Wikipedia:ITN archives/2008

A listing of 2008's items on Template:In the news. The next archive is at Wikipedia:ITN in 2009.

January

• Cyprus and Malta become the 14th and 15th countries to adopt the euro as their currency, replacing the Cypriot pound and the Maltese lira.
• The price of oil reaches a record high of US$100 per barrel before falling.
• The 2008 Dakar Rally is cancelled due to security concerns following the death of four French tourists in Mauritania.
• The Indian cricket team's tour of Australia is temporarily suspended following a controversial Test match, due to a racism incident involving Harbhajan Singh, along with claims of poor sportsmanship and bad umpiring.
• The 65th Golden Globe Awards ceremony is cancelled due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike.
• Former Colombian vice presidential candidate Clara Rojas is released by FARC guerrillas after nearly six years in captivity.
• Mikheil Saakashvili wins the Georgian presidential elections amidst allegations of vote-rigging.
• Indian car manufacturer Tata Motors unveils the world's least expensive production car, the Tata Nano, priced at 100,000 rupees (US$2,500).
• Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the first two people to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953, dies at age 88 in New Zealand.
• The Kuomintang and its allies win a landslide victory in the Republic of China (Taiwan) legislative elections, securing more than three quarters of the seats in the Legislative Yuan.
• NASA's MESSENGER flies by Mercury, the first spacecraft to do so in thirty-three years.
• David Thompson of the Democratic Labour Party becomes Prime Minister of Barbados following parliamentary elections.
• Two crew members of the Sea Shepherd vessel MV Steve Irwin are detained on a Japanese whaling ship after boarding it.
• British Airways Flight 38 crash lands short of the runway at London Heathrow Airport, narrowly missing the perimeter fence and local homes; there are no fatalities.
• Former World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer dies in Iceland.
• Tomislav Nikolić and Boris Tadić advance to the second round of presidential elections in Serbia.
• Stock markets throughout the world fall, resulting in the U.S. Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 0.75%, the largest single cut in interest rates since October 1984.
• Australian actor Heath Ledger dies at the age of 28 in Manhattan, New York.
• An interim flag of Iraq is adopted, removing three stars associated with the Baath Party; a permanent design is expected within the next year.
• A peace deal ends the Kivu conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Société Générale, one of the largest banks in Europe, says one of its traders, Jérôme Kerviel, cost it €4.9 billion by making unauthorized trades.
• Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians cross through holes in the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt to stock up on supplies cut off by an Israeli blockade.
• Prime Minister Romano Prodi of Italy loses a confidence vote in the Senate and resigns.
• In tennis, Novak Đoković of Serbia and Maria Sharapova of Russia win the singles titles at the 2008 Australian Open.
• Former Indonesian President Suharto dies at age 86.

February

• Severe winter storms cause at least 63 deaths across central and southern China.
• UFD rebels fight Chadian government troops in a battle for the capital, N'Djamena.
• An earthquake at Lake Kivu kills at least 39 people in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Boris Tadić is re-elected as President of Serbia, defeating Tomislav Nikolić.
• In American football, the New York Giants defeat the season's previously unbeaten New England Patriots 17–14 in Super Bowl XLII.
• Damage to several undersea cables disrupts internet services in parts of Asia and Africa.
• A tornado outbreak across the Southern United States kills at least 59 people and injures more than 100 others.
• Space Shuttle Mission STS-122 launches from Kennedy Space Center to deliver the Columbus module to the International Space Station.
• A fire on the Turkish freighter UND Adriyatik is extinguished, dispelling fears of an oil spill and environmental damage.
• In football (soccer), Egypt wins the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, defeating Cameroon 1–0 in the final in Accra, Ghana.
• President José Ramos-Horta of East Timor is wounded in an attack that leaves rebel leader Alfredo Reinhado dead.
• The 50th Annual Grammy Awards take place in Los Angeles, USA.
• Namdaemun, the southern gate of the original walls surrounding Seoul during the Joseon Dynasty, is partially destroyed by arson.
• The Columbus science laboratory built by the European Space Agency is attached to the International Space Station during space shuttle mission STS-122.
• Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issues a formal apology to the indigenous Stolen Generations on behalf of the Parliament of Australia.
• The Writers Guild of America votes to end a three-month strike pending approval of a new contract by guild members.
• The Swedish government refuses to consider Nord Stream's application to build an underwater gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.
• Václav Klaus is re-elected as the President of the Czech Republic.
• The British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announces plans to nationalise the Northern Rock bank following credit problems caused by the subprime mortgage crisis.
• Kosovo's parliament endorses a unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia and adopts a flag; response from the international community is mixed.
• Bank Julius Bär secures a permanent injunction against the domain registrar for Wikileaks, making the website unavailable.
• Fidel Castro announces his retirement as the President of Cuba.
• Toshiba announces it is ceasing production of HD DVD equipment, conceding the high definition format war to the rival Blu-ray Disc format.
• The Pakistan Peoples Party wins a plurality in the Pakistani general election following a state of emergency and pre-election violence, and forms a coalition with the Pakistan Muslim League (N).
• Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan is elected President of Armenia.
• A total lunar eclipse, visible from the Americas, Europe, and Africa, occurs.
• American spy satellite USA 193 is destroyed by a missile launched by the U.S. Navy.
• Forty-six people are killed in the crash of Santa Bárbara Airlines Flight 518 in Venezuela.
• Turkey launches a ground incursion against the Kurdistan Workers Party in northern Iraq.
• The National Assembly of People's Power unanimously selects Raúl Castro to succeed his brother Fidel as President of Cuba.
• Dimitris Christofias of the Progressive Party of Working People is elected President of Cyprus, defeating Ioannis Kasoulidis (Democratic Rally) in the run-off.
• The 80th Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles, with No Country for Old Men winning four Oscars including Best Picture.
• The New York Philharmonic becomes the first Western orchestra to perform a concert in North Korea.
• The euro reaches a record high closure exchange rate of US$1.5167.
• The European Union fines Microsoft €899 million for non-compliance with a 2003 antitrust ruling, the largest penalty the EU has ever imposed on a single company.
• Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga agree to form a coalition government to resolve the country's political crisis.

