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The United States and Cuba move to resume diplomatic relations as U.S. aid worker Alan Gross is released in exchange for three members of the Cuban Five. In an effort to curtail the rapid decline of the ruble, the Central Bank of Russia raises interest rates to 17%. At least 141 people are killed as Taliban gunmen storm a school in Peshawar, Pakistan. Gunman Man Haron Monis and two hostages are killed when a siege ends at a café in Sydney. In Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito coalition secures a two-thirds majority following a snap general election. Srirasmi Suwadee, a former consort to Maha Vajiralongkorn, Crown Prince of Thailand, relinquishes her royal title of Princess Srirasm.

Current events of December 18, 2014 (2014-12-18) (Thursday) Business and economy The price of Brent Crude oil rises to $61+ per barrel as companies cut upstream investments. (Reuters) US clothing company Gap Inc. agrees to distribute their apparels to Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group through its website JD.com. (Reuters) International relations Denmark and Vietnam agree to make minister visits and company delegations in 2015 to boost the bilateral cooperation. (ScandAsia) Law and crime Death of Jennifer Laude The United States refuses to extradite to the Philippines a United States Marine charged with murder. (New York Daily News) According to a year-end report by the Death Penalty Information Center, thirty-five people have been executed in the United States in 2014, marking the fewest within two decades. (USA Today) The conviction of George Stinney, Jr., is posthumously vacated by the US District Court for South Carolina seventy years after his execution. (UPI) In Spain, thirteen more people are arrested, totaling to more than seventy arrests, for the November 30 football fan brawl, which resulted one death, before the Atletico Madrid–Deportivo La Coruna match started in Madrid's Vicente Calderon Stadium. (AP via USA Today) Current events of December 17, 2014 (2014-12-17) (Wednesday) Armed conflicts and attacks War in North-West Pakistan 2014 Peshawar school attack Pakistan lifts the moratorium on the death penalty for terror-related cases following the Taliban's assault on a school in Peshawar on Tuesday that killed 141, including 132 children. (The Guardian) Sony Pictures Entertainment hack Sony cancels the New York City sneak preview of the upcoming 2014 film The Interview, originally scheduled for December 18, due to threatening messages by hackers. (USA Today) Sony cancels the release of The Interview, originally scheduled for Christmas 2014. (CNN) Business and economy Spanish energy company Repsol acquires Canadian energy producer Talisman Energy for $13 billion including debt. (Reuters) International relations The United States and Cuba re-establish diplomatic relations after severing them 55 years ago. An American embassy will open in Havana and talks to lift the embargo will begin. (The Daily Beast) Law and crime The Chinese Communist Party, through the Supreme People's Procuratorate, indicts former Nanjing mayor Ji Jianye on bribery and corruption. (AP via Denver Post) Gregory Conigliaro and Barry Cadden, co-founders of the New England Compounding Center were arrested in Framingham, Mass., along with 12 former employees after the U.S. attorney's office brought federal racketeering indictments against them for a fungal meningitis outbreak that killed 64 people in seven states in the fall of 2012. (AP) Actor Stephen Collins admits to People magazine his "inappropriate sexual conduct with three female minors." (People)(USA Today) Politics and elections The Parliament of Greece fails to elect a new president in the first round of voting. (ABC News) Sport FIFA's independent ethics investigator Michael J. Garcia resigns from that position in protest over the organization's handling of his compiled report on corruption allegations in connection with the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. (BBC) Current events of December 16, 2014 (2014-12-16) (Tuesday) Armed conflicts and attacks War in North-West Pakistan 2014 Peshawar school attack Taliban gunmen storm one of the military-run Army Public Schools in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least 141, including 132 children and nine employees, with most of five hundred students evacuated. (Reuters)(BBC)(The New York Times) The shooting ends with all six gunmen dead. (International Business Times) Syrian Civil War Around one hundred Syrian soldiers and eighty Islamist fighters die in a two-day battle for Wadi Deif, with the Islamic Front capturing over 120 government soldiers. (Reuters) Terrorism in Yemen A pair of car bombs kill 20 children and 11 Houthi militants in Radaa, central Yemen. (CNN) Gaza–Israel conflict Israeli military troops kill one Palestinian man in a West Bank refugee camp. Israeli sources claim the man threw an explosive device at an army