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- The 2006 Asian Games are officially opened by Qatari emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani at the 50,000 seater Khalifa Sports Stadium in Doha, Qatar. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
- The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles settles 45 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests for $60 million. (AP via Minneapolis-St Paul Star Tribune)
- Hezbollah members demonstrate their opposition to the Siniora administration in Beirut, Lebanon. (The Guardian) (BBC)
- As Bahrain prepares for tomorrow's second round of its parliamentary elections, a Member of Parliament from the Kingdom's largest party calls for legislation to restrict women's employment. (Gulf Daily News)
- Felipe Calderón becomes the President of Mexico. (Reuters)
- Typhoon Durian has killed at least 388 people in Albay province on the island of Luzon in the Philippines with the death toll expected to climb as rescuers get to affected villages. (Bloomberg) (CNN)
- Kim Beazley calls a vote for the leadership of the Federal Australian Labor Party for Monday. He will face a challenge from Kevin Rudd, the Opposition spokesman on foreign affairs. Jenny Macklin faces a challenge from Julia Gillard for the Deputy Leadership. (Melbourne Herald Sun) (AAP via News Limited)
- Fijian military commander Frank Bainimarama says he intends to begin a "clean up" campaign of Government now that his deadline has passed. Laisenia Qarase, the Prime Minister of Fiji, has advised that he has been given a new deadline of noon on Monday. (NZ Herald) (ABC News Australia)
- The United States warns of a possible al-Qaeda attack to disrupt the stock market and other financial institutions with a cyber attack. (BBC)
- Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian sold off the last of his shares in General Motors, the Wall Street Journal reported. It was clear that Kerkorian had sold 14 million shares for $28.75 per share, or about $400 million, slicing his stake to 4.95%. (MSN Money)
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- Baidu, the leading search engine in Chinese language, announces its plan to provide service in Japanese. (Reuters via The Washington Post)
- NASA announces plans to build a base on either the north pole or south pole of the Moon. (Reuters) (Money Times)
- John R. Bolton will resign as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations when his recess appointment expires in January 2007. (The Times)
- It is now widely expected that Kazakhstan will head the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2009 despite strong opposition from the United States. Kazakh President Nazarbayev is visiting Brussels, Belgium, which supports Kazakhstan's bid, and he recently visited London, meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose government also supports Kazakhstan. (RFE/RL)
- President of the Philippines Gloria Arroyo declares a "state of national calamity" following the death and destruction caused by Typhoon Durian. (The Australian)
- A US Marine is jailed for raping a woman at Subic Bay after joint exercises with the Philippines. Three other Marines were acquitted in a case which caused anti-American protests. (INQ7 Philippines)
- Kevin Rudd is elected as the new leader of the Federal Australian Labor Party with the caucus electing him by 49 votes to 39 votes for Kim Beazley. Julia Gillard is the new deputy leader. (The Age)
- Fijian troops take over the headquarters of the armed police division, occupy the main police station in Suva, and surround a police academy in an escalation of the 2006 Fijian coup d'état plot. (The NZ Herald)
- The Government of Iran blocks Wikipedia, IMDb and nytimes.com, among many sites both commercial and informative. (The Guardian)
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- Joseph Kabila, the first freely elected leader of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 40 years, is inaugurated as President. (BBC)
- The Iraq Study Group Report calls the situation in Iraq "grave and deteriorating" and calls for a change in strategy including the removal of most United States troops by early 2008. (CNN)
- The Australian House of Representatives passes private members legislation allowing therapeutic cloning after a conscience vote. The Australian Senate had already approved the bill prepared by Senator Kay Patterson meaning that it will become law. (News Limited)
- The United States Senate confirms Robert Gates as the next United States Secretary of Defense by 95-2. Gates will be sworn in on December 18. (CNN)
- Philippe Douste-Blazy, the Foreign Minister of France, says that the United Nations Security Council will impose sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program. However, the five permanent members of the Security Council as well as Germany have failed to agree on what the sanctions should be. (AFP via Khaleej Times)
- 2006 Fijian coup d'état:
- NASA presents "compelling" evidence that liquid water flowed recently on the surface of Mars. (NASA), (BBC)
