December 26, 2002 (Thursday)
- North Korea is reactivating a plutonium producing nuclear power plant north of Pyongyang after removing United Nations seals on the reactor and degrading the capability of surveillance cameras. This same reactor is thought by U.S. officials as the source for plutonium for two previously produced atomic bombs. North Korea has been named by the George W. Bush Administration as part of the so-called " axis of evil". [1]
- War on Terror: A Washington Post article quotes numerous anonymous CIA agents who confirm that the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States uses so-called "stress and duress" interrogation techniques, which are claimed by human rights activists to be acts of torture. The anonymous agents defend the practice as necessary in light of the September 11 terrorist attacks; publicly, US government officials deny the charges, while declining to address specifics. Privately, however, one official justified human rights violations as being a necessary part of the job. [2]
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Israel announces it will begin with temporarily providing social services such as education, healthcare, and licenses in the West Bank. The Israeli government claims the move is necessary to provide badly needed services to the Palestinian people in light of the Palestinian Authority's inability to do so. Palestinian officials claim the move is an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority and tantamount to the reinstatement of the Israeli occupation that existed before the 1993 Oslo Accords.
- A 55-year-old contractor from Putnam County, West Virginia named Andrew "Jack" Whittaker Jr won the $314.9 million Christmas Day Powerball jackpot which is the biggest undivided lottery prize in American history. [3]
- ^ "Excite". Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- ^ Priest, Dana; Gellman, Barton (25 December 2002). "U.S. Decries Abuse but Defends Interrogations". The Washington Post. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
- ^ "Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines". Yahoo News. Retrieved 30 December 2015.