Portal:Current events/April 2008

A human rights group in Sri Lanka has blamed local security forces for the massacre of 17 aid workers in 2006 and accused the government of a cover-up. (BBC News)
The Swedish national postal service will merge with its Danish counterpart, the new group will be based in Stockholm. (Reuters)
Finland's Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva is forced to resign after a scandal involving 200 text messages sent to a stripper. (AP via CNN.com)
India warns the Dalai Lama not to anger the People's Republic of China. (BBC News)
Delays in releasing the official results of parliamentary and presidential elections in Zimbabwe are met with widespread speculation and concerns over possible vote rigging. (CNN) (BBC News)
In Rijeka, Croatia, University of Rijeka officially founded Department of Biotechnology, Department of Informatics, Department of Mathematics, Department of Physics.

April 2, 2008 (Wednesday)

Leader of the House of Commons Harriet Harman becomes the first Labour woman ever to answer Prime Minister's Questions. (The Scotsman)
A cross human-cow embryo survives a third straight day after being fertilized at Newcastle University, England. A director for embryonic stem cell laboratories at the Australian Stem Cell Centre said that the "99 per cent human" embryo could improve research within the field of human diseases. The Catholic Church in England however said that the creation was "monstrous" and says that the later destruction of it is unethical. (News.com.au)
The United States House of Representatives votes to provide $50 billion over five years to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa and other third world areas. (AP via Google News)
Suspended Serb prison workers from Lipljan, Kosovo, claim that Serbia has not paid them money promised for leaving the Kosovo institutions. (B-92)
Talks begin in Priština on demarcation of the border between Macedonia and Kosovo. (B-92)
Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern announces he will resign on 6 May after 11 years of rule. (RTÉ)
A strong cold front sweeps across south-eastern Australia, bringing destructive winds to South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. In Melbourne, a woman died when part of a wall collapsed in the suburb of Mentone. (ABC News Australia)
The European Union announces an investigation into the bailout of the Northern Rock bank in the United Kingdom. (Reuters)
The President of the United States George W. Bush supports the bids by Georgia and Ukraine to become members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. (AFP via Sydney Morning Herald)
Cuban citizens now have access to what were formerly "tourist-only" hotels and cellphones. (Wall Street Journal)
Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change defeats Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF in the Zimbabean parliamentary elections. (Bloomberg)

April 3, 2008 (Thursday)

An Antonov An-28 operated by Blue Wing Airlines crashes upon landing in Benzdorp, Suriname. All nineteen on board are presumed dead. (BBC News)
Zimbabwean presidential election, 2008:
- Police in riot gear surround a hotel in Harare housing foreign journalists. New York Times correspondent Barry Bearak, Daily Telegraph correspondent Stephen Bevan, and two others are arrested. (The Christian Science Monitor)
- MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti reports that police have begun raiding opposition party offices in an apparent "crackdown". (AP via MSNBC)
Bagatur is named the acting Chairman of Inner Mongolia, succeeding Yang Jing, who is the new minister in charge of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission.(Xinhua)
Jules Verne, the first European Automated Transfer Vehicle, successfully performs a fully automated docking with the International Space Station. (ESA)
In a procedural decision, the European Court of Justice overturns the addition of the Kurdish rebel organization PKK to the EU's terrorist blacklist. (BBC News)
Serbian Minister on Kosovo Slobodan Samardžić submits to UNMIK a plan suggesting Kosovo's division into cantons along ethnic lines. (Tanjug via Portalino)
Greek and Turkish Cypriots open a crossing at Ledra Street, a main shopping street in Cyprus' divided capital Nicosia that has come to symbolize the island's ethnic partition. (AP via The International Herald Tribune)
The Iraqi military says a suicide bomber has attacked a checkpoint near Mosul, killing 7 people and wounding 12. (AP via Google News)
At its summit in Bucharest, NATO invites Albania and Croatia to join the alliance. (Washington Post)
According to the Onion, the date of the Apocalypse. [3]

