Portal:Current events/December 2007

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraq War
- Al-Qaeda in Iraq militants attack the Shiite village of Dwelah in Diyala, killing at least 13 people. (AP via IHT)
- Turkey claims that it has attacked PKK positions in Iraq, inflicting significant losses. (Time)

Law and crime

British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith issues a terrorism warning ahead of Christmas.

Politics and elections

Pakistani general election, 2008
- Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto begins her election campaign for the Pakistani general election, 2008.
In another regional leadership reshuffle following the 17th Party Congress in the People's Republic of China, Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai is appointed the CPC Chongqing Committee Secretary, replacing Wang Yang, who is now Party Secretary in Guangdong. Zhang Dejiang resigns from his posts in Guangdong. (Xinhua)
2007 Belgian government formation
- Formateur Yves Leterme resigns. (Bloomberg)

Sport

The United States wins its first Davis Cup since 1995 taking an unbeatable 3-0 lead over Russia in the final in Portland, Oregon. (AP via CBS Sports)

December 2, 2007 (Sunday)

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's constitutional amendments are rejected by a margin of 51% to 49% in a popular vote. He concedes the vote. (AP via Yahoo! News)
Russian President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party wins 62.8% of the votes in Russia's parliamentary elections. (Reuters)
Sébastien Loeb wins the World Rally Championship for the fourth time in a row, a feat only so far accomplished by Tommi Mäkinen. (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link]}
Brazil starts free-to-air digital television transmissions in São Paulo, but broadcasting companies must transmit signals in both analogue and digital formats until June 2016. (Folha de S. Paulo)
Four people are killed at the Zasyadko coal mine in eastern Ukraine where 101 people were killed twelve days earlier in the country's worst mining accident. (BBC)

December 3, 2007 (Monday)

The United States National Intelligence Estimate of November 2007 reports with "high confidence" that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003 and has probably not restarted it since. (BBC News)
The Election Commission of Pakistan rejects former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's nomination papers for the upcoming parliamentary election. (Daily Times)
The Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir pardons a teacher at Unity High School for her alleged insult in the naming of her class's teddy bear "Muhammad". (CNN)
Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka breaks Shane Warne's record to become test cricket's leading wicket-taker. (BBC News)
Kevin Rudd is sworn in as the 26th Prime Minister of Australia by Governor-General Maj. Gen. Michael Jeffery. (News24)
Australia ratifies the Kyoto Protocol agreement, which former Prime Minister John Howard declined to sign due to claims that it would harm Australia's economy. (BBC News)

December 4, 2007 (Tuesday)

The two Romanian parties supporting President Traian Băsescu, the Democratic Party and the Liberal Democratic Party, announce that they will merge to form the Democratic Liberal Party in January 2008. (Earth Times)
The United States Senate approves a free trade agreement with Peru by a vote of 77 to 18, clearing the way for its implementation. (Reuters)
Dr. David Southall, a prominent British paediatric scientist, is barred from practice after a General Medical Council panel finds that he abused his position to make unsubstantiated accusations in court, and kept illegal records. (BBC News)
Turkish President Abdullah Gül signs a nuclear energy bill, allowing bids to be made for Turkey's first nuclear reactor. (Today's Zaman)

December 5, 2007 (Wednesday)

Swedish National Television reveals systematic food safety irregularities at ICA, the leading grocery store chain in Sweden. (Sveriges Television)
Two British citizens are arrested in Lithuania after trying to ship 14 kg (31 pounds) of khat out of Vilnius. (The Baltic Times)
Latvian Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis resigns. (The Baltic Times)
Car bombs in Baghdad and three northern Iraqi cities kill at least 22 people and injure more than 60 others. (The New York Times)
A man opens fire at a mall in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States, killing eight before committing suicide. (Reuters)
A suicide bomber rams a car into a minibus containing Afghan soldiers on a highway south of Kabul. Thirteen, including six Afghan soldiers, are killed in the incident. (AP via Google News)^{[permanent dead link]}

December 6, 2007 (Thursday)

