December 20, 2023 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Israel–Hamas war
- The death toll in the Gaza Strip since Israel began airstrikes increases to at least 20,000 people. (Al Jazeera)
- Insurgency in Balochistan
- In Pakistan, Sarfraz Bungulzai, leader of the separatist Baloch Nationalist Army, surrenders to authorities alongside 70 other militants in Balochistan. (AP)
Business and economy
- 2021–present United Kingdom cost-of-living crisis
- 2022–2023 United Kingdom industrial disputes and strikes
- Junior doctors in England begin their longest strike action yet, spanning nine days, to address pay-related disputes with the National Health Service. (AFP via ABS-CBN News)
- 2022–2023 United Kingdom industrial disputes and strikes
- 2018–present Argentine monetary crisis
- Argentine president Javier Milei announces a series of economic deregulation measures, targeting over 300 regulations including property and labor laws, to address the crisis. (AFP via France 24)
- Japanese electronics company Toshiba is delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange after 74 years. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- Twelve people are killed and 13 others are injured when a mining cart runs off the tracks in Jixi, Heilongjiang, China. (AP)
Health and environment
- Canada implements a single-use plastic ban as part of its initiative to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030, despite a court ruling that deemed such restrictions unconstitutional. (AFP via Daily Tribune)
International relations
- International reactions to the Israel–Hamas war, Israel–Malaysia relations
- Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim announces that Israel-registered ships, and all foreign vessels heading to Israel, are banned from docking within their ports or receiving cargo. (Al Jazeera)
- United States–Venezuela relations
- Venezuela releases ten Americans and extradites fugitive Leonard Glenn Francis, while the United States releases Alex Saab, an ally of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, in a prisoner exchange between the two countries. As part of the deal, Venezuela will also release around 20 political prisoners from jail. (AP)
Law and crime
- Israel–Hamas war protests
- Israel–Hamas war protests in the United States
- Pro-Palestine protesters vandalize the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. with graffiti reading "Free Gaza". (The Hill)
- Israel–Hamas war protests in the United States
- December murders
- Former Surinamese president Dési Bouterse is sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 1982 murders of 15 men. (NOS)
- Murder of Brianna Ghey
- A Manchester Crown Court jury convicts two teenagers of murdering trans girl Brianna Ghey in Warrington, Cheshire, England. (AFP via NDTV)
- The Parliament of Kyrgyzstan votes 59–5 in favor of passing a bill to modify the national flag. (AKIpress)
Politics and elections
- 2023 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election
- Voters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo elect their president, members of the National Assembly, provincial assemblies, and commune councils. Voting is extended until December 21. (Reuters)
- 2023 Guinea-Bissau coup attempt
- President Umaro Sissoco Embaló dismisses Prime Minister Geraldo Martins, appointing Rui Duarte Barros as Martins' successor. (AFP via France 24)
- The U.S. state of Minnesota votes to change its flag. (The New York Times)