Portal:Current events/2007 October 24

October 24, 2007 (Wednesday)

Comet 17P/Holmes grows significantly brighter overnight, going from magnitude 17 to magnitude 3 in just a few hours, while in the constellation of Perseus. (USA Today)
The Bank of America announces that it will lay off 3,000 staff following an announcement of a significant decline in earnings in the third quarter. (NYT)
A storm in the Gulf of Mexico kills 18 Mexican oil workers fleeing an oil rig, with Navy rescue teams trying to reach survivors. (Reuters) (BBC)
Moderating winds improve the outlook in the fight against the California wildfires of October 2007. (CNN)
Richard J. Griffin resigns as head of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security in the United States State Department following the Blackwater shooting in Iraq. (AP via CNN)
The United Kingdom announces a unilateral end to the Common Travel Area with the Republic of Ireland. From 2009, passports will be required for the first time, bringing to an end centuries of unimpeded travel between the two countries. (Irish Times)
Turkey-PKK conflict
- Reuters reports that Turkish forces launched an attack on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) positions in northern Iraq earlier in the week killing 34 PKK fighters. (Reuters)
- Turkish warplanes attack a village near Shiranish Islam in Kurdistan. (Reuters)
China launches its first lunar orbiter, Chang'e 1, on an exploration mission to the moon. (BBC)
The Pakistan Peoples Party claims that its leader, former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, has been forbidden to leave the country. (BBC)
Prime Minister of Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen calls early elections for 13 November 2007, less than three years after the last elections in early 2005. (ABC)
The ITER Organization was officially established. (ITER)