Portal:Current events/December 2014

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi insurgency
- The Prime Minister of Iraq Haidar al-Abadi promises a crackdown on corruption after an audit shows that there were 50,000 ghost soldiers in the Army. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
- The Iraq Prime Minister fires 24 Interior Ministry officials while the Islamic State kills at least 15 police officers near the border with Syria. (AP via Daily Mail)
Naxalite-Maoist insurgency
- Maoist rebels kill 14 Central Reserve Police Force members in an ambush in Chhattisgarh, Central India. (BBC)
Islamist insurgency in Nigeria:
- Dual Boko Haram attacks in Maiduguri and Damaturu leave at least 77 dead, including 33 police, 6 soldiers, and 20 militants. (CBS)
War in Afghanistan:
- A suicide bomb kills at least nine, including two policemen, at a funeral for a tribal elder in Baghlan Province, northern Afghanistan. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

A search continues for 52 people missing from a South Korean fishing vessel, the Oriong-501, that sank early in the morning in bad weather in the Bering Sea off Russia's Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Eight people have been rescued including one person who subsequently died. (Voice of America)

Health

World AIDS Day:
- Researchers claim that the pandemic has reached a tipping point where the number of people receiving treatment in a year was greater than the number of new cases. (U.S. Presidential Proclamation), (Reuters)

International relations

Russia abandons its plans for the South Stream pipeline to Bulgaria due to European Union objections instead looking at a pipeline to Turkey. (Reuters)
The United Nations World Food Program suspends a food program for 1.7 million Syrian refugees after donor countries fail to meet their commitments. (AP via CBC)
Russia launches a new national defense facility in Moscow meant to monitor threats to national security in peacetime but take control of the country in wartime. (RT)

Law and crime

A group of 30 armed men raid Papua New Guinea's Lae Nadzab Airport holding passengers hostage and ransacking offices. (ABC News Australia)

Politics and elections

Former Polish prime minister Donald Tusk becomes the second full-time President of the European Union. (EUobserver)
Moldovan parliamentary election, 2014
- Moldova's pro-European parties begin consultations on forming a coalition as near-complete results show them gaining 54 seats in the 101-seat parliament. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
2014 Hong Kong protests
- Pro-democracy demonstrators and the Hong Kong Police Force clash outside the headquarters of the Government of Hong Kong. Dozens of people are arrested. (New York Times), (AP via Fox News)

Sports

The Calgary Stampeders defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to win the 102nd Grey Cup. (TSN)

December 2, 2014 (Tuesday)

Armed conflict and attacks

War in Somalia
- The Red Cross says that at least 36 people may be dead following an attack in Mandera County in northeastern Kenya. Al-Shabaab militants are believed to be responsible. (Bloomberg via Business Week), (Reuters via New York Times)
Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon
- Unidentified gunmen kill 6 Lebanese soldiers near the eastern town of Ras Baalbek. (Al Jazeera)
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
- The Lebanese government arrests a wife and daughter of ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. (NBC News)
Sony Pictures Entertainment hack
- The FBI launches a probe into a massive hacking attack on Sony Pictures, believing the leadership of North Korea to be responsible. (FOX News)

Business and economy

A major Switzerland based commodities firm, Trafigura, played a "pivotal" role in the ability of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq to export oil, exports that the central government in Baghdad has prohibited. (Reuters)

Health

Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa
- Sierra Leone quarantines the Tonkolili district with more than half the country under lockdown and the official death toll in the country reaching 1,530 and roughly 7,109 infected. (Daily Mail)

International relations

South Korea approves a plan by the Christian Council of Korea to set up a large Christmas tree near the border with North Korea despite ongoing tensions. (AP via Daily Mail)

Law and crime

Greek anarchists burn a public transport bus and several cars during clashes with police in central Athens. (AP)
An Egyptian court sentences 185 people to death over their alleged involvement in a lethal attack on a police station on the outskirts of Cairo. (Reuters via Egyptian Independent)

Politics and elections

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu fires Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid amid the imminent breakup of the government coalition and dissolution of the Knesset ahead of new elections. (Times of Israel)
The Sweden Democrats decide to vote for the opposition's budget proposal, likely forcing the collapse of Prime Minister Stefan Löfven's new government that came to power in the September elections. (ABC News)
2014 Hong Kong protests
- C. Y. Leung, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, warns pro-democracy activists not to return to the streets after yesterday's clashes. (BBC)
The Parliament of Ukraine approves the formation of a new government that includes three foreigners who have received Ukrainian citizenship just hours before the vote: Georgian-born Alexander Kvitashvili, US-national Natalie Jaresko and Lithuanian Aivaras Abromavičius. (Al Jazeera) (AP via ABC News)

December 3, 2014 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Somali Civil War
- A suicide bomber attacks a United Nations convoy near Aden Adde International Airport killing six people. (AP) (BBC)

International relations

Foreign ministers from members of NATO attend a summit in Belgium to discuss the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant insurgency. (Xinhua)
Transparency International issues its 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index with Denmark achieving the highest rating and North Korea and Somalia tied with the lowest ranking. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Italian police arrest a mix of mafia gangsters, corrupt politicians, and one former terrorist in a corruption scandal exploiting migrants and gipsies. (Telegraph)

Politics and elections

The Israeli parliament- the Knesset votes to dissolve the government and hold early election on March 17. (Haaretz)
Less than three months after winning the general election, Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Löfven calls a snap general election after parliament rejected his government's budget proposal. (BBC)

Science and technology

The Japanese space agency, JAXA, launches the space explorer Hayabusa 2 from the Tanegashima Space Center on a six-year roundtrip mission to the asteroid (162173) 1999 JU3 to collect rock samples. (AP)

December 4, 2014 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2014 Grozny clashes:
- Islamic insurgents kill three state police at a traffic circle before taking an empty school and a "press house" in Grozny. Ten state forces die with 28 injured in gun battles ending with ten insurgents killed. (RT)
Iraqi insurgency:
- Bombings in Kirkuk and Shia Muslim sections of Baghdad kill at least 33 people. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

