Portal:Current events/2010 December 8

December 8, 2010 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Clashes between rival clans in northern Somalia kill around 35 people and injure 40 others. (Press TV)
North Korea launches apparent artillery drills as South Korean and American military officials hold talks. (Al Jazeera)
At least 18 people are killed during a bomb at a bus terminal in Kohat's main bazaar kills in Pakistan. (Al Jazeera) (CNN)

Arts and culture

John Lennon is celebrated on the 30th anniversary of his murder. (BBC)
The retired French electrician who recently revealed he had hundreds of Picassos in his possession announces another trove of his art is also in his possession. (AFP via ABC News)
Soul singer Aretha Franklin is reported to have pancreatic cancer. (Reuters via ABC News)

Disasters

The Panama Canal is shut to traffic due to heavy rain, the first time it has been shut since the United States invaded in 1989. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (CNN)
30 corpses have now been retrieved from the recent massive landslide in Colombia. (Al Jazeera)
83 prisoners die as a fire breaks out in a prison in Santiago, Chile. (The Guardian) (The Straits Times)
26 people are confirmed dead after a gas explosion at a coal mine in Henan Province in central China. (Al Jazeera) (CNN) (China Daily)
At least 10 people are killed in crash involving two trains in eastern Bangladesh. (Al Jazeera) (BD News 24)
20 per cent of flights at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport are cancelled due to extreme weather. (The Straits Times)
The Eiffel Tower is closed due to snow. (BBC)

International relations

United States diplomatic cables leak:
- Newly released cables report that the British government feared Libya might reduce political relations if Abdelbaset al-Megrahi were to die in jail in Scotland. (AP via Herald Sun)
- Newly released cables reveal America lobbied Russia in an attempt to ensure Visa and MasterCard were not "adversely affected" by new legislation earlier this year. Both companies recently suspended all payments to the WikiLeaks website, reportedly after coming under intense pressure from the U.S. government. (The Guardian)
- Online group Anonymous announces the success of Operation Payback, bringing the website of American multinational corporation MasterCard into a state of paralysis after it shuts off donations to the WikiLeaks website. (The Guardian) (Al Jazeera)
- Former Australian prime minister and current foreign minister Kevin Rudd questions U.S. security and holds America responsible for documents made public by the WikiLeaks website. These comments by Rudd, a "control freak" according to U.S. diplomats, are a departure from current prime minister Julia Gillard, who has previously blamed Julian Assange. (The Daily Telegraph)
- An open letter is sent to Gillard requesting that she make a"strong statement" supporting Assange: signatories include renowned American scholar Noam Chomsky, Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown, army whistleblower Lance Collins and numerous Australian authors including Raimond Gaita, Christos Tsiolkas and Helen Garner. (Herald Sun)
- The Washington Post reports that the WikiLeaks website is stronger than ever and has increased support among netizens despite widespread attempts to shut it down. (The Washington Post)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas says Middle East peace talks are in crisis following Israel's refusal to stop building in settlements. (BBC)
- Following increasing demands from the international community Israel's security cabinet approves a two-phase move it says will allow exports from the Gaza Strip, though construction materials are to remain banned. (The Guardian)
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf warns former rebel fighters not to get involved in the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire. (BBC)

Law and crime

Former U.S. vice-president Dick Cheney is charged over a bribery scheme involving oil services company Halliburton by Nigeria's anti-corruption agency. The charges relate to when he was the company's top executive. (Al Jazeera) (AFP via The Sydney Morning Herald)
Around 1,000 protesters block a key road in Moscow, Russia, following the killing of a fellow football fan blamed on a group from the North Caucasus. (The Moscow News) (BBC)
Tony Blair is recalled to give further evidence before the Iraq Inquiry after "gaps" concerning the legality of the Iraq War are identified in his evidence. Jack Straw and Lord Goldsmith are to return too. (Irish Examiner) (Daily Mail)
The International Criminal Court is to begin a preliminary investigation into war crimes by North Korea. (Herald Sun) (Yonhap)
India's Central Bureau of Investigation raids the homes of former telecommunications minister A. Raja, his family and associates in connection with a corruption scandal. (The Hindu) (BBC)

Politics and elections

Haiti election protests:
- Thousands of Haitians riot in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti to protest the exclusion of Michel Martelly from the second round of voting in the Haitian presidential election. (CNN)
- 4 people are declared dead. (AFP via ABC News)

Science

SpaceX Dragon — COTS Demo Flight 1
- SpaceX launched the first working Dragon spacecraft on a test flight at 10:43am EST (15:43 UTC) from Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (CNN.com), (Al-Jazeera)
- The spacecraft splashed down after two orbits 500 miles (800 km) west of Baja California at 2:03pm EST (19:03 UTC), becoming the first commercially-developed spacecraft to return to Earth after being launched into orbit. (Spaceflight Now)(CNN.com)
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency says its probe Akatsuki has failed to enter the orbit around Venus. (Japan Today) (BBC)
A cheetah is captured roaming the streets in the emirate of Sharjah. (The Straits Times)
A rare sighting of a meteor fireball is seen over large parts of the United Kingdom. (BBC)
A joint team of British and US astronomers announce the discovery of Wasp 12b, a planet (1200 light years away) with an ultra-high concentration of carbon, and the first of its type. (BBC)
Reproduction scientists in University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center create mice with nuclear DNA solely from two fathers, using iPStechnology. (Medical Daily)