Portal:Current events/2008 April 19
April 19, 2008 (Saturday)
- Muqtada al-Sadr threatens a new rebellion if a United States-Iraqi crackdown against his followers continues. (Sunday Herald)[permanent dead link]
- Soyuz TMA-11 lands safely outside Arkalyk, 475 kilometers (295 mi) short of the planned landing site in Kazakhstan, due to a computer glitch. (Spaceflightnow) (AP via Yahoo! News)
- 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay: Chinese nationalists boycott the French-owned retail chain Carrefour in cities including Kunming, Hefei and Wuhan, accusing the French people of racism. Protesters block customers with large flags and throw water bottles. In Hefei, a Carrefour store was vandalized and looted by protesters. (News.sina.com) (YouTube)
- A South African court blocks unloading of the An Yue Jiang, a Chinese cargo ship carrying 77 tonnes of small arms bound for Zimbabwe, purportedly from the Chinese Ministry of Defense. According to reports, the ship has since left for Mozambique. (The Guardian) (BBC News)