Current events of 18 June 2008 (2008-06-18) (Wednesday) edit history watch

Brazil celebrates the 100th year of the Japanese Immigration. (Folha Online) Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed survives an assassination attempt. (BBC News) The Parliament of the United Kingdom ratifies the Treaty of Lisbon. (Bloomberg) The United States and China agree to negotiate an investment treaty and to cooperate more closely on energy security and global pollution. (AP via Google News) The European Parliament passes legislation to allow undocumented aliens to be held in detention centres for up to 18 months and banned from European Union territory for five years. (The New York Times) Mexico reaches an agreement with industry groups to fix the prices of 150 food items as a result of accelerating inflation. (Bloomberg) Sudan and former southern rebels start deploying joint forces in the troubled Abyei region as part of an agreement. (AP via Forbes) Russian prosecutors charge three men in the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya. (BBC News) China and Japan agree to joint development of the Chunxiao gas field in a disputed area of the East China Sea. (BBC News) Relatives of Srebrenica massacre victims open a case in a Dutch court against the United Nations and the Netherlands for the failure of the Dutchbat force to prevent the killings. (BBC News) The Gujjar community of the Indian state of Rajasthan achieves a compromise recognition as a special category of Other Backward Class in the state's affirmative action program, comparable to the status of Banjaras and Rabaris. (BBC News) American golfer Tiger Woods will miss the rest of the golf season to have additional surgery on his left knee. (MarketWatch) Romanian villagers vote to re-elect a dead man as their mayor, to prevent his living rival winning. (BBC News) The High Court of South Africa extends affirmative action benefits of the Black Economic Empowerment program to members of the South African Chinese community. (BBC News) Six laptops containing information on about 20,000 patients are stolen from a London hospital. (BBC News) Afghan and Canadian forces begin an offensive against the Taliban in the Arghandab District of Kandahar. (Press Association via Google News) Israel agrees to a truce starting Thursday with the Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip. (BBC News) Israel suggests peace talks with Lebanon to end the 60-year Israeli-Lebanese conflict. (The Guardian) Sweden votes in favour of the FRA law, allowing all e-mails and phone calls to be monitored. (The Local)