December 2, 2012 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- The Taliban launches an attack on the NATO airstrip in the eastern Afghanistan city of Jalalabad resulting in seven Taliban deaths and at least five Afghans are killed. (Sky News Australia) (BBC) (AP)
- Suspected Islamist fighters go on the rampage in Chibok, Nigeria, killing 10 Christians with guns and machetes and burning down their houses. (Reuters)
Arts and culture
- The 2012 Kennedy Center Honors are announced in the United States with American actor Dustin Hoffman, American television host David Letterman, British rock group Led Zeppelin, American blues musician Buddy Guy and ballerina Natalia Makarova inducted. (AP) (CNN)
- A 200-year-old letter dated 20 October 1812 in which Napoleon Bonaparte vows to blow up the Moscow Kremlin fetches €187,500 (£151,000, $233,800) at a French auction in Fontainebleau. (Sky News) (ITV) (ABC News)
Disasters and accidents
- A section of the Sasago Tunnel in Japan collapses trapping 30 vehicles; at least 9 people are dead. (BBC) (Sky News) (CBC News)
- 16 miners are trapped underground after a coal mine was flooded in northeast China's Heilongjiang province. (RIA Novosti)
- The Philippines warns citizens about Typhoon Bopha expected to make landfall on Tuesday, December 4. (AP via Mercury News)[permanent dead link]
Law and crime
- Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court defers a ruling on whether the Constituent Assembly is legal following pressure from supporters of President Mohamed Morsi. (AP)
- Israel Keyes, a 34-year-old man suspected of killing Samantha Koenig and possibly as many as 7 others throughout the U.S., apparently kills himself while in custody. (AP/CBS News)
Politics and elections
- Former Prime Minister Borut Pahor is elected President of Slovenia beating the incumbent President Danilo Türk in the second round of a presidential election after anti-austerity protests in the capital, Ljubljana, erupted in clashes that left 15 people injured. (BBC) (AP via Washington Post)
- Voters in Italy go to the polls to select a centre-left candidate for Prime Minister with Pier Luigi Bersani winning. (BBC) (Reuters)
Science and technology
- French very-high-resolution optical Earth-imaging satellite Pléiades-HR 1B is launched successfully via a Russian Soyuz STA rocket out of the Guiana Space Centre, Kourou, French Guiana. (Reuters)
Sport
- Spanish racing team HRT F1 leave Formula One after they were unable to find a buyer before the deadline of 30 November. The team was subsequently omitted from the 2013 entry list. (Autosport)
- The International Volleyball Federation confirms the structure of the 2013 FIVB Volleyball World League with the competition increasing from 16 to 18 teams split into three pools of six. (FIVB)
- The Sambafoot Association announces their list of 30 contenders nominated as the 2012 Samba Gold, a football award given to the best Brazilian footballer in Europe. (Sambafoot)