Events in December 2008
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Dec. 1
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Hillary Clinton is named U.S. Secretary of State, Robert Gates to continue as Defence Secretary. Susan Rice to be Ambassador to the U.N. |
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Dec. 2
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An Iraqi Court condemns Saddam Hussein’s hatchetman ‘Chemical Ali’ to death for war crimes. |
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Thailand’s constitutional court unseats Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and disbands his People’s Power Party for electoral fraud. |
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Israel bids emotional farewell to Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka killed in the terror attack at Nariman House in Mumbai. |
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Dec. 3
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Norway becomes the first signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions finalised in Dublin in May. |
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Dec. 4
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Wrangling over pollution trading rights holds up a major climate change accord even as EU Environment Ministers begin a key meeting in Brussels.Armed robbers pull off one of the world’s biggest jewellery heists at a Paris store and make off with valuables worth $102 million. |
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Dec. 5
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At least 22 persons are killed and 70 injured in a massive car bomb explosion in a crowded market in Peshawar in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province. |
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Dec. 6
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The Malaysian State of Malacca presents ‘Datuk’ title to Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, making him the first foreign actor to get the honour. |
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A youth Alexis Grigoropoulos dies in Greek police firing after 30 youth attack a police car. |
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Dec. 7
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The London weekly, The Observer confirms that Mohammed Ajmal Amir, the lone surviving Mumbai mayhem suspect hails from Faridkot village in Okara district of Pakistan. |
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At least 160 vehicles meant for use by the NATO forces in Afghanistan are destroyed by pro-Taliban militants in Peshawar, Pakistan. |
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Pakistan military mounts an “intelligence-led operation” against a banned militant organisation in Pakistan – administered Kashmir and effects arrests of among others, LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, suspected to be the mastermind behind the Mumbai attacks. |
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Dec. 8
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Hundred more NATO vehicles are set ablaze by militants at a container depot in Peshawar.Krishnammal Jagannathan of Tamil Nadu receives the Right Livelihood Award, known as alternative Nobel Prize in Stockholm. |
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Grand funeral for Russia’s Orthodox Patriot Alexy II. |
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Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune files for bankruptcy. |
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Dec. 9
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The Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is arrested for bid to sell U.S. President-elect Barack Obama’s recently open Senate seat. |
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Greek protesters clash with police guarding Parliament. Unrest spreads across more than 10 cities. |
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Lord Swraj Paul becomes the first Asian Deputy Speaker of the British House of Lords. |
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Dec. 10
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The former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari is presented with the Nobel Peace Prize at a function in the Norwegian capital Oslo. |
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A general strike cripples Greece. Thousands take out a march to Parliament. |
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The slain former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto is awarded the U.N. Human Rights Award. |
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The U.S. automakers get a $14 billion government lifeline. |
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Two Indian Navy officers of a large crude carrier are jailed by a South Korean court for an oil spill on the Yellow Sea coast on December 7, 2007. |
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Dec. 11
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Pakistan begins a countrywide crackdown on Lashkar-e-Taiba front organisation Jamat-ud-Dawah. and places its leader Hafiz Mohammed Saeed under house arrest in Lahore for three months following U.N. sanctions. |
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At least 45 persons are killed and 93 injured in a suicide blast at a restaurant in Kirkuk, Iraq. |
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U.S. President – elect Barack Obama chooses Chinese – American Steven Chu for Energy Secretary post. |
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The U.S. Senate rejects the Federal government’s bailout package for troubled auto majors General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. |
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Bernard Madoff, former chairman, Nasdaq Stock Market is arrested for a $ 50 billion fraud.Dec. 12. A British court absolves Scotland Yard officers who shot dead a Brazilian youth Jean Charles de Menezes at a London underground station on July 22, 2005 mistaking him to be a terrorist of unlawful killing. |
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Dec. 12
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Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso announces a new $255 billion stimulus package to shore up his country’s economy. |
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Asian stocks tumble on hefty losses on the Wall Street. |
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The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change Summit in Poznan, Poland operationalises an Adaptation Fund. |
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Dec. 13
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Ksenya Sukhinova is crowned Miss World 2008 at an extravaganza in the South African capital Johannesburg. |
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Dec. 14
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The first model of Japan’s bullet train has a farewell run 44 years after it transformed overland travel. |
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Somalia’s Prime Minister Hassan Hussein Nur is sacked by the President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. |
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Dec. 15
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China and Taiwan start direct air and sea transport and postal services, a historical step in cross-strait relations. |
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Thailand’s House of Representatives elects Abhisit Vejjajiva Prime Minister. |
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Najam Sethi Editor-in-Chief of Friday Times and Daily Times in Pakistan is awarded the 2009 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual freedom prize of the World Association of Newspapers. |
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Dec. 16
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The Woolwich Crown Court finds a U.K. – based Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdulla guilty of plotting to bomb the Glasgow airport on June 30, 2007. |
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Dec. 17
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Bangladesh lifts emergency that was imposed in January 2007 ahead of parliamentary polls slated for December 29.The Time magazine names U.S. President – elect Barack Obama Person of The Year 2008. |
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Dec. 18
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The U.N. – based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda sentences to life Theoneste Bagosora for masterminding the 1994 genocide. |
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Rangzieb Ahmed, a British Pakistani, accused of being a high-profile Al-Qaeda activist is found guilty of “directing terrorism”. |
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Dec. 19
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NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul creates history by becoming the first Asian to preside over the House Of Lords. |
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Hamas ends six-month-old ceasefire with Israel. |
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The U.S. gives $ 13.4 billion in emergency loans to prevent the collapse of General Motors and Chrysler. |
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Japan unveils Auriga Leader, the world’s first large ship partially using solar power at a shipyard in Kobe. |
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Dec. 22
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A 36-member Thailand Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjejiva is sworn in in Bangkok. |
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Dec. 23
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Australia’s high-power probe clears Dr. Mohamed Haneef saying he “was wrongly charged” in July 2007 on suspected links to a terrorist plot in Britain. |
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Dec. 24
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Palestinian fighters in Gaza launch a barrage of rockets into Israel. |
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Dec. 27
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Over 200 persons are killed in an Israeli air raid on Gaza. |
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Dec. 29
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The Awami League-led Grand Alliance heading for a landslide in Bangladesh elections. |
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Somalia’s President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed resigns. |
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Dec. 30
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The Awami League gets a massive mandate bagging 230 seats in the 299-member Parliament. |
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Israel begins naval attack even as the toll in the air raid touches 385. |
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An Air New Zealand jet part fuelled by vegetable oil completes a two-hour flight. |
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Events 2008
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
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