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.
