Thursday, December 26th, 2024 

U.S. President Joe Biden signs a bill making the bald eagle the official national bird of the United States. (NBC News) 

Five journalists of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad-affiliated Al Quds Today TV are killed in their vehicle by an Israeli airstrike near Al-Awda Hospital in Deir al-Balah Governorate, Gaza. (CNN) 

Gaza Strip doctors report that three infants died due to hypothermia from inadequate shelter in displacement camps amid decreasing winter temperatures. (Al Jazeera) 

Israel carries out a series of airstrikes between Sanaa and Hodeidah in Yemen, hitting a number of facilities, including Sanaa International Airport, killing at least three people and wounding eleven more. (Al Jazeera) 

Al-Shabaab confirms the death of Mohamed Mire Jama, a senior leader of the group previously designated as a terrorist by the United States, in an American drone strike near Kunyo Baroow, Hirshabelle State, Somalia.  (Garowe Online) 

The United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics determines that the UK economy showed no growth in the 3rd quarter of the current fiscal year, following downward revisions. (AP) 

At least three people are killed and four are injured after a bus carrying 58 people onboard crashes into a lake in Hadsel Municipality, Norway. (BBC) 

The Government of Peru declares a 90-day environmental emergency for a northern coastal area of Peru due to an oil spill caused by state-owned oil company Petroperú. (Reuters) 

Finnish border guards and police detain a Russian vessel suspected of damaging the Estlink-2 submarine power cable. (AP) 

A Cambodian court sentences the president of the opposition Nation Power Party Sun Chanthy to two years in prison and bans him from elections for inciting civil disorder. (Reuters) 

Christmas 2024 

An Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 aircraft carrying 67 passengers from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia, crashes while being diverted to Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 people and injuring 29 others. (Al Jazeera) (NPR) 

Human rights organization Reprieve reports that Saudi Arabia executed 330 people this year. (First Post) 

Syrian authorities impose a curfew from 6 pm to 8 am in Homs following a series of protests by Alawite and Shi’ite Muslim minority groups. (Reuters) 

The United States-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network removes a report estimating that food insecurity conditions in northern Gaza have surpassed the highest IPC famine thresholds, after the United States envoy to Israel criticized the report’s methodology as “irresponsible” for “outdated” and “inflated” estimates of the civilian population of Gaza.(Times of Israel) 

The federal government of Somalia imposes a flight ban on Jubaland, including all flights to and from Jubaland, particularly affecting the cities of Kismayo and Doolow. The flight ban was initiated amid ongoing political tensions and military engagements after Jubaland forces reportedly defeated Somali Armed Forces in several locations, including Ras Kamboni, Kulbiyow, and Dolow. (Garowe Online) 

A series of Russian ballistic missile and drone strikes target critical energy infrastructure in cities across in Ukraine, killing at least two people, injuring 20 others, and causing widespread emergency blackouts. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemns Russian President Vladimir Putin for the “inhumane” attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. (The Guardian) 

The IPC Famine Review Committee determines the presence of famine in five areas in Darfur and South Kordofan, Sudan, and estimates that five more areas will face famine by May 2025 due to ongoing conflict and blocked aid distribution. (BBC News Hausa) 

Ethiopian military forces close the country’s border with Somalia following ongoing heavy fighting in rural areas of Harshin, Fafan Zone, between Ethiopia’s Somali regional forces and local clan militias after the killing of a local security chief and his bodyguards. Hundreds of people, including children, flee from their homes. (Somali Guardian) 

Syria’s new government says that fourteen of its troops were killed and 10 others were injured in clashes with Assad regime loyalists in Tartus Governorate. (BBC News) 

HVDC submarine power cable Estlink 2, which connects the power grids of Estonia and Finland, suffers an unexplained outage with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo stating that an investigation into the incident is underway. (AP) 

Lebanon files a new complaint to the UN Security Council over Israel’s ceasefire violations. (Bastille Post) 

More than 1,500 inmates escape from a prison in Maputo, Mozambique, after knocking down a wall during a riot. At least 33 people are killed and 15 others are injured. (BBC News) 

A Turkish court sentences the owner and architect of the Grand Isias Hotel in Adıyaman to more than 18 years in prison for negligent homicide after 72 people died when the hotel collapsed in the 2023 earthquakes. (DW) 

Kosovo‘s election appeals authority allows the Serb List party, a Serb ethnic party, to participate in the upcoming election, stating that the party meets legal certification requirements. (AP) 

