2008 Bandung stampede, Incident
The number of attendants of the concert exceeded the capacity of the building where the concert was taking place. There were estimated 800 to 1000 people watching the concert. Apart from the attendants in the building, there were others who were outside of the building. When the concert concluded at 20:30, the panic started as the attendants were leaving the building. As the building was unable to accommodate so many attendants, the air circulation was greatly decreased and the attendants were suffering from asphyxiation, suffocation, dehydration and jostling. The lack of medical staffs caused the impacted attendants to receive no proper medical attention. It was reported that there were a number of people lying on the floor and did not receive medical attention at all.


2008 Bandung stampede, Aftermath
This mass hysteria claimed 11 lives and left dozen attendants injured. About 3 people were arrested and declared as suspects with charges of negligent homicide. Among the fatalities, there was one female victim.


2008 Bandung stampede, Aftermath
The AACC building was temporary closed due to the incident. In 2010, it was renovated and renamed to New Majestic. Changes to the management once again saw renaming of the building to De Majestic in 2017. The building now hosts traditional art shows and other events.


2008 Bandung stampede, Memorial
In 2014, a monument of memorial was erected at Taman Musik Centrum by Arif Prasetya, Head of Bandung City Cemetery and Gardening Service. The names of 11 people killed in the incident were written on the monument.


2008 Bandy World Championship
The 2008 Bandy World Championship for men was played at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia on 27 January–3 February 2008. Russia became champions.


2008 Bandy World Championship, Final four
The top four teams from Group A went on to a play-off to decide the world champion.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts
2008 Bangalore serial blasts occurred on 25 July 2008 in Bangalore, India. A series of nine bombs exploded in which one person was killed and 20 injured. According to the Bangalore City Police, the blasts were caused by low-intensity crude bombs triggered by timers.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts
India already suffered from a similar series of blasts in Jaipur, in May 2008.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts
The Times of India has reported that either the banned organisation Students Islamic Movement of India or the militant organisation Lashkar-e-Toiba could be behind these blasts. The Intelligence Bureau is not ruling out the involvement of these organisations, however the police maintain that it is too early to attribute blame to anyone.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts
The bombings were followed by the 2008 Ahmedabad bombings one day later.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, The bombings
It was initially reported that three blasts took place at around 1:30 pm IST. Later reports indicated that four low-intensity blasts occurred: One at Nayandahalli (1:30 PM IST), two in Madiwala (at 1:50 pm IST), and the last in Adugodi (2:10 pm). Other blasts were reported from areas including the Mallya hospital, Langford Road and Richmond Circle. The Madiwala blast took place at a check post, behind The Forum, a popular shopping mall in Bangalore.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, The bombings
It has been reported that gelatin sticks were used in the bombs. Police indicated that all bombs had timer devices attached to them and that mobile phones were used to trigger the bombs. The blasts were low-intensity but occurred in crowded areas.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, The bombings
There was another bomb found on 26 July 2008 in Bangalore near Forum Mall, Koramangala which was defused successfully by the Bomb Detection Squad.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Casualties
One person was killed and 20 injured in the attacks. The confirmed dead was a woman waiting at a bus shelter in Madiwala on the Hosur road; her husband and another person were seriously injured. The injured were admitted to the St. Johns Hospital.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Casualties
In response to the attack Prime Minister Singh sanctioned an ex gratia payment of Rs one lakh to the relatives of those dead and Rs 50,000 to those injured in the blasts.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Reactions
President Pratibha Patil, the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, Leader of the opposition L. K. Advani, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Chief Minister of Karnataka, B. S. Yeddyurappa all condemned the violence and appealed for calm and communal harmony.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Reactions
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary J. Jayalalithaa called for the revival of special act like POTA to effectively counter terrorists and extremist outfits. The All India Muslim Forum also "strongly condemned" the attack.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Impacts
Calls by concerned and panicked citizens resulted in the telephone networks being jammed. Malls, schools and cinema halls across the city were shut down, and the police cordoned off the blast sites.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Impacts
The effect of the blast on the Sensex was immediately visible with losses exceeding 3.5% reported on Friday after the Bangalore blasts. The 30-share BSE index was down 3.7%, or 529.28 points at 14,228.81, with 23 components in the red. The 50-issue NSE index was down 2.9 percent at 4,305.30.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Impacts
The government has issued a statement that IT companies in Bangalore were not the target of the blast. This was reaffirmed when major IT companies based in the city -like Wipro and Infosys- reported that the blasts had no impact on their operations and that all employees were safe. Employees were, however, urged to leave for home early. A new security plan for IT and other industries was announced by Minister for Home Affairs Shivraj Patil immediately after the Bangalore serial blasts. Under the new amendment of law Central Industrial Security Force personnel could be used to safeguard private sector industries which till now was limited to public sector undertakings (PSUs).


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Investigation
No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings. The Bangalore Police Commissioner, Shankar Bidari, termed the blasts "an act of miscreants" trying to disturb peace in the city. The Union Home Ministry of India named the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba and Students Islamic Movement of India, as the suspects.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Investigation
The Bangalore Police said that attack "bore some hallmarks" of the Bangladesh-based militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI).


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Investigation
The Central Government of India had warned the Karnataka state government one day earlier that state was high on the terror hitlist along with six other Indian states – Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Assam – and Union Territory Delhi.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Investigation
There is a possible connection with the Andhra and Varanasi attacks. An official was quoted as saying "The aim of these groups, whether HuJI or LeT or Simi, is clear. Bangalore and Hyderabad are being chosen as targets to create panic in the US as the cities house [the] biggest IT companies from the US." The Andhra – Karnataka link involves Raziuddin Nasir, a Hyderabad resident, and his aide Hafiz Khan Adnan from Bangalore, were arrested near Hubli in Karnataka this year. Furthermore, another clear link between the terror elements in both blasts is the explosive material used.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Investigation
In the Bangalore blasts an explosive with an ammonium nitrate base was used, while in the Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park explosions in Hyderabad a similar ammonium nitrate base was used. These were also of low intensity with the aim of creating panic. Like the Malegaon and Mecca Masjid blasts, it took place on a Friday during or just after the prayers. In response to these blasts security was also beefed up in Andhra Pradesh.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Investigation
It was also reported that sleeper cells have gained a firm foothold in Karnataka with the discovery of terror camps in the Karnataka forest early in the year. In this vein, near-simultaneous blasts – all having the footprint of the jehadi network that had carried out blasts in Varanasi, Jaipur, Mumbai and elsewhere – point to the strong foothold terrorists have made in the city.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Investigation
On 29 July, the Bangalore police Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested a SIMI activist named Sameer Sadiq in connection with the blasts. According to the police, Sadiq had played a key role in the Surat riots. He was staying at Gurapanapalya in Bangalore, the area which incidentally housed the SIMI office before it had been banned.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Investigation
On 30 July 2008, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) indicated that two men – Rasool Khan Parti and Mohammad Sufiya Ahmed Patangiya – currently living at Farahan Arcade Gulistan in Karachi were the masterminds behind the Ahmedabad and the Bangalore serial blasts. They used to reside in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Both are possibly members of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami. The Gujarat Police has been looking for them in connection to the murder of former Gujarat state minister Haren Pandya.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Investigation
On 5 February 2009, Karnataka Police arrested Muhammed Zakaria, then 19 years old, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. He was accused of making timers for the blasts. Two witnesses have retracted their testimony alleging that the police made them witnesses and the case is fabricated. In March 2020, Zakariya's mother, Biyumma filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court seeking to declare the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), as unconstitutional. Advocate Hashir K Muhammed created a documentary about Zakariya in 2017 titled 'A Documentary about disappearance.'


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Investigation
On December 2009, two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists including Lashkar's South India commander Thadiyantevide Nasir were arrested by the Indian Forces from the Bangladesh border. Interrogation of them lead to significant evidences to the serial blasts in several Indian cities in 2008 especially the Bangalore blasts. Nasir's arrest paved way for the arrest of several Muslim youth from Kerala involved in terrorism, as well as evidences for terror links of Kerala politician Abdul Nasser Madani.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Investigation
Madani's wife Soofiya Madani was arrested by Kerala Police on 19 December 2009 on the ground that she had taken an active role in Kalamassery Tamil Nadu state transportation corporation bus burning case. The remand report presented by police in the court said Soofiya had confessed to her role in the case and links with Laskhar-e-Toiba South India commander Tadiyantavide Nasir. However, Soofiya’s counsel said the charges were false. Nasir was Madani’s ‘‘enemy’’ and had lied to police to implicate Soofiya, he claimed.


2008 Bangalore serial blasts, Investigation
But the prosecution pointed out that the Kerala high court while rejecting her anticipatory bail plea had said that the bus burning case was an act of terror.T Nazir is involved in the cases ranging from the attempted murder of former kerala chief minister [E K Nayanar] to the recent Bangalore bomb blast for which he is under custody of Karnataka police. Bangalore police has already obtained ample proof that T Nazir and his associates like Abdul Sattar has good link with Madani family. These sequence of events has brought serious question to Kerala's position holding the image of a good secular fabric in its society.


2008 Bangkok gubernatorial election
The eighth gubernatorial election for the city of Bangkok, Thailand, was held on 5 October 2008. The election was won by the incumbent Governor Apirak Kosayothin, placing him in his second consecutive four-year term in office, winning 45.93 percent of the vote. Of a total of 4,087,329 eligible voters, 2,214,320 voted, giving a turnout rate of 54.18 percent, lower than the 70 percent target expected by the Election Committee.


