Major events that left their marks on 2018
Here are the main developments of 2018 day by day, and month by month
ANKARA
Here are the main developments of 2018 day by day, and month by month:
JANUARY
Jan. 1
- U.S. President Donald Trump weighs in with his sharp views on the developing situation in Iran where thousands of people were protesting against the government for several days.
Jan. 2
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- Trump threatens to cut aid to Palestine following an embarrassing diplomatic defeat at the United Nations on Jerusalem resolution, calling on the
Jan. 3
- Turkish banker Hakan Atilla is found guilty by a jury in New York on five charges related to conspiracy and bank fraud but is acquitted of money laundering.
Jan. 4
- At least 14 people are killed and hundreds injured when a passenger train derails and collides with a truck and another vehicle some 190 kilometers (118 miles) from the South African capital.
Jan. 5
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Paris for a one-day visit. During his stay, Erdogan had a private meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace.
- Prominent Turkish actor Munir Ozkul dies at 93. A distinguished Turkish cinema and theater actor, died at his house in Istanbul, his family confirmed.
Jan. 6
- At least 90 students have been detained since protests began in Iran a week earlier.
Jan. 7
- Israeli forces detained 3,617 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2017, according to the Israeli military.
- At least 30 people were killed and 70 others injured in four explosions in Syria’s northern province of Idlib.
Jan. 8
- Sexual harassment campaign dominates 75th Golden Globes The Time's Up campaign, formed weeks ago against systematic sexual harassment both in and outside of the entertainment industry, dominated the 75th Golden Globe Awards.
- The Trump administration moved to end the temporary residencies of 200,000 El Salvadorans who had been living in the U.S. for more than 15 years, following two devastating earthquakes that roiled their home country in 2001.
Jan. 9
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says it is time to counter PKK terrorists from forming a corridor in northern Syria,
Jan. 10
- At least 17 people die following a storm that sends massive mudflows shooting through Santa Barbara in southern California, U.S.
Jan. 11
- EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini voices
Jan. 12
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel clinches a deal with the country's second-largest party to enter formal negotiation for building a coalition government.
- U.S.’ Trump denies using derogatory and vulgar language to describe the immigration from Latin American and African countries after widespread condemnation after he reportedly says, "Why are we having all these people from s***hole countries come here?”
Jan. 13
- Turkish football club Medipol Basaksehir
Jan. 14
- An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale hits the coast of Peru.
Jan. 15
- Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer of The Cranberries dies in London aged 46.
- Ten construction workers in central Colombia were killed when a section of the bridge they were working on collapsed.
- At least 25 people are killed in a double suicide bombing in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
Jan. 16
- Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic is assassinated in a drive-by shooting in the northern town of Mitrovica in Kosovo.
- The U.S. will suspend $65 million in aid to Palestine, the State Department announces, two weeks after President Donald Trump's criticism about the funding.
Jan. 17
- Turkey’s Erdogan receives Fawzi al-Juneidi, a Palestinian teen who becomes a symbol of Palestinian opposition to the U.S. decision of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Al-Juneidi was arrested on Dec. 7 in the West Bank city of Hebron (Al-Khalil) after being dragged on the ground and blindfolded by heavily armed Israeli soldiers.
- Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho retires from professional football.
Jan. 18
- Global approval of U.S. leadership hits an all-time low as Trump prepares to round out his first year in office, according to a poll.
- At least 52 people are killed in a bus fire in northwestern Kazakhstan.
- Russia makes its first delivery of S-400 missile system components to China under a contract signed in 2014, a source close to the Russian system of military cooperation tells journalists.
Jan. 19
- Russia starts withdrawing its military assets ahead of Turkey’s expected operation in Syria’s northwestern city of Afrin.
- Israeli police
Jan. 20
- Turkey launches Operation Olive Branch. A ground operation in Syria's Afrin has "actively" begun, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says. The general staff says the operation only targets terrorists and their shelters, weapons, and material belonging to them.
Jan. 21
- Turkish ground forces start to move into Syria’s Afrin with Free Syrian Army.
Jan. 22
- U.S.’ Trump signs a stopgap-spending bill into law to fund the government through early February, drawing a three-day shutdown to a close.
Jan. 23
- South Africa’s famed Jazz musician and former anti-apartheid activist Hugh Masekela dies aged 78, after a battle with prostate cancer.
- English football's Manchester United is once again the
Jan. 24
- At least 34 people are killed and dozens injured in a double car bombing in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi.
Jan. 25
- Turkey has the right to self-defense like all other countries, NATO’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, says as Turkey continues targeting terrorist positions in northern Syria.
- A group of scientists moves the "doomsday clock" 30 seconds closer to midnight Thursday, citing the looming threats of nuclear conflict and climate change. The clock has now advanced to two minutes to midnight, a metaphor for the end of humanity.
Jan. 26
- Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos is booed after he calls the press "nasty", "mean", "vicious", and "fake".
- At least 41 people are killed in a South Korean hospital fire, with fears the death toll could rise further as at least 79 patients and staff are taken to other medical facilities.
Jan. 27
- At least 14 people are killed when gunmen storm a nightclub in northeastern Brazil.
Jan. 28
- Bruno Mars walks away from the 60th Grammy Awards with the album, record, and the song of the year honors, in what is a pointedly political star-studded affair.
Jan. 30
- The U.K. will be worse off in every scenario should it proceed with Brexit, according to a leaked government analysis of the economic impact of leaving the EU.
Jan. 31
- Germany will keep its embassy in Israel's Tel Aviv until a two-state solution between Palestinians and Israelis is found, says Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel.
FEBRUARY
Feb. 1
- Cornered by Turkish and Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces, PYD/PKK and Daesh
- Fidel Angel Castro Diaz Balart, 69, the eldest son of former Cuban President Fidel Castro, commits suicide.
- Court of Arbitration for Sport overturns International Olympic Committee suspensions for 28 Russian athletes over doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics, while partially upholding 11 other appeals.
- Darren Osborne, 48, found guilty of murder and attempted murder by a British court after driving his van into a crowd outside an Islamic center in north London. He was handed a life sentence with a
- Value of cryptocurrency Bitcoin dives 13 percent to below $9,000, well below half its record value of nearly $20,000 per Bitcoin at the end of 2017.
Feb. 2
- Nearly 1,000 mineworkers trapped underground at a
- An estimated 90 migrants drown after a boat capsized off the
Feb. 3
- Russian military aircraft Su-25 shot down in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, says Defense Ministry.
Feb. 4
- Nicos Anastasiades re-named as Greek Cypriot leader in the second round of an election.
Feb. 5
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan holds a
- Jewish billionaire George Soros denies accusations by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about funding protests against plans to expel African asylum-seekers.
- Conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa take 'a brutal toll' on children, with the fighting in Syria leaving 59 children dead in January alone, according to the UN.
- Esmond Bradley Martin, 75, an American conservationist famed for exposing the international ivory trade found murdered in a suburb of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
- The Netherlands formally withdraws its ambassador to Turkey over a 2017 row.
- U.S. President Donald Trump's appointee, Jerome Powell, sworn in as chair of the Federal Reserve to take reins of the central bank on a day American financial markets suffered heavy losses.
- Ben Mustapha Ben Odeh, an icon of the Algerian resistance against forces of French colonialism, dies at age 93.
Feb. 6
- SpaceX successfully launches the
- A 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocks eastern Taiwan, killing two people and injuring more than 100 others.
Feb. 7
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc and the Social Democrats agree to form a 'grand coalition' government after 136 days of political stalemate.
- At least 31 people died across Nigeria since the latest Lassa fever outbreak, health officials say.
Feb. 9
- Olympic Winter Games kick off in Pyeongchang, South Korea with an opening ceremony themed around peace.
Feb. 10
- Bus accident kills at least 26 people and injures 17 others in central Indonesia.
Feb. 11
- Pakistan’s leading lawyer and human rights activist Asma Jahangir dies at age 66.
- Russian airplane with 71 people on board crashes in Moscow suburbs.
Feb. 12
- Pentagon requests $300 million to train and equip PYD/PKK terror group that goes by the name of the
Feb. 13
- At least 46 people, including 19 women and 27 children, freed from Boko Haram captivity after troops destroy another hideout of the proscribed armed group in northeastern Borno state.
- Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Martin Schulz announces his resignation ahead of a
Feb. 14
- South African President Jacob Zuma announces resignation following calls from his ruling African National Congress (ANC) party to step down or face a
- 17 people killed when a lone gunman opens fire on Florida high school.
Feb. 15
- Erdogan and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meet for over three hours in capital Ankara, discussing several issues including bilateral ties and regional developments, particularly Syria and Iraq.
Feb. 16
- Ankara and Washington 'reached an understanding' to normalize ties following a period of tensions, says Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu.