Scientists confirm the discovery of the Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus dinosaur species in Kyrgyzstan, the first theropod from the Jurassic period to be discovered in Central Asia. (Tempo) 

Tuesday,  December 24th, 2024 

Islamic State militants launch attacks on the town of al-Hawayej in northeastern Syria, against Asayish forces. (SOHR) 

Protests occur after a Christmas tree was set on fire in Al-Suqaylabiyah, Hama Governorate. (The Week) 

Turkey’s interior minister announces that more than 25,000 Syrian refugees have returned to Syria since former president Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by rebels. (Al Arabiya) 

Syrian opposition factions announce that they will dissolve and merge under the authority of the Ministry of Defense. (Reuters) 

Three people are killed by gunmen in Haiti opening fire at the journalists, police and medical staff at the reopening of the Port-au-Prince General Hospital. (BBC News) 

At least 46 people are killed in a series of airstrikes by the Pakistan Army against alleged Pakistani Taliban hideouts in Paktika Province, Afghanistan. (Al Jazeera) 

Residents of the Grampians region of Victoria, Australia, evacuate due to bushfires, with more than 41,000 hectares (100,000 acres) already burnt by the bushfires. (BBC News) 

Residents of Lobitos and Cabo Blanco, Peru, demonstrate against Peruvian state-owned oil company PetroPerú following an oil spill that contaminated six beaches. (La República) 

Twelve people are killed and four others are injured in an explosion at an explosives factory in Kavakli, Balıkesir Province, Turkey. (Al Jazeera) 

The Russian cargo ship MV Ursa Major, allegedly used to evacuate military personnel and equipment from Russian bases in Syria, sinks in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain following an explosion in the ship’s engine room. The Russian Foreign Ministry says that 14 of the 16 crew members have been rescued, with the two others missing. (Politico) 

Palestine factions hand weapons to the Lebanese army and vacate their headquarters. (Middle East Monitor) 

The Danish government announces an increase in defense spending for Greenland hours after US president-elect Donald Trump repeated his interest in purchasing Greenland, although they affirm that the two are unrelated. (BBC News) 

Gene Spector, an American citizen of Russian descent, is sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Russian court for espionage. (CNN) 

At least 21 people are killed and 25 others are injured in a series of violent incidents in Mozambique following the previous day’s confirmation by the high court of Daniel Chapo as the winning presidential candidate in the recent election. (ABC News) 

Hong Kong offers bounties of HK$1 million (US$128,728) each for six foreign pro-democracy activists accused of violating the national security law, including Tony Chung, and also revokes the passports of seven others, citing actions such as incitement to secession, subversion, and collusion with foreign forces. (Reuters) 

Five people accused of being Al-Qaeda supporters are arrested in four cities in Italy. (Il Gazzettino) 

Four participants in the November 2024 Amsterdam riots are sentenced to prison, with 32-year-old Sefa Ö handed the longest sentence of six months. (BBC News) 

Protesters gather at the U.S. Embassy in Panama City over Trump’s threat to take back the Panama Canal. (France24) (DW) 

Maia Sandu is sworn in for her second four-year term as the President of Moldova. (Euronews) 

In his Christmas speech, Grand Duke of Luxembourg Henri announces that he will abdicate on 3 October 2025 and hand over the throne to his son, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume. (The Brussels Times) 

ʻAisake Eke is appointed as the new Prime Minister of Tonga. (RNZ) 

The Parker Solar Probe attempts its closest-ever approach to the Sun to study the sun’s temperatures, radiation, and magnetic field. (BBC News) 

Monday,  December 23rd, 2024 

Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda announce plans to for a merger by 2026, potentially forming the third-largest automotive company in the world. (Al Jazeera) 

The United States House Committee on Ethics releases a report on former Florida representative and Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz, revealing that Gaetz paid women for sexual activity, committed statutory rape with a 17-year-old, possessed and used illegal drugs, accepted financial gifts beyond House limits, and assisted a woman in obtaining a passport. (BBC News) 

Outgoing President Joe Biden commutes the death sentences of 37 out of the 40 federal death row inmates to life imprisonment. The exceptions are those sentenced for terrorism or hate-motivated mass murder. (CBS News) 

Violent clashes occur between the Ethiopia-backed Jubaland forces and the Somali Armed Forces in Dolow, Gedo Region, Somalia, with Jubaland forces later taking control of the town. (Garowe Online) 

The mayor of Badhadhe District, Lower Juba, Hassan Nuur Cabdi, survives an ambush attack which killed at least five of his security personnel. (Idil News) 

