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October

Specialty Definition: October

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Specialty Definition: October

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

simple:October

October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days. From the Latin octo for "eight" (it was originally the eighth month of the year, before January and February were inserted).

October begins on the same day of the week as January, except in leap years.

Holidays

• National Coming Out Day
• Halloween
• Samhain (an approximate date)

See Also

• January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
• Historical anniversaries
• October 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "October."

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October 2001

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December

Films:

• October 5 - Joy Ride
• October 19 - From Hell

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "October 2001."

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October 2002

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December

A timeline of events in the news for October, 2002.

See also:

• Moscow theatre siege
• Beltway sniper attacks
• Bali car bombing - Myyrmanni bombing - Zamboanga bombings
• Afghanistan timeline October 2002

October 31, 2002

• The Russian Health Minister Yuri Shevchenko has now stated that the incapacitating agent used in the storming of the Moscow theatre siege was a fentanyl derivative.
• Over a million people gather in Greenwich Village to celebrate Halloween.
• Nine bombs exploded in Soweto, South Africa and the vicinity and one near Pretoria. It is believed to be the work of white right-wing soldiers or police.
• Pat Buchanan denounces Canada as Soviet Canuckistan over the warning issued by the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding travel to the US (see October 29 below.)

October 30, 2002

• Recent deaths: Run-DMC DJ Jam Master Jay is shot and killed at age 37.
• The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party chose former Vice President of the United States Walter Mondale as their candidate for the United States Senate seat of recently-deceased Senator Paul Wellstone from Minnesota.
• The government of Canada issued a travel advisory to the United States for all Canadian citizens born in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan or Syria after the United States announced that anyone born in those countries will be photographed and fingerprinted upon arrival in the United States.
• The European Union accused tobacco company R.J. Reynolds of selling black market cigarettes to drug traffickers and mobsters from Italy, Russia, Colombia and the Balkans.

October 29, 2002

• Moscow theatre siege: Some medical experts now believe that the Moscow hostages and terrorists were gassed with a military incapacitating agent such as BZ or a similar substance. Others claim that a fentanyl derivative may have been used. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow stated that it believed that the substance was an opiate. Other candidates suggested include the Russian incapacitating agent Kolokol-1 and aerosolized Valium. Yet another medical expert has stated that the gas used is a common anaesthetic gas that is commonly used in Europe.
• Jack the Ripper: The crime novelist Patricia Cornwell believes that she may have DNA evidence that identifies the painter Walter Sickert as the 19th century serial killer Jack the Ripper.
• The Canadian ministry of foreign affairs issues an advisory to Canadians born in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, and Sudan warning them to "consider carefully" whether to go to the United States for "any reason." This follows a US law requiring photos and fingerprints of Canadian citizens born in those countries upon entering the US, as well as the deportation to Syria of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen. The American ambassador, Paul Cellucci, later assures the Canadian government that all Canadian passport holders will be treated equally; however, further incidents attributed to racial profiling take place.

October 28, 2002

• Sports: Team Bath become the first university team to qualify for the FA Cup First Round since 1882. They beat Horsham 4-3 on penalties in the Fourth Qualifying Round replay.

October 27, 2002

• Sports: The Anaheim Angels win the 2002 World Series by 4 games to 3, with a 4-1 win over the San Francisco Giants in Game 7.
• Sports: Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys passes Walter Payton as the NFL's leading rusher in a 17-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks
• Leftist Luis Inacio Lula da Silva handily wins Brazil's presidential election

October 26, 2002

• Sports: The Anaheim Angels force a decisive 7th game with the San Francisco Giants in the 2002 World Series with a dramatic late-inning rally from 5-0 to win 6-5
• Moscow theatre siege: Special forces of the Russian army attacked the Chechen separatists who were holding hostages in a Moscow theater. 50 of the 53 separatists and 117 of the 800 hostages were killed. Most of hostages were killed by poison gas used by the special forces, with most of the surviving hostages hospitalised with gas poisoning.

October 25, 2002

• Recent celebrity deaths: Richard Harris, Irish actor, dies at 72 in hospital from Hodgkin's disease, a form of lymphoma.
• Recent celebrity deaths: Paul Wellstone, U.S. Senator, is killed in a plane crash with his wife, daughter, and five others.
• Moscow theatre siege: The Chechen separatist "suicide squad" released eight children but kept some 700 people hostage in a Moscow theater rigged with explosives. Diplomats waited for the gunmen to honor a pledge to free about 75 foreigners among their hostages, including Australians, Austrians, Britons, Germans and three Americans.
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Hundreds of Israeli soldiers backed by scores of tanks and other military vehicles took control of the Palestinian city of Jenin in response to a suicide bombing that killed 14 people.
• Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi dissolved the country's Parliament, officially starting the campaign for one of the East African country's most competitive general elections and closing his tenure as one of Africa's longest ruling leaders.
• IBM has announced that its Blue Gene petaflop supercomputer architecture will use the Linux operating system.

October 24, 2002

• Moscow theatre siege: The Chechen rebels holding hundreds of hostages in a Moscow theater shot and killed one captive and said they were ready to die for their cause, warning that thousands more of their comrades were "keen on dying."
• Beltway sniper: Within hours of Police Chief Charles Moose announcing that John Allen Muhammed was wanted in connection with the investigation, Muhammed and his 17-year-old stepson John Lee Malvo were arrested on federal weapons charges, found with the rifle used in the shootings.
• Recent celebrity deaths: Adolph Green, prolific playwright and lyricist, dies at 87. With songwriter Betty Comden, he wrote the hit Broadway musicals On the Town, Wonderful Town, and Bells Are Ringing and screenplays for Singin' in the Rain and The Band Wagon.
• Recent celebrity deaths: Harry Hay, gay rights activist. He founded the Mattachine Society, the first gay rights group in the US. He also helped found the Rainbow Coalition and the Radical Faeries.

October 23, 2002

• Moscow theatre siege: Suspected Chechen guerrillas took hundreds hostage in a theater in Moscow, threatening to blow up the building and demanding withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya.
• Washington sniper: Police reported that a ransom note was left at the scene of the latest shooting by the person believed to have shot 13 people and killed 9. The note apparently demanded $10 million, and it contained a threat to local residents saying, "Your children are not safe anywhere at any time."
• recent celebrity deaths: Former CIA chief Richard Helms dies at 89.

October 22, 2002

• The German Bundestag made Gerhard Schröder again Chancellor. He was elected with 305 votes, one vote out of the 306 red-green coalition missing. After that, the new ministers of the Bundesregierung were appointed.
• Canadian author Yann Martel won the Booker Prize for his "quirky fable" Life of Pi. The prize is worth £50,000 ($77,300). Martel's work was picked from 130 novels from Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth.

October 21, 2002

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Sixteen people were killed and 30 wounded when a car pulled alongside a commuter bus and exploded in Israel's Karkur Junction. The militant Islamic Jihad movement claimed responsibility for the attack, which police described as a suicide bombing.
• Washington sniper: Authorities took two men into custody for questioning in the Washington-area sniper attacks, after surrounding a white van parked at a pay phone. They were later said not to be related to the sniper investigation.
• European Union: The Irish referendum on the Treaty of Nice has approved Ireland's acceptance of the treaty, removing an obstacle to the proposed expansion of the EU to 25 countries. Since the caretaker administration in the Netherlands has also agreed not to veto the expansion, relying on the support of the parliamentary opposition, it seems that it will be approved by all member states.
• Astronomy: Asteroid 2002 AA29 appears to be an astronomical object sharing the orbit of the Earth in an unusual "horseshoe" orbit.

October 19, 2002

• Computer chess: Chess champion Vladimir Kramnik and the computer program Deep Fritz have drawn the Brains in Bahrain match, a series of eight games, with 4 points each.

October 18, 2002

• October 18, 2002 Manila bus bombing: A bomb exploded in suburban Manila, destroying a bus and killing at least three people, while 23 others were wounded. A grenade exploded in the Philippine capital's financial district hours earlier. The bomb attacks occurred only one day after two deadly bombings in the southern Philippines.
• An armed individual entered a school in Stuttgart, Germany and held five people hostage, demanding a ransom for their release. The hostages were known to be four schoolchildren and one teacher. The 16-year old gunman subsequently released the hostages and surrendered peacefully.
• Valentin Tsvetkov, governor of the Russian Far East region of Magadan, was assassinated on the streets in Moscow, in what authorities claim was probably a contract killing.

October 17, 2002

• Zamboanga bombings: Two bombs exploded in the main shopping district of the mostly Christian city of Zamboanga in the southern Philippines, killing six and wounding about 150. It was the second major evident terrorist incident in southeast Asia in less than a week. Suspicion immediately focused on Jemaah Islamiyah, an Islamic extremist group also being investigated for the October 11 Bali car bombing, in which more than 180 people died.
• Astronomy: There is further evidence for the existence of a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way galaxy. The object Sagittarius A* has now been identified as the black hole at the galactic centre by a team led by Rainer Schödel of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, who observed the behavior of the star S2 which is near Sagittarius A*.
• U.S. officials announce the existence of a clandestine North Korea nuclear weapons program, admitted to by North Korean officials.

October 16, 2002

• Politics of the Netherlands: the cabinet of Balkenende resigns. Because of the constant internal fighting in the new party LPF, the other two governing parties, CDA and VVD decided that continuing the coalition was impossible. It seems almost certain that there will be new elections, possibly as early as December.
• Officials in Brussels fear that the collapse in the Netherlands will delay the expansion of the EU. The Netherlands cabinet was already divided on the issue and if new elections are to be held it may take 4-5 months before another cabinet is installed that is willing to make a decision.
• Politics of Germany: Gerhard Schröder and Joschka Fischer signed the coalition treaty for the second red-green cabinet.

