Portal:Current events/2014 December 8
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)