- A U.S. federal grand jury indicts 13 Russian nationals and three entities for alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
- A major earthquake of magnitude 7.5 strikes south of Mexico City, shaking buildings and causing panic.
Feb. 17
- Turkish Red Crescent distributes humanitarian aid to families in areas of northwestern Syria cleared of PYD/PKK terrorists by Turkey’s ongoing Operation Olive Branch.
Feb. 18
- LeBron James carries his team to a 148-145 victory in the NBA's 67th All-Star Game in Los Angeles, California.
- Iranian passenger plane crashes in central Iran, killing all 66 onboard.
Feb. 19
- At least 58 Syrian civilians killed and 45 injured in regime attacks in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta.
Feb. 20
- Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev enacts a new Latin version of the Kazakh alphabet.
- Erdogan says the Turkish army would lay siege to Syria’s Afrin city center in the coming days.
Feb. 22
- SpaceX successfully launches two satellites with the goal of beaming internet access across the globe.
Feb. 23
- UN's special envoy for Syria reiterates his call for an immediate cease-fire amid 'horrific' bombings in besieged Eastern Ghouta.
- A painting by French impressionist Edgar Degas, stolen in 2009, found on a bus near Paris.
- Belgian local court rules a headscarf ban at local schools is against freedom of religion.
Feb. 25
- More than 1,000 civilians, including women and children, have been killed since mid-November, 2017 in attacks by the Syrian regime and its allies including Russia in besieged Eastern Ghouta, according to a U.K-based human rights watchdog.
- A 7.5-magnitude earthquake strikes Pacific Island nation of Papua New Guinea.
Feb. 26
- Russia vetoes a draft UN Security Council resolution that would have censured Iran for failing to prevent its arms from reaching Yemen in violation of an UN-imposed arms embargo, drawing a stern rebuke from the U.S.
Feb. 27
- U.K. faces another week of travel disruptions as freezing weather, dubbed the 'Beast from the east', is forecasted to spread further, with Scotland and eastern England expected to be hit the worst.
- A Czech court releases Salih Muslim, former co-leader of the PYD/PKK terrorist group.
Feb. 28
- Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrives in Saudi Arabia for his first visit since his resignation months earlier.
- Russian hacking group infiltrates the German government's data network used by ministries and security agencies.
- Scientists detect signals from the earliest stars in the universe for the first time ever.
MARCH
Mar. 1
- Record-setting cold weather continues to grip Europe.
Intense winter weather wreaks havoc on Europe as frigid temperatures, heavy snowfall, and icy roads create treacherous conditions. More than 35 people have died in Belgium, England, Scotland, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Spain, France, and Germany in weather-related incidents.
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- US President Donald Trump says he would implement stiff new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.
Mar. 2
- Two Greek soldiers were detained after crossing the border in northwest Turkey, inadvertently by their account.
- An Anadolu Agency photographer was injured by Israeli gunfire while covering clashes between Palestinian youth and Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.
- At least two people are killed after a gunman opens fire at a dormitory at Central Michigan University and the suspect remains at large.
- Prime Minister Theresa May conceded that the U.K. would have limited access to the single market once it leaves the EU.
Mar. 4
- Hollywood confronts itself and inequality at 90th Oscars
In what was one of the tightest Academy Awards contests in recent history, the 90th Oscars were defined in many ways by a Hollywood confronting its history of underrepresentation of women and minorities, as well as recent revelations of sexual abuse and misconduct by some of its most powerful elites.
Mar. 6
- All-woman international convoy starts its three-day journey in Istanbul to raise awareness of the suffering of women and young girls imprisoned by the Syrian regime.
- North Korea vows not to use nuclear weapons against South Korea.
- Russian military transport aircraft An-26 crashes in Syria while landing at the Hmeimim airport, killing all 39 people on board
- Amazon's founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is the world's richest person with a mind-blowing $112 billion fortune in 2018, according to business magazine Fortune.
- Trump's top economic adviser departs the White House after clashing with the president over planned tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Mar. 7
- Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee announces plans to hold a meeting of the Palestinian National Council after a 22-year hiatus.
- UN’s human rights chief voices 'strong suspicions' that Myanmar’s ethnic Rohingya might be the victims of genocide and continued 'ethnic cleansing'.
- Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were 'targeted specifically' in suspected poisoning, says British police.
Mar. 8
- Turkish military and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) liberates Jinderes town center in Syria’s Afrin region from terrorists during Operation Olive Branch. The town was cleared of terrorists following fierce street fighting with terrorists.
- 11-country Trans-Pacific Partnership officially signed in Chile, representing $10 trillion of the global economy.
- Trump formally orders new tariffs on steel and aluminum imported into the U.S.
- Trump accepts North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's invitation to meet for denuclearization talks.
Mar. 10
- Two German journalists arrested in a Greek forbidden military zone near the Turkish border.
Mar. 11
- Turkish mosque in Berlin set alight a day after the PYD/PKK terrorist group threatens to carry out more violence against Turkey.
Mar. 12
- Myanmar authorities building security force bases and bulldozing land where Rohingya villages were burned to the ground just months before.
Mar. 13
- Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi lifts a
Mar. 14
- Renowned scientist Stephen Hawking dies at the age of 76. He was best known for his work on black holes and his theory of relativity.
- Angela Merkel bags votes at the German parliament for her fourth term as the country’s chancellor to head a 'grand coalition' of conservatives and center-left parties.
Mar. 18
- Turkish Armed Forces and Free Syrian Army take complete control of northwestern Syria's Afrin town 58 days after Turkey launches Operation Olive Branch to prevent the formation of a terror corridor along its southern borders with Syria.
Mar. 19
- Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark was attacked by four people with Molotov cocktails.
Mar. 20
- World’s last male northern white rhino named Sudan,
- 23 Russian diplomats expelled from the U.K. over the poisoning of ex-Russian spy Skripal and his daughter.
- Two students injured after a gunman opens fire with a handgun at Great Mills High School in eastern Maryland.
Mar. 21
- People in Turkey’s northern province of Kastamonu, the 2018 Cultural Capital of the Turkic World, begin celebrating the Nevruz spring festival by lighting a symbolic fire signifying the joy of spring.
- Nearly 70 million U.S. East Coast residents are hit by Winter Storm Toby -- the fourth massive storm in less than three weeks -- as schools and federal buildings shut down and thousands of flights are canceled.
Mar. 22
- U.S. State Department spokesperson says the U.S. has no intention to leave Manbij despite Turkey’s pledge to clear YPG/PKK terrorists from the region in northern Syria.
- Shortly before being named the new U.S. national security advisor, John Bolton links terror group YPG in Syria to the PKK, a group that has taken over 40,000 lives in Turkey in a 30-year terror campaign.
Mar. 23
- Bashar al-Assad regime and its allies target a shelter in the Arbin town of Syria’s besieged Eastern Ghouta, burning at least 37 civilians -- mostly women and children -- to death.
Mar. 24
- Thousands urge gun control across U.S. and Canada. Heeding the call from high school students who survived a deadly school shooting, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in cities across the U.S. join The March For Our Lives protests, urging lawmakers to act on gun control.
- Syria’s Afrin region taken under 'complete' control as part of Turkish-led Operation Olive Branch, Turkish military announces.
Mar. 26
- Bosnian photojournalist Damir Sagolj’s striking shot of a dead boy, his eyes covered with leaves, chosen Photo of the Year 2018 in the Istanbul Photo Awards.
- Sudan and Qatar
Mar. 28
- River floodwaters deluge Edirne province in northwestern Turkey
After topping the
Mar. 29
- Rioting and a fire in a police station in northern Venezuela's Valencia
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Mar. 30
- Tens of thousands of Palestinians in blockaded Gaza Strip converge on the strip’s eastern border with Israel, where they are holding rallies reaffirming their right to return to their ancestral homes in historical Palestine.
APRIL
April 1
- Syria's Baby Karim safe in Turkey
Syrian baby Karim, who became a symbol of the plight of civilian victims of Assad-regime attacks reaches safety in Hatay, southern Turkey along with his family.
- Hundreds of Iraqis stage an open sit-in to protest the collapse of services in the eastern part of the capital.
- The U.S. deploys military reinforcements to Manbij, west of the Euphrates River in Syria.
- Security forces arrest 245 Daesh suspects across Turkey and thwart several terror attacks in March.
April 2
- The U.S. declines
April 3
- Erdogan, Putin break ground for Turkey's first nuke plant
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin attend the groundbreaking ceremony of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant via a video conference call from the presidential complex in the capital Ankara, Turkey.
- Israel martyrs 18 Palestinians protesting land grab
Palestinian youth Ahmed Omar Arafa, 25, is among 18 shot dead by the Israeli army since March 30 in mass rallies near the Gaza Strip’s eastern border with Israel.