April 4, 2008 (Friday)

Former commander of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army during the 1998–99 war Ramush Haradinaj is acquitted of war crimes charges by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. (AP via The International Herald Tribune)
United States airline Skybus announces that it will be shutting down Saturday and cancels all flights. (Columbus Dispatch)
The United States Department of State renews the contract of Blackwater Worldwide to provide security in Iraq despite a number of ongoing investigations. (ABC News)
A suicide bomb attack kills three policemen and a civilian in southern Afghanistan. (AP via Google News)
The luxury yacht Le Ponant is seized by pirates off the Somalian coast. (BBC)

April 5, 2008 (Saturday)

A bus carrying high school band students tips over on Interstate 94 northwest of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, killing one person and leaving three others in critical condition. (CNN)
183 women and children are taken into protective custody from the YFZ Ranch compound linked to polygamist Warren Jeffs. (Reuters)
Comply or Die ridden by Timmy Murphy, wins the 2008 Grand National at Aintree by four lengths. (Sky News)

April 6, 2008 (Sunday)

Mark Penn resigns as chief strategist for the Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign. This comes in the wake of revelations that he performed lobbying work for the Colombian government, regarding a free trade pact that Senator Clinton opposes. (NPR)
One man grabs the Olympic torch before police wrestle him to the ground as thousands of anti-China protesters disrupt the Olympic torch relay through London. (The Daily Telegraph) (BBC News)
War in Iraq:
- Gunmen kidnap 42 university students near the Iraqi city of Mosul. They are later released unharmed. (AP via Yahoo! News)
- Twenty people are killed and 50 injured in overnight clashes in Sadr City in Baghdad. (AP via Yahoo! News) (CNN)
- A rocket attack on the Green Zone in Baghdad results in the death of two United States Army soldiers and 17 injuries. (AP via Google News)
President of the United States George W. Bush and President of Russia Vladimir Putin hold their final talks in their current positions. (AP via Google News)
At least ten people including Government minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle are killed in an explosion near Colombo, Sri Lanka. (BBC News)
Vandals desecrate 148 Muslim graves in France's biggest World War I cemetery at Notre Dame de Lorette outside Arras in northern France. (Reuters)

April 7, 2008 (Monday)

The European Commission approves the use of mobile phones on European flights. (Gaulia.com)
The Kansas Jayhawks defeat the Memphis Tigers in overtime, 75-68, to win the 2008 U.S. Division I men's college basketball championship. (AP via Yahoo! News)
The Washington Post wins six Pulitzer Prizes including the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for a series of articles of poor conditions for veterans at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. (The Washington Post)
2008 Summer Olympics
- The Olympic torch is extinguished by officials as police are confronted by protesters during the Olympic torch relay through Paris. (BBC News) (AP via The International Herald Tribune)
- U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton calls on President George W. Bush to boycott the opening ceremony at the Summer Olympics in Beijing. (ABC News)
- The head of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge says he's "very concerned" about unrest in Tibet and other issues associated with the Summer Olympics. (AP via Denver Post)
- The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the Summer Olympiad claims that the "Olympic torch has received a warm welcome worldwide." (Beijing 2008)
China and New Zealand sign a free trade agreement. This is China's first trade agreement with a developed nation. (New Zealand Herald)

April 8, 2008 (Tuesday)

The first Korean astronaut, Yi So-yeon and two Russian Expedition 17 cosmonauts are launched towards the International Space Station on board Soyuz TMA-12. (Spaceflightnow.com)
Movement for Democratic Change Secretary General Tendai Biti calls for international intervention to thwart violence in the wake of the Zimbabwean presidential election. (BBC News)

April 9, 2008 (Wednesday)