Tens of thousands of people evacuate ahead of Typhoon Hagupit (Ruby) which is expected to strike the Philippines. (BBC)
An estimated 3000m³ of crude oil from a damaged pipeline leak into a nature reservation in Arava desert in southern Israel. (DW) (Ynetnews)

Law and crime

Death of Eric Garner:
- Protests erupt in New York City after a grand jury decides not to indict any police officers in the death of Garner. (CNN)

December 5, 2014 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Kashmir insurgency:
- An attack on a military camp leaves 11 Indian soldiers and police dead near Uri. Eight militants and two civilians are killed in that and concurrent attacks in the state capital, Srinagar, and a part of southern Kashmir. (Reuters)
Terrorism in Somalia
- A suicide bomb attack kills at least 10 at a restaurant in Baidoa. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

A judge in the Netherlands declares Dutch clothing company Mexx bankrupt. The bankruptcy ruling affects over 300 stores worldwide, including 95 locations in Canada. (CBC News)

Disasters and accidents

Italian rescue crews discover 17 bodies in the hull of a migrant ship off Libya. (FOX News)

International Relations

The British Museum announces that it will loan one of the Elgin Marbles in its collection, originally taken from Greece, to the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. Greece's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras calls the move "a provocation to the Greek people." (CNN)

Law and Crime

China's Supreme People's Procuratorate arrests former Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang on corruption charges and expels him from the Communist Party of China. (BBC)
Bill Cosby files a counter-lawsuit against the woman who accused him of sexual assault, claiming she attempted to extort money from him. (BBC)
Rolling Stone Magazine issues a partial retraction on Sabrina Erdely's "A Rape on Campus" story after additional fact checking identifies "discrepancies" in the account of the University of Virginia young woman identified as "Jackie" who alleged that seven men raped her as she lay on broken glass during a party at U.Va.'s Phi Kappa Psi fraternity in 2012. (Rolling Stone) (Washington Post) (TimesDispatch)

Science and Technology

The first flight test of NASA's Orion spacecraft launches successfully at 7:05 EST (12:05 UTC) and splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean at 8:29 PST (16:29 UTC). (CNN)

December 6, 2014 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2014 hostage rescue operations in Yemen
- An American civilian and a South African civilian die during an attempt to rescue them by U.S. Navy SEALs in Yemen. They were being held hostage by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. (CNN)
2014 Iguala mass kidnapping
- Forensic specialists at the University of Innsbruck confirm the identity of the first of the 43 missing students in Guerrero. The remains were located at a municipal dump in Cocula, Guerrero. (El Universal)
Syrian Civil War
- The Syrian Army repels an ISIL offensive on the Deir ez-Zor air base, resulting in at least 119 casualties total. (Khaleej Times)
Unidentified gunmen break into a prison and free an estimated 200 inmates in Minna, west-central Niger State in Nigeria. (NBC News)

Disasters and accidents

At least 70 drown when a migrant boat from Ethiopia sinks off the Red Sea coast of Yemen. (BBC)
Typhoon Hagupit (Ruby), a strong tropical cyclone, makes landfall hitting the Philippines. (BBC)

Law and crime

2014 Ferguson unrest, Death of Eric Garner
- Demonstrations continue for a third day in New York City, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Miami, and Washington, D.C. where protesters perform "die-ins" over the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. (The New York Times) (Boston.com)

Science and Technology

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft reawakens at 20:00 UTC in preparation for observing the dwarf planet Pluto and its satellites. New Horizons, launched on January 19, 2006, will begin distant observations on January 15, 2015, culminating with its July 14, 2015 closest approach flyby. (Sky and Telescope) (L.A. Times) (C-Net)

December 7, 2014 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- The Israeli Air Force bombs two Syrian Armed Forces bases near Damascus and the town of Dimas, according to Russian and Syrian sources. (BBC News)
Allied Democratic Forces insurgency
- Ugandan rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces and National Army for the Liberation of Uganda kill 36 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's North Kivu province. (Reuters/AFP via ABC News)

Disasters and accidents

Typhoon Hagupit
- The death toll from Typhoon Hagupit in the Philippines is at least three as the storm weakens. (BBC)
A bus goes off a mountain road in western Nepal, killing 17 passengers. (Al Jazeera)

International relations

Philippines v. China
- China condemns the Philippines over the latter's "pressure" over the South China Sea despite the disadvantage of the Armed Forces of the Philippines against China's People's Liberation Army. (The Sunday Times), (Bloomberg)

Law and crime

The Obama administration orders the transfer of six prisoners from Guantanamo Bay detention camp to Uruguay, the largest single group of detainees to be released in five years and the first to be resettled in South America. (New York Times)
The Saudi Interior Ministry arrests 135 on terrorism offences, including dozens suspected of links to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. (Al Jazeera)
A chlorine gas leak injures 19 at the Chicago's 'Furfest', a Furry convention. Police say the act was intentional. (NBC News)

Politics and elections

United States Senate election in Louisiana, 2014
- Democrat Mary Landrieu loses her bid for a fourth term representing Louisiana in the United States Senate to Republican Congressman Bill Cassidy in Saturday's runoff election, increasing the GOP majority in the U.S. Senate to 54 seats. (USA Today) (Newsweek)

December 8, 2014 (Monday)

Business and economy

Merck agrees to buy "superbug"-fighter Cubist Pharmaceuticals for $9.5 billion. (FOX Business)

Disasters and accidents

Typhoon Hagupit
- The Philippine Red Cross estimates 27 people killed in Eastern Samar province with 15 in Borongan. (Reuters via Trust)
Two raging fires in Los Angeles destroy a massive residential complex under construction, heavily damage a building undergoing renovations, and snarl rush hour traffic. (The Hollywood Reporter)
A small plane crashes into a house in the American town of Gaithersburg, Maryland near Washington, D.C. with 5 people dead. (Sky News)

International relations

The United Nations seeks $16.4 billion to fund humanitarian assistance programs in 2015 with Syria, Iraq, Sudan and South Sudan the areas of greatest need. (New York Times)

