Portal:Current events
Topics in the news
- Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (pictured) becomes Emir of Kuwait after the death of his half-brother, Nawaf.
- The COP28 climate change summit ends with a call to transition away from the use of fossil fuels.
- Donald Tusk becomes Prime Minister of Poland in the aftermath of the October parliamentary election.
- Baldur's Gate 3 wins game of the year at The Game Awards.
- At least 17 people are killed as Cyclone Michaung makes landfall in India.
Law and crime
- Capital punishment in China
- China executes female serial killer Lao Rongzhi for the murders of seven people between 1996 and 1999. (WION)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- International reactions to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- Pope Francis accuses the IDF of engaging in terrorism, 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
- Gunmen kill 16 people in Salvatierra and Salamanca, Guanajuato, Mexico. (AP)
- 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
- 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)
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 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)
- 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)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Myanmar civil war
- Operation 1027
- The Three Brotherhood Alliance claims to have captured Namhsan in the northern Shan State, following a joint offensive against the Myanmar military despite a temporary ceasefire mediated by China. (AFP via France 24)
- Operation 1027
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Southern Ukraine campaign
- Russia says that two civilians are killed and two others are injured in a Ukrainian missile strike on the Russian-occupied village of Nova Maiachka in Kherson Raion. (AFP via Al Arabiya)
- Southern Ukraine campaign
- Yemeni Crisis
- Houthi involvement in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- The Royal Navy's HMS Diamond shoots down a drone launched from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen over the Red Sea using a Sea Viper missile. (The Guardian)
- Houthi involvement in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
Disasters and accidents
- 2023 Libya migrant boats sinking
- A boat departing from Zuwarah, Libya, carrying about 86 illegal immigrants from various African countries, sinks in the Mediterranean Sea, killing about 61 of them. (The Telegraph)
- At least 13 people are killed after a thunderstorm strikes Bahía Blanca, Argentina. (Reuters)
- Three people are killed and two others injured when a wall of the Gate of Floggers collapses while it is being renovated in Kairouan, Tunisia. (The Guardian)
Health and environment
- The China Meteorological Administration issues a low-temperature warning, forecasting a cold wave affecting most of the country. (AFP via The Straits Times)
Law and crime
- Capital punishment in Iran
- Iran executes an alleged Mossad agent in Sistan and Baluchistan province. (Reuters)
- Gansu ultramarathon disaster
- A court in Baiyin, Gansu, China, sentences five organizers of a 2021 ultramarathon to prison terms ranging from three to five and a half years, following the deaths of 21 runners due to extreme weather during the event. (AFP via The Straits Times)
- A court in the Holy See sentences Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu to five and a half years in prison for embezzlement. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- Emir of Kuwait Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah dies at 86. His half-brother, Crown Prince Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, succeeds him as the new emir. (AFP via TBS)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis
- The Israel Defense Forces says that it mistakenly shot dead three hostages in friendly fire incidents in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City. (The Times of Israel)
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis
- Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Militants attack a regional police headquarters and two military posts in northwest Pakistan, triggering shootouts that killed five security personnel and five insurgents. (AP)
- Yemeni Crisis
- Houthi involvement in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- Two Liberian-flagged vessels in the Bab-el-Mandeb strait are attacked with drones and ballistic missiles launched by Houthi militants in Yemen, causing a fire on one of the ships. No injuries are reported. (Reuters)
- Shipping firms Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk announce a suspension of all container shipments through the Red Sea until further notice amid Houthi attacks on commercial vessels. (AFP via France 24)
- Houthi involvement in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
Arts and culture
- Albania returns 20 icons to North Macedonia that were trafficked a decade ago, according to Albania's Culture Ministry. A handover ceremony is held at the National History Museum in the Albanian capital, Tirana. (AP)
Business and economy
- President Andrés Manuel López Obrador inaugurates the first part of the tourist Maya Train that runs in a rough loop around the Yucatan peninsula. The $20 billion, 950-mile line will connect beach resorts and archaeological sites. (AP)
- The International Energy Agency forecasts that global coal consumption is expected to reach a record high this year, as demand in emerging and developing economies remains strong. The demand for coal is predicted to increase by 1.4 percent this year, surpassing 8.5 billion tonnes for the first time. (Al Jazeera)
