Portal:Current_events/2017_December_6 Knowpia

December 6, 2017 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- President Vladimir Putin declares victory over the Islamic State terror group across both banks of the river Euphrates. (TASS)
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that Russian air strikes kill 21 people in a village on the eastern side of the Euphrates river in Deir al-Zor province. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art is brought to reply to an online petition signed by thousands of people. The museum refuses to stop displaying a Balthus painting, Thérèse rêvant. (The Telegraph) (Le Nouvel Obs)
Finland celebrates its 100 years of independence. (Yle News)
Michelin unveils its first Michelin Guide for Bangkok, Thailand, which is the sixth city in Asia and second in Southeast Asia after Singapore. (CNN)
Weinstein effect
- The "Silence Breakers", including those involved in the #MeToo movement, are named Time magazine's 2017 Time Person of the Year. (Time) (AP)

Health and environment

UNICEF reports that as many as 17 million babies worldwide face potential brain development issues due to their exposure to toxicity levels more than six times higher than considered safe in air. (BBC)

International relations

United States recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital
- U.S. President Donald Trump recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and says the U.S. starts the process of moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The United States Department of State issues an internal travel warning to Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank until December 20. The U.S. embassy in Amman temporarily suspends routine public services and stops embassy travel around Jordan. Embassies in Berlin and London issue vigilance warnings to U.S. citizens. (CNN) (Reuters) (BBC)
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praises the announcement as a "historic landmark." (BBC)
- President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas says the move undermines the U.S. position as a peace mediator while the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas says that the decision would "open the gates of hell on U.S. interests in the region." (BBC)
- The Arab League calls it "a dangerous measure that would have repercussions" and also questions the future role of the U.S. as a "trusted mediator" in peace talks. (BBC)
- Protests against the decision break out in Jordan, State of Palestine, and Turkey. (BBC) (Reuters)
- The decision draws critical reaction from key U.S. allies that include the EU, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. (Chicago Tribune) (BBC)
- Pope Francis urges respect for the status quo for Jerusalem and calls for "wisdom and prudence" to avoid further conflict. (ABC News)
- Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres criticizes the announcement, saying that it "would jeopardise the prospect of peace for Israelis and Palestinians". (BBC)
- Eight of the 15 current United Nations Security Council members call to hold an urgent meeting on the U.S. decision. The meeting is expected for December 8. (BBC) (The Guardian)
Suspected sonic attack on the United States Embassy in Havana
- Investigators discover brain abnormalities in the victims. They are now carefully not using the term "sonic" to describe the attacks and there is growing skepticism it was caused by a sonic device, with the sound heard by victims being a by-product of the brain damage. The white matter of the brains showed changes which doctors believe could not be caused by sound. (Yahoo! News)
Sanctions against North Korea
- An Institute for Science and International Security study indicates that (between March 2014 and September 2017) a total of 49 countries violated United Nations sanctions against North Korea to varying degrees. (CNN)

Law and crime

Crime in France
- A French court does not order the custody of Suleyman Kerimov but sets a €40 million bail and tighter controls. Kerimov was arrested on November 21 in a money laundering and tax fraud case. (TASS)

Politics and elections

Politics of Lebanon
- The Lebanese cautiously welcome a political agreement that enables Prime Minister Saad Hariri to officially withdraw his unexpected November 4 resignation. (The Daily Star)
Ukrainian crisis
- Police raid the wrong tent of an activist camp in Kiev and fail to arrest the stateless opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili. A police source says police are preparing a special operation and will be unleashed "in the near future". (The Daily Star) (TASS)
Politics of Russia
- President Vladimir Putin announces his participation in the 2018 presidential election. (The Western Journal)

Science and technology

The U.S. Government Accountability Office starts a study into the (currently unregulated) length of freight trains. (Reuters)
ULAS J1342+0928
- A study published in Nature and the Astrophysical Journal Letters describes the discovery of the most distant supermassive black hole ever, around 13.1 billion light years away. (The Verge)

Sports

2017–18 UEFA Champions League
- In football, Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the shared all-time top scorer in the UEFA Champions League group stage and he is the first person to score in all six group stage matches, by adding to Real Madrid C.F.'s 3–2 win against Borussia Dortmund. With a 7–0 victory over FC Spartak Moscow, Liverpool F.C. is the fifth English club to qualify for the knockout phase; a first too. (De Standaard) (Gazet van Antwerpen)

Summary