Portal:Current events/2008 May 1

May 1, 2008 (Thursday)

The United States Air Force grounds all T-38C training aircraft following two fatal accidents within 8 days. (AP via CNN)
Sudanese cameraman Sami Mohy El Din Muhammed Al Hajj is released from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp after more than six years in captivity. (AFP via Google News)
The President of the United States George W. Bush authorises tougher sanctions on Myanmar including a freeze on assets held by Myanmar state owned companies held in the United States. (Reuters)
The United States Federal Reserve System auctions off $24.12 billion in Treasury securities to help relieve the subprime mortgage crisis. (AP via Google News)^{[permanent dead link]}
The President of the United States George W. Bush calls on the United States Congress to approve a $US700 million food aid package to help relieve the 2007-2008 world food price crisis. (AP via Google News)^{[permanent dead link]}
News anchor Barbara Walters admits to having affair with US Senator Edward Brooke. (AP via CNN)
Sir Anthony Mamo, who was the first President of the Republic of Malta and the world's oldest former head of state, dies at the age of 99. (Times of Malta)
Eight people are killed and at least 20 injured after a bus carrying North American and European tourists crashes on the Sinai peninsula in Egypt. (BBC News)
In Australia, a collision between a fishing boat and a runabout on Sydney Harbour kills five people. (Sydney Morning Herald) (ABC Australia)
Voters in England and Wales go to the polls for the United Kingdom local elections, 2008. Early results showed the opposition Conservative Party performing strongly with 44 per cent of the vote while the governing Labour Party was performing poorly with 24 per cent of the vote.(The Telegraph) (The Telegraph)
Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow", a leader of Al-Shabaab in Somalia, is reported as being killed in a U.S. airstrike. (BBC News)
The London Agreement on translation of European patents, concluded in 2000, enters into force in 14 of the 34 Contracting States to the European Patent Convention. (EPO), (PRV)