Conservative Party candidate Boris Johnson is elected as the Mayor of London replacing Ken Livingstone , capping huge gains by the Conservatives in local elections , which gave them a net gain of 256 council seats and a net gain of 12 city councils. (BBC News) The Olympic flame is back on Chinese soil as the Olympics torch relay continues in Hong Kong , Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China . (BBC News)
May 1-2, 2008 tornado outbreak : Tornadoes affecting the south-central United States kill at least seven in Arkansas . (KAIT8) Over 10,000 people gather in Seoul , South Korea , to protest against the importation of U.S. beef, which is alleged to have a danger of mad cow disease . (YouTube Video)
Zimbabwean presidential election, 2008
The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom , United States , Germany , France , Russia and China agree to make a new offer to Iran over its nuclear program . (AFP via Google News)
A plane crash kills more than a dozen in Southern Sudan , including defense minister Dominic Dim Deng . (AFP via Google News)
United States non-farm payrolls fall by 20,000 jobs with the unemployment rate falling to 5 per cent. (The Guardian ) A $ 38 million compensation deal is completed for victims of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Teams in both Russia and the United States identify the remains of Tsarevich Alexei of Russia and his sister Grand Duchess Maria after the discovery of their bone shards on August 23, 2007. (AP via Google News) [permanent dead link
2007 royal blackmail plot : Ian Strachan and Sean McGuigan are jailed for five years each for attempting to extort money from an unidentified royal ("Witness A"). They demanded £50,000 from Witness A in exchange for audio tapes alleging gay sex . (BBC News)
10 people were shot at a branch of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in Cabuyao , Laguna , Philippines , with 9 dead and 1 in critical condition in what could be one of the bloodiest bank robberies in the nation's history. USA Today.com - 9 killed during Philippine bank robbery Leonel Fernández is re-elected as the President of the Dominican Republic in the 2008 presidential election . (AP via International Herald Tribune) A pipeline explosion near Lagos , Nigeria , kills up to 100 people. (Times Online)
A strong aftershock to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake knocks out roads and communications to some of the worst affected areas disrupting rescue efforts. (AP via Forbes)
Former United States Olympic sprinter Tim Montgomery is sentenced to 46 months imprisonment for his involvement in a check fraud and money laundering scheme. (Reuters)
The United States reaches a deal with North Korea to resume food aid with 500,000 tonnes of food to be sent to North Korea during the next year. (AFP via Google News)
The State Peace and Development Council in Burma doubles the death toll from Cyclone Nargis to 78,000 with 55,917 people missing and 19,359 people injured. (The New York Times )
The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturns the IAAF 's decision to ban South African double-amputee runner Oscar Pistorius from its competitions, thus clearing the way for him to attempt to become the first leg amputee to participate in the Olympic Games . (BBC News)
A suicide bomber kills at least nine people, including 7 police, and wounds 90 in Sri Lanka 's capital Colombo . (BBC News)
The President of the United States George W. Bush arrives in Saudi Arabia to discuss rising fuel prices with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia . Saudi Arabia later announces plans to raise its output by 300,000 barrels a day. (AP via Google News) (Bloomberg)
The runoff election for the 2008 presidential election between the President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change is set for June 27 . (BBC News) (AP via Yahoo! News)
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin laden leaves an audio message on the Internet vowing to continue the fight against Israel . (RTÉ)
Twelve South American nations agree to form the Union of South American Nations uniting two customs unions in Mercosur and the Andean Community . (Euronews)
At least 17 civilians including a child are killed in a claymore mine explosion in Kilinochchi , North of Sri Lanka . (Daily Mirror )
The Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon states that Myanmar 's State Peace and Development Council has decided to grant access to areas worst hit by Cyclone Nargis to international aid workers regardless of nationality. (Bloomberg)
