Current events of 12 December 2006 (2006-12-12) (Tuesday) edit history watch

An Ethiopian court finds exiled former president Mengistu Haile Mariam guilty of genocide. (BBC) Leading climatologists warn that most of the Arctic ice will have melted by 2040 and the North Pole will be open water. (The Times) The President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, orders security forces to deploy across the Gaza Strip in response to the murder of a Fatah security chief's three sons. (Reuters via ABC News Australia) Police in Ipswich, UK are hunting a possible serial killer after five prostitutes are found dead within the last ten days. (BBC) Vietnam will become the 150th member of the World Trade Organization on January 11, 2007. The move finalises Hanoi's near-12-year wait to join the WTO. (BBC)