February 2008

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This article or section contains information about scheduled or expected future events.
It may contain tentative information; the content may change as the event approaches and more information becomes available.

February 2008 is the second month of the current leap year. It began on a Friday and will end after 29 days on a Friday. It is the current month.

1 International holidays
2 Scheduled events
3 Portal:Current events
4 References

[edit] International holidays

February 2 - Candlemas
February 6 - Waitangi Day (New Zealand)
February 6 - Ash Wednesday
February 7 - Chinese New Year
February 14 - Valentines Day
February 18 - Presidents Day (United States)
February 18 - Family Day (Canada)
February 23 - Mashramani-Republic Day (Guyana)

[edit] Scheduled events

February 12 - The Australian Government will issue an official apology to the Stolen Generation.^{[citation needed]}
February 17 - The 50th annual Daytona 500 to be held at Daytona Beach, Florida.
February 17 - WWE No Way Out 2008 is on live from Las Vegas, Nevada.
February 17 - February 23 National Engineers Week (U.S.)
February 21 - Total lunar eclipse - North and South America, Europe, Africa and Western Asia.^[1]
February 24 - The 80th Academy Awards will take place at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California.^[2]
February 27 - The Dominican Republic Government expects the Santo Domingo Metro to be completed and ready for test-runs.

[edit] Portal:Current events

February 1, 2008 (Friday)

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A small plane crashes at Mount Airy, North Carolina resulting in the death of six passengers. (WSLS)
Iraq War: At least 43 people are killed and 85 injured as a result of two bombings in markets in central Baghdad. (News Limited)
RORO ferry MS Riverdance runs aground in Blackpool, England after its cargo shifts in heavy seas. All passengers and crew are airlifted to safety. (Blackpool Gazette)
A third fiber-optic submarine communications cable, FALCON, is cut two days after SEA-ME-WE 4 and FLAG were damaged. (BBC News)

February 2, 2008 (Saturday)

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United States presidential election, 2008: Former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney wins the Maine Republican caucus. (Bloomberg News)
Five people are shot dead in a women's clothing store in Tinley Park, Illinois with the person responsible fleeing the scene. (AP via The Washington Post) (The Sun-Herald)
An explosion on a bus in Dambulla, Sri Lanka kills at least 20 people. (BBC News)
War in Chad (2005–present):
- Battle of N'Djamena: Chadian rebels enter the capital N'Djamena and head for the presidential palace. (BBC News)
- The Libyan JANA news agency claims that the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has brokered a ceasefire. (Reuters)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy marries singer and former supermodel Carla Bruni at the Élysée Palace. (TF1)

February 3, 2008 (Sunday)

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Serbian presidential election, 2008: Boris Tadić is reelected President of Serbia. (BBC News)
Israeli forces open fire on Lebanon in the Wazzani River area resulting in one death and one injury. (Canadian Press via Google News)
War in Chad (2005–present): Battles rage in Adré near the Sudanese border. (Reuters)
At least 23 people die in an earthquake in western Rwanda. (Aljazeera)
Sri Lankan Civil War: At least eight people die and up to 100 are hurt in a suicide attack in the main railway station in Colombo. (BBC News)
Raila Odinga, the leader of the Orange Democratic Movement calls for the African Union to quell the violence that has followed the Kenyan presidential election, 2007. (AP via ABC News)
Egyptian troops close the last breach in Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip. (AP via The Jerusalem Post)
Super Bowl XLII: The New York Giants defeat the New England Patriots 17-14 in Glendale, Arizona. (ESPN) (The New York Times)
Silver State Helicopters, one of America's largest helicopter flight schools, suddenly closes its doors and files bankruptcy. [1]

February 4, 2008 (Monday)