Around 20,000 passengers are affected by unofficial industrial action by Iarnród Éireann , Ireland 's national rail operator. (RTÉ)
Hu Jintao , the President of China , and the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev condemn the United States ' National missile defense system. (AP via Google News) [permanent dead link The International Court of Justice awards sovereignty of Pedra Branca to Singapore , ending a 28-year dispute over the islet between Singapore and Malaysia . Malaysia was awarded sovereignty of an outcropping of Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks , while the sovereignty of South Ledge was left to be determined by the maritime boundary between the two nations, which is also a contentious point. (Channel NewsAsia)
Seven Moroccan tourists are killed in a bus crash in central France , near the city of Blois . (RTÉ)
An independent investigation into $8.2 billion in United States Department of Defense spending in Iraq , as well as aid to Egypt and Kuwait since 2001 finds that 95% of payments to contractors failed to meet requirements for documentation to determine what was paid for. (The New York Times )
2006 Lathen maglev train accident : Germany fines two test track managers over the 23 deaths and 11 injuries. A third defendant remains to be tried due to suicide fears. (Bloomberg) (Wikinews) A coroner suggests the entire fleet of British Royal Air Force Hawker Siddeley Nimrod aircraft should be grounded on safety concerns. (BBC News)
Dima Bilan of Russia wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Believe " with 272 points. (AP via The International Herald Tribune ) Tornadoes of 2008 : Two people from Colorado die in a tornado south of Pratt, Kansas as more than a dozen tornadoes hit Kansas . (AP via Forbes) Three people are killed and another three injured in a helicopter crash on Santa Catalina Island, California near Two Harbors, California . (AP via Google News) [permanent dead link
Munster win the Heineken European Rugby Cup against Toulouse , 16 to 13. (RTÉ) Colombia :
In continuing battles against anti-foreigner violence in South Africa , police shoot and kill one man in Johannesburg . The Red Cross warns it is struggling to help the thousands of displaced people. (AFP via Google News) (AFP via Google News)
Flooding in Chile kills at least five people, displaces at least 15,000 people and closes the Pan American Highway south of Santiago . (BBC News) Cyclone Nargis : The authorities in Myanmar allow foreign help into the country following initial resistance. (Reuters) Wen Jiabao , the Premier of China , estimates that the eventual death toll from the 2008 Sichuan earthquake could rise as high as "80,000 or more". (CBC) Prince Joachim of Denmark marries French Marie Cavallier . Prince Joachim was previously married to Hong Kong-born Alexandra Manley . (The Danish Monarchy)
Engineers announce that the Leaning Tower of Pisa has been stabilized for the first time, and will remain stable for 200 more years. (BBC News)
Australian paleontologists discover Materpiscis placoderm fish which is the earliest known animal to bear live young . (BBC News) , (ABC News Australia)
The Governor of New York David Paterson directs New York state agencies to recognise gay marriages performed in other jurisdictions such as Canada , California and Massachusetts . (The New York Times )
In Dublin , over 100 countries, not including the United States , Russia , or China , agree to the Convention on Cluster Munitions banning cluster bombs . (RTÉ) (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Ehud Barak , the Defense Minister of Israel and Leader of the Labor Party , calls for the resignation of the Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert to step aside to face corruption allegations. (AP via Google News) [permanent dead link The Majlis of Iran elects Ali Larijani as its new Speaker . (AFP via Google News)
Nepal
2008 Sichuan earthquake : China begins inspecting the ruins of thousands of schools that collapsed in the Sichuan earthquake , searching for clues about why they crumbled. (VOA) Tornadoes of 2008 : The Governor of Nebraska Dave Heineman declares a state of emergency in relation to tornadoes in the towns of Kearney, Nebraska , and Aurora, Nebraska . (NTV) In a 6–5 ruling, the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court upholds a 2005 law permitting embryonic stem cell research in the country. (NBC) [permanent dead link (Folha de S. Paulo )
The National Indian Foundation publishes photographs of a tribe of uncontacted peoples in a remote area of Amazonia . (CNN)