The death toll rises to 104 in a northern China coal mine gas blast. (China Daily)
France begins construction on the third unit of the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant, which will be the world's second European Pressurized Reactor following a week after a record breaking deal with China for new nuclear power. (World Nuclear News)
United States President George W. Bush writes to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il asking him to fully disclose North Korea's nuclear program. (AFP via Google News)
The United States Central Intelligence Agency admits to destroying at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two al-Qaeda operatives in custody following Congressional scrutiny. (The New York Times)
United States President George W. Bush outlines a plan to freeze mortgage rates for five years to help homeowners hit by the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States' housing market. (BBC News)
One person is killed and one is seriously injured after a letter bomb explosion in a law office building in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. (CNN)
The launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis's STS-122 mission, which will deliver ESA's Columbus module to the International Space Station, is delayed for one day due to a sensor malfunction. (CNN)
The 2007 laureates of the Right Livelihood Award (aka "Alternative Nobel Prize") for "ongoing successful work" are presented in Stockholm, Sweden:
- Christopher Weeramantry for his lifetime of groundbreaking work to strengthen and expand the rule of international law. (DPA via Monsters and Critics.com)
- Dekha Ibrahim Abdi for her mediation work in a conflict-riven region of north Kenya. (Reuters)
- Percy Schmeiser and Louise Schmeiser for their courage in defending biodiversity and farmers' rights, and challenging the environmental and moral perversity of current interpretations of patent laws. (The Right Livlihood Award.org)
- Grameen Shakti wins the Right Livelihood Award for bringing sustainable light and power to thousands of Bangladeshi villages, promoting health, education and productivity. (Daily News)

December 7, 2007 (Friday)

Disasters and accidents

A large oil leak from the Hong Kong-registered MT Hebei Spirit occurs off the coast of South Korea. (Reuters via News Limited)

Law and crime

State prosecutors launch a criminal investigation after systematic food safety irregularities were revealed at ICA, the leading grocery store chain in Sweden. (TT via Stockholm City)

December 8, 2007 (Saturday)

The United States Department of Justice and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) launch a joint inquiry into the destruction of two CIA tapes of the interrogation of two suspected al-Qaeda terrorists. (AP via the Houston Chronicle)
A second human case of H5N1 bird flu is confirmed in eastern China. (People's Daily)
Gunmen attack a party office of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi, Pakistan, killing three supporters. (AP via Google News)
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.^{[citation needed]}

December 9, 2007 (Sunday)

Two people are killed and two are injured in a shooting at a youth training center in Arvada Colorado, United States. (CNN)
Four people are injured and two are killed after a shooting at a church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. (CNN)
Taliban fighters in Afghanistan have pulled back to take up new positions defending the town of Musa Qala during a battle with the Afghan National Army and the International Security Assistance Force. (BBC News)
Robert Pickton is found guilty of second-degree murder of six women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. (CBC News)

December 10, 2007 (Monday)

Subtropical Storm Olga forms north of Puerto Rico, ten days after the official end of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season. The National Hurricane Center forecasts landfall in the Dominican Republic within 24 hours, and Tropical Storm Warnings and Watches have been posted for the northern shore of the nation. (The Guardian)
The United States Supreme Court decides that federal district judges have broad discretion to impose what they think are reasonable sentences, even if federal guidelines call for different sentences. The case that they ruled on involved crack cocaine. (The New York Times)
Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick receives a 23-month jail sentence for his involvement in a dogfighting ring. (Canadian Press via TSN)
Former media tycoon Conrad Black receives a 78-month jail sentence in the United States for mail fraud and obstruction of justice. (CNN)
Russian President Vladimir Putin announces at a party meeting that he will support Dmitry Medvedev as his successor in the March 2008 presidential election. (The Sydney Morning Herald)^{[permanent dead link]}
Hard rock band Led Zeppelin reunites in London's O2 Arena.

