Portal:Current events/2024 December 17

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian civil war
  • War crimes in the Syrian civil war, Fall of the Assad regime
    • Syrian mass graves
      • Several mass graves are uncovered across Syria following the fall of the Assad regime, with a site in Al-Qutayfah, Rif Dimashq Governorate, estimated to contain the remains of at least 100,000 people. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
  • Israeli invasion of Syria (2024–present)
    • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz visit the summit of Mount Hermon in Syria, which was captured by the Israel Defense Forces last week. (The New York Times)
    • The Israeli military continue invading Syria beyond the 1974 buffer zone in Quneitra Governorate and take control of the Al-Wehda Dam on the Yarmouk River. (JFeed)
  • Operation Dawn of Freedom
    • Senior American officials report that Turkey is building up its forces along the Syrian border, raising fears of a possible ground invasion on territories held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. (The Wall Street Journal)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Russian Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the NBC Protection Troops, and his assistant are assassinated by an IED hidden inside of an e-scooter in Moscow, Russia. A Ukrainian source claims that the Security Service of Ukraine is responsible for the killings, after Kirillov was charged in absentia yesterday for the use of chemical weapons, which made him a "legitimate target". Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, says that the Ukrainian leadership would face an "imminent revenge" for the killings. (BBC News) (Deccan Herald)
  • Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War, Russia–NATO relations
    • NATO's Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine command center in Wiesbaden, Germany, takes over coordination of Western military support to Ukraine from the United States. (Reuters)
• Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Two police officers are killed and three others are injured in a mass shooting at a security checkpoint in Shangla district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (AP)
  • Three police officers are killed and two more are wounded by a roadside bomb targeting a vehicle carrying polio vaccination workers in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (ABC News)
• Mexican drug war
  • Two municipal policemen are killed and three civilians are wounded in an attack near the Jerécuaro-Apaseo el Alto state highway in Jerécuaro, Guanajuato, Mexico. In the same day, four State Public Security Forces officers are killed and two more are wounded after a confrontation with gunmen in the city of Uriangato. (Milenio)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024–25 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
  • The death toll in Mozambique from Cyclone Chido increase to 34, with more than 23,000 homes destroyed. (DW)
• 2024 Port Vila earthquake
  • A 7.4 magnitude earthquake strikes Vanuatu's capital Port Vila, with at least fourteen people killed and more than 200 others injured. (RNZ)

Health and environment

• 2024 Kwango province malaria outbreak
  • The Democratic Republic of the Congo's Health Ministry announces that the mystery illness that has left at least 143 people dead in Kwango was a severe form of malaria. The World Health Organization says more malaria vaccines are being sent to its health centres in the region. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

• 2024 Northeastern United States drone sightings
  • The U.S. House Intelligence Committee hold a closed-door classified briefing on drone sightings over the Northeastern United States. The briefing is provided by Federal Bureau of Investigation, the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, according to senior U.S. officials. (ABC News) (NBC News)
• Killing of Brian Thompson
  • A U.S. grand jury indicts Luigi Mangione for the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (NBC News)
• Mexican Drug War
  • Three foreigners are arrested and one ton of cocaine is seized by the Mexican Navy in an operation off coasts of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán. (El Universal)
• Murder of Sara Sharif
  • English High Court judge John Cavanagh sentences Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool to life imprisonment for the murder of Sharif's 10-year-old daughter Sara. (ABS-CBN News)
• Canadian-American anti-whaling activist Paul Watson is released from prison in Greenland after Denmark declines Japan's extradition request. (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

• Second presidential transition of Donald Trump
  • The U.S. Electoral College formally certifies President-elect Donald Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 United States presidential election. (WNYW-TV) (CNN)
• Switzerland's Federal Assembly votes 126–20 with 41 abstentions to outlaw membership or support of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. (The New Arab)