December 22, 2011 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- At least 72 people are killed and 169 wounded in a series of 16 bombing attacks in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, shortly after the final withdrawal of American forces from Iraq. (BBC) (CNN)
- The United States admits it was significantly responsible for an airstrike last month that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. (BBC)
- Killings and coverups are reported to be occurring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (BBC)
- Human Rights Watch alleges that security forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been responsible for the deaths of 24 people since the re-election of Joseph Kabila as President. (Al Jazeera)
- The first monitors from the Arab League arrive in Syria to assess the government's crack-down on anti-government demonstrations across the country. (PA)
- Egypt's military-appointed Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri calls for national dialogue after weeks of deadly protests against the military regime. (Al-Masry Al-Youm)
Disasters
- Floods hit the city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing at least 13 people in the nation's worst floods since its independence in 1961. (BBC)
Law and crime
- Police in Brazil seek to press charges for environmental crimes committed by the United States oil company Chevron and drilling firm Transocean in relation to last month's Campos Basin oil spill. (BBC)
- An Australian teenager is jailed for 13 years for the killing of Nitin Garg in Melbourne, a case that led to a diplomatic row and fury over racism. (BBC)
Politics and elections
- Teargas is fired and protesters arrested in Haimen, southern China, in a demonstration against the construction of a power plant. (The Guardian) (RTHK)
- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposes political reforms at his final state-of-the-nation address. (Russia Today) (New York Times)
- Italy's senate debates the proposed economic austerity measures of Prime Minister Mario Monti. (BBC)
- France's National Assembly votes in favour of a bill criminalising any denial that the mass killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in the 1910s was genocide. (BBC)
Science
- The Large Hadron Collider makes its first clear observation of a new particle since opening in 2009, the boson Chib 3P. (BBC)
Sport
- A KNVB Cup game between AFC Ajax and AZ is abandoned after the AZ manager leads his team off the pitch in protest at the sending-off of his goalkeeper, Esteban Alvarado, who kicked an Ajax fan who attacked him. (BBC Sport) (ESPN) (Sky Sports)