December 24, 2018 (Monday)
Business and economy
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 2.9%, its worst performance ever on Christmas Eve. (NPR)
Disasters and accidents
- 2018 Sunda Strait tsunami
- The death toll following the tsunami caused by the Anak Krakatau volcano has risen to at least 429, according to Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency. Also, 1,459 people are injured, while 150 are still missing. (BBC)
- 2018 Puebla helicopter crash
- Governor of Puebla Martha Erika Alonso and Senator Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas are among several fatalities in a helicopter crash near Puebla, Mexico. (New York Times via Reuters)
- Mount Etna erupts, causing the closure of Catania–Fontanarossa Airport in Sicily, Italy. (BBC) (China Economic Net)
Law and crime
- Corruption in Pakistan
- Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is sentenced to seven years in prison after being found guilty of corruption. (CNN)
Politics and elections
- Chairman of Iran's Expediency Discernment Council and former Chief Justice Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi dies at the age of 70. (Euronews)
- The coalition government of Benjamin Netanyahu dissolves the Knesset and sets early elections for April. The coalition has been struggling after failing to pass a new bill that would extend the military draft to ultra-Orthodox Jews and the resignation of Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, leader of one of the parties in the coalition. (CNN)
- Burundi moves its capital from Bujumbura to Gitega. (QZ)