Politics

George W. Bush, the President of the United States, has announced that his country will "begin a humanitarian mission to the people of Georgia, headed by the United States military." Speaking at 11:10 EDT (15:10 UTC) today, Bush also said that "the United States of America stands with the democratically elected government of Georgia. We insist that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected." According to Bush, the planned aid mission will be "vigorous and ongoing." Bush went on to describe the methods used in the del

Dmitry Medvedev, the President of Russia, announced the end of Russian military operations in Georgia. In a statement made earlier today, Medvedev declared that the reason for Russia to cease operations was the humanitarian crisis in the region. A Kremlin spokesman confirmed the instructions to the Defense Ministry to stop the military operation. The news came only hours before the presidents of Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Estonia were scheduled to visit Tbilisi, and the president of France was to visit Moscow. Also the prime minister of L

The government of Georgia has announced that it has withdrawn all its troops from South Ossetia, in what it described as "a necessary step to protect civilians". The Georgian military has made clear that they are not admitting military defeat by withdrawing. This comes just one day after Mikheil Saakashvili, the President of Georgia, declared that his country was in a state of war. "I have signed a decree on a state of war. Georgia is under a state of total military aggression by the Russian navy, air force, large-scale ground operations," h

Last night a suicide bomber killed 8 people and wounded 19 others according to Algerian public radio. A van full of explosives was driven near a police building building and detonated. The bombing happened at a beach called Zemmouri el-Bahri. A police officer reportedly fired at the vehicle causing it to explode prior to impact with the building. According to Yazid Zerhouni, the Minister of the Interior of Algeria stated that attacks happened around 10:00pm (GMT). Press TV stated that Al-Qaeda's wing in North Africa claimed responsibility

Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin accused Western countries and media of anti-Russian bias and that the pro-Georgian position in the South Ossetia-Georgian conflict might restrain future relations. Mr Karasin says "Western media is a well-organized machine, which is showing only those pictures which fit in well with their thoughts. We find it very difficult to squeeze our opinion in the pages of their newspapers," and "Just as it was 20-30 years ago, it remains the same today ... objectivity is not a typical trait of some Western journa

Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish died Saturday in southern American state of Texas three days after heart surgery at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. Darwish's poems are considered as an encapsulation of the Palestinian cause. Palestinians in Ramallah went to the streets, some weeping, gathered around candles in the darkened streets and lit candles expressing their sadness. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared three days of mourning. "The passing of our great poet, Mahmoud Darwish, the lover of Palestine, the pioneer of the mod

July 2008 on the campaign trail will be remembered prominently for what people close to the campaign opined about the election. On both sides of the aisle a former presidential candidate made a statement demonized by the media. The media's coverage of the election was scrutinized by the media itself and became an issue that even the candidates discussed on the trail. The trends of the previous months were continued as another third party candidate rose and another influential election journalist (Tony Snow) died. Democrats Barack Obama's shif

Mikheil Saakashvili, the President of Georgia, has declared that his country is now in a state of war. "I have signed a decree on a state of war. Georgia is under a state of total military aggression by the Russian navy, air force, large-scale ground operations," he said in a televised meeting that was broadcast on national television. At 11:38 a.m yesterday, before the country formally entered a state of war, the President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili announced the mobilization of reserve troops to withstand what he called "a large-scale

On Saturday Mikheil Saakashvili, the President of Georgia, called for a ceasefire in the South Ossetian war. "I call for an immediate ceasefire," said Saakashvili, speaking in Tbilisi. "Russia has launched a full scale military invasion of Georgia." After calling for the ceasefire Saakashvili continued by saying that "I am willing to have international mediation; I am willing to have international separation of forces; we have to establish normal regime under international supervision.” At the same time, South Ossetia's State Committee for i

Independent United States presidential candidate Ralph Nader and his running mate Matt Gonzalez were selected as the presidential and vice-presidential nominees of the California Peace and Freedom Party during its convention on August 2. Nader won the nomination with 46 votes or 60.7% of the ballots, edging out challengers Gloria La Riva, Brian Moore and Cynthia McKinney. The nomination guarantees ballot access for Nader in California, which accounts for 10% of the national vote. Prior to the convention, Nader participated in a forum in Sacram

On Thursday, a man was charged with threatening to assassinate United States (U.S.) Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The suspect, Raymond Hunter Geisel, was arrested on Saturday by the U.S. Secret Service in Miami, Florida. Geisel, 22 years old, was found to have in his possession weapons as well as military type gear. He is being held without bail in Miami's downtown detention center. Geisel was attending a bail bondsman training course when he, according to a Secret Service affidavit, stated "that nigger, if he gets elected,

The two dominant parties of Pakistan's National Assembly have united in a coalition to impeach President Pervez Musharraf. The decision was announced by party leaders Asif Ali Zardari, widower of former premier Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif, with the parties aiming for a successful no-confidence vote against President Musharraf. The impeachment process is planned to start within the following week. There have been concerns that an attempt at impeachment would result in a detrimental political battle in a country already facing political ins