The U.S. Department of Justice announces that it will review 5.2 million documents of the Epstein files.
Source:
Reuters 
December 31
Law and crime
Armed conflicts and attacks
Source:
ABC News
Business and economy
Iran appoints Abdolnaser Hemmati as the new Governor of the Central Bank of Iran following protests.
Source:
ABC News
Arts and culture
The Six Flags Qiddiya City amusement park officially opens to the public in Saudi Arabia, with the Falcons Flight attraction breaking records as the worlds tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster.
Source:
Arab News
December 30
Politics and elections
Source:
Reuters
Congolese president Denis Sassou Nguesso announces his candidacy for re-election in the upcoming election.
Source:
AFP via France 24
Armed conflicts and attacks
Israel announces the suspension of many international humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, the International Rescue Committee, and divisions of Oxfam and Caritas, from operating in Gaza starting January 1 for allegedly failing to pass new rules to vet the organizations and cooperating with Hamas and other militant groups.
Source:
AP
The Royal Saudi Air Force strikes the port of Mukalla, Yemen, targeting a ship with weapons delivered from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the Southern Transitional Council.
Yemeni civil war (2014–present)2025 Southern Yemen offensiveSaudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil warSaudi Arabia–United Arab Emirates relations
Source:
AP
Yemen ends its defense pact with the UAE, with its leader Rashad al-Alimi ordering all Emirati forces to depart within 24 hours. He also declares a 90-day national state of emergency and a three-day blockade of the country's southern and eastern regions. The UAE later announces that its remaining forces in Yemen will leave the country.
Source:
Morocco World News
Business and economy
Moody's downgrades the credit rating of the city of Budapest, Hungary, to Ba1 and places it on review for a further cut, citing weak liquidity, uncertainty over state transfers, rising solidarity tax obligations, and the partial suspension of European Union funds to Hungary.
Source:
Reuters
Disasters and accidents
Two trains on a rail line between Cusco to Machu Picchu in Urubamba province, Peru, collide, killing a train driver and injuring 40 passengers.
Source:
CBS News
The search for the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 resumes in the southern Indian Ocean under a contingent fee agreement between Ocean Infinity, which has deployed autonomous underwater vehicles, and the Malaysian government.
Source:
AFP via France 24
Law and crime
United States federal judge Angel Kelley of Massachusetts blocks the Trump administration's plan to end temporary protected status for South Sudanese nationals, issuing an administrative stay that prevents the expiration of deportation protections while a legal challenge proceeds.
Source:
Reuters
Turkish police detain 357 people nationwide suspected of being Islamic State members following clashes between the two sides yesterday.
Source:
DW
Syrian authorities arrest 21 people in the Latakia Governorate and impose a curfew in the provincial capital following sectarian violence linked to unrest after a mosque bombing and protests in Alawite-majority areas.
Source:
AFP via Al Arabiya
Health and environment
The South African Police Service confirms at least 41 young men were killed from circumcision procedures during traditional initiation activities over the past two months in South Africa.
Source:
MSN
December 29
Law and crime
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission raids multiple companies and freezes six bank accounts while investigating alleged bribery linked to army procurement contracts, as army chief Muhammad Hafizuddeain Jantan is placed on leave pending the inquiry.
Source:
Reuters
The Syrian transitional government orders the military to secure a mass grave at a former military base near Al-Dumayr, Rif Dimashq Governorate, and opens a criminal investigation into a covert operation that transferred thousands of bodies there from another site during the previous administration.
Source:
Reuters
Three people are killed and four others are injured, including one critically, in a livestreamed mass shooting when suspected Jalisco New Generation Cartel gunmen open fire on a Lamborghini in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico.
Source:
BNO News
Russian president Vladimir Putin signs a law allowing the government to disregard criminal judgments issued by foreign or international courts that lack a treaty basis or a United Nations Security Council mandate.
Source:
Reuters
Disasters and accidents
Three people are killed and another is injured when an avalanche hits a ski resort on the Pyrenees in Panticosa, Aragon, Spain.
Source:
Daily Express
Two people are killed and British boxer Anthony Joshua is injured when a car crashes into a stationary truck on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway in Ogun State, Nigeria.
Source:
TVC News
Armed conflicts and attacks
Three police officers and six Islamic State gunmen are killed in a shootout during a raid at a house in Elmalık, Yalova Province, Turkey. Eight other officers and a civilian are also wounded.
Source:
Al Jazeera
Politics and elections
Protests erupt in Tehran, Iran, for a second day after the Iranian rial drops in value and inflation rates increase by 42.2%. The leader of the Central Bank of Iran resigns in response.
Source:
AP
Haibat al-Halbousi of the Iraqi Progress Party is elected Speaker of the Council of Representatives following the recent parliamentary election.
Source:
Reuters
International relations
China conducts the largest live fire exercises to date around Taiwan, designating multiple sea and air zones for drills by naval and air units to rehearse a blockade and to signal opposition to recent United States arms sales to Taiwan.
Source:
Reuters
December 28
Disasters and accidents
At least 13 people are killed and 98 others are injured, including five critically, when a Tren Interoceánico train carrying 250 people derails in Asunción Ixtaltepec, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Source:
in Spanish
Sixteen people are killed and three others sustain burn injuries after a fire breaks out at a retirement home in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Source:
Reuters
Three people, including a toddler, are killed and three others are injured when a building collapses in Soweto, Gauteng, South Africa.
Source:
AP
Politics and elections
Citizens of Myanmar vote in the first phase to elect the nation's legislature. Two further phases of voting are expected in January.
Source:
AP
Citizens of the Central African Republic vote to elect a president and 140 members of the National Assembly. Incumbent president Faustin-Archange Touadéra seeks a third term in office.
Source:
Reuters
Guineans vote for a president as incumbent Mamady Doumbouya seeks to be elected four years after leading a coup.
Source:
Reuters
Source:
AP via ABC News
Prime Minister Albin Kurti's Vetëvendosje party wins the election with about half of the votes and an estimated 56 of the 120 assembly seats but falls short of the 61 seats required to govern without support from minority parties.
Source:
Al Jazeera
Arts and culture
After months of a high-profile legal dispute, entertainment agency ADOR terminates its contract with singer Danielle and expels her from the South Korean girl group NewJeans.
Source:
Korea JoongAng Daily
Law and crime
Nine people are killed, including five children, and three others are injured, including the perpetrator and another child, in a mass stabbing spree at multiple houses in Richelieu, Commewijne District, Suriname.
Source:
AP
The Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal sentences a former Ba'athist lieutenant to death for the massacre of Barzanis during the Anfal campaign against Kurds.
Source:
The New Region
Armed conflicts and attacks
Israel introduces new rules for aid groups, forbidding activities or criticism that "delegitimizes" Israel, without providing specific definitions. Aid groups say that the requirements are political and may hinder criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza.
Source:
ABC News
At least three people are killed and dozens of others are injured after gunfire erupts during Alawite-led protests in Latakia, Syria, demanding decentralization and for the transitional government to release Assadist detainees.
Source:
Reuters
Six people, including a two-year-old girl, are killed and three others are injured in a mass shooting at a beach in Puerto López, Manabí Province, Ecuador.
Source:
TRT World