Law and crime

May 2014 Ürümqi attack:
- A Chinese court sentences eight people to death for their role in two deadly attacks in Xinjiang. (AFP via Daily Mail)
Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme:
- A U.S. District Judge sentences the back office director, Daniel Bonventre, to ten years. (Reuters via FOX Business)
The US Supreme Court rejects BP's challenge to their Deepwater Horizon gulf oil spill settlement. (Reuters via FOX Business)
United States President Barack Obama unveils new limits on racial profiling. These new limits outlaw profiling based on race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation. (NPR)

Politics and elections

The Israeli Knesset votes to dissolve itself with new elections called for March 17. (AP)

December 9, 2014 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

An Ansar al-Sharia suicide bomb attack kills seven soldiers at an army base in southern Yemen. (CNN)
Three Turkish Army soldiers die by gunfire in the town of Ceylanpinar. The local Turkish governor begins an investigation of whether the gunfire came from the Syrian side of the border. (BBC)
Another bomb explodes (the previous was November 6, 2014) on a passenger bus, killing at least 11 people and injuring 21 in the southern Philippines province of Bukidnon. (Xinhua)
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb release Serge Lazarevic, a French hostage seized three years ago in Mali. (NYTimes)

Law and crime

A court in Lismore, Australia, convicts the former National Rugby League player Craig Field of the manslaughter of Kelvin Kane outside the Kingscliff Hotel in 2012. (ABC News Australia)
The US Supreme Court rules 9–0 (Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk) in favor of Amazon.com Inc. that employees are not entitled to be paid for the time they spend undergoing security checks after their shifts. (Reuters)
The Pirate Bay website goes offline after Swedish police seize its servers. (The Next Web)

International relations

The Democrat-controlled United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence releases a report critical of the post-September 11 Bush Administration-era CIA interrogation techniques used to extract intelligence from captured Al-Qaeda operatives. The Obama Administration places US embassies around the world on high alert. (BBC)

Politics and elections

2014 Hong Kong protests:
- The Hong Kong Police Force warn protesters that they have until Thursday to leave their protest camp in Admiralty. (AP via ABC News)

Science

Nature publishes Penn State University findings of Ancient shells with 430,000-year-old engravings believed to be made by Homo erectus, changing beliefs on artistic expression and tool use by ancestors of Homo sapiens. Dutch anthropologist Eugene Dubois found the collection in Java in 1891 and Penn State discovered the markings in a museum in the city of Leiden. (WA Today)

December 10, 2014 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

The settlement minister of the Palestinian Authority, Ziad Abu Ein, dies after a confrontation with Israeli soldiers during a West Bank protest. (CNN)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- The Kurdish region’s military forces, the Peshmerga Ministry, states that over 700 Iraqi Kurds have died fighting ISIL forces since June. (AFP via Daily Star)

Arts and culture

Russian billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov who bought the 1962 Nobel gold medal of scientist James Watson says that he is donating it back to Watson as a gift because the "discovery of DNA structure must belong to him". (BBC)
Charlene, Princess of Monaco, wife of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, gives birth to twins Jacques and Gabriella. Jacques will be heir apparent in line with male priority of Monaco's succession laws. (Daily Mail)

Disasters and accidents

A wild storm hits Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland leaving up to 14,000 people without power in western Scotland. (Reuters via ABC News)

Health

Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa
- Medical personnel combating the spread of the Ebola virus are named Time Person of the Year. (AP)
Nature publishes research by the University of Toronto announcing the discovery of a new class of stem cells called F-class stem cells that have the potential to be better and safer to use in medical research. (CBC)

International relations

Human Rights Day
- Amnesty International notes that torture still occurs in some countries. (Amnesty International)
- Pakistani childrens rights activist Malala Yousafzai and Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi receive their Nobel Peace Prizes in Oslo. (Daily Times Pakistan)
- Former President of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski says that he authorised the CIA to use a "black site" in the town of Stare Kiejkuty to interrogate Al-Qaeda members in 2002. (Los Angeles Times)

Law and crime

A court in Langfang, China, sentences former senior Chinese politician Liu Tienan to life imprisonment after having been found guilty of corruption. (BBC)
A South African judge rules that the prosecution can appeal the decision not to convict Oscar Pistorius for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp in 2013 to the Supreme Court of Appeal. (Press Association via Independent)

Politics and elections

Labor and Hatnuah agree to run in a joint list for the March 2015 elections in Israel in a bid to establish a large center-left political bloc and remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power; Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni, should they win the elections, will share the prime ministership on rotation. (The Times of Israel)
Mauritian general election
- The opposition MMM-PMSD coalition wins a majority in the National Assembly, ending the ruling MLP-MMM alliance's plan to grant more powers to the office of the President. (Reuters)

December 11, 2014 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Taliban insurgency
- A Taliban suicide bomber kills at least six Afghan National Army soldiers in Tangi Tarakhil on the outskirts of Kabul. (AFP via France 24)
- A suicide bomber attacks a cultural center putting on a play critical of terrorist attacks, killing a German national and wounding 16 others. (Reuters/AFP via ABC News Australia)
- The Obama Administration orders the closing of the last US-run detention facility in Afghanistan at the Bagram Airfield. (New York Daily News)
Islamist insurgency in Nigeria:
- Two bombs explode in the central Nigerian city of Jos with at least 40 people dead. (Reuters via Daily Mail)
A study by BBC World Service and King's College London finds the death toll from jihadist attacks during the month of November surpassed 5,000. (BBC)

Arts and culture

The oldest time capsule in the United States is unearthed at the Massachusetts State House. The capsule was first buried in the cornerstone by Samuel Adams in 1795 and reburied by Henry Gardner in 1855. Wrapped in cowhide, four silver coins fell out when it was found. (ABC), (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

The American state of California prepares for its worst storm in five years with schools closed in the San Francisco Bay Area. (USA Today)
Typhoon Hagupit (Ruby)
- The death toll from Typhoon Hagupit rises to 18. (Phil Star)

