Portal:Current events/2024 December 18
December 18, 2024 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis
- Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev says that arms sent by France to Armenia pose a threat to Azerbaijan. (Trend News Agency)
- Syrian civil war
- Syrian opposition
- Hadi al-Bahra, President of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, says that the coalition will dissolve once a national conference is convened and a constituent assembly is elected, and demands that the current transitional government be "credible, inclusive and not founded on sectarian bases". (North Press Agency)
- Syrian opposition
Disasters and accidents
- Twenty-five people are killed and dozens of others are missing when a boat capsizes on a river in Inongo, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Al Jazeera)
Health and environment
- Russian state media agency TASS claims that the nation developed an mRNA vaccine against some sort of cancer, which is planned to be distributed to patients free of charge beginning next year. However, the Russian Ministry of Health has not provided any evidence to support their claim that the vaccine treats cancer. (The Times of India) (TASS) (Newsweek)
- California, United States, declares a state of emergency over bird flu. (The New York Times)
International relations
- Indonesia–Philippines relations
- Mary Jane Veloso, a former inmate on death row in Indonesia, is repatriated to the Philippines following negotiations between the two countries. (Reuters)
- Malaysia–United States relations
- The U.S. Department of Defense repatriates two al-Qaeda members, Mohammed Farik Bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep, from Guantanamo Bay to Malaysia, where they will undergo a rehabilitation process before reintegration into society. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Legal affairs of the Tate brothers
- The Westminster Magistrates' Court rules that British police may seize £2.2 million (US$2.5 million) from influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan for allegedly failing to pay taxes on profits from their online ventures. (DW)
- The Dutch Data Protection Authority fines Netflix €4.75 million ($4.98 million) for failing to properly inform subscribers about the handling of their personal data between 2018 and 2020. (Al Arabiya)
- Eleven people are killed and two others are injured in an arson attack on a bar in Hanoi, Vietnam. (Al Jazeera)
Politics and elections
- 2024 Georgian presidential election, 2024 Georgian parliamentary election, 2024 Georgian post-election protests
- In an address to the European Parliament, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili urges the European Union to economically and politically pressure the current Georgian government into holding new elections, claiming that recent elections represented a "new form of invasion" by Russia. (Euronews) (AP)
Sports
- 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup
- In association football, Real Madrid wins the inaugural FIFA Intercontinental Cup after defeating Pachuca 3–0 in the final in Lusail, Qatar. Vinícius Júnior is awarded the Golden Ball. (The Guardian)