- 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.
- 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.
- The That's Life panel, by Mike Twohy, ends.
- 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)
- 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)
- 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.
- 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]
- 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: 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)
- 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)
- 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 IMF 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)
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