A helicopter crashes into a building in Panama City , killing the Director-general of the Carabiniers of Chile and several civilians. (AP via MSNBC)
Tropical Storm Alma, the first tropical storm of the 2008 Pacific hurricane season , makes landfall in Nicaragua near the city of León bringing heavy rains and strong winds. (Bloomberg)
A strong earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale strikes Iceland near the town of Selfoss . (CNN)
The World Bank announces a US$ 1.2 billion package to fight the global food crisis including $200 million in grants for those most at risk in Third World countries. (AFP via Google News)
Track and field coach Trevor Graham is convicted of lying to investigators of links to a steroids dealer in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative investigation. (AP via Google News) [permanent dead link The United States Department of Commerce revises its estimate of economic growth in the United States to 0.9% for the first quarter of 2008. (AFP via Google News)
At least 20 people are killed and 42 injured after two suicide bombings in northern Iraq . (AFP via Google News)
A bomb at Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines kills two people and injures another 17. (BBC News)
Hu Jintao , the President of the People's Republic of China calls for resumption of official talks between mainland China and Taiwan in a meeting with Wu Po-hsiung , the Chairman of Taiwan's ruling party the Kuomintang . (CNN) Twenty-six people are dead and fifty-one missing as a result of snowstorms in eastern Mongolia . (UB Post )
Luxembourg ratifies the Treaty of Lisbon becoming the fifteenth country to do so.Iraq delivers a report on security, reconstruction, and economic progress at the U.N. conference on Iraq in Stockholm . Iraq seeks debt forgiveness and foreign investment to aid with reconstruction . (Mawtani) (VOA) Torrential rain causes flash flooding across half of Somerset , United Kingdom . (BBC News)
In the United States , Sameer Mishra wins the 81st Scripps National Spelling Bee , the winning word was "guerdon ", a noun meaning a reward. (USA Today)
A gunman shoots dead a magistrate and a Perry County, Kentucky , employee before killing himself in a convenience store near Hazard, Kentucky , United States . (AP via Yahoo! News)
Agathon Rwasa returns to Burundi from exile in Tanzania after an agreement between his Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People and the government. (BBC News) A crane collapses in the Upper East Side of New York City resulting in the death of at least two people (AP via Google News) [permanent dead link Shanghai 's Pudong district, killing three. (Xinhua)
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 ; Rahim Ademi is acquitted. (BBC News)
Grupo TACA Flight 390 , an Airbus A320 flying from San Salvador , El Salvador , crashes in Tegucigalpa , Honduras , after failing to land due to a wet runway. 18 casualties are reported, including the chairman of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration who suffered a heart attack after the crash. (CNN) (Noticias24) The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services reaches agreement with some of the families of the YFZ Ranch to start returning the children on Monday. (Canadian Press via Google News) [permanent dead link
Cyclone Nargis
Fishermen in Spain , Portugal and Italy strike to protest against high fuel prices ; Spain's economy minister says his government cannot cut fuel taxes, but is looking into ways to help fishermen. (VOA)
Sadr supporters protest against a planned U.S. –Iraq security agreement to replace the current United Nations mandate for U.S. troops in Iraq, which expires at end of 2008. (VOA) Zimbabwe 's Morgan Tsvangirai claims ruling party status as the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change , delivers a "state of the nation" address to elected lawmakers from his party, and promises a "new era of opportunity" for Zimbabwe. (VOA) Silverjet , an all-business class airline , suspends all flights after entering administration due to rising fuel costs. (BBC News)
Usain Bolt of Jamaica sets a new world record for the 100 metres in track and field in the Reebok Grand Prix at Icahn Stadium in New York City at 9.72 seconds. (AP) (PA via Sporting Life) In rugby union , the Crusaders defeat the New South Wales Waratahs in the 2008 Super 14 Final . (New Zealand Herald )
China :
