• Russia says U.S. mercenaries, others fought for Georgia
• The Return of ‘White Tights’: Mythical Female Snipers Stalk Russians
• Alleged Shooting Fuels Tensions Between Moscow And Tbilisi

• Three Germans detained related to attack on EU office in Kosovo
• Kosovo ‘to work’ with EU mission
• Kosovo again opposes EULEX plan; Albania airs doubts

• UN Extends EU Peacekeeping Mandate in Bosnia
• Bosnia Defence and Security Report 2008

• Moldova’s Territorial Integrity Key Principle for Transdniestrian Settlement – U.S. Ambassador

• Ingushetia in ‘state of civil war’

• NATO eyes face-saver for Ukraine, Georgia

• Ukraine to prospect for gas on Black Sea shelf – PM Tymoshenko

• A court blocks an Arctic Ocean drilling plan by Shell

The Alternate History Theme Park Where Dinosaurs Fought in the Civil War

Hubble snaps planet orbiting distant star: First visible-light image of gravitationally-bound world

The Hubble space telescope has captured the first visible-light image of an exoplanet orbiting a star – a body no greater than three Jupiter masses, gravitationally-bound to Fomalhaut in the constellation Piscis Australis.

Mission Accomplished: India fifth in world to reach moon
High-Performance Ares Rocket Engine Passes Review
Shuttle Endeavour links with space station

Policeman Killed Near Abkhazia
EU monitors in Georgia ‘come under fire near Abkhazia’
U.S. studies another path for Georgia to join NATO

Explosive charge thrown at EU mission in Kosovo
EU’s Kosovo Mission In Doubt After Rejection Of UN Proposal
Aiming to partition Kosovo, Tadic reveals his Janus-like face

Putin holds talks on Transdniester

“Traditional marine cover will meet the cost of the ransom but none of the costs involved in the process. What we’ve found is the ransom can account for just 25 percent to 30 percent of the costs of the incident. Where K&R cover goes above the traditional marine policies is that it will become involved from the moment a vessel is seized.

Saakashvili Denies Georgian War Crimes During South Ossetia War
The truth about South Ossetia
Return a long way off for many Georgian refugees
Georgians Contemplate Future Five Years After Rose Revolution

Russian forces should withdraw from Moldova: Nato

“I sincerely hope on the basis on the principles we all agreed upon (in Istanbul) … a solution can be found,” the Nato chief said during a brief visit to Moldova. Trans-Dniester broke away in 1992 after a bloody war with Moldova that left more than 1,500 people dead. Russia maintains about 1,500troops and an unknown amount of light weapons in Trans-Dniester, despite calls by the United States and the European Union to respect the 1999 pledge to withdraw them.

Leader of troubled southern Russian republic quits
Ukraine says Russia pushing it out of arms market

Union for the Black Sea May Be Established in 2009

The New Cold War: Reviving the U.S. Presence in the Arctic

You won’t find Transdniestr on a European map because officially it doesn’t exist. In reality, however, it does, and here in Chisneau a babushka was selling bus tickets to where I wanted to go.

“Tirsapol! Bender!” she called out, naming Transdniestr’s two biggest cities.

It was a promising start but when I asked for a ticket to Tiraspol the babushka demanded my passport, flicked through its pages and handed it back. “No ticket,” she said, shaking her head. “You need invitation.”

Russian troops withdraw in western Georgia
Second Georgian policeman killed in Abkhazia
Tbilisi claims ethnic cleansing of Georgians

Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Giga Bokeria said the incident occurred late Friday after Ossetian paramilitaries set fire to ethnic Georgian homes in two South Ossetian villages, Koshka and Disevi.

“Then they poured kerosene on several residents of the villages and told them to leave,” Bokeria told the Associated Press.

EC: Kosovo heading for EU

He said that in the next two or three months dicussions would begin on Kosovo at the European Commission (EC), stressing that the province was part of this process, even though it had still not signed the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA).

Oil flow resumes at BTC pipeline after technical failure in Turkey

OK, more cheerful stuff tomorrow. Unless I have too much fun tonight, in which case, you should be cheerful for me.