March

• Dmitry Medvedev is elected to succeed Vladimir Putin as President of Russia.
• Colombian armed forces launch an attack in Ecuadorian territory, killing Raúl Reyes, a FARC commander, and triggering a diplomatic crisis with Ecuador and Venezuela.
• An ongoing energy crisis in Central Asia hits the mountainous nation of Tajikistan during its coldest winter in five decades.
• Senator John McCain of Arizona secures the Republican nomination in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
• Eight people are killed in a shooting at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem.
• The diplomatic crisis triggered by a Colombian military operation launched within Ecuadorian territory against the FARC is resolved.
• The European Space Agency sends the resupply spacecraft Jules Verne to the International Space Station.
• The Barisan Nasional, despite its largest loss of seats in forty years, maintains a majority in the Parliament of Malaysia.
• NASA announces evidence of rings around the Saturnian moon Rhea, which would be the first known rings around a moon.
• Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica resigns following disagreements with his cabinet over the EU and Kosovo.
• Warren Buffett surpasses Bill Gates to become the wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes magazine.
• Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of the Socialist Workers' Party is re-elected.
• The Nationalist Party of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi narrowly wins the general election in Malta.
• Space Shuttle mission STS-123 is launched on an assembly mission to the International Space Station, carrying the first Japanese component and Canada's Dextre.
• Eliot Spitzer announces his resignation as Governor of New York amidst reports he was a client of an illegal prostitution ring.
• Mar Paulos Faraj Rahho, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul who was kidnapped in Iraq last month, is found murdered.
• Protests in Tibet against the Chinese government result in numerous fatalities.
• The U.S. Federal Reserve takes unprecedented action to stem panic on Wall Street, including the provision of funding for JPMorgan Chase's buyout of collapsing rival Bear Stearns.
• The wreckages of HMAS Sydney and the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran are located off the coast of Western Australia, 66 years after their mutual destruction in battle.
• David Paterson is sworn in as the first black Governor of New York (and the fourth ever in the U.S.) after Eliot Spitzer resigns amidst a prostitution scandal.
• A permanent coalition government agreement is reached in Belgium, ending a nine-month stalemate, as Yves Leterme is sworn in as Prime Minister.
• French swimmer Alain Bernard sets a new world record for the men's 100 metres freestyle in 47.50 seconds.
• Kuomintang candidate Ma Ying-jeou is elected President of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Two referenda on joining the United Nations fail due to low turnout.
• The Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party wins Bhutan's first democratic general election.
• African Union and Comoros forces invade the rebel-held island of Anjouan.
• A 405 km² (156.4 sq mi) piece breaks off from the Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
• Landmarks in cities around the world go dark as part of Earth Hour, an international event to promote energy conservation.
• Jean Nouvel of France wins the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

April

• Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Bertie Ahern announces he is to resign on 6 May, following continued controversy related to his testimony at the Mahon Tribunal.
• Ian Khama is inaugurated as President of Botswana, succeeding Festus Mogae.
• The Movement for Democratic Change secures a plurality of seats in the Zimbabwean parliamentary election, defeating incumbent President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF. Results in the presidential election remain unclear.
• Greek and Turkish Cypriots open a crossing at Ledra Street, a main shopping street in Cyprus' divided capital Nicosia.
• Jules Verne, the first European Automated Transfer Vehicle, successfully performs a fully automated docking with the International Space Station.
• At its summit in Bucharest, NATO invites Albania and Croatia to join the alliance.
• Filip Vujanović of the Democratic Party of Socialists is re-elected as President of Montenegro.
• The Washington Post wins six awards and Bob Dylan receives a special citation in the 2008 Pulitzer Prizes.
• The Olympic torch relay is disrupted in London, Paris and San Francisco by protesters objecting to China's human rights record.
• Soyuz TMA-12 is launched, carrying Yi So-yeon, the first South Korean in space, for a mission to the International Space Station.
• The Grand National Party of President Lee Myung-bak wins a majority of seats in the National Assembly of South Korea.
• The Channel Island Sark abolishes the last remaining feudal system in Europe.
• Jacques-Édouard Alexis is ousted as Prime Minister of Haiti following riots over the price of food.
• Trevor Immelman of South Africa wins the 2008 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club.

The infamous Fernando Lugo image represented a stagnant, slow-moving ITN, and drew numerous complaints, which led to ITN reform.

• An alliance led by Silvio Berlusconi of the People of Freedom party wins the general election in Italy.
• An airliner operated by Hewa Bora Airways crashes upon takeoff in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least 47 people.
• In auto racing, Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300, becoming the first female driver to win an IndyCar race.
• Fernando Lugo wins the presidential election in Paraguay, ending the Colorado Party's 61-year rule.
• Researchers discover what is believed to be the first use of oil painting at Bamyan in Afghanistan, predating European oil painting by some six centuries.
• Maoists win a plurality of seats in the Nepalese Constituent Assembly election, the first election in Nepal in nine years.
• A train collision near Zibo, China, kills at least 72 people.

