United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives votes to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell.
Visa Credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard that prevented card-holders from donating money to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks could have their operating licenses taken away in Iceland. A parliament investigation is ongoing.
Cuba Cuba refuses to grant a visa to dissident Guillermo Fariñas so that he could receive the Sakharov Prize in France.
Alassane Ouattara An alliance of opposition parties that endorse the presidency of Alassane Ouattara in the Ivory Coast call for mass protests, following the presidential election.
Sudan The Constitutional Court in Sudan agrees to hear a petition by lawyers for the dissolution of the body organising the referendum on Southern Sudan's independence.
Obama administration The Obama administration launches legal action against BP and its partners to recover the cost of cleaning up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Moscow 700 people are arrested in Moscow, Russia, in attempt to prevent ethnic clashes over the shooting of a football fan.
Palestinian firefighters who helped fight the Carmel fire in Israel last week are refused a permit to enter Israel for a ceremony in their honor. Officials said the firemen were denied entry as result of a "technical mishap".
United Nations The United Nations votes to lift sanctions imposed on Iraq during the Saddam Hussein era.
Senegal Senegal recalls its ambassador to Iran, saying that Iran had not provided an adequate explanation for an arms shipment seized in Nigeria.
Air Force Two Air Force pilots are killed after their twin-seat trainer aircraft crashed during a training mission in Taiwan.
Battambang Province Four children are seriously injured in a mine explosion in Battambang Province, northwestern Cambodia.
Reservoir A bus plunges into a reservoir in the Indian state of Karnataka resulting in the death of 27 people.
Asylum seeker At least twenty-seven asylum seekers, mostly from Iraq and Iran, are feared dead after a boat carrying 70 people crashes into cliffs on the coast of Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.
Country Ghana is to begin pumping its first oil since a discovery in an offshore field three years ago.
Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers bondholders, including hedge fund manager Paulson & Co., file a plan for the reorganization of that defunct broker-dealer, presenting the New York bankruptcy court with an alternative to the plan Lehman itself filed earlier in the year.
Facebook Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is TIME's 2010 Person of the Year. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange wins top place in the reader's poll.
Mummified The mummified remains of the head of King Henri IV of France have been discovered in the garage of a French retiree.
Mosque Dozens of people are dead following an explosion outside a mosque in the Iranian city of Chabahar.
New People's Army Communist rebels in the Philippines kill 10 soldiers as they returned to base to observe a Christmas truce.