- A large explosion occurs near downtown Milwaukee, killing 3, injuring 37 others and leveling a factory compound.(AP)
- Officials of the Islamic Courts Union in power in Bulo Burto, Somalia, declare that, under their interpretation of Sharia, all people in the city must pray five times a day, or they will be beheaded on sight. (Fox News)
- Hundreds of thousands of Dalits stage a mass rally in Mumbai to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of their leader, B. R. Ambedkar. (BBC)
- James Kim is found dead in Oregon after spending 11 days in the wilderness. (CNN) (CNET)
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- NASA delays the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-116 until Saturday. (CNN)
- George W. Bush, the President of the United States says that Syria and Iran might be included in regional talks on the future of Iraq if they meet certain conditions. (CNN)
- Hewlett-Packard pays a fine of $14.5 million to settle an investigation by the Attorney General of California related to leaks from its boardroom. (Bloomberg)
- Police in Phoenix, Arizona believe that they have captured the Baseline Killer who has nine killings attributed to him. They had Mark Godeau in custody since September in relation to two alleged sexual assaults in 2005. (CNN)
- A tornado has ripped through Kensal Green in northwest London, injuring 6.(The Times)
- The Doha Asian Games suffered a tragedy when South Korean rider Kim Hyung-chil died after falling from his horse during the equestrian competition. (Aljazeera)
- Nigerian gun men attack an Agip oil terminal in the Niger River delta and take three Italians hostage. (Reuters)
- Nearly 100 people are dead or unaccounted for in Vietnam as a result of Typhoon Durian. It had earlier killed over 550 people in the Philippines and left a similar number missing. (Reuters)
- Seven towns are under immediate threat from bushfires in Gippsland in the Australian state of Victoria. (Reuters)
- A motion brought by the Conservative government to reopen debate on same-sex marriage in Canada is defeated by the Canadian House of Commons. (CBC)
- 2006 Fijian coup d'état:
- Grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani of Iran issues a fatwa calling for the deaths of Azeris Rafiq Tağı, a writer, and Samir Sadagatoglu, his editor, who were charged in November 2006 with "inciting national, racial and religious enmity" after they criticized Islam. (EurasiaNet)
- The Hard Rock Cafe chain of cafes, hotels and casinos, as well as its extensive collection of rock and roll memorabilia, is purchased from the The Rank Group by the Seminole Tribe of Florida for US$965 million. (Fox News)
- Nintendo's next generation gaming console, the Wii, is released in Australia. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
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- In Nagorno-Karabakh 98.6 percent of voters vote in favor of a constitution favoring independence from Azerbaijan. (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLibery)
- Former GAM rebel leader Irwandi Yusuf is elected governor of the Indonesian province of Aceh in elections that are part of a peace deal ending the civil war. (Bernama)
- Former Prime Minister of Fiji Sitiveni Rabuka is cleared of two charges of mutiny in relation to the mutinies of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état. (ABC News Australia)
- Archaeologists working for the Vatican have found the tomb of Paul of Tarsus. (USA Today)
- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan strongly criticizes the United States, in particular the Bush administration, claiming it has strayed from multilateralism and human rights, in his final speech. (BBC)
- The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust gets underway in Iran to examine whether the Holocaust took place or not. (BBC)
- Traces of polonium-210 are found in a flat in Hamburg, Germany, on objects touched by former Russian spy Dmitri Kovtun a day before he met poisoned ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko in London. (The Times)
- Unidentified gunmen try to assassinate Baha Balousheh, a security chief associated with Fatah, but instead shoot and kill his three children in the Gaza Strip. The assassination attempt may have been a revenge attack for the attempted assassination of Interior Minister Sayid Seyam of Hamas. (BBC) (JTA)
- The Space Shuttle Discovery successfully docks with the International Space Station with the crew to spend a week rewiring the space station. (CNN)
- In an interview with Jeff Stein, a national security editor for Congressional Quarterly, Silvestre Reyes, the incoming Chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee incorrectly claims that Al Qaeda is a "predominantly Shiite" organization. When asked if Hezbollah is a Sunni or a Shiite organization, Reyes said "It's hard to keep things in perspective and in the categories." (Fox News)
- A devastating bushfire rips through the town of Scamander, Tasmania in Australia, destroying 23 homes. (News.com.au)
- American supercentenarian and oldest living personElizabeth Bolden dies and leaves Emiliano Mercado del Toro as the titleholder.
