December 18, 2018 (Tuesday)
Disasters and accidents
- Russian cargo vessel MV Kuzma Minin runs aground and then is refloated off Gyllyngvase, Cornwall, and taken to anchor in Falmouth Bay for inspection, according to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. (BBC)
- A powerful tornado touches down near Port Orchard, Washington. Several structures are severely damaged or destroyed. (Global News)
Law and crime
- Personal and business legal affairs of Donald Trump
- The Donald J. Trump Foundation agrees to dissolve under judicial supervision while a lawsuit in the state of New York is ongoing. (CNN) (The Daily Beast)
- Gun law in the United States
- The U.S. Department of Justice issues a final regulation banning the use of bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic rifles to be fired at a rate similar to that of automatic weapons and became infamous following the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. It is scheduled to go into effect on March 21, 2019. (The New York Times)
Politics and elections
- Space policy of the Donald Trump administration
- U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive memorandum to re-establish the United States Space Command. (CNN)
- Politics of Belgium
- Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel submits the resignation of his cabinet to King Philippe, after the biggest party in his coalition, the New Flemish Alliance, formally quit on 9 December over the government's support for the Global Compact for Migration. The King is withholding his decision. (ABC News (Australia))
Science and technology
- Transportation in Los Angeles
- Elon Musk opens the 1.6km-long Boring Test Tunnel in Hawthorne, California, which is designed to demonstrate technology that will transport cars at high speeds below the city. (BBC)
- Kamchatka meteor
- A meteor, which measured several metres in size, exploded 26km over the Bering Sea, near the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. (BBC News)