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- South Africa's Constitutional Court declares that current marriage laws restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples are unconstitutional and must be changed within a year. Once the change is made, South Africa will be the fifth country in the world where same-sex marriages are recognized, after Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium. (AP via Yahoo)
- The European Central Bank raises interest rates for the first time in five years, from 2.0% to 2.25%. This will affect the cost of money in the twelve Eurozone countries. (BBC)
- A Buddhist manuscript written on birch bark in the 1st century or 2nd century passes from a private collection to the University of Washington library, becoming part of the Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project. (uwnews.org)
- Muriel Degauque is identified as the Belgian suicide bomber who killed herself in Iraq on November 9, 2005. (BBC)
- Ray Hanna, who died on this day in Switzerland, was an air-display pilot, regarded by many as the best of the best, and was well known for flying Spitfire Mk IX MH-434. He was with the Red Arrows from 1965 to 1971, and in that time was their longest serving - and some say their most influential - leader. He and his son, Mark Hanna, started the Old Flying Machine Company The Red Arrows paid tribute to him with a flypast at his funeral.
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- Talks on the new EU budget may not be completed under the United Kingdom's presidency, the UK's minister for Europe warns. (BBC)
- ROC local elections, 2005: Republic of China (Taiwan) opposition party Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) makes major gains in municipal elections, taking 14 of 23 mayor or county magistrate seats. Ruling Democratic Progressive Party takes six seats. People First Party and New Party each takes one seat, and an independent wins one seat. DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang resigns to take responsibility for his party's defeat. (AP via San Francisco Chronicle)
- Pakistan's information minister claims Pakistani forces have killed al-Qaeda operational commander Abu Hamza Rabia in fighting along the Afghanistan border. (BBC)
- An attack about 60 miles from Baghdad, involving a roadside bomb, kills 19 Iraqi soldiers. (Yahoo)
- Some 40,000 protest inaction on global warming in Montreal. The demonstration, held as part of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, is one of the largest environmental protests ever and is accompanied by marches worldwide, including one in hurricane-devastated New Orleans. (CTV) (Independent)
- Marilyn Manson marries Dita Von Teese in a lavish ceremony.
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- Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin addresses the Montreal conference on climate change, and is critical of the United States's stance on the issue. Martin's allegedly "undiplomatic" comments—"there is such a thing as a global conscience, and now is the time to listen to it"—reportedly anger Vice President Dick Cheney. (CBC)
- The third President of Singapore, Chengara Veetil Devan Nair, passes away in Canada at the age of 82. (CNA)
- Two people are wounded in Malawi, which is facing serious food shortages, following clashes between police and people trying to buy cornmeal. (BBC)
- Microsoft loses a South Korean antitrust case, and is fined ₩n32 billion (USD 32m). (Reuters) (BBC)
- A U.S. Federal Air Marshal fatally shoots Rigoberto Alpizar on American Airlines Flight 924 in a jetway at Miami International Airport in Florida. Alpizar, a U.S. citizen who had disembarked from an American Airlines flight from Medellín, Colombia, claimed to have a bomb. No explosive was found. (BBC) (CNN)
- Nobel Prize in Literature winner Harold Pinter accuses Britain and the United States of engaging in state terrorism in Iraq and demands the prosecution of George W. Bush and Tony Blair. (Reuters) (BBC)
- An Italian court rules that calling someone a "dirty negro" while committing a crime is not necessarily a hate crime. (Reuters)
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- A six-year-old boy is killed after Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 skids off a runway at Chicago Midway International Airport. (CNN)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
- President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remarks that Israel should be moved to Europe and the "issue will be resolved." His remarks were widely condemned as Holocaust denial by Israeli, European and American politicians, The Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, issued a statement indicating that he "was shocked", while Saudi, Turkish and Iranian officials criticized his speech because it undermined a Mecca summit dedicated to showing Islam's moderate face.(DailyStar)(UN) (AP) (KUNA)(BBC) (Reuters)
- Conflict in Iraq: At least 32 people have died following an attack on a bus in Baghdad. (BBC) (Fox News)
