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 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 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 BBC Radio 2 , receiving farewell messages from Gordon Brown and David Cameron . (The Times ) (RTÉ) (BBC highlights)
The Arbeit macht frei 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 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 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 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 , 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)