Law and crime

The National Truth Commission set up to investigate human rights abuses by the Brazilian military government of 1964-1985 draws a link between regime era killings and kidnappings to the high number of killings by today's police force. (AP via Washington Post)
Former British radio DJ Ray Teret is jailed for 25 years for a series of sexual assaults on 11 girls in the 1960s and 1970s conducted in association with Jimmy Saville. (Billboard)
British police charge Aravindan Balakrishnan or Comrade Bala with 25 offences including rape in relation to the Lambeth slavery case. (AP via CTV News)
Alleged Brazil serial killer, Sailson Jose das Gracas, confesses to 42 murders in Rio de Janeiro. (Reuters)
In R. v. Fearon, the Supreme Court of Canada rules by 4–3 vote that searching for cell phones without a warrant during an arrest does not violate the Section Eight of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. (Global News)

Politics and elections

2014 Hong Kong protests
- Authorities start clearing the main protest site in Hong Kong following a recent court order for protesters to vacate the site in Admiralty area. (Wall Street Journal)
The United States House of Representatives narrowly passes a budget spending bill to avoid a potential government shutdown. (NBC News)

Science and technology

The US Navy initiates the operation of laser weapons. The first use is to protect ships deployed in the Persian Gulf. (Military.com via FOX News)

December 12, 2014 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Sony Pictures Entertainment hack
- Sony Pictures Entertainment reportedly shuts production on several sets because of computer network issues regarding employee disbursement of pay following a massive computer hack. (FOX News)

Business and economy

Thousands of Italians take to the streets in 50 cities as part of a general strike protesting new labour laws. (ABC News Australia)
Wall Street sees its worst week in three years as oil prices continue to collapse. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sheds 315 points, or 1.8%, to 17280. (FOX Business)

Disasters and accidents

The ferry MV Mutambala capsizes on Lake Tanganyika, Democratic Republic of the Congo leaving at least 26 dead. (Radiookapi.net)

Law and crime

An unknown person shoots four people outside of Rosemary Anderson High School, an alternative high school in Portland, Oregon. Police later question a 22-year-old man. (CNN) (MSN), (AP)
Prosecutors at Sary-Arqa District Court in Astana charge 30-year-old Yevgeny Vdovenko, a Kazakh citizen, of intentional and illegal participation in a military conflict abroad because he had fought alongside pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. (Radio Free Europe)
A Palestinian man throws a chemical substance believed to be acid at an Israeli family that stopped to pick up a hitchhiker. No terrorist groups claim credit for the attack. (Reuters)

Science and technology

Torrent site isoHunt appears to have unofficially resurrected The Pirate Bay at a site which turns out serving new content. (VB News)
Microsoft announces its upcoming Windows 10 consumer version preview for January 21. (FOX News)

December 13, 2014 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Taliban insurgency
- Gunmen assassinate Atiqullah Rawoofi, the head of the Secretariat of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan, in the outskirts of Kabul. (AP)
- Twenty-one people die in attacks across Afghanistan including two American soldiers. (AP via Washington Post)
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
- Iraqi officials claim that ISIL have shot down a military helicopter near Samarra, killing both pilots. (AP)

Arts and culture

Germany's most successful television show, Wetten, dass..?, ends after a 33-year-run. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

Landslides caused by heavy rain in Java, Indonesia, kill at least 17 people with a hundred still unaccounted for. (AP), (AFP via Channel News Asia), (BBC)

International relations

Philippines v. China
- Vietnam files an intervention in the arbitration case about the South China Sea with Vietnam rejecting China's claims. (Bloomberg)
India and Russia sign deals on infrastructure, nuclear energy, and defence. (Reuters)

Law and crime

The wife of Thailand's crown prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, Princess Srirasmi, resigns her royal status following a corruption probe of her relatives. The King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej grants her a divorce. (AFP via ABC News Australia), (AAP via SBS)

Science and technology

The Geminids meteor shower reaches its peak this weekend. (Boing Boing)

Sport

In American football, Marcus Mariota of the University of Oregon football team wins the 2014 Heisman trophy for the best player in college football. (Fox News)

December 14, 2014 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War:
- A battle between Bashar al-Assad loyalist forces and Islamist rebels in Aleppo Governorate leave 34 rebels dead and 3 loyalist fighters captured. (EFE via Fox News)

Arts and culture

Miss World 2014 crowns Rolene Strauss, Miss South Africa, in London. (CNN)
Archaeologists reconstruct two giant statues of Amenhotep III, toppled by an earthquake at the Nile River in 1200 BC. The team's restoration project re-erected surviving fragments at the northern gate of the king's funerary temple. (AFP via Daily Mail)

Business and economy

European private equity firm BC Partners agrees to buy American pet supplies retail chain PetSmart for $8.7 billion. (New York Times)

Disasters and accidents

Eleven Egyptian fishermen drown after their boat sinks in the Gulf of Suez. (AP)
The death toll from a landslide in central Java in Indonesia rises to 24 with scores still missing. (Reuters via NBC News)
The death toll of a capsized ferry MV Mutambala on December 12 in Lake Tanganyika, Democratic Republic of the Congo rises to 129 with authorities continuing to search for bodies or survivors. (BBC)

Environment

Angalifu, a male of the critically endangered northern white rhinoceros, dies at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The remaining rhinoceroses are one female at the Zoo (Nola), three at a zoo in the Czech Republic, and one male at a Kenyan preserve (Sudan). (Huffington Post)

International relations

The United Nations adopts a format for national pledges to tackle climate change after meetings extend into the weekend at the conference held in Lima, Peru. (BBC)

Law and crime

Turkish police arrest 24 journalists, all of whom are supporters of Fethullah Gülen who is a rival of current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and is currently in self-imposed exile in the United States. (Voice of America)

Politics and elections

Japanese general election, 2014
- Japanese citizens vote in a general election. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner win 325 seats out of 475 and thus a new term. (BBC)
Laurent Lamothe resigns as Prime Minister of Haiti along with several ministers following violent protests and a commission's call for him to step down. The protesters have been demanding the holding of early elections. (TownHall)