patrol. (Reuters) Business and economy 2014 Russian financial crisis The Bank of Russia announces an increase of its key interest rate, the Russian weekly repo rate, from 10.5 to 17 percent as an emergency move to halt the collapse of the ruble's value and, thereby, stabilize the Russian economy. (Channel News Asia) Despite rate hike, the ruble falls to PP 65+ per US dollar and PP 80+ per Euro. (Reuters) Sony Music Entertainment gives Chinese online company Tencent rights to distribute its music catalogue. (Reuters) The price of Brent Crude oil drops to $55–60 per barrel for the first time since 2009. (Reuters) The court jury finds Apple Inc. in a nine-year lawsuit not guilty of violating antitrust laws and deleting music content for security reasons. (Ars Technica)(BusinessWeek)(NY Daily News) American Apparel fires its founder Dov Charney as its Chief Executive Officer after months of suspension. (Reuters) Disasters and accidents A tunnel collapse traps twelve Vietnamese workers, including one woman, at a construction site of a hydropower plant located in the Central Highlands. (Thanh Nien) Law and crime 2014 Sydney hostage crisis The hostage situation ends with gunman Man Haron Monis and two hostages dead and four others injured. (CNN) (ABC Australia) Israel Police arrest ten members of Lehava, a right-wing organisation that opposes integration of Arabs and Jews, for last month's arson on an Arab–Jewish school. (Times of Israel) India declares a ban on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after an engineer was detained for campaigning on behalf of the group on Twitter. Officials worry that such ban will endanger thirty-nine men, believed to be held hostage by the group. (Reuters) Montgomery County, Pennsylvania shootings The Montgomery County District Attorney reports that Bradley Stone, suspected in the killing of his ex-wife and five of her family members Monday, has been found dead in the woods near his home in Pennsburg, Pa.. (NBCPhiladelphia.com) Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Scotland with the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 coming into effect. (BBC News) Judge Arthur J. Schwab of the US District Court of Pennsylvania declares President Barack Obama's executive order on immigration unconstitutional. (Reuters) Current events of December 15, 2014 (2014-12-15) (Monday) Disasters and accidents A fire at a karaoke bar in China's Henan province kills at least 11 people. (IANS via The Hindu) An emergency rescue SMURD helicopter crashes into Lake Siutghiol, Constanţa County, Romania with four people killed. (ABC) The death toll of the 2014 Indonesia landslide rises to 56. (AP via Fox News) International relations Philippine prosecutors charge a United States Marine with murder over the death of Jennifer Laude, a Filipino transgender woman. (The Washington Post) Authorized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Denmark becomes the first country to officially submit a claim on the North Pole. (UPI) About ten thousand people, including those of Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident (PEGIDA), protest in Germany against the presence of Muslims. (The Telegram) Law and crime 2014 Sydney hostage crisis A gunman, Man Haron Monis, takes 17 people hostage at Lindt Chocolate Café in Martin Place, Sydney. (BBC) (ABC) (Melbourne Herald-Sun) Montgomery County, Pennsylvania shootings A shooting spree kills six people throughout Montgomery County in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania suburbs. The suspect, Bradley William Stone, remains at large. (WPVI-TV) (Philadelphia Inquirer) The Supreme Court of the United States rules by an 8–1 vote that evidence collected based on a reasonable misinterpretation of the law can be used at trial and is not deemed an unreasonable search or seizure. (Wall Street Journal)(Washington Post) An appellate court in Vietnam upholds a 30-year prison sentence and convictions for Nguyen Duc Kien, a former businessman. (Tuoi Tre) Politics and elections 2014 Hong Kong protests Authorities remove the last remaining protest camp, the one at Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. (Wall Street Journal)(BBC) The United States Senate approves Vivek Murthy's nomination as Surgeon General by a 51–43 vote. (CBS) Current events of December 14, 2014 (2014-12-14) (Sunday) Armed conflicts and attacks Syrian Civil War: A battle between Bashar al-Assad loyalist forces and Islamist rebels in Aleppo Governorate leave 34 rebels dead and 3 loyalist fighters captured. (EFE via Fox News) Arts and culture Miss World 2014 crowns Rolene Strauss, Miss South Africa, in London. (CNN) Archaeologists reconstruct two giant statues of Amenhotep III, toppled by an earthquake at the Nile River in 1200 BC. The team's restoration project re-erected surviving fragments at the northern gate of the king's funerary temple. (AFP via Daily Mail) Business and economy European private equity firm BC Partners agrees to buy American pet