Portal:Current events

Edit instructions

Worldwide current events
Sports events

Topics in the news

George Michael

English singer, songwriter, and record producer George Michael (pictured) dies at the age of 53.
A Tupolev Tu-154 crashes near Sochi, Russia, killing all 92 people on board, including 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble.
The United Nations Security Council adopts a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Syrian government forces retake control of the besieged areas of Aleppo.
More than 30 people are killed by government security forces as protests break out across the Democratic Republic of the Congo following Joseph Kabila's refusal to step down after the completion of his scheduled term in office.

December 27, 2016 (Tuesday)

edit

history

watch

Arts and culture

Carrie Fisher, the actress best known for the role of Princess Leia in the Star Wars films, dies following complications from a massive heart attack. (E! News)

Disasters and accidents

2016 Pacific typhoon season, Typhoon Nock-ten (2016)
- The Philippine Coast Guard looks for 18 missing sailors from a ship sunk by Typhoon Nock-ten (Nina). At least seven people are confirmed to have died in the storm. (AP via Daily Mail)
At least 27 are killed after drinking toxic alcohol in Pakistan. (The New York Times), (UPI)

International relations

Israel's Foreign Ministry announces that it is "reducing" ties with all of the UN Security Council countries that voted to pass United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334. (Business Insider), (NBC News)

Law and crime

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the Christian Governor of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, will face prosecution for blasphemy. (ABC)
Former President of Argentina Christina Fernandez is indicted in corruption charges. (The Telegraph)

Science and technology

The cheetah faces extinction after it is discovered that only 7,100 specimens are left alive in the wild as a result of a sudden crash in population. (BBC)

December 26, 2016 (Monday)

edit

history

watch

Disasters and accidents

2016 Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154 crash
- Eleven bodies have so far been recovered from the Black Sea from yesterday's military aircraft crash. All 92 people on board died. (CNN)

International relations

China resumes diplomatic ties with São Tomé and Príncipe two weeks after the African island nation broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan. (AP via New York Times)

CHP MP Öztürk Yılmaz says Turkey has expressed its readiness to work with president Assad of Syria. (Sputnik)

Science and technology

Researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory find a way to make thinner electrical wires that measure just three atoms wide. (Phys.org) (SLAC)

December 25, 2016 (Sunday)

edit

history

watch

Arts and culture

Pope Francis pleads for peace in a Christmas Mass in the Vatican. (Voice of America)

Business and economy

Bezeq, an Israeli telecoms company, says that it has received word from the country's telecoms regulator that it will be allowed to end the "structural separation" of its business operations by product (i.e. mobile phone, internet, land lines). (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2016 Chiloé earthquake
- A magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Chile spurs tsunami warnings. (BBC)
2016 Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154 crash
- A Russian Tu-154 military passenger airplane carrying 92 people including the Alexandrov Ensemble crashes into the Black Sea shortly after takeoff from Sochi. The airplane was headed towards Khmeimim, Syria. The Russian Armed Forces are actively involved in the Syrian Civil War. (The Telegraph) (Al Jazeera) (FOX News)
2016 Pacific typhoon season
- Typhoon Nock-ten (Nina) strikes the Philippines. (BBC)
The German city of Augsburg is evacuated after a World War II-era explosive is discovered in the town. Explosive experts later defused the bomb. (The New York Times)

Health

Medical research reveals shrinkage in women’s brains as a result of pregnancy. Loss of gray matter in certain regions of the brain may make the brain more efficient and specialized for child-rearing. There is also evidence of links to long-term changes in brain. (ScienceNews) (Nature)

International relations

Afghanistan's first female Air Force pilot Niloofar Rahmani files for asylum in the United States. (Reuters)
Pakistan releases Indian fishermen caught in its territory as a gesture of goodwill. (Deutsche Welle)

Law and crime

2016 Turkish purges
- Turkey probes around 10,000 social media users for allegedly insulting government officials or supporting "terror-related activity." (BBC)
A producer of Al Jazeera is arrested in Egypt. (Reuters)

December 24, 2016 (Saturday)

edit

history

watch

Armed conflicts and attacks

Boko Haram insurgency
- President Muhammadu Buhari announces that the Nigerian Armed Forces have successfully driven out Boko Haram militants from their last stronghold in the Sambisa Forest in northeastern Nigeria. (BBC News) (Business Insider)