- Croatian general Ante Gotovina, rated the third-most-wanted war criminal from the Yugoslav wars by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, is arrested by Spanish police in Tenerife and extradited to face the tribunal in The Hague. (BBC)
- Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher has left hospital after being given a clean bill of health by doctors after feeling faint yesterday. (BBC)
- The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement adopt a Red Crystal design, allowing Israel to join as a fully participating member. (BBC)
- UK Law Lords rule in A v. Secretary of State for the Home Department that evidence which may have been obtained by torture cannot be used against suspects in terrorism cases. (BBC)
- Lawyers for convicted murderer and Crips co-founder Stanley "Tookie" Williams meet with Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger in a final plea for clemency. (MTV)
- In Australia, the voluntary student unionism (VSU) legislation has passed the Senate. (ABC)
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- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe comes out to theatres. Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media
- Viacom's Paramount Pictures agrees to buy the DreamWorks SKG company founded by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen for $1.6 billion. (NY Times)
- The Groups for the 2006 FIFA World Cup to be held in Germany are finalized. (BBC) Both Group C and Group E have been dubbed "groups of death". (SI), (Globe&Mail), (ChicagoTribune)
- The Bush administration summons Canadian ambassador Frank McKenna, and is expected to formally lodge a complaint after Prime Minister Paul Martin's criticism on December 7 of the United States at the Montreal conference on climate change. U.S.-Canada relations are already a major issue in the upcoming Canadian federal election. (CBC)
- Reports emerge of an alleged massacre of protesting farmers and fishermen in Dongzhou, Guangdong, China by police forces. The protesters are believed to be upset with government plans to build a new power plant in the area and infill part of the bay. The death toll, pegged at 20, is the worst act of violence by Chinese security forces since the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The town is reportedly still sealed off by government forces. (IHT) (BBC)
- The wedding day of Lorna Ramiso Cantre and Cliff Simonne Rivero Velasco at the Transfiguration Chapel Caleruega, Philippines.
- The last London Routemaster double-decker bus makes its final journey on route 159 before being withdrawn from general service. (BBC)
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- According to some reports, Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, put the Israeli Defense Force on high alert for possible airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. Sharon's office, however, denied this or that they had any plans to do so. (Times Online) (Y-Net) (Y-Net)
- Chief minister of the Indian state of Karnataka, Dharam Singh announced that the state government had accepted Jnanpith awardee U R Ananthamurthy's suggestion to rename Bangalore to its colloquial name, Bengaluru. The new name will be effective from November 1, 2006. (The Times of India)
- Brian Chase of Nashville, Tennessee admits putting false information about John Seigenthaler Sr. into a Wikipedia article, leading to widespread debate. (NYT via Seattle Times) (CNN) (BBC)
- A suicide bombing in Kandahar, Afghanistan, injures 3 people while killing the bomber. (Reuters) (Guardian)
- 2005 Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal fire: Explosions are reported at the Buncefield oil depot north of London ten miles from the Luton airport. (BBC) (Sky News)
- Ethnically motivated violence erupts in the suburbs of Sydney, leading authorities to condemn the incidents as "shameful". (ABC)
- Korean Air, both national and international has been shut down due to the strike going on in Korea. The national airplane circulation has been stopped already and the Korean Airline planes that were in a foreign country are returning to Korea.
- Vengeance of Rain of Hong Kong, was crowned the World Racing Championship winner after winning the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse [1]
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- At an inquest into the death of UN worker Iain Hook, Paul Wolstenholme, a United Nations worker in Jenin claims that moments after Iain Hook was shot by a mysterious sniper rifle-shot to the pelvis, an Israeli sniper rifle laser was pointed at his head. He also supplied documentary evidence which stated that the Israeli army had delayed an ambulance which was sent to take the wounded Mr Hook to hospital. (BBC)
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe grossed $65.6 million in the United States and Canada ($107 million worldwide) on its opening weekend, making it the #2 December opening weekend film of all time (behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and in front of the first two The Lord of the Rings films). With this news, Disney has officially given the greenlight to cinema production of the second book in the series, Prince Caspian, by 2007.
