Portal:Current events/December 2013

• 2013 Thai protests
  • Anti-government protests cause the Prime Minister of Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra to flee to a secret location as a pro-Thai government protester is killed. (The Guardian)
• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • A suicide bombing at a funeral kills at least 17 people in Baqubah, Iraq. (Al Jazeera)
• Euromaidan
  • 100,000 people continue their protest against president Yanukovych's decision to back away from stronger ties with the European Union. (Ria Novosti) (Deutsche Welle)
  • Casualties are reported after clashes between protesters and police in Kiev. (BBC)
  • Protesters storm the Kiev City Council buildings. (BBC)
• Syrian civil war
  • Syrian Air Force helicopters bombard the northern rebel-held town of Al-Bab for a second day, killing 20 people. (Reuters)

• At least four people are killed following a Metro-North Railroad train derailment near Spuyten Duyvil, The Bronx, New York City. (CNN)

• Croatian constitutional referendum, 2013:
  • Voters in Croatia go to the polls for a referendum on a proposal to outlaw same-sex marriage with 65 per cent voting yes. (Sky News)

• Comet ISON breaks up into a cloud of debris after skimming the Sun. (NBC)
• China launches the Chang'e 3 lunar probe incorporating a robotic lander and Jade Rabbit rover. (Reuters via India Today)

• Assem Allam, the Egyptian-born businessman and owner of Premier League club Hull City, tells the club's fans, whom he refers to as "hooligans", that they can "die as soon as they want" following protests against his plans to rename the club Hull Tigers. (ITV News) (Daily Mail)

• The Right Livelihood Award, sometimes understood as a critique of the Nobel Prize, is presented at a ceremony in the Swedish Parliament building to Dr. Paul Walker, Raji Sourani, Denis Mukwege, and Hans Herren. (Right Livelihood Award)
• French artist Laure Prouvost wins the 2013 Turner Prize for a video installation set in a mock tea party. (AFP via Yahoo News)

• Typhoon Haiyan:
  • The death toll in the Philippines is confirmed over 5,700. (ABS-CBN)
• 2013 Glasgow helicopter crash:
  • Nine people are now confirmed dead following Friday's crash. (FOX News)
• A five-story building under construction collapses in the Brazilian city of Guarulhos with no casualties. (AFP via Yahoo News)

• Pope Francis meets with the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu at the Vatican to discuss global affairs including the nuclear program of Iran. (USA Today)

• In the New Hampshire's U.S. District Court, the former medical technician David Kwiatkowski is sentenced to 39 years in prison for infecting unknown numbers of patients in various states with hepatitis C through the reuse of his contaminated syringes. (FOX News)

• Prime Minister of Somalia Abdi Farah Shirdon is voted out of office by the Federal Parliament of Somalia from a vote of 184-65. (The New York Times)

• Russian ballet dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko is convicted of organizing an acid attack on Sergei Filin, artistic director of the Bolshoi Theatre. (BBC)
• An inquiry into the 1989 Jonesborough ambush finds that members of the Garda Síochána colluded with the IRA in the shooting of two RUC officers as they crossed the Irish border. (BBC)
• A leaked French report on the cause of Yasser Arafat's death says he died of an infection. A Swiss inquiry had said polonium poisoning was most likely. (AFP) (BBC) (LA Times)

• 2013 Thai protests:
  • Thai police say that they will not resist protesters seizing the Bangkok police headquarters. (Reuters Trust)
• 2013 Ukraine pro-European Union protests:
  • The Government of Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov easily survives a no-confidence motion amid continuing protest against the decision of Azarov and President Yanukovych to back away from stronger ties with the European Union. However, the Government is in danger of not surviving a similar motion tomorrow. (Euronews)
• Romanian President Traian Băsescu sparks a new crisis by refusing to sign the country's IMF accord and threatens Prime Minister Victor Ponta's government with rejecting the national budget, blocking important indexations of salaries and pensions for the following year, over an ongoing political feud between the two leaders. (Bloomberg)
• Reports from South Korea claim that prominent North Korean powerbroker Jang Sung-taek has been sacked as the Vice-chairman of the National Defence Commission. (BBC)

• An extremely well-preserved baby Chasmosaurus dinosaur fossil has been unearthed in Alberta, Canada. (Postmedia News via Canada.com)

• Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York City have found that a modified version of the leukemia treatment radioimmunotherapy can kill latent HIV cells, possibly providing a cure for one of the world's deadliest diseases. (NBC)

• Northern Mali:
  • A mass grave is discovered near Bamako holding the remains of 21 loyalist soldiers said to have gone missing last year during Mali's coup. (Al Jazeera)
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021):
  • The United States stops shipping supplies to Afghanistan through Pakistan due to protests over drone attacks. (The Telegraph)
• Sectarianism in Pakistan:
  • Thirteen people are killed as a result of targetted shootings in Pakistan's biggest city Karachi. (PTI via NDTV)
• Syrian civil war:
  • A rocket attack on government-held areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo kills 18 people including a number of civilians. (BBC)
• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • Iraqi security forces storm the Jawahir Mall in Kirkuk after armed gunmen seize hostages. (Al-Jazeera)
• A train derails in the Bangladesh district of Gaibandha as a result of sabotage resulting in at least 3 deaths. Over 60 people have been killed since an opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party announced a campaign against next months election. (Dawn)
• A Hezbollah official Hassan al-Lakkis is assassinated outside his home in Hadath, south of the Lebanese capital Beirut with Hezbollah blaming Israel. (Daily Star)

• The European Commission fines six banks $2.3 billion for forming illegal cartels to rig interest rates. (BBC)

• At least one person is dead, one missing and thousands evacuated as floods hit Malaysia with the states of Johor, Pahang and Terengganu worst affected. (Jakarta Post)
• Sixty are ill with fifteen others requiring treatment for smoke inhalation when a BART train makes an emergency stop in the Berkeley Hills Tunnel near the Rockridge station due to mechanical problems. (KRON)