2008 Bangkok gubernatorial election
Sixteen candidates contested the election. Apirak, candidate for the opposition Democrat Party, was seen as the favourite. Other candidates included Chuwit Kamolvisit, a former massage parlour businessman who also ran in the 2004 election, Prapas Chongsa-nguan, former governor of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand and candidate for the People's Power Party, Kriengsak Chareonwongsak, an academic and professor in business administration, and Leena Jangjanja, a businesswoman and lawyer who ran in the previous election and the 2006 senate election.


2008 Bangkok gubernatorial election
The sixth elected governor of Bangkok, Apirak is the second to be elected to a second term, after Chamlong Srimuang, governor from 1985–1992, who was incidentally arrested at a polling station early on the election day, on charges of insurrection due to his role as leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy, a group which has staged protests and occupied Government House since August.


2008 Bangkok gubernatorial election, Campaign
Apirak's four-year term as governor ended on 28 August 2008. Applications for the post were accepted from 1 to 5 September, and the official list of candidates was announced on 11 September. Campaigning included public speeches by candidates, television interviews, campaign trucks announcing messages through loudspeakers, and most noticeably, a multitude of campaign posters erected on the pavements, some of which fell over and injured pedestrians and motorcyclists.


2008 Bangkok gubernatorial election, Campaign
The more unusual campaigning stunts included Leena's bathing in a canal to reflect the local population's experiences, which ended tragically when her campaign manager drowned. Nearer to the election day, Chuwit caused headline news by punching and kicking a television journalist after an interview.


2008 Bangkok gubernatorial election, Campaign
Chuwit also filed complaints against Apirak, claiming that the appearance of Apirak's name on the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's election publicity posters violated electoral law. The case was accepted by the Bangkok Election Committee, but a final ruling by the Election Commission would not be heard until after the election.


2008 Bangkok gubernatorial election, Polling and results
Polling was organised by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration under the supervision of the Bangkok Election Commission, with a total budget of over 154 million baht. Voting took place from 08:00 to 15:00 on 5 October at 6,337 polling stations across the fifty districts of the city.


2008 Bangkok gubernatorial election, Polling and results
Exit polls by Assumption and Suan Dusit Rajabhat Universities indicated that Apirak had won 44 to 52 percent of the vote by the time the polling stations closed. The unofficial results, to be submitted to the Election Commission for approval, were announced by the Bangkok City Clerk on midnight.


2008 Bangladeshi general election
General elections (Bengali: নবম জাতীয় সংসদ নির্বাচন ২০০৮) were held in Bangladesh on 29 December 2008. The two main parties in the election were the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Khaleda Zia, and the Bangladesh Awami League Party, led by Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh Awami League Party formed a fourteen-party Grand Alliance including Ershad's Jatiya Party, while the BNP formed a four-party alliance which included the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami. The election was originally scheduled for January 2007, but it was postponed by a military-controlled caretaker government for an extended period of time.


2008 Bangladeshi general election
The election resulted in a landslide victory for the Awami League-led grand alliance, which won 263 seats out 300. The main rival four-party alliance received only 32 seats, with the remaining four going to independent candidates. Polling in the constituency of Noakhali-1 was postponed due to the mysterious death of the AL candidate. The election for the seat was held on 12 January 2009 instead and was won by the BNP candidate. Voter turnout was 87%, the highest ever recorded in a Bangladeshi general election.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Main political parties
On 11 December, Bangladesh Awami League formed a coalition with the Jatiya Party led by Hussain Muhammad Ershad once deposed through mass uprising. The coalition included some other minor parties. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, BNP in short, continued with its alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami formed for the national election of 2001 to participate in the 2008 election. If Jatiyo Party wins more than 35 seats, it will be able to negotiate a better deal with Awami League on sharing of power and in forming government.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Main political parties, Awami League-led coalition (Grand Alliance)
The Bangladesh Awami League (AL) decided to participate in the 2008 parliamentary election under the name of "Grand Alliance" with the Jatiya Party led by General Ershad as its main partner. The AL contested the polls for 245 constituencies. Awami League conceded as many as 46 out of 300 parliamentary constituencies to Jatiya Party (JP).


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Main political parties, Awami League-led coalition (Grand Alliance)
Workers Party president Rashed Khan Menon contested for Dhaka-8, its general secretary Bimal Biswas for Narail-1, its politburo member Fazle Hossain Badsha for Rajshahi-2, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal president Hasanul Haq Inu for Kushtia-2, its leaders Moinuddin Khan Badal for Chittagong-8, Rezaul Karim Tansen for Bogra-4, Shah Ahmed Jikrul for Brahmanbaria-5 and Gias Uddin for Mymensingh-9.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Main political parties, Awami League-led coalition (Grand Alliance)
The Awami League kept the Noakhali-1 constituency reserved, where the election has been postponed following the death of Ganatantri Party leader Mohammad Nurul Islam in a mysterious fire. The alliance has kept three more seats (Nilphamari-4, Khulna-3 and Sylhet-3) open for both AL and JP candidates to contest for. Notably, as of 18 December 2008, some candidates were allowed by the High Court of the country notwithstanding a contrary decision from the Election Commission.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Main political parties, BNP-led coalition (4-Party Alliance)
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies contested for 296 out of 300 in the 2008 election. The Election Commission cancelled candidacy of nominees of BNP in four constituencies. The BNP and its allies could not reach a consensus on sharing six constituencies. Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami contested in the election in 38 constituencies although BNP agreed to offer Jamaat 34 seats. BNP conceded two seats each to its three smaller allies which were Bangladesh Jatiya Party-BJP, Islami Oikya Jote and Jamiat-e-Olama-e-Islam. BNP was able to place any candidate for four constituencies which were Barisal-1, Moulvibazar-2, Sirajganj-5 and Narail-2.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Main political parties, BNP-led coalition (4-Party Alliance)
However, two BNP rebels emerged as valid independent candidates in Barisal-1 and Moulvibazar-2. They were Jahiruddin Swapan in Barisal-1 and former lawmaker MM Shaheen in Moulvibazar-2. Notably, as of 18 December 2008, some candidates were allowed by the High Court of the country notwithstanding a contrary decision of the Election Commission.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Formation of the caretaker government
The BNP-Jamat led coalition government attempted to run an election in 2006. Awami League and other parties arranged various processions and strikes, protesting that the election result was pre-arranged in the government's favour. In course of time the clash between the Government and Opposition became very violent and in the Care-taker Government's period violence engulfed the nation. The President proclaimed his authority as the chief of the Care-Taker Government and eventually had to fall to the demand of the people.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Formation of the caretaker government
With the intervention of the Army the President had to resign from his Chief-Advisor's post and Fakhruddin Ahmed was appointed as the new chief adviser. The media referred to Ahmed's government as "military-backed". The military-controlled government worked on a minus-two formula which meant ousting Hasina and Zia, who were two popular political leaders of the country. While all political activities were suspended under the state of emergency, the government ployed to recast the political system of the country with people of high national and international stature. In accordance with this plan, Nobel Peace Prize-winner Muhammad Yunus announced the foundation of a new party called Citizens' Power. However, soon Yunus rejected entering politics, claiming a lack of support.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Struggle for new elections
On 5 April 2007, the country's Chief Election Commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, declared that the elections would need to be pushed back at least eighteen months. On 12 April, Ahmed announced in a televised speech to the nation that the next parliamentary election would be held before the end of 2008. On 15 July 2007, the Bangladesh Election Commission published a road map for the election, promising a compilation of voter lists by October 2008 and an official election call before the end of that year. The constitution of Bangladesh, however, provides holding election within 120 days of the formation of a caretaker government.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Struggle for new elections
After the election, the Jatiyo Sangshad will have to elect the next President of Bangladesh. The presidential election should have taken place by 5 September 2007 when Iajuddin Ahmed's term expired. But the election was postponed as the Constitution of Bangladesh permits to delay the presidential election until a new Jatiyo Sangshad is formed. On 9 September 2007, President Ahmed addressed the nation and recalled indoor politics with strict conditions to facilitate preparation for the election and reaffirmed his commitment to hold the election on time or earlier. In early October, the Chief Election Commissioner Huda stated elections could be held by October 2008 if the electoral roll could be compiled by July 2008.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Struggle for new elections
Talks between the government and two smaller parties started on 22 May 2008, with the government indicating it would hold talks with all parties in short time. However, both the Awami League and the BNP declined to attend these talks as long as their leaders were still detained. Voters lists were announced to be ready on 22 July 2008.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Struggle for new elections
On 4 August 2008, mayor and city council elections were held in Sylhet, Khulna, Barisal and Rajshahi cities. BBC News reported that the candidates supported by the Awami League won twelve of the thirteen city corporations and municipalities voting, according to election commission officials. Finally, Chief Adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed announced on 21 September that the general election would be held on 18 December.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Struggle for new elections
The BNP called for a delay of the election until January 2009, while the Awami League was against such a delay. As a compromise, the election was postponed from 18 to 29 December. In a response to the demand of the major political parties, on 17 December 2008, the two-year-long state of emergency was lifted.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Supreme Court ruling
Notably, as of 20 December, as many as 35 prospective candidates were allowed by the High Court of the country to contest in the election notwithstanding a contrary decision of the Election Commission. A winner among them will lose a seat in the parliament if the Supreme Court of Bangladesh turns down the High Court decision.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Results
The voter turnout of 80 percent was the highest in the history of Bangladeshi elections. This was the first time elections used national ID cards with photographs to avoid fake voting, which was an UN-funded initiative to create a digital electoral roll. Prior to the elections, 11 million false names were removed from the voter lists.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Results
About 50,000 soldiers of Bangladeshi Army and 600,000 police officers were deployed to guard against election fraud and violence. However, two people were killed in post election violence. 200,000 electoral observers, including 2,500 from outside Bangladesh, monitored the elections and confirmed their free and fair nature. Before the elections, the army-backed caretaker government took measures to eliminate corruption from the process.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Reactions
The UK's secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs David Miliband, in the statement, urged the ruling party and the opposition to work together for nation building, shunning politics of confrontation and violence. "The Election Commission, caretaker government and observers have worked hard to create conditions in which free, fair and peaceful elections can take place. "The people of Bangladesh have spoken in huge numbers and they can be proud of the manner in which the elections were conducted", Miliband said in a statement released by the local British high commission.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Reactions
"This is a historic moment for Bangladesh to cast aside the politics of confrontation and violence, in favour of inclusive and consensual democracy", he added. Terming Britain as Bangladesh's friend, he said, "We urge the next government and opposition to work together to meet the expectations of the people in the days and years to come." Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, also greeted Sheikh Hasina for becoming Prime Minister of Bangladesh.


