KEY EVENTS 2019
January 3: China successfully lands robotic lander Chang’e 4 on the far side of the Moon.
January 29: Asia Bibi’s blasphemy acquittal is upheld by Pakistan’s Supreme Court.
February 1: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announces that the United States is suspending its role in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Russian follows suit a day later.
February 27: US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meet face-to-face for the first time since their summit last year. A day later, the summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un abruptly ends over disagreement over nuclear disarmament issue.
March 10: An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 149 passengers and eight crew members onboard crashes en route to Nairobi, Kenya, killing all 157 persons on board.
March 15: At least 50 people are killed and dozens others are injured during two attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. A gunman involved in the shootings of at least one of the two mosques is identified as Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian man.
March 22: Special Counsel Robert Mueller delivers a report on his inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.
April 2: Algeria President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigns amid pressure from the public and the military.
April 11: Sudan military takes over forcing president Omar al-Bashir to resign. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is arrested in London after Ecuador withdraws asylum.
April 15: A fire breaks out at the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral in Paris, resulting in the collapse of its roof and spire and considerable damage to the building’s interior.
April 21: A series of explosions at churches and hotels in four cities in Sri Lanka, including the nation’s commercial capital and largest city Colombo, kills at least 359 people and wounds around 500 others. IS has since claimed responsibility for the attacks.
May 1: Emperor Naruhito accedes to the Chrysanthemum Throne as the 126th Emperor of Japan.
May 23: The Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wins majority in Indian general election.
June 7: UK Prime Minister Theresa May resigns as Leader of the Conservative Party, paving the way for a new Prime Minister to be elected.
June 30: US President Donald Trump, together with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Joint Security Area, becoming the first sitting US president to step foot in North Korea.
August 2: Saudi Arabia grants women the right to travel without permission from a male guardians.
August 5: India revokes Jammu and Kashmir’s special status amidst increased regional tensions. The Indian government moved additional troops into the sensitive area before banning assemblies, closing schools, restricting tourism and announcing a plan to split the state into two union territories.
August 19: Outrage flares across the world over raging fires in the Amazon Forest. At this point, fire was raging for at least 15 days.
August 31: India releases the final version of the National Register of Citizens for the state of Assam. Up to 1.9 million residents risk losing their citizenship if they can’t prove their residency.
September 7: US President Donald Trump calls off peace negotiations with the Taliban.
November 13: Israeli airstrikes leave 22 Palestinians dead and dozens injured. More than 200 rockets are fired into Israel from Gaza.
November 18: The Trump administration announces that the United States no longer considers Israeli settlement of the West Bank as illegal per se under international law.
December 11: India passes a controversial amendment to the Indian nationality law that would expedite citizenship for religious minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan excluding Muslims.
Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi defends military and
denies all charges of genocide.
December 12: Boris Johnson wins UK general election securing a large majority.
December 18: The United States House of Representatives impeaches President Donald Trump.
December 23: A court in Saudi Arabia sentences five people to death for the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Comments