• Xavier Bettel becomes the first openly gay prime minister in Luxembourg and the third openly gay prime minister in Europe as the country's first government without participation of the Christian Social People's Party since 1979 takes office; Bettel's deputy, Étienne Schneider, is also openly gay, making Luxembourg the first country in the world with the two highest-ranking leaders of government being openly gay. (Al Jazeera)
• After Estonian Minister of Culture, Rein Lang´s, resignation, new minister - Urve Tiidus - takes office, after President Toomas Hendrik Ilves approval. (Postimees)

• A new island is discovered in the Laptev Sea, and is given the name Yaya. (Vesti.Ru)

• Unidentified militants attack a Defense Ministry compound in Sana'a, Yemen, killing at least 52 people and injuring 167 others. Most of the victims appear to be doctors and nurses, working at a hospital within the property. (Al Jazeera) (CNN)
• 2013 Central African Republic coup d'état:
  • The United Nations approves the creation of the MISCA peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, initially led by the African Union with French military support, to help quell the ongoing civil war, as reports emerge of more than 100 people killed during recent clashes in the capital Bangui. (Reuters)
• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • Militants in Kirkuk, Iraq, attack a mall and police headquarters, killing 10 people and injuring another 70. (Xinhua)
• Post-civil war violence in Libya:
  • Unidentified gunmen shoot and kill a U.S. teacher at an international school in Benghazi, Libya. (Al Jazeera)

• Thalía is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Variety)

• A major winter storm called Bodil hits the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, disrupting traffic and causing four people to be dead or missing and widespread damage amid fears of flooding along the North Sea coast. (BBC), (AFP via France 24)

• Australia and South Korea successfully negotiate a free trade agreement. (AAP via News Limited)
• Vice President of the United States Joe Biden criticizes the People's Republic of China for a recent crackdown of foreign journalists in the country. (The Washington Post)
• United States Secretary of State John Kerry meets with the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem to talk about many topics including the nuclear program of Iran. (U.S. Department of State)
• Myanmar's Thein Sein and the Philippines' Benigno Aquino III ink trade agreements including those that involve renewable energy, mass media, and visa-free travel. (GMA News)

• Indonesia jails 14 Rohingya asylum seekers for their role in a deadly brawl in a North Sumatra detention centre that claimed 8 lives. (AP via ABC News America)
• Pope Francis, in his first major action on the still very pressing issue, gives his assent during meetings on reform of the Roman Curia to the creation of a permanent expert-member Pontifical Commission which would advise the Catholic Church on how to deal with cases of the sin and crime of sex abuse of minors by those in Church ministries (as of now, it would not be able to take corrective action against lax Bishops; dioceses and then the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith are in charge of laicizing abusive clerics). (Catholic News Service)

• 2013 Thai protests:
  • The King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej calls for stability as he celebrates his 86th birthday. (AP via ABC News America)
• Nobel prize winner, anti-Apartheid activist, and former South African president, Nelson Mandela, dies at age 95. (World News) (BBC)

• Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen:
  • The Yemeni Defense Ministry regains control of their military compound in Sana'a, Yemen, killing 11 militants in the process. (Reuters)
• Central African Republic conflict under the Djotodia administration:
  • The Red Cross claims that at least 300 people have died in two days of fighting in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. (BBC)

• 2013 North American cold wave:
  • Record snowfall occurs over the United States killing at least eleven and leaving hundreds of thousands without power. (USA Today)

• Pollution in China:
  • A record level of smog is reported in Shanghai causing officials to issue the highest level health warning and delaying of hundreds of flights.(Reuters)

• War in Afghanistan:
  • Royal Marine Sergeant Alexander Blackman is given a life sentence by a court martial for the murder of an unarmed insurgent. (BBC)
• The U.S. Supreme Court agrees to decide whether software can be patented. (Reuters via The Chicago Tribune)

• The China National Space Administration achieves Earth to Lunar transorbital insertion of their Chang'e 3 probe. The spacecraft enters a 100 km (62 mi)-high circular lunar orbit at 5:53 p.m. Beijing Time. The orbit is obtained after 361 seconds of variable-thrust engine braking. (Economic Times)
• Researchers at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute are published in the journal Cell, describing a link between Parkinsonism (Parkinson's disease) and the agricultural pesticides of paraquat and maneb. (MSN)

• 2014 FIFA World Cup:
  • The draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup is done in Brazil with the 2010 FIFA World Cup champions Spain and runners-up The Netherlands both drawn in Group B. (The Sports 24)

• Syrian civil war:
  • The Islamic Front has taken over Bab al-Hawa bases from the Free Syrian Army. (Reuters)
• Central African Republic conflict under the Djotodia administration:
  • France expands its role in the conflict in the Central African Republic. BBC News.

• 87-year-old American comedian Don Rickles is recovering after treatment for a leg infection of necrotizing fasciitis, better known as a flesh-eating disease. (FOX News)

• United States Supreme Court associate justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg turns down a stay to block the December 9 American Airlines/US Airways merger. (FOX News)

• Typhoon Haiyan:
  • The death toll reaches 5,800, with 26,233 injured and 1,779 still missing. (BW)

• Researchers at the New York University School of Medicine are published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, describing a link between decreased levels of gut microbe diversity and increased colorectal cancer rates. A possible cause of the link may be that such people's digestive tracts have lower levels of bacteria that ferment dietary fiber into the anti-inflammatory fatty acid butyrate. However, the causative link remains uncertain since there could be other influencing factors, such as genetics, obesity, or the presence of inflammatory types of microbes. (MSN)

• 2013 Korean crisis:
  • North Korea releases 85-year-old American retiree Merrill Newman after 42 days in captivity. The United States once again asks the DPRK to pardon and release Kenneth Bae. (CNN)
• The World Trade Organization meeting in Bali, Indonesia, concludes with agreement to simplify trade deals and make it easier for poorer states to sell their goods as part of the Bali Package. (BBC)

• Local government elections are held in Balochistan, Pakistan. (Dawn News)

• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • At least 30 people are killed as a result of car bombings in Iraq. (Reuters via IOL)

• South Korea announces that it will expand its air defense zone in response to a recent move by the People's Republic of China. (Fox News)

• Riots break out in Singapore after a fatal accident in Little India. This is the second riot in post-independence Singapore, and the first in over forty years. (BBC) (Channel NewsAsia)

• 2013 elections in India:
  • The Indian National Congress lose the Delhi and Rajasthan assembly elections and the Bharatiya Janata Party retain the Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh legislative assemblies, while gaining a majority in the Rajasthan assembly. (Yahoo! News)
• 2013 Thai protests:
  • The Thailand Opposition vows to resign en masse after weeks of protest. (BBC)
• Euromaidan:
  • During the third Sunday of mass protests, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians in Kiev seek the resignation of the government for refusing a deal on closer ties with the European Union. BBC News
  • Anti-government protesters topple the last surviving statue of Communist leader Vladimir Lenin in central Kiev. (CNN)

• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • Attacks around Iraq kill at least 18 people, including a car bombing at a cafe in the town of Buhriz which killed 12 people. (AP via Miami Herald)

• British singer Susan Boyle reveals she has Asperger syndrome. (BBC)

• American Airlines Group is formed from the merger of AMR Corporation and US Airways Group and begins trading on the NASDAQ. (Los Angeles Times)

• At least seven are dead following a train accident near Bintaro, Indonesia. (The Jakarta Globe)

• The Philippines and the Bangsamoro sign a power-sharing agreement, paving the way for the peace process. (Bloomberg)

• Iraqi Jewish artifacts that were rescued from Saddam Hussein's palace by a Jewish-American scholar and brought to the United States are scheduled to be returned to Iraq by the end of the summer in 2014, despite objections from American Jews citing instability in Iraq. (Los Angeles Times)

• 2013 Thai protests:
  • Prime Minister of Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra announces that she plans to hold elections. (The Guardian) (Businessweek)
• Gustavo Petro, mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, is removed from office and banned from re-taking it for fifteen years, due to a failing city cleaning policy promoted by him. (The Wall Street Journal) (El Espectador)
• Euromaidan:
  • Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko sends a letter of support to Ukrainian protesters after they topple a statue of Lenin. (CNN)
• President of Russia Vladimir Putin announces that RIA Novosti, Voice of Russia, and the State Fund of Television and Radio Programs will immediately be shut down. Newly created Rossia Segodnya (Russia Today) will take RIA Novosti's place as the government news agency. (BBC) (Reuters) (The New York Times)

• The Florida State Seminoles and Auburn Tigers are scheduled to play the 2014 BCS National Championship Game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on January 6th, 2014. (ESPN)

• Central African Republic conflict under the Djotodia administration:
  • Two French soldiers die in overnight fighting in the capital Bangui. (BBC)
• Maguindanao massacre:
  • The Supreme Court of the Philippines issues guidelines in order to hasten a resolution for the trial. (Channel News Asia)

• Death and state funeral of Nelson Mandela:
  • The life of Nelson Mandela is celebrated in a memorial service in Johannesburg. (BBC)
  • Barack Obama and Raul Castro exchange handshakes despite a United States embargo against Cuba. (ABC News)
  • Dilma Rousseff and Barack Obama greet each other in spite of revelations of spying on the Brazilian leader in the Global surveillance disclosures. (ABC News)

• Mary Barra of General Motors becomes the first female CEO of an automotive company. (Businessweek)

• The United States National Security Agency played World of Warcraft, Second Life, and games on the Xbox 360 to spy on gamers. (CNN)
• Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen:
  • The Philippines bans its workers from Yemen after the deaths of seven Filipinos there. (Huffington Post)

• Jean-Claude Mas, the founder of Poly Implant Prothèse is sentenced in a French court to four years in prison for fraud for selling faulty breast implants. (France 24)
• Looters in Argentina kill at least five people as mobs take advantage of strikes by police demanding pay raises. (USA Today)

• Uruguay becomes the first country to legalize the growth, sale, and use of marijuana. (Reuters)
• 2013 Thai political crisis:
  • In Thailand, there are thousands of protesters in Bangkok. The opposition Democrat Party resigns en masse. (BBC)

Regular Events:

Analog TV is switched off in Australia.

• Syrian Civil War:
  • Salim Idris, top commander of the Free Syrian Army, flees Syria. Islamist fighters take over his headquarters and key warehouses. (The Wall Street Journal)
• Human rights in the Philippines:
  • Three journalists are killed and one wounded in the Philippines within the span of two weeks raising concerns regarding the security situation in the country. (Al Jazeera)

• Time magazine names Pope Francis its Person of the Year. (Sky News)

• General Motors announces that it will be closing its Australian Holden manufacturing subsidiary by the end of 2017. (News Limited)
• Sources indicate that Stanley Fischer, former head of the central bank of Israel, is the front runner to become the new Vice Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve as Janet Yellen ascends to the Chair. (Reuters)

• Bubonic plague kills 20 people in a Madagascar village. (The Independent)

• The U.S. National Security Agency is secretly piggybacking on the tools that enable internet advertisers to track consumers, such tools are known as cookies; specifically, Google cookies are being tracked in order to determine targets for hacking. (The Washington Post)

• LGBT rights in India:
  • The Supreme Court of India upholds the primacy of Section 377 of the Indian penal code banning homosexual activities. (BBC)
• A revenge porn website is shutdown in San Diego after the owner, Kevin Christopher Bollaert, is accused of extorting money from one of its victims. (Los Angeles Times)

• President of Russia Vladimir Putin announces a policy mandate that increases military focus in the Arctic. (Reuters)
• Euromaidan:
  • Police in Kiev abandon their posts after a sweep of the protesters ended in violence. (The New York Times)

• An air strike intended to target an al Qaeda convoy in Al-Bayda province in central Yemen mistakenly attacks a wedding procession, killing 15 civilians. (Reuters)
• Extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances in the Philippines:
  • Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists criticize the administration of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III for his failure to protect journalists after the deaths of at least 12 in 2013. (Time) (CPJ)

• The nominees for the 71st Golden Globe Awards are announced. (NPR)
• Paul Walker's private funeral is to be held on the weekend. (People)

• Four former Icelandic bank bosses are jailed over concealing illegal activities within the bank Kaupthing. (BBC)
• Mexico's Congress passes a bill that will allow foreign investment in its state-run oil company, Pemex. The measure still requires the approval of a majority of the country's federal entities.

