Portal:Current events/2009 October 3
October 3, 2009 (Saturday)
- Treaty of Lisbon:
- Ireland approves the European Union’s Treaty of Lisbon by a margin of 67.1% to 32.9% in a second referendum. (RTÉ) (The Guardian) (Al Jazeera) (Toronto Star)
- Czech President Václav Klaus declines to say how he would proceed in ratification of the Lisbon Treaty after the second referendum is approved by Irish voters. (The Irish Times)
- The 19th anniversary of the reunification of Germany is marked by a special four-day puppet show in Berlin. (BBC) (Xinhua) (Jamaica Gleaner) (Reuters)
- Presidency of the European Council:
- Tony Blair's former chief-of-staff, Jonathan Powell, has been touring European capital cities, including Brussels, Paris and Prague, in an undercover move to make him the first President of the European Council. Blair is supported by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. (The Times) (The New Zealand Herald)
- William Hague says Blair as EU president would be the worst option for Britain, saying "most people would be extremely annoyed" and that his appointment would "underline the lack of accountability and democracy that is our objection to the Lisbon treaty". (The Times)
- Typhoon Parma hits the Philippines, with early reports indicating at least four deaths as trees are uprooted and roofs torn off houses. (Philippine Inquirer) (Reuters)
- The death toll in Italy rises to 21 following sudden extreme spells of rain and mud showers in Messina and other parts of Sicily as the injured total reaches at least eighty. (BBC)
- Burmese National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi meets for talks with the military government for the first time since 2008. (BBC) (Bangkok Post)
- According to United Nations officials, as many as 4,000 people could be buried under the rubble in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes in Indonesia. (CNN) (Press TV)
- Senegalese rebels kill six soldiers in Casamance, using a rocket-propelled grenade on the vehicle of the soldiers after it sticks in mud by the border with Guinea-Bissau. (France 24) (BBC)
- Archaeologists discover a smaller prehistoric site near Stonehenge, dubbed as "Bluehenge", named after the hue of the 27 stones that formed it. (BBC) (Associated Press)
- Thousands of people demonstrate in defence of press freedom in Rome, Italy, amid concerns of government interference. (The New York Times) (BBC)
- It is revealed that the British security services kept a file on their former Prime Minister Harold Wilson throughout his time in office. (BBC)
- The 2009 Pacific Mini Games closes in the Cook Islands. Fiji comes in first with 78 medals, while New Caledonia wins 66 medals. (Solomon Times)