December 11, 2007 (Tuesday)

Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton is sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 25 years before a chance for parole. (CTV)
A series of ice storms across the central United States kills at least 24 and leaves nearly 1 million homes and businesses without electricity. (AP via CNN)
The former President of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, is sentenced to six years in prison for ordering a warrantless search while in office. (AFP via Google News)
The United States Federal Reserve cuts federal funds rates and discount rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.25% and 4.75% respectively, signaling its concerns about the impact of the subprime mortgage financial crisis on the United States economy. (The New York Times)
Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb claims responsibility for two simultaneous bombings in Algiers, Algeria, causing at least 62 deaths and more injuries. (CNN)

December 12, 2007 (Wednesday)

United States President George W. Bush vetos an expansion of the federally funded, State Children's Health Insurance Program for the second time. (CNN)
The International Olympic Committee strips sprinter Marion Jones of five medals from the 2000 Summer Olympics after she admits to having taken banned substances. (Reuters)
Merck & Co. recalls a million doses of a childhood vaccines after tests show a sterilization problem at a Pennsylvania factory. (AP via Google News)
The Lebanese armed forces' chief of operations, General François al-Hajj, is killed in a bomb attack in Beirut. (BBC News)
Russia orders the British Council to suspend the majority of its Russian operations by January 2008. (BBC News)
Christoph Blocher, the leading figure of the right-wing People's Party, is voted out of office in the elections to the Swiss Federal Council. (Swissinfo.org)

December 13, 2007 (Thursday)

An archaeological expedition from Indiana University finds the remains of William Kidd's ship, the Quedagh Merchant, believed to have sunk in 1699, near Catalina Island, Dominican Republic. (Indianapolis Star)
The United States Senate passes an energy bill which would increase automobile fuel economy standards for the first time in three decades. (CBS News)
Former United States Senator George Mitchell releases a report detailing the use of banned substances by current and former Major League Baseball players. (MLB) (ESPN) (BBC)
A United States Marine Corps reservist is found guilty of killing an Iraqi soldier while they stood guard together in Fallujah. (AP via Google News)
European Union leaders sign the Reform Treaty in Lisbon, Portugal. (BBC News)
Kivu conflict: Rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo loyal to General Laurent Nkunda call for peace talks with the government to resolve the crisis. (BBC News)
A bomb explodes on the Rajdhani Express in Assam, India near Chungajan killing five passengers. (AP via Google News)
ZANU–PF, the ruling party in Zimbabwe, endorses incumbent Robert Mugabe for the 2008 presidential election set for March. (Nasdaq)
Lucy Kibaki, the wife of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, slaps a government official during independence day celebrations after he accidentally referred to her as "Mama Lucy Wambui," widely rumored to be the President's mistress. (Guardian)

December 14, 2007 (Friday)

International relations

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia invites the President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage. (BBC News)

December 15, 2007 (Saturday)

Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, the Information Minister of Zimbabwe, calls Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany a "Nazi". Ndlovu responded to the German government's criticism of rising human rights abuses in Zimbabwe by telling Merkel to "shut up". (allAfrica.com)
Pitcher Andy Pettitte of the New York Yankees admits to using human growth hormone to recover from an elbow injury two days after the release of the Mitchell Report. (AP via The New York Times)
Rashid Rauf, a suspect in a plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners, escapes from police custody in Pakistan. (AP via Google News)^{[permanent dead link]}
The President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf lifts the state of emergency that he declared on November 3, 2007. (BBC News)
The 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference concludes with an agreement for a two-year process to develop a new treaty on climate change. (The New York Times)

December 16, 2007 (Sunday)

A.C. Milan wins the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup after defeating Boca Juniors 4-2 in the final. (BBC News)
Philippine Marine Corps troops kill Mobin Abdurajak, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf Group, in a shootout after finding him on the southern island of Tawi-Tawi. (BBC News)
Congressman Ron Paul raises a record 6 million dollars for his presidential campaign in a single day "Money Bomb" internet fundraiser to commemorate the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. This event is widely credited as being the first modern day Tea Party, thus creating the Tea Party movement.(Politico)

December 17, 2007 (Monday)