- Stanley Williams is denied clemency by the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The US Supreme Court also refuses to stay his execution. Williams is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at 0:01 PST on December 13. There are some concerns of potential rioting and violence tonight across the state. (SF Chronicle) (Governor's statement (PDF))
- Gebran Tueni, a prominent Lebanese anti-Syrian member of parliament and managing editor of the leading liberal An-Nahar newspaper, has been killed in a car bomb attack in Beirut. He had spent months in Paris because of security concerns, reportedly only returning to Lebanon on Sunday. Another An-Nahar journalist, the anti-Syrian writer Samir Kassir, was killed in a car bomb in June. (BBC)
- ASEAN Summit begins in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Channel News Asia)
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- Conflict in Iraq:
- Four American soldiers are killed following an IED attack in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. (AP)
- The U.S. ambassador issues a statement saying that the total number of abused prisoners found so far in jails run by the Shiite-led Interior Ministry is about 121. (AP)
- The Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization opened in Hong Kong. European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said that he expected little progress on resolving disagreements between ministers. Meanwhile, some protesters from South Korea unsuccessfully attempted to bypass the cordon to reach the location of the conference by swimming across Victoria Harbour. (BBC) (AP via Yahoo) (Reuters via Yahoo)
- The collapse of a residential building in New Jersey kills three people and sends plumes of smoke into the air. (BBC) (Wikinews)
- The President of the United States, George W. Bush, acknowledges the deaths of approximately 30,000 Iraqi civilians since the commencement of the Iraq War. (The Australian)
- Swiss Councillor Dick Marty, commissioned by the Council of Europe to investigate CIA black sites and prisoner abuse in Europe says that the CIA has "disregarded all standards of legality". (CNN) (Houston Chronicle)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Palestinian stone thrower is shot in the head and killed by Israeli troops raiding the West Bank city of Nablus. At least ten other Palestinians were injured by the IDF troops while two Israeli soldiers were injured by a bomb during the raid. (BBC)
- An earthquake of Richter scale magnitude 6.7 rocks South Asia. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake was centred in the Hindukush region of northeastern Afghanistan. (Times of India) (BBC) (CNN)
- Stanley Williams is executed at San Quentin State Prison by the U.S. state of California. (BBC)
- In response to Canadian Prime Minister criticizing the United States on its resistance to climate change initiatives, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins, openly responds to the statements that he complains were used for political advantage during an election.(Toronto Star)
- North America: The Canadian provinces, Ontario and Quebec and the US states Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin sign an international agreement to preclude significant water diversion from the Great Lakes. (Toronto Star)
- The $100 laptop project announces that it has chosen Quanta Computers to make its laptops, which it hopes to distribute to low-income people around the world. (IDG News Service)
- US Federal Reserve rises the target for the interest rate to 4.25%. The rate lead to the highest in more than four years.
- It was announced that on 1 April 2006, First Great Western, First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains would combine into the new Greater Western franchise. (BBC)
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- The European Parliament has adopted the directive on Telecommunications data retention. (BBC)
- U.S. Budget Approval — More than 100 religious activists were arrested on Wednesday after they staged a peaceful sit-in at the Cannon House Office Building, near the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. They were protesting the proposed cuts to health care and other social welfare programs in the Federal Budget. The protest was organized by Jim Wallis, editor of the liberal Christian journal Sojourners Magazine Washington Post SJMN
- U.S. President George W. Bush says that the decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was the result of faulty intelligence, and accepts responsibility for that decision. He maintains that his decision was still justified. (BBC)
- Doctors in Pakistan marvel at the survival of Naqsha Bibi, rescued last Saturday, 63 days after she was buried in the 8 October 2005 Kashmir earthquake. (BBC)
- The President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announces that Brazil will clear its International Monetary Fund debt of $15.5bn two years early. (BBC)
- In India, 11 Hindus are sentenced to life imprisonment for their roles in the murder of Muslims in the 2002 Gujarat violence. (BBC)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
- The President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, describes the Holocaust as a myth. He also said that Europe should house the Jews of the world, rather than the Palestinians. (BBC) (The Guardian)
