Israel - Hamas war
On October 7, hundreds of Hamas militants from Gaza crossed the Israeli border, killing about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages. The incident shocked the world.
Smoke billows after an Israeli attack on Gaza City. Photo: Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to destroy Hamas and launched a massive air campaign in Gaza. The IDF then launched a ground offensive that left entire neighborhoods in northern Gaza in ruins.
After seven weeks of fighting, the two sides agreed to a one-week ceasefire, during which Hamas released 105 hostages, mostly women and children, and Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Fearing a possible Hamas regrouping, Israel continued its offensive, shifting its focus to southern Gaza, including areas previously declared a "safe zone".
The US – Israel's ally – has vetoed a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire, but President Joe Biden has condemned Israel's bombing campaign as "indiscriminate".
On December 18, the Hamas-controlled health agency in Gaza said the death toll had reached 19,453 people, mostly women and children.
According to Israeli authorities, 129 people arrested in the October 7 attack remain in Gaza. About 20 are believed to have died.
Ukraine's counter-offensive stalls
The Russia-Ukraine conflict is approaching its second year, and as war fatigue grows in the West, so does the pressure on Ukraine.
Ukrainian soldiers fire at Russian targets in Bakhmut (Photo: Getty).
In its calls for increased aid, Ukraine has repeatedly pointed to past successes and future goals. It claims to have retaken about half the territory that Russia controlled at the start of the war; it has strategically damaged Moscow’s presence in the Black Sea.
However, the real situation is not very optimistic for Ukraine. In all directions of counterattack, the information related to Ukraine is almost not very positive.
Russia is increasing its offensive momentum on the Donbass front in the east, while in the southeastern battlefield - where Kiev has been focusing its counterattack since June - the situation has remained deadlocked in recent times.
One of Ukraine’s most significant potential advances is on the southern front, where it has secured a bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper River at Kherson. However, holding this small, strategically insignificant piece of land has come at the cost of high casualties and logistical challenges, and Ukraine is facing relentless Russian artillery attacks on its vital infrastructure.
As winter approaches and world opinion focuses on the Israel-Hamas war, Ukraine has struggled to secure commitments of long-term military support from the United States and the European Union (EU).
A rare bit of good news for President Volodymyr Zelensky came in mid-December when EU leaders agreed to open membership talks with Kiev. But Hungary quickly dampened the enthusiasm by vetoing a €50 billion aid package for Ukraine.
Earthquake disaster in Türkiye
On February 6, 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook the southeastern Turkish province of Kahramanmaras. The earthquake was followed by hundreds of aftershocks that were recorded in 11 provinces as well as many neighboring countries, including Syria.
The scene of devastation after the earthquake in Adiyaman, Türkiye, February 23, 2023. (Photo: THX/TTXVN)
On March 18, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said: "The earthquakes in Kahramanmaras province killed 49,589 people; 6,807 of them were foreign citizens."
According to a report released by the Turkish Ministry of Finance, the total damage caused by this disaster has exceeded 105 billion USD.
Material losses could be as high as 9% of Türkiye's 2023 Gross National Product (GNP) forecast.
Hollywood Strike
All parts of Hollywood have been virtually shut down since May 2023 due to a double strike by the Writers and Actors Guild of America, resulting in huge financial losses for studios and many of the 2 million people working in the industry.
The strike has delayed hundreds of shows and popular films. Photo: The New York Times
Frustrated with pay as streaming services grow and fearful of artificial intelligence (AI) taking away jobs, actors walked out alongside writers in July, the first time the two companies have staged a double strike since 1960.
The strike delayed hundreds of shows and high-profile films before the studios and actors agreed to a deal in November, two months after writers returned to work.
2023 is the hottest year in 125,000 years of history
Scientists from the European Union (EU) say 2023 will “almost certainly” be the hottest year in the past 125,000 years, based on data showing October 2023 was the hottest October ever.
A woman collects water from a hand pump during the worst heatwave on the outskirts of Jacobabad, Pakistan in April 2022. Photo: Reuters
On November 8, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said that October 2023 broke the record for October 2019, becoming the hottest October ever recorded. If this situation continues in the following months, 2023 is likely to become the hottest year in 125,000 years.
C3S Deputy Director Samantha Burgess described the October temperature anomaly as “extreme”. “The record (for 2019) was broken by 0.4 degrees Celsius, which is a huge difference,” she said.
The record heat is the result of continued greenhouse gas emissions from human activity combined with this year’s El Nino weather phenomenon, which causes the surface waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean to warm abnormally.
