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- Baidu, the leading search engine in Chinese language, announces its plan to provide service in Japanese language. (Reuters via The Washington Post)
- NASA announces plans to build a base on the north pole of the Moon. (Reuters)
- John 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 OSCE 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 New York Times criticizes the Chinese Wikipedia for whitewashing in its articles on Mao Zedong, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. (The New York Times)
- The Government of Iran blocks Wikipedia, IMDb and nytimes.com, among many sites both commercial and informative. (The Guardian)
- Tomma Abts wins the 2006 Turner Prize. (BBC)
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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 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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- Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, expresses concern about a resumption of fighting in Sudan between the army and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. (BBC)
- Shibu Soren, a Cabinet Minister in India's coalition government, is convicted of murdering his secretary. The Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh successfully demands Soren's resignation. (News Limited)
- Three British Airways planes are grounded in London and Moscow due to positive traces of radiation as the investigation into the death of Alexander Litvinenko widens. British Airways will attempt to contact the thousands of passengers who have travelled on the planes recently. (CNN)
- Turkmenbashi Saparmurat Niyazov fires Khojaberdy Byashymov, Governor of Mary Province. Niyazov has now fired every regional governor in Turkmenistan since the beginning of November. (RFE/RL)
- United States District Court judge Richard J. Leon orders the Bush administration to resume making payments to thousands of people who lost their homes as a result of Hurricane Katrina. (AP via International Herald Tribune)
- Brandon Mayfield, wrongly arrested after the 11 March, 2004 Madrid attacks settles a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation for $2 million. (USAToday)
- Al-Qaida in Iraq condemns Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Turkey as being part of a "Crusader campaign" against Islam. Vatican officials respond by saying that the comments illustrate the need for religions to fight "violence in the name of God". (AP via Los Angeles Times)
- Former Prime Minister of Russia Yegor Gaidar is recovering in hospital in Moscow from a mystery illness contracted in Ireland prompting speculation of a connection with the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko. (AFP via ABC)
- After Islamists win a large number of seats in the first round of Bahrain's parliamentary election last Saturday, rumours sweep the Kingdom that leaders of the Shia opposition party, Al Wefaq, will join the government in a cabinet reshuffle. (Gulf News)
- An Australian Army Black Hawk helicopter is lost at sea off the coast of Fiji where it had been operating from HMAS Kanimbla (L-51) preparing to evacuate Australian civilians in the event of a coup. The Fijian military is holding an exercise in the capital Suva claiming there are fears of a "foreign intervention". (News Limited), (BBC)
- The United Nations Security Council unanimously passes a resolution that extends the mandate of the United States-led multinational force in Iraq until December 31, 2007. The new resolution requires a review of the mandate to begin by June 15, 2007, or sooner if the government of Iraq requests it. The government of Iraq can also revoke the mandate before its end if it chooses to do so. (Guardian UK)
- The Prime Minister of Fiji Laisenia Qarase meets with Fijian military commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama in emergency talks in Wellington, New Zealand aimed at averting a coup. (News Limited)
- In the United Kingdom, the News of the World newspaper's royal editor Clive Goodman pleads guilty to conspiring to intercept the voicemail messages of Prince William and Prince Harry. (BBC)
- The Liberal Party of Canada opens its leadership convention, expected to be the most contentious in decades, with a keynote speech by Howard Dean. (CBC)
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