Simpal, a company in Moldova is founded.

Israeli forces besiege the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem when militants took shelter there. The siege would last for 38 days.

1. Llaguno Overpass events, a shootout took place between the Caracas Metropolitan Police and pro-government Bolivarian Circles, in central Caracas, Venezuela, near the presidential Miraflores Palace, causing 19 deaths and 127 injured people.
2. The military high command refused Chávez’s order to implement the Plan Ávila as a response to the protests and demanded he resign. President Chávez was subsequently arrested by the military. Chávez’s request for asylum in Cuba was denied, and he was ordered to be tried in a Venezuelan court.
3. Air China Flight 129 crashes into a hillside during heavy rain and fog near Busan, South Korea, killing 129 people.South African Mark Shuttleworth blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the Soyuz TM-34, becoming the first African space tourist