• An ammonia cooling pump on the International Space Station malfunctions, requiring suspension of some non-critical systems. (CNN)

• The United States announces that it will enforce sanctions on more than two dozen companies who assisted Iran with its nuclear program. (AP via ABC News America)

• Jang Sung-thaek, the uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is executed. (Reuters)
• Australia's High Court rules same-sex marriages held in the country are invalid. (Businessweek)
• The United Nations says that the legalization of marijuana in Uruguay is a violation of international law. (The Huffington Post)
• Bangladesh hangs Abdul Kader Mullah, a leader of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, for committing atrocities in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. (BBC)
• The United States Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the federal bus safety regulator, shuts down 52 busline companies in a major nationwide crackdown on unsafe outfits. [http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/12/12/feds-shut-down-52-unsafe-bus-companies/?icid=maing-grid7

• Syrian civil war
  • The European Union is criticized by Amnesty International for meager assistance of Syrian refugees. (Los Angeles Times)
• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal)
  • 15 Iranians and 3 Iraqis were killed in a pipeline attack in the north-east of Baghdad. (BBC)
• 2013 Wichita bombing plot
  • Authorities arrest a man for plotting to attack Wichita Mid-Continent Airport with an fake car bomb provided by undercover law enforcement. (Reuters)
• Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
  • Warships of the United States and China confront each other in international waters within the South China Sea. (CNN)
• A gunman critically wounds a student in a shooting at Arapahoe High School, Centennial, Colorado, United States. (NBC News)

• Prince Harry and his "Walking with the Wounded" team reach the South Pole after three weeks trekking in the Antarctic. (BBC)
• Beyoncé unexpectedly releases her fifth self-titled album without any prior announcement or promotion, ultimately changing the global release date of all future albums to Friday.^[1]

• Google removes a privacy feature from its Android mobile software, despite objections from groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation. (Reuters)

• 2013 Middle East cold snap
  • The storm spreads to Egypt with some Cairo suburbs seeing snowfall. Local news reports claimed it was the capital's first snowfall in 112 years. Night temperatures are expected to drop as low as 2°C / 36°F. (The Daily Star) (Huffington Post) (Al-Ahram)
• Typhoon Haiyan
  • The death toll passes 6,000, officially making it the deadliest recorded typhoon in the Philippines. (Fox News)

• A three-day summit is held in Tokyo between the leaders of Japan and ASEAN that will likely discuss the recent encroachment of China. (BBC)

• Death and state funeral of Nelson Mandela
  • The body of Nelson Mandela is to be flown to Qunu in the Eastern Cape where he is to be laid to rest. (CNN)

• Chang'e-3
  • China's mission begins the descent phase to the moon that will likely make it one of only three countries to reach it. The landing is estimated to occur at 8:40 a.m. EST, December 14. (CNN) (Universe Today)

• A car bombing in the Malian town of Kidal kills two United Nations peacekeepers. (BBC)
• Philippine President Benigno Aquino III downplays the significance of the recent surge of violence against journalists in the country after three deaths. (Inquirer)
• A grenade is thrown onto a bus in Nairobi, Kenya, killing at least four people and injuring 15 others. (BBC)

• British actor Peter O'Toole, best known for his role in Lawrence of Arabia, dies at the age of 81 after a long illness. (AP via Yahoo! News)

• Death and state funeral of Nelson Mandela
  • The remains of Nelson Mandela are flown to the province of Eastern Cape, a day before his state funeral is held in Qunu. (BBC)
• 2013 Tunisian protests:
  • Tunisian politicians select Mehdi Jomaa as the acting Prime Minister of Tunisia until new elections are called. (BBC)
• A mass protest is held in Bogotá, Colombia, in protest against the unseating of Mayor Gustavo Petro. (BBC News)
• The Social Democratic Party of Germany agrees to join a coalition government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel. (France 24)

• Chang'e 3:
  • China's mission carrying Yutu, China's first lunar rover, lands on the Moon. It is the first "soft" landing on the Moon since 1976 and the third ever robotic rover. (Reuters)

• American football:
  • Jameis Winston, quarterback for the Florida State Seminoles, wins the 79th Heisman Trophy for the most outstanding player in college football. (USA Today)

• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021):
  • The last Australian combat troops leave Afghanistan. (BBC)
• Sixteen people die in a clash near the city of Kashgar in China's restive Xinjiang province. (BBC)

• British and American actress Joan Fontaine, best known for her two roles under Alfred Hitchcock (Rebecca, Suspicion), and the sister of Olivia de Havilland, dies at the age of 96. (Hollywood Reporter)

• A carjacking resulted in the death of a Hoboken lawyer who was murdered in front of his wife while returning to his vehicle after shopping. (NBC New York)

• Death and state funeral of Nelson Mandela:
  • The body of Nelson Mandela is buried after a state funeral is held in his ancestral home of Qunu. (BBC)
• Voters in Chile go to the polls for the second round of a presidential election with former President Michelle Bachelet elected again. (BBC), (Sky News Australia)
• Euromaidan:
  • U.S. Senator John McCain joins protesters in Kiev and accuses Moscow of intervening in the internal politics of the country. (CNN)

• The WWE Champion Randy Orton defeat World Heavyweight Champion John Cena to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, thus unifying both titles at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2013)

