December 29, 2005

At least 30 people are killed following a large landslide in a village close to Sanaa in Yemen. (BBC)
Arab-Israeli Conflict:
- A suicide bomber attacks a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Tulkarm, killing one Israeli soldier, two Palestinian civilians and himself. Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the attack. (The New York Times) (The Los Angeles Times) (Telegraph)
- A statement is posted, apparently from from al-Qaeda in Iraq, on several websites claiming responsibility for a recent Katyusha bombardment of northern Israeli towns. (CNN) (Ha'aretz)
A Scottish human rights worker, Kate Burton, and her parents have been kidnapped in Gaza. Palestinian authorities have stepped up work to find them. (BBC News) (Scotsman)
Chinese state media announce that the country's government will abolish its national agricultural tax starting January 1, 2006. (Reuters) (China Daily)
The Associated Press reports story of Farris Hassan, a young Iraqi-American teenager who travelled to Iraq without informing his parents and was picked up by the 101st Airborne.(AP)