NEWS OCTOBER 2000

On 7 October, Slobodan Miloševi´c resigned his post as president of the Federal republic of Yugoslavia, following a disputed election. The government claimed that opposition leader Vojislav Koštunica had won slightly less than an absolute majority, necessitating a run-off against Miloševic´ . However, protests broke out as discrepancies in the results came to light. With the army prepared to allow for the violent overthrow of the government, Miloševic´ was forced out of office. Within days, election results showing a majority for Koštunica were released, and Miloševic´ was arrested and extradited to The Hague to stand trial for crimes against humanity during the Yugoslav Wars of the Nineties. He died of a heart attack in 2006, prior to any verdict.

On 17 October, a Leeds-bound train derailed at Hatfield, killing four passengers and injuring over 70 others. The incident, along with the fatal crash at Ladbroke Grove in 1999, forced the issue of rail safety into question. Investigations discovered insufficient staff skills at the maintenance contractors employed by rail network owner Railtrack, which had purchased the rail network upon its privatisation in 1994. The cost involved caused Railtrack to falter in 2002, and the network was returned to the public sector under Network Rail.

October 2000 – Nintendo hits a purple patch, Sony delays the PS2, Sega unleashes the hardest driving game ever, and Turok returns to the N64. But what did the press make of it all? Join Nick Thorpe to find out…