October 5, 2009 (Monday)
- The United States Federal Trade Commission issues regulations for writers of blogs. (Wired Magazine)
- The 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine goes to Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak, "for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase". (AP) (Nobel Foundation)
- An early morning passenger train bound for Bangkok derails in Hua Hin, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens more. (The Hindu) (Malaysia Star) (The NZ Herald)[permanent dead link] (Reuters) (BBC)
- Samoans cram into churches and community halls to remember friends and relatives killed in a recent tsunami. (BBC)
- The Canadian province of Quebec is planning a lawsuit against tobacco companies to seek damages for healthcare costs. (Reuters)
- Five people are killed in a suicide bomb attack at a United Nations World Food Programme office in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Daily Times) (The New York Times)
- Honduran interim President Roberto Micheletti lifts a decree restricting civil liberties. (Al Jazeera) (CBC) (Xinhua)
- United States President Barack Obama delays a meeting with the Dalai Lama until after a visit to China. (The Washington Post) (The Times)
- The Deputy Chief Executive of France Télécom, Louis-Pierre Wene, resigns over a series of suicides at the company. (euronews) (CNN)
- Airline pilots in Europe stage demonstrations in several cities against working hours. (BBC) (The Times of India) (CNN)
- China pledges to strengthen bonds with isolated North Korea, nudging it to improve its economy. (Reuters)