The World in 2018

It’s been a turbulent 2018, with wars raging across the Middle East, Brexit pulling Europe apart and a new world order emerging in the East. Here in Egypt it’s been a year of socioeconomic change and reform.

Jan

•The U.S. government enters a federal government shutdown as a result of a dispute over Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

•North Korea accepts South Korean invitation for high-level talks.

•Time’sUp initiative to fight sexual harassment is announced by 300 Hollywood women.
•Lawyers of Donald Trump attempt to stop the publication of a book on Trump’s administration “Fire and Fury” by Michael Wolff.The book was published by Henry Holt and Company.

•Donald Trump cancels a program allowing 200,000 San Salvadoreans temporary status to live in the U.S.

Feb

•Jacob Zuma resigns as President of South A
frica after nine years in power.

•17 people are killed in a school shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

•Poland implements new legislation of up to three years imprisonment for anyone suggesting Poland was complicit in the Holocaust.

•Pope Francis calls for a worldwide prayer day for peace and rejecting violence.
•The Afghan Taliban announces that they would like to end the Afghanistan War through dialogue.

•The US imposes more sanctions on North Korea in an attempt to diffuse the nuclear tension.

March

•Abdel Fattah El-Sisi wins second term as Egyptian president.

•Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter,Yullia, are poisoned by the Novichok nerve agent in England. The UK counter-terrorism police accused the Kremlin of alleged involvement inthe incident.

•Donald Trump accepts an invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a meeting to discuss the denuclearization of North Korea.

•China approves a constitutional change removing the term limits for its leaders. The change grants Xi Jinping lifetime presidency.

•Thousands of high school students across the US organize National School Walkout protests in response to gun violence in the country.

•Vladimir Putin is elected President for a fourth term with 76 percent of the votes.
•The “March for Our Lives” demonstrations against gun violence and mass shootings are held in over 900 cities across the world.

•Angela Merkel is sworn in for fourth term as German Chancellor, head of the coalition government.

•More than 100 Russian diplomats are expelled by more than 20 countries in the wake of the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.

•North Korean leader Kim Jong-unleaves North Korea for the first time since assuming office in 2011 to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

•U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar calls on Mark Zuckerberg to testify before the Senate Judiciary in wake in a data mining scandal with Cambridge Analytica.

•Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with US president Donald Trump at the White House.

•104 girls kidnapped by terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria are returned to their hometown.

•The African trade deal is agreed by 44 African countries in Kigali, Rwanda.

•Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi is sentenced to eight months in prison after slapping an Israeli officer.

•Palestinians began a “Great March of Return” protests demanding Palestinian refugees be allowed to return to their homeland.


April

•Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the U.S. Congress and admits that data on 50 million users was harvested by Analytica.

•The US, the UK and France order the bombing of Syrian military bases.
•Cinemas open in Saudi Arabia for the first time since 1983. American film Black Panther was the first to be screened.

•Miguel Diaz-Canel is sworn in as President of Cuba marking the first time since 1959 that Cuba has had a president other than Fidel and Raul Castro.

•North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, crosses into South Korea to meet President, Moon Jae-in, becoming the first North Korean leader to cross the Demilitarized Zone since its creation in 1953.

•Commonwealth countries decide Prince Charles will succeed Queen Elizabeth as the next head of the Commonwealth.

May

•Donald Trump moves the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. Fifty-eight Palestinians are killed and 1,700 hospitalized are as they protest the move.

•The Indian city of Kanpur is declared world’s most polluted city by the World Health Organization, with 14 other Indian cities in the top 20.

•Spanish Basque separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) officially announces its final dissolution after 40 years of conflict in Spain.

•Donald Trump announces his intention to withdraw from the multilateral Iran nuclear deal.

•The Pakatan Harapan Malaysian opposition-led coalition secures a parliamentary majority ending the 61-year rule of the Barisan Nasional coalition since independence in 1957.

•The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect, imposing strict privacy controls for European citizens worldwide.

•The UK’s Prince Harry marries American actress Meghan Markle in a lavish ceremony.
•The Republic of Ireland votes by 66.4 percent to overturn the abortion ban .

•The US announces extending its tariffs on imported steel (25 percent) and aluminum (10 percent), to include the EU, Mexico and Canada.

•The parliament in Denmark bans face veils in public.

•Guatemala opens its embassy in Jerusalem.

•Iraq witnesses the first legislative and provincial elections since the defeat of ISIS in the country.

•Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is questioned by members of the European parliament in Brussels in wake of its security scandal.

