•Abkhazia goes to separatist war against Georgia
•Moscow ultimatum to Washington: Make Georgia submit
•Helpline for Georgian Jews
•More Russian troops dispatched to fight Georgia
•Chinese man kills American in Beijing
•US says Israel building up strike capabilities against Iran
•Iran’s vaunted 300-km range sea missile is non-existent
•Petraeus on surprise Lebanon visit from Iraq
•Turkey backs Damascus-Tehran pact, helps market nuclear Iran
Relative of US Olympic coach stabbed to death in Beijing
August 9, 2008, 4:25 PM (GMT+02:00)
Moscow ultimatum to Washington: Make Georgia move forces out of South OssetiaDEBKAfile Special Analysis August 9, 2008, 6:01 PM (GMT+02:00)  Russian president Dmitry Medvedev As Russian warplanes struck positions in Georgia’s second breakaway province of Abkhazia, Saturday, Aug. 9, President Dimitry Medvedev told President George W. Bush in a phone call that Georgia must withdraw its forces from South Ossetia for hostilities to end. DEBKAfile’s military analysts: Tiny Georgia's army, having been roundly defeated in South Ossetia, cannot hope to withstand the mighty Russian army in Abkhazia. Moscow has thus achieved payback for the US-NATO success in detaching Kosovo from Serbia. | ||
Second separatist Abkhazia province joins Russian-Georgian South Ossetia warDEBKAfile Special Report August 9, 2008, 6:04 PM (GMT+02:00)  Russian jets bomb Georgian town of Gori Latest developments Saturday, Aug. 9, 08 - Russian prime minister arrives in North Ossetia. - The Georgian president says his forces have repelled attacks in Abkhazia - The foreign minister of Georgia’s second breakaway province Sergei Shamba said earier Abkhazian forces have launched air and artillery strikes to oust Georgian troops. - Russian jets earlier bombed Georgian positions in Abkhazia’s Kodori Gorge. - Medvedev tells Bush only way out of crisis is for Georgian troops to pull out of the conflict zone. - Georgia claims shooting down of 10 Russian planes, destroying 30 tanks. - Tbilisi parliament approves 15-day state of war and martial law. - President Shaakashvili calls for a ceasefire. South Ossetia battles intensify after Russia declares operation to force "peace" on GeorgiaDEBKAfile Special Report August 9, 2008, 4:27 PM (GMT+02:00)  Russian tank forces stream to South Ossetia Moscow pumped more troops to the embattled breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia as the flare-up Saturday, Aug. 9 edged toward all-out war. Friday night, the UN Security Council failed to agree on a ceasefire text. DEBKAfile reports that, amid conflicting casualty and other reports from the Russia and Georgia, the bloodshed is mounting. Moscow is clearly determined to continue to bomb Georgia into withdrawing its troops from South Ossetia. Until Saturday morning’s jet strikes at targets around the Georgian town of Gori, Russian combat planes kept mostly to striking military installations across the tiny Caucasian country of Georgia, including the Vaziani military base used by NATO, leaving scores of dead and hundreds of wounded. But if the pro-American president Mikhail Shaakashvili perseveres in keep his army in South Ossetia, after capturing its capital Friday, Russian attacks will expand to Georgia’s centers of government in Tbilisi. Saakashvili was disappointed in his hope of US and Europe coming to his aid in the crisis. They are willing to mediate a halt in violence but taking good care to avoid being drawn into a war against Russia. The Israeli military advisers commissioned by the Georgian president tried to hold back Friday’s invasion of Tskhinvali. They are now urging him to pull his army out of South Ossetia before it is overpowered and decimated by vastly superior Russian air, tank and infantry forces. Read DEBKAfile’s exclusive analysis below on the causes underlying the Caucasian conflict and the presence of Israeli military advisers. | ||
Beijing's historic Drum Tower
One day after the spectacular opening of the Olympic Games, A Chinese man attacked a group of American tourists, two of them related to the US volleyball coach, and their Chinese guide at the historic Drum Tower monument in central Beijing. Using a knife, he killed one American and injured two others, both women, before committing suicide by jumping off the second storey of the monument. The attacker was identified as a 47-year-old man from the eastern Chinese city Hangzhou. He was a relative of a Chinese Olympic official.
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