May

• In Zimbabwe, results of the presidential election held in March 2008 are announced with no outright winner, necessitating a run-off between Morgan Tsvangirai and incumbent Robert Mugabe.
• HP Labs announces the creation of a memristor, the fourth basic element of electronic circuits with the resistor, capacitor, and inductor.
• Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef takes office as Prime Minister of Mauritania.
• An international relief operation begins after Cyclone Nargis strikes Burma,
• Brian Cowen succeeds Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach (prime minister) of the Republic of Ireland.
• Dmitry Medvedev is sworn in as the third President of Russia, replacing Vladimir Putin, who becomes the Prime Minister.
• Skirmishes erupt in Beirut between supporters of Lebanon's government and the opposition.
• A tornado outbreak in Oklahoma and Missouri, United States, kills at least 25 people.
• The Burmese military regime conducts a constitutional referendum days after the cyclone's strike.
• Sudan cuts diplomatic relations with Chad, blaming it for helping rebels from Darfur to launch an attack on Sudan's capital, Khartoum.
• President Boris Tadić's coalition For a European Serbia wins a plurality in Serbia's first parliamentary election since the Kosovo declaration of independence, displacing the Serbian Radical Party as the largest party.
• An earthquake measuring 7.9 M_w strikes Sichuan, China, with more than 51,000 people confirmed dead.
• A series of bomb blasts in Jaipur, India, kills at least 63 people.
• The Nigerian Red Cross reports that at least 100 people are dead after a pipeline explosion in Lagos.
• Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Liberation Party is re-elected President of the Dominican Republic.
• Russia wins the 2008 World Championship in ice hockey, defeating Canada in the final.
• At least 40 people are killed as a wave of anti-foreign violence spreads across South Africa.
• Ma Ying-jeou is sworn in as the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
• Manchester United win the UEFA Champions League, defeating Chelsea in the final.
• The Union of South American Nations, a supranational union modelled on the European Union, is founded in Brasília.
• The International Court of Justice awards Pedra Branca to Singapore and Middle Rocks to Malaysia, ending a 29-year territorial dispute between the two countries.
• Dima Bilan wins the Eurovision Song Contest for Russia with "Believe".
• The Lebanese Parliament elects General Michel Sleiman, commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, to the six-month-vacant post of president.
• In rugby union, Munster defeat Toulouse to win the Heineken Cup.
• In auto racing, Scott Dixon wins the Indianapolis 500 and Lewis Hamilton wins the Monaco Grand Prix.
• NASA's Phoenix lands on Mars, the first successful powered descent on the planet in over 30 years.
• Ethiopia's Supreme Court upholds former ruler Mengistu Haile Mariam's conviction and sentences him to death in absentia for his role in the Red Terror.
• An earthquake in Colombia kills 11 and injures 54.
• In the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, the People's Republic of China evacuates 100,000 people from Mianyang as engineers prepare to drain the landslide dam-created Tangjiashan Lake.
• The State Peace and Development Council of Burma extends opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest by one year.
• Nepal is declared a republic by its newly elected government, and King Gyanendra ends his reign as the last of a 240-year-old monarchy.
• In Dublin, over 100 countries adopt the Convention on Cluster Munitions banning cluster bombs.
• Paleontologists discover Materpiscis, a 380-million-year-old placoderm fish which is the earliest known animal to bear live young.
• Snowstorms in eastern Mongolia kill 26 people; 51 people remain missing.
• Former Croatian Army general Mirko Norac is sentenced by a Croatian court to seven years in prison for his role in the 1993 Operation Medak Pocket.
• Grupo TACA Flight 390, an Airbus A320 flying from San Salvador, El Salvador, crashes in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
• Space Shuttle mission STS-124 launches, carrying the Japanese laboratory Kibō's main module for the International Space Station.

