The Olympic torch relay begins in Olympia, Greece, without public attendance.
Source:
ANI News 
October 18
Sports
Business and economy
German publishing house Axel Springer dismisses Julian Reichelt as the editor-in-chief of its tabloid newspaper following sexual harassment complaints against Reichelt from his co-workers.
Source:
The New York Times
International relations
Russia announces it will be suspending its mission to NATO in Brussels as early as 1 November, in response to the expulsion of 8 diplomats accused of espionage from the mission earlier this month. The NATO information bureau and military liason in Moscow will also be terminated.
Source:
CNN
Law and crime
Citing , the United States Department of Justice requests the Supreme Court to vacate the mandate of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on allowing the Texas Heartbeat Act to remain in effect, thereby blocking the law.
Source:
AFP via RTL
Iraq receives Ghazwan al-Zawbaee, the alleged mastermind of the ISIL suicide truck bombing that killed 340 people in Karrada, Baghdad, in 2016. He was arrested two days prior through a joint operation in a neighbouring country. It was the deadliest single-bomb attack in Iraq.
Source:
BBC
Science and technology
Professor Egor Babaev and collaborators with the KTH Royal Institute of Technology publish an experiment showing evidence of a new state of matter called electron quadruplets.
Source:
Phys.org
Armed conflicts and attacks
At least 300 suspected members of a Muslim mob are arrested for the killing of two Hindu men three days ago at a temple in Noakhali, Bangladesh. The violence erupted after an alleged Quran desecration at a Hindu temple in Haziganj Upazila. Several Hindu temples were also damaged in the clashes. Four members of the mob were also killed when Bangladesh Police personnel opened fire in Chandpur.
Source:
Al Jazeera
Source:
Al Jazeera
Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini orders the closure of schools across Eswatini in an attempt to quell pro-democracy protests that have rocked the kingdom for months. Protesters demand the end of the absolutist monarchy of King Mswati III, the last of its kind in Africa, as ministers back the move saying that there "is no room for such anarchy in our society".
Source:
Bloomberg
October 17
Armed conflicts and attacks
The Saudi Arabia-led coalition says that they have killed 160 Houthi militants in Marib, Yemen, during 32 airstrikes in the past 24 hours. The coalition also reports that they killed a total of more than 700 Houthis during the past week.
Source:
Al Jazeera
Militants open fire on a group of non-resident workers from Bihar in Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir, killing two people and wounding another.
Source:
The Times of India
Health and environment
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says that the mass release of wastewater at the Fukushima nuclear plant cannot be delayed. The water, which has been inside the plant since the 2011 meltdown, is planned to be dumped into the Pacific Ocean over several decades despite strong opposition from local fishermen and the governments of China and South Korea.
Source:
CNA
Law and crime
Authorities in Haiti says that members of the "400 Mawozo" gang are behind the kidnapping of 16 American citizens and one Canadian citizen yesterday near Port-au-Prince. Those kidnapped include seven women, five men and five children.
Source:
BBC
International relations
The French ambassador to Belarus departs following a directive issued by the Belarusian government, which did not cite a rationale. The ambassador had not presented his credentials to President Alexander Lukashenko.
Source:
The Moscow Times
Disasters and accidents
Twenty-six people are killed and dozens are missing as heavy rains affect the Indian state of Kerala.
Source:
BBC
Politics and elections
Cape Verdeans head to the polls to elect their new president to replace outgoing term-limited president Jorge Carlos Fonseca. The candidates of Fonseca's right-wing MpD and the leftist PAICV are the main contenders. The election is seen as important to reopen the important tourism industry which was hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
Source:
Reuters
The Instituto Nacional Electoral in Mexico says that 2.85 million signatures are needed for a recall election against president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. López Obrador had promised this election, although it is opposed by opposition parties.
Source:
Yahoo! News
October 16
Science and technology
Shenzhou 13 launches on a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia, for the of the , where the crew will stay for six months. It will be China's longest crewed mission to date.