The leaders of Brazil, Bolivia, and Chile agree to build a highway by 2009 that will link the Atlantic (in Santos, Brazil) and the Pacific (in Iquique, Chile) coasts of South America. (BBC News)
Zarkasih, the leader of the Islamic militant organisation Jemaah Islamiyah, goes on trial in Indonesia on terrorism charges. (Sky News)
President of Russia Vladimir Putin agrees to become Prime Minister after his term as president ends. (CNN)
Russia delivers its first shipment of nuclear fuel to the Bushehr nuclear reactor in Iran. (BBC News)
The Bolivian departments of Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz, and Tarija declare autonomy from Evo Morales' central government. (CNN)
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia pardons a rape victim who had been sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes. (AP via The Guardian)
Microsoft announces that Internet Explorer version 8 passes tests for standards compliance (IEBlog)

December 18, 2007 (Tuesday)

Jacob Zuma is elected president of South Africa's ANC party. (Sky News)
An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude hits the Aleutian Islands 125 miles west of Adak, Alaska. (AP via The Houston Chronicle)
United States District Judge Henry Kennedy orders a hearing on whether the Bush administration violated a court order by destroying CIA interrogation videos of two Al-Qaeda suspects. (AP via MSNBC)
The Orange Revolution advocate Yulia Tymoshenko wins parliament's backing to return as prime minister of Ukraine. (Reuters)

December 19, 2007 (Wednesday)

An explosion and fire at a T2 Laboratories facility in Jacksonville, Florida, results in four deaths and 14 injuries. (AP and Reuters via The Seattle Times)
A fire breaks out at the Old Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., which houses ceremonial offices of Vice President Dick Cheney and the majority of White House staff. No injuries are reported. (CNN)
Lee Myung-bak is elected President of South Korea with 50% of the vote, defeating rivals Chung Dong-young and Lee Hoi-chang. (CNN)
A passenger express train derailment in southern Pakistan kills at least 40 and injures 269. (BBC News)
President of Russia Vladimir Putin is Time magazine's Person of the Year. (Time)
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt forms a temporary coalition government comprising five Socialist and Christian Democrat parties from both main language communities. (BBC News)

December 20, 2007 (Thursday)

There are violent incidents in New Orleans, Louisiana as the City Council approves the demolition of 4,500 public housing units. (AP via Google News)
2008 United States presidential election: Tom Tancredo withdraws as a candidate for the Republican nomination and endorses Mitt Romney. (AP via The Guardian)
The US$8 billion buyout of the Tribune Company is completed by Sam Zell. (AP via Google News)^{[permanent dead link]}
At 81 years, 7 months, and 29 days, Queen Elizabeth II becomes the longest-lived British monarch, surpassing the record of Queen Victoria. (BBC News)
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes 50 km (31 miles) southeast of Gisborne, New Zealand at 20:55 local time. (Stuff News)
Sean Hoey is found not guilty of all 56 charges against him relating to the 1998 Omagh bombing. (RTÉ)

December 21, 2007 (Friday)

At least 50 people are killed by an explosion at a mosque in northern Pakistan. (CNN)
Belgian authorities arrest 14 people the government calls Islamic extremists, who they say were plotting to free an al-Qaeda member from prison. (The New York Times)
The Schengen Agreement is expanded to include the seaports and land borders of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. (BBC News)

December 22, 2007 (Saturday)

Iraq War: Turkish Air Force planes strike Kurdistan Workers Party targets in northern Iraq. (BBC News)

December 23, 2007 (Sunday)

Thailand's People Power Party, led by Samak Sundaravej, wins the 2007 general elections. (BBC News)
Saudi police arrest 28 men for allegedly planning terrorist attacks against holy sites in Mecca and Medina. (AP via CNN)
India's Bharatiya Janata Party win elections in the state of Gujarat. (BBC News)
The Nepalese legislature agrees to abolish the country's 240-year-old monarchy. (BBC News)

December 24, 2007 (Monday)

Incumbent Uzbekistani President Islam Karimov wins a new term in office following presidential elections. (AP via CNN)
At least 12 people are dead and 15 others missing after portions of a building collapse in Alexandria, Egypt. (BBC News)
Sebastian Kawa of Poland is FAI World GP Gliding Champion after 5 intensive competition days in Omarama, New Zealand. (FAI)

December 25, 2007 (Tuesday)

