• Fed Cuts Interest Rate:
  In an effort to shore up the global market slide [1], the Federal Reserve and six other major banks worldwid cut interest rates. The Fed downgraded from 2 percent to 1.5 percent. Banks in the UK, China, and Canada followed suit after five days [2] of tumbling stocks. The Fed's action will reduce borrowing costs immediately to US borrowers whose home-equity loans are tied to the prime interest rate.



• Judge Orders 17 Freed From Gitmo:
  A federal judge ordered the Bush administration to free 17 Guantanamo Bay detainees [3] by the end of the week, the first such order in seven years of disputes over the detentions. The 17 men have been held since 2002 and are members of a western Chinese minority. The judge says, “I think the moment has arrived for the court to shine the light of constitutionality on the reasons for detention."
• Russia Begins Georgia Pull-Out:
  Russia says its troops are leaving [4] the so-called "buffer zone" around South Ossetia and five of the six checkpoints have been dismantled. Under a ceasefire deal, Moscow has to pull troops out of other areas around South Ossetia by Friday, though they will keep 8,000 troops in areas they've recognized as independent states. The move is part of the deal brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in August.

Source [5]