ARTICLES DATE AND PLACE PERSONS ASPECTS IMPLICATION

INVOLVED

DECEMBER 1,08 LASHKAR- THE

India Says Pakistan PAKISTAN TAIBA SOCIAL ASPECTNEGATIVE
Was Behind Terrorist AND THE EFFECT OF
Attack :Indian officials INDIANS THIS ARTICLE
OFFICIALS. was many
say Pakistani militants INDIANS AND people who is
carried out the brazen U.S OFFICIALS innocent were
attack on several killed in this
landmarks in Mumbai attack.
that killed 173 people.
The accusation further
strains an already tense
relationship between
the two countries.
Indian and U.S. officials
say they believe the
militant Islamic group
Lashkar-e-Taiba was
involved.

DECEMBER 11.08 KURDISH SOCIAL POSTITIVE

Suicide Bomber ASPECT EFFECTS:
Targets Meeting to IN NORTHERN IRAQ I think there
Bridge Sectarian is no positive
effect
Divide: Nearly 50 happened in
people are killed in the this article.
bombing at a restaurant
in northern Iraq, where NEGATIVE
Kurdish leaders and EFFECTS:
members of the Sunni Many people
killed in the
Awakening Councils bombing
were meeting to
discuss ways to reduce
tension in Kirkuk
between Arabs and
Kurds.

DECEMBER 28.09 HAMAS and THE

Israel Launches RUSSIA SOCIAL NEGATIVE
ISRAEL ASPECT EFFECT is that
Airstrikes into Gaza:
Days after the cease- their country
became worst
fire between Israel and
Hamas expired, Hamas because of
begins launching rocket the airstrikes.
attacks into Israel,
which retaliates with
airstrikes that killed
about 300 people.
Israel targets Hamas
bases, training camps,
and missile storage
facilities.

2008 HINDUS, SOCIAL There are no

India Rocked By MUSLIM, positive.
INDIA CHRISTIANS,
a Wave of The negative
Terrorist effect many
Attack innocent
civilians are
9:03 PM dying.
During much of 2008,
India experienced a
series of terrorist
attacks largely blamed
on Islamic militants,
as well
as religious and
ethnic clashes that
pitted Muslims against
Hindus
and Hindus
against Christians.
None of the attacks,
however, were
nearly as
devastating as the
November attacks on
several of
Mumbai's landma
rks and commercial
hubs. Ten gunmen laid
siege to the city
for three days,
killing 173 people and
exposing India's utter
lack
of preparedness
for such an attack.
Indian and U.S.
officials said
they have
evidence that the
Pakistan-based
militant Islamic
group Lashkar-e-
Taiba was responsible.

AUGUST 2008 RUSSIAN AND SOCIAL There are no

Russian- RUSSIA AND South GEORGIAN positive.
Ossetia and The negative
Georgian Abkhazia, effect many
Conflict people were
killed.
9:04 PM

In August 2008,
fighting between
Georgia and its two
breakaway regions,
South Ossetia and
Abkhazia, broke out.
Russia sent hundreds
of troops to support
the enclaves, and also
launched airstrikes
and occupied the
Georgian cities of
Tbilisi and Gori.
Observers speculated
that Russia aggressive
tactics marked an
attempt to gain
control of Georgia oil
and gas export routes.

JANUARY 10-11 TALIBAN SOCIAL There is no

46 Die in Taliban MILITANTS ASPECTS positive .
Attack in Pakistan PAKISTAN Negative
(Jan. 10–11): At least :there are
46 Pakistani soldiers many Taliban
and militants at a die in the
paramilitary base attack in
were killed when Pakistan.
hundreds of Taliban
militants crossed the
border of Pakistan.
9:08 PM
 JANUARY 9 UNEMPLOYEE ECONOMIC
9:08 PM
S
Jobless Rates Reach
7.2% (Jan. 9):
Unemployment is at a
16-year high, 7.2%,
according to the Labor
Department. 524,000
jobs were lost in
December 2008, for a
total of 2.6 million in
2008. More than 11
million Americans are
currently unemployed.

Shelling near Sri

Lankan Hospital
Kills 9 (Feb. 2): As a
result of three artillery
attacks in
Puthukkudiyiruppu, Sri
Lanka, at least nine
people were killed.
The last shelling hit a
ward for women and
children. The Sri
Lankan military is
trying to overthrow
the area, controlled by
guerrillas from the
rebel group Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam;
it is uncertain whose
blasts were the cause
of the deaths.

Fire in Beijing
Destroys Hotel
(Feb. 9): Illegal
fireworks in Beijing,
China—set off to
celebrate the final day
of festivities for the
Lunar New Year—
caused the Mandarin
Oriental Hotel to catch
fire. The hotel is part
of China Central
Television's
headquarters, and the
hotel was under
construction, leaving it
more vulnerable to
fire. CCTV hired the
fireworks company
and later apologized
for the blaze. One
firefighter was killed
and seven people
were injured due to
the fire.

Critic of Chechen
President Killed
(Jan. 13): Umar S.
Israilov, 27, a vocal
critic of President
Ramzan A. Kadyrov of
Chechnya, was killed
while in exile in
Austria. Israilov, a
Chechen, had once
worked as a
bodyguard to
President Kadyrov, but
he later filed a
complaint against the
government, citing
abduction and torture
as common practice
for handling
insurgents and their
families.

President of Guinea-
Bissau Killed (Mar. 2):
President João
Bernardo Vieira of the
small African country of
Guinea-Bissau has
been shot to death by
Army troops. The
assassination is said to
be a retaliation for a
bomb attack that killed
the army chief of staff,
Gen. Batista Tagme Na
Wai, on March 1, which
they blame on the
President. According to
The New York Times,
the military denies that
a coup is under way,
stating that the
president's killers are
an isolated group of
soldiers.