Four attackers storm the Directorate of Agricultural Training Institute in Pakistan and exchange fire with police and army personnel. The four attackers are killed in the attack, and at least 12 people are killed and 35+ are injured.
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claims responsibility.
(Arab News)
The government of
Honduran President
Juan Orlando Hernández, who is seeking re-election, imposes a ten-day curfew after allegations of electoral fraud and calls for an election recount resulted in violent protests across the country.
(AP via ABC News)
The former president of Yemen
Ali Abdullah Saleh suggests that he is open to talking to the Saudi-led coalition that his forces have been fighting for years.
(BBC)
Voyager 1 successfully fires backup maneuvering thrusters, that had previously remained inactive for 37 years. Those thruster firings are to keep the spacecraft's antenna pointed at Earth, which is vital to maintain communications.
(Ars Technica)
A 10-tonne fishing boat collides with a 336-tonne fuel tanker near
Yeongheung Island,
South Korea, killing 13 of the 22 people on board the fishing boat. Two people remain missing.
(Radio New Zealand)
The lawyer of
Ahmed Shafiq, a candidate for the spring 2018
presidential elections in
Egypt, says she met him in a hotel room in
Cairo following his arrest the day before in
Dubai,
U.A.E., after saying earlier today that his family didn't know his whereabouts.
(Ahram Online)(BBC)
Several thousand
opposition supporters demonstrate in central
Kiev, calling for the
parliament to adopt legislation on presidential impeachment.
(RFE/RL)
Jordan's foreign minister
Ayman Safadi has warned the U.S. of "dangerous consequences" if it recognizes
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
(BBC)
Hamas calls the U.S. government's plan to recognize
Jerusalem as the capital of
Israel "a flagrant attack on the city by the American administration" and threatens to start a Third
Intifada.
(France 24)
France puts the concern on the
E.U. Ecofin agenda that the current version of the
United States fiscal act would unduly penalize E.U. companies by taxing their U.S. operations beyond locally produced
value added.
(Le Figaro)
Apple Inc. and
Ireland agree on an interim deal to put €13 billion in an escrow fund for the repayment of back taxes, starting early 2018. Still, both parties refute that the alleged "
sweetheart"
corporate tax deals were illegal. In 2016, the
European Commission found that an unfair advantage of €13 billion is to be reimbursed.
(Silicon Republic)
Debbie Wesson Gibson, one of the women accusing
Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, shares evidence of their relationship when she was 17 to the press.
(Washington Post)
Due to persistent high winds, a fire begins and quickly spreads—at a rate of up to one acre per second—near
Santa Paula, California, covering now at least 50,000 acres (200 km2), crawling into the edges of
Ventura and cutting power to 260,000 homes. 7,700 houses are under mandatory evacuation.
(LA Times)(CNN)
According to a Palestinian spokesman,
Donald Trump calls
Mahmoud Abbas, "outlining his intentions" to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. The
Palestinian President warns him against the dangers of such a step and says that he will continue reaching out to world leaders to prevent it from happening.
(CNN)
As police arrive at the stateless
Mikheil Saakashvili's house in
Kiev to detain him, Saakashvili goes up on the roof to protest verbally. Police then detain him and try to take him away in a blue minivan while hundreds of people block the street. Finally the supporters free him out of the van. Bespeeching the cameras again, he rails against corruption, against
Petro Poroshenko and urges Ukrainians to "be afraid of nothing".
(The Guardian)(U.S. News & World Report)(Reuters)(Interfax Ukraine)
After several days of violent protests due to allegations of electoral fraud,
Honduran police have announced that they will not enforce a government-mandated curfew.
(The Guardian)
UNICEF reports that as many as 17 million babies worldwide face potential
brain development issues due to their exposure to
toxicity levels more than six times higher than considered safe in
air.
(BBC)
Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu praises the announcement as a "historic landmark."
(BBC)
President of the State of PalestineMahmoud Abbas says the move undermines the U.S. position as a peace mediator while the Palestinian Islamist group
Hamas says that the decision would "open the gates of hell on U.S. interests in the region."
(BBC)
The
Arab League calls it "a dangerous measure that would have repercussions" and also questions the future role of the U.S. as a "trusted mediator" in peace talks.
(BBC)
Investigators discover brain abnormalities in the victims. They are now carefully not using the term "sonic" to describe the attacks and there is growing skepticism it was caused by a sonic device, with the sound heard by victims being a by-product of the brain damage. The
white matter of the brains showed changes which doctors believe could not be caused by sound.
(Yahoo! News)
United States Senator
Al Franken announces that he will resign "in the coming weeks" amid sexual harassment allegations.
(Time)
Arizona Congressman
Trent Franks announces that he will resign on January 31, 2018. This announcement comes after two of his employees filed a complaint about his conduct, and the
House Ethics Committee opened a sexual harassment investigation.
(Fox News)
Voters in
Nepal go to the polls for the second round of a historic legislative election. The turnout is 67%, up from 65% in the first round.
(Foreign Affairs)(Economic Times)
Russian jets carry out airstrikes in a village in the northwestern
Idlib Governorate, where a de-escalation zone exists, killing at least five civilians.
(World Bulletin)
New evacuations are ordered as the fires spread toward a string of
California coastal cities.
Santa Ana winds and rugged mountain terrain continue to hamper firefighting efforts. Authorities report the
Thomas Fire is only 15 percent contained.
(Los Angeles Times)(Reuters)
The spying charge death sentence against
Vrije Universiteit Brussel guest-lecturer Ahmadreza Djalali is now executable, since his
Iranian lawyer did not appeal the verdict and sentence within the required three-week limit.
(De Standaard)(VRT)
An attempted terrorist attack occurs when a homemade pipe bomb worn by a man explodes near
New York City's
Port Authority Bus Terminal. Three people, as well as the attacker, are injured. The suspect, identified as Akayed Ullah, is in custody.
(The New York Times)(CNN)
During a visit to
Syria, his first, President
Vladimir Putin announces that a significant part of Russian forces will withdraw from Syria now that
ISIL has been defeated in the country.
(BBC)(RT)
U.S. District Judge
Colleen Kollar-Kotelly denies a
Trump administration request to enforce the ban on transgender troops while this case is under appeal, thereby reaffirming her order that requires the U.S. military to accept transgender recruits effective January 1, 2018.
(Reuters)
Turkey's state news agency announces that prosecutors in
Istanbul have requested life sentences against six people, including journalist brothers Ahmet and Mehmet Altan and chronicler Nazli Ilicak. One of the accusations is reportedly "having committed a crime in the name of a terror organization without being a member of it."
(Yenisafak)(RTBF)
U.S. President
Donald Trump signs the "Space Policy Directive 1" that establishes the foundation for a crewed mission to the
Moon, while also maintaining a longer-term
NASA goal of landing a man on
Mars.
(Reuters)
South Korea beats
North Korea 1–0 in
Tokyo. The
Japanese authorities gave the North Korean players a special visa to enable their participation in the
event that was formerly known as the East Asian Cup.
(Sporza)
At least 30 people are reported to have been killed in Saudi-led coalition air strikes on a rebel military police camp in
Yemen's capital,
Sanaa.
(BBC)
Colombia's biggest
narcoticsgang,
Clan del Golfo (
AGC), declares a cease-fire in effect since December 13. They say the gesture is meant "to contribute to a full, total and
lasting peace." The
Colombian government says that it welcomes the move but also that it will continue their pressure on the organization.
(GMA Network)
Israeli company
Teva Pharmaceutical, the world's largest
generic drug manufacturer, is restructuring in order to pay off debt, and will be cutting its work force by about a quarter.
(Reuters)
A firefighter is killed while battling the
Thomas Fire, the second death linked to the fourth largest wildfire in California history.
(The Washington Post)
The Supreme Court of Justice of
Guatemala rules not to allow the implementation of a usage manual from the Procuratorate of Human Rights for talks and workshops about
sexuality due to the document's views on
abortion, which, except risk for mother's life, is
illegal in the
country.
(Prensa Libre)
The main opposition party of
Peru,
Popular Force, which has the absolute majority in
Congress, gives the
presidentPedro Pablo Kuczynski less than 24 hours to present his resignation. This comes after it revealed that he received large sums of money from the
Odebrecht construction company, through a financial advisory firm of his property, in exchange of the concession of important infrastructures for the country.
