Portal:Current events/2024 December 30

December 30, 2024 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Business and economy

Syrian civil war
- Fall of the Assad regime
  - The Syrian transitional government appoints Maysaa Sabreen as the first female governor of the Central Bank of Syria. (Reuters)
Moldova–Russia relations
- Moldovan prime minister Dorin Recean states his country envisages the possible nationalisation of Moldovagaz company, which is 50%-owned by Russia's Gazprom, following the announcement by Gazprom that the current gas supply deal, to expire on December 31, will not be renewed. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

In Pakistan, ten people are killed and seven injured in a bus crash on a highway in Fateh Jang, Punjab. Separately, eight people are killed during a van–truck collision in Naushahro Feroze, Sindh. (AP)
Three tourists are killed and seven others are injured in a fire at a hotel on Khaosan Road in Bangkok, Thailand. (AP)

International relations

Syria–Ukraine relations
- Syria says that it hopes to form a "strategic partnership" with Ukraine following a high-level meeting in Damascus, Syria, between Syria's de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa and Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha, where the two countries re-established diplomatic relations. Ukraine also vowed to send additional food aid to Syria. (Reuters)

Law and crime

2024 South Korean martial law crisis
- The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials formally requests an arrest warrant for impeached South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol over his declaration of martial law. (Reuters)
2024 Venezuelan protests
- Venezuelan prosecutor general Tarek William Saab announces the release of 413 protesters from prison. (Reuters)
Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations
- The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a jury verdict finding Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation in E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump. (USA Today)
Yazidi genocide
- Germany's federal prosecutor charges an Iraqi couple, allegedly members of the Islamic State, with enslavement, torture, and war crimes, after they allegedly kept two Yazidi girls as slaves and sexually and physically abused them. (DW)
An Argentine judge issues arrest warrants for Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega, Vice President Rosario Murillo, and several others for alleged crimes against humanity, invoking universal jurisdiction. (Arab News)
Cuba releases Salvadoran national Raúl Ernesto Cruz León after he completes a 30-year prison sentence for his involvement in the 1997 hotel bombings. (BSS)
The Supreme Court of Venezuela fines social media platform TikTok $10 million for "not implementing measures" to prevent viral challenges that allegedly led to the death of three children. (AP)

Politics and elections

Death and state funeral of Jimmy Carter
- U.S. president Joe Biden orders a state funeral for former president Jimmy Carter to be held in Washington, D.C. on January 9. Biden also orders flags to be lowered to half-staff for thirty days in accordance with federal law. (BBC News)
Treatment of women by the Taliban
- The Taliban government of Afghanistan announces it will close all national and foreign nongovernmental organizations in the country that currently employ women. (AP)
Kenya Police fire tear gas at demonstrators in Nairobi protesting against alleged government extrajudicial abductions in the past few months. (Al Jazeera)

Science and technology

The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launches its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket carrying the Space Docking Experiment twin satellite mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh, with the satellites expected to perform a docking maneuver on January 7, 2025. (DW) (The Times of India)