• 2013 South Sudanese political crisis:
  • Heavy gunfire and explosions are reported in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. The government says it has quelled an attempted coup. (The Washington Post) (AFP via Zia News)
• Syrian Civil War:
  • The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that barrel bomb airstrikes by the Syrian government on the city of Aleppo kill at least 76 people. (Haaretz)
• The Israeli Army exchanges fire with the Lebanese Army after a suspected sniper attack occurs in the border killing an Israeli soldier. (The New York Times)

• The 'stars' of the reality show Sister Wives win a landmark ruling that struck out a portion of a polygamy law in Utah. (CNN)

• For an undisclosed price, Google acquires the robot-making company Boston Dynamics which had previously been contracted by the U.S. military. (CNN Money)

• A bus falls from an elevated highway in the Philippines capital Manila killing at least 21 people with 20 injured. (The Telegraph)

• Four buildings are evacuated on the Harvard University campus after unconfirmed claims that bombs were planted in them. (Fox News)
• American judge Richard J. Leon of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia rules that the National Security Agency collecting domestic phone records was unconstitutional in Klayman vs Obama. A stay has been placed on the ruling pending an appeal by the US Government. (CNN)

• An amnesty deal is being floated by the National Security Agency for the leaker Edward Snowden. (Time magazine)

• The center-left candidate Michelle Bachelet is elected as president of Chile for the second time. She is the first leader in Chile to be elected to serve two terms since military rule ended in 1990. (BBC)
• 27-year-old Sebastian Kurz becomes Austria's youngest foreign minister. (BBC)

• Arctic sea ice rebounds in extent and in volume after years of recession. (BBC News)

• Cat Stevens, Hall & Oates, Kiss, Linda Ronstadt, and Nirvana are to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Variety)
• Bea Rose Santiago of the Philippines is crowned Miss International 2013. (International Business Times)
• Jamaican reggae singer Tessanne Chin wins Season 5 of the American singing competition The Voice. (Los Angeles Times)

• Target refuses to sell the album Beyoncé after it was flash released by the artist. (USA Today)
• Several prominent Turkish businessmen and the sons of three cabinet ministers are arrested as part of an investigation into alleged bribery and corruption. (BBC) (Reuters)
• American businessman Jacob Ostreicher escapes Bolivia two years after being imprisoned without charge. (BBC)

• Six American troops die after their helicopter crashes in Afghanistan. (Fox News)

• Two British women, called the Peru Two, are sentenced to six and a half years imprisonment in Lima, Peru, for drug smuggling.(Sky News)
• A gunman is dead after shooting and killing one person and wounding two others at the Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada, United States. (Washington Post)
• British singer Harry Styles, with the boy band One Direction, wins a limited ban on stalking in a London court case against paparazzi regarding the privacy rights of celebrities. (The Guardian)

• India orders diplomatic repercussions against the United States over the arrest and alleged maltreatment of the consul Devyani Khobragade in New York City. (BBC)
• Edward Snowden offers Brazil information over the NSA spying of its citizens. (ABC News)
• A report by the American nonprofit investigative news organization The Center for Public Integrity details that the U. S. Federal Election Commission was hacked by China during the October 2013 federal government shutdown. (CNN)
• U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry intends to give the Philippines $40 million in order to boost its maritime security regarding territorial disputes with China. (The New York Times)
• Euromaidan:
  • President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow amid mass protests against the relationship between the two. (Bloomberg)
  • Russia agrees to reduce prices on gas exports to Ukraine and purchase 11 billion Euros worth of Ukrainian government bonds. (Reuters)

• Angela Merkel is elected for a third term as Chancellor of Germany. (CNN)
• Japan intends to increase spending for the Japan Self-Defense Forces and transform it into a modern military. (BBC)

• Snow falls in Sa Pa, Vietnam. (The Straits Times)

• The Ashes:
  • Australia wins the third test at the WACA, taking an unbeatable 3-0 lead over England in the 2013–14 Ashes series played in Australia. (BBC)

• 2013 South Sudanese political crisis:
  • The United Nations says that 400 to 500 people may have been killed and up to 800 wounded in recent attacks in the country. (Reuters)
• Mexican Drug War:
  • High-ranking Sinaloa Cartel leader Gonzalo Inzunza Inzunza is killed in a shootout with the Mexican Navy in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora. (El Debate)

• Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi settles out of court a U.S. sex scandal libel lawsuit against the U.S.-based overseas alternative news source website Boxun. (BBC)
• 2014 Winter Olympics:
  • LGBT sportspeople, such as tennis player Billie Jean King and ice hockey player Caitlin Cahow, are to represent the United States in Sochi as a protest against the treatment of LGBT people in Russia. (BBC)

• China launches a crackdown against the internet currency BitCoin, plunging its value by 35%. (Bloomberg)
• Mega Millions lottery:
  • At least two winners in the US$636 million jackpot are thought to have won, with one in Stone Mountain, Georgia, and another in San Jose, California. (Houston Chronicle)

• The United Nations condemns Syria, Iran, and North Korea for human rights violations. (The New York Times)

• Bolotnaya square case prisoners, Pussy Riot and Greenpeace activists are likely to be freed after the Duma votes in favor of a law giving them amnesty. (CNN)
• 2013 Little India riot:
  • Singapore announces that it will deport 53 foreign workers for their December 8 involvement in the country's worst riot in more than 40 years. (BBC)
• British criminal Ronnie Biggs, best known for his role in the Great Train Robbery and escape from Wandsworth Prison, dies in the North London suburb of East Barnet. (BBC) (The Washington Post)
• British singer Ian Watkins (Lostprophets) is sentenced to 29 years imprisonment and 6 years on licence at Cardiff Crown Court for a range of child sex offences including the attempted rape of a baby. (BBC)
• A United States EPA employee who committed fraud regarding his vacation pay is sentenced to 32 months in prison. John C. Beale had perpetrated a scam whereby he disappeared from work for years at a time saying he was a covert CIA agent. (FOX News)

• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • A series of attacks across Iraq kills 22 Shiite pilgrims. (The Daily Star)
• 2013 South Sudanese political crisis:
  • At least 500 people have been killed in fighting since 14 December 2013, according to the United Nations. (USA Today)