2008 Bangladeshi general election, Transfer of power
The military-controlled caretaker government with Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed as the Chief Adviser handed over power to the new government formed with Ms Sheikh Hasina as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh on 6 January 2009.


2008 Bangladesh–Myanmar naval standoff
2008 Bangladesh–Myanmar naval standoff was a naval standoff between Bangladesh Navy and Myanmar Navy over disputed territory in the northeastern Bay of Bengal. The standoff ended after diplomatic pressure from Government of Bangladesh. In 2012, the two countries resolved their maritime boundary disputes at an international tribunal.


2008 Bangladesh–Myanmar naval standoff, Background
The Bay of Bengal has large untapped reserves of oil and natural gas. In November 2008, Myanmar allowed the South Korean company Daewoo to explore the seabed in an area 50 nautical miles SW of St. Martin's Island. The area was contested between Bangladesh and Myanmar as part of their respective exclusive economic zones.


2008 Bangladesh–Myanmar naval standoff, Standoff
Citing international law, Bangladesh asserted that Myanmar should not allow any kind of activities in this debated territories till a solution. After Bangladeshi requests were not heeded, the Bangladesh Navy deployed three warships in the area, including the BNS Abu Bakr, BNS Madhumati and BNS Nirbhoy. Myanmar deployed at least two naval vessels.


2008 Bangladesh–Myanmar naval standoff, Negotiations
The Government of Bangladesh said Myanmar was operating well within disputed territory. The Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Towhid Hossain summoned the Myanmar ambassador and later himself flew to Yangon with a team of Bangladeshi diplomats. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, the interim Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, vowed that his country would protect its sovereignty and territory with "all necessary measures". There was no statement from Myanmar.


2008 Bangladesh–Myanmar naval standoff, Withdrawal
On 7 November 2008, facing a superior naval deployment by Bangladesh Navy and diplomatic pressure from Government of Bangladesh, Myanmar withdrew its warships and Daewoo removed its equipment from the area.


2008 Bangladesh–Myanmar naval standoff, Arbitration
In 2009, Bangladesh submitted its claims to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Both countries came to terms at the tribunal in 2012.


2008 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy
The 2008 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 34th edition of the event known that year as the Bank Austria-TennisTrophy, and was part of the International Series Gold of the 2008 ATP Tour. It took place at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, from October 6 through October 12, 2008.


2008 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy
The singles featured ATP No. 10, Rome Masters and Doha finalist, Beijing Olympics doubles gold medalist Stanislas Wawrinka, Beijing Olympics silver medalist, Viña del Mar and Munich winner Fernando González, and Stuttgart, Kitzbühel, Los Angeles, Washington champion, Tokyo finalist Juan Martín del Potro. Also present were Nottingham winner Ivo Karlović, Umag titlist Fernando Verdasco, Tommy Robredo, Gilles Simon and Gaël Monfils.


2008 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy, Finals, Doubles
Max Mirnyi /  Andy Ram defeated  Philipp Petzschner /  Alexander Peya, 6–1, 7–5


2008 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy – Doubles
Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski were the defending champions, but lost in the first round to Feliciano López and Fernando Verdasco.


2008 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy – Doubles
Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram won in the final 6–1, 7–5, against Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya.


2008 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy – Singles
Novak Djokovic was the defending champion, but chose not to participate that year.


2008 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy – Singles
Philipp Petzschner won in the final 6–4, 6–4, against Gaël Monfils.


2008 Bank of America 500
The 2008 Bank of America 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on October 11, 2008 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The race was the thirty-first race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season and fifth of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, serving as the only Saturday night race in the Chase as of 2008. The 334-lap, 501 miles (806 km) race was televised on ABC. The race's television broadcast began at 7 pm ET, and the Performance Racing Network along with Sirius Satellite Radio had radio coverage starting at the same time.


2008 Bank of America 500
Jeff Burton earned his 21st and final Cup Series victory with this race.


2008 Bank of America 500, Qualifying
Because of rain, qualifying was canceled for the eighth time this season, and so the cars lined up by rulebook.


2008 Bank of America 500, Qualifying, Starting lineup
Failed to qualify: Brad Keselowski (No. 25), Scott Speed (No. 82), Bryan Clauson (No. 40), Derrike Cope (No. 75).


2008 Bank of the West Classic
The 2008 Bank of the West Classic was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 37th edition of the Bank of the West Classic, and was part of the Tier II Series of the 2008 WTA Tour. It took place at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, California, United States, from July 14 through July 20, 2008. Aleksandra Wozniak won the singles title, the only WTA title of her career.


2008 Bank of the West Classic, Finals, Doubles
Cara Black /  Liezel Huber defeated  Elena Vesnina /  Vera Zvonareva, 6–4, 6–3


2008 Bank of the West Classic – Doubles
Sania Mirza and Shahar Pe'er were the defending champions. They were both present but did not compete together. Mirza partnered with Anna Chakvetadze, but lost in the first round to Eva Hrdinová and Vladimíra Uhlířová. Peer partnered with Gisela Dulko, but lost in the first round to Ayumi Morita and Ai Sugiyama.


2008 Bank of the West Classic – Doubles
Cara Black and Liezel Huber won in the final 6–4, 6–3, against Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva.


2008 Bank of the West Classic – Singles
Anna Chakvetadze was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Marion Bartoli.


2008 Bank of the West Classic – Singles
Aleksandra Wozniak won her first and only WTA tour title, defeating Bartoli in the final 7–5, 6–3.


2008 Bank of the West Classic – Singles, Seeds
The top four seeds received a bye into the second round.


2008 Banka Koper Slovenia Open
The 2008 Banka Koper Slovenia Open was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 4th edition of the Banka Koper Slovenia Open, and was part of the Tier IV Series of the 2008 WTA Tour. It took place in Portorož, Slovenia, from 21 July until 27 July 2008. Eighth-seeded Sara Errani won the singles title and earned $22,900 first-prize money.


2008 Banka Koper Slovenia Open, Finals, Doubles
Anabel Medina Garrigues /  Virginia Ruano Pascual defeated  Vera Dushevina /  Ekaterina Makarova 6–4, 6–1


2008 Banka Koper Slovenia Open – Doubles
Lucie Hradecká and Renata Voráčová were the defending champions, but Voráčová chose not to participate, and only Hradecká competed that year. Hradecká partnered up with Andreja Klepač, but they lost in the quarterfinals to Vera Dushevina and Ekaterina Makarova.


2008 Banka Koper Slovenia Open – Doubles
Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual won the tournament, defeating Dushevina and Makarova in the final, 6–4, 6–1.


2008 Banka Koper Slovenia Open – Singles
Tatiana Golovin was the defending champion, but chose not to participate that year.


2008 Banka Koper Slovenia Open – Singles
Sara Errani won in the final 6–3, 6–3, against Anabel Medina Garrigues.


2008 Baquba bombings
The 15 July 2008 Baquba bombings occurred at around 8am local time on 15 July 2008, in Baquba, Diyala Governorate, targeting army recruits at the al-Saad army camp. According to the Iraqi army, the bombers - one dressed in an Iraqi military uniform, the other in civilian clothing - mingled with the crowds of over 200 young recruits before blowing themselves up, killing 35 and injuring 63.


2008 Barbadian general election
General elections were held in Barbados on 15 January 2008. A concurrent referendum to determine whether or not to become a republic was initially planned but vote was postponed.


2008 Barbadian general election
The Democratic Labour Party (DLP), which had been in opposition since 1994, won with 20 seats to 10 seats for the Barbados Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Owen Arthur. Recounts were held in some constituencies due to close results.


2008 Barbadian general election
On 11 September 2008 Hamilton Lashley MP, for St. Michael South-East announced he would cross the floor and no longer be a member of the Barbados Labour Party, but would instead become an independent. His defection brought the BLP as Opposition down to nine seats for the remainder of the Parliamentary session. He later decided to join the ruling DLP party.


2008 Barbadian general election
DLP chairman David Thompson was sworn in as Prime Minister on 16 January. After David Thompson died in October 2010 a by-election was held in January 2011 to fill his vacant seat for St. John.


