Portal:Current events/2008 June 16

June 16, 2008 (Monday)

Chadian rebels take the town Biltine as they move toward the capital N'Djamena. (BBC News)
Hundreds of Taliban militants swarm in the Arghandab District of Kandahar Province with the Afghan government sending reinforcements to the nearby city of Kandahar. (The New York Times)
Same-sex marriage in California comes into effect following a court ruling on May 15, 2008. (Reuters)
International Criminal Court judges severely criticize prosecutors in the case against Thomas Lubanga. (BBC News)
Israel and Syria conclude talks on the Golan Heights issue held in Turkey. (BBC News)
An official of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that effect food crisis on Somalia is creating a worse humanitarian situation than the War in Darfur. (BBC News)
Tiger Woods defeats Rocco Mediate in a playoff to win the 2008 U.S. Open Golf Championship. (AP via The New York Times)
The European Union agrees to tougher sanctions against Iran for its alleged nuclear weapons program with the United Kingdom freezing assets of Iran's largest bank Bank Melli. (AP via Google News)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
France announces plans to cut 54,000 defense jobs and push for a stronger European Security and Defence Policy as part of a new defense strategy. (AP via CNN)
South Korean construction workers join truck drivers in going on strike seeking higher pay and lower fuel costs. (Reuters)
Japan turns away a Taiwan activist boat near the disputed Senkaku Islands in a protest against a ship collision last week. (Reuters)
Heavy rainstorm and major flooding continues in the South China region. Millions of people are affected in Anhui, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong. Tens of thousands of victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake are evacuated due to heavy rains as 65 people are dead or missing with flood warnings on the Yangtze River and Pearl River amongst other rivers. (AFP)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
At least 12 police officers are killed and many more people wounded by a suicide bombing outside a police station in the town of Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka. (BBC News) (AFP via Yahoo! News)