June

• In rugby union, the Crusaders defeat the New South Wales Waratahs in the 2008 Super 14 Final.
• Usain Bolt of Jamaica sets a new world record of 9.72 seconds in the 100 metre sprint at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York.
• In the Republic of Macedonia, the governing Christian democratic VMRO–DPMNE wins a landslide victory in parliamentary elections amid reports of violence in ethnic Albanian areas.
• The Australian Army ends its combat role in Iraq, as about 500 troops withdraw from Nasiriyah.
• A car bomb explodes outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing at least five.
• The United Nations Security Council unanimously passes a declaration allowing foreign naval vessels to enter Somali territorial waters to deal with pirates.
• Senator Barack Obama secures the Democratic Party nomination in the U.S. Presidential campaign, the first African American ever to do so.
• Zimbabwean police briefly detain foreign diplomats and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai before the second round of the presidential election.
• In ice hockey, the Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup by defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games in the 2008 Finals.
• Turkey's Constitutional Court reinstates a ban on the hijab in universities, citing the constitution's secular principles.
• Israeli minister Shaul Mofaz threatens an attack on Iran's nuclear program.
• The Diet of Japan recognizes the Ainu as an indigenous people for the first time.
• In tennis, Rafael Nadal and Ana Ivanović win the singles titles in the 2008 French Open.
• The government of Southern Sudan withdraws its mediation efforts at the Juba talks between Uganda and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army.
• Seven people are killed and ten injured in a stabbing spree in Tokyo, Japan.
• Following a coal mine collapse in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, 24 miners are rescued with 12 still missing and one reported dead.
• IBM and Los Alamos National Laboratory break a processing speed record with the world's first general-purpose petaflop computer, Roadrunner.
• Sudan Airways Flight 109 crashes on landing at Khartoum International Airport in Khartoum, Sudan, killing dozens.
• Japan's House of Councillors passes a censure motion against Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, the first such motion to be passed since World War II.
• Amid an outbreak of tornadoes and derechos in central and eastern North America, a tornado hits a Boy Scout camp in Iowa, killing four.
• Pakistan condemns a United States air strike near the Afghan border that killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary troops, along with eight Taliban militants.
• The People's Republic of China and Taiwan hold their first formal talks in a decade on improving cross-Strait relations.
• Irish voters reject the Treaty of Lisbon in a referendum, thus putting into question the reform program of the European Union.
• Flooding continues in the Midwestern United States, leading to the evacuation of thousands of homes.
• NBC journalist Tim Russert dies suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 58.
• A magnitude 6.8 M_w earthquake strikes Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures on the Japanese island of Honshū.
• A new constitution takes effect in Kosovo, whose February declaration of independence has been recognised by 43 United Nations member states.
• In golf, Tiger Woods defeats Rocco Mediate in a playoff to win the 2008 U.S. Open, his 14th major victory.
• A Taiwanese activist boat circumnavigates the disputed Japanese-controlled Diaoyutai/Senkaku Islands following a diplomatically charged ship collision the previous week.
• Large areas of southern China are hit by the worst floods in decades with Guangzhou and Shenzhen most affected, and at least 169 fatalities and 1.66 million people evacuated.
• In basketball, the Boston Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers to win the 2008 NBA Finals.
• Afghan and Canadian-led ISAF forces begin an offensive against Taliban insurgents in the Arghandab District of Kandahar Province.
• Sweden approves the FRA law, anti-terrorism legislation allowing e-mails and phone calls to be monitored by the Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment.
• Relatives of Srebrenica massacre victims open a case in a Dutch court against the United Nations and the Netherlands for the failure of the Dutchbat force to prevent the killings.
• The NASA/CNES Jason-2 satellite launches, with a mission of furthering the study of physical oceanography.
• Typhoon Fengshen hits the Philippines, killing dozens on land, forcing tens of thousands to seek shelter and sinking the ferry MV Princess of the Stars with hundreds of passengers missing.
• Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdraws his candidacy from the June 27 run-off presidential election as election-related violence escalates.
• A U.S. appeals court rules that Hozaifa Parhat, a Chinese Uyghur militant currently detained at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, cannot be ruled an "enemy combatant" because he never took up arms against the United States.
• NASA confirms ice at the Phoenix lander site on Mars after bright clumps uncovered by digging are found to have sublimated.
• The state government of India's Jammu and Kashmir has rebuked the decision to transfer forested land to Amarnath shrine following wide protests across the state.
• New Zealand agrees to hand over forestry assets to seven Maori tribes as part of the reconciliation process.
• Pakistan holds by-elections, with the contest for one seat delayed by the Supreme Court until it can handle the appeal of disqualified candidate Nawaz Sharif, former Prime Minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (N).
• In District of Columbia v. Heller, the United States Supreme Court rules that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual's right to bear arms, with possible consequences for existing gun control laws.
• In District of Columbia v. Heller, the United States Supreme Court rules that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual's right to bear arms, with possible consequences for existing gun control laws.
• Serbian President Boris Tadić names Mirko Cvetković as the new Prime Minister following the parliamentary election held in May.
• Robert Mugabe is sworn in for his sixth term as President of Zimbabwe after a controversial run-off presidential election in which opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew his candidacy due to election-related violence.
• Spain win the European Football Championship, defeating Germany 1–0 in the final through a goal scored by Fernando Torres.
• Thousands of Chinese riot in Guizhou; targeting local government buildings and officials over an alleged police cover-up of the death of a teenage girl.

