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)
Protestors begin their second day of demonstrations in their bid to convince the current Lebanese administration to step down. (BBC)[permanent dead link]
Darfur conflict: Chadian rebels have attacked the eastern town of Guéréda, neighbouring Sudan's war-torn Darfur region. (BBC)
Police and aid workers recover more than 100 bodies from Malakal in south Sudan resulting from fighting between former rebels and Government forces. (AP via CBS News)
An outbreak of E. coli bacteria has sickened more than a dozen people on Long Island, including several who ate at Taco Bell. Officials have asked eight Taco Bell restaurants be closed. (CBS)
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)
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)
Bainimarama fires Fiji police commissioner Moses Driver, who had declared that the Fiji Police will stand up to the Fiji Military. Bainimarama warned against a popular uprising against the coup. (CNN)
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)
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)
Jona Senilagakali, the newly-installed Prime Minister of Fiji, conceded the coup had been "illegal" but it was "an illegal takeover to clean up the mess of a much bigger illegal activity of the previous government." (BBC)
Claims are being made that the military may attempt to arrest Ratu Ovini Bokini, Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs. Around 300 villagers have surrounded his compound in Tavua to defend him. (Fiji Times)
Grand Ayatollah
Fazel Lankarani of Iran issues a fatwa calling for the deaths of AzerisRafiq 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)
Three people are killed and a fourth injured when a gunman starts shooting at a Chicagoskyscraper. The gunman was then shot dead by a Chicago Police Department SWATsniper. (Chicago SunTimes)
Victoria threaten at least six townships in the Gippsland region with extreme weather conditions over the weekend expected to increase the danger. The Victorian Department of Education closes 24 schools due to threat of fire. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
Two months after it opened, the "The World of Turkmenbashi Tales" themepark in Turkmenistan is made operational. The park, which is named after the Turkmenbashi, Saparmurat Niyazov, is expected to attract more children now that the rides work and all libraries have been closed. (USA Today)
2006 Fijian coup d'état: Media reports that gunfire had been heard near military barracks in Suva have been dismissed as being mistaken identification of a game of cricket. (AFP via OptusNet)
In an interview with Jeff Stein, a national security editor for
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)
prostitutes are found dead within the last ten days. (BBC)
Vietnam will become the 150th member of the World Trade Organization on January 11, 2007. The move finalises Hanoi's near-12-year wait to join the WTO. (BBC)
Belgian state TV station RTBF shows a spoof news report announcing the secession of Flanders and thus the dissolution of the Belgian state. It further reported the escape of the Belgian Royal Family into exile. The report fools foreign diplomats and panics Belgian viewers. (BBC News)(AP via Yahoo)
House of Representatives passes a motion of disapproval against immigration minister Rita Verdonk. (Financial Times)
Malaysia crowns its thirteenth king - the second youngest ever - in a traditional ceremony in Kuala Lumpur. Sultan
Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, 63, whose five-year term as monarch ended on December 12. (BBC)
In a survey conducted by the Social Opinion Center of
religious extremism and 3.9% said religious freedom is restricted, but only 39.4% said they had conditions that "satisfied their religious needs." (Interfax)
Gunmen dressed in military uniforms kidnap between 20 and 30 people in the Sanak area of central Baghdad. (BBC)
Metropolitan Police, concludes that there were no suspicious circumstances and that the fatal car crash in which she died was a 'tragic accident'. (BBC)
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 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]
Egyptian High Court rules that the members of the Baháʼí Faith in Egypt should not receive government Identification cards, thus removing their rights to health care, education, work and other basic rights. (IHT)
Red Crescent in Iraq with six low-level employees of the organisation later being released. (CNN)
A climber who had been lost on Oregon's Mount Hood is found dead in a snow cave minutes after rescuers were exploring a nearby cave with various related equipment inside. (Fox News)
fight Ethiopian forces deployed in the country as a seven-day ultimatum for Ethiopia to pull out its troops nears its deadline. (Al-Jazeera)
Kyrgyz government, after political parties throughout the country called on him to resign. Deputy Prime Minister Daniar Usenov says PresidentKurmanbek Bakiyev should dissolve the Parliament and hold elections. (RFE/RL)
weapons of mass destruction, and illegal migration. The Foreign Ministry later says news agencies misquoted him. (IRNA)
Palestinian doctor to death for allegedly knowingly infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV. (BBC)
2006 Ipswich murder investigation: Police investigating the murder of five women in Ipswich, Suffolk arrest a second man on suspicion of their murders. (BBC)
Chilean congress approves the creation of two new administrative regions within the country. (Peoples Daily)
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)
Fresh heavy fighting is reported near the weak Somali government's Baidoa base, amid fears conflict could plunge the entire Horn of Africa into crisis. (BBC)
legislative election held on 17 December 2006. (BBC)
Ethiopian war in Somalia
:
Thousands of Somali civilians flee their homes as hundreds of troops and trucks move towards the front lines, after a night of artillery and mortar fire. (Aljazeera)
The Islamic Courts Union say they will send ground troops to attack on Saturday, instead of fighting from a distance with heavy weapons as they have been doing so far.(Al Jazeera)
The
diplomatic and humanitarian appeals and efforts to minimize the growing humanitarian crisis. (Common Dreams)
Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani was killed on Tuesday by a U.S. airstrike while traveling by vehicle in a deserted area in the southern Afghanistan province of Helmand. Taliban spokesmen deny he is dead. (CNN)
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan warns of "troubling developments" in Burundi that could lead to violence. (allAfrica)
Ethiopian intervention in Somalia
:
its troops have invaded and are fighting Islamic militiamen that control much of Somalia. (BBC)
Ethiopian aircraft have dropped bombs and fired missiles on several towns in Somalia in what a government spokesman described as a "counter-attack" against the Islamic Courts Union. (Aljazeera)
Iraqi insurgency: Soldiers from the British Army storm a police headquarters in Basra, Iraq, arresting allegedly corrupt officers, transferring prisoners thought to have been subject to torture, and demolishing the building. [6]
Barajas Airport, Madrid, Spain, kills two people, damages cars and buildings. (CNN)
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)
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.
