The debate continues unabated – e. g. S. Georg 2004, A. Vovin 2005, S. Georg 2005 ( anti-Altaic ); S. Starostin 2005, V. Blažek 2006, M. Robbeets 2007, A. Dybo and G. Starostin 2008 ( pro-Altaic ).

* 2008 – 2008 Egyptian general strike starts led by Egyptian workers later to be adopted by April 6 Youth Movement and Egyptian activities.

* 1931 – Ivan Dixon, American actor and director ( d. 2008 )

* 1934 – Guy Peellaert, Belgian artist and photographer ( d. 2008 )

* 1948 – Jeremy Beadle, English television host ( d. 2008 )

* 2008 – Two skeletal remains found near Ekaterinburg, Russia are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia and one of his sisters.

* 1914 – Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian singer-songwriter, actor, and painter ( d. 2008 )

* 1923 – Francis Tucker, South African race car driver ( d. 2008 )

* 1932 – Cor Brom, Dutch footballer and manager ( d. 2008 )

* 1970 – Karl Unterkircher, Italian mountaineer ( d. 2008 )

* 2008 – A military junta led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz stages a coup d ' état in Mauritania, overthrowing president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.

* 2008 – Competition in the 2008 Summer Olympics in China proceeded with the women's association football tournament.

* 1955 – Gregory Bryant-Bey, American convicted murderer ( d. 2008 )

* 1965 – Mark Speight, English television host ( d. 2008 )

* 1935 – Beverlee McKinsey, American actress ( d. 2008 )

* 1976 – Mark Priestley, Australian actor ( d. 2008 )

* 2005 – Caylee Anthony, American murder victim ( d. 2008 )

Bilateral trade with Russia stood at more than $ 700 million for the first nine months of 2010 – on track to rebound to $ 1 billion mark first reached in 2008 prior to the global economic crisis.

Over half of the tax revenues in the January – August 2008 time period were generated from value-added taxes ( VAT ).

* 2008 – South Ossetian War: Russian units occupy the Georgian city of Gori.

* 1931 – Eddie Fuller, South African cricketer ( d. 2008 )

* 2008 – Jake Warren, Canadian diplomat ( b. 1921 )

* 1936 – Yves Saint Laurent, French fashion designer ( d. 2008 )

Following French President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit in 2008, relations have improved.

On September 25, 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 ( ADAAA ).

On 4 January 2008, Dr. Gail Dinter-Gottlieb decided to step down as President and Vice Chancellor of the University before her term expired.

* Tom Herman ( Acting President ), 2008 – 2009

Gianfranco Fini was the leader of the party since its foundation in 1995, however he stepped down in 2008 after being elected to the nominally non-partisan post of President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and was succeeded by Ignazio La Russa, who managed to merge the party into The People of Freedom ( PdL ).

In April 2008, Vice President Lt. Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama ( Ian Khama ), son of Seretse Khama the first president, succeeded to the presidency when Festus Mogae retired.

This version of the script logo has been on the front of the away jerseys since 2001 and the home ones since 2004. The Orioles began the 2008 season in a rebuilding mode under President of Baseball Operations Andy MacPhail.

In a letter dated 18 February 2008, Castro announced that he would not accept the positions of president and commander in chief at the 24 February 2008 National Assembly meetings, saying " I will not aspire nor accept — I repeat I will not aspire or accept — the post of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief.

President James Wright announced his retirement in February 2008 and was replaced by Harvard University professor and physician Jim Yong Kim on July 1, 2009.

In his 2008 election campaign, President Barack Obama advocated a full repeal of the laws barring homosexuals from serving in the military.

* 2008 – President George W. Bush makes his fourth and final ( planned ) trip to Iraq as president and is almost struck by two shoes thrown at him by Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi during a news conference in Baghdad.

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa withdrew his government's ambassador in Bogotá, Colombia, and ordered troops to the country's border following a Colombian raid against leftist rebels inside Ecuador March 2, 2008.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on March 5, 2008 called the announced movement of Colombian forces in Ecuador a " war crime ," and joined Ecuador's president Rafael Correa in demanding international condemnation of the cross-border attack.

* Liszt For President ( 2008 )

* 2008 – Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba after nearly fifty years.

* 2008 – Rebel East Timorese soldiers seriously wound President José Ramos-Horta.

In 2008, a Pakistani religious leader issued a fatwā on President Asif Ali Zardari for " indecent gestures " toward Sarah Palin, U. S. Vice Presidential candidate.

President Saakashvili rejected all demands that he resign his position, but announced early presidential elections to be held in January 2008, effectively cutting his term in office by a year.

In the early hours of 23 December 2008, Aboubacar Somparé, the President of the National Assembly, announced on television that Conté had died at 6: 45pm local time on 22 December " after a long illness ", without specifying the cause of death.

Since the 2008 Guinean coup d ' état, the head of state has been Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, an army officer and President of the National Council for Democracy and Development.

On 5 May 2009, President Moussa Dadis Camara, who seized power in a bloodless coup which followed the 22 December 2008 death of President Lansana Conté, announced the recall of 30 of Guinea's ambassadors to other countries.