July

• A Palestinian man drives a front-end loader into several vehicles in Jerusalem, killing three before being shot dead.
• A four-day state of emergency is declared in Mongolia after violent protests follow the legislative elections.
• Íngrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages are rescued by the Colombian government after being held captive by FARC guerillas.
• NASA announces the discovery of water in the atmosphere of Mercury by its MESSENGER probe.
• A series of explosions at a depot storing 1,500 tonnes of obsolete munitions forces the evacuation of some 2,000 people in Sofia and the closure of the Bulgarian capital's main airport.
• Clashes are reported between Georgian and South Ossetian forces near Tskhinvali.
• In tennis, Rafael Nadal of Spain and Venus Williams of the United States win the men's and women's singles title, respectively, at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships.
• An explosion near the Lal Masjid in Islamabad, Pakistan, kills at least 18 people on the first anniversary of the deadly siege and storming of the mosque.
• A suicide bomber rams a car bomb into the Indian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing 58 people.
• Leaders of the nations meeting in Japan for the 34th G8 summit agree to a target of cutting world greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent by 2050.
• Iran test-fires the Shahab-3, a missile with an operating range of 2,100 km (1,300 mi), amid rising international tensions over the country's nuclear program.
• In Grenada, Tillman Thomas succeeds Keith Mitchell as the new Prime Minister following the National Democratic Congress' win in the general elections.
• India submits its nuclear safeguards agreement to the International Atomic Energy Agency to implement the Indo-US nuclear deal.
• Three members of the Turkish police force are killed during an armed attack on the United States consulate in Istanbul, with three attackers also dead.
• Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie is awarded The Best of the Booker, as the best novel to have won a Man Booker Prize in the first 40 years of its existence.
• IndyMac Bank is placed into conservatorship by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in one of the largest banking failures in United States history.
• Mount Okmok on the island of Umnak in the Aleutian Islands erupts.
• European Union members and other nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea form the 43-member Union for the Mediterranean.
• Dayana Mendoza from Venezuela is crowned Miss Universe 2008.
• The International Astronomical Union classifies Makemake as a dwarf planet.
• Belgian brewer InBev agrees to buy US-based Anheuser-Busch for over 50 billion dollars; if successful, the merged firm would surpass SABMiller as the world's largest brewing company.
• The Taliban attack an outpost in Afghanistan, killing nine ISAF soldiers.
• The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, requests a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir in connection to the conflict in Darfur.
• Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is arrested over allegations that he sodomised a male aide.
• The Sri Lankan military captures a coastal town in Sri Lanka's Mannar District from rebel Tamil Tigers.
• Pope Benedict XVI speaks to 150,000 pilgrims in Sydney, Australia for World Youth Day 2008.
• Typhoon Kalmaegi strikes the Philippines, Taiwan, and China, killing at least fifteen.
• Over a thousand soldiers from Cambodia and Thailand mass near Preah Vihear Temple, the focus of a military standoff over a disputed border.
• In golf, Pádraig Harrington wins the British Open for a second consecutive year.
• Ram Baran Yadav of the Nepali Congress party wins Nepal's presidential election, defeating Ram Raja Prasad Singh of the Communist Party (Maoist).
• Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić is arrested by security forces in Serbia on war crimes charges, including genocide, after a 12-year manhunt.
• Hurricane Dolly, currently near the United States–Mexico border, kills at least 17 in Guatemala.
• Zimbabwe introduces a new 100-billion-dollar bank note as the annual inflation rate hits 2.2 million percent.
• The first trial of a Guantanamo Bay detention camp inmate begins with Salim Hamdan, the former driver and bodyguard of Osama bin Laden, pleading not guilty to charges of conspiracy and supporting terrorism.
• Two are killed and more are injured after bus explosions in Kunming, China.
• India's United Progressive Alliance-led government survives a confidence vote, held after the Left Front withdrew its support over the Indo-US nuclear deal.
• Cape Verde joins the World Trade Organization, becoming its 153rd member.
• The International Olympic Committee bans Iraq's team from competing in the 2008 Summer Olympics because of interference by the government in the national-level committee.
• Kapiliele Faupala is crowned the new King of Wallis (Uvea), succeeding the late Tomasi Kulimoetoke II in Wallis and Futuna.
• A series of bomb blasts in Ahmedabad, India, kills at least forty-five people and injures over one hundred, one day after a similar attack in Bangalore killed two people and injured twenty.
• In cycling, Carlos Sastre of Spain wins the 2008 Tour de France.
• Two bombs explode in Istanbul, Turkey, killing at least seventeen and injuring more than 150.
• King George Tupou V of Tonga relinquishes many of his powers, ending centuries of absolute monarchy.
• Navanethem Pillay of South Africa is appointed to succeed Louise Arbour as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
• The International Olympic Committee lifts the ban imposed five days earlier on Iraq's team, allowing them to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics.
• World Trade Organization trade talks in Geneva collapse after disagreements between developed and developing nations over access to agricultural markets.
• The Constitutional Court of Turkey rules against a ban on the ruling Justice and Development Party after it was accused of anti-secularism.
• Amidst accusations of corruption, Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert announces he will resign following the Kadima party leadership election in September.

August

• A total solar eclipse visible from northern Canada, Greenland, central Russia, eastern Kazakhstan, western Mongolia and China occurs.
• U.S. government officials claim that elements of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence aided militants in last month's suicide car bomb attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.
• The International Olympic Committee and Chinese organizers announce that some Internet restrictions have been lifted for media covering the Beijing Games.
• Eleven mountaineers from international expeditions die while descending K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth.
• Over 160 people die in a stampede at a Hindu temple in Naina Devi, Himachal Pradesh, India.
• Soviet-era dissident and Nobel Prize-winning author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn dies.
• An attack on a police post near Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China leaves 16 officers dead and 16 others injured.
• President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi of Mauritania is deposed in a military coup d'état.
• Pakistan's ruling coalition announces it will seek the impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf.
• Russian troops move across the border as Georgian military forces enter the breakaway republic of South Ossetia.
• The Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics is held at the Beijing National Stadium.

• Georgia's parliament approves a state of war for 15 days. Delegates from the OSCE, EU, and US head to Georgia to broker peace.
• Monsoon rains in India kill at least 40 people, with flooding heaviest in Andhra Pradesh.
• The war over South Ossetia intensifies as Russian forces advance deeper into Georgia, and the OSCE, EU, and US continue diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire.
• Pádraig Harrington of Ireland becomes the first European golfer in 78 years to win the PGA Championship.
• At least 92 people are confirmed dead after Tropical Storm Kammuri caused flash floods and landslides in Vietnam.
• Russia calls an end to its military offensive in Georgia and agrees to a European Union plan for a ceasefire and peace talks, amid reports of more fighting around the city of Gori.
• American swimmer Michael Phelps, while competing at the Beijing Olympics, breaks the record for most career Olympic gold medals won by an individual athlete.
• President George W. Bush announces that United States military aircraft and naval forces will be sent to Georgia to provide humanitarian relief to victims of the South Ossetia war, as Russian forces reportedly occupy the city of Gori.
• Fernando Lugo takes office as President of Paraguay.
• Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf is appointed Prime Minister of Mauritania, following a coup d'etat.
• Maoist leader Prachanda is elected Prime Minister of Nepal, the first since the country's transition from a monarchy to a republic.
• American swimmer Michael Phelps wins his eighth gold medal of the Beijing Olympics, surpassing Mark Spitz's record for most gold medals won at a single Olympics.
• Facing impeachment, Pervez Musharraf announces his resignation as President of Pakistan.
• President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia dies after suffering a stroke in late June.
• Usain Bolt of Jamaica wins gold medals in the 100-metre and 200-metre sprints at the 2008 Summer Olympics, setting new world records of 9.69 and 19.30 seconds, respectively.
• Spanair Flight 5022 crashes immediately after takeoff from Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain, killing at least 150 people on board.
• At least 60 people die following twin suicide bombings outside the Pakistan Ordnance Factories in Wah, Pakistan.
• Barack Obama chooses Joe Biden, a Democratic Senator from Delaware, as his vice-presidential running mate in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
• The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing come to an end after 16 days of competition.
• Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895 crashes upon takeoff near Manas International Airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, killing 68 people.
• Over 1.2 million people in Bihar, India are affected by flooding as the Koshi River changes its course.
• Russia officially recognizes the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
• Over 1.2 million people in Bihar, India are affected by flooding as the Koshi River changes its course.
• John McCain chooses Sarah Palin, the Republican Governor of Alaska, as his vice-presidential running mate in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
• Hurricane Gustav makes landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast in Louisiana after causing at least 66 deaths in Haiti, 8 more in the Dominican Republic, and 11 in Jamaica.

