November 2008

A report issued by an independent investigator hired by the Alaska Personnel Board finds that Republican Vice Presidential candidate and Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin did not violate the law with regards to the so called "Troopergate scandal". However, a previous, separate legislative investigation concluded that she did abuse her office. (MSNBC)
ARATS president Chen Yunlin, the official delegation of the People's Republic of China, arrives in Taiwan for talks with SEF chairman Chiang Pin-kung. (CNN)
Itaú and Unibanco announce they will merge their banking, credit, and insurance operations, creating the largest financial services group in Brazil and the Southern Hemisphere. (Folha de S. Paulo)
The Bangladeshi government schedules general elections on December 18, 2008, which will end the rule of the one and half year military-backed interim government. (BBC News)

November 4, 2008 (Tuesday)

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Mexican Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mouriño dies along with at least 12 others after the airplane he was on crashes into rush-hour Mexico City traffic. (BBC News)
The Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits sign four agreements for the Three Links across the Taiwan Strait, a major step in normalizing Cross-Strait relations. (CNN)
United States general elections:
- Democrat Barack Obama wins the 2008 United States presidential election after beating Republican John McCain, becoming the first African American to be elected to the office of President of the United States. (CNN)
- The Democratic Party picks up at least five seats in the Senate and retains control of the House of Representatives. (BBC News)

November 5, 2008 (Wednesday)

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California Proposition 8, a referendum that amended the State Constitution, passes and defines marriage as being between a man and a woman, thus ending same-sex marriage in California. (Los Angeles Times)
In a continuation of the Kivu conflict, General Nkunda's forces capture Kiwanja, near Rutshuru in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, after a two-day battle with the pro-government militias. (BBC News)
India's Gagan Narang wins a gold medal in the men's 10 metre air rifle event at the 2008 ISSF World Cup Final, breaking the world record. (IBNLive.com)
In his State of the Nation address, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announces a proposal to extend the presidential term from four years to six. (The New York Times)
- President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev announces that his country will place short-range conventional warhead missiles in Kaliningrad in order to counter United States missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic, however, he expressed hope that Russia–United States relations would be mended with the presidency of Barack Obama. (CBC)

November 6, 2008 (Thursday)

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Lindsay Roy of the Scottish Labour Party wins the Glenrothes by-election despite concerns that his party may lose the seat to the Scottish National Party. (BBC News)
According to officials, an explosion kills at least 11 people aboard a minibus in the North Caucasus city of Vladikavkaz, Russia. (BBC News)
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is coronated as the fifth King of Bhutan, replacing his father Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who abdicated his power, making him the world's youngest monarch. (BBC News)
Tropical Storm Paloma, the 16th named storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, forms off the coast of Nicaragua with the potential to become a hurricane within 24 hours. (AP via Yahoo News)
Philosopher and academic Jean-Luc Marion is elected to become a member of the French Academy, replacing the late Jean-Marie Lustiger. (Académie française)
Johnson Toribiong is declared the winner of the Palauan presidential election and will succeed Tommy Remengesau as President. (Pacific Magazine)

November 7, 2008 (Friday)

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Hurricane Paloma strengthens to Category 2 strength as it lashes the Cayman Islands. (AFP via Google News)
A doctored photo of North Korean Kim Jong-il, released Wednesday, renews speculation about the leader's health. (BBC News)
A two-storey school in Pétionville, Haiti, collapses with 500 students inside, killing at least 75 people. (Reuters)
Malaysian blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin is released from detention under the Internal Security Act after a court ruled that his detention was illegal. (BBC News)
President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai opens a new terminal at Kabul International Airport. (BBC News)
Unemployment in the United States reaches its highest rate in 14 years. (BBC News)
The Kivu conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues while the United Nations meets to discuss peace talks. (VOA)

November 8, 2008 (Saturday)

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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon meets with African leaders to discuss resolutions to the ongoing Kivu conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (CNN)
A coalition consisting of the National Party, ACT and United Future wins a majority of seats in the Parliament of New Zealand, ending nine years of Labour Party-led rule. (The New Zealand Herald)
Hurricane Paloma reaches Category 4 strength near the Cayman Islands, with winds up to 140 mph (225 kph). (NHC)

November 9, 2008 (Sunday)

