December 19, 2011 (Monday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Fighting continues in Cairo's Tahrir Square for a fourth successive day. (Al-Jazeera)
- Syria agrees to an Arab League plan to allow monitors into the country amid the uprising. (Bloomberg)
Business and economy
- Saab Automobile officially files for bankruptcy.(AFP via News Limited)
- Samsung Electronics announces it has filed new claims of patent infringement against Apple in Germany, raising the stakes in an ongoing worldwide patent war. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Brandon McInerney is sentenced to 21 years in jail in the US state of California for the E.O. Green School shooting of gay classmate Larry King. (AP via Fox News)
Politics
- Death of Kim Jong-il
- The death of North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-il on December 17 is announced by Korean Central Television. (CNN) (Al Jazeera)
- Military forces of neighboring South Korea are placed on high alert following the death of Kim Jong-il, fearing possible retaliation from North Korea. (CNN)
- Kim Jong-un is proclaimed the expected successor to his father. (Wall Street Journal)
- A short-range missile test is conducted off North Korea's east coast. (Channel News Asia)
- Congolese opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi calls on the army to stop following orders from President Joseph Kabila. (BBC)
- Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari returns to Pakistan after undergoing treatment in Dubai. (Times of India)