Portal:Current events/2007 October 31

October 31, 2007 (Wednesday)

The United States Federal Reserve reduces short-term interest rates to 4.5 per cent, the second cut in three months. (NYT)
The President of the United States George W. Bush nominates Fmr. Governor of North Dakota Ed Schafer for United States Secretary of Agriculture. (Prairie Farmer)^{[permanent dead link]}
At least 8 people are killed and 53 are injured when militants bomb a bus in Togliatti, Russia. (Bloomberg)
21 of the 28 people accused over the 2004 Madrid train bombings have been found guilty; four of them are charged with murder. (Sky News)
Police question Prince Harry over an alleged shooting of endangered hen harriers at the Royal Family's Sandringham House estate.^{[citation needed]}
Alcatel-Lucent announces plans to cut 4,000 jobs. (Reuters)
Buddhist monks return to the streets of Burma for the first time since a crackdown on protests last month. (BBC)
Police in India's Meghalaya state say they have killed five tribal separatists in the capital of Shillong. (BBC)
Los Angeles authorities reveals that a boy playing with matches caused one of the Los Angeles fires. (CNN)
A United States district court blocks new patent rules relating to continuation practice at the USPTO, originally scheduled to take effect on November 1, 2007. (Forbes) (InformationWeek)