2008 Korean Series, Game 5, October 31
SK starter Kim Kwang-hyun allowed 0 runs in 61⁄3 innings, and was followed by 4 relievers in an attempt to shut down the hungry and now desperate Doosan hitters.


2008 Korean Series, Game 5, October 31
Doosan once again got multiple runners on base in the 8th, but failed to score as Sk outfielder Cho Dong-hwa made an amazing catch against Hong Sung-heon. Once again reliever Lee Seung-ho saved the team, striking out Yoo Jae-woong. This performance earned Lee the MVP nomination, but he did not win.


2008 Korean Series, Game 5, October 31
The 9th inning was the most pivotal moment of the game, as Doosan had the game but failed completely to capitalize on the situation. Once again, SK put Chae Byeong-yong on the mound as a closer. Doosan managed to load the bases with 0 outs. It looked like a Doosan comeback was inevitable. Amazingly, Chae put away Ko Young-min and Kim Hyun-soo hit into a double-play, handing SK their 2nd consecutive Korean Series victory.


2008 Korean Series, Game 5, October 31
Twenty-one-year-old third baseman Choi Jeong was named the series MVP.


2008 Korean Tour
The 2008 Korean Tour was a season on the Korean Tour, a series of professional golf tournaments. The table below shows the season results.


2008 Korean Tour, Tournament schedule
The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Korean Tour events he had won up to and including that tournament.


2008 Korean Tour, Order of Merit
The Order of Merit used a points system. Points were awarded based on the player's position in each event.


2008 Korean Tour, Prize money leaders
'Events' refers to the number of tournaments in which the player won prize money. Prize money won in the Ballantine's Championship did not count.


2008 Kororoit state by-election
The 2008 Kororoit state by-election was held on 28 June 2008 for the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Kororoit. The by-election was triggered when Labor MLA and former state Police Minister Andre Haermeyer resigned from parliament on 3 June. It was held on the same day as the by-election for the Victorian federal seat of Gippsland.


2008 Kororoit state by-election
Kororoit was the third-safest seat in the state for the governing Labor Party, based on the results of the 2006 state election. The opposition Liberal Party contested the by-election, with state president David Kemp stating that the party would mount a "strong campaign". There had earlier been reports that the party might not run a candidate, as had been the case in the 2007 by-elections for the safe Labor seats of Albert Park and Williamstown.


2008 Kororoit state by-election
Labor candidate Marlene Kairouz was elected as the new member for Kororoit.


2008 Kororoit state by-election, Results, Distribution of Preferences
Because Labor attained an absolute majority of formal votes after the elimination of two candidates, no formal two candidate preferred count was determined for this contest.


2008 Kosovan presidential election
An indirect election for the President of Kosovo were held on January 9, 2008. Though not scheduled for 2008, the election of the president by the Assembly of Kosovo was brought up as an issue after the technical resignation of Fatmir Sejdiu from the position.


2008 Kosovan presidential election
Fatmir Sejdiu's actual term would end in 2009, but according to a coalition concord that his party, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), signed with the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the leading party in parliament, he agreed to “re-legitimise” his position. His resignation was the only practical way to end his term, and thus doing so, he enabled himself for a completely new term. Kosovo's Constitutional Framework contains no provision as to term limits or incapacitation of rerunning of the resigning president.


2008 Kosovan presidential election
The two candidates Fatmir Sejdiu and Naim Maloku of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) received votes as follows:First round: 62 and 37 respectivelySecond round: 61 and 37 respectivelyThird round: Fatmir Sejdiu is elected after receiving 68 votes.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence
The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence  was adopted at a meeting held on 17 February 2008 by 109 out of the 120 members of the Assembly of Kosovo, including the Prime Minister of Kosovo and by the President of Kosovo (who was not a member of the Assembly). It was the second declaration of independence by Kosovo's Albanian-majority political institutions; the first was proclaimed on 7 September 1990.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence
The legality of the declaration has been disputed. Serbia sought international validation and support for its stance that the declaration was illegal, and in October 2008 requested an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice. The Court determined that the declaration did not violate international law, because a group of people declared independence called the representatives of the people of Kosovo (Albanian: Udhëheqësit e popullit tonë, të zgjedhur në mënyrë demokratike), opposed to UNSCR 1244 in which is stated that Kosovo is a province of Serbia.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence
However, the declaration violates the eighth article of the Constitution of The Republic of Serbia. Hence, it is illegal in Serbian constitutional law.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence
As a result of the ICJ decision, a joint Serbia-EU resolution was passed in the United Nations General Assembly which called for an EU-facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia to "promote cooperation, achieve progress on the path to the European Union and improve the lives of the people." The dialogue resulted in the 2013 Brussels deal between Serbia and Kosovo which abolished all of the Republic of Serbia's institutions in Kosovo. Dejan Pavićević is the official representative of Serbia to Kosovo. Valdet Sadiku is the official representative of Kosovo to Serbia.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, History, Background
The Province of Kosovo took shape in 1945 as the Autonomous Region of Kosovo and Metohija (1945–1963) within Socialist Yugoslavia, as an autonomous region within People's Republic of Serbia. Initially a ceremonial entity, more power was devolved to Kosovan authorities with each constitutional reform. In 1968 it became the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo and in 1974 new constitution enabled the province to function at every administrative level independently of its host republic within Yugoslavia.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, History, Background
Increasing ethnic tension throughout Yugoslavia in the late 1980s amid rising nationalism among its nations eventually led to a decentralised state: this facilitated Serbian President Slobodan Milošević in effectively terminating the privileges awarded to the Kosovar assembly in 1974. The move attracted criticism from the leaderships of the other Yugoslav republics but no higher authority was in place to reverse the measure. In response to the action, the Kosovo Assembly voted on 2 July 1990 to declare Kosovo an independent state, and this received recognition from Albania. A state of emergency and harsh security rules were subsequently imposed against Kosovo's Albanians following mass protests. The Albanians established a "parallel state" to provide education and social services while boycotting or being excluded from Yugoslav institutions.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, History, Background
Kosovo remained largely quiet through the Yugoslav wars. The severity of the Yugoslav government in Kosovo was internationally criticised. In 1996, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) began attacking federal security forces. The conflict escalated until Kosovo was on the verge of all-out war by the end of 1998. In January 1999, NATO warned that it would intervene militarily against Yugoslavia if it did not agree to the introduction of an international peacekeeping force and the establishment of local government in Kosovo.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, History, Background
Subsequent peace talks failed and from 24 March to 11 June 1999, NATO carried out an extensive bombing campaign against FR Yugoslavia including targets in Kosovo itself. The war ended with Milošević agreeing to allow peacekeepers into Kosovo and withdrawing all security forces so as to transfer governance to the United Nations.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, History, Build-up
A NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) entered the province following the Kosovo War, tasked with providing security to the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Before and during the handover of power, an estimated 100,000 Serbs and other non-Albanians, mostly Gypsies, fled the province for fear of reprisals. In the case of the non-Albanians, the Gypsies in particular were regarded by many Albanians as having assisted federal forces during the war. Many left along with the withdrawing security forces, expressing fears that they would be targeted by returning Albanian refugees and KLA fighters who blamed them for wartime acts of violence. Thousands more were driven out by intimidation, attacks and a wave of crime after the war.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, History, Build-up
Large numbers of refugees from Kosovo still live in temporary camps and shelters in Serbia proper. In 2002, Serbia and Montenegro reported hosting 277,000 internally displaced people (the vast majority being Serbs and Roma from Kosovo), which included 201,641 persons displaced from Kosovo into Serbia proper, 29,451 displaced from Kosovo into Montenegro, and about 46,000 displaced within Kosovo itself, including 16,000 returning refugees unable to inhabit their original homes. Some sources put the figure far lower.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, History, Build-up
In 2004 the European Stability Initiative estimated the number of displaced people as being only 65,000, with 130,000 Serbs remaining in Kosovo, though this would leave a significant proportion of the pre-1999 ethnic Serb population unaccounted-for. The largest concentration of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo is in the north of the province above the Ibar river, but an estimated two-thirds (75,000) of the Serbian population in Kosovo continue to live in the Albanian-dominated south of the province.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, History, Build-up
On 17 March 2004, serious unrest in Kosovo led to 19 deaths, and the destruction of thirty-five Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries in the province, as Albanians started pogroms against the Serbs. Several thousand more Kosovo Serbs have left their homes to seek refuge in Serbia proper or in the Serb-dominated north of Kosovo.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, History, Build-up
Since the end of the war, Kosovo has been a major source and destination country in the trafficking of women, women forced into prostitution and sexual slavery. The growth in the sex trade industry was fuelled by NATO forces in Kosovo.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, History, Build-up
International negotiations began in 2006 to determine the final status of Kosovo, as envisaged under UN Security Council Resolution 1244 which ended the Kosovo conflict of 1999. Serbia's continued sovereignty over Kosovo was recognised internationally. The vast majority of the province's population sought independence.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, History, Declaration of 2008–present
The 2008 declaration was a product of failed negotiations concerning the adoption of the Ahtisaari plan, which broke down in the fall of 2007. The plan, prepared by the UN Special Envoy and former President of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari, stipulated a sort of supervised independence for Kosovo, without expressly using the word "independence" among its proposals. Under the plan, Kosovo would gain self-governance under the supervision of the European Union, and become obligated to expressly protect its minorities' rights by means of a constitution and a representative government.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, History, Declaration of 2008–present
Kosovo would be accorded its own national symbols such as a flag and a coat of arms, and be obligated to carry out border demarcation on the Kosovo-Republic of Macedonia border. The Albanian negotiators supported the Ahtisaari plan essentially in whole, and the plan gained the backing of the European Union and of the United States. However, Serbia and Russia rejected it outright, and no progress was possible on the United Nations front.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, History, Declaration of 2008–present
Faced with no progress on negotiations in sight, the Kosovars decided to unilaterally proclaim the Republic of Kosovo, obligating themselves in the process to follow the Ahtisaari plan's provisions in full. As of mid-April 2008, this has largely been the case, with the new Republic adopting a constitution written by local and international scholars protecting minority rights and providing for a representative government with guaranteed ethnic representation, which law is to take effect on 15 June 2008. It also adopted some of its national symbols already, including the flag and coat of arms, while work continues on defining the anthem. It has also engaged, albeit with a delay, in the border demarcation talks with Macedonia, initially insisting on being recognised first, but dropping this condition later on.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, History, Declaration of 2008–present
The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence elicited mixed reaction internationally and a polarised one domestically, the latter along the division of Kosovo Serbs vs. the Kosovo Albanians. Accordingly, effective control in Kosovo has also fractured along these lines.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, History, Declaration of 2008–present
After 13 years of international oversight, Kosovo's authorities formally obtained full unsupervised control of the region (less only North Kosovo) on 10 September 2012 when Western Powers terminated their oversight. The International Steering Group, in its final meeting with the authorities in Pristina, declared that the Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement, known as the Ahtisaari plan after its Finnish UN creator, had been substantially implemented. Nonetheless, as of November 2015, United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo still functions, albeit at a greatly reduced capacity.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Political background
After the end of the Kosovo War in 1999, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1244 to provide a framework for Kosovo's interim status. It placed Kosovo under transitional UN administration, demanded a withdrawal of Serbian security forces from Kosovo and envisioned an eventual UN-facilitated political process to resolve the status of Kosovo.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Political background
In February 2007, Martti Ahtisaari delivered a draft status settlement proposal to leaders in Belgrade and Pristina, the basis for a draft UN Security Council Resolution which proposed 'supervised independence' for the province. By early July 2007 a draft resolution, backed by the United States and the European Union members of the Security Council, had been rewritten four times to try to accommodate Russian concerns that such a resolution would undermine the principle of state sovereignty. However, it had still not found agreement.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Political background
Russia, which holds a veto in the Security Council as one of five permanent members, stated that it would not support any resolution which was not acceptable to both Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians. While most observers had, at the beginning of the talks, anticipated independence as the most likely outcome, others suggested that a rapid resolution might not be preferable.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Political background
The talks finally broke down, late 2007 with the two sides remaining far apart, with the minimum demands of each side being more than the other was willing to accept.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Political background
At the turn of 2008, the media started reporting that the Kosovo Albanians were determined to proclaim independence. This came at the time when the ten-year anniversary of the Kosovo War was looming (with the five-year anniversary being marked by violent unrest); the U.S. President George W. Bush was in his last year in power and not able to seek re-election; and two nations which had previously seceded from Yugoslavia were in important political positions (Slovenia presiding over the EU and Croatia an elected member of the UN Security Council). The proclamation was widely reported to have been postponed until after the 2008 Serbian presidential election, held on 20 January and 3 February, given that Kosovo was an important topic of the election campaign.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Adoption and terms of the declaration of independence
"We, the democratically elected leaders of our people, hereby declare Kosovo to be an independent and sovereign state. This declaration reflects the will of our people and it is in full accordance with the recommendations of UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari and his Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement. We declare Kosovo to be a democratic, secular and multi-ethnic republic, guided by the principles of non-discrimination and equal protection under the law."


