Georgia on Sept. 2 formally broke diplomatic relations with Russia following its occupation of a "security zone" in the north of the country and its Aug. 26 recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent countries. (AFP, Sept. 2) Russia responded by accusing Georgia of mobilizing commando units near its border with South Ossetia. "According to our information, Georgian security forces are trying to restore their [military] presence in Georgian populated villages in South Ossetia," Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of Russia's General Staff, said. "With this aim, Georgia is mobilizing its special forces from the interior and defense ministries near the administrative border with South Ossetia." (RIA-Novosti, Sept. 2)

Ex-UK prime minister Tony Blair's sister-in-law Lauren Booth is among ten peace activists who arrived in Gaza by sea last month and remain stuck there, denied entry by both Israel and Egypt. Israeli authorities allowed the boat to dock Aug. 23 despite the naval blockade. Booth and her nine comrades remained in the Strip as the rest of the 44 "Free Gaza" activists returned to Cyprus Aug. 29.

Journalist Amy Goodman was arrested in St. Paul, Minn., where she was covering the RNC protests Sept. 1. Goodman was arrested along with Democracy Now! producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, who are still being held. Ramsey County authorities say Goodman was released after being charged with "conspiracy to riot." It is unclear of Kouddous and Salazar will face charges.

On Aug. 27 Mexico's Supreme Court of Justice voted 11-3 to uphold an April 2007 law in the Federal District (DF, Mexico City) allowing voluntary abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The Catholic Church and the governing center-right National Action Party (PAN) had sought to have the law declared unconstitutional. The court's decision, which opens the way for other state governments to legalize abortion, became official on Aug. 28. (La Jornada, Aug. 28, 29)

On Aug. 21 Alberto Cervantes Juarez, first criminal court judge in Texcoco for the central Mexican state of Mexico, sentenced campesino leader Ignacio del Valle Medina to 45 years in prison for allegedly kidnapping state officials and state and federal police agents. Judge Cervantes Juarez sentenced 10 other campesino activists to 31 years, 10 months and 15 days on the same charges. He handed down the sentences in the Molino de Flores state prison in Texcoco; 500 state riot police guarded the prison to "protect" the judge. About 150 Atenco residents arrived at the prison later in the day to protest the sentences.

Most of the 23,000 school teachers in the central Mexican state of Morelos went on strike on Aug. 13 to protest the local implementation of a national plan called the Alliance for Quality of Education (ACE). The teachers, in Local 19 of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE), say that the plan is oriented towards consumerism and the commercialization of education and that it was imposed in ways that violate their constitutional rights. ACE was created through an agreement between Mexican president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa and Elba Esther Gordillo Morales, longtime national president of the 1.5 million-member SNTE.

On Aug. 28 a federal criminal court in the northwestern Argentine province of Tucumán sentenced former generals Antonio Domingo Bussi and Luciano Benjamin Menendez to life in prison for the kidnapping, torture and disappearance of ex-senator Guillermo Vargas Aignasse in 1976, during the coup that started the country's 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

Cuban punk rocker Gorki Aguila, lead singer of Porno para Ricardo, charged with "social dangerousness" because of his songs denouncing and deriding the government, was released with a $28 fine after calling upon his fans to hold a public protest. Facing up to four years in prison for lyrics scorning Fidel and Raul Castro as "geriatrics," the 39-year-old singer was arrested Aug. 25 and charged with subverting "communist morality." Supporters were due to assemble at Havana's Malecón promenade to protest Aug. 28. "We invite everyone to gather and shout Gorki," said the band's (foreign-based) website. At the last minute, judicial authorities backed down and agreed to the fine. The banner on the website currently reads "We've won the battle!" (Ganamos la batalla!)