Portal:Current events/2006 November 1

November 1, 2006 (Wednesday)

67 die and about 300,000 people are affected by floods in Ethiopia's Somali Region of Ogaden after the Shabelle River bursts its banks. (Angola Press)
The UN Security Council votes unanimously to extend the mandate of Côte d'Ivoire's transitional government by one year, granting its Interim Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny sweeping powers over security forces. UNSC deadline for Elections, originally set for November 2006, was delayed to November 2007. (AP)
Arab League-sponsored talks between the Somali transitional government and the Islamic Court Union are postponed indefinitely after the latter seek a delay. A Somali Minister says that war appears likely. (Reuters) Archived 2007-03-31 at the Wayback Machine
Bolivian President Evo Morales retracts plans to nationalize the country's mining industry, promising to do so at an unspecified later date. (UPI)
Venezuela and Guatemala have agreed to withdraw from the race for a seat on the United Nations Security Council; both agreeing to support Panama after 47 rounds of voting. (The Canadian Press)
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said in a statement that "We are therefore increasingly concerned by mounting evidence that the Syrian and Iranian governments, Hezbollah, and their Lebanese allies are preparing plans to topple Lebanon's democratically elected government," and that "We're making it clear to everybody in the region that we think that there ought to be hands off the [Prime Minister Fouad] Siniora government; let them go about and do their business."(Reuters) Archived 2007-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
The Swedish Ro-Ro ship M/S Finnbirch sinks in a blizzard in the Baltic Sea, killing two of its fourteen crew members. The vessel had some 260 tons of fuel and lubrication oil onboard which might present a hazard to the environment. (Helsingin Sanomat) (Reuters) (CNN)
Turkish archaeologist Muazzez Ilmiye Cig is acquitted of inciting religious hatred; a charge made after she published a book stating that the Muslim headscarf originated in the clothing of Sumerian priestesses who initiated young men into sex. (BBC News)
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attack a rural police command in Colombia, killing at least 16 officers as part of a two-week offensive. President Álvaro Uribe had earlier withdrawn from negotiations. (Reuters)
The government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army rebels sign a second truce as negotiations restart in Juba, Sudan. (IRIN)
An Israel Defense Forces soldier and six Palestinians were killed in an IDF operation in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. (Haaretz), (BBC News)
The Prime Minister of Fiji Laisenia Qarase reportedly meets with his security chiefs this morning after yesterday trying to sack Fiji's military commander Frank Bainimarama. Alexander Downer, the Foreign Minister of Australia, has raised concerns about a coup. (ABC News Australia)
The World Confederation of Labour and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions merge to form the International Trade Union Confederation. (International Herald Tribune)
Typhoon Paeng (Cimaron) kills at least 19 people, displaces some 65,000 families and damages more than 3,000 houses as it moves across Luzon. (Xinhua via ReliefWeb.int), (Sun.Star)