Portal:Current events/2022 December 7

December 7, 2022 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Business and economy

Coal mining in the United Kingdom
- The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities approves the first new coal mine in the United Kingdom in 30 years at the Woodhouse Colliery in Cumbria, England. The mine is expected to remain operational for up to 50 years. It will create 500 direct and 1,500 indirect jobs in the region, and will take two years to build at a cost estimated at around £165 million ($201 million). (Reuters) (The Washington Post)
The Central Bank of Nigeria says it will limit individual cash withdrawals to 100,000 Nigerian naira (225 USD) per week to reduce counterfeiting and to discourage ransom payments to kidnappers. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

2022 Sheffield gas supply outage
- Sheffield City Council have declared a major incident as the natural gas network outage affecting thousands of properties in Sheffield, England enters its sixth day. Many residents still have no heating in their homes and temperatures are forecast to drop below 0°C in the coming days. (BBC News)
Montcada i Reixac rail crash
- At least 155 people are injured in a train collision in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Capital punishment in Afghanistan
- In Farah Province, the Taliban carries out its first public execution since taking power last year. The executed man was convicted of fatally stabbing another man in 2017, and was executed by the victim's father, according to government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid. (Reuters via The Guardian)
Capital punishment in Belarus
- Belarusian lawmakers approve a bill which punishes high treason among officials and military personnel with the death penalty. The bill also includes prosecution for "spreading false information discrediting the Armed Forces of Belarus". (RFE/RL)
2022 Germany coup d'état plot
- German police arrest 25 members of the Reichsbürger movement who are accused of planning a coup d'état. (DW)
Crime in Jamaica
- Jamaican prime minister Andrew Holness declares a nationwide state of emergency due to an increase in crime rates in the country. (CNN)
La Línea corruption case
- Former President of Guatemala Otto Pérez Molina and his vice president, Roxana Baldetti, are sentenced to 16-year prison terms for their involvement. (Reuters)
Jemaah Islamiyah member Umar Patek, who was convicted for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings, is released on parole after an Indonesian court reduced his 20-year prison sentence. (AFP via Bangkok Post)
Janusz Waluś, the convicted assassin of South African anti-apartheid politician Chris Hani, is released on parole. (AFP via RFI)

Politics and elections

2022 Peruvian self-coup d'état attempt
- President Pedro Castillo announces the dissolution of Congress, the imposition of a curfew, the creation of an "emergency" government, and early parliamentary elections hours before facing his third impeachment vote. The impeachment is successful and Castillo is later arrested after leaving the Government Palace in Lima. First Vice President Dina Boluarte is sworn in as President of the Republic after Castillo's arrest. (Reuters) (La República) (Al Jazeera)