2008 Barbarians end of season tour
The 2007 Barbarians rugby union tour  was a series of matches played in May 2007 in by Barbarians F.C.. They played for the first time against Belgium, then against England and Ireland


2008 Barbarians end of season tour, Other matches in 2008
During the year, the Barbarians, made other appearance against different teams


2008 Barcelona KIA
The 2008 Barcelona KIA was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 2nd edition of the Barcelona KIA, and was part of the Tier IV Series of the 2008 WTA Tour. It took place at the David Lloyd Club Turó in Barcelona, Spain, from 9 June through 15 June 2008. Maria Kirilenko won the singles title.


2008 Barcelona KIA, Champions, Doubles
Lourdes Domínguez Lino /  Arantxa Parra Santonja defeated  Nuria Llagostera Vives /  María José Martínez Sánchez, 4–6, 7–5, 10–4


2008 Barcelona KIA – Doubles
Nuria Llagostera Vives and Arantxa Parra Santonja were the defending champions. They were both present but did not compete together. Llagostera Vives partnered with María José Martínez Sánchez, but Parra Santonja and partner Lourdes Domínguez Lino defeated them 4–6, 7–5, 10–4, in the final.


2008 Barcelona KIA – Singles
Meghann Shaughnessy was the defending champion, but chose not to participate that year.


2008 Barcelona KIA – Singles
Maria Kirilenko won in the final 6–0, 6–2, against María José Martínez Sánchez.


2008 Barcelona terror plot
The terrorist organization Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan planned a terror attack in the city of Barcelona, which was stopped a few days before they intended to perform it. They intended to conduct a suicide bombing on the Barcelona Metro. The metro plot was intended to become the first of a series attacks in Spain, Germany, France, Portugal and the United Kingdom as those countries contributed to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, with the timing determined by al Qaeda making political demands through Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.


2008 Barcelona terror plot, Arrests and indictment
Some 14 people – twelve Pakistanis and two Indians – were arrested between 18 and 19 January 2008 in the Raval multicultural neighborhood in Barcelona.


2008 Barcelona terror plot, Arrests and indictment
The police searched four private homes, an industrial site turned into an Islamic prayer room and a bakery. One of the arrested cooperated with the intelligence services and became a protected witness. The police operation was authorized by Audiencia Nacional court after receiving information from the National Intelligence Centre (CNI).


2008 Barcelona terror plot, Arrests and indictment
A number of books, pamphlets and other media containing radical Islamist ideas such as jihad and martyrdom were found by the Guardia Civil.


2008 Barcelona terror plot, Arrests and indictment
Of the 14 detained, all were subjected to detention without contact to the outside world and transferred to Madrid. Two were released without charges on 22 January and two were released on 23 January and the remaining ten, of which nine Pakistanis and one Indian, were unconditionally provisionally imprisoned. On 14 March 2009, another member of the group who had left Barcelona before the police operation was arrested in Dutch city of Breda.


2008 Barcelona terror plot, Arrests and indictment
Eight of the suspects,  Maroof Ahmed Mirza, Mohammad Ayub Elahi Bibi, Mohamed Tarik, Qadeer Malik, Hafeez Ahmed, Roshan Jamal Khan, Shaib Iqbal and Imram Cheemawere were accused of being members of a terrorist organization and possessing explosives. The last three, Mohammed Shoaib, Mehmooh Khalid and Aqueel Ur Rahmnan Abassi, were only accused of belonging to a terrorist organization. The charges were upheld by the Audiencia Nacional in a 9 October 2009 trial. The judge concluded the constituted an organized group adhering to extremist Islamist ideology.


2008 Barcelona terror plot, Arrests and indictment
Six of the sentenced were legal immigrants to Spain and most of those had lived in Spain since 2001. Five others arrived to Spain in the months prior to the plot.


2008 Barcelona terror plot, Arrests and indictment
Months later, the Pakistani Taliban spokesman, claimed the attack in a video statement, which was posted on the Internet.


2008 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 2008 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council in South Yorkshire, England. One third of the council, alongside an additional vacancy in Old Town was up for election. Prior to the election the defending councillor in Penistone West, having earlier defected from Conservative to the Barnsley Independent Group, fought the election as an Independent. The Labour party stayed in overall control of the council.


2008 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election, Election result
Before the election it had been thought that the Labour party might lose overall control of the council but they held on by only one seat. They lost two seats to the Barnsley Independent Group but gained one seat from the Liberal Democrats to hold on. The Barnsley Independent Group also lost 1 seat to the Conservatives. Overall turnout was 34.78%.


2008 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election, Election result
The losses for the Labour party were blamed on government policies, such as on immigration and the abolition of the 10p income tax band, by the leader of the council, Steve Houghton, who was himself re-elected for Cudworth ward.


2008 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election, Ward results
+/- figures represent changes from the last time these wards were contested.


2008 Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council election
Elections to Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council was held on 1 May 2008. The whole of the council was up for election, with the number of councillors falling from 38 to 36, as a result of ward boundary changes enacted in February 2008. Councillors were elected for terms ranging between two and four years; where more than one councillor was elected in a ward, the councillor with the highest number of votes was granted the longer term.


2008 Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council election
The election results were both tight and dramatic, with well-known local councillors failing to be re-elected and recounts in certain wards delaying the announcement of votes. No party gained control of the council, and local news sources claimed that the biggest winners from the election were the local People's Party, who quadrupled their number of councillors, and independent candidates campaigning against plans to open an Academy school in the town. Mirroring the results in other local elections across England and Wales held on the same day, the Conservative Party ended as the largest group on the council with the Labour Party's representation dropping heavily.


2008 Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council election, Pre-Election Council
Following the 2007 election and the defection of two Conservative Party councillors to the Liberal Democrats in October 2007, the composition of the council entering the election was:


2008 Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council election, Election result
The breakdown of councillor terms as a result of the election is shown below. The seats of the ten councillors with two year terms were contested in the 2010 council election.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2008 proceeded according to revised rules enacted in 2001 and further revamped in 2007. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) held an election to select from among recent players, resulting in the induction of Goose Gossage. A restructured format for Veterans Committee voting resulted in the first successful election by that body since 2001, with five candidates earning induction, after the three elections in the intervening years had failed to produce any inductees. Selected by the Veterans Committee were former managers Billy Southworth and Dick Williams, and former executives Barney Dreyfuss, Bowie Kuhn, and Walter O'Malley.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
Initially, the Veterans Committee was not scheduled to hold an election; the 2001 rules changes provided that elections for players retired over 20 years would be held every other year, with elections of non-players (managers, umpires and executives) held every fourth year. The Committee voted in 2007 in both areas, and an election for players was next held in 2009. Under the 2001 rules, the next election for non-players would have been conducted in 2011; however, the 2007 changes meant that elections of non-players would now be conducted for inductions in even-numbered years beginning in 2008, with managers and umpires elected from one ballot and executives from a separate ballot.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
Induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, New York, were held on July 27, with Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig presiding. This was to be the final year that the annual Hall of Fame Game, an exhibition contest played in Cooperstown, would be held; however, the game was rained out.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The BBWAA was again authorized to elect players active in 1988 or later, but not after 2002; the ballot, announced on November 26, 2007, included candidates from the 2007 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, along with selected players, chosen by a screening committee, whose last appearance was in 2002. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to vote.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Voters were instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates; any candidate who received votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be honored with induction to the Hall. Results of the 2008 election by the BBWAA were announced on January 8. The ballot consisted of 25 players, and over 575 ballots were distributed; they had to be returned by December 31, and votes were tabulated by BBWAA official Jack O'Connell along with Michael DiLecce, a partner in the Ernst & Young accounting firm.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
543 ballots were cast (including 3 ballots which supported no candidates), two short of the record total of 2007, with 408 votes required for election. A total of 2,907 individual votes were cast, an average of 5.35 per ballot. Those candidates who received less than 5% of the vote will not appear on future BBWAA ballots, but may eventually be considered by the Veterans Committee.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated here with a dagger (†). Fourteen candidates returned from the 2007 ballot. The candidate who received at least 75% of the vote and was elected is indicated in bold italics; candidates who have since been selected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics. The candidates who received less than 5% of the vote, thus becoming ineligible for future BBWAA consideration, are indicated with an asterisk (*).