The pro-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces launch a counter-offensive on recently captured pro-Turkish faction positions in Manbij, Aleppo Governorate, Syria, and recapture several villages. (SOHR) 

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi meets with de facto Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus to discuss the support of the Syrian transitional government. (Al Jazeera) 

The death toll from the mass killing by a gang in Cité Soleil, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, increases to 207, according to the United Nations. (Al Jazeera) 

For the first time, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz claims responsibility for the July 2024 assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran. (Reuters) 

At least seven people are killed in Israeli airstrikes on a safe zone in al-Mawasi, Gaza. Several other attacks across the Gaza Strip kill at least 43 others. (Al Jazeera) 

Seventeen people are killed in a string of attacks over the past 48 hours across the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. (El País) 

The Biden administration officially withdraws two major legislative plans that would have granted student loan forgiveness to more than 30 million Americans. (Forbes) 

The Government of Sudan suspends participation in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification hunger monitoring system, in advance of a new report about famine occurring in the nation. (Reuters) 

Three people are killed and another is injured in severe storms in Rome, Italy, while two people go missing on the Gran Sasso d’Italia massif. (Roma Today) (Il Messaggero) 

The Santa Cruz Wharf of Santa Cruz, California, United States, partially collapses from high waves of a Pacific storm. (BBC News) 

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino rebuffs U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s recent threat to reimpose U.S. control over the Panama Canal, saying its shipping tolls aren’t inflated and that Panamanian sovereignty over the waterway isn’t negotiable. (Bloomberg) 

A man is arrested after fatally burning a woman yesterday on a Subway train in New York City, United States. (Al Jazeera) 

U.S. President Joe Biden commutes the death sentences of 37 out of the 44 federal death row inmates to life imprisonment. The exceptions are Dylann Roof, Robert Gregory Bowers, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who received death sentences for terrorism or hate-motivated mass murder-related crimes, as well as all four prisoners on US Military death row. (CBS News) 

The suspected truck driver that caused a multiple-vehicle collision and killed at least 41 people in Teófilo Otoni, Minas Gerais, Brazil, turns himself in to local authorities. (R7) (G1) 

A man is arrested and charged with animal cruelty for shooting and killing 98 kangaroos on a military base in Singleton, New South Wales, Australia. (news.com.au) 

Three people are killed and another is wounded after a series of storms since yesterday evening in Rome, Italy, while two more people are missing on the Gran Sasso d’Italia massif. (Roma Today) (Roma Today 2) (Il Messaggero) 

A man is arrested and charged for animal cruelty for shooting and killing 98 kangaroos on a military base in Singleton, New South Wales, Australia. (News.com.au) 

A man is arrested in New York City, United States after setting on fire and killing a woman yesterday aboard a train. It is suspected that the victim was chosen at random. (Al Jazeera) 

Guatemalan police rescue at least 160 children and 40 women held by the Lev Tahor Jewish sect and accuse the group of child sexual abuse, forced marriage, and human trafficking. Members of Lev Tahor broke into the care center in Oratorio, Santa Rosa Department, where the children were being held on Sunday. (Al Jazeera) (The Times of Israel) (The Independent) 

Following the December 1 parliamentary elections in Romania, President Klaus Iohannis asks incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu to form a new coalition, majority Cabinet, comprising the PSD, PNL and UDMR parties. The Government is named and confirmed by the Chamber of Deputies (Romania), and takes office the same day. (France 24) 

Following the collapse of the Barnier government, French President Emmanuel Macron announces a new center-right, minority coalition Government led by François Bayrou as new Prime Minister. (DW) 

Joel Greenberg, a former IRS employee of Florida is sentenced to 11 years in prison on 6 federal charges for underage sex trafficking, wire fraud, stalking, identity theft, producing a fake ID card, and conspiring to defraud the US federal government, receiving a reduced sentence after testifying against eight other men including Gaetz, after initially facing 33 federal charges. (CNN) 

The Greek government restores citizenship to 10 members of the former royal family, including the children and grandchildren of King Constantine II, following their agreement to adopt the surname “De Grece”, renounce royal claims, and formally recognize Greece‘s status as a parliamentary democracy. (AP) 

A team of scientists at the North-Eastern Federal University in Sakha Republic, Russia, unveil the highly preserved remains of a 50,000-year-old female juvenile woolly mammoth named Yana. The researchers say Yana was roughly about one-year-old when she died, likely from drowning, and was discovered in the Batagaika crater by locals. (BBC News) 

The End