October 20, 2011 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2011 Libyan civil war:
- Deposed Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi 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)
- Mutassim Gaddafi is killed in an extrajudicial killing. (Daily Mail)
- In the wake of recent terrorist attacks in southern Turkey, up to 10,000 soldiers of the Turkish Army advance into northern Iraq, pursuing Kurdish separatist PKK militants. (BBC)
- Basque separatist terrorist organisation ETA declares an end to its 43-year campaign of political violence, which has killed over 800 people since 1968. (BBC)
Business and economy
- The government of Germany states that national GDP growth in 2012 will be significantly lower than initially predicted, due to the eurozone's ongoing economic crisis. (AFP)
- Japanese optical and imaging equipment company Olympus faces a possible credit downgrade and plunging share prices, due to a spreading scandal over the recent dismissal of its chief executive, Michael Woodford. (Reuters)
Disasters
- The Prime Minister of Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra, admits that it is impossible to protect all of the capital Bangkok from ongoing nationwide flooding, describing the floods as a "national crisis". (AFP via Thai Visa)
- The diving support vessel DSV Koosha 1 capsizes off the coast of Iran, resulting in the deaths of six commercial divers from India who are trapped in the vessel's diving chamber when the boat sinks. (DNA India)
Law and crime
- A man is killed and at least 74 people are injured in major riots in the Greek capital Athens on the second day of a nationwide general strike, as Greeks protest in their thousands against new austerity measures intended to alleviate the country's ongoing debt crisis. (ABC)
- Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange: The leading commander of the military wing of Hamas, Ahmed Jabari, confirms in an interview with the Saudi Arabian newspaper Al-Hayat that the prisoners released in exchange for captured Israeli Gilad Shalit were collectively responsible for the deaths of 569 Israeli civilians. (Haaretz)
Politics and elections
- The Parliament of New Zealand is dissolved in preparation for a general election on November 26. (Radio New Zealand)
- 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 general strike, the Hellenic Parliament approves a highly controversial package of austerity measures aimed at resolving Greece's ongoing debt crisis. The austerity measures include higher taxes and cuts to public sector wages. (BBC)
- The American Jobs Act fails to garner the necessary sixty votes in the United States Senate to proceed. (Business Week)