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A total of €750 million of cocaine is seized off the coast of Ireland, in the the largest such seizure in the country's history. (The Sunday Business Post)
The Latvian government effectively nationalizes the country's second-largest bank, Parex, acquiring a controlling 51% stake for the symbolic sum of just two lati.(Reuters)
The owner of the Haitian school that collapsed is arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter. (UPI)
An accident aboard K-152 Nerpa, a nuclear-powered Russian Navy submarine doing a test run in the Sea of Japan, kills more than 20 people. (Al Jazeera)
Huda bin Abdul Haq, Imam Samudra, and Amrozi bin Nurhasyim are executed by firing squad on Kambangan Island in Indonesia for their involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings. (BBC News)
A anti-police riot in Shenzhen, China involving 400 people, takes place after a police official threw a walkie-talkie at a motorcyclist causing his death. (AFP via Yahoo! News)

November 10, 2008 (Monday)

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Reports surface that a United States nuclear weapon was lost somewhere in the ice after the January 21, 1968 crash of a B-52 Stratofortress outside Thule Air Base, Greenland. (BBC News)
Ryanair Flight 4102 is forced to make an emergency landing at Rome's Ciampino Airport after several birds were sucked into its engines as it prepared to land. (BBC News)
Global financial crisis of 2008:
- The United States government announces a second bailout of American International Group; the total value of the new plan, roughly US$150 billion, represents the largest government support package extended to a private company in US history.(MarketWatch)
- American retail chain Circuit City files for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. (MarketWatch)
- Sweden's Financial Supervisory Authority announces that it is revoking the banking licence of the struggling Carnegie Investment Bank. (Reuters)
- Stocks gain worldwide after China announces a stimulus package involving US$586 billion to finance programs in 10 major domestic areas in the next two years. (CNN)
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi repeats a comment that United States President-elect Barack Obama is "young, handsome and also tanned," refusing to apologize for remarks he insisted are "flattering". (The Moscow Times)
India wins the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by defeating Australia 2-0 in the five-Test-match cricket series. (CricketNext.in)
An earthquake of magnitude 6.5 on Richter scale shakes western China's Qinghai province. (CNN)

November 11, 2008 (Tuesday)

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Peter Eastgate of Denmark wins the 2008 World Series of Poker main event, the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em World Championship, winning over US$9.1 million. (ESPN)
The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 sets sail on her final voyage before she is refurbished and turned into a hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (BBC News)
Germany announces new charges against John Demjanjuk in the deaths of 29,000 people at the Sobibor extermination camp in Poland during the Holocaust. (BBC News)
A Holocaust survivor group announces the abandonment of negotiations with the Mormon church over the latter's continued posthumous baptism of Jews killed in the Holocaust. (CNN)
Egypt's antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, announces the discovery of a 4,300-year-old pyramid belonging to Queen Sesheshet, mother of King Teti. (CNN)
Former President Chen Shui-bian of the Republic of China is arrested while the anti-corruption prosecutors have asked a three-judge panel to formally detain the former President. (CNN)
The Indian Navy foils an attempt by Somali pirates to hijack a merchant ship in Gulf of Aden. (The Indian Express)
Mohamed Nasheed is sworn in as the new President of the Maldives. (CNN)
2008 Russian financial crisis:
- Russian regulators halt trading on one of the country's two main stock indexes, the MICEX, after it fell 6.5%, dragged down by commodity and banking shares. (AP via Google News)

November 12, 2008 (Wednesday)

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A judge in Taipei, Taiwan, rules that the former President Chen Shui-bian, should be held in jail while prosecutors seek his conviction on charges of money laundering and corruption. (The New York Times)
India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar exploration mission successfully completes its journey to the Moon, entering its intended operational orbit 100 kilometers (62 mi) above the surface. (CNN-IBN)
2008 Russian financial crisis:
- Russia's two main stock exchanges are suspended for one hour after the market opened with a more than 10% decline in response to trends on global markets and falling oil prices. (Interfax via OnNet.pl Biznes)
- Trade in Russian shares has been shifting to London traded Global Depositary Receipts during frequent suspensions in Moscow, dictated by rules imposed by the regulator to reduce volatility on Moscow's increasingly illiquid stock market.(Forbes)
India successfully test fires the first Sagarika submarine-launched ballistic missile from a land-based launcher. (The Times of India)
North Korea announces that it will close its land border with South Korea on December 1, 2008. (BBC News)

November 13, 2008 (Thursday)

