Current events of 19 June 2008 (2008-06-19) (Thursday) edit history watch

The President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez threatens to stop selling oil to European countries who apply new European Union legislation on illegal immigration. (Reuters) Iraqi security forces enter the city of Amarah, arrest its Sadrist mayor, and take control. (BBC News) An Alabama state judge upholds a fraud verdict against AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals in a Medicaid drug pricing suit but reduces the value of damages to $160 million. (AP via Forbes) The President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accuses the United States of plotting to kidnap and assassinate him during a visit to Iraq. (AP via Forbes) Subprime mortgage crisis A Congressional ethics panel is examining allegations that Democrat Senators Christopher Dodd of Connecticut (the sponsor of a major $300 billion housing bailout bill) and Kent Conrad of North Dakota received preferential loans by troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers are arrested and will be the first Wall Street executives to face criminal charges. (Bloomberg) Royal Dutch Shell shuts down an offshore oil installation in Nigeria after an attack from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta. (AP via Google News) Zimbabwean presidential election, 2008: Zimbabwe police arrest an opposition Movement for Democratic Change lawmaker and place six others on a wanted list. (AFP) The bodies of four people who opposed Robert Mugabe have been found in Harare. (Sky News) Lee Myung-bak, the President of South Korea, apologises to South Koreans over an unpopular decision to resume importing beef from the United States. (Reuters) Commencing at dawn, the Israeli Government and Hamas declare a truce in the Israel-Gaza conflict, halting attacks across the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. (Chicago Tribune) A report reveals sailors onboard the submarine HMCS Chicoutimi during a 2004 fire may develop serious health problems as a result. (Canada.com) Four German and Spanish servicemen die when their EUFOR helicopter crashes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Deutsche Welle) The long-running comic strip Garfield celebrated its 30th birthday