Portal:Current events/2009 October 15
October 15, 2009 (Thursday)
- Treaty of Lisbon:
- Czech President Václav Klaus's disruption of the Treaty of Lisbon is deemed "absurd, irresponsible and damaging to the country" by his predecessor Václav Havel. (The Times)
- President of Ireland Mary McAleese signs the Lisbon Treaty after returning from Luxembourg. (RTÉ) (Reuters) (Taiwan News)
- Ugandan MP David Bahati proposes creating a capital offence of "aggravated homosexuality" for gay sex with people under 18, disabled people or when the accused is HIV-positive. (BBC)
- The U.N. General Assembly elects Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria to the U.N. Security Council as non-veto-holding members. (Reuters)
- Narges Kalhor, the daughter of a senior adviser to President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, applies for asylum in Germany. (Reuters)
- Burma and Bangladesh send warships to a disputed area in the Bay of Bengal 50 nmi (93 km) west of St. Martin's Island. (Mizzima)
- Three of the five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee initially argued against awarding U.S. President Barack Obama the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. (AFP via Google News) (Primary source: Verdens Gang)
- North Korea accuses South Korea of intruding into its territorial waters, further raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap) (Reuters) (AFP)
- Palestinians have urged the UN to act to punish Israel for its offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter. (BBC) (Ha'aretz)
- At least 37 people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Pakistani cities by militants. (The News) (Bloomberg) (Indian Express)
- A further six people are sentenced to death over ethnic unrest in China's Xinjiang region in July. (China Daily) (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
- The International Criminal Court opens an investigation into the suppression of an opposition protest in Guinea, in which dozens of people were killed. (Associated Press)
- Finland becomes the first country in the world to declare Internet broadband access a legal right. (CNN)
- The ruling party in Malaysia, the United Malays National Organisation, announces internal reforms after a series of defeats in local elections. (Al Jazeera) (Bernama)
- Militants launch attacks on police in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, in Pakistan, killing 31 people after a week of violence in which more than 100 people died. (Reuters)
- Norwegian pop trio a-ha announce they are to split after 25 years together. (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Independent)
- A worldwide media circus surrounds an incident in which a six-year-old boy is alleged to be flying in a homemade hot-air balloon; the boy was later found safe at home. (CNN)