December 5, 2013 (Thursday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Unidentified militants attack a Defense Ministry compound in Sana'a, Yemen, killing at least 52 people and injuring 167 others. Most of the victims appear to be doctors and nurses, working at a hospital within the property. (Al Jazeera) (CNN)
- 2013 Central African Republic coup d'état:
- The United Nations approves the creation of the MISCA peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, initially led by the African Union with French military support, to help quell the ongoing civil war, as reports emerge of more than 100 people killed during recent clashes in the capital Bangui. (Reuters)
- Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
- Post-civil war violence in Libya:
- Unidentified gunmen shoot and kill a U.S. teacher at an international school in Benghazi, Libya. (Al Jazeera)
Arts and culture
- Thalía is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Variety)
Disasters and accidents
- A major winter storm called Bodil hits the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, disrupting traffic and causing four people to be dead or missing and widespread damage amid fears of flooding along the North Sea coast. (BBC), (AFP via France 24)
International relations
- Australia and South Korea successfully negotiate a free trade agreement. (AAP via News Limited)
- Vice President of the United States Joe Biden criticizes the People's Republic of China for a recent crackdown of foreign journalists in the country. (The Washington Post)
- United States Secretary of State John Kerry meets with the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem to talk about many topics including the nuclear program of Iran. (U.S. Department of State)
- Myanmar's Thein Sein and the Philippines' Benigno Aquino III ink trade agreements including those that involve renewable energy, mass media, and visa-free travel. (GMA News)
Law and crime
- Indonesia jails 14 Rohingya asylum seekers for their role in a deadly brawl in a North Sumatra detention centre that claimed 8 lives. (AP via ABC News America)
- Pope Francis, in his first major action on the still very pressing issue, gives his assent during meetings on reform of the Roman Curia to the creation of a permanent expert-member Pontifical Commission which would advise the Catholic Church on how to deal with cases of the sin and crime of sex abuse of minors by those in Church ministries (as of now, it would not be able to take corrective action against lax Bishops; dioceses and then the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith are in charge of laicizing abusive clerics). (Catholic News Service)
Politics and elections
- 2013 Thai protests:
- The King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej calls for stability as he celebrates his 86th birthday. (AP via ABC News America)
- Nobel prize winner, anti-Apartheid activist, and former South African president, Nelson Mandela, dies at age 95. (World News) (BBC)