Portal:Current events/2010 December 26

December 26, 2010 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Jos attacks:
- Further violence breaks out in the Nigerian city of Jos following bombings earlier this week. (BBC)
- President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan says his government will "take all necessary action" to punish the perpetrators of the deadly bombings in Jos. (Al Jazeera)
Four Turkish workers are kidnapped in eastern Afghanistan. (BBC) (AFP)
Somali pirates seize a Thai-flagged ship off the coast of Somalia. (CNN)
Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinian militants of the al-Quds Brigades of the Islamic Jihad who were planting an explosive device to be used against an Israeli patrol near the border in the southern Gaza Strip. (The Jerusalem Post) (Al Jazeera) (Ynet)
A police curfew continues for a seventh day in the village of Inderkoot in Bandipora district, Kashmir, "as a precautionary measure", but is lifted from Sumbal. (The Times of India)

Arts and culture

Wikileaks head Julian Assange says he has deals for his autobiography worth more than £1 million and needs the money to defend himself against allegations of sexual assault on two women in Sweden. (The Australian) (Al Jazeera) (The Times of India)

Business and economy

Protests against unemployment grow more violent as Tunisian security forces crack down on the residents in Sidi Bou Zid Governorate and a teenager is killed when police open fire. (Al Jazeera) (Ahram Online)

Disasters and accidents

Eight people are killed and 21 injured after a bus crash in Egypt. (CBC) (Hindustan Times)
A collision between a bus and a mini-truck kills 34 people and leaves 30 injured, near the town of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh state, in northern India. (The Australian) (Oneindia) (AP via Google News)
Waves of cold in Jammu and Kashmir show no signs of relenting, though the minimum temperature improves. (The Hindu)
The eastern United States is struck by more snow, with South Carolina receiving its first ever snow on Christmas Day. (BBC)

International relations

China and South Korea are to hold defence talks following tension on the Korean Peninsula. (China Daily) (BBC)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel) announces that it will boycott Durban III (World Conference against Racism), the 2011 United Nations summit commemorating the tenth anniversary of the World Conference against Racism 2001, due to the conference's "anti-Semitic undertones and displays of hatred for Israel and the Jewish world," a day after the UN General Assembly approved a resolution, by a vote of 104 to 22, with 33 abstentions, to hold the summit in September 2011; Canada has already announced that it will also not attend, calling it a "charade". (AFP via Google News) (The Washington Post) (JTA)
The first humanitarian Asian flotilla, Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan of Asia 1, which left New Delhi with people of 15 differing nationalities aboard, leaves Damascus for Latakia, its final stop before it reaches its destination. (Tehran Times)
Thousands of people shouting "death to Israel" gather at Sarayburnu port in Istanbul to welcome back the MV Mavi Marmara, draped with a banner containing faces of the 9 people killed during the Gaza flotilla raid. (Al Jazeera) (Arutz Sheva)
Industry, Trade and Labour Minister of Israel Binyamin Ben-Eliezer responds to Ecuador's formal recognition of Palestine as an independent state by saying that the "entire world" could recognise a Palestinian state in the next year. (AFP via Google News)
United States diplomatic cables leak:
- Newly released cables from July 2004 reveal that American diplomats panicked about a screening of the film Fahrenheit 9/11, which is critical of the U.S. government's response to the September 11 attacks. Diplomats stopped what they called a "potential fiasco" by intervening and contacting the offices of the New Zealand prime minister and Marian Hobbs, a government minister referred to as "Boo Boo" Hobbs by America. (Radio New Zealand International)
- Newly released cables allege that world governments have sought assistance from the United States with wiretapping criminal and political adversaries, leading to denials and claims of "misunderstanding". (BBC)
- Foreign Minister of Israel Avigdor Liberman states at a meeting with Israeli ambassadors that "classic diplomacy" is "not helpful" and that the right diplomacy is to say things "as is" due to the WikiLeaks website. Lieberman also attacks comments by the Foreign Minister of Turkey. (Ynetnews)

Law and crime

A court in Iran convicts a man of spying for Israel. His identity is to be revealed after the sentence is confirmed. (AFP via France24)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
Egypt sends to Damascus a dossier of sensitive technical information involving details of an Israeli spy ring in Syria, including a high ranking chemical expert who assisted Israel for 13 years. (Ahram Online)
A Saudi woman, accused of attacking and torturing her Indonesian maid last month in a case that strained Saudi-Indonesia relations, now denies the charges, claiming that the maid tortured herself because she was “not normal.” (Asia One)
Dr Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish files a lawsuit against Israel one day before the second anniversary of Israel's War on Gaza. Abu al-Aish's three daughters were killed at home by Israeli forces on live television on 16 January 2009 as the gynaecologist was doing an interview with Israel's Channel 10 television. (Al Jazeera)
Iranian authorities halt the impending execution of a Kurdish student convicted of "enmity against God", in connection with alleged membership and activities on behalf of the militant Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), following appeals by international organizations claiming that his trial was held behind closed doors and his lawyer was not allowed to be present. (Reuters) (The Jerusalem Post) (CNN) (BBC) (AFP)
Police in the UK say they are "satisfied" that a body found on Christmas Day is that of missing woman Joanna Yeates. (BBC)

Politics and elections

2010 Ivorian presidential election controversy
- Approximately 14,000 refugees have fled Côte d'Ivoire for Liberia following the disputed presidential election. (BBC)
- Laurent Gbagbo threatens to treat United Nations peacekeepers of the UNOCI mission as rebels if they do not follow orders and leave. (BBC)
More than 1,500 people protest in Moscow, Russia against a recent wave of ethnic unrest following the shooting dead of a football fan. (Al Jazeera) (RIA Novosti)
The 48th President of the Dominican Republic Salvador Jorge Blanco dies at his home in Santo Domingo. (The Washington Post)
The Sri Lankan government says more than 210 former Tamil Tiger rebels have passed a university entrance exam, with 40 qualifying for entry; the Movement for the Release of Political Prisoners calls for the release of all political prisoners. (BBC)
Cape Town is to name a street after former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. (The Observer)