Topics in the news
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Fatafehi Fakafānua
- Fatafehi Fakafānua (pictured) is elected prime minister by the legislative assembly of Tonga.
- Filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, are found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home.
- José Antonio Kast is elected president of Chile.
- Sixteen people, including a gunman, are killed in a mass shooting attack during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney.
December 19, 2025 (Friday)
December 18, 2025 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2025 Cambodia–Thailand conflict
- Cambodia accuses Thailand of bombing Poipet on the border and denies the truce previously announced by United States president Donald Trump. (Al Jazeera)
Disasters and accidents
- 2025 North Carolina Cessna Citation II crash
- Seven people, including stock car racer Greg Biffle and his family, are killed after Biffle's Cessna Citation II crashes while landing at Statesville Regional Airport in Statesville, North Carolina, United States. (ABC News)
International relations
- Taiwan–United States relations
- The United States approves a $11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan, including medium-range ballistic missiles, drones, and howitzers, as the largest arms deal in the history of bilateral relations between the two countries. (DW)
- The United Nations General Assembly elects former Iraqi president Barham Salih as the next High Commissioner for Refugees. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Mass shootings in the United States
- 2025 Brown University shooting
- A 48-year-old man believed to be the perpetrator of the mass shooting that killed two people and injured nine others five days ago at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, is found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside of a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, United States. Authorities are investigating if the murder of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro is connected. (NBC News)
- 2025 Brown University shooting
- Besançon poisonings
- Frédéric Péchier, an anesthesiologist who was found guilty of poisoning 30 patients and killing twelve with anesthetic infusion bags in Besançon, France, is sentenced to life in prison. (BBC News)
- Crime in Peru
- A councilwoman is assassinated and several others are injured, including at least four children, in a targeted mass shooting at a Christmas event in Chicama, Department of La Libertad, Peru. (BNO News)
- Terrorism in Russia
- A Russian military court sentences a Belarusian national to 22 years in prison for terrorism after convicting him of planting explosives on two freight trains in Buryatia in 2023, causing major damage and rail disruptions. (Reuters)
December 17, 2025 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Terrorism in Australia
- 2025 Bondi Beach shooting
- The surviving gunman of the attack on Bondi Beach, Australia, is charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act. (BBC News)
- 2025 Bondi Beach shooting
- War on drugs, Operation Southern Spear
- 2025 United States military strikes on alleged drug traffickers
- The United States Southern Command says the U.S. Navy attacked an alleged drug smuggling boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing at least four people. (AP)
- 2025 United States military strikes on alleged drug traffickers
International relations
- Foreign relations of the United States
- Travel bans under the Trump administrations
- United States president Donald Trump expands the country's existing travel ban by banning citizens of Burkina Faso, Mali, South Sudan, and Syria, as well as those holding passports issued by the Palestinian Authority, from entering the country. He also imposes partial restrictions on citizens from 15 other countries. (NPR)
- Travel bans under the Trump administrations
- Egypt–Israel relations
- Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu approves a deal to export US$35 billion of natural gas from the Leviathan gas field to Egypt over the next 15 years. (AP)
Politics and elections
- Arrest of Jair Bolsonaro
- The Brazilian Senate approves a bill that reduces penalties for certain crimes, including attempted coup, which could significantly shorten former president Jair Bolsonaro's 27-year prison sentence. The bill now heads to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for signature. (AP)
- Russo-Ukrainian war
- Russian president Vladimir Putin signs a law to redistribute ownerless homes on occupied territories to those who have lost homes during the conflict. (Euromaidan Press)
- Brazil's Supreme Federal Court rules that Indigenous land rights constitute unamendable constitutional guarantees, thereby blocking congressional efforts to restrict the recognition of Indigenous territories and reinforcing existing protections despite pending legislative opposition. (Reuters)
Sports
- 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup
- In association football, Paris Saint-Germain win their first FIFA Intercontinental Cup after defeating Flamengo 2–1 on penalties, following a 1–1 draw after extra time, in the final in Al Rayyan, Qatar. (Reuters)
December 16, 2025 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- M23 campaign, Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda conflict
- 2025 Uvira offensive
- The March 23 Movement announces that they will withdraw from Uvira, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, following a request from the United States. (Reuters)
- 2025 Uvira offensive
- Herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria, Fulani extremism in Nigeria