Disasters and accidents
- English Channel migrant crossings
- One person is killed and another is hospitalized after a boat carrying more than 60 migrants experienced difficulties as it attempted to cross the English Channel from France to the United Kingdom. (AP)
International relations
- 2023 Gaza humanitarian crisis, 2023 Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip
- Israel authorizes the temporary use of its Kerem Shalom border crossing to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. (AFP via NST)
Law and crime
- 2023 Nigerien crisis
- An ECOWAS court orders former President Mohamed Bazoum to be freed from arrest and reinstated as president. (AP via ABC News)
- Indigenous peoples in Guatemala
- A ruling from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights finds Guatemala to have violated indigenous rights by allowing a large nickel mine to operate on tribal land. (AP)
- News of the World royal phone hacking scandal
- Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex wins a phone hacking lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mirror in the first of several lawsuits against British tabloids to go to trial. The High Court found that phone hacking was widespread at the Mirror Group and that private investigators gathered information unlawfully. (AP)
- Post-election lawsuits related to the 2020 U.S. presidential election
- A United States federal jury orders Rudy Giuliani, former lawyer for former President Donald Trump, to pay $148 million in damages for defaming two Georgian election officials with false electoral fraud claims. (AFP via France 24)
- Fourteen workers at the Tenerife South Airport in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, are arrested on suspicion of stealing items from checked-in luggage. Police seize allegedly stolen items worth almost €2 million. (AP)
- A councillor detonates three grenades at a meeting of the village council of Keretsky, Zakarpattia Oblast, Ukraine, injuring 27 people, including himself. (AFP via Barron's)
- State prosecutors in Thailand indict a member of the country’s Senate, Upakit Pachariyangkun, on six charges involving narcotics trafficking, money laundering and association with a transnational criminal organization. (AP)
- Chile's police arrest at least 55 people in one of the country's largest fiscal fraud cases, amounting to about $275 million and implicating small- and mid-sized companies in different parts of the country. The suspects will stand trial for tax crimes, criminal association, money laundering, customs fraud and making false declarations. (AP)
Politics and elections
- Corruption in Belgium, Chinese intelligence activity abroad
- A joint investigation by the Financial Times, Der Spiegel, and Le Monde reveals that Belgian Vlaams Belang politician Frank Creyelman accepted bribes from the Chinese Ministry of State Security for three years in order to influence discussions within the European Union. Creyelman was subsequently expelled from the party. (Financial Times)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis
- Tanzanian Foreign Minister January Makamba confirms that a 21-year-old Tanzanian student was "killed immediately after being captured by Hamas" on 7 October. (AFP via New Vision)
- International reactions to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis
- Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency
- Jaish ul-Adl militants attack a police station in Rask, Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran, killing eleven officers and wounding others. Several gunmen are also killed in the ensuing shootout. (Reuters)
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against infrastructure
- Romania says that a Russian drone has crashed in its territory, leaving a crater in Grindu, Tulcea, near the Ukrainian border. Romanian Air Force F-16s and German Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons conducted joint patrols in response to the violation of NATO airspace. (Reuters)
- Russian strikes against infrastructure
- Yemeni Crisis
- Houthi involvement in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- Maersk calls for "political action" after a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen narrowly misses one of their container ships in the Bab-el-Mandeb strait. An unknown vessel claiming to be from the Yemeni Navy also ordered the ship to sail towards the Yemeni coast. (The Drive)
- Houthi involvement in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
Business and economy
- Visa policy of Iran
- Iran lifts travel visa requirements for tourists in 33 countries, including all Gulf states and one EU member state, Croatia. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- 2023 Beijing Subway collision
- At least 515 people are injured in a rear-end collision between railroad cars on the Changping line of the Beijing Subway in China near the Xi'erqi station amid snowfall. (AP via 1News)
International relations
- 2023 Guayana Esequiba crisis
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Guyanese President Irfaan Ali hold talks in Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Both leaders agree to use neither threats nor force against the other. A joint commission is announced to address the existing issues, with a report expected within three months. (Reuters) (AP)
- 2023 Nigerien crisis
- Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey announces an agreement with the Nigerien military junta for the country's transition to civilian rule, ready for presentation to the ECOWAS with the aim of lifting Niger's suspension from the body. (AFP via The Hindu)
