Portal:Current events/2009 August 4

• Pro-government activist, Lina Ron, surrenders to Venezuelan authorities one day after attacking opposition television station Globovisión. President Hugo Chávez condemns the attack, saying it helps his opponents brand him as a tyrant. (BBC) (The Guardian)
• Former United States President Bill Clinton arrives in Pyongyang, North Korea, and secures the freedom of two detained American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee. (BBC) (Yonhap) (KCNA) (Al Jazeera) (The Times) (BBC)
• Georgia
  • In a phone conversation, the Russian and U.S. Presidents discussed the situation in Georgia and “the need to decrease tensions in the region,” the White House said. [In a phone conversation on August 4, the Russian and U.S. Presidents discussed the situation in Georgia and “the need to decrease tensions in the region,” the White House said. [In a phone conversation on August 4, the Russian and U.S. Presidents discussed the situation in Georgia and “the need to decrease tensions in the region,” the White House said. (Civil)].
  • Russia has established combat readiness of its troops in the separatist Georgian region of South Ossetia due to the strained situation (Rustavi 2).
  • Georgia urges the United States and the European Union to help avert a new war with Russia, as tensions escalate ahead of the first anniversary of the 2008 South Ossetia war. (AFP via Google News)
  • South Ossetian separatists throw grenades into Georgian and Russian checkpoints. (Rustavi2)
• Police in Australia foil a major terror operation involving a suicide attack on a military base understood to be Holsworthy Barracks on Sydney's western outskirts. (Sky News) (The Age) (The Hindu)
• 5,300 people flee flames which thousands of firefighters fight in British Columbia. (BBC) (Canada.com) (CBS News) (National Post)
• Bangkok Airways Flight PG 266 crashes into a disused control tower at Samui Airport on the island of Ko Samui, Thailand, killing at least one person. (Bangkok Post) (BBC) (China Daily) (RTÉ)
• A referendum on whether to extend Mamadou Tandja's presidency for a third term is held in Niger. (BBC) (Associated Press)
• Gotland governor Marianne Samuelsson is forced to resign after she was taped arguing that a local businessman should be given favourable treatment. (The Local)
• UBS remains cautious about its prospects after client withdrawals spurred by protracted U.S. tax litigation drags the Swiss bank into another big quarterly loss. (Reuters)
• John Yettaw, detained in Burma for making an uninvited visit to Aung San Suu Kyi, is taken to hospital suffering seizures. (BBC) (AFP) (CNN)
• After a public demonstration in support, a High Court judge in Ireland orders the release of Thomas Cook staff, including one woman who went into labour, who were arrested after occupying the company's premises on Grafton Street, Dublin. (The Irish Times) (Reuters) (RTÉ) (The Times)
• About 100 Algerians and Chinese clash in Algiers. (Reuters India) (BBC)
• Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua orders an investigation into the recent sectarian violence in the north of the country. (NEXT) (Reuters)
• Opposition groups in Iran call for further protests ahead of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's inauguration. (Associated Press)
• The trial of a Sudanese woman accused of public indecency after wearing trousers is adjourned for a second time after police disperse protesters outside the court. (IOL) (Al Jazeera)

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