The Olympic torch relay through San Francisco descends into confusion as the first runner in the elaborately planned relay disappears into a warehouse on a waterfront pier. (MarketWatch)
The body representing all National Olympic Committees says it had deleted a mention of Tibet in its Beijing Games declaration after a debate among its members. (The International Herald Tribune)
American Airlines cancels more than 1,000 flights in order to make sure some wiring on its fleet of 300 MD-80 jetliners was secured correctly inside wheel wells. (The New York Times)
Police in Nepal shoot dead six Maoists the day before the holding of Constituent Assembly elections. (ABC Radio Australia)
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council approves changes to the system of government on Sark, ending about 450 years of feudalism on the Channel Island. (The Independent)

April 10, 2008 (Thursday)

Mayor Anders Lago of Södertälje, Sweden, says that his small city of about 80,000 is currently home to nearly 6,000 Iraqis. "More refugees than the United States and Canada together". (The International Herald Tribune)
Frontier Airlines files for bankruptcy protection. (AP via Google News)
2008 Summer Olympics:
- The European Parliament passes a resolution in favor of a boycott of the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympiad. (Deutsche Welle)
- IOC president Jacques Rogge calls for China to respect its commitment to improve human rights ahead of the Beijing Games. (The Herald)
- The Olympic torch arrives in Buenos Aires for the Olympic torch relay under heavy security. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
A suicide car bomber attacks a NATO convoy in Kandahar, resulting in the death of eight citizens. (Reuters)
Nepal prepares for an election that will decide the new Constituent Assembly, tasked with rewriting the constitution. The fate of the monarchy is also at stake. (The New York Times)

April 11, 2008 (Friday)

The President of Cuba Raúl Castro allows thousands of renters to gain title to their own houses. (USA Today)
A fire destroys the campaign office of Senator Hillary Clinton in Terre Haute, Indiana. (AP via Google News)
Somalian pirates release 30 hostages (mostly French) kidnapped aboard Le Ponant in the Gulf of Aden a week ago. (AFP via Google News)

April 12, 2008 (Saturday)

The National Assembly of Haiti removes the Prime Minister of Haiti Jacques-Edouard Alexis following a week of food riots in which six deaths had occurred. (Los Angeles Times)
The President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao meets with the Vice-President-elect of Republic of China (Taiwan) Vincent Siew in the highest level talks between the two sides since 1949. (BBC News)
The Herald, a government-run newspaper, reports that Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, will not attend the regional crisis meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, to discuss the crisis over the 2008 presidential election. (AP via Google News)
International reaction to the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence:
- Russia threatens to block Ban Ki Moon from serving a second term as United Nations Secretary-General because of his stance on Kosovo's recent independence. The Kremlin is pressing Ban to ignore, or at least prolong, a proposed 120-day transition period to Kosovo independence from Serbia that expires on 16 June. Renewal of Serbia-Kosovo talks is possible. (Makfax)
A Sudanese cargo plane crashes in Moldova, killing eight people. (Reuters)
A call to boycott French hypermart Carrefour from 1 May began spreading through mobile text messaging and online chat rooms amongst the Chinese over the weekend from 12 April, accusing the company's major shareholder, the LVMH Group, of donating funds to the Dalai Lama.^[1] There were also calls to extend the boycott to include French luxury goods and cosmetic products.^[2] According to the Washington Times on April 15, however, the Chinese government was attempting to "calm the situation" through censorship: "All comments posted on popular Internet forum Sohu.com relating to a boycott of Carrefour have been deleted."^[3]

April 13, 2008 (Sunday)

Trevor Immelman of South Africa wins the 2008 Masters Tournament. (Reuters via ABC)
Robert Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, calls for immediate action to tackle rising food prices which have caused rioting in several countries. (AP via Google News)
Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Hajredin Kuçi announces that the newly independent country plans to open 20 embassies abroad. (PressTV)
The Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd announces that current Governor of Queensland Quentin Bryce will become Australia's next Governor-General. Ms Bryce will be the first woman appointed to the role. (News.com.au)
Thousands of pro-China demonstrators gathered in front of the Canadian Parliament Building in Ottawa to show their support for the Chinese government and 2008 Beijing Olympics. (CTV)

April 14, 2008 (Monday)