- Bulgaria–Russia relations
- Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova says that Bulgaria will "fully pay the consequences" of its "shameful decision" to remove the Soviet-era Monument to the Soviet Army in Sofia. (The Daily Express)
- Finland–United States relations
- Finland announces the creation of a defense cooperation agreement with the United States. The agreement will grant Finland access to American military resources for use in defensive operations, while the US will gain military access to Finland in the event of conflict. (Reuters)
- Potential enlargement of the European Union
- Accession of Ukraine to the European Union, Accession of Moldova to the European Union, Accession of Georgia to the European Union
- The EU announces the opening of accession talks with Moldova and Ukraine and the granting of candidate status to Georgia. (Euronews)
- Accession of Ukraine to the European Union, Accession of Moldova to the European Union, Accession of Georgia to the European Union
Law and crime
- Bloody Sunday
- A former British paratrooper will stand trial in the killing of two civil rights protesters during a massacre, where British soldiers shot 13 protesters during a protest march in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland. (AP)
- A United States Navy officer, Ridge Alkonis, jailed in Japan after being found guilty of the negligent driving deaths of two local civilians, has been transferred into American custody, where he was booked into a federal detention center. (AP)
- Ex-FBI agent Charles McGonigal is sentenced to over four years in prison for violating U.S. sanctions on Russia, including laundering money for oligarch Oleg Deripaska. (BBC News)
- Hong Kong police announce HK$1 million (US$128,000) bounties for five activists residing overseas, including Simon Cheng, charging them with inciting secession under the national security law. (AFP via CNN-News18)
- The New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal acquits Kathleen Folbigg, overturning her 2003 conviction for the deaths of her four children, following new scientific evidence revealing rare genetic mutations as the cause of the deaths. (AFP via NDTV)
- Disappearance of Alex Batty
- Alex Batty, a British boy who went missing in Spain in 2017 when he was 11, is found alive in France. (BBC News)
- Online marketplace company Temu files a lawsuit against online fashion retailer Shein, accusing Shein of "mafia-style intimidation of suppliers". (CNBC)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Mexican drug war
- Six people are killed and two others are injured in a shootout between rival drug cartels in Villanueva, Zacatecas. After the encounter, authorities arrest a suspect and decommissions five assault rifles, grenades and ammunition.(AP) (El Universal)
- Myanmar civil war
- Operation 1027
- Allied rebel forces say that they have seized the town of Maw Luu in Sagaing Region. (The Irrawaddy)
- Operation 1027
- Nigerian bandit conflict
- Four soldiers and two civilian drivers are killed and two South Korean workers are kidnapped in an ambush against a convoy in Rivers State, Nigeria. (Reuters)
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against infrastructure
- A Russian ballistic missile attack in Kyiv injures over 50 people. (The Guardian)
- Russian strikes against infrastructure
- Yemeni civil war
Arts and culture
- Bulgarian authorities begin dismantling the 45-meter-high Monument to the Soviet Army in Sofia, erected in 1954 to commemorate the Soviet Union's invasion of the country during World War II. (AP)
Business and economy
- Tesla recalls two million cars in the United States due to insufficient safety controls within the vehicles' AutoPilot system. This applies "to almost every Tesla sold in the US since the Autopilot feature was launched in 2015." Tesla will fix the issue with an automatic software update. (BBC News)
Disasters and accidents
- Sixteen people are killed in a multiple-vehicle collision on a highway near Caracas, Venezuela. (AFP via NST)
Health and environment
- 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference
- The controversial conference ends with a historic agreement urging nations to transition away from all fossil fuels. (AFP via The Daily Star)
Law and crime
- The UK's Information Commissioner's Office imposes a £350,000 (US$442,755) fine on the Ministry of Defence for a data breach that exposed the email addresses of 265 Afghans seeking refuge from the Taliban. (AFP via Manila Bulletin)
- Thai police seize a record haul of methamphetamine tablets in the western province of Kanchanaburi, consisting of an estimated 50 million tablets hidden in sacks in a six-wheeler truck stopped at a joint police-military checkpoint. (AP)
- A Colombian congressional committee orders a preliminary investigation into President Gustavo Petro over allegations of crimes in the financing of his election campaign, following reports of alleged irregular campaign contributions involving his son. (AP)
Politics and elections
- 2023 Pakistani protests
- Pakistan’s top court allows military courts to resume the trials of more than 100 supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on charges of attacking military installations during demonstrations that broke out following Khan’s arrest. (AP)
- 2023 Swiss federal election
- Viola Amherd is elected as the President of Switzerland by the Federal Assembly. (Reuters via The Star)
- Impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden
- The United States House of Representatives votes to formally authorize its ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. (Reuters)
- Donald Tusk is sworn in as the Prime Minister of Poland, initiating his third cabinet. (AP)
- Slush fund scandal of revenues from fundraising parties
- Japanese Economic Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, Internal Minister Junji Suzuki, Agriculture Minister Ichiro Miyashita, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno resign following a scandal involving alleged kickbacks within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. (AFP via France 24)
- Mark Drakeford announces his resignation as First Minister of Wales and leader of Welsh Labour. A leadership election will be held by the end of March 2024 to select Drakeford's replacement. (BBC News)
Science and technology
- Voyager program
- Voyager 1, the farthest spacecraft from Earth, launched 46 years ago, stops sending data to Earth due to a technical glitch. However, the spacecraft can still receive commands. (CNN)
Sports
- 2023–24 NBA season
- The National Basketball Association suspends Golden State Warriors player Draymond Green indefinitely due to Green's recurring unsportsmanlike conduct. (AFP via SCMP)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
- Ten Israeli troops are killed in clashes in the Gaza Strip, including a colonel of the Golani Brigade killed in Shuja'iyya, Gaza City, bringing the total number of IDF personnel killed to 115. (Reuters) (The Guardian)
- 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
- Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Daraban police station attack
- A Tehreek-e-Jihad militant blows himself up by ramming a car bomb outside a police station being used by the army in Daraban, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, before five gunmen open fire, killing at least 23 people and injuring 34 others. (Al Jazeera)
- Daraban police station attack
- Islamist insurgency in the Sahel
- Two soldiers are killed by an improvised explosive device while riding a motorcycle in Karimama, Alibori, Benin. (AFP via The Guardian)
Business and economy
- 2021–2023 inflation
- Sri Lankan economic crisis
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) resumes its US$2.9 billion bailout for Sri Lanka, releasing a $337 million tranche, after the country secures a debt restructuring agreement with China, its largest bilateral creditor. (AFP via NDTV)
- The IMF approves a $681 million disbursement for Bangladesh, the second portion of a $4.7 billion loan package. (EFE)
- Sri Lankan economic crisis
- Visa policy of Kenya
- Kenyan President William Ruto announces that all tourists will no longer require a travel visa to enter the country from January, with the visa being replaced by electronic travel authorisation. (Reuters)
- The Entertainment Software Association announces that the annual gaming expo E3 will no longer take place, after having run for over 28 years. (The Washington Post)
- The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reports that Myanmar has surpassed Afghanistan as the world's largest producer of opium. (AFP via France 24)
International relations
- 2023 Guayana Esequiba crisis
- Vincentian prime minister Ralph Gonsalves announces that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will host a meeting between the leaders of Venezuela and Guyana on 14 December to discuss the two countries' ongoing dispute over Guayana Esequiba and to prevent an armed escalation. (Al Jazeera)
- International reactions to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
- United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/22
- The United Nations passes a resolution by a vote of 153–10, with 23 abstentions, demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the war in Gaza, the unconditional and immediate release of all hostages, and for both sides to comply with the law of war. (Reuters)
- United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/22
Law and crime
- Illegal immigration to Mexico
- Mexico’s immigration agency detains two buses carrying 102 migrants in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. The majority of the migrants came from the West African nations of Senegal and Guinea, as well as six from Djibouti, two from Congo and one from Mauritania. (AP)
- Mexican drug war
- Six people are killed in a shootout between drug cartel gunmen in Boquilla del Carmen, Zacatecas, Mexico. Police and soldiers also find two people wounded, as well as one armed suspect and guns and a grenade. (AP)
- Several drug dealers and a soldier are killed during a shootout at Jordan's border with Syria. (Al Jazeera)
- A district court in Fukushima, Japan, convicts three former soldiers for sexually assaulting a colleague, Rina Gonoi, during a military exercise in 2021, sentencing them to two years in prison and suspending them from the military for four years. (AFP via WION)
- Five members of a family are shot by gunmen in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Four children die instantly, while their mother died two days later, while their father is injured. The gunmen intended to target members of the Los Lagartos gang in an adjacent house, according to Ecuadorian police. (Express)
Science and technology
- NASA's Perseverance finds evidence that an ancient river delta on Mars held a crater-filling lake billions of years ago. (NASA)
Sports
- 2023–24 Süper Lig
- Halil Umut Meler attack
- In association football, MKE Ankaragücü president Faruk Koca is arrested after attacking referee Halil Umut Meler following the club's match against Çaykur Rizespor. (ITV News)
- Halil Umut Meler attack