Portal:Current events/2006 October 31
October 31, 2006 (Tuesday)
- Esperanza Fire
- California authorities arrest a man who is suspected of intentionally starting two wildfires this summer and is considered a person of interest in the Esperanza Fire.
- A fifth firefighter dies as a result of injuries obtained fighting the Esperanza Fire near Palm Springs, California started by arson. (Los Angeles Times)
- A United States federal appeals court blocks a landmark judgment against the tobacco industry clearing the way for selling "light" and "low tar" cigarettes until industry appeals can be reviewed. (AP via Kiplinger forecasts)
- Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, says that it has started negotiating with Israel on prisoner exchange. (Reuters)
- Galymzhan Zhakiyanov, a prominent Kazakhstani politician and one of the founders of Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, says the Government of Kazakhstan should "look at other circumstances that have harmed Kazakhstan's image" instead of "fighting Borat." (stuff)
- The Prince of Wales’s controversial visit today to a madrassa in the Pakistani town of Peshawar, bordering Afghanistan has been cancelled over fears for his safety, after calls by Islamic leaders for revenge for a Pakistani airstrike that destroyed another religious school about 60 miles away. (The Times)
- The Lebanese army issued a statement saying its gunners fired anti-aircraft artillery at Israel Air Force warplanes as they flew over south Lebanon. (Haaretz)
- China announces the resumption of the stalled six-party talks to find a peaceful resolution to concerns about North Korean nuclear weapons program. (BBC News)
- Taliban insurgency: Suspected militants attack a convoy of NATO troops in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nuristan killing three soldiers. (Reuters)
- Chenagai airstrike: Pakistani officials confirm that a strike on a madrassah was based on United States intelligence that senior members of al-Qaeda were hiding there. The attack has generated protests by religious and tribal leaders in Pakistan. (The Washington Post)
- Fiji's military stage exercises around the capital Suva and close off the city's army barracks as tensions rose due to fears of a coup d'état. Fiji's military chief, Frank Bainimarama, has threatened to force the Prime Minister of Fiji Laisenia Qarase to resign unless the Prime Minister drops two Bills, one which will offer amnesty to some of those involved in a 2000 coup led by George Speight. (ABC News Australia)
- Bob Barker, longtime host of the American game show The Price Is Right, announces he will retire in June 2007 after hosting the program since 1972.(CNN.com)
- Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories was released.