of a series of Russian apartment bombings occurs. Subsequent bombings occur on September 13 and 16, while a bombing on September 22 fails. September 12 – Under international pressure to allow an international peacekeeping force, Indonesian president BJ Habibie announces that he will do so. September 14 – Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga join the United Nations. September 21 – The 921 earthquake, also known as the Jiji earthquake (magnitude 7.6 on the Richter scale), kills about 2,400 people in Taiwan. October October Conacami, Peruvian indigenous rights organization is founded. NASA loses one of its probes, the Mars Climate Orbiter. October 1 – Shanghai Pudong International Airport opens in China, taking over all international flights from Hongqiao. October 5 – Thirty-one people die in the Ladbroke Grove rail crash, west of London, England. October 12 – Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attempts to dismiss Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf, who is out of the country. The generals lead a coup d'état, ousting Sharif's administration, and Musharraf takes control of the government. October 27 – Gunmen open fire in the Armenian Parliament, killing Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, Parliament Chairman Karen Demirchyan, and six other members. October 29 – A super cyclonic storm impacts Orissa, India, killing approximately 10,000 people. October 30 – : A pub catches fire in Inchon, South Korea, killing 56 people. October 31 EgyptAir Flight 990, travelling from New York City to Cairo, crashes off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 on board. Roman Catholic Church and several Lutheran Church leaders sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, attempting to resolve a centuries-old doctrinal dispute over the nature of faith and salvation. November November 6 – Australians defeat a referendum proposing the replacement of the Queen and the Governor General with a President to make Australia a republic. November 12 – The 7.2 Düzce earthquake shakes northwestern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). At least 845 people are killed and almost 5,000 are injured. November 20 – China launches the first Shenzhou spacecraft. November 23 – The National Assembly of Kuwait revokes a 1985 law that granted women's suffrage. November 26 – The 7.5 Ambrym earthquake shakes Vanuatu and a destructive tsunami follows, killing 10 and injuring 40. November 27 – The centre-left Labour Party takes control of the New Zealand government, with leader Helen Clark becoming the second female Prime Minister