Portal:Current events/2024 December 13

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian civil war
  • Israel and the Syrian civil war
    • Israeli invasion of Syria (2024–present)
      • Syrian sources report that Israeli forces met with village dignitaries in the Yarmouk Basin area of Daraa Governorate, instructing them to surrender all weapons in the villages and for villagers to comply with home searches. (Erem News) (Sada El-Balad)
  • US intervention in the Syrian civil war
    • The U.S. military evacuates American citizen Travis Timmerman out of Syria after Timmerman had previously been reported missing in the country. (NBC News)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Moldova and the Russo-Ukrainian War
    • The Parliament of Moldova votes in favor of declaring a 60-day national state of emergency beginning on December 16 due to Ukraine not renewing its transit contract with Gazprom to deliver Russian gas to Moldova. (Reuters)
  • Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
    • Russia launches one of its largest attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure since the conflict began, with about 290 missiles fired and drones striking multiple regions. The Russian Defense Ministry claims that the attack was in response to a recent Ukrainian ATACMS attack on Taganrog-Central air base in Rostov Oblast, Russia. (The Kyiv Independent) (UNN)
• Gaza war
  • December 2024 Nuseirat refugee camp attack
    • The number of Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp yesterday increases to 33, most of whom are from the same family. Eighty-four others are reported to be either injured or missing. (Al Jazeera)
• Sudanese civil war
  • Darfur campaign
    • Nine people are killed and 20 others are injured in a Rapid Support Forces airstrike on a hospital in Al-Fashir, North Darfur, Sudan. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024–25 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
  • Cyclone Chido destroys most of Agaléga, Mauritius. (L'Express) (Le Mauricien)
• Six people are killed and 66 others are injured in a fire at a nursing home in Amman, Jordan. (Reuters)

Health and environment

• Opioid epidemic in the United States
  • McKinsey & Company agrees to pay $650 million and enter a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve criminal charges related to its advisory work for Purdue Pharma on increasing OxyContin sales, including conspiracy to misbrand a drug and obstruction of justice. (Al Jazeera)
• The British Antarctic Survey reports that A23a, the world's largest iceberg, has exited the Taylor column and is beginning to drift further north through the Southern Ocean. (BBC News) (CNN)

International relations

• Syria–Ukraine relations
  • Humanitarian aid during the Syrian civil war
    • The Ukrainian government says that it is ready to supply food to Syria after Russia suspended wheat supplies to Syria amid uncertainty about the new government and payment delays. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Gaza war
  • A court in The Hague, Netherlands, rejects a request by 10 pro-Palestinian NGOs for the Netherlands to stop arms exports to Israel. (Reuters)
• Three people are killed and 48 others are injured in a bombing during a festival in Umphang District, Tak Province, Thailand. Two suspects are arrested. (Thai PBS)
• Former Chinese footballer and coach Li Tie is sentenced to 20 years in prison for bribery and match-fixing. (CNN)

Politics and elections

• 2024 French political crisis
  • French President Emmanuel Macron appoints François Bayrou as Prime Minister. (Politico) (The Guardian)