CHRONOLOGY: Major world events in 2008: Part II

Dec 17, 2008, 17:55 GMT

Berlin - Following is part two of a chronology of the major world events that took place in 2008:

JULY

1 - France assumes EU presidency from Slovenia.

2 - Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt freed after six years as hostage of FARC rebels.

4 - Taiwan, China open weekend charter flights, ending decades- long transport blockade.

6 - Spain's Rafael Nadal wins Wimbledon men's singles.

7 - Anglicans on brink of schism after female bishops approved.

7 - 60 killed in bomb blast at Indian embassy in Kabul.

11 - Oil price surges over 147 dollars per barrel.

14 - World's largest brewery Anheuser-Busch InBev formed by takeover of Belgium's InBev by Anheuser-Busch of the US.

14 - The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor seeks an arrest warrant for the Sudanese president over war crimes in Darfur.

15 - The euro surges to all-time high of 1.6038 dollars.

18 - Former South African president, anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela turns 90.

21 - Zimbabwean President Mugabe, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai meet face-to-face for first time in a decade.

21 - Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic arrested in Belgrade.

21 - Portuguese judicial authorities declare end of investigations into disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann after 14 months.

22 - Indian government wins trust vote after left allies withdraw support over nuclear deal with US.

26 - 56 dead in 27 bombings in India's western commercial city of Ahmedabad.

27 - Spain's Carlos Sastre wins Tour de France.

27 - 17 dead and more than 150 injured in Istanbul bomb blast.

30 - Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert announces he will step down amid corruption allegations.

30 - Turkish Constitutional Court rejects ban on ruling AKP for Islamicizing the country.

AUGUST

3 - Some 145 pilgrims die in stampede at Hindu temple in India.

7-12 - Russian-Georgian war in breakaway region South Ossetia.

8-24 - XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing.

18 - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf steps down.

19 - Zambia's popular President Levy Mwanawasa dies in a hospital in Paris of a stroke.

19 - At least 43 killed in attack on police academy in Algeria.

20 - 154 killed in plane crash at Madrid airport.

21 - Suicide attackers kill at least 78 in north-west Pakistan.

22 - US, Iraq sign deal on withdrawal of US troops.

26 - Hurricane Gustav leaves at least 130 dead in Haiti.

26 - Russia recognizes unilateral declarations of independence by Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia, Abkhazia.

26 - Five killed in Hindu-Christian clashes; curfew imposed after churches torched in India's eastern Orissa state. Subsequent clashes witness nearly 40, mostly Christians, dead; thousands flee from homes to relief camps.

28 - Only eight survivors as some 70 illegal African immigrants die off Malta.

29 - Arctic North-east and North-west Passages free of ice for the first time.

SEPTEMBER

6 - Asif Ali Zardari, widower of Benazir Bhutto, becomes Pakistani prime minister.

6 - 'Football diplomacy' sees Turkish president make first visit to historic foe Armenia. 

6 - Nuclear Suppliers' Group decides to allow trade in fissile material and technology with India ending 34-year old ban.

6-17 - Beijing Paralympics.

7 - US government takes control of ailing mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

8-9 - Dam burst at Tashan mine in northern China leaves 260 dead.

9 - Thai Premier Samak forced to resign over cookery job.

11 - Serious fire in Eurotunnel.

12 - Train crash in Los Angeles leaves 25 dead, 135 injured.

13 - 24 killed, 100 injured in in New Delhi market blasts.

14 - Aeroflot plane crashes in the Urals, killing 88.

14 - Sebastian Vettel, only 21, wins Italian Grand Prix.

14 - Nigerian militants launch a four-day 'oil war' that further cuts the West African nation's oil production capacity.

15 - Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe signs a historic deal with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change to share power.

15 - Iran resumes uranium enrichment at Natanz plant.

15 - US investment bank Lehman Brothers goes bust.

15 - British contemporary artist Damien Hirst makes 70 million pounds from art sale.

17 - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni assumes Kadima party leadership from disgraced Premier Olmert.

17 - At least 17 killed in attack on US embassy in Yemen.

19-26 - Chinese milk found to contain melamine; 53,000 children report kidney damage; three die.