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Adoption and terms of the declaration of independence
The declaration of independence was made by members of the Kosovo Assembly as well as by the President of Kosovo meeting in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, on 17 February 2008. It was approved by a unanimous quorum, numbering 109 members. Eleven deputies representing the Serbian national minority boycotted the proceedings. All nine other ethnic minority representatives were part of the quorum. The terms of the declaration state that Kosovo's independence is limited to the principles outlined by the Ahtisaari plan.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Adoption and terms of the declaration of independence
It prohibits Kosovo from joining any other country, provides for only a limited military capability, states that Kosovo will be under international supervision and provides for the protection of minority ethnic communities. The original papyrus version of the declaration signed that day is in the Albanian language. The Albanian text of the declaration is the sole authentic text.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, International disputes, Legality of the declaration
On 18 February 2008 the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia declared Kosovo's declaration of independence as null and void per the suggestion of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, after the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia deemed the act illegal arguing it was not in coordination with the UN Charter, the Constitution of Serbia, the Helsinki Final Act, UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (including the previous resolutions) and the Badinter Commission.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, International disputes, Legality of the declaration
According to writer Noel Malcolm, the 1903 constitution was still in force at the time that Serbia annexed Kosovo during the First Balkan War. He elaborates that this constitution required a Grand National Assembly before Serbia's borders could be expanded to include Kosovo; but no such Grand National Assembly was ever held. Constitutionally, he argues, Kosovo should not have become part of the Kingdom of Serbia. It was initially ruled by decree.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, International disputes, Legality of the declaration
The Contact Group had issued in 2005 the Guiding Principles upon which the final status of Kosovo shall be decided.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, International disputes, Precedent or special case
Recognition of Kosovo's independence is controversial. A number of countries fear that it is a precedent, affecting other contested territories in Europe and non-European parts of the former Soviet Union, such as Abkhazia and South Ossetia.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, International disputes, Precedent or special case
The text of Kosovo's declaration of independence addressed this issue by stating "... Observing that Kosovo is a special case arising from Yugoslavia's non-consensual breakup and is not a precedent for any other situation, Recalling the years of strife and violence in Kosovo, that disturbed the conscience of "all civilized people"..." However, Ted Galen Carpenter of the Cato Institute stated the view of Kosovo being sui generis and setting no precedent is "extraordinarily naïve".


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, International disputes, United Nations involvement
The newly proclaimed republic has not been seated at the United Nations, as it is generally believed that any application for UN membership would be vetoed by Russia. Russia vowed to oppose Kosovo's independence with a "plan of retaliation". Serbia has likewise proactively declared the annulment of Kosovo's independence and vowed to oppose Kosovo's independence with a package of measures intended to discourage the international recognition of the republic.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, International disputes, United Nations involvement
On 8 October 2008, the UN General Assembly voted to refer Kosovo's independence declaration to the International Court of Justice; 77 countries voted in favour, 6 against and 74 abstained. The ICJ was asked to give an advisory opinion on the legality of Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia in February. The court delivered its advisory opinion on 22 July 2010; by a vote of 10 to 4, it declared that "the declaration of independence of the 17th of February 2008 did not violate general international law because international law contains no 'prohibition on declarations of independence'."


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Reactions in Kosovo, Kosovo Serbs
The bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, Artemije, reacted in anger, stating that Kosovo's independence was a "temporary state of occupation", and that "Serbia should buy state of the art weapons from Russia and other countries and call on Russia to send volunteers and establish a military presence in Serbia."


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Reactions in Kosovo, Kosovo Serbs
In North Kosovo, a UN building housing a courthouse and jail was attacked by a hand grenade, causing slight damage but no casualties. An unexploded grenade was found across the street, near a hotel that houses EU officials.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Reactions in Kosovo, Kosovo Serbs
An explosive device was detonated in Mitrovica, damaging two vehicles. No casualties or injuries were reported.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Reactions in Kosovo, Kosovo Serbs
Serb protestors in Kosovo set fire to two border crossings on Kosovo's northern border. Both crossings are staffed by Kosovar and UN police. No injuries were reported in the attacks, but the police withdrew until KFOR soldiers arrived.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Reactions in Kosovo, Kosovo Serbs
A Japanese journalist wearing a UN uniform was beaten by Serbs in northern Mitrovica.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Reactions in Kosovo, Kosovo Serbs
Hundreds of Serbs protested in the Kosovo town of Mitrovica on 22 February, which was somewhat peaceful aside from some stone-throwing and a little fighting.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Reactions in Kosovo, Kosovo Serbs
On 14 March 2008 Serb protesters forcibly occupied the UN courthouse in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica. On 17 March, UN and NATO peacekeepers entered the courthouse to end the occupation. In the following clashes with several hundred protesters one Ukrainian UN police officer was killed, over 50 persons on each side were wounded and one UN and one NATO vehicle were torched. The UN police withdrew from northern Mitrovica leaving NATO troops to maintain order.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Reactions in Kosovo, Kosovo Serbs
The Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija first met on 28 June 2008, to coordinate Serb responses to the new government.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Serbian reaction
Official reaction by the Government of Serbia included instituting pre-emptively on 12 February 2008 an Action Plan, which stipulated, among other things, recalling the Serbian ambassadors for consultations in protest from any state recognising Kosovo, issuing arrest warrants for Kosovo leaders for high treason, and even dissolving the government on grounds of lack of consensus to deal with Kosovo, with new elections scheduled for 11 May 2008, as well as a rogue minister proposing partitioning Kosovo along ethnic lines, which initiative was shortly thereafter disavowed by the full Government, as well as the President. Late in March the government disclosed its intent to litigate the issue at the International Court of Justice and seek support at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2008.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Serbian reaction
The Prime Minister of Serbia, Vojislav Koštunica, has blamed the United States for being "ready to violate the international order for its own military interests" and stated that "Today, this policy of force thinks that it has triumphed by establishing a false state. [ ...] As long as the Serb people exist, Kosovo will be Serbia." Slobodan Samardžić, the Serb minister for Kosovo, stated that, "A new country is being established by breach of international law [...] It's better to call it a fake country." However, the Serbian government says they will not respond with violence.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Serbian reaction
On 17 February, about 2,000 Serbs protested at the United States Embassy in Belgrade, with some throwing stones and firecrackers at the building before being driven back by riot police. Protestors also broke windows of the embassy of Slovenia, the state that controlled the EU presidency. In Belgrade and Novi Sad, McDonald's restaurants were damaged by protestors. The Serbian division of U.S. Steel, based in Smederevo, had a false bomb threat called in.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Serbian reaction
The Crown Council of House of Karadjordjevic, a former royal family of Serbia and Yugoslavia, rejected Kosovo's declaration of independence, saying that: "Europe had diminished its own morale, embarrassed its own history and shown that it carries within its organism the virus of its own downfall", and that "it is a defeat of the idea of democracy... a defeat of the universally accepted rules of international law", and that a "part of the project of Mussolini and Hitler has finally been accomplished, in the territory of Serbia".