The Nevado del Huila volcano erupts in Colombia, causing thousands to evacuate.(CNN)
Delta Air Lines reaches an agreement with Northwest Airlines to take over Northwest and create the world's biggest airline. (AP via Google News)
The United States begins occupying its new US$736 million embassy in Iraq, one of the largest embassies in the world. Presently under construction, it is approximately as large as the Vatican City and will permanently employ thousands of Americans, including a Marine detachment. (AP via Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
Silvio Berlusconi is re-elected for the third time as the Prime Minister of Italy. (AP via The International Herald Tribune)
Nabucco Pipeline: Turkmenistan agrees to supply 10 billion cubic metres of natural gas to the European Union per annum, to reduce the bloc's dependence on gas from Russia. (Financial Times)
Passenger trains resume between Dhaka in Bangladesh and the Indian city of Calcutta, after 43 years. (BBC News)
Taliban insurgents attack a checkpoint in southern Afghanistan killing 11 police officers. (AP via Google News)
The World Bank announces a package of emergency measures to tackle the dramatic rise in basic food prices which has led to civil unrest throughout much of the developing world. (BBC News)

April 15, 2008 (Tuesday)

A five-year ban preventing prominent Malaysian Opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim from running for office in Malaysia effectively expires midnight (MST). (BBC News) (Reuters)
A plane from Hewa Bora Airways crashes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 44. (Associated Press) (Radio Okapi) (French)
War in Iraq: Two separate bombings in Baquba and Ramadi kills at least 60. (CNN)
Six students and a teacher from Manukau City's Elim Christian College die in a canyoning trip on the Mangatepopo Stream in the North Island's Tongariro National Park in New Zealand. (News Limited)

April 16, 2008 (Wednesday)

A Zimbabwean judge clears two British journalists of reporting on the 2008 presidential election without accreditation. (AP via the San Francisco Chronicle)
Around 44 people, mostly children, die after a bus plunges into the Narmada River in the western Indian state of Gujarat. (BBC News)
The United States Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of lethal injection as a form of capital punishment over Eighth Amendment "cruel and unusual punishment" challenges. (BBC News)

April 17, 2008 (Thursday)

South Korean special prosecutors investigating Samsung Group indict the Chairman Lee Kun-hee for tax evasion and breach of trust. (AP via The Wall Street Journal)
In Malta held the casual election to elect 12 other parliament members, 6 for the Malta Labour Party (MLP) and 6 for the Partit Nazzjonalista (PN), before opening the new parliament of Malta on 11 May, 2008. (DOI Malta)

April 18, 2008 (Friday)

CNN news anchor Richard Quest is arrested for possession of methamphetamine in New York's Central Park. (Reuters)
A Texas judge rules that 418 children taken from the YFZ Ranch should remain in state custody for 60 days. (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram)
South Korea agrees to open its market to beef from the United States ahead of trade talks. (Reuters via The Washington Post)
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake occurs at 04:37 Central Standard Time with its epicenter six miles (10 km) from West Salem, Illinois. Effects are felt as far off as Evansville, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Detroit and Cleveland. While shaking was reported in Chicago, St. Louis and Cincinnati, there are few reports of damage. (AP via Yahoo! News) (USGS)

April 19, 2008 (Saturday)

Muqtada al-Sadr threatens a new rebellion if a United States-Iraqi crackdown against his followers continues. (Sunday Herald)
Soyuz TMA-11 lands safely outside Arkalyk, 475 kilometers (295 mi) short of the planned landing site in Kazakhstan, due to a computer glitch. (Spaceflightnow) (AP via Yahoo! News)
2008 Summer Olympics torch relay: Chinese nationalists boycott the French-owned retail chain Carrefour in cities including Kunming, Hefei and Wuhan, accusing the French people of racism. Protesters block customers with large flags and throw water bottles. In Hefei, a Carrefour store was vandalized and looted by protesters. (News.sina.com) (YouTube)
A South African court blocks unloading of the An Yue Jiang, a Chinese cargo ship carrying 77 tonnes of small arms bound for Zimbabwe, purportedly from the Chinese Ministry of Defense. According to reports, the ship has since left for Mozambique. (The Guardian) (BBC News)

