Portal:Current events/2017 December 21
December 21, 2017 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- December 2017 Melbourne car attack
- Nineteen people are injured after a car crashes into pedestrians at the corner of Flinders Street and Elizabeth Street in Melbourne, Australia. The driver is arrested. Victoria Police believe that the incident was a "deliberate act" but not terrorism-related. (The Age) (The Observer)
- Border incidents involving North and South Korea
- A Korean People's Army soldier defects to South Korea after crossing the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). South Korean border guards fired warning shots at North Korean troops who approached the Military Demarcation Line, in search of the missing soldier. He is the fourth North Korean soldier to defect this year. (Reuters)
Arts and culture
- The wreckage of the HMAS AE1, the first submarine to serve in the Royal Australian Navy, is found near the Duke of York Islands after a 103-year search. (BBC)
Business and economy
- Papa John's Pizza founder John Schnatter announces he will step down from his position as CEO on January 1, 2018. The move comes two months after he criticized NFL leadership over national anthem protests by NFL players. He will be succeeded by COO Steve Ritchie. (Chicago Tribune)
- Alphabet Inc. announces Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, who has been chief executive of Google/Alphabet since 2001, will step down in January 2018. Schmidt will continue to serve on Alphabet's board of directors. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- A ferry sinks off the coast of Luzon in the Philippines with 251 passengers on board. At least four people are reported to have died. The toll is expected to rise, as many are still missing. (NPR)
- 2017 Jecheon fire
- A fire at a fitness center in Jecheon, South Korea, kills at least 29 people and leaves 26 others injured. (AFP via Rappler)
International relations
- United Nations General Assembly resolution ES-10/L.22
- The United Nations General Assembly votes 128–9, with 35 abstentions, in a nonbinding resolution to demand that the United States rescind its December 6th declaration on unilaterally recognizing the holy and contested city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. (Canoe.com)
Law and crime
- Slender Man stabbing
- Judge Michael Bohren rules Anissa Weier will spend 25 years in institutional care after she was previously found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect of the 2014 stabbing of her classmate. (WITI)
Politics and elections
- Catalan regional election, 2017 Spanish constitutional crisis
- Voters in Catalonia go to the polls for a snap election called by the Spanish government after the former regional government unsuccessfully declared independence. (BBC)
- Elections in Cuba
- The Cuban Parliament approves moving the country's municipal elections to March, and the presidential election to April, when President Raúl Castro is expected to step down. (ABC News)
- Government shutdown in the United States
- House and Senate pass a continuing resolution bill to avert a government shutdown until January 19, 2018. (NPR)
Science and technology
- Life expectancy
- The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports life expectancy in 2016 in America declined for the second year in a row because of the opioid crisis. (Reuters)