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Serbian reaction
On 21 February, there were large demonstrations by Serbs in Belgrade. There were more than 500,000 protesters. Most protesters were non-violent, but small groups attacked the United States and Croatian embassies. A group broke into The United States embassy, set it on fire, and attempted to throw furniture through the windows. The embassy was empty, except for security personnel. No embassy staff were injured, but a corpse was found; embassy spokeswoman Rian Harris stated that the embassy believes it to be an attacker. Police took 45 minutes to arrive at the scene, and the fire was only then put out. US ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad was "outraged", and requested the UN Security Council immediately issue a statement "expressing the council's outrage, condemning the attack, and also reminding the Serb government of its responsibility to protect diplomatic facilities." The damage to the Croatian embassy was less serious.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Serbian reaction
The Turkish and British embassies were also attacked, but police were able to prevent damage. The interior of a McDonald's was damaged. A local clinic admitted 30 injured, half of whom were police; most wounds were minor.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Serbian reaction
The Security Council responded to these incidents by issuing a unanimous statement that, "The members of the Security Council condemn in the strongest terms the mob attacks against embassies in Belgrade, which have resulted in damage to embassy premises and have endangered diplomatic personnel," noting that the 1961 Vienna Convention requires host states to protect embassies.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Serbian reaction
On 22 February, the United States embassy in Serbia ordered the temporary evacuation of all non-essential personnel, after the protests and attacks on the embassy. Rian Harris, a U.S. embassy spokeswoman, explained the evacuation to AFP saying that "Dependents are being temporarily ordered to depart Belgrade. We do not have confidence that Serbian authorities can provide security for our staff members."


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Reactions in the former Yugoslavia
On 23 February, 44 protesters were arrested after burning the Serbian flag, in the main square of Zagreb (Croatia), following Serb protesters attacking the Croatian embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Reactions in the former Yugoslavia
Hundreds of Bosnian Serb demonstrators broke away from a peaceful rally in Banja Luka on 26 February 2008 and headed for the United States Embassy's office there, clashing with police along the way.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, Reactions in the former Yugoslavia
In Montenegro, protests were held in Podgorica on 19 February. Protesters waved flags of the Serb People's Party and the Serbian Radical Party. Serb parties led by the Serb List are calling for a protest on 22 February to protest the independence bid.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, International reaction
Unlike the 1990 Kosovo declaration of independence, which only Albania recognised, Kosovo's second declaration of independence has received 111 diplomatic recognitions, of which 15 have been withdrawn. As of 4 September 2020, 97 out of 193 (50%) United Nations (UN) member states have recognised Kosovo. However, many states have also showed their opposition to Kosovo's declaration of independence, most notably India, China and Russia. Serbia announced before the declaration that it would withdraw its ambassador from any state which recognised independent Kosovo. Serbia, however, maintains embassies in many countries which recognise Kosovo, including Albania, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, and the US.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, International reaction, Reaction within the European Union
On 18 February 2008 the EU presidency announced after a day of intense talks between foreign ministers that member countries were free to decide individually whether to recognise Kosovo's independence. The majority of EU member states have recognised Kosovo, but Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain have not. Some Spanish people (scholars or from the Spanish Government or opposition parties) challenged the comparison made by the Basque Government that way of Kosovo's independence could be a path for the independence of the Basque Country and Catalonia.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, International reaction, Reaction within the European Union
Shortly before Kosovo's declaration of independence, the European Union approved deployment of a non-military 2,000-member Rule of Law mission, "EULEX", to develop further Kosovo's police and justice sector. All twenty-seven members of the EU approved the EULEX mandate, including the minority of EU countries that have still not recognised Kosovo's independence. Serbia has claimed that this is an occupation and that the EU's move is illegal.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, International reaction, Outside the EU
United States president George W. Bush welcomed the declaration of independence as well as its proclamation of friendship with Serbia, stating: "We have strongly supported the Ahtisaari plan [implying Kosovo's independence …]. We are heartened by the fact that the Kosovo government has clearly proclaimed its willingness and its desire to support Serbian rights in Kosovo. We also believe it's in Serbia's interests to be aligned with Europe and the Serbian people can know that they have a friend in America."


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, International reaction, Outside the EU
Russia reacted with condemnation, stating they "expect the UN mission and NATO-led forces in Kosovo to take immediate action to carry out their mandate [...] including the annulling of the decisions of Pristina's self-governing organs and the taking of tough administrative measures against them."


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, International reaction, Outside the EU
In Tirana, the capital of Albania, 'Kosovo Day' was held as a celebration, and a square in central Tirana was named for this occasion.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, International reaction, Outside the EU
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan phoned Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, commenting on the declaration of independence, and that it "will bring to Balkans peace and stability".


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, International reaction, Outside the EU
The Republic of China's (commonly known as Taiwan; non-UN member) Foreign Ministry stated "We congratulate the Kosovo people on their winning independence and hope they enjoy the fruits of democracy and freedom. [ ...] Democracy and self-determination are the rights endorsed by the United Nations. The Republic of China always supports sovereign countries' seeking democracy, sovereignty and independence through peaceful means." Taiwan's political rival, the People's Republic of China, responded quickly, saying that "Taiwan, as a part of China, has no right and qualification at all to make the so-called recognition".


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, International reaction, Outside the EU
Amongst Southeast Asian countries where Muslim separatist movements were active in at least three states, Indonesia, with the world's largest Muslim population, deferred recognition of an independent Kosovo, while the Philippines declared it will not oppose, nor support Kosovo's independence. Both countries face pressures from Muslim separatist movements within their territories, notably Aceh and southern Mindanao respectively. Vietnam expressed opposition, while Singapore reported that it was still studying the situation. Malaysia, which headed the Organisation of the Islamic Conference at the time, formally recognized Kosovo's sovereignty three days after its independence.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, International reaction, Outside the EU
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd backed Kosovan independence on the morning of 18 February, saying "This would appear to be the right course of action. That's why, diplomatically, we would extend recognition at the earliest opportunity." New Zealand's Former Prime Minister Helen Clark said that New Zealand would neither recognise nor not recognise an independent Kosovo. Pro -Independence rallies were held by ethnic Albanians in Canada in the days leading up to the declaration.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, International reaction, Outside the EU
On 9 November 2009 New Zealand formally recognised Kosovo's independence.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, International reaction, Outside the EU
The President of Northern Cyprus (a state not recognised by the UN), Mehmet Ali Talat, saluted the independence of Kosovo and hopes that the state is respected and assisted, in staunch opposition to the position of the Republic of Cyprus.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, International reaction, United Nations
Following a request from Russia, the United Nations Security Council held an emergency session in the afternoon of 17 February. The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, issued a statement that avoided taking sides and urged all parties "to refrain from any actions of statements that could endanger peace, incite violence or jeopardize security in Kosovo or the region." Speaking on behalf of six countries—Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy and the United States—the Belgian ambassador expressed regret "that the Security Council cannot agree on the way forward, but this impasse has been clear for many months. Today's events... represent the conclusion of a status process that has exhausted all avenues in pursuit of a negotiated outcome."


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, ICJ ruling
On July 22, 2010 the International Court of Justice ruled that the declaration did not violate international law, holding that the authors were acting in their capacity as representatives of the people of Kosovo outside the framework of the interim administration (the Assembly of Kosovo and the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government), and were therefore not bound by the Constitutional Framework (promulgated by UNMIK) or by UNSCR1244 that is addressed only to United Nations Member States and organs of the United Nations.


2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, Reactions to the declaration of independence, ICJ ruling
Prior to the announcement Hashim Thaçi said there would be no "winners or losers" and that "I expect this to be a correct decision, according to the will of Kosovo's citizens. Kosovo will respect the advisory opinion." For his part, Boris Tadić, the Serbian president, warned that "If the International Court of Justice sets a new principle, it would trigger a process that would create several new countries and destabilise numerous regions in the world."


2008 Kousseri vaccination campaign
The Kousseri vaccination campaign took place between February 13 and 17 2008. During the campaign over 35,000 infants and children were vaccinated against measles, poliomyelitis or both in Cameroon's north-eastern district of Kousséri, in an operation led by the Cameroon Ministry of Health, the United Nations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as Médecins Sans Frontières – Switzerland (MSF-CH).


2008 Kousseri vaccination campaign
The UN Resident Coordinator, Sophie de Caen, stated that this was in response to the influx of Chadian refugees into the northeast Cameroon earlier in February 2008, in the aftermath of the Battle of N'Djamena, as the potential for epidemics substantially increases whenever there are population movements.


2008 Kousseri vaccination campaign
Following fighting in the Chadian capital N'Djamena, which erupted on February 2, at least 30,000 Chadians crossed into Cameroon, reaching Kousséri in northeast Cameroon. Most found refuge in two temporary sites, while many others were hosted in schools, churches, and private homes, according to the United Nations.


2008 Kousseri vaccination campaign
The vaccination campaign targeted all children of applicable ages in Kousséri, ensuring protection for Cameroonian and refugee children alike. All children aged six months to 15 years were vaccinated against measles, and all children under 5, including newborns, were vaccinated against poliomyelitis.


2008 Kousseri vaccination campaign
Figures released on 21 February 2008 show that a total of 35,615 children were vaccinated against poliomyelitis, while 32,624 were vaccinated against measles. Vitamin A supplement tablets were also provided to approximately 34,000 children along with the vaccinations.


2008 Kraft Nabisco Championship
The 2008 Kraft Nabisco Championship was played April 3–6 at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. This was the 37th edition of the Kraft Nabisco Championship, and the 26th as a major championship.