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Dave Concepción was on the ballot for the 15th and final time.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The newly eligible candidates included 17 All-Stars, eight of whom were not included on the ballot, with only one (Tim Raines, with seven) who was selected more than five times. In contrast to the remarkably deep field of candidates in 2007, when those newly eligible had been named to the All-Star team a combined total of 103 times, the 2008 field of new candidates were selected a total of only 43 times. José Rijo, who appeared on the 2001 ballot before returning to the major leagues in 2001–2002, again became eligible.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Darryl Kile, who died during the 2002 season, was included on the 2003 ballot under a standard provision for players who die before the five-year waiting period has elapsed; this same provision allowed Rod Beck (who played his last game in 2004 but died in 2007) to appear on the 2008 ballot.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The ballot included two Rookie of the Year Award winners: David Justice and Chuck Knoblauch.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Players eligible for the first time who were not included on the ballot were: Luis Alicea, Alex Arias, Andy Benes, Mike Benjamin, Dennis Cook, Delino DeShields, Darrin Fletcher, Rich Garcés, Chris Haney, Dave Hollins, Bobby J. Jones, Tom Lampkin, Darren Lewis, Mike Magnante, Dave Mlicki, Mike Morgan, Hipólito Pichardo, Armando Reynoso, Henry Rodríguez, Lee Stevens, Greg Swindell, Mike Trombley, John Valentin, Randy Velarde, Ed Vosberg, and Mark Wohlers.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Of the newly eligible candidates, the only one who amassed enough votes to remain on the BBWAA ballot was Raines. This contrasts with the 2007 voting, when Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn were inducted at the first opportunity, and two other newcomers, Mark McGwire and Harold Baines, received enough votes to remain on the ballot. McGwire, who received 128 votes in 2007, got the same number of votes in 2008. Baines, whose 29 votes in 2007 kept him on the ballot by two votes, lost one vote in 2008, remaining on the ballot with exactly the minimum requirement.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Also notable was Jim Rice falling short of election, this time by 16 votes. He was on the ballot for the 15th and final time in 2009, finally earning induction that year alongside newcomer Rickey Henderson.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections
The Veterans Committee election process, radically changed in 2001, was revamped yet again in July 2007. The changes that most directly affected this election involved elections of non-players (managers, umpires and executives). Under the 2001 rules, elections of non-players would be held every fourth year on a "composite ballot". No candidate was elected from the composite ballot in 2003 or 2007.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections
With the 2007 rules changes, the composite ballot was split into two separate ballots—one for managers and umpires and the other for executives. Also, the voting membership of the Committee, which previously included all living members of the Hall, was now reduced to include just a handful of those members, plus additional executives and sportswriters (only one of whom had been among the previous electorate). Voting for both the managers/umpires and executives ballots will now take place prior to inductions in even-numbered years, starting with 2008. To be eligible, managers and umpires need to be retired for at least five years, or for at least six months if they are age 65 or older, while executives need to be either retired or at least age 65.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections
A Historical Overview Committee of eleven sportswriters appointed by the BBWAA's Board of Directors met to develop a ballot of 10 managers and umpires; the committee members were: Dave Van Dyck (Chicago Tribune), Bob Elliott (Toronto Sun), Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau), Moss Klein (Newark Star-Ledger), Bill Madden (New York Daily News), Ken Nigro (formerly Baltimore Sun), Jack O'Connell (MLB.com), Nick Peters (The Sacramento Bee), Tracy Ringolsby (Rocky Mountain News) and Mark Whicker (The Orange County Register).


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections
The managers/umpires list was submitted to a 16-member panel composed of 10 Hall of Famers (8 players and 2 managers), 3 executives and 3 veteran media members for a final vote. A separate ballot of 10 executives was developed by a 12-member panel including 7 executives, 2 players and 3 writers, which was the same committee which did the final voting in that area. On November 8, 2007, the final ballots were released.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections
Each panel member could vote for up to four individuals on each ballot, and each candidate who received 75% of the vote from either panel would be elected; therefore, a maximum of five inductions was possible from each ballot. Voting was conducted at baseball's winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee on December 2, 2007, with the results announced on December 3; it was the first time since 2001 that the Committee met to discuss candidates, as the previous three elections had been conducted by mail.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections, Managers/umpires ballot
The ballot for managers and umpires included seven managers (designated M) and three umpires (designated U), with 12 votes required for election. Candidates who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected are indicated in bold italics; candidates who have since been elected in later elections are indicated in italics.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections, Managers/umpires ballot
Southworth, who won four National League titles between 1942 and 1948, and Williams, who won American League titles in 1967 and 1972–73 and an NL flag in 1984, had been the only eligible managers with at least four league pennants who had not yet been elected to the Hall; Southworth's 1,044 career victories, however, were the fewest by any manager yet elected. The committee members apparently made an effort to vote for as many candidates as they were allowed, casting at least 58 of a possible 64 individual votes (vote totals for four candidates were not released).


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections, Managers/umpires ballot
Herzog, Martin, Williams and Harvey had previously been on the final composite ballot in the 2007 election. Four of the candidates were still living; at the time the ballot was released, Williams was 78, Harvey 77, Herzog a day shy of his 76th birthday, and Johnson 64. Harvey was the only manager or umpire on the ballot who received majority support in 2007, receiving 52 votes from the 81 committee members who voted that year. The leading vote-getter among managers in 2007 was Williams, who received 30 votes; Herzog was just behind at 29. Harvey and Herzog would both live to be inducted in 2010.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections, Managers/umpires ballot
The election committee, which was announced on the same day as the ballot, included:


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections, Managers/umpires ballot
At the induction ceremonies, St. Louis Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt gave the speech to accept Southworth's induction.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections, Executives ballot
On the executives ballot, 9 votes were required for election; those candidates who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected are indicated in bold italics:


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections, Executives ballot
Dreyfuss, who owned the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1900 to 1932, and O'Malley, who owned the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1950 to 1979, were the first National League owners since the 1880s to be elected to the Hall; Kuhn — who died in March 2007 after receiving just 17% of the vote in the January 2007 vote — had been the only eligible commissioner who served more than five years who had not yet been elected.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections, Executives ballot
As with the other committee, voters apparently tried to vote for as many candidates as they were allowed, casting at least 44 of a possible 48 individual votes (vote totals for three candidates were not released). Five of the 10 candidates (Bavasi, Kuhn, Miller, O'Malley and Paul) were holdovers from the 2007 composite ballot, with McHale (who was then a member of the voting committee) being the only one who was not on the initial 2007 list of 60 candidates.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections, Executives ballot
The four candidates then living (Bavasi, Howsam, McHale and Miller) were all age 86 or older; Bavasi, Howsam and McHale all died within five months of the election. Miller's 51 votes on the 2007 ballot were second overall to Harvey and tops among executives, and made him the only executive to earn majority support that year.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections, Executives ballot
The election committee, which was announced on the same day as the ballot, included:


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections, Executives ballot
After the elections, various observers expressed skepticism over the failure to elect Marvin Miller, especially given the selection of Kuhn, his longtime bargaining adversary. It was noted that Miller had received 51 votes (out of 81) in the January 2007 election to Kuhn's 14, when all but one of the 84 eligible voters were former players, managers or members of the media; only two had been former executives, including one (McHale) who had previously played in the major leagues, and one former general manager (Lee MacPhail, father of 2008 committee member Andy).


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections, Executives ballot
Miller had also outpolled Kuhn in the 2003 election by a 35-20 margin. In contrast, half of the 2008 committee was made up of six executives who had never been players, serving almost exclusively as team chairmen or CEOs (Andy MacPhail was the sole general manager), and this panel instead favored Kuhn by a 10-3 margin. Miller himself noted that he was unsurprised by the outcome, given the makeup of the revised committee, saying, "This was done with precision. If you have a set goal in mind, and I think they did, it's not very hard.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections, Executives ballot
I'm so able to count votes in advance. Nothing has dimmed with age. No matter how various people involved in the Hall try to put a different gloss on it, it was done primarily to have somebody elected and secondarily to have particular people elected. I don't think this election was about me." He added, "I think it was rigged, but not to keep me out. It was rigged to bring some of these [people] in. It's not a pretty picture. It's demeaning, the whole thing, and I don't mean just to me. It's demeaning to the Hall and demeaning to the people in it."


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee elections, Executives ballot
At the induction ceremonies, Andrew Dreyfuss gave the speech to accept the induction of his great-grandfather Barney, former Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley accepted his father Walter's induction, and Paul Degener accepted the induction of his adoptive stepfather Bowie Kuhn.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
Larry Whiteside received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award honoring a baseball writer. (The award was voted at the December 2007 meeting of the BBWAA but dated 2008 in a break from previous practice that gives a misleading appearance of skipping one year.)


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
The Spink Award has been presented by the BBWAA at the annual summer induction ceremonies since 1962. It recognizes a sportswriter "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing". The recipients are not members of the Hall of the Fame, merely featured in a permanent exhibit at the National Baseball Museum, but writers and broadcasters commonly call them "Hall of Fame writers" or words to that effect.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
Three final candidates, selected by a BBWAA committee, were named on July 10, 2007, in San Francisco in conjunction with All-Star Game activities: Nick Peters of The Sacramento Bee, Dave Van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune, and Larry Whiteside (1937–2007) of The Boston Globe. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to cast ballots in voting conducted by mail in November.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
On December 5 at baseball's winter meetings, Larry Whiteside was announced as the recipient, having received 203 votes out of the 411 ballots cast, with Peters receiving 119 votes and Van Dyck receiving 89. His son Tony gave the acceptance speech on his behalf.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
Dave Niehaus received the Ford C. Frick Award honoring a baseball broadcaster.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
The Frick Award has been presented at the annual summer induction ceremonies since 1978. It recognizes a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball". The recipients are not members of the Hall of the Fame, merely featured in a permanent exhibit at the National Baseball Museum, but writers and broadcasters commonly call them "Hall of Fame broadcaster" or words to that effect.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
To be eligible, an active or retired broadcaster must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, a network, or a combination of the two.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
Ten finalists were announced on December 4, 2007. In accordance with guidelines established in 2003, seven were chosen by a 20-member committee composed of the 14 living recipients, along with 6 additional broadcasting historians and columnists: Bob Costas (NBC), Barry Horn (The Dallas Morning News), Stan Isaacs (formerly of New York Newsday), Ted Patterson (historian), Curt Smith (historian) and Larry Stewart (Los Angeles Times). The seven finalists chosen by the committee were: Tom Cheek, Ken Coleman, Dizzy Dean, Tony Kubek, Graham McNamee, Dave Niehaus and Dave Van Horne. Three additional candidates – Joe Nuxhall, Bill King and Joe Morgan – were selected from a list of 201 candidates through results of voting by fans conducted throughout November at the Hall's official website.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
On February 19 it was announced that Dave Niehaus, play-by-play announcer for the Seattle Mariners since the team began play in 1977, would be the 2008 recipient. His signature "My, oh my!" and "Get out the rye bread and mustard Grandma, cause it's grand salami time!" had been the siren call of summer for Seattle fans for 31 years; at the time he was announced as the recipient, he had called 4,817 of their 4,899 games, and was also a 2000 inductee into the Mariners' Hall of Fame. He was selected in a January vote by the same committee which selected the finalists. They voted by mail, and based the selection on the following criteria: longevity; continuity with a club; honors, including national assignments such as the World Series and All-Star Games; and popularity with fans.


