1 December 2009 (Tuesday)

In a major policy speech, South African President Jacob Zuma announces the country will treat all HIV positive babies
and expand testing.
Barack Obama announces that he will send 30,000 extra American troops to Afghanistan within the next six months and
start withdrawal in 19 months.
The Treaty of Lisbon enters into force:
The European Union now has legal personality and has acquired the competences previously conferred on the European
Community. Community law therefore becomes European Union law.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union enters into force.
The European Court of Justice acquires general jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings in the area of freedom, security
and justice.
The first permanent President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, officially takes office.
The first EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, officially takes office.

2 December 2009
3 December 2009
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures deposits in United States commercial banks, is running a
deficit of $US8.2 billion.
25th anniversary of the industrial disaster that took place in Bhopal which led to 3,787 deaths.

4 December 2009 (Friday)

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation announces that 25 member countries will contribute a further 7,000 troops to
the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in addition to 30,000 additional American and 500 British
troops previously announced.

5 December 2009 (Saturday)

Tens of thousands of people demonstrate in London and other European capitals ahead of a United Nations climate
change summit in Copenhagen.

6 December 2009 (Sunday)

Queen Elizabeth II firmly warns newspaper editors in a letter to cease publication of personal pictures of the British
Royal Family after years of being "hounded" by paparazzi.
Archaeologists discover evidence of mass cannibalism in Europe during the Neolithic period at a 7,000 year old burial
site in Germany.

7 December 2009 (Monday)

The United Nations Climate Change Conference opens in Copenhagen.
The English town of Swindon becomes the first ever Twin Town of Walt Disney World in the U.S. state of Florida.

8 December 2009 (Tuesday)

Japan unveils a new $80.6 billion stimulus package to strengthen the country's economy amid signs it is weakening.

9 December 2009 (Wednesday)

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling delivers the pre Budget report, with tax rises and spending cuts to
reduce the government debt.
The Irish Bishops Conference apologises for the sexual abuse suffered by its children after spending the first day of its
winter conference examining the Murphy Report.
A legal challenge to Ireland's abortion laws takes place at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

10 December 2009 (Thursday)

In what has been described as a landmark case, the Supreme Court of Ireland rules that a gay man, identified as "A",
who donated his sperm to a lesbian couple shall have access to the resulting boy child, overturning the original High
Court decision.
It is revealed that Egypt is building an iron wall up to 100 feet deep along its border with Gaza.
Barack Obama accepts the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.

11 December 2009 (Friday)

The Airbus A400M from Airbus Military performs its maiden flight in Seville, Spain.

12 December 2009 (Saturday)

Golfer Tiger Woods announces he is taking an indefinite break from the sport after a scandal over his infidelity in order
to focus on "being a better husband, father, and person".
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has cancelled the contract of its private security firm with Xe Services LLC,
previously known as Blackwater, for its services related to Drone operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

13 December 2009 (Sunday)

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair states in an interview that he would have gone to war in Iraq even if he had
known that it had no weapons of mass destruction.

14 December 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.
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.

15 December 2009 (Tuesday)

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Danish hosts urge countries on to compromise to salvage agreement on a
new U.N. pact aimed at averting dangerous climate change and global warming.
Canadian sports medicine specialist Anthony Galea, who helped Tiger Woods recover from knee surgery, is accused of
providing top athletes with performance-enhancing drugs.

16 December 2009 (Wednesday)

17 December 2009 (Thursday)
Europe is hit by heavy snowfall leading to disruptions in France, Germany, Poland and Spain.
Ireland exits "one of Europe's worst recessions".
The collapse of UK airline Flyglobespan leaves thousands of travellers stranded.

18 December 2009 (Friday)

The Catalan Parliament votes to ban bull fighting in the Spanish region.
A Paris court rules that Google is infringing copyright, sentencing it to pay 300,000 euros in damages and interest to
French publisher Editions de la Martinière, and 10,000 euros a day until it removes extracts of the books from its
database.
The BBC apologises for offence caused when it used the headline: "Should homosexuals face execution?"
The Arbeit macht frei sign is stolen from Auschwitz concentration camp.
Thirty world leaders present in Copenhagen for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change agree on a draft
accord.
A large crater, dubbed the "Fried Egg" because of its shape, is discovered off the coast of The Azores in the Atlantic
Ocean, prompting speculation that it may have been caused up to 17 million years ago by meteor impact.
In a reversal of a previous decision, Sir John Chilcot insists that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will give the
majority of his evidence to The Iraq Inquiry in public.
Snowfall across the east of England disrupts transport and power supplies.

19 December 2009 (Saturday)

Freezing conditions cause electrical faults in the Channel Tunnel between Great Britain and France, isolating 2,000
passengers in five trains. The situation is coupled with disruptions at London Heathrow Airport and traffic delays due to
snowy conditions in the south-east of England.

20 December 2009 (Sunday)

21 December 2009 (Monday)
Mexico City's Legislative Assembly legalizes same-sex marriage.
Eurostar is suspended indefinitely due to the heavy snowfall affecting continental Europe.

22 December 2009 (Tuesday)

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation releases more than 300 pages of previously classified documents belonging to
pop icon Michael Jackson who died earlier in the year.

23 December 2009 (Wednesday)

24 December 2009 (Thursday)
Pope Benedict XVI is knocked down by a woman during a procession before the Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's
Basilica in the Vatican City. He is uninjured, but Roger Cardinal Etchegaray suffers a hip fracture.
The United States Senate passes a health-care bill expected to extend insurance coverage to 30 million additional
Americans, in a party-line vote, 60-39.

25 December 2009 (Friday)

American officials investigate a possible attempted terrorist attack after an incident on Northwest Airlines Flight 253
from Amsterdam to Detroit.

26 December 2009 (Saturday)

27 December 2009 (Sunday)
Iran anti-government protest:
The nephew of opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi is killed by security forces in clashes with protestors.
Iranian police clash with opposition protesters in central Tehran and other cities, with reports of some deaths.

28 December 2009 (Monday)

29 December 2009 (Tuesday)
Akmal Shaikh becomes the first EU native to be executed in China in 50 years. Gordon Brown releases a statement
indicating that he is appalled.
China displaces the U.S. as the largest overall buyer of Japanese goods in 2009.
31 December 2009 (Thursday)