. Moreover, they question the future of the EU strategic...

Albania: A muslim country?

  9 August 2008

A Nevada Yankee in King Zog's Court discusses the changing role of religion in Albanian society, claiming that “after thousands of years of changing religious affiliations by Albanians in response to their circumstances, […] for the first time in Albanian history, fundamentalists of all stripes are intentionally taking actions to...

Southeast Asia and Beijing Olympics

  9 August 2008

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: Missing Journalists

  9 August 2008

Regional Reporters [RU], a new blog set up by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting posts an announcement expressing its concern that two reporters, Alexander Klimchuk and Giga Chikhladze, have not been heard from for two days. The last time the journalists were seen was yesterday morning near Tskhinvali,...

Georgia: Armenians Evacuated

  9 August 2008

Unzipped says that 150 Armenian citizens in the Georgian resort towns of Batumi and Kobuleti are being evacuated from the country as military conflict with Russia intensifies. The blog also says that the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports no casualties among Armenian citizens in Georgia.

Georgia: History Repeating?

  9 August 2008

Writing from Tbilisi, Wu Wei says images of Russian tanks entering the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia bring back memories of Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. Meanwhile, although no official evacuation of foreign citizens from Georgia has started, one USAID team is departing, and the blog provides...

MENA: Visas of Fulbright scholars revoked

Earlier this week three Palestinians, recipients of prestigious Fulbright scholarships to study in the United States, had their visas revoked by the US, preventing them from taking up the scholarships. A fourth, a high-school student on a separate programme, was also stopped. Yet two and a half months ago, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had personally intervened to make sure that the grant winners would be able to go. Why the last-minute change of heart? Bloggers from around the Middle East have a number of theories.

Georgia: Seeing Friends off to War

  9 August 2008

My The Caucasian Knot quotes a friend in Tbilisi who reports he is seeing friends off to war as Georgian reservists are called up to fight against Russian troops in South Ossetia. He also says that the majority of Georgians are behind their president and that the town of Gori...