December 2007 bombing of northern Iraq: Turkish forces claim to have killed hundreds of Kurdistan Workers Party rebels and struck more than 200 targets in northern Iraq in the past 10 days. (BBC News)
A suicide bombing attack in Baiji, Iraq kills at least 34. (CNN)
At least 15 people are killed and dozens more missing after the collapse of a suspension bridge in western Nepal. (BBC News)
Nine people are dead following a collision between a train and a minibus in Tajikistan. (BBC News)
In the San Francisco Zoo, a tiger escapes from its enclosure and attacks three visitors, killing one of the men and mauling two others. (The Guardian) (CNN) (BBC News)

December 26, 2007 (Wednesday)

Record temperatures stoke bushfires in Perth, Western Australia; arson is suspected. (The West Australian)
The bodies of six people killed on 24 December are found in a house in Carnation, Washington. (Seattle Times)
Hours of torrential rains cause landslides killing at least 78 in the island of Java in Indonesia. (AP via CNN)
At least 34 people are killed following a pipeline explosion in Lagos, Nigeria. (BBC News)

December 27, 2007 (Thursday)

A suicide gunman shoots former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, killing her, and then blows himself up killing at least 22 others at an election rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. (BBC News) (AP via Yahoo! News)
Iraq War: U.S. troops kill 11 members of a Mahdi Army splinter group. The military also announces that it has detained two more suspects in the capture of three U.S. soldiers earlier this year. (AP via Yahoo! News)
Kenyan presidential election, 2007: Election officials have started counting the votes in what is seen as the closest election in Kenyan history. (BBC News)

December 28, 2007 (Friday)

2007 Zoé's Ark controversy - Six French aid workers, sentenced to eight years at hard labor by a Chadian court for allegedly attempting to rescue over 100 Chadian children, are flown to France, where they will appear before a French court which will decide how they will serve their sentences. (Reuters)
War in Somalia: Ethiopian troops have withdrawn from a key town in central Somalia. Islamist insurgents say they now control Guriel. (BBC News)
NASA astronomers refine the trajectory of new asteroid 2007 WD5, giving it a 1-in-25 (4%) chance of striking Mars on January 30, 2008. The object, estimated to be 50 meters wide, could impact Mars with the force of about three megatons of TNT. The potential strike area is close to the location of the Opportunity rover. (NASA)

December 29, 2007 (Saturday)

Phil O'Donnell, a player for Scottish football team Motherwell F.C., collapses on the pitch whilst being substituted and later dies. (BBC News)
The United Kingdom government announces its New Year's Honours List. People being honoured include broadcaster Michael Parkinson, singer Kylie Minogue, chief executive of Marks & Spencer Stuart Rose, embryologist Ian Wilmut and actor Sir Ian McKellen. (BBC News)
Australian David Hicks is released from Yatala Labour Prison, South Australia, after his jail sentence for providing material support for terrorism ends, following his earlier detainment at Guantanamo Bay. (ABC News Australia)
Kenyan presidential election, 2007: Vote counting is delayed for a day with the opposition, led by Raila Odinga, holding a 40,000 vote lead with 90% of votes counted. Violence and looting ensue, especially in the capital Nairobi, with "several" fatalities amidst claims of election fraud from both camps. (BBC News)
The New England Patriots are the first team in the NFL to ever finish the regular season with a record of 16-0, the first perfect regular season in the league since the 1972 Miami Dolphins. (ESPN)
Tom Brady sets the NFL record for Most Touchdown Passes in a season with 50.
Randy Moss sets the NFL record for the Most Touchdown Receptions in a season with 23.

December 30, 2007 (Sunday)

Benazir Bhutto assassination: Bhutto's son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is appointed her successor as chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party. His father, Asif Ali Zardari is named co-chairman. (BBC News)
Kenyan general election, 2007: Incumbent Mwai Kibaki is declared the winner, beating challenger Raila Odinga by 231,728 votes; Odinga supporters riot in Kibera; EU election observers complain of irregularities; Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement is set for a majority in parliament. (Daily Telegraph)
Emmanuel Mwambulukutu, the ambassador of Tanzania to South Africa, is in intensive care after four assailants attacked and robbed his family, stabbing his wife and other guests with bottles. (Khaleej Times)

December 31, 2007 (Monday)