Here are the main developments of December 2018:
Dec.1
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan holds separate meetings with world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S.’s Donald Trump, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of G20 summit in Argentina.
- The CIA claimed that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in messages he sent to the leader of killing squad, the Wall Street Journal reports.
- Two police departments in the New England region of the United States cancel their annual visit to Israeli police forces and engagement in training, amid pressure from organizations affiliated with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
- US president agreed to not raise the tariff rate on goods imported from China, the White House announces.
Dec. 2
- Israeli police recommended indictment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife for bribery, Israeli daily Haaretz report.
Dec. 3
- Qatar will withdraw from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as of January, the country’s energy minister announces.
- KDP nominates incumbent Prime Minister Nachirvan Barzani to become president of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
- The national army of Kosovo will be officially established on Dec. 14, head of the country’s parliament says.
Dec. 4
- The U.K. can unilaterally withdraw from the article it invoked to leave the EU without the union’s approval, a senior adviser to the European Court of Justice says.
- France has suspended a planned fuel price rise for six months after weeks of violent demonstrations, the country’s prime minister announces.
- The U.K. ministers have been found in contempt of parliament over their failure to publish its full legal advice on the draft withdrawal agreement signed with the EU.
- Russia will increase combat capabilities in response to the U.S. intention to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, the Russian defense minister says.
Dec. 5
- Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge becomes the male athlete of the year, while Colombian Caterine Ibarguen is named the female athlete of the year at the IAAF Athletics Awards 2018.
- An Istanbul court issues arrest warrants for two former Saudi officials for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
- Over 9,000 migrants from mostly Central American countries arrive in the Mexican border city of Tijuana in hopes of getting into the U.S.
- U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May releases the government's Brexit legal advice after suffering a series of humiliating defeats in the House of Commons and being found in contempt of parliament.
- France abandons an increase in fuel taxes following weeks of violent demonstrations.
- Canadian authorities confirm they have arrested the chief financial officer of China's Huawei Technologies at Washington’s request over alleged violations of Iran sanctions.
Dec. 6
- Former President George H.W. Bush is buried on the grounds of his presidential library in College Station, Texas following three days of mourning in Washington.
- Turkish business tycoon Guler Sabanci is among the world's most powerful women, according to U.S. business magazine Forbes.
- Turkey’s interior minister says a heroin bust of over one ton a day earlier was the largest in the country’s history.
- The Chinese government demands that Canada free a Huawei executive believed to be arrested for allegedly breaching U.S.-imposed sanctions on Iran.
Dec. 7
- A former Turkish banker serving time in the U.S. will finish out his 32-month sentence, but no longer, says the top U.S. prosecutor in New York.
- Melting Greenland ice sheets may raise sea levels as much as an eye-popping seven meters (23 feet), endangering coastal cities like New York, Lagos, and Shanghai, according to a new study.
- Russia is ready to extend the TurkStream natural gas pipeline to Greece, Russian President Vladimir Putin says.
- For the 37th consecutive Friday, Palestinians converge on the Gaza-Israel buffer zone to take part in ongoing mass demonstrations against Israel’s decades-long occupation.
- Chancellor Angela Merkel’s preferred candidate Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer wins the race on for the leadership of the ruling Christian Democratic Union party.
Dec. 8
- After a Turkish aid group paid for life-changing surgery to give her prosthetic legs, an 8-year-old Syrian refugee girl leaves Turkey.
- An exhibit showcasing recently returned pieces of the ancient “Gypsy girl” mosaic opens in Turkey.
- The reason why the U.S. has become so close to Saudi Arabia is due to the friendship cultivated between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Jared Kushner, The New York Times says.
Dec. 9
- Reigning world champions Turkish club Vakifbank bags gold medal for the third time in the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship in China.
- Germany’s domestic intelligence agency BfV gives up plans to put Turkish-Muslim umbrella group DITIB under surveillance.
- "I can't breathe" were the final words of a Washington Post columnist who was killed at the hands of Saudi agents in Riyadh's Istanbul consulate, according to a report.
Dec. 10
- French President Emmanuel Macron announces a minimum wage rise in the country following weeks of civil unrest.
Dec. 11
- A former Canadian diplomat, who oversaw Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 2016 trip to Hong Kong, is arrested in China.
- The European Commission president insists that the Brexit deal agreed by the EU is "the best deal possible," and “will not be re-opened”.
- A Canadian judge grants bail to Chinese tech giant Huawei’s chief financial officer while she waits to find out if she will be extradited to the U.S. to face fraud charges.
Dec. 12
- Turkey will launch an operation east of Euphrates, Syria, in a few days to protect it from the separatist terrorist organization, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says.
- The name of Turkey's first indigenous multirole helicopter T625 is 'Gokbey', Erdogan announces.
- Michael Cohen, U.S. President Donald Trump's former longtime personal lawyer, is sentenced to three years in jail by a federal judge in New York.
- British Prime Minister Theresa May fights off a challenge to her leadership after members of her Conservative Party sought to oust her in a no-confidence vote.
Dec. 13
- The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passes legislation, labeling as "genocide" Myanmar's ongoing crimes against the country's minority Muslim Rohingya population.
