October 2000 News and Events

Updated July 10, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

World

• England Debuts Bill of Rights (Oct. 2): Labor Party's pet project, part of the Human Rights Act, will likely reshape centuries-old relationship between citizens and government.
• Violence Flares Up in Middle East (Oct. 3): Gun battles and rioting between Israelis and Palestinians erupt throughout West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Arab towns within Israel as cease-fire collapses.
• Milosevic Dispatches Police to End Strike (Oct. 4): Kolubara coal miners, committed to halting electricity production in protest of President Slobodan Milosevic's refusal to concede recent election to Vojislav Kostunica, defy orders to end action and are joined by 20,000 supporters.
• Yugoslav Court Annuls Parts of Election (Oct. 4): Government's Federal Election Commission alleges fraud in Sept. balloting, suggesting new vote necessary.
• Palestinian and Israeli Leaders Fail to End Hostilities (Oct. 4): Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak leave Paris negotiations without accord to end violence in West Bank and Gaza Strip. (Oct. 5): Both leaders order commanders to stem rioting, but fighting persists.
• Suharto's Son Refused Pardon (Oct. 4): Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid denies Hutomo Mandala Putra, known as Tommy Suharto, a pardon for his admitted involvement in a multimillion-dollar land scam. Suharto faces prison sentence.
• Nationwide Uprising Ends Milosevic Era (Oct. 5): President Slobodan Milosevic overthrown after several hundred thousand protesters swarm Belgrade and take over Parliament and state-run television station. Police back down, and some join in revolt against Milosevic. (Oct. 7): Vojislav Kostunica sworn in as president. Vows to restore Yugoslavia's “integrity, sovereignty, and independence.”
• UN Chief Announces Tribunal for Sierra Leone (Oct. 5): Secretary General Kofi Annan sets war crimes tribunal for atrocities in war-torn African nation. Fourth such court.
• Lebanese Guerrillas Abduct Israeli Soldiers (Oct. 7): Hezbollah militants cross border into Israel and take three hostage. Barak gives Arafat 48 hours to quell protests or else he'll instruct Israeli military to “use all available means to stop the violence.”
• Palestinians Destroy Israeli Shrine (Oct. 7): Rioters and police demolish Joseph's Tomb at Nablus after Israeli troops evacuate holy site.
• Polish President Reelected (Oct. 8): Aleksander Kwasniewski wins second term with 55 percent of the vote.
• Clinton Meets with North Korean Military Leader (Oct. 10): First president to host North Korean official. Discuss further reducing tensions between North and South Korea.
• Seats on UN Security Council Awarded (Oct. 10): Mauritius, Colombia, Ireland, Norway, and Singapore win two-year terms.
• Israeli Soldiers Slain by Palestinian Mob (Oct. 12): Vigilantes stab and trample two soldiers who were in custody in a Palestinian police station. Israel retaliates by bombing Ramallah and Gaza City. Government offices among targets.
• U.S. Sailors Die in Yemen Explosion (Oct. 12): Seventeen Americans die and 37 wounded when a raft carrying powerful explosives collides with Navy destroyer Cole, which was refueling in Yemen. Terrorism suspected. The vessel was outfitted with guided missiles and electronic equipment. (Oct. 17): U.S. envoy reports Yemen officials have searched an Aden apartment that they suspect was used by bombers of Cole. (Oct. 26): Bombed destroyer towed from Yemen port, headed back to U.S.
• U.S. Adviser Meets with Kostunica (Oct. 12): James O'Brien, special adviser to President Clinton on the Balkans, visits newly elected president of Yugoslavia. Leaders vow to reestablish diplomatic ties. (Oct. 12): Clinton lifts some sanctions on Yugoslavia. Ends oil embargo and ban on American flights.
• Car Bomb Explodes in Grozny (Oct. 12): At least 12 dead in one of year's worst terrorist attacks in Chechen capital.
• China Vows to Honor Trade Pact (Oct. 12): Prime Minister Zhu Rongji assures U.S. trade official Charlene Barshefsky that China will fulfill market-opening commitments made to gain permanent normal trading relations with U.S.
• Barak and Arafat Call Cease-fire (Oct. 16): Leaders convene in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, with President Clinton, and agree to end violence that has claimed about 100 lives and put Middle East on brink of war. (Oct. 21 et seq.): Continued violence threatens cease-fire and any prospect for peace. Death toll passes 150.
• UN Condemns Israel for Excessive Force against Palestinians (Oct. 21): General Assembly approves resolution, with U.S. voting against it.
• Albright Visits North Korea (Oct. 23): U.S. Secretary of State discusses strategic and ideological differences in cordial meeting with North Korea's Communist president Kim Jong Il.
• Ebola Hits Uganda (Oct. 24): Authorities say 60 people have died since mid-September when an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus began in Northern Uganda.
• Violent Demonstrations Rock Ivory Coast (Oct. 26): Clashes intensify between supporters of socialist politician Laurent Gbagbo, who assumed presidency a day after military leader Gen. Robert Guei ousted in a coup, and opposition leader Alassane Dramane Ouattara, who was excluded from the Oct. 22 election. Gbagbo is popular in the Christian South, while Ouattara is favored in the Islamic North.
• Message from Kursk Sailor Recovered (Oct. 26): Divers find noted in pocket of commander of sunken Russian submarine telling of final hours of fated crew.
• Euro Plunges to New Low (Oct. 26): The European currency hits new lows against the dollar and the Japanese yen. European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan plan intervention to stop slide.
• New Lebanese Government Chosen (Oct. 27): Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was elected in September, announces new cabinet.
• Canada Arrests Two in Airliner Blast (Oct. 27): Charges men with deaths of 329 on Air-India Boeing 747 that exploded on flight from Canada to London in 1985.
• Ulster Protestant Leader Narrowly Holds on to Post (Oct. 28): Ballot gives vote of confidence to David Trimble, who had faced challenge from Jeffrey Donaldson, an opponent of peace accord.
• Barak Orders Attack (Oct. 30): Missile assault directed at Yasir Arafat's political offices and security forces. Violence flares as Barak reopens Parliament after three-month recess.
• Kosovo Rebel Leader Elected (Oct. 30): Ibrahim Rugova selected in local elections. He led Kosovo Albanians in 10-year campaign to win independence from Serbia.

