December 1, 2009 (2009-12-01 ) (Tuesday)
December 2, 2009 (2009-12-02 ) (Wednesday)
FIFA , the world governing body for
association football , announce after an emergency session of their Executive Committee, that following the controversy over the
Thierry Henry handball incident , it will set up an inquiry into the use of extra officials or technology, but any changes will not be implemented for the
2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Wikinews
Indonesia bans the
Australian film
Balibo , which follows the story of the
Balibo Five , a group of journalists killed during the 1975
Indonesian invasion of East Timor .
(Jakarta Post )
(AFP)
(BBC)
(Reuters)
The body of
German -
Austrian
billionaire
Friedrich Karl Flick , stolen from the grave in 2008 and held for ransom, is returned to his family.
(AP)
(BBC)
More than 50 prominent
Nigerian public figures call for
President
Umaru Yar'Adua to resign, saying his health is impairing his judgment.
(NEXT)
(BBC)
(Xinhua)
An
Islamist group in the
North Caucasus claims
the bomb attack on a
Nevsky Express train in
Russia was conducted on orders of "Emir of the Caucasus Emirate"
Dokka Umarov .
(Al Jazeera)
(RIA Novosti)
(Xinhua)
The trial of suspected
Nazi death camp guard
John Demjanjuk is postponed after he is taken ill.
(Deutsche Welle)
(AFP)
Wikipedia is ordered by a senior
British
judge to breach its confidentiality after a woman pleaded for help in identifying an alleged
blackmailer .
(Daily Telegraph )
Five British yachtsmen held by
Iranian Revolutionary Guards are released.
(BBC)
(Press TV)
Cocktail waitress
Jaimee Grubbs provides evidence to reporters that she had an affair with golf legend
Tiger Woods .
(The Sun )
(Radaronline)
(Huffington Post )
December 3, 2009 (2009-12-03 ) (Thursday)
December 4, 2009 (2009-12-04 ) (Friday)
US Marines and
Afghan troops launch
Operation Cobra's Anger in northern
Helmand province .
(Bloomberg)
The U.S.
Office of Thrift Supervision closes down the
Cleveland based
AmTrust Bank .
(Dow Jones via NASDAQ
An
explosion at a
nightclub in
Perm ,
Russia , kills at least one hundred and injures around a hundred people.
(RIA Novosti)
(BBC)
(MSNBC)
A fire at a nightclub in the
North Sumatra capital of
Medan ,
Indonesia , kills at least 20 people.
(AFP)
(Jakarta Post )
(BBC)
Namibian incumbent President
Hifikepunye Pohamba is reelected along with the ruling
SWAPO party after
elections last week .
(Al Jazeera)
(AFP)
At least 50 people are missing after two ferries collide on the
River Nile near
Rashid (Rosetta) in
Egypt .
(BBC)
(AFP)
(Ynetnews)
Two
Rwandan soldiers are
killed while on a
peacekeeping mission in
Darfur .
(Reuters)
(BBC)
Security forces in the
Philippines raid the compounds of clans suspected of being involved in the
Maguindanao massacre .
(AP)
(Philippine Inquirer )
An
Italian jury finds
Amanda Knox and
Raffaele Sollecito guilty in the case of the 2007
murder of Meredith Kercher in
Perugia . Knox is sentenced to 26 years in prison, Sollecito to 25.
(CNN)
The
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation announces that 25 member countries will contribute a further 7,000 troops to the
International Security Assistance Force in
Afghanistan in addition to 30,000 additional American and 500 British troops previously announced.
(BBC)
2010 FIFA World Cup draw:
Nepal 's cabinet meets on
Mount Everest to highlight the impact of
climate change in the
Himalayas .
(CNN)
(Hindustan Times )
Guinea 's military leader Captain
Moussa Dadis Camara is flown to
Morocco for medical treatment after being shot by an aide in an assassination attempt.
(BBC)
(AP)
(Xinhua)
At least 47 people drown after a ferry capsizes in
Kishoreganj District ,
Bangladesh .
(The Daily Star )
(AFP)
(BBC)
At least 30 people are killed in an attack at a
mosque in
Rawalpindi ,
Pakistan .
(Dawn )
(Al Jazeera)
(Press Trust of India)
A further three people are sentenced to death for their involvement in the
July riots in
Ürümqi ,
Xinjiang , in northwestern
China .
(New York Times )
(Xinhua)
Militants in southern
Thailand kill a
Muslim family of three while a bomb attack injures two in
Pattani Province .
(AFP)
(Bernama)
(RTÉ)
December 5, 2009 (2009-12-05 ) (Saturday)
December 6, 2009 (2009-12-06 ) (Sunday)
December 7, 2009 (2009-12-07 ) (Monday)
Pakistan ’s Raffatullah Momand and Aamer Sajjad set a new world record for a
second wicket
partnership scoring 580
runs in a
first-class
Quaid-i-Azam Trophy match , breaking the previous record of 576 held by Sri Lanka's
Sanath Jayasuriya and
Roshan Mahanama .
