Hurricane Lili strikes near Intercoastal City, Louisiana, as a Category One hurricane weakened from the significant Category Four storm it was just 10 hours earlier.
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.
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.
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.
2002 Bali bombings: A car-bomb on the
Indonesian 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. It had been said to be an attack on Australian holidaymakers due to its role in the liberation of
East Timor.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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."
Moscow theatre siege,
Second Chechen War: 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 Muhammad was wanted in connection with the investigation, Muhammad and his 17-year-old stepson
John Lee Malvo were arrested on federal weapons charges, found with the rifle used in the shootings.
Moscow theatre siege,
Second Chechen War: The
Chechen separatist "suicide squad" release eight children, but keep some 700 people hostage in a Moscow theater rigged with explosives. Diplomats wait for the gunmen to honor a pledge to free about 75 foreigners among their hostages, including Australians, Austrians, Britons, Germans and three Americans.
Kenyan President
Daniel arap Moi dissolved the country's Parliament, officially starting the campaign for one of the
African Great Lakes country's most competitive general elections and closing his tenure as one of Africa's longest ruling leaders.
Moscow theatre siege,
Second Chechen War:
Special forces of the Russian army attack the
Chechen separatists who were holding hostages in a Moscow theater. Fifty of the 53 separatists and 117 of the 800 hostages are killed. Most of hostages were killed by
poisongas used by the special forces, with most of the surviving hostages hospitalised with gas poisoning.
Three nursing professors are shot dead at the
University of Arizona by a student flunking out of the nursing program. Robert J. Flores, Jr., 41, shot and killed Robin Rogers, 50, Barbara Monroe, 45, and Cheryl McGaffic, 44, before turning the gun on himself. Two of the teachers were shot in a classroom and the gunman allowed the students to leave before killing himself.
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.
Moscow theatre siege,
Second Chechen War: 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.
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.
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.