2008 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award
The Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award, which "honors an individual whose extraordinary efforts to enhance baseball's positive impact on society has broadened the game's appeal, and whose character, integrity and dignity reflect the qualities embodied by Buck O'Neil throughout his life and career", was established by the Hall in October 2007 in memory of O'Neil (1911–2006), a former Negro league player and manager, major league coach and scout, and longtime ambassador for the sport. O'Neil was named the first recipient of the honor, which will be bestowed by the Hall's board of directors at a minimum interval of three years. At the 2008 induction ceremonies, Hall of Famer Joe Morgan gave the speech to dedicate and accept the award; a statue of O'Neil, just inside the Hall's entrance, had been unveiled two days earlier.


2008 Basel-Stadt Grand Council election
The Grand Council of Basel-Stadt election was held on 14 September 2008. It was the first election under the new constitution and a therefore smaller Grand Council of only 100 representatives instead of 130. Because of that all existing parties lost ground, particularly the Social Democratic Party. The Swiss People's Party (SVP) and the Green Party both did relatively well. The Green Liberal Party entered the Grand Council with 5 representatives.


2008 Basildon District Council election
The 2008 Basildon District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Basildon District Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.


2008 Basildon District Council election, Candidates
The Conservative, Labour and British National parties stood in all 14 seats contested, which was an increase from 11 at the 2007 election for the British National party. The Liberal Democrats stood in 13 wards, just not contesting Pitsea North West, while there were 4 United Kingdom Independence Party, 3 Green and 3 independent candidates. The independent candidates included councillor Jane Dyer in Vange, after she left the Labour party just before the election, and former councillor David Harrison in Wickford North.


2008 Basildon District Council election, Election result
The results saw the Conservatives increase their majority by 1 after taking Vange ward to hold 29 seats. Conservative Luke Mackenzie became the youngest councillor in Basildon at the age of 22, after taking Vange from independent, formerly Labour, councillor Jane Dyer, who only received 72 votes in the election. Labour remained on 10 seats, with the party 82 votes behind the Conservatives in the contest in Vange. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats remained on 3 seats, but finished behind the British National Party in the share of the vote. Overall turnout in the election was 29%.


2008 Basildon District Council election, Election result
Following the election Lynda Gordon became the first female group leader on Basildon council, after taking over from Nigel Smith as leader of the Labour group. Smith had declared that he would step down as leader of the Labour group before the election.


2008 Basildon District Council election, Election result
All comparisons in vote share are to the corresponding 2004 election.


2008 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election
The 2008 Basingstoke and Deane Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in Hampshire, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the 2007 election. The Conservative Party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.


2008 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election, Background
After the last election in 2007 the Conservatives had a majority on the council with 31 of the 60 seats. However the Conservatives would lose their majority after defeat by the Liberal Democrats in a by-election in Baughurst in January 2008 left the Conservatives with exactly half o the seats.


2008 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election, Background
The whole council was contested in 2008 instead of the usual third, after changes were made to the boundaries. The changes included abolishing Calleva ward and creating a Bramley and Sherfield ward. Tadley North was split in two, Burghclere was merged with Highclere and St Mary Bourne and the number of seats in Winklebury ward was reduced by one.


2008 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election, Background
Councillors standing down at the election included Gwen Richardson and Erica Shaw, while former Labour group leader David Potter and the former Conservative council leader from the 1980s and 1990s, Stephen Reid, attempted to return to the council. Meanwhile, Independent councillor David Leeks, stood for the Conservatives after joining the party.


2008 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election, Election result
The results saw the Conservatives gain a 10-seat majority on the council after winning 35 of the 60 seats. This was compared to 14 Liberal Democrat, 9 Labour and 2 independent councillors. Among those defeated in the election was the leader of the Labour group on the council, Gary Watts, who lost in South Ham and the mayor Warwick Lovegrove. The former leader of the council Stephen Reid returned to the council in Buckskin, defeating a former mayor Tony Jones. Overall turnout in the election was 37%.


2008 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election, Election result
Following the election Conservative Andrew Finney became the new leader of the council succeeding John Leek.


2008 Bassetlaw District Council election
The 2008 Bassetlaw District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Bassetlaw District Council in Nottinghamshire, England. One third of the council was up for election.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident
The Boys in Red accident was a January 12, 2008 collision just outside the city of Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada, between a semi-trailer truck and a van carrying the basketball team from Bathurst High School. The accident killed seven students and the wife of the coach, and injured four other occupants in the van. It was the deadliest transportation accident in New Brunswick since 1989, when a logging truck tipped onto a hayride in Cormier Village, killing 13. It was the deadliest bus accident involving a sports team in Canada until the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in April 2018.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident
The accident was followed by a national day of mourning in Canada, and a ban on all E350 Ford Club Wagon type vehicles being used for student transport in New Brunswick. Two investigations, one by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the other by Transport Canada, found that the cause of the disaster was a combination of poor road conditions, lack of proper snow tires, and possible driver error. Pressure from the public and victims' families prompted the chief coroner of the province to launch an inquiry, which produced recommendations to improve student transport safety in New Brunswick. The provincial government agreed with the majority of the suggestions and has since enacted many of them.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Accident
The accident occurred on New Brunswick Route 8 shortly after midnight on January 12, 2008, when the team coach was driving the Bathurst High School basketball team northward back from a game in Moncton against the Moncton High School Purple Knights in an E350 Ford Club Wagon. Light freezing rain and low visibility created poor, slippery driving conditions. As the van approached the Bathurst city limits, the coach lost control and veered in front of a southbound semi-trailer truck. The truck collided with the side of the van and the two vehicles came to rest on the shoulder of the southbound lane of the highway approximately 40 metres (130 ft) from the point of impact.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Accident
The police officer who discovered the wreck initially suspected that only the semi had gone off the road. After further investigation, he found the van and called for emergency services, whose arrival was delayed by freezing rain. The rear wall and a large portion of the right-hand side of the van, including three rows of seats, had been torn away, ejecting several occupants. Seven players and the wife of the team coach were pronounced dead at the scene. The coach, his daughter and the two other players survived the accident and were rushed to Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst. Of the injured, one was listed in critical condition, and two others were stable. The fourth was released shortly after the accident. The driver of the truck was not injured.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Reaction
The accident was met with grief and condolences from New Brunswick and around Canada.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Reaction
John McLaughlin, School District 15 Superintendent, stated that the community of Bathurst was in a state of shock and mourning. McLaughlin also noted that the coach held the appropriate license to drive the vehicle and that there were no laws or regulations in the province which regulated team transportation in the event of poor weather. He also added:


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Reaction
That's really hard because you have to gauge the weather each time you have to make a decision. As for what happened last night, I can't comment. I don't have that information. But in general, our people take great care in making decisions based on the information that they have at the time.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Reaction
Premier Shawn Graham said "I just want to extend sympathies to the affected families. This is a tragic situation for the community of Bathurst and our province." Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper said the incident had "shocked the nation" and called for a day of mourning. Valery Vienneau, Bishop of Bathurst, read a message on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI stating: "[The Pope] expresses sentiments of deep sympathy and spiritual closeness to the members of their families and to all staff and students who have been touched by this tragedy. The Pope assures all concerned of his prayers for those who died and for their families."


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Reaction
On January 16, all sports-related extracurricular activities in New Brunswick were cancelled. Services were held across the country. Some schools asked students to wear red and black, the colours of Bathurst High School. The funeral for the seven deceased players was held in Bathurst at the K. C. Irving Regional Centre, which was filled with 6,000 people. An additional 3,500 mourners filled the adjacent rink to watch the service on a widescreen television. Elizabeth Lord's private funeral followed the next day.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Investigation
Both the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Transport Canada conducted investigations into the accident. The RCMP released its report on July 29, 2008. The report stated that the van would not have passed a safety inspection at the time of the accident because of rust in its body, worn all-season tires, and faulty brakes. None of these factors could be identified as the sole cause of the accident, but the report noted that "together, they certainly contributed".


