Monday,  December 32nd, 2023 

The animated short film Steamboat Willie, the German language version of the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, and other works published in 1928 enter the public domain in the United States. (Mashable) 

Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates formally join the BRICS group as new members. (Tehran Times) 

At least 20 rockets are fired by Hamas at central and southern Israel. (Al Jazeera) 

The Republic of Artsakh officially ceases to exist, in accordance with a decree signed by former president Samvel Shahramanyan. (Interfax) 

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake strikes the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, killing eight people. A tsunami warning is issued for multiple prefectures along the Sea of Japan. (Reuters) 

One person is killed and 21 others are injured in a fire at a bar in Graz, Austria, that was hosting a New Year’s party. (AP) 

Ethiopia announces an agreement with Somaliland to use the port of Berbera. Ethiopia also says that it will eventually recognize Somaliland’s independence, becoming the first country to do so. (Reuters) 

Sunday, December 31st, 2023 

Ten Houthi militants are killed during an engagement between four Houthi boats and United States Navy helicopters defending the cargo ship Maersk Hangzhou in the Red Sea. (Al Jazeera) 

Russian forces bombard Kharkiv. Ukrainian authorities say that 26 people were injured and many residential buildings in the city center were destroyed. The Ukrainian Air Force reports shooting down 21 of 49 attacking drones. (tagesschau.de) 

Taliban defense minister Mullah Yaqoob says that security forces have killed or arrested several militants from Tajikistan and Pakistan who are accused of multiple attacks in Afghanistan. (AP) 

President Félix Tshisekedi is declared the winner of the general election. (BBC News) 

Margrethe II of Denmark announces her abdication during her televised New Year’s Eve address, effective January 14. (BBC News) 

Three people are killed and three are injured in a house explosion in Northfield Township, Michigan, United States. (NBC News) 

Saturday, December 30th, 2023 

Russian forces attack Kharkiv with missiles, injuring at least 16 people, including a foreign journalist, and damaging civilian infrastructure. (The Kyiv Independent) 

Ukraine launches drone and missile strikes against the city of Belgorod, Russia, killing 21 people, including two children, and injuring 110 others, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. (AP) 

Four Hezbollah members and two other militants are killed during three airstrikes at Syria’s border with Iraq. (AP) 

The Israel Defense Forces says that dozens of militants have been killed in Gaza amid continued tank and aerial assaults on Khan Yunis. (Times of Israel) 

Flash flooding kills 21 people in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. (ABC News) 

A court in Albania orders that former president and prime minister Sali Berisha be placed under house arrest following accusations of corruption. (Reuters) 

Friday,  December 29th, 2023 

Russia launches the largest wave of drones and missiles on Ukrainian cities since the start of the war in a widespread overnight assault on cities across the country, killing at least 39 people and injuring at least 160 others. (AP) (Ukrainian Pravda) 

One of the Russian cruise missiles enters NATO airspace as it travels over Polish territory, prompting the Polish government to summon the Russian charge d’affaires for an explanation. (Reuters) (Bloomberg) 

Six people are killed and 26 others are injured in a mass shooting at a party in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico. The shooting’s target, a cartel member, is among those killed. (AP) 

At least 20 people are killed by landslides caused by torrential rains in Mwenga, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (AP) 

Around 120 people are rescued from a breakaway ice floe on Upper Red Lake near Bemidji, Minnesota. (CNN) 

Argentine president Javier Milei sends a letter to BRICS, rejecting the bloc’s invitation for Argentina to join the organization. (La Nación) (BBC News) 

Four people are executed by hanging in West Azerbaijan province, Iran, after being convicted of links to Israel‘s Mossad spy agency. (Al Jazeera) 

South Africa files a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. (Reuters) 

The National People’s Congress of China appoints Commander of the People’s Liberation Army Navy Dong Jun as Minister of National Defense, succeeding Li Shangfu. (CNA) 

Thursday, December 28th, 2023 

Greek-owned cargo ship Vyssos travelling to Ukraine hits a Russian naval mine in the Black Sea, injuring three crew members, Ukraine says. (BBC News) (Xinhua) 

La Familia Michoacana drug cartel kidnap 14 people from Texcaltitlán, state of Mexico, in retaliation for a previous incident in which 10 cartel members were killed by residents of the town. (AP) 

At least 13 people are killed when a bus catches fire after colliding head-on with a truck on a highway in Guna district, Madhya Pradesh, India. (India Today) 

At least 10 people are killed and 57 others are injured in a multiple-vehicle collision on motorway Otoyol 7 in Sakarya Province, Turkey. (AP via New Haven Register) 

Bulgaria and Romania reach an agreement with Austria to become members of the Schengen Area through sea and air routes in March, with discussions regarding the opening of land borders scheduled to begin next year. (AFP via Le Monde) 

A court in Qatar reduces the sentences of eight retired Indian Navy officers who had been sentenced to death for spying. (AP) 

Gypsy Rose Blanchard, a victim of her mother’s Munchausen syndrome by proxy, is released early from prison after serving seven years of a ten-year sentence for conspiring to murder her mother Dee Dee Blanchard in the U.S. state of Missouri in 2015. (BBC News) 