Source:
AFP via NDTV
Lucy, a NASA spacecraft that will visit Jupiter's trojan asteroids in twelve years, launches at 05:34 EDT from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Source:
CNN
Law and crime
Seven activists are sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to twelve months' imprisonment for protesting against the national security law in July 2020. Among those sentenced are Leung Kwok-hung and Figo Chan. Leung is currently serving two sentences of 18 months' imprisonment for other charges and Chan is currently serving a sentence of 18 months' imprisonment for unauthorized assembly.
Source:
RTHK
Argentine federal judge María Romilda Servini indicts post Franco-era Spanish minister Rodolfo Martín Villa on four counts of homicide. Villa, who resides in Spain, says that he will appeal the decision of the Argentine judge.
Source:
SwissInfo
An unidentified armed gang kidnaps 15 American missionaries and their families in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Source:
Barron's
Colombian businessman Alex Saab is extradited to the United States from Cape Verde ahead of an initial court appearance in Florida on October 18 over his alleged money laundering for the Venezuelan government.
Source:
Deccan Herald
Politics and elections
French president Emmanuel Macron condemns the Paris massacre of 1961 on the eve of its 60th anniversary, but does not issue a formal apology. Macron is the first French president to attend a memorial ceremony for the victims.
Source:
AFP via WION
Armed conflicts and attacks
Two workers are killed by gunmen in Srinagar and Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, in a spike of civilians being killed by rebels in the area.
Source:
Greater Kashmir
A Lashkar-e-Taiba commander and another militant are killed during a gunfight with security forces in Pulwama. The killed commander, who was involved in the murder of two policemen, was among the top 10 targets of Jammu and Kashmir police. It is also announced that two more rebels, involved in the recent killings of civilians, were killed yesterday during a gunfight in Srinagar.
Source:
India Today
Twenty Boko Haram militants and three Nigerian Army soldiers are killed during a gunfight as the military has tried to recapture the Nigerian town of Maiduguri.
Source:
Sahara Reporters
Yesterday's killing of MP Sir David Amess, who was stabbed to death in a Methodist church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, is declared as a terrorist incident by police.
Source:
BBC News
Disasters and accidents
Source:
Al Jazeera
Source:
Al Jazeera
October 15
Armed conflicts and attacks
Three suicide bombers attack a Shiite mosque in Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing 47 people and injuring 70 others. The explosions occur at the main door and inside the mosque. Taliban authorities later arrived and secured the mosque. Taliban interior ministry spokesman Qari Saeed Khosti says that authorities are currently collecting evidence in order to determine responsibility for the bombing.
Source:
Al Jazeera
United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel Stuart Scheller is reprimanded by a military judge following his criticism of the U.S. military’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Source:
ABC News
David Amess, United Kingdom MP for Southend West, is stabbed to death in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, while meeting constituents at Belfairs Methodist Church. The suspect was arrested at the scene, and police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
Source:
BBC News
A Cameroonian policeman is lynched by a mob after he killed a five-year-old girl at a checkpoint in Buea Southwest Region. Protests involving hundreds of people occurred after the killing of the child.
Source:
The Guardian
President Faustin-Archange Touadéra declares a unilateral ceasefire with the Coalition of Patriots for Change and the anti-balaka militia groups.
Source:
Barron's
Disasters and accidents
Four migrants are found dead by the Spanish Maritime Safety and Rescue Society in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Cape Trafalgar in the Province of Cádiz after their boat sank. The coast guard reports that 21 others from the boat are missing.
Source:
AFP via i24 News
International relations
During an online emergency meeting, the foreign ministers of the ASEAN agree to exclude Myanmar's military junta chief Min Aung Hlaing from the upcoming ASEAN Summit to be held later this month. The country will instead be represented by non-political representative at the summit.
Source:
AFP via Al Arabiya
President Xi Jinping of China will not attend in person the Cop26 climate change conference in Glasgow, as it's told to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The announcement comes amid international pessimism that, now compounded by the absence of China, a global leader in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, the event would not result in any substantiative change.
Source:
Reuters
Law and crime
Masten Wanjala, the Kenyan suspected serial killer of 14 boys, who escaped from prison two days ago, is murdered by lynching by a mob of villagers in Bungoma. Wanjala was hiding at his parents' home when he was identified by neighbours.
Source:
BBC News