- Ankara and Moscow agree on the early delivery of Russian S-400 air defense systems to Turkey.
April 4
- Turkey, Iran, Russia vow to fight separatism in Syria
In a joint declaration after a tripartite summit on Syria in capital Ankara, the Turkish, Russian and Iranian presidents stressed their joint resolve to oppose separatism as well as the use of terrorism as an excuse for changing Syria.
- Hundreds of Jewish settlers
April 5
- Hundreds of Jewish settlers stormed East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound amid the Jewish Passover holiday.
- Supporters of the PYD/PKK terrorist organization attack the Council of Europe’s Agora building in Strasbourg, France.
April 7
- Tanker crashes in a historic mansion on Bosphorus Strait
The Malta-flagged
April 8
- Yulia Skripal, the daughter of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, is discharged from a hospital after more than a month, following a nerve agent attack in the southern English city of Salisbury.
- Enver Gurhan Kilinc, a
April 11
- 257 dead in Algerian plane crash
At least 257 people are killed when an Algerian military aircraft
- Ilham Aliyev is reelected as Azerbaijani president with 86.09 percent of the parliamentary vote.
- The independent scientists from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
April 13
- ‘Postmodern’ coup plotters sentenced to life
A Turkish court sentences 21 people, including former military chief Ismail Hakki Karadayi and his deputy Cevik Bir, over the 1997 "postmodern" coup in the country.
- US, France,
The U.S., the U.K., and France launch
April 16
- NATO backs Turkey's "transparency" on Syria operation
- NATO welcomes Turkey's "transparency" in its ongoing counter-terror Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria, says alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg.
- Pentagon seeks to continue arming its Syria 'partners'
The Pentagon seeks to arm up to 65,000 members of a "U.S.-partnered force" in Syria, including the terror group PYD/PKK, according to its 2019 fiscal year budget proposal.
April 17
- Turkey: Opposition leader calls for early elections
Turkey's opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli calls for early elections -- presidential and parliamentary -- on Aug. 26.
- Three bear cubs who have lost their mother are given shelter in Turkey's northwestern Bursa province.
- Scientists discover an enzyme that can degrade some of the most common plastics on earth.
- Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu expresses support for a call on snap elections in Turkey.
- A bank in Kosovo suspends some private bank accounts linked to FETO, the terror group behind the defeated 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.
- UN agency sees 'huge impact' of EU-Turkey refugee deal
The EU-Turkey deal has made a “huge impact” on the arrival of refugees via the Mediterranean to Greece, decreasing their numbers from nearly a million in 2015 to under 30,000 in 2017, according to a UN agency. The figure has been about 7,000 so far in 2018.
- MHP leader Bahceli says his party will support President Erdogan in Turkey's planned early presidential election in June.
- Cuba's first non-Castro President in 60 years takes power
The Cuban National Assembly elects former Vice-President Miguel Diaz-Canel as the new president of the country, the first person outside the Castro family to rule the country in almost 60 years.
- One of France's main unions initiates mass marches across the country -- on top of strikes already ongoing in several sectors -- to protest a number of reforms suggested by French President Emmanuel Macron and his government.
April 20
- North and South Korea connect
- American actress Natalie Portman turns down an invitation to attend a festival in Israel -- where she was slated to receive an award -- to protest ongoing Israeli violence against Palestinians.
April 21
'Greece safe haven for criminals'
In a letter to his Greek counterpart Stavros Kontonis, Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul criticizes a Greek court order releasing one of eight fugitive ex-soldiers accused of involvement in the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, saying Greece became a safe haven for criminals.
April 22
- Turks and Australians in Melbourne gather to remember the fallen Anzac troops of the Gallipoli campaign of 1915 at a memorial service.
April 23
- Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, better known as Shawkan, is awarded the 2018 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Press Freedom Prize.
- Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan announces his resignation after days of protests in the country.
April 25
- Gazan awarded by Erdogan amputated by Israeli shooting
In 2016, Alaa al-Dali,
- Turkey’s first aviation expo kicks off
Turkey’s first aeronautical expo kicks off bringing major players of the global aerospace industry together. A total of 73 planes are displayed and around 320 companies showcase their products at the event.
April 26
- Former CIA Director Mike Pompeo easily receives Senate confirmation to helm the State Department.
April 27
- Historic inter-Korean summit
The leaders of North and South Korea agree to “complete denuclearization” and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
- At least three Palestinians are martyred by the Israeli army -- and 350 others injured -- amid ongoing rallies along the Gaza Strip’s eastern border.
April 29
- Barcelona wins this season's Spanish La Liga title after beating Deportivo La Coruna 4-2.
April 30
- The U.S.-led joint forces command in Baghdad declares the end of a major combat operation against Daesh terrorist organization in Iraq, shutting down its land command headquarters.
MAY
May 1
- Turkey's Riza Kayaalp wins
- The administration of President Donald Trump announces it would delay tariffs set to be imposed on aluminum and steel imports from the European Union, Canada, and Mexico.
- At least 408 civilians are killed in war-torn Syria in April, according to a Syrian human rights non-governmental organization.
- The U.S. says Canada wants changes to a border agreement to help manage asylum seekers after more than 26,000 crossed into Canada over the past 15 months.
May 2
- The Basque terrorist group ETA says it has “completely dissolved its structures” and “terminated its political initiative”, formally ending a decades-long insurgency that killed hundreds in Spain.
- A 5.2-magnitude earthquake hit southwestern Iran, according to Tehran University’s Seismology Center.
- More than 70 people are killed when a high-intensity squall with sandstorms replaced by thundershowers hit parts of northern India.
May 3
- Up to 30 people are injured in an explosion during a Jewish ceremony in North London when a bonfire went wrong, due to an old
- Ending a four-year closure, Pakistan formally reopens the Ghulam Khan pass, its third major trade route with Afghanistan.
- Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party officially
- At least 27 people are killed when a bus caught fire after it fell into a gorge in India’s eastern state of Bihar.
May 4
- Nobel Prize for Literature will not be awarded this year amid a sexual assault scandal, the organization that gives the award announces.
- Apple Inc. sees its share value hit a record high following comments by American billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
May 5
- NASA successfully launches a spacecraft that will study the interior of Mars.
May 6
- Turkish VakifBank women's volleyball team wins the CEV Champions League Final Four after beating the host Romanian team CSM Volei Alba 3-0 in the capital Bucharest.
May 7
- Dozens of structures, including at least nine homes, have been destroyed by scorching lava flows following a massive volcano eruption on Hawaii's Big Island.
- Vladimir Putin has been sworn in as Russian president in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, marking the official commencement of his fourth term in this position.
- Germany and France will remain committed to the nuclear agreement with Iran, even after a possible move by U.S. President Donald Trump to scrap the deal next week, foreign ministers of both countries say.
- Nestle announces it struck a $7.15 billion deal with coffee chain Starbucks to sell the latter’s famed coffee across the world.
May 8
- Bucking pressure from the U.S.'s closest European allies, President Donald Trump withdraws the U.S. from its participation in the landmark nuclear agreement that world powers struck with Iran in 2015.
- The Democratic Republic of Congo confirms two cases of the Ebola virus in the northwestern town of Bikoro, the World Health Organization says.
May 9
- A 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocks northern and northwestern parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.
- Walmart announces it has bought a 77 percent majority stake in Flipkart, India’s largest online retailer, for $16 billion.
May 10
- At least 41 people are confirmed dead in Kenya after the Patel Dam in the town of Nakuru located in the Great Rift Valley region burst as a result of heavy rains that have been pounding the region, police said.
May 11
- At least 770,000 children under five suffer from acute malnutrition in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo due to conflict, the United Nations Children's Fund says.
- The U.S. will help North Korea with its economy if Pyongyang gets rid of its nuclear weapons, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says.
May 12
- The UN International Atomic Energy Agency chief inspector resigned, the agency says, days after the U.S. pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal.
May 13
- Hundreds of Russians
May 14
- At least 64 Palestinians are martyred and hundreds more injured by Israeli forces along the Gaza border amid protests marking the Nakba anniversary and the relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
- U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman officially announces the relocation of Washington’s Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to West Jerusalem’s
May 15
- Turkey becomes the 17th member state in the Vienna-based International Centre for Migration Policy Development.
- Turkey asks the Israeli ambassador to leave the country following indiscriminate violence and killings by Israeli soldiers along the Gaza border.
May 16
- The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Wednesday tells Israel's Consul General in Istanbul Yosef Levi
- North Korea threatens to pull out of a planned summit between leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump unless Washington stops pushing Pyongyang to denuclearize.