(Dawn)
(Cricinfo)
Incumbent
President of Romania
Traian Băsescu is declared the winner of Sunday's
presidential election run-off , with the opposition demanding that the
Constitutional Court annul the vote due to electoral fraud.
(Associated Press)
(realitatea - official final results)
(Bloomberg)
Incumbent
Northern Mariana Islands
Governor
Benigno Fitial of the
Covenant Party is declared the winner of the
2009 gubernatorial election and runoff over
Republican Rep.
Heinz Hofschneider .
(Saipan Tribune )
President of Guinea
Moussa Dadis Camara is reportedly unable to communicate following surgery due to an
assassination attempt.
(France 24)
At least seven soldiers are
shot to death and at least three others are wounded in an ambush at
Reşadiye ,
Tokat
Turkey , in the region's deadliest attack this decade.
(The New York Times )
(Radio Netherlands)
(Al Jazeera)
(Reuters South Africa)
(RIA Novosti)
(Xinhua)
Bishop
Dermot O'Mahony resigns as patron of
The Irish Pilgrimage Trust after his response to child
sexual abuse was described as "worse than that of any other living auxiliary bishop of
Dublin ".
(RTÉ)
(Press Association)
The
United Nations
Climate Change Conference opens in
Copenhagen .
(CNN)
(Indian Express )
(Bernama)
(Times LIVE )
Iranian police clash with thousands of opposition supporters at the annual
Student's Day in
Tehran , with reports of gunfire being heard.
(Al Jazeera)
(BBC)
(Times of India )
(Press TV)
At least five people are killed in a blast outside a
court complex in
Peshawar ,
Pakistan .
(Hindustan Times )
(Financial Times )
Sudanese police detain three senior figures from the
Sudan People's Liberation Movement , the ruling party in
South Sudan , at a demonstration calling for electoral reform in
Khartoum .
(Sudan Tribune )
(AFP)
(BBC)
The
Supreme Court of
Pakistan begins hearing a case against the
National Reconciliation Ordinance which protected President
Asif Ali Zardari and other key political figures against
graft charges.
(AP)
(Dawn )
(Xinhua)
U.S.
Defense Secretary
Robert Gates admits that the
United States has had no information on the whereabouts of
Osama bin Laden for many years.
(Dawn )
(The Independent )
The English town of
Swindon becomes the first ever
Twin Town of
Walt Disney World in the U.S. state of
Florida .
(BBC )
(The Independent )
At least eight people are killed, mainly children, and at least 41 others are wounded due to a school bombing in
Baghdad .
(Al Jazeera)
December 8, 2009 (2009-12-08 ) (Tuesday)
Japan unveils a new
¥ 7.2 trillion (US$80.6 billion) stimulus package to strengthen the country's economy amid signs it is weakening.
(BBC)
(Japan Times )
(Press TV)
Anti-government protests in
Iran continue at universities for a second day, with over 200 arrests.
(Press TV)
(UPI)
(Lebanon Daily Star )
Gunmen in
Honduras shoot dead the head of the country's anti-
drug trafficking unit,
Julian Aristides Gonzalez .
(Latin American Herald Tribune )
(Radio Netherlands Worldwide)
For the second time in as many years,
CBS cancels a
United States -produced
soap opera , this time
As the World Turns after 54 years, in effect putting
Procter & Gamble , the creators of said genre, out of that business.
(Bloomberg News)
President of Serbia
Boris Tadić , his sports minister and
ФСС/FSS chief
Tomislav Karadzic are punished for breaking
FIFA 's strict no-alcohol policy at the
Stadion Crvena Zvezda on 10 October.
(RTÉ)
(The Belfast Telegraph )
The
ruling junta in
Guinea announces it has arrested 60 people so far for attempting to kill leader Captain
Moussa Dadis Camara .
(BBC)
(African Press Agency) [
permanent dead link ]
Eight children are killed and a further 26 injured in a
stampede at a school in
Xiangtan ,
Hunan , in central
China .
(China Daily )
(The Times )
(Indian Express )
A series of
earthquakes and
aftershocks kill a 1 year old child and injure several other people in northern
Malawi .
(Reuters)
(BBC)
A
Cambodian court sentences a
Thai man on charges of
spying for Thailand to 7 years imprisonment.
(Thai News Agency)
(Financial Times )
Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo , the world's first
commercial
spacecraft , is officially unveiled in the
Mojave Desert ,
California .
(The Daily Telegraph )
Bombings in
Iraq kill over 100 people.
(Wall Street Journal )
(Al Jazeera)
Burmese authorities burn US$93 million worth of seized
narcotic drugs at a ceremony in eastern
Shan State .
(Xinhua)
(Times of India )
December 9, 2009 (2009-12-09 ) (Wednesday)
December 10, 2009 (2009-12-10 ) (Thursday)
The
credit rating of
Greece is downgraded, leading to increased pessimism regarding the Greek economy.
(BBC)
Pakistani officials arrest five US citizens wanted by the
FBI on suspicion of terrorism.
