Portal:Current events/2012 December 25

December 25, 2012 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian civil war:
- Rebels take over the city of Harem in Idlib Governorate on the border with Turkey, about 55 kms west of Aleppo. (Al Jazeera)
- Pope Benedict XVI calls for a political solution to the conflict in Syria during his Christmas message, delivered to thousands of pilgrims in Vatican City. (BBC) (The Guardian) (Reuters)
Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen:
- Six AQAP militants and two Yemeni soldiers are killed after clashes near a damaged oil pipeline in Ma'rib Governorate. Separately, gunmen target military officials and the home of the transport minister in the capital Sana'a, killing a brigadier general and injuring four others. (Reuters)
Nigerian Sharia conflict:
- Suspected members of Boko Haram attack a church in northeastern Nigeria, killing six people. (Reuters)
2012 Central African Republic rebellion:
- The Seleka rebel coalition captures Kaga-Bandoro, the fourth major city to fall since the return to hostilities on December 10. Meanwhile, President François Bozizé meets with military advisors in the capital Bangui. (France 24)

Arts and culture

Elizabeth II addresses her Commonwealth subjects in her annual Royal Christmas Message, referring to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the "humbling" experience of her diamond jubilee celebrations. Her speech – the first to be broadcast in 3D – does not include mention the recently-announced pregnancy of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, wife of her eldest grandson. (The Guardian) (Independent)

Disasters and accidents

An Antonov An-72 plane carrying senior Kazakh border officials crashes close to the city of Shymkent, killing all 27 on board. (BBC)
An Air Bagan plane carrying more than 60 passengers, including many foreigners, from the city of Yangon to Heho Airport in Shan State, Burma, makes an emergency landing, killing a passenger and a motorcyclist and injuring 11 others. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
An alert is issued after the Copahue stratovolcano, located on the border between Argentina and Chile, begins spewing ash. (Al Jazeera)
Five people are killed when a Mi-8 helicopter of Ukraine's internal troops crashes in Oleksandriia, Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukraine. (RIA Novosti)
Two young brothers and a woman are killed motor car accident on the northbound carriageway of the M6 motorway in Staffordshire, England. (BBC) (The Guardian)
At least eight people have died and thousands been left homeless in the Philippines after two fires struck Manila on Christmas Day. A fire has sparked violent clashes between residents and firefighters. (SkyNews) (AFP/Reuters via ABC Australia) (BBC)

International relations

Iran rebuffs a Stuxnet-style computer worm attack on a power plant in southern Iran. Tehran accuses Israel and the United States of planting the malware. (BBC)

Law and crime

A man rams his car into a group of schoolchildren in Hebei, China, with at least 13 casualties reported. (BBC) (South China Morning Post) (RTHK) (The New York Times)

Politics and elections

Egypt announces the ratification of a new Constitution adopted in constitutional referendum. (The Washington Post)
Recently re-elected Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez starts walking and exercising again following a recent cancer operation. (BBC)
Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, criticises the UK government's plans for gay marriage as a "shambles", saying they do not have a mandate to introduce the policy. (BBC) (The Guardian)
Israel greenlights the fast-track development of another 1,200 housing units around Jerusalem, including East 1. This week's total now stands at 5,500, the largest in some time. (The Guardian) (The Jerusalem Post)
In his Christmas Day message, Seán Brady, the controversial head of Ireland's Catholic hierarchy, calls upon his flock to continue their opposition to abortion. In the wake of the death of Savita Halappanavar, the Indian dentist recently denied an abortion of her dying foetus by Ireland's conservative laws, the country's government is once again to attempt to legislate for the 1992 X Case in the coming year, with Ireland the only remaining EU state to outlaw the procedure. (Daily Mail) (RTÉ News) (The Irish Times)

Sport

In tennis, Rafael Nadal's long-awaited comeback from a knee injury has had to be postponed because of illness. He is out of an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi, UAE. (BBC) (Reuters)