Portal:Current events/2009 December 30

December 30, 2009 (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)