(BBC)
Thousands of
"red shirt" anti-government protesters demonstrate in
Bangkok ,
Thailand , calling for new elections.
(Thai News Agency)
(AFP)
(Xinhua)
In what has been described as a landmark case, the
Supreme Court of Ireland rules that a
gay man, identified as "A", who donated his
sperm to a
lesbian couple shall have access to the resulting boy child, overturning the original
High Court decision.
GLEN expresses concern at the Supreme Court's rejection of the lesbian couple as a "de facto family".
(RTÉ)
(Irish Examiner )
(The Irish Times )
(BBC)
It is revealed that
Egypt is building an iron wall up to 100 feet deep along its border with
Gaza .
(The National )
(Xinhua)
(The Daily Telegraph )
New 4,000-page
Spanish grammar guidelines, produced by the
Spanish Royal Academy and 21 organizations in
Spanish-speaking countries , are unveiled.
(AP)
India announces it is to create a new
state ,
Telangana , out of
Andhra Pradesh , with some officials resigning in protest.
(Indian Express )
(BBC)
(Reuters)
18 hostages are released after at least 65 people are kidnapped by gunmen in
Agusan del Sur ,
Mindanao , the
Philippines .
(Philippine Inquirer )
(CNN)
A failed launch of an intercontinental missile
RSM-56 Bulava by
Russia is reported to be the cause of the
mysterious spiral light seen over
Northern Norway yesterday.
(BBC)
(South Africa Mercury )
(ITAR-TASS)
U.S. President
Barack Obama accepts the
2009 Nobel Peace Prize in
Oslo ,
Norway .
(CNN)
(New York Times)
(BBC)
December 11, 2009 (2009-12-11 ) (Friday)
December 12, 2009 (2009-12-12 ) (Saturday)
December 13, 2009 (2009-12-13 ) (Sunday)
December 14, 2009 (2009-12-14 ) (Monday)
The
Group of 77 (including
China ,
India ,
UAE ,
Qatar , and
Saudi Arabia ) suspends participation in treaty negotiations at the
Copenhagen
Climate Change Conference , citing the unwillingness of developed nations to live up to the
Kyoto Protocol and what they view as a lack of open negotiations.
(BBC)
(AP)
Antonio Maria Costa , head of the
UN Office on Drugs and Crime , claims that some banks were rescued during the recent global financial crisis by billions of dollars that originated from the
illegal drug trade .
(Press TV)
(Press Trust of India)
Researchers report that the
Veined Octopus retrieves
coconut shell halves to use as shelter, becoming the first
invertebrates recorded to
use tools .
(AP)
(Times Online )
The
Eritrean
national football team goes missing in
Kenya , with the intention of seeking asylum.
(AFP)
(Jimma Times )
(BBC)
Cabin crew at
British Airways vote overwhelmingly in favour of a
planned 12 days of strike action over
Christmas and the
New Year in a dispute over job cuts and changes to staff contracts.
(BBC)
Centre-right candidate
Sebastian Piñera wins the first round of the
presidential election in
Chile , and will face a run off with centre-left candidate
Eduardo Frei on January 17.
(The Santiago Times )
(The Independent )
(AP)
Dubai receives a US$10 billion bailout from
Abu Dhabi to help fund troubled
Dubai World .
(Gulf News )
(Al Jazeera)
(CCTV)
Guinea 's
military junta reject a proposal by the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) of sending an "intervention force" to the country.
(AP)
(Xinhua)
Sudanese police fire tear gas and detain some 38 protesters in clashes at a planned pro-democracy rally in
Omdurman .
(AFP)
(IOL)
(BBC)
A
Bangkok court extends the detention of the crew of the seized
Ilyushin Il-76 , a
cargo aircraft loaded with 35 tonnes of arms from
North Korea , charging them with the illegal possession of weapons.
(Thai News Agency)
(BBC)
It is revealed that
China 's
People's Liberation Army has built a massive underground tunnel in the
Hebei region to protect its nuclear weapons.
(The Chosun Ilbo )
Austrian bank
Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International is nationalised to avert a bank collapse.
(Reuters)
TeliaSonera opens the world's first
4G
LTE
cellular network for public in
Oslo ,
Norway , and
Stockholm ,
Sweden .
(The Inquirer )
(Wall Street Journal )
December 15, 2009 (2009-12-15 ) (Tuesday)
December 16, 2009 (2009-12-16 ) (Wednesday)
Mexican drug lord
Arturo Beltrán Leyva , leader of the
Beltrán-Leyva Cartel , is killed by personnel of the
Mexican Navy during a shootout in
Cuernavaca, Morelos .
(The Times )
Danish Prime Minister
Lars Løkke Rasmussen replaces
Connie Hedegaard in a "procedural move" as president of the
U.N. climate talks , as further clashes take place around the perimeter of the summit.
(BBC News)
(The Times )
(Al Jazeera)
Kelly Kwalik , leader of the
Free Papua Movement (OPM), is fatally shot by police in
Indonesia .
