International Events in December 1998
3rd Dec
Mr. Bulent Ecevit, Turkey's veteran centre-left politician, is asked to form government, a week after Mr. Messut Yilmaz's government fell in a corruption scandal.
At least 28 persons, mostly children, are killed in a predawn fire that raged through an orphanage in a Manila squatter area.
4th Dec
Space shuttle Endeavour with six astronauts on board blasts off from the Kennedy Space Centre on a 11-day mission to add a second module to the orbiting international space station.
The Polish President, Mr. Aleksander Kwasniewski, votes a law passed by Parliament which will allow victims of the communist- era repression to see their secret police files.
Anatoly Onopriekno, thought to be history's worst serial killer, goes on trial in an iron cage. He shows no remorse about his trial for the terror he spread across the Ukraine. He allegedly killed 52 persons in seven years.
Iraqi officials deny access for U.N. weapons inspectors to a suspected weapons site.
7th Dec
Venezuelans celebrate the victory of Mr. Hugo Chavez in a historic vote which delivered the former coup leader the presidency he failed to seize by force six years ago.
Mr. Yelstin sacks the head of the Kremlin administration and most deputies in an attempt to reassert his slipping hold on power.
The U.S. appears willing to go along with a consensus on the U.N. Security Council and grants a comprehensive review of the sanctions against the Iraq.
8th Dec
The Chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Mr. Henry Hyde, says there is ``compelling evidence'' to impeach the President, Mr. Bill Clinton, but he has not ruled out censure.
Russia calls on the Security Council to review Iraq's compliance with U.N. resolutions on the destruction of its weapons of
annihilation to clear the way for an early lifting of the sanctions.
9th Dec
The IRA rules out surrender of any of its weapons after holding a ``General Army Convention'', a meeting of its supreme decision making body.
10th Dec
The process' of impeachment of Mr. Clinton moves into yet another phase with Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee drawing up four articles of impeachment.
Chile recalls its Ambassador in London, Mr. Mario Artaza, as the British Government has decided that the former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet, will have to face trial for extradition to Spain on charges of torture and murder.
11th Dec
The Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives starts the historic final session and Mr. Bill Clinton apologies and pleads for a lesser punishment of ``censure and rebuke'' than impeachment.
12th Dec
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee approve three articles of impeachment against Mr. Clinton.
13th Dec
The House Judiciary Committee approves the fourth Article of Impeachment against Mr. Clinton, on abuse of power.
14th Dec
Palestinians revoke those clauses of their National Covenant which called for destruction of Israel.
17th Dec
Angry and sceptical Republicans in the U.S. agree to a brief postponement of the impeachment proceedings against Mr. Bill Clinton.
The U.S. and Britain launch a ``strong and sustained'' series of military strikes against Iraq for its failure to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors.
18th Dec
The U.S. and Britain launch another wave of attack on Iraq even as Mr. Saddam Hussein says ``there will be no compromise.''
19th Dec
The U.S. and Britain launch their fourth wave of attacks against targets in Iraq.
Mr. Clinton becomes the second U.S. President to be impeached by the House of Representatives on two counts - perjury and obstruction of justice.
20th Dec
After four days of strikes against targets in Iraq, the U.S. and Britain call off their operations, but Mr. Saddam Hussein claims victory for his people.
Mr. Clinton rejects the Republican calls for his resignation.
The Israeli Cabinet votes to suspend the U.S. broked peace deal with Palestinians.
21st Dec
Iraq says 62 military personnel were killed and 180 injured in the U.S. and U.K. attacks. The number of civilian casualties is much higher.
Opposition from both foes and friends of the new peace accord brings the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu's Government to the brink of collapse.
23rd Dec
As Moscow's Ambassador heads back to Washington, the Kremlin warns of a cold war backlash unless the West changes its attitude to international relations.
The British Trade Secretary, Mr. Peter Mandelson, resigns after criticism involving a loan of $373,000 he accepted in 1996 from a Labour Party colleague.
24th Dec
The Clinton administration says it will continue with its policy of containment of Iraq, by force if necessary, and at the same time work for a new Government in Baghdad.
A disagreement between Russia and the U.S. on the role of the U.N. chief prevents the Security Council from reaching a consensus on a draft statement on Iraq. The Russian draft also criticises the air strikes on Iraq.
25th Dec
The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), armed group fighting for Kosovo's independence from Belgrade, announces that it was breaking a truce it unilaterally declared in the province on October 8.
26th Dec
Two key Democrats in the U.S. Senate - Mr. Robert Byrd and Mr. Daniel Patrick Moynihan - come out in favour of a censure of Mr. Clinton.
27th Dec
Iraq vows to shoot down allied war planes patrolling the `no- fly' zones over the country, but the U.S. and Britain warn that they will hit back if attacked. Iraq's Parliament also confirms that U.N. weapons inspectors would not be allowed to return.
28th Dec
Arab Parliamentarians ask the U.N. Security Council to punish the U.S. and Britain for their air strikes against Iraq and call for an end to economic sanctions on Baghdad.
The Chinese Opposition Party activist, Mr. Zhu Zhengming is missing from his home in the eastern city of Hangzhou for the past two weeks.
The Pakistani Opposition leader and former Prime Minister, Ms. Benazir Bhutto, prevented from proceeding abroad by immigration officials at the Karachi airport in view of the pending corruption cases against her.
The U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton says the `no-fly' zones in Iraq will be maintained as part of the ongoing containment policy and that American pilots have done the ``appropriate'' thing returning Iraqi fire in an incident that took place near Mosul.