December 24, 2012 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war:
- War in Afghanistan (2001–2021):
- A NATO adviser is shot dead by a woman in police uniform in Kabul, and at least five Afghan policemen are killed by another officer in northern Afghanistan. (BBC)
Arts and culture
- U.S. actor Jack Klugman, who starred in the 1970s hit TV series The Odd Couple and Quincy, M.E., dies at the age of 90. (BBC)
- American actor Charles Durning, the two-time Oscar award nominee, dies at the age 89 in New York City. (Los Angeles Times)
Disasters and accidents
- A band of rain sweeping the United Kingdom brings fresh flooding and disrupted rail services to south-west England and Scotland. (BBC)
- A minivan carrying 15 children to kindergarten plunges into a roadside pond in a rural area of eastern China, killing 11 children. (AP)
International relations
- The Government of Pakistan decides to accord recognition to the Republic of Kosovo. (The Express Tribune) (The Times of India)
Law and crime
- Two firefighters are shot and killed and two others are injured while responding to a fire in Webster, New York. (CNN) (Reuters)
- Steve Jobs' £85m high-tech yacht Venus is freed from the Port of Amsterdam after his estate paid off the last of its bills. (TechnoBuffalo)
Science and technology
- SpaceX releases video of the latest test of their Grasshopper rocket with vertical takeoff and vertical landing, where it rose 40 meters (131 feet), hovered and landed safely on the pad on 17 December. (Universe Today) (Daily Breeze) (Wacotrib.com) (Today Online)
Sport
- RCD Mallorca football club's president Jaume Cladera resigns from his post with the La Liga club. (ESPN Star)[permanent dead link]
- Oleksandr Yaroslavsky resigns as president of Metalist Kharkiv and transfer the obligations regarding its financing to another investor. (Ukrainian News)
- Former FC Barcelona coach Radomir Antić appointed as new manager of China's football club Shandong Luneng. (RTBF)