October 15, 2002

• A Kiev judge ordered prosecutors to open a criminal probe of Ukraine's veteran President Leonid Kuchma, on charges of corruption and abuse of power.
• ImClone Systems founder Sam Waksal pleaded guilty to bank fraud and conspiracy in an insider trading scandal that threatens Martha Stewart and her home decorating empire.

October 14, 2002

• The San Francisco Giants defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, 4 games to 1, to win the National League Championship Series and move on the World Series. They will play the Anaheim Angels, who defeated the Minnesota Twins 4 games to 1 to win the American League Championship Series.
• The Washington sniper strikes again at 9:15 pm at a Home Depot in Falls Church, Virginia, making Linda Franklin the ninth victim.
• United Kingdom took back the reins of government in Northern Ireland amid a crisis in the peace process provoked by a spying scandal, but vowed to try and restore home rule early next year. See also Good Friday Agreement.
• Indonesia's defense minister blamed al-Qaida and its extremist allies for the massive bomb attack that killed more than 180 people at a nightclub on the resort island of Bali.

October 13, 2002

• U.S. President George W. Bush amongst many others has condemned the perpetrators of the Bali car bombing of October 11. The death toll has now risen to at least 187.

October 12, 2002

• Ethnic rioting in India results in numerous deaths. The riots are said to be a reaction to recent public comments by Jerry Falwell, American televangelist, derogatory of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.
• 2002 Bali terrorist bombing: A car-bomb on theIndonesian island of Bali explodes outside a nightclub killing at least 182 people, 75% of whom are said to have been foreign holidaymakers. Another 210 people are said to have been injured. The principal suspects for this terrorist incident are a group seeking to establish an Islamic state in Indonesia, Jemaah Islamiyah, although it could equally be the work of al-Qaeda. Another bomb explodes at around the same time in the nearby town of Denpasar, Bali.

October 11, 2002

• U.S. plan to invade Iraq: The United States Senate voted to give war powers to President George W. Bush as part of the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iraq.
• At the same time, Jimmy Carter is honored with the Nobel Peace Prize.
• Myyrmanni bombing: A suicide bomber explodes at the Myyrmanni Shopping Mall in Vantaa, Finland, killing 7 including the bomber.
• United States embassy guards in Tel Aviv, Israel stopped a suicide bomber from setting off a bomb in a crowded beachfront cafe.
• More than 10,000 supporters of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat rallied in Gaza City to show strength against Hamas.

October 10, 2002

• France confirms that an explosion aboard French oil tanker Limburg off the coast of Yemen was, indeed, a terrorist act.
• Hungarian Holocaust survivor Imre Kertesz wins the Nobel Prize for Literature. The Nobel Committee singled out his 1975 novel Fateless, a semiautobiographical account of a boy sent to Auschwitz who survives by detaching himself from the everyday gritty reality.
• In the Journal Nature, anthropologist Milford Wolpoff and colleagues at the University of Michigan argued that the fossil skull discovered in Chad in July is not that of an early human, but of an ape.
• A suicide bomber killed a 71-year-old woman and injured several other at a bus stop near Tel Aviv, Israel.
• A large crowd of Palestinian police officers and militiamen marched in a funeral procession for a policeman killed by a Hamas militiaman. Hamas claims that, although they did not authorize the killing, it was justified under Islamic law.
• The International Court of Justice grants sovereignty over the Bakassi peninsular to Cameroon and not Nigeria.

October 9, 2002

• The European Commission of the European Union has announced that ten countries - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - have met its criteria for entry, opening the way for an expansion of the EU from 15 member states to 25. The European Parliament has still to consider each candidate individually and the final decision will require the approval of the current member states.
• Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is making various ceremonial appearances in Canada in her role as the Queen of Canada.
• Lawrence Lessig argues Eldred v. Ashcroft in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. The case challenges retroactive copyright extensions passed by Congress, and potentially affects millions of copyrighted works.
• Public Interest group Harvardwatch released a report on Harken's partnership with Harvard University

October 7, 2002

• Stock market downturn of 2002: Nasdaq falls 1.8% to 1119.40, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index falls 1.4% to 7422.84, and the S&P falls 1.91% to 785.28, levels not reached since August 1996, mid-1997, and spring of 1997 respectively.
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israeli troops raid Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, killing 13 (10 from a helicopter missile) and wounding as many as 100, after Palestinians fire a rocket at a Jewish settlement in the area. Later Palestinians kidnap and kill Rajeh Abu Lehiya, chief of the Palestinian riot police, and two others die in gunfire during a police-Hamas supporters conflict.
• Astronomy: Announcement of the discovery of Quaoar a planetoid object circling the Sun

October 6, 2002

• The Limburg, a French oil tanker, explodes off the coast of Yemen, in a possible terrorist attack.
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: In the West Bank village of Akraba, Jewish settlers fire upon Palestinians picking olives, shooting dead 24-year-old Hani Yusuf and wounding another. Israelis soldiers shoot dead Samir Nursi, an Islamic Jihad gunman, in a gun battle in the Jenin refugee camp.
• recent celebrity deaths: Prince Claus of the Netherlands died aged 76.
• Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei was canonized by Pope John Paul II

October 5, 2002

• Bertrand Delanoë, mayor of Paris stabbed in the abdomen at city hall during the Nuits Blanches event.

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "October 2002."

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October 2003

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December

A timeline of events in the news for October, 2003.

See also:

• Japan general election
• Iraq timeline
• Liberian crisis
• North Korea crisis
• Hutton Inquiry
• Bloody Sunday Inquiry
• Road map for peace
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• U.S. Presidential Election
• Same-sex marriage
• SCO v. IBM
• War on Terrorism
• Afghanistan timeline
• 2003 Rugby Union World Cup

October 31, 2003

• Japan: The trial of Shoko Asahara, accused of involvement in the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, ends in Japan with final statements from lawyers. The next court session is to be held in mid-February 2004. [1]
• Russia: The furor surrounding Yukos deepens with an outspoken statement from the Russian Prime Minister expressing deep concern about the freezing of Yukos shares. [1]
• United Kingdom: Kenneth Clark has ruled himself out of the contest to lead the Conservative Party and the field is left potentially clear for Michael Howard to be elected unopposed. [1]
• Surfer Bethany Hamilton's arm is bitten off by a shark

October 30, 2003

• Security: A plastic toy gun, used as part of a Halloween costume, sparks a two-hour-long terrorism scare at the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. [1]
• Economics: The U.S. Commerce Department reports that U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 7.2% in the third quarter, the fastest growth rate since 1984. [1]
• Russia: Vladimir Putin removes his Chief of Staff as the political battle with the "oligarchs", and between hard-liners and liberals, continues. class="external">[1 Russian judicial authorities have seized control of Yukos, the giant oil company. [1]
• Occupation of Iraq: Officials postpone awarding two contracts to repair Iraq's oil refineries and pipelines (primarily because of sabotage and dilapidated conditions). [1] An investigation has been started on the high price that the US is paying to Kellogg, Brown and Root for oil imported from Kuwait. nl:[1]. A US research organization, the Center for Public Integrity, says that firms awarded contracts in Iraq have tended to be big donors (in the past) to the United States Republican Party. [1] The UN announces that it is withdrawing its remaining international staff from Baghdad, perhaps temporarily. [1]
• Malaysia: After 22 years in power, Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad retires. He is succeeded by Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi [1]
• Israel: Israel is to train pigs to do guard work in Israeli settlements. The pigs have a better sense of smell than dogs and can be trained to walk towards perceived threats (e.g. explosives). [1]

October 29, 2003

• Medicine: The US FDA approves Risperdal Consta (Risperidone long-acting injection) for the treatment of schizophrenia. Although already approved in several other countries, it is the first long-acting, atypical antipsychotic medication to be approved by the FDA.
• Republic of Ireland: The Garda Siochána, the Irish police force, opens a criminal investigation following a hoax telephone call on 27 October from a woman claiming that she had abandoned her newborn baby in a derelict flat in Dublin. Hundreds of Gardaí had mounted a round the clock search of thousands of derelict sites in the working class suburb of Ballymun to find the child, as fears grew for its safety amid plummeting temperatures. Police later concluded that no such child existed and that the series of phone calls made to them and to childcare charities had been a deliberate hoax.
• United Kingdom: British Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith loses a vote of confidence in his parliamentary party by 90 votes to 75 and, in accordance with party rules, resigns from the leadership. A new leadership election is called. Shadow Deputy Prime Minister David Davis, previously tipped as a future leader, surprises Westminster by announcing that he will not seek the leadership and endorses former Home Secretary Michael Howard, who is now seen as the frontrunner to assume the leadership. Other leading politicians endorse Howard, once famously described by a colleague as having "something of the night about him." [1] [1]
• Occupation of Iraq: The International Red Cross announces that it is to scale back its commitments to Iraq. [1] Two more GIs are killed, bringing the total killed since May 1 to 115. [1]
• Mining: After six days trapped underground, eleven of the last thirteen remaining Russian coal miners have been rescued by underground rescuers from the mine where they were trapped underground. One more miner was found dead, and another is still missing. 33 miners had already been rescued on Sunday.
• Earth's magnetic field: The Earth's magnetosphere is hit by the recent solar flare causing a brief but intense geomagnetic storm, provoking unusual displays of northern lights. [1]

October 28, 2003

• Economics: The United States Federal Reserve leaves its key interest rate unchanged at today's meeting, saying that rates will be kept low for a considerable period. [1]
• Solar system: The sun emits another coronal mass ejection directly toward the Earth, the 3rd largest solar flare on record. The effects are projected to affect Earth on the 29th. class="external">[1
• California: Wildfires are largest in state history; 1,500 homes are destroyed, 16 people killed and 600,000 acres burned. Evacuations are ordered from parts of cities in Los Angeles and San Diego counties. [1] The conflagration also spreads across the border into the Mexican state of Baja California, where two deaths are reported.
• United Kingdom: The Conservative Party's 1922 Committee announces that leader Iain Duncan Smith will face an immediate vote of confidence in his leadership on the following day, after at least 25 backbenchers formally request it. [1]
• Japan - politics: The campaign for Japan general election, 2003 starts, lasting until a voting date, Nov 9. [1]

October 27, 2003

• Occupation of Iraq: More than 40 people are killed and over 200 are injured in a wave of coordinated bomb attacks on the Red Cross compound and several local police stations in Baghdad. [1]. George W. Bush states that the bombings are a sign of desperation by the insurgents. [1]
• Mutual funds: U.S. fund group Putnam Investments fires four fund managers as scandals about improper and/or fraudulent dealings reach the mutual fund industry. [1]
• Politics of Japan: Former Prime Ministers Miyazawa Kiichi and Nakasone Yasuhiro announce that they are going to retire.
• Northwest Territories general election, 2003: The writ is dropped for the 19 electoral districts of the Northwest Territories to elect members to the 15th session of the consensus government.