Disasters and accidents
- Thirteen people are killed, and several others are injured when a passenger bus overturns on a highway and collides with a taxi in Isfahan Province, Iran. (AP)
Health and environment
- The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records the Arctic's warmest year since measurements began, with average temperatures from October 2024 to September 2025 standing 1.60 °C (2.88 °F) above the 1991–2020 baseline. (AFP via RFI)
International relations
- Canada–Israel relations
- Israel denies entry to six Canadian MPs trying to visit the occupied West Bank as part of a nonprofit-sponsored tour. (Al Jazeera)
- Operation Southern Spear, United States–Venezuela relations
- U.S. president Donald Trump orders a blockade on oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela. (The Telegraph)
Law and crime
- 2025 Beninese coup attempt
- Benin places about 30 suspects, most of them soldiers, in pre-trial detention on charges including treason, murder, and endangering state security following a failed coup attempt. (AFP via Arab News)
- 2025 Liverpool parade incident
- The Liverpool Crown Court convicts Paul Doyle, the perpetrator who injured 130 people after ramming his car into a crowd in Liverpool, England, United Kingdom, of charges of dangerous driving and maliciously causing grievous bodily harm, and sentences him to 21 years in prison. (DW)
- Belarus–Lithuania relations
- Lithuanian police arrest 21 people allegedly connected to a criminal network responsible for smuggling cigarettes into the country via weather balloons from Belarus. (AP)
- Colombia–United States relations, War on drugs
- The U.S. State Department designates Colombian cartel and neo-paramilitary group Clan del Golfo as a foreign terrorist organization. (DW)
Politics and elections
- 2025 Honduran general election
- Honduran president Xiomara Castro announces that she will denounce an alleged "electoral coup" to the European Union, the Organization of American States, and the United Nations, accusing U.S. president Donald Trump of "interference". (The Guardian) (Reuters)
Sports
- In association football, French and Paris Saint-Germain player Ousmane Dembélé is named the 2025 FIFA Men's Player of the Year. (BBC News)
December 15, 2025 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- War on drugs, Operation Southern Spear
- 2025 United States military strikes on alleged drug traffickers
- The United States Southern Command says the U.S. Navy has carried out airstrikes on three alleged drug smuggling vessels in international waters of the Eastern Pacific, killing at least eight people. (Reuters)
- 2025 United States military strikes on alleged drug traffickers
Disasters and accidents
- Ten people are killed when a Cessna Citation III aircraft flying from Acapulco to Toluca crashes near a football field in San Mateo Atenco, Edomex, Mexico. (UNO TV in Spanish) (AP)
International relations
- Laos–South Korea relations
- Laos and South Korea agree to upgrade their bilateral relations to a comprehensive partnership. (Reuters)
- Laos–Thailand relations, 2025 Cambodia–Thailand conflict
- Thailand's military stops fuel shipments through its border crossing with Laos in Chong Mek, Ubon Ratchathani province, after intelligence indicates that supplies are being diverted to Cambodian forces amid an ongoing conflict between Cambodia and Thailand. (Reuters)
- Trinidad and Tobago–Venezuela relations
- The Venezuelan government accuses Trinidad and Tobago of participating in the United States seizure of the oil tanker Skipper and suspends all oil trade agreements and contracts between the two countries. (The Guardian)
Law and crime
- 2024 anti-tourism protests in Spain
- The Spanish government fines homestay company Airbnb €63.9 million (US$75 million) for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals as protests blaming companies like Airbnb and Booking.com for driving up property prices for residents across the country continue. (AP)
- Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia
- Saudi Arabia records a new annual high in executions, carrying out 340 executions to date after authorities execute three additional individuals, exceeding the previous record of 338 executions in 2024. (AFP via CTV News)
- Terrorism in the United States
- Five individuals associated with the far-left Turtle Island Liberation Front are arrested for allegedly plotting a series of bombings across Southern California, United States, on New Year's Eve. (BBC News)
- Hong Kong's High Court convicts pro-democracy activist and media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and to publish seditious material under the national security law. (Reuters)
- A court in Moscow, Russia, designates protest music group Pussy Riot as an extremist group, banning its activities within Russia. (Reuters)
- Danske Bank completes its three-year corporate probation with the United States Department of Justice, concluding all regulatory proceedings related to suspicious transactions at its former Estonian branch, after pleading guilty to bank fraud conspiracy and forfeiting US$2 billion as part of a 2022 settlement. (Reuters)
- A judge in the Dominican Republic sentences seven former government officials to over a year in preventative detention in a US$250 million corruption case involving the health ministry. (AP)
December 14, 2025 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2025 Bondi Beach shooting
- Two gunmen open fire during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, killing 15 people and leaving 42 others injured. One perpetrator is killed, while the other is arrested. Two bombs are found at the scene and detonated by police. (News.au) (Al Jazeera)
