place in 2008.
HIS-INTERNATIONAL-YEARENDER Major economic, cultural, sports events around the globe in 2008 By Mohammad Shamseddin KUWAIT, Dec 30 (KUNA) -- The impact of the global economic meltdown that originated in the US could be felt everywhere around the world, including leading financial institutions in Europe and Asia, given their links to the American financial market.
The year 2008 also saw many cultural and sports achievements.
The following are some of the major events that occurred around the world this year: Economy ======.
The global economic crisis that hit the US was unlike any other in the nation's history, and can be traced back to mid-September. However, economists and politicians consider the third week of September a bloody week in the history of US economy, unpon the collapse of veteran financial institutions.
The consequences of the financial crisis in the US and the rest of the world can be summarized in the following: 1 - Sale of Washington Mutual Financial Services to JP Morgan for USD 1.9 billion.
2 - Lehman Brothers declares bankruptcy after government efforts to rescue the bank fail.
3 - Merrill Lynch accepts a purchase offer by Bank of America, for fear of bankruptcy.
4 - The US government works to buy debts of AIG, worth USD 85 billion.
5 - Fortis shares drop after skepticism over its ability to honor commitments.
6 - Wachovia is sold to Citi Group as part of a merger to counter the repercussions of the financial crisis.
In order to counter the global financial meltdown, the following measures were taken: 1 - Central banks of major economic blocks, including the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, agree to inject USD 180 billion into the markets by purchasing US Treasury Bonds.
2 - Ten banks agree to set up a liquidity fund with a capital of USD 70 billion.
3 - Officials in financial markets agree to temporarily halt short-term speculations.
-- Sept 9: The G-20 agrees to coordinate efforts to overcome the global financial crisis.
-- Oct 8: The British government announces a 500 billion pound (USD 875 billion) plan to prevent the collapse of banks.
-- Oct 15: US President George W. Bush announces that of the USD 700 billion allocated by the US Administration to counter the financial crisis, USD 250 billion will be used to purchase shares in leading US financial institutions with the aim of protecting them.
-- Oct 27: Germany announces the injection of four billion euro (USD 536.7 billion) as bank guarantees and eight billion euro (USD 107.3 billion) for refinancing banks' capitals, thus allowing the government to buy shares in these banks, while allocating 20 billion euro (USD 26.8 billion) to support bank guarantees.
-- Nov 9: Concerns surface over the bankruptcy of the American automobile industry.
-- Dec 9: Japan enters into a recession after official numbers for the third quarter of 2003 are announced.
-- Dec 19: US President George W. Bush announces granting USD 17 billion as loans to the automobile industry.
Energy =====.
-- June 29: Oil prices reach USD 142.97 in London and USD 142.99 in New York.
-- Sept 10: OPEC reduces production by 520,000 barrels per day to counter fall in price of oil.
-- Dec 16: Statistics show that oil demand in China, the world's second largest consumer of oil, has dropped for the first time in three years the previous month.
-- Dec 17: OPEC reduces its production ceiling by 2.2 million barrels per day, but fails to curb falling prices.
-- Dec 19: The oil barrel drops bellow USD 34 in New York for the first time in 4.5 years.
Awards =====.
-- Oct 6: Germany's Harald zur Hausen and French researchers Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier are granted the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering a pair of major viruses including HIV and ones that cause cervical cancer.
-- Oct 7: Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa of Japan and Yoichiro Nambu of the US win the 2008 Nobel Physics Prize for groundbreaking theoretical work on fundamental particles.
-- Oct 8: Two Americans, Martin Chalfie and Roger Tsien, and US-based Japanese scientist Osamu Shimomura win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for research on a glowing jellyfish protein that revolutionized the ability to study disease and normal development in living organisms.
-- Oct 9: French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio wins the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature for his poetic adventure and "sensual ecstasy".
-- Oct 10: Finland's ex-president Martti Ahtisaari wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to build a lasting peace in places as diverse as East Timor and the Balkans in Europe.
-- Oct 13: Princeton economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wins the Nobel Economics Prize for his analysis of how economies of scale can affect trade patterns and the location of economic activity.
Sports =====.
-- Jan 26: Maria Sharapova wins the Australian Open after winning over her Serb rival Ana Ivanivic.
-- Jan 27: Serbia's Novak Djokovic wins the Australian Open after defeating his French rival Jo Wilfred Tsonga.
-- Feb 11: Egypt wins the African Cup after defeating Ghana.
-- June 7: Ana Ivanovic wins the French Open after winning over Russia's Dinara Safina.
-- June 8: Spain's Rafael Nadal wins the French Open after defeating the world's top player, Switzerland's Roger Federer.
-- June 29: Spain is crowned the champion of the European Cup after defeating Germany.
-- July 5: Venus Williams wins the Wimbledon Open after defeating her sister Serena. Rafael Nadal wins the men's title after defeating Roger Federer.
-- Aug 8-24: The Beijing Olympics are held in the Chinese capital. China ranks first with 51 gold medals out of 302, followed by the US with 36 gold, then Russia with 23.
-- Sept 8: America's Serena Williams wins the US Open after defeating Serbia's Elena Yankovic.
-- Sept 9: Roger Federer wins the US Open after winning over his British rival Andy Murray.
-- Nov 2: Sebastian Loeb clinches the title of world rally champion.
-- Nov 3: Britain's Lewis Hamilton, 23, becomes the youngest winner of the Formula One race. (end) msd.ema