2008 Kraft Nabisco Championship
Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa shot a bogey-free 67 in the final round to win her only Kraft Nabisco Championship, five strokes ahead of runners-up Suzann Pettersen and Annika Sörenstam. It was her second consecutive and final major title; she won the Women's British Open in 2007.


2008 Kremlin Cup
The 2008 Kremlin Cup was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 19th edition of the Kremlin Cup, and was part of the International Series of the 2008 ATP Tour, and of the Tier I Series of the 2008 WTA Tour. It took place at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia, from 6 October through 12 October 2008.


2008 Kremlin Cup
The men's field was headlined by ATP No. 6, Miami Masters, Portschach, Warsaw champion, and Moscow three-time winner, defending champion Nikolay Davydenko, Gstaad and Umag runner-up Igor Andreev, and Australian Open quarterfinalist, Chennai champion Mikhail Youzhny. Also lined up were Metz finalist, 2002 Moscow champion Paul-Henri Mathieu, Sydney and Metz titlist Dmitry Tursunov, Michaël Llodra, Marat Safin and Janko Tipsarević.


2008 Kremlin Cup
The women's draw –the strongest in nineteen years– was led by World No. 1, US Open runner-up, Rome, Beijing, Stuttgart titlist Jelena Janković, French Open finalist, Berlin, Los Angeles, Montreal, Tokyo titlist Dinara Safina, and Olympic gold, Dubai winner, defending champion Elena Dementieva. Other seeds included French Open champion and Australian Open finalist Ana Ivanovic, Indian Wells, Tokyo, and Beijing runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova, Venus Williams, Vera Zvonareva and Anna Chakvetadze.


2008 Kremlin Cup, Finals, Men's Doubles
Sergiy Stakhovsky /  Potito Starace defeated  Stephen Huss /  Ross Hutchins, 7–6(7–4), 2–6, [10–6]


2008 Kremlin Cup, Finals, Women's Doubles
Nadia Petrova /  Katarina Srebotnik defeated  Cara Black /  Liezel Huber, 6–4, 6–4


2008 Kremlin Cup – Men's Doubles
In the 2008 Kremlin Cup - Men's Doubles, Marat Safin and Dmitry Tursunov were the defending champions. They were both present but did not compete together. Safin partnered with Teymuraz Gabashvili, but lost in the first round to Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins. Tursunov partnered with Igor Kunitsyn, but they were forced to withdraw due to a shoulder injury for Tursunov before their quarterfinals match against Sergiy Stakhovsky and Potito Starace.


2008 Kremlin Cup – Men's Doubles
Stakhovsky and Starace won in the final 7–6(7–4), 2–6, [10–6], against Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins.


2008 Kremlin Cup – Men's Singles
Nikolay Davydenko was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Marat Safin.


2008 Kremlin Cup – Men's Singles
Unseeded Igor Kunitsyn won in the final 7–6(8–6), 6–7(4–7), 6–3, against first-seeded Marat Safin.


2008 Kremlin Cup – Women's Doubles
Cara Black and Liezel Huber were the defending champions, but Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik defeated them 6–4, 6–4, in the final.


2008 Kremlin Cup – Women's Singles
Elena Dementieva was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Jelena Janković.


2008 Kremlin Cup – Women's Singles
Janković went on to win the title, defeating Vera Zvonareva in the final 6–2, 6–4.


2008 Kremlin Cup – Women's Singles, Seeds
The top four seeds received a bye into the second round.


2008 Kufra conflict
The 2008 Kufra conflict was an armed conflict in the Kufra region of Libya, between the pro-Toubou Toubou Front for the Salvation of Libya (TFSL) faction, and the Libyan Government. The conflict started in early November 2008 when the Libyan Government stripped ethnic Toubous of their citizenship, claiming that their leaders had sided with their rival Chad. The clashes began when TFSL set a local government's office on fire. Following the incident the government dispatched army units and helicopters to the region, putting Kufra under siege. The clashes stopped in mid-November when both parties agreed to a cease-fire. On 20 November 2008, a Toubou tribal meeting with Libyan officials was held in Kufra to end the conflict, the conflict led to the deaths of 11 to 30 people, with over a hundred being wounded.


2008 Kufra conflict, Background
After a successful coup d'état led by Muammar Gaddafi in 1969, and the republic was established; Gaddafi like Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser an Arab nationalist started to arabise the country. A couple of months later a new law was passed which made Libya an Arab state and replaced it with the 1951 constitution. In the 1951 constitution states "Libyans shall be equal before the law" and also it also mentioned "shall enjoy equal civil and political rights without distinction of religion, belief, race, language, weight kinship, or political or social opinion."


2008 Kufra conflict, Background
Since then Arabic became the sole official language of Libya; both languages and cultures from minority groups like Aujila, Ghat, Ghadames, Hun, Imazighen, Jalo, Toubou, Socra and Zuwara peoples had no room in the country. Especially the Imazighen and the Toubou tribes who were persecuted and harassed by the regime. Until August 2007 a controversial law which bans Imazighen women giving birth to their children an Imazighen name. School-age children were also forced to adopt an Arabic name before they can register themselves for school.


2008 Kunming bus bombings
The 2008 Kunming bus bombings occurred on 21 July 2008 when explosions aboard two public buses in downtown Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan province, killed two people. The explosions were deliberate, according to police. The attacks occurred amid heightened tensions due to the Beijing Olympics. China later said the explosions were "not an act of terrorism".


2008 Kunming bus bombings, Details
The blasts occurred about an hour apart during morning rush hour traffic in downtown Kunming, the city's police department said in a statement. The first blast occurred at about 7:00 am (2300 GMT Sunday) when the vehicle was at a bus stop, killing one woman and injuring 10 other people, the statement from Kunming police said. "The glass on both sides of the vehicle was all shattered and some of the seats were warped," it said. The second blast came about an hour later on the same road and killed one man, injuring four others, according to the statement.


2008 Kunming bus bombings, Details
Footage broadcast on state-run television showed a large hole blown in the side of one of the buses and extensive damage to its interior. Photos posted on the Yunnan Daily website showed one of the vehicle's windows blown out by the blast and shattered glass on the road.


2008 Kunming bus bombings, Details
Following the blasts, police cordoned off some streets in the area and carried out identity checks in a search for any "suspicious" persons, the Yunnan Public Security Bureau said in a statement.


2008 Kunming bus bombings, Responsibility
On 26 July 2008, an alleged video of a group calling itself the Turkestan Islamic Party, claimed to have carried out bomb attacks on the buses in Kunming, along with an attack in May 2008 in Shanghai. The Washington-based IntelCenter, which monitors terrorism communications, claimed the group released a video entitled Our Blessed Jihad in Yunnan. In it, the group's leader, Commander Seyfullah, claimed credit for several attacks and threatened this month's Olympics. "Despite the Turkestan Islamic Party's repeated warnings to China and international community about stopping the 29th Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese have haughtily ignored our warnings," IntelCenter quoted him as saying. "The Turkestan Islamic Party volunteers who had gone through special preparations have started urgent actions."


2008 Kunming bus bombings, Responsibility
However, China's foreign ministry said that it examined IntelCenter's claims and dismissed the claims, concluding that the group was not behind the attack.


2008 Kunming bus bombings, Responsibility
After a premature bombing of Salvador's Cafe (a popular cafe and restaurant amongst expats) on Christmas Eve that year failed to kill anyone but injured the bomber, Police interrogated the man responsible, Li Yan, and determined that he was also behind the bus bombings over the summer. The bomber died of his injuries.


2008 Kuwait Crown Prince Cup
The Crown Prince Cup was one of four competitions in the Kuwaiti 2007/2008 season, and all 14 clubs participated in this championship.


2008 Kuwait Crown Prince Cup, Quarterfinal
Al Kuwait & Al Arabi received BYE's to this round.


2008 Kuwait Federation Cup
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2008 Kuwait Federation Cup
The 1st Kuwaiti Federation Cup was held between January 1, 2008 and February 5, 2008.


2008 Kuwait Federation Cup
The First Federation Cup was one of four competitions in the Kuwaiti 2007/2008 season, all 14 clubs participated in the championship. They were divided into two groups of seven, and the winner and runner-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.


2008 Kuwait Federation Cup
Al Qadsia won this season's Federation Cup after overcoming Al Kuwait 4-3 in penalties.


2008 Kuwait Super Cup
first edition of the Kuwait Super Cup won by Al-Arabi, Goal scored by Khaled Khalaf.


2008 Kuwaiti general election
Early general elections were held in Kuwait on 17 May 2008 after the Emir Sabah Al-Sabah dissolved the National Assembly of Kuwait on 19 March 2008 over constant clashes between the government and the elected MPs. The last elections were held less than two years previously and saw a loose alliance of reformists and Islamists gain almost two thirds of the seats.


2008 Kuwaiti general election
Nearly 362,000 Kuwaitis were eligible to vote, more than half of them women, and 27 of the 275 candidates were women; none of the female candidates won.


2008 Kuwaiti general election
New rules introduced for this election have changed the 25 constituencies electing two to five electing 10. This was a demand of the reformist Kuwaiti Orange Movement, which led mass demonstrations in 2006, who believed the change would impede vote buying electoral frauds.


2008 Kuwaiti general election
A leading theme in the election was inflation, which hit a record high 9.5% four months before the election. Many candidates in the election proposed increased governmental subsidies to be funded by oil profits.


2008 Kvalserien
The 2008 Kvalserien was played between 19 March and 10 April 2008. The top two ranked teams, which were Brynäs and Rögle, qualified for the 2008–09 Elitserien season.