May 17
- President Donald Trump's pick to lead the CIA is confirmed to take the post despite concerns about her history with the agency's enhanced interrogation program, which has been roundly criticized as torture.
May 18
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan describes the Israeli killings of scores of Palestinians as "thuggery, atrocity, and state terror."
- After being seriously injured in a nerve agent attack in England this March, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal is discharged from
May 19
- Galatasaray
- Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle tie the knot in St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
May 20
- Real Madrid
May 21
- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro won a second term in office, election officials
- More than 60 people die from a blistering heatwave that gripped the port city of Karachi -- the country’s commercial capital -- in three days.
May 22
- Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson has been found guilty of covering up child abuses in Australia.
- At least 16 people are killed and more than 30 others wounded following a blast in a shipping container allegedly by the Taliban in the country's second-largest city, Kandahar.
- The European Union decides to start negotiations for free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand.
- A U.S.-North Korea summit planned for June 12 in Singapore may be delayed amid heightened tensions, President Donald Trump suggests.
- Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg appears in front of leading lawmakers of the European Union, apologizing for allowing third parties to access and misuse the personal information of millions of Facebook users.
May 23
- Japan has the "most powerful" passport in the world, according to Henley Passport Index.
- U.S. President Donald Trump cannot block Twitter critics from accessing his feed, a federal judge in New York rules.
- The American football league announces it would impose fines on teams should their players choose to kneel in protest during the national anthem.
May 24
- Spain’s ruling party has been fined and 29 business people and politicians have been sentenced to a total of 351 years in prison for involvement in a massive kickback scheme, the high court ruled.
- The Ebola virus has killed at least eight people while 30 cases of the deadly disease have been detected in Equateur province since May 8.
May 25
- The Netherlands and Australia hold Russia responsible for the downing of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in Ukraine in 2014 that killed all 298 people on board.
May 26
- Irish people vote in favor of repealing their country’s constitutional ban on abortions.
May 27
- At least 23 people are killed in a landslide triggered by heavy rains in the southern Oromia region of Ethiopia.
May 28
- Heightened tensions between armed local Arab groups and the U.S.-backed YPG/PKK terror organization in the northern Syrian city of Raqqah turn into clashes.
May 29
- A ship carrying 20 Palestinians sets out from the Port of Gaza in hopes of breaking Israel’s decade-long maritime embargo of the Gaza Strip.
- George Soros is to launch a campaign to secure a second Brexit referendum to save the U.K. from “immense damage,” the Hungarian-American philanthropist and financier
May 30
- Iraq's official electoral commission annuls all votes cast at 1,021 out of 53,000 ballot boxes used in the country’s May 12 parliamentary polls.
May 31
- Zinedine Zidane announces that he will not be managing Real Madrid next season.
- More than 100 civilians are freed from the Taliban during operations in southern Helmand province, the Afghan military says.
- Italy’s populist parties agree to form a coalition government, nearly three months after an inconclusive March 4 general election.
JUNE
June 1
- Human traffickers in Libya kill 12 migrants and
- Two lions, two tigers
- German prosecutors
- U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong-un will meet on June 12 in Singapore, Trump announces a week after axing the planned meeting.
- The U.S. vetoes a UN Security Council resolution that calls for
- Burkina Faso abolishes the death penalty by adopting a new penal code.
June 3
- Ali Koc, a well-known Turkish businessman, is elected as the new president of Turkey's football giant Fenerbahce, taking the crown from Aziz Yildirim, who has run the club since 1998.
June 4
- A roadmap, drawn up by Turkey and the US will pave the way for people forcefully displaced by PYD/PKK terrorists in Manbij, Syria to return home, says Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
- At least 114 people are killed and hundreds of others injured when the Fuego Volcano, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the capital Guatemala City, erupts.
- Sixty-five people in Cambodia are killed by lightning strikes in the first five months of this year.
June 5
- Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s former premier whose government was toppled last week in a no-confidence vote, announces that he is also quitting his party’s helm.
June 6
- US boxer Floyd Mayweather is Forbes' highest-paid athlete in the world with $285 million in earnings.
- At least 23 miners have been rescued after an iron mine blast in northern China, which kills 11 people and injures nine others, according to the country’s official news agency.
- US’ Trump hosts his first iftar (fast-breaking dinner) as president to mark the holy month of Ramadan amid tense relations with the American Muslim community.
June 7
- NASA announces it has discovered organic molecules on the surface of Mars that suggest the conditions for life exist on the planet.
- In a landmark development, the Afghan government announces a unilateral cease-fire with the Taliban from June 12 until the fifth day of Eid-ul-Fitr, the Muslim holy festival.
- Suicide rates across the U.S.
June 8
- Austria will shut seven mosques and expel 40 imams, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announces.
- A possible military assault on Yemen’s port city of Al Hudaydah by the Saudi-led coalition may impact up to 250,000 lives, says the UN.
June 9
- Warriors sweeps Cavs, claims the
June 10
- Rafael Nadal wins his 11th French Open title with a straight-set victory over Dominic Thiem.
- At least 17 civilians are killed in raids launched by Syrian fighter jets on a hospital and on populated areas in the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib.
June 11
- Turkey launches anti-terror operations in both Qandil and Sinjar regions in northern Iraq.
- Turkish economy expands by 7.4 percent in the first quarter of 2018 compared with the same period last year, Turkey’s statistical authority, TurkStat, reveals.
- At least 30 Ethiopians are released from Egyptian prisons in a presidential pardon.
- Starbucks
June 12
- U.S. President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warmly greet one another as they kick off their highly anticipated denuclearization talks in Singapore.
- The historic Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project is officially launched in the central Turkish city of Eskisehir.
- A total of 33,300 people are killed in Africa between 2011 and 2016 due to violent extremism, according to a UN Development Programme-sponsored study.
- Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk tells employees the company will lay off nine percent of its workforce.
June 13
- The U.K. government blocks at least 1,200 football hooligans from going to Russia for the World Cup.
- Trump claims that North Korea is "no longer a Nuclear Threat" after agreeing to a broad-stroke accord with Kim in Singapore.
- Melting ice in Antarctica has raised sea levels by 7.6 millimeters or nearly one-third of an inch with about three trillion tons of ice disappearing since 1992.
June 14
- U.S.’ Trump releases a small portion of the more than $200 million in funding for Syria stabilization efforts he froze in March.
June 15
- Fast-food chain McDonald’s announces that it will begin testing alternatives to its plastic drinking straws later this year in the US.
June 18
- Turkish Armed Forces in cooperation with U.S. troops begin patrolling the northern Syrian city of Manbij.
June 19
- The US announces its withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council, accusing the body of being hypocritical and biased against Israel.
June 20
- Turkey is declared the most charitable nation in 2017 with nearly $8.1 billion spent in humanitarian aid, according to the Development Initiative's (DI) Global Humanitarian Assistance report.
- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi says 68.5 million people have been uprooted worldwide, which shows the magnanimity of the humanitarian catastrophe.
- The Walt Disney Company announces it has reached an agreement to buy 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion.
- Trump signs an executive order halting his administration's practice of separating undocumented parents, suspected of crossing the border illegally, from their children.
June 21
- Koko, the gorilla who could communicate with humans by learning sign language, dies in her sleep at the age of 46.
June 22
- A total of 960 migrants and refugees have lost their lives
June 23
- Tens of thousands of civilians flee Syria’s southwestern Daraa province toward Israel-occupied Golan Heights following attacks by regime forces and Iran-backed Shia militias.
June 24
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wins the presidential election to become the first president under the new executive presidential system.
June 26
-
June 27
- The US Justice Department conditionally approves The Walt Disney Company's proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox.
June 28
- Over 500 women are arrested at the U.S. Capitol while protesting against President Trump's hardline immigration policy.
- The EU leaders agree to release the second €3 billion ($3.72 billion) tranche in assistance for Syrian refugees in Turkey.
June 30
- World-renowned Turkish historian Fuat Sezgin dies at the age of 95.
JULY
July 1
- Hailed as the world’s oldest temple, Gobeklitepe in southeastern Turkey has been added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.
July 2
- Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been elected the new president of Mexico.
- Germany’s coalition government is brought to the verge of collapse as the ultra-conservative Christian Social Union turned down Chancellor Angela Merkel’s recent proposals for an EU-wide solution to the refugee crisis.
- Mount Agung, which is located in Bali’s eastern Karangasem Regency, erupts once again, sending a 2,000-meter-high of volcanic ashes into the air.
July 3
- The Israeli parliament has passed a bill that would allow cutting funds to the Palestinian Authority by the amount it pays to detainees and families of those killed by Israeli forces.
