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Bombs kill scores in Algiers Deadly ice storm moves across US A major ice storm has contributed to the deaths of at least 15 people in the United States. More than 600,000 residents and businesses across three states are without electricity.

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Nine who admitted raping 10-year-old released by Australian judge Six minors were placed on probation while three got suspended sentences after raping a 10-year-old girl.

Wikipedia Current Events
The International Olympic Committee strips sprinter Marion Jones of 5 medals from the 2000 Summer Olympics after she admits to having taken banned substances. Merck & Co. recall a million doses of a childhood vaccine after tests show a sterilisation problem at a Pennsylvania factory. The Lebanese armed forces' chief of operations, General François al-Hajj, is killed in a bomb attack in Beirut. Russia orders the British Council to suspend the majority of its Russian operations by January 2008. Christoph Blocher, the leading figure of the right-wing People's Party, is voted out of office in the elections to the federal government of Switzerland

New outbreak of H5N1 Avian Flu virus reported in Poland
At least two new outbreaks of the H5N1 Avian Flu virus, also known as Bird Flu, have been found in Poland.

One of the outbreaks was on a farm in Saldowo which affected at least 40 chickens. The other outbreak was found in unnamed wild birds near Orneta.

"The new case was discovered in the village of Saldowo, near to Bieżuń, (central Poland) close to other recent cases. Just as in the previous cases all the chickens will be culled," said Poland's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Marek Sawicki.

Officials have set up a zone of protection of at least a 30 kilometer radius of the farm.

Greenhouse-gas emission targets may come later says Ban Ki-moon
The United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon says setting greenhouse-gas emission targets may have to wait until after the U.N. Climate Change Conference being held in Bali.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon told reporters it may be too "ambitious" to set targets for greenhouse-gas emissions in the draft text of an agreement aimed at replacing the Kyoto Protocol to stop global warming.

Delegates from about 190 nations, now holding high-level meetings, are split over whether targets should be set now or later. Mr. Ban recognizes the divisions.

"Frankly speaking, realistically, it may be too ambitious if delegates would expect to be able to agree on target of greenhouse gas emission reduction," he said. "But, as I told you, some time down the road we will have to agree on that."

Ministers and heads of states, in a series of speeches, urged nations to lower greenhouse gas emissions. These gases, particularly those caused by the burning of fuels, are believed by many scientists to contribute to global warming.

Leaders said rich nations should make the first cuts and help poorer nations to develop clean technology.

The United States strongly opposes emission targets, as do Japan and Canada. U.S. officials say including emission targets would prejudge negotiations expected over the next two years to find a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

But the European Union and environmentalists say setting emission targets in the draft will show that industrialized nations are serious about the fight against global warming.

The U.S. under-secretary of state for democracy and global affairs, Paula Dobriansky, who is heading the U.S. delegation to Bali, says Washington is committed to seeing an agreement reached at the Bali conference.

"We are very committed to working toward a successful outcome here in Bali. We want to launch a process that is open and does not predetermine or preclude options," she said. "We have been listening carefully to the perspectives of others and will continue to do so in the days ahead. We hope to identify a way forward that will bridge our differences and bring us together on common pursuit of our shared goal of addressing climate change."

The text of the conference draft is expected to undergo several revisions before being finalized Friday. It calls for industrialized nations to commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by between 25 to 40 percent by the year 2020.

The Bali conference is expected to end on Friday.

UK police officers will vote on right to strike
Police officers and officials at an emergency meeting have voted to ballot every United Kingdom police officer over the right to strike. They also called for the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, to resign over the current dispute and further passed a vote of no confidence in the home secretary's ability to deal with pay and conditions.

Under current UK law, it is illegal for police officers to stage walk outs as part of protests or disputes, however some members of the force want to strike over the pay package dispute and thus are lobbying for the right to strike to be allowed once again. This has also been supported by a petition, started by Keith Vaz, chair of the home affairs select committee, which has been signed by 78 MPs.

This comes after the decision by the UK government not to backdate a 2.5% pay rise to September 2007, leading to a loss of income, from £130 - £264. However, the government says that this is necessary to control inflation in the UK.

Central banks announce joint efforts to provide liquidity
Several central banks in Europe and North America announced joint efforts to provide liquidity to the credit markets in the wake of the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis. The banks will hold coordinated auctions "designed to address elevated pressures in short-term funding markets." The announcement came simutaneously from all of the banks at 9:00 a.m. EST (UTC-5).