• Phil Robertson, featured on the reality show Duck Dynasty, is suspended by A&E in response to controversial statements about homosexuality made during an interview with GQ magazine. (BBC)
• R v Grillo and Grillo:
  • British food writer Nigella Lawson's alleged drug use can be included in the lawsuit, the high court says. (E!)
• Phone hacking scandal:
  • A prosecutor alleges in a London court that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's phones were hacked by the now-defunct News of the World. (CNN)

• Target Corporation and the United States Secret Service say that more than 40 million credit and debit cards used in Target stores may have been compromised due to a data breach. (CNN)

• Part of the ornate ceiling of the Apollo Theatre in London collapses during a performance, injuring at least 81 people in the audience. (CNN)
• Seats at a football stadium in India collapse, injuring at least 100 people. (Business Insider)

• Same-sex marriage is legalized in the U.S. state of New Mexico. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin says he will pardon jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky after more than a decade in prison. (Washington Post)
• A recommendation against practices by the National Security Agency is presented to United States President Barack Obama. (The New York Times)
• Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale are convicted of the murder of British Army soldier Lee Rigby. (BBC)
• Pelsender Didier, a 75-year-old Belgium national, who has been internationally wanted by Interpol since 2006 for sexually abusing two of his adopted daughters, is arrested in Vietnam’s Nha Trang beachside city. (Tuoi Tre News)
• Berlin city-state officials says that a police investigation has traced vehicles stolen in recent years in Germany to Tajikistan, some 3,500 miles away. German authorities alleged that relatives and other people close to Tajikistan's president are driving stolen luxury cars from Germany, as a long-running criminal probe escalated into a diplomatic spat between two countries. (The Wall Street Journal)

• Reporters Without Borders releases their annual report regarding press freedom around the world with 71 journalists killed in 2013 so far. The deadliest countries are Syria, India, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Somalia while the worst jailers are China, Turkey, Eritrea, Iran, and Syria. (Deutsche Welle)

• In an interview with Barbara Walters, Hillary Clinton says she is "unsure" if she is going to run in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. (ABC News)
• Governor of Tokyo Naoki Inose submits his resignation after intense questioning amid a political funds scandal. (CNN)

• A gunman opens fire outside a terminal at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, Philippines, killing four people, including the mayor of Labangan, Ukol Talumpa. (CNN)
• Sinai insurgency:
  • Two Egyptian soldiers are killed and eight wounded in an operation targeting Sinai militants in the northern Sinai Peninsula. (FOX News)
• Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
  • Israeli forces kill a Palestinian and wound four others in three separate incidents of cross-border violence in the Gaza Strip (Haaretz)
• Syrian Civil War:
  • Britain agrees to help destroy Syria's chemical weapons (Los Angeles Times)
• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • Two roadside bombings in Iraq kill 11 people (Daily Star)
  • Bombings and shootings across northern Iraq kill 14 people. (Reuters)

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 hit record highs after the United States ecomomy grew more than expected in the fiscal year. (CNN)

• At least five people are killed by a 35-state storm system causes heavy snow along with air and road traffic congestion in the United States.(NBC)(Fox News)(Fox News)

• The Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran threatens countermeasures to the U.S. Senate's proposed new sanctions. (Los Angeles Times)

• The Supreme Court of Canada strikes down anti-prostitution laws in the country. (CP24)
• Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the U.S. state of Utah, and gay couples begin receiving marriage licenses, after a federal judge strikes down a provision of the Utah Constitution. (Deseret News)
• Uganda passes law banning homosexuality. (BBC)

• United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is hospitalized after falling ill. (The New York Times)

• China successfully launches the Bolivian Túpac Katari from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. (BNamericas)

• Syrian Civil War:
  • Battle of Aleppo: Rebel forces capture the Al-Kindi hospital after a huge suicide truck bombing destroys part of the building. (BBC)
• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • Eighteen Iraqi military officers and soldiers are killed and more than 30 others injured after an attack in Rutbah, in Iraq's western Anbar province. Among those killed is the commander of the elite Iraqi 7th Division Major General Mohammed al-Karawi, as well as 4 other officers. (Reuters) (BBC)
• 2013 South Sudanese political crisis:
  • Four U.S. personnel are wounded after the three CV-22 Osprey aircraft they were on were shot during an evacuation attempt of Americans from Bor, South Sudan. (CNN) (BBC)

• Canadian-American billionaire Edgar M. Bronfman, who ran Seagram until 1994, dies in Manhattan at age 84. (New York Times)

• Despite an anti-flammable liquid coating, the yearly giant Yule goat in Gävle, Sweden, is again destroyed in an arson attack. (Expressen)
• Two NASA astronauts at the International Space Station begin a series of spacewalks to replace a faulty ammonia coolant pump. (FOX News) (NASA)

• Syrian Civil War:
  • Syrian government warplanes drop barrel bombs on the city of Aleppo killing 63 people, including civilians. (World Bulletin)
• Post-civil war violence in Libya:
  • 13 people are killed and 10 injured in a suicide car bomb attack at a military checkpoint near the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. (Financial Times) (Los Angeles Times)
• An alert passenger averts a mass casualty bus bombing
• A bomb explodes on a bus in Bat Yam, Israel, but an alert passenger averts a mass casualty incident after noticing the device and the bus driver orders the vehicle evacuated. (The Times of Israel)

• Blackmarket sales begin of credit and debit card data which was compromised due to a Target Corporation data breach. (Fox News)

• At least ten people are injured but no deaths after a cargo train crashed into the Nairobi slum of Kibera. (BBC) (Standard Media)(Zegabi)

• Euromaidan:
  • Ukraine's opposition vows to continue the pro-EU protests over the holiday period, despite an economic deal signed with Russia a few days ago. (BBC)

