Disasters and accidents

Thirteen people are killed, and several others are injured when a passenger bus overturns on a highway and collides with a taxi in Isfahan Province, Iran. (AP)

• https://apnews.com/article/iran-bus-crash-isfahan-traffic-e28f553e0c9aa83d49dc9f15c639ca6a

Health and environment

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records the Arctic's warmest year since measurements began, with average temperatures from October 2024 to September 2025 standing 1.60 °C (2.88 °F) above the 1991–2020 baseline. (AFP via RFI)

• https://www.rfi.fr/en/international-news/20251216-arctic-sees-unprecedented-heat-as-climate-impacts-cascade

International relations

U.S. president Donald Trump orders a blockade on oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela. (The Telegraph)

• https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/12/17/trump-orders-blockade-sanctioned-venezuela-oil-tankers/

Law and crime

Benin places about 30 suspects, most of them soldiers, in pre-trial detention on charges including treason, murder, and endangering state security following a failed coup attempt. (AFP via Arab News)

• https://www.arabnews.com/node/2626460/world

Law and crime

The Liverpool Crown Court convicts Paul Doyle, the perpetrator who injured 130 people after ramming his car into a crowd in Liverpool, England, United Kingdom, of charges of dangerous driving and maliciously causing grievous bodily harm, and sentences him to 21 years in prison. (DW)

• https://www.dw.com/en/uk-21-years-in-jail-for-liverpool-parade-car-rammer/a-75190950

Law and crime

The U.S. State Department designates Colombian cartel and neo-paramilitary group Clan del Golfo as a foreign terrorist organization. (DW)

• https://www.dw.com/en/us-designates-colombias-largest-drug-gang-as-terror-group/a-75191506