April 20, 2008 (Sunday)

Former bishop Fernando Lugo is elected as the President of Paraguay. (AFP via Google News)
Radio Television of Kosovo wants to participate as soon as possible in the Eurovision Song Contest and therefore aims to join the European Broadcasting Union. Some EBU members such as Serbia, Russia and Greece may object, as they don't recognise the new Republic of Kosovo. (oikotimes.com)
Danica Patrick becomes the first woman to win a race in any top-flight American motor racing series with her victory in IndyCar's 2008 Indy Japan 300. (ESPN)
The New York Times publishes an exposé on the Pentagon military analyst program. (The New York Times)
Brazilian priest Adelir Antonio de Carli goes missing after cluster ballooning to raise money for truck drivers in Paranaguá, Paraná. (AP via Google News)

April 21, 2008 (Monday)

Rioting breaks out in Montreal after the Montreal Canadiens of the NHL win their first round playoff series against the Boston Bruins. Several police cars are torched, but there are no reports of any serious injuries. (Canadian Press via Globe and Mail)
A missile hits the headquarters of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council political party in Baghdad. No one is reported injured. (Reuters)
A boat carrying Haitian immigrants capsizes off the coast of the Bahamas. At least 20 deaths are reported by the United States Coast Guard. (BBC News)

April 22, 2008 (Tuesday)

Costa Rica rejects an application for political asylum by former Colombian Senator Mario Uribe following orders for Uribe's arrest on charges of ties with paramilitary groups. Uribe is then arrested. (AP via Google News) (AP via Fox News)
A U.S. federal grand jury in Las Vegas, Nevada, indicts a man on charges of possessing the toxin ricin and on weapons charges. (AP via Google News)
Ben-ami Kaddish, a former U.S. Army mechanical engineer, is arrested on charges of disclosing national defense information to Israel. (FOX News)
The United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that former President of the United States Jimmy Carter was advised not to hold talks with Hamas. (Reuters)
Zimbabwe churches claim that people are being tortured, abducted and some murdered in a campaign of political retribution against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. (AP via Google News)
Democratic Presidential primaries: Hillary Clinton wins the Pennsylvania Primary. (CNN)

April 23, 2008 (Wednesday)

Sri Lankan Civil War: In fighting in the North of Sri Lanka, the military claims victory with 43 soldiers killed and 33 missing while killing over 100 Tamil Tigers. The rebels also claim victory, saying that they killed 100 soldiers and wounded 500 while only losing 16 of their own. (CNN) (BBC News)
Former President of the United States Jimmy Carter reiterates that no person from the United States Department of State ever asked him not to meet with representatives from Hamas or Syria. (Reuters)

April 24, 2008 (Thursday)

Operation Orchard: The United States claims North Korea helped Syria build a nuclear reactor at a site destroyed by Israeli forces in September 2007. (AFP via Google News)
Final results in the Nepal Constituent Assembly election show that the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) won double the number of seats of the next largest party. (AFP via Google News)
Longest game in AHL history is played, the Philadelphia Phantoms beat the Albany River Rats 3-2 in 5 OT's. The game lasted 82:58.

April 25, 2008 (Friday)

Some forty people are injured when the floor of a Mennonite church collapses during a Christian rock concert in Abbotsford, British Columbia. (CTV), (CBC)
Two people are killed and more than a dozen injured after a semitrailer crashes into a Chicago Transit Authority station during rush hour. (AP via International Herald Tribune)
Sri Lankan Civil War: At least 24 people are killed by a blast on a bus near Colombo. (BBC News)
Actor Wesley Snipes is sentenced to three years in prison for tax violations. (The New York Times)
A United States military-contracted vessel fires warning shots in front of two boats in the Persian Gulf, causing the boats to leave. (AP via MSNBC)
Students and their families in various locations across the United States participate in the nationally-recognized 13th annual Day of Silence. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

