December 21, 2012 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2012 Egyptian protests:
- Clashes break out in Alexandria, Egypt, on the evening of the second leg of voting in the constitutional referendum. (BBC)
- 2012 terrorist attacks in Kenya:
- At least 39 people are killed in clashes between rival communities in Kenya. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- United Nations Flight 544 shootdown:
- A Russian Mi-8 helicopter working for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is shot down and crashes near Likuangole in the South Sudanese state of Jonglei. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (RT)
Arts and culture
- The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar reaches the date 13.0.0.0.0, associated with various doomsday myths. (The Guardian) (Al Jazeera)
- "Gangnam Style" by South Korean singer PSY becomes the first video to reach one billion views on YouTube. (BBC) (USA Today) (The Washington Post)
Disasters and accidents
- A severe cold spell kills at least 83 people in Ukraine. Across Russia, the deep freeze killed at least 45 people over the last week. (BBC) (NBC News)
- Five people are killed and one injured in Zeebrugge, Belgium, when a bus rolled off into the water. (Deredactie.be)
International relations
- A British court rejects an attempt by the son of a man killed in U.S. drone strike in Pakistan to force the UK government to reveal if it provided intelligence to assist US action. (BBC)
- The UK Ministry of Defence confirms it has spent $22.7 million settling claims from 205 Iraqis alleging abuse by British troops following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. (Al Jazeera)
Law and crime
- A shooting at a highway in Blair County, Pennsylvania kills three people and wounds three others. The gunman was killed in a shootout with police, and among the casualties were state troopers. (Yahoo! News)
- Steve Jobs' £85m high-tech yacht Venus is impounded at the Port of Amsterdam after designer Philippe Starck claims he is still owed money. (BBC)
Politics and elections
- U.S. President Barack Obama nominates John Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. (CNN) (BBC)
- Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher undergoes surgery for a growth in her bladder. (BBC)
- After seven months in office and a decisive victory in the elections, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta and his cabinet receive the vote of confidence from Parliament with 402 votes in favor and 120 against. (Fox News)
- Technocrat Mario Monti resigns as Prime Minister of Italy after the parliamentary passing of Italy's latest austerity budget. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- Ireland's Fine Gael food and farming minister Shane McEntee kills himself 2 days after his 56th birthday, triggering a by-election in Meath East. (RTÉ News)
- In the Netherlands, former Deputy Prime Minister Els Borst and former Vice President of the Council of State Herman Tjeenk Willink are granted the rare honorary title of Minister of State. (Rijksoverheid)
Science and technology
- After detailed study of the Sutter's Mill meteorite found in California on 22 April 2012, scientists report it contains some of the oldest material in the Solar System. (Science News) (Nature) (Business Insider)
- Expedition 34 Flight Engineers Tom Marshburn, Roman Romanenko and Chris Hadfield dock their Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft to the International Space Station’s Rassvet module. (NASA)
- MIT researchers discover that Herbertsmithite exhibits a quantum spin liquid behavior, a new kind of magnetism. (Extreme Tech) (Red Orbit) (The Register)
Sport
- The NHL announces the cancellation of the 2012–13 regular-season schedule through 14 January due to the 2012 NHL lockout bringing the total to 625 games, more than 50 percent of the entire schedule. (USA Today) (ESPN) (NHL)
- Ice hockey player Anže Kopitar and judoka Urška Žolnir are named as 2012 Slovenian Sportsperson of the Year. (NBC Sports) (RTV Slovenija)
- Raul Rusescu is named as 2012 Romanian Footballer of the Year while Mircea Lucescu becomes the 2012 Romania Coach of the Year. (Reuters) (Gazeta Sporturilor)
- Professional shooter Sergei Martynov and tennis star Victoria Azarenka are named the 2012 Belarus Sportpersons of the Year. (Sport Panorama) (Grodno News)
- UEFA announces that Málaga, Hajduk Split, Osijek, Rapid București, Dinamo București and Partizan are banned from competing in the next UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League competition they qualify for after failing to meet financial obligations. (UEFA)
- The Italian Olympic Committee requests a four-year doping ban for former race walk Olympic champion Alex Schwazer. He was excluded from the 2012 London Olympics after testing positive for EPO before the games. (ESPN)
- Michael Phelps and Gabrielle Douglas are named as 2012 Associated Press Athletes of the Year. (Los Angeles Times) (BoxScore)