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- The head of UK security service MI5, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, has announced she will step down from her post after four years. (The Times)
- A research expedition concludes that the Chinese River Dolphin is now likely extinct, directly due to human action. (Globe & Mail)
- Ban Ki-moon is officially sworn in as the next United Nations Secretary-General. (BBC)
- The Supreme Court of Israel decides that the targeted assassination of Palestinian militants by the Israeli military can be legal under international law. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
- U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) undergoes surgery after suffering a brain hemorrhage due to an arteriovenous malformation. If he is incapacitated, the Republican Party Governor of South Dakota, Mike Rounds, will be able to appoint his replacement, potentially changing the balance of the Senate. (CNN)
- Gunmen dressed in military uniforms kidnap between 20 and 30 people in the Sanak area of central Baghdad. (BBC)
- Operation Paget, the inquiry into the death in 1997 of Diana, Princess of Wales headed by Lord Stevens, a former chief of London's Metropolitan Police, concludes that there were no suspicious circumstances and that the fatal car crash in which she died was a 'tragic accident'. (BBC)
- UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is interviewed by police investigating cash for honours allegations. (BBC)
- The European Union announces it will introduce a common EU-wide driving licence in 2013. (BBC News)
- The Nintendo Wii breaks record sales in Australia and is the fastest selling gaming console in Australian history. (Sydney Morning Herald)
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- Muqtada al-Sadr withdraws his support for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. (RFE/RL)
- The Government of Saudi Arabia announces plans to build a separation barrier between Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The barrier will cost $12 billion to build. (RFE/RL)
- The king of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, abdicates in favor of his son, two years before he had initially planned to do so. (BBC)
- A severe windstorm hits the Pacific Northwest overnight, with wind gusts reported as high as 97 miles per hour. Three people were killed in Washington, and at the peak of the storm about one million homes in western Washington and over 400,000 in the Greater Portland area were without electricity. In British Columbia, Stanley Park sustains more than $9 million damage. (Bellingham Herald) (Oregonlive)
- United States district court judge Jeremy Fogel imposes a moratorium on lethal injections in California stating that they are unconstitutional. In an unrelated incident, the Governor of Florida Jeb Bush has suspended lethal injections in Florida pending an investigation into the system after the recent execution of Ángel Nieves Díaz took 34 minutes after it was botched. (CNN #1), (CNN #2)
- The 2006 Asian Games is officially closed at the 50,000 seater Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar marking the end of 15 days of competition.(Doha 2006 Asian Games website)
- Retired Formula One driver Clay Regazzoni dies in a car accident when the Chrysler Voyager he was driving hit a lorry head on, outside Parma, Italy. (BBC)
- Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer announces that the United States has no plans to commit troops to intervene in the Somali civil war to root out al Qaeda cells operating in the country. (U.S. State Department)
- Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, says the six men involved in the Flying Imams controversy should have been "arrested and prosecuted for pretending to be terrorists." (UPI)
- Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals scores the fastest overtime goal in the history of the NHL in 6 seconds against the Atlanta Thrashers.