July 5
- Fans and supporters of Turkey's first female aerobatic pilot Semin Ozturk bid farewell to the 27-year-old daredevil before she takes off for Romania where she is scheduled to participate in the
- The Macedonian parliament ratifies for the second time an agreement signed with Greece to change the former's name after its president temporarily blocked the deal.
- The worst heatwave in decades has claimed 21 lives in Canada with scorching temperatures and related smog.
July 6
- A diver has died while trying to rescue 12 boys and their football coach trapped in a flooded cave in northern Thailand.
- Syria’s armed opposition has agreed with Russia to surrender its heavy weapons in the southern part of the country.
- Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is sentenced to 10 years in jail in a corruption case.
- An international chemical weapons watchdog says the Assad regime used chlorine gas in Syria’s Douma in April that killed 78 civilians.
July 7
- Sheep breeders in Tatvan in Turkey’s eastern province of Bitlis take thousands up the high pastures of Mount Nemrut day after day.
July 8
- Israeli Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel forces his way into East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, for the first such tour by an Israeli official since 2015.
- Renowned Turkish-American cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz visits Syria's northwestern Azaz region to examine children, who were affected by bombings.
July 9
- After taking the
- Boris Johnson resigns as Britain’s secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs, becoming the third senior minister to resign from Theresa May’s government in less than 24 hours.
July 10
- Italian football heavyweights Juventus transfers Real Madrid's Portuguese star,
- The current world population of 7.7 billion is expected to reach 10 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, according to the United Nations Population Fund.
July 11
- NATO will continue to monitor and assess the ballistic missile threat to Turkey from Syria, according to the declaration issued after the first day of the NATO Summit in Brussels.
- A German court sentences neo-Nazi Beate Zschaepe to life in prison for the terrorist group NSU’s murders and bomb attacks targeting Turkish immigrants.
- Two mining company executives are sentenced in the trial of Turkey's deadliest mining disaster, which claimed the lives of 301 people in May 2014 in the western town of Soma.
- Iran will not use the U.S. dollar for trading with the countries -- including China, France, Germany, Russia, and the U.K.
- Croatia advance to their first-ever World Cup final after beating England 2-1.
July 12
- The Turkish parliament elects former Prime Minister and Justice and Development (AK) Party's lawmaker Binali Yildirim as its new speaker.
- A Turkish court sentences 84 defendants to aggravated life imprisonment in a major case concerning the 2016 defeated coup, centered around deadly confrontations on one of Istanbul’s major bridges.
July 13
- Johnson & Johnson is ordered to pay $4.7 billion in punitive damages by a jury in a case linking talc powder in the company’s products to several cases of cancer.
- At least 133 people are killed and over 150 injured in a suspected suicide blast in an election rally in northwest Pakistan.
- A U.S. grand jury indicts 12 Russian intelligence officers for alleged hacking related to the 2016 presidential election.
July 14
- Turkish TV broadcaster TRT staff is briefly detained in the Greek city of Alexandroupolis.
July 15
- France
- Thousands of people flock to the July 15 Martyrs Bridge in Istanbul to mark the second anniversary of the defeated coup attempt in 2016. The names of 251 martyrs are read out one by one and the Quranic verses are recited. Holding Turkish flags, some people chant slogans such as “Martyrs do not die, the country is not divided”, “Every Turk is born a soldier” and “We do not want PKK in the parliament".
July 18
- Turkey lifts its two-year-old state of emergency. The government declares a state of emergency for the first time on July 20, 2016, following a deadly coup attempt orchestrated by the
- The European Commission imposes a €4.34 billion ($5.06 billion) fine on Google for breaching the EU’s antitrust rules through Android.
July 19
- Turkey slams a new Jewish nation-state law passed by Israel's Knesset, saying it "disregards" norms of universal law.
- Spain’s Supreme Court drops international arrest warrants for former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and five other separatist politicians who fled abroad after a botched independence attempt in Catalonia last year.
July 20
- Turkey and the Netherlands have decided to normalize their bilateral relations, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says.
- Using tanks, warplanes, and artillery fire, the Israeli army launches a major attack on the Gaza Strip, allegedly in response to gunfire towards its soldiers along the border.
- U.S. President Donald Trump's long-time lawyer secretly records a conversation with Trump in which they discussed a possible payment to a former Playboy model who alleges an affair with Trump.
July 21
- A fugitive Turkish businessman Hamdi Akin Ipek, who was arrested on May 23 in London, is released on bail, according to the U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service.
Jul. 22
- Turkey’s 19-year-old recurve archer Mete Gazoz wins
July 23
- Hatidza Mehmedovic, a vocal activist seeking justice for victims of the Srebrenica massacre, dies at the age of 66 in the capital Sarajevo. After losing her husband and two sons in the massacre, the head of the Mothers of Srebrenica Association dedicated her life to raising awareness
- A book of spectacular bird’s-eye view shots of Turkey is now available for sale through online outlets. Turkey from Sky (Gokyuzunden Turkiye), spotlighting photos taken by Anadolu Agency photojournalists using drones, is being offered at online book retailers.
- Iraq's human rights commission reports 14 people were killed and more than 700 injured by Iraqi security forces during weeks of protests over economic woes and the government’s mismanagement.
July 24
- Pakistanis
- American Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson, who is facing terror charges in Turkey, has been put under house arrest.
- The U.S. and the European Union reach a new pact on trade after retaliatory tariffs.
July 26
- Around 800 migrants and refugees from the
July 27
- The number of tourists visiting Turkey in the first half of 2018 surges by 30 percent year-on-year.
- Dozens of Palestinians are injured when Israeli forces entered East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque and began attacking Muslim worshipers, according to a Palestinian official.
- Two people are dead from a massive wildfire sweeping across Northern California, where dry conditions and triple-digit temperatures are expected to hamper efforts by firefighters to battle the blaze.
July 28
- Palestinian protest icon
- The number of migrants, who were held while trying to reach Europe from Turkey using illegal routes, increases by 60 percent this year, according to data from the Coast Guard Command.
July 30
- Populist leader Imran Khan, whose Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerges as the single-largest party in the July 25 elections, scrambles to garner a simple majority in the parliament to form a new government.
July 31
- A roadside bombing by the PKK terrorist organization kills the wife and baby of a Turkish soldier in the southeastern province of Hakkari, according to the local governor’s office.
- Mars makes its closest approach to Earth, registering 35.8 million miles (57.6 million kilometers) at its closest point.
AUGUST
Aug. 1
- Denmark imposes a controversial ban on the wearing of face veils in public.
- Turkey strongly protests against a decision by the U.S. Treasury Department to impose sanctions on two ministers for not releasing American Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson, who faces terrorism charges in Turkey.
- Turkish archer Mete Gazoz breaks the European record at an international archery tournament in the Bulgarian capital Sofia.
Aug. 2
- The Greek parliament approves
- Accompanied by the Russian military police, UN peacekeeping forces patrol the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights for the first time since 2014.
Aug. 3
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveils the first 100-day action plan of Turkey's new presidential Cabinet in the capital Ankara.
- An exhibition is organized in Gaza Strip to showcase more than a thousand products forbidden to enter into the city by Israeli authorities.
- More than 134,000 people have been evacuated to shelters as China’s largest city of Shanghai was hit by Typhoon Jongdari.
- A Turkish court sentences nine convicts to 101 aggravated life terms in connection with 2015 twin bombings in Ankara.
Aug. 4
- An attack carried out by explosive drones targets Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during his speech.
Aug. 5
- A magnitude 7.0 earthquake shakes eastern Indonesia, kills at least 563 people, according to Indonesian authorities.
- Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador to Canada and gives the Canadian ambassador 24 hours to leave the country.
Aug. 6
- Anadolu Agency photo correspondent Sebnem Coskun wins the "Jury Honorable Mention" prize at the Andrei Stenin International Photo Contest.
Aug. 7
- Twin blazes in northern California have combined to form the largest inferno in the state's history.
Aug. 8
- Saudi Arabia orders all Canadian assets be sold “no matter the cost” in the latest retaliatory action to Canada’s criticism of the kingdom’s detention of human rights activists.
Aug. 9
- The world has many giant Qurans, but its only giant wooden Quran, measuring 1.77 by 1.40 meters (5.8 by 4.6 feet), can be found in Palembang, the capital of Indonesia’s South Sumatra province.
- Turkish world champion sprinter Ramil Guliyev captures the
- Canada will not adopt retaliatory economic sanctions in its escalating diplomatic war with Saudi Arabia, Canada’s Finance Minister Bill Morneau says.
Aug. 10
- Turkey’s "new economic model" is unveiled on Friday by the country Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak.
Aug. 11
- Turkey says it would retaliate to the raising of steel and aluminum tariffs by the U.S. administration.
- Betul Baslik, a Turkish-origin social services,
- Thousands of Arab Israelis protest against the controversial "Jewish State" law at Rabin square in the Israeli capital Tel Aviv.
Aug. 12
- The U.S space agency launches a probe that aims to travel closer to the sun than ever before.
Aug. 13
- Four Turkish companies -- Aselsan, Tusas, Roketsan,
- At least 774 have been killed during India's monsoon season due to heavy rain and floods, according to state officials.
- Shares of Amazon hit an all-time high as the company nears a market value of $1 trillion.
Aug. 14
- Pakistan marks its 71st Independence Day with celebrations in major cities including the capital Islamabad.
- An ancient human footprint that belongs to
Aug. 15
- Turkey "neutralizes" a most-wanted PKK/KCK terrorist in an operation in northern Iraq.
- Turkey has increased tariffs on several U.S.-origin products, including alcohol and tobacco products and cars, according to a new presidential decree.
- India will launch its first manned space mission by 2022, the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces in his Independence Day speech to the nation.
- A criminal high court in the Aegean province of Izmir rejects American Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson's appeal to end his house arrest and lift a travel ban on him.
- Qatar will make $15 billion of direct investment in Turkey, Qatar’s leader says on a visit to Ankara.
Aug. 16
- Famed singer Aretha Franklin, also known as the Queen of Soul, dies at the age of 76 in her home in Detroit. The long-time singer and songwriter had a career spanning more than 60 years, in which she topped the music charts, being the most charted female artist in the U.S. for nearly four decades.
- The Hubble Space Telescope has captured one of the largest panoramic views of the universe ever, U.S. space agency NASA announces.
- Two mosques in the city of Birmingham in the Midlands are attacked with ball-bearing catapults, according to British police.
Aug. 17
- Imran Khan, a former Pakistani cricket star, was elected prime minister by the country’s lower house, the National Assembly.
- The U.S. sanctions four of Myanmar’s military and border guard commanders, as well as two military units, for "ethnic cleansing" in Rakhine State and other rights abuses in Kachin and Shan states.
Aug. 18
- Two billion people are living in poverty, while 753 million others experience extreme poverty and are struggling to survive, according to the Global Humanitarian Assistance Report 2018.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is re-elected as head of the ruling Justice and Development Party after he secured the votes of 1,380 delegates at the party's 6th ordinary congress in the capital Ankara.
Aug. 20
- Nearly two million Muslims from around the world ascend the sacred Mount Arafat near Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca as part of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
- Four of Iraq’s main political coalitions have come together to form a majority bloc in parliament that will be responsible for forming the country’s next government.
- Greece emerges from its final three-year bailout program after eight years of rescue funds of more than €260 billion ($300 billion) lent by eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund.
Aug. 21
- U.S. President Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen, 51, reportedly pleads guilty to make hush-money payments to an adult film actress and a former Playboy model "at the direction" of Trump with the intent to "influence the election".
- Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort is found guilty of eight of the 18 federal charges brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Aug. 22
- A Swedish politician of Turkish origin is expelled from his party weeks before the general and local elections in Sweden.
Aug. 24
- The U.S. cuts more than $200 million in aid to Palestine following a review initiated by President Donald Trump.
Aug. 25
- Rohingya people -- the world’s most persecuted and displaced Muslim minority -- demonstrate in Bangladeshi refugee camps, demanding justice for the "genocide" carried out by the Myanmar government and military.
- Senator John McCain, who served in the Senate for more than three decades, dies of brain cancer after a year-long battle with the disease.
Aug. 26
- A 5.9-magnitude earthquake
- Emmerson Mnangagwa is sworn in as Zimbabwe’s president following a controversial election in which he won more than half the vote.
Aug. 27
- Arab members of Knesset (Israel’s parliament) are seeking UN censure of Israel over a recent law recognizing Israel as the “nation-state of the Jewish people”, The Jerusalem Post daily reported.
- Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny is jailed for 30 days over protest-related charges.
- The U.S. and Mexico reach a preliminary agreement to replace a free trade deal that also
Aug. 28
- A giant Genghis Khan Statue stands 40-meters (130 ft) high on the bank of the Tuul River at Tsonjin Boldog east of the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, where, according to legend, he found a golden whip.
- The death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria from September 2017 to February 2018 is now estimated to be 2,975, according to a new report.
- Turkish archers Mete Gazoz and Yasemin Ecem Anagoz break two records at an international archery tournament in the Polish city of Legnica.
- Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo's overhead kick in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals for Spain's Real Madrid against his current Italian club Juventus is voted UEFA.com goal of the season.
Aug. 29
- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the credit rating agency Moody’s for internal control failures and failing to clearly define and consistently apply credit rating symbols.
- U.S. assistance to the Saudi-led coalition’s war in Yemen has amounted to killing innocent Yemeni civilians, the New York Times argues.
Aug. 30
- Turkey celebrates the 96th anniversary of Victory Day, which commemorates the resounding defeat of the Greek forces at hands of the Turks in the Battle of Dumlupinar in 1922.
- An anti-Islam cartoon contest depicting Prophet Mohammad planned to be held by a Dutch lawmaker is canceled.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, is suspected of bribery and corruption, Israeli media report.
- Around a thousand far-right demonstrators rally in the eastern German city of Chemnitz after days of violent protests.
Aug. 31
- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey will soon receive S-400 anti-missile system in line with an agreement inked with Russia.
- The autonomous region of Zanzibar in Tanzania bears elements of African, European, Arab, and Indian civilizations with its spice gardens, unique lifestyle, safari tours, and breathtaking natural beauties. Its “Zanzibar doors” are particularly famous as pieces of Indian culture bearing verses from the Islamic holy book, giving life to the city around them.
- Democrats and Republicans gather at the U.S. Capitol to pay their respects to deceased Senator John McCain whose decades of service drew bipartisan accolades.
- Israeli soldiers fire
SEPTEMBER
Sept. 1
- A total of 391 civilians, including 66 children, are killed in civil war-torn Syria in August 2018, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
- Turkey's women's classic archery team wins the European championship in the Polish city of Legnica.
Sept. 2
- A new photo of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak looking frail and aged goes viral on social media.
- A total of 406 people die and 871 others sustain serious injuries in the last five months from falling off crowded trains in India.
Sept. 3
- Brazilian football legend Ronaldo becomes the primary owner of Spain's Real Valladolid after purchasing 51 percent of the Spanish club's shares for €30 million.
Sept. 4
- A large-scale Syrian regime offensive in the opposition stronghold of Idlib could lead to the “worst humanitarian catastrophe in the 21st century”, warns UN’s humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock.
- Italian club Juventus' new striker Cristiano Ronaldo with his €31 million annual
Sept. 6
- Turkey's first indigenous helicopter T625 makes its maiden flight in the capital Ankara.
- Hollywood icon Burt Reynolds dies at 82 after suffering cardiac arrest.
- Dolores O'Riordan, the lead singer of famous Irish rock band The Cranberries, drowned in her hotel room’s bath as a result of excessive alcohol intake, a judicial inquiry reveals.
- Israel has banned Palestinian resistance icon
Sept. 7
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls for an end to deaths in Syria at the trilateral summit in the Iranian capital Tehran.
Sept. 8
- The U.S. cuts funding for hospitals that mainly serve Palestinians in the occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli daily Haaretz reports.
Sept. 9
- Japanese Princess Akiko of Mikasa arrived in Turkey for a visit.
- Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic defeated Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro in the US Open final to claim his 14th Grand Slam title in New York.
Sept. 10
- The US shutters Washington's diplomatic mission of Palestine Liberation Organization, as the Donald Trump administration prepares to roll out its Middle East peace plan.
- The Turkish economy grows by 5.2 percent in the second quarter of 2018 compared with the same period last year, according to TurkStat, the
Sept. 11
- Russia’s military exercises "Vostok-2018" -- the largest-ever in the country's history -- start.
- A suicide blast rips through a crowd of protesters in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 32 people and leaving over 100 others wounded.
Sept. 12
- Russian President Vladimir Putin offers an olive branch to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with a proposal for a peace treaty without any preconditions by the year-end.
- Transfer spending in football reaches new highs globally as summer spending by clubs of the Big 5 -- England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain -- surpasses $4 billion, reveals a FIFA report.
Sept. 14
- Hurricane Florence hits US North Carolina rapping the coastline with maximum winds of 90 miles (150 kilometers) per hour and torrential downpours as it pushes a storm surge far inland.
- Former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleads guilty to two criminal counts in the latest legal victory for Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Sept. 15
- Iraq's parliament elects Sunni politician Mohammed Al Halbusi as assembly speaker after winning majority votes.
Sept. 16
- Estonian pilot Ott Tanak wins the 10th round of the World Rally Championship in Turkey’s touristic Marmaris district of southwestern Mugla province.