- A reservoir bursts near Lesterville, Missouri at the Taum Sauk hydroelectric power plant on the Black River, causing significant damage. (DisasterNews)
- In Japan, former one-class authorized architect Hidetsugu Aneha, Takeshi Uchikawa, Akira Shinozuka and Moriyoshi Kimura receives a summons of witnesses by the Diet because of concerning falsification of earth-quake resistant structural data about condominiums and hotels. (The Japan Times Online) Subtitled "Tuba Adventure"
- the movie King Kong was remade on 14th December 2005
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- Air Nauru's only passenger jet is seized by creditors in Melbourne, leaving the island nations of Nauru and Kiribati without air transport to the rest of the world. (ABC)
- Extinct mammoth mitochondrial DNA decoded. (BBC)
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) holds its first national democratic poll in 40 years. (BBC) (Reuters) (Link dead as of 22:48, 14 January 2007 (UTC))
- The Bolivian presidential election, 2005 takes place in Bolivia, with Evo Morales and Jorge Quiroga as front-runners. Morales is expected to win a plurality of votes but not an absolute majority. If no candidate wins a majority, the election of the President will be by vote in the National Congress, also elected today. (BBC)
- 42 people die following a stampede in the Indian city of Chennai. (BBC)
- Bono, Melinda Gates and Bill Gates are named Time's Persons of the Year. (CNN)
- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is on a trip to various countries including Oman, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. He made a surprise stop to Iraq today. (Yahoo! News) (Link dead as of 22:48, 14 January 2007 (UTC)), (Reuters) (Link dead as of 22:48, 14 January 2007 (UTC))
- Philippines finish in 5th place in the medal tally for the 2005 ASEAN Para Games in the Philippines. Thailand finishes with 84 golds, followed by Malaysia. (The Nation, Bangkok)
- The prime minister of Israel Ariel Sharon is transferred to the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem after suffering a minor stroke. Meanwhile, some Palestinians have taken to the streets in Gaza to celebrate Sharon's health condition and the Kahane organisation has urged Jews to pray for his death. (Ynetnews) (Wikinews)
- São Paulo win the FIFA Club World Championship in Yokohama, Japan, defeating Liverpool F.C. 1-0. (BBC)
- President George W. Bush defends the Iraq War in a rare primetime Oval Office address. He said, "Not only can we win the war in Iraq — we are winning the war in Iraq." (USAToday) (The Guardian)
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- Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 flying from Miami, Florida to Bimini, Bahamas, crashes in Miami Beach, killing 18 passengers and two crew members.(CNN)
- Evo Morales becomes the latest Leftist to win the Presidency of a South American nation after he claimed victory in the Bolivian Presidential Election. (BBC)
- Early returns in the Iraqi legislative election, December 2005 indicate that religious parties have done quite well, winning up 80 percent of the vote. Election officials are investigating more than 1,000 complaints about irregularities, 20 of them considered serious. Final results will not be released until early January.
- The Free Aceh Movement surrenders the last of its weapons following a peace agreement with the Government of Indonesia. (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq: An insurgent group broadcasts a video over the Internet of what they claim is the death of American Ronald Allen Schulz. (BBC)
- Nazi Officer Ladislav Niznansky is acquitted of charges relating to three massacres of Slovaks during World War II. (IOL)
- Governor Antonio Fazio of Bank of Italy resigns, after having been officially put under investigation for insider trading, and following heavy pressure from both government and opposition. (BBC)
- The Likud primary elections for the party's leadership between the candidates Benjamin Netanyahu, Silvan Shalom, Yisrael Katz and Moshe Feyglin opened at 10:00 a.m. (Ynetnews)
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- The former President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, claims in court that American officials tortured him. Part of his testimony is censored and the US strongly denies the accusations. (BBC)
- In a 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada rules that swingers clubs do not harm society and are legal as long as there is no exchange of money and the activities are conducted in private. (CTV) (CBC)
- A mugger who attempted to escape pursuit on Sunday by entering Bloemfontein Zoo in South Africa is killed after jumping into the Bengal tigers area. He was found with bite marks all over his body, and all his clothes removed, but the tigers had not attempted to eat him, having been fed the previous afternoon. (BBC) (Mail & Guardian (SA))
- A bomb explodes near a nightclub in Spain, but no one is hurt. The Basque separatist movement ETA claims responsibility. (Reuters)
- The U.S. Senate blocks oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (CNN) (Link dead as of 00:49, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel bans Palestinians from East Jerusalem from voting in the next Palestinian legislative election throwing the entire election in doubt. Israel claims that it made the ban out of fears that Hamas would do well. (BBC)