(BBC)
(The Jakarta Globe )
(The Sydney Morning Herald )
An unarmed 26-year-old man is detained after attempting to enter the hospital room of
Italian
Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi as he recuperates from the recent assault.
(CNN)
(The Daily Telegraph )
Roy E. Disney , head of
Disney Animation and responsible for guiding the studio through a golden age of animation, dies in a
California hospital in the
United States .
(CNN)
Malawi
recognizes the independence of
Kosovo
(Kosovo Foreign ministry)
(New Kosova Report)
The
Supreme Court of Pakistan declares
NRO as unconstitutional, paving way for the reopening of the corruption cases involving the
President and other senior officials.
(The News )
(BBC News)
Archaeologists in
Jerusalem say they have discovered a burial shroud from around the time of
Jesus in a tomb.
(Jerusalem Post )
(Irish Times )
(Zee News)
Toumba Diakite , an aide to
Guinea 's military leader
Moussa Dadis Camara admits to shooting him after the junta leader wanted him to take responsibility for the
massacre of opposition protesters in September.
(AP)
(Ghana Broadcasting Corporation)
(Xinhua)
The
Philippine province of
Albay is put under a "state of imminent disaster" as activity at the
Mayon Volcano increases.
(GMA News)
North Korea reportedly bans all foreigners from entering the country until early February 2010, for unknown reasons.
(The Chosun Ilbo )
(Bloomberg)
Russian economist
Yegor Gaidar , the architect of the
neoliberal reforms of the early 1990s as the first finance minister of post-Soviet
Russia , dies unexpectedly in his home.
(BBC News)
(New York Times )
(RIA Novosti)
Nauru
recognizes the independence of
South Ossetia , one day after also establishing
diplomatic relations with
Abkhazia .
(Moscow Times )
UK airline
Flyglobespan goes into administration, with the cancellation of all scheduled flights.
(BreakingNews)
December 17, 2009 (2009-12-17 ) (Thursday)
December 18, 2009 (2009-12-18 ) (Friday)
Thirty world leaders present in
Copenhagen for the
United Nations
Conference on Climate Change agree on a draft accord.
(The Sydney Morning Herald )
(Forbes.com "Silver Lining In Copenhagen 'Fiasco'")
(AllAfrica.com "Copenhagen Accord Politically Significant But Not Legally Binding")
(Associated Press "China, India, South Africa vital for climate deal")
The
Catalan
Parliament votes to ban
bull fighting in the
Spanish region.
(The Times )
Russian television news channels air repeated coverage of a
UFO , shaped like a
pyramid and similar to an
Imperial Cruiser from
Star Wars .
(The Daily Telegraph )
(Sky News)
The
Vatican dismisses
Zambia 's controversial
Roman Catholic Church archbishop
Emmanuel Milingo .
(African Press Agency) [
permanent dead link ] (ZBC)
(BBC)
A Paris court rules that
Google is
infringing copyright , sentencing it to pay 300,000 euros in damages and interest to French publisher Editions de la Martinière, and 10,000 euros a day until it removes extracts of the books from its database.
(BBC)
(PC World )
The
BBC
apologises for offence caused when it used the headline: "Should
homosexuals face execution?"
(The Age )
(The New Zealand Herald ) [
permanent dead link ] (The Daily Telegraph )
Irish priest Father Seán Sheehy withdraws from work in his parish of
Castlegregory over a controversy which followed his shaking the hand of a convicted
sex offender in court days earlier.
Bishop of Kerry
William Murphy disassociates himself from Sheehy and his actions.
(RTÉ)
(BBC)
(Irish Examiner )
General Motors announces that it will begin shutting down operations at the Swedish carmaker
Saab automobile .
(New York Times)
(Wall Street Journal)
After 27 years,
Terry Wogan presents his last edition of
Wake Up to Wogan on
BBC Radio 2 , receiving farewell messages from
Gordon Brown and
David Cameron .
(The Times )
(RTÉ)
(BBC highlights)
The
Arbeit macht frei sign is stolen from
Auschwitz concentration camp .
(JTA)
(Deutsche Welle)
(RTÉ)
(The Daily Telegraph )
Ajmal Kasab , a
Pakistani citizen who was involved in the
2008 Mumbai attacks , recants his confession, claiming that police tortured him into admitting his role in the attacks.
(AP)
(Press Trust Of India)
Twitter , a popular micro-blogging service, temporarily goes offline after a group calling itself the "Iranian Cyber Army" manages to change its
DNS records.
(PC World )
(CNN)
A large
crater , dubbed the "Fried Egg" because of its shape, is discovered off the coast of
The Azores in the
Atlantic Ocean , prompting speculation that it may have been caused up to 17 million years ago by
meteor impact.
(BBC)
Lava flows and
ash explosions continue to emerge from
Philippine
volcano
Mount Mayon while scientists predict a major
eruption in the coming weeks and 30,000 people remain in temporary shelter.