Sept. 17
- Turkey and Russia agree to turn Syria's northwestern Idlib province into a demilitarized zone.
- At least four people die and over 200 others are wounded as Typhoon Mangkhut hits southern China and Hong Kong.
- Movie theaters in Saudi Arabia this week will screen an Egyptian film for the first time following the reversal of a 35-year ban on public cinemas.
- Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is shifted back to jail together with his daughter and son-in-law, ending the parole he was granted to attend his wife’s funeral.
- The Trump administration says that it will cut the maximum number of refugees that can be resettled in the U.S. by one-third.
- Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel walks
Sept. 18
- Turkish-American surgeon and talk show host Dr. Mehmet Oz says he was greatly moved by his visits in July to refugee camps in Turkey and Syria, noting it is something he will never forget.
- A Russian IL-20 aircraft is accidentally downed by Syrian regime forces, the Defense Ministry says and blames Israel, saying Syrian air defenses accidentally hit the plane while trying to repel an Israeli attack.
Sept. 19
- The death toll from the Philippines typhoon named “Mangkhut” rises to 81.
Sept. 20
- The U.S. blacklists 33 Russian officials and entities associated with Moscow's defense and intelligence industries.
- Japanese PM Abe is reelected as head of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party, paving the way for him to become the country's longest-serving premier.
Sept. 21
- Saudi television anchorwoman Weam al-Dekheil becomes the first female news presenter on a state-owned Saudi television channel.
- The discovery of fat molecules in a fossil 558 million years old confirms it as the oldest-known animal on record, a group of researchers announces.
Sept. 23
- The death toll after the capsize of a passenger ferry in Tanzania’s Lake Victoria rises to 224.
Sept. 26
- The Pentagon said it will remove four missile systems from Kuwait, Jordan, and Bahrain.
Sept. 28
- Powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake hits Indonesia, leaving more than 1,400 people dead.
- A U.S. F-35 fighter jet crashes in South Carolina, marking the first crash for one of the country's most expensive military jets.
Sept. 29
- Russia has begun delivering the S-300 air defense system to Syria, says Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Sept. 30
- Mercedes team's British driver Lewis Hamilton wins the Russian Grand Prix, which is the 16th race of the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship.
OCTOBER
Oct. 1
- Russia has lost 112 servicemen during its three-year operation in Syria, a senior lawmaker said.
- French singer and songwriter Charles Aznavour dies at the age of 94 after a career lasting more than 80 years, his spokesman confirms.
- The U.S. will deliver two more F-35 fighter jets to Turkey in 2019, the military head of the F-35 program says.
- The Nobel Prize for medicine has been awarded to two researchers from the U.S. and Japan for their pioneering work on using the body’s own immune system to fight off cancer.
Oct. 2
- Americans’ confidence in Pope Francis' handling of Catholic sex abuse scandals has declined, according to a survey released by the Pew Research Center.
- A 2016 military aid package between the U.S. and Israel has gone into force, the U.S. State Department says. The deal, signed under the Obama administration, will provide Israel $38 billion in U.S. military financing from 2019 to 2028.
- The Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded to three researchers from the U.S. and Canada for their "groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics".
- Iraq's parliament elects Barham Salih as the new president following a second-round of voting.
- Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, goes missing after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
Oct. 3
- A volcano erupts on the northern part of Indonesia's Sulawesi Island.
- The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018 is awarded to three scientists, two of them from the U.S. and one from the U.K., for their works on evolutionary biology, announces the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Oct. 4
- The U.K. accuses Russian military intelligence agency GRU of staging “indiscriminate and reckless”
- The Turkish Foreign Ministry summons Saudi Arabia’s envoy to Ankara after the disappearance of a Saudi journalist.
Oct. 5
- The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia.
- Indian and Russian leaders sign a deal for five Russian S-400 Triumf missile shield systems, according to media reports.
Oct. 6
- The Senate votes largely along party lines to narrowly confirm U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to America's top court, cementing a conservative majority on the bench for the foreseeable future.
Oct. 7
- The death toll from the 7.4-magnitude earthquake and the tsunami that followed in Indonesia's Sulawesi Island in late September has risen to 1,944, according to military and disaster agency officials.
- Interpol President Meng Hongwei, who was first reported missing and later remanded in China over unspecified suspected violations of the law, resigns as president of the international police organization.
Oct. 8
- Turkey conveys its expectation of "full cooperation" from Saudi Arabia in search of the missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
- The Syrian opposition is set to complete the withdrawal of all its heavy weapons from Idlib frontlines in northwestern Syria.
Oct. 9
- U.S. President Donald Trump accepts the resignation of his ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley.
Oct. 10
- Fifty people, including several children, die in an accident in western Kenya when a 67-seater bus veered off the road in an accident-prone area and rolled down a steep slope.
- A total of 8,050 civilian casualties are reported in Afghanistan in the first nine months of this year, according to a UN report.
- At least three people are dead after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia.
Oct. 11
- Turkey's current account balance showed a surplus in August, for the first time over the past three years, the Turkish Central Bank announces.
- Thirty-one percent of girls in war-battered Yemen lack access to basic education, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
- A joint Turkish-Saudi team will investigate the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi upon the Kingdom's request, a Turkish presidential aide says.
Oct. 12
- A Turkish court sentences U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson to three years and one-and-half months in prison. The court credits his time spent in
Oct. 13
- Nearly two weeks after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck the city of Palu and its surrounding areas in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, the death toll tops 2,000.
- At least 50 people have been killed in a gas explosion in southeastern Nigeria, an official says, raising the possibility that the death toll might rise.
- At least 15 people are killed in floods and landslides after Cyclone Titli hit the eastern Indian state of Orrisa.
Oct. 14
- Cyclist Michal Paluta from team CCC Sprandi Polkowice rides against rain and wind in the final stage of the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey between Bursa and Istanbul.
Oct. 15
- Microsoft Corporation co-founder Paul Allen dies at age 65.
- Anwar Ibrahim, 71, leader of Malaysia's People's Justice Party, is sworn in after winning a by-election just six months after the king’s pardon freed him from jail.
Oct. 16
- The U.S. military carried out an airstrike last week against the al-Shabaab terrorist group in Somalia, killing at least 60 militants, the U.S. Africa Command announces.
Oct. 17
- Legendary Turkish photographer Ara Guler dies on Wednesday in Istanbul at the age of 90.
- U.S. secretary of state arrives in Turkey to discuss the case of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Washington Post journalist who has been missing since entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
- At least 18 people are killed in an explosion at a college in Crimea's city of Kerch.
Oct. 18
- Amid the ongoing investigation into a missing Saudi journalist, a French minister announces to cancel his plans to attend an economic conference in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
- A Turkish restaurant is set on fire in an arson attack in the eastern German city of Chemnitz.
- U.S. President Donald Trump says it "certainly looks" like missing Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi is dead amid speculation he was killed by Saudi Arabia.
Oct. 19
- Twitter has removed a network of suspected pro-Saudi Arabian bots that sought to spread the Kingdom's narrative regarding the disappearance of missing Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
- At least 59 people are killed and 72 others injured when a train ran over people in the Indian state of Punjab.
Oct. 20
- Hundreds of thousands of people gather in central London to stage the biggest pro-EU rally to urge the government for a second referendum on the final Brexit deal.
- Voting for the long-due Afghan parliamentary elections concludes in most of the polling stations, amid a spate of deadly attacks that claimed more than 30 lives.
- Africa’s youngest billionaire Mohammed Dewji who was kidnapped a week earlier by unknown gunmen in the Tanzanian city of Dar es
Oct. 21
- Germany announces that it would stop arms exports to Saudi Arabia amid doubts over Riyadh’s explanation on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
- At least 18 people are killed and 187 injured when a train derailed in Taiwan, local media report.
Oct. 22
- A caravan of more than 7,000 migrants is slowly making its way through Mexico, two days after most of it illegally crossed the country’s southern border with Guatemala as America’s president pressured Central American countries to halt it.
- The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami that struck Indonesia last month has climbed to 2,256, according to the country’s national disaster agency.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ranks first place in the 2019 edition of the World's 500 Most Influential Muslims.
Oct. 23
- The U.S. is revoking the visas of some Saudi officials who have been implicated in the slaying of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says.
Oct. 25
- Facebook is subjected to a fine of $645,000 by a British watchdog for failing to protect the privacy of their users.
- Irish singer Sinead O'Connor reveals she has renounced Catholicism and converted to Islam, taking the new name Shuhada' Davitt.
Oct. 27
- Leaders of Turkey, Russia, Germany, and France
- At least 11 people are killed after a gunman opened fire during a ceremony at a synagogue in the state of Pennsylvania.
