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