Portal:Current events/2024 December 5

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian civil war
  • 2024 Syrian opposition offensives
    • 2024 Hama offensive
      • The Syrian Army says that it has withdrawn from the city of Hama in order to "protect the lives of civilians" after rebel forces enter the city. Rebel forces later begin releasing hundreds of prisoners from Hama's central prison. (MSN) (Ynet)
      • A helicopter is shot down after taking off from Hama Air Base as pro-government forces evacuate the airbase. Another helicopter that took off from the air base makes an emergency landing after being hit. The airbase is later fully captured by the rebels. (Al Jazeera) (YeniSafak)
      • Rebel forces enter the city of Salamiyah in Hama Governorate after reportedly facing no resistance. (SOHR)
      • Rebels capture the town of Qamhana and Jabal Zayn al-Abidin mountain in Hama Governorate. (SOHR)
    • 2024 Homs offensive
      • Syrian rebel forces capture and take military vehicles and ammunition from a Syrian military engineering battalion facility on the outskirts of the city of al-Rastan in Homs Governorate. (SOHR)
      • A Russian jet launches an airstrike on the Rastan Bridge over the Orontes River in an attempt to impede the rebel advance on Al-Rastan. (Pravda) (SOHR)
      • Rebel forces take control of the town of Talbiseh in Homs Governorate as they advance south toward Homs. (SOHR)
• Gaza war
  • Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
    • Gaza genocide
      • Amnesty International accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel rejects the accusation, referring to Amnesty's statements as "fake news." (Reuters) (Sky News)
    • Kamal Adwan Hospital sieges
      • An Israeli airstrike near the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza kills a 16-year-old Palestinian boy and injures at least 12 others. (Arab News)
• Piracy off the coast of Somalia
  • The European Union's anti-piracy mission says that heavily armed Somali pirates have hijacked a Chinese fishing vessel off the coast of Puntland, Somalia. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• German economic crisis
  • German workers' union IG Metall announces they will go on extended strikes next week leading up to a fourth round of negotiations with Volkswagen. (DW)
• The value of a Bitcoin surpasses US$100,000 for the first time, after increasing 130% in the past year. (CNN) (NBC News)
• British multinational oil and gas company Shell and Norwegian state-owned company Equinor announce a joint venture to merge their North Sea assets. (Cyprus Mail) (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024 Cape Mendocino earthquake
  • A 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes offshore near the northern coast of California, United States. (Weather Channel)
• Winter of 2024–25 in the Gaza Strip
  • Heavy winter rainfall causes extensive flooding across Gaza, with a majority of tents in several refugee camps being destroyed. (IRC)
• Eight people are killed when a cargo truck loaded with fertilizers hits pedestrians and crashes into a house in Makilala, Cotabato, Philippines. (Philippine News Agency)

Health and environment

• The Mexican health department reports that thirteen children have died from a bloodstream infection caused by Klebsiella oxytoca found in contaminated IV bags in Mexico state, Mexico. Seven children remain hospitalized. (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

• 2024 French political crisis
  • Michel Barnier resigns as Prime Minister of France following the collapse of the Barnier government. (Sky News)

Science and technology

• European Union Space Programme
  • Copernicus Programme
    • The European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launches the Vega C rocket carrying the Sentinel-1C satellite to monitor Earth from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, two years after its failed commercial flight. (DW) (European Space Agency)
  • ISRO successfully launches the PSLV-XL rocket carrying the European Space Agency's PROBA-3 satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India, in a solar observatory mission to gather data about the Sun's atmosphere. (DW) (El Mundo)