October 31, 2010 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- The US, UK, France and Germany ban all air freight from Yemen at their respective countries' airports following the discovery of two explosive packages. (The Jerusalem Post)
- Nigeria intercepts a weapons shipment including artillery rockets, originating in Iran, after Israeli officials accused Iran of trying to smuggle the weapons into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. (CNN) (The Jerusalem Post)
- A bomb blast occurs in Istanbul's Taksim Square, injuring at least fifteen people. (Reuters via Yahoo! News), (BBC), (Reuters)
- Iraqi police raid the Sayidat al-Nejat Catholic Church in the Karrada district of Baghdad where gunmen were holding a hundred hostages resulting in seven hostages being killed and twenty injured. (BBC), (AFP via Yahoo! News), (Al Jazeera)
Business and economy
- The Shanghai World Expo in China ends. (China Daily) (euronews) (BBC)
- The President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez nationalises Sidetur, a subsidiary of Sivensa.(Reuters)
- The Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal is triggered after Mark Russinovich publishes details of Sony's rootkit.
Disasters
- 2010 Atlantic hurricane season:
- The death toll from the 2010 Haitian cholera outbreak reaches 330 with the impact of Hurricane Tomas later in the week expected to make things worse. (CNN)
- Hurricane Tomas heads into the Caribbean after hitting the Lesser Antilles becoming a Category 2 hurricane. (AP), (CNN)
- The death toll from the Sumatra tsunami reaches 435 with 110 people missing and feared dead. (AFP via ABC News Online)
- Mount Merapi erupts again in Indonesia, surprising villagers who had returned to check their possessions. (AP)
International relations
- Human Rights Watch expresses concern that Iran and Saudi Arabia, which have been criticized for their records on women's rights, are expected to join a new U.N. agency devoted to women and could interfere with the work of the agency. (Los Angeles Times)
- Afghan President Hamid Karzai denounces a large-scale drug raid in which U.S. forces and Russian drug agents took part, calling it a violation of Afghan sovereignty, even though Afghan police participated. (Los Angeles Times)
- Six New Zealanders return home after breaking Israel's blockade of Gaza claiming to have delivered medical aid and a message of international solidarity. (Newstalk ZB)
Law and crime
- A United States military commission sentences Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr to eight more years in prison after pleading guilty to the murder of an American soldier in 2002. (CNN)
Politics and elections
- The Somali parliament approves Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed as Prime Minister. (Al Jazeera) (RFI)
- Voters in Brazil go to the polls for the second round of the Brazilian presidential election between Dilma Rousseff and José Serra. Rousseff won 55% of the vote and will become the first female President of Brazil. (Latin American Herald Tribune), (BBC), (CNN)
- Voters in the Ivory Coast go to the polls for the long delayed presidential election. (Reuters)
- Voters in Tanzania go to the polls for the country's general election. (BBC)
Sport
- The International Cricket Council upholds the suspension of two Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir for involvement in the 2010 Pakistan cricket spot-fixing controversy. (BBC), (Reuters)