OCTOBER
Oct. 1
—A gunman opens fire at a rural community college in the western U.S. state of Oregon, killing at least nine people and then himself in another mass shooting sharply deplored by President Barack Obama.
Oct. 2
— French President Francois Hollande tells Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow's airstrikes must be confined to attacking Islamic State militants, not other rebels opposing the Syrian government.
Oct. 3
—A U.S. airstrike hits a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the northern Afghanistan city of Kunduz and the medical aid group demands an international investigation. Doctors Without Borders later determines that 42 people were killed in the airstrike.
Oct. 4
—After a series of fatal attacks by Palestinians killed several Israeli civilians, the government takes unprecedented security measures, including barring Palestinians from Jerusalem.
Oct. 5
— The United States, Japan and 10 other nations in Asia and the Americas reach landmark Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Oct. 6
— The U.S. commander in Afghanistan says the current plan to reduce U.S. forces there by the end of next year should be revised, putting pressure on the White House to maintain a significant military presence in the country.
Oct. 7
— Russian warships in the Caspian Sea fire cruise missiles as Syrian government troops launch ground offensive in central Syria, the first combined air-and-ground assault since Moscow began its military campaign in the country last week.
Oct. 8
—Svetlana Alexievich, a Belarusian journalist and prose writer, wins Nobel Prize in literature.
Oct. 9
— Death count in stampede at the hajj in Saudi Arabia last month a few miles (kilometers) from Mecca established as at least 1,470 and hundreds remain missing in deadliest accident ever at the annual pilgrimage.
Oct. 10
—Twin bombings in Ankara kill 95 at a peace rally in the worst terror attack in Turkey's modern history.
Oct. 11
— A wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence shows no signs of abating as three Palestinians are killed by Israeli forces and four Israelis are wounded in a stabbing attack.
Oct. 12
— Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post journalist detained in Iran for more than a year on charges including espionage, has been convicted, a ruling the paper blasts as an injustice.
Oct. 13
— Dutch investigators say Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was destroyed by a Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine, but its manufacturer disputes the finding.
Oct.14
— Hundreds of Iranian troops deploy in northern and central Syria dramatically escalating Tehran's involvement in the civil war in an ambitious effort to wrest key areas from rebels amid Russian airstrikes.
Oct.15
— President Barack Obama abandons plans to end Afghan war, will keep U.S. troops on ground into 2017.
Oct. 16
— Four Palestinians, including one assailant, are killed by Israeli fire amid continuing widespread unrest as the U.N. Security Council convenes an emergency meeting to discuss the escalation.
Oct. 17
—Thousands of migrants seeking a better life in Western Europe surge into Slovenia in a new route after Hungary seals border with Croatia.
Oct. 18
— Voter apathy and frustration characterize Egypt's parliamentary election for the legislature that was dissolved nearly four years ago, the first election since President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi took power.
Oct. 19
— Canadians vote for a sharp change in their government, as the Liberals led by Justin Trudeau, the son of a former prime minister, win a landslide victory to end Conservative Stephen Harper's near decade in office.
Oct. 20
— The U.S. and Russia sign an agreement to minimize risks of air collisions as they separately carry out airstrikes in Syria.
Oct. 21
— Syrian President Bashar Assad makes surprise visit to Moscow, his first known trip outside his embattled country in four years.
Oct. 22
— Dozens of U.S. special operations troops and Iraqi forces raid a compound in northern Iraq freeing approximately 70 Iraqi prisoners held by Islamic State militants and believed to be facing execution.
Oct. 23
— Hurricane Patricia roars ashore in a sparsely populated area of southwestern Mexico as a Category 5 storm with lashing rains, surging seas and cyclonic winds, then quickly abates to a tropical storm.
Oct. 24
— U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announces that Israel and Jordan had agreed on steps, including round-the-clock video monitoring to bring an end to unrest at a holy site in Jerusalem.
Oct. 25
— European Union leaders say that reception capacity in Greece and along the western Balkan route that migrants use on their trek to the EU's heartland will be increased to 100,000.
Oct. 26
— U.S. sails a guided-missile warship near artificial islands built by China in the South China Sea in a long-anticipated challenge to what it considers Beijing's "excessive claim" of sovereignty in those waters, drawing an angry denunciation from China.
Oct. 27
— Defense Secretary Ash Carter says the United States is retooling its strategy in Iraq and Syria and would conduct unilateral ground raids if needed to target Islamic State militants, signaling a possible escalation of US .military action in the Middle East.
Oct. 28
— Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara easily wins re-election in the first vote since a disputed poll five years ago sparked violence that killed thousands in the West African economic powerhouse.
Oct. 29
— China's leadership ends its decades-old "one child" policy, announcing that all married couples will be allowed two children.
Oct. 30
— U.S. to send special operations troops to assist Kurdish and Arab forces fighting Islamic State militants in northern Syria as international leaders seek ways to end the country's civil war.
Oct. 31
— A Russian passenger airliner crashes in a remote part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula 23 minutes after taking off from a popular Red Sea resort, killing all 224 people on board.