20 - South African President Thabo Mbeki resigns at demand of his African National Congress after court suggested interference in corruption case of ANC leader Jacob Zuma.

20 - 53 killed, 260 injured in attack on Islamabad Marriott Hotel.

21 - Israeli Premier Olmert steps down.

23 - Finnish student shoots dead nine students, teacher, self.

24 - Former foreign minister Taro Aso becomes Japanese premier.

25 - Somali pirates seize Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and military equipment as piracy ramps up in Gulf of Aden.

25 - China launches Shenzhou VII manned space mission.

28 - Chinese astronaut conducts China's first space walk.

30 - Panic leaves at least 224 dead at Hindu temple in Rajastan.

OCTOBER

3 - US approves 700-billion-dollar bail-out for financial industry.

3 - 42 killed, incl. 17 soldiers, in attack on PKK in Turkey.

7       - Thai police crack down on anti-government protestors, two killed in melee.

8 - Britain announces bank bail-out package.

9 - France's Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio wins Nobel literature Prize.

10 - Ex-Finnish president Ahtisaari wins Nobel Peace Prize.

10 - US and India seal landmark agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation.

11 - Austrian right-wing leader Joerg Haider dies in car crash.

22 - India sends probe to the moon.

26 - Tutsi rebels launch a major offensive in the Democratic Republic of Congo, sparking weeks of heavy fighting and sending tens of thousands of civilians fleeing.

28 - The IMF, EU and World Bank offer Hungary emergency 25.1- billion-dollar standby loan to bolster faltering economy, the first time an EU member has needed such support.

29 - Pakistani earthquake leaves at least 225 dead, hundreds injured.

29 - Five simultaneous suicide bomb attacks kill 30 people in the relatively peaceful Somali breakaway states of Puntland and Somaliland.

30 - 84 killed in India's Assam in series of blasts.

30 - Zambia's ruling party candidate Rupiah Banda elected to succeed deceased leader Levy Mwanawasa.

NOVEMBER

1 - African National Congress dissidents draw over 4,000 at pre-political party launch in Johannesburg.

2 - Britain's Lewis Hamilton becomes youngest Formula 1 World Champion.

4 - Barack Obama wins US presidential election.

6 - Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 26, becomes youngest world leader when he assumes throne of Bhutan.

7 - 97 pupils, teachers die in Port-au-Prince school collapse.

8 - New Zealand elects opposition to government.

9 - Grammy-winning 'Mama Africa' Miriam Makeba dies after a performance in Italy aged 76.

10 - China announces 570-billion-dollar stimulus package.

15 - Leaders of G20 nations at meeting in Washington pledge to better regulate global financial markets and take steps to halt a global economic slide.

15 - Somali pirates seize Saudi supertanker Sirius Star carrying 100 million dollars worth of oil.

19 - IAEA finds evidence of secret Syrian nuclear programme in probe of 2007 Israeli bombing of suspected atomic site.

20 - Oil price plummets below 50 dollars a barrel for first time in three years.

21 - Russian parliament votes to extend presidential term.

21 - US singer Madonna and British director Guy Richie divorce.

25 - Anti-government protestors cripple Bangkok international airport.

25 - Greenlanders vote for more autonomy from Denmark.

26 - EU agrees 200-billion-euro economic package.

26-29 - Mumbai suffers series of terrorist attacks, leaving nearly 180 people dead.

27 - Iraqi parliament approves US troop withdrawal deal.

28 - Sectarian clashes leave at least 200 dead in Nigeria.

28 - Ethiopia announces plans to pull its troops out of Somalia, raising fears that the insurgency which has killed at least 10,000 civilians since early 2007 will worsen.

DECEMBER

2 - Thai court dissolves ruling political party, forcing Thai premier Somchai Wongsawat to step down.

6 - Riots erupt after Greek police shoot dead 15-year-old; unrest continues for days.

9 - EU mission, Eulex, takes over law-enforcement duties in Kosovo.

10 - Wittelsbach Diamond sold for record 16 million pounds at auction at Christie's.

12 - EU agrees economic stimulus package.

12 - Switzerland formally joins Europe's border-free Schengen zone. <#>