The News of 2018.

January:

• Turkey announces the beginning of a military offensive to capture a portion of northern Syria from Kurdish forces
• The US government enters a federal shutdown as a result of a dispute over Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
• Scientists in China report the creation of the first monkey clones using somatic cell nuclear transfer, named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua
• Scotland Yard announce that Kevin Spacey is being investigated over a third sexual assault accusation
• French President Emmanuel Macron agrees to loan the Bayeux Tapestry to the UK, the first time in 950 years it will have left France
• The number of rough sleepers in England reaches its highest level since records began: an estimated 4751

February:

• The 2018 Winter Olympics are held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Norway top the medal table with 14 gold and 39 overall
• Kay Goldsworthy becomes the first female archbishop in the Anglican Communion
• Jacob Zuma resigns as President of South Africa after nine years in power
• A school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida kills 17 people and injures 17 more
• 20 million people watch what is believed to be the biggest event in YouTube history as KSI defeats Joe Weller in a boxing match
• NHS hospitals record their worst ever A&E performance with 77.1% of patients treated within four hours in January, far short of the 95% target
• UKIP members vote to sack party leader Henry Bolton after controversy over racist texts sent by his partner
• Sixty four UK universities strike over proposed changes to the USS pension scheme
• Toys R Us enters administration with a £15m VAT bill they are unable to pay
• The Met Office issues the first ever red snow warning for Scotland, South-West England and South Wales as the Beast from the East arrives. The Army is called in to help rescue hundreds of stranded motorists, while several people are reported to have died due to the freezing conditions.

March:

• Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, are poisoned by Novichok in Salisbury
• China’s government approves a constitutional change that removes term limits for its leaders, granting Xi Jinping the status of “President for Life”
• In response to gun violence in the US, thousands of high school students participate in an organised protest called the National School Walkout
• Vladimir Putin is elected president of Russia for a fourth term
• The world’s last male northern white rhinoceros dies in Kenya
• An Islamic terror attack in Carcassonne and Trèbes, France, kills five people including the perpetrator
• In over 900 cities worldwide, people participate in the “March for Our Lives”, a demonstration against gun violence and mass shootings
• More than 100 Russian diplomats are expelled by over 20 countries in response to the poisoning of the Skripals
• North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un leaves the country for the first time since taking office in 2011 in order to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping
• Paper £10 cease to be legal tender
• Former Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, is suspended by the Labour Party indefinitely over anti-semitism claims
• Carbon emissions in the UK fall to the level last seen in 1890
• Stephen Hawking dies at his home in Cambridge, aged 76
• A Channel 4 documentary about Cambridge Analytica airs. It reports on the dealings involved in the Leave.EU and Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaigns

April:

• Gold Coast, Queensland hosts the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Australia top the medal table with 80 gold and 198 overall
• At least 70 people are reported to have died and hundreds suffering injuries after a sarin chemical attack in Douma, Syria. The US, UK and France order the bombing of Syrian military bases in response
• Cinemas open in Saudi Arabia for the first time since 1983, Black Panther is chosen as the first to be screened
• Swaziland changes it’s English name, officially becoming the Kingdom of Eswatini
• Kim Jong-un crosses into South Korea to meet with President Moon Jae-in, becoming the first North Korean leader to cross the Demilitarised Zone since its creation in 1953
• National Living Wage increases from £7.50 to £7.83 for people over 25
• Sugary drinks tax comes into force
• Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to her third child, Prince Louis
• Over forty companies sign up to the UK Plastics Pact to cut plastic pollution by 2025
• Amber Rudd resigns as Home Secretary following the Windrush scandal

May:

• The Spanish separatist group ETA announces its dissolution after 40 years of conflict
• The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is held at St George’s Chapel with an estimate global audience of 1.9 billion
• Foreign journalists report that tunnels in Punggye-ri nuclear test site have been destroyed by the North Korean government in a move to reduce regional tensions
• A constitutional referendum on whether to repeal the ban on abortion in Ireland takes place, a landslide win of 66.4% repeals the ban
• Real Madrid beat Liverpool 3-1 in the UEFA Champions League final held in Kyiv
• Matthew Hedges, a British doctoral student, is arrested in the United Arab Emirates on suspicion of spying
• Mark Williams defeats John Higgins 18-16 in the World Snooker Championship final, as promised he attends the post match conference naked

June:

