Israel and Palestine reported progress toward a Gaza cease-fire,as Israel launched strikes on Yemen's Sanaa airportand raided a northern Gaza hospital,a report found that the Israel Defense Forces' actions likely influenced Hamas' decision to execute six hostages in August,and the Vatican's ambassador to Israel was summoned for a meeting after the pope labeled Israel's campaign in Gaza as "cruelty."This comes as Syria's militant groups agreed to merge under the nation's Defense Ministry,12 Syrian security forces were reportedly killed in an attack by Bashar al-Assad loyalists,and Pakistani airstrikes reportedly killed dozens in Afghanistan.Meanwhile, Russia launched renewed attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure,France handed over a military base to Chad amid a nationwide withdrawal,and the UN reported that a record 473M children now live in conflict zones.

French Prime Minister François Bayrou appointed a new government,Pres. Frank-Walter Steinmeier officially dissolved Germany's parliament,Romania's Marcel Ciolacu was reappointed prime minister,and former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passed away.This comes as Aisake Valu Eke was elected Tonga's new prime minister,Mozambique's top court confirmed the ruling Frelimo Party's victory in the presidential election,South Korea's parliament voted to impeach acting Pres. Han Duck-soo,and Bosnia's security minister was arrested over allegations of corruption.Meanwhile, Russia was accused of downingan Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan,an undersea power cable linking Finland and Estonia was hit by an outage,Israel's attorney general opened a probe into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife,and the wife of deposed Syrian Pres. Bashar al-Assad was reportedly given a 50% chance of surviving her recent leukemia diagnosis.

The bald eagle was officially designated the US' national bird,Pres. Joe Biden vetoed a bipartisan bill to expand the federal judiciary,and Pres.-elect Donald Trump's border czar outlined plans to revive family detention centers for illegal migrants.In other news, Biden commuted 37 of 40 federal death row sentences,a new poll found that two-thirds of adults are experiencing news fatigue,and a House ethics report accused Rep. Matt Gaetz of paying for sex and using drugs.

Hong Kong police set a $128K bounty on six activists.

A suspect was charged in the fatal burning of a woman on a New York subway,Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson,and a Dutch court jailed four individuals for their role in November's violence against Israeli soccer fans.Meanwhile, at least 6K inmates escaped from a high-security prison in Mozambique,a gang attack killed two journalists and one officer at a hospital in Haiti,and Japan Airlines faced a cyberattack.

A tech glitch disrupted American Airlines flights across the US on Christmas Eve,Nissan and Honda signed a deal to explore a potential merger,Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation sold its Australian cable TV unit Foxtel to the UK's DAZN for $2.1B,and Nordstrom reached a $6.25B deal with its founding family to go private.

US homelessness was found to have surged 18% from 2023,and the UK's economic growth was downgraded to zero for the last quarter.

Samples taken from the first severe case of bird flu in the US showed signs of viral mutations,and bird flu killed 20 felines at a wildlife sanctuary in Washington.

An Australian bushfire destroyed an area the size of Singapore,a study found that climate change has added 41 days of "dangerous" heat in 2024,and Peru declared a 90-day emergency following an oil spill..

The US National Football League's Christmas Day games on Netflix broke streaming records.

Sudan withdrew from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system.

British-Canadian computer scientist and "godfather" of AI Geoffrey Hinton predicted that AI could lead to human extinction within two decades.

US researchers made a quantum teleportation breakthrough.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe made a record-setting approach to the sun.

A South Korean plane crash left dozens dead,and a dead body was found in the wheel well of a United Airlines plane in Hawaii.

Japan considered easing its bear-hunting laws.