(BBC)
In a reversal of a previous decision, Sir
John Chilcot insists that former
British Prime Minister
Tony Blair will give the majority of his evidence to
The Iraq Inquiry in public.
(BBC)
Snowfall across the east of England disrupts transport and power supplies.
(BBC)
The
Iraqi government demands the withdrawal of
Iranian soldiers that it claims seized an oil well in Fakkah, in the
Maysan Governorate in southern
Iraq .
(CNN)
(Gulf Daily News )
(Al Jazeera)
(NYT)
December 19, 2009 (2009-12-19 ) (Saturday)
The
North American blizzard of 2009 produces record
snowfall , causing
power outages ,
deaths , and impacting
retail sales.
(The Weather Channel)
(BBC)
Iraq deploys troops on its border with
Iran to monitor a disputed oil well seized by Iranian troops, while an arbitration commission is established to resolve the dispute.
(Al Jazeera)
(AP)
(Press TV)
NASA releases the first ever photo of liquid outside of
Earth , in the form of
sunlight reflecting on a
lake on
Saturn 's largest moon,
Titan .
(CNN)
Serbians ,
Macedonians , and
Montenegrins are able to travel to continental Europe without a
visa from this day on.
(The Independent )
Pope
Benedict XVI declares two of his predecessors,
John Paul II and
Pius XII to be
Venerable , the second step toward
sainthood .
(BBC)
(The New York Times )
(Deutsche Welle)
A 6.4 Mw
earthquake strikes
Taiwan collapsing one building.
(Central News Agency) [
permanent dead link ] (Reuters)
Madagascar 's President
Andry Rajoelina dismisses his Prime Minister,
Eugène Mangalaza , whom he appointed in October.
(Al Jazeera)
The
Fatah movement in the
West Bank rejects local mediation between itself and
Hamas .
(Xinhua)
Iran 's military prosecutor charges three officials with killing three people at a detention centre used to house
post-election protesters .
(AFP)
(BBC)
A faction from the
Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta says it carried out an attack on an
oil pipeline , breaking a ceasefire agreed upon with the
Nigerian government.
(Times of Nigeria )
(BBC)
(Xinhua)
The
Cambodian government expels 22
Chinese
Muslim
Uyghurs who arrived in the country back to China, despite criticism from the UN.
(Press TV)
(BBC)
(The Straits Times ) [
permanent dead link ]
Freezing conditions cause electrical faults in the
Channel Tunnel between Great Britain and France, isolating 2,000 passengers in five trains. The situation is coupled with disruptions at
London Heathrow Airport and traffic delays due to snowy conditions in the south-east of England.
(BBC)
(Sky News)
(The Financial Times )
Police recruit
sniffer dogs and detectives in their hunt for the
Arbeit macht frei sign missing from
Auschwitz as appeals for its return are made by
Israel ,
Poland and the
European Union .
(BBC)
(The Times )
Scientists announced the discovery of
GJ 1214 b , an
ocean planet orbiting a star in the
Ophiuchus constellation.
(Nature )
In
association football ,
FC Barcelona sets a new record by winning all 6 possible competitions (
The Sextuple ) in one
year .
(The Guardian)
December 20, 2009 (2009-12-20 ) (Sunday)
December 21, 2009 (2009-12-21 ) (Monday)
December 22, 2009 (2009-12-22 ) (Tuesday)
December 23, 2009 (2009-12-23 ) (Wednesday)
Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin
Jim Moriarty resigns, the second
bishop to do so following the publication of the
Murphy Report .
(RTÉ)
(BBC)
(Bangkok Post ) [
permanent dead link ]
39-year-old
Russian Orthodox priest Father Alexander Filippov is fatally shot in the back outside his home in
Satino-Russkoye after challenging a group of
drunks who were
urinating in his hallway.
(BBC)
(Radio Free Europe)
(The Age )
Gävle 's
giant straw goat — a traditional symbol of yuletide in
Scandinavia — is burned down for the 24th time.
(The Daily Telegraph )
(Reuters Africa)
(BBC)
(USA Today )
President of Liberia
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf voluntarily imprisons herself in
Bella Yalla prison, an old maximum security prison in the northern jungle, which is to be renamed and turned into a museum.
(BBC)
Farouk Adamu Aliyu of the
All Nigeria Peoples Party initiates legal action in a bid to tempt the unwell
President of Nigeria
Umaru Yar'Adua , who is hospitalised in
Saudi Arabia , to resign the position on health grounds.
(BBC)
Clashes between police and protesters take place in the
Iranian city of
Isfahan at a memorial service for Ayatollah
Hussein-Ali Montazeri .
(Al Jazeera)
(The Times )
American Airlines
Flight 331 , with 154 people onboard, overshoots the runway at
Norman Manley International Airport in
Kingston ,
Jamaica , injuring 44.
(Jamaica Observer )
(AFP)
(China Daily )
The trial of
Chinese
dissident
Liu Xiaobo on charges of
subversion begins.
