International News for October 1 - 15

This is not original reporting. All information has been compiled from The New York Times International News. Silver Chips Online posts this news summary to provide readers with a forum for discussion.

China

October 11 - State media in China reported that the Chinese air defense radar almost matches networks in other similarly developed countries. The announcement coincided with Taiwan's first military day National Parade in 16 years.

October 12 - The Chinese government announced that an additional three to four million people will be displaced from their homes on the Yangtze River in order for the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. 1.4 million people have already been relocated to make way for construction.

October 13 - China's Communist Party has approved a new line of leadership, after extensive bargaining, that will deny President Hu Jintao the power of decisive consolidation. His supporters hoped the power would have allowed him to govern more assertively during his final term.

India

October 11 - In response to Indians' desire for a small, inexpensive car, automakers in India have created the people's pace car, which will retail with a sticker price of about $2,500.

October 13 - 100 wild elephants gathered on a river island in India, damaging homes and panicking residents. Villagers used firecrackers and fires to attempt to scare away the elephants.

Iran

October 10 - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was misrepresented by Western news media when they claimed he said there were no homosexuals in Iran, according to an aid to Ahmadinejad. He meant there were not as many as in the United States, said the aid.

Iraq

October 11 - An American attack in Iraq left 34 dead, including 15 civilians. It resulted in one of the heaviest citizen death tolls in American operation in recent months.

October 14 - A journalist working for The Washington Post was shot and killed while reporting from a neighborhood in Baghdad. The reporter, Salih Saif Aldin, 32, appeared to have been killed deliberately.

Japan

October 3 - Citigroup, the largest American bank according to market value, said it would buy out minority shareholders in Nikko Cordial, the Japanese brokerage firm, for $4.6 billion. In order to buy the 32 percent of Nikko Cordial it does not already own, Citigroup said that it would offer its own shares.