- Nadarajah Raviraj, a human rights lawyer and legislator from the Tamil National Alliance, is assassinated in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- A new Constitution of Kyrgyzstan adopted by the Joghorku Keneš is signed into law by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev (pictured).
- The Democratic Party wins control of both chambers of the United States Congress.
- Donald Rumsfeld resigns as U.S. Secretary of Defense; Robert Gates is nominated as his replacement.