Portal:Current events/2008 September 7

September 7, 2008 (Sunday)

RENT closed on Broadway, leaving it the 7th longest running Broadway show, with its 12-year run, which began in 1996.
Serena Williams defeats Jelena Janković to win the U.S. Open for the third time, regaining the World Number 1 ranking for the first time in five years. (The New York Times)
Hurricane Ike damages 80 percent of homes in the Turks and Caicos Islands. (The Australian)
Two suicide bombers strike in the police headquarters in Kandahar, Afghanistan killing six officers and wounding several more. (AP via International Herald Tribune)
Subprime mortgage crisis: The United States federal government places mortgage financing companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae into conservatorship. The Federal Housing Finance Agency will manage the companies on a temporary basis. (Reuters)
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced an early election scheduled for October 14. (BBC News)
Kurt Beck, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany steps down. According to media reports, Frank Walter Steinmeier will become the candidate for Chancellor of Germany in the 2009 elections. (ARD German)
Floods in Brahmaputra River have displaced estimated 2.1 million people and caused 24 deaths in north-eastern state of Assam, India. (Times of India)
Voters in Hong Kong go to the polls for the Hong Kong legislative election, 2008. The Democratic Alliance remains the largest party in the legislature. (Xinhua) (Bloomberg)
Xinhua reports that 20 people are trapped in a coal mine in the Henan province of China following flooding. (AP via Charlotte Observer)^{[permanent dead link‍]}