A shipping container laden with fireworks caught fire in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, sending plumes of smoke into the sky and igniting fears for public safety. Witnesses described the scene as chaotic, with the sounds of the fireworks erupting shortly after the fire was detected, thankfully no injuries were reported. The Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA), responded to the incident, the cause of which is still under investigation.

Multiple explosions rocked Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria, causing widespread panic and damage to properties. Residents reported that the explosions occurred almost simultaneously, raising initial fears of a coordinated attack. Eyewitnesses told the News Agency of Nigeria that the incident appeared planned, calling for a thorough investigation to prevent future occurrences. However, the Edo State Police Command has provided clarification on the cause of the explosions, explaining that a fuel tanker crashed on the expressway, spilling fuel that seeped into underground tunnels. According to the police, the trapped fuel later ignited, resulting in the explosions in different parts of the Auchi community.

On December 2, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the DRC government officially marked the end of the 16th Ebola outbreak after 42 days without a new case. The outbreak began in September with a pregnant woman in Kasai Province and escalated to 53 confirmed cases and 45 deaths. With the safe management of over 48,000 vaccine doses and the protection of healthcare workers, the last patient was discharged on October 19, and this outbreak was brought to a pretty swift end.

A powerful explosion rocked a residential area of Thessaloniki early on Christmas morning, damaging a bank and nearby buildings. According to Greek authorities there were no injuries reported. The explosion occurred at around 3:20 am local time, shattering windows, damaging parked vehicles, and causing structural harm to surrounding buildings. Initial assessments indicated that an IED was placed outside the bank, and the incident is now being investigated by specialist police. No warning call was received prior to the explosion, a factor that investigators say may indicate an intent to cause damage rather than issue a symbolic threat.

Two police officers and one other person were killed in an explosion in southern Moscow on the evening of December 23^rd. According to a statement by Russia's Investigative Committee, "Two traffic police officers saw a suspicious person near a police car. When they approached to detain him, an explosive device was detonated." The explosion happened near the site of a car bomb on December 22nd, which killed a senior Russian general.

Four people were injured, three of them critically, in a hydrogen explosion at the Elkem Silicones site in Saint-Fons, south of Lyon, on December 22^nd. The blast occurred in an experimental workshop at the silicone materials production facility, a high-threshold Seveso-classified site (an industrial sites handling dangerous substances above specific thresholds). The explosion ignited a fire in a 600-square-metre building, which was brought under control by early evening. Around 100 firefighters and 30 emergency vehicles were deployed to tackle the incident, authorities issued a shelter indoors notice, affecting over 100,000 people, and a 1-kilometre security perimeter was established around the facility. The plant has experienced previous incidents, in June 2016, a worker was killed when silicone drums caught fire in a 2,500-square-metre warehouse, with 600 square metres of the building destroyed.

As Syrians return home following the fall of Bashar al-Assad one year ago, many are coming back to not only destroyed neighbourhoods and collapsed services, but to one of the most heavily contaminated landscapes of unexploded ordnance in the world. Syria now ranks among the world’s most contaminated countries, as mine experts estimate more than 1 million munitions have been used there since 2011, with a failure rate of 10-30%. Those that did not explode now lie beneath soil, rubble and farmland, posing grave risks. Preliminary figures indicate a steep rise in serious incidents with large-scale returns of refugees and internally displaced people. Between Dec. 8, 2024, and Nov. 21, 2025, the United Nations Mine Action Service recorded 849 explosive ordnance accidents, resulting in 1,568 casualties - 581 deaths and 987 injuries