Portal:Current events/2025 December 7

December 7, 2025 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2025 Beninese coup attempt
- Elements of the Benin Armed Forces, led by Pascal Tigri, announce a coup d'état against president Patrice Talon and the creation of a military junta, the Military Committee for Refoundation, after seizing state television. The coup attempt is ultimately unsuccessful. (Al Jazeera)
- The Nigerian Air Force launches precision airstrikes against pro-coup forces in Cotonou in support of the Beninese government, killing several putschists. (Sahara Reporters) (Zagazola)
- ECOWAS announces the deployment of ground troops to Benin from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. (Sahara Reporters)
- France provides military intelligence, surveillance aircraft, and logistical assistance to Benin and shares intelligence with Nigeria to help thwart the coup attempt. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2025 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
- Cyclone Ditwah
  - The death toll from the floods and landslides caused by heavy rains in Sri Lanka increases to 618. (Al Jazeera)
- Cyclone Senyar
  - The death toll from the floods in Indonesia increases to 908, while 410 people remain missing. In Thailand, at least 216 people are also confirmed killed. (Al Jazeera)
A Fire and Rescue NSW firefighter is killed and dozens of homes are destroyed as bushfires spread across parts of New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Papiri kidnapping
- Nigerian authorities secure the release of 100 of the 315 students and staff abducted from a school in Niger State, while more than 160 others remain unaccounted for. (AFP via The Guardian)
Ecuadorian security crisis
- Thirteen suspected Los Lobos gang members are killed in a prison riot following two explosions in Machala, El Oro Province, Ecuador. (BNO News) (AP)
Brazilian police report that two armed individuals stole eight Henri Matisse engravings and five works by Candido Portinari from the Mário de Andrade Library in São Paulo after threatening a security guard and visitors. (AFP via France 24)

Politics and elections

Sports