- 2025 Cambodia–Thailand conflict
- Gaza war
- Hamas Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Zamzam is shot and killed by a gunman inside the Maghazi refugee camp in the Deir al-Balah Governorate, Gaza Strip. The perpetrator is arrested. (Palestine Chronicle) (Reuters)
- Israel–Hezbollah conflict
- Three people are killed in three separated Israeli airstrikes against vehicles in southern Lebanon. (L'Orient Today)
- Syrian conflict
- Four security force members are killed and another is injured in a mass shooting when gunmen open fire on a patrol in Idlib, Syria. (TRT World)
Disasters and accidents
- At least 37 people are killed and 14 more injured during flash floods in Safi, Morocco. (Al Jazeera)
- A school bus carrying students returning from a field trip falls off a cliff in Remedios, Antioquia, Colombia, killing 17 people and injuring 20 others. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Mass shootings in the United States, School violence in the United States
- 2025 Brown University shooting
- A person of interest is taken into custody for yesterday's mass shooting that killed two people and injured nine others at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. The person is later released from custody the same day, with authorities announcing that they are still searching for a suspect. (CNN) (The New York Times)
- 2025 Brown University shooting
- Crime in Guatemala
- Guatemalan president Bernardo Arévalo declares a state of emergency in two municipalities in western Guatemala a day after gunmen attacked a military post and a police station, cut off roads, and hijacked buses, killing at least five people. (CityNews Halifax)
- Killing of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner
- American filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner are stabbed to death at their home in Los Angeles, California, United States. Their son, Nick, is latter charged with the alleged murders. (NBC News), (BBC News)
Politics and elections
- 2025 Chilean general election
- Chileans vote for their president in a runoff between Jeannette Jara and José Antonio Kast. (AP)
- Kast is elected president of Chile. (Reuters)
- 2025 Czech parliamentary election
- Czech president Petr Pavel appoints prime minister Andrej Babiš's cabinet following ANO's victory in the recent election. (Reuters)
December 13, 2025 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- M23 campaign, Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda conflict
- 2025 Uvira offensive
- The March 23 Movement states that it has captured several hundred Burundian soldiers during its recent offensive in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, including around Uvira. (Reuters)
- 2025 Uvira offensive
- Middle Eastern crisis
- Gaza war
- The Israeli military kills Ra'ad Sa'ad, a senior Hamas military commander, in an airstrike against a vehicle in Gaza City, in violation of the ceasefire. Four other people were also killed in the attack, and 25 more injured. (The Times of Israel) (Al Jazeera)
- Israel–Hezbollah conflict
- The Israeli military issues an evacuation order in southern Lebanese villages in preparation for planned airstrikes on Hezbollah targets. (The Jerusalem Post)
- Syrian conflict
- An attacker identified by the United States Central Command as a member of ISIL opens fire on a joint Syrian and American convoy in Palmyra, killing two U.S. service members and one American civilian interpreter and injuring three others, before being killed by return fire. (SANA via Al Jazeera)
- Gaza war
- Sudanese civil war
- Kordofan Campaign
- A Rapid Support Forces (RSF) drone strike kills at least three people in El-Obeid, North Kordofan, Sudan. (Al Jazeera)
- An RSF drone strike on a United Nations base in Kadugli, South Kordofan, Sudan, kills six Bangladeshi peacekeepers and injures eight others. (Al Jazeera)
- Kordofan Campaign
- 2025 Cambodia–Thailand conflict
- In response to resumed clashes with Thailand, Cambodia shuts down its border crossings with Thailand. (BBC News)
- United States president Donald Trump says a new ceasefire has been brokered. However, hours later, Thai leaders announce an increased commitment to fighting Cambodian forces. (France 24)
Disasters and accidents
- Nine African migrants die due to freezing temperatures near the Algeria–Morocco border. (MSN)
- Eight people are killed and five others are injured after a multicab falls into rocky terrain in Ayungon, Negros Oriental, Philippines. (The Philippine Star)
Law and crime
- Mass shootings in the United States, School violence in the United States
- 2025 Brown University shooting
- Two people are killed and nine others are injured in a mass shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. The suspect fled the scene and is not in custody. (NBC News) (BNO News)
- 2025 Brown University shooting
- Human rights in Belarus, Belarus–United States relations
- Belarus releases 123 political prisoners, including Nobel Peace prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and protest leader Maria Kalesnikava, from prisons after the United States lifts its sanctions. (BBC)
- War on drugs
- Spanish authorities dismantle a drug-trafficking network that uses helicopters to transport large quantities of hashish from Morocco into southern Spain, arresting six suspects in a joint operation involving several European countries. (AFP via Arab News)
- Islamic terrorism in Europe
- Munich police arrest five men, including three Moroccans, one Egyptian, and one Syrian of allegedly planning to attack a Christmas market in Dingolfing, Bavaria, Germany. (DW)
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