October 26, 2003

• California: Wildfires continue to rage in Southern California. The scheduled NFL Monday Night Football game between the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins is relocated from San Diego, California to Tempe, Arizona as a consequence of the fires. [1]
• Occupation of Iraq: The Al Rashid Hotel in Baghdad where US deputy defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying has been evacuated after several rockets were fired at it in the morning. 1 US Colonel was killed and 15 individuals wounded (3 seriously) in the attack. class="external">[1. Two more explosions occured near Al Rashid hotel later towards the evening. Further investigations confirm that Iraq had no active nuclear program, but did not relinquish nuclear ambitions or technical records. [1] [1]
• Syria: The President of Syria says that Iran and Syria, which are increasingly close allies, are capable of neutralizing conspiracies of foreign powers (implicitly referring to the USA and Israel). [1]
• Russia: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the country's wealthiest businessman, has been arrested and is being held in Moscow facing charges of fraud and tax evasion. [1]

October 25, 2003

• Israel: Israel publishes map of fence. [1]
• World Series: Baseball: The Florida Marlins defeat the New York Yankees, 4 games to 2, to win the 2003 World Series. [1]
• Occupation of Iraq: A US Blackhawk helicopter is brought down near Tikrit by Iraqi militants. The Daily Star Lebanon reports that the US is effectively plundering Iraq following the occupation. [1] The daily average of attacks on US troops rises and reaches about 25-26 per day. [1] 100,000 march against the occupation of Iraq in Washington DC. [1]
• United Kingdom: Tony Blair amazes his advisers and ignores public opinion by insisting that the UK will press ahead with GM technology. [1]
• Daylight saving time: Many countries in the Northern Hemisphere will end daylight saving time in the night from October 25 to October 26. In the Southern Hemisphere daylight saving time will start only in the Australian states of New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.

October 24, 2003

• Mining : 49 miners are trapped in a Russian mine as water began seeping into the mine, disabling electrical systems [1].
• Palestine: The body of the Hamas militant killed in the attack on an Israeli military camp (that killed 3 Israeli soldiers) returns to his family in their refugee camp. [1]
• 2003 invasion of Iraq: The US Senate Committee on Intelligence finalizes its report on pre-war intelligence and is highly critical e.g. of George Tenet and the quality of US intelligence about Iraq's weapons. [1]
• Space weather: Earth is expected to be hit by a solar ion storm, potentially disrupting satellite communications and posing a threat to electric power transmission grids. Canada, the northern US northern Europe are expected to be treated to an exceptional display of aurora borealis. class="external">[1
• Aircraft: The final flights of Concorde, from New York, Edinburgh, and a loop around the Bay of Biscay, touch down at Heathrow International Airport around 1600 BST, marking the end of 27 years of commercial supersonic flight. [1]
• Same-sex marriage: Three same-sex couples in Spain, including a Madrid city councilman, apply for marriage licenses. They state that if the registry judge does not grant them the licenses, they will appeal to Spain's constitutional court, and as far as the European Court of Human Rights if necessary. They describe their actions as inspired by the recent rulings on same-sex marriage in Canada. [1]
• Computing: Mac OS X v. 10.3 (Panther) is released.

October 23, 2003

• Canada: Dalton McGuinty is sworn in as the 24th premier of Ontario. [1]
• Occupation of Iraq: There is every sign that the international conference in Madrid at which pledges to re-build Iraq are hoped for will disappoint and e.g. Paul Bremer seeks to lower expectations. class="external">[1
• United States Supreme Court: Before a conservative legal organization, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia ridicules the recent Supreme Court decision overturning anti-sodomy laws in Texas, saying that the Court had "held to be a constitutional right what had been a criminal offense at the time of the founding and for nearly 200 years thereafter." According to news reports, Scalia adopted a mocking tone to read from the court's ruling. [1]

October 22, 2003

• India: India launches a peace initiative to normalise relations with Pakistan. Formal talks are conditional on Islamabad ending Kashmiri cross-border terrorism initiatives. [1]
• Mahathir bin Mohamad, outgoing prime minister of Malaysia, accuses leading democratic nations of terrorising the world. He seemed to be referring to the USA, Israel, and Australia. [1]
• Occupation of Iraq: The commander of US ground forces in Iraq says that Al-Qaeda is now operating in Iraq as witnessed by increasingly sophisticated attacks on US troops. [1]
• European Union and Guantanamo Bay: Leaders of the European Union parliament urge the EU to take action over 26 Europeans being held indefinitely by the USA without charges, without trial, without legal representation at Guantanamo Bay. The detainees are experiencing increasing psychological problems. [1]
• Human Rights Watch (HRW) releases a report about mentally ill inmates of United States prisons. It concludes that mentally ill offenders are frequently physically abused, punished by staff for self-destructive behavior and not given the treatment they need. [1]
• Afghanistan: The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan says that his troops are increasingly facing a new "excellently trained" species of terrorist. [1]
• Sport - Performance enhancing drugs: Top British runner Dwain Chambers tests positive for the drug tetrahydrogestrinone (THG). The steroid was previously believed to be undetectable but an anonymous source provided a used syringe containing traces last week. [1]
• Politics of Japan: A popular politician Tanaka Makiko resigns as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. Her membership has been suspended since last year. [1]
• Indy Racing League: Racecar driver Tony Renna is killed in a crash during a test drive at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. [1]

October 21, 2003

• War on Terrorism: US officials state that they believe Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was killed by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. [1]
• North Sea: Scientists call for a total ban on fishing for cod in the North Sea to allow stocks to recover from near extinction. [1]
• Afghanistan: The commander of UN forces in Afghanistan warns that the security of Kabul is at risk if security is not achieved in the Afghan countryside. [1]
• Occupation of Iraq: Human Rights Watch (HRW) accuses US troops of using excessive force against civilians in Iraq. [1]
• Iran's Supreme Council agrees to comply with the IAEA, allow inspections of its nuclear facilities, and suspend its uranium enrichment program. [2]class="external">[1
• Africa: Outbreaks of locusts are reported in Mauritania, Niger and Sudan and might spread to other areas of north Africa. [1]
• Northern Ireland: In a series of moves designed to bring about final implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, the British Government confirms that elections to the region's devolved administration will be held on November 26. The IRA announces a further act of weapons decommissioning. Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams declares "the end to physical force republicanism". Statements from all the major parties involved are expected over the course of the day.[2]class="external">[1
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The UN General Assembly approves a resolution demanding that Israel remove a security fence in the West Bank. The resolution passes by an overwhelming majority of 144 to 4 with the USA voting against the motion. class="external">[1
• Newfoundland and Labrador general election, 2003: The Tories of Danny Williams defeat the incumbent Liberals under Premier Roger Grimes, taking more than two-thirds of the seats in the House of Assembly. [1]
• Ecuador - A trial opens in Lago Agrio in which US oil company ChevronTexaco is charged with polluting a once-pristine swath of the Amazon rainforest. The plaintiffs' lawyers have put a US$1 billion price tag on clean up and medical care for the region's inhabitants.

[1]

October 20, 2003

• Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien indicates that during an informal meeting between him and Vladimir Putin, the Russian president indicated that he was tentatively in favour of signing the Kyoto Protocol. Russia's signature is absolutely necessary for the protocol to acquire the force of law. [1]
• Public health in France: Cigarette prices in France go up by 20% today. Tobacconists (tobacco retailers) go on strike. [1]
• United States deficit: The United States posts a record budget deficit of $374.2 billion in the fiscal year ending September 30. The figure broke the previous record of $290 billion, set in 1992. The number was actually better than the U.S. government's own forecast of $455 billion. [1]
• United States: The publicist of Robert de Niro announces that the actor has prostate cancer. [1]
• Politics of Switzerland: Early results in Swiss elections show larger-than-predicted gains for the right-wing Swiss People's Party. [1]
• Archaeology - Early Art: An Italian archaeologist claims to have found a carved two-faced head over 200,000 years old. The carving is possible the work of Homo erectus.[1]
• Space Exploration - The Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station bringing a new crew of three from Russia, the United States, and Spain. [1]
• Canada: A man survives a fall over Niagara Falls without any protective device. [1]

October 19, 2003

• United Kingdom: A new biography, reported in The Sunday Times, claims that the prosecution of Oscar Wilde for sodomy was ordered by the then Liberal government, in a deal with the Marquess of Queensbury, the father of Lord Alfred Douglas, to prevent his exposure of a homosexual relationship between another of his sons, Viscount Drumlanrig, and British Prime Minister Lord Rosebery. According to reports, future prime minister Herbert Asquith played a key role in negotiating the deal, which led to the imprisonment of the Irish writer.
• United Kingdom: Frank Bruno leaves hospital in the UK where he has been undergoing treatment for depression. [1]
• United Kingdom: British Prime Minister Tony Blair is rushed to hospital with heart problems. An irregular heart-beat is diagnosed. Blair is given a cardioversion in hospital, where he stays for 4 or 5 hours before going back to Number 10 Downing Street, and is ordered by his doctors to take 24 hours complete rest. [1]
• Roman Catholicism: Pope John Paul II beatifies Mother Teresa. Hundreds of thousands attend the ceremony in St. Peter's Square. Mother Teresa, who founded the Missionaries of Charity, is now one step from sainthood. [1]
• International relations: South Korea and the United States are reported to be discussing the possible withdrawal of thousands of US troops. [1]
• North Korea crisis: The United States says it is willing to give North Korea security assurances in exchange for a nuclear standdown. U.S. President Bush rules out a non-aggression treaty demanded by Pyongyang. [1]
• Afghanistan: Bomb blows up a pickup truck on a dirt road in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province, killing four people, and two Afghan soldiers are killed in a separate land mine explosion in the country's south. The explosions come two days after the Taliban allegedly distributed pamphlets warning against working with the post-Taliban government of President Hamid Karzai. [1]
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Palestinian gunmen attack an Israeli army foot patrol near a West Bank village, kills three soldiers and wounds a fourth, rescue services and security sources state. Gunfire attacks near the Palestinian village of Ein Yabrud, east of the town of Ramallah, not far from the Israeli settlement of Ofra. [1]
• Occupation of Iraq: A Fallujah roadside attack on a military convoy leaves an American armored car and munitions truck burning wrecks. No one was reported killed. Iraqis nearby were reportedly cheering. Emerging series of threats. [1]

October 18, 2003

• Asia - International relations: Leaders of Pacific-rim nations gather in Bangkok ahead of the 11th Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference. class="external">[1 [1] President George W. Bush arrives in Thailand ahead of an APEC summit of 21 Asia-Pacific government leaders which is likely to be dominated by discussions of the war on terrorism and trade friction between rich and poor nations (trade and currency).
• Middle East: New audio tapes, allegedly from Osama Bin Laden, air on the Al Jazeera network. [1]
• occupation of Iraq: Spain's government, one of the staunchest supporters of the attack on Iraq, has pledged $300 million over several years toward Iraqi reconstruction. [1]
• Oil: Zimbabwe's state oil corporation is reported to have run out of fuel, aggravating the continuing acute fuel crisis. [1]
• Natural disaster : Officials declare a state of emergency due to severe flooding in Squamish, British Columbia. Parts of the town are evacuated. [1]
• Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, visiting Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, is whisked out of Kabul owing to reports of a rocket attack. The reports turn out to be unfounded. [1]
• Kosovo and Metohia: First death of forced starvation in Europe for the last 50 years. Zhivorad Velikinac (age 65) from Urosevac died in hospital in Kosovska Mitrovica after not eating for more than a month - he was disabled and not able to get out of his apartment on his own, his Albanian neighbours were threatened not to bring him food anymore, and other Serbs were too afraid to visit him.

October 17, 2003

• Bolivia: Carlos Mesa is sworn in as the president of the country, after former president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was forced to resign as protests and strikes escalated in the Bolivian Gas War.
• USA: A former employee of Diebold Election Systems has accused the firm of violating state and federal election-certification rules during Georgia's 2002 gubernatorial election, the outcome of which defied all polls. [1]
• Occupation of Iraq: Four US troops and at least two police officers are killed in an ambush in Karbala and another incident in Iraq.[1]
• Airport security: In a challenge of airport security, box cutters turned up on Southwest Airlines planes in New Orleans and Houston, prompting a search of all U.S. commercial aircraft (See Nathaniel Heatwole). [1]
• Economy of China: Mainland China's economy grows at 9% in the latest period, on course to become the largest economy in the world by 2050. [1]
• Sport - Performance enhancing drugs: 'Several' unnamed US athletes are reported to have tested positive for an anabolic steroid the athletes expected to be undetectable. [1]
• World's tallest structures: A 197-ft spire is inserted on Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan, unseating Malaysia's Petronas Towers as the world's tallest building. [1]

October 16, 2003

• Baseball: The New York Yankees defeat the Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 3, to win the American League Championship Series and move on the World Series. They will play the Florida Marlins, who defeated the Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 3, to win the National League Championship Series.
• Occupation of Iraq: The UN Security Council unanimously approves a new US resolution on Iraq. Russia, Germany and France back the resolution but will not provide troops or money. class="external">[1. A survey indicates poor morale amongst the US troops serving in Iraq. [1]
• East Asia: President Bush re-affirms his intention to pressure China and Japan into fair policies re their exchange rates. [1]. China's trade surplus is shrinking as imports surge. [1] At the same time India is wrestling with the implications of the sustained appreciation of the rupee against the dollar. [1]
• Roman Catholicism: Tens of thousands of Catholics attend Mass celebrating the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II in Rome. The Pope will beatify Mother Teresa on Sunday, October 19, and install 30 new Cardinals on Tuesday, October 21. [1]
• Genetically Modified Foods: In a surprise move, Monsanto announce their intention to quit the European cereal business. Citing lack of success, the company has decided to cut costs. [1]
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: European Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten has questioned Israel's commitment to a two-states resolution to the conflict with the Palestinians. [1]
• Space exploration: The People's Republic of China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei returns to earth safely aboard a Shenzhou spacecraft, Shenzhou 5. During the 21-hour trip, he circled the planet 14 times. [1]
• Apple launches its iTunes Music Store, an online download music store, for the Microsoft Windows platform. The iTunes software can be downloaded from apple.com for free.

October 15, 2003

• 2003 occupation of Iraq: US concessions to proposals from Russia, the People's Republic of China and Pakistan ensure their support for a UN Security Council resolution to provide greater international legitimacy to the occupation force and the Iraq Interim Governing Council. The resolution draft, legitimizing US military and political control over Iraq's political future, was already supported by Britain, Spain, Cameroon, Bulgaria, Angola, Mexico, Chile and Guinea. Russia agrees to act as a mediator to achieve support for the compromise also from Germany and France.class="external">[1
• Palestine: Four people die in a bomb attack on a convoy of US diplomatic vehicles in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian Authority head Yasser Arafat calls the bombing "dirty and shameful" in an exclusive interview on BBC News. Secretary of State Colin Powell urges Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei in a telephone call "to take action to put an end to violence and terrorism," according to a Palestinian official. [1] [1]
• Space exploration: China launches its first astronaut, Yang Liwei into orbit aboard a Shenzhou spacecraft, Shenzhou 5. The 21-hour trip is planned to circle the planet 14 times.class="external">[1
• 2003 occupation of Iraq: Japan offers $1.5 billion aid to Iraq in what could be the first tranche of a total of $5 billion. [1]
• United States Supreme Court : Supreme Court agreed to hear a case stemming from a lawsuit by an atheist over whether his nine-year-old daughter's tax-supported school should be permitted to hold a compulsory form of the recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance. An earlier court decision decreed that tax-supported schools may not require students to participate in the pledge. Plaintiffs in the suit charge claim that the patriotic oath as it is recited in most classrooms is an unconstitutional blending of church and state. The court is expected to settle whether the phrase "under God" will remain in the pledge when the court hears the case sometime next year. [1]
• Literature: The Irish-based Australian novelist D.B.C. Pierre (real name Peter Finlay) wins the 2003 Booker prize with his first novel, Vernon God Little, a satire on a Texas high-school massacre. [1]
• Religion: Anglican leaders from around the world meet in Lambeth Palace in an attempt to avoid a schism on the issue of homosexuality in the clergy. The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, Robin Eames says that the Anglican Communion is moving towards a "consensus situation" on the issue of homosexuality and the clergy at its meeting in Lambeth Palace. [1] [1]
• International relations - Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The US vetoes a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel's controversial West Bank wall. [1].
• New York City: A collision between the Staten Island Ferry "Andrew J. Barberi"\ and a pier at the St. George ferry terminal on Staten Island has left at least ten people dead. [1]
• The Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party of Canada strike a deal to merge. The deal creating the Conservative Party of Canada must be ratified by each party's membership before December 12. [1]
• Azerbaijan: Presidential elections. [1]
• Baseball: National League Championship Series: The Florida Marlins defeat the Chicago Cubs 4 games to 3 to advance to the 2003 World Series. [1]

October 14, 2003

• Religion: RTÉ's Prime Time current affairs programme reports that Cahal Cardinal Daly, then Bishop of Down and Conor, refused to accept allegations passed on to him by students of improper sexual conduct by Monsignor Micheal Ledwith, then head of Maynooth College, Ireland's major seminary. According to the programme Daly became aggressive, telling students "go back and say your prayers". The TV programme confirms that Daly, and his predecessor, Tómas Cardinal Ó Fiaich, were centrally involved in efforts to silence critics of Ledwith, including forcing the resignation of one dean of students who informed them of allegations that Ledwith was making sexual advances against student priests. Ledwith subsequently left the college after paying damages to an under-age teenager to whom he allegedly made sexual advances. Ledwith, once an internationally famous Catholic theologian tipped to become Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, is now associated with an American New Age cult. Having been tracked down by the programme, Ledwith refuses to comment 'for legal reasons'.
• Liberia: The Inauguration of a new government takes place. The rebels are expected to disarm.
• Sniper - Terrorism: Trial of John Allen Muhammad, who is suspected of being the Washington DC serial sniper, begins. He pleads not guilty.[1]
• Weapons: The BBC reports that dissident IRA groups are supplying the weapons that have led to a recent surge in UK gun crime. [1]
• Instant Messaging: Microsoft chatrooms are closing down today. Free unmoderated chatrooms outside the US are being closed in what Microsoft claim is an attempt to safeguard children. [1]
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israel orders the expulsion of 15 Palestinian detainees from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip. [1]
• British Politics: British Conservative Party leader, Iain Duncan Smith, is being investigated by Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Sir Philip Mawer over allegations that he paid a secretarial salary to his wife without her doing sufficient work to warrant the payments. [1]
• Law - A British HIV carrier is found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm after infecting two lovers. [1]

