September 2009

European leaders remember the victims of World War II at ceremonies marking the start of the conflict 70 years ago. (RTÉ) (BBC) (CBC) (Time) (Japan Today)
Muammar al-Gaddafi:
- Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi celebrates the 40th anniversary of the coup d'état which brought him to power. (RTÉ)
- Tripoli's streets are decked with thousands of multicolored lights, and hundreds of Gaddafi portraits and placards paying tribute to the leader, with celebrations attended by African, Arab and Latin American leaders but largely ignored by the West. (Al Arabiya)
- Gaddafi is hailed as a knight of revolution as celebrations get underway in the country. (The Guardian)
- Gaddafi dedicates the first mass performance of a week of celebration to his adopted daughter Hannah, who was killed in an U.S. air raid on Tripoli in 1986. (The Daily Telegraph)
President Tabaré Vázquez of Uruguay shuffles his cabinet, with Gonzalo Fernández, drafter of all major legislation, moving from Foreign Affairs to Defence. (MercoPress)
Former heavyweight world champion boxer Muhammad Ali visits the birthplace of his great-grandfather in Ennis, Ireland. (RTÉ) (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Guardian)
Speaking in Lima's El Comercio in response to some ironic quotes by Peruvian President Alan García, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez says his country will continue to export oil to the United States because it is "in interest". (MercoPress)
Fiji is suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations, only the second full suspension in the organization's history. (BBC) (Times of India)
Alain Robert scales Tower Two of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, using no safety equipment. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (New Straits Times)
The unemployment rate across the Eurozone reaches a ten-year high of 9.5%. (BBC)
Chile's government sets aside 4 billion pesos for the purchase of more fuel-efficient trucks for citizens through its “Cambia tu Camión” (“Change your Truck”) program. (MercoPress)
The European Union bans the manufacture or import of 100 watt incandescent light bulbs, beginning a phase-out in favour of energy-saving compact fluorescent lamps. (BBC)
The Pakistani Army claims to have killed at least 20 suspected militants in clashes across north-west Pakistan. (BBC)
An outbreak of diarrhoea in Orissa, India, kills at least 26 people and hospitalises 237. (BBC)
A ban on samurai swords comes into effect in Ireland in an effort to reduce increasing crime rates. (RTÉ)
Ali Ben Bongo, Pierre Mamboundou and Andre Mba Obame each declare victory in the Gabonese presidential election. (Voice of America)
91 countries agree to the first ever global treaty focused specifically on the problem of IUU fishing. (MercoPress) (Associated Press) (UN News Centre)
Documents released by the British government show that the United Kingdom gave in to Libyan demands that the Lockerbie bomber be eligible for transfer home to serve his sentence there. (CNN) (Xinhua)
A Sri Lankan journalist is jailed for 20 years on charges of "inciting racial hatred" and "supporting terrorism" for writing articles critical of the government's military operations. (The Independent)
A Guatemalan court sentences Felipe Cusanero, an ex-paramilitary officer, to 150 years in prison for the forced disappearance of civilians in the 36-year Guatemalan Civil War. (BBC) (Boston Globe) (The Irish Times) (Reuters)
A plane carrying South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe back from an African Union summit in Tripoli, Libya makes an emergency landing on an unlit runway in northern Congo after missing a fuel stop. (IOL)
A diarrhea epidemic kills 34 people in Ethiopia and infects more than 5,000, with 500 hospitalised in Addis Ababa in one day alone. (IOL)
Saba threatens to secede from the Netherlands Antilles in a letter to Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende. (NRC Handelsblad)

September 2, 2009 (Wednesday)

The 66th Venice International Film Festival gets underway. (BBC)
A helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy disappears during a flight in southern India. (ArabNews)
Iolu Abil is elected the President of Vanuatu during the third round of the Vanuatuan presidential election. (RNZI) (Xinhua)
Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis announces that he is to ask the president to dissolve parliament and call a general election for October. (BBC)
Charles Gibson announces he will step down as anchor of World News and retire from ABC in January 2010. Diane Sawyer will replace him at ABC World News. (ABC News)
British energy company BP says it has drilled one of the deepest wells ever in the oil and gas industry as it made a "giant" discovery in the Gulf of Mexico. (MarketWatch)
A 7.3 magnitude earthquake occurs on at 14:55 local time on the Indonesian island of Java, killing at least 32 people. (Yahoo News) (Jakarta Post) (Reuters)
Google's Gmail service is hit by an outage affecting the "majority" of its 150 million users. (BBC)
A Chilean judge issues arrest warrants for 129 people for allegedly helping to purge critics of the country's former ruler General Augusto Pinochet. (BBC) (Bernama)
Two car bombs explode in Athens and Salonika, damaging the Athens Stock Exchange and lightly wounding one woman. (RTÉ) (Reuters) (Athens News Agency)
An Iraqi court sentences four security force personnel to death by hanging for their parts in a bank robbery which left eight security guards dead. (BBC) (Press TV)
A Taliban blast kills Afghan deputy chief of intelligence Abdullah Laghmani. The blast shakes the city of Mihtarlam, 60 miles (100 kilometers) east of Kabul in Laghman Province; it kills several government officials and wounds several civilians. (ABC)
Two American journalists held by North Korea for illegal entry admit to crossing the border but claim North Korean guards arrested them on the Chinese side of the border and dragged them back into the country. (Reuters)
The death certificate of American pop star and entertainer Michael Jackson is amended to reflect his cause of death as homicide via "injection by another". (BBC)
Ennama Asfari, the co-president of a Committee for the Respect of Freedoms in Western Sahara, is jailed for four months for insulting a policeman. (IOL)
Prime Minister of Burkina Faso Tertius Zongo confirms least three people were swept away by floods and thousands are left homeless in Ouagadougou and its suburbs. (IOL)
A woman kills a man by jumping on top of him in Barcelona, Spain. (IOL)
Sixteen Somalis drown after being forced overboard into the Gulf of Aden. (IOL)
Malaysia reverses a ruling which had banned Muslims from attending a Black Eyed Peas concert in Kuala Lumpur. (BBC News)
Two British boys planning to create a massacre in a high school in Manchester are on trial after wanting to emulate the Columbine High School massacre. (BBC News)
A 3,700-year-old wall is discovered in east Jerusalem. (BBC) (USA Today) (CTV) (Xinhua)
Miyuki Hatoyama, Japan's new first lady, speaks of riding a UFO to Venus, calling it "a very beautiful place" and "really green". (Reuters)

September 3, 2009 (Thursday)

Chief Minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy is confirmed dead when the wreckage of the helicopter that crashed with him on-board in southern India on Wednesday is located. (BBC) (CNN) (Economic Times) (Press Trust of India)
Iranian ministerial appointments:
- The Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran approves at least 18 ministers for the 21 available posts. (Xinhua)
- Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi becomes the first woman minister since the 1979 Revolution. (BBC News)
- Legislators vote overwhelmingly to ratify Ahmad Vahidi, wanted by Interpol in connection with the 1994 Jewish centre bombing in Buenos Aires, as defence minister. (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian)
The death toll from the 2009 Java earthquake rises to at least 57. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Gabonese presidential election
- The results of Gabon's presidential election were delayed as backers of the main candidates waited outside the offices of the Electoral Commission. (The Syndey Morning Herald)
- Ali Bongo, son of recently deceased leader Omar Bongo, is declared the winner with 41.73% of the vote. (IOL) (BBC News)
- Opposition supporters attack a prison and the French consulate in Port-Gentil, amid several disturbances in the city. (AFP)
Research indicates the Andromeda Galaxy appears to have expanded by digesting stars from other galaxies. (BBC)
Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi lodges an appeal against her conviction for breaching the terms of her house arrest. (RTÉ) (Wall Street Journal) (BBC) (Bangkok Post)
American pop star and entertainer Michael Jackson is scheduled to be laid to rest at a private ceremony during a sunset service in a mausoleum at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles, USA. (The Syndey Morning Herald) (CNN)
China's State Food and Drug Administration grants approval to a homegrown swine flu vaccine, which producer Sinovac Biotech claims is effective after only one dose. (Xinhua) (The Syndey Morning Herald)
Fresh protests are reported in the province of Xinjiang in western China, after a series of stabbings with hypodermic needles. (BBC) (Swissinfo) (People's Daily) (Al Jazeera)
Australia experiences its warmest August on record amid soaring winter temperatures. (BBC)
The Russian Supreme Court overturns a lower court ruling in the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, ordering several probes into her death to be merged into one. (RIA Novosti) (CNN)
11 people are shot dead and a bomb at a restaurant injures 27 amid unrest in Thailand's Muslim south. (Bangkok Post) (The Independent)
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis launches a difficult election campaign after calling an early parliamentary vote for October 4 to seek a new mandate and deal with a sharp economic crisis. (Reuters)
English Premier League football club Chelsea F.C. are barred from purchasing players on transfer until January 2011 by FIFA for inducing Gaël Kakuta to illegally break his contract with French Ligue 1 club RC Lens in 2007. (The Sun) (Sky Sports)