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Josef Fritzl is charged with murder, rape and enslavement after allegedly sexually abusing and incarcerating his daughter in the cellar of his home, where one of the children she was forced to bear died due to lack of medical attention. (Reuters)
Three planets orbiting HR 8799 and one planet orbiting Fomalhaut are visually verified by telescopes, the first extrasolar planets whose existence have been confirmed via direct imaging. (CNN)
2008 Russian financial crisis:
- The Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange falls 5% as trade resumes after a one-day limit-down halt, prompting confusing suspension announcements and orders to the contrary from the Federal Financial Markets Service. (The Guardian)
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin questions the commitment of the European Union to the construction of the Nord Stream pipeline to establish a natural gas delivery network from his country to Europe. A European Commission spokesman responds, "The EU continues to strongly support the Nord Stream pipeline". (The Wall Street Journal)

November 14, 2008 (Friday)

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At a summit in Nice, France, the European Union and Russia agree to refrain from deploying missiles or missile defense systems at least before mid-2009, when a pan-European security framework is discussed between Russia, the United States and the EU. (Xinhua)
General Ann E. Dunwoody becomes the first female four-star general in the history of the United States Army. (BBC News)
An Italian court convicts 16 and acquits 13 police officers of beating protesters at the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa.(The Telegraph)
The Eurozone enters its first recession as the combined gross domestic product of the 15 members dropped 0.2% in the second and third quarters of 2008. (Sky News)
India's Chandrayaan-1 unmanned lunar exploration mission successfully lands the Moon Impact Probe on the south pole of the Moon. (The Times of India)
The Montecito Tea Fire in California burns 2,500 acres and damages more than 100 homes and the campus of Westmont College. (Los Angeles Times)
An investigation concludes that wake turbulence is the most likely cause of the November 4, 2008, airplane crash in Mexico City that killed, among others, Secretary of the Interior Juan Camilo Mouriño and José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos. (Reuters)

November 15, 2008 (Saturday)

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At least 12 miners die in mine explosions in Petrila, Romania. (ABC)
The G20 meets in Washington, D.C. to discuss responses to the current economic crisis. (BBC News)
Mission STS-126 commences with the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour. The spacecraft will deliver equipment required to increase the crew capacity of the International Space Station from three to six members. (NASA)
Israel shuts down Gaza border crossings after Qassam rockets are launched toward Israel in breach of an armistice. (ABC)
A fiery bus-truck collision in Burkina Faso kills at least 60 people. (CNN)

November 16, 2008 (Sunday)

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Jimmie Johnson wins NASCAR's 2008 Sprint Cup Series championship, becoming the second driver to win three in a row. (The New York Times)
A 7.3 magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of Indonesia, kills two; a tsunami warning is issued, but later lifted. (CNN)
United States President-elect Barack Obama resigns his Senate seat. (The Washington Post)

November 17, 2008 (Monday)

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Global financial crisis of 2008:
- Citigroup will cut 75,000 jobs by early 2009. (BBC News)
- The Japanese economy posts consecutive second-quarter contraction for the first time since 2001, officially putting the country in a recession. (CNN-IBN)
- On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil futures contracts fall by 3.7% to close at $US54.95 per barrel, the lowest price in 22 months. (MarketWatch)
- 2008 Russian financial crisis: The Russian Trading System stock exchange is suspended after its nine indices fall by more than 5%. (Forbes)
The MV Sirius Star, a Saudi-owned oil tanker, is captured off the coast of Somalia by pirates. This is the largest vessel to date to be hijacked by Somali pirates. (BBC News)

November 18, 2008 (Tuesday)

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Democrat Mark Begich defeats Republican incumbent Ted Stevens in Alaska's highly contested Senate race. Begich will be the first Democratic senator representing the state in twenty-eight years. (AP via MSNBC)
Togiola Tulafono is re-elected as Governor of American Samoa, easily defeating challenger Utu Abe Malae. (Pacific Magazine)
Takehiko Yamaguchi, a former Japanese Vice Minister for Health, and his wife are found stabbed to death in Saitama, a suburb of Tokyo. (BBC News)
Global financial crisis of 2008:
- Central European stocks drop to a three-week low on expectations of slowing economic growth. Poland forecasts economic growth to drop to 2.3% in 2009 from 5.4% in 2008 and the Warsaw Stock Exchange's WIG 20 index falls 3.5% in two hours. Bulgaria's Sofia Stock Exchange is at a five-year low. Both Bulgaria and Romania may need International Monetary Fund loans to repay US$100 billion of external debt. (Bloomberg)
- HSBC Holdings announces 500 layoffs in Hong Kong. (CNN-IBN)
- Pepsi announces 3,000 layoffs in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. (CNN-IBN)
- 2008 Russian financial crisis: Trading remains will reamain suspended at the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange for another two days or until the Federal Financial Markets Service instructs otherwise. (Forbes)
2008 Nord-Kivu fighting: War crimes are reported in the Nord-Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after a ceasefire is broken and fighting resumes, leaving at least 100 civilians dead. (INSI)

