The World in 2024

We leave 2024. January 2024 feels like yesterday. Many of our experiences have been wonderful, or sorrowful; some will be forgotten and some will remain with us forever. Such patterns reoccur annually. Some tragedies stem from human errors, deliberate or accidental. Time flies. Let us consider the major world events of 2024.

One of the hottest news stories in world politics has been Sheikh Hasina. She has dominated Bangladeshi politics for the past 20 years and bent democracy to her own convenience. By emigration, she has taken refuge in India to protect herself from the student revolt.

The world-renowned magazine ‘Time’ has observed that 49% of the world’s population has gone to the polls in 2024; elections have been held in around 64 countries including India, America, Great Britain, Pakistan, Russia, Iran, South Africa, the European Parliament, Sri Lanka, and Solomon Islands. This has increased confidence in democracy.

In 2010, Australian-born Assange was charged with 18 counts of obtaining US military and diplomatic documents – particularly secrets related to the Afghanistan war and Iran wars – and leaking them to public platforms. In the same year, Sweden issued an arrest warrant for Assange for sexually assaulting a woman and harassing another woman. This was the beginning of his 14-year legal battle, according to the BBC report. He was arrested in London and sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London following a UK Supreme Court order to extradite him to Sweden for trial. In 2019, Assange was arrested by the police at the Ecuadorian embassy and has been held in a London jail until now. During his years in a London prison, a court order to extradite him to the United States for trial was held up by various appeals. Meanwhile, Assange was acquitted of his charges this year in a deal struck with US prosecutors.

50 years of political haunting by the Assad family has ceased. Hafiz al-Assad ruled from 1971 to 2000. It is noteworthy that he worked as the Middle East arm of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. His son Bashar al-Assad succeeded him to power, having worked as a dentist in Britain. Their family ran repressive politics in Syria under the name of Sozialisa ideology. Al-Assad, an ally of Iran and of Russia today, was an enemy of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the West, Israel and Turkey. And al-Qaeda, Islamic State and other extremist movements continued to fight the ‘Arab Spring’ to oust the Assad regime. Abu Muhammad al-Julaini, who was affiliated with al-Qaeda until 2016, has taken over Syria from his al-Nusra. Al-Assad’s family rule was overthrown in 2024. Will the integration of all communities lead to democracy in Syria?

The Russia-Ukraine relationship did not progress in the right direction after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia does not want Ukraine to pursue foreign and security policy according to its needs as an independent sovereign state. Following Ukraine’s move towards the EU, Russia arbitrarily annexed the ‘Crimea’ peninsula. Russia continues to support Russian-backed militias fighting for control in eastern Ukraine, particularly in the Donbass. February 24, 2022 marked Russia’s all-out armed war with Ukraine, which started in 2014. President-elect Donald Trump has been calling for an immediate end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Nonetheless, Ukraine must obtain the protection and justice it deserves. This war continues in 2025.

1,200 people were killed and 281 were taken as refugees once the Hamas movement attacked Israel in October 2023. In response, Israel has carried out heavy air and ground attacks, targeting Hamas. Terrorist leaders belonging to the Hamas movement have been repeatedly killed. This Israel-Hamas war has spilled over into conflict between the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement and Israel. Whilst a ceasefire is now in operation between Israel and Hezbollah, the enduring Israel-Hamas war killed about 46 thousand people in 2024, as of the first week of December. It is noteworthy that 40 percent of them are women and children. Reports suggest that Israel and Hamas are secretly negotiating a cease-fire agreement with the backing of Egypt and the United States. The world is eagerly awaiting a ceasefire agreement at the beginning of 2025.

The Central African Republic (CAR) is a Central African country. It gained independence from France in 1960. The first Lok Sabha elections were held in 1993. The mineral-rich CAR is still one of the poorest countries. Despite democratic elections, the problems of poverty and continuous civil war between various groups means that the CAR has not developed. In the 2015 parliamentary elections, no presidential candidate received 50% of the votes, so a re-election was held in 2016. Faustin Archange Touadera succeeded as president. He was re-elected as President in the 2020/21 elections. Following this, cases were filed against him in court challenging his victory. Civil riots started when the court rejected these cases. Russia backs President Touadera. Meanwhile, opposition parties have rejected Touadera’s bid to continue on the record. Conflicts between Muslims and Christians, as well as fighting between ex-Seleka have displaced more than four hundred thousand people internally; and seven and a half million have sought refuge in neighboring countries. In 2024, the CAR is mired in poverty, civil strife, and political instability.

Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year ouster was led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary chief Mohammad Hamdan Daglo. In 2025, Sudan is burning in due to the war of supremacy between these competitors. A civil war broke out in 2015 between Yamen government forces and Hothis militias. Innocent people have been killed in this nine-year civil war. More than 45 lakh people are internally displaced and 97 thousand people are living as refugees in neighboring countries. The possibility of peace in Yemen is affected by the 2024 Israel-Hamas war, along with progress in the indirect negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Meanwhile, until recently large parts of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan were administered by the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Armenia’s attempt to annex these areas was opposed by the-then Soviet Union. The majority of the people living in this area are ethnic Armenians. Azerbaijan meanwhile has argued that years of elections in this region and other activities as an autonomous state were unacceptable under international law. Over the years, several cease-fire agreements have been signed between the two sides at the behest of Russia, but these have not been properly followed. In this unstable situation, the Nagorno-Karabakh regions were soon occupied by Azerbaijan’s forces. Consequently, the majority of ethnic Armenians who lived there fled the region in early 2024; and the autonomous regions were then systematically dissolved.