Disasters and accidents

A passenger bus carrying 46 people, mostly school groups from Tonga, crashes in the Gisborne Region of New Zealand, approximately 30 kilometers south of the city of Gisborne. Two people died while several were injured, with some still hospitalized. (New Zealand Herald)

December 23, 2016 (Friday)

edit

history

watch

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- The bodies of over 100 Syrian Army POWs are reportedly found in what was the last rebel held territory of East Aleppo. Syrian Army officers claim they were executed by rebel forces. (Al-Masdar News)
2016 Berlin attack
- The 24-year-old Tunisian who is suspected of driving the truck that smashed through a Berlin market is killed in a shoot-out in Milan. (Reuters)
Afriqiyah Airways Flight 209
- An Afriqiyah Airways flight originating from Sabha, Libya, is hijacked and forced to make an emergency landing in Malta. Hijackers threaten to blow up the aircraft with grenades, but the standoff ends peacefully with all hostages released and both hijackers surrendering. (Chicago Tribune)

Arts and culture

Carrie Fisher, the actress best known for the role of Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, suffers a massive heart attack while on a flight and is rushed to a hospital near Los Angeles International Airport in critical condition. (Mirror)

Business and economy

As new Libyan production comes on line, the world price of crude oil falls below $55 a barrel. (Reuters)
Bonanza Creek Energy says it plans to file for bankruptcy on or by January 5, 2017 and hopes to exit the process quickly, within the first quarter. (Reuters)

Health

Former Philippines president and current mayor of Manila Joseph Estrada is hospitalized for pneumonia. (Rappler)

International relations

United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334
- The United States Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power abstains from voting in a 14–0 Security Council decision condemning Israeli settlement of the Palestinian territories. (The Washington Post)

Law and crime

Terrorism in Australia
- Australian police raid several Melbourne properties and arrest seven Arab Australian men, who were believed to be plotting a terrorist attack on several sites in Melbourne for Christmas Day. (ABC News)

December 22, 2016 (Thursday)

edit

history

watch

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, Battle of Aleppo (2012–16)
- The Syrian Army says it is now in full control of the city of Aleppo following the evacuation of the last group of rebels to the Idlib Governorate. (BBC)
Yemeni Civil War
- Seven Pakistani crew members on Iranian cargo ship MV Joya, sailing from Egypt to Dubai, UAE, are killed in a rocket attack off Yemen's coast. (The News) (ARY News tv)

Business and economy

Residents of the economically struggling town of Pinos Puente in Granada, Spain, win the El Gordo lottery. (BBC)

Health

A vaccine for the ebola virus is discovered to be 99.78%–99.87% effective. (NPR)

International relations

U.S. president-elect Donald Trump calls President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, who then agrees to postpone a United Nations resolution regarding Israel. (al-Jazeera)

Law and crime

As many as 80 inmates take over a section of HM Prison Swaleside on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. (BBC)
Philippine Drug War
- The Commission on Human Rights launches an investigation into alleged murders committed by current Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte. (BBC)
Claremont murders
- A man is charged in Australia for allegedly committing the 20-year old crimes. (The Australian)
U.S. president Barack Obama scraps the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), a registration system for Muslim immigrants. (The Washington Post)

Politics and elections

Presidential transition of Donald Trump
- President-elect Donald Trump names his former presidential campaign manager Kellyanne Conway as his Counselor to the President. (The Guardian)
- President-elect Donald Trump names RNC Communications director Sean Spicer as White House Press Secretary, and Jason Miller as the White House Communications Director. (CNN)
South Korean presidential election, 2017
- United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and liberal candidate Moon Jae-in plan to contest the position vacated by Park Geun-hye. (Reuters) (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Science and technology

It is discovered that the Limusaurus dinosaur shed its teeth as it matured. (The Guardian)

December 21, 2016 (Wednesday)

edit

history

watch

Armed conflicts and attacks

Terrorism in Indonesia
- Indonesian police kill three people in a gunfight south of Jakarta after a bomb is found. Fourteen people are arrested in connection to alleged involvement in plans for suicide bomb attacks. (Reuters) (Reuters² via Free Malaysia Today)
2016 Berlin attack
- German officials offer a reward of up to 100,000 euros ($104,000) for 24-year-old Tunisian asylum-seeker Anis Amri, whose identifying information was found in the truck used in the attack. (Reuters)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Five people are killed in a Taliban attack on Afghan Member of Parliament Mir Wali's home in Helmand Province. At least three security guards and two civilians were killed in the assault; Wali and others were injured. The gunmen are holding a number of occupants hostage. (PressTV) (Reuters)
Syrian Civil War
- Northern Raqqa offensive
  - U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces advance to eight kilometers (five miles) from the largest prison held by ISIL near the Tabqa Dam. (Straits Times)