• War in North-West Pakistan:
  • The Pakistani army launches a military offensive against Taliban insurgents near the Afghan border. There are accusations that dozens of civilians are killed. (Reuters)
• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • A mortar attack kills four Iraq army officers and two soldiers in an army base west of Baghdad. (Al Arabiya)
  • A terrorist attack on a news complex in Tikrit, Iraq kills 5 people. (CNN)
• Syrian Civil War:
  • Russia sends 25 armored trucks and 50 other vehicles to Syria to help transport toxins that are to be destroyed under an international agreement to rid the nation of its chemical arsenal. (Reuters)
• Palestinian militants fire a Kassam rocket from Gaza which lands next to a bus stop used by schoolchildren in the Ashkelon area in southern Israel; no injuries are reported. (The Times of Israel)

• The Russian designer of the AK-47 assault rifle, Mikhail Kalashnikov, dies at the age of 94. (The Irish Times)

• Political activists Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, of the Russian band Pussy Riot, are given amnesty less than three months before the end of their sentences. They had been convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred". (The Guardian) (BBC) (The New York Times)
• Former UK MP Denis MacShane is sentenced to six months in jail for expenses fraud after he admitted to submitting 19 false receipts totaling £12,900. (BBC)
• In Tupelo, Mississippi two or three armed bank robbery suspects, fleeing police following a holdup at a Bancorp South, shoot dead one policeman and injure another. (NBC)
• British World War II computer pioneer and codebreaker Alan Turing, who had been chemically castrated in 1952 following his conviction for homosexuality, is given a posthumous royal pardon. (The Guardian)

• Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada visits former President Gloria Arroyo in the hospital where she is currently detained. (The Philippine Star)

• Islamist protests in Egypt (July 2013–present):
  • A huge explosion hits the Dakahlia security directorate in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, killing 16 and injuring at least 134. (Al Ahram) (Reuters)
• 2013 South Sudanese political crisis:
  • The United Nations says that they have discovered a mass grave containing 75 bodies in Unity State, and two other mass graves have been reported in Juba. (Irish Times)
  • South Sudan's government says its military has recaptured the key town of Bor, days after it was seized by rebels. (Channel 4 News)
• A Palestinian sniper kills a Bedouin laborer who was repairing the Israeli fence surrounding Gaza; following this, the Israeli Military attacked targets in Gaza with airstrikes and ground forces, killing at least one Palestinian three-year-old child and wounding several others.(The New York Times) (The Times of Israel)
• The New People's Army, the armed branch of the Communist Party of the Philippines, torches 3 taxis in Panabo, Davao del Norte, just before a Christmas 'truce'. (GMA News)

• Pope Francis visits Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI before celebrating his first Christmas Mass. (Slate)

• American Express is ordered to pay US$75.7 million in restitution and fines to customers and federal regulators over billing people for services they never received. (Bloomberg)

• The United Kingdom pledges US$1 billion for the Philippines to help with the reconstruction due to the destruction of Typhoon Haiyan. (The Philippine Star)
• Heavy winds and rain disrupt transportation and cut power in parts of France and the United Kingdom, bringing the death toll of the last two days of storms to 6. (Reuters)
• Two NASA astronauts at the International Space Station complete a series of spacewalks to replace a faulty ammonia coolant pump. (FOX News) (NASA)

• A Cryptolocker ransomware has infected about 250,000 computers around the world. (BBC)

• Today is the deadline for U.S. residents to sign up without penalty for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. (Fox News)

• Euromaidan:
  • Tetiana Chornovol, a Ukrainian civic activist and journalist, is dragged from her car and beaten by a group of men. Authorities say that this is the latest attack on government opponents. (CNN)
• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • A car bomb explodes near a church as Christian worshippers were leaving a Christmas service in the capital, Baghdad, killing at least 14 people and wounding 28 others. (BBC)

• Pope Francis gives his first Urbi et Orbi speech calling for peace amidst the Syrian civil war and the 2013 South Sudan political crisis. (Al Jazeera)

• Eighteen Haitian migrants drown off the Turks and Caicos Islands after their sailboat carrying more than 50 suspected immigrants capsized while being towed into port. (Reuters) (CNN) (BBC)
• A piranha attack in the Paraná River near the city of Rosario, Argentina by a school of Pygocentrus palometa reportedly leaves at least 70 injured. (FOX News)

• Three Turkish ministers resign amid a corruption scandal involving bribery in the awarding of construction projects. (BBC)
• Islamist protests in Egypt (July 2013–present):
  • The Egyptian government re-designates the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt as a terrorist organisation. (Reuters)

• Central African Republic conflict under the Djotodia administration:
  • Six peacekeepers from Chad are killed in clashes in the Central African Republic. (BBC)
• Syrian Civil War:
  • Syrian government forces and rebel fighters in a besieged Damascus suburb agree to a 48-hour truce that could result in food being allowed in for residents threatened with starvation. (Reuters)
• Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
  • The Israeli Air Force launches airstrikes on targets in the Gaza Strip after Palestinians fire a rocket from Gaza at the Eshkol region in southern Israel. (The Times of Israel)

• Shipping companies United Parcel Service and FedEx apologize for late Christmas package deliveries in the United States, citing high volumes of packages. (CNN)
• The Reserve Bank of India warns users of risks involved in virtual currencies such as Bitcoin and Dogecoin. (T.I.P. News)

• Thousands of customers are still without power across Michigan, Vermont, Maine, and Southern Ontario after a winter storm earlier this week. (CNN)

• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits the Yasukuni Shrine. The location is controversial because it enshrines many war criminals from World War II. The visit provokes condemnation from China and South Korea and criticism from the United States. (The New York Times)

• Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon:
  • A car bomb explodes in the Central District of Beirut, Lebanon, killing eight people, including the former ambassador to the U.S. Mohamad Chatah, and wounding 71 others. (CNN)
• Somali Civil War (2009–present):
  • Five soldiers and a military officer are killed in an explosion in the Somali capital Mogadishu. (BBC)
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021):
  • A suicide bomber attacks a foreign military convoy on the eastern outskirts of the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing at least three foreign soldiers, police and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. (Reuters)
• Islamist protests in Egypt (July 2013–present):
  • Three people are killed in clashes between police and Muslim Brotherhood supporters across Egypt. (BBC)