Sports

In the NBA, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers moves to third on the all-time point scorer list overtaking Michael Jordan. (AFP via SportsFan)

December 15, 2014 (Monday)

Disasters and accidents

A fire at a karaoke bar in China's Henan province kills at least 11 people. (IANS via The Hindu)
An emergency rescue SMURD helicopter crashes into Lake Siutghiol, Constanţa County, Romania with four people killed. (ABC)
The death toll of the 2014 Indonesia landslide rises to 56. (AP via Fox News)

International relations

Philippine prosecutors charge a United States Marine with murder over the death of Jennifer Laude, a Filipino transgender woman. (The Washington Post)
Authorized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Denmark becomes the first country to officially submit a claim on the North Pole. (UPI)
About ten thousand people, including those of Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident (PEGIDA), protest in Germany against the presence of Muslims. (The Telegram)

Law and crime

2014 Sydney hostage crisis
- A gunman, Man Haron Monis, takes 17 people hostage at Lindt Chocolate Café in Martin Place, Sydney. (BBC) (ABC) (Melbourne Herald-Sun)
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania shootings
- A shooting spree kills six people throughout Montgomery County in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania suburbs. The suspect, Bradley William Stone, remains at large. (WPVI-TV) (Philadelphia Inquirer)
The Supreme Court of the United States rules by an 8–1 vote that evidence collected based on a reasonable misinterpretation of the law can be used at trial and is not deemed an unreasonable search or seizure. (Wall Street Journal)(Washington Post)
An appellate court in Vietnam upholds a 30-year prison sentence and convictions for Nguyen Duc Kien, a former businessman. (Tuoi Tre)

Politics and elections

2014 Hong Kong protests
- Authorities remove the last remaining protest camp, the one at Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. (Wall Street Journal)(BBC)
The United States Senate approves Vivek Murthy's nomination as Surgeon General by a 51–43 vote. (CBS)

December 16, 2014 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in North-West Pakistan
- 2014 Peshawar school attack
  - Taliban gunmen storm one of the military-run Army Public Schools in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least 141, including 132 children and nine employees, with most of five hundred students evacuated. (Reuters)(BBC)(The New York Times)
  - The shooting ends with all six gunmen dead. (International Business Times)
Syrian Civil War
- Around one hundred Syrian soldiers and eighty Islamist fighters die in a two-day battle for Wadi Deif, with the Islamic Front capturing over 120 government soldiers. (Reuters)
Terrorism in Yemen
- A pair of car bombs kill 20 children and 11 Houthi militants in Radaa, central Yemen. (CNN)
Gaza–Israel conflict
- Israeli military troops kill one Palestinian man in a West Bank refugee camp. Israeli sources claim the man threw an explosive device at an army patrol. (Reuters)

Business and economy

2014 Russian financial crisis
- The Bank of Russia announces an increase of its key interest rate, the Russian weekly repo rate, from 10.5 to 17 percent as an emergency move to halt the collapse of the ruble's value and, thereby, stabilize the Russian economy. (Channel News Asia)
- Despite rate hike, the ruble falls to {{currency}} – invalid amount (help) per US dollar and {{currency}} – invalid amount (help) per Euro. (Reuters)
Sony Music Entertainment gives Chinese online company Tencent rights to distribute its music catalogue. (Reuters)
The price of Brent Crude oil drops to $55–60 per barrel for the first time since 2009. (Reuters)
The court jury finds Apple Inc. in a nine-year lawsuit not guilty of violating antitrust laws and deleting music content for security reasons. (Ars Technica)(BusinessWeek)(NY Daily News)
American Apparel fires its founder Dov Charney as its Chief Executive Officer after months of suspension. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

A tunnel collapse traps twelve Vietnamese workers, including one woman, at a construction site of a hydropower plant located in the Central Highlands. (Thanh Nien)

Law and crime

2014 Sydney hostage crisis
- The hostage situation ends with gunman Man Haron Monis and two hostages dead and four others injured. (CNN) (ABC Australia)
Israel Police arrest ten members of Lehava, a right-wing organisation that opposes integration of Arabs and Jews, for last month's arson on an Arab–Jewish school. (Times of Israel)
India declares a ban on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after an engineer was detained for campaigning on behalf of the group on Twitter. Officials worry that such ban will endanger thirty-nine men, believed to be held hostage by the group. (Reuters)
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania shootings
- The Montgomery County District Attorney reports that Bradley Stone, suspected in the killing of his ex-wife and five of her family members Monday, has been found dead in the woods near his home in Pennsburg, Pa.. (NBC), (Venturebeat)
Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Scotland with the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 coming into effect. (BBC News)
Judge Arthur J. Schwab of the US District Court of Pennsylvania declares President Barack Obama's executive order on immigration unconstitutional. (Reuters)

Science and technology

For the first time, NASA emailed hardware, a wrench, to the International Space Station that was fabricated on the ISS's Zero Gravity 3D printer. (3dPrint.com) (Medium.com)

December 17, 2014 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in North-West Pakistan
- 2014 Peshawar school attack
  - Pakistan lifts the moratorium on the death penalty for terror-related cases following the Taliban's assault on a school in Peshawar on Tuesday that killed 141, including 132 children. (The Guardian)
Sony Pictures Entertainment hack
- Sony cancels the New York City sneak preview of the upcoming 2014 film The Interview, originally scheduled for December 18, due to threatening messages by hackers. (USA Today)
- Sony cancels the release of The Interview, originally scheduled for Christmas 2014. (CNN)

Business and economy

Spanish energy company Repsol acquires Canadian energy producer Talisman Energy for $13 billion including debt. (Reuters)

International relations

The United States and Cuba re-establish diplomatic relations after severing them 55 years ago. An American embassy will open in Havana and talks to lift the embargo will begin. (The Daily Beast)
The European Union removes Hamas from its list of terrorist organizations. (Reuters)

Law and crime

The Chinese Communist Party, through the Supreme People's Procuratorate, indicts former Nanjing mayor Ji Jianye on bribery and corruption. (AP via Denver Post)
The U.S. attorney's office indicts Gregory Conigliaro and Barry Cadden, co-founders of the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass., along with 12 former employees, on federal racketeering for a fungal meningitis outbreak that killed 64 people in seven states in the fall of 2012. (AP)

