Portal:Current events/2008 June 27
June 27, 2008 (Friday)
- Serbian President Boris Tadić has named Mirko Cvetković for the new Prime Minister following the parliamentary election that were held in May. (Balkan Insight)
- Vinicio Gómez, Guatemala's Interior Minister, dies in a helicopter crash in the central department of Baja Verapaz; deputy minister Édgar Hernández and two pilots are also killed. (BBC News)
- Richard Scruggs, a high-profile United States lawyer known for his lawsuits against the tobacco, pharmaceutical and construction industries, is sentenced to five years jail for conspiracy to bribe a judge. (Reuters)
- The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are struck by an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale. (Bloomberg)
- North Korea destroys the cooling tower of the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center as a sign of its commitment to ending its nuclear weapons program. (The New York Times)
- Zimbabweans go to the polls for a runoff election with the President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe expected to be reelected following the withdrawal of Morgan Tsvangarai of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. (CNN)
- Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, finishes work at the company before starting fulltime philanthropic work for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (AFP)[permanent dead link]
- The discovery that the sunken Philippines ferry MV Princess of the Stars was carrying 10,000 kilos of the dangerous pesticide endosulfan leads to the temporary cessation of the recovery of the bodies on board. (CBC)
- American Foam Corporation offers to pay $6.3 million to settle legal action filed against them for manufacturing dangerous foam that contributed to the Station nightclub fire. 100 people died in the disaster. (Hartford Courant)[permanent dead link]