Tuesday

December 16, 2014

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in North-West Pakistan

2014 Peshawar school attack

Taliban gunmen storm one of the military-run Army Public Schools in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least 141, including 132 children and nine employees, with most of five hundred students evacuated. (Reuters)(BBC)(The New York Times)

The shooting ends with all six gunmen dead. (International Business Times)

Syrian Civil War

Around one hundred Syrian soldiers and eighty Islamist fighters die in a two-day battle for Wadi Deif, with the Islamic Front capturing over 120 government soldiers. (Reuters)

Terrorism in Yemen

A pair of car bombs kill 20 children and 11 Houthi militants in Radaa, central Yemen. (CNN)

Gaza–Israel conflict

Israeli military troops kill one Palestinian man in a West Bank refugee camp. Israeli sources claim the man threw an explosive device at an army patrol. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Sony Music Entertainment gives Chinese online company Tencent rights to distribute its music catalogue. (Reuters)

The price of Brent Crude oil drops to $55–60 per barrel for the first time since 2009. (Reuters)

The court jury finds Apple Inc. in a nine-year lawsuit not guilty of violating antitrust laws and deleting music content for security reasons. (Ars Technica)(BusinessWeek)(NY Daily News)

American Apparel fires its founder Dov Charney as its Chief Executive Officer after months of suspension. (Reuters)

2014 Russian financial crisis

The Bank of Russia announces an increase of its key interest rate, the Russian weekly repo rate, from 10.5 to 17 percent as an emergency move to halt the collapse of the ruble's value and, thereby, stabilize the Russian economy. (Channel News Asia)

Despite rate hike, the ruble falls to 65 per US dollar and 80 per Euro. (Reuters)