June

•The 44th G7 summit takes place in Canada. Donald Trump pushes for the reinstatement of the G8, to include Russia.

•The first summit in history between a US president and a North Korean leader held in Singapore.

•Greece and the Republic of Macedonia end a 27-year naming dispute—changing Macedonia’s name to the “Republic of North Macedonia.”

•Jordanian Prime Minister Hani Mulki resigns amid massive protests against tax and price increases.

•The US announces its withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council.

•Canada becomes the first major industrialized country to legalize cannabis for recreational use.

•Saudi Arabia allows women to drive for the first time in history.

•Mexico announces imposing tariffs against US exports in response to Trump administration’s tariffs.

•Vladimir Putin invites North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un to visit Russia.

•An airstrike in Afghanistan kills Pakistan’s most wanted militant and Taliban leader, Mullah Fazlullah.

•The United Nations announces that Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant children from their families violates international law. The US government confirms 1,500 boys being held separated from their parents in Casa Padre, shelter facility for illegal immigrants in a former Walmart in Brownsville, Texas. In the same month, Trump signs Executive Order ending family separation at the border for illegal immigrants.

•Turkish president RecepTayyip Erdogan wins second term.

•US Supreme Court upholds Trump’s travel ban against mostly Muslim countries
•Sudanese court overturns death sentence for teenager Nora Hussein, who killed her husband after he raped her.

•First high-level talks between Ethiopian and Eritrean officials in 20 years begin in Addis Ababa.

July

•Lithuania becomes the 36th member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

•Eritrea and Ethiopia officially declare an end to their 20-year conflict.

•The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement is signed, creating an open trade zone covering nearly one-third of global GDP.

•Cuba officially recognizes private property under the new constitution.

•British Brexit Secretary David Davis and UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson resign in a stand against Teresa May’s new softer Brexit policy.

•Israel’s parliament passes controversial “nation state” law giving only Jews self-determination, relegating Arabic to “special status.”

•Teenage Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi is released from prison serving an eight-month sentence

Aug
•The US reimposes sanctions on Iran and Russia.

•Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan sign the Convention on the legal Status of the Caspian Sea, ending a 20-year long dispute over the Caspian Sea’s legal status.

•Pope Francis declares that the death penalty is inadmissible, expressing hope that it would be abolished around the world.

•The South Sudan peace accord is signed between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar, in an attempt to end five years of civil war.

•Saudi Arabia’s state airline suspends direct flights to Toronto and expels the Canadian ambassador after the North American country called for release of detained activists campaigning for civil and women’s rights.

•The Turkish lira falls dramatically after US President Trump announces tariff increases on Turkish steel and aluminum.

Sep

•Emmanuel Macron announces that the French government will spend €8 million over four years to fight poverty.

•United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres calls for urgent climate change conference saying “climate change moving faster than we are.”

•Russia launches its largest military exercise since 1981 involving 300,000 personal with Chinese troops participating.

Nov

•Seven people are killed in a militant attack by three buses carrying Christian pilgrims near a monastery in Minya, Upper Egypt.

•In the US midterm elections, democrats retake control of the House of Representatives after eight years.

•Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli directs governors to temporarily stop issuing new licenses for the auto rickshaws, known in Egypt as “toktoks,” to address negative impacts of the three-wheel transportation means.

•Egyptian Islamic institutions reiterate rejection of equal inheritance for men and women, while the Tunisian government continues pushing forward a bill that swims against religious tides.

•A US government report reveals climate change will cost the US economy hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the century, hitting everything from health to infrastructure.

•Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed announces that tests carried out as part of Egypt’s national campaign’s first stage reveal 4.5 percent of the examined citizens tested positive for Hepatitis C.

Dec

•Saudi Arabia denounces the stance of the US Senate on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

•The Arab League condemns successive Turkish strikes against posts in northern Iraq, stressing that such action is a violation to Iraqi sovereignty.

•An agreement to establish an entity for the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden countries is reached between Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Djibouti and Somalia.

•The UN General Assembly blocks a US-sponsored draft resolution to condemn Hamas for firing rockets into Israel and inciting violence.

•Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and the Houthi side agree to a truce in Sweden, intending to ensure humanitarian access to Hudaydah.

•British PM Theresa May faces a Meaningful Vote on her Withdrawal Agreement when ministers return from recess in January. May received clear warnings about a second referendum, as Brexiteers warn a no-deal Brexit is likely.

•The death toll in France’s ‘yellow vest’ protests rises to 10 as the movement, which broke out mid-November, continues to evolve into a wider backlash against the economic reforms of President Emmanuel Macron.