September 4, 2009 (Friday)

The death toll in the 2009 Java earthquake rises to 63. (CBC) (Xinhua)
Ryan Tubridy takes over as host of The Late Late Show, the world's longest running chat show. (Irish Examiner) (The Irish Times)
Xinjiang
- Another day of protests by Han Chinese occur over a series of hypodermic needle stabbings in Ürümqi, northwestern China. (BBC) (Bangkok Post) (CNN) (RTHK) (Al Jazeera)
- Chinese officials say five people have been killed and 14 injured in the unrest. (Xinhua) (BBC) (RTÉ)
Thousands of mourners from across southern India pay their respects to the dead chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy. (BBC)
Six Gambian journalists jailed for criticising President Yahya Jammeh are freed. (Gambia News) (UPI) (BBC)
Looting occurs in Port Gentil, Gabon, after riots broke out over a disputed presidential election. (AFP) (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
A court in Burma agrees to hear an appeal by detained National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. (The Guardian) (Times of India) (Jakarta Post)
North Korea announces it is in the final stage of uranium enrichment, as Russia, South Korea, Japan and the United States express concern. (RIA Novosti) (Reuters) (Wall Street Journal) (Yonhap)
More than 90 people, among them at least 40 civilians, are killed when an American jetfighter called in by German troops attacks two fuel tankers hijacked by Taliban-insurgents in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan. (The Daily Telegraph) (BBC)
The armed forces in Madagascar reject calls by opposition groups to take over the country's institutions for an interim period. (IOL) (Xinhua) (AFP)
The International Monetary Fund grants Zimbabwe a US$ 500 million loan, its first to the country in 10 years. (The Herald) (Business Day)
Temperatures in the Arctic are at their highest for 2000 years, according to a new study. (The Daily Telegraph)
The United States eases more restrictions on Cuba, allowing unlimited family visits and telephone exchanges. (MercoPress) (CNN) (Washington Post)
The Brazilian Senate condemns Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez for his restrictions on the press, further delaying its Mercosur bid. (MercoPress)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to approve new settlements in the West Bank before a building freeze. (New York Times) (Ha'aretz) (Associated Press)
Air India Flight 829 suffers an engine fire during pushback at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai. All 228 people on board successfully evacuate via emergency slides. (NDTV)
Two Bangladeshi newspapers, the Daily Manab Zamin and the New Nation, apologise after publishing an article taken from satirical US website The Onion, which claimed the Moon landings were faked. (BBC)
Former US soldier Steven Dale Green is sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of release for the 2006 gang rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the slaughter of her family in their home in Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad.(Al Jazeera)

September 5, 2009 (Saturday)

The G-20 finance ministers outline plans for banking reform, including tougher regulation of financial institutions. (MarketWatch) (Reuters)
At least 15 people, mostly Bulgarians, drown in Lake Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia, as a tourist boat sinks. (MIA) (BBC) (Makfax)
The Communist Party Chief in Ürümqi, China, is removed from his post following recent protests over a series of stabbings with hypodermic needles. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (Xinhua)
Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin travels to Khartoum for meetings with the Sudanese government over the kidnapping of aid workers Sharon Commins and Hilda Kawuki nine weeks ago. (RTÉ)
An oil deal and trade concerns with Libya were at one point considered as factors in the Lockerbie bomber's release, British Justice Secretary Jack Straw says in an interview. (CNN)
Thousands of people attend rival demonstrations for or against the policies of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Spain, Honduras and in other Latin American capitals. (BBC) (BBC video) (Associated Press) (El Universal)
Around 90 people are arrested in clashes between right wing anti-Islamic groups and anti-Fascist protesters in Birmingham, England. (BBC) (Associated Press) (The Independent)
Grenada releases the last seven prisoners convicted in the murder of Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop during the 1983 coup, including former deputy prime minister Bernard Coard. (France 24)

September 6, 2009 (Sunday)

Kilkenny beat Tipperary in the 2009 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final to achieve a record-equalling fourth consecutive victory. (RTÉ) (Irish Independent)
Hundreds of people are rescued and a further 88 are missing after a ferry sank off the coast of the southern Philippines. (Philippine Inquirer) (Reuters) (Xinhua) (BBC)
A third day of clashes take place in Gabon's second largest city, Port-Gentil, over the disputed presidential election. (Reuters) (AFP)
Ten people are injured in an acid attack in Hong Kong. (RTHK) (AFP)
Sri Lanka orders a United Nations official from UNICEF to leave after he made "adverse remarks" to the foreign media regarding the LTTE. (The Times) (Times of India) (The Island)

September 7, 2009 (Monday)

South Korea asks North Korea to explain a sudden discharge of dam water which left six people dead or missing across the border. (Xinhua) (Yonhap) (RIA Novosti)
Japan's Prime Minister-elect Yukio Hatoyama proposes a 25% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, up from 8% by the outgoing administration. (Japan Today) (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
Drivers in Samoa prepare to switch from driving on the right hand side of the road to the left as a new law comes into effect, the first nation to change sides in 40 years. (BBC) (Reuters) (Associated Press)
Israel formally approves the construction of new settlements in the West Bank. (CNN) (Jerusalem Post)
The Indian Central Bureau of Investigation is to investigate the helicopter crash which killed the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy and four others. (Times of India)
Scientists working in Papua New Guinea announce the discovery of over forty new species, including a giant rat weighing approximately 1.5kg. (BBC)
Kraft Foods Inc. says it will pursue a takeover of Cadbury after the British maker of Trident gum and Dairy Milk rejected a $16.7 billion bid. (Bloomberg)
The premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Liu Chao-shiuan, and his cabinet resign due to criticism and public anger over the slow handling of the disaster during Typhoon Morakot. (Reuters)
Sudanese activist Lubna al-Hussein is found guilty of breaching Sudanese criminal law by wearing trousers, but is fined instead of being sentenced to flogging due to international concern over the trial. She has stated she will not pay and instead face a month in jail. (BBC News) (AP)

September 8, 2009 (Tuesday)

A shipwreck in Sierra Leone leaves "scores" dead. (The New York Times) (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Police in Milwaukee, USA, arrest a man in suspicion of being the notorious North Side Strangler, believed to have killed at least seven women between 1986 and 2007. (MSNBC)
A colossal statue of Apollo is discovered at a UNESCO World Heritage Site at Hierapolis, Turkey. (Discovery Channel)
Two Norwegians, Joshua French and Tjostolv Moland, on trial for alleged murder and espionage, are found guilty on both counts and sentenced to death by a Congolese military tribunal. (Norway Post)
Mobile network operators T-Mobile and Orange agree to merge their British businesses. (BBC)
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes northern Georgia. (BBC) (USGS) (The Georgian Times)
35 people are killed and 44 remain missing after an explosion in a coal mine in Pingdingshan, China. (BBC) (China Daily) (Al Jazeera)
Kenya replaces almost all of its senior police officers after they were blamed for deaths during post-election violence in 2007 and 2008. (Daily Nation) (BBC)
Sudanese journalist Lubna al-Hussein is freed from one day in jail after being prosecuted for wearing trousers – the fine was paid by the Journalist Union. (Associated Press) (Al Jazeera)
A storm, with rain, hail and winds of over 60 mph kills at least 14 people in northern Argentina and southern Brazil. (BBC)

September 9, 2009 (Wednesday)

US Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) interrupts President Barack Obama's health care speech to the Congress with an audible shout of "You lie!" (New York Times)
Aeroméxico Flight 576, a Boeing 737 carrying 104 people, is hijacked shortly after take-off from Cancún, and forced to land at Mexico City International Airport. (BBC News)
Floods in Istanbul, the worst in 80 years, kill around 20 people and injure a further 20. (Today's Zaman) (Reuters)
The Democratic Party of Japan agrees to form a coalition with two other parties, the Social Democratic Party and People's New Party. (Mainichi Shimbun) (BBC) (Xinhua)
South Korea accuses North Korea of deliberately releasing water from a dam across the Korean Demilitarized Zone, in which six people died. (Xinhua) (Yonhap) (Associated Press)
Iranian authorities close the offices of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, confiscating material. (Al Jazeera) (Press TV)
A new series of hypodermic needle stabbings occur in Ürümqi, northwestern China. (China Daily) (Press Trust of India) (Press TV) (The Straits Times)
The son of former Filipino President Corazon Aquino, Benigno Aquino III, announces his intention to run for the presidency. (The Philippine Inquirier) (CNN) (The Australian)
North Korea holds celebrations to mark the 61st anniversary of its founding. (CBC) (The Straits Times)
Stephen Farrell, a journalist with The New York Times, is rescued in northern Afghanistan after four days as a captive of the Taliban, but his Afghan colleague Mohammad Sultan Munadi is shot dead during the raid. (The Irish Times)
"Beatles Day" is celebrated worldwide as remastered versions of The Beatles' albums are released, as well as The Beatles: Rock Band. (Newsday)

September 10, 2009 (Thursday)

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologises for the post-war treatment of celebrated WWII code-breaker Alan Turing, who was chemically castrated for having homosexual relations. (Downing St) (CBC) (Reuters India) (The New York Times) (The Daily Telegraph)
Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi says he will demand a permanent place in the United Nations Security Council for Africa and compensation worth 777 trillion dollars for years of colonialism in New York later this month. (IOL)
A Hong Kong court convicts Du Jun, a former senior banker at Morgan Stanley, in the country's largest insider trading case. (BBC)
Gabon bars opposition leaders from leaving the country following recent riots over claims of fraud in the 2009 presidential election. (BBC)
Dubai's Metro System, the first mass transit system of the Arabian Peninsula, officially opens to the public as its first metro line is partially operational. (Al Bawaba)
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri steps aside in Lebanon. (BBC) (Xinhua)
At least five girls are killed and 30 other students injured in a stampede at a state-run school in the Indian capital, New Delhi. (ABC) (RTÉ)
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez recognizes Abkhazia and South Ossetia during a visit to Russia. (El Universal) (Reuters)
Afghan journalists express anger over the killing of local reporter Sultan Munadi during a rescue operation that saved his colleague Stephen Farrell. (RTÉ)
British consul John Terry is murdered in Jamaica. (Jamaica Gleaner) (Times Online)
Greek militant group Revolutionary Struggle threatens to attack the "golden boys" it blames for the economic crisis as it claims responsibility for the Athens stock market bombing. (RTÉ)
In football, Germany beat England 6–2 in the UEFA Women's Euro 2009 final, claiming their seventh European title. (BBC)
A boat with over 250 people on board capsizes in a storm off the coast of Sierra Leone, killing at least 8. (New York Times) (Awareness Times) (Al Jazeera)
Supporters of the traditional Kabaka of Buganda, Muwenda Mutebi II, riot in the Ugandan capital Kampala after a move by the government to prevent him from visiting a local area, resulting in several deaths. (BBC) (IOL) (Press TV)

September 11, 2009 (Friday)

The search and rescue effort following the 2009 Sierra Leone shipwreck comes to end, with 90 confirmed dead and at least 100 others declared missing. (Reuters)
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Libertas founder Declan Ganley says the second Irish referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon is "profoundly undemocratic". (RTÉ)
Former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian and his wife, Wu Shu-chen, are both sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of corruption. (Taiwan News) (France 24)
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe condemns "bloody whites" for meddling in his country's affairs, specifically perceived British and American interference. (IOL)
President Vladimir Voronin of Moldova resigns. (Xinhua)
Prime minister Jadranka Kosor of Croatia and PM Borut Pahor of Slovenia agree on an immediate end to Slovenia's blockade of Croatia's EU accession and further negotiation of the Gulf of Piran border dispute between two countries. (Delo) (Deutsche Welle) (Malaysia Star)
A Kenyan magistrate sentences Jon Cardon Wagner, an American who founded the popular chain of coffee shops, Nairobi Java House, to 15 years of imprisonment for the statutory rape of three teenage Kenyan girls. (IOL)
The oldest person in the world, Gertrude Baines, dies in Los Angeles aged 115. (Associated Press) (RTÉ)
Sharon Commins, an aid worker kidnapped with a Ugandan colleague in Sudan, makes contact with her family in Ireland for the first time in several weeks. (RTÉ)
NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery lands at the Edwards Air Force Base in California, USA. (BBC)
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announces the discovery of a vast gas field off the coast of his country, one of the world's largest finds. (BBC) (MercoPress)

September 12, 2009 (Saturday)

Police in the Madagascar capital Antananarivo disperse small groups of opposition supporters opposed to the administration of Andry Rajoelina. (IOL)
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake occurs in Venezuela, injuring many people. (Daily Press)
Lebanon wins the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. (Reuters) (RTÉ)
Israeli President and Nobel Laureate Shimon Peres is hospitalised after a collapse in Tel Aviv. (RTÉ) (Al Jazeera) (Haaretz) (Reuters) (The Washington Post)
2009 Sierra Leone shipwreck:
- 120 of the dead are buried. (IOL)
- 30 more bodies are found. (Taiwan News)
Ireland's Taoiseach Brian Cowen denies Libertas founder Declan Ganley's claim that the second Irish referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon is "profoundly undemocratic". (RTÉ)
Eight people are swept away by flash floods and a ninth is killed by lightning as more thunderstorms lash southwestern Algeria. Five people are killed in storms in Morocco. (IOL)
At least 11 people die following two days of riots in Kampala, Uganda. (IOL)
At least 7 die in several separate attacks and suicide bombings in Russia's North Caucasus. (AP)
At least three people die and several others are injured in Somaliland when angry demonstrators clash with riot police. (IOL)
10 Warhol paintings dating from the late 1970s are stolen from the private collection of Richard Weisman in Los Angeles, USA. (BBC) (RTÉ)
United Nations official Peter Mackay is revealed to have been expelled from Sri Lanka for challenging government assertions at the end of the civil war. (The Guardian)
In rugby union, South Africa defeat New Zealand 32-29 to win the 2009 Tri Nations Series. (Sport24) (IOL)
The Guatemalan Army is accused of abducting over 300 children during the 1960–1996 Civil War and selling them for adoption. (CNN) (Reuters)
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez says a consignment of Russian-made missiles with a 300km range are due to arrive in his country. (MercoPress) (RTÉ)
President Robert Mugabe says Zimbabwe's first high-level talks with top EU officials in seven years went well. (BBC)

September 13, 2009 (Sunday)

Russia announces that it will assist Venezuela in the building of a nuclear energy program.[1]
At least 19 people die and 80 are missing after a ferry sinks in the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (AFP via Google News)
Kim Clijsters of Belgium defeats Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark to win the 2009 US Open Women's Singles. (New York Times)
Cork beat Kilkenny in the final of the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship 2009. (RTÉ)
Police arrest more than 550 people in connection with two days of riots in Uganda's capital Kampala, as the death toll rises to 14. (IOL)
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva heavily criticises the "rich countries", the G8 and other international bodies over the global economic crisis. (BBC)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel appears with her main rival, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in a TV debate, two weeks ahead of an election. (BBC) (Deutsche Welle) (The Guardian) (Bankok Post) (Miami Herald)
Saudi Arabia's veteran foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal undergoes successful spine surgery in the United States. (Reuters)
38 people are killed in a fire at a drug abuse clinic in Taldykorgan, Kazakhstan. (Kazakhstan News) (AFP) (RIA Novosti) (IOL)
Hundreds of people protest in Hong Kong over alleged beatings of its journalists in mainland China covering unrest in Xinjiang. (RTHK) (BBC) (Straits Times)
At least 6 people die in a fall down an elevator shaft of a skyscraper under construction in Hong Kong. (BBC) (IOL) (The New Zealand Herald)
4 people die and 3 are injured when a mud house collapses in floods at Lazaret, a poor district of the Nigerien capital Niamey. (IOL)
Two of the so-called Bermuda Triangle's most mysterious disappearances in the late 1940s may have been solved. (BBC)
Teeth and bones from a range of animals, including hyenas, deer and rhinos, are discovered by archaeologists inside a cave in Devon, England. (BBC)

September 14, 2009 (Monday)

Norwegians go to the polls for the Norwegian parliamentary election. (AFP via Google News) (Norway Post)
France's political "trial of the century" into the Clearstream affair—former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin versus President Nicolas Sarkozy—opens at the Palais de Justice. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
U.S. special forces launch an attack on Islamist militants from Al-Shabab in Somalia. (BBC) (Mareeg) (The New York Times)
At least 18 women and children are killed in a stampede for free flour handed out by charity workers in Karachi, Pakistan. (Al Jazeera) (The Nation) (Xinhua)
Legislators in Aceh province in Indonesia pass a new law on stoning to death and other severe sentences for adultery, homosexuality and premarital sex. (Jakarta Post) (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian)
Dozens of people in Uganda are charged over riots in the capital Kampala over the visit of the King of Buganda, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II. (BBC)
China lodges a complaint with the World Trade Organization over the United States' decision to impose import duties on Chinese-made tires. (China Daily) (Financial Times)
A large area of Toronto, Canada, is evacuated after a Pipe bomb was found in a truck, but the bomb is neutralized by the Toronto bomb squad. (CP24)
In tennis, Juan Martín del Potro defeats Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters defeats Caroline Wozniacki at the U.S. Open. (The New York Times)
American actor Patrick Swayze dies at age 57, after suffering from pancreatic cancer for more than 1 year. (BBC)

September 15, 2009 (Tuesday)

The Red-Green Coalition of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is elected for another term in the Norwegian parliamentary election. (Norway Post) (Financial Times)
At least 38 people are killed in flash floods in North Sumatra, Indonesia. (RTÉ)
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke says the worst U.S. recession since the 1930s has likely ended, while warning that growth may not be strong enough to quickly reduce the unemployment rate. (Bloomberg)
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accuses the United States of "blocking" Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization. (CNN)
A United Nations report into the Gaza War alleges both Israeli and Palestinian forces committed war crimes. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
EirGrid, Ireland's national electricity grid operator, receives permission from An Bord Pleanála to build a new electricity interconnector between Ireland and Wales. (RTÉ)
Gabonese firefighters battle a blaze at the heart of Libreville as fire consumes the nation's largest market. (IOL)
Republic of the Congo's re-elected President Denis Sassou Nguesso names his new government, abolishing the controversial post of Prime Minister and replacing the nation's oil minister. (IOL)
In a televised debate, Madagascar's Prime Minister Monja Roindefo accuses the international community of betraying President Andry Rajoelina and warns the island risks being "torn into fiefdoms ruled by warlords". (IOL)

September 16, 2009 (Wednesday)

New documents disclose that novelist J. R. R. Tolkien secretly trained as a spy for His Majesty's Government in the run up to World War II. (The Daily Telegraph)
José Manuel Barroso is re-elected as President of the European Commission, by Members of the European Parliament. (BBC News) (Angola Press)
Yukio Hatoyama is sworn in as the 60th Prime Minister of Japan. (Asahi Shimbun) (Radio Australia)
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announces that China is to invest 16 billion US dollars to boost oil production in the country particularly along the Orinoco River as part of a strategy to reduce dependence on the US market. (MercoPress)
Argentina formally accepts apologies from the Spanish government which admitted having committed a “protocol error” on allowing the presence of a delegation from the Falkland Islands in an international fisheries sustainability conference. (MercoPress)
Kenya's parliament nullifies President Mwai Kibaki's reappointment of Kenya's anti-corruption chief, Justice Aaron Ringera, who critics say has shown little interest in fighting graft. (IOL)
The European Union casts doubt on last month's election results showing Afghan President Hamid Karzai winning the presidential election outright in the first round. (Reuters)
The World Meteorological Organisation says the hole in the Ozone layer is smaller than in 2008. (AFP)
China says it has foiled a possible terrorist attack in Xinjiang, detaining six people. (Xinhua) (The Straits Times) (UPI)
The Somalian Islamist group Al-Shabaab call for reinforcements after a U.S. raid killed its leader Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan. (Reuters)
Gunmen kill 10 people at a drug rehabilitation clinic in Mexico. (Associated Press) (CNN)
Kenya begins moving the first residents out of slums in the capital Nairobi, as part of a plan to clear all shanty towns over the next two to five years. (BBC) (Associated Press) (Capital FM)
21 people are injured, three seriously, after a collision involving a Luas tram and a double-decker bus on O'Connell Street in Dublin, the worst ever accident involving the city's trams. (The Irish Times) (RTÉ) (The Belfast Telegraph) (The Canadian Press)
The TEAMS cable system, providing high speed broadband to East Africa for the first time, is poised to go live. (BBC)
Egyptian border guards shoot dead two sub-Saharan migrants, bringing to at least 14 the number killed this year as they try to cross illegally into Israel. (IOL)
A lightning bolt kills five children at their school in Bamali, Cameroon, as they are preparing to begin their school day. (IOL)

September 17, 2009 (Thursday)

A senior Irish Catholic bishop says Roman Catholics can vote "Yes" in the country's second referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon "in good conscience". (BBC)
At least 87 refugees are killed after an army air raid on a camp for displaced people in 'Amran Governorate, northern Yemen. (BBC) (Saba) (Bernama) (Al Jazeera)
The President of France Nicolas Sarkozy says European Union leaders agree to impose a cap on banker pay. (AP via Google News)
The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Jan Fischer, says that President Barack Obama told him that the United States is abandoning plans for a missile shield based in Poland and the Czech Republic. (AP via Houston Chronicle) (RIA Novosti)
Two large explosions hit the main base of African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu, Somalia. (AP via Chicago Star-Tribune) (Xinhua)
Shia insurgency in Yemen: More than 80 people are killed in an air raid on a camp for displaced people in northern Yemen. (BBC)
A number of children are injured in an attack at the Carolinum secondary school in the Bavarian town of Ansbach. German police arrest a man. (BBC) (RTÉ)
Colombia says it would consider quitting UNASUR if the bloc does not agree to debate issues related to drug trafficking, terrorism and arms purchases. (MercoPress)
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi denounces an International Crisis Group (ICG) report that warns his country could descend into ethnic violence ahead of its first national election since a 2005 poll triggered deadly street clashes. (IOL)
A large car bomb attack in the centre of Kabul, Afghanistan, kills six Italian ISAF soldiers. (BBC) (Adnkronos)
Egypt's top Islamic authority, Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, defends women's rights to wear trousers in public following the high-profile court case in neighbouring Sudan where women, including Lubna al-Hussein, were flogged for dressing in the garments. (IOL)
Seven explosions hit the Burmese city of Yangon with no casualties. (Bangkok Post) (Times of India)
Indonesian police confirm the death of their most wanted man, Noordin Mohammed Top, who was suspected of involvement in the 2009 Jakarta bombings and the Bali bombings in 2002. (Jakarta Post) (Al Jazeera) (CNN)
United Nations Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe begins visiting camps holding displaced Tamil refugees in northern Sri Lanka. (Colombo Page) (BBC) (AFP)
Venezuela and China agree a $16 billion oil exploration deal allowing China to drill in the Orinoco basin. (Bloomberg) (MarketWatch) (Al Jazeera)
The ruling Burmese junta defends its decision to bar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from attending her appeal hearing. (Straits Times) (Gulf News) (Philippine Star)
Four more people are found guilty and jailed for carrying out attacks with syringes in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang. (BBC)
The National Assembly of Kenya passes a bill to reduce the number of ministries from 40 to 24. (BBC)

September 18, 2009 (Friday)

