2026 Ethiopian general election Ethiopians vote to elect the House of Peoples' Representatives amid continued tensions in Tigray and the ongoing Fano insurgency.
U.S. state The U.S. state of Florida files a lawsuit against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and AI-chatbot ChatGPT, accusing the chatbot of putting profit over safety. This lawsuit is the first to be filed by a U.S. state against ChatGPT.
Farmworker Four farmworkers are killed and another escapes injured in an arson attack against a minivan in Amendolara, Province of Cosenza, Italy. The perpetrators are arrested.
Murder of Henry Nowak Vickrum Digwa, a 23-year-old Sikh man, is sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum of 21 years, for murdering 18-year-old University of Southampton student Henry Nowak in Southampton, England, on 3 December 2025. Digwa's mother is also found guilty of assisting an offender by hiding the murder weapon, a knife.
Flood control projects scandal in the Philippines Philippine senator Jinggoy Estrada and former public works secretary Manuel Bonoan surrender to police after an anti-graft court orders their arrest on plunder charges related to an alleged ₱573-million (US$9.3-million) corruption scheme involving flood control projects.
Censorship in Malaysia A ban on children under the age of 16 using social media formally enters force in Malaysia. Companies that fail to comply with the new rules could face penalties of up to 10 million ringgit (US$2.5 million).
2026 Muscatine shootings Seven people, including the gunman, are killed in spree shootings across Muscatine, Iowa, United States.
Philippines–Vietnam relations The Philippines and Vietnam upgrade bilateral relations to an enhanced strategic partnership during Vietnamese president Tô Lâm's state visit to Manila.
France–Russia relations The French military, with military assistance from a U.K. Royal Navy warship, seizes a Russian shadow fleet tanker in international waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Russia says the "illegal" seizure was "bordering on international piracy".
MV ''Hondius'' hantavirus outbreak The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that five people who had been in quarantine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center's National Quarantine Unit in Omaha, Nebraska, after being exposed to the hantavirus on the MV cruise ship, have returned to their respective home states.
2023–2026 mpox epidemic Around 200 cases of mpox are reported in the Jebel Marra region of Darfur, Sudan.
2026 Central Africa Ebola epidemic Moderna announces that it will partner with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to develop a vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus.
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises citizens and residents against traveling to South Sudan, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo amidst the Ebola outbreak in these African countries.
Youths gather in Nanyuki, Kenya to protest against the establishment of a quarantine center at the Laikipia Air Base for American citizens exposed to the Ebola virus.
Fireworks Two people are hospitalized, livestock are killed, and serious property damage is reported after a massive explosion at a fireworks factory in Magħtab, Malta.
British Army A British Army soldier is killed in an accident during a military training exercise in Iraqi Kurdistan, according to the UK defence ministry.
Hanwha Group Five employees are killed and two others are injured after an explosion at a Hanwha Group aerospace plant in Daejeon, South Korea.
2026 Pacific typhoon season A total of 82,921 people are evacuated across five municipalities in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Nine people are injured in Naha and 27 municipalities in the prefecture lose power.
2026 Cuban crisis Canadian hotel operator Blue Diamond Resorts ends its operations in Cuba, citing reduced air service and operational challenges after managing 62 properties on the island.
Economic impact of the 2026 Iran war Terminal 1 at Kuwait International Airport resumes operations as part of a phased reopening plan following repair, development, and upgrade works. Additionally, the airport resumes operations to Arab and foreign airlines after the airport has been closed since the war started on February 28.
Oil prices increase by nearly 8% on the announcement of the peace talks ending, with West Texas Intermediate rising to US$94.20 per barrel and Brent Crude to US$97.23 per barrel.
Mali War Eight people are killed and 42 others are injured after a bus struck a land mine on a road between Bamako and Kayes, Mali.
Sudanese civil war Fifty-eight people are killed in multiple Rapid Support Forces attacks over the past four days in various villages near Bara, North Kordofan, Sudan.
Herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria An early-morning bandit attack in Kabba-Bunu, Kogi State, Nigeria, leaves two people dead and five injured, with 30 civilians kidnapped. Twenty-three civilians are later rescued by the Nigerian Army.
Middle Eastern crisis Staff Sergeant Adam Tzarfati of Maglan, a sayeret of the IDF's Commando Brigade, is confirmed to be killed in a Hezbollah drone attack in southern Lebanon. Three other soldiers are injured in the attack.
The Iranian military command warns residents of northern Israel to evacuate if the Israeli military strikes the Dahieh suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, in response to an Israeli evacuation order.
The Lebanese government receives confirmation about Hezbollah’s agreement to a new ceasefire with Israel.
The U.S. embassy in Beirut confirms that Hezbollah has accepted a proposal by the United States for a “mutual cessation of attacks" after Israel threatened Beirut with strikes on the eve of a fourth round of peace talks.
U.S. president Donald Trump says that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to dial back on fighting after holding a call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hezbollah.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says that their naval forces have attacked the Panama-flagged "US-owned" container ship MSC "Sariska" in response to an alleged US attack on an Iranian ship in the Sea of Oman.
The U.S. Central Command intercepts two Iranian ballistic missiles targeting the U.S. military base in Kuwait that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says was used for on attack on Bandar Sirik, Iran.
Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi says that Iran and Oman are the only two countries with the right to "exercise sovereignty" over the Strait of Hormuz, and that Iran implemented a new process for controlling maritime traffic in coordination with Oman.
Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian says that Iran will allow ships from Japan to pass the Strait of Hormuz.
United States president Donald Trump says that Iran's pause on peace talks does not mean the U.S. will resume airstrikes, but the naval blockade will continue.
U.S. president Donald Trump says that ceasefire negotiations are still ongoing, contradicting reports of Iran backing out of talks.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi asks Pakistani foreign minister and deputy prime minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar to help facilitate de-escalation and express concern about Israel's violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon.
Iranian parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says that the U.S. naval blockade of Iran and the Israeli attacks on Lebanon are violations of the Iran–U.S. ceasefire agreement.
Iran announces a pause on peace talks with the United States, and, alongside the Axis of Resistance, announces plans to "completely block" the Strait of Hormuz and threatens to close the Strait of Mandeb, ruling out any further talks until Israel ends its military operations in Lebanon and Gaza.