In the heavily besieged city of Sirte, heavy fighting continues as aid workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross deliver desperately needed medical supplies. Due to growing fears of a humanitarian disaster, National Transitional Council (NTC) forces have granted safe passage to European aid workers' vehicles. (Reuters)
Law and crime
Salmaan Taseer, is sentenced to death by a Pakistani court. (Express Tribune)
Advocates for prisoners in the US state of California claim that more than 12,000 inmates are now participating in a hunger strike over prison conditions. (Los Angeles Times)
top 50 in the world ranking for the first time in nearly 15 years, ending a streak of 778 consecutive weeks inside the top 50, dating to when Woods was No. 61 on October 13, 1996. (Los Angeles Times)
The Italian Wikipedia shuts down in protest against a privacy law drafted by Silvio Berlusconi's government which would impose restrictions on newspapers and Internet pages. (Reuters)(Italian Wikipedia)
At least three people are killed and 22 injured after
opposition forces in the southern province of Taiz. (Xinhua)
In eastern
open fire on protesters as public unrest intensifies. (The Independent)
Business and economy
Deutsche Boerse AG, two exchange operating concerns planning a merger, receive a statement of objections to that merger from the European Union's business regulators. (NYSE Euronext)
Greek public sector workers leads to the closure of transport services, schools and most public hospitals, with thousands of people protesting against government austerity measures in Athens. (Reuters)
At least 25 people are killed and many more injured after protesters and security forces clash in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, during a protest in response to an attack on a Coptic church. (BBC)(Reuters)
Arts and culture
Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney marries American heiress Nancy Shevell at a ceremony in London. (BBC)
Israeli Army soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held in captivity for five years. In exchange, Israel agrees to release a thousand Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, among them hundreds of prisoners serving multiple life sentences for planning and perpetrating murderous attacks against Israeli civilians.(Xinhuanet)(Ynet)
Thousands of Qantas passengers in Australia face further disruption and cancellation of flights as the airline's maintenance engineers go on strike. (SBS)
Standard & Poor's cuts Spain's credit rating to AA- with a negative outlook, as the European debt crisis deepens. (Bloomberg)
The United StatesDepartment of Commerce reports that U.S. retail sales rose at their fastest rate for seven months in September, having risen by 1.1% over the previous month. (BBC)
Riot police clash with protesters in Rome, with at least 70 people reportedly injured after masked rioters infiltrate the peaceful protests and attack property in the city. (BBC)
Libyan Civil War (2011): Fighting continues in the city of Bani Walid, one of the few remaining towns loyal to the ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi, between pro-Gaddafi fighters and besieging forces loyal to the National Transitional Council. (BBC)
Sana'a after government troops open fire on protesters. These killings constitute the second incident of fatal protest violence in Sana'a in under 48 hours. (MarketWatch)
, who was involved in the wreck, was transported to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead while the race was red-flagged. The wreck happened on lap 11, and the remaining 188 laps were not raced.
2011 Syrian uprising: At least 25 people are killed in the Syrian city of Homs after tanks and security troops open fire on anti-regime protesters. (Reuters)
Kenyan Army soldiers, supported by aerial forces, continue their advance into Somalia, approaching an al-Shabab-controlled town 120 kilometres (75 mi) from the Kenyan border. (BBC)
World Health Organisation reports that global malaria deaths have fallen by over 20% since 2001, claiming that over 30 countries are on course to eradicate the mosquito-borne disease by 2020. (BBC)
is killed in a crossfire between Gaddafi loyalists and rebel fighters in his hometown of Sirte, Libya. (BBC)
The pro-Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte is captured by National Transitional Council forces following a month-long siege. The fall of Sirte marks the effective consolidation of NTC control across Libya, following the capture of the Gaddafi holdout of Bani Walid on October 17. (Reuters Africa)
Britain's three main political parties order their MPs to vote against a Parliamentary motion calling for a referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union, due to be debated on Monday. (BBC)
Amid major riots and a
ongoing debt crisis. The austerity measures include higher taxes and cuts to public sector wages. (BBC)
Kenyan warplanes bomb a military base in the Islamist-held city of Kismayo, while a French Navy warship patrolling Somali waters bombards the town of Kuday, south of Kismayo. (Daily Nation)
One person is killed and at least fourteen people are injured in two separate terrorist attacks in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, both attributed to al-Shabaab. (Al-Jazeera)(BBC)
Aftermath of the
2011 Libyan civil war
:
The corpses of 53 pro-Muammar Gaddafi fighters are found in Sirte, all having apparently been summarily executed by NTC troops. (BBC)
Business and economy
The
Michael Woodford. The TSE cannot at this time confirm violations of any listing requirements by Olympus. (Reuters)
Disasters
The death toll from
recent earthquake reaches 279, and is expected to increase further as rescue teams search the rubble of the city of Van for survivors. Meanwhile, thousands made homeless by the quake are forced to endure freezing overnight temperatures in the open. (CNN)(Reuters and ABC News Australia)(BBC)
Wikileaks announces that it will suspend the publication of classified files and will instead focus on fundraising, after a "financial blockade" by numerous American companies reportedly destroys 95% of the site's revenue. (The Guardian)
Politics and elections
Following
Renaissance Party declares victory, with their centre-left rivals, the Progressive Democratic Party, conceding defeat. The official results of the election are due to be released next week. (Reuters)
Minister of Health and Family Welfare, reports that the country has almost entirely eradicated polio through a vaccination program which immunises over 170 million children every year. No new polio cases have been reported in India for over nine months. (BBC)
A Philippine civil defence official estimates that approximately 10,000 people in the southern Philippines have fled their homes due to fighting between Abu Sayyaf rebels and government forces. (AFP via News Limited)
Space telescope observations indicate that the supernovaRCW 86, first seen by Chinese astronomers in 185 AD, expanded at an unprecedented rate due to the formation of a vacuum-like "cavity" around it in the early stages of the death of its star. The supernova's rapid expansion had previously been one of astronomy's most enduring mysteries. (BBC)
The search for survivors of the Van earthquake in eastern Turkey enters its third day, with 459 confirmed deaths and over 1,300 injured. (Reuters)(Daily Mail)
Turkey announces it will accept offers of aid from foreign countries to cope with the aftermath of the earthquake. (BBC)
American scientists confirm that a transmissible fungus, Geomyces destructans, is responsible for the white-nose syndrome that has decimated bat populations across North America since 2006. (BBC)
2011 Van earthquake in Turkey reaches 523, with rain and snow making conditions worse for people left homeless by the earthquake. (AP via Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Dr Giles Fraser, the canon chancellor of London's St Paul's Cathedral, announces his resignation from the post, as police prepare to remove Occupy London protesters from the cathedral's churchyard. Dr Fraser said he could not condone the use of violence against the demonstrators. (BBC)(The Guardian)
The moderate
Tunisian Constituent Assembly election, gaining more than 41% of the vote and securing 90 of the 217 parliamentary seats being contested. (BBC)
A 6.9 magnitude earthquake strikes 51 kilometres south-west of the city of Ica in Peru at a depth of 35 km. No reports of casualties are issued. News.com.au
chemical weapons in Libya under the Gaddafi regime and announces that weapons inspectors would be visiting the country to help get rid of them. (AP via Washington Post)
Business and economy
Fair Work Australia orders the Australian airline Qantas and its unions to reach an agreement within 21 days meaning that services will resume on Monday. (News Limited)
Three people are killed in attacks on the offices of the International Relief and Development (IRD) in the Afghan city of Kandahar. (AFP via Yahoo News)