September

• Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda resigns less than a year after taking office.
• Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej declares a state of emergency in Bangkok after clashes between pro- and anti-government protesters result in one death and 43 injuries.
• Tropical Storm Hanna moves towards the U.S. South Atlantic coast after causing at least 529 deaths in Haiti.
• U.S. Special Forces raid a village in Waziristan, Pakistan using three helicopter gunships, the first such ground incursion to take place in Pakistan in the War on Terrorism.
• The Parliament of Pakistan elects Asif Ali Zardari of the Pakistan People's Party as the next President of Pakistan.
• The Nuclear Suppliers Group grants India a waiver to carry out civilian nuclear commerce with the rest of the world.
• The 2008 Summer Paralympics open in Beijing, China.
• On the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Governor General Michaëlle Jean dissolves the 39th Canadian Parliament and calls early elections to be held October 14.
• Hurricanes Hanna and Ike result in at least 590 deaths, mostly due to floods and mudslides, in Haiti.
• Flooding along the Brahmaputra River displaces 2.1 million people and causes 24 deaths in Assam, India.
• In one of the largest banking interventions in United States history, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are placed into conservatorship by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
• In tennis, Serena Williams and Roger Federer win the women's and men's singles titles, respectively, at the 2008 U.S. Open.
• The first particle beam is successfully steered around the Large Hadron Collider accelerator ring at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland.
• President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai reach a power-sharing agreement.
• A commuter train and a freight train collide in Los Angeles, California, killing at least 25 people and injuring 135.
• The All Blacks of New Zealand defeat the Australian rugby union team to win the 2008 Tri Nations Series at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia.
• A mudslide caused by an illegal mine in Linfen, Shanxi province, China kills at least 267 people.
• A series of five bomb blasts kills 30 people and injures 130 others at various locations in Delhi, India.
• Aeroflot Flight 821 crashes near Perm, Russia, killing all 88 on board.
• At age 21, Sebastian Vettel of Toro Rosso wins the 2008 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, becoming the youngest driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix.
• In the first parliamentary elections in Angola since 1992, the ruling MPLA party wins in a landslide.
• Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy protection and Merrill Lynch is to be sold to Bank of America as part of the ongoing subprime mortgage crisis.
• A series of bomb attacks kills eight people and injures 100 more at El Grito Independence Day celebrations in Morelia, Mexico.
• A political crisis related to the South Ossetia war brings down the government of Ukraine.
• Bolivian authorities declare a state of emergency in Pando Department and arrest Governor Leopoldo Fernández following the death of at least 30 people in clashes between supporters and opponents of President Evo Morales.
• The United States Federal Reserve loans $85 billion to AIG to avoid bankruptcy, Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy protection, and Bank of America announces plans to buy Merrill Lynch, all part of the ongoing subprime mortgage crisis.
• Nineteen people (including six perpetrators) are killed in an attack on the United States embassy in San‘a’, Yemen.
• The International Astronomical Union classifies Haumea as the fifth dwarf planet in the Solar System.
• Somchai Wongsawat is selected to become the next Prime Minister during an ongoing political crisis in Thailand.
• Lloyds TSB announce a takeover of rival UK bank HBOS after a week of global financial market instability.
• A truck bomb detonates outside a hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing at least 60 people and injuring 100 others.
• Thabo Mbeki, as requested by the ruling African National Congress, resigns as President of South Africa.
• In golf, Team USA defeats Team Europe to win the 37th Ryder Cup Matches.
• More than 12,800 children in China are hospitalized due to adulterated milk products and infant formula.
• Edward Natapei is elected the new Prime Minister of Vanuatu following the 2008 general elections.
• Eleven people die in a school shooting in Kauhajoki, Finland.
• The Diet of Japan elects Taro Aso of the Liberal Democratic Party as the new Prime Minister of Japan.
• Eighteen people are killed after Typhoon Hagupit hits the Philippines and China.
• Shenzhou 7, the third manned Chinese spaceflight, is successfully launched with three taikonauts on board.
• Kgalema Motlanthe is sworn in as the President of South Africa, succeeding Thabo Mbeki.
• In the largest bank failure in U.S. history, Washington Mutual is placed into receivership by the Office of Thrift Supervision. As receiver, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation sells the bank's accounts and operations to JPMorgan Chase.
• CNSA astronaut Zhai Zhigang successfully performs a spacewalk during the Chinese space mission Shenzhou 7.
• Turkmenistan adopts a new constitution that abolishes the People's Council and allows opposition parties.
• A car bombing in Damascus, Syria, kills 17 and injures 14.
• Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia sets a marathon world record of two hours, three minutes, 59 seconds at the Berlin Marathon.
• SpaceX Falcon 1 becomes the first privately developed liquid fueled space launch vehicle to successfully make orbit.
• The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is rejected by the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Dow Jones stock market index records a one-day point drop of 777.68 points, or seven percent.
• Floods caused by Typhoon Hagupit cause at least 67 deaths, including 41 in Vietnam.
• Three bombs detonate in Maharashtra and Gujarat, India, killing 8 and injuring 80. The attack comes three days after a bomb blast in Delhi killed 3 and injured 30.
• A stampede in Jodhpur, India, on the beginning of Navratri kills 113 and injures more than 250.