- The Financial Report of the United States Government for 2006 was released late Friday evening. The combined federal deficits now total more than 400% of GDP. [5]
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- The Home Office department of the United Kingdom Government announces plan to require foreign nationals living in Britain to have biometric ID cards. (Guardian Unlimited)
- Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Republic of Macedonia, and Kosovo sign the Central European Free Trade Agreement extending the free trade zone to southeastern Europe. (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty)
- The Government of Kazakhstan is considering giving Kyrgyzstan USD $100 million in aid. (ITAR-TASS)
- The 2006 Malaysian floods caused by heavy monsoon rain force the evacuation of 26,000 people in the southern Malaysian state of Johor. Flooding is also reported in the southern states of Malacca and Negeri Sembilan but the situation there is not as serious. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
- Somali Civil War: Heavy fighting breaks out on at least two fronts near the Somali interim government's base in Baidoa. Somalia's interim government and the Islamic Courts Union pledge to begin peace negotiations. (BBC) (Reuters)
- "Jack" Thomas will face a retrial under the Australian Anti-Terrorism Act 2005 based on media interviews. He had earlier been jailed under the act before an Appeals Court freed him on the grounds that an interview with Thomas in Pakistan had been involuntary. (AAP via SBS News Australia)
- The United States military claims to have captured a senior leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. (AP via ABC News)
- The €752 million, 5-kilometre Dublin Port Tunnel opens almost 2 years (23 months) after its originally planned date. (RTÉ)
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- Gerald Ford, former President of the United States, dies at 93. (MSNBC) (BBC News)
- Almaz Atambayev, Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan, warns that if Prime Minister Felix Kulov's proposed amendments to the constitution are passed, giving greater power to the executive branch, Kyrgyzstan will descend into civil war. (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty)
- Trial of Saddam Hussein: An appeal court in Baghdad has rejected former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's appeal against the death sentence handed down on November 5 for the 1982 killings of Shias in Dujail. By Iraqi law, the execution by hanging has to be carried out within 30 days after the announcement of the rejection. (BBC News)
- Between 200 and 500 people have been killed in an oil pipeline explosion in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, according to the Red Cross. The blast is believed to have been caused by thieves puncturing the pipeline in an attempt to siphon off fuel into a tanker. (BBC)
- War in Somalia: Somalia's Islamist militia are reported to have withdrawn from frontlines after a sustained assault by government forces backed by Ethiopian troops. (BBC)
- Southwestern Taiwan is shaken by a 7.2 earthquake at 20:28 (GMT+8). A second aftershock, estimated at 7.1 and centered in Pingtung County, is felt 5 minutes later. According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, no Pacific-wide tsunami is expected. (TVBS) (CNN)
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- Police discover skulls, bodies of 15 missing children in Noida, India.
- AT&T, Inc. acquires BellSouth Corporation to create one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. [7]
- The United Kingdom pays off the last of its debts from World War II by paying the last $100 million to the United States and Canada. The country still has debts outstanding from the Napoleonic Wars, which are cheaper to pay interest on than to redeem. (International Herald Tribune) (BBC)
- Kazakh Foreign Minister Kassym-Jomart Tokayev says that in the event of a war in Turkmenistan over succession to Turkmenbashi Saparmurat Niyazov, "Kazakhstan is not going to get involved." (Interfax)
- Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev will address the Supreme Council on 30 December 2006 in an effort to compromise on proposed amendments to the constitution. Several Parliamentarians warn that Kyrgyzstan is on the verge of civil war. (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty)
- A 25 square mile (66 km²) chunk of the Ayles Ice Shelf was discovered to have broken off of Ellesmere Island, Nunavat, Canada. (NatlGeog), (BBC), (Scotsman), (Reuters), (CBC)
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- Saddam Hussein is executed, by hanging, at approximately 06:00 local time (03:00 UTC). (BBC News)
- A bomb exploding in the parking lot of Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, Madrid, Spain, killes two people, damages cars and buildings. (CNN)
- The Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan votes 50 to 1 in favor of amendments to the Constitution giving greater power to the executive branch after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev accuses Parliamentarians of "sabotaging" the political process. The President will now have the power to appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister and his cabinet and regional governors. The SNB, the domestic intelligence organization, will report to the President, not the legislature. (Al Jazeera)
- At least 500 people are feared to have drowned after the ferry Senopati Nusantara travelling between the port of Kumai on the Indonesian island of Borneo to Semarang on Java sank during a storm. (BBC)
- Former U.S. President Gerald Ford's funeral is held at the United States Capitol. (CBS)
- The coat of arms of Nepal is changed as a gesture of reconciliation after the Nepalese Civil War. (People's Daily)
- A 67-year-old Spanish woman, whose name has not been revealed, is reported to have given birth to twins in Barcelona, becoming the oldest birth mother. (BBC)
- Tiki Barber rushes for 234 yards in his final game in the NFL. This is a record for the most rushing yards in a running backs last game, and a New York Giants team record for the most rushing yards in a game.
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