The banks involved are the United States' Federal Reserve System (Fed), the European Union's European Central Bank (ECB), the United Kingdom's Bank of England (BoE), Canada's Bank of Canada (BoC), and Switzerland's Swiss National Bank (SNB).

The auctions will run through the end of 2007. The first auction is scheduled for Monday, December 17 and will be a "Term Auction Facility" of US$20 billion.

In its statement the Federal Reserve said: "The Federal Open Market Committee has authorized temporary reciprocal currency arrangements (swap lines) with the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Swiss National Bank (SNB). These arrangements will provide dollars in amounts of up to $20 billion and $4 billion to the ECB and the SNB, respectively, for use in their jurisdictions. The FOMC approved these swap lines for a period of up to six months."

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) is not participating in the intervention, but welcomed the action. In its official statement, the BoJ said: "The Bank of Japan welcomes these measures and hopes that they will contribute to maintaining the functioning of the international financial markets."

Fabio Capello new favourite to succeed as coach of England's football team
Fabio Capello has emerged as the new favourite to succeed Steve McClaren as the England football team's new head coach after José Mourinho ruled himself out of taking the job.

The former Chelsea manager had been widely regarded as a favourite for the job but after he admitted yesterday that he is no longer interested in it, Capello became the new favourite.

The Italian, who has previously managed Real Madrid, AC Milan, Juventus and Roma, would regard the England job as the highlight of his career according to sources close to him and is ready to open talks.

Other candidates for the job include fellow Italian Marcello Lippi, former Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann and Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill.

Alex Trebek, host of US TV game show 'Jeopardy!' suffers heart attack
Reports say that the host of the United States television game show 'Jeopardy!', Alex Trebek, 67 is being hospitalized after suffering from a minor heart attack.

"Alex Trebek, host of 'Jeopardy!,' has had a minor heart attack. He is resting comfortably in a Los Angeles, California hospital, and he will be back in the studio for the next scheduled tapings in January," said a spokesman for the show in a statement posted on the show's website.

Trebek is expected to remain in the hospital for at least two days for observation and continued tests.

Two car bombs kill scores in Algiers, Algeria
Two bombs have exploded in Algiers, the capital of Algeria, killing at least 67 people. Both explosions were car bombs, at least one of which is being called a suicide bombing.

The first explosion took place in the Ben Aknoun district in the center of the city, which is near the constitutional court. The second was near the United Nations offices in the Hydra neighborhood. A UN worker said to the BBC that the building has partially collapsed and people may be trapped inside.

Jean Fabre, of the United Nations Development Programme, said that 10 staff members had been killed by the bomb which was outide the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees's offices.

Several of the victims in the Ben Aknoun attack were students who were in a passing bus.

Officials believe that the attacks were carried out by The al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, which was previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat and sometimes still referred to as such.

“I would like to condemn it in the strongest terms - it cannot be justified in any circumstances”

—UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

Algiers suffered a similar attack on April 11 of this year when two suicide car bombers claimed the lives of 33 people. According to Reuters, some people in Algeria have begun to speculate that the attacks on the 11th of the month is an homage to the September 11 against the United States.

Anis Rahmani, security expert and editor of a local paper, told Reuters that "al Qaeda wanted to send a strong message that it is still capable despite the lost of several top leaders. Now the key problem is that social conditions are still offering chances for terrorists to hire new rebels."

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks while in Indonesia for the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference: "This is just unacceptable. I would like to condemn it in the strongest terms. It cannot be justified in any circumstances."

Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France, who recently visited Algeria, called the attacks "barbaric, hateful and deeply cowardly acts."

"President Sarkozy has just called President Bouteflika to express the French people’s solidarity and compassion towards the Algerian people," said presidential spokesperson David Martinon.

White House spokesperson Gordon Johndroe said: "The United States stands with the people of Algeria, as well as the United Nations, as they deal with this senseless violence."

The Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem called off a cabinet meeting to allow him to visit the injured in the hospital.

First rail service in 50 years begins across Korean borders
For the first time in over a half a century, regular train service hosting cargo crossed between North and South Korea.

The train is 12 cars long and is carrying building materials to Kaesong, a key industrial junction for the two countries. The train will head back immediately after unloading. The service will continue at least once every week day.