Moon Race
India's Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft took a picture of the Moon on August 5. Photo: Reuters
The space race heated up in 2023 with India becoming the first country to successfully land an unmanned spacecraft on the Moon's south pole in August. Days earlier, a Russian lander crashed into the lunar surface.
More than half a century after American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon, several countries are working to return humans to the celestial body.
Saudi Arabia and Iran normalize relations
Diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia were "frozen" in 2016, after Iranian protesters attacked the headquarters of Saudi Arabia's diplomatic missions, in protest against Riyadh's execution of a Shiite Muslim cleric.
Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have long been tense as the two countries support opposing sides in several regional conflicts. Iran supports President Bashar Assad's regime in Syria, while Saudi Arabia supports rebel forces. Saudi Arabia supports the internationally recognized government in Yemen, while Iran supports the Houthis.
In Lebanon, Riyadh sides with Sunni Muslim politicians, while Tehran supports the Shiite Hezbollah force.
Saudi Arabia's National Security Adviser Musaad bin Mohammed Al Aiban (left), senior Chinese foreign affairs official Wang Yi (center) and Iran's National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani in Beijing on March 10, 2023. Photo: China Daily
Despite many differences, there are many factors that have motivated Iran and Saudi Arabia to normalize relations, such as the need to increase economic cooperation, the desire to reduce tensions in the region, or concerns about the growing threat from the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS).
On March 10, 2023, with the mediation of China, Saudi Arabia and Iran reached a historic reconciliation. In Beijing (China), Saudi Arabia and Iran signed and issued a joint statement. On April 6, 2023, Saudi Arabia and Iran signed a joint statement, announcing the resumption of diplomatic relations, effective immediately.
Saudi Arabia and Iran have reopened embassies in Riyadh and Tehran, and consulates in Jeddah and Mashhad.
G7 Summit in Hiroshima
During the 3 days from May 19-21, 2023 in Hiroshima, Japan, G7 leaders still discussed economic issues, but anti-Russia and dealing with China became the dominant atmosphere. At the 2023 Summit, G7 leaders agreed to adopt three measures to tighten sanctions on Russia to force Russia to fail in its campaign in Ukraine.
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations at a meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 19. Photo: Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Regarding China, the British think tank Chatham House commented: “Among the issues discussed at this summit, the biggest common concern is clearly the rise of China. The purpose of the discussion on this issue is to strengthen the resilience and common economic security of G7 members to deal with China's ability to use economic power to pressure other countries.”
Increasing the provision of weapons and finance to Ukraine in parallel with tightening sanctions against Russia to make Russia fail in the war in Ukraine and cooperating to deal with China, restraining China's development is the consistent ideology of the 2023 G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
US-Japan-South Korea Joint Statement
On August 18, 2023, at Camp David, Maryland, USA, US President J. Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol signed a Joint Statement on strengthening close cooperation in the fields of defense and security between the US, Japan and South Korea to deal with common challenges.
With the August 18, 2023 US-Japan-ROK Joint Statement, Washington, Tokyo, and Seoul established a close security cooperation mechanism for the first time. Therefore, many people consider the August 18, 2023 Joint Statement as the US-Japan-ROK Treaty.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (2nd left), US President Joe Biden (center) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Trilateral Summit. Photo: Yonhap
The joint statement of the three countries called "Spirit of Camp David" on August 18, 2023, for the first time, the US, Japan and South Korea reached an agreement to strengthen security cooperation, including annual trilateral military exercises, regular meetings between the leaders of the three countries and senior cabinet officials, especially close coordination in building and operating the anti-ballistic missile defense system. The joint statement emphasized: The US, Japan and South Korea will "Strengthen the strategic cooperation of the US-Japan, US-South Korea alliance, promote trilateral security cooperation to a new level... Our mission is to ensure that Japan, South Korea and the US maintain unity of purpose and action".
BRICS Summit in South Africa
BRICS Summit 2023 Theme “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Rapid, Sustainable Growth and Global Multilateralism”.
On August 22, leaders of the BRICS group including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa began a three-day summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo: Jerome Delay/AP.
For the first time, the BRICS Summit, as the meeting was titled, focused on cooperation between BRICS countries and Africa, where there is a fierce competition for interests and influence among the world's three leading powers: the US, Russia and China.
Regarding the scale of the 2023 BRICS Summit in South Africa: in addition to the 5 BRICS countries, leaders of the G7 Southern (developing) countries were invited to attend, including Vietnam. Thus, this is the first time the BRICS countries have held an expanded Summit on an unprecedented scale.
At the 2023 Summit in South Africa, the leaders of the five BRICS countries unