Timeline: October 2007

THE NATION

8 Dubai announces the Dh224 billion Arabian canal. Up to 150 metres wide and 6 metres deep, it will connect the Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Jumeirah.

14 The first Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF) opens in Abu Dhabi.

20 The UAE is granted malaria-free status by the UN World Health Organisation (WHO), crowning years of persistent efforts to eliminate the deadly disease.

27 Talal Ali M. Khouri pays Dh25 million for the car plate No 5 in an Abu Dhabi Police auction and makes it to the Guinness Book of World Records.

28 His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announces the creation of the Knowledge Complex to offer young Arabs wider access to education.

THE REGION

1 Israel releases 57 Palestinian prisoners in a Ramadan goodwill gesture.

2 Forest fires hit several areas in Lebanon including those around the ancient town of Deir Al Qamar, a World Heritage Site.

7 Twenty-two independent and opposition newspapers in Egypt suspend publication in protest against recent jail sentences against journalists.

9 King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia issues a decree detailing regulations to implement the succession law that was announced a year ago.

12 Yemen's famous woman prisoner, Ameenah Abdul Latif, is released after 10 years in jail for allegedly murdering her husband in 1998.

17 The Turkish government approves a motion allowing troops to hunt down Kurdish rebels hiding in Iraq.

25 The United States imposes sweeping new sanctions against Iran, accusing Tehran of promoting terrorism.

26 Turkish helicopters and fighter jets pound Kurdish rebels on the Iraqi border.

27 Sudanese government declares an immediate unilateral ceasefire in Darfur.

28 Women fare badly in the Oman Shura election as none of the 21 candidates wins a seat in the 84-member body.

THE WORLD

1 Ukraine's pro-Western “Orange'' opposition claims victory in parliamentary elections aimed at calming months of political chaos.

- Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa claims victory in a newly-elected assembly that will rewrite the constitution.

2 North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il welcomes South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in Pyongyang for a historic summit.

4 Russia marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite.

6 Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf wins the election for another five-year term.

7 Mario Capecci and Oliver Smithies of the United States and Martin Evans of Britain win the Nobel Prize in medicine for their work in creating “Knockout Mice''.

8 France's Albert Fert and Germany's Peter Gruenberg win the 2007 Nobel Prize in physics for a breakthrough discovery in nanotechnology.

- A Pakistan army helicopter escorting President General Pervez Musharraf crashes, killing four people and injuring five.

- More than one million people are evacuated as typhoon Krosa makes landfall in the province of Fujian and Zhejiang in China .

11 British writer Doris Lessing wins the Nobel Prize for literature for five decades of epic novels that have covered feminism and politics.

12 Al Gore and a UN panel win the Nobel Peace Prize for galvanising the fight against global warming.

13 Twenty-one local residents digging for a rumoured gold mine are killed and 26 injured in southern Colombia.

15 Playwright Oscar Wilde, who muttered on his deathbed “Either those curtains go or I do'', is named Britain's greatest wit in a poll.

18 Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto makes a tearful return to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile.
Two major explosions hit the convoy of Benazir Bhutto, killing more than 115 people and injuring at least 200 in Karachi.

22 Former Mozambique president Joaquim Chissano wins the first Mo Ebrahim Prize for Leaderships and a $5 million prize.

26 Former Philippine president Joseph Estrada walks out a free man after six and a half years of detention.

28 US-led coalition and Afghan troops kill about 80 Taliban fighters in a six-hour battle following an ambush in southern Afghanistan.

30 Supreme Court orders the return of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan.

- A boy playing with matches starts a deadly fire in California that burns 15,7378 hectares.

31 The US State Department's top adviser Karen Hughes resigns.

BUSINESS

1 Royal Boskalis Westministers and its South Korean partner Hyundai win a 1.1 billion euro contract from Abu Dhabi Ports Company for the first phase of the new Khalifa Port.

2 Limitless, the internationally focused development arm of Dubai World, announces that it will develop the $12 billion Bidadi Township near Bangalore, India.

3 Emaar Properties announces the development of four mixed-use projects in Algeria worth Dh73 billion.

7 Fuelled by investor confidence, Google's stock price crosses $600 for the first time.

- Forbes Asia lists 26-year-old Yang Huiyan as the richest woman in Asia with a net worth of $16 billion.

8 DP World announces the investment of 500 million euros (Dh2.6 billion) in Senegal's port facilities.
11 Dubai Aerospace Enterprise University signs a 10-year contract with Ras Al Khaimah airport for the location of DAE Flight Academy.

- Limitless announces another $12 billion project to develop 411 hectares in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

12 Norway's Snohvit field becomes the first to tap energy reserves beneath the Artic Ocean.

16 Cityscape Dubai presents $1.3 trillion worth of projects in the Gulf.

20 The UAE Cabinet approves the privatisation of the utility sector. This involves the privatisation of the Federal Electricity and Water Authority.

23 The European Union's highest court strikes down a German law that shielded Volkswagen from takeover, paving the way for Porsche to take majority control of Europe's biggest car maker.

24 Microsoft Corp beats Google Inc to buy 1.6 per cent of Facebook for $240 million.

29 The Abu Dhabi Industrial City II opens and the Abu Dhabi Industrial City III is launched in Abu Dhabi.

31 The UAE ranks 37th in the Global Competitiveness Report 2007-08, its same position as last year and just below Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

SPORTS

1 Sri Lanka scores an emphatic 119-run run victory over England in the first One-Day International held in Dambulla, Sri Lanka.

4 Sri Lanka beats England by 65 runs in the second One-Day International in Dambulla.

5 Australia beats India by 47 runs the in third One-Day International in Hyderabad, India.

6 Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao defends his super featherweight title against Marc Antonio Barrera by a unanimous decision after 12 rounds.

7 Justine Henin Hardin beats France's Tatiana Golovin 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the Stuttgart Grand Prix final, landing her eighth title of the year.

- American sprinter Marion Jones surrenders the five 2000 Sydney Olympic gold medals she won and receives a two-year ban after admitting to using steroids prior to the games.

8 Saqib Ali is named the captain of the UAE Twenty20 team that will take part in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Twenty20 in Kuwait.

9 UAE's No 1 squash player, Khawaja Adil Maqbool, wins the Dunlop-backed PSA National Closed Satellite Circuit IV.

17 India beats Australia by 2 wickets in the seventh and final One-Day International in Mumbai. Australia wins the series 4-2.

20 South Africa wins the Rugby World Cup final against England at the Stade de France, outside Paris.

- India beats Australia by seven wickets in a Twenty20 international in Mumbai.

25 Eleven-year-old Ariya Jutanukarn tees off at the Honda LGPA in Thailand and becomes the youngest golfer to compete in a major international tour event.

- Qatar launches its bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games. Six cities will compete to host the event.

27 Spirit of Norway, driven by Bjorn Rune Gjelsten and Steve Curtis, wins the Class One World Powerboat Championship in Porto Marina in Egypt.

- The Boston Red Sox win the 2007 Major League Baseball World Series after defeating the Colorado Rockies in Denver.

- The UAE junior golf team wins in all four categories at the 2007 Pan Arab Championships in Egypt.

- Bowler Naif Ogab wins the UAE's first gold metal at the Asian Indoor Games in Macau.

29 South Africa wins the fifth and final One-Day International by 14 runs against Pakistan to capture the series 3-2.

30 The International Committee for Fair Play awards Shaikha Maitha the fair play award for 2006 in the Sports Career category.

- Fifa announces Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup finals.

ENTERTAINMENT

30 Actor-singer Robert Goulet dies from pulmunary fibrosis at the age of 73.