Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger enforced the Catholic Church's secret policy on Crimen sollicitationis to cover up child sex abuse cases involving the clergy. (BBC)(BBC)
Clostridium difficile, is said to have killed at least 49 people at hospitals in Leicester, England, according to a National Health Service investigation. Another 29 similar cases are being investigated by coroners. (BBC)
The last
UNIFIL officials, however, claim that they still occupy the border village of Ghajar. (Reuters)
New laws against
age discrimination in the workplace - officially titled the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 - come into force in the United Kingdom. (BBC)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the agreement was the solution to "the energy problems of key partners, including those in Western Europe." (Interfax)
EADS delays delivery of the Airbus A380 jet for the third time in 16 months, due to wiring problems, with the first plane now expected in late 2007. (Bloomberg)
The Drudge Report alleges that one teen with whom Mark Foley engaged in cybersex during a House vote was 18 years old at the time of the communications. (Drudge Report)
House Ethics Committee issued four dozen subpoenas to members of Congress and aides to discover who was aware of explicit exchanges between former representative Mark Foley and underage Congressional pages. (MSNBC)
Reports indicate that
Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq who succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after his death, may have been killed in Haditha. A body initially tentatively identified as his is undergoing DNA analysis but most government sources are skeptical. (BBC)
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) flags that the organization will hold an emergency meeting to cut output. The Financial Times reports that OPEC has informally agreed to cut output 4% to defend the oil price. (USA Today)
President Bush has declared space to be essential to US defence in a new National Space Policy document. Not only has the United States declared that it has rights in space, but, if necessary, it will deny its adversaries access to space if those adversaries seek to impede those rights. The new policy was agreed upon in August but the document[1] was not released until 6 October. See Wikinewsn:US declares vital interest in space
Latvian parliamentary election: The governing coalition led by Prime MinisterAigars Kalvītis wins re-election, the first Latvian administration to be re-elected since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. (BBC)
Iraq's Environmental Secretary claims that 11 police officers have died of
food poisoning in the Wasit province of that country. The governor of the Wasit province claims that no officers have died, but that several are in critical condition. It is unclear whether or not the poisonings were intentional. (Associated Press)
Armenian Genocide denial. The legislation would imprison offenders for one year and fine them up to €45,000. Turkey calls upon French legislators to vote against the bill. The Turkish Parliament is considering a bill that would criminalize denial of French human rights violations in Algeria. (TurkishPress)
Roh Moo-Hyun, are among world leaders to condemn North Korea's nuclear testing, calling it "provocative", "irresponsible" and "a serious threat to peace", respectively. (BBC)
A passenger bus plunges into a ravine near the city of Chiantla in northwestern Guatemala, killing 42 people. (BBC)
Prudhoe Bay oil fields due to losing power as a result of high winds. (AP via ABC News)
uranium enrichment as the West demands, declaring: "Our policy is clear, progress with clear logic and insisting on the nation's right without any retreat." (Reuters)
A chartered
Stord Airport in Norway, killing four people. (BBC)
Iraqi police announce they have found a total of 110 corpses at locations across Baghdad in the previous 48 hours, thought to be more victims of insurgent death squads. In addition, a bomb planted under a car explodes in the city's southern district of Doura, killing 10 people. (CNN)(Reuters)
United States military sources state that a total of 30 militants and 4 US soldiers have been killed since the weekend. (BBC)(Reuters)
A
Camp Falcon U.S. military base on the outskirts of Baghdad, causing a huge fire. At least 30 explosions were reported. There were no reported casualties. (Reuters)
Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City killing 2 people. FBI states that there is so far no reason to suspect terrorism, and the alert level hasn't been raised. The plane was registered to New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle. Lidle is reported to have been the pilot, and along with his flight instructor, was killed in the crash. (CBS 2 New York)(CNN)(The New York Times)(ESPN)
