International Events in October 2001
Oct. 1:
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party wins a resounding victory in general elections.
The trial of the former Philippines President, Mr. Joseph Estrada by the Sandiganbayan (anti-corruption court) begins.
The Northern Alliance in Afghanistan and the exiled former ruler, Mohammed Zahir Shah reach an agreement.
Oct. 4:
Seventy-six people die after a Siberian airlines plane on a chartered flight from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk in Siberia, bursts into flames and falls in the sea, 180 km off the Russian coast.
Oct. 5:
The U.S. Senate waives temporarily all the sanctions against Pakistan for two years.
Australia lifts bilateral sanctions imposed on Fiji following the July 2000 overthrow of the Mahendra Chaudhry Government.
Oct. 7:
The U.S. and Britain, launch military strikes codenamed Operation Enduring Freedom, against ``carefully selected'' targets in Afghanistan.
Lt. Gen. Eshanul Haq, is posted as Pakistan's new Inter-Services Intelligence Chief, in a significant reshuffle of the army top brass.
Oct. 8:
Over 100 persons die in a runway collision at Milan's Linate airport between a Copenhagen bound Scandinavian Airlines jet and a Cessna plane.
The wreck of the 18,000 tonne nuclear submarine Kursk, which sank in the Barents Sea last year killing all 118 aboard, is hauled off the sea bed.
Oct. 10:
The Sri Lankan President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, dissolves Parliament following the crossing over of eight dissident MPs of the ruling PA to the Opposition UNP, reducing the Government to a minority.
Begum Khaleda Zia, is sworn in Bangladesh Prime Minister, heading a 60-member Council of Members
Oct. 11:
Over 100 persons die as the U.S. unleashes very heavy attacks on the Taliban militia, pounding targets in and around Kabul.
The Trinidad-born British author, Sir V.S. Naipaul wins the Nobel literature prize, for works that ``compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories.''
Oct. 12:
The United Nations and its Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan wins the centenary Nobel Peace prize for promoting global harmony.
Over 200 persons die in Muslim-Christian clashes in the northern Nigerian city of Kono, provoked by the U.S. strikes in Afghanistan.
Oct. 16:
The trial of the former Communist leader of Poland, Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski for the 1970 shootings of protesting shipyard workers, gets under way.
Oct. 17:
Israel's Tourism Minister and leader of the fanatic right wing Moledet party, Mr. Rehavam Zee'vi, is shot dead in Jerusalem.
In an unprecedented move, the U.S. House of Representatives, is shut down for an ``environmental sweep'', after 31 persons in Senator Tom Daschle's office test positive for anthrax exposure.
Oct. 18:
The Singapore President, Mr. S.R. Nathan, dissolves Parliament.
The Northern Ireland political crisis deepens after the two main Protestant parties, the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party withdraw from the province's ruling coalition.
Oct. 19:
The U.S. and China agree to share intelligence and help interdict financing of terrorist organisations following the first-ever face-to-face talks between the Presidents, Mr. George W. Bush and Mr. Jiang Zemin, at the APEC summit, in Shanghai.
A new Centre-right coalition Government under a Lutheran clergyman, Mr. Kjell Magne Bondevik takes office in Norway, after the Labour debacle in September polls.
Over 350 refugees, mostly Iraqis die after their rickety Indonesian boat falls apart in the Java Sea while on their way from Christmas Island off Australia.
Oct. 22:
The U.S. begins attack on Taliban frontlines north of Kabul.
Oct. 23:
Russia begins probe into the blast aboard the nuclear submarine Kursk in August 2000 and its subsequent sinking in the Barents Sea.
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Agency's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft successfully enters the orbit around the red planet, after a six-month, 460 million km journey from earth.
Rampaging soldiers kill over 100 people in central Nigeria after ethnic militiamen murder 19 soldiers near the border of the south central states of Benue and Taraba, two weeks ago.
Oct. 24:
The Irish Republican Army begins arms decommissioning, and the Unionists agree to return to the Provincial Assembly.
Oct. 25:
Singapore's ruling People's Action party is swept back to power nine days before the polls as the Opposition fails to field candidates for more than half the 84 seats.
Oct. 26:
The Taliban captures and executes Mr. Abdul Haq, a former guerrilla leader accused of spying for the U.S. and Britain.
Nepal's king Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev proclaims his only son, Paras Bir Bikram Shah as the new Crown Prince of the Himalayan Kingdom.
Oct. 28:
In a significant development, the main Tamil political party in Sri Lanka, the TULF says it supports the LTTE's ``freedom struggle.''
Oct. 29:
A new Bill empowering Japan to send its armed forces abroad for the first time since World War II, is passed by Parliament.
The former Philippine President, Mr. Joseph Estrada wins a reprieve in his perjury trial.