November 19, 2008 (Wednesday)

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The International Monetary Fund approves a US$2.1 billion rescue package for Iceland following its financial crisis. (The Wall Street Journal)
The Supreme Court of California agrees to hear a challenge to Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state (Los Angeles Times)
The Supreme Court of Nepal approves foreign same-sex marriage for Nepalese citizens. (Hindustan Times)
Amnesty International's report on the 2008 South Ossetia war highlights Georgia's role as aggressor and notes evidence of "notoriously inaccurate" Georgian artillery fire resulting in "scores" of civilian deaths in South Ossetia, of aimed artillery fire at Russian peacekeepers base, and of Russian failure to provide defense to civilians during the conflict. (Amnesty International)
Piracy in Somalia:
- The Indian Navy frigate INS Tabar destroys a pirate ship and forces the abandonment of another pirate vessel off the coast of Somalia. (BBC News)
- The MV Delight, a Hong Kong cargo ship carrying 36,000 tons of wheat and 25 crew members is hijacked near Yemen's coast in the Gulf of Aden. (CNN)
- A Thai fishing ship with 16 crew members is hijacked off the coast of the Horn of Africa. (AsiaOne)
New Zealand and Australian researchers identify a new species of penguin, the Waitaha penguin (Megadyptes waitaha), which lived in New Zealand until its extinction 500 years ago. (AAP via Sydney Morning Herald)
John Key is officially sworn in as the Prime Minister of New Zealand by Governor-General Anand Satyanand. (AFP via Google News)
The first successful trachea transplant using a tissue-engineered organ is performed in Spain. (BBC News)
NASA successfully tests the first deep-space communications protocol to pave the way for Interplanetary Internet. (MSNBC)

November 20, 2008 (Thursday)

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United States Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapses while giving a speech to the Federalist Society in Washington, D.C. (Politico)
The Swedish Parliament ratifies the Treaty of Lisbon. (Dagens Nyheter)
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter discovers evidence of enormous underground deposits of water ice on Mars; one such deposit, under Hellas Planitia, is estimated to be the size of Los Angeles. (AFP via Breitbart)
Global financial crisis of 2008:
- Automotive industry crisis: Executives of the top three U.S. automakers (Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Chrysler) testify before Congress for a bailout package. (AP via Google)
- French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroën announces plans to cut 2,700 jobs due to falling demand in Europe. (BBC News)
At least one person is dead and twenty injured after a bomb is thrown into a People's Alliance for Democracy protest compound in Bangkok, Thailand. (ABC)
Piracy in Somalia:
- The Russian Navy announces that it will deploy more warships in the Gulf of Aden to curb piracy. (AFP via Google)
- The Indian Navy receives permission from the Somali government to enter its territorial waters in pursuit of pirates. (CNN-IBN)
Five Guantánamo Bay detainees who successfully argued Boumediene v. Bush before the Supreme Court are ordered freed by Judge Richard J. Leon of the District Court for Washington, D.C. (The New York Times)

November 21, 2008 (Friday)

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2008 Russian financial crisis:
- Construction of the Norman Foster-designed Russia Tower in Moscow, planned to be Europe's tallest building, was halted due to the credit crisis. (The Guardian)
- Russia's government announced it would review spending on the 2014 Winter Olympics, saying it had "set a target of saving some money". (The Guardian)
Burmese comedian Zarganar is sentenced to 45 years in prison for organising relief for victims of Cyclone Nargis. (AFP via Google News)
Confirmation of Neil Barofsky as special inspector general of the Troubled Assets Relief Program is delayed by an unnamed Republican United States Senator. (The Deal)
According to unofficial sources, Hillary Rodham Clinton has agreed the serve as the next U.S. Secretary of State and Timothy F. Geithner as the next Secretary of the Treasury under the presidency of Barack Obama. (The New York Times)
The U.S. National Intelligence Council predicts a major decline in U.S. economic, military, and political dominance over the next two decades (BBC News)
Global financial crisis of 2008: Toyota cuts its Japanese temporary workforce by 50 percent from 6,000 to 3,000 due to falling automobile sales. (Bloomberg)

November 22, 2008 (Saturday)

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November 23, 20

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