Portal:Current events
Topics in the news
- A mass shooting in Prague, Czech Republic, leaves 15 people dead.
- Pope Francis approves a declaration that allows Catholic clergy to bless same-sex couples.
- After weeks of earthquakes, a volcanic eruption (pictured) occurs at Sundhnúkur near Grindavík, Iceland.
- An earthquake in Jishishan County, China, leaves more than 140 people dead.
- In the parliamentary election, the Serbian Progressive Party regains its parliamentary majority in the National Assembly.
December 23, 2023
(Saturday)
December 22, 2023
(Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- The UN Security Council passes a resolution on aid for Gaza. (The Independent)
- Central African Republic Civil War
- Suspected 3R gunmen attack an army outpost in the village of Nzakoundou, Central African Republic, killing a soldier and injuring many others, before attacking and burning civilian homes in the village and killing 20 villagers. (AP)
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- Russia launches a mass drone attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, striking multiple residential districts. A block of flats is damaged in Solomianskyi District, injuring at least two people, and heavy damage is also reported in Holosiivskyi District. (Reuters)
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- War against the Islamic State
- Turkey–Islamic State conflict
- Police in Turkey arrest at least 304 people suspected of links to the Islamic State during simultaneous raids conducted across the country. (AP)
- Turkey–Islamic State conflict
- War in Sudan
- De facto Sudanese leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announces that he will meet with Rapid Support Forces leader Hemedti. The announcement comes after the Rapid Support Forces took control of Gezira State from the Sudanese Armed Forces. (Radio Dabanga)
Business and economy
- China passes a series of regulations aimed at limiting video game microtransactions. The new rules include banning rewards for logging on for multiple consecutive days and banning rewards for players if they spend money in a game for the first time. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Former Ecuadorian vice president Jorge Glas requests asylum in Mexico. (Reuters)
December 21, 2023
(Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
- Siege of Gaza City
- The Israel Defense Forces says that it has established full "operational control" of the Shuja'iyya neighborhood in Gaza City, which has been the scene of intense clashes between Israeli troops and Hamas in recent weeks. (The Times of Israel)
- Siege of Gaza City
- 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
- Yemeni Crisis
- Houthi involvement in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- At least 10 more nations, including Australia and Greece, join the United States-led Operation Prosperity Guardian task force to counter Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. (Reuters)
- Houthi involvement in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
- Four Indian soldiers are killed and three others are injured after gunmen opened fire against two army vehicles in Jammu and Kashmir, India. (AP)
International relations
- Angola leaves OPEC over a dispute on crude oil production quotas. (BBC News)
Law and crime
- 2023 Prague shooting
- Thirteen people are killed and 24 others are injured in a mass shooting at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. The perpetrator, a student at the university, kills himself after police arrived. The perpetrator had also killed his father prior to the shooting and is also suspected of killing a man and his daughter on December 15. (AP)
- An unidentified victim of Gary Ridgway, also known as the Green River Killer, is identified by authorities as Lori Anne Razpotnik after 38 years. (CNN)
- In Pakistan, police assault and arrest several protestors during a march from Turbat to Islamabad, where around 200 people planned to rally to draw attention to the killing of a man in police custody in Balochistan in November. (AP)
- The National Telecommunications Commission of the Philippines announces a 30-day suspension of the broadcast operations of Sonshine Media Network International following allegations of franchise violations. (Bloomberg) (CNN Philippines)
- A trial court in Butuan, Philippines publicizes the conviction of three KAPA personnel, including its founder, of syndicated fraud for being the masterminds in the country's largest illegal investment scheme. (CNN Philippines)
Sports
- The European Court of Justice rules that threats by FIFA and UEFA to sanction football clubs that wish to join the European Super League are unlawful. (Bleacher Report)
December 20, 2023
(Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- The death toll in the Gaza Strip since Israel began airstrikes increases to at least 20,000 people. (Al Jazeera)
- Insurgency in Balochistan
