June 12, 2008 (Thursday)
- Wildfires in northern California lead to the evacuation of residents in Paradise, California and Bonny Doon, California. (AP via The Guardian)
- Ecuadorean police arrest four men including three Colombians on suspicion of plotting an assassination of the President of Ecuador Rafael Correa. (AP via International Herald Tribune)
- Tendai Biti, the Secretary of the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe, is arrested in Harare. (AFP and ABC News Australia)
- Four thousand homes in Cedar Rapids, Iowa are evacuated as the Cedar River floods due to heavy rain in recent days. (CNN)
- David Davis, the Conservative Shadow Home Secretary resigns as the Member of Parliament for Haltemprice and Howden in order to contest the Haltemprice and Howden by-election, 2008 on civil liberties issues. (The Times)
- The Salmonella outbreak in the United States caused by tainted tomatoes continues to worsen with 228 victims in 23 states. (Bloomberg)
- The United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates invites Pakistan and Afghanistan to participate in an investigation of the Gora Prai airstrike. (AP via Forbes)
- Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles sets a world record of 12.87 seconds for the 110 metre hurdles at a Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic. (Associated Press)
- More than 80 countries and international aid organisations meet in Paris to develop a strategy for delivering billions of dollars in aid to Afghanistan. (AFP via The Australian)
- The People's Republic of China and Taiwan begin their first formal talks in a decade on improving cross-strait relations. (AFP)[permanent dead link]
- Irish voters go to the polls for the Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland to enable ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon of the European Union. (RTÉ)
- In Boumediene v. Bush, the U.S. Supreme Court holds that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantánamo Bay have constitutional rights to challenge their detention there in US courts. (The New York Times)
- Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin wins the Hart Memorial Trophy as most valuable player for the National Hockey League 2007-2008 season as well as the Art Ross Trophy for most points and the Rocket Richard Trophy for top goal scorer. (TSN)
- Bill C-61, An Act to amend the Copyright Act, is tabled in the second session of the 39th Canadian Parliament by Minister of Industry Jim Prentice, in efforts to better comply to the WIPO treaty. (CBC News)