Politics and elections

The Parliament of Greece fails to elect a new president in the first round of voting. (ABC News)

Sport

FIFA's independent ethics investigator Michael J. Garcia resigns from that position in protest over the organization's handling of his compiled report on corruption allegations in connection with the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. (BBC)

December 18, 2014 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Gumsuri kidnapping
- News emerges, after survivors reach the city of Maiduguri, that suspected Boko Haram militants stormed the remote village of Gumsuri in north-eastern Nigeria on December 14, killing at least 33 people and kidnapping about 200. (BBC)

Business and economy

The price of Brent Crude oil rises to $61+ per barrel as companies cut upstream investments. (Reuters)
US clothing company Gap Inc. agrees to distribute their apparels to Chinese e-commerce company JD.com. (Reuters)

International relations

A former US intelligence officer identifies Rolando "Rollie" Sarraff Trujillo as the Cuban Interior Ministry spy for the US Central Intelligence Agency, who was swapped in exchange for members of the Cuban Five. (NBC News)
International sanctions during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine
- The European Union imposes sanctions on Russia-occupied Crimea by banning investments and tourism in the region and halting oil explorations. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Death of Jennifer Laude
- The United States refuses to extradite a United States Marine to the Philippines where he is charged with murder. (New York Daily News)
The Death Penalty Information Center states that thirty-five people have been executed in the United States in 2014, marking it the fewest number within two decades. (USA Today)
The US District Court for South Carolina posthumously vacates the conviction of George Stinney, Jr. seventy years after his execution. (UPI)
Spanish police arrest thirteen more people, bringing the total now to more than seventy since the November 30th football fan brawl, which resulted in one death, before the Atletico Madrid–Deportivo La Coruña match started in Madrid's Vicente Calderon Stadium. (AP via USA Today)

Science and technology

India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III successfully completes its first flight, carrying the crew vehicle demonstrator CARE. (Times of India)

December 19, 2014 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in North-West Pakistan
- The Pakistan Armed Forces conduct operations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, killing seventy-seven militants. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
Sony Pictures Entertainment hack
- Paramount Pictures orders theater chains, including those in Cleveland, Atlanta, and New Orleans, not to re-release the 2004 film Team America: World Police, which depicts a fictional mission to kill Kim Jong-il. (Mercury News)(The Times-Picayune)
Staples reports that 1.16 million customer payment cards may have been affected in a data breach under investigation since October. (Fortune)

Disasters and accidents

A Vietnam official states that twelve Vietnamese workers have been rescued three days after being trapped in a collapsed tunnel at a construction site of a hydropower plant located in Central Highlands. (AP via Salon)(Reuters)
The Indonesian volcano Gamalama erupts injuring four people and leaving one person missing. (AP via Business Standard)

Health

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) links prepackaged caramel apples to the listeria outbreak in ten US states that caused twenty-eight illnesses and four (or five) deaths. (USA Today)
The CDC reports that for the US flu season cases are early and pervasive being widespread in 29 states, especially the South and Midwest. (AP)

International relations

International sanctions during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine
- US President Barack Obama imposes additional sanctions on Russian-controlled Crimea by an executive order forbidding exports of US goods and services to the region. (Channel NewsAsia)

Law and crime

Cairns child killings
- Queensland police announce the finding that eight children were stabbed to death in a home in Cairns, Australia. (The Guardian)
Sun Hung Kai Properties Trial:
- A Hong Kong jury convicts former Hong Kong Chief Secretary Rafael Hui of bribery charges in relation to misconduct in office. (RTHK English)
- A Hong Kong jury acquits Sun Hung Kai Properties Hong Kong tycoon Raymond Kwok of all charges, while convicting his brother Thomas of conspiracy to commit office misconduct. (Reuters) (RTHK English)
LGBT rights in China
- In China, a court rules in favor of a gay man who sued a Chongqing electroconvulsive therapy clinic that practises conversion therapy. (The Daily Beast)

Politics and elections

A South Korean court orders the dissolution of the Unified Progressive Party citing pro-North Korean stances. (AP via Miami Herald)
Governor of Vermont Peter Shumlin abandons plans for the first single-payer health care system in the United States, citing transparency problems and heavy tax increases. (Washington Post)

Science and technology

Scientists withdraw the January 29, 2014 claim that there is a simple way to convert normal cells into stem cells, which can be used for any part of the body. Nature had in July retracted its two previous articles after the disgraced lead researcher, Japanese Haruko Obokata, was found to have plagiarized and fabricated parts of the papers. (Reuters via FOX News)

December 20, 2014 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in North-West Pakistan
- The Pakistan Armed Forces attacks two Pakistani Taliban positions near Peshawar, killing 5 militants. (BBC)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israel launches an airstrike against an alleged Hamas base near Khan Yunis in retaliation for a rocket attack. (Euronews)(The Jerusalem Post)
A bomb detonates in Bani Jamra, Bahrain, injuring 3 police officers. (AP via Wall Street Journal)
Sony Pictures Entertainment hack
- The North Korean government denies the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations's (FBI) accusation of involvement in hacking Sony's computers, asking the U.S. for a joint investigation and threatening "serious consequences" if the United States refuses the offer of cooperation. (Bloomberg)
- The United States rejects the offer from North Korea and then seeks help from China instead. (LA Times)
- Hackers send the FBI an email linking to a YouTube video of "You are an idiot!" (The Daily Beast)(ITV)

Law and crime

Turkey issues an arrest warrant for Fethullah Gülen, who currently lives in self-imposed exile in the United States. (New York Times)
Cairns child killings
- Queensland police arrest an Australian mother for murder in the stabbing deaths of eight children. (FOX News)
2014 NYPD officer killings
- After shooting and wounding his ex-girlfriend in Baltimore, Ismaaiyl Brinsley shoots and kills two policemen execution style in Brooklyn, New York, supposedly in revenge for the deaths of two black men in the U.S. reportedly caused by police officers during the summer of 2014, Eric Garner and Michael Brown. The gunman is later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the subway. (CNN)(AP via CBS)
Hundreds of people from the group Black Lives Matter Minneapolis protest at the Mall of America, leading to its partial shutdown and 25 arrests. (USA Today)