- In Pakistan, Sarfraz Bungulzai, leader of the separatist Baloch Nationalist Army, surrenders to authorities alongside 70 other militants in Balochistan. (AP)
Business and economy
- 2018–present Argentine monetary crisis
- Argentine president Javier Milei announces a series of economic deregulation measures, targeting over 300 regulations including property and labor laws, to address the crisis. (AFP via France 24)
- 2021–present United Kingdom cost-of-living crisis
- 2022–2023 United Kingdom industrial disputes and strikes
- Junior doctors in England begin their longest strike action yet, spanning nine days, to address pay-related disputes with the National Health Service. (AFP via ABS-CBN News)
- 2022–2023 United Kingdom industrial disputes and strikes
- Japanese electronics company Toshiba is delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange after 74 years. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- Twelve people are killed and 13 others injured when a mining cart runs off the tracks in Jixi, Heilongjiang, China. (AP)
International relations
- International reactions to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Israel–Malaysia relations
- Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim announces that Israel-registered ships, and all foreign vessels heading to Israel, are banned from docking within their ports or receiving cargo. (Al Jazeera)
- United States–Venezuela relations
- Venezuela releases ten Americans and extradites fugitive Leonard Glenn Francis, while the United States releases Alex Saab, an ally of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, in a prisoner exchange between the two countries. As part of the deal, Venezuela will also release around 20 political prisoners from jail. (AP)
Law and crime
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war protests
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war protests in the United States
- Pro-Palestine protesters vandalize the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. with graffiti reading "Free Gaza". (The Hill)
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war protests in the United States
- December murders
- Former Surinamese president Dési Bouterse is sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 1982 murders of 15 men. (NOS)
- Murder of Brianna Ghey
- A Manchester Crown Court jury convicts two teenagers of murdering trans girl Brianna Ghey in Warrington, Cheshire, England. (AFP via NDTV)
- The Parliament of Kyrgyzstan votes 59–5 in favor of passing a bill to modify the national flag. (AKIpress)
Politics and elections
- 2023 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election
- Voters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo elect their president, members of the National Assembly, provincial assemblies, and commune councils. Voting is extended until December 21. (Reuters)
- 2023 Guinea-Bissau coup attempt
- President Umaro Sissoco Embaló dismisses Prime Minister Geraldo Martins, appointing Rui Duarte Barros as Martins' successor. (AFP via France 24)
- The U.S. state of Minnesota votes to change its flag. (The New York Times)
December 19, 2023
(Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip kill at least 29 people in a residential area in Rafah, and at least 13 people in Jabalia. (Al Jazeera)
Politics and elections
- 2023 Indian Parliament breach
- Forty-nine Lok Sabha MPs are suspended from parliament for taking part in protests relating to a security breach in parliament, bringing the total number of suspensions to 141: 95 from the Lok Sabha, and 46 from the Rajya Sabha. (BBC News)
- 2024 United States presidential election
- Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign, Anderson v. Griswold
- The Colorado Supreme Court disqualifies former U.S. president Donald Trump from the state's primary ballot under the Fourteenth Amendment. (NBC News)
- Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign, Anderson v. Griswold
December 18, 2023
(Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Allied Democratic Forces insurgency
- Allied Democratic Forces kill ten people in a mass shooting in Kyabandara, Kamwenge District, Western Uganda. (Daily Monitor)
- Syrian civil war
- Jordanian intervention in the Syrian civil war
- The Royal Jordanian Air Force carries out airstrikes in southern Syria against drug gangs linked to the Syrian government. (AP)
- Jordanian intervention in the Syrian civil war
- War in Sudan
- Battle of Wad Madani
- The Rapid Support Forces launch a second assault and capture Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira State, after being repelled by the Sudanese Armed Forces yesterday. (Sudan Tribune) (Sudan Tribune 2)
- The RSF capture the city of Rufaa, north of Wad Madani. (France 24)
- The International Organization for Migration say at least 250,000 people have fled Gezira State since the start of hostilities in the region. (The Globe and Mail)
- Battle of Wad Madani
- Yemeni Crisis
