December 18, 2006 (Monday)
- Uzbekistan nearly doubles the price of natural gas it sells to Kyrgyzstan from USD $55 to $100 (£51) per 1,000 cubic meters of gas amid growing tension between the two nations over alleged spying. (BBC News)
- Six-party talks resume on North Korea's nuclear weapons program with North Korea and the United States being "poles apart" in their opening positions. (CNN)
- 2006 Ipswich murder investigation: Police arrest a 37-year-old man in Trimley St. Martin near Felixstowe, England on suspicion of the murders of five prostitutes. (BBC) (Guardian)
- Palestinian Civil Skirmishes increase after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas calls early elections and a truce between his forces and the Hamas government appeared close to collapse in the Gaza Strip. (Reuters)[permanent dead link]