- Michael D Higgins wins the presidential election, extending his term in the office, in Ireland. The 77-year-old president receives 822,566 votes to serve his second term.
Oct. 29
- Istanbul Airport, the “world's new hub,” officially opens on the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic.
- An Indonesian passenger plane with 188 people aboard loses contact with air traffic controllers and crashes into the sea off the country’s West Java province.
- The U.S. military is planning to deploy 5,200 troops to the southwestern border by the end of the week as a migrant caravan makes its way north, officials say.
Oct. 30
- NATO chief says deployment of missiles by Russia in Europe is putting the nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. in jeopardy and calls on Moscow to be in full compliance with it.
- Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem generally
Oct. 31
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel is likely to step down next year to clear the way for a new coalition government, former Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel claims.
November
Nov. 1
- 2018 Turkish Airlines Open golf tournament starts in Turkey’s Mediterranean resort city of Antalya. The tournament -- hosting 78 players for the competition -- takes place on Nov. 1-4 in Regnum Carya Golf & Resort.
- U.S. President Donald Trump announces plans to change the country's immigration policy to limit asylum seekers.
Nov. 2
- The U.S. lifts sanctions on Turkey’s justice and interior ministers.
- The Arab League calls on Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro to revoke his decision to relocate the Brazilian Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
- Pakistani religious scholar and lawmaker Maulana Sami ul-Haq is assassinated.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the order for journalist Jamal Khashoggi's killing came from the top levels of the Saudi government.
Nov. 4
- The U.S. snaps back all of the sanctions it lifted on Iran following a historic pact world powers struck with the Islamic Republic.
- Armed militia groups head to the border to assist border enforcement officers as a migrant caravan winds its way through Mexico on its way to the U.S.
- The sons of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi deliver an emotional appeal asking for the return of their father's body in an interview with CNN.
Nov. 5
- Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman thanks U.S. President Donald Trump for imposing sanctions on Iran.
- The YPG/PKK terror group made a swap deal with Daesh to get back seven U.S. soldiers captured by Daesh terror group in eastern Syria, local sources
- Turkey is among eight nations that were granted temporary waivers from sanctions the U.S. reimposed on Iran's oil sector.
Nov. 6
- Democratic hopes for a "blue wave" fall short as the party took control of the House of Representatives but lost critical ground in the Senate.
- U.S. Department of State puts a bounty on three key PKK terrorists, according to a statement by the U.S. Embassy in Ankara.
- Council of the EU decides to renew the targeted restrictive measures on Venezuela until Nov. 14, 2019, due to the continuing deterioration of the situation in the country.
Nov. 7
- Attorney General Jeff Sessions announces to resign from his post at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump.
- Software made by an Israeli cybersecurity firm is used to track murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, claims former U.S. National Security Agency contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden.
- Prejudice against Muslims, migrants, and asylum seekers have significantly increased in Germany, according to a new study by Leipzig University.
Nov. 8
- Aslan Park, the world’s third zoo exclusively consisting of big cats, opens to visitors in Istanbul.
- At least 12 people die in a mass shooting in a dance bar in Southern California.
Nov. 9
- Nearly a half million people have been killed by the U.S. "war on terror" that was started in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to a study by Brown University.
- U.S. President Donald Trump signs a proclamation denying migrants, who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, the ability to seek asylum in America, prompting a lawsuit by a coalition of civil rights organizations.
Nov. 10
- A century has passed since the end of World War I, known as the first global war in history. More than 70 state and government heads, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, mark the 100th anniversary of the Armistice of November 11, 1918, signed between the Allies and Germany to put an official end to World War I.
- French president reiterates his call for building a European army to reduce dependence on the U.S.
Nov. 11
- Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich wins the 40th intercontinental Istanbul Marathon women's title and Kenyan Felix Kimutai wins the men's race by breaking the 42 km Istanbul Marathon's records.
- Mercedes claims the constructors’ title for the fifth year in a row in Formula 1 after the champion of the season, Lewis Hamilton, won the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Nov. 12
- The man responsible for crafting some of Marvel comics' most memorable superheroes including the X-Men, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the Hulk dies aged 95.
Nov. 13
- An Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has finally been reached following weeks of intense shuttle diplomacy by Egyptian officials.
- Amnesty International withdraws its highest honor from Aung San Suu Kyi, in light of the Myanmar leader’s betrayal of the values she once stood for.
Nov. 14
- Turkey's first driverless metro line in Istanbul was ranked as Europe’s biggest automated line, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality says, citing a Brussel-based transport association.
- German police recorded 12,613 far-right crimes in 2018, according to government figures.
- As the government appeared to finalize a draft Brexit agreement, thousands rally in London for a second referendum on EU membership.
Nov. 15
- Bangladeshi government halts the first scheduled Rohingya repatriation to Myanmar following protests by the refugees.
- Turkey plans to launch the construction of artificial sea-level waterway Canal Istanbul in 2019, says the transport and infrastructure minister.
- European Court of Justice rules to keep the PKK on the EU's terror list.
- Bangladeshi government halts the first scheduled Rohingya repatriation to Myanmar following protests by the refugees.
Nov. 16
- A meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett fails to bear fruit, raising the specter of early elections.
- Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the CIA concludes, according to the Washington Post.
Nov. 18
- A teenage Turkish rider wins the Moto3 race in Valencia, Spain, to become the youngest Grand Prix winner in motorcycling. Making his debut at the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix, Can
Nov. 19
- With Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin doing the honors, the last offshore section of the landmark TurkStream natural gas pipeline is put into place.
- Germany announces that it halted all arms exports to Saudi Arabia in a move to increase pressure on Riyadh to conduct a full investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Nov. 20
- Turkey has given the United States a list of 84 members of the
Nov. 21
- The U.S. is placing observation posts along the Turkish border in northern Syria, Defense Chief James Mattis says.
- As many as 85,000 children under the age of 5 in Yemen have starved to death since the war began, Save the Children, a rights group, reports.
- Austria's far-right government introduces a draft law to the parliament to ban the headscarf in primary schools, planning to implement it without the support of the opposition.
Nov. 22
- Students of two middle schools in Turkey’s southeast start selling fruit to raise relief funds for the people of Gaza. In a joint project launched by provincial school officials and the Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), children in Sanliurfa set aside their recess breaks to raise funds for residents of the Palestinian enclave.
- Continuing his break with the U.S. intelligence community, U.S. President Donald Trump dismisses as "feelings" the CIA’s assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
- The two Koreas connect a three-kilometer road inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the countries, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
- Israel’s Supreme Court approves the eviction of scores of Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem.
Nov. 23
- For the 35th consecutive Friday, thousands of Palestinian demonstrators gather along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone to take part in ongoing rallies against Israel’s decades-long occupation.
- Relatives of the victims of the Malaysian Airlines flight shot down in 2014 are taking Russia to the European Court of Human Rights, Dutch media report.
Nov. 24
- Turkey’s opposition Nationalist Movement Party will “fully” support the ruling party’s mayoral candidates for the three biggest cities of the country in the upcoming local elections, the party head said.
Nov. 25
- The 27 members of the European Union approve the Brexit deal, the European Council President Donald Tusk announced. The U.K. is set to leave the EU in March 2019.
- Russia seizes three Ukrainian navy warships off Crimea in the Sea of Azov. Russia says the vessels ignored calls to stop at the border, sparking military action.
- NASA's InSight spacecraft tasked with exploring the interior of Mars touches down on the planet's surface after a dangerous six-minute descent into the red-colored atmosphere.
- French police detain at least 100 people in anti-government protests sparked by
Nov. 26
- Bernardo Bertolucci, the legendary Italian director of films such as Last Tango in Paris and The Last Emperor,
Nov. 27
- Hundreds of Tunisians demonstrated in the capital against a planned visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Nov. 28
- Missing pieces of the famed “Gypsy girl mosaic” finally arrive home -- in Turkey's southeastern Gaziantep province -- from the U.S.
Nov. 29
- In a rare gesture of understanding, Pakistan and India agree to open a key border crossing next year ahead of the historic birthday of the founder of the Sikh religion.
Nov. 30
- Abandoned for tens of years, a centuries-old wooden mosque is restored to serve for worship and touristic purposes in Turkey’s Black Sea region.
- Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush dies aged 94. Family spokesman Jim McGrath confirms his death in a brief statement but did not specify a cause.
DECEMBER
Dec.1
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan holds separate meetings with world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, US' Donald Trump, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the
- 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 the 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,
- US president agreed to not raise the tariff rate on goods imported from China, the White House announces.
Dec. 2
- Israeli police recommended the 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, the 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 the US 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
- 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 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" was 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 it 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-terrorism operation into Syria,
- 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 -- hits Indonesia's
- 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 the 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.
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