(Al Jazeera)
(BBC)
(Times of India )
A
Dutch court hears a case taken by
Kurdish survivors of poison gas attacks in
Halabja against businessman
Frans van Anraat , who sold chemicals to
Saddam Hussein during the 1980s.
(BBC)
(Radio Nederland Wereldomroep)
Shia insurgency in Yemen led to the deaths of 73
Saudi soldiers, while more than 100
Houthis have been killed in recent days.
(The New York Times )
(The Christian Science Monitor )
(AFP)
(Press TV)
(The Christian Science Monitor )
The body of
Luis Francisco Cuéllar , the governor of
Caquetá department in
Colombia kidnapped the previous day, is found.
(Colombia Reports)
(BBC)
(Reuters)
Afghan senator
Mohammed Yunos Shirnagha and his son/driver are fatally shot by police in
Puli Khumri ,
Baghlan Province .
(BBC)
(The New York Times )
(Press TV)
(CBC News)
Authorities in
Uzbekistan fell trees, some of which are more than a century old, in the capital
Tashkent , in a controversy which has drawn protests.
(BBC)
Soyuz TMA-17 , carrying an international crew of one Russian, one American and one Japanese astronaut, docks with the
International Space Station .
(RIA Novosti)
(BBC)
The
United Nations
imposes sanctions of a ban on arms importation and frozen bank accounts on
Eritrea for supporting
Somali rebels.
(Reuters)
(The Times )
(RIA Novosti)
The
Supreme Court of Pakistan orders the government to recognise
hijras (eunuchs and transgender individuals) as a distinct gender. (
BBC News )
December 24, 2009 (2009-12-24 ) (Thursday)
Pope Benedict XVI is knocked down by a woman during a procession before the
Christmas Eve
Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in the
Vatican City . He is uninjured, but
Roger Cardinal Etchegaray suffers a
hip fracture .
(Sky News)
(BBC)
At least 40 people are killed and many injured after a tour bus plunges into a
ravine near
Cuzco ,
Peru .
(CNN)
(UPI)
(Xinhua)
Iran says it is to invalidate banknotes which have been pasted with slogans in the name of the Opposition by 8 January 2010.
(BBC)
The
Indian Army kills nine members of the
Peoples Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak and
Kanglei Yana Kan Lup during three incidents in
Manipur .
(Times of India )
(BBC)
Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev signs a decree ordering a 20% cut of staff at the Interior Ministry after a
series of scandals involving the police .
(RIA Novosti)
(Reuters)
China sentences a further five people to death over
riots in
Ürümqi ,
Xinjiang in July, bringing the total number of people sentenced to death to 22.
(Al Jazeera)
(IOL)
Vietnamese authorities charge
human rights lawyer
Le Cong Dinh with attempts to "overthrow the
state ".
(BBC)
(MSN Malaysia)
Turkish police arrest over 43 campaigners and members of the banned
Kurdish Communities Union in raids.
(Today's Zaman )
(Deutsche Welle)
At least three bodies have been recovered and 23 are missing after a collision between a ferry and a fishing boat in the
Philippines .
(Philippine Star ) [
permanent dead link ] (CBC)
A
suicide bomb attack kills at least eight people in
Kandahar ,
Afghanistan .
(BBC)
Bomb attacks in the
Iraqi cities of
Baghdad and
Hilla leave 23 dead.
(Al Jazeera)
(BBC)
Thousands of
Christian pilgrims gather in
Bethlehem in the
West Bank to mark
Christmas .
(BBC)
(Reuters)
(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Niger issues arrest warrants for three opposition leaders including a former President, as it condemns the
Economic Community of West African States ' refusal to recognise the legitimacy of President
Mamadou Tandja .
(BBC)
(African Press Agency) [
permanent dead link ] (allAfrica.com)
The
Archbishop of York ,
John Sentamu speaks out against a
bill being debated in
Uganda that would outlaw
homosexuality .
(BBC)
The
United States Senate passes a
health-care bill expected to extend insurance coverage to 30 million additional Americans, in a party-line vote, 60-39.
(BBC)
(CNN)
An
Israeli man is shot dead by
Palestinian gunmen in the northern
West Bank .
(The Jerusalem Post )
At least 30 suspected
Al-Qaeda militants are killed in an airstrike in
Shabwah Governorate ,
Yemen .
(Yemen News Agency)
(AFP)
(BBC)
Venezuela orders businesses to cut electricity consumption by 20% as droughts threaten generation capacity at the 10.2 gigawatt
Guri hydroelectric power station .
(BBC News)
(Merco Press)
The
Greek parliament approves emergency cuts in government spending for 2010 in an attempt to reduce the country's budget deficit.
(Financial Times )
(BBC News)
A lawsuit is threatened against the
Indonesian Navy and
International Organization for Migration after a 29-year-old
Sri Lankan asylum seeker is allowed to die through medical negligence after vomiting blood and having a seizure in
Indonesia .
(The Sydney Morning Herald )
Hewlett-Packard admits
face detection
software on its
laptops has trouble detecting
dark-skinned faces, leading to casual claims of
racism by some.