• At least 29 people died and four others were seriously injured when a bus went off the Huay Tong Bridge in Phetchabun Province, Thailand. (CNN)

• Okinawa prefecture's Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima has approved a measure to allow for the relocation of a controversial U.S. military base on Okinawa, breaking 17 years of stagnation on the base's transfer plan. (CNN)

• Authorities are investigating a reported heart attack of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, Mexico's and the world's most-wanted man, suffered in November. (San Diego Red)
• U.S. District Judge William Pauley rules that the country's National Security Agency (NSA) acted lawfully, within the limits of the U.S. Constitution, when, after the September 11, 2001 attacks, it began an en masse bulk collection of metadata from American telephone records. The opinion, which throws out an ACLU lawsuit for now, is in contrast to Judge Richard Leon's earlier ruling in another district. (NBC) (CNN)
• The Connecticut State Police releases the full report of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. (CNN)

• Islamist protests in Egypt (July 2013–present)
  • Supporters of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood clash with police at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. One person is killed and two campus buildings are set on fire. (BBC)
• Syrian Civil War:
  • A Syrian army airstrike in a market in the northern city of Aleppo kills 25 people. (Reuters), (CNN)
• 2013 Thai political crisis
  • Unidentified gunmen open fire on peaceful protesters in Thailand, leaving one dead and three wounded. (CNN)

• An express train catches fire in India, leaving at least 23 dead. The train was traveling from Bangalore to Nanded in the western state of Maharashtra. (AP via FOX News)
• A 5.8-magnitude earthquake strikes in the Mediterranean Sea, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south southwest of Avsallar, Turkey. (USGS) (CNN)
• The Chinese icebreaker Xuě Lóng, or "Snow Dragon", was only six nautical miles away from the Russian-flagged vessel Akademik Shokalskiy when it too became obstructed by heavy ice in Antarctica. (CNN)

• Russia's Soyuz-2-1v rocket makes its maiden flight. (RIA Novosti) (Reuters)
• Four new species of sea creatures discovered at a cold seep on the seabed near Rockall (BBC) (Courier)

• In mixed martial arts:
  • Chris Weidman defeats Anderson Silva via technical knockout to retain the UFC Middleweight Championship. (GMA News)
  • Ronda Rousey defeats Miesha Tate by submission to win the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship. (USA Today)

• A suicide bomb attack at the Volgograd-1 railway station in the southern Russian city of Volgograd kills at least 16 people and wounds 40 others. (BBC), (CNN), (Reuters)
• Syrian Civil War
  • The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says barrels packed with explosives dropped from Syrian Air Force aircraft have killed 517 people in the northern province of Aleppo since 15 December. (BBC)
• Israeli–Lebanese conflict
  • Two rockets are launched at Israel from Lebanon. Israel fires 20 artillery shells into Lebanon in retaliation. (Reuters), (Sky News), (Financial Times)
• Islamist protests in Egypt (July 2013–present)
  • A bomb targeting an Egyptian military intelligence building north of Cairo in the village of Anshas wounds four soldiers. (NBC News), (Reuters)
• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal)
  • 18 people are killed in attacks across Iraq, including a military general in a bombing in the northern city of Mosul. (Reuters)

• The passenger ferry MS King Seaways, en route from Newcastle, England, to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, catches fire in the North Sea; a man is arrested on suspicion of arson. (Guardian)
• The Chaparrastique volcano in El Salvador erupts, forcing 5,000 people to leave their homes. (BBC)

• Saudi Arabia pledges US$3 billion to Lebanon to help strengthen their military. (Houston Chronicle)

• Seven-time Formula One drivers' champion Michael Schumacher is reported to be in critical condition after brain surgery in Grenoble for a head injury suffered while skiing in the French Alps. (AP via ESPN)

• Volgograd bombings:
  • A bomb blast rips a trolleybus apart in Volgograd, Russia, killing at least 15 people in the second deadly attack in the southern city in less than 24 hours. (BBC)
• An attack on an army base in south Yemen by gunmen with rifles and antitank rockets killed at least five government soldiers and three militants. Four soldiers also went missing. Globalpost
• Syrian Civil War:
  • The Lebanese army fires on Syrian warplanes after they violate its airspace for the first time in the conflict. (Lebanon Daily Star)
• The Congolese army regains control after multiple attacks by around 40 gunmen across the capital at the airport and state television headquarters. (Al Jazeera) (VOA)
• Eight people are killed by police in Xinjiang, western China, after an apparent terrorist attack. (Al Jazeera)
• Shots are fired at the German ambassador's residence in Athens, Greece; no casualties are reported. (Deutsche Welle)
• 10 people are killed in violence as Iraqi security forces dismantle an anti-government protest camp in the western city of Ramadi. (BBC)

• Cyclone Christine makes landfall in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, causing evacuations in Port Hedland and winds over 170 km/h in Roebourne (ABC)
• A BNSF train carrying crude oil derails and catches fire near Casselton, North Dakota, USA, forcing the evacuation of the town. (CBC)

• Iranian tycoon Babak Zanjani is arrested. (The Daily Star)

• Islamist militants are suspected in an attack on a gas pipeline in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. There were no injuries Reuters

• Latvia becomes the 18th EU member state to adopt the euro despite public opposition. (CNN)(The Guardian)

• Russian President Vladimir Putin broke with a long tradition of Soviet and Russian heads of state and delivered two New Year’s speeches instead of one. The second New Year’s address was made from Khabarovsk, a far-eastern city hit by devastating floods in summer, instead of the Moscow Kremlin. (RIA) (The Washington Post)

• Thousands of protestors gather at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur to begin protests against the Malaysian government's introduction of price hikes. (Channel News Asia)
• A fire was set in the stairway of a gay nightclub in Seattle on New Year's Eve which was quickly extinguished. An empty gasoline container was found at the top of the stairway. (Huffington Post)