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The Versailles Assembly, bringing together both the French Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, votes 560 to 181 in favour of amending the constitution to allow adoption of the EU Lisbon Treaty. (EU Observer)
United States district court judge Florence-Marie Cooper rules that President George W. Bush cannot exempt the United States Navy from complying with environmental laws banning sonar training. (AP via San Jose Mercury News)
Thomas S. Monson is chosen as the 16th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (AP via Google News)
Iran launches the Kavoshgar-1 research rocket to inaugurate a newly built space center. (BBC News) (PressTV)
A suicide bomber kills a woman and injures at least 10 people in Dimona, Israel. (BBC News)
Chadian rebels claim to have withdrawn voluntarily from N'Djamena. (AP via Google News)
The United States military says that it accidentally killed nine Iraqi civilians in an operation targeting Al-Qaeda south of Baghdad. (AP via Google News)
2008 submarine cable disruption: the Egyptian transport ministry reports that footage of the areas where cables were snapped or damaged shows no maritime traffic. (Khaleej Times)
U.S. President George W. Bush introduces a Federal budget of $3.1 trillion and a near-record deficit just ahead — 410 billion $. (The New York Times)

February 5, 2008 (Tuesday)

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Voters in 24 states go to the polls to determine presidential nominees for the Democratic and Republican parties in 2008 election. (BBC News)
- Democratic Party
  - The Democratic Party holds their first Democrats Abroad primary for Americans living overseas. (TIME)
  - Illinois Senator Barack Obama wins the Alaska, Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, and Utah Democratic contests. (Bloomberg News)
  - New York Senator Hillary Clinton wins the American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma and Tennessee Democratic contests. (Reuters) (ABC News) (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Republican Party
  - Former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee wins the Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia Republican contests. (USA Today) (Reuters)
  - Arizona Senator John McCain wins the Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma Republican contests. (The New York Times) (San Francisco Chronicle) (Reuters)
  - Former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney wins the Alaska, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and Utah Republican contests. (CNN) (Fox News)
The Red Cross estimates that hundreds of civilians have been killed in the Battle of N'Djamena in Chad. (AP via KGAN)
Israeli attacks kill eight Hamas members on the Gaza Strip as Hamas claims responsibility for the Dimona attack. (AP via Google News)
Philippine House Speaker Jose de Venecia was ousted by the majority of the representatives of the House of Representatives and Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles was elected as the 13th House Speaker and the first Speaker from Mindanao. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
2008 Chinese winter storms: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visits disaster-affected region in Guizhou Province, one of the worst-hit provinces, to direct relief efforts. This is his third trip to disaster regions in eight days. (China Daily)
A major tornado outbreak across the Southern United States leaves at least 59 people dead, and causes some polling places to be closed early. The hardest hit areas are in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas including the Memphis area, northern Middle Tennessee and Jackson, Tennessee. (MSNBC) (AP via Yahoo! News)
WTO approves Ukraine to become a new member. (WTO)

February 6, 2008 (Wednesday)

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A state of emergency is declared in Tungurahua Province in Ecuador because of increased activity by Tungurahua volcano. (Bloomberg)
A $158 billion plan to stimulate economic growth in the United States fails in the U.S. Senate on a procedural vote 58-41, just short of the 60 votes needed to advance. (Reuters)
The Turkish freighter ship UND Adriyatik catches fire off Croatia. (Jutarnji List) (Reuters)
President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano dismisses the parliament; the cabinet sets early elections for 13 and 14 April. (CNN)
CDC says that an infected mother can transmit HIV to her baby by pre-chewed food. (Reuters)

February 7, 2008 (Thursday)