supplies retail chain PetSmart for $8.7 billion. (New York Times) Disasters and accidents Eleven Egyptian fishermen drown after their boat sinks in the Gulf of Suez. (AP) The death toll from a landslide in central Java in Indonesia rises to 24 with scores still missing. (Reuters via NBC News) The death toll of a capsized ferry MV Mutambala on December 12 in Lake Tanganyika, Democratic Republic of the Congo rises to 129 with authorities continuing to search for bodies or survivors. (BBC) Environment Angalifu, a male of the critically endangered northern white rhinoceros, dies at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The remaining rhinoceroses are one female at the Zoo (Nola), three at a zoo in the Czech Republic, and one male at a Kenyan preserve (Sudan). (Huffington Post) International relations The United Nations adopts a format for national pledges to tackle climate change after meetings extend into the weekend at the conference held in Lima, Peru. (BBC) Law and crime Turkish police arrest 24 journalists, all of whom are supporters of Fethullah Gülen who is a rival of current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and is currently in self-imposed exile in the United States. (Voice of America) Politics and elections Japanese general election, 2014 Japanese citizens vote in a general election. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner win 325 seats out of 475 and thus a new term. (BBC) Laurent Lamothe resigns as Prime Minister of Haiti along with several ministers following violent protests and a commission's call for him to step down. The protesters have been demanding the holding of early elections. (TownHall) Sports In the NBA, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers moves to third on the all-time point scorer list overtaking Michael Jordan. (AFP via SportsFan) Current events of December 13, 2014 (2014-12-13) (Saturday) Armed conflicts and attacks Taliban insurgency Gunmen assassinate Atiqullah Rawoofi, the head of the Secretariat of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan, in the outskirts of Kabul. (AP) Twenty-one people die in attacks across Afghanistan including two American soldiers. (AP via Washington Post) Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant Iraqi officials claim that ISIL have shot down a military helicopter near Samarra, killing both pilots. (AP) Arts and culture Germany's most successful television show, Wetten, dass..?, ends after a 33-year-run. (AP) Disasters and accidents Landslides caused by heavy rain in Java, Indonesia, kill at least 17 people with a hundred still unaccounted for. (AP), (AFP via Channel News Asia), (BBC) International relations Philippines v. China Vietnam files an intervention in the arbitration case about the South China Sea with Vietnam rejecting China's claims. (Bloomberg) India and Russia sign deals on infrastructure, nuclear energy, and defence. (Reuters) Law and crime The wife of Thailand's crown prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, Princess Srirasmi, resigns her royal status following a corruption probe of her relatives. The King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej grants her a divorce. (AFP via ABC News Australia), (AAP via SBS) Science and technology The Geminids meteor shower reaches its peak this weekend. (Boing Boing) Sport In American football, Marcus Mariota of the University of Oregon football team wins the 2014 Heisman trophy for the best player in college football. (Fox News) Current events of December 12, 2014 (2014-12-12) (Friday) Business and economy Thousands of Italians take to the streets in 50 cities as part of a general strike protesting new labour laws. (ABC News Australia) Wall Street sees its worst week in three years as oil prices continue to collapse. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sheds 315 points, or 1.8%, to 17280. (FOX Business) Disasters and accidents The ferry MV Mutambala capsizes on Lake Tanganyika, Democratic Republic of the Congo leaving at least 26 dead. (Radiookapi.net) Law and crime An unknown person shoots four people outside of Rosemary Anderson High School, an alternative high school in Portland, Oregon. Police later question a 22-year-old man. (CNN) (MSN), (AP) Sony Pictures reportedly shuts production on several sets because of computer network issues regarding employee disbursement of pay following a massive computer hack. (FOX News) Prosecutors at Sary-Arqa District Court in Astana charge 30-year old Yevgeny Vdovenko, a Kazakh citizen, of intentional and illegal participation in a military conflict abroad because he had fought alongside pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. (Radio Free Europe) Science and technology Torrent site isoHunt appears to have unofficially resurrected The Pirate Bay at a site which turns out serving new content. (VB News) Microsoft announces its upcoming Windows 10 consumer version preview for January 21. (FOX News) More December 2014 events...