Two people are killed and eight are hurt when a man confronted by police for scrawling graffiti at a Mexico City Metro station opens fire on passers-by. (CNN) (BBC) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
A mine blast in Ruda Śląska, Poland, kills at least 13 miners and hospitalises at least 30 more. The country's worst mining disaster since 2006, two days of national mourning are declared the following day. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (The Irish Times)
Hong Kong sentences former Morgan Stanley managing director Du Jun to seven years in prison for his insider trading conviction in its most high-profile case. (BBC)
International Quds Day:
- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls The Holocaust a "myth" and says that "the very existence of this regime is an insult to the dignity of the people" in referring to Israel at a Quds Day rally in Tehran. (RTÉ) (Xinhua) (The Guardian)
- Pro and anti-government protestors clash in Tehran during the annual International Quds Day rally. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (Xinhua) (Press TV)
- Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemns Ahmadinejad's remarks, calling him a disgrace to his country. (Reuters)
30,000 Ivory Coast residents seriously affected by the dumping of toxic waste by Trafigura, which, according to the United Nations, has killed at least 15 people, say an undisclosed compensation deal offered by a London-based oil firm is not enough. (BBC)
Solidarity co-founder and former President of Poland Lech Wałęsa (in favour) and United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage (against) arrive in Ireland to campaign over the country's second referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon. (Euronews) (The Irish Times) (The Times)
Burma:
- Burma begins releasing 7,114 prisoners in an amnesty announced by the government. (Al Jazeera) (AFP)
- A Burmese court announces it is to reveal its verdict on an appeal by Aung San Suu Kyi in October. (The Straits Times) (Associated Press) (BBC)
The first ever Global Irish Economic Forum, modelled on Switzerland's World Economic Forum, begins in Farmleigh in Dublin's Phoenix Park. (The Belfast Telegraph) (The Irish Times) (RTÉ) (Forbes) (Reuters)
The Brazilian government announces a plan to ban sugarcane farming in the Amazon Rainforest and indigenous areas. (Latin American Herald Tribune) (BBC)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il tells a visiting envoy of Chinese President Hu Jintao he is willing to engage in talks on his country's nuclear programme. (BBC) (Yonhap)
Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez calls for an integrated Mercosur with a greater number of countries to make it more competitive overseas, but also demands greater balance inside the group among members. (MercoPress)
Sri Lanka announces it will rehouse displaced Tamil refugees within the next four months. (Associated Press)
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirms that serving PSNI officers provided training to the Libyan police force in the past twelve months. (RTÉ)
Two people are killed and a further 12 injured in a stabbing attack in Beijing. (China Daily) (Associated Press) (China Post)
At least 33 people die as a result of a suicide bomb attack in Kohat in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. (RTÉ) (AP via Google News) (BBC) (IOL)
Nicola Roxon, the Australian Minister for Health, says that the Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved an Australian-made swine flu vaccine. (AP via Fox 59)
The Raptorex kriegsteini, a smaller version of the Tyrannosaurus rex, is discovered in northeastern China. (The Daily Telegraph) (The Washington Post) (The Guardian)
The African Union says a twin bombing that killed 17 peacekeepers on its base in Mogadishu, Somalia, was conducted in UN marked cars. (CNN) (IOL)
Michel Bagaragaza, former head of Rwanda's tea industry, pleads guilty to complicity in the 1994 genocide, altering his original not guilty plea. (BBC)
Singapore's best-known watercolour artist, Cultural Medallion recipient Ong Kim Seng, donates eight works to the country's new national art gallery. (The Straits Times)

September 19, 2009 (Saturday)

A six-nation east African regional bloc consisting of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda urges global sanctions on Eritrea for backing Islamist rebels in neighbouring war-torn Somalia. (IOL)
Two men are arrested in Denver, Colorado, United States, as part of an FBI terror probe. (AP via Google News)
Attacks by rebels in Yemen are reported despite a ceasefire. (CNN) (Saba) (BBC)
Pro and anti government protestors demonstrate in the Thai capital Bangkok and near the Preah Vihear Temple along the border with Cambodia. (Bangkok Post) (BBC) (Xinhua)
A gay pride march in Belgrade, Serbia, is called off after police and Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković tell organisers they could not guarantee its safety. (BBC) (The Times of India) (ABC News)
An earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale occurs off the coast of Bali in Indonesia. (BBC)
DNA tests confirm that Islamist bomber Noordin Mohamed Top is dead. (BBC)
Treaty of Lisbon:
- President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso arrives in Ireland on the campaign trail for the country's second referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon. (RTÉ) (Reuters) (The Times)
- French President Nicolas Sarkozy warns the Czech Republic it will have to face the “consequences” if President Václav Klaus refuses to sign the Lisbon Treaty allowing it to enter into force. (The Irish Times)
Four people are seriously injured in a bear attack in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. (BBC)
Pakistani police raid a local security firm that provides security for the United States embassy for illegal weapons possession. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
The German government raises its terrorism alert level after al Qaeda posted a video on the Internet threatening attacks in Germany based on the outcome of this month's elections. (CNN)
Two German ships become the first Western commercial vessels to navigate the Northern Sea Route. (BBC)
Singer Vera Lynn, aged 92, becomes the oldest artist to obtain a number one album in the United Kingdom. (The New York Times)
France's government holds emergency talks with farmers to avert protests over falling dairy prices. (BBC)
Pope Benedict XVI announces he is to hold a special meeting of Roman Catholic bishops to discuss the concerns and challenges of the Church in the Middle East in October 2010. (The Irish Times)
Nigeria's government asks cinemas to stop showing the science fiction film, District 9, saying it denigrates the country's image by portraying Nigerians as cannibals, criminals and prostitutes. (BBC)
Hundreds of parachutists from the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands commemorate the 65th anniversary of Operation Market Garden near Arnhem, the Netherlands. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Becky Simmons becomes the first Guernsey-born person to swim the English Channel. (The Guernsey Press)

September 20, 2009 (Sunday)

Precious wins the People's Choice Award at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. (BBC) (Cape Times) (CBC) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (CNN)
61st Primetime Emmy Awards
- Toni Collette wins the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for playing Tara Gregson on United States of Tara. (AP via Google News)
- Alec Baldwin wins the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for playing Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock. (AP via Google News)
- Glenn Close wins the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for playing Patty Hewes on Damages. (AP via San Francisco Chronicle)
- Bryan Cranston wins the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for playing Walter White on Breaking Bad. (AP via San Francisco Chronicle)
- Mad Men wins the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series. (AP via Google News)
- 30 Rock wins the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. (AP via Google News)
Trafigura oil trading firm agrees to pay more than $46 million compensation to more than 30,000 people in Côte d'Ivoire who say they were made ill by dumped waste in 2006. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (Reuters) (France 24) (The Times)
More than 140 Shiite Houthi rebels are killed in northern Yemen after they attempt to take over the government palace in the city of Sa'dah. (Yemen News Agency) (AFP) (Press TV)
In Havana's Plaza de la Revolución, Juanes, Silvio Rodríguez and Miguel Bosé headline Cuba's largest open-air concert since the 1959 Revolution. (Granma) (BBC) (Associated Press)
Colombian President Álvaro Uribe eases the terms for the release of 24 police and soldiers being held by Marxist FARC rebels. (BBC)
Democratic Republic of Congo transfers Grégoire Ndahimana to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to stand trial for the massacre of at least 2,000 Rwandan Tutsis during the 1994 genocide. (Reuters)
The Government of Ireland approves the introduction of a national postal code. (RTÉ)
Tribesmen attack a village in south Sudan, overwhelming soldiers guarding the settlement and killing an unknown number. (IOL)
Somalia's al-Shabaab insurgents warn schools not to use textbooks provided by United Nations agencies and other donors they accuse of being un-Islamic. (IOL) (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Washington Post)
The bust of a Sumerian king is among eight stolen antiques recovered in an undercover operation by Iraqi police. (BBC)

September 21, 2009 (Monday)

A trial against former Prime Minister of France Dominique de Villepin, over the Clearstream affair, begins in Paris. (BBC) (RTÉ) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Guardian)
Legislative elections in Macau attract a higher turnout than usual and strengthen the democratic minority. (BBC) (Radio Australia News)
Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya returns to his country, almost three months after the coup which overthrew him. He seeks shelter in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. Interim president Roberto Micheletti orders a 26 hour curfew and shuts down the airport as a result of the demonstrations sparked by Zelaya's return. (BBC) (MercoPress) (AP via Google News), (AP via Google News) (Reuters)
A 6.1 magnitude earthquake occurs in eastern Bhutan and is felt in northeast India, Tibet and Bangladesh, leaving at least 10 dead. (Earth Times) (CNN) (Indian Express) (BBS) (Malaysia Star)
A passenger train is intentionally derailed near Craiova, Romania, injuring many people. (Roumanie.com)
New clashes break out in the Darfur region of Sudan. (BBC) (Taiwan News)
South African President Jacob Zuma admits disagreements do exist between the ANC and the trade union federation (COSATU)—one of its main political partners. (BBC)
Italy holds a state funeral for six soldiers killed in Afghanistan last week. (Associated Press) (Adnkronos)
Russia's first President Boris Yeltsin spent his retirement in a "golden cage", his phone tapped and the Kremlin controlling visitors, a colleague reveals. (The Irish Times)
Sir Alex Ferguson, Gary Lineker and Fabio Capello are among 1,000 guests at a memorial service held for the recently deceased football manager Sir Bobby Robson. (The Times) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (USA Today)
Most of the world's major river deltas are sinking, including Colorado, Nile, Pearl, Rhone and Yangtze, increasing the flood risk faced by ½ a billion people, scientists report. (BBC)
New figures released by the Japanese government indicate one in four women are aged 65 or over for the first time. (Japan Today) (Mainichi Shimbun) (AFP)
Lou Nuer militiamen kill more than 100 civilians and security force members in an attack in Sudan's Duk Padiet in Jonglei, the latest in a series of ethnic clashes. (BBC)
A judicial official says a 51-year-old man has confessed to sending threatening letters containing bullets to President of France Nicolas Sarkozy and other prominent figures. (IOL)
In swimming, Lisa Cummins becomes the first Irish person and the 20th person ever to complete a two way crossing of the English Channel. (RTÉ Sport) (The Irish Times) (Kent Online)
Adidas and Puma end their 60-year-old feud. (BBC)
Singer Jade Ewen is confirmed as the new member of internationally successful girlband Sugababes, replacing the only original member Keisha Buchanan. (Daily Mail)
Massimo Busacca, a high-profile Swiss football referee who officiated the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final and was expected to take part at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, is suspended "immediately" for waving his middle finger at fans during a match. (BBC)
Rescuers scour the sea off the Morocco coast for dozens of African migrants who are missing and feared dead after their boat capsized in an accident that kills eight others. (IOL) (ABC) (Xinhua)

September 22, 2009 (Tuesday)

American Mesac Damas is extradited from Haiti to stand trial for the murders of his six family members in Florida, USA.NBC-2
A mid-air collision destroys Iran's only AWACS equipped aircraft, an Ilyushin Il-76MD. (Debka), (Defensenews)
A gang of racist youths are sent to jail for a string of attacks on foreigners in Moscow, Russia, in 2008. (BBC)
U.S. President Barack Obama calls for the resumption of the Middle East peace process in meetings with the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. (Voice of America)
Honduran soldiers break up protests outside the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa in support of deposed President Manuel Zelaya, who is staying inside. (BBC) (MercoPress)
Several people are killed after a bus comes off a road and slides down an embankment into a river east of Düsseldorf, Germany. (BBC) (Taiwan News) (RIA Novosti)
Casualties and 25 deaths are feared in a gun battle between Maoist rebels and supporters of the ruling Communist Party in the Indian state of West Bengal. (BBC) (Press Trust of India)
New figures reveal that for the first time since 1995 more people emigrated from Ireland than immigrated there, with a growth of more than 40% from January–April 2009. Most of the emigrants are Eastern European or Irish nationals. (RTÉ)
French riot police detain 278 migrants in Calais in an operation to dismantle the "jungle" camp. (France 24) (BBC) (Straits Times)
China bans foreigners from entering Tibet, ahead of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the People's Republic. (Straits Times) (Australia Network News)
Taiwan shows a documentary on Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer, as the website of the Kaoshiung Film Festival is hacked. (Central News Agency) (China Daily) (The Guardian)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad heads for New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly. (Xinhua)
An Iranian military airplane crashes during a military parade in Tehran. (AP via Houston Chronicle) (ABC)
A Spanish doctor, identified as AM, is sentenced to a year in prison for his role in the death of the former First Lady of Nigeria, Stella Obasanjo. (BBC)
Ireland's National Ploughing Championships, the largest ploughing championship in the world and the largest outdoor agricultural event in Europe, begins in Athy, County Kildare. (RTÉ) (Irish Independent) (The Irish Times)
Attorney General for England and Wales Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, is fined £5,000 after being found to have employed a housekeeper who was not legally allowed to work in the UK. (BBC)
For the first time in at least ten years, all United States embassies and consulates in South Africa are closed following an unspecified "security threat". (BBC) (Bernama) (Associated Press)
The New Zealand dollar soars to a 13-month high against both the U.S. dollar and euro. (The New Zealand Herald)
Bayo Ohu, the assistant news editor of the Nigerian daily The Guardian, is shot dead at his home in Lagos. (The Guardian)
Official government figures indicate the murder rate in South Africa has fallen, though robberies and sexual offences are on the increase. (AFP) (IOL)
Chinese President Hu Jintao tells a U.N. summit on climate change that China will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase reliance on clean energy sources in coming years. (CNN)
The 2009 Pacific Mini Games opens in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. (RNZI) (Scoop.co.nz)
Former world number 1 tennis player Justine Henin announces that she is ending her year-long retirement from the sport. (AP via ESPN)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration bans the sale of flavored cigarettes, except for menthol cigarettes. (The New York TImes)
Sixteen people go on trial in Vietnam accused of committing fraud over the foreign adoption of more than 250 babies. (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph) (Miami Herald)
Rescue teams scour eastern Bhutan after at least 11 people are killed by an earthquake which struck the region. (BBC)
Security is tightened across Germany after the emergence of al-Qaeda videos threatening attacks if troops are not withdrawn from Afghanistan. (BBC)
Cities around the world celebrate World Car Free Day. (The Washington Post)

September 23, 2009 (Wednesday)

The cities of Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane in Australia are covered by a dust storm, the worst in at least 70 years. Aviation in New South Wales is disrupted. (The Australian) (ABC News) (The Canberra Times)
A chimney collapse in Korba in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh leaves at least 15 workers dead and at least 50 feared trapped. (BBC)
The Libyan government pitches a tent in suburban New York on land rented from Donald Trump that leader Muammar al-Gaddafi may use for entertaining, but local officials order workers to stop the construction, saying it "violated several codes and laws of the town of Bedford". (The Sydney Morning Herald) (The Times) (BBC) (South China Morning Post) (The New Zealand Herald)
Prime Minister of Bhutan Jigme Thinley describes an earthquake which hit the Himalayan kingdom on Monday as "one of the biggest disasters in recent times". (BBC)
Gay activists in South Africa welcome a life sentence for a man involved in the gang rape and murder of lesbian football star Eudy Simelane, one of the first women to openly live as a lesbian in her community of KwaThema. (BBC)
Former President of Cuba Fidel Castro praises current President of the United States Barack Obama for his speech before the United Nations General Assembly for admitting it had been slow to act on climate change but urges that the American capitalist system is incompatible with a clean planet. (BBC)
One of the busiest border crossings between Mexico and the United States at San Ysidro is closed for hours after a gun battle between US agents and suspected human traffickers. (BBC) (The Washington Post') (Herald Sun)
A Scottish £1 banknote, dated 1836, sells for a world record £9,000 price at auction. (BBC)
Swedish police hunt for robbers who used a stolen helicopter to raid a cash depot in Stockholm. (RTÉ) (BBC)
A report carried by The Sydney Morning Herald says Australia is poised to be the world's fastest growing industrialised nation over the next four decades, reaching a population of 35 million by 2050. (The New Zealand Herald)
The Bundespolizei investigate whether a string of letters from the far-right NPD party to politicians from immigrant backgrounds have incited racial hatred. (BBC) (Deusche Welle)
A court in Tanzania sentences three men to death by hanging for killing a 14-year-old albino boy, Matatizo Dunia, to steal parts of his anatomy. It is the country's first conviction for this offence. (BBC)
A man is shot dead in a clash between police and supporters of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, believed to be the first death since his return to the country. (RTÉ)
Indian villagers accuse the actress Julia Roberts of interrupting Navratri. (BBC)
India successfully launches seven satellites in a single mission one month after its inaugural Moon mission is aborted. Included are six smaller satellites from Germany, Switzerland and Turkey. (BBC) (IOL)
Julio Alberto Poch, a Transavia commercial airline pilot, is arrested in Spain over his alleged role in Argentina's 1976–1983 "Dirty War". (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Times) (Miami Herald) (Reuters)
In his first United Nations appearance, Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi calls for reform of the Security Council and chastises the Council for failing to intervene or prevent some 65 wars since the U.N. was founded in 1945. (MSNBC)
China relaxes travel curbs for Guangdong residents visiting Macau. (The Straits Times)
Human Rights Watch urges world leaders to call on Sri Lanka to free hundreds of thousands of displaced people detained in camps since the island's civil war ended. (The Straits Times)
A Polish court awards €7,400 damages to Alicja Tysiąc, likened to a child killer and Nazi war criminal by Catholic magazine Gość Niedzielny for wanting an abortion. (BBC)
Germany's first nudist hiking trail opens. (Der Spiegel) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (Reuters) (MSNBC)
ABBA, Genesis, Kiss, LL Cool J, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Stooges are amongst several acts nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Rolling Stone) (CBC) (Billboard)
The multi-billion dollar King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, boasting one of the world's fastest supercomputers, opens near Jeddah in Saudi Arabia in an attempt to enable the country to compete in science and technology internationally. (BBC)

September 24, 2009 (Thursday)

Treaty of Lisbon:
- Czech President Václav Klaus says he is "adamant" Irish voters will reject the European Union's Treaty of Lisbon when they vote on it again in the country's 2 October referendum, meaning his unwillingness to sign the treaty will be justified. (Aktualne)
- Libertas founder Declan Ganley and Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary clash during high-profile radio and television debates on the Treaty of Lisbon as the referendum campaign intensifies. (BBC) (Irish Independent)
The 2009 G-20 Pittsburgh summit commences with two dozen world leaders in attendance.
Sixteen members of al-Qaeda, five of whom have been sentenced to death, are at large after escaping from prison north of Baghdad. (BBC)
India's Chandrayaan-1 probe discovers large amounts of water on the Moon. (Press Trust of India) (Financial Times) (Xinhua) (The Australian) (The Guardian)
The United Nations Security Council, headed by world leaders, unanimously approve Resolution 1887 to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. (BBC) (China Daily) (New York Times) (Associated Press) (Hindustan Times)
Thailand and the U.S. Army announce a breakthrough of a HIV/AIDS vaccine, after trials find it can reduce infection by 31%. (Thai News Agency) (Bernama) (Xinhua) (BBC) (CNN)
Arthur's Day: The 250th anniversary of the signing of a lease by Arthur Guinness for a brewery at St James's Gate in Dublin. Events organised by Diageo get underway in Dublin, Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, New York and Yaoundé. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) (Philadelphia Inquirer) (Sky News)
The last surviving Ottoman, Ertuğrul Osman, dies in Istanbul at the age of 97. (BBC) (Today's Zaman)
Nine North Koreans enter Denmark's embassy in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi to seek political asylum. (BBC) (Taiwan News) (New York Times)
An online petition is launched after President of The Gambia Yahya Jammeh threatens to kill human rights workers that "destabilise" the country. (BBC) (Newstime Africa)
Australia begins clearing up after its worst dust storm in seven decades, which smothered Sydney and brought transport to a standstill. (BBC)
The United Kingdom's largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure, a collection of 1,500 gold and silver pieces comparable to the Book of Kells, is discovered buried beneath a field in Staffordshire. (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Times) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Independent) (RTÉ) (Malaysian Sun) (The Australian) (Sky News)
The News of the World and Daily Mail newspapers apologise to Fabio Capello, the manager of England's national football team, after printing pictures of him and his wife Laura resting in mud-baths on an Italian beach. (BBC)
South Korea agrees to develop 1,000 sq km (386 sq miles) of farmland in Tanzania. (IOL) (BBC) (The Korea Herald)
A painting worth up to 3 million euros by surrealist artist René Magritte is stolen by thieves at a museum in Brussels. (The Times) (AFP)
Detained Burmese National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi welcomes a new United States policy shift which would engage with the Burmese military government. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (The Guardian) (Bangkok Post)
A court in Taiwan rejects former President Chen Shui-bian's appeal to be released on bail. (Associated Press) (Bangkok Post)
The Tanzania Albino Society (Tas) calls for the men found guilty of killing an albino boy in Tanzania to be hanged publicly as a warning to others. (BBC)
Bobby Cox, manager of the professional baseball team Atlanta Braves, announces he will retire at the end of the 2010 season. (AP/FOX Sports)
Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts chooses former Democratic National Committee chairman Paul G. Kirk, Jr. to replace former Senator Teddy Kennedy on a temporary basis, until elections can be held to choose a permanent replacement to fill the remainder of Kennedy's term. (Houston Chronicle)
2009 G-20 Pittsburgh summit:
- Leaders of the world converge on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the opening of the G-20 Summit. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
- Police use a lachrymatory agent to disperse a riot at the 2009 G-20 Pittsburgh summit. (AP via Fox News)
Tongan Loloahi Tapui, the housekeeper of Attorney General for England and Wales Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, is arrested alongside her husband over alleged immigration offences. (BBC)
Five deaths occur in Turkey as a result of flash floods. (Xinhua) (Reuters) (BBC)
Nigerian politician Waje Yayok, third in command in Kaduna State, is kidnapped. (BBC)
Melting ice is pouring off Greenland and Antarctica into the sea far faster than was previously realised because of global warming, new research shows. (Irish Independent)

September 25, 2009 (Friday)

Photographs of Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and his family are published in the United States and subsequently published on the front pages of newspapers in his home country. A controversy occurs as many Spaniards have never before seen the children of the intensely private Prime Minister. (The Guardian)
Poland approves a law making chemical castration mandatory for paedophiles. (Reuters)
Four people are charged in Greece over recent bombing attacks, in the first arrests brought against suspected terrorists in several years. (IOL) (Canadian Press)
Nigerian MPs ask the government to investigate the status of Chinese citizens living in the country, after allegations that Nigerians in China have been mistreated. (BBC)
The trial of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on corruption charges begins in Jerusalem. He is the first ever Israeli Prime Minister to be brought to trial. (BBC) (RTÉ)
Iran reveals to the United Nations nuclear watchdog the existence of a second uranium enrichment plant, facing accusations of secret building projects from Gordon Brown, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy. (BBC) (Haaretz) (RTÉ)
Lawyers for the former Prime Minister of France, Dominique de Villepin, say they will sue President Nicolas Sarkozy for having called him "guilty" of the "Clearstream" affair and violating the principle of presumption of innocence. (BBC)
At least two people are killed and fifteen injured in a blast at a fireworks shop in Santo André, Greater São Paulo, Brazil. (BBC) (Xinhua) (Ria Novosti)
Hundreds of people queue in Birmingham, United Kingdom, to see part of the Staffordshire hoard. (BBC)
Palau is to create the world's first "shark sanctuary", banning all commercial shark fishing in its waters. (BBC) (The Times) (UPI)
Paul G. Kirk, Jr. is sworn in as the interim U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, succeeding the late Ted Kennedy. (Roll Call)

September 26, 2009 (Saturday)

Second South America-Africa Summit (ASA) on Isla Margarita:
- The second South America-Africa Summit (ASA) begins on Isla Margarita. (Xinhua) (Bloomberg) (Wall Street Journal)
- 30 African and South American leaders arrive to attend, with 60 countries being represented. (CCTV) (IOL)
- South African President Jacob Zuma says during the opening of the summit that the South-South union between South American and African regions will contribute to the development of both. (Xinhua)
- Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez says regional governments are to sign an agreement to create a Bank of the South with startup capital of 20 billion US dollars. (Wales Online)
- A regional bank for South America, the Bank of the South, with a $20-billion initial capital is then set up under an agreement signed by seven nations—Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela—on the sidelines of the summit. (African Press Agency) (MercoPress)
- Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi calls for the creation of a military alliance among nations in the South Atlantic region by 2011, calling it "NATO of the South". (RTTNews)
More than 100 ministers and heads of state attend a United Nations meeting on the global hunger crisis. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina tables a five-pronged set of recommendations to raise a hunger-free world. (Xinhua) (RTÉ) (Bangldesh News)
At least 10 people are dead in Metro Manila after Tropical Storm Ketsana hits the northern Philippines. (AFP) (Philippines Inquirer) (BBC) (Philippine Star)
Three detainees held by the United States at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, are sent abroad to two countries. Ireland accepts two detainees of Uzbeki origin in a humanitarian gesture, with Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Dermot Ahern saying Ireland was one of the first countries in Europe to call for the closure of Guantánamo Bay and that the two men would now be given time to rebuild their lives. (Reuters) (RTÉ) (BBC)
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki writes to President of the United States Barack Obama to express his concern and disappointment over threats it has received from that country concerning a travel ban on Kenyan officials it blames for hindering reforms. (IOL)
Two car bomb blasts kill at least 12 people in northwestern Pakistan. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera) (Times of India)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejects U.S. President Barack Obama's accusation about Iran's nuclear program. (CNN) (AFP) (Al Jazeera)
Families separated for over 50 years since the Korean War meet at the Kŭmgangsan resort, North Korea. (BBC) (Yonhap) (Associated Press) (Xinhua)
Two mass graves linked to Colombia's internal conflict are discovered. (BBC)
A second dust storm hits Sydney, Australia. (ABC News) (Xinhua) (Bloomberg)
Pope Benedict XVI arrives for a three day visit to the Czech Republic. (CTK) (Press TV) (Associated Press)
Twenty-two large banks in Europe may have accumulated credit losses of close to €400 billion for this year and next, according to officials who have seen a draft of conclusions of “stress tests” conducted by European regulators. (New York Times)
Geelong defeats St Kilda in the 2009 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.(The Age)
The Spanish government formally unveils plans to liberalise the country's abortion law. (BBC)
Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua returns to Abuja after a visit to Saudi Arabia. (IOL)
Pope Benedict XVI's robes are graced by a spider as he addresses politicians and diplomats in Prague. (BBC)

