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October 2002

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

Events

See also:

  • 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

  • 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 sign the coalition treaty for the second red-green cabinet.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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 announces DNA evidence possibly linking the painter Walter Sickert to one of the many letters claiming to be from 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.

 


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