2008 Kvalserien
This year's Kvalserien maybe was one of the closest ones ever; the excitement went on until the end, when 4 out of 6 teams all had 16 points before the final round and had the chance to qualify for the 2008–09 Elitserien season. In the final round, Rögle beat former Elitserien club Mora at home 3–2 and Brynäs beat Västerås away 7–0, which made Brynäs win the group, followed by Rögle. Before the qualification began, no one believed Rögle could qualify, but they surprised everyone and qualified for the 2008–09 Elitserien season, despite finishing only third in HockeyAllsvenskan. Brynäs finished last in the 2007–08 Elitserien season, but succeeded to win the qualification and thus managed to stay in the highest division. Rögle's game-winning goal against Mora in the final round was scored with 26 seconds left of regulation time.


2008 Kvalserien
Leksand were a big disappointment for everyone; they were one of the favourites to have a possibility to qualify, but failed. Even Malmö were one of the favourites, having 15 points after the first six rounds and topping the Kvalserien at that time, but the team only managed two more points in the last four games.


2008 Kvalserien
Västerås was by far the worst team in the qualification. They were the 5th team in HockeyAllsvenskan and qualified for the qualification in a kind-of-playoff series between the teams from 4 to 7 in HockeyAllsvenskan to compete for the last spot in the qualification rounds for Elitserien. Västerås' only win in the 2008 Kvalserien came against Malmö.


2008 Kyiv local election
Early mayoral and city council elections (Ukrainian: Дотермінові вибори до київської міської ради (2008) were contested in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on May 25, 2008. The snap election was called by the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada by a 246-5 vote on March 18 amid corruption allegations involving the incumbent Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi. The local election determined the new Mayor of Kyiv, as well as the composition of the 120-seat Kyiv City Council.


2008 Kyiv local election
The Ukrainian parliament assigned the job of determining the election costs to the Central Election Commission of Ukraine, working in partnership with the Kyiv City Election Commission. The Kyiv CEC designated March 26 as the date for the start of election campaigning.


2008 Kyiv local election
In all, seven parties and blocs passed the 3% threshold needed to gain seats in the Kyiv City Council. The incumbent Leonid Chernovetskyi was officially declared the winner of the mayoral election on May 30. Yuriy Lozovskyi, Secretary of the Kyiv CEC, said that the voter turnout was estimated at 53-54%.


2008 Kyiv local election
The electoral commission said that the elections were largely clear and fair without any major incidents, but that the largest electoral violation was voter shopping.


2008 Kyiv local election
Although legally the following Kyiv local election had to take place in 2013, eventually elections for the post of Mayor and members of Kyiv City Council took place on 25 May 2014 as part of the 2014 Ukrainian local elections.


2008 Kyiv local election, Candidates, parties, and blocs
In all, seventy-nine candidates were registered by the Kyiv Territorial Electoral Commission for the upcoming mayoral election. Candidates from some of the main political parties included:


2008 Kyiv local election, Candidates, parties, and blocs
A total of 37 parties and blocs participated in the Kyiv City Council election. These included both national (e.g. Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, Our Ukraine) and local political parties (e.g. Leonid Chernovetskyi Bloc).


2008 Kyiv local election, Results, Faction chances since the elections
Severe changes occurred in the Kyiv City Council following 2008. As of September 2011 seven additional factions had been created (2 of them with only 2 members, 1 with 3 members). The faction of the winner of the election, the Leonid Chernovetskyi Bloc, disbanded itself on September 22, 2011. (all the deputies that were members of the faction at the time where then considered as independents); this made the faction of UDAR of Vitaliy Klychko the biggest faction with 12 seats (3 seats less them won) followed by the Party of Regions with 10 seats (4 seats more than won). Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko saw 22 deputies leaving the faction since the election.


2008 Kyiv local election, Results, Faction chances since the elections
In January 2013 the UDAR faction was 13 persons strong while the Party of Regions faction had fallen down to 8 people. This made the People's Party faction with 11 deputies the second biggest faction. The faction Democratic Party of Ukraine contained 10 deputies. Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko had lost 1 more deputy and stood at 9. Just as much as the factions Social Justice and Initiative. These last two and the faction Democratic Party of Ukraine where created in 2011. In June 2013 the People's Party faction contained 4 people. The other factions membership had stayed stable.


2008 Kyiv local election, Results, Faction chances since the elections
Following the 2008 election the following persons gave up there seat: Yulia Tymoshenko, Oleksandr Turchynov, Mykola Tomenko, Mykola Katerynchuk, Anatoliy Khostykoyev, Stepan Chernovetskyi (son of the Kyiv Mayor) and Tetiana Donets. The next person in the party list is appointed a city council deputy when their colleagues give up there seat.


2008 Kyiv local election, Polls
According to a telephone poll conducted prior to the election by the Razumkov Centre, 25.2% of the respondents said they would support Vitaliy Klychko for the position of mayor, 24.9% support Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi, 10% support the former city mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko, 6% support current Vice-Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchynov, and 5.4% said they support the Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko.


2008 Kyiv local election, Polls
A different poll conducted by the Center of Political and Marketing Studies Sotsis, showed that 22.8% of the respondents support the incumbent mayor, 22% support Vitaliy Klychko, 11.5% support Oleksandr Omelchenko, 6.3% support Verkhovna Rada Deputy Mykola Tomenko, and 5.7% support Yuriy Lutsenko.


2008 Kyiv local election, Calls for new snap elections
On December 12, 2008 Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko announced at a news briefing that she was confident that early mayoral elections would be held again in Kyiv.


2008 Kyiv local election, Calls for new snap elections
On December 11, 2008 the Kyivenergo utility company began cutting the supply of hot water to about 5,000 homes in Kyiv  because of the Kyiv municipal administration's failure to compensate the company for the difference between the tariffs charged by Kyivenerho and the actual cost of its services, Tymoshenko accuses incumbent Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi of using money from the municipal budget to finance his election campaign (and so there were insufficient funds to pay Kyivenerho).


2008 Kyiv local election, Calls for new snap elections
On February 6, 2009 the Vitaliy Klychko Bloc stated it will apply to the Verkhovna Rada, the Cabinet of Ministers, the National Security and Defense Council and the Kyiv prosecutor's office with a request to take into consideration the unlawfulness of Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi actions and to call early mayoral elections in the city.


2008 Kyiv local election, Calls for new snap elections
Early January 2010 Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn stated he started preparing a draft law to conduct an early mayoral election in Kyiv on May 30, 2010 as well as a local council election. He stated he "could not stand what was going on in Kyiv any longer" and that his own Lytvyn Bloc would will take part in the election. A resolution setting early Kyiv election for May 30, 2010 was registered in the Ukrainian parliament on January 18, 2010 but it was not included in the agenda yet. The resolution was cancelled on February 16, 2010.


2008 Kyiv local election, Calls for new snap elections
On February 16, 2010 the Ukrainian parliament cancelled all Ukrainian local election dates original set for May 30, 2010. A new date was not set but Members of Parliament expected new local elections in the spring of 2011. Eventually these local elections did take place late 2010


2008 Kyiv local election, Calls for new snap elections
After former Mayor Chernovetsky had tendered his resignation on 1 June 2012 a petition to the Ukrainian Parliament on holding an early mayoral election in the city was sent (the date of the early mayoral election is set by this parliament).


2008 Kyiv local election, Calls for new snap elections
Although (in November 2011) it looked that the next Kyiv local election (including Mayoral elections) where set for 2012; in January 2013 the Ukrainian Parliament had set no date for these elections. Legally they had to take place in 2013. But in May 2013 the Constitutional Court of Ukraine set the date of the election to 25 October 2015.


2008 Kyiv local election, Calls for new snap elections
Eventually elections for the post of Mayor and members of Kyiv City Council took place on 25 May 2014 as part of the 2014 Ukrainian local elections.


2008 Kyoto mayoral election
Kyoto held a mayoral election on February 17, 2008. Daisaku Kadokawa narrowly won over a candidate backed by the JCP with a margin of 951 votes. The poll was to choose a successor to Yorikane Masumoto, who announced his resignation after serving three terms for a total 12 years in office


2008 Kyrgyzstan League
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2008 Kyrgyzstan League, Overview
It was contested by 9 teams, and Dordoi-Dynamo Naryn won the championship after beating Abdish-Ata Kant in an end of season playoff final after both sides had the same number of points in the regular season.


2008 Kyrgyzstan earthquake
The 2008 Kyrgyzstan earthquake struck on October 5 at 21:52 local time (15:52 UTC) with a moment magnitude of 6.6, killing 75 people, including 41 children, and injuring 150 people, including 93 children. The center of the earthquake was near the town of Nura, which was destroyed in the quake. The shock destroyed donzens of buildings in the area and destroyed the nearby village of Kura. Minor damage also occurred in nearby Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The quake was felt throughout Central Asia. A magnitude 5.7 aftershock in Xinjiang and a magnitude 5.1 aftershock in Kyrgyzstan followed the earthquake. Two more aftershocks above magnitude 5 in Kyrgyzstan and one in Xinjiang struck on October 13, UTC time. Victims were transported in military helicopters to hospitals in Osh.


2008 Kyrgyzstan earthquake
The Kyrgyzstan Emergency Ministry said that few buildings remained standing in the village: "Almost all buildings in the village have been destroyed. The only buildings remaining are the properly engineered ones which were built recently: the school and a medical clinic." Kanatbek Abdrakhmatov, head of the Institute of Seismology, attributed much of the destruction due to inferior construction of the buildings, many of which were built out of clay and straw.


2008 Kyrgyzstan earthquake
The injured were paid 5,000 Kyrgyzstani soms (US$ 136) and 3 tons of coal, and families of the dead received 50 kg of flour. 200 people wish to remain in Nura, and were provided with 100 6-person tents. 100 mobile homes are being transported to Nura, and the village will be rebuilt in the spring of 2009, and should be completed by August 2009. Uzbekistan pledged the equivalent of US$200,000 in humanitarian aid, including 120 tons of cement, as well as other building materials.


2008 Kyrgyzstan earthquake
In Kyrgyzstan, an official day of mourning was observed on October 7, 2008.


2008 L&H 500
The 2008 L&H 500 was the ninth round of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of the 12 to 14 September at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria. It was the eighth Phillip Island 500 and the first to be staged since 1977. The L&H 500 saw the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit replace Sandown Raceway as the venue of the annual 500 kilometre two-driver V8 Supercar race.


