The debate continues unabated – e. g. S. Georg 2004, A. Vovin 2005, S. Georg 2005 ( anti-Altaic ); S. Starostin 2005, V. Blažek 2006, M. Robbeets 2007, A. Dybo and G. Starostin 2008 ( pro-Altaic ).

* 2008 – 2008 Egyptian general strike starts led by Egyptian workers later to be adopted by April 6 Youth Movement and Egyptian activities.

* 1931 – Ivan Dixon, American actor and director ( d. 2008 )

* 1934 – Guy Peellaert, Belgian artist and photographer ( d. 2008 )

* 1948 – Jeremy Beadle, English television host ( d. 2008 )

* 2008 – Two skeletal remains found near Ekaterinburg, Russia are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia and one of his sisters.

* 1914 – Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian singer-songwriter, actor, and painter ( d. 2008 )

* 1923 – Francis Tucker, South African race car driver ( d. 2008 )

* 1932 – Cor Brom, Dutch footballer and manager ( d. 2008 )

* 1970 – Karl Unterkircher, Italian mountaineer ( d. 2008 )

* 2008 – A military junta led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz stages a coup d ' état in Mauritania, overthrowing president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.

* 2008 – Competition in the 2008 Summer Olympics in China proceeded with the women's association football tournament.

* 1955 – Gregory Bryant-Bey, American convicted murderer ( d. 2008 )

* 1965 – Mark Speight, English television host ( d. 2008 )

* 1935 – Beverlee McKinsey, American actress ( d. 2008 )

* 1976 – Mark Priestley, Australian actor ( d. 2008 )

* 2005 – Caylee Anthony, American murder victim ( d. 2008 )

Bilateral trade with Russia stood at more than $ 700 million for the first nine months of 2010 – on track to rebound to $ 1 billion mark first reached in 2008 prior to the global economic crisis.

Over half of the tax revenues in the January – August 2008 time period were generated from value-added taxes ( VAT ).

* 2008 – South Ossetian War: Russian units occupy the Georgian city of Gori.

* 1931 – Eddie Fuller, South African cricketer ( d. 2008 )

* 2008 – Jake Warren, Canadian diplomat ( b. 1921 )

* 1936 – Yves Saint Laurent, French fashion designer ( d. 2008 )

On July 9, 2008, Rick Dyer and Matthew Whitton posted a video to YouTube claiming that they had discovered the body of a dead Sasquatch in a forest in northern Georgia.

Georgia left the CIS in August 2008 after a clash with Russia over South Ossetia.

Without Abkhazia and South Osetia, the population in the regions controlled by the central government of Georgia was 4, 321, 500 in 2005 and 4, 382, 100 in 2008 ( compare the 2008 figure with the CIA estimate of 4, 630, 841 for all of Georgia, including Abkhazia and South Osetia ).

In 2008 Transparency International ranked Georgia 67th in its Corruption Perceptions Index, with a score of 3. 9 points out of 10 possible.

The Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Mrs. Nino Burjanadze took over the position until the results were announced on January 5, 2008.

Mikhail Saakashvili on May 22, 2008 announced his confident victory for his ruling party in parliamentary polls amid fears of political unrest, and rising tensions between Georgia and Russia.

In 2006 and in 2008, the World Bank named Georgia the top reformer in the world.

Due to reforms and liberalization of economy policy Georgia shows exceptional resilience to external shocks – Russian invasion in 2008 and global financial crisis.

Despite this, in 2008 Georgia economy grew by 2. 3 %.

Georgia relationships with Russia are at it lowest point in modern history due to Georgian-Russian espionage controversy and due to the 2008 South Ossetia war, Georgia broke off diplomatic relations with Russia and has left the Commonwealth of Independent States.

* Tinkov, S., Bekeredjian, R., Winter, G., Coester, C., Polyplex-conjugated microbubbles for enhanced ultrasound targeted gene therapy, 2008 AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition, 16 – 20 November, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA, USA, < http :// www. aapsj. org / abstracts / AM_2008 / AAPS2008-000838. PDF >

Russia also engaged in a minor war with Georgia in 2008.

** EUMM Georgia, from 2008 ( Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia ) – 21 out of 320 soldiers from 26 countries

Georgia responded to Nicaragua's concurrent recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by cutting diplomatic relations with the Central American state at the end of November 2008.

In an article published in October 2008, Lipponen discussed the Russian response in Georgia and warned Europe of its dependence on Russian gas.

* 2008 South Ossetia war – Russia invaded Georgia in response to Georgian aggression towards civilians and attack on South Ossetia.

** Georgia Frontiere, co-owner of the St. Louis Rams ( d. 2008 )

Rehabilitated, and outgrowing her aquarium, uShaka Marine World, Nandi moved to the larger Georgia Aquarium in August 2008, where she resides in its 6. 2-million-gallon " Ocean Voyager " exhibit.