Science and technology

In preparation for a government-proposed transportation tunnel, anthropologists discover 6,000-year-old charcoal at a site near Stonehenge suggesting an encampment existed much earlier than previously theorized. (Huffington Post)(The Telegraph)(University of Buckingham)

December 21, 2014 (Sunday)

Arts and culture

British singer-songwriter Elton John converts his domestic partnership with filmmaker David Furnish to marriage. (FOX News)

International Relations

Egypt temporarily reopens its border crossing with Gaza, which had been closed since October, until 4 pm Monday. (Ahram Online)
Due to avian influenza in the United States (Oregon), South Korea suspends US imports of poultry. (Reuters via Times of India)

Law and crime

After an eight-year informal moratorium on the death penalty, Jordan executes 11 men. (Al Jazeera)
China has detained more than thirty thousand people within two months for pornography and gambling. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Beji Caid Essebsi of the secularist Nidaa Tounes party wins Tunisia's presidential election. (Al Arabiya English)

December 22, 2014 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in North-West Pakistan
- 2014 Peshawar school attack
  - Following the December 17 announcement that it would lift its moratorium on terror-related death penalty cases, Pakistan announces that it will execute 500 militants in the coming weeks. (AFP)
North Korea experiences severe internet outages. (AP)
Bombings hit the Nigerian cities of Gombe and Bauchi, killing at least 26 people. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

An out-of-control dustbin lorry in the Queen Street and George Square areas of Glasgow, Scotland, kills at least six people. (BBC)

International relations

2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine
- Kazakhstan renews its military cooperation with Ukraine, to which it promises vital supplies of coal, following a visit to Kiev by the Kazakh leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev. (Fox News)
Human rights in North Korea
- Eleven (11) of 15 United Nations Security Council members approve placing North Korea's human rights record on the Council's agenda. Russia and China oppose the decision while Chad and Nigeria abstain. This is the first time this issue has been debated by the Security Council. Procedurally, once a topic makes the agenda, that issue can be brought up again at any time. (Business Insider) (The Chosun Ilbo)

Law and crime

The US CFTC fines Deutsche Bank $3 million over customer fund flaws. (Reuters via FOX Business)

Politics and elections

A federal land swap in Arizona green lights the US's deepest (1.3 miles) and largest (1.6b tons) copper mine. (FOX News)

December 23, 2014 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Insurgency in Northeast India:
- December 2014 Assam violence
  - Attacks on villages in the Indian state of Assam kill dozens of people. Suspicion falls on the insurgents of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland. (NDTV)(Euronews)(Al Jazeera)
  - As a result, India imposes curfew on parts of Assam. (NBC News)
The internet in North Korea becomes functional again after nine hours without access. (CNN)
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power says that its computer systems have been hacked. (Sydney Morning Herald)
The death toll from the bombings in the Nigerian cities of Gombe and Bauchi reaches at least 37. (Bloomberg)
Sony Pictures Entertainment hack
- Sony schedules the film The Interview for release to small theaters on Christmas Day despite canceling its debut. (Florida Times-Union)

Businesses and economy

Keurig recalls 6.6 million coffee making machines after ninety reports of burn-related injuries. (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

A tornado outbreak hits the southern United States, producing five tornadoes with at least four people dead and leaving fifty others injured. (The Weather Network)

Health

The FDA says that in regards to the 31-year-old policy against gay men making blood donations it will recommend lifting the lifetime ban early next year, replacing it with a policy barring donations from men who have had sex with another man in the previous 12 months. (AP)

International relations

The Parliament of Ukraine removes the country’s legislative block on forming military alliances, allowing the government to push forward with plans to accede to NATO. (BBC)
Russia and Pakistan sign their first energy deal for the Karachi–Lahore gas pipeline worth US$1.7 billion. (Jagran)

Politics and elections

The Greek parliament fails to elect a new president in the second round of voting. (The Guardian)

December 24, 2014 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi insurgency:
- A suicide bombing in Madaen among a group of pro-government Sunni militiamen kills at least 33 people and leaves 55 others wounded. (Reuters)
American-led intervention in Syria:
- A Royal Jordanian Air Force warplane crashes, and its pilot is captured by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants near the city of Ar-Raqqah in northern Syria. (BBC)
Sony Pictures Entertainment hack
- Sony releases the film The Interview online via YouTube and Google Play. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

Russia declares a state of emergency after oil from a Russian oil pipeline spills into the Black Sea near the port of Tuapse. (Reuters)

International relations

South Korea seeks China's investigational assistance concerning the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power hackings. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Xinhua reports that on December 21 Chinese police in Guangxi shot dead one person and detained 21 others. China considers the group to be "religious extremists" who were trying to cross the border into Vietnam. (Reuters)

December 25, 2014 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Libyan civil war
- A militia attack on a power plant in Sirte leaves at least 19 soldiers dead. (BBC)
Somali civil war
- Al-Shabab militants attack AMISOM's headquarters in Mogadishu, leaving three peacekeeping soldiers and a civilian contractor dead. Five of the attackers are also killed. (Al Jazeera)
Pakistani forces report the killing of the "mastermind" behind the Peshawar school massacre during a gun battle in the Khyber Agency tribal area. (The Telegraph)

Arts and culture

Urbi et Orbi
- Pope Francis condemns the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria for violence against women, children, and ethnic minorities. (CNN)
Iraqi Christians defy persecution and celebrate Christmas in Baghdad. (The New York Times)
2014 Ebola epidemic
- In her Royal Christmas Message, Queen Elizabeth II praises aid workers for fighting ebola in West Africa. (CBS)
United States President Barack Obama praises U.S. troops and reflects on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan during his annual Christmas message from Hawaii. (Toronto Star)