- Houthi involvement in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- A Norwegian-owned tanker en route to Réunion, M/V Swan Atlantic, is attacked in the Red Sea. The owner of the ship saying that it was hit by an "unidentified object" that struck its port side causing a small fire but no injuries. (Reuters)
- British multinational oil and gas company BP suspends all shipments through the Red Sea in response to an increase in Houthi attacks on commercial vessels. (BBC News)
- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announces a coalition of ten nations, called Operation Prosperity Guardian, to enforce security in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden amid Houthi attacks. (CNN) (The Independent)
- Houthi involvement in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
Arts and culture
- Christianity in Malaysia
- The Department of Islamic Development Malaysia permits halal-certified bakeries in the country to include Christmas greetings on cakes, overturning a previous directive that prohibited such messages. (AFP via The News)
Disasters and accidents
- 2023 Iceland earthquakes
- The Sundhnúkur volcanic eruption occurs on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland after weeks of earthquakes prompting the evacuation of 4,000 people. The Icelandic Meteorological Office says that the risk of lava flowing toward the town of Grindavík is high. (RÚV)
- 2023 Jishishan earthquake
- At least 127 people are killed and over 720 others are injured by a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in Jishishan, Gansu, China. (AFP via CNA)
- At least 13 people are killed and at least 88 are injured by an explosion at an oil terminal in Conakry, Guinea. (Reuters)
- A major winter storm hits the Northeastern United States, killing four people and causing flash flood warnings, flight cancellations and school closures. (AP)
Law and crime
- Capital punishment in China
- China executes serial killer Lao Rongzhi for the murders of seven people between 1996 and 1999. (WION)
- Around half of Iranian petrol stations are disrupted by cyberattacks. Iranian state media reports that the Israeli-linked Predator Sparrow hacker group claims responsibility for the attacks. (Reuters)
Science and technology
- Twitter under Elon Musk
- The European Union formally begins legal action against X, formerly known as Twitter, due to illegal content and disinformation on the platform, as well as breaches of transparency. (BBC News)
December 17, 2023
(Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- International reactions to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- Pope Francis accuses the IDF of engaging in war crimes, in response to Israeli snipers killing two Palestinian Christians and injuring seven others who were taking refuge in the Holy Family Church in Gaza City yesterday. (Reuters)
- The French Foreign Ministry condemns Israel's Wednesday bombing of Rafah for killing one of its staff members, and demands an "immediate and durable" ceasefire. (Al Jazeera)
- Israeli Air Force airstrikes in Jabalia kill at least 90 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. (CBC)
- International reactions to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- Mexican drug war
- 2023 Salvatierra Massacre
- In Mexico, twelve people are killed during a mass shooting at a Christmas season party in Salvatierra, three others are killed and four injured at a bar in Tulum, while four people are killed in Salamanca. (AP)
- 2023 Salvatierra Massacre
- Syrian civil war
- Syrian military shelling in Aleppo Governorate kills six civilians in Darat Izza and two civilians in Abzimou. (Middle East Eye)
- War in Sudan
- Battle of Wad Madani
- The Sudanese Armed Forces says that it has repelled a Rapid Support Forces (RSF) assault on Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira State. The RSF reportedly withdraws following heavy resistance. (Sudan Tribune)
- Battle of Wad Madani
Business and economy
- The Civil Aviation Authority approves SaxaVord Spaceport on the Scottish island of Unst as the United Kingdom's first spaceport for vertical rocket launches. The first launches are expected to take place in 2024. (BBC News)
Disasters and accidents
- Nine workers are killed and three others are injured in an explosion at a factory in Nagpur district, Maharashtra, India. (AA)
Politics and elections
- 2023 Chadian constitutional referendum
- Chadians vote in a referendum on a new constitution. (AFP via Arab News)
- 2023 Chilean constitutional referendum
- By a margin of 56% to 44%, Chileans vote to reject the proposed new constitution drafted by the Constitutional Council. (AP)
- 2023 Serbian parliamentary election
- Serbians elect members of the National Assembly. (Reuters)
- President Aleksandar Vučić declares victory for his Serbian Progressive Party, claiming a majority with 127 seats, while opposition leader Radomir Lazović of the Green–Left Front raises concerns of electoral irregularities including vote buying and falsification. (AFP via news.com.au)
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