(Christian Science Monitor)
(BBC)
(TechWeb)
December 25, 2009 (2009-12-25 ) (Friday)
December 26, 2009 (2009-12-26 ) (Saturday)
A
bomb squad in
Reykjavík ,
Iceland , searches a diverted
Lufthansa flight from
Frankfurt ,
Germany , to
Detroit ,
Michigan ,
United States , that carries a bag whose owner did not make it onto the plane.
(Reuters)
A bomb explodes under the car of a suspected
Hamas member in southern
Beirut ,
Lebanon , killing at least one person and injuring two others.
(Lebanese National News Agency)
(Al Jazeera)
Countries around the
Indian Ocean hold commemorations on the fifth anniversary of the
earthquake and tsunami that killed around 250,000 people.
(BBC)
(euronews)
A bridge over the
Chambal River in
Kota ,
India , collapses with 45 people thought to have been killed.
(CNN)
It is confirmed that all nine missing crew members — six
Filipinos and three
Greeks — from yesterday's ship fire disaster off the coast of
Venezuela are dead.
(BBC)
Ten people die and two more receive injuries after being pierced by a metal guard rail during a bus crash on a major highway in
Ipoh ,
Malaysia .
(Malaysian Star )
Five
Chinese are sentenced to
execution by firing squad before a court in
Vietnam for their roles in one of the largest drug seizures in the country's
history .
(Press Association)
December 27, 2009 (2009-12-27 ) (Sunday)
December 28, 2009 (2009-12-28 ) (Monday)
77-year-old
Japanese
Finance Minister
Hirohisa Fujii is hospitalised after suffering from high blood pressure and fatigue.
(The Straits Times )
Two
Argentine men become the first
gay couple to
legally marry in
Latin America at a
civil ceremony .
(Buenos Aires Herald )
(BBC)
Xinhua News Agency says
China has rescued 25 sailors and the
De Xin Hai , the hijacked
Chinese cargo ship, two months after they were seized off
Somalia .
(The New York Times )
(Al Jazeera)
A mine explosion in
Shuangbai County ,
Yunnan causes more deaths to add to those from a similar incident in
Jiexiu ,
Shanxi yesterday, bringing the total deaths for the two incidents to 17, with six other people still trapped.
(The Straits Times )
China donates 1.1 million dollars to an irrigation project in
Guantánamo Province ,
Cuba .
(AFP)
Construction begins on
China 's largest civil aircraft final assembly base in
Shanghai .
(Xinhua News Agency)
Authorities in
Guangdong ,
China shut down a battery factory and commence health checks of all children in the region after it is discovered that dozens of poisoned children had high levels of lead in their blood.
(The Straits Times )
(Hindustan Times )
(China Daily )
Clashes between joint military-police forces and an
Islamic sect in
Bauchi ,
Nigeria , result in at least 35 deaths.
(The Guardian Nigeria )
(IOL)
(AFP)
Iran declares
martial law in
Najafabad following
a week of protest and 2 days of violence .
(WashingtonTV)
Ireland's most senior
Cardinal ,
Cahal Daly , is reported to be "seriously ill" in hospital.
(BBC)
(RTÉ)
25 dead and dozens injured in a
suicide bombing on a
Shia procession on the day of
Ashura , in
Karachi ,
Pakistan .
(BBC News)
Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin opens the
Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline .
(RIA Novosti)
(AFP)
At least 2,000 hectares and 20 homes are destroyed and hundreds of people are evacuated after a suspected arson causes forest fires in
Valparaíso ,
Chile .
(BBC)
President of Venezuela
Hugo Chávez quotes
Mary and
Karl Marx in a New Year message broadcast by state media, describing an end to the "illusion" of
Barack Obama and predicting a global ecological disaster.
(Reuters)
At least 25 people are confirmed wounded after battles over a fatal stabbing between local people and gold miners from
Brazil in
Albina ,
Suriname .
(BBC)
Seven people die in a series of
avalanche incidents in
Italy .
(BBC)
(Xinhua)
At least 10 people die and 19 others are injured when more than 100 vehicles smash into each other near
Poyang Lake in
Jiangxi ,
China .
(The Straits Times )
(Melbourne Herald Sun )
(Xinhua News Agency)
(Press Trust of India)
One woman dies and at least 18 people are injured after a bus overturns in
Gorey ,
Ireland . An ambulance also overturns.
(RTÉ)
(BBC)
Security forces in
Iran arrest several opposition figures after
recent demonstrations .
(Al Jazeera)
Thailand begins repatriating 4,000
Hmong to
Laos against their will, despite international protest.
(BBC News)
(Bangkok Post ) [
permanent dead link ]
Three people are dead and two are seriously injured following a fuel tanker crash and explosion near
Batemans Bay , on the south coast of
New South Wales ,
Australia .
(ABC-Australia)
SMH
A
Vietnamese court sentences a former
dissident army officer,
Tran Anh Kim , to five years in prison on charges of
subverting the
government .