October 13, 2003

• 2003 occupation of Iraq: New draft resolution being circulated at UN aims at getting international aid. The resolution sets a deadline for initial steps, if only for a transitional step, toward restoring Iraqi sovereignty, giving the Iraqi Governing Council until December 15 to develop a timetable for writing a constitution and holding elections. The Bush administration proposes that the United Nations recognize the Iraqi Governing Council as a unit that "will embody the sovereignty" of Iraq until the country returns to self-rule. [1] [1]
• Mass media: Rush Limbaugh's drug addiction revealed by housekeeper. Newsweek reports Limbaugh’s exposure as a pain-pill addict began when Wilma Cline (who had worked at Limbaugh from 1997 to July 2001) showed up at the Palm Beach County state attorney's office late last year eager to sic the cops on her former boss. Cline had delivered enough pills to Limbaugh "to kill an elephant", she stated to the National Enquirer. [1]
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israeli incursion leaves 1,240 Palestinians homeless, UN agency finds. The Israeli demolition of refugee shelters in Rafah camp on the southern Gaza Strip last week has left 1,240 people homeless, United Nations relief workers state. [1]
• Ireland: The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, have begun talks in Downing Street on a possible restoration of devolved government in Northern Ireland.[1]
• 2003 occupation of Iraq: Three more US soldiers have been killed in separate incidents. [1]
• Medicine-The conjoined twins do well after their first night apart. They are in drug-induced comas, and will be for several more days, to aid their recovery. [1]

• Science and publishing: The Public Library of Science commences publication of an open-access scientific journal, PLoS Biology and its website is immediately overwhelmed by traffic. [1]

October 12, 2003

• Sports - Cricket: New Zealand prevents India from snatching victory in the first Test cricket at Ahmedabad. [1]
• Syria: Relations between Syria and the United States fall to a low point as Syria criticizes the USA for its failure to censure Israel. [1]
• The People's Republic of China confirms that it will launch its first manned space mission between October 15 and 17. The spacecraft plans to orbit Earth 14 times before landing in an undisclosed location. (See Taikonaut) class="external">[1
• Medicine: The operation to separate 2-year old Egyptian twins joined at the head is going well in Dallas; the two boys have been separated and no troublesome complications have arisen. The next steps are to reconstruct the boys' skulls including the skin. [1]
• East Asia: India, Thailand and the People's Republic of China press ahead with efforts and a study group aimed at creating a Free Trade Area. [1]
• 2003 occupation of Iraq: A huge explosion occurs in the center of Baghdad, possibly caused by car bomb. A number of fatalities are reported. The blast takes place in Baghdad Hotel. [1]
• Oncology: Researchers at Yale University have announced that they have discovered the detailed relationship between the Ras v12 gene, polarity genes, and metastasis of cancer in fruit flies. [1]
• Foreign relations of Liberia: Liberia drops diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (on Taiwan) and re-establishes ties with the People's Republic of China. This move was seen largely as a result of the PRC's lobbying in the UN, which is planning to deploy a peacekeeping force to Liberia. ROC Foreign Minister Eugene Chien offers to resign as a result.[1]

October 11, 2003

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israeli troops pull back in Gaza. Israel will continue to demolish tunnels. The Israeli army states it discovers three tunnels in the camp, but no weapons have been found. A Palestinian teenager is shot dead and up to 10 homes were demolished and water and electricity facilitiesies were hit. Palestinian militants were seeking to smuggle from Egypt shoulder-fired missiles that could be used against tanks, helicopters, and fighter jets. [1]
• Endangered species: President George W. Bush proposes a change in United States Fish and Wildlife Service regulations which would allow American citizens to travel abroad to capture, kill, and import endangered species. The regulation would not allow Americans to do the same to endangered species inside the United States.[1]
• Middle East: German magazine Der Spiegel reports that Israel is preparing an attack on Iranian atomic plants. [1]
• Middle East: Syria says that it will retaliate if attacked by Israel again. A week after Israel's attack the two countries continue to exchange insults; the UN Security Council is unable to agree on a resolution condemning Israel's attack. [1]
• Occupation of Iraq: The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), a grouping of Muslim nations meeting in Malaysia, calls on the US to quit Iraq as soon as possible and to hand over to the UN; the OIC also pledges support to Syria. [1]
• Japanese Politics: The House of Representatives of the Diet of Japan is dissolved by the Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro and the election will take place on November 9, 2003. See Japan general election, 2003 for more. [1]
• The Spanish rail company Renfe opens its second AVE high-speed line, serving Madrid, Guadalajara, Catalayud, Zaragoza, and Lleida. It is expected to reach Barcelona by 2005. (Another line is being built from Madrid to Valladolid, and others to Valencia and Lisbon are planned.)[1]

October 10, 2003

• Nobel Prize: Shirin Ebadi, Iranian human rights lawyer, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. [1]
• In Iraq two more soldiers are killed and 4 wounded in an ambush in the Sadr district of Bhagdad. The troops are lured into the ambush by civilians in what could be a new tactic by hostile forces in Iraq. [1]
• Camp X-ray: The United States' policy of detaining up to 600 people in Guantanamo Bay comes under fierce attack from the Red Cross and a group of American former judges, diplomats and military officers who are asking the Supreme Court of the United States to review the situation. The Red Cross criticises the policy of holding detainees without legal representation and in contravention of legal conventions; it reports a worrying deterioration in the mental health of detainees. [1]
• Canadian Census: NDP MP Bill Blaikie accuses the Canadian federal government of contracting out the census to American manufacturer Lockheed Martin, a charge Industry Minister Allan Rock does not confirm or deny. Blaikie raises dire concerns of privacy. [1]
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israeli military officer states Palestinian militants are feared to be using a tunnel to smuggle anti-tank missiles and portable anti-aircraft missiles, though no tunnels had been found yet. The army states it's encountering strong resistance from Palestinians using dozens of homemade bombs, rocket propelled grenades and other grenades and automatic weaponss. One Palestinian child and four adults killed in overnight attack on Rafah refugee camp in Gaza. [1]
• Sports - Rugby: The 2003 Rugby Union World Cup, with 20 countries competing for the William Webb Ellis Trophy over a 7 week period, starts after a spectacular opening ceremony at the Telstra Stadium, Sydney, Australia with Australia defeating Argentina 24-8 in the opening match. [1]
• Royalty: Prince Johan-Friso of the Netherlands, second son of Queen Beatrix and second in line of succession to the throne will lose his succession rights when he marries Mabel Wisse Smit without the Dutch Parliament's permission. Government assent was refused because the couple had been less than candid about the bride's interactions with gangster Klaas Bruisma in the late 1980s. [1]

October 9, 2003

• Palestinians: Time magazine reports that Yassir Arafat, whose health has led to confused reporting over the past days, with him variously reported as having had flu and having had a heart attack, in actuality has stomach cancer. [1]
• Nuclear Weapons: Pakistan successfully test fires a medium-range, nuclear-capable missile, the second such test in less than a week, the Pakistan army states. The Hatf-4 missile, also known as the Shaheen 1, was fired off, according to the army. The missile has a range of 435 miles, meaning it can hit most major targets in India. The test followed a similar launching on Friday of the short-range Hatf-2 Ghaznavi after which Pakistan said it was in the middle of a series of such tests. Pakistani army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said India had been told of each of the launches beforehand and he states the tests should not affect the international relations between the two neighbors. [1]
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered dispatches of Israeli troop reinforcements to the Palestinian Areas, West Bank and Gaza Strip, and weighed a call-up of reserves, citing new warnings about planned attacks by Palestinian militants. The Israeli military also extended a two-week lockdown on Palestinians' travel within the West Bank and Gaza in what it states as a bid to prevent further attacks. [1] Meanwhile, prime minister Ahmed Qurei is reported to have declined to form a government and told President Yasser Arafat he wants to quit his post.[1]
• Occupation of Iraq: Twin attacks in Baghdad killed a Spanish diplomat (by gunshot) and, in the other, at least ten people following an attack on a police station in Baghdad's main Shi'ite neighbourhood, exactly half a year since Coalition troops occupied the Iraqi city. [1] [1]
• Safe sex: A BBC report claims that the Roman Catholic Church is incorrectly claiming that condoms are ineffective to prevent the spread of AIDS for ideological reasons, and hence putting lives at risk in high-risk countries. [1] [1]
• Stereotyping: Ghettopoly board game upsets black leaders and clergymen in Philadelphia and they are outraged by this new unofficial version of Monopoly. The board game has "playas" acting like pimps, cards reading "You got yo whole neighbourhood addicted to crack. Collect $50" and squares labelled "Smitty's XXX Peep Show" and "Tyron's Gun Shop". Opponents state the game should be banned and have called for a boycott of Pennsylvania company, Urban Outfitters, unless they stop selling it. [1]
• Cell phones: A Dutch teenager suffers burns to his leg when his Nokia mobile phone explodes in his pants pocket. Nokia previously stated that such incidents could result from use of non-Nokia replacement batteries. [1]

October 8, 2003

• Nobel Prize: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded jointly to Peter Agre and Roderick MacKinnon for discoveries concerning aquaporins and ion channels in cell membranes. [1]
• California recall: Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger wins the election with 48.6% after voters decide to recall California governor Gray Davis. Schwarzenegger's closest rival was the Democrat Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, with 31.7%. class="external">[1
• Surveillance: The FBI admits that hidden listening devices planted in the office of the Mayor of Philadelphia were placed there by FBI agents. It is currently not known if the Mayor of Philadelphia is a target of an investigation nor is there any details provided about the nature of the probe that the device was part of. A law enforcement official cautions that the presence of the listening devices does not necessarily mean that the mayor, himself, is under investigation. [1] [1]
• Palestinians: Yasser Arafat has suffered a mild heart attack. Palestinian leadership officials tried to hide condition of the president. "Although he has had a slight heart attack, the doctors say he will make a full recovery. He is in full control. There is nothing to worry about," states close aide to Arafat. Officials state that it would "have created panic at a critical time when the Israelis are threatening Arafat's life". [1] [1]
• Saskatchewan general election, 2003: NDP Premier Lorne Calvert calls an election for November 5.

