Portal:Current events/2024 December 12

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian civil war
  • Operation Dawn of Freedom
    • 2024 Manbij offensive
      • Large-scale protests occur in Manbij, Aleppo Governorate, Syria, against pro-Turkish Dawn of Freedom Operations Room revenge killings and crimes against civilians. (SOHR)
      • Pro-Turkish factions are filmed executing dozens of surrendered prisoners of the pro-Kurdish Manbij Military Council and Syrian Democratic Forces. (SOHR)
    • 2024 Kobani clashes
      • Turkish military forces and the pro-Turkish Dawn of Freedom Operations Room launch an attack with tanks and drones against the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates river, which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights warns could trigger a dam failure and a severe humanitarian crisis. (SOHR)
  • Israel and the Syrian civil war
    • Israeli invasion of Syria (2024–present)
      • Syrian residents of the villages of Hader, Hamidiya, and Umm Batna in Quneitra Governorate are displaced from their homes after Israeli military forces enter the villages with military vehicles. (SOHR)
  • Fall of the Assad regime
    • At least six civilians are reported to have been killed by gunfire in celebration of the fall of the Assad regime. (SOHR)
  • Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war
    • Satellite images and MarineTraffic data confirm that the Russian Navy has abandoned its naval base in the port city of Tartus. (The Telegraph)
  • Syrian peace process
    • The Syrian transitional government announces that the constitution and parliament will be suspended during the three-month transitional period. (Al Arabiya)
• Gaza war
  • Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
    • December 2024 Nuseirat refugee camp attack
      • At least 33 Palestinians are killed and 50 others are injured in an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. (AP) (Euronews)
    • Fifteen people are killed in Israeli airstrikes while guarding humanitarian aid convoys near Rafah and Khan Younis, Gaza. (Al Jazeera)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Four police officers are injured in a drone attack on the barracks of a police regiment building in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia. (Kyiv Independent)
• Islamic State–Taliban conflict
  • The Islamic State – Khorasan Province claims responsibility for yesterday's suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, which killed acting Minister of Refugee and Repatriation Khalil Haqqani and several other people. (AP)

Arts and culture

• United States president-elect Donald Trump is named Person of the Year by Time magazine. (BBC News)
• Astro Bot wins Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024. (Polygon)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024–25 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
  • Tropical Cyclone Chido makes landfall over Agaléga, Mauritius. (Crisis24)
• Seven people, including a child, are killed and 35 others are injured in a fire at a private hospital in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India. (The Times of India)
• At least nine people are found dead, six others are missing, and 27 people are rescued when a boat carrying African migrants sinks off the coast of Chebba, Mahdia Governorate, Tunisia. (Al Jazeera) (Arab News)

International relations

• Enlargement of the European Union
  • The European Union approves of Romania and Bulgaria to join the Schengen Area in 2025. (Al Jazeera) (Euronews)
• Israel–Paraguay relations
  • Paraguay reopens its embassy in Jerusalem, Israel. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Federal pardons in the United States
  • U.S. President Joe Biden announces pardons for 39 people convicted of non-violent offenses, and commutes the sentences of 1,500 others who had been released from prison to house arrest during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is considered the "largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history". (AP)
• A Danish court sentences British hedge fund trader Sanjay Shah to 12 years in prison for tax fraud. (The National)
• The Venezuelan government releases 103 prisoners who were arrested during the protests against the results of the disputed presidential election in July. (Al Jazeera) (CNN)

Politics and elections

• In Lithuania, the three-party coalition Government headed by the new appointed Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas takes over. (Reuters)
• Hundreds of protesters, led by university students, gather outside the Radio Television of Serbia headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia, to protest against the state-owned television broadcaster and President Aleksandar Vučić's administration. At least 13 people are detained by Serbian police. (AP) (BalkanInsight) (Euronews)
• In Somalia, Abdirahman Irro is sworn in as president of Somaliland. (Mogadishu 24)

Science and technology

• Edith Heard, biologist specialist of epigenetics and director-general of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is awarded the CNRS Gold Medal, France's highest research award. (CNRS - Le Journal)

Sports

• World Chess Championship 2024
  • Gukesh Dommaraju defeats Ding Liren to win the World Chess Championship 7½-6½, becoming the youngest ever chess champion at the age of 18 years. (Sportstar)