December 20, 2025 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

The United States Coast Guard intercepts and seizes an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela after previously seizing another last week.

(Reuters), (BBC), (The Washington Post)

Operation Southern Spear2025 United States naval deployment in the Caribbean, United States–Venezuela relations

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The United States and Jordan carry out airstrikes on 70 Islamic State targets at multiple locations in Syria, in retaliation for the December 2025 Palmyra attack.

(BBC News)

Operation Hawkeye StrikeUS intervention in the Syrian civil war

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Disasters and accidents

Seven elephants are killed and another is injured when a passenger train strikes a herd in the Hojai district of Assam, India.

(DW), (Reuters)

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Law and crime

Iran executes a man convicted of spying for Israeli intelligence agency Mossad in Urmia.

(AP), (Iran Human Rights)

Capital punishment in Iran

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A Pakistani court sentences former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to 17 years in prison after finding them guilty of corruption-related charges.

(AP)

Arrest of Imran Khan

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Science and technology

German engineer Michaela Benthaus becomes the first person in a wheelchair and the first with paraplegia to travel to space on a sub-orbital trip conducted by Blue Origin.

(DW)

Blue Origin NS-37

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