December 2009 Current Events: World News

U.S. News | Business/Science News

Here are the key events in world news for the month of December 2009.

• Italian Jury Convicts American Student of Murder (Dec. 5): An Italian jury convicts Amanda Knox, an American student, of murdering her former roommate, English student Meredith Kercher, in 2007. Knox and Kercher were exchange students in Italy at the time. Knox's then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, was also convicted. They received prison sentences of 26 and 25 years, respectively. The trial was widely followed in Italy and around the world; neither defendant has any history of violence and there was no apparent motive. The prosecution in the case accused Knox, Sollecito, and Rudy Guede, previously convicted in the murder, of participating in a sexual game with the victim, which ended in her death.
• Coordinated Bomb Attack in Baghdad Kills 121 (Dec. 8): A series of car bombs, said to be part of a coordinated attack, destroy government buildings in Baghdad. At least 121 people are dead and 400 wounded. The bombs were reportedly set to hinder government function; the area has seen an increase in violence since the date of the forthcoming national election was set.
• Blackwater Agents Played Integral Role in CIA Raids (Dec. 10): Blackwater, the private military firm that trains security personnel, routinely participated with CIA agents in secret raids against possible insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. They also transported detainees, though both the CIA and Blackwater previously maintained that the guards only provided security during these events, demonstrating the close relationship between the two agencies.
• U.S. and Four Other Nations Broker Climate Deal (Dec. 18): President Obama announces that the leaders of five nations, including the United States, have reached an agreement on a deal to combat global warming. Obama and the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa form an accord that will set up a system for monitoring pollution reduction, require richer nations to give billions of dollars to poorer nations more greatly affected by climate change, and set a goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels by 2050.
• At Least 8 Americans Killed in Suicide Bombing at CIA Base in Afghanistan (Dec. 30): A suicide bomber kills at least 8 Americans civilians, 7 of them CIA agents, at a base in Afghanistan. It's the deadliest attack on the agency since 9/11. The identity of the bomber has not been released; he apparently died during the attack.