September 27, 2009 (Sunday)

Turkey announces it is to establish formal diplomatic relations with Armenia on October 10. (The Hurriyet) (BBC)
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown denies rumours concerning his health as the British Labour Party gathers for its conference in Brighton, expressing his amazement with Andrew Marr of the BBC for questioning him live on television. (The Times) (The Daily Telegraph)
In Germany the Christian Democrats and the Liberals win the federal election and announce their intention to form a new government with Angela Merkel as Chancellor. The Social Democrats concede defeat. (Der Spiegel) (The Daily Telegraph) (Al Jazeera)
The Socialist Party win the Portuguese legislative election to elect members of the Assembly of the Republic, with 36.6% of the vote. (euronews) (The Independent) (Trend News Agency)
Second South America-Africa Summit (ASA) on Isla Margarita:
- The leaders of Libya and Venezuela, Muammar al-Gaddafi and Hugo Chávez, call on the continents of Africa and South America to unite to secure prosperity for future generations. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters) (BBC)
- Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says that ASA member countries have achieved concrete results since the 1st ASA Summit in Abuja in 2006. (Xinhua)
Film director Roman Polanski is arrested in Zurich on a 31-year old US arrest warrant. (BBC) (Angola Press)
Afghan Energy Minister Ismail Khan survives a roadside blast which kills four people and wounds seventeen outside a school in Herat. (BBC) (Times of India)
The death toll from Tropical Storm Ketsana rises to 73, with more than 300,000 people displaced. (Philippine Inquirer) (BBC) (China Daily)
The Swiss multinational Nestlé is buying milk from a farm seized from its white owners and now owned by the wife of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, according to England's The Sunday Telegraph. (BBC)
American General Stanley McChrystal, Commander of the International Security Assistance Force, formally requests more troops for the War in Afghanistan. (BBC)
The American television series Family Guy is outlawed by authorities in Venezuela due to an episode promoting the legalization and use of marijuana. (BBC)
Iran's Revolutionary Guards test fire several short-range missiles – the Fateh-110 and Tondar-69. (Press TV) (Chosun Ilbo) (The Independent) (Xinhua)
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi tells a rally in Milan about his encounters with President of the United States Barack Obama, saying: "What's his name? Some tanned guy... Ah, Barack Obama!", also commenting on his wife Michelle: "You won't believe it, but two of them went to the beach because the wife is also tanned". (IOL) (The Daily Telegraph)
Honduras issues a 10-day deadline to Brazil asking it to decide the status of deposed President Manuel Zelaya, who is residing in its embassy in the capital Tegucigalpa. (CNN) (Reuters)
Discworld author Terry Pratchett, who has Alzheimer's disease, criticises new guidelines on assisted suicide. (BBC)
An award-winning essay written by Paul McCartney as a 10-year-old for the coronation of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is found after lying undiscovered in Liverpool's Central Library for more than 50 years. (BBC) (The Guardian) (CBC) (NME) (The Sunday Times)
Four people injured in a South African plane crash in Durban on Thursday are still recovering in hospital. (IOL)

September 28, 2009 (Monday)

Iranian students at the University of Tehran demonstrate against the government on the first day of the new academic year. (BBC) (New York Times) (Reuters India)
Opponents of the Treaty of Lisbon question the European Commission on deliberate interference in the Irish referendum campaign in order to secure its desired "Yes" vote, suggesting that the Commission has broken the law. (EU Observer) (The Irish Times)
Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez sign eight accords in Caracas following the weekend's second ASA summit. (Latin American Herald Tribune) (Xinhua)
The death toll in the worst flooding in the Philippines for forty years reaches 140 as the capital Manila is "overwhelmed". (The Guardian) (The Times) (The Daily Telegraph)
Roman Polanski officially challenges his proposed extradition from Switzerland to the United States to face child sexual abuse charges stemming from a 1977 incident. (AP via Yahoo! News)
Japan's Liberal Democratic Party elects Sadakazu Tanigaki to replace Taro Aso. (BBC) (Taiwan News) (Xinhua)
Those in power in Honduras empower police to quash "unauthorised" gatherings as President Manuel Zelaya calls on his supporters to march on the three-month anniversary of his fall, saying it will be "the final offensive". (The Guardian)
An Eldoret operation commences to close down Kenya's largest camp for people forced to flee their homes during the 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis ethnic violence. (BBC)
President of the autonomous Government of Southern Sudan Salva Kiir says Sudan is at a "historic crossroads" which will lead to a split from the north. (BBC) (Voice of America)
Australia's 12 Apostles natural landmarks continue to crumble. (The Times)
Little Cumbrae, Scotland is converted into an ashram. (BBC)
Charges of plotting to topple Robert Mugabe against Jestina Mukoko, a prominent Zimbabwean rights activist, are thrown out after the Supreme Court rules she had been tortured while in custody. (BBC) (The New York Times)
Grégoire Ndahimana, a former mayor accused of taking part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, pleads not guilty at a United Nations tribunal. (The Guardian) (BBC) (The Age)
Chinese Civilisation Revisited by Xiao Jiansheng, a book about Chinese history which is outlawed in China, goes on sale in Hong Kong. (BBC) (AsiaOne)
A police officer who served at the G20 demonstrations in London in April 2009 is to face a charge of assaulting a woman with a baton after becoming involved in a confrontation at a vigil for Ian Tomlinson. (The Times) (The Daily Telegraph)
Spain's Pablo Pineda wins the best actor award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, the first actor with Down's syndrome to win an international film award. (BBC) (Think Spain) (Latin American Herald Tribune)
Art historian Henry Adams claims abstract impressionist Jackson Pollock camouflaged his signature as a "hidden message" inside his famous 1943 Mural. (The Daily Telegraph)
North Korea revises its constitution, removing all references to communism, while mentioning human rights for the first time, as well as stating Kim Jong-il as its "Supreme Leader". (RTHK) (Associated Press) (Korea Times) (Reuters)
At least 58 people are killed at a large opposition rally in Guinea against Moussa Dadis Camara who seized power in a coup last year. (BBC) (Xinhua) (Al Jazeera)
The interim government in Honduras raids two media outlets critical of the government, and suspends other civil liberties for 45 days. (BBC) (Associated Press) (Al Jazeera)
Oxfam launches an emergency appeal for £9.5 million for Ethiopia and other East African countries to fight the worst drought in a decade. (BBC)
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori pleads guilty to bribery and illegal phone-tapping of journalists, businessmen and opposition politicians. (BBC)

September 29, 2009 (Tuesday)

At least 40 people are killed as Typhoon Ketsana makes landfall on Vietnam. (Press Trust of India) (Xinhua)
A court in Malaysia upholds a whipping punishment for Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno who was convicted of drinking beer. (Malaysia Star) (Al Jazeera)
Former President of Peru Alberto Fujimori pleads guilty to charges of bribery and spying on his old rivals during his presidency. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
The European Commission denies accusations that it broke Ireland's laws against using taxpayers' money on referendum spending after an EU office in Dublin paid €150,000 to insert a guide to the Treaty of Lisbon into all Sunday newspapers as the country's second referendum approaches. (The Irish Times)
- Former MEP Patricia McKenna promises legal action against any newspapers found carrying the Commission's guide, with legal advisers to Europe's Council of Ministers expressing "some concern" about its content. (The Irish Times)
At least 87 people die in a crackdown by the Military of Guinea on an opposition rally against the country's leader Moussa Dadis Camara. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Gabon's constitutional court recounts votes from last month's disputed presidential election won by the son of longtime leader Omar Bongo. (IOL)
A 14-year-old schoolgirl in Coventry, England, who died after being given a cervical cancer vaccine as part of that country's national immunisation programme is found to have suffered from a tumor in her heart and lungs. (The Times) (BBC)(MSNBC)
An 8.3 magnitude earthquake strikes the Samoa Islands, triggering a tsunami that kills at least 20 in the nation of Samoa and another 14 in American Samoa. (Reuters) (BBC)

September 30, 2009 (Wednesday)