October

• Fifty Somali pirates capture the Ukrainian cargo ship MV Faina, along with its cargo of weapons and ammunition, and 33 T-72 tanks.
• The United States Congress approves the civilian nuclear agreement between the U.S. and India.
• U.S. President George W. Bush signs the revised Emergency Economic Stabilization Act into law after passage in the United States Congress.
• In rugby league, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles defeat the Melbourne Storm 40–0, a record-breaking margin, to win the 2008 NRL Grand Final.
• Luc Montagnier and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, who discovered the human immunodeficiency virus, and Harald zur Hausen, who discovered that human papilloma viruses can cause cervical cancer in women, are announced as winners of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
• Yoichiro Nambu, who discovered the mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking in subatomic physics, and Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa, who discovered the origin of the broken symmetry, win the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics.
• The meteoroid 2008 TC3 burns up in Earth's atmosphere, becoming the first such object to be discovered prior to impact.
• Voters go to the polls in the Maldivian presidential election, the first democratic elections held in the Maldives, with six candidates including incumbent Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
• Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie, and Roger Y. Tsien win the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein.
• The British Government announces details of a financial rescue package aimed at stabilizing and restoring confidence in the banking sector.
• French-Mauritian Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio wins the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature.
• With no candidate winning a majority in the first democratic presidential election in the Maldives, the incumbent Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Mohamed Nasheed move on to a second-round runoff.
• Martti Ahtisaari, a former President of Finland and a United Nations diplomat, wins the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize.
• Iceland faces a major financial crisis affecting all three major banks of the country.
• A 5.8 M_w earthquake kills 13 in Chechnya, Russia.
• Alphonsa Muttathupadathu, a nun from Kerala, becomes India's first female saint in the Roman Catholic Church.
• U.S. economist Paul Krugman wins the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
• The 2008 Canadian elections result in a second minority government for Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party.
• Indian writer Aravind Adiga wins the Man Booker Prize for his debut novel, The White Tiger.
• Ilham Aliyev is re-elected president of Azerbaijan.
• The United Nations General Assembly elects Turkey, Austria, Japan, Uganda, and Mexico to two-year terms on the Security Council.
• India's Sachin Tendulkar becomes the leading scorer in Test cricket and the first to pass 12,000 Test runs.
• Several additional amino acids are found in vials from the 1953 Miller–Urey experiment that probed the origin of life.
• A bomb blast in Imphal, India kills 17 and injures more than 30.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launches Chandrayaan-1, an unmanned lunar exploration mission.
• A car bomb attack in Zagreb, Croatia kills Ivo Pukanić, the owner of the newspaper Nacional.
• Severe flooding in Yemen caused by Deep Depression ARB 02 kills 180 and displaces 20,000.
• Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni calls for early elections in Israel following a failed attempt at forming a coalition government.
• United States Special Forces enter Syrian territory from Iraq to carry out a cross-border raid near Abu Kamal.
• United Nations peacekeeping forces engage in heavy fighting with rebel forces led by Laurent Nkunda in Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Mohamed Nasheed wins the Maldives' first democratic presidential election in a runoff round, unseating incumbent Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
• A 6.4 M_w earthquake kills 215 in the Pakistani province of Balochistan.
• Coordinated suicide bombings kill 56 in Hargeisa and Bosaso, Somalia.
• After 4 days of heavy fighting with United Nations peacekeeping forces in Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, rebel general Laurent Nkunda orders a ceasefire.
• In baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies defeat the Tampa Bay Rays to win the 2008 World Series.
• Viswanathan Anand of India defeats Russia's Vladimir Kramnik, retaining his title as the World Chess Champion.
• After four days of heavy fighting with United Nations peacekeeping forces in Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, rebel general Laurent Nkunda orders a ceasefire.
• A series of bomb blasts in Assam, India kills 84 and injures 470.