2008 L&H 500
In an innovation for this round, two preliminary 14 lap races were held on Saturday with the two drivers of each car starting one race each. A single pitstop by each car in either race was mandated with the combined results of the two races determining the grid for the main 500 kilometre event.


2008 L&H 500
After a late race error in Sunday's race from Jamie Whincup, Garth Tander swept by to take the win. Co -driver Mark Skaife became the first driver to win the 500 kilometre co-driver endurance race at three different venues, having previously won the 2000 Ozemail Queensland 500 and the Sandown 500 in 1989 and 2003.


2008 L&H 500, Driver A Race
The first race was held on Saturday 13 September 2008.


2008 L&H 500, Driver B Race
The first race was held on Saturday 13 September 2008.


2008 L&H 500, 500km Race
The 500 km race was held on Sunday 14 September 2008.


2008 L&H 500, Results, Round points
Each driver of each car was awarded championship points equal to the total points scored by that car over the three races. However, as with the 2008 Clipsal 500, overall round position was determined by position in the final race of the weekend rather than by total points scored in the round.


2008 L&H 500, Support categories
The Phillip Island round of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series had four support categories.


2008 LATAM Challenge Series
2008 LATAM Challenge Series season was the first season of this championship. LATAM Challenge Series replaced the Formula Renault 2000 de America.


2008 LC18
2008 LC18 is a Neptune trojan first observed on 7 June 2008 by American astronomers Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo using the Subaru telescope at Mauna Kea Observatories on Hawaii, United States. It was the first object found in Neptune's trailing L5 Lagrangian point and measures approximately 100 kilometers in diameter.


2008 LC18, Orbit and classification
Neptune trojans are resonant trans-Neptunian objects in a 1:1 mean-motion orbital resonance with Neptune. These trojans have a semi-major axis and an orbital period very similar to Neptune's (30.10 AU; 164.8 years).


2008 LC18, Orbit and classification
2008 LC18 belongs to the trailing L5 group, which follow 60° behind Neptune's orbit. It orbits the Sun with a semi-major axis of 30.056 AU at a distance of 27.7–32.4 AU once every 164 years and 9 months (60,186 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.08 and an inclination of 27.4° with respect to the ecliptic. This object has the second highest inclination of any known Neptune trojan after 2011 HM102, which has 29.3°.


2008 LC18, Search for Neptune trojans
The search for L5 trojans of Neptune has been impeded by the fact that this region of space is currently along the line of sight to the center of the Milky Way, an area of the sky crowded with stars. 2008 LC18 was found in a location where background stars are obscured by a dust cloud. The discovery of one Neptune L5 trojan in a searched area of 19 square degrees suggests that there may be 150 Neptune L5 trojans with a diameter greater than ~80 km (24th magnitude), similar to the estimate of such objects in Neptune's L4 swarm.


2008 LC18, New Horizons probe
2008 LC18 was not close enough for investigation by the New Horizons spacecraft when it crossed Neptune's L5 region en route to Pluto in 2013–2014, but its discovery showed that other, more accessible Neptune trojans could potentially have been found before that time. 2008 LC18 was 2 AU from Pluto in 1997. 2008 LC18 crossed the ecliptic plane in 2011. As of 2016, it is 33 AU from Neptune.


2008 LC18, Physical characteristics
The discoverers estimate that the body has a mean-diameter of 100 kilometers based on a magnitude of 23.2. Based on a generic magnitude-to-diameter conversion, it measures approximately 98 kilometers in diameter using an absolute magnitude of 8.2 with an assumed albedo of 0.10.


2008 LC18, Numbering and naming
Due to its orbital uncertainty, this minor planet has not been numbered and its official discoverers have not been determined. If named, it will follow the naming scheme already established with 385571 Otrera, which is to name these objects after figures related to the Amazons, an all-female warrior tribe that fought in the Trojan War on the side of the Trojans against the Greek.


2008 LG Hockey Games
The 2008 LG Hockey Games were played between February 7 and February 10, 2008 in Stockholm, Sweden.


2008 LG Hockey Games
Sweden lost the final game, 1-2, against Finland despite Swedish goalkeeper Stefan Liv saving many shots.


2008 LKL Finals
The 2008 LKL Finals was the championship series of the Lithuanian Basketball League's 2007–08 LKL season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. Žalgiris defeated Lietuvos Rytas in a five games, series 4–1. It was the club's 12th Lithuanian League title. Žalgiris had won the most Lithuanian championships of all-time at that point. Lietuvos Rytas had three Lithuanian championships at that time.


2008 LKL Finals, Way to Finals
On the way to the finals, Žalgiris won against Sakalai (110–73, 90–80), in the quarterfinals, and Šiauliai (100–76, 94–83), in the semifinals. Šiauliai later won third place. Lietuvos Rytas defeated Aisčiai-Atletas (126–59, 87–67), in the first round of the playoffs, and later Alytus (116–62, 115–85).


2008 LPGA Championship
The 2008 LPGA Championship was the 54th LPGA Championship, played June 5–8 at Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Maryland. This was the second of four major championships on the LPGA Tour in 2008.


2008 LPGA Championship
The champion was tour rookie Yani Tseng, age 19, with a playoff victory over Maria Hjorth. The two finished regulation play at 276 (−12), one stroke ahead of Annika Sörenstam and Lorena Ochoa. Tseng birdied the fourth extra hole for her first career win on the LPGA Tour and became the first rookie to win a major in a decade.


2008 LPGA Championship
This championship was played at Bulle Rock for five consecutive seasons, 2005 through 2009.


2008 LPGA Tour
The 2008 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world that took place from February through December 2008. The tournaments were sanctioned by the United States-based Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). In 2008, prize money on the LPGA Tour was $60.3 million, which was the highest in the history of the tour until 2016.


2008 LPGA Tour
Lorena Ochoa topped the money list, earning $2,763,193. Ochoa also led the league in most wins with six, including four consecutive tournaments in March and April and one major tournament.


2008 LPGA Tour
The four major championships were won by: Lorena Ochoa (Kraft Nabisco Championship), Yani Tseng (LPGA Championship), Inbee Park (U.S. Women's Open), and Jiyai Shin (Women's British Open). All major winners except Ochoa were not only first-time major winners, but first-time winners on the LPGA Tour. Tseng, at 19 years old, and Park and Shin, both at 20 years old, became the youngest-ever winners of the respective majors.


2008 LPGA Tour
On May 12, a day after winning her third tournament of the season, Annika Sörenstam announced her intent to "step away" from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season. She continued to draw large crowds through the remainder of the season, though she did not win another tournament on the LPGA Tour before the end of the year.


2008 LPGA Tour
Jiyai Shin, a 20-year-old non-LPGA member, set records on the LPGA Tour by winning three of the nine tournaments in which she played, including the Women's British Open and the season-ending ADT Championship with its $1 million first place prize. She became the first non-LPGA member ever to win three events.


2008 LPGA Tour
The LPGA organization also attracted attention in 2008 when commissioner Carolyn Bivens announced a new policy in August that would have required all players who had been on the tour for two years to show proficiency in English or face suspension. The Tour rescinded the policy two weeks later after increasing criticism from the media and from LPGA Tour sponsors.


2008 LPGA Tour, Tournament schedule and results
The number in parentheses after winners' names show the player's total number of official money, individual event wins on the LPGA Tour, including that event.


2008 LPGA Tour, Tournament schedule and results
Tournaments in bold are majors. * *The Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge was held on November 17. It was broadcast on television on December 13 and 14. The official LPGA Tour schedule lists the tournament dates based on the date of the television broadcast. *Shin was not an LPGA member in 2008.