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A gunman kills five and wounds two people at city hall before being shot and killed by police in Kirkwood, Missouri. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) (Reuters)
Four people die and dozens are hurt in an explosion at a sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia. (CNN)
The United States Congress approves a $168 billion economic stimulus package and sends it to President George W. Bush for his approval. (The New York Times)
The Slovakian Parliament vote on the Lisbon Treaty ratification is indefinitely postponed. (SkToday.com)
The National Assembly of France approves the Treaty of Lisbon by 336 votes to 52. (AP via Google News)
Space Shuttle Atlantis launches successfully on its STS-122 mission. (Fox News)
British Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri will be extradited to the United States to face terror charges. (BBC News)
There are mass arrests in the United States and Italy in an anti-Mafia sweep including three suspected senior members of the Gambino crime family. (Reuters)
United States presidential election, 2008: Former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney suspends his campaign. (CNN)
The Orthodox Church of Greece elects a new leader, Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens. (CNN)
NATO meets in Vilnius, Lithuania.
- No agreement on Afghanistan ahead of NATO meeting. (AFP via Google News)
- Robert Gates will discuss the need to boost NATO forces in Afghanistan. (Presszoom)
The United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and United Kingdom Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs David Miliband visit Afghanistan. (AP via Google News)
Rio Tinto rejects BHP Billiton's $147 billion hostile takeover bid. (Financial Times)
WHO declares global tobacco control efforts and an approach to avoid tens of millions of premature deaths by the middle of this century. (WHO)

February 8, 2008 (Friday)

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The Serbian minister for Kosovo claims that his government has information that the province's Albanian leadership will declare independence on February 17. (AFP via Google News)
A 5.4 M_w earthquake southeast of Mexicali, Mexico causes 400,000 people to lose power. (CNN) (USGS)
The Nebraska Supreme Court rules the electric chair unconstitutional. (AFP via Google News)
Hamas militants launch nearly 20 rockets at nearby Israeli towns. (BBC News)
A fire in a nursing home in Egg, Austria kills at least 11 people. (BBC News)
A student shoots two students and kills herself at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (CNN)
Scotland Yard detectives investigating the death of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto say that she died from the effect of a bomb blast not gunfire. (BBC News)
A woman attacks two pilots on Eagle Airways Flight 2279 from Blenheim to Christchurch, New Zealand. The aircraft lands safely at Christchurch and the suspect is arrested and charged with hijacking and three counts of assault. (New Zealand Herald)
The man accused of the Gurgaon kidney scandal is arrested in Nepal. (NDTV India)

February 9, 2008 (Saturday)

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Writers Guild of America strike (2007–present): Hollywood writers reach tentative agreement with the major movie studios. (The Washington Post)
United States presidential election, 2008:
- Former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee wins the Kansas Republican Party caucus and the Louisiana primary. (The Washington Post) (Reuters)
- Illinois Senator Barack Obama wins Democratic Party caucuses in Nebraska, Washington and the U.S. Virgin Islands and the primary in Louisiana. (AP via Yahoo! News)
- Arizona Senator John McCain wins the Washington Republican primary. (The Oregonian)
A suicide bomber kills 20 people at an opposition rally in Pakistan. (AFP)
A fire at Camden Market in London, England forces the evacuation of residents. The London Ambulance Service reports no casualties. (BBC News)
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey votes to change the Constitution of Turkey removing a ban on wearing religious head cover in Turkish universities. (The New York Times)
The military government of Myanmar announces a national referendum to pass a new constitution will be held in May, and that democratic multi-party elections will take place in 2010. (CNN)

February 10, 2008 (Sunday)

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The wooden portion of Namdaemun Gate in Seoul, South Korea is destroyed in a suspicious fire. (BBC News)
Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008:
- Illinois Senator Barack Obama wins the Maine caucus. (AP via Yahoo! News)
- Patti Solis Doyle resigns as campaign manager for New York Senator Hillary Clinton. Maggie Williams replaces her. (AP via Yahoo! News)
A suicide car bomb at a market in Balad, Iraq kills 25. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates also arrives in Iraq from a Germany security conference to meet with Iraqi leaders, General David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker. (CNN)
Association football: Egypt beats Cameroon 1-0 to win the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana. (BBC News)
Ten people are trampled to death at a rock concert in Bandung, Indonesia. (AFP)
Over five hundred people are evacuated from the North Sea oil rig Safe Scandinavia, 282 kilometres (175 mi) northeast of Aberdeen, Scotland after a hoax bomb scare. (RTÉ News)
"Anonymous" protests the policies of the Church of Scientology at different locations around the world. (The Scotsman) (The Star) (Adelaid) (Indymedia) (The Guardian) (Newsweek)