Former President Donald Trump is returned to the primary ballot in Colorado, pending a potential appeal by Trump to the Supreme Court of the United States, after the Colorado Republican Party appealed Trump’s removal under the 14th Amendment earlier this month. Separately, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows removes Trump from the state‘s primary ballot under the 14th Amendment. (CBS) (AP) 

A Hellenic Air Force T-2 Buckeye trainer jet crashes in a rural area near Kalamata, Greece, killing the pilot. (AP) 

Bulgaria and Romania reach an agreement to become members of the Schengen Area through sea and air routes in March 2024, while discussions regarding the opening of land borders are scheduled to commence next year. (Le Monde) 

The End Saturday 

Above posted 

Thursday, December 28th, 2023 

A forensics report by Rio de Janeiro’s Forensic Medical Institute in Brazil finds that hyperthermia led to cardiorespiratory arrest that killed Swiftie Benevides. It says she did not have preexisting conditions or substance abuse that could have led to her death. (Reuters) 

At least 13 people are killed when a bus catches fire after colliding head-on with a truck on a highway in Guna district, Madhya Pradesh, India. (India Today) 

At least 10 people are killed and 57 others injured by a multiple-vehicle collision on a motorway in Sakarya Province, Turkey. (AP via New Haven Register) 

Bulgaria and Romania reach an agreement to become members of the Schengen Area through sea and air routes in March 2024, while discussions regarding the opening of land borders are scheduled to commence next year. (Le Monde) 

Russian drone and artillery strikes kill at least five people and cause power outages for around 70% of households in Kherson, according to Kherson governor Oleksandr Prokudin. (AP) 

Thousands of union members and activists in Argentina protest a decree from President Javier Milei imposing deregulation and austerity measures meant to revive the country’s economy. (AP) 

Wednesday,  December 27th, 2023 

The International Atomic Energy Agency says that Iran has reversed a slowdown of its enrichment of uranium, and is now enriching uranium at up to 60%, bringing the country closer to reaching the enrichment level required to make a nuclear weapon. (Reuters) 

Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi confirms the loss of the city of Marinka to Russian forces.^[1][2] 

Daihatsu, a subsidiary of Japanese automaker Toyota, suspends all production at its four factories in Japan amid a transport ministry investigation into improper tests for safety certifications. (AP) 

Colombia approves regulations that encourage local communities and indigenous groups to produce energy through renewable sources and sell it to the national grid. (BBC) 

At least 10 people are killed by thunderstorms and strong winds in the eastern Australian states of Queensland and Victoria. (ABC News) 

The Russian Ropucha-class landing ship Novocherkassk is destroyed by a Ukrainian airstrike in Feodosia, Crimea, killing at least one person and injuring four others. (Al Jazeera) (AP) 

A drone launched from the direction of the Red Sea is shot down near the Egyptian resort city of Dahab, according to the Egyptian military. The drone fell into the sea with no casualties or damage reported. (Reuters) 

Tuesday,  December 26th, 2023 

Blizzard warnings are issued for the Great Plains and Midwest of the United States. (NBC News) 

Two men from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia on a hunting trip in Iraq are killed when their vehicle hits a roadside bomb planted by Islamic State insurgents in Al Anbar Governorate. (AP) 

At least 140 people are killed by armed bandits in more than 17 communities in Plateau State, Nigeria, including Mangu and Bokkos. Most of the houses in these communities are also burned down. (AP) 

Twenty-two people are killed during floods in Kasaï-Central, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Several houses and structures are damaged, with a major road being cut off. (AP) 

The administration of Argentina’s new President Javier Milei says the government will not renew contracts for more than 5,000 employees hired this year before he took office, as part of plans for cutbacks to the government. (AP) 

In basketball, the Detroit Pistons lose their 27th consecutive game and break the single-season record for the most amount of losses in a National Basketball Association regular season, surpassing the records set by the 2010–11 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013–14 Philadelphia 76ers, who both lost 26 games. (The Detroit News) 

Six people are killed, two others are injured, and several others are missing in a fire at a guest house in Prahova, Romania. (Euronews) (AP) 

The Tokyo High Court rules that TEPCO, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, will be solely responsible for compensating evacuees, while also reducing the amount of compensation to half of the amount that a lower court had initially ordered, and also absolving the government of any liability. (AP) 

A man is arrested in Sevres, Île-de-France, France, for killing his four children and their mother at their flat in Meaux yesterday. The mother and two of the children were stabbed several times and the other children were either suffocated or drowned. (AP) 

Christmas 2023 

High-ranking Iranian general Sayyed Razi Mousavi is killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria. (BBC News) 

Nine New People’s Army rebels are killed by the Philippine Armed Forces during clashes near Malaybalay, Bukidnon, amid a unilateral truce declared by the communist rebels. (AFP via SCMP) 

Twenty-six Kurdish separatist militants and eight civilians are killed by airstrikes launched by Turkey in the autonomous region of Rojava in Syria. (AP) 

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe grants amnesty to more than 1,000 convicts and releases them from jails across the country to mark Christmas. (Al Jazeera)

Local leaders and government officials in eastern Sudan call on the general population to mobilize and prepare for potential Rapid Support Forces attacks. The Sudanese Armed Forces is reportedly arming civilians amid fears that they will not be able to stop the militia. (Sudan Tribune) 

Two people are killed and 29 others are injured in a fire at a residential building in Seoul, South Korea. (Xinhua via The Star) 

The End