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Updated: 6 days 5 hours ago

Record stock market falls in 2008

December 31, 2008 - 7:51am
Asian shares see record falls in 2008 as the financial turmoil and economic slowdown ends the stock market boom.

Israel rejects Gaza truce calls

December 31, 2008 - 7:32am
International proposals for a 48-hour humanitarian truce in Gaza are dismissed by the Israeli government.

Ethiopia 'packing up in Somalia'

December 31, 2008 - 7:26am
Ethiopian troops prepare to leave Somalia as the deadline looms for them to quit, witnesses say.

Ukraine 'threatens to seize gas'

December 31, 2008 - 7:18am
Russia's Gazprom claims Ukraine is threatening to seize Russian gas being transported to Europe in a row over gas supplies.

China suggests talks with Taiwan

December 31, 2008 - 7:04am
China's President Hu Jintao calls for talks with Taiwanese leaders to ease military and security tensions.

'Forty held' in Khyber operation

December 31, 2008 - 6:52am
Pakistani forces arrest 40 people and destroy suspected militant bases and houses in a key offensive in the Khyber Pass.

Bomb blast targets Basque TV site

December 31, 2008 - 6:39am
A car bomb explodes near a Basque television building in the city of Bilbao in northern Spain - no casualties are reported.

Scramble for decisive Ghana votes

December 31, 2008 - 6:20am
Opposition candidate John Atta Mills heads for the Ghana constituency which will decide the tight presidential run-off.

Obama rejects Senate replacement

December 31, 2008 - 6:10am
Barack Obama says Democratic senators are right to reject the Illinois governor's choice as his Senate replacement.

Hudson accused appears in court

December 31, 2008 - 5:29am
The man accused of murdering three of actress Jennifer Hudson's family is indicted by a grand jury in Chicago.

South Russian ex-mayor shot dead

December 31, 2008 - 4:59am
A former mayor of Vladikavkaz, in Russia's troubled North Caucasus, is shot dead - a month after a sniper killed his successor.

Milk scandal executives on trial

December 31, 2008 - 4:58am
Four milk firm executives go on trial in China over a contamination scandal that affected thousands of babies.

Hasina urges rival to accept poll

December 31, 2008 - 4:40am
The winner of the first national elections in Bangladesh for seven years urges her defeated rival to accept the results.

Zimbabwe activists to stay jailed

December 31, 2008 - 4:36am
A Zimbabwe judge rules that 16 activists accused of organising military training must remain in jail.

Hoy knighted in New Year honours

December 31, 2008 - 3:56am
Olympic cyclist Chris Hoy is knighted in the New Year Honours list, as Bradley Wiggins and Ben Ainslie become CBEs, Rebecca Adlington is appointed OBE and Lewis Hamilton becomes an MBE.

'Militants die' in Afghan attacks

December 31, 2008 - 3:50am
International military forces in Afghanistan say they have killed 17 militants in two separate operations.

Mardell's Europe

December 31, 2008 - 1:25am
No to Lisbon Treaty clouded EU's successes in 2008

Eurozone virgin

December 31, 2008 - 12:39am
Slovakia sees euro as a vital shield in times of turmoil

Indonesian spy freed over killing

December 31, 2008 - 12:14am
An Indonesian court acquits a retired deputy intelligence chief of ordering the murder of a leading rights campaigner.

Argentine builders strike oil - olive oil, that is - in a Spanish galleon

December 30, 2008 - 9:55pm
Construction workers in Argentina find oil - of the olive variety - as they unearth a colonial-era Spanish ship believed to be 250 years old.