December 18, 2011 (Sunday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- The Arab League threatens to take Syria to the United Nations within two weeks if the country does not accept its proposals to end the crackdown on the uprising. (Xinhua)
- Clashes continue in Cairo's Tahrir Square for a third day between the Egyptian Army and protesters. (Reuters)
- The last convoy of United States Army soldiers withdraws from Iraq, marking the formal end of the Iraq War. (Reuters)
- A bomb kills one person and clashes break out in Bangladesh between security and opposition protesters during the 40th anniversary of the country's independence. (Al Jazeera)
- Unrest in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, spreads as a train is burnt; one person is shot dead and 11 injured. (BBC)
Disasters
- Nine people die following an explosion in a coal mine in Binzhou City in China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua)
- The drilling rig Kolskaya with 76 people on board overturns in the Sea of Okhotsk off the coast of Sakhalin in the Russian Far East resulting in four deaths and fifty people missing. (RT) (BBC) (VoA)
- The Philippines Red Cross estimates that the death toll from the floods caused by Tropical Storm Washi has risen to 521. (AP via Google News)
Arrests, detentions and prosecutions
- Iran releases two Kuwaiti journalists accused of spying. (Al Arabiya)
- More than 50 Occupy Wall Street protesters are arrested as they attempted to establish a new encampment. (The Guardian)
Politics
- Villagers revolting in Wukan, southern China, threaten to march on government offices this week if detained protesters are not released. (Bangkok Post)
- Thousands protest in several Russian cities for a second week, against the results of the parliamentary elections. (AP via Google) (RIA Novosti)
- Václav Havel, former President of Czechoslovakia and President of the Czech Republic, dies. (The Telegraph) (BBC)
Sports
- Spain's FC Barcelona win the final of the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup, beating Brazil's Santos 4-0 in Yokohama, Japan. Barcelona win the Cup for the second time in three years. (BBC)