October 7, 2003

• California recall: The state of California held a special election to decide whether to recall Governor Gray Davis, and, if so, who to replace him with. Also on the ballot: Proposition 53, the "California Twenty-First Century Infrastructure Investment Fund," and Proposition 54, the "Racial Privacy Initiative."
• Nobel Prize: The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded jointly to Alexei Abrikosov, Vitaly Ginzburg and Anthony Leggett for their work on the theory of superconductors and superfluids. [1]
• Middle East: United Nations envoy and Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Terje Roed-Larsen, condemns attack from Lebanese territory that killed an Israeli soldier across the southern withdrawal line and urges Beirut to control the use of force everywhere in its jurisdiction. Roed-Larsen, states the attack "constitutes a clear violation of the Blue Line and Security Council resolutions and could escalate tension between Israel and its northern neighbours" and he calls on all sides to use diplomacy and take no action that "could increase the already high level of tension in the region". [1]
• Congo: UN spokesman states that a United Nations peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has discovered 65 bodies, mostly children, apparently massacred. [1]
• Occupation of Iraq: The Turkish Parliament votes (358-to-183) to approve the dispatch of peacekeepers to Iraq, in a major victory for United States efforts to broaden foreign involvement in Iraq. In Baghdad, Iraqi Governing Council officials state that they would oppose any new foreign troop deployment to Iraq. No formal decision had been made by the Council and leaders of the council have stated they would support this if the United States requested this. [1]
• Death Penalty: Some legal and medical professionals are stating warnings about the apparent tranquillity of a lethal injection, declaring this may be deceptive. According to these professional the standard chemical combination used to execute people may lead to paralysis that masks intense distress, leaving a wide-awake inmate unable to speak or cry out as he slowly suffocates. [1]
• Genetic engineering: Small group of protesters brave chilly winds and strip off outside New Zealand Parliament to lobby against lifting the Genetically modified food moratorium. [1]
• Surveillance: Vancouver bar patrons will soon have to produce identification and have their photograph taken every time they enter clubs or bars connected to an electronic network, the Barwatch system, designed to red-flag troublesome individuals. Once the system is in place, patrons will be asked to stand in front of a camera to have their picture taken and will then swipe their drivers licence, or possibly show some other form of identification, that will automatically give the establishment the patron's information. Some are likening the system to Big Brother [1] [1]
• Africa: The South African government announce they would not prosecute the five policemen accused of killing Steve Biko in 1977, citing insufficient evidence to support a murder charge. [1]
• Asia: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announces its intention to form a single-market "Asian Community" by 2020.

October 6, 2003

• 2004 U.S. Democratic Primaries: Senator Bob Graham announces on Larry King Live that he is ending his 2004 presidential campaign. [1]

• Chechen Election: Moscow's choice, the Kremlin-backed Akhmad Kadyrov swept presidential election in the Russian republic of Chechnya, winning 81 percent of the votes. [1]
• SCO v. IBM: In an open letter to the Linux community published by Silicon Graphics, SGI states it conducted a comprehensive comparison of the Linux kernel and the Unix System V source code owned by The SCO Group. According to the letter (authored by SGI Vice President of Software Rich Altmaier), SGI's "exhaustive comparison" of the source codes turned up only "trivial" code segments that "may arguably be related" to SCO's software. The letter also disputed SCO's claims that SGI inappropriately contributed its XFS (eXtensible File System). [1]
• Middle East: Facing renewed threats from Israel, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, declares a state of emergency in Palestinian areas and installs a new government by decree. Ahmed Qurei is appointed prime minister and head of the eight-member emergency cabinet. [1]
• Israel: In his first public comments since the Israeli attack on Syria, President Bush says that Israel has the right to defend its homeland; at the same time Mr. Bush asks Prime Minister Sharon to avoid any further actions that might destabilize the region.
• Paul Lauterbur and Sir Peter Mansfield are jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning Magnetic Resonance Imaging. [1]
• Occupation of Iraq: Some in the international community have rejected a revised United States draft UN resolution concerning Iraq (calling for a multinational force of peacekeeping troops in Iraq under American command; transfering power gradually to elected civilian rule [though there is no handover timetable for sovereignty]). The resolution is being supported by the United Kingdom. France, Germany, and Russia (which opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq) have joined Kofi Annan in opposing the resolution. Annan states that the United Nations itself will not become heavily involved unless there are early moves toward passing sovereignty to the Iraqi people. Annan's stance is similar to that of Pope John Paul II and some members of the European Union. [1] [1] [1] [1] [1]
• Irish political magazine Magill is closed down by its publishers, blaming poor readership numbers. The magazine, which played a central part in Irish politics in the 1970s and 1980s, has never regained the readership it attracted under its founder, maverick journalist and political commentator Vincent Browne, who, after an earlier closure, relaunched the title and sold it to its current owners. [1]

• Attempts by the Republic of Ireland's government to ban smoking in pubs, restaurants and hotels run into more trouble as a government minister who will have responsibility for enforcing the ban, Frank Fahey, refuses to deny that he is critical of the plan and wants a compromise that would allow smoking in some areas to continue. A former Mayor of Galway and Fianna Fáil councillor who has links with the pub industry resigns from a health authority in protest at the refusal of the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrat government to compromise on the proposed ban. This follows an earlier announcement that publicans in County Kerry will refuse to obey the new law and indications of growing popular opposition to the ban. [1]
• Former Sky News correspondent James Furlong, who resigned over allegations that he had faked a report during the Iraq War, is found dead. Furlong, aged 44, had served as Sky News' Defence and Royal Correspondent. He had previously worked for ITN. [1]
• A United Nations report says that almost 1 billion people worldwide are living in slums. By 2050 3 billion, out of a world urban population of 6 billion, may be living in slums, unless radical policies are implemented, according to the UN. Dr Anna Tibaijuka of the UN says the persistence of the slums should shame the whole world. [1]

October 5, 2003

• Maher Arar is reported to have been freed from a Syrian jail. The Canadian engineer was deported to Syria by the United States as he changed planes in New York, over a year ago. [1] He will arrive in Montreal the following afternoon. [1]
• Israeli warplanes attack an alleged Islamic Jihad training base deep in Syria in retaliation for a suicide bombing at a Haifa restaurant that killed 19 people, the army said Sunday. Israeli media state this is the first Israeli attack on Syrian soil in more than two decades. An emergency session of the UN Security Council is scheduled to debate the action. France and Germany condemn the attack. The international community calls for restraint by all parties involved. [1]
• Pope John Paul II canonizes Daniele Comboni (1831-1881), Arnold Janssen (1837-1909) and Josef Freinademetz (1852-1908).
• Ireland on Sunday claims that Pope John Paul II is suffering from terminal stomach cancer which has spread to his colon. The newspaper reports that the Pope has dictated a living will which gives instructions as to how the Catholic Church is to be administered when the medical treatment he is receiving makes it impossible for him to function as pope. According to the paper, Cardinals have been told to be ready at a moment's notice to fly to Rome for a Papal funeral and Papal conclave.
• The band Hell On Earth reports that an Internet broadcast of a concert that was to feature a suicide of a terminally ill person did not happen on Saturday evening, because the Web site was attacked. Band members state that the concert still went on, but they are unsure whether the suicide took place.

October 4, 2003

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: A Palestinian suicide bomber blows herself up in a crowded beach restaurant in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa, killing at least 19 people and wounding about two dozen, at least six seriously. [1]. Hours later Israeli helicopter gunships retaliate by attacking targets in Gaza City and Central Gaza.
• Robin Cook, former United Kingdom Foreign Secretary who resigned from the British Government in protest prior the Iraq war, publishes his personal diaries. In them he alleges inter alia that Tony Blair knew before the Iraq war began that the 45 minutes to launch claim was false.
• Roy Horn, of the magic team Siegfried & Roy, is hospitalized with critical injuries after being mauled on-stage in Las Vegas by a 600-pound seven-year-old male white tiger.
• Poland apologizes to France for its claims that it had found newly-produced Roland surface-to-air missiles in Iraq. It is believed that the Polish soldiers misinterpreted a "use-by" date or installation date marked on the missiles as a date of production. [1]

October 3, 2003

• Near-Earth asteroid: Confirmation on the closest near-miss of a natural object ever recorded. The asteroid (designated 2003 SQ222), about the size of a small house, flew past Earth at a distance of around 88,000 kilometres. It would have made a fireball had it entered the atmosphere. [1]
• Iraq and weapons of mass destruction: The world continues to digest David Kay's report that finds very little evidence of WMD in Iraq, although the regime did intend to develop more weapons with additional capabilities. Such plans and programs appear to have been dormant, the existance of these were also concealed from the United Nations during the inspections that began in 2002. Weapons inspectors in Iraq do find clandestine "network of biological laboratories" and a deadly strain of botulinum. The US-sponsored search for WMD has so far cost $300 million and is projected to cost around $600 million more. [1] [1]
• California recall: Arnold Schwarzenegger denies admiring Hitler. Arnold Schwarzenegger's denial comes days before the vote for the next governor of California. [1]
• Politics: General Wesley Clark has made a bold political move and arguably a risky one by suggesting that members of the Bush administration may be liable to criminal charges in connection with the Iraq war. Mr. Clark alleges that the plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and other interventions in the Middle East (possibly including Lebanon and Syria), pre-dated the inauguration of the President and that the reasons for the war were misleadingly presented to the US people.
• Evo Morales has said that Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, president of Bolivia, may be preparing a coup. [1] (in Spanish)
• Missles: Polish soldiers of the United States-led Coalition have discovered four advanced missiles around central Iraq in the Hilla region near a highway. The Roland-type French-made missiles (which are fired from a mobile launcher vehicle against low flying aircraft) are believed to have been manufactured earlier this year. Arms exports to Iraq had been barred by the United Nations after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. France says it last shipped Roland missiles to Iraq in 1986. The Polish soldiers are later found to have misinterpreted markings that read 07-01-KND 2003 as a date on the missiles. [1] [1] [1]

