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 
December 29
Disasters and accidents
Two people are killed and British boxer Anthony Joshua is injured when a car crashes into a stationary truck on the Ogun–Lagos state expressway near Lagos, Nigeria.
Source:
BBC News
Armed conflicts and attacks
Hamas confirms the death of the spokesperson of the al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obaida, and other officials.
Source:
Reuters
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
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 island encirclement 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
Three people, including a toddler, are killed and three others are injured when a building collapses in Soweto, South Africa.
Source:
AP
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 pop 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
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
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
December 27
Law and crime
The Iranian justice ministry seizes a foreign-flagged oil tanker carrying 25,000 barrels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz and detains its sixteen crew members on allegations of carrying illegal items.
Source:
AP
A joint operation between the Italian state police and the financial police results in the arrest of nine people for allegedly raising about 7 million (US$8.2 million) through charities and diverting most of the funds to Hamas following the 2023 attack on Israel.
Source:
UPI
Disasters and accidents
Fifteen people are killed and 19 more injured as a bus plunges in to a ravine while driving on the Inter-American Highway in Sololá Department, Guatemala.
Source:
Al Jazeera
An accident involving two cars after an improper overtaking kills eleven people on the BR-101 highway near Mucuri, Bahia, Brazil.
Source:
UOL
At least nine people are killed and eight others are injured when a bus carrying 19 charity workers overturns on a mountain in Phình Hồ, Lào Cai province, Vietnam.
Source:
Tuổi Trẻ
A M 7.0 earthquake, rated intensity four on the Central Weather Administration seismic intensity scale, strikes 32 km (20 mi) off the coast of Yilan, Taiwan, causing a temporary power outage for over 3,000 households.
Source:
CNN
Business and economy
China sanctions 20 United States defense-related companies and ten executives for providing weapons to Taiwan last week.
Source:
AP
Chilean state-owned mining company Codelco and private miner SQM create a joint venture to develop lithium in the Atacama salt flat until 2060, with the Chilean state set to receive the majority of operating margins.
Source:
Barron's
The National People's Congress of China passes a revised trade law that will expand the government's authority to counter trade restrictions, regulate exports of strategic goods, and update provisions on digital, green, and intellectual-property trade from March 1, 2026.
Source:
Reuters
Politics and elections
Citizens of the Ivory Coast vote for the 255 members of the National Assembly despite the opposition Democratic Party boycotting due to alleged election fraud by the ruling RHDP party.
Source:
DW
The Italian Parliament approves a reform that reduces the powers of the Court of Audit over public spending, caps financial penalties for negligent administrators at 30% of losses or two years of salary, and introduces automatic approval if the court does not respond within 30 days.
Source:
Reuters
Armed conflicts and attacks
Two people are killed and 32 are injured during a Russian missile and drone strike on Kyiv, Ukraine. Damage to critical infrastructure leaves 40% of Kyiv's residential areas and surrounding districts without heating.
Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present)Kyiv strikes (2022–present)Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
Source:
BBC News
Denis Kapustin, leader of the Ukraine-aligned neo-Nazi Russian Volunteer Corps, is killed in a Russian drone strike in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Source:
The Moscow Times
The Rapid Support Forces kill over 200 civilians in ethnically motivated attacks targeting non-Arabs in West Darfur and during advances in North Darfur, according to the Sudan Doctors Union.
Source:
The Express Tribune
The Nigerien government declares a nationwide mobilization that authorizes the conscription of citizens and the requisition of property and services to support operations against jihadist insurgent groups.
Source:
AFP via France 24