Portal:Current events/2010 December 14

• The Philippine government says it will attempt to end the long-running communist insurgency "within three years", as it announces a resumption of peace talks with rebels. (Straits Times)

• Receivers of the Pike River Mine on the South Island of New Zealand lay off 114 workers following the closure of the mine after the Pike River Mine disaster. (News Limited)
• Ireland's parliament approved a controversial budget package at the behest of the International Monetary Fund, aimed at shoring up Ireland's banks while getting the country's budget deficit within European Union limits. (CNBC)

• At least 20 people are killed in a garment factory fire near the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka. (Al Jazeera) (Times of India)

Tornado in Aumsville, Oregon

• Japan protests a visit by First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Igor Shuvalov, to the disputed Kunashiri and Etorofu islands. (Japan Times) (Xinhua)
• The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees urges Cambodia to allow more time to resettle Vietnamese refugees after it announced the closure of a refugee camp. (Straits Times)
• Foreign ministers from the European Union say they would recognise a Palestinian state "when appropriate". (BBC)

• Former Nepalese Crown Prince Paras is detained for attempted murder after allegedly firing a gun during a drunken row in a restaurant. (Himalayan Times) (Sify India) (BBC)
• The Supreme Court of the Philippines acquits Hubert Webb and six others of the controversial Vizconde massacre by a vote 7–4 with four justices abstaining. (ABS-CBN News)
• During a school board meeting in Panama City, Florida, Clay Allen Duke drew a gun and shot six Bay District School board members, missing all shots. He later commits suicide after being shot by a security guard. (CNN)

• Julian Assange is to be released on bail of £240,000 GBP. (BBC)
• At least 30 Sudanese women are arrested after holding a protest march over a video that allegedly shows a policeman whipping a woman. (BBC), (Reuters)
• The Russian government is to continue plans to build a controversial motorway through the Khimki Forest. (BBC) (RIA Novosti)
• Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announces plans to pass laws by decree for the next six to eighteen months, amid concern from the opposition. (Al Jazeera)
• Michael Somare steps down as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea for an upcoming leadership tribunal. Deputy Prime Minister Sam Abal becomes Prime Minister during the trial. (Sydney Morning Herald)
• Italian politics
  • The Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi narrowly survives (314 to 311) a no-confidence vote in the parliament moved by Gianfranco Fini. A formal complaint about Mr Berlusconi allegedly trying to buy votes is being investigated. (The Guardian), (BBC)
  • Violent protests occur in Rome following the vote. (BBC)
• General Hwang Eui-don, the chief of the South Korean Army, resigns. (Yonhap) (BBC)
• Supporters of Ivory Coast presidential aspirant Alassane Ouattara conduct a mass protest over the results of the recent presidential election. (Reuters Via Alert Net)