Armed conflicts and attacks

• War in Donbas, Russo-Ukrainian War
  • Ukraine warns of "combat preparedness" of separatist forces in eastern Ukraine as the Russian military presence on the border increases, warning of a potential new conflict. The separatists began mobilization of reservists yesterday. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

• Artefacts from the Battle of Magdala taken in 1868 are returned to Ethiopia by the United Kingdom. (WION)

Business and economy

• 2018–2021 Turkish currency and debt crisis
  • The Turkish lira falls to an all-time low of 13.44 to the U.S. dollar. The crash was primarily caused by president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's defense of the Central Bank's continued interest rate cuts amid soaring inflation. (CNBC)

Disasters and accidents

• 2021 Bulgaria bus crash
  • Forty-six people are killed and seven more are injured when a bus carrying Macedonian tourists returning from Istanbul crashes and catches fire near Bosnek, Pernik Province, Bulgaria. (The New York Times)
• Two people are killed and 16 others are injured by an explosion at an EDePro rocket engine plant near Belgrade, Serbia. (7 News)
• Six people are dead and ten others are missing after the ferry they were travelling on capsizes in Kinniya, Sri Lanka. (ABC News Australia)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland
    • COVID-19 vaccination in Switzerland
      • Swissmedic approves the extension of booster doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to people over the age of 16 years as well as high-risk people over the age of 12 years. (The Times of India)
    • COVID-19 drug development
      • The Swiss government signs a deal to reserve 8,640 doses of Merck & Co.'s antiviral drug molnupiravir beginning in January. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Australia surpasses 200,000 cases of COVID-19. (Yahoo! News)

Law and crime

• Waukesha Christmas parade attack
  • An eight-year-old boy, injured during the attack in Waukesha, Wisconsin, dies, bringing the death toll to six. Several of the sixty-two injured still remain in critical condition. (CNN)
  • The suspect, 39-year-old Darrell Brooks, has been charged with six counts of first-degree intentional homicide, and the bail set at $5 million. (France 24)
• Colombian peace process
  • United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrives in Colombia to commemorate the fifth year of the signing of the peace deal between the government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. (MercoPress)
  • The Biden administration announces the delisting of the former FARC rebel group from the United States Department of State list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations where it had been listed since 1997. (Reuters)
• Sines v. Kessler
  • A U.S. federal jury finds the organizers of 2017's Unite the Right rally, which includes white supremacists Richard B. Spencer, Jason Kessler, and Christopher Cantwell, liable for the violence that occurred and are ordered to pay US$26 million to nine individuals that suffered "physical and emotional damages". However, the jury was deadlocked on whether to convict on two federal conspiracy charges. (DW) (CNN)