- Turkey’s official gazette publishes a presidential decree, announcing the establishment of the country’s space agency.
- The Chinese government warns that unless Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou facing extradition to the U.S. on suspicion of fraud is let go, there would be “revenge” against Canada.
- Houthi rebels announce a ceasefire deal with the Yemeni government and withdrawal from the port city of Al-Hudaydah during UN-brokered peace talks in Sweden.
- The Senate votes to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen in a rebuke to Saudi Arabia, a long-time U.S. ally.
- Virgin Galactic's first tourism spacecraft reaches what the company considers to be the boundaries of space, marking the first commercial flight to hit the milestone.
Dec. 14
- For the 38th consecutive day, Palestinians converge along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone to take part in ongoing demonstrations against Israel’s decades-long occupation.
- U.S. President Donald Trump selects Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to be his new acting chief of staff.
Dec. 15
- A 4,400-year-old Pharaonic-era tomb has been discovered south of Egyptian capital Cairo, Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry announces.
Dec. 16
- The Syrian military opposition has vowed support for a planned Turkish military operation in the region east of the Euphrates River against the YPG/PKK terrorist group.
- Georgia's first female president is sworn in after being elected with over 59 percent of the votes in late November.
Dec. 17
- Turkey’s top religious authority marks the day when the legendary Muslim Sufi mystic Jalaluddin al-Rumi leaped to his long-sought union with God some eight centuries ago. Turkey marks Rumi’s passing in 1273 every year on Dec. 7-17.
- A children's speech pathologist is being denied work because she refused to sign an oath saying she would not engage in a boycott against Israel, according to a lawsuit filed that argues her free speech rights are being violated.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a “normalization” process was taking place with the Arab world without achieving progress in peace talks with the Palestinians.
Dec. 18
- Ahead of a possible Turkish counter-terrorist operation into Syria, a drone footage shows YPG/PKK terrorists digging trenches and tunnels in the northern Syrian city of Ayn al-Arab, near Turkey's border.
- A total of 4,476 people lost their lives on migratory routes across the world in 2018, according to a UN agency.
- A recent visit to Damascus by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir prompts questions over its motives and timing.
- The U.S. State Department has approved a possible foreign military sale of the Patriot air and missile defense system to Turkey for an estimated total of $3.5 billion, the Pentagon says.
Dec. 19
- Newly accessed closed-circuit video from Oct. 1-3 shows the public movements of a 15-man team of Saudi operatives alleged to have killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
- All of the U.S.'s roughly 2,000 troops in Syria will be leaving, President Donald Trump says in a major policy departure for Washington. Trump earlier in the day declares victory over the Daesh terrorist group, saying its defeat was the sole reason for the U.S.'s presence in the country under his administration.
- The death toll in the Democratic Republic of Congo from Ebola has risen to 271 since the start of an outbreak in late July, the country's Health Ministry says.
Dec. 20
- Danish parliament approves a controversial draft law allowing authorities to move "unwanted" migrants to a remote uninhabited island once used for contagious animals.
- France’s troops will remain in Syria, says French officials, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the pullout of U.S. soldiers from the civil war-torn country.
- One more person is killed in the fifth week of the Yellow Vest protests in the southwestern French city of Agen, bringing the total number of people killed since the start of the protests to nine.
Dec. 21
- Ankara will delay a possible counter-terrorism operation east of the Euphrates River, Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says.
- A driver is accidentally killed in the fifth week of the Yellow Vest protests in the southern French city of Perpignan, bringing the total number of people killed since the start of the protests to 10.
Dec. 22
- At least 222 people die and over 840 others are injured when a tsunami -- likely caused by a volcanic eruption -- hit Indonesia's Sunda Strait, according to the country’s national disaster agency.
- The U.S. special presidential envoy for the global coalition to defeat Daesh, Brett McGurk, has submitted his resignation, CBS News reports.
- Two people have been arrested in connection with the “criminal use of drones” after allegedly causing a standstill at one of London’s busiest airports, British police say.
Dec. 23
- Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party chastises Israeli premier over his tweet on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "Accused of fraud in investigations carried out in Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to manipulate the international community," an AK Party spokesman says in a tweet.
- U.S. President Donald Trump appoints Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan as acting Pentagon chief starting Jan. 1 to replace James Mattis, who planned to end his post in February.
- President Donald Trump says he discussed with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the phone about the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria.
Dec. 24
- A Pakistani court sentences former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to seven years in jail in a corruption case.
- Israel will hold an early election in April, says a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Dec. 25
- Palestinian Christians dressed up as Santa Claus for Christmas are forbidden by Israel to enter Jerusalem, one of the world’s holiest sites for Christians, as Jesus is believed to have lived and preached there.
Dec. 26
- Heavy snowfall and cold weather across Turkey lead to the closure of schools.
Dec. 27
- A total of 2,241 irregular migrants have died in the Mediterranean Sea since the beginning of the year, says, Spanish Refugee Aid Commission, a non-profit organization.
- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to reopen its embassy in Syria after a seven-year hiatus, the UAE Foreign Ministry announces.
Dec. 31
- Bahrain announces that it is reopening its embassy in Syria's capital Damascus.
By Ahmet Salih Alacaci and Satuk Bugra Kutlugun
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr