International Events in October 2002

Oct 1 Greece bans smoking in public places
Oct 2 Iraq, U.N. agree on inspection and Baghdad rejects new draft resolution empowering use of force under consideration.
Scientists unravel the genetic map of the mosquito and the malaria parasite. Full Story
Oct 4 Nepal's King Gyanendra sacks the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his Cabinet, and declares himself the interim executive head of the Himalayan Kingdom. Full Story
Dennis Donaldson, a senior Sinn Fein official allegedly an IRA 'mole' in the provincial assembly offices is held worsening the Irish crisis.
Oct 5 John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban, is sentenced to 20 years in jail by the District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. Full Story
South Korea's National Assembly confirms the appointment of Kim Suk-Soo as Prime Minister.
Aung San Suu Kyi, of Myanmar is named laureate of the UNSECO - Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence. Full Story
Oct 6 The Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat designates East Jerusalem as the capital. Oct 6 Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, a Spanish priest and founder of Opus Dei, a conservative church group is canonised.
Nationalists make strong gains in Bosnia's first self-organised polls since the 1992-95 war.
Oct 7 Thirteen Palestinians die and over 110 are injured as a missile slams into a large crowd, during a four-hour raid by the Israeli army on Khan Younnis town, in Gaza Strip.
Sydney Brenner and Sir John Sulston of Britian and Robert Horvitz of the U.S. share the 2002 Nobel Medicine for work on how genes affect organs and cell deaths
No question of handing over Kashmir to Pakistan. Kashmir is not a Hindu-Muslim issue, says the Prime Minister, in the Cyprus capital, Nicosia. Full Story
Oct 8 "India has proved to be a model of integration and tolerance and its democratic credentials command universal respect", says the Cypriot President, Glafcos Clerides, in Nicosia. Full Story
The Hubble telescope sights a new icy planet, Quaoar 10.8 billion km from earth.
Raymond Davis Jr. and Riccardo Giacconi of the U.S. and Masatoshi Koshiba of Japan win the 2002 Physics Nobel for proving why the sun shines. Full Story
Oct 9 Shock therapy approach not possible. Our economic reform has a human face, says the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee at the Third India - EU Business Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark. Full Story
John Fenn of the U.S., Japan's Koichi Tanaka and Kurt Wuethrich of Switzerland win the Chemistry Nobel; Americans Danniel Kahneman and Vernon L. Smith win the Economics Nobel. Full Story
Oct 10 The U.S. House of Representatives approves the Iraq resolution authorising the use of force by the President. Full Story
Imre Kertesz (72), a Hungarian who survived Auschwitz, wins the Nobel Literature Prize for his 1975 novel, 'Sorstalansay' ('Fateless').
Mata Amrithanandamayi is presented the Gandhi-King award for non-violence, at the U.N. General Assembly. Full Story
Oct 11 "The days of Iraq acting as an outlaw state are coming to an end," says the U.S. President, George Bush after getting the Senate nod for action. Full Story
A pro-Taliban coalition, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, forges ahead in Pak. polls. Full Story
The former U.S. President, Jimmy Carter (78) is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for upholding democracy and human rights. Full Story
Lokendra Bahadur Chand is appointed head of the interim Nepal Government. Full Story
Oct 12 The British Premier, Tony Blair endorses India's stand on cross-border terrorism after talks with his visiting Indian counterpart, A.B. Vajpayee. Full Story
Oct 13 At least 180 persons, most of them tourists, are killed in a car bomb blast at a beach side nightclub at Denpasar in Bali, Indonesia. Full Story
Oct 15 The British Government suspends the Northern Ireland Government for an indefinite period. Full Story
Oct 16 The U.S. President, George Bush signs into law the Iraq resolution. Full Story
Oct 17 The Dutch Government led by Jan Peter Balkenende, resigns. Full Story
Pyongyang 'admits' to secret nuclear weapons programme. Full Story
Oct 20 Irish voters say yes to EU expansion, in a referendum called to approve the Nice Treaty. Full Story
Oct 23 Yann Martel (27) from Montreal, wins the `Booker Man' prize for his novel, "Life of Pi". Full Story
Chechen rebels take 800 hostage in a Moscow theatre. Full Story
Oct 24 Bahrainis cast vote in the first parliamentary polls being held after three decades. Women get voting rights for the first time.
Oct 25 Kenyan Parliament is dissolved.
Oct 26 Russian commandos storm theatre, kill 50 gunmen and rescue hostages after a 57-hour standoff. At least 118 people also get killed. Full Story
Oct 27 Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is elected Brazil's first leftist President, with a record 52 million votes.
Oct 30 The Israeli Labour-Likud coalition collapses as the Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres and the Defence Minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer quit.
Oct 31 A Sri Lankan court sentences the LTTE chief, V. Prabakaran to 200 years RI for the Central Bank bombing in 1996, even as the second phase of peace talks get under way in Thailand. Full Story
Events 2002