October 2, 2003

• North Korea crisis: North Korea claims to "have already processed" 8,000 fuel rods from its Yongbyon nuclear reactor (north of Pyongyang) and are using the plutonium extracted during the process to make atomic bombs to boost its nuclear capabilities for nuclear deterrent force. Citing a "hostile policy" by the United States, Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon states this is a means to safeguard the country's territory. [1] [1]
• Occupation of Iraq: UN Security Council discusses a new United States draft resolution on Iraq, which to enhance the United Nations role in Iraq, Secretary General Kofi Annan states draft did not go in the direction he recommended. A quicker transfer of sovereignty "may change the dynamics on the ground, in terms of the security situation, and send a message". [1]
• Technology - Genome : The genome chip arrived with several companies rushing to sell the known human genes. The products will allow scientists to scan all genes in a human tissue sample at once to determine which are active, with lower the cost and increased speed. [1]
• Sino-American relations: US Navy blames the People's Republic of China for '01 collision. A report released to Jane's Defense Weekly under the FOIA said that the pilot of the Chinese jet fighter made 3 passes at the US propeller-driven reconaissance plane over international waters. On the third pass, the Chinese fighter hit a propeller on the US plane. [1]
• Ontario general election, 2003: Dalton McGuinty becomes the new premier of Ontario when his party defeats Ernie Eves's incumbent Tories and Howard Hampton's NDP.
• J. M. Coetzee wins Nobel Prize for literature. [1]
• European Union: United States draft legislation which urges The Pentagon to buy defence parts from American manufacturers has turned heads in Brussels, with some warning of yet another trade dispute at the WTO. [1]
• European Union: The first bilateral meeting between France and Austria since 1998 is marked by disagreements over the European Constitution. Austria heads the group of small countries seeking to make changes to the text, but France wants to leave the draft by Valery Giscard d'Estaing broadly untouched. [1]
• Media: A Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) study (conducted with California-based Knowledge Networks), titled "Misperceptions, the Media, and the Iraq War", is released. According to this study, misperceptions about the 2003 invasion of Iraq are most common among consumers of Fox News Channel and least common among consumers of PBS and NPR; common among supporters of US President George W. Bush and uncommon among supporters of Democratic presidential candidates. The study also found that frequent viewers of Fox News are more likely to believe in the misconceptions than less frequent ones. One example misconception is the belief that weapons of mass destruction have already been found in Iraq. [1], [1]

October 1, 2003

• North Korea crisis: South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun reiterates offer to the United States to consider a request for South Korean soldiers in Iraq in exchange for "positive" movement to resolve the standoff over North Korea nuclear weapons program. [1]
• Anti-Americanism: A panel chosen by the administration of President George W. Bush concludes that the United States must drastically increase and overhaul its public relations efforts to recast its image among Muslims and Arabs abroad. "Hostility toward America has reached shocking levels [ ... ] What is required is not merely tactical adaptation but strategic, and radical, transformation." The panel adds that "spin" and manipulation "are not the answer," nor is avoiding the debate. [1]
• European Commission President Romano Prodi unveils a proposal to boost flagging economic growth in Europe. The plan has two main parts: increasing spending on European transport networks and promoting research and development. [1]
• European Union Constitution: Following talks with Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla on the draft EU Constitution and the Czech Republic's position on the document, the Czech President Vaclav Klaus decides not to travel to Rome and attend the forthcoming intergovernmental conference. [1]
• Canada: Northwest Territories premier Stephen Kakfwi announces he will not seek re-election in the election scheduled for November.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "October 2003."

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September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks Timeline for October

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack: October Timeline

Overview -- Background history -- Planning and execution -- September 11 -- Rest of September -- October -- Aftermath

See also: U.S. Attack timeline

All times, except where otherwise noted, in New York Time (EDT). This is four hours before GMT.

Monday, October 1, 2001

The official count of bodies found at the site of the World Trade Center is 344; 289 have been identified. The official missing count at the World Trade Center is 5,219.

Rudy Giuliani speaks to the United Nations General Assembly, the first time the mayor of the City of New York has done so in fifty years.

Tuesday, October 2, 2001

The official count of bodies found at the site of the World Trade Center is 363; 301 have been identified.

NATO's secretary general, Lord Robertson announces that the United States provided "clear and compelling proof" in oral briefings to NATO al-Qaeda's responsibility who affirm the invocation of the mutual defense clause of the organization's charter.

8 PM EDT: "Come Together: A Night of John Lennon's Words and Music", a tribute to John Lennon that became a concert of prayer and healing for New York City to benefit the relief efforts, hosted by Kevin Spacey and featuring Dave Matthews, Moby, Stone Temple Pilots, Nelly Furtado, Shelby Lynne, Alanis Morissette, Cyndi Lauper, The Isley Brothers, Lou Reed, Marc Anthony, Natalie Merchant, Yolanda Adams, Sean Lennon and Yoko Ono, is held at Radio City Music Hall and simultaneously broadcast live on the TNT and WB networks. It had been scheduled before the attack to be taped September 20 and broadcast on October 9 to promote a non-violent world.

Wednesday, October 3, 2001

The official missing count at the World Trade Center is 4,986, reduced from the earlier count of 5,219 after duplicate entries on the lists compiled by police and the city family center were removed. 369 people have been confirmed dead from the World Trade Center. 310 have been identified.

President Bush makes a second visit to New York City. He arrived at Kennedy International Airport, then flew in Marine One, the presidential helicopter to the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, where he was met by Rudy Giuliani and George Pataki. He then went to Federal Hall to meet with business executives. He met privately with Michael Bloomberg for 10 minutes, then met with CEO's, including Douglas N. Daft (Coca-Cola Company), Gerald M. Levin (AOL Time Warner Inc.), Maurice R. Greenberg (American International Group, commercial insurer), and Dean O'Hare (Chubb Corporation, insurer). They encouraged corporate tax cuts. He then went in his motorcade of 22 motorcycles and 37 cars to PS 130 in Chinatown and met with Debra Nelson's first grade class. His final stop was lunch at Engine Company 55, which lost five men, in Chinatown, where he delivered five $11 pizzas from Sal's on Broome Street. [1]

7:45 AM EDT Greyhound bus lines in the United States halts all service, after a man slits the throat of the driver of bus No. 1115, en route from Nashville to Atlanta, 50 miles southeast of Nashville. The bus crashed, killing four of the 36 passengers. Early reports stated at least 10 were killed.

Thursday, October 4, 2001

The official count of bodies found at the site of the World Trade Center is 380; 321 have been identified.

Reagan National Airport opens in the morning with limited service for the first time since September 11.

In the morning, President Bush speaks to the Emir of Bahrain (which hosts the U.S. 5th Fleet). He then speaks to the president of Poland, goes to the State Department to announce additional food aid to Afghanistan. He has lunch with members of Congress, then goes to the Department of Labor to announce his intention to extend unemployment benefits in the 13 most-affected states by an addition 13 weeks.

The New York City comptroller, Alan Hevesi, states that the cost to New York from "the crash, the attack, the calamity, the murder" is already $45 billion and will reach $105 billion over the next two years.

It is reported that a Russian jetliner en route from Tel Aviv to Siberia with 77 passengers exploded in mid-air before plunging into the Black Sea. All flights from Bengorian Airport were grounded in response (it is later confirmed to have been accidentally shot down by a Ukrainian missile).

British Prime Minister Blair tells the House of Commons they will be given incontrovertible evidence of Osama bin Laden's involvement, which includes direct ties with three of the hijackers, though some evidence will remain concealed.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld meets with President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. He also announces air drops of humanitarian food aid in Afghanistan.

Pakistan says they have seen evidence against Osama bin Laden strong enough to support an indictment.

A Nashville newspaper reports that the Greyhound bus attacker was a drug addict with a history of erratic behavior.

3:30 PM EDT: At a White House press briefing, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson states that a 63-year-old Lantana, Florida resident was admitted to a hospital on Tuesday with non-contagious pulmonary anthrax. The British-born outdoorsman is the only known case, and the FBI, HHS, and CDC state that there is no evidence to support that this would be an act of bioterrorism (he dies later that day). See 2001 anthrax attack for later developments, showing that this was an act of terrorism.

In a White House briefing, Ari Fleischer says that the U.S. has no intention of making their evidence against Osama bin Laden public, and a few minutes later, says that the Bush administration believes it is important to be forthright in sharing information with the American public.

Friday, October 5, 2001

The official missing count at the World Trade Center is 4,979.

Saturday, October 6, 2001

The official count of bodies found at the site of the World Trade Center is 393; 335 have been identified.

President Bush tells Congressional leaders about the upcoming attack.

Sunday, October 7, 2001

The official count of bodies found at the site of the World Trade Center is still 393; 353 have been identified.

Osama bin Laden releases a videotaped statement before the attacks begin.

U.S.-led military response begins: 2001 U.S. Attack on Afghanistan/Timeline October 2001

Monday, October 8, 2001

1:25 p.m. EDT (approx): Health officials announce that anthrax spores were found in office where the man killed by anthrax worked. They were found in the nose of a co-worker and on a computer keyboard in the Boca Raton, Florida offices of the tabloid The Sun. In a press briefing, John Ashcroft states that the FBI has sealed the building is working with the CDC to determine if this is a criminal or terrorist act. See 2001 anthrax attack.