• Pedro Sánchez is appointed the new Prime Minister of Spain, a day after a vote of no confidence against predecessor Mariano Rajoy
• The 44th G7 summit is held in Canada, President Trump pushes for the reinstatement of Russia and elimination of tariffs
• The North Korea-United States summit is held in Singapore, the first summit between a US President and a North Korean leader
• Greece and the Republic of Macedonia end a 27-year naming dispute resulting in Macedonia being officially renamed the Republic of North Macedonia
• FIFA awards the hosting of the 2026 World Cup to a joint bid from Canada, Mexico and the US
• The 2018 FIFA World Cup is held in Russia. France defeat Croatia 4-2 in the final to claim their second World Cup
• Canada becomes the first major industrialised country to legalise cannabis for recreational use
• Saudi Arabia allows women to drive
• The sale of cosmetics and personal care products containing micro beads becomes illegal in England, Scotland and Wales

July:

• US tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods come into effect, China accuses the US of starting the “largest trade war in economic history” and immediately announces retaliatory tariffs
• Twelve boys and their football coach are successfully rescued from the flooded Tham Luang Non cave in Thailand
• The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement is signed, the world’s largest bilateral free trade deal
• Scientists report the presence of a subglacial lake on Mars, the first known body of water on the planet
• The largest single day loss in corporate history occurs as over $109 billion is wiped from Facebook’s market value following the data leak scandal
• David Davis resigns as Brexit secretary and is replaced by Dominic Raab, while Boris Johnson resigns as Foreign secretary and is replaced by Jeremy Hunt
• US President Donald Trump arrives in the UK for a four-day visit, he is greeted by mass protests and a twenty foot tall “Trump baby” blimp flown over Westminster
• The ongoing heatwave reaches its peak with temperatures at Faversham reaching 35.5 Celsius, the hottest day of the year

August:

• Apple Inc. becomes the world’s first public company to achieve a market capitalisation of $1 trillion
• 15 year-old Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg begins a school strike in an attempt to give attention to the climate change issue
• Scott Morrison succeeds Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister of Australia
• The Daily Telegraph publishes an article by Boris Johnson on the subject of the burka ban in Denmark, Johnson remarks Muslim women who wear them “look like letterboxes” and compared them to “bank robbers”
• The YouTube boxing match in February is eclipsed as the biggest event in YouTube history as KSI fights Logan Paul at Manchester Arena
• Former SNP leader Alex Salmond resigns over sexual misconduct claims

September:

• The Supreme Court of India decriminalises homosexuality
• A fire in the National Museum of Brazil destroys more than 90% of its archive
• A magnitude 7.5 earthquake hits Sulawesi, Indonesia, causing a tsunami that kills at least 4,340 people
• A Met Office report confirms that 2018 had the joint hottest summer on record alongside 2006, 2003 and 1976
• Two Russian nationals are named as suspects of the Skripal poisoning

October:

• Washington Post journalist Jamal Khasoggi is murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, triggering a diplomatic crisis
• The United States Senate confirms Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the United States Supreme Court
• A reported 700,000 people march through central London demanding a second referendum on the final Brexit deal, it is the second most attended British protest of the 21st century after the anti-Iraq War march in 2003
• President Trump announces the US will terminate the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty over alleged Russian violations
• Micheal D. Higgins is officially declared President of Ireland
• Eleven people are killed during a shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Far-right Jair Bolsonaro is elected President of Brazil with 55% of the vote
• Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha is killed in a helicopter crash outside the King Power Stadium

November:

• The Camp Fire ignites in Butte County, California, it becomes California’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire with 88 deaths and 18,804 buildings destroyed
• The world commemorates the centenary of the end of World War I
• Chinese scientist He Jiankui announces that he has altered the DNA of twin human girls to try to make them resistant to infection from the HIV virus
• Doctors are able to prescribe cannabis products to patients in England, Scotland and Wales
• Transport minister Jo Johnson resigns, calling for a fresh referendum on Brexit, while Dominic Raab resigns as Brexit secretary stating he “cannot in good conscience support the terms proposed for our deal with the EU”, Steve Barclay replaces him
• Thousands of protestors block the five main bridges over the River Thames as part of Extinction Rebellion

December:

• France experiences it’s worst civil unrest since the protests of 1968 due to the yellow vests movement
• The UN’s International Telecommunication Union reports that, by the end of 2018, more than half (51.2%) of the worlds population are now using the internet
• Reports of drone sightings close to the runway at Gatwick Airport causes major disruption, affecting approximately 140,000 passengers and 1,000 flights
• The US government enters a second shutdown over a funding dispute for the US-Mexico border wall, it will become the longest government shutdown in US history
• Theresa May wins a vote of no confidence on her leadership by 200-117
• Tolls for crossing the Severn Estuary are scrapped, 800 years after they were introduced
• HMV goes into administration for the second time, the first in 2013

Other:

• Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa’s “One Kiss” is the UK’s biggest single of 2018 with combined sales figures of 1.57 million
• The highest grossing film of the year was, of course, Avengers: Infinity War, making just over $2 billion worldwide becoming the fourth highest grossing film of all time in the process (now fifth)