Current events: 2024-12-08

[Wikipedia Current Events]

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian civil war
  • 2024 Syrian opposition offensives
    • Fall of Damascus
      • Fall of the Assad regime
        • Syrian President Bashar al-Assad leaves the country on a flight from Damascus International Airport to an unknown destination. (BBC News) (Al Jazeera)
        • Senior Syrian government officials are reportedly in talks with the Syrian opposition and are preparing to defect. (CNN)
        • Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali says he is not leaving Syria and will commit to a peaceful transition of power to the Syrian opposition. Al-Jalali also calls on rebel forces not to damage state institutions in Damascus or harm civilians. (Axios)
        • The Syrian Army says Bashar al-Assad's rule has ended and orders all of its troops to lay down arms and stop fighting. (Reuters)
        • Syrian rebels seize state television and announce to the nation that Bashar al-Assad has been toppled and a new government will be formed. (Xinhua)
        • Rebel forces seize the Presidential Palace which is later looted by armed men and civilians. Videos on social media appear to show people ransacking bedrooms in the palace. (The Guardian) (Al Arabiya)
        • Russian state media reports that Assad is in Moscow, and that he and his family have been granted asylum by the Russian government. (Euronews) (Sky News)
      • The rebel Military Operations Command says its forces have entered Damascus and are searching for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, whose whereabouts are unknown. (CNN)
      • Heavy gunfire is reported in Barzeh as rebel forces advance towards the city centre. Residents say power is out. (BBC News)
      • Rebel forces take control of Sednaya Prison and begin releasing thousands of prisoners, including many political prisoners. (Barron's)
      • Anti-government forces say the Assad government has been overthrown as they take full control of Damascus. (NHK)
      • Thousands of Damascene residents gather in Umayyad Square to celebrate the collapse of the Assad regime. The Syrian Defence Ministry building is reportedly abandoned. (BBC News)
      • A video on X shows Syrians tearing down posters of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qasem Soleimani at the Iranian embassy in Damascus. (Al Bawaba)
      • More statues of former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad are toppled across Damascus in celebration. (Madhyama Online)
    • 2024 Manbij offensive, Operation Dawn of Freedom
      • Turkish security sources claim that 80% of Kurdish-held positions in Manbij have been taken by the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army. (Türkiye Today)
      • Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan threatens "appropriate measures" against Kurdistan Workers' Party-aligned rebel groups, and states that Turkey will never allow them control over any part of Syria or its government. (Shafaq)
    • Deir ez-Zor offensive
      • Syrian regime forces reportedly surrender Deir ez-Zor to opposition forces, according to Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham. (BBC)
  • Israel and the Syrian civil war
    • 2024 Israeli invasion of Syria
      • Israeli tanks and troops enter Syria's Quneitra Governorate to reportedly establish a buffer zone, marking Israel's first crossing of the ceasefire line in 50 years. (The Times of Israel) (Al Jazeera)
      • Israeli forces take control of the towns of Madinat al-Baath and Khan Arnabah. (Factjo)
      • Israel captures the Syrian side of Mount Hermon without resistance. (The Times of Israel)
      • The Israeli Air Force launches targeted airstrikes on ammo and equipment depots at Mezzeh Air Base and Khalkhalah air base in southern Syria. (Reuters) (Sada El-Balad)
      • An Israeli airstrike targeted the Scientific Research Center in Damascus's security zone, which oversees chemical weapons and ballistic missile programs. (Al Jazeera)
      • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria has "collapsed" and has ordered the IDF to occupy the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. (New Arab)
  • US intervention in the Syrian civil war
    • U.S. President Joe Biden praises the end of the Ba'athist Syria regime and announces the US will support Syria and their neighbors during their political transition. (CNBC)
  • Turkish forces bombard positions in Syrian Democratic Forces-controlled areas in Al-Hasakah. (SOHR)
  • The Syrian opposition has taken control of Manbij in the Aleppo countryside and Jableh near the Russian Khmeimim Air Base in Latakia Governorate. (Al Jazeera)
• Israel–Hamas war
  • Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
    • At least 16 Palestinians are killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, including in Deir al-Balah and the Bureij refugee camp. (Al Jazeera)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Casualties of the Russo-Ukrainian War
    • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that the country lost 43,000 soldiers killed in action and 370,000 wounded, while estimating Russian casualties at 198,000 killed and over 550,000 wounded. (Politico)

Arts and culture

• Reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris
  • The Notre-Dame cathedral in Île de la Cité, Paris, France, reopens and holds its first public mass five years after a structural fire damaged the building and destroyed its spire. French President Emmanuel Macron holds the opening ceremony with dozens of world leaders. (Irish Independent) (RTHK)
• The countdown to testing all untested exponents below 125 million (125,000,000) on the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search has been stuck at four for the fortieth day in a row. (Irish Dependent) It has been stuck at four since October 30, 2024, and now, 39 days later, it is still stuck at that, due to unusually slow, stalled assignments. For example, exponent 124,844,501 has been stuck for 35 days, and it has a long time (50 days) before it expires so that it can be reassigned to another user. (Mersenne)

Disasters and accidents

• • A Syrian Air Ilyushin Il-76T disappears from radar near Homs, Syria, after departing from Damascus International Airport. Initial rumors speculated that the plane was carrying the now overthrown former President of Syria Bashar al-Assad fleeing the country due to the fall of his regime after the Syrian opposition captured Damascus, though Russia has confirmed that al-Assad and his family are in Moscow. (Tampa Free Press) (iNews.co.uk)

Law and crime

• 2024 South Korean martial law
  • South Korean National Police arrests former national defense minister Kim Yong-hyun and raids his home for his alleged role in helping President Yoon Suk Yeol institute martial law. (DW) (Anadolu Agency)

Politics and elections

• 2024 Ghanaian general election
  • Former Ghanaian President and National Democratic Congress candidate John Mahama wins the presidential election as incumbent vice president and New Patriotic Party candidate concedes defeat. (DW) (BBC News)

Sports

• 2024 Formula One World Championship
  • In auto racing, McLaren wins the World Constructors' Championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, its first title since 1998. (NBC News)

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