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Investigation
The report added that speed was not a factor in the crash, as the van was only travelling about 73 kilometres per hour (45 mph) and the truck at approximately 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph) at the time of impact, both of which were well below the posted limit of 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph). The van had been inspected on October 29, 2007, just over two months prior to the collision, and was four months away from its next inspection. The report resulted in public questioning of New Brunswick's motor vehicle inspection program.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Investigation
Transport Canada released its report on July 30, 2008. It blamed weather conditions, but also focused on driver fatigue and driver error. It cited several breaches of provincial law regarding the operation of commercial vehicles. The coach had been on duty for sixteen hours when the collision happened, contravening the law that one cannot drive if they have been working more than fourteen consecutive hours. The report also identified inadequate pre-trip inspections and log book keeping, and the lack of a contingency plan in the event of poor weather. Transport Canada stated that although they put an added emphasis on some factors, their report was consistent with the RCMP's. They concurred that the vehicle would have failed an inspection in its pre-collision state because of worn tires and brakes.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Investigation
Six of the dead were not wearing seat belts, while a seventh was not properly restrained. Greg Sypher, a collision analyst and principal Transport Canada investigator, later suggested that seat belts most likely would not have saved all the victims' lives. One player's father credits the fact that his son, was not wearing his seatbelt for his son's survival, saying that if he had not been thrown to the floor just before the collision he may also have died.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Legal
On November 12, 2008, the RCMP ruled out laying criminal charges in relation to the accident. It stated that the finding had been reviewed by a Crown prosecutor and that no wrongdoing was found. The families of two of the deceased expressed disapproval of the decision and indicated that they may bring a lawsuit against several of the involved parties, though others have publicly stated that they accepted the decision. The chief coroner of the province stated that a provincial inquest was possible, though it would take some time to come to any decision on the matter. No decision on whether or not to have an inquest was made for over a month.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Legal
Two families accused the Department of Public Safety of "dragging its feet". These families stated that they wanted a "Van Angels" law that would require any driver taking students outside of their community to possess a Class 2 driver's license. They also wanted a weather law that would prevent students from travelling outside of their communities during severe weather. Ana Acevedo and Isabelle Hains, mothers of two of the deceased, went so far as to launch a website, vanangels.ca, which is dedicated to the memory of their sons and contains a blog related to the accident formerly included a petition to hold an inquest.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Legal
On December 17, 2008, Greg Forestell, the province's acting chief coroner, called for an inquiry into the accident, stating that  "[t]he inquest gives us the opportunity to pull all those facts together in a comprehensive manner and look at the issues in their entirety and have the jury make recommendations for prevention." The decision was met with much approval from the victims' families. The inquest began on May 4, 2009 and lasted until May 14. It included testimony from survivors, experts, and provincial officials. The inquest did not blame anyone directly for the accident, but the jury returned 24 recommendations. Kelly Lamrock stated that the province intended to implement the "vast majority" of these recommendations and that a third of them had already been initiated.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Legal, Atlantic Wholesalers Limited and Loblaws lawsuit
On December 22, 2009 Atlantic Wholesalers Limited and Loblaws filed a joint claim against the coach and Bathurst Van Inc. In the lawsuit the plaintiffs complained that negligence on behalf of the defendants was responsible for the crash. Atlantic Wholesalers and Loblaws argue that they are owed $40,667.86 in damages, and an additional $847.50 to cover the clean-up costs. After extensive press coverage and public backlash, Atlantic Wholesalers and Loblaws attempted to defend their action stating that this action was "normal insurance procedures follow an accident of this nature". Public outrage spread and on January 8, 2010, Loblaws dropped the suit for unspecified reasons after enormous public backlash with numerous persons calling for a boycott of the chain.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Aftermath
Following the accident, New Brunswick immediately halted the use of 15-passenger vans and began a thorough review of transportation policy; many other provinces later did the same. At the time of the tragedy only Nova Scotia had a ban on 15-passenger vans, following an accident in 1984.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Aftermath
Many at Bathurst High School speculated that its senior varsity basketball team would not be able to continue after the crash. Only five team members remained, including three students who did not go to Moncton because of illness. Despite this, the Bathurst Phantoms' basketball team defeated the Campobello Vikings 82–50 to win the Provincial AA championship the following year.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Aftermath, Recommendations
On August 26, 2008, a government working group presented New Brunswick Education Minister Kelly Lamrock with eight recommendations for extracurricular transportation. The recommendations included that guidelines for transporting students to school-related extracurricular activities be strengthened, that a school bus be used when transporting ten or more students, that vehicles be equipped with snow tires if travelling between October 15 and April 30, and that the district superintendent be charged with responsibility for ensuring safe transportation of students to and from extracurricular activities. Lamrock initially suggested that schools voluntarily follow the recommendations, though they were later made into enforceable policy.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Aftermath, Recommendations
One major effect of the recommendations is that, as of November 2008, it is mandatory that all vehicle operators who intend to use their vehicles to transport students between extracurricular activities be covered by a Third Party Liability and Accident Benefit policy. These policies must be in the amount of no less than CAD$1 million for vehicles with a capacity of fewer than 10 passengers, and no less than CAD$5 million for vehicles with a capacity of 10 or more. This also applies to parents driving others' children to school related extracurricular activities.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Aftermath, Recommendations
The changes were met with critical reception in the province. Many students are now required to pay higher sports fees to cover higher transportation costs. Some schools do not have access to approved vehicles because the Education Act prohibits schools and school districts from owning vehicles. To get around this they use corporate entities to operate vehicles for extracurricular activities. These require money to buy new vehicles and the required insurance, which often requires schools to conduct extra fundraising.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Memorial
A memorial for the victims was unveiled on June 6, 2008, at Bathurst High School. An archway with a basketball net was placed in a courtyard behind the school. The memorial was funded by donations.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Memorial
A temporary memorial at the crash site consisting of two basketball nets and flowers was also erected, and one of the nets featuring pictures of the players remained there as of August 2020.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Memorial
A permanent "Boys in Red" memorial for the victims of the van crash has been erected on an empty lot on King Avenue in the city's downtown area near the Bathurst High School. The memorial was erected in a small walking park near the school. It consists of seven vertical columns of red quartz.


2008 Bathurst Boys in Red accident, Memorial
The site has been used for a memorial space in the past as 2 small stones with plaques are placed by the st john st sidewalks of the park with 2 small trees erected as a memorial of 2 Bathurst High students who were among the class of 2001 who died in automobile accidents as well a few months before graduation.


2008 Baton Rouge mayoral election
The 2008 Baton Rouge mayoral election was held on October 4, 2008 to elect the mayor-president of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor-president Kip Holden. Since Holden won an outright majority in the first round, no runoff was necessitated.


2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships
The 2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships was the 29th edition of that tennis tournament and was played on outdoor clay courts. It was classified as a Tier II event on the 2008 WTA Tour. The event took place at the Racquet Park at the Amelia Island Plantation in Amelia Island, Florida, U.S. from April 7 through April 13, 2008. The tournament offered total prize money of US$600,000. First-seeded Maria Sharapova won the singles title and earned $95,500 first-prize money.


2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships, Review
Maria Sharapova, in her first event appearance, defeated Dominika Cibulková in the final to become the champion. This was also her first clay court title. Other top ten players appearing included Anna Chakvetadze, Australian Open semi-finalist Daniela Hantuchová and Marion Bartoli. Other notable names participating were three-time Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport and Amélie Mauresmo.


2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships, Finals, Doubles
Bethanie Mattek /  Vladimíra Uhlířová defeated  Victoria Azarenka /  Elena Vesnina, 6–3, 6–1


2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Doubles
The women's doubles draw for the 2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships.


2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Singles
Tatiana Golovin was the defending champion, but withdrew from the tournament with injury.


2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Singles
Maria Sharapova won the title, defeating Dominika Cibulková in the final 7–6(9–7), 6–3. This was Sharapova's 19th career title, but her first title on clay, after 7 years on the WTA tour.


2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Singles, Seeds
The top 8 seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2008 Bavarian Cup
The 2008 Bavarian Cup was the eleventh edition of this competition, organised by the Bavarian Football Association (BFV), which was started in 1998. It ended with the SpVgg Unterhaching winning the competition. Together with the finalist, SpVgg Ansbach, both clubs were qualified for the 2008–09 DFB-Pokal.


2008 Bavarian Cup
The competition is open to all senior men's football teams playing within the Bavarian football league system and the Bavarian clubs in the Regionalliga Süd (III) and 3. Liga.


2008 Bavarian Cup, Rules & History
The seven Bezirke in Bavaria each play their own cup competition which in turn used to function as a qualifying to the German Cup (DFB-Pokal). Since 1998 these seven cup-winners plus the losing finalist of the region that won the previous event advance to the newly introduced Bavarian Cup, the Toto-Pokal. The two finalists of this competition advance to the German Cup. Bavarian clubs which play in the first and second Bundesliga are not permitted to take part in the event. The seven regional cup winners plus the finalist from last season's winners region are qualified for the first round.


2008 Bavarian Cup, Participating clubs
The following eight clubs qualified for the 2006 Bavarian Cup:


2008 Bavarian Cup, 2008–09 DFB-Pokal
The two clubs, SpVgg Unterhaching and SpVgg Ansbach, who qualified through the Bavarian Cup for the DFB Cup 2008-09 both were knocked out in the first round of the national cup competition:


2008 Bavarian state election
The 2008 Bavarian state election was held on 28 September 2008 to elect the members of the Landtag of Bavaria. The result was a historic defeat for the Christian Social Union (CSU), which had governed with a majority uninterrupted since 1962, and had won over 60% of the vote in the 2003 election. Despite polling suggesting that the party would retain its majority with losses, it suffered a 17% swing and came up two seats short of a majority, its worst result since 1954. Minister-President and CSU leader Günther Beckstein subsequently resigned from both posts, and the Landtag elected Horst Seehofer as his successor after the CSU and Free Democratic Party (FDP) came to a coalition agreement.


2008 Bavarian state election
The Free Voters of Bavaria entered the Landtag for the first time with 10% of the vote; the FDP also won seats for the first time in 14 years. The Left competed in its first Bavarian election, recording a modest result of 4.3%, but failing to win any seats.


2008 Bavarian state election, Parties
The table below lists parties represented in the 15th Landtag of Bavaria.


2008 Bayelsa State gubernatorial by-election
The 2008 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election occurred on May 24, 2008. Incumbent PDP Governor Timipre Sylva won re-election in the supplementary election, defeating AC candidate, Ebitimi Amgbare, to emerge winner. Sylva won in six LGAs of the state.