November

• Heavy floods affect Vietnam and southern China, flooding Hanoi and killing at least 100.
• The Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia reports conclusive evidence of human involvement in the warming of Antarctica.
• Sébastien Loeb of the Citroën team becomes the first driver to win the World Rally Championship for a fifth consecutive time.
• Lewis Hamilton wins the 2008 Formula One Drivers' Championship, beating Felipe Massa by one point.
• Rupiah Banda, of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy, is elected President of Zambia.
• An airplane crashes amidst rush-hour traffic in Mexico City, killing Mexican Secretary of the Interior Juan Camilo Mouriño and 12 others.
• Barack Obama of the Democratic Party becomes the first African American to be elected President of the United States.
• Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the world's youngest reigning monarch, is crowned the fifth Dragon King of Bhutan.
• Johnson Toribiong is elected President of Palau following presidential elections.
• At least 93 people are dead after a school collapses in Pétion-Ville, Haiti.
• A coalition consisting of the National Party, ACT and United Future wins a majority of seats in the Parliament of New Zealand.
• A shipment of cocaine, worth €750 million, is seized off the coast of Ireland in the largest such seizure in the country's history.
• An accident aboard Russian submarine K-152 Nerpa kills 20 people, the worst Russian submarine disaster since Kursk.
• China announces a stimulus package involving 4 trillion yuan (US$586 billion) to finance programs in 10 major domestic areas in the next two years.
• Egypt's antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, announces the discovery of a 4,300-year-old pyramid belonging to Queen Sesheshet, mother of King Teti.
• Three planets orbiting the star HR 8799 and one planet orbiting the star Fomalhaut are optically verified, making them the first extrasolar planets whose existences have been confirmed via direct imaging.
• The Moon Impact Probe, released by Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-1, is successfully crashed into the lunar south pole.
• G-20 leaders meet at a summit in Washington, D.C. to discuss the current financial crisis.
• Somali pirates capture the oil tanker MV Sirius Star, the largest vessel to date to be hijacked, off the coast of the Horn of Africa.
• War crimes are reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after a ceasefire in the Kivu conflict is broken and fighting resumes, with at least 100 civilians dead.
• New Zealand and Australian researchers identify a new species of penguin, the Waitaha penguin, which lived in New Zealand until its extinction 500 years ago.
• The first successful tracheal transplantation using a tissue-engineered organ created from the patient's own stem cells is performed in Spain.
• Rebel forces in Nord-Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, withdraw to promote peace talks, while the United Nations Security Council votes on reinforcing MONUC peacekeepers.
• The United Nations Security Council votes unanimously to reinforce MONUC, the largest peacekeeping force in the world, stationed in Nord-Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Ibrahim Nasir, the first President of the Second Republic of the Maldives, dies of an unknown cause in Singapore.
• The eruption of Nevado del Huila, a volcano in southern Colombia, causes at least 10 deaths and the evacuation of 12,000 people.
• The PAIGC wins a majority of seats in the National People's Assembly after legislative elections in Guinea-Bissau.
• Brazilian officials declare a state of emergency as flooding in the Southern state of Santa Catarina causes at least 128 deaths and forces the evacuation of over 78,700 people.
• The Thai political crisis deepens as protesters seize two Bangkok airports.
• Attacks at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, the Nariman House and several other locations in Mumbai, India, kill at least 173 and injure over 308.
• The people of Greenland pass a referendum regarding greater autonomy from Denmark.
• Rioting over disputed election results kills more than 381 people and injures hundreds in Jos, Nigeria.

December

• The Constitutional Court of Thailand dissolves three parties in the ruling coalition, and Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat resigns.
• A cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe spreads, leaving hundreds dead and over 12,000 people infected since August 2008.
• At the request of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean prorogues the parliament until January 26, 2009, to avoid a confidence motion by a newly-formed coalition of opposition parties.
• A bombing in Peshawar, Pakistan, kills 29 people and injures more than 100.
• Patriarch Alexy II, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, dies of heart failure in Peredelkino, Russia.
• Ireland issues an international recall of its pork products following the discovery of contaminated pig feed.
• Anti-police riots break out in Athens and spread to several cities across Greece.
• The Channel Island of Sark, a British crown dependency, holds its first fully democratic elections under a new constitutional arrangement, becoming the last European territory to abolish feudalism.
• Switzerland becomes the 25th European country to join the Schengen Agreement, whereby cross-border passport checks will be abolished.
• Bernard L. Madoff is arrested by the FBI in the United States, and charged with defrauding investors in a US$50 billion Ponzi scheme.
• The House of Representatives of Thailand selects Abhisit Vejjajiva of the Democrat Party as the country's new Prime Minister.
• Flooding caused by tidal swells displaces approximately 75,000 people in Papua New Guinea.
• ASEAN meets in Jakarta, Indonesia, to launch the ASEAN Charter, which groups its 10 member states into a legal entity.
• Ruins of an ancient Wari city are discovered in northern Peru.
• The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda finds Théoneste Bagosora and two other senior Rwandan army officers guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and sentences them to life imprisonment.
• Damaged submarine communications cables cause disruption in intercontinental communication throughout the Middle East and Asia.
• The United States and Canada announce automotive industry bailout packages to counter the global auto industry financial crisis.
• In Turkmenistan, the first parliamentary election since the abolition of the People's Council is held, and winners are announced for 123 of 125 seats.
• Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme and his government resign amid a controversy over the sale of the financial service company Fortis.
• In Romania, the Democratic Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party form a coalition government with Emil Boc as the new Prime Minister.
• In Kingston, Tennessee, a retaining pond at a coal-fired power plant fails, resulting in the largest-ever spill of coal fly ash slurry in the United States.
• A military coup d'état in Guinea is announced shortly after the death of President Lansana Conté.
• Israel launches Operation Cast Lead in response to recent attacks by Hamas, killing more than 300 people in the Gaza Strip.
• Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed resigns as President of Somalia.
• Kabiné Komara is appointed as the new Prime Minister of Guinea by the ruling military junta.
• A new government is formed in Belgium, with Herman Van Rompuy succeeding Yves Leterme as the new Prime Minister.
• A coalition led by Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League wins a supermajority in the National Assembly of Bangladesh.
• Kabiné Komara is appointed as the new Prime Minister of Guinea by the ruling military junta.
• The discovery of a bed of dinosaur fossils near Zhucheng in Shandong, China, believed to be the world's largest fossil site, is announced.

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Compiled diff-by-diff by Spencer^T♦C, with special thanks to GPPande