Editing 1996 (section)

===December===
* [[December 9]] &ndash; [[Jerry Rawlings]] is [[1996 Ghanaian general election|re-elected]] as President of [[Ghana]].
* [[December 11]] &ndash; [[Tung Chee-hwa]] is appointed to become the new leader of [[Hong Kong]] after it reverts to Chinese rule on July 1, 1997, at the end of a [[British Hong Kong|99-year lease]] to the [[United Kingdom]].
* [[December 13]] &ndash; Ghanaian diplomat [[Kofi Annan]] is elected by the [[United Nations Security Council]] the next [[Secretary-General of the United Nations]].
* [[December 17]] &ndash; The [[Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement]] takes [[Japanese embassy hostage crisis|72 hostages in the Japanese Embassy]] in [[Lima]], [[Peru]].
* [[December 25]] &ndash; At least 283 migrants drown in the [[Sinking of F174|sinking of ''F174'']] near [[Capo Passero]] (Sicily).
* [[December 27]] &ndash; [[Taliban]] forces retake the strategic [[Bagram Air Base]], solidifying their buffer zone around [[Kabul]], [[Afghanistan]].
* [[December 29]] &ndash; [[Guatemala]] and the leaders of the [[Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity]] sign a [[Guatemalan Peace Process 1994-1996|peace accord]] that ends the 36-year [[Guatemalan Civil War]].
* [[December 30]] &ndash; In the Indian state of [[Assam]], a passenger train is bombed by [[Bodo people|Bodo]] separatists, killing 26.