December 15, 2012 (Saturday)
Disasters and accidents
- Cyclone Evan is expected to hit northern parts of Tonga before turning south towards Fiji. (Sky News Australia)
- At least 18 asylum seekers drown in the Aegean Sea while trying to reach Greece from Turkey. (The New York Times)
- Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, the Governor of Nigeria's Kaduna state dies in a helicopter crash in Bayelsa state, together with former national security adviser General Owoye Andrew Azazi and other senior officials. (BBC)
Law and crime
- Two incidents of shootings happened in the U.S. state of Alabama. A 38-year-old man opens fire at a hospital in Birmingham, wounding a police officer and two employees before he is fatally shot by police. In another unrelated incident, a man suspected of the fatal shooting of three people in a mobile home in Cleburne County, is shot to death near Birmingham by police after brandishing an AK-47. (CBC)
- A man stood in the parking lot of the Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach, California, and fired 50 gunshots in the air, inducing a mass of panic from the shoppers and employees. No one was hit by the bullets, but one person was injured while trying to flee. A 42-year-old man was arrested for the shooting, and additional ammunition was found in his car. (CNN)
Politics and elections
- Egyptian constitutional referendum, 2012:
- Voters in Egypt go to the polls for a highly charged referendum on a new constitution with violent clashes reported in Alexandria the evening before. (BBC) (Sky News)
- The polls close four hours later than planned due to heavy turnout. (RIA Novosti)
- A census of population and housing begins today in Turkmenistan. (Trend)[permanent dead link]
- Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa, successfully undergoes surgery to remove gallstones from his gallbladder. (BBC) (The Telegraph)
- United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sustained a concussion after fainting from dehydration at her home. (CNN) (The Washington Post)
- Russian police arrest prominent opposition leaders at a rally against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. (BBC)
Science and technology
- Yamal-402, the Russian communications satellite, is taken to its planned geostationary orbit following a series of four adjustment operations. (RIA Novosti) (The Voice of Russia)
Sport
- Team Germany's Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel win a sixth consecutive Race of Champions Nations Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. (Motorsport) (Autosport)
- In curling, Sweden men's team and Russian women's team win the 2012 European Curling Championships in Karlstad, Sweden. (ECC2012) (UPI)
- The body of the much-decorated Kerry Gaelic footballer Páidí Ó Sé is found at his home, shocking the world of Gaelic games. (RTÉ Sport) (JOE) (BBC)