Portal:Current events/2009 November 2
November 2, 2009 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- A large blast occurs in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, killing at least 35. (Reuters via the New York Times)
Business and economy
- Large parts of Venezuela begin rationing water after unseasonably dry weather. (Latin American Herald Tribune) (BBC)
- The Royal Bank of Scotland announces cuts of 3,700 staff in the United Kingdom. (The Guardian)
Disasters and accidents
- 16 people are killed in a fire that destroyed 58 houses in the Philippine city of Bacolod. (Times of India)
- At least 15 Tamil asylum seekers are feared dead while being rescued in seas off the coast of Australia. (The Age)
International relations
- The United Nations announces it will suspend military assistance to an army brigade in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, after it was implicated in the killing of 62 people. (CNN) (Associated Press)
- North Korea requests direct talks with the United States regarding the former's nuclear program, warning that it will "go its own way" if its demands are not met. (Joongang Daily) (UPI)
Law and crime
- Simon Mann, a British mercenary who had been serving a 34-year prison sentence in Equatorial Guinea for his role in a failed coup d'etat, is given a presidential pardon. (The Guardian)(CNN)
- Four people are sentenced to death by hanging in Tanzania for the killing of an Albino man last year. (IOL) (BBC)
- Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić is to attend his war crimes trial on Tuesday, after boycotting previous sittings. (euronews) (The Daily Telegraph)
- Two people are charged with "spreading false information" about the health of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej. (Bangkok Post) (The Times)
Politics and elections
- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon makes a surprise visit to Afghanistan ahead of the 7 November second round of the presidential election. (Xinhua)