Portal:Current events/2012 December 17

December 17, 2012 (Monday)

Syrian civil war:
- Rebel forces take over the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, where at least 25 were killed by airstrikes the day before. Syrian troops and tanks, as well as a number of PFLP-GC fighters, gather outside the northern edge of the area. (Reuters)
- Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halki makes a surprise visit to Aleppo, pledging more than $4 million in aid. This constitutes the first trip by a senior figure in the government of President Bashar al-Assad in months. (Reuters)
- An Italian and two other foreign citizens are kidnapped from a steel plant in Tartous. (Reuters)
War in North-West Pakistan:
- A blast at a market in Pakistan's Khyber Agency kills 17 and injures 70 others. (Reuters) (BBC)
War in Afghanistan (2001–present):
- A suicide bomber kills 2 and injures 15 others at the offices of a US security company in Kabul. (Reuters)
- An unexploded mine kills 10 girls collecting firewood in the east of Afghanistan. (Reuters)

Cyclone Evan hits Fiji with winds as high as 230 km/h, amid reports of flooding and structural damage at resorts and private homes. More than 8,000 people spend the storm in emergency shelters, including many foreign tourists. (Reuters) (AAP via SBS)
At least 18 people drown after an overloaded boat sinks north of Benin's commercial capital Cotonou. (Reuters)
At least 4 people are killed and 8 others injured as a gas explosion ripped through a residential building in Kharkiv, Ukraine. (Xinhua)

The Parliament of Libya orders the closure of Libya's southern borders with Chad, Sudan, Algeria and Niger while declaring seven southern regions restricted military areas to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and goods. (BBC)

North Korea commemorates the one-year anniversary of the death of former Leader Kim Jong-il. (AFP via Google News)
Reproductive Health Bill:
- The Senate of the Philippines passes its version of the measure by 13–8. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
- The House of Representatives of the Philippines passes its version of the measure by 133–79. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
- Both chambers will go to a bicameral conference immediately to consolidate the two bills. (Rappler)
Voters in the Indian state of Gujarat go to the polls for a state election. (BBC)
The upper house of the Indian parliament Rajya Sabha passes a bill providing reservations for Scheduled castes and Scheduled tribes in government job promotions. (The Economic Times)
The President of Romania nominates current Prime Minister Victor Ponta of the Social Liberal Union to form a new government after the parliamentary election held earlier this month. (Cotidianul)
US politics:
- Nikki Haley, the Governor of South Carolina, appoints Tim Scott to replace outgoing US Senator Jim DeMint. (Time)
- Daniel Inouye, the senior Senator from Hawaii and the President pro tempore, dies in Honolulu at the age of 88. (Washington Post)

Ephraim Mirvis is announced as the next Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, replacing Dr. Jonathan Sacks who will step down from the role in 2013. (BBC)

NASA's twin GRAIL spacecrafts crash into a mile-high cliff near the Lunar North Pole to close out a successful mission to map the Moon's gravity field with unprecedented precision. (Reuters)
The Large Hadron Collider completes the first proton run and stops today for renovation until 2015. (CERN) (Science Daily)

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