October 17, 2010 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- At least 33 people are killed and 50 others are injured during violence in Karachi as a by-election approaches. (India Times), (Reuters via ABC News Online) (UPI)
- 15 people are killed in target killing in Quetta, Pakistan. (Xinhua)
- Yemen begins a ground and air campaign against al-Qaeda forces, killing at least 6; Western embassies in Yemen go on high security alert. (CNN)
Arts and culture
- 70 films from 23 countries and territories will be shown during the first Vietnam International Film Festival opening in Hanoi. (Vietnamnet)
- Rare German stamps featuring film star Audrey Hepburn smoking fetch €430,000 at a charity auction in Berlin. (BBC)
- Canonization:
- Pope Benedict XVI canonises Mary MacKillop, the first Australian saint, in front of 50,000 people in Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican City. (Herald Sun) (BBC) (The Times of India)
- Five other saints from other countries are also canonised: André Bessette of Canada, Stanisław Sołtys of Poland, Giulia Salzano and Camilla Battista da Varano of Italy, and Cándida María de Jesús of Spain. (Ynet), (AP)
Business and economy
- GM workers protest a drop in wages, from $58,000/year to $30,000/year, at a new car plant in Michigan that was funded by a $50 billion government bailout and is receiving $770 million in tax incentives. (Reuters)
- Workers in Hilton Hotels in the US cities of Chicago, San Francisco, and Honolulu continue a strike over what they claim are efforts to "lock workers into cheap recession contracts." (AP via Yahoo! News) (LA Times)
Disasters
- The Philippines prepares for Typhoon Megi, potentially the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year. (ABC News Australia) (BBC) (Philippine Inquirer)
- Five more bodies are found after a gas leak in a coal mine in China's Henan province, bringing the death toll to 26. (CNN)
International relations
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel had recently renewed contacts with a German mediator to negotiate the release of a captured Israeli soldier, Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit, who is being held incommunicado by Hamas. (The New York Times) (The Jerusalem Post) (AFP)
- French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux states that Saudi Arabia has warned that Al-Qaeda is targeting Europe particularly France. (Reuters via Yahoo!) (CNN) (BBC)
- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran is ready for talks with the six majors powers of the G5