Arts and culture

Musician James Taylor cancels a concert in Manila to protest the ongoing drug war. (Billboard)

Business and economy

The U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fines several companies, including Wells Fargo, RBC Capital Markets, and LPL Financial, a combined $14.4 million for record-keeping problems that could have allowed company and customer documents to be altered. (Reuters)
Uber suspends tests of its self-driving cars in San Francisco, California, after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the registration of the vehicles in the state in response to two red-light violations. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

2016 San Pablito Market fireworks explosion
- Authorities say the death toll is now 31, and that 47 of the 60 people injured remain hospitalized. (Los Angeles Times)

Health

Sindh Government officials declare a health emergency in Malir, Karachi, as thousands of patients have been affected by the mysterious Chikungunya virus. The government states the aedes aegypti mosquito is responsible for spreading the Chikungunya virus in Pakistan's largest city. (Geo tv) (Daily Pakistan) (Dunya News tv)

International relations

China–Mongolia relations
- Mongolia bans the 14th Dalai Lama from leisure in the country after China cancels a Mongolian loan. (The New York Times) (AP via ABC News)
International recognition of Taiwan, One-China policy
- São Tomé and Príncipe breaks relations with the island country of Taiwan. (BBC)
Russia–United States relations, 2016 United States election interference by Russia
- The Kremlin says almost all communications channels with the United States are frozen. The U.S. State Department says the dialogue with Russia continues despite their differences. (Reuters) (The New York Times)

Law and crime

A bill protecting the rights of LGBT in the Philippines is finally up for debate 17 years after being first introduced in the upper legislature with the 2014 killing of a transwoman as the reason for its urgency. (Rappler)
Operation Car Wash
- Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht and affiliated petrochemical company Braskem plead guilty of violating American foreign bribery laws in connection with the Petrobras deal. (Reuters)
A federal jury orders DuPont to pay $2 million to a man with testicular cancer after finding the company liable for diseases linked to C8, a Teflon-making chemical. (Reuters) (CNBC)

Politics and elections

Two activists are arrested in Indonesia for advocating West Papuan independence. (Radio New Zealand)
2016 Turkish purges
- Turkey suspends another 1,980 teachers and school employees for alleged connections to the coup attempt. (Reuters)
Gambian presidential election, 2016
- Gambia's Chief Justice sets January 10, 2017, for the hearing by the Supreme Court, made up of judges from Nigeria and Sierra Leone, of President Yahya Jammeh's ruling party's legal challenge of the December 1 election results. (Reuters)
Presidential transition of Donald Trump
- President-elect Donald Trump names Carl Icahn as the Special Advisor to the President on Regulatory Reform. (The Hill)

Science and technology

Snow falls in the Sahara desert for the first time in 37 years. (CNN)

More December 2016 events...

Ongoing events
Business Indian currency demonetisation Trans-Pacific Partnership Volkswagen emissions scandal Yahoo! data breaches Disasters Flint water crisis Oklahoma earthquake swarms UK and Ireland windstorm season Law Black Lives Matter protests Dakota Access Pipeline protests Philippine Drug War Timor Gap PCA hearings Political Brexit aftermath Ethiopian protests European migrant crisis (timeline) Presidential transition of Donald Trump South China Sea disputes More details on ongoing conflicts below Sport 2016–17 NBA season 2016–17 NHL season 2016 NFL season 2016–17 Premier League 2016–17 La Liga edit sidebar

Recent deaths
December 27: Ricky Harris 27: Carrie Fisher 25: George Michael 25: Vera Rubin 24: Richard Adams 24: Rick Parfitt 24: Liz Smith 22: Franca Sozzani 20: Michèle Morgan 19: Lionel Blue 19: Dick Latessa 18: Zsa Zsa Gabor 18: China Machado 17: Lawrence Colburn 17: Henry Heimlich 15: Craig Sager 13: Thomas Schelling 13: Alan Thicke 12: E. R. Braithwaite 12: Anne Deveson 12: Shirley Hazzard 12: Javier Echevarría Rodríguez 12: Walter Swinburn 10: Ken Hechler 10: Bill Dineen 10: A. A. Gill 8: John Glenn 8: Joseph Mascolo 8: Peter van Straaten 7: Warren Allmand 7: Cho Ramaswamy 7: Paul Elvstrøm 7: Junaid Jamshed 7: Greg Lake 6: Rashaan Salaam 6: Peter Vaughan 5: Jayalalithaa 3: Rémy Pflimlin 2: Sammy Lee 1: Don Calfa 1: Joe McKnight edit sidebar

Ongoing conflicts
Africa Algeria and Tunisia Maghreb insurgency ISIL insurgency in Tunisia Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria Boko Haram insurgency Central African Republic Civil war Democratic Republic of the Congo Kivu conflict ADF insurgency Ituri conflict Lord's Resistance Army insurgency Libya Civil war Mali Northern Mali conflict Somalia Civil war South Sudan Ethnic violence (South Sudanese Civil War) Sudan War in Darfur South Kordofan conflict Sudanese nomadic conflicts Americas Mexico Mexican War on Drugs Peru Internal conflict in Peru Asia Afghanistan Afghanistan War China Xinjiang conflict India Naxalite–Maoist insurgency Insurgency in Northeast India India and Pakistan Kashmir conflict Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines Moro conflict Cross border attacks in Sabah Indonesia and Papua New Guinea Papua conflict Myanmar Internal conflict in Myanmar Pakistan War in North-West Pakistan Balochistan conflict Philippines CPP-NPA-NDF rebellion Thailand South Thailand insurgency Europe Armenia and Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Georgia Abkhaz–Georgian conflict Georgian–Ossetian conflict Russia Chechen–Russian conflict North Caucasus insurgency Ukraine War in Donbass Russian military intervention in Ukraine Middle East Egypt Sinai insurgency Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria Arab–Israeli conflict Iran Iran–PJAK conflict Iraq American-led intervention in Iraq Iranian intervention in Iraq Iraq and Syria (map) Military intervention against ISIL Israel and Lebanon Israeli–Lebanese conflict Israel and Palestine Gaza–Israel conflict Israeli–Palestinian conflict Syria American-led intervention in Syria Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War Turkish military intervention in Syria Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon Turkey Turkey–PKK conflict Turkey–ISIL conflict Yemen Yemeni Civil War Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen Al-Qaeda insurgency edit sidebar

Elections and Referendums
Recent December 1: Gambia, President 4: Austria, President (2nd round) 4: Italy, Constitutional referendum 4: Uzbekistan, President 7: Ghana, President, Parliament 11: Kyrgyzstan, Referendum 11: Macedonia, Assembly of the Republic 11: Romania, Chamber of Deputies, Senate 15: Turks and Caicos, House of Assembly 18: Côte d'Ivoire, National Assembly edit sidebar

Trials
Recently concluded Australia: Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara Cambodia: Sam Rainsy China: Wan Qingliang, Ling Jihua, Zhoi Bin, Guo Boxiong Iran: Babak Zanjani Netherlands: Geert Wilders Philippines: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Nur Misuari, Joel Villanueva Romania: Liviu Dragnea, Gheorghe Ștefan, Gabriel Sandu, Dorin Cocoş, Dumitru Nicolae Spain: Lionel Messi United Kingdom: Chris Denning, Adam Johnson, Ched Evans United States: Bob McDonnell, Paul Anthony Ciancia International ICTY: Radovan Karadžić Ongoing China: Bai Enpei, Pan Yiyang, Yang Weize Germany: Beate Zschäpe Indonesia: Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Mary Jane Veloso Pakistan: Waseem Azeem, Mufti Abdul Qawi Philippines: Andal Ampatuan, Jr., Leila de Lima, Rodrigo Duterte, Jovito Palparan Romania: Darius Vâlcov, Dan Șova, Elena Udrea, Radu Mazăre, Gheorghe Nichita, Marian Vanghelie, Cătălin Voicu Russia: Alexei Navalny South Korea: Park Geun-hye and Choi Soon-sil United States: Etan Patz United Kingdom: Rolf Harris International ICC: Laurent Gbagbo ICTY: Ratko Mladić Upcoming China: Wu Changshun Egypt: Mohamed Morsi Estonia: Edgar Savisaar Libya: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi United States: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Graham Spanier, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, Rick Perry, Bill Cosby edit sidebar