Portal:Current events/2008 May 6
May 6, 2008 (Tuesday)
- Chilean authorities order the total evacuation of the towns of Chaitén and Futaleufú as the eruption of the Chaitén volcano continues to worsen. (Reuters via Canada.com)
- The Irish Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, officially resigns after ten years, ten months and ten days as head of government. (RTÉ)
- 2007–2008 world food price crisis: Mogadishu residents protest for a second day over high food prices as traders reject old Somali shilling notes due to high inflation. (Reuters)
- Cyclone Nargis
- Myanmar state government reports that the death toll from the cyclone has reached 22,000, with 41,000 people missing. (BBC News)
- The State Peace and Development Council announces that the Burmese constitutional referendum, 2008 will proceed on the weekend except in 47 townships worst affected by the cyclone. (Thomson Financial News via Forbes)
- The President of the United States George W. Bush pleads for the Myanmar government to accept help from the United States and the rest of the international community. USAID donates an additional $3 million to cyclone victims. (CNN)
- Chinese President Hu Jintao begins a landmark five-day state visit to Japan. (BBC News)
- United States voters go to the polls in the North Carolina and Indiana Democratic Party primaries. Illinois Senator Barack Obama wins North Carolina by 14 per cent while New York Senator Hillary Clinton narrowly wins in Indiana. (BBC News) (The New York Times)
- Prominent Malaysian blogger and political activist, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, is charged with sedition. (Malaysia Today)