Former Republican US President Donald Trump was speaking at a public rally for his election campaign on July 13, 2024, when he was attacked by a 20-year-old named Thomas Mathew. Fortunately, the bullet grazed his ear and Trump survived. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that one of his followers was martyred at the same place. Trump later won a second term in the US election by a margin of 312/226 against incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris.

Sayyid Ebrahim Raisolsadati was the eighth president of Iran, born on December 14, 1960. Known as the ‘Butcher of Tehran’ for his role in the execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988, he is an infamous lawyer. During his short-lived rule as a presumed successor to Iran’s aging religious leader Ali Khamini, Iranians rallied for Jeena Maksha Amini following her death in 2022 as ‘Women, Life, Freedom’. This earned them support all over the world and widened the gap between his rule and the people. On May 19 this year, the helicopter in which Iranian President Ebrahim Raisilsadati was travelling crashed in the North-West Province of East Azerbaijan. All those who were travelling with him died in this accident.

The Wayanad region in the state of Kerala is prone to landslides during monsoons. Located in the Western Ghats range, the hills comprise the rugged and eroded ridges of the Dakhan Plateau. On July 30, 2024, heavy rains caused landslides in Pujjirimattam, Mundakkai, Suralmala and surrounding hill villages of Wayanad district. About 392 lives were buried in the soil. More than 150 people are missing. An additional 273 people were injured. A tragic, unforgettable moment in Wayanad in 2024.

Hurricane winds hit some US states in 2024. Hurricane Helene hit Florida in September It has claimed 230 lives and caused massive property damage, causing landslides as far as Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina, posing a major threat to the American people. Economic damages from this hurricane are estimated to be around $200 billion.

Meanwhile, a torrential downpour in October 2024 brought a year’s worth of rainfall to many parts of eastern Spain. As a result, 231 people lost their lives amidst considerable economic damage. It is considered one of the worst natural disasters in Spanish history. It is noteworthy that people hurled mud at the Prime Minister and the royal family who went to see these losses due to their anger.

Many Muslims go on pilgrimage to Mecca every year. In June this year, 1,301 people died during the Hajj due to extreme heat. A Saudi government news release noted that the temperature exceeded 50C. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Health Minister said efforts have been made to create awareness about the dangers of heat.

Artificial intelligence (AI) developed much in 2024. Some of its top applications include internet search engines, communication through human speech, automated vehicles as well as automated tools and strategy games are more likely to be affected. Because of this, religious leaders have warned and shared their fears with the international community about what would happen if a human-made machine starts to think and act like a human. Therefore, various parties have demanded that artificial intelligence should be properly regulated. Articles have been published in various world-renowned journals this year on how this practice should be controlled globally. It is also noteworthy that the young generation is showing interest in studying AI courses.

Geomagnetic storms hit the Earth in May, August and October last year. It is a disturbance in the Earth’s magnetic field caused by solar activity. When the Sun emits a strong surge from itself it disturbs the Earth’s magnetic field. India launched Aditya L1 on September 2, 2023 to study the Sun and its impact on Earth and space. It successfully reached the L1 point on January 6, 2024 after a journey of 127 days. This point is about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. This enables the spacecraft to continuously study the Sun without any difficulty.

Elon Musk is the owner of the spaceship ‘Starship’. The company that makes it is ‘Space X’. The spacecraft is designed to carry supplies to various regions including Earth orbit, the Moon and Mars. It is being developed with the aim of operating flights to distant planets with a capacity of 100 passengers. Its special feature is that this spacecraft can travel from one part of the earth to another in about an hour. This initiative, which has been going on for many years, has gone through several test runs last year.

Astronaut Sunitha William, who went into space on June 6, 2024 for a space probe, should return to Earth within a week as planned. But her return to Earth has been postponed to February 2025 because of technical difficulties with the spacecraft. About this, William remarked from the International Space Research Center that ‘their departure to Earth has been delayed and they can spend more time in space for research’. She has been interacting with school children on Earth from the space center and answering their scientific questions. Many Indians are praying for her safe return to earth. 2024 is a record-breaking year in space.

Although US President Donald Trump, who has been elected for the second term, refuses to accept the seriousness of climate change. Nature, however, is informing us of its changes through many events. Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 Paris Climate Accord. His victory cannot be good news for climate scientists. However, it is impossible to hide and deny the reality at the global level about the impact of climate change. With global warming currently at 1.5°C, 2024 is predicted to be the hottest year. This year’s Conference on Climate Change (CoP29) was held in Azerbaijan in November 2024. The conference discussed the follow-up to the Paris Agreement. A plan was also prepared detailing how to provide transitional financial assistance to developing countries. In 2024, climate change has become more prominent.

No one can easily forget the Covid-19 that left bitter memories for humanity. Therefore, it is customary for the World Health Center to give warnings to all countries from time to time. The World Health Organization has issued a new warning in 2024. It refers to Mpox, an infectious virus that can infect humans and other animals. And it’s contagious. In 2024, the rapid spread began in Congo. It continued to spread to neighboring countries. The Secretary General of the organization said in November 2024 that the disease is under control, with the international community following the advice of the World Health Center.

Let us hope for better news in the year 2025.