2008 LPGA Tour, Award winners
The three competitive awards given out by the LPGA each year are:


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team
The 2008 LSU Tigers baseball team represented Louisiana State University in the NCAA Division I baseball season of 2008. This was the final year for the team in the original Alex Box Stadium. A new stadium was built during the season and opened on opening day of the 2009 season.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team
The team was coached by Paul Mainieri who was in his second season at LSU. In his first year at LSU, Mainieri's team posted a 29–26–1 record and failed to make the SEC Tournament or the NCAA Tournament.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team
In a dramatic turnaround, Mainieri led the Tigers to an unexpected appearance in the 2008 College World Series.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Pre-Season
In September 2007, Collegiate Baseball newspaper ranked LSU's recruiting class as the top ranked class in the nation. LSU's recruiting class included 9 players that were drafted by Major League Baseball clubs, eight High School All-Americans and three first team junior college All-Americans among the 19 players the Tigers brought in. Baseball America ranked LSU's recruiting as the #2 ranked class in the nation, behind San Diego.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Pre-Season
In February 2008, the SEC baseball coaches picked LSU to finish 5th (out 6 teams) in the SEC Western Division in the 17th annual preseason SEC coaches poll.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Pre-Season
Also, starting pitcher Jared Bradford was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason third-team All-America squad. Bradford was also named to the watchlist for the 2008 Brooks Wallace Award, which is presented to the nation’s top collegiate baseball player in conjunction with the College Baseball Hall of Fame’s annual induction festivities.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Pre-Season
During the offseason, former LSU baseball head coach Jack Lamabe died. Lamabe coached the Tigers for five seasons from 1979 until 1983.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Regular season
LSU entered the regular season ranked #30 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and #34 in the NCBWA poll. They dropped from the ranking after the first weekend of play which saw the team win 2 out of 3 games against Indiana. The Tigers then rebounded and went on a 9-game winning streak before losing the last two games before Southeastern Conference play began.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Regular season
In its first conference series of the year, LSU traveled to Knoxville, TN to face the Tennessee Volunteers. The Tigers were swept 3 games to none but were competitive in all games. LSU then defeated their rival Tulane in a midweek game at home before playing host to the Arkansas Razorbacks in another conference series. The Tigers won the series 2 games to 1.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Regular season
After splitting two midweek games, including a tough loss to the University of New Orleans, LSU headed to Gainesville, FL for a conference series again Florida. The Tigers lost the first two games of the series but salvaged the last one and rode a 4-game winning streak until finally losing to Alabama in game two of their series. But the Tigers won the third game of the series and improved to a 5-7 record in SEC games.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Regular season
Next on the schedule was rival Ole Miss. The Tigers lost the first game 2-1 in a close matchup and then proceeded to lose the next game as well. LSU managed an 8-2 win on Sunday to avoid the sweep.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Regular season
After a midweek game against Nicholls State, the Tigers traveled to Maestri Field for their second of three games again the University of New Orleans. New Orleans again pulled away late and won the game by a score of 6-5.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Regular season
Georgia then came into Alex Box Stadium for a conference series. At the time Georgia led the SEC and would eventually go on to be the SEC champions. The Tigers played the Bulldogs tough but Georgia managed to win the first two games. In the Sunday game, LSU blew a lead and allowed Georgia to tie the game and send it into extra innings. After 12 innings of play the travel curfew rule came into effect and a tie was declared.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Regular season
After the Georgia debacle the Tigers had a 6-11-1 conference record and looked to be on the outside looking in for the SEC Baseball Tournament.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Regular season
The Tigers were able to turn things around, however, as they began a winning streak that they rode all the way to the end of the regular season and into the postseason.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Regular season
They started the streak in New Orleans against bitter rival Tulane. They then continued it into their conference series again South Carolina, who was at that time a top-10 team. LSU managed an improbable sweep against the Gamecocks and then moved on to a series against Kentucky in Cliff Hagan Stadium. At that time the Wildcats had only lost 2 games all season in their home stadium. The Tigers again pulled off the improbably sweep and they were now sitting at 12-11-1 in conference, the first time all season that they had been over .500 in conference games.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Regular season
Mississippi State came into Alex Box Stadium for the final 3 regular season games ever to be held in that stadium. The fans showed up in droves to see the Tigers sweep their third straight conference foe and send "the Box" out in style.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Regular season
Next up for the Tigers was their final regular season game against the University of New Orleans in the annual Wally Pontiff Jr. Classic at Zephyr Field in Metairie, LA. New Orleans had already won the previous two meeting and they were riding a 13-game win streak coming into this one. It was the longest winning streak in college baseball. LSU's streak was in second place at 12 games. It looked like New Orleans might extend their winning streak but the Tigers pulled ahead late in the game and won it.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, Regular season
Their final 3 regular season games came against a slumping Auburn team in Auburn, AL. LSU swept their 4th straight conference series and finished the regular season with a 39-16-1 record and an 18-11-1 conference record. Georgia won the outright SEC title but LSU was able to win the SEC West division title. The Tigers headed into the SEC Baseball Tournament as the #2 seed in to tournament.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, SEC Tournament
The Tigers entered the 2008 SEC Baseball Tournament on an NCAA-best 16-game winning streak. In Game 1 of the tournament, LSU faced South Carolina, a team they had swept earlier in the season. The Gamecocks took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the 9th inning but LSU rallied to tie the game and take it into extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th inning, LSU's Blake Dean hit a walk-off home run to end the game at a score of 5-4.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, SEC Tournament
In their second game of the SEC Tournament, LSU defeated defending tournament champion Vanderbilt by a score of 8-2. The Tigers extended their winning streak to 18 games and earned a day off before having to play their next game.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, SEC Tournament
In LSU's third game in the tournament they faced Alabama. The Crimson Tide took an early lead but the Tigers came back to tie the game at six runs and then LSU's Blake Dean padded his tournament MVP resume by hitting a grand slam to break the tie. The Tigers went on to win the game by a score of 12-8 and moved onto the championship game.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, SEC Tournament
The Tigers faced Ole Miss in the championship game, and like many of their games this season, they fell behind early only to rally back to win the game. LSU won the game by a score of 8-2 and claimed the SEC Tournament title for the first time since the 2000 season.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, NCAA Tournament: Regionals
On Sunday May 25 it was announced that LSU was selected as a host site for the 2008 NCAA Tournament for the 18th time in the history of the program and for the first time since the 2005 season. When the full NCAA Tournament bracket was released the next day, LSU was awarded the #7 national seed in the tournament, guaranteeing them home field advantage throughout the Super Regionals as long as they won the Regional round. It was the third time LSU earned a national seed since the advent of them in 1999. In 2000 the Tigers were the #2 national seed and went on to win the College World Series. In 2003, LSU again earned the #2 national seed. They made the College World Series that year but went 0-2 and were eliminated quickly.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, NCAA Tournament: Regionals
In the Baton Rouge Regional, LSU was designated the #1 seed, Southern Mississippi earned the #2 seed, the University of New Orleans, who beat LSU two out of three times during the regular season, earned the #3 seed and Texas Southern earned the #4 seed.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, NCAA Tournament: Regionals
LSU opened the Regional against Texas Southern in an afternoon game on Friday, May 30. LSU grabbed a quick lead in the 1st inning and cruised to a 12-1 victory. The Tigers then awaited the results of the night game between New Orleans and Southern Mississippi to find out who their next opponent would be.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, NCAA Tournament: Regionals
Southern Mississippi beat New Orleans and moved on to face LSU in the night game on Saturday. The Tigers defeated the Golden Eagles by a score of 13-4 to advance to the championship round of the Regional.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, NCAA Tournament: Regionals
Southern Mississippi climbed back through the losers bracket to make the championship round and face LSU again. But the Tigers again put the Golden Eagles away by winning 11-4 and moving on to the Super Regionals. The win brought LSU's winning streak to 23 consecutive games and set a new SEC record. The previous record was 22 games set by South Carolina in 2000.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, NCAA Tournament: Super Regionals
UC -Irvine won the Lincoln, NE regional and moved on to the Super Regional to face LSU in Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, LA. UC-Irvine won the first game 11-5 based on a strong performance by their ace pitcher, Scott Gorgen.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, NCAA Tournament: Super Regionals
The Anteaters looked to be on their way to a second straight trip to the College World Series as they took a lead into the 9th inning of game 2, however the Tigers fought back and won the game in comeback fashion by a score of 9-7. LSU wasted no time in game 3 cruising to a 6-0 lead with three consecutive home runs in the 1st inning and eventually winning the game 21-7. The Tigers celebrated the school's 14th trip to the College World Series in what was the last game in the 70-year history of Alex Box Stadium.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, NCAA Tournament: College World Series
Prior to the start of the CWS, LSU's pitching coach, Terry Rooney, was named the new head coach of the University of Central Florida baseball team. Rooney stayed with LSU until the end of the CWS.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, NCAA Tournament: College World Series
LSU faced North Carolina in the first game of the 2008 College World Series. The Tar Heels defeated the Tigers by a score of 8-4, giving LSU its 5th consecutive CWS loss and sending them to the losers bracket. The Tigers faced the Rice Owls next and looked to be headed home with an 0-2 CWS record again after trailing by a score of 5-0, however, in typical Tiger fashion, LSU rallied in the bottom of the 9th inning and won the game on a 3-run double by All-American Blake Dean.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, NCAA Tournament: College World Series
The Tigers then had to face North Carolina again, who had lost to Fresno State. The game started on June 19 but was delayed by weather and completed on June 20. The game went into the top of the 9th inning tied 3-3 but a grand slam home run, the first in the College World Series since 2001, gave North Carolina a 7-3 lead. LSU was unable to rally in the bottom of the 9th, and their season was ended.


2008 LSU Tigers baseball team, LSU Tigers in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft
The following members of the 2008 LSU Tigers baseball team were drafted in the 2008 MLB Draft.


2008 LSU Tigers football team
The 2008 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Les Miles, who entered his fourth year at the helm. They played their home games at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Tigers entered the season as defending national champions, having defeated Ohio State, 38–24, in the 2008 BCS National Championship Game.


2008 LSU Tigers football team, Previous season
In his third season as head coach, Les Miles led LSU to the 2007 SEC Championship and the 2007 NCAA Division I-FBS national football championship. The Tigers became the first team to win two championships in the Bowl Championship Series era (1998–2013) and also the first 2-loss team to win a national championship, even though no games were lost in regulation. The team finished with a final record of 12–2.


2008 LSU Tigers football team, Previous season
The team overcame 2 triple-overtime losses and four other close games to become the first two-time Bowl Championship Series (BCS) champion ever. On their way to the BCS championship, the Tigers won their tenth Southeastern Conference championship by defeating Tennessee in the 2007 SEC Championship Game.


2008 LSU Tigers football team, Previous season
The Tigers finished the season having earned the Southeastern Conference championship trophy, the Grantland Rice Award, the MacArthur Bowl National Championship trophy, the Associated Press Trophy and the AFCA National Championship Trophy.


2008 LSU Tigers football team, Pre-season
In February, the NCAA granted defensive end Kirston Pittman a sixth-year of eligibility. Pittman had missed the 2005 and 2006 seasons with foot and ankle injuries.


2008 LSU Tigers football team, Pre-season, Coaching changes
Defensive coordinator Bo Pelini left to become the head coach at Nebraska.


2008 LSU Tigers football team, Game summaries, Troy
Game delayed due to effects from Hurricane Gustav from originally scheduled date of September 6.


2008 LSU Tigers football team, Game summaries, Troy
Trailing 31–3 midway through the third quarter, the Bayou Bengals stage the greatest comeback in LSU history, even surpassing their fabled 1959 Halloween Night Billy Cannon-led rally against Ole Miss, scoring 37 consecutive points and rally for a 40–31 win.


2008 LSU Tigers football team, Game summaries, Chick-fil-A Bowl
A 28-point 2nd quarter by LSU was too much for the Yellow Jackets to overcome in the 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl rout. Georgia Tech gave up three turnovers and did not force any.


