Portal:Current events/2009 December 14
December 14, 2009 (Monday)
- The Group of 77 (including China, India, UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia) suspends participation in treaty negotiations at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, citing the unwillingness of developed nations to live up to the Kyoto Protocol and what they view as a lack of open negotiations. (BBC) (AP)
- Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, claims that some banks were rescued during the recent global financial crisis by billions of dollars that originated from the illegal drug trade. (Press TV) (Press Trust of India)
- Researchers report that the Veined Octopus retrieves coconut shell halves to use as shelter, becoming the first invertebrates recorded to use tools. (AP) (Times Online)
- The Eritrean national football team goes missing in Kenya, with the intention of seeking asylum. (AFP) (Jimma Times) (BBC)
- Cabin crew at British Airways vote overwhelmingly in favour of a planned 12 days of strike action over Christmas and the New Year in a dispute over job cuts and changes to staff contracts. (BBC)
- Centre-right candidate Sebastian Piñera wins the first round of the presidential election in Chile, and will face a run off with centre-left candidate Eduardo Frei on January 17. (The Santiago Times) (The Independent) (AP)
- Dubai receives a US$10 billion bailout from Abu Dhabi to help fund troubled Dubai World. (Gulf News) (Al Jazeera) (CCTV)
- Guinea's military junta reject a proposal by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) of sending an "intervention force" to the country. (AP) (Xinhua)
- Sudanese police fire tear gas and detain some 38 protesters in clashes at a planned pro-democracy rally in Omdurman. (AFP) (IOL) (BBC)
- A Bangkok court extends the detention of the crew of the seized Ilyushin Il-76, a cargo aircraft loaded with 35 tonnes of arms from North Korea, charging them with the illegal possession of weapons. (Thai News Agency) (BBC)
- It is revealed that China's People's Liberation Army has built a massive underground tunnel in the Hebei region to protect its nuclear weapons. (The Chosun Ilbo)
- Austrian bank Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International is nationalised to avert a bank collapse. (Reuters)
- TeliaSonera opens the world's first 4G LTE cellular network for public in Oslo, Norway, and Stockholm, Sweden. (The Inquirer) (Wall Street Journal)