2008 - YEAR IN REVIEW SO FAR
January - Oil hits record prices to go above the $100 threshhold, eventually peaking at $147.27 a barrel on July 11 
March- Financial giant Bear Stearns collapseS on the backdrop of rumors, the credit crunch and a financially unstable market, only to be taken over by JP Morgan with the intervention of the Federal Reserve.
June - Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton steps out of the race to become President of the United States
June- Following months of violence and political bitterness, President Robert Mugabe, against international pressure, holds elections without the opposition MDC on the ballot
July- Iran continues to defy international pressure by pursuing its nuclear armament while its ally Hizbollah becomes more provocative in Lebanon and against Israel.
August- Michael Phelps becomes the fastest swimmer of all time
August- Russia and Georgia engage in a brief war over the rebel terrritories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia which causes tensions between Russia and the West