(Reuters)
A 17-volume report detailing children's experiences of sexual abuse in
Australian institutions is published. It concludes that the issue is systemic and "not a case of a few rotten apples". It contains 189 new recommendations, for a total of 406. This report finalizes a five-year
Royal Commission inquiry.
(Ten News)
The most recent U.S. government statistics show a marked increase in the yearly number of deaths by
drug overdose. The number for end May 2017 is 66,324, up 17% when compared to the previous 12-month period.
(U.S. News & World Report)
Former
economy ministerAlexey Ulyukaev is found guilty of soliciting a $2 million bribe from
Rosneft's
Igor Sechin. He is sentenced to 8 years in prison. Ulyukayev is the most senior serving official to be arrested in decades. He previously denied the charges, saying he’d been "set up".
(Reuters)
Five people are killed and at least 15 missing in a mudslide in Villa Santa Lucía, a remote village in southern
Chile, after more than 4.5 inches (11.4 cm) of rain the previous 24 hours.
PresidentMichelle Bachelet declares a state of emergency. Sunday is the
run-off election for Chile's next president.
(BBC)(The Washington Post)
Texas Rangers baseball pitcher
Cole Hamels and his wife Heidi donate their mansion and 100 acres of land in southwestern Missouri, valued at nearly $10 million, to Camp Barnabas, a charity with camps in the Missouri
Ozarks for children with special needs and chronic illnesses along with their siblings.
(New York Post)(ESPN)
Charlottesville Police Chief Alfred Thomas announces his retirement. He was previously criticized for his poor handling of the rally and counterprotests.
(NPR)(WTVR)
Houthis say that they launched a
Volcano H-2 missile targeting at the Al-Yamamah Palace in the Saudi capital city of
Riyadh. According to the Saudis, the missile was intercepted south of Riyadh and caused no casualties.
(Reuters)
The Secretary-General of the
OIC,
Yousef Al-Othaimeen, says the repeated launch of ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia served to confirm the Houthis' "hostility and criminality" and further claimed "The Houthis are trying to destabilize
Saudi Arabia and the entire region."
(Anadolu Agency)
An
NTSB spokesperson says that preliminary indications are that the train was travelling at 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) on a 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) track. The
Positive train control (PTC) safety system was not operational on the train, says
Amtrak.
(BBC)
A tour bus crash in
Mexico leaves at least 12 people dead and 18 injured. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
(The Washington Post)
The
United StatesHouse of Representatives passes the
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 by 227 votes to 203. After being sent to the
United States Senate for a vote, the Senate's parliamentarian found that several provisions in the House bill violated Senate rules, which forced the House of Representatives to call a second vote on an altered version of the legislation that has the violating provisions removed. The second vote by the House of Representatives is expected to take place on December 20, 2017.
(NBC News)
The
European Court of Justice (ECJ) rules that
Uber is officially a transport company and not a digital service, thus requiring it to accept stricter regulation and licensing within the
European Union. The case arose after Uber was told to obey local
taxi rules in
Barcelona.
(The Guardian)
16-year-old
Palestinian Ahed Tamimi, daughter of
Bassem al-Tamimi, is arrested on December 19 in a pre-dawn raid on her home in
Nabi Salih by the
Israeli army after being suspected of assaulting an Israeli soldier. Later in the day, her mother Nariman is allegedly arrested too when visiting her daughter at a police station.
(Al Jazeera)
A ferry sinks off the coast of
Luzon in the
Philippines with 251 passengers on board. At least four people are reported to have died. The toll is expected to rise, as many are still missing.
(NPR)
Judge Michael Bohren rules Anissa Weier will spend 25 years in institutional care after she was previously found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect of the 2014 stabbing of her classmate.
(WITI)
The
CubanParliament approves moving the country's municipal elections to March, and the presidential election to April, when
PresidentRaúl Castro is expected to step down.
(ABC News)
The digital cryptocurrency
Bitcoin loses a third of its value within 24 hours.
(CNN)
CSX Corporation names chief operating officer Jim Foote its new chief executive officer, succeeding
E. Hunter Harrison who died last week. Harrison had started a restructuring campaign less than a year ago.
(Reuters)
Apple Inc. faces backlash and lawsuits after admitting to slowing down the speed on some of their older phones deliberately.
(CNET)(Business Insider)
Disasters and accidents
The
Philippine Coast Guard reports that 252 passengers and crew have been rescued while five people were killed when a ferry capsized Thursday east of
Manila.