(VOV News.vn)
(AFP)
Three people die and two others are injured when a bomb suspected to have come from
Nepal 's civil war explodes in
Chitwan , southwest of
Kathmandu .
(The Straits Times )
American musician, James "
The Rev " Sullivan, found dead in his home in
Huntington Beach, California , from an accidental overdose at age 28.
December 29, 2009 (2009-12-29 ) (Tuesday)
Akmal Shaikh becomes the first
EU native to be executed in
China in 50 years.
Gordon Brown releases a statement indicating that he is appalled.
(BBC)
(China Daily )
The
Sudanese parliament approves legislation for a
referendum on the
independence of
South Sudan .
(BBC News)
A
Turkish court sentences a
Kurdish man to life in prison for a
minibus bombing in 2005 that killed five people.
(BBC)
(Ireland Online) [
permanent dead link ]
Bangladesh says it will repatriate 9,000
Rohingya refugees staying at camps in the country back to
Burma .
(The Daily Star )
(Zee News)
(Xinhua)
Iran 's
Nobel Peace Prize winner
Shirin Ebadi says her sister Nooshin, a medical professor and human rights activist, was arrested by authorities the previous evening. Sources indicate journalists have also been detained.
(BBC)
(UPI)
Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza , believed to have held
Malawi 's first
gay engagement ceremony, are arrested and expected to be charged with gross public indecency.
(BBC)
(IOL) [
permanent dead link ]
Serbia 's Minister of Labour, Employment, and Social Affairs
Rasim Ljajić resigns a job due to his inability to keep his promise to locate
Ratko Mladić by the end of 2009.
(BBC)
(Houston Chronicle )
(Reuters)
Thailand completes its repatriation of over 4,000
Hmong refugees to neighbouring
Laos .
(Bangkok Post ) [
permanent dead link ] (Al Jazeera)
Somali pirates seize
UK and
Panamanian -flagged ships with international crews on board in the
Gulf of Aden .
(CNN)
(New York Times )
China displaces the
U.S. as the largest overall buyer of
Japanese goods in 2009.
(Marketwatch)
(Wall Street Journal)
An
American
Christian activist is reportedly arrested after crossing into
North Korea from
China , according to
North Korean media .
(BBC)
(Yonhap)
(Reuters)
Two
Italians are injured and one
American is killed in a shooting incident in
Badghis Province ,
Afghanistan .
(BBC)
December 30, 2009 (2009-12-30 ) (Wednesday)
Seven
American
CIA agents are
killed by a
suicide bomb attack in a US military base in
Khost Province ,
Afghanistan . Two of the seven killed are contractors for
Blackwater Worldwide . The CIA considers contractors to be officers.
(BBC)
(CNN)
Four
Canadian soldiers and a journalist,
Michelle Lang of the
Calgary Herald , are killed in a vehicle explosion in
Kandahar ,
Afghanistan .
(BBC)
(CBC)
Hundreds of protesters gather outside Allende prison in
Veracruz ,
Mexico , objecting to the removal of inmates to allow U.S. film director
Mel Gibson to shoot a controversial movie.
(ABC News)
(BBC)
(France 24) [
permanent dead link ]
Two people are found dead following three separate avalanches in
Scotland , while a third person who was rescued dies later in hospital.
(BBC)
(The Press Association)
A
British hostage is released alive in
Iraq following over two and a half years of captivity in Iraq and
Iran .
(BBC)
(ABC News)
(The Daily Telegraph )
(Guardian )
Former
President of
Indonesia
Abdurrahman Wahid dies at the age of 69.
(Kompas )
(Jakarta Globe )
(BBC)
The death toll in clashes in the northern
Nigerian state of
Bauchi rises to 70, with 1,000 displaced.
(Press TV)
(This Day ) [
permanent dead link ] (AFP)
Taiwan announces plans to reimpose a ban on certain
U.S. beef products amid concerns over
mad cow disease .
(Radio Taiwan International)
(Financial Times )
The
Australian government predicts a 20% fall in the number of
Indian students studying in the country, due to a series of
racist attacks earlier this year.
(BBC)
(Press Trust of India)
(ABC News Australia)
Thousands of pro-government supporters in
Iran demonstrate against recent
anti-government protests on
Ashura .
(AFP)
(Al Jazeera)
A senior
Chinese admiral says the country may build its first foreign naval base in the
Middle East .
(The Daily Telegraph )
(AFP)
Bushfires consume 13,400 hectares (33,000 acres) of land and destroy at least 37 homes near
Toodyay , northeast of
Perth ,
Western Australia .
(BBC News)
Police in
Italy locate a wooden toy guitar sculpture which co-founder of
Cubism
Pablo Picasso made for his daughter Paloma.
(BBC)
(France 24)
(The Daily Telegraph )
(Philadelphia Inquirer ) [
permanent dead link ]
The US applies tariffs on Chinese steel pipes, as part of a series of tariffs amid at Chinese produced goods.
(BBC)
December 31, 2009 (2009-12-31 ) (Thursday)
