Portal:Current events/2024 December 25

December 25, 2024 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Israel–Hamas war
- Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
  - Siege of North Gaza, Gaza famine
    - The United States-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network removes a report estimating that food insecurity conditions in northern Gaza have surpassed the highest IPC famine thresholds, after the United States envoy to Israel criticized the report's methodology as "irresponsible" for "outdated" and "inflated" estimates of the civilian population of Gaza. (FEWS NET) (Times of Israel)
Somali Civil War
- Constitutional crisis in Somalia
  - Jubaland crisis
    - The federal government of Somalia imposes a flight ban on Jubaland, including all flights to and from Jubaland, particularly affecting the cities of Kismayo and Doolow. The flight ban was initiated amid ongoing political tensions and military engagements after Jubaland forces reportedly defeated Somali Armed Forces in several locations, including Ras Kamboni, Kulbiyow, and Dolow. (Garowe Online) (The Somali Digest) (Eastleigh Voice)
Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure, Ukrainian energy crisis
  - A series of Russian ballistic missile and drone strikes target critical energy infrastructure in cities across in Ukraine, killing at least two people, injuring 20 others, and causing widespread emergency blackouts. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemns Russian President Vladimir Putin for the "inhumane" attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. (The Kyiv Independent) (The Guardian) (RTÉ)
Sudanese civil war
- 2024 famine in Sudan
  - The IPC Famine Review Committee determines the presence of famine in five areas in Darfur and South Kordofan, Sudan, and estimates that five more areas will face famine by May 2025 due to ongoing conflict and blocked aid distribution. (BBC News Hausa)
Ethiopian civil conflict
- Ethiopian military forces close the country's border with Somalia following ongoing heavy fighting in rural areas of Harshin, Fafan Zone, between Ethiopia's Somali regional forces and local clan militias after the killing of a local security chief and his bodyguards. Hundreds of people, including children, flee from their homes. (Hiiraan Online) (Somali Guardian)
Syrian civil war
- Syria's new government says that fourteen of its troops were killed and 10 others were injured in clashes with Assad regime loyalists in Tartus Governorate. (BBC News) (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243
- An Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 aircraft carrying 67 passengers from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia, crashes while being diverted to Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 people and injuring 29 others. (Al Jazeera) (NPR)
HVDC submarine power cable Estlink 2, which connects the power grids of Estonia and Finland, suffers an unexplained outage with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo stating that an investigation into the incident is underway. (AP)

International relations

Israel–Hezbollah conflict
- Lebanon files a new complaint to the UN Security Council over Israel's ceasefire violations. (Bastille Post)

Law and crime

More than 1,500 inmates escape from a prison in Maputo, Mozambique, after knocking down a wall during a riot. At least 33 people are killed and 15 others are injured. (BBC News) (Al Jazeera)
Syrian authorities impose a curfew from 6 pm to 8 am in Homs following a series of protests by Alawite and Shi'ite Muslim minority groups. (Reuters)
A Turkish court sentences the owner and architect of the Grand Isias Hotel in Adıyaman to more than 18 years in prison for negligent homicide after 72 people died when the hotel collapsed in the 2023 earthquakes. (DW)

Politics and elections

2025 Kosovan parliamentary election
- Kosovo's election appeals authority allows the Serb List party, a Serb ethnic party, to participate in the upcoming election, stating that the party meets legal certification requirements. (AP)

Science and technology

2024 in archosaur paleontology
- Scientists confirm the discovery of the Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus dinosaur species in Kyrgyzstan, the first theropod from the Jurassic period to be discovered in Central Asia. (Tempo)