WORLD NEWS
*1. North Korea's nuclear test
*2. Indonesia suffered another major earthquake, this time killing about 6,000 residents of central Java
*3. In July, North Korea launched seven missiles, including the Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile, toward the Sea of Japan.
*4. The demotion of Pluto
*5. Democratic Party succeeded in obtaining majorities in both houses of Congress
*6. November's death sentence for Saddam Hussein,
*7. The price of crude oil continued its rise from the previous year
*8. Human deaths from bird flu topped 100 in March and 150 by the end of October
*9. Alexander Litvinenko--critic of President Vladimir Putin--died in London in November
*10. In Mumbai, the almost-simultaneous bombings of seven trains and stations killed 179 people in July
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/editorial/20061229TDY04004.htm

DOMESTIC NEWS
*1. birth of Prince Hisahito
*2. Shizuka Arakawa's gold medal performance at the Turin Winter Olympic Games
*3. Team Japan, led by Sadaharu Oh, won the first World Baseball Classic
*4. The launch of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
*5. victory of Waseda Jitsugyo High School in the final of the National High School Baseball Championship
*6. Livedoor and Horie arrest
*7. reports about suicides by children who were bullied at school
*8. Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters' first victory in 44 years in baseball's Japan Series
*9. children were victimized by adults who lacked basic human qualities
*10. drunk driving by a Fukuoka municipal government employee in August