10 civilians are killed and 2 others are wounded after being struck by NATO during an election campaign in Rostaq, Afghanistan. Originally, a spokesman had said a "precision air strike" had hit a militant vehicle. (BBC)(Reuters)
A study published in the journal Cell reports the discovery that the cerebral cortex of mammals shares a common evolutionary origin with mushroom bodies, brain structures involved in learning and memory in insects and other invertebrates. (Science Daily)
A Palestinian Authority spokesman says that Iran has no standing to criticize them for relaunching direct talks with Israel while Iran "represses their people," after the Iranian foreign minister says those negotiating with Israel are "betraying their nations." (Jerusalem Post)
Law and crime
Police in El Salvador discover barrels containing US$9 million in suspected drug money. (BBC)(AP)
Israel begins military preparations in order to intercept a 20-ship flotilla due to set sail towards the Gaza Strip and break the Israeli blockade. A wide range of plans are being considered, including the possibility of stopping the flotilla far out at sea due to its sheer size. (Hurriyet)
Around 85 fires break out in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan, with at least 20 homes destroyed. Winds of 40 to 50 mph cause 113,000 customers to lose electricity. (ABC News America)(WISN)
PastorTerry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center agrees to call off the Koran burning in return for the Park51 community center being relocated, though those associated with Park51 have stated no such agreement exists. (BBC), (MSNBC)
PastorTerry Jones later reassesses his position after he claimed that he received incorrect information that the Park51 community center would be relocated. (CNN), (The Wall Street Journal)
Details of 300 cases of sexual abuse, mainly on minors, allegedly perpetrated by Belgium's Roman Catholic clergy are released by Church investigator Peter Adriaenssens. 13 are found to have committed suicide. (BBC)
An alleged suicide bomber is detained after "suicide" blast at hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark. (BBC)
A doctor throws a shoe at the prime minister and is promptly arrested and locked up with two bystanders. They are later released unharmed. (The Times of India)(CNN)
At least 8 police officers are killed and several others are wounded in San Miguel, Putumayo, Colombia, near its border with Ecuador. 2 of the perpetrators are then killed in the jungle. (BBC)
Police in Somalia say they have foiled an attack by Islamist militants against the seaport in the capital Mogadishu. (Reuters)(Sify)
Thousands of Afghans protest in Badakhshan province over U.S. plans to hold an "International Burn-a-Koran Day", despite its cancellation. (Reuters)
Hundreds of Americans engage in heated competing demonstrations in New York City, blocking streets and being overseen by mounted police and dog units. (BBC)
The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), an important trade pact, comes into force between China and Taiwan. Hundreds of thousands of people protested against it in Taiwan but it was unanimously approved by the island's parliament. (BBC)
2 French judges and 17 other legal experts land in Rwanda ahead of a week-long inquiry into the killing of PresidentJuvénal Habyarimana, whose plane with French crew on board was shot down in 1994. (BBC)
Taxpayer March on Washington (also known as the 9/12 Tea Party) takes place in Washington, D. C. According to various estimates ranging from 60,000 to more than 1 million people march from Freedom Plaza to the United States Capitol. The event coincided with other similar protests organized in various cities across the nation.The protesters rallied against what they consider big government, the dismantling of free market capitalism, abortion, and President Barack Obama's proposals on health care reform, taxation, and federal spending, among other issues. (BBC)(Los Angeles Times)
Cisco Systems, the provider of computer networking products and services headquartered in San Jose, California, announced that it will break with a long-standing policy and issue a stock dividend during the current fiscal year. (Cisco Blogs)
A study funded by Pfizer, makers of the smoking cessation drug Varenicline, claims it would be financially wise for governments to fund smoking cessation treatments. (Reuters)
The head of Guinea's electoral commission who was convicted for electoral fraud, Ben Sekou Sylla, dies, ahead of a presidential run-off on Sunday. (Reuters)(BBC)
France passes a resolution banning full face veils after a 246-1 vote in the Senate. The law must still be reviewed by the Constitutional Council before coming into effect. (Ynetnews)
The United Nations Special Representative for Somalia, Augustine Mahinga, says the situation in the country remains "dire" and the AMISOM mission is "underfunded". (Al Jazeera)(AFP)
15 people are killed after mortar rounds are fired into the Somali government complex by Islamist fighters, triggering a counterattack. (AP)(CNN)(Manilla Bulletin)
American banks set a new record for the home repossession rate, with 1.2 million homes this year. Another 3.2 million American homes remain in foreclosure proceedings currently.(Reuters)
The World Trade Organization demands that the more than US$20bn in US government subsidies be withdrawn from Boeing. The EU is also appealing a decision that it was guilty of illegal subsidies. (BBC)
BP's first relief well intersects with its Gulf of MexicoMacondo well prior to pumping heavy mud and cement to seal permanently the oil reservoir adjacent to the well. (Yahoo News)
A storm in New York City kills one person and leaves 25,000 people without power. This includes a Tornado which touched down in Flushing and a Macroburst.(CNN)
An Iraqi Army soldier is killed and eleven people are wounded following two bombs going off in Baghdad. (Xinhua)
Gunmen kidnapped nine police officers investigating a death in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, and the bodies of two of the lawmen were found later. (AP via npr)(Sina)
Producers on the South African version of the Big Brother TV series evict a male housemate who punched a female housemate, bowing to pressure from women's rights activists after initially accepting the physical confrontation. (BBC)
The United Nations launches an appeal for more than $2 billion in the wake of the 2010 Pakistan floods: this represents the organisation's biggest response to a natural disaster. (BBC)
