Portal:Current events/2009 December 20

Current events of December 20, 2009 (2009-12-20) (Sunday)

• Brittany Murphy (actress) dies at age 32 of cardiac arrest.
• United States Army Major General Anthony Cucolo makes pregnancy a court-martial offense for both female and male troops under his command in northern Iraq. (BBC) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Gerry Adams speaks for the first time about the abuse his father gave to his family in an interview with RTÉ. (BBC) (RTÉ) (The Observer)
• A runaway truck kills up to 100 people at a market in Kogi State, Nigeria. (Vanguard) (BBC) (Xinhua)
• Snowfall disrupts transport services kills at least 15 people across Europe. (Deutsche Welle) (BBC) (Straits Times) (Ireland Online)
• Hundreds of riot police and Maoist protesters clash in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu on the first day of a three-day general strike. (Kantipur) (AFP)
• Philippine officials warn an eruption at the Mayon Volcano could happen within the next few days. (Manilla Bulletin) (AP)
• Two people are killed and four people are wounded by flying concrete during a huge demolition of a Soviet war memorial in Georgia. (BBC) (The Washington Post)
• American band Rage Against The Machine Topped the UK Christmas charts as a result of a massive internet campaign to beat the favorite to win, X factor winner Joe McElderry.