Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian civil war
  • Ten people are killed and two others are injured after Islamic State gunmen open fire on a bus carrying oil workers in Deir ez-Zor. (Al Jazeera)
• Terrorism in Egypt
  • Four people are killed and 12 more injured during a mass shooting at a police checkpoint in Ismailia, Egypt. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

• Aftermath of the Boksburg explosion
  • The death toll from the fuel tanker explosion in Boksburg, South Africa, six days ago, increases to 34. (Al Jazeera)
• Seven people are killed and four others are injured in a gas cylinder explosion at a restaurant in Aydın, Turkey. (Daily Sabah)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • Travel during the COVID-19 pandemic
    • France, Israel, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom announce that they will require travelers from China to present a negative COVID-19 test in order to enter their countries. (AFP via Hong Kong Free Press)

Law and crime

• 2022 University of Idaho killings
  • In Pennsylvania, United States, the alleged perpetrator of a mass stabbing of four University of Idaho students, 28-year-old Bryan Christopher Kohberger, is arrested by police in the Pocono Mountains. (CNN)
• A court in Myanmar delivers its final verdict on ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi's cases, sentencing her to seven years in prison, with an overall sentence of 33 years' imprisonment. (CNN)
• A judge in Bolivia orders opposition figure Luis Fernando Camacho to be remanded in detention for four months on "terrorism charges", as opposition parties call for a national strike. (AP)

Politics and elections

• Venezuelan presidential crisis
  • The National Opposition Assembly votes to terminate Juan Guaidó's interim government and opposition leadership, with Guaidó's disputed acting presidency expected to end on January 4. (The New York Times)