Minutes from the United States Federal Reserve meeting held on September 20 predict a "modestly better inflation outlook" due to a softening economy and lower energy prices. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady. (Fox News)
Yonhap news agency that "If all out sanctions are implemented, we will take it as a declaration of war". (News Limited)
Kyodo that North Korea will have no choice but to take physical steps if the United States continues to adopt a hostile attitude towards it. (AFP via ABC Australia)
A United Nations report declares that abuse of children is "widespread and tolerated" in many parts of the world. A separate report by charity Save the Children states that more than a million children around the world are in prison. (BBC)
The New Zealand Auditor-General's report into 2005 election funding is released. NZ$1.17 million dollars was unlawfully spent during the election by seven parties, more than half of it by Labour. Labour immediately promises to repay the money. (NZ Herald)
A gun attack on the office of a satellite TV station in Baghdad kills 11 people. (BBC)
Sir
Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff and head of the British Army, gives an interview stating that British forces should "get out some time soon" from Iraq as their presence "exacerbates the security problems". (BBC)
Workers begin demolishing the one-room Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania where five girls were shot to death and five others were injured. (Forbes)
Record Snowfall in Buffalo, New York and surrounding metro area leaves up to two feet of heavy wet snow, three people dead, damaged trees, and over 400,000 residents without power. [3]
World Chess Championship reunification match. (NY Times)
Cellulose plant conflict: Demonstrators again block border crossings between Argentina and Uruguay after the World Bank announces its decision to continue funding the disputed paper mills. (BBC)
Sendero Luminoso guerrillas, is sentenced to life imprisonment at the conclusion of his retrial on terrorism charges. (BBC)
Wal-Mart is ordered to pay $78 million in compensation to current and former employees for breaking labor laws in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania by forcing its employees to work through rest breaks and off clock. (USA Today)
People's Republic of China, which has veto power. (Reuters)
Veterinarians are reported to use vasectomies to control elephant overpopulation in Africa. At Kruger National Park, their numbers have doubled in the last decade. (North County Times)
Six Palestinians from the armed wing of the militant group Hamas have been killed in an Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials say. (BBC)
Thousands of people have been attending mass ceremonies in
UN Secretary-General Designate Ban Ki-moon says the vote represents a "strong and clear message" and promises, if necessary, to visit North Korea to discuss the situation. (BBC)
Cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt in Sweden, resigns after one week in office following allegations of tax evasion. (BBC)(CNN)
Stephen Hunt. The injury kept him out of action until January 20, 2007. Cudicini suffered concussion after colliding with Reading defender Ibrahima Sonko as the ball curled in from a corner. John Terry
took the position as goalkeeper for the remainder of the game.
Kalaoa. 95% of power was lost throughout the state. Widespread structural damage on the Big Island is being reported, but no major injuries and no fatalities as of yet. Airports are only accepting incoming flights. (CNN)(USGS)
Security Council, commencing 1 January 2007. The fifth seat remains deadlocked after ten rounds of voting between Guatemala and Venezuela and may be thrown open to other candidates from Latin America and the Caribbean. (BBC)
Andijan, for "short-sighted policies" and "lack of attention to the people's needs" that led to the Andijan massacre in 2005. Karimov appoints Ahmad Usmonov as Begaliev's replacement. (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty)
The military of Fiji issues an ultimatum to the government to drop legislation which would give an amnesty to the leaders of the 2000 coup, or resign. (SMH)
Tamil Tiger rebels are suspected to be responsible for attacks on a Sri Lankan navy base and an adjoining port in the southern city of Galle, police and military officers claim. (CNN)
Santiago, and use tear gas and water cannons to disperse their one day strike which called on the government to reform the education law, originally enacted under Augusto Pinochet. (Deutsche Presse-Agentur)
Uzbek military Antonov An-2 aircraft crashes near Tashkent, Uzbekistan, killing all of the 15 people on board. The Uzbek Emergency Ministry says the pilots lost control of the plane while trying to land. (BBC)
Scientists at
metamaterials that makes objects harder to detect at microwave frequencies. (LiveScience)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average index closes at a record high just above 12,000 points in today's trading, as investors welcome the latest batch of corporate earnings. (The Australian)
OPEC agrees to reduce its output by 1.2 million barrels per day (190,000 m3/d), its first cut for more than two years, to halt falling oil prices. (USA Today)
The Indian conglomerate
Corus in the largest ever Indian takeover of a foreign company. (NDTV)
Ethiopia expels two European Union diplomats for allegedly trying to smuggle two fugitives into Kenya. The European Union criticises the expulsions as "totally unacceptable." (BBC)
al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist organization in the Gaza StripBureijrefugee camp, is shot to death outside his home. Fatah officials accuse members of Hamas of being behind the assassination. (BBC News)
The Initiative Group of Independent Rights Defenders in
Karimov administration release political opposition leader Sanjar Umarov, calling the case against him "entirely fabricated." Uzbek authorities arrested Umarov in 2005. (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty)
Government of Eritrea of jeopardizing regional stability by engaging in a proxy war through its assistance to the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia. Zenawi warns the Ethiopian Parliament that "Jihadists are amassing their forces near our borders."(allAfrica)
fingerprinting of any citizens of the United States that are visiting Iran, stating, "We do not have a problem with American people. We oppose only the U.S. government." (AP via ABC)
United States Federal Reserve keeps its benchmark interest rate at 5.25 percent for a third month and reiterates that officials are relying on lower energy prices and slowing growth to reduce inflation. (Bloomberg)
Royal Dutch Shell oil platforms in the Niger Delta, forcing oil production to be shut down at each one. (AP via Daily Comet)
The
alleged military action by neighboring Ethiopia, amid fears of all-out war across the country. (Al Jazeera)
The government of Niger announces that due to "difficult relations with indigenous rural populations," the country's 150,000 Mahamid Arab refugee population who have lived in Niger since having fled Chad two decades earlier, will be deported back to Chad. (Reuters)[permanent dead link]
General George W. Casey Jr., the top United States commander in Iraq, has said it will take 12 to 18 months before Iraqi security forces are ready to take over in the country. (CNN)
Roh Moo-Hyun expected to announce changes in his foreign policy and defence advisers soon. (AFP via Channel News Asia)
In Australia, Sheikh Taj El-Din Hilaly apologizes after a public uproar over his statement comparing women who did not wear the hijab to "uncovered meat". (BBC News)
Fifteen people die and 400 are admitted to hospital in Pskov, Russia, after consuming alcohol suspected of being tainted with medicinal drugs or chemicals. (Reuters)[permanent dead link]
USD $10.5 billion from $9.92 billion as crude prices rise to an all-time high. This is the second highest quarterly profit figure for a United States company. (Bloomberg)
A German minister claims that two Israeli fighter jets fired two shots over a German naval peacekeeping ship near the Lebanese coast. Israel denies the jets fired. (Times)
The Sims 2 Pets is released in Australia and is announced that AU$1 will be donated from every game for the first 50,000 games sold to the RSPCA
Muslim cleric Sheikh Taj El-Din Hilaly is barred from preaching for three months after his controversial speech comparing women who did not wear the hijab to "uncovered meat". (BBC)
A controlled explosion is carried out by an Army Bomb Disposal squad on Dublin's O'Connell Street after a security alert on an Aircoach bus, although no explosive material was found. Traffic in the city has been severely affected. (RTÉ)
The Ford Taurus rolls off the assembly line for the last time. The Ford plant in Atlanta, USA, closes and 2,000 employees are all laid off. MSNBC
Cuban television shows images of convalescing leader Fidel Castro walking and reading the day's newspapers showing that he is recovering from his emergency surgery in July. (Reuters), (BBC)
Mohammadu Maccido, the sultan's son, Muhammed Maccido, a senator, and Abdulrahman Shehu Shagari, son of former Nigerian President Shehu Shagari, are on the list of passengers on board. (CBS), (Reuters), (Xinhua) There are six confirmed survivors. (SABC), (CNN)
Iraqi American United States Army soldier currently listed as missing in action in Iraq, is reported to have married an Iraqi citizen, against U.S. military regulations. (MSNBC)
California authorities arrest a man who is suspected of intentionally starting two wildfires this summer and is considered a person of interest in the Esperanza Fire.
madrassah was based on United States intelligence that senior members of al-Qaeda were hiding there. The attack has generated protests by religious and tribal leaders in Pakistan. (The Washington Post)
