Portal:Current events/2008 October 17

October 17, 2008 (Friday)

The President of France Nicolas Sarkozy withdraws tacit support for the Quebec sovereignty movement shown by some of his predecessors in a visit to Quebec City. (Reuters)
U.S. Congressman Vito Fossella is convicted of drunken driving. (AP via Fox News)
China has made rules which were introduced for the Olympic Games allowing foreign reporters to interview without applying for permission permanent. (BBC)
Turkey, Austria, Japan, Mexico and Uganda are elected by the United Nations General Assembly to the Security Council. Iran and Iceland fail in their bids. (New York Times)
Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change states that power-sharing talks with President Robert Mugabe have failed to reach an agreement. (BBC)
Fourteen Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam members of the Lok Sabha in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, including two ministers and five ministers of state, hand in post-dated resignations to party chief M Karunanidhi. (Hindustan Times)^{[permanent dead link]}
The United States Supreme Court overturns a lower court’s order requiring state officials in Ohio to supply information that would have made it easier to challenge prospective voters. (New York Times)
The United States State Department claims that North Korea has stepped up disablement of its nuclear reactor and allowed surveillance of its nuclear facility to resume. (CNN)
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declares that the beluga whale of Alaska's Cook Inlet is an endangered species. (AP via USA Today)
Global financial crisis of September–October 2008:
- The Parliament of Germany passes a 500 billion euro ($673.8 billion) bank bailout. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)
- The Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper states that Canada and the European Union support an international summit on the crisis before the end of the year. (Reuters)
Sachin Tendulkar of the India cricket team becomes the highest aggregate run scorer in Test cricket at 0901 hrs(GMT) and the first to pass 12,000 in scoring 88 during the second test against Australia at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. (BBC)