On This Day: December 27th

An estimated €30 million were stolen from a Sparkasse bank in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

Bek Air Flight 2100 crashes during takeoff from Almaty International Airport in Almaty, Kazakhstan, killing 13.

Iranian election protests: On the Day of Ashura in Tehran, Iran, government security forces fire upon demonstrators.

Operation Cast Lead: Israel launches three-week operation on Gaza.

Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in a shooting incident.

Riots erupt in Mombasa, Kenya, after Mwai Kibaki is declared the winner of the presidential election, triggering a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis.

Radiation from an explosion on the magnetar SGR 1806-20 reaches Earth. It is the brightest extrasolar event known to have been witnessed on the planet.

Two truck bombs kill 72 and wound 200 at the pro-Moscow headquarters of the Chechen government in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia.

Burger King and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission order a recall of plastic Poké Ball containers after they are determined to be a choking hazard.

Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright is assassinated in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.