Portal:Current events/2009 November 30

November 30, 2009 (Monday)

A court in Argentina blocks Latin America's first gay marriage, overturning an earlier ruling, saying the Supreme Court should decide on its constitutionality. (Buenos Aires Herald) (AFP) (BBC)
On St. Andrew's Day, the Scottish Government concludes the National Conversation into Scotland's constitutional future by publishing a white paper for their proposed referendum on independence. (The Independent) (Scotland.gov.uk)
Officials in Equatorial Guinea announce that incumbent President Teodoro Obiang Nguema won the presidential election with 96.7% of the vote, as the opposition claims irregularities. (AFP) (Press TV)
In a major provincial leadership reshuffle in the People's Republic of China, Lu Zhangong was appointed secretary of the Henan CPC Provincial Committee, replacing Xu Guangchun. Sun Chunlan was appointed secretary of the Fujian CPC Committee. Former Jilin Party chief Wang Min was appointed secretary of the Liaoning CPC Committee, replacing Zhang Wenyue. Former Minister of Agriculture Sun Zhengcai took over as Party chief of Jilin Province. And former governor of Hebei Hu Chunhua was appointed Party chief of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, replacing Chu Bo, who retired.(Xinhua)
An explosive device goes off under a train travelling from Tyumen, Russia, to Baku in Azerbaijan, in the northern Caucasus republic of Dagestan. (RIA Novosti) (Azeri Press Agency) (Times of India)
Three Spanish aid workers are kidnapped in northern Mauritania, after they became separated from an aid convoy. (CNN) (The Guardian)
Former rebel leader Agathon Rwasa, of the National Liberation Forces in Burundi, is selected as a candidate in next year's presidential election. (Reuters) (BBC)
A new railway station opens in Workington, providing a link across the River Derwent after all but one of the bridges in the town were put out of action by floods. (BBC)
John Demjanjuk goes on trial in Munich accused of war crimes relating to the killing of 27,000 Jews in the Holocaust. (Deutsche Welle) (BBC) (Reuters) (Sydney Morning Herald)
The Large Hadron Collider sets a new world record for particle accelerations. (The Times) (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph)
Police in Seattle report that the suspect, Maurice Clemmons, shot in the murder of four police officers in Parkland, Washington, is on the run. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Argonne National Laboratory announces that nanodiscs, made from an iron-nickel alloy and subjected to a magnetic field, destroy 90 percent of cancer cells in tests. (AFP) (Scientific American)
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announces she will run for Congress. (ABS-CBN News)
A study in the journal Pediatrics indicates that if a child is diagnosed with autism early, intervention can raise IQ levels while improving language skills and behavior. (CNN)