- Musician Elton John and Canadian filmmaker David Furnish are joined in a civil partnership ceremony at Windsor Town Hall. The couple are among hundreds of same-sex couples entering civil partnerships in England and Wales on the first day that such ceremonies become possible. Ceremonies were held earlier this week in Northern Ireland and Scotland. (BBC) (BBC)
- 2005 Kashmir Earthquake. SOS Children's Villages field workers report a rapid deterioration in weather conditions and increase in weather-related death. 64 more children believed orphaned have been taken into emergency care this week. (SOS)
- December solstice:
- The United States Senate passes a six-month extension of the USA PATRIOT Act late Wednesday night by a voice vote. This clears the way for a final vote in the House. (AP via Yahoo! News) (Link dead as of 00:49, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
- Connecticut. A former hedge fund manager, Scott Sacane, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 in connection with the manipulation of the prices of two biotechnology stocks between November 2002 and July 2003. (Stamford (CT) Advocate) (Link dead as of 00:49, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
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- Five children died in Guatemala City when a blaze started by fireworks swept through their house. A traditional holiday firecracker called a "silbador" shot into their small wooden house started the fire. The children were aged 2, 3, 6, 10 and 13. (Scotsman)
- 40 people killed in DR Congo in a clash between Ugandan rebels and UN-Congolese troops. The Ituri area has been the site of a joint action. (BBC)
- A railroad train on the Uetsu Main Line in northern Japan derailed, killing four and injuring at least 33. (CNN) (BBC)
- Joseph Pararajasingham, 71, a pro–Tamil Tiger politician, was shot dead at a Christmas Midnight Mass in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. (BBC) (Reuters)
- Nazir Ahmad, a Pakistani laborer, admitted to, and was arrested for murdering his four daughters, aged 4, 8, 12, and 25, after his eldest daughter, Muqadas Bibi, married a man against his wishes. (Reuters)
- The Supreme Court in Libya overturned the death sentences given to international health workers charged with infecting children with HIV. (BBC)
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- 15-year-old Jane Creba is killed and six others are wounded in Toronto's Boxing Day shooting, when two groups of gunmen open fire outside a Foot Locker store near the Eaton Centre in Toronto. (CNN) (CBC)
- Memorial services around the world, including one in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, attended by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, mark the first anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami which saw 275,000 people killed or left missing. (CNN)
- A gas attack occurs at an outlet of the Maksidom chain on Moskovsky Prospect in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and leads to the hospitalization of numerous victims. (BBC)
- The prime minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, will undergo a cardiac catheterization to seal a hole in his heart. The surgery is a routine procedure for this congenital defect, according to doctors in Jerusalem. (CNN)
- A Qassam rocket fired at the Israeli kibbutz Sa'ad lands near a preschool. No injuries are reported. (Ynetnews)
- SeaQuest DSV is released on DVD for the first time.
- Kerry Packer, major shareholder of PBL, dies of kidney failure at the age of 68.
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- M. C. Puri, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, is killed and three others are injured when an unidentified gunman opened fire at India's premier educational institute, the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore. (BBC) (The Hindu)
- Jürgen Chrobog, Germany's former Deputy Foreign Minister, his wife and three children, are kidnapped in Yemen by tribesmen pressing for the release of jailed members of their tribe. (IHT) (Deutsche Welle)
- Europe's "sat-nav" technology satellite, Giove-A, is launched as part of the Galileo positioning system with the goal of providing access to timing and location information independent of the United States' prevalent GPS system. (BBC)
- Arab–Israeli conflict:
- Israeli jets bomb the PFLP-GC base in Naameh, Lebanon, a few miles outside Beirut, wounding two people, in retaliation for a rocket attack that hit Qiryat Shemona. Israeli warplanes then fly over southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa Valley in reconnaissance flights, drawing anti-aircraft fire from the Lebanese army. The PFLP-GC denies responsibility for the rockets that hit Kiryat Shmona. Major General Udi Adam has not ruled out targeting installations in Syria. (Reuters)
- Israel Defense Forces forces launch Operation Blue Skies, firing artillery rounds against areas in the northern Gaza Strip and at the areas in proximity to the newly established ‘security strip’ - an area of the Gaza Strip that Israel has declared off limits to Palestinians which Israel claims is aimed at distancing Qassam rocket launchers from the border with Israel. (Ynetnews)
- Militants from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and other militants linked to Fatah storm electoral offices in Gaza. (BBC) (TVNZ)
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