STS-124 is launched with a crew of seven and the main module of the Japanese laboratory Kibō . (AP via CNN) [permanent dead link 2008 Atlantic hurricane season : The first storm of the season, Tropical Storm Arthur , forms one day before the official season begins. It is located about 45 mi (75 km) NNW of Belize City . It has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (55 km/h), and with higher gusts. (NHC) At least five people are killed and 13 are missing after a landslide crushes homes in a poor area of the city of Medellín in Colombia . (AFP via Google News)
United States Democratic Party 's Rules and Bylaws Committee meets to decide on the Florida and Michigan democratic primaries held in violation of scheduling rules. The Committee decides that both states delegate counts would be halved. (VOA) (BBC News) (The Guardian ) French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner makes surprise visit to Iraq , to meet with Iraq's vice president, Adel Abdul-Mahdi. (VOA)
New fighting between the Sri Lanka Army and the Tamil Tigers occurs in northern Sri Lanka with 26 rebels dead and 4 soldiers. (AP via Forbes)
Robert Gates , the United States Secretary of Defense , states that Myanmar 's refusal of international aid for victims of Cyclone Nargis has cost "thousands of lives". (AP via Google News) [permanent dead link (VOA) Suicide bombers in eastern Afghanistan target a military convoy . NATO's International Security Assistance force says the attack took place in Jalalabad , capital of Nangarhar province . (VOA) Thai riot police assemble in Bangkok to disperse a rally led by the People's Alliance for Democracy against the government of the Prime Minister of Thailand Samak Sundaravej . (AP via Forbes) The government of Guinea starts paying junior officers of the Military of Guinea back pay in an attempt to end a five day mutiny. (Reuters via News Limited)
World Health Organization calls for complete ban on tobacco advertising ; the organization says recent studies prove the more young people are exposed to tobacco advertising, the more likely they are to start smoking . The call comes as part of the WHO's annual World No Tobacco Day . (VOA)
Holidays and observances
1 : Holocaust Remembrance Day (Israel )1 : May Day (Europe )1 : Ascension Day (Norway )1 : Labour Day in the following countries: Brazil , Chile , China , Guyana , India , Norway , Pakistan , Philippines , Singapore 2 : Dos de Mayo (Spain )3 : Constitution Day (Poland 5 : Liberation Day (Ethiopia , Netherlands , Denmark )5 : Children's Day (Japan , South Korea )5 : Coronation Day (Thailand )5 : Cinco de Mayo (Mexico )5 : Indian Arrival Day Guyana 6 : St George's Day (Bulgaria )7 : Memorial Day (Israel )8 : Israel Independence Day (Israel )8 : Victory in Europe Day 8 : Parents' Day - South Korea 8 : Parent's Day – South Korea and Albania 9 : Europe Day (European Union )10 : Mother's Day – Mexico 10 : Mother's Day – South America , El Salvador , Guatemala , Oman , and Pakistan 11 : Mother's Day (2nd Sunday) – Anguilla , Aruba , Australia , Austria , Bahamas , Barbados , Bangladesh , Belgium , Belize , Bermuda , Bonaire , Brazil , Brunei , Canada , Chile , Colombia , Cuba , Croatia , Curaçao , Czech Republic , Denmark , Ecuador , Estonia , Finland , Germany , Greece , Grenada , Honduras , Hong Kong , Iceland , India , Italy , Jamaica , Japan , Latvia , Malta , Malaysia , The Netherlands , New Zealand , Peru , Philippines , Puerto Rico , Singapore , Slovakia , South Africa , Suriname , Switzerland , Taiwan , Trinidad and Tobago , Turkey , United States , Uruguay , Venezuela , Zimbabwe 12 : Whit Monday (France , Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Luxembourg , Greece , Hungary , Belgium , The Netherlands , Norway )16 : Jerusalem Day (Israel )17 : Constitution Day (Norway )18 : Flag Day (Haiti )19 : Victoria Day (Canada )22 : Corpus Christi 23 : Lag Ba'omer (Judaism )24 : Saints Cyril and Methodius Day (Bulgaria , Republic of Macedonia )24 : Bermuda Day (Bermuda )25 : African Liberation Day 25 : Independence Day (Jordan )25 : Mother's Day (last Sunday) – France (switches to first Sunday of June if coincides with Pentecost ), Dominican Republic , Haiti , Sweden , and Morocco 26 : Spring Bank Holiday (United Kingdom )26 : Memorial Day (United States )26 : National Sorry Day (Australia )26 : Independence Day (Guyana )26 : Mother's Day Poland 27 : Mother's Day Bolivia 27 : Children's Day (Nigeria )28 : Republic Day (Armenia , Azerbaijan )29 : Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna Day (Fiji )29 : Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh (Baháʼí Faith )29 : Democracy Day (Nigeria )30 : Indian Arrival Day (Trinidad and Tobago )31 : World No Tobacco Day June