February 11, 2008 (Monday)

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The United States files charges against six alleged al-Qaeda operatives including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in connection with the September 11, 2001 attacks, seeking the death penalty for war crimes and murder. (Sky News)
Paintings by Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet are stolen from the Foundation E.G. Bührle, a museum in Zürich. (AFP)
2008 East Timor assassination attempts:
- President of East Timor José Ramos-Horta is shot and wounded in an attack at his home. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinhado, who led the attack, is killed. (ABC News Australia) (Melbourne Age)
The Singapore Flyer, the largest observation wheel in the world (30 meters higher than London Eye), starts to turn. (The Straits Times)
Gregg Bergersen, a United States Defense Department Analyst, is arrested and charged with espionage after being accused of leaking American military secrets to the Chinese government. (CNN)

February 12, 2008 (Tuesday)

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United States presidential election, 2008:
- Illinois Senator Barack Obama wins the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia Democratic primaries. Obama now leads Sen. Hillary Clinton in the delegate count for the first time since early in the campaign. (CNN) (The New York Times)
- Arizona Senator John McCain wins the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia Republican primaries. (The New York Times)
European Space Agency's Columbus module is attached to the International Space Station. (The New York Times)
The U.S. Senate votes to grant immunity to telecommunications companies for their role in NSA call database. (The New York Times)
Chilean opera singer Ernesto "Tito" Beltran is sentenced to two years in jail by a Swedish court for rape during a concert tour in 1999. (BBC News)
Russia and Ukraine resolve a dispute over Ukraine's natural gas debt which saw Gazprom threatening to cut off supplies. (AFP)
Members of the Writers Guild of America vote to end the WGA strike that had been in effect for just over three months. (CNN)

February 13, 2008 (Wednesday)

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The United States Senate passes legislation to ban the Central Intelligence Agency from using certain interrogation methods including waterboarding. (AFP)
The Iraqi Parliament adopts an accord on the budget, detainees and federalism, setting provincial elections for late 2008. (AP via Google News)
The Swedish government rejects the Nord Stream underwater natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. (The Local)
Hezbollah commander Imad Mugniyah is killed by a bomb attack in Damascus, Syria. (Reuters)
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issues a formal apology to the Indigenous Stolen Generation on behalf of the Parliament of Australia. (ABC News Australia)
An explosion in Vancouver, British Columbia destroys a Starbucks and Taco Del Mar. Police report arson, originating in the taco restaurant. (Canadian Press)
Malaysian Parliament dissolved for The 13th Malaysian general election. (BBC News)

February 14, 2008 (Thursday)

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Kosovo:
- Former Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi says the province will unilaterally declare independence within the next 4 days. (Sofia Echo)
- Police in Kosovska Mitrovica report an explosion. (AFP via Google News)
The United States House of Representatives approves contempt of Congress citations against Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten in the U.S. Attorneys controversy. (The Washington Post)
A gunman opens fire at a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University, injuring as many as 18 students and with at least six people dead including the gunman. (Canadian Press via Google News) (CNN)
President Vladimir Putin says Russia would target its missiles at Ukraine if it threatened Russia's national security. (Interfax)
The United States Navy will use an SM-3 missile to destroy USA 193, a broken National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite which contains unused hydrazine fuel. (BBC News) (AP via Google)
Kiribati now has the largest protected marine reserve in the world. (Reuters)

February 15, 2008 (Friday)

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A Cook County, Illinois probate judge declares adventurer Steve Fossett to be legally dead five months after he disappeared in the Nevada desert. (Chicago Tribune)
A large explosion hits Mexico City, Mexico near the city's police headquarters. Police in riot gear arrived and secured the scene. The cause is currently unknown, but a senior police officer said it may have been an explosive device. (BBC)
Political parties in Kenya have agreed to set up an independent panel to review the disputed 2007 presidential elections (BBC)