Minister of Colonial Affairs Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands Piet Hein Donner resigns after being named the new Vice President of the Council of State, succeeding Herman Tjeenk Willink.
Baseball Star baseball player Barry Bonds is sentenced to 30 days of home detention on obstruction of justice charges following misleading evidence about steroid use.
Colton Harris-Moore Colton Harris-Moore, the so-called "Barefoot Bandit", pleads guilty to dozens of charges in the US state of Washington and is sentenced to seven years in jail.
Gao Zhisheng Chinese dissident Gao Zhisheng is sent back to jail, in the first confirmation he is still alive in 20 months.
American film Hollywood actor Christian Bale is prevented from visiting Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng by police.
International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court dismisses charges against Callixte Mbarushimana, a Rwandan rebel accused of the torture, rape and murder of Congolese villagers by Hutu militia in 2009.
United States The United States and North Korea are expected to hold diplomatic talks regarding North Korea's nuclear program. The talks are the first meeting after the six-party talks stalled in 2008.
Hand, foot and mouth disease The death toll from an outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease in Vietnam reaches 156 with 96,000 people having been sick with the disease as at the end of November 2011.
Research in Motion The stock price of Research in Motion, the maker of BlackBerry smart phones, falls after the release of disappointing quarterly numbers and news of the delay of expected product upgrades.
Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings lowers France's rating outlook while maintaining a AAA rating and puts the grades of six nations including Spain and Italy on review due to Europe's failure to find a solution to the debt problem.
Egyptian Army At least two people die in clashes between demonstrators and Egyptian Army soldiers in Cairo.
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch calls on Bahrain to release political prisoners from the 2011 Bahraini uprising.
Zhanaozen At least 10 die as the protesters in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, clash with police on the country's Independence Day.