(Reuters)
Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas says he will not accept any U.S. plan for peace with Israel, because it recognized
Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
(BBC)
The
United Nations Security Council unanimously imposes new sanctions on
North Korea that caps refined petroleum product imports to 500,000 barrels a year, a 90 percent cut, and demands the repatriation of North Koreans working abroad within 24 months.
(Reuters)
Pro-independence parties retain their absolute majority in the
regional parliament, while the unionist
Citizens party secures the highest number of seats.
(BBC)
The political situation means that there is no clarity as to which party is given the right to form the government.
(BBC)
The voter turnout reaches a record high for a Catalan regional election of over 83%.
(Reuters)
The Russian
Central Election Commission refuses to register opposition leader
Alexei Navalnyas a candidate in the presidential election due to a previous embezzlement conviction, which he claims is politicized. Navalny has called for his supporters to
boycott the upcoming election in response.
(BBC)
Seven
Israeli chess players are denied travel visas to the Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in
Saudi Arabia as the two countries have no diplomatic relations. Players from Qatar and Iran are given last-minute visas, while Ukrainian champion
Anna Muzychuk refuses to participate because she does not want to wear an
abaya.
(BBC)
Fifteen militants accused of carrying out attacks in 2013 during the Sinai Insurgency are hanged in
Egypt. The last mass execution in the country took place in 2015, when six jihadists were executed.
(BBC)
Voters in
Liberia will elect a new president in a run-off election between vice-president
Joseph Boakai and former footballer
George Weah. Weah is elected with 60% of the vote.
(BBC)(BBC)
Grigory Rodchenkov, the person who exposed
Russia's systematic doping of Olympic athletes, is warned by U.S. officials that Russian agents may be inside the United States looking for him, and that new security measures must be taken to ensure his safety.
(UPROXX)(BBC Sport)
A bomb goes off in a supermarket in the
Russian city of
Saint Petersburg, injuring at least 10 people. Police say they are treating the blast as an attempted terror attack. Social media accounts linked to ISIL have claimed responsibility.
(Reuters)
A suicide bombing at a Shi‘ite cultural center and news agency in
Kabul,
Afghanistan, kills 41 people and injures 84 others.
ISIL-affiliated
Amaq News Agency says this group is responsible.
(Reuters)(CNN)
The
Libyan National Army declares full control of
Benghazi, the country's second largest city, after retaking the last district held by Islamist militants.
(Reuters)
The
White Helmets reports that Syrian government and Russian warplanes, using rockets and internationally-banned weapons - including vacuum bombs, repeatedly strike residential areas in the town of Al-Lataminah and six villages in
Idlib province, killing 22 people.
(Daily Sabah)
In
Mandaluyong, Philippines, law enforcers mistakenly fired at a Mitsubishi Adventure, which they thought carried suspects in a previous shooting incident, resulting in two people dead and two others injured. As a result, 10 police officers were relieved from the post.
(GMA News)(Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Nine people are killed in two coordinated attacks targeting
Coptic Christians in
Egypt. Two of the victims are killed by a gunman in a Coptic-owned appliance store in the
Helwan area of
Cairo. The gunman then moves to a church where he kills a further six civilians and a policeman before being arrested.
(BBC)
A man strapped with explosives takes 11 people hostage in
Kharkiv,
Ukraine. The Ukrainian police free all the hostages and arrest the man.
(Reuters)
Arts and culture
Nepal bans solo climbers, double amputees and blind climbers from scaling its mountains, including
Mount Everest, in a bid to reduce accidents. This has been criticized by successful double-amputee Everest climbers.
(BBC)
A large number of
fireworks accidentally go off in a barge at a
New Year's Day show in
Terrigal,
NSW,
Australia, causing thousands to be evacuated from the beach by police and the two people on the barge to suffer minor injuries.
(BBC)
A truck collision in western
Kenya kills at least 36 people and injures 18.
(The Standard)
Five
Douglas County,
Colorado sheriff's deputies are shot, one fatally, and two civilians are injured at a domestic disturbance call. The suspect was also killed.
(CBS News)
Indian film superstar
Rajinikanth, who has a huge following in the country and is one of Asia's highest paid actors, has announced he is entering politics.
(BBC)