April 26, 2008 (Saturday)

The death toll from a fire in a mattress factory in the Hay Hassani district of Casablanca rises to 55. (Reuters via The Washington Post)
The 26 members of the Spanish FV Playa de Bakio are released by Somali pirates. (eiTB)
Canada's largest transit agency; the Toronto Transit Commission is shut down by a surprise transit strike. (Bloomberg News)
2008 Turkish incursion into northern Iraq: The Turkish Armed Forces attack Kurdistan Workers Party positions in northern Iraq. (Reuters via ABC News)
Nauruan elections are held after the dissolution of Parliament on April 18. (Radio New Zealand)

April 27, 2008 (Sunday)

It is reported that Josef Fritzl had incarcerated his daughter in a custom-built cellar in Amstetten, Austria, for 24 years, raped her and fathered seven children by her, three of whom he left in the cellar.
The New Zealand Soldier was added to the plinth facing towards the east on the western side of the ANZAC Bridge, it was unveiled by the Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark in the presence of Premier of New South Wales Morris Iemma.
Dignitaries including the President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai take cover as automatic gunfire breaks out at a ceremony in Kabul. (AP via Google News)
A father-and-son duo who owned and managed the factory that burnt down with 55 deaths in Casablanca have been arrested over serious safety violations. (AFP via Google News)

April 28, 2008 (Monday)

Tornadoes of 2008
- Tornadoes sweep through central and southeastern Virginia injuring more than 200 people and damaging multiple houses. (AP via The Southern Ledger)
- The National Weather Service states that tornadoes hit Suffolk, Virginia, Colonial Heights, Virginia and Brunswick County, Virginia. (AP via Google News)
- The Governor of Virginia Timothy Kaine declares a state of emergency in southern Virginia. (AP via Google News)
Officials with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services find that 31 of the 53 girls between ages 14 and 17 seized from the YFZ Ranch have been, or are currently, pregnant. (AP via Fox News)
General Motors announces that it will cut production of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles in three plants in Michigan and one in Oshawa, Ontario and negotiate layoffs with the United Auto Workers and Canadian Auto Workers. (Reuters via The Guardian)
The United States Armed Forces says that three American soldiers have been killed in rocket or mortar attack in eastern Baghdad. (AP via Google News)
The Supreme Court of the United States issues a decision upholding an Indiana law requiring voters to provide photo identification. (Reuters)
Mars, Incorporated announces that it is buying the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, the world's largest chewing gum manufacturer, in a deal worth $23 billion. The deal is being partly financed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway company. (Bloomberg)
Two passenger trains collide in Zibo in Shandong province in eastern China resulting in the deaths of at least 71 people. (UK Press Association via Google News) (AFP via Google News) (AP via Yahoo! News)

April 29, 2008 (Tuesday)

Economy of the United States
- The S&P/Case-Shiller index of United States real estate pricing shows a decline of 12.7% from February 2007 to February 2008, with 17 of 20 regions showing falls. (BBC News)
- The United States Consumer Confidence Index falls again in April due to concerns over the rising price of petroleum and weaker job prospects. (AP via Google News)
Grand Theft Auto IV is released worldwide, sparking a windfall of sales. The game would go on to become the fastest selling game in 24 hours by selling 609,000 copies. (TeamBox) (Ars Technica)
The Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon establishes a task force to tackle the 2007–2008 world food price crisis. (AP via Google News)
An explosion in the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan kills at least 15 Afghans with another 25 injured. (Reuters via The Washington Post)
The European Union signs the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Serbia prior to the decisive elections on 11 May 2008, but makes ratification conditional on full cooperation with the ICTY. (EUobserver)
Lithuania blocked the beginning of talks on a strategic deal between the European Union and Russia because of ongoing disputes with Moscow (M & C News)

April 30, 2008 (Wednesday)