World

US, Europe denounce Russian support for Georgian provinces' independence

Posted by Sandyenglish

The US and Western European powers have issued vitriolic denunciations of Russia's decision to recognize the independence of the two breakaway provinces of Georgia-South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russian President Dimitry Medvedev signed a decree Tuesday backing independence for the provinces, just one day after both houses of the Russian parliament voted unanimously to call on Medvedev to take the action.

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Karl Rove Vacations in Yalta with Georgian President Saakashvili

Posted by Jeff from Dailykos

It's a bit premature but Thom Hartmann today was talking about this on air - along with the LA Times article. DailyKos asks if this is the October Surprise.

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Why was Cheney's guy in Georgia before the war?

Posted by Jeff from Latimesblogs.latimes

The LA Times posted a blog entry today asking why Dick Cheney's top aide was in Georgia before it invaded South Ossetia. Separately, the blogosphere is buzzing over Karl Rove's "vacation" to Yalta in which he appeared on a panel with Georgian President Saakashvili before the war.

Personally, I was struck by the photos of Putin and Bush at the Olympics Opening Ceremony, seemingly relaxed, as Russian troops invaded Georgia. However, contrarian reports of their demeanor exist.

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Arrests Made in Alleged Obama Assassination Plot

Posted by theangryindian from TruthDig

A possible plot to kill Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama during his acceptance speech Thursday at the Democratic National Convention was foiled in Denver on Monday night when at least three suspects were arrested, authorities reported.

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More to Reuter's report on Lees v FEER case

Posted by singaporenews

Reuters reported yesterday that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong upped the stakes of the defamation suit with the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) by seeking to find a higher defamatory meaning to the words published in its interview with Dr Chee Soon Juan.

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Rights groups bemoan lack of Beijing protests

Posted by Jeff from MSNBC

The Beijing Olympics have left the world's human rights groups frustrated and angry - convinced that China has been let off the hook for serious abuses, and adamant that future hosts like Russia must be held to a higher standard. Cheek, co-founder of a group of athletes known as Team Darfur, had his visa revoked by Chinese authorities hours before he was to embark for Beijing. Team Darfur athletes who are in Beijing have acceded to International Olympic Committee curbs on political comment, resulting in what Cheek called "massive suppression of any voice that the government doesn't want heard."

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Hacker Uncovers Chinese Olympic Fraud

Posted by Jeff from Yro.slashdot

A new chapter in the ongoing controversy surrounding China's women's gymnastics team opened today, as search engine hacker stryde.hax found surviving copies of official registration documents issued by China's General Administration of Sport of China. The incriminating documents, expunged by censors from the official site and from Google's document cache, still appear in the document translation cache of Chinese search giant Baidu, here (1) and here (2), showing the age of one of China's gold medal winning gymnasts to be 14 instead of 16, the minimum age for competition presented on her government-issued passport. Now that official government documentation is available, how long will the IOC be able to keep a lid on this scandal?

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