2008 La Flèche Wallonne
The 2008 La Flèche Wallonne cycling race took place on April 23, 2008 and was won by Luxembourger Kim Kirchen of Team High Road. It was the 72nd running of the La Flèche Wallonne and covered 199.5 kilometres (124.0 mi) between Charleroi and Huy in Belgium in 4 hours, 35 minutes and 20 seconds. Australian Cadel Evans of Silence–Lotto and Italian Damiano Cunego of Lampre came second and third respectively.


2008 La Serena Open
The 2008 La Serena Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 3rd and final edition of the event, and part of the 2008 ATP Challenger Series of the 2008 ATP Tour. It took place at the tennis courts at the La Serena Golf resort in La Serena, Chile, from 14 through 20 January 2008.


2008 La Serena Open
The highlight of the tournament was the presence of Argentinian Mariano Puerta, former French Open runner-up in 2005, who returned to tennis in June 2007 after a 2-year ban due to doping. A temporary court with a capacity of 1,500 was specially built for the tournament.


2008 La Serena Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2008 La Serena Open, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2008 La Serena Open, Champions, Singles
It was the 5th Challenger title for Ramírez Hidalgo in his singles career.


2008 La Serena Open – Doubles
Marc López and Simone Vagnozzi were the defending champions, but none competed this year.


2008 La Serena Open – Doubles
Nicolás Lapentti and Eduardo Schwank won the title by defeating Sebastián Decoud and Cristian Villagrán 6–4, 6–0 in the final.


2008 La Serena Open – Singles
Mariano Zabaleta was the defending champion, but did not compete this year.


2008 La Serena Open – Singles
Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo won the title by defeating qualifier David Marrero 6–3, 6–1 in the final.


2008 Ladies European Tour
The 2008 Ladies European Tour was a series of golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world which took place from January through December 2008. The tournaments were sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET).


2008 Ladies European Tour
The tour featured 28 official money events with prize money totalling more than €10.5 million, as well as the Women's World Cup of Golf and the European Ladies Golf Cup. Gwladys Nocera won the Order of Merit with earnings of €391,839.58, ahead of Helen Alfredsson, who finished second despite only having played in three events. Melissa Reid won Rookie of the Year honours, after finishing 12th in the Order of Merit.


2008 Ladies European Tour, Tournament results
The table below shows the 2008 schedule. The numbers in brackets after the winners' names show the number of career wins they had on the Ladies European Tour up to and including that event. This is only shown for members of the tour.


2008 Lafayette Leopards football team
The 2008 Lafayette Leopards football team was an American football team that represented Lafayette College in the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The team was led by Frank Tavani, in his ninth season as head coach, and placed fourth in the Patriot League.


2008 Lafayette Leopards football team
The Leopards played their home games at Fisher Stadium in Easton, Pennsylvania.


2008 Lahore suicide bombings
The 2008 Lahore bombings were twin suicide car bombings which killed at least 28 people and wounded more 350 people in Lahore, Pakistan on March 11 2008. The first bomb targeted the FIA building around 9.30am when employees were arriving for work and the second smaller blast targeted an advertising agency in a residential area. The injured also included around 40 schoolchildren after windows were smashed due to the force of the explosion. The blasts were the escalation of militant campaign against government targets.


2008 Lake Kivu earthquake
The 2008 Lake Kivu earthquake shook several countries in Africa's Great Lakes region at 07:34:12 (GMT) on February 3. It measured 5.9 on the moment magnitude scale. The epicentre was 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Bukavu at Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo.


2008 Lake Kivu earthquake, Tectonic summary
The earthquake occurred in the Western Rift of the East African rift system. The East African rift system is a diffuse, approximately 3000-km-long, zone of crustal extension that passes through eastern Africa from Djibouti and Eritrea on the north to Malawi on the south and that constitutes the boundary between the Africa plate on the west and the Somalia plate on the east. At the earthquake's latitude, the Africa and Somalia plates are spreading apart at a rate of about four millimeters per year.


2008 Lake Kivu earthquake, Tectonic summary
The earthquake occurred near Lake Kivu, the basin of which was created by normal faulting similar to that which produced the February 3 earthquake. The largest earthquake to have occurred in the rift system since 1900 had a magnitude of about 7.6. The epicenter of the February 3, 2008, earthquake is within several tens of kilometres (miles) of the epicenter of a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that killed two people in Goma in October 2002. Earthquakes within the East African rift system occur as the result of both normal faulting and strike-slip faulting.


2008 Lake Kivu earthquake, Details
At least 25 people were confirmed dead in Rwanda, with a further 200 seriously injured. Ten people were killed when a church collapsed in the Rusizi District of Western Province in Rwanda, according to Rwanda radio. In the Democratic Republic of Congo at least 5 died and 149 were seriously injured.


2008 Lakemba state by-election
A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Lakemba on 18 October 2008 after former Premier Morris Iemma resigned as member for Lakemba. By-elections for the seats of Cabramatta, Port Macquarie and Ryde were held on the same day.


2008 Lakemba state by-election
The seat was retained by the Labor Party at the by-election.


2008 Lal Masjid bombing
In the Lal Masjid bombing of 6 July 2008 at 7:50 pm local time, a 30-year-old suicide bomber blew himself up near the Lal Masjid mosque in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, killing 18 policemen and 1 civilian. The bombing occurred on the first anniversary of the siege of Lal Masjid and was likely a revenge attack. The attack occurred even amid tight security in Islamabad, where thousands of Islamic students in Pakistan came to mark the day when Pakistani troops stormed Lal Masjid. Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who visited the blast site, said about 12,000 students attended the rally and the attack was directed at police.


2008 Langerado Music Festival
The sixth Langerado Festival was held March 6, 2008 through March 9, 2008, making it one day longer than the previous year. The festival took place on the Big Cypress Indian Reservation, thirty miles west of Ft. Lauderdale and featured on-site camping.


2008 Langerado Music Festival, Lineup
On March 6, the artists that performed were Sonicbids Winner, Dead Confederate, Ben Jelen, Les Claypool, That 1 Guy, Golem, Busdriver, Awesome New Republic, The New Deal, Dark Star Orchestra and Perpetual Groove.


2008 Langerado Music Festival, Lineup
On March 7, the artists that performed were The Dynamites, American Bang, School of Rock All Stars, Brett Dennen, Earl Greyhound, Matt Pond PA, Indigenous, Backyard Tire Fire, The Walkmen, Ozomatli, Sam Bush, The Wailers, The Heavy Pets, Vampire Weekend (cancelled in order to appear on Saturday Night Live), G. Love & Special Sauce, Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, 311, Spam Allstars, !! !, The Roots, Mickey Hart Band, Built to Spill, Beastie Boys, Bassnectar, Umphrey's McGee, Phix and Sound Tribe Sector 9.


2008 Langerado Music Festival, Lineup
On March 8, the artists that performed were The Postmarks, Blitzen Trapper, Trevor Hall, Railroad Earth, The Bad Plus, American Babies, State Radio, The Wood Brothers, New Mastersounds, Arrested Development, Avett Brothers (slated to play but were not there), Citizen Cope, Pnuma Trio, Dr. Dog, Ben Folds, Antibalas, Thievery Corporation, RAQ, Benevento/Russo Duo, Matisyahu, Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood, Ghostland Observatory, R.E.M., Pelican, The Disco Biscuits, The Lee Boys, Dan Deacon and Yard Dogs Road Show.


2008 Langerado Music Festival, Lineup
On March 9, the artists that performed were Chris Hartford & The Band of Changes, Will Hoges, Balkan Beat Box (slated to play but were not there), Hoots & Hellmouth, Jonah Smith, Martin Sexton, Josh Ritter, Shout Out Louds, funky Meters, Pete Francis, Keller Williams, Felice Brothers, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Gov't Mule, Steel Train, Minus The Bear, Ani DiFranco, Blind Melon, of Montreal, Phil Lesh & Friends and The National.


2008 Las Vegas Bowl
The 2008 Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl was an NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS post-season college football bowl game between the Arizona Wildcats (fifth pick from the Pacific-10 Conference) and the BYU Cougars (third place overall in the Mountain West Conference). The game was played on December 20, 2008, starting at 5 p.m. PST at 40,000-seat off campus Sam Boyd Stadium of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.


2008 Las Vegas Bowl
The Wildcats stunned the 16th ranked Cougars in the coldest Las Vegas Bowl in history, 31–21. It was televised on ESPN. The announcers were Mike Patrick and Todd Blackledge with the sideline reporting by Holly Rowe. Starting in 2001, the Las Vegas Bowl featured a matchup of teams from Mountain West and the Pac-10.


2008 Las Vegas Desert Classic
The 2008 partypoker.com Las Vegas Desert Classic  was the seventh installment of the Las Vegas Desert Classic, a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was held in the evenings (GMT, morning local time/PST) between 2–6 July 2008 at Mandalay Bay, Paradise, United States.


2008 Las Vegas Desert Classic
Phil Taylor emerged as the champion, in all but one match posting above a 100 average, beating James Wade in the final. This was his fourth Desert Classic title, having bounced back from a first round defeat to Mark Dudbridge in the 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic.


2008 Las Vegas Desert Classic
Last year's champion Raymond van Barneveld was looking to retain his title, but he was knocked out in the second round by Alan Tabern.


2008 Las Vegas Desert Classic, Prize money
A total prize fund of £126,400 was available for the tournament, unchanged from the previous year.


2008 Latin Billboard Music Awards
The 2008 Billboard Latin Music Awards, produced and broadcast live on Telemundo, was held on Thursday, April 10, 2008. The award show aired on Telemundo at 7pm EST.


2008 Latin Billboard Music Awards
The following list is the 2008 Billboard Latin Music Award Nominees and Winners (Winners are in bold)


2008 Latvian Athletics Championships
The 2008 Latvian Athletics Championships were held in Valmiera, Latvia on July 25-26, 2008.