Time: 11:50 UTC  |  Day: 18 December  |   << December 2014 >> S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31    More December 2014 events... About this page • Suggest a headline News about Wikipedia  Ongoing events Economic Eurozone crisis Greek government-debt crisis Environmental 2014 North Indian Ocean cyclone season 2014 Pacific typhoon season Health Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa Legionella outbreak in Portugal Political 2014 social unrest in Ferguson, United States Global surveillance disclosures Hong Kong protests Irish demonstrations against water tax Military intervention against ISIS US-led intervention in Syria Iranian-led intervention in Iraq Pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine Russian military intervention in Ukraine South Sudanese Civil War More details on ongoing conflicts below  Recent deaths December 16: Man Haron Monis 14: Sy Berger 14: Fuzzy Thurston 13: Ernst Albrecht 13: Bill Bonds 13: Phil Stern 12: John Baxter 12: John Hampton 11: Tom Adams 11: Michel duCille 11: Dawn Sears 10: Ralph Giordano 10: Robert B. Oakley 10: Judy Baar Topinka 9: Jane Freilicher 9: Mary Ann Mobley 9: Lydia Mordkovitch 9: Karl Otto Pöhl 8: Sobho Gianchandani 8: Nedunuri Krishnamurthy 8: Knut Nystedt 7: Mango 7: Ken Weatherwax 7: Stella Young 6: Ralph H. Baer 6: Adnan Gulshair el Shukrijumah 6: Luke Somers 5: Ernest C. Brace 5: Queen Fabiola of Belgium 5: Gil Marks 4: Lynne Kosky 4: Jeremy Thorpe 3: Ian McLagan 3: Ann Marcus 2: Jean Beliveau 2: Bobby Keys 1: Mario Abramovich 1: Sita Murt  Ongoing conflicts Global War on Drugs War on Terror Operation Active Endeavour Operation Enduring Freedom Terrorist incidents in 2014 Africa Lord's Resistance Army insurgency Maghreb insurgency OEF – Horn of Africa OEF – Trans Sahara Central African Republic Civil conflict Egypt Islamist unrest Sinai insurgency Libya Post-civil war interfactional fighting 2014 Libyan Civil War Nigeria Boko Haram Somalia Civil war Sudan and South Sudan Sudan internal conflict South Sudan internal conflict War in Darfur Americas Social unrest in Ferguson, United States Colombian conflict Internal conflict in Peru Mexican War on Drugs Paraguayan People's Army insurgency Asia Afghanistan War Military operations Taliban insurgency India Naxalite–Maoist insurgency Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir Insurgency in Northeast India Korea Korean maritime border conflict Pakistan Balochistan conflict North-West War Sectarian violence Philippines Communist insurgency Moro insurgency Southeast Asia Cambodian–Thai border dispute Kachin conflict Papua conflict South Thailand insurgency Territorial disputes in the South China Sea Europe Abkhaz–Georgian conflict North Caucasus insurgency Pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine War in Donbass Middle East Arab–Israeli conflict Gaza–Israel conflict Israeli–Lebanese conflict Israeli–Palestinian conflict Israel–Iran proxy conflict Iraqi insurgency Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant Kurdistan Kurdish–Iranian conflict Syrian Civil War Yemen al-Qaeda crackdown Shia insurgency South Yemen insurgency  Elections Recent: November 2: Romania, President (1st round) 4: United States, House of Representatives and Senate (one third: Class II Senators) 16: Romania, President (2nd round) 19: Lebanon, President (15th round, indirect; aborted) 19: Solomon Islands, General 22: Bahrain, General 23: Tunisia, President (1st round) 25: Tonga, General 29: Namibia, General 30: Moldova, Parliament Recent: December 8: Dominica, Parliament 10: Mauritius, Parliament 14: Japan, Parliament 17: Greece, President (1st round) Upcoming: December 20: Liberia, Senate 21: Tunisia, President (2nd round) 21: Uzbekistan, Parliament (1st round) 23: Greece, President (2nd round) 28: Croatia, President (1st round)  Trials Recently concluded Australia: Brett Peter Cowan, Craig Thomson, Robert Hughes Canada: Michael Thomas Rafferty China: Li Daqiu, Liu Tienan Croatia: Ivo Sanader Germany: Breno Borges Iran: Mohammad Reza Rahimi Italy: Silvio Berlusconi Jordan: Abu Qatada Netherlands: Ante Gotovina (ICTY), Mladen Markač (ICTY), Momčilo Perišić (ICTY), Germain Katanga (ICC) Russia: Leonid Khabarov, Vladimir Kvachkov, Pussy Riot Sierra Leone: Charles Taylor (SCFSL) South Africa: Chris Mahlangu, Oscar Pistorius Ukraine: Yulia Tymoshenko United Kingdom: Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, Levi Bellfield, Robert Black, Vincent Tabak, Ali Dizaei, Antoni Imiela, Brian Regan, Donna Air, Ched Evans, Clayton McDonald, Titus Bramble, Dan Penteado, John Terry, Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed, Asil Nadir, Justin Lee Collins, Kweku Adoboli, Tony McCluskie, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, Chris Huhne, Nicola Edgington, Vicky Pryce, Derek Rose, Mick Philpott, Mairead Philpott, Paul Mosley, Kevin Liverpool, Junior Bradshaw, Aggro Santos, Stuart Hazell, Mark Bridger, Andrew Lancel, Dale Cregan, Ray Wilkins, Michael Le Vell, Liam Adams, R v Grillo and Grillo, Ian Watkins, William Roache, Dave Lee Travis, Nicholas Jacobs, Nigel Evans, Max Clifford, Stuart Hall, Dappy, Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson, Rolf Harris, Tulisa Contostavlos United States: Noshir Gowadia, Barry Bonds, Raj Rajaratnam, Casey Anthony, Conrad Murray, George Huguely, Allen Stanford, Roger Clemens, Jerry Sandusky, Jared Lee Loughner, Lauryn Hill, Kermit Gosnell, George Zimmerman, Chelsea Manning, Ariel Castro, Whitey Bulger, Robert Bales, Nidal Malik Hasan, Crystal Mangum, Abu Hamza al-Masri Ongoing Brazil: Mensalão scandal Cambodia: Khmer Rouge Tribunal Canada: Luka Magnotta China: Organized crime in Chongqing Egypt: Mohamed Morsi, Hosni Mubarak France: Church of Scientology Germany: Christian Wulff, Beate Zschäpe, Uli Hoeness, Bernie Ecclestone Hong Kong: Alfredo Lim Iran: Babak Zanjani Iraq: Supreme Criminal Tribunal Malaysia: Anwar Ibrahim Netherlands: Thomas Lubanga (ICC), Radovan Karadžić (ICTY), Ratko Mladic (ICTY) Palau: Tommy Remengesau Philippines: Andal Ampatuan, Jr., Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Janet Lim-Napoles, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., Imelda Marcos, Jovito Palparan Russia: Platon Lebedev South Africa: Shrien Dewani South Korea: MV Sewol crew members Sudan: Lubna al-Hussein Thailand: Thaksin Shinawatra Turkey: Kenan Evren United Kingdom: Eddy Shah, Koo Stark United States: Jodi Arias Upcoming France: Éric Raoult Ivory Coast: Laurent Gbagbo Libya: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Spain: Lionel Messi United Kingdom: Dane Bowers, Gary Glitter, Andy Coulson, Chris Denning United States: Paul Anthony Ciancia, Javaris Crittenton, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Dylan Quick, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, James Eagan Holmes, Aaron Hernandez, Graham Spanier, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, Anas al-Libi, Bob McDonnell, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Rick Perry

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