Blossom Goodchild’s Predicted Mass UFO Sighting: Will it Force Disclosure to Occur?
Robbie Williams: UFO visited my studio

Last Tree-Sitters Descend From UC Berkeley Grove

SKorean ship seized by pirates off Somalia: sources

All my space news comes from Space Ref today:
Unique animal species can survive in space
NASA Developing Fission Surface Power Technology
SpaceX Receives USAF Operational License for Cape Canaveral Launch Site

Saakhashvili: Georgia has evidence Russia started the war (Extra)
Pentagon set on mission to rebuild Georgian military
Russians seized U.S. equipment
Georgia policeman shot and killed
South Ossetia, Abkhazia get security cover

Nervous EU offers Ukraine hope for the future but no seat at the table
Ukraine PM speaks against conflict over Russia’s Black Sea Fleet

Serbia `Unhappy’ with OSCE in Kosovo

Transdnestr marks anniversary of de-facto independence

NATO ships leave Black Sea after exercises
Hearings in the Romania vs Ukraine dispute on the Black Sea continental plateau continue

And in case you should think bombing the zoo is some sort of animal rights activism:
Ask the Wikipedia!!1!

In the category of “How Not To Do It”:
Sheriff’s investigation: Anarchists discussed kidnapping delegates

The main sources for the information were “regular surveillance” of the group and three people who posed as members — two informants and an undercover investigator. The informants monitored e-mails and conversations.

Check it out: when you announce to the world that you’re going to engage in organized criminal activity, the police tend to investigate you. You do remember they work to support the state, yes? And when you eschew leadership and organization, you shouldn’t be surprised that some jackass running his mouth about kidnapping seems as credible as your spokeperson (who you insist isn’t a “leader”, after all) when she says it’s all about organizing yourselves around the idea of mutual aid. Oh, and when you organize in public, you should expect to be easily infiltrated. It’s not like there haven’t been plenty of examples of this model failing in the past.

Anyway, Amy Goodman kicks ass:
Amy Goodman, one of four journalists arrested at an anti-RNC protest, tells her story
Why we were falsely arrested

And one more from the RNC, because I did say I wasn’t going to cover it:
Youth in iconic RNC protest photo was later beaten by police, according to his mother
If you’re a jaded old bastard like me, you might not see much that’s new in this story. But you should read it anyway.

OK, on to the rest of the world….

Major ice-shelf loss for Canada

Pirates seize French nationals off Somalia
Malaysia Sends Navy to Protect Ships Near Somalia From Pirates
EU to set up anti-Somalia pirates coordination

Third US ship heads to Georgia to deliver aid
NATO rejects Putin’s remarks on its military buildup in Black Sea
Tension on the rise in Black Sea, Turkey stuck in the middle
Russians Chase Off U.S. Ship … with ‘Loud Music’
Romania and Ukraine go to UN Court over Black Sea border

Report: Israeli Bombers Planned to Use Georgian Airfields in Iran Strike
Georgia Eager to Rebuild Its Defeated Armed Forces
Rice: U.S. to Give $1 Billion to ‘Help Georgia Sustain Itself’
Georgia lifts state of war

Ukraine Government Near Collapse

And introducing another new tag… Moldova!
Georgia crisis raises hopes in Moldovan rebel region

Truck Stops to Sell Tasers

The most dangerous seas in the world
Gates warns of militarization of US foreign policy
Breakaway Abkhazia opens mission in Moldova’s separatist region
Georgia pokes holes in German peace plan
Muslims furious at anthem and symbols adopted by Bosnian Serbs
Nasa Official: Moon Capsule Not Likely to Be Ready By 2013

The former Soviet periphery is as stable as ever:
At least 9 dead in wave of Russia violence
Kosovo officer and man wounded in shootout
Moldova outlaws Tiraspol Times; others

By way of Technoccult:
Who’s More Innovative When it Comes to Electric Vehicles? The Soviet Ministries of Ford and GM, or a Besieged Palestinian in Gaza?

Mars team gets peek at dark, glassy bits in soil