A drill reaches 33 Chilean miners trapped underground in the 2010 Copiapó mining accident since 5 August; their rescue is still expected to take several weeks. (BBC)
Japan says China has shipped drilling equipment to a disputed gas field amid a diplomatic row over the seizure of a Chinese fishing boat captain near the disputed Senkaku Islands. (AFP)(BBC)
The United States charges 2 married former nuclear contractors with trying to give away the country's nuclear secrets to Venezuela. (BBC)
Attacks by Taliban militants, including rocket firing, have wounded 16 people, including children, in Kunduz province in Afghanistan on election day. Nine civilians sustained injuries in Taliban-linked activities in east Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. (Xinhua)(Xinhua)
Thousands of people demonstrate in protest at the Pope's views on condom use, homosexuality, education, the ordination of women and the child abuse case. (BBC)
A new convoy of vehicles departs the UK with humanitarian aid for Gaza, more than three months after 9 people were killed in the Gaza flotilla raid. (Al Jazeera)
China suspends high level diplomatic exchanges with Japan after the latter extended the detention of a Chinese fishing captain. (BBC)(Nikkei)(The Guardian)
More than 600 antiquities lost in mysterious circumstances due to "inappropriate handover procedures" after being repatriated by the United States in 2009 are found and returned to the National Museum of Iraq. (BBC)
Italian authorities seize 23 million euro (approximately US$30 million) from a Vatican bank account in a money laundering probe. (AP)
U.S. entertainers Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton are stopped by immigrations at a Japanese airport and forbidden to enter the country due to Paris's drug conviction the day prior. (Fox News)
President of ParaguayFernando Lugo sacks heads of the country's army, navy and air force plus five more senior officers in a decision aimed at "institutionalizing the structure of the armed forces". (BBC)
Three troops were killed when a roadside blast struck a military vehicle in Bara area of Khyber, one of the seven tribal agencies in Pakistan's restive northwest bordering Afghanistan. (Xinhua)
At least one person is killed and 10 injured in a shootout in Quetta, Pakistan. (Xinhua)
Two workers are killed and another is injured after a mine in Balıkesir collapses. 22 workers have been killed there in the past six months. (Today's Zaman)
An international summit titled "The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue" begins in Moscow, Russia, on territorial claims and co-operation in the Arctic. (BBC)(Voice of Russia)
Approximately 16,000 people have died in the United States between 2001 and 2007 due to people using cell phones while driving, according to a new report. (Reuters)
Chinese authorities investigate four Japanese employees of Fujita Corp., suspected of entering a military zone and illegally videotaping military targets in northern Hebei Province. (AP)(BBC)
The U.S. state of Virginia executes its first woman since 1912; Teresa Lewis will also be the first woman in the U.S. to be executed since 2005. (Sky News)
Striking pilots from the state-owned Air Zimbabwe end their two week strike that grounded flights and left passengers stranded after a pay deal with the government in Zimbabwe. (Times Live)(Reuters)
Gun battle between security forces and Taliban fighters leave four militants including their commander dead in Wardak province 40 km west of Afghanistan capital Kabul. (Xinhua)
6 civilians are wounded in an explosion apparently targeting the Shiite politician Mowaffak al-Rubaie near a fuel station in Sa'doun Street, Baghdad. (Xinhua)
America's Department of Defense (The Pentagon) admits purchasing nearly 10,000 copies of a memoir by U.S. Army Reserve officer Anthony Shaffer, destroying all of them in an effort to suppress secret information and ordering heavy redactions of the book's second printing. (The Daily Telegraph)(Toronto Sun)(CNN)
Pakistan's minister for defence production Abdul Qayum Jatoi resigns after criticising the military for allegedly carrying out political assassinations. (BBC)
Unilever plc, an Anglo-Dutch consumer products giant, has entered into an agreement to buy Alberto-Culver, a manufacturer of hair and skin care products, for $3.7 billion. (TheStreet)
95 people, including two former mayors and planning chief of Marbella, appear in court in Malaga in one of Spain's biggest corruption trials. (The Telegraph)(BBC)
Three al-Quds Brigades militants are killed by an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli army claims they were preparing to fire into Israel. (Ynetnews)
A U.S. service member is in custody in connection with the shooting deaths of two other service members and the injury of a third in Iraq. They were assigned to 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia. (CNN)
Hisham Talaat Moustafa, an Egyptian millionaire who had been sentenced to death in 2009 for inciting the murder of pop star Suzanne Tamim, is sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in a retrial. (AP)
Spanish workers stage the country's first general strike since 2002. Transport operates at below normal levels, TV and newspapers are reduced and picketers deliver pamphlets to offices in Madrid explaining their position. (The News Tribune)[permanent dead link]
Thousands of people converge outside government headquarters in Warsaw under the slogan "No to cuts, yes to development". (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Three paramilitary soldiers of the Pakistani Armed Forces are killed and three wounded when NATO helicopters strike a border checkpoint in the Kurram Agency tribal area. Pakistan responds by closing an important supply route that runs through its territory. Interior Minister Rehman Malik announces a high-level meeting to discuss NATO violations of Pakistani sovereignty. (Bernama via Malaysian Digest)
An explosion rocks Taliban birthplace Kandahar in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, wounding eight people. (Xinhua)
Two policemen and a civilian are killed and four others wounded in a failed bank robbery in southern Baghdad. (Xinhua)
China and the United States officially resume military ties after a 10-month break following US arms sales to Taiwan, with the two countries emphasizing the importance of a close military dialogue. The two countries will also confer on maritime issues next month.(Business Week)(BBC)
Three Japanese employees of Fujita Corporation detained by China for allegedly intruding in a restricted area in Hebei Province are released while a fourth remains in custody. (Reuters)
