The European Central Bank raises interest rates for the first time in five years, from 2.0% to 2.25%. This will affect the cost of money in the twelve Eurozone countries. (BBC)
Ray Hanna, who died on this day in Switzerland, was an air-display pilot, regarded by many as the best of the best, and was well known for flying Spitfire Mk IX MH-434. He was with the Red Arrows from 1965 to 1971, and in that time was their longest serving - and some say their most influential - leader. He and his son, Mark Hanna, started the Old Flying Machine Company The Red Arrows paid tribute to him with a flypast at his funeral.
Scientists in Gabon and the Republic of Congo discover that three species of fruit bat serve as animal reservoirs for the Ebolavirus. The virus probably first spread from animal to human in 1976 by local hunters eating the bats. (Nature)(LA Times)
The "Thermopolis" specimen, recently donated to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis, Wyoming and described in the Science article "A well-preserved Archaeopteryx specimen with theropod features", shows that the Archaeopteryx lacked a reversed toe—a universal feature of birds—limiting its ability to perch in trees and implying a terrestrial lifestyle. This has been interpreted as evidence of theropod ancestry. The specimen also has a hyperextendible second toe. "Until now, the feature was thought to belong only to the species' close relatives, the deinonychosaurs."
Pakistan's information minister claims Pakistani forces have killed al-Qaeda operational commander Abu Hamza Rabia in fighting along the Afghanistan border. (BBC)
The Red Cross mulls adding a new Red Crystal symbol to ensure continuing acceptance of its work. (BBC)
DeposedIraqpresidentSaddam Hussein has refused to attend his trial for crimes against humanity, throwing the sometimes chaotic Iraqi proceedings into further confusion. (ABC)
At least 123 miners are missing following an explosion at a coal mine in China's Hebeiprovince, the official Xinhua news agency says. (ABC)
Hamas leader Khaled Mashal declares at a rally in Damascus, Syria that its informal ceasefire with Israel, which expires at the end of the year, will not be renewed. (BBC)
Korean Air, both national and international has been shut down due to the strike going on in Korea. The national airplane circulation has been stopped already and the Korean Airline planes that were in a foreign country are returning to Korea.
At an inquest into the death of UN worker Iain Hook, Paul Wolstenholme, a United Nations worker in Jenin claims that moments after Iain Hook was shot by a mysterious sniper rifle-shot to the pelvis, an Israeli sniper rifle laser was pointed at his head. He also supplied documentary evidence which stated that the Israeli army had delayed an ambulance which was sent to take the wounded Mr Hook to hospital. (BBC)
Gebran Tueni, a prominent Lebaneseanti-Syrian member of parliament and managing editor of the leading liberal An-Nahar newspaper, has been killed in a car bomb attack in Beirut. He had spent months in Paris because of security concerns, reportedly only returning to Lebanon on Sunday. Another An-Nahar journalist, the anti-Syrian writer Samir Kassir, was killed in a car bomb in June. (BBC)
The U.S. ambassador issues a statement saying that the total number of abused prisoners found so far in jails run by the Shiite-led Interior Ministry is about 121. (AP)
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Palestinian stone thrower is shot in the head and killed by Israeli troops raiding the West Bank city of Nablus. At least ten other Palestinians were injured by the IDF troops while two Israeli soldiers were injured by a bomb during the raid. (BBC)
U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush says that the decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was the result of faulty intelligence, and accepts responsibility for that decision. He maintains that his decision was still justified. (BBC)
A colleague of South Korean biomedical researcher Hwang Woo-Suk says that Hwang admitted that he faked nine of eleven stem cell colonies used in what had been hailed as a medical breakthrough in the journal Science. (BBC)
Thousands of IraqiShia protest against Al Jazeera after a guest on a talk show on the network suggested that the Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Shia Islam's most senior cleric, should stay out of politics. (BBC)
The United States Senate rejects the extension of the PATRIOT Act. Critics had said it infringed on civil liberties and made the government too powerful. (AP).
At least 39 people, 33 of whom were patients, die after a fire breaks out in a hospital in the city of Liaoyuan, near Changchun in China's Jilin Province. The cause of the fire is unknown. (BBC)
Intellectual property dispute: a US federal judge upholds Pfizer's two main patents for Lipitor, which had been challenged by Ranbaxy Laboratories. The decision is the latest defeat for Ranbaxy, an Indian generic drugmaker, which has also lost in a UK court. (MSNBC)
Air Nauru's only passenger jet is seized by creditors in Melbourne, leaving the island nations of Nauru and Kiribati without air transport to the rest of the world. (ABC)