South Korean leaders say that cargo trains are just a start, although North Korea will not allow anything beyond cargo as of yet. "Though we start with a cargo train, it will lead to a passenger train service and will soon be linked to the continental trains," said Korean Railroad President, Lee Chul to the press.

Buses, cars, and trucks are allowed across the border, but trains have not been until now. The roads which allowed those types of vehicles to enter North Korea were rebuilt after the first summit held between the two nations in 2000. The rail lines were destroyed in the 1950s during the Korean War.

The agreement to allow a cargo service was reached in October when the two nations met for a historical second summit.

Deadly ice storm moves across US
So far at least 15 people have died in a major ice storm in the United States which has left more than 600,000 residents and businesses across three states, without electricity. Officials for the utility companies say that this could be the worst ice storm in history.

"This particular storm is now the worst in company history in terms of customers affected," said Oklahoma Gas and Electric spokesman, Brian Alford.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has ice storm warnings still in effect for Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Illinois where as much as one inch of ice can accumulate on outdoor surfaces.

A State of Emergency has already been declared in Missouri with Governor Matt Blunt saying "we are only just beginning to see the devastation from this series of storms." Bowling Green has already seen nearly two to three inches of ice since Saturday December 8. Most other areas of Missouri have received 1/2 inch to one inch of ice.

Illinois has also seen accumulation, with the greatest total of one inch received in Poplar Grove.

Edna, Columbus, Pittsburg, Independence and Hutchinson, Kansas have all received at least one inch of ice along with parts of Texas and Oklahoma.

The NWS says that more storms are on the way and more ice is likely across the same regions.

"A series of low pressure centers have brought ice and snow from the Rockies, Southern Plains, to the Midwest and portions of the Northeast. Several additional disturbances and the presence of shallow Arctic air will continue to bring bouts of freezing rain, sleet, and snow from the Southwest to the Plains States, Midwest, and Northeast over the next several days," said a statement on the NWS's website.

Nine who admitted raping 10-year-old released by Australian judge
An Australian judge has handed down sentences to nine males, who admitted raping a 10-year-old girl, none of which involve spending any time behind bars. Six of the offenders, who were minors at the time of the crime were placed on probation. The other three aged 17, 18 and 26 were given suspended sentences.

In her ruling, Judge Sarah Bradley told them that the victim "was not forced and probably agreed to have sex with all of you".

"I hope that all of you realise that you must not have sex with young girls," she said. She further admonished the 26-year-old: "You should have known a lot better."

Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he was "disgusted and appalled" by the court's decision. "I am horrified by cases like this, involving sexual violence against women and children. My attitude is one of zero tolerance," he told reporters.

Queensland Attorney-General Kerry Shine said he is appealing and "I am not prepared to just write this off as an unusual one-off case. I do want to satisfy myself this is not part of a broader sentencing trend that reflects a lower standard [of justice] for those communities."

Both the victim and all of the defendants involved are from Australia's aboriginal population, which has played a major factor in the case.

At a conference in January, Judge Bradley said: "There are also times when a judge who has knowledge of a community, has information about the community view of the offending, the background to it and the full particulars of those involved may decide an alternative penalty is appropriate. Determining which category of case is before you can be problematic and can often only be done with input from the indigenous community itself."

Boni Robertson, an aboriginal activist, disagreed with the judge's decision. "There is nothing culturally, there is nothing morally, there is nothing socially and there is definitely nothing legally that would ever allow this sort of decision to be made," she said.

Today in History
1545 – Counter-Reformation: The Council of Trent, an ecumenical council convoked by Pope Paul III in response to the growth of Protestantism, opened in Trento, Italy.

1642 – Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European explorer to reach New Zealand.

1769 – Dartmouth College in present-day Hanover, New Hampshire, USA was established by a Royal Charter from British King George III and became the last university founded in the Thirteen Colonies before the American Revolution.

1862 – American Civil War: Union forces under Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside suffered severe casualties against entrenched Confederate defenders at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

1981 – Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in Poland, suspended Solidarity and imprisoned many union leaders.

December 13 is Republic Day in Malta (1974), Saint Lucy's Day.

Quote of the Day

Where they burn books, they will also burn people. ~ Heinrich Heine

Word of the Day

bibulously adv

Drunkenly; as if intoxicated

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