Friday, October 12, 2001

12:30 p.m. EDT Rudy Giuliani holds a press conference detailing earlier reports about a case of anthrax in New York City. A female NBC Nightly News employee is reported to have been exposed to anthrax. It is believed that she received it from a letter containing powder on September 25. The powder in the letter was tested negative for anthrax. A skin test of the employee by the CDC returned positive this morning for non-contagious cutaneous anthrax. She had been exposed on September 25. She began presenting symptoms on the 28th. She began receiving Cipro on October 1. A biopsy was done on the 10th and sent to the CDC. See 2001 anthrax attack.

3:45 p.m. EDT Ashcroft briefing: A complaint was filed against someone for lying to federal investigators. Yesterday DoJ served against airport security firm Argenbright Holdings, aka SecuraCorps, for security violations aross the country. They hired employees with criminal backgrounds, including burglary and theft, and lied about those backgrounds.

Monday, October 15, 2001

Another set of remains is found. They may be the first remains of a police officer to be recovered.

Wednesday, October 31, 2001 (Halloween)

The Giuliani administration announces that the number of firefighters assigned (and allowed) to recover remains at the World Trade Center site would be reduced from 64 to 25.

External Links

• http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/09/27/spin/index.html

Overview -- Background history -- Planning and execution -- September 11 -- Rest of September -- October -- Aftermath

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks Timeline for October."

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Timeline of U.S. attack on Afghanistan in October 2001

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

(EDT = GMT-4; Afghan time = GMT+4.30)

Earlier Timeline

September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack/Timeline October 2001

September 19, 2001

The U.S. sent combat aircraft to Persian Gulf military bases.

Saturday, October 6, 2001

President George W. Bush tells Congressional leaders about the upcoming attack.

Sunday, October 7, 2001

Osama bin Laden releases a videotaped statement before the attacks begin.

9:30 a.m. EDT (approx): The leader of the Northern Alliance says he believes the U.S.-led attack will begin "very soon".

11:30 a.m. EDT (approx): Israel is informed about the upcoming attack.

12:30 p.m. EDT (9 PM local time): the United States, supported by Britain, begins its attack on Afghanistan, launching bombs and cruise missiles against Taliban military and communications facilities and suspected terrorist training camps.

Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers stated later that 15 long-range bombers, 15 aircraft-carrier-based strike aircraft, and approximately 50 Tomahawk missiles from US and British submarines were involved.

A Northern Alliance spokesman later tells CNN that attack hit anti-aircraft batteries near Kabul and "at least three terrorist camps" near Jalalabad.

Initial reports are that Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat are among the targets. Electricity in Kabul is almost immediately cut off.

1 p.m. EDT: President Bush makes a televised speech announcing the attack and discussing further US's intentions, including humanitarian aid."On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against al Qaeda training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan." ... "We are the friends of almost a billion worldwide who practice the Islamic faith. The United States of America is an enemy of those who aid terrorists and of the barbaric criminals who profane a great religion by committing murder in its name."

The FBI, using the National Alert Network, asks law enforcement agencies across the United States to go to their highest alert status against possible terrorist attacks. The security perimeter around the White House is increased.

A peace rally of ten to twelve thousand people is held in New York City. They march from Union Square, the central spontaneous September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack/Memorials and Services site in Manhattan, to Times Square, cheering the police at the beginning of the march. The list of about twelve speakers was cut to three or four by the police, and they were herded at the end into a one-lane-wide "bullpen". The New York Times places their coverage of the march on page B12.

As of 8 p.m. EDT: There have been three waves of attacks.

8:35 p.m. EDT: BBC News tentatively reports a fourth wave of attacks.

9:45 p.m. EDT: The first reports of casualties.

Before 10 p.m. EDT: Rudy Giuliani in a news conference announces more National Guard and policemen have been issued to New York City.

Monday, October 8, 2001

Protest rallies lead to three casulties in the Gaza Strip and one in Pakistan. Palestinian authorities shoot and kill two students, one a 13-year old. Crowds then ransack Palestinian police buildings. In Pakistan, protests take place in Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, and near the Khyber Pass border crossing. The most violent protests in Pakistan are in Quetta (60 miles from Afghan border), where one person is shot and killed, the central police station, United Nations buildings, and several shops and movie theaters are set on fire and looted, and a police subinspector is kidnapped. 10,000 students at three universities protest without incident in Cairo, Egypt.

12:00 p.m. EDT (approx): Department of Defense officials report a second round of attacks. Electricity in Kabul is again cut off.

1:00 PM EDT (approx): The English journalist Yvonne Ridley has been set free by the Taliban and arrived at the Pakistan border.

1:08 p.m. EDT: Donald Rumsfeld and General Myers convene a press briefing. As of midnight allies had struck 31 targets. Early warning radars, ground forces, C&C facilities, airfields, aircraft. "Strikes are continuing as we speak." About 10 bombers, 10 carrier-based jets. "We will use some Tomahawk missiles today from ships." No cruise missiles from bombers. The leaflets include some symbols and figures.

Tuesday, October 9, 2001

a.m. EDT: In a news conference in Islamabad, Pakistan, a United Nations spokeswoman reports that a cruise missile killed four U.N. employees and injured four others in a building several miles east of Kabul. The casualties were Aghans who were security guards in a Afghan Technical Consultancy, the U.N. de-mining agency (Afghanistan is the most heavily mined country on the planet), building.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder meets with President Bush in Washington, D.C.

Thursday, October 11, 2001

8 p.m. EDT: President Bush holds the first primetime presidential news conference since 1995. He had this message for the Taliban: "If you cough him up and his people today that we'll reconsider what we're doing to your country. You still have a second chance. Just bring him in, and bring his leaders and lieutenants and other thugs and criminals with him." About the Middle East: "if we ever get into the Mitchell process, where we can start discussing a political solution in the Middle East, that I believe there ought to be a Palestinian state, the boundaries of which will be negotiated by the parties so long as the Palestinian state recognizes the right of Israel to exist, and will treat Israel with respect, and will be peaceful on her borders." Also: "It would be a useful function for the United Nations to take over the so-called nation-building - I would call it the stabilization of a future government - after our military mission is complete." [1]

See also : 2001 U.S. Attack on Afghanistan/Timeline November 2001, 2001 U.S. Attack on Afghanistan, Talk:2001_U.S._Attack_on_Afghanistan

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Timeline of U.S. attack on Afghanistan in October 2001."

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UK general election, 1974 (October)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The UK general election of October 1974 took place on October 10, 1974. It was the second of two United Kingdom general elections held that year. Prime Minister Harold Wilson, having taken power in a minority government after the February election, returned to the polls and won a tiny majority.

It was at this election that the SNP secured their best ever representation inside the House of Commons, 11 MPs.

Party	Votes	Seats	Loss/Gain	Share of Vote (%)
Conservative	10,428,966	276	- 34	35.7
Labour	11,456,597	319	+ 18	39.3
Liberal	5,346,817	13	- 1	18.3
Others	1,953,318	27	+ 3	6.7

The 27 "others" include the "Speaker seeking re-election"

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "UK general election, 1974 (October)."

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Modern Usage: October

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Commercial Usage: October

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Image Slideshow: October

Photos: October More pictures...

Illustrations: October More pictures...

Computer Images: October More pictures...

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Photo Album: October

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	From an overhead angle, a textured grey plate full of broccoli and cauliflower is shown on a grey tablecloth decorated with cabbage. Black letterings in the upper right reads: "Choose cruciferous vegetables more often". Shot on 4x5 format. This was used in the 1989 calendar "Eat for Good Health" October 1989. See artwork: PV-19. Credit: Bill Branson (photographer).		Rep. Paul G. Rogers, chairman of the subcommittee, summed up the hearings at RPMI (Roswell Park Memorial Institute), to pass the National Cancer Act of 1971. Hearings were held on October 11, 1971. He felt that it was symbolic to hold hearings for the National Cancer Act at the oldest cancer research institute in the world. Credit: Unknown photographer/artist.
	CDC and WSB-TV employee members of CDC's Wide-Wide World Broadcast team, October 27, 1957. Credit: CDC.		Most of the eastern U.S. was cloud free October 11.  Such widespread cloudlessness in this part of the world is rare. These clear skies are associated with a region of high pressure over the eastern central U.S. Credit: NASA.
	Surface photographs from the Soviet Venera 9 and 10 spacecraft. The Soviet Venera 9 and 10 spacecraft were launched on 8 and 14 June 1975, respectively,to do the unprecedented: place a lander on the surface of Venus and return images.The two spacecraft successfully landed a descent craft on 16 and 23 October 1975.These images were obtained on 22 and 25 October 1975. Venera 9 landed on a slopeinclined by about 30 degrees to the horizontal whereas Venera 10 was only inclinedabout 8 degrees. The two spacecraft were separated by about 2100 km. Most of the rocks in the images are between about 0.3 and 1 meter. Credit: NASA.		Hurricane Mitch approaching Honduras on 1998 October 26, 13:15 UT. Credit: NASA.
	Perspective view of Hurricane Mitch on 1998 October 26, 15:15 UT.A movie of this perspective is available.. See the RSD ImageCatalog for additional images. Credit: NASA.		Surf boiling on the reef on the north side of San Salvador Island Note white cliffs showing above surf line Are these what Columbus's lookout spied on the morning of October 12, 1492?. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.
	Quebradillas, Puerto Rico 1984 October. Credit: America's Coastlines.		Isabela, Puerto Rico 1984 October. Credit: America's Coastlines.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Digital Photo Gallery: October
 

"Bright october 1" by Uschi Hering Commentary: "Autumn leaves."	"Rangers v Man U" by Graham Dick Commentary: "Rangers versus Man Utd at Ibrox, Wednesday 22nd October."
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

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Historic Usage: October

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Use in Literature: October

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Non-Fiction Usage: October

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Spoken Usage: October

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Speeches: October

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Usage Frequency: October

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Usage in Company Names: October

Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.

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Expressions: October

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: October

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Modern Translation: October

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Rhyming with "October"

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Anagrams: October

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