Businesses and economy

2014 Russian financial crisis
- Vladimir Putin announces price controls on vodka to reduce bootlegging and moonshining. (New York Daily News)

December 26, 2014 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Donbass
- Ukraine and pro-Russia rebels exchange nearly 370 prisoners in the largest such exchange since hostilities began in April this year. (AP via ABC News)
The Philippines and the local Communist Party agree to renew talks that may lead to a peace treaty which could end the 46-year communist insurgency in the country. (Channel News Asia), (The Daily Mail)

Disasters and accidents

2014 Southeast Asian floods
- Flooding in Peninsular Malaysia forces the evacuation of over 100,000 people. (World Bulletin)
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
- Countries around the Indian Ocean commemorate the tenth anniversary of the tsunami. (BBC)
Three South Korean workers die at a nuclear plant construction site. There is speculation that the deaths are connected to a recent nuclear power plant attack. (AP via FOX News)

Law and crime

The Special Investigation Division of Taiwan initiates a review stemming from allegations that President Ma Ying-jeou has received illegal political donations from Ting Hsin International Group, a disgraced conglomerate at the center of the recent food scandal. (Central News Agency)
Sony Pictures Entertainment hack
- North Korea's embassy in Moscow issues a statement, saying: "The film The Interview, produced by the U.S. studio Sony Pictures, is a very dangerous film product that justifies and promotes terrorism." (Hollywood Reporter)
- Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokesman Alexander Lukashevich says that "the mere idea of the film is aggressively scandalous and that the reaction of the North Korean side is very understandable." (TASS)
- A report says that even before the American Christmas Eve release of The Interview, thousands of Chinese citizens were downloading pirated versions of the movie on domestic video-sharing websites. By midday on December 26, more than 300,000 people had seen the film. (The New York Times)
- The Interview grosses US$1 million on Christmas Day at the box office despite being released only to small theaters. (CNN)
Hackers cause the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live to suffer connection difficulties on Christmas Day. (USA Today)

Sports

In cricket, the Boxing Day Test commences at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with Australia playing against India. (The Sydney Morning Herald)

December 27, 2014 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Somali civil war
- A top level Somali al-Shabab militant with a $3m US bounty, Zakariya Ahmed Ismail Hersi, surrenders to police. (BBC)
North Korea experiences another Internet and cell phone outage and holds the United States responsible. (NY Daily News)

Disasters and accidents

2014 Southeast Asian floods
- Malaysia reports that at least five people are dead. (The Independent)
- Thailand's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reports that at least eight people are dead. (Bangkok Post)

Politics and elections

Sweden's center-left government reaches a deal with the center-right opposition, The Alliance, giving a minority government room to govern so that the country's first snap election since 1958, originally planned for 22 March 2015, can be cancelled; the Sweden Democrats react by announcing that they will put down a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. (BBC) (The Local)
Andrei Kobyakov replaces Mikhail Myasnikovich as Belarus's new prime minister in the biggest government reshuffle since 2010. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

December 28, 2014 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Boko Haram
- The militant organisation Boko Haram attacks a village in Northern Cameroon, leaving an estimated 30 dead. (News24)
War in Afghanistan
- The International Security Assistance Force formally ends its combat mission. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501
- Traveling through thunderstorms over the Java Sea, Flight 8501 loses contact with air traffic control after the plane departed from the Indonesian city of Surabaya en route to Singapore with 162 people on board. (BBC)
The Italian-owned MS Norman Atlantic catches fire on a ferry run from Greece to Italy 44 nautical miles northwest of Corfu, with 222 vehicles, 411 passengers and 5 crew on board. Greek and Italian officials report at least one person is dead. (The Independent),(BBC)
Two merchant ships collide in rough seas off the Italian Adriatic coast, leaving at least one person dead and two missing. (Reuters via News24)
Floods and mudslides in Sri Lanka kill at least twenty-four people and leave eight missing. (The Japan Times)
An apartment building fire near San Antonio, Texas, USA, kills five people. (AP)

Politics and elections

The Croatian presidential election goes to a run-off between incumbent Ivo Josipović and challenger Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. (Bloomberg)

December 29, 2014 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Somalia
- In the latest advance in Operation Indian Ocean, Somali government forces assisted by AMISOM troops capture seven towns in the central Hiran province from Al-Shabaab. (Garowe Online)
Boko Haram
- Cameroon launches its first airstrikes against Boko Haram in a successful operation to reclaim several villages and a military base briefly seized by the militant group in the Far North Region. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

The MS Norman Atlantic ferry fire death toll rises to at least ten as the evacuation ends. (BBC)
Ebola outbreak:
- Glasgow's Gartnavel Hospital diagnoses a woman, who arrived from Sierra Leone, as the first case of Ebola in the UK. (BBC)
A fire in a Pakistan shopping mall kills at least 13 people. (AP)

Politics and elections

Snap elections are to be called after the Hellenic Parliament fails to elect a new Greek president. (Reuters)
The Chinese government blocks some of Google's Gmail services. (Reuters)

December 30, 2014 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi insurgency
- Iraqi government forces and allied Shia militia recapture the town of Dhuluiya in Saladin Province, north of Baghdad, from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. (BBC)
Somali civil war
- A US airstrike in Saakow kills the intelligence chief, Abdishakur, who was also known as Tahlil, of the Somali al-Shabab militants. (AP)

Arts and culture

Luise Rainer, German-born American actress (The Great Ziegfeld, The Good Earth), Academy Award winner (1936, 1937), dies of pneumonia at the age of 104. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501
- Indonesian officials confirm that at least three bodies have been recovered from the Java Sea off Borneo. (BBC) (CBS)
2014 Southeast Asian floods
- Flooding and the death toll continues in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. (Reuters)

Law and crime

A court in Moscow hands down a 3 ¹⁄₂-year suspended sentence for corruption to Alexei Navalny, a prominent anti-Putin activist. (The Denver Post)
In three separate, but connected, crime scenes in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, a suicidal man kills eight people and then himself. (Irish Times)

December 31, 2014 (Wednesday)