Portal:Current events/2017 December 26

December 26, 2017 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- According to emergency services and the Houthi-owned Al Masirah, Saudi Arabian coalition air strikes kill 15 people and wound 60 at al-Shahra souq, a popular market in Taiz Governorate. (Al Jazeera) (Het Laatste Nieuws)

International relations

Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia
- Seven Israeli chess players are denied travel visas to the Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Saudi Arabia as the two countries have no diplomatic relations. Players from Qatar and Iran are given last-minute visas, while Ukrainian champion Anna Muzychuk refuses to participate because she does not want to wear an abaya. (BBC)
Russia–Syria relations
- Forty Syrian rebel and opposition groups reject Russia's offer to attend peace talks in late January 2018. (Fox News)

Law and crime

Sinai Insurgency
- Fifteen militants accused of carrying out attacks in 2013 during the Sinai Insurgency are hanged in Egypt. The last mass execution in the country took place in 2015, when six jihadists were executed. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Liberian general election, 2017
- Voters in Liberia will elect a new president in a run-off election between vice-president Joseph Boakai and former footballer George Weah. Weah is elected with 60% of the vote. (BBC) (BBC)
Mining industry of Morocco
- Thousands of Moroccans protest working conditions in Morocco's coal pits. (France 24)

Sports

Doping in Russia
- Grigory Rodchenkov, the person who exposed Russia's systematic doping of Olympic athletes, is warned by U.S. officials that Russian agents may be inside the United States looking for him, and that new security measures must be taken to ensure his safety. (UPROXX) (BBC Sport)