Russian and Chinese leaders meet
2001 - Russian President Vladimir Putin (above right) and Chinese leader Jiang Zemin met and restated their opposition to a proposed United States missile defence shield. Talking alongside the 21-member Apec summit, Putin and Jiang “reaffirmed their adherence to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty”, which bars the type of shield the United States wants to deploy, said Putin’s spokesman, Alexei Gromov. The opposition to the US missile defence plan has cemented what Russia and China often describe as their “strategic partnership”, which replaced the Cold War rivalry they had until the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Over the last decade, China has become the No 1 customer for ailing Russian defence plants, purchasing billions dollars worth of equipment.
October 20
1728 - A huge fire destroys most of Copenhagen, Denmark.
1883 - Peru cedes territory to Chile with Peace of Ancor treaty.
1921 - Franco-Turkish agreement is signed at Ankara.
1944 - Yugoslav cities of Belgrade and Dubrovnik are liberated during the Second World War.
1945 - The Arab League is formed.
1955 - Egypt and Syria sign a mutual defence treaty, pledging to support each other in any conflict against Israel.
1964 - Herbert Hoover, the 31st president of the United States, dies at the age of 90 in New York City.
1973 - Sydney Opera House in Australia is opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
1976 - Norwegian tanker Frosta collides with George Prince, killing 70 people.
1977 - The civilian government in Thailand is ousted in a bloodless coup by the military junta that had installed the regime one year earlier.
1979 - The most modern police station in the Middle East is opened in Dubai.
1980 - Greece rejoins Nato’s military wing.
1987 - Fourteen people die as Air Force jet crashes into a Ramada Inn near Indianapolis airport.
1991 - More than 1,000 people are killed and thousands left homeless across the Himalayan foothills after a powerful earthquake jolts large parts of northern India.
1999 - Abdur Rahman Wahid wins the first free presidential election in Indonesia.
2004 - Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri resigns.
2009 - The US and India sign defence and civilian nuclear energy pacts.
2010 - The rebuilt Naif Souq opens in Dubai.
2011 - Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s ruler for 42 years, is killed in his hometown of Sirte.
2012 - The flying licence of India’s Kingfisher Airlines is suspended after the debt-laden carrier fails to satisfy the aviation regulator.
2014 - The UAE Space Agency signs an agreement to build the first Arab Islamic probe to go to Mars.
2015 - Justin Trudeau, 43-year-old son of Canada’s iconic prime minister Pierre Trudeau, wins an overall majority in the federal parliament.