Nation

• Gore and Bush Meet in First Debate (Oct. 3): Boston meeting contentious, with issues ranging from foreign policy to tax cuts to Medicare. Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, who was banned from participating in debate, is denied entrance to the event.
• House and Senate Agree on Drunk-Driving Law (Oct. 3): Accord calls for states to adopt national standard that makes drivers legally drunk when their blood-alcohol level registers .08.
• Congress Votes to Increase Temporary Visas (Oct. 3): Legislation will allow more skilled workers into the U.S. to fill jobs, especially in high-tech industry. President Clinton expected to sign bill.
• Vice Presidential Candidates Square Off (Oct. 5): Dick Cheney and Sen. Joseph Lieberman meet in first and only vice-presidential debate. Cordial meeting covers taxes, education, and national defense.
• Clinton Signs China Trade Bill (Oct. 10): Law gives China permanent normal trading relations. Sends warning to China, however, not to back down on concessions it made for bill's passage and entry into World Trade Organization.
• N.H. Judge Acquitted at Impeachment Trial (Oct. 10): Chief Justice David Brock found not guilty on four charges. First state supreme court justice to face impeachment.
• Bush and Gore Face Off in Second Debate (Oct. 11): Accord on many foreign and domestic issues prompt Gov. George W. Bush to call meeting a “lovefest.”
• Senate Passes Bill on Forced Labor (Oct. 11): Votes, 95–0, in favor of tightening laws against traffickers who use women and children in sweatshops and as prostitutes. House earlier approved measure, 371–1. President Clinton expected to sign bill.
• F.C.C. Told to Repeal Reply-Time Broadcasting Rules (Oct. 11): Federal judge tells commission to rescind law, which called for free air time for candidates attacked on stations or for the opponents of candidates endorsed by stations. Broadcasters say requirement squelched debate on controversial issues. F.C.C. temporarily suspended law on Oct. 4.
• Farrakhan Calls Family Rally (Oct. 16): Head of Nation of Islam addresses tens of thousands on Washington Mall in day celebrating family solidarity.
• Bush and Gore Meet in Final Debate (Oct. 17): Candidates square off in town-meeting-style forum in St. Louis a day after Missouri governor Mel Carnahan died in a plane crash.
• Senate Votes to Ease Curbs on Food for Cuba (Oct. 18): Approves, 86–8, measure to end nearly four decades of sanction, but new restrictions are implemented.
• Government Announces Record Surplus (Oct. 24): Administration posts $237 billion surplus, third in a row, for the fiscal year that ended in September.

Business/Science/Society

• Pope Canonizes Chinese Roman Catholics (Oct. 1): 87 Chinese martyrs among the 120 canonized.
• Bangladesh and India Hit by Flood (Oct. 4): Monsoon rains force more than 700,000 Bangladeshis from homes. Death toll more than 100 in worst flooding in 100 years.
• Library of Congress Announces Record Gift (Oct. 4): Receives $60 million from entertainment and telecommunications magnate John W. Kluge.
• Former Sotheby's Chief Admits to Colluding with Rival (Oct. 5): Diana Brooks pleads guilty to conspiring to violate antitrust laws by engaging in price-fixing scheme with Christie's. Could face prison sentence and heavy fines.
• Gay Couple Donates $2 Million to University (Oct. 12): University of Penn. announces record gift for gay and lesbian students. Money will fund student center for homosexuals.
• Miss Hawaii Named Miss America (Oct. 14): Elementary school gym teacher Angela Perez Baraquio wins crown at Atlantic City ceremony.
• Chevron to Buy Texaco (Oct. 16): Oil giant agrees to pay $36 billion in stock for Texaco. Combined entity will be world's fourth-largest oil company.
• Global Warming Danger Stressed (Oct. 25): Scientists on international panel warn Earth temperatures may rise even further if burning of fossil fuels is not curtailed.
• Yankees Win 26th World Series (Oct. 26): Defeat Mets to win title in New York subway series.
• Economic Growth Slows (Oct. 27): Commerce Dept. reports pace fell sharply in third quarter of year. Increased interest rates a major factor.
• General Electric to Buy Honeywell (Oct. 22): Agrees to pay $45 billion in stock for diversified manufacturer.
• Dozens Killed in Taiwan Plane Crash (Oct. 31): Singapore Airline jet hits object on runway in Taipei.
• Napster to Charge Fees for Music (Oct. 31): In deal with German media giant Bertelsmann, start-up company agrees to charge uses a fee to download music over the Internet.
• Three on Way to Space Station (Oct. 31): One American and two Russian astronauts launched into orbit, becoming first occupants of international base.