Portal:Current events/2008 August 12

August 12, 2008 (Tuesday)

On August 12, 2008, a class action lawsuit was filed against Facebook, Blockbuster Inc., Overstock.com, Fandango, Hotwire.com, GameFly, Zappos.com, and any additional "John Doe" corporations that activated Facebook Beacon when they released their common member's personal information to their Facebook user friends without their consent through the Facebook Beacon program. The lawsuit alleges the release of the information was a violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act, Electronic Communication Privacy Act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and the California Computer Crime Law.
A missile strike on a suspected militant training camp in South Waziristan in Pakistan kills at least nine people. (AP via Jerusalem Post)
Mark David Chapman is denied parole for a fifth time for the murder of ex-Beatle John Lennon in 1980. (AP via Google News)
The United States Department of the Treasury imposes sanctions on five Iranian companies for assisting the development of the nuclear program of Iran. (Reuters)
2008 South Ossetia war:
- President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev announced that the operation of Russian forces in South Ossetia is completed. He added that 'The aggressor has been punished, having sustained considerable losses. Its armed forces have been disorganised'. Medvedev also ordered the Russian Ministry of Defence to consider awarding the peacekeepers and military personnel that have 'showed their best' during the operation. (InterFax) (BBC News)
- However, Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, said that signing a 'legally binding document on the non-use of force' by Georgia is a compulsory condition of starting the talks between the sides of the conflict. (BBC News)
- Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze says that Russian jets are still targeting civilians. (Reuters)
- BP shuts down two more oil and gas pipelines in Georgia 'as a precaution'. (AFP via Google News)
- The Georgian security council files a lawsuit against Russia in the International Court of Justice for alleged ethnic cleansing. (AP via Jerusalem Post)
  - However, both South Ossetian and Abkhazian Presidents Eduard Kokoity and Sergei Bagapsh claim that it is Georgia, namely Mikheil Saakashvili, who organized the ethnic cleansing against the civilian population in the breakaway republic of South Ossetia during the conflict. The South Ossetian leader added "no talks are possible with state criminals" and that "they must be trialed, not talked to." (AP via Yahoo! News) (Novy Region)
- The President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev agree to a six point ceasefire plan proposed by the President of France Nicolas Sarkozy. (CNN)
- U.S. Senator and Republican presidential candidate John McCain speaks against Russia’s military operations in Georgia, saying: "I know I speak for every American when I say today we are all Georgians." (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link]}
Floods and landslides associated with Tropical Storm Kammuri kill 28 people in southwest China and force 11,000 people from their homes. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
Michael Phelps of the United States wins his third gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 200-meter freestyle and sets a new world record and the 200-meter butterfly in qualifications. (The New York Times)
The Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox tie a modern MLB record scoring a combined 36 runs. The Boston Red Sox won the game 19-17.