2008 Bayelsa State gubernatorial by-election
Timipre Sylva emerged winner in the PDP gubernatorial primary election. His running mate was Peremobowei Ebebi.


2008 Bayelsa State gubernatorial by-election, Electoral system
The Governor of Bayelsa State is elected using the plurality voting system.


2008 Bayelsa State gubernatorial by-election, Results
The two main contenders registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission to contest in the re-run election were PDP Governor Timipre Sylva, who won the contest by polling 538,204 votes, and AC's Ebitimi Amgbare, who follows closely with 26,635 votes. There were 588,399 valid votes altogether.


2008 Bayern–Rundfahrt
The 2008 Bayern–Rundfahrt was the 29th edition of the Bayern–Rundfahrt cycle race and was held on 28 May to 1 June 2008. The race started in Freyung and finished in Erlangen. The race was won by Christian Knees.


2008 Baylor Bears football team
The 2008 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by head coach Art Briles in his first year in the position. They played their home games at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas.


2008 Baylor Bears football team, Preseason
Two Baylor players, linebacker Joe Pawelek and defensive back Jordan Lake, made the preseason All-Big 12 team. Pawelek made at least 86 tackles in each of the previous two seasons, while Lake posted 120 tackles, two interceptions, forced two fumbles, and recovered two in 2007. Lake was Baylor's only all-Big 12 postseason selection in 2007.


2008 Baylor Bears football team, Preseason
The Bears returned 15 starters, including 9 on offense, and 6 on defense.


2008 Baylor Bears football team, Preseason
In their preseason countdown, Rivals.com ranked the Bears' 2008 squad 92nd out of all 120 Division I FBS teams. The official Big 12 media preseason poll picked the Bears to finish last in the Big 12 South.


2008 Baylor Bears football team, Postseason
Three Baylor players—Jason Smith, Jordan Lake, and Joe Pawelek—made the All-Big 12 first team. Derek Epperson and Dan Gay received honorable mention, while Robert Griffin III was named Offensive Freshman of the Year. Griffin became Baylor's second Big 12 individual award winner, joining Daniel Sepulveda, who won Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year in 2006.


2008 Beach Handball World Championships
The 2008 Beach Handball World Championships are a twelve-team tournament in both men's and women's beach handball, held in the Cadiz at Cadiz beach in Andalusia, Spain between July 9 and July 13 .


2008 Beijing Drum Tower stabbings
On August 9, 2008 in the People's Republic of China, two American tourists and their Chinese tour guide were stabbed at the historic Beijing Drum Tower; one of the tourists was killed. The assailant then committed suicide by jumping from the tower. The incident occurred during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The incident has been described as isolated since attacks on foreigners while visiting China are rare.


2008 Beijing Drum Tower stabbings, Stabbing attack
Three people were stabbed in Beijing, China, on August 9, 2008, by 47-year-old Tang Yongming of Hangzhou, while visiting the 13th-century Drum Tower in Beijing during the 2008 Summer Olympics. The attacker then leapt to his death from a 40-metre (130 ft) high balcony on the Drum Tower.


2008 Beijing Drum Tower stabbings, Stabbing attack
The victims were Todd Bachman, a prominent horticulturalist from Lakeville, Minnesota, his wife Barbara, and their female Chinese national tour guide. Todd Bachman, who died in the attack, was the father of American athlete Elisabeth Bachman and the father-in-law of Team USA men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon. Barbara Bachman was severely wounded but survived the attack. The female Chinese tour guide was listed in stable condition at the Chinese hospital, as was Mrs. Bachman. One of the Bachmans' daughters, Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon, was also on the tour but was uninjured.


2008 Beijing Drum Tower stabbings, Perpetrator
Tang Yongming spent most of his life in the outskirts of Hangzhou, and was a metal presser at the Hangzhou Meter Factory for more than twenty years. He had no previous criminal record, according to investigators. Investigators reported that Tang was distraught over family problems. A colleague who knew Tang said that he had "an unyielding mouth", "grumbled a great deal", and was "very cynical". Another former co-worker said Tang 'had a quick temper and was always complaining about society".


2008 Beijing Drum Tower stabbings, Perpetrator
Police report that Tang went through his second divorce in 2006 and grew increasingly despondent when his 21-year-old son started getting into trouble. The son was detained in May 2007 on suspicion of fraud, then received a suspended prison sentence in March 2008 for theft.


2008 Beijing Drum Tower stabbings, Aftermath
US Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth and US President George W. Bush each offered their condolences. The United States Embassy issued a statement, that argued that as the Chinese tour guide was also hurt in the attack, it was not specifically aimed at Americans and was not related to the Olympics. US Ambassador Clark T Randt visited the victims while they were being treated.


2008 Beijing Drum Tower stabbings, Aftermath
Shortly after the attacks, the tower was closed to tourists with the surrounding area still open to tourists. Chinese officials increased the police presence with 110,000 officers and 1.7 million volunteers stationed near the Olympics to alleviate safety concerns. Beijing Olympic official Wang Wei, announced that there would be extra security checks implemented at some scenic areas, and large outdoor screens used to view the games around Beijing were muted or turned off to avoid large crowds.


2008 Beijing Guoan F.C. season
The  2008 Beijing Guoan F.C. season  was their 5th consecutive season in the Chinese Super League, established in 2004, and 18th consecutive season in the top flight of Chinese football. They competed at the Chinese Super League and AFC Champions League.


2008 Beijing Guoan F.C. season, First team
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament
The 2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament (Chinese: 北京2008武术比赛; pinyin: Běijīng 2008 wǔshù bǐsài) was a wushu competition which was held from August 21 to 24, 2008 at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Beijing, China. The tournament was organised by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), the International Wushu Federation (IWUF), and the Chinese Wushu Association (CWA), and was held in tandem with the 2008 Summer Olympics.


2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament
The competition consisted of ten taolu events (5 male, 5 female), and five sanshou events (3 male, 2 female). The Chinese team dominated the competition with eight gold medals followed by Russia and Hong Kong which earned two gold medals each.


2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament, Background
Starting in the 1970s, the government of the People's Republic of China started to consider sport as a possible medium for friendly international exchange. One sport the PRC was very interested in developing was modern wushu. In 1982, the General Administration of Sport of China officially proclaimed that wushu practitioners had a duty 'to promote wushu to the world' with the ultimate goal of wushu becoming an official event at the Olympic Games.


2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament, Background
The International Wushu Federation (IWUF) was founded 1990 Asian Games, and over a decade later, it was fully recognised by the International Olympic Committee during the 113th IOC Congress at the 2002 Winter Olympics. This development along with Beijing's successful bid in hosting the 2008 Olympics presented the opportunity for wushu to be included in the Games, but as Jacques Rogge became the new president of the IOC in 2002, he announced the IOC's plans to reduce the number of the events at the Games.


2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament, Background
This led to the creation of the Olympic Programme Commission which called for changes and reevaluations within the Olympic programme. Despite this, the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), the IWUF, and the Chinese Wushu Association (CWA) began to lobby extensively for the official inclusion of wushu. Athletes and organisations argued that the inclusion of the sport would help culturally diversify the Games and hoped that wushu would follow the same Olympic path as judo and taekwondo.


2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament, Background
In the August of 2002, the Olympic Programme Commission under Chairman Franco Carraro recommended to the IOC executive board that wushu should not be admitted to the 2008 Summer Olympics, and reasoned that it was not a sport of global appeal and that it would add no substantial value to the Games. Shortly after this meeting though, the IOC reversed their decision and stated that the sport of wushu was once again under consideration. In 2004, the Olympic Programme Commission introduced new evaluation criteria for Olympic sports to ensure the events would be fair and of high quality. As a result, the IWUF switched to computerised scoring and the International Rules for Taolu Competition were significantly revised. Sanshou rules stayed relatively the same besides switching to computerised scoring.


2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament, Background
In 2005, IOC President Rogge met with the IWUF President and IOC executive board member Yu Zaiqing at the Chinese Grand Prix and announced that wushu will have no place in the Olympic Games in Beijing, not even as a demonstration sport. After meeting again a few weeks later at the 2005 National Games of China, all parties involved came to a compromise.


2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament, Background
Despite the IOC's rule that no international or national sports competition is allowed in the Olympic host city during or one week before or after the Games and also despite the ban on demonstration events since the 1992 Summer Olympics, the IOC specifically permitted the IWUF to organise a wushu tournament alongside the Olympic Games due to wushu's place in traditional Chinese culture. This collaboration was reaffirmed during a meeting at the 2006 World Traditional Wushu Championships, though the IOC did not specify if wushu had demonstration sport status, but referred to it as a 'representation sport.'


2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament, Background
Other than substituting the Olympic rings with the logo of the IWUF, all other elements (e.g. medal design, award presentation & ceremony, graphic elements and colours, volunteers of the tournament, etc.) were identical to the Olympics. Athletes were also allowed to stay in the athletes' village though were only allowed to arrive only a few days before the tournament. The official BOCOG website also included the schedule, results, and profiles of the athletes. Day two of the competition was broadcast on China Central Television (CCTV) but other international channels provided live streaming for other days. The taolu and sanda events took place at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, which was the site for the Handball competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics.


2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament, Events
The Beijing Wushu Tournament borrowed the same combined-event format which was seen at wushu competitions such as the Asian Games, Southeast Asian Games, and the National Games of China. The events contested were: