September 2007

• Dave Zabriski, an American professional cyclist, defended his National Time Trial Championship by winning by 2 seconds in Greenville, SC.
• The Church of Uganda, the Anglican province of Uganda, appoints a bishop in the United States, John Guernsey, deepening a split with the Episcopal Church over the ordination of gay priests and bishops. (BBC)
• World Championships in Athletics: American athlete Tyson Gay wins his third medal of the championship as part of the 100 metres relay team after earlier winning gold medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres. (Reuters)
• The Sri Lankan Army captures territory near Mannar from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after a week of heavy fighting. (AFP via Lanka Business Online)
• Protesters in Southeast Aceh try to stop the swearing in of the regent and deputy regent with riot police using tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowd resulting in 26 people being injured. (Reuters Alertnet)
• In a stunning college football upset, Appalachian State defeated #5-ranked Michigan at Michigan Stadium by a score of 34-32. This is the first time a team from the second-tier NCAA Division I FCS has defeated an AP-ranked Division I FBS opponent. Armanti Edwards was the quarterback for the underdog Mountaineers. (Ann Arbor News)
• Eleven World Wrestling Entertainment performers are suspended for suspected illegal steroid abuse.(Newsday)
• Thousands of former military officers protest in Yemen with Yemeni riot police firing bullets and tear gas to disperse them. (AP via CNN)
• The United Nations launches a food assistance program to assist Iraqi refugees in Syria. (AP via International Herald Tribune)
• Two small planes collide during an air show in Radom, Poland resulting in the deaths of both pilots (Marek Dubkiewicz and Sebastian Chrząszcz) . (AP via Sydney Morning Herald)
• The National Assembly of Panama selects Pedro Miguel González Pinzón as its President despite the fact that he is wanted in the United States for an alleged murder of a United States Army sergeant and the attempted murder of another. González has been cleared by a Panamanian court of these charges. (AP via the Guardian)
• Iraq is to free up to 6,000 Sunni insurgents in an attempt at reconciliation by the Government. (The Telegraph)
• French and Spanish police foil an ETA car bomb plot and arrest the man who is alleged to be the organisations top bombmaker and his accomplices. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
• Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appoints Mohammed Ali Jafari to replace General Yahya Rahim Safavi as the leader of the Revolutionary Guard. (The Canadian Press via Google News)
• Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto promises to return to Pakistan very soon. (Daily Telegraph)
• Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig resigns from the United States Senate effective 30 September following a guilty plea to a disorderly conduct charge following his arrest in a restroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. (Wikinews)
• 2007 Ogaden conflict: International aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières has accused Ethiopia of denying it access to the country's eastern Ogaden region.(BBC News)
• The Second Tuareg Rebellion spreads rapidly as a Malian army colonel has deserted to join a Tuareg rebellion in the northern desert, taking with him nearly 60 fighters. (Reuters)
• New gambling legislation comes into effect in the United Kingdom, relaxing advertising restrictions and extending opening hours. (The Telegraph)
• Hurricanes and tropical storms:
  • 2007 Atlantic hurricane season: Tropical Storm Felix forms over the Windward Islands of the Caribbean and becomes Hurricane Felix. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao have storm warnings in place and Jamaica has a tropical storm watch. (AP via Houston Chronicle), (Reuters)
  • 2007 Pacific hurricane season: Tropical Storm Henriette is expected to become a hurricane on Sunday, with heavy rain falling on Acapulco. Six people have died as a result of the storm and associated landslides. (AP via Houston Chronicle), (AP via the Jerusalem Post)
• A bomb in the Indian state of Assam kills one person and injures 12, with police suspecting the United Liberation Front of Asom. (AP via IHT)
• Two people go missing and six people are injured following a boat accident at the mouth of the Brisbane River in Australia. (ABC News Australia)
• Kurds in northern Iraq flee from Iranian shelling aimed at Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PEJAK) positions. (AP via Google)
• Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Takehiko Endo refuses to resign over allegations that a group that he chaired received state subsidies illegally. (AFP via Google News)
• Envoys from the United States and North Korea meet in Geneva to discuss normalising relations. (BBC)
• A concrete and steel fence is built in Sydney to protect leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting next week. (BBC)
• There has been a spike in dengue fever cases in 2007 in Malaysia with seventy-five people dying in the first eight months. (Times of India)
• 2007 Greek forest fires: The Prime Minister of Greece Costas Karamanlis says that the fires are now under control after killing 64 people and causing £800 million worth of damage. (Press Association via Google News)
• New laws come into effect giving the People's Republic of China more control over the selection of the Dalai Lama. (BBC)
• Finland ceased all of its analog television transmissions in the terrestrial network as part of the digital switchover. (Wikinews)

Arizona's Stephen Drew and Seattle's Adrian Beltre hit for the cycle

• The spokeswoman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry announces that China will report military expenditures to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms. (Xinhua)
• The United States men's national basketball team defeats Argentina 118-81 to win the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, with both teams qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics. (Bloomberg)
• Israeli police recommend that former Finance Minister Avraham Hirchson be indicted for allegedly stealing millions from a trade union he led in 2003. (Associated Press via Google)
• 2007 Pacific hurricane season: Baja California is placed on a Hurricane Watch as Tropical Storm Henriette is expected to strengthen to hurricane strength. (AP via Fox News)
• Ten Colombian soldiers are killed and five are missing during a shootout with FARC guerillas in the mountainous border areas between Quindío and Tolima departments. (AFP via Times of India)
• At least two people are killed and a dozen injured in three simultaneous explosions in Kathmandu in Nepal. (CNN)
• The military-backed interim government of Bangladesh files corruption charges against former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia and her younger son. (Associated Press via International Herald Tribune)
• Sudan postpones a census that is a crucial for the success of two national elections. (BBC)
• War in Afghanistan: Scores of Taliban are killed in heavy fighting in the Kandahar and Arghandab regions of Afghanistan. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
• Egyptian police find 2.75 tonnes of explosives in the el-Gefgafa area of Sinai, believed to be en route to the Gaza Strip. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
• The Ogaden National Liberation Front declares a unilateral ceasefire so that a United Nations team can investigate claims of human rights abuses by the Ethiopian government. (AP via IHT)
• War in Iraq: The United Kingdom withdraws troops from its base at Basra Palace as part of an eventual handover of Basra Province to the Iraqi government. (Reuters)
• Nuclear program of Iran: The President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims that Iran now has 3,000 centrifuges. The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates the number at 2,000. (AP via NYT)
• Christopher R. Hill, the United States negotiator in talks with North Korea, states that they have agreed to declare and disable all of its nuclear facilities by the end of the year. (BBC)
• Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed, the Education Minister of Jammu and Kashmir survives an assassination attempt by Islamist militants near Patan. (AFP via News Limited)
• Hurricane Felix
  • Hurricane Felix becomes a Category 2 hurricane early today as Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao have a hurricane watch in place. (AP via ABC News America)
  • It later strengthens to Category 4 with predictions that it will hit Central America or the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. (Reuters Alertnet) (Matket Watch)
  • Tropical storm warnings are put in place for Jamaica and the Grand Cayman Islands. (Market Watch)
• The Prime Minister of Australia John Howard announces that Justice Ian Callinan will conduct an inquiry into the 2007 Australian equine influenza outbreak. (ABC News Australia)
• Twelve Greenpeace activists are arrested in protests at Newcastle, New South Wales on the eve of the APEC meeting in Sydney. (Reuters via TV New Zealand)
• Riot police clash with protesters commemorating the Ungdomshuset in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen with 26 people injured. (AP via Google)
• 2007 Lebanon conflict:
  • Fatah al-Islam fighters attempt an escape from the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp north of Tripoli, Lebanon with at least 41 people being killed in fighting and many being injured and captured by the Lebanese army. (AFP via Google) (Reuters) (CNN)
  • The Prime Minister of Lebanon Fouad Siniora announces that the Government has captured the camp. (CNN)
  • The leader of Fatah al-Islam is believed to be among the casualties with the Lebanese government conducting DNA tests to confirm his identity. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
• An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 strikes in the Pacific Ocean south of Lata, Santa Cruz Islands in the Solomon Islands with a tsunami warning being issued. (Bloomberg) (CNN)
• 2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan: The 19 freed hostages return to South Korea. (Reuters)

• Peace talks in Finland aimed at ending sectarian violence in Iraq end successfully, resulting in the "Helsinki Agreement". (Wikinews)
• The People's Republic of China charges human rights activist Yang Chunlin, who gathered 10,000 signatures to an open letter opposing the Beijing Olympics on human rights grounds, with attempting to subvert state power. (AFP via Google)
• Panama begins work on its £2.7 billion Panama Canal expansion project. (The Scotsman)
• Six expatriate judges resign from the Fijian legal system following disagreements with the military-appointed acting Chief Justice Anthony Gates. (AAP via News Limited)
• The Financial Times reports that the military of the People's Republic of China successfully hacked into The Pentagon's computer network. (Reuters)
• Japan and Chile sign a free trade agreement. (Associated Press via Forbes)
• Mittal Steel completes the first part of its takeover of Arcelor with ArcelorMittal being listed on European stock exchanges with the combined company becoming the world's largest steel producer. (CNN)
• Tomás Medina Caracas (known by his nom de guerre "Negro Acacio"), one of FARC's most important leaders and the liaison between this Colombian guerrilla and Brazilian drug dealers, is killed in action by Colombian armed forces in Guaviare. (El Tiempo)
• The Israeli Defense Forces announce plans for a force upgrade following problems in the 2006 Lebanon War and a perceived threat from Iran. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
• War in Iraq:
  • U.S. President George W. Bush makes a surprise visit to Iraq and addresses military leaders and the troops, saying that with success, a U.S. Iraq troop cut is possible. (Yahoo! News)
  • The British Army completes its withdrawal from Basra Palace to an airbase at Basra Airport. (BBC)
• The Rail Maritime and Transport Union threatens a three day strike on the London Underground with last minute talks between the union and Transport for London failing to prevent this outcome. (Telegraph)
• Myanmar's National Convention finally completes 14 years of talks on a new constitution in a military base north of Yangon. (AFP via Google)
• Two groups from the Terai region of Nepal – the Terai Army and the Nepal People's Army – claim responsibility for bombs that killed two people and injured 30 in Kathmandu yesterday. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
• Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon arrives in Sudan to press for an end to violence in Darfur. (BBC)
• European energy companies Gaz de France and Suez agree to merge in what would be a privatisation of the French state-owned Gaz de France. (The Telegraph)
• Justice Susan Kiefel becomes the third woman to serve on the High Court of Australia. (ABC News Australia)
• Four cargo ships carrying methanol sink on the Han River, the source of the water supply for Wuhan, China, with environmental authorities monitoring water quality. (Shanghai Daily)
• Sun Zhengcai, the Chinese Minister for Agriculture, states that China will clamp down on foods tainted with illegal and excessive chemicals. (Reuters)
• The interim Government of Bangladesh arrests former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia and her son on corruption charges. (BBC)
• APEC:
  • The Prime Minister of Australia John Howard puts an appeal on YouTube for people not to participate in violent protests this week. (AAP via the Sydney Morning Herald)
  • Four people are arrested at the Loy Yang Power Station near Traralgon in Gippsland after chaining themselves to the conveyor belts in a climate-change protest aimed at APEC leaders. (ABC News Australia)
  • The draft leaders statement calls for progress in the Doha round of trade talks. (AP via International Herald Tribune)
• Jamaican voters go to the polls for the Jamaican general election, 2007. (AP via IHT)
• According to reports in Japanese media, Takehiko Endo resigns as the Japanese Agriculture Minister due to involvements in illegal dealings in 1999. (BBC)
• Hurricane Felix
  • Hurricane Felix reaches Category 5 strength as it heads towards Central America. (Wikinews)
  • Honduras issues a hurricane warning for an area from Limón on the north coast to the border with Nicaragua. The Bay Islands are placed on red alert, and the departments of Gracias a Dios, Colón, Atlántida, Olancho, Cortés and Yoro are placed on yellow alert. (Bloomberg)
  • Guatemala is on hurricane watch, while Colombia issues a warning for Isla de Providencia. (Bloomberg)
  • Nicaragua is on alert with President Daniel Ortega returning early from a trip to Panama; meanwhile, a state of emergency is declared in Belize. (AFP via Google)

• In a ceremony at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, priests chanted prayers in honor of the Russian Defense Ministry's 12th Main Directorate, which is responsible for the storage and maintenance of Russia's nuclear arsenal. (The Moscow Times)
• German authorities arrest three people for planning attacks on Frankfurt and a United States military base in Ramstein. (Reuters)
• A spokesman for Idaho Senator Larry Craig indicates that the Senator is rethinking his decision to resign following his plea of guilty to "disorderly conduct" charges in Minneapolis. (New York Times)
• Mattel and the Consumer Product Safety Commission in the United States announces that it is recalling 700,000 Chinese-made toys on the grounds of excessive lead paint making it the third recall in the past month. (AP)
• Klaxons win the Mercury Prize for their album Myths of the Near Future beating favourites Amy Winehouse and the Arctic Monkeys. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
• A week long heat wave in Southern California results in the death of 13 people and 500,000 people losing power in outages. (Reuters), (AP via Fox News)
• Hurricane Felix:
  • Hurricane Felix makes landfall on the Miskito Coast of Nicaragua as a Category 5 hurricane. (LA Times)
  • Four people are killed as Hurricane Felix makes landfall but it is downgraded to Category 1 later in the day. (Radio New Zealand)
  • Hurricane Felix is downgraded to a tropical storm but still threatens mudslides and floods in Honduras and Guatemala. (Euronews)
• Adventurer Steve Fossett is reported missing over the Nevada desert. (CNN)
• Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chairperson Khaleda Zia expels party Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Joint Secretary General Ashraf Hossain accusing breaching party discipline.
• Former President of Iran, Hashemi Rafsanjani is elected the chairman of the Assembly of Experts (AP)
• The Iraqi Supreme Court confirms the death sentence passed on Ali Hassan al-Majid, Sultan Hashim al-Tai and Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti. (RTE)
• 2007 Lebanon conflict: Lebanon's Defense Minister Elias al-Murr claims that at least 222 Fatah al-Islam militants were killed during the struggle. (Reuters via News Limited)
• 2007 Pacific Hurricane season: Tropical Storm Henriette becomes Hurricane Henriette on its way to Baja California. (AP via Google)
• The United States Navy, Royal Australian Navy, Indian Navy, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Republic of Singapore Navy conduct exercises in the Bay of Bengal, (BBC)
• Israel threatens to cut off electricity, water and fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip for hours if Hamas launches rocket attacks. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
• The strike by Rail Maritime and Transport Union employees on the London Underground continued but the strike was called off later in the day after lengthy talks with Transport for London. (AFP via ABC News Australia) (The Daily Telegraph)
• Australian company Zinifex and Belgian company Umicore merge their zinc smelting operations to form Nyrstar, the largest zinc smelting company. (AAP via Sydney Morning Herald)
• Denmark's intelligence service arrests several people on suspicion of plotting a bomb attack. (Reuters and AFP via Melbourne Herald-Sun)
• The Iranian military bombs villages in northern Iraq, targeting PEJAK militants. (NYT)
• Pakistan bombings:
  • A bomb explodes on a bus carrying employees of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission destroying the bus in Rawalpindi, Pakistan while a second bomb on a motorbike explodes in a bazaar. (Reuters)
  • The death toll from the two bombings reaches at least 24 with 66 injured. (ABC News Australia and Reuters)
  • Security is raised in many areas of Pakistan.
• APEC summit meeting:
  • The New South Wales Police Force arrests 11 climate-change activists who attach themselves to coal-loading equipment at Carrington in Newcastle, New South Wales. (Sydney Morning Herald)
  • President George W. Bush arrives in Sydney to attend the APEC summit. (The Daily Telegraph)
  • Singapore and Peru conclude negotiations for a free trade agreement. (DPA via EarthTimes)
  • The New South Wales Police Force takes legal action to deter demonstrations near the Sydney Opera House where the APEC summit is taking place. (Bloomberg)
• Jamaica election: With all the votes counted, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is headed to victory with 31 seats compared to the incumbent People's National Party (PNP) with 29 seats. The current Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller, is calling for a recount in marginal seats. (Reuters)
• A Eurostar train sets a new record of 2 hours, 3 minutes and 39 seconds for rail travel between Paris and London, on the inaugural journey from Gare du Nord to St Pancras International on the new High Speed 1 line. (BBC)

• Apple released a new selection of iPods, creating an "iPod touch," updating the "nano," and re-branding the "classic" iPods.
• A battle between Somali police and insurgents in Mogadishu results in six casualties. (AP via Google)
• A Congressional committee has voted to remove the President of the Senate of Brazil Renan Calheiros as a result of a corruption scandal. (BBC)
• Two candidates from Rigoberta Menchú's Encuentro por Guatemala Party are shot dead as part of a wave of campaign-related violence that has claimed 50 lives. (AP via the Guardian)
• 2007 Pacific hurricane season: Hurricane Henriette makes landfall near the port of Guaymas in the Mexican state of Sonora. (ABC News America)
• The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown launches the International Health Partnership consisting of the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Portugal. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
• Fred Thompson, a former U.S. Senator and actor, announces that he is a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2008 presidential election. (CanWest via National Post)
• Judge William Hoeveler places a stay on ex-Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega's extradition from the United States to France so that his defence can present a new appeal. (BBC)
• Lawyers for U.S. Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) ask the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to reject a complaint following a guilty plea to disorderly conduct charges in Minneapolis. The Ethics Committee rejects his plea. (UPI) (Fox News)
• Reynaldo Francis, the Governor of Nicaragua's North Atlantic Autonomous Region, estimates that the death toll from Hurricane Felix has risen to at least 21. Since his statement, the death toll has risen to 38, with 80 people missing. (AFP via the Philippines Inquirer) (Reuters via ABC)
• The World Bank launches its Lighting Africa initiative, aiming to provide modern lighting by renewable or mechanical means to 250 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who lack access to electricity. (AFP via Google)
• The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in the United Kingdom allows the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos for research purposes in principle. (AFP via Google)
• Norman Hsu, controversial fund-raiser for the U.S. Democratic Party, skips a bail hearing, prompting a new warrant for his arrest. (LA Times)
• Paul Gillmor, United States Representative from Ohio's 5th congressional district, is found dead in his Washington, D.C. apartment. (AP via CNN)
• The Australian Government files appeal against court decision to set aside Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef visa cancellation.
• The Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade Sten Tolgfors becomes Defense Minister, succeeding Mikael Odenberg who resigned after being overruled by the Finance Minister Anders Borg in budget talks. (Aftonbladet) (TT)
• Three suspects arrested on terrorism charges yesterday appear before the Federal Court of Justice of Germany in Karlsruhe. (AP via The Guardian)
• War in Afghanistan: Afghan and U.S led coalition forces kill 20 insurgents while two Afghan policeman die in a bomb attack. (AP via The Canadian Press)
• Israeli tanks and bulldozers enter the Gaza Strip in a limited operation against rocket launchers. (AP via IHT)
• Singapore jails the leader of the Singapore Democratic Party Chee Soon Juan for failing to pay a fine of S$4,000 for trying to leave the city-state without permission. (Reuters)
• A group of 50 asylum-seekers held in an Australian facility on Nauru have started a hunger strike. (SBS and AAP)
• Japanese and North Korean envoys begin in Ulan Bator, Mongolia to resolve long-standing differences. (BBC)
• Special prayers are said at the tomb of Mother Teresa at her tomb in Calcutta in honour of the tenth anniversary of her death. (BBC)
• The Solomon Islands government rejects an extradition request by Australia for Attorney-General Julian Moti to face child-sex charges. (AAP via Sydney Morning Herald)
• Pakistani police arrest approximately 50 supporters of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League in Punjab prior to his return to Pakistan next week. (AFP via Google)
• APEC
  • The Prime Minister of Australia John Howard and the President of the United States George W. Bush agree to discuss upgrading the defense relationship with Australia to enjoy the same access to US military technology as the United Kingdom. (ABC News Australia)
  • Prime Minister Howard assures President Bush that "Our commitment to Iraq remains". (AP via CNN)
  • The New South Wales Supreme Court upholds an application by the New South Wales Police Force to change the route of a protest march on Sydney on Saturday. (ABC News Australia)
• The Military Times reports that a United States Air Force B-52 bomber carried six nuclear warheads from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, in violation of rules concerning the handling of nuclear weapons. In addition, the bombs were not reported as missing from the Minot weapons inventory. The squadron commander was relieved of his position, but Representative Ike Skelton says that his committee would investigate the incident. (New York Times), (MSNBC).

• Wikipedia's English site is again blocked in the People's Republic of China, possibly due to upcoming Communist Party Congress. (PC World)
• War in Iraq: Four US Marines are killed in Anbar and three US Army soldiers are killed in Nineveh province. (Reuters)
• United States District Court judge Victor Marrero strikes down a key part of the Patriot Act authorising national security letters. (AP via the Guardian)
• Syria accuses Israel of invading its airspace on Wednesday and dropping ammunition. The operation, known as Operation Orchard, is later speculated to be a raid on a nuclear site being run in collaboration with North Korean technicians, or a raid on a Hizbollah convoy, a missile facility or a terrorist camp. (The Independent) (Guardian)
• Democratic Party fundraiser Norman Hsu is arrested in Grand Junction, Colorado and charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. (NBC11 San Francisco)
• Hurricane Felix: The death toll from Hurricane Felix in Honduras and Nicaragua rises to at least 98, with a high casualty level amongst Miskito Indians who failed to evacuate. Thousands of houses have also been destroyed. (CNN) (Sky News)
• An Islamist website claims it will soon carry a new video of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to mark the sixth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities. (Reuters)
• 12 people, including 11 New Jersey public officials, are arrested by the FBI on corruption charges. Among those arrested are Mayor Samuel Rivera of Passaic and Mayor Mims Hackett of Orange. (CNN)
• A 6.5 magnitude earthquake hits off shore of Taiwan near the capital city Taipei. (Reuters) (USGS)
• Paras, Crown Prince of Nepal, undergoes angioplasty operation after a heart attack.
• British RAF Tornados intercept eight Russian Tupolev Tu-95 bombers as they approach UK airspace. (Sky News)
• Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti dies at 71, after suffering from pancreatic cancer for more than one year. (BBC)
• A study published by United States and Czech researchers claims that there is a 90% chance that the object that caused the Chicxulub crater in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and probably led to the extinction of the dinosaurs came from the Baptistina family of asteroids. (Melbourne Age)
• APEC
  • The President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao and Prime Minister of Australia John Howard agree to six deals including an agreement whereby the PRC will purchase A$35 billion worth of liquefied natural gas from Woodside Petroleum. (ABC News Australia)
  • China and Australia agree to hold yearly security meetings. (BBC)
  • Eleven members of the cast and crew of the ABC's The Chaser's War on Everything are arrested and charged with breaching security regulations including Chas Licciardello who was dressed as Osama bin Laden. (Sydney Morning Herald)
  • The President of the United States George W. Bush meets with the President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao with Bush accepting an invitation to attend the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. (AP via IHT)
• Fiji reintroduces martial law. (NZ Herald)
• Madeleine L'Engle, author of the well-revered book A Wrinkle in Time, dies in Connecticut at age 88.

• 2007 Lebanon conflict: The Lebanese Army declares victory after ending a three-month conflict with Fatah al-Islam militants in Nahr el-Bared.(Jane's News)
• Subtropical Storm Gabrielle forms southeast of the Carolina coast in the Atlantic Ocean. (NOAA)
• Two owners of a New Orleans nursing home are found not guilty of negligent homicide concerning the death of 35 residents after Hurricane Katrina. (NYT)
• Six detained Professors of the Rajshahi University are suspended for their involvement in last month protests for restoring democracy in Bangladesh.
• At least 80 people have died and scores injured as a truck and trailers carrying pilgrims plunges into a gorge near the village of Desuri Ki Naal in Rajasthan, India. (Al-Jazeera)
• The pilot of a civilian World War II stunt plane dies while practicing at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia. (AP via CNN)
• Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, accused Levy Mwanawasa, the President of Zambia and Chairman of the Southern African Development Community, of selling out his country to the Western world and plotting with foreign intelligence agencies during an SADC conference in August. President Mwanawasa later apologized to Mugabe, saying Mugabe had misunderstood an earlier comment. (AllAfrica)
• United States District Court judge Royce Lamberth orders Iran to pay $2.6 billion to victims and families in the 1983 Hezbollah bombing of a United States Marine Corps barracks in Lebanon that claimed 241 American lives. (CNN)
• The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego agrees to pay $198.1 million to settle 144 claims of sexual abuse by clergy. (AP via IHT)
• Hurricane Felix (2007): The death toll from Hurricane Felix rises to at least 130 in Nicaragua and Honduras. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
• The Polish Sejm votes to dissolve itself, causing early parliamentary elections in October 2007. (BBC)
• Global Stock Markets fall sharply amid recession fears after the release of a report that shows a surprise decline of the US workforce in August, for the first time in four years. (BBC)
• The Indonesian Supreme Court rejects an appeal by Bali bomber Amrozi bin Nurhasyim. (News Limited)
• United States District Court judge William Hoeveler refuses to block the extradition of former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega to France to face charges. (Reuters)
• Disappearance of Madeline McCann: Portuguese police believe that Kate McCann and Gerry McCann may be involved in their daughters possible death with both parents being named as suspects. (BBC) (The Telegraph)
• The United States is investigating a video which it has obtained, to see if the claims that the man on it is Osama bin Laden are genuine. If they are found to be, it will have been the first time he has been seen since October 2004. (BBC)
• The BBC reports that investigations into a recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease has identified five breaches of biosecurity at the Pirbright site of the Institute for Animal Health. (BBC)
• Voters in Morocco go to the polls for the Moroccan parliamentary election, 2007. (BBC)
• APEC:
  • The President of Russia Vladimir Putin signs a uranium deal with the Prime Minister of Australia John Howard before meeting with the President of the United States George W. Bush. (Reuters)
  • President Bush offers North Korea the prospect of a peace treaty if it gives up its nuclear weapons program in talks with the President of South Korea Roh Moo-hyun. (Sydney Morning Herald)
  • Christopher R. Hill, United States Assistant Secretary of State says that North Korea has invited experts from the US, China and Russia to inspect nuclear sites to be disabled. (Bloomberg)
• 2007 Pacific typhoon season: Typhoon Fitow passes over Tokyo with one casualty occurring in Nagano Prefecture last night. (Bloomberg)
• Stephenson King becomes the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia after John Compton dies.

• Ang Lee's spy thriller Lust, Caution wins the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. (Reuters)
• The Red Cross recovers the bodies of 11 Colombian legislators who were shot while being held hostage by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). (AP via Google)
• Former President of Argentina Carlos Menem is charged with involvement in the illegal sale of weapons to Ecuador and Croatia. (BBC News via ABC News Australia)
• Justine Henin of Belgium wins the U.S. Open women's tennis singles championship defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-1 6-3 in the final. (Associated Press via Google)
• Morocco's conservative Istiqlal Party, a member of the kingdom's ruling coalition, wins most seats in parliamentary elections, according to provisional results released by the government (Reuters)
• At least 18 people are injured in a car bomb blast in Peshawar, Pakistan.
• Islamic insurgency in Algeria (2002-present):
  • At least 16 people are killed and 30 injured in a car bomb attack on an Algerian naval barracks in the town of Dellys, 100km (62km) east of Algiers. (AFP via Google)
  • Al Qaeda's North African wing al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb claims responsibility for the bombing and a bombing in Batna less than 48 hours earlier. (Reuters)
• At least 85 Hindu pilgrims have died after a lorry accident in India. (Wikinews) (BBC)
• Subtropical Storm Gabrielle is upgraded to a tropical storm as it approaches the eastern United States coastline. (NOAA)
• Democratic Republic of the Congo:
  • The President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni and the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Joseph Kabila meet in Tanzania to discuss the future of oil-rich Lake Albert. (BBC)
  • General Laurent Nkunda, the leader of a rebel movement, claims that Government troops have broken a ceasefire in the east of the country. (BBC via ABC News Australia)
• APEC
  • Leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Sydney considers an aspirational climate change target of a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. (Bloomberg)
  • Thousands of people march through central Sydney with the New South Wales Police Force making five arrests with two police officers injured. (ABC News Australia)

• The Lancet publishes a placebo controlled double blind study linking food additives to hyperactivity. (Science Daily)
• Kevin Everett of the National Football League's Buffalo Bills suffers a life-threatening spinal cord injury in a game against the Denver Broncos. The surgeon who operated on him says Monday Everett is unlikely to walk again, assuming he survives. (AP via Yahoo)
• A lorry carrying dynamite crashes and explodes near Sacramento in the Mexican state of Coahuila; scores of people are injured and 37 are killed, including three local reporters covering the story. (BBC)
• South African police arrest Helen Zille, the leader of the Democratic Party and Mayor of Cape Town, while she was taking part in an anti-drug protest at the Cape Flats slum area. (AP)
• An earthquake of 6.8 magnitude hits near the north coast of Colombia. (Reuters Alertnet)
• Israeli police arrest eight men originally from the former Soviet Union accused of forming a neo-Nazi cell. (Scotsman)
• 2007 U.S. Open: Roger Federer of Switzerland defeats Novak Đoković in the final of the men's singles in straight sets 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. (Bloomberg)
• Five thousand Algerians protest in Algiers after two recent suicide bomb attacks. (Reuters)
• Voters in Guatemala go to the polls in the Guatemalan general election, 2007. (AFP)
• Jamaican Asafa Powell set a new men's world 100 meters record of 9.74 seconds at the IAAF Grand Prix at Rieti, Italy. (AP)
• At least 15 dead and many injured when a flyover under construction at Panjagutta junction, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India collapsed. Wikinews
• The President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai is forced to cut short a speech in Kabul after gunfire is heard outside. (Reuters)
• A landslide in West Bengal, India kills seven people; over 500 houses buried or damaged.
• Pakistan
  • Pakistan's airports are placed on the highest alert due to concerns over an imminent terrorist threat. (BBC)
  • Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif boards a Pakistan International Airlines flight from London to Islamabad with his return likely to provoke a confrontation with the President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf. (ABC News Australia)
  • Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (N) claims that 2,000 of its members have been arrested prior to his return. (BBC)
• Tropical Storm Gabrielle makes landfall near the Cape Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina, United States, and hooks over Cape Hatteras before returning to the Atlantic as a tropical depression, bringing much-needed rain to coastal North Carolina as well as some beach erosion. (CNN)
• APEC Australia 2007:
  • The APEC summit draws to a close with most leaders preparing to leave and the President of the United States George W. Bush having left. (ABC News Australia)
  • The Prime Minister of Australia John Howard meets with the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe to discuss security and climate change. (Times of India)

• The Supreme Court of Indonesia orders TIME magazine to pay US$106 million in damages to former President of Indonesia Suharto. The magazine had reported in 1999 that the former President and his family had accumulated $73 billion dollars fraudulently during his time in office. The case had previously been rejected by two lower courts. (BBC)
• The Ejército Popular Revolucionario plants a series of bombs that tear apart six Pemex natural gas pipelines in the Mexican states of Veracruz and Tlaxcala. (Canadian Press) (El Universal)
• Former Republic of the Congo rebel leader Pastor Ntumi returns to Brazzaville to take up a post as a junior minister. (BBC)
• Peter Beattie resigns as the Premier of Queensland effective from Thursday with Anna Bligh tipped to replace him. (ABC News Australia)
• Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan:
  • CNN reports that former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif has arrived in Pakistan after seven years in exile. (Bloomberg)
  • Commandos enter the aircraft and surround Sharif who refuses to surrender his passport. (CNN)
  • The standoff ends with Sharif leaving the plane after a two hour standoff and him being taken into custody. (AFP/Reuters via ABC News Australia) (BBC)
  • Sharif is put on a special plane and deported to Jeddah. He is brought back to the airport via helicopter, while heading towards the Mianwali Jail in Punjab province.(Channel 4 News)
• War in Iraq: General David Petraeus gives evidence to the United States Congress about the effectiveness of the Iraq War troop surge of 2007. General Petraeus warned against a rapid pullback of troops. (NYT) (NYT)
• Diego León Montoya Sánchez, leader of the Norte del Valle cartel and one of the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, is captured by Colombian authorities. (CNN)
• Local elections are held throughout Norway for municipality and county councils.

• Bruce Golding is sworn in as Prime Minister of Jamaica following the victory of his Jamaica Labour Party in the parliamentary elections. (Jamaica Gleaner News)
• Chinese and US safety officials sign an agreement banning the export of toys with lead paint to the United States. (Canadian Press via Google)
• Burger King announces that it would limit advertising to children younger than 12 to foods that meet strict nutritional guidelines. (Reuters)
• Disappearance of Madeleine McCann: Portuguese police refer the case to the public prosecutor. (News Limited)
• Doctors say injured National Football League player Kevin Everett has moved his arms and legs and, contrary to earlier predictions, is likely to recover his ability to walk. (AP via WHAM-TV)
• Ethiopia celebrates the start of a new millennium under a modified Julian calendar. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
• The World Health Organisation confirms that the Ebola virus has resurfaced in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (NYT)
• Belgian police arrest two leaders of the Vlaams Belang party, Frank Vanhecke and Filip Dewinter, as well as dozens of party supporters during a banned march in Brussels against the "Islamisation of Europe". (BBC)
• Russia claims to have tested the world's most powerful vacuum bomb, nicknamed Father of All Bombs after the MOAB, with yield equivalent to a small nuclear weapon. (ABC News Australia) Bomb's military name, place and time of the test are not revealed. Lenta.ru (in Russian)
• Lawyers for former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif file a petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan against his deportation to Saudi Arabia. (AP via Fox News)
• Roman Catholic archbishop and critic of Robert Mugabe Pius Ncube resigns as a result of a sex scandal set up by Zimbabwe's intelligence agency. (Times Online)
• Suicide bomber kills 18 in Dera Ismail Khan of Pakistan.
• Sri Lanka's military claims a major victory against Tamil Tiger rebels, saying it has sunk three vessels carrying war equipment. (Reuters)
• Turkish police foil a bomb attack in Ankara. (Reuters)
• OPEC meets to discuss proposals for a minor increase in oil output proposed by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. The meeting decided to increase output by 500,000 barrels a day.(Reuters), (CNN)
• Police in the Philippines arrest seven militants suspected of plotting to bomb tourist and shopping locations in the southern Philippines. (AP via IHT)
• The European Union decides the United Kingdom can continue to use imperial measurements for the foreseeable future. (BBC)
• At least 66 Israeli troops are wounded when a Qassam rocket from Gaza Strip hits an Israeli Defence Forces training base in Southern Israel. (BBC) (Haaretz)
• The Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper rules out sending further troops to Afghanistan. (ABC News Australia)
• September 11, 2001 attacks commemoration
  • The United States commemorates the sixth anniversary of the attacks with ceremonies in New York City, Washington, DC and Shanksville, PA. (The Telegraph)
  • Osama bin Laden releases a video for the anniversary. (Reuters)

50 Cent & Kanye released albums

• Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates reaches 555.3 metres, surpassing the 553.3 metre CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario Canada as the world's tallest free-standing structure on land, which it had been since 1976. The building is due for completion 2008 with a final projected height of 818 metres. (Bloomberg) (Yahoo) (CNews)(PressTV)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin fires the chief of the Russian Navy Vladimir Masorin, and appoints in his place the commander of the Russian Northern Fleet, Vladimir Vysotsky. (The Moscow Times)
• Airstrikes and Afghan army gunfire kills more than 45 Taliban insurgents on the first day of Ramadan. (The Canadian Press)
• Bombardier Aerospace orders the grounding of at least 40 percent of its Q-400 turboprop following recent incidents in Scandinavian Airlines aircraft in Denmark and Lithuania. (Associated Press) (Wikinews)
• Somali Islamists and opposition leaders meeting in Eritrea have joined forces in a new alliance to overthrow Somalia's transitional government. (BBC)
• A new case of Foot-and-mouth disease in the UK was confirmed after it was assumed that the outbreak of 2007 had been under control. (BBC)
• A major earthquake with a magnitude of 8.4 occurs off the west-coast of the island Sumatra, Indonesia. Sea level readings indicate a tsunami might follow and a tsunami watch is put in place for the whole of the Indian Ocean. (AP) (PTWC/NOAA/NWS) (Reuters)
• Vladimir Putin sacks Mikhail Fradkov's Second Cabinet and nominates Viktor Zubkov as his replacement. (Reuters)
• Thousands of ex-soldiers are rioting in the People's Republic of China in the cities of Baotou, Wuhan, and Baoji, breaking into cars, destroying classrooms, and setting fires. The riot is the largest protest since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest. (TIME)
• A cholera epidemic occurs in northern Iraq with 7,000 infected and 10 deaths so far. (NYT)
• Anna Bligh is endorsed as the next Premier of Queensland by the Queensland Labor Party caucus with Paul Lucas as her deputy. (ABC News Australia)
• Former President of the Philippines Joseph Estrada is found guilty of corruption in his 6-year trial and sentenced to Life Imprisonment. (BBC)
• Shinzo Abe, the current Prime Minister of Japan, announces his resignation after failing to win popular support in the aftermath of ruling Liberal Democratic Party's defeat in Upper House elections in July. The resignation comes into effect with the election of his successor in an LDP party conference on 19 September 2007. (Forbes)
• 2007 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Tropical Depression Eight and Tropical Depression Nine form near the Lesser Antilles and Gulf of Mexico respectively. (NOAA), (NOAA)
  • Tropical Depression Nine becomes Tropical Storm Humberto and is moving north towards Texas and Louisiana. (CNN)
• The first episode of Linux Outlaws was released

• Miami police shot dead in an exchange of fire a man suspected of the murder of one police officer and the shooting of another three officers hours earlier. (CNN)
• Google sponsors a US$30 million spaceflight contest to land a robotic lander on the moon and beam back a gigabyte of images and videos to earth. (AP via Topix)
• 2007 Atlantic hurricane season: Tropical Storm Ingrid forms in the Atlantic Ocean 800 miles from the outer Caribbean islands. (Bradenton Herald)
• Ethiopia will deploy 5,000 troops as part of a joint United Nations - African Union mission in the Darfur region of Sudan. (Sudan Tribune)
• After deliberating for 22 years, the United Nations General Assembly adopts the non-binding Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; 143 countries vote in favour, while 11 abstain and Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States vote against. (BBC)
• At least fifteen Pakistani Army soldiers die in a bombing at their mess at the Terbella Ghazi base north of Islamabad. (CNN)
• Pakistan Cabinet unanimously decides to re-elect President Pervez Musharraf in uniform from the present assemblies.
• 2007 Formula One Season: The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) fines the McLaren Formula One team $US100 million and removes all its points in the Constructors' Championship. (AFP via News Limited)
• Alexis Debat, a consultant for ABC News and writer at The National Interest, alleged expert on terrorism, is forced to resign after Rue 89 revealed that he made two bogus interviews, one with Barack Obama and another with Alan Greenspan. (Washington Post) (Rue 89) (Rue 89)
• Rita Verdonk, a controversial and popular Dutch politician, is expelled from the VVD. (Expatica Netherlands)
• Iraq War:
  • A key US ally, Sheikh Sittar, is killed by a bomb. (BBC)
  • U.S. President George W. Bush orders gradual troop reductions in Iraq but stands firm against dramatic troop reductions. (Reuters via News Limited)
• 2007 Atlantic hurricane season:
  • Hurricane Humberto makes landfall on the southeast Texas coast near the Louisiana border. (AFP)
  • The Governor of Louisiana Kathleen Blanco declares a state of emergency. (BBC)
  • At least one person is killed in Texas before Humberto weakens into a tropical storm. (CBS via Topix)
• Shinzo Abe is hospitalised the day after his resignation. (Al Jazeera)
• September 2007 Sumatra earthquakes
  • A second major earthquake off the coast of Sumatra prompts tsunami warnings for Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands. (ABC News Australia) (Reuters)
  • Rescue teams head for the Sumatra coast to look for survivors. (Reuters)
  • An earthquake of 6.2 magnitude hits the northern tip of Sulawesi some 2,700 kilometres east of Sumatra. (AFP via ABC News Australia)

• Finland scrambles a jet fighter to intercept a Russian aircraft. (Wikinews)
• Chrysler recalls 300,000 sport utility vehicles to investigate braking problems while Honda recalls 180,000 Honda Civics from the 2006–07 season due to problems with a wheel-bearing seal. (AP via Topix)
• There is a run on the Northern Rock bank in the United Kingdom following revelations that it sought a rescue injection of funds from the Bank of England. (The Times)
• War in Iraq:
  • U.S. General Peter Pace, outgoing chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledges that mistakes were made during the war. (CNN)
  • Sunni Arab Iraqis and United States forces vow to keep fighting Al Qaeda in Anbar Province following the assassination of Sheikh Sittar. (Reuters)
• A new case of foot and mouth disease is confirmed at a farm in Egham, Surrey, England. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
• An official for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that a million people in Africa require assistance after floods have killed more than 200 people in recent weeks. (AFP)
• The Pakistan Peoples Party unanimously decides that Benazir Bhutto will return to Pakistan on October 18, 2007.
• Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum takes effect; the traditional Latin Mass is thus officially restored in the Roman Catholic Church. (AFP) (Arkansas Catholic) (Catholic World News)
• The Russian State Duma confirms Viktor Zubkov as new Prime Minister of Russia. (Interfax)
• Oscar Temaru is elected as the President of French Polynesia by the Parliament for the third time in three years. (AP via IHT)
• September 2007 Sumatra earthquakes
  • At least 13 people are confirmed dead and hundreds of homes damaged as a result of the earthquakes. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
  • Another earthquake of 6.9 magnitude occurs off the coast of Sumatra. (BBC)
• The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency successfully launches SELENE, the largest lunar mission since the Apollo program, on a mission to explore the moon. (BBC)
• Michael Sulick is named the new Director of the United States' National Clandestine Service.

• Wildfires force the evacuation of thousands of residents of San Bernardino and San Diego Counties in the U.S. state of California. (AP via Fox News)
• The Washington Post reports that the NATO-led Coalition Force in Afghanistan intercepted a shipment of Iranian arms intended for the Taliban. (UPI)
• A bus crash in the western Mexican state of Nayarit kills at least 18 and injures 13. Many of the passengers were from a flight from Phoenix, Arizona, USA, to Guadalajara, Jalisco, that was forced to divert to Puerto Vallarta. (Canadian Press)
• Over 190 anti-Iraq War protesters are arrested outside the United States Capitol. (AP)
• A helicopter registered in the name of former World Rally Championship champion Colin McRae crashes killing four people near McRae's home in Scotland. (AFP via News Limited)
• The new cruise ferry Color Magic was christened in Kiel.The ship is the largest cruise ferry in the world.She was christened by the German actress Veronica Ferres.
• Sierra Leone's ruling People's Party seeks an injunction against the National Electoral Commission publishing further results of the 2007 general election with results published so far showing Opposition candidate for president Ernest Bai Koroma in the lead. (BBC)
• 2007 Atlantic hurricane season: Tropical Storm Ingrid weakens to a tropical depression. (CNN)
• At least 10 people are killed and 15 wounded in a suicide bombing outside a Baghdad bakery as residents prepared to break their Ramadan fast. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
• Floods in Ghana displace 260,000 people with similar problems in Mali and neighbouring countries in West Africa. (SAPA-DPA via Independent Online South Africa)
• The Australian Labor Party holds the seats of Williamstown and Albert Park in the Victorian Legislative Assembly as two by-elections are held. (ABC News Australia)
• Melting sea ice in the Arctic Ocean opens up the Northwest Passage between Europe, Asia and North America. (Reuters via News Limited)
• Negotiations between General Motors and the United Automobile Workers continue in Detroit, Michigan past the deadline with a strike to start if negotiations fail. (NYT)
• September 2007 Sumatra earthquakes: The death toll rises to 21 with 88 people injured. (Reuters)
• Nineteen people are killed in Sri Lanka as a result of a roadside bomb and fighting between the Sri Lankan Army and the Tamil Tigers. (AP via IHT)
• Zhao Yan, a Chinese journalist working for the New York Times, is released from jail in China after serving a three year sentence for "leaking state secrets". (BBC)
• Impact of Meteorite at Carancas in Peru.

• The Sopranos wins the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in the Primetime Emmy Awards. (Sydney Morning Herald)
• O.J. Simpson is charged with six felonies in relation to an alleged armed robbery of sports memorabilia from a Las Vegas hotel room. (New York Times)
• A third case of foot and mouth disease is identified but not confirmed by United Kingdom government vets on a farm near Chertsey, Surrey. (Times Online)
• An Iraqi police colonel is gunned down in Afak, the third government official killed in that Iraqi town. (CNN)
• Michael B. Mukasey, a retired federal judge from New York, will be nominated to replace Alberto Gonzales as United States Attorney General and President Bush will announce his selection on Monday. (AP via Yahoo! News)
• Andrei Lugovoy, the former KGB agent accused by British authorities of murdering Alexander Litvinenko with a radioactive isotope in London last November, says he will run for parliament on the party list of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. (The Washington Post)
• Flight OG 269 crashes while trying to land in heavy rain at Phuket International Airport in Thailand with reports of 88 deaths and at least 20 people seriously injured. (AP via IHT)
• Colin McRae and his son are confirmed dead in the helicopter crash in Scotland. (Sunday Times)
• The Election Commission of Pakistan amends Presidential Election Rules 1988 ahead of the elections so that Article 63 of the Constitution no longer applies to the President.
• The Iraqi parliamentary bloc controlled by militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr announces that it will abandon the party led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. (LA Times)
• Chinese authorities recall tainted leukemia drugs blamed for leg pains and other problems. (FOX)
• Greek voters go to the polls for the Greek legislative election, 2007. The ruling New Democracy Party wins the election, with 98% of the votes counted, gaining 41.9% of the vote and 152 seats over 38.1% and 102 seats for the socialist PASOK party. The Communist Party wins 8.1% and 22 seats, over 5% and 14 seats for Radical Left Coalition and 3.7% and 10 seats for Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS), a Far-Right party. (ERT) (AFP)

• Andrew Meyer, a 21-year-old fourth-year undergraduate, is apprehended by five police officers and tasered while allegedly having interrupted a speech by U.S. Senator John Kerry.(The Miami Herald)
• Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister, warns of the possibility of war over Iran's nuclear program. (BBC)
• Iraq and the United States have pledged a "fair and transparent" investigation into a gunfight involving private security firm Blackwater Security that left eight people dead in Baghdad. (BBC)
• Ernest Bai Koroma is sworn in as the President of Sierra Leone after winning a run-off election held 10 days ago. (ABC News Australia)
• Hillary Clinton, a candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination in the United States presidential election, 2008, announces a proposal for a universal healthcare plan. (Reuters)
• President George W. Bush nominates Michael Mukasey to replace Alberto Gonzales as the next Attorney-General of the United States. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
• Microsoft loses its appeal against a European Union antitrust ruling forcing it to pay a 497 million euro fine. (Bloomberg)
• The Supreme Court of Pakistan hears petitions as to whether Pervez Musharraf should remain as head of the Pakistani Army while serving as the President of Pakistan. (BBC)
• 2007 Pacific typhoon season: The death toll from Typhoon Nari in South Korea rises to nine. (AFP)
• A new species of bat, the Mindoro Stripe-Faced Fruit bat, is discovered on Mindoro Island in the Philippines. (AFP)
• Flight OG 269 crash:
  • Fifty-five foreigners are among the 88 people who died in the crash of Flight OG 269 in Phuket. (ABC News Australia and AFP)
  • The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder are found for the flight while an official from One-Two-Go Airlines thinks that wind shear may have been responsible. (AP via Topix)
• Greek conservative Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis early Monday declared victory in Sunday's general elections after early results gave his ruling New Democracy party a lead of over four percent over the opposition Pasok socialists. (AFP)
• Incumbent parties lose two of three by-elections in Canadian federal parliamentary ridings in Quebec. Thomas Mulcair takes the Liberal stronghold of Outremont, bringing the New Democratic Party its second-ever victory in Quebec. Conservative Denis Lebel takes the Bloc-held riding of Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, while Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac holds Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot for the Bloc Québécois. (CBC)

• A supposed meteorite impact in Peru leads to hundreds of nearby villagers falling ill from still unknown causes. (Reuters)
• Nuclear program of Iran: The United States is drafting a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for sanctions against Iran prior to discussions amongst the five permanent members. (AFP)
• The United States Federal Reserve cuts a key short-term interest rate by a half-percentage point, resulting in a stock market rally. (CNN Money)
• Bangladeshi cartoonist Arifur Rahman is detained on suspicion of disrespecting Muhammad. The Interim Government confiscates copies of the Prothom Alo newspaper issue in which Muhammad is caricatured.
• China confirms a bird flu outbreak in Guangzhou.
• More than 1,000 Buddhist monks march peacefully in Myanmar as part of a wave of anti-government protests. The marches are dispersed using teargas. (CNN), (Xinhua)
• The Bank of England injects £4.4 billion of liquidity into the U.K. Financial System as a response to the Subprime Mortgage Financial Crisis, after £2 billion of deposits are removed from the Northern Rock bank in the three days after it applied for emergency funding from the Bank. (BBC)
• Russia claims to have killed top Dagestani militant Rappani Khalilov along with another militant in a day-long battle. (AP via IHT)
• North Korea denies allegations that it is helping Syria to develop a nuclear weapons facility. (BBC)
• Australia, the second largest wheat exporter in the world, cuts its forecast production by 30 per cent due to an ongoing drought. (BBC)
• 2007 Pacific typhoon season: Hundreds of thousands of people are evacuated from Shanghai, China as Typhoon Wipha approaches. (Reuters, AFP via News Limited)
• The son of Philippine House Speaker Jose De Venecia, Jr., Jose "Joey" De Venecia III, disclosed in a Senate inquiry that First Gentleman Mike Arroyo is the "mystery man" behind the controversial $ 329-million broadband contract with ZTE Corp. in China. (Inquirer)
• O.J. Simpson is charged with several felonies in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Reuters)
• In Japan, the event "Nice Boat" occurred on all Japanese TV's replacing the final episode of the anime, "School Days".

• Abbas El Fassi, leader of the Istiqlal Party, is appointed Prime Minister of Morocco by King Mohammed VI following the resignation of Driss Jettou and his cabinet.
• France calls for a joint force of United Nations and European Union peacekeepers in parts of Chad and the Central African Republic bordering the Darfur region of Sudan. (AFP)
• 2007 Pacific hurricane season: Hurricane Ivo forms off the coast of Baja California. (AP via The Globe and Mail)
• The United States Senate fails to pass a bill providing more home leave to United States troops in Iraq with the necessary 60 percent margin with 56 for and 44 against. (Reuters)
• Four fossil skeletons of early human ancestors are discovered in Georgia. (NYT)
• The United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cautions the International Atomic Energy Agency that it "is not in the business of diplomacy." (CNN)
• José Mourinho, manager of Chelsea Football Club, leaves the club by mutual consent. (BBC)
• Six hundred thousand people are made homeless by floods in Africa with at least 270 deaths with more rain expected. (ABC News Australia)
• Nevada authorities call off the search for missing US adventurer Steve Fossett two weeks after he goes missing. (Sky News Australia)
• Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan calls for a change to the country's Constitution to end the ban on the wearing of headscarves in universities. (AP via Google News)
• Due to increasing rocket attacks aimed at Israeli civilians, The Government of Israel declares the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip an "enemy entity", and announces plans to cut utilities to the territory. (Guardian Unlimited)
• U.S. Congressman Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, announces that he will begin an investigation into the activities of Howard Krongard, Inspector General of the State Department. Krongard has been accused of interfering with investigations into corruption involving fraud in the building of the new United States Embassy in Iraq, the smuggling of illegal weapons into Iraq by Blackwater USA employees, and the activities of former chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, Kenneth Tomlinson, in the use of his office for personal gain. (VOA)
• The Deputy Commander of the Iranian Air Force claims that Iran has plans to retaliate if attacked by Israel. (RIA Novosti)
• A car bomb in Beirut kills Lebanese legislator Antoine Ghanem of the Christian Phalange party and at least seven others. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
• Coalition parties and Maoists meet at Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's official residence to resolve the political deadlock.
• War in Afghanistan: Coalition forces led by the British Army launch a major offensive in Helmand province. (BBC)
• Officials from a UN-backed genocide tribunal detain Nuon Chea, the most senior surviving member of the Khmer Rouge regime. (BBC)
• Republican lawmakers block the United States Senate from taking up a bill to grant voting rights to Washington DC. (Washington Post)
• 2007 Pacific typhoon season:
  • Typhoon Wipha (Goring) makes landfall in eastern China before weakening to a Category 2 typhoon as it heads inland. (Reuters)
  • At least five people are killed and three are missing according to the Xinhua newsagency. (News Limited)

• A police officer in Warren, Ohio, is caught on camera using a taser on a woman while she was handcuffed. (ABC7 Chicago)
• The Election Commission of Pakistan sets October 6, 2007 as the date for the Presidential Election.
• Iran:
  • The New York Police Department denies a request by the President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit Ground Zero of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City. (Jerusalem Post)
  • The President of France Nicolas Sarkozy states that he will seek tougher United Nations sanctions against Iran for the nuclear program of Iran. (CNN)
• American cyclist Floyd Landis is officially stripped of his win in the 2006 Tour de France and banned from competition for two years after an arbitration panel finds him guilty of doping during the 2006 Tour. He has 30 days to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. (AP via ESPN.com)
• Osama bin Laden calls on the people of Pakistan to rise up in a "holy war" and overthrow President Pervez Musharraf. (BBC)
• Tens of thousands of people, including Howard University students and NAACP members, arrive in the U.S. city of Jena, Louisiana, to protest in support of six black teenagers involved in a schoolyard brawl. (Washington Post)
• CNN reports that Iran has released Iranian-American social scientist Kian Tajbakhsh. (CNN)
• Al Qaeda's Deputy Leader Ayman al-Zawahri claims that the United States is being defeated in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and North Africa. (AP via Topix)
• Qian Xun Xue case: Questions are asked in the New Zealand parliament as to why Nai Yin Xue was able to leave the country with his daughter despite a court order. (News Limited)
• A total of 24 people are arrested after a riot in Aurukun, Queensland, Australia. (News Limited)
• A fire breaks out at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Niigata, Japan, which has been closed since a fire in July. (BBC)
• The Canadian dollar briefly reaches parity with the American dollar for the first time since 1976. (CBC)

• The Nelson Mandela Foundation is assuring the public that the former South African president is still alive, after comments by U.S. President George Bush that "...Mandela is dead." (The Independent)
• Two students are shot at Delaware State University. (NYT)
• NASA releases new plans for moon base in 2020. (NYT)
• Buddhist monks stage a brief demonstration in Myanmar making it the fourth successive day of protests. (CNN)
• Angolan police arrest Jomo Gbomo, the head of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, a rebel organization in Nigeria. (The Times)
• At least 27 people have died in the Karachi area of Pakistan after drinking poisonous alcohol. (AP via Fox News)
• War in Afghanistan:
  • NATO's alliance forces say that its warplanes killed an unspecified number of civilians during a battle with Taliban forces. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
  • A suicide bomber attacks a convoy of soldiers killing a French soldier and several Afghans. (BBC)
• The Dutch Cabinet meets to decide whether to hold a referendum on the European Union's Reform Treaty. (BBC)
• Chilean Supreme Court approves extradition of Peruvian ex-president Alberto Fujimori on numerous charges, including the massacres of Barrios Altos and La Cantuta. (BBC)
• Mattel admits that most of the toys recalled in recent safety scares had "design flaws" and that Chinese manufacturers were not to blame. (BBC)

• Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan condemns US support of the PKK terrorist group, which is behind attacks on Turkish forces.(PressTV) (TurkishWeekly)
• 35 leaders of Pakistan's All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) arrested on charges of disrupting public order to prevent agitation against Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad, Pakistan
• Several hundred Buddhist monks marched through Burma's second largest city Mandalay as activists urged people to join the protests against the ruling military junta. (AP via The Washington Post)
• Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori arrives in Lima a day after Chile's Supreme Court ruled his extradition back to his home country due to charges of human rights abuses and corruption. (BBC)

• The United Automobile Workers sets a deadline of 11am Monday for General Motors to avoid a strike. (New York Times)
• 2007 Atlantic hurricane season: Subtropical Depression 11 is upgraded to Subtropical Storm Jerry, 1070 miles (1725 km) west of the Azores. (AP via ABC News America) (NOAA)
• Yasuo Fukuda, a political moderate, is elected by Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party to become the country’s next prime minister. (NYT)
• Some 15,000 Buddhist monks and laymen march through the streets of Rangoon in the sixth day of escalating peaceful protests against the Burmese military regime. (Bangkok Post)

• The India national cricket team wins the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 beating arch rival Pakistan by 5 runs. (Rediff.com)
• Menachem Mazuz, the Attorney General of Israel, orders a criminal investigation into the purchase of a house by the Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert. (Reuters)
• The President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at Columbia University stating that Americans should look into "who was truly involved" in the September 11, 2001 attacks, defending his right to denial of the Holocaust, and denying the existence of gay Iranians. (CNN)
• The Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon called for a new commitment by world leaders on climate change at a special United Nations session to discuss climate change. (Bloomberg)
• Members of the United Automobile Workers Union walk off their jobs at General Motors plants across the United States as union and company officials fail to reach agreement on a new contract. (NYT)
• President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says that he will defend Brazil's record on global climate change when he addresses the United Nations General Assembly this week. (Reuters)
• Brazil's stock market rises to a record 58,393.75 points and the country's currency, the real, gains 0.11 percent to 1.867 per U.S. dollar. (Reuters)
• Former Pakistan Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, arrives in Washington beginning her last visit to USA before ending her self-exile.
• Several tornadoes affect parts of Great Britain, causing severe damage. (Sky News)
• Eyewitnesses say the number of people demonstrating in Rangoon was as high as 100,000 as the biggest Burmese anti-government protest in twenty years continues. (BBC)

• The United Nations Security Council approves the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad. (ReliefWeb)
• Mount Ruapehu erupts in New Zealand leading to the evacuation of fifty people. (News Limited)
• Sotheby's announces that it will auction an early version of the Magna Carta. (CNN)
• The Parliament of Lebanon adjourns a session to elect a new President of Lebanon until 23 October 2007. (BBC)
• 2007 Burmese anti-government protests:
  • Approximately 20,000 people led by 2000 Buddhist monks begin another protest in Yangon despite threats by the Burmese junta. (AAP via News Limited)
• The highly anticipated Halo 3 was released for the Xbox 360.
• Hundreds of soldiers and riot police enter Yangon in an attempt to end the demonstrations (AFP) (Reuters)
• Myanmar's junta places dusk-till-dawn curfews on the country's two largest cities, Yangon and Mandalay. (AFP)
• The House of Representatives of Japan elects Yasuo Fukuda as the new Prime Minister of Japan. (CNN)
• The Supreme Court of Indonesia rejects the final appeals of Imam Samudra and Mukhlas, two men sentenced to death for their roles in the 2002 Bali bombings. (BBC)
• 73,000 United Auto Workers union workers go on strike against General Motors, the first general strike against the company in 37 years. Talks between the parties continued. (CNN)
• Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is found guilty of two counts of rape in the U.S. state of Utah. [http://www.myfoxutah.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=4456432&version=6&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2. (Fox)]
• In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterates his assertion that his county's nuclear program has been "peaceful and transparent" and criticizes the "illegal" UN sanctions imposed by "arrogant" members of the Security Council. (BBC) (CNN)

• More than half a million Chinese-manufactured toys are recalled in the United States due to excess levels of lead paint including 269,000 of RC2 Corp's "Thomas & Friends" toy trains. (Reuters)
• The bishops of the United States Episcopal Church agree to "exercise restraint" by not consecrating more gay bishops or authorizing rites for the blessing of same-sex unions in order to prevent a schism in the Anglican Church worldwide. (Christian Science Monitor)
• United States District Court judge Ann Aiken rules that two sections of the USA PATRIOT Act are unconstitutional because they allow search warrants to be issued without a showing of probable cause. (AP via CNN)
• The House of Assembly of Zimbabwe passes legislation transferring control of all foreign-owned businesses to Zimbabweans. (ABC News Australia)
• A lack of chlorine for water sanitation in Iraq has led to an outbreak of cholera which has now reached Baghdad. (BBC)
• Superior Courts of California judge Larry Fidler declares the trial of record producer Phil Spector as a mistrial due to the inability of the jury to reach a verdict. (CNN)
• The United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asks for $190 billion to cover the cost of the war in Iraq and war in Afghanistan during 2008. (AP via Topix)
• A photo possibly showing missing Madeleine McCann in Morocco is being examined by British experts. (Sky News)
• The new Prime Minister of Japan Yasuo Fukuda is sworn into office with his Cabinet. (AFP)
• The United Auto Workers announces a tentative agreement with General Motors ending a two-day strike. (AP via Fox News)
• The Can Tho Bridge, a bridge over the Bassac River in Can Tho, Vietnam, collapses during construction, leading to the death of at least 60 workers with about 100 more missing. (BBC) (Fox News) (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
• 2007 Burmese anti-government protests:
  • Up to five Buddhist monks are killed (Sky News)
  • Burmese police baton-charge a crowd of 700 anti-junta protestors including Buddhist monks and students. (AFP and ABC News Australia)
  • Win Nang, a pro-democracy activist, is arrested. (AFP via News Limited)
• The India national cricket team starts a victory parade in Mumbai after winning the inaugural 2007 ICC World Twenty20. (BBC)

• The Corruption Perceptions Index, a survey by Transparency International, is conducted into the most and least corrupt countries in the world, ranking 180 countries. (Wikinews) (Globe and Mail)
• Israeli forces pull back from the Northern Gaza Strip after a two day raid that was prompted by the firing of Qassam rockets and mortar shells into Israel. The raid left 11 Palestinians, including civilians and members of Hamas and the Army of Islam, dead and 20 wounded. (NYT)
• The spacecraft Dawn is launched by NASA on a mission to explore mainbelt asteroids Vesta and Ceres. (Spaceflightnow.com)
• South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority issues an arrest warrant for Interpol chief Jackie Selebi. (BBC)
• 2007 Atlantic hurricane season: Lorenzo strengthens into a hurricane and makes landfall on Mexico's Gulf coast. (AP via Google News)
• The Third Circuit Court of Appeal in the U.S. state of Louisiana rules that Mychal Bell should not have been tried as an adult in the Jena Six case, and he is released on a $45,000 bail bond. (Reuters)
• Donor countries promise $9.7 billion to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. (Reuters)
• Four employees of the International Red Cross, including two foreigners, are abducted in Afghanistan's Wardak province. (BBC)
• President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf files nomination for the upcoming Pakistan Presidential Election to be held on October 6, 2007 election without his army rank. (Reuters)
• A new round of talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program starts in Beijing. (BBC)
• 2007 Burmese anti-government protests:
  • According to sources close to the military, Senior General Than Shwe is now directly commanding soldiers after several commanders refused to use force to crack down on protesters. (Mizzima News)
  • There are unconfirmed reports that Than Shwe's family is fleeing to a foreign country. A chartered Air Bagan flight carrying eight special passengers landed in Vientiane, Laos, at 6pm (local time). (Mizzima News)
  • China, one of Myanmar's few allies, calls for restraint for the first time. (Reuters)
  • Nine people are killed and 11 injured when junta security forces open fire on an anti-government demonstration in Yangon. Among the dead is a Japanese journalist. (Reuters) (Times of India) (CNN)
  • Burmese security forces raid several Buddhist monasteries arresting hundreds of the Buddhist monks who have led the protests. (BBC) (AP and Reuters via Sydney Morning Herald)

• Supporters of the opposition gather in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, to protest against the government in the largest such rally in the country since 2003. (BBC)
• Lehendakari Juan José Ibarretxe announces a referendum on the future of the Basque Country for 25 October 2008. (Digital Journal)
• Richard Garriott, famed game designer and son of former NASA Skylab astronaut Owen Garriott, will become the sixth space tourist, visiting the International Space Station in 2008. (Space Adventures)
• 2007 Burmese anti-government protests:
  • There are reports that Burmese troops from middle Myanmar have started to march towards Yangon. The reported troops are from the Central Command based in Taungoo and the South East Command. (Mizzima News)
  • South African Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu urges China to intervene in the ongoing protests in Myanmar, or he would "join a campaign to boycott the Beijing Olympics" next year. (Dagens Nyheter)
  • Public Burmese Internet access is cut, silencing what had become an international source of information and images about the events. (CNN) (Fox News)

• A bomb explodes in Malé, the capital of the Maldives, injuring 12 tourists. (BBC News)
• President of Pakistan Muslim League (N) says former Pakistan President Nawaz Sharif will make a comeback to Pakistan after Ramadan.
• 2007 Burmese anti-government protests:
  • Shortly after his scheduled arrival at Yangon, it was reported that Ibrahim Gambari, the UN Secretary-General's special adviser on Burma, had arrived in Naypyidaw to talk with the junta leaders. (Mizzina News)
  • There are reports that Htoo trading company, owned by junta loyalist business tycoon Tay Za, has shut-down its operations after giving two months salaries to its staff. (Mizzima News)
• Iran declares the US Army and CIA, "terrorist organisations", countering claims by America about their own armed forces. (BreakingNews.ie)
• Robert Levy, mayor of the U.S. city of Atlantic City, New Jersey, disappears on after being found to have embellished his Vietnam War record. (Reuters)
• The Geelong Football Club wins the 2007 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia by a record 119 points, the first win for the club since 1963. (BigFooty (part of The Age))

• General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who helped depose Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in the 2006 Thai coup d'état, resigned as head of the Council for National Security. (BBC)
• Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov is selected Presidential Candidate for Other Russia in the 2008 presidentials. (AP)
• Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2007:
  • Ukrainians went to the polls for the third time in three years to vote in parliamentary election. (AFP)
  • According to data of National Exit Poll: Party of Regions 35.2%; Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc 31.5%; Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc 13.4%; Communist Party of Ukraine 5.1%; Lytvyn's People's Bloc 3.7%; Socialist Party of Ukraine 2.5%. (ForUm)
• The Topps Meat Company recalls 21,700,000 pounds (9,800 t) of frozen beef patties because of potential contamination with E. coli. Twenty-five cases of illness due to E. coli have been reported in the Northeastern United States. (NYT)
• 2007 Burmese anti-government protests:
  • A central member of the military junta in Myanmar is reportedly interested in seeking political asylum in Norway. The colonel is said to have defected recently, and he is now hiding in the jungle among the Karen people. (The Norway Post)
  • John R. Bolton, the former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, says the government of China is the key to political change in Myanmar, not United Nations envoy Ibrahim Gambari who has met the military junta. (Forbes)
• Indian player Viswanathan Anand wins the World Chess Championship 2007 at Mexico City to become the new world champion. (NYT)
• Lewis Hamilton wins the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix to take a 12 point lead in the 2007 Formula One season World Championship with 2 races remaining. (BBC)
• With the help of the New York Mets completing one of the most improbable collapses in baseball history, leading the National League East division by 7 games with 17 games to play at one point, the Philadelphia Phillies defeat the Washington Nationals to win the 2007 National League East title. (Yahoo! Sports)
• U.S. college football: The new AP Poll results are released, with nine of the ten ranked teams that lost this past weekend either dropping further down the list or out of the poll completely. LSU rose to #1 for the first time since 1959, Kentucky and Boston College rise into the Top Ten for the first time since 1977 and 1992, respectively, and South Florida ascends into the Top Ten for the first time ever. (AP via Yahoo! Sports)
• A dormant volcano erupts on Jabal al-Tair, a Yemeni island in the Red Sea. (BBC)