Portal:Current events/2008 May 31
May 31, 2008 (Saturday)
- Usain Bolt of Jamaica sets a new world record for the 100 metres in track and field in the Reebok Grand Prix at Icahn Stadium in New York City at 9.72 seconds. (AP) (PA via Sporting Life)
- In rugby union, the Crusaders defeat the New South Wales Waratahs in the 2008 Super 14 Final. (New Zealand Herald)
- China:
- Authorities in the People's Republic of China are preparing to evacuate more than a million people from Sichuan Province as they prepare to drain Tangjiashan Lake created by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. (ABC News Australia)
- Xinhua reports that a People's Liberation Army military helicopter has crashed while evacuating people from Sichuan. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
- STS-124 is launched with a crew of seven and the main module of the Japanese laboratory Kibō. (AP via CNN)
- 2008 Atlantic hurricane season: The first storm of the season, Tropical Storm Arthur, forms one day before the official season begins. It is located about 45 mi (75 km) NNW of Belize City. It has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (55 km/h), and with higher gusts. (NHC)
- At least five people are killed and 13 are missing after a landslide crushes homes in a poor area of the city of Medellín in Colombia. (AFP via Google News)
- United States Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee meets to decide on the Florida and Michigan democratic primaries held in violation of scheduling rules. The Committee decides that both states delegate counts would be halved. (VOA) (BBC News) (The Guardian)
- French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner makes surprise visit to Iraq, to meet with Iraq's vice president, Adel Abdul-Mahdi. (VOA)
- New fighting between the Sri Lanka Army and the Tamil Tigers occurs in northern Sri Lanka with 26 rebels dead and 4 soldiers. (AP via Forbes)
- Robert Gates, the United States Secretary of Defense, states that Myanmar's refusal of international aid for victims of Cyclone Nargis has cost "thousands of lives". (AP via Google News) (VOA)
- Suicide bombers in eastern Afghanistan target a military convoy. NATO's International Security Assistance force says the attack took place in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province. (VOA)
- Thai riot police assemble in Bangkok to disperse a rally led by the People's Alliance for Democracy against the government of the Prime Minister of Thailand Samak Sundaravej. (AP via Forbes)
- The government of Guinea starts paying junior officers of the Military of Guinea back pay in an attempt to end a five day mutiny. (Reuters via News Limited)
- World Health Organization calls for complete ban on tobacco advertising; the organization says recent studies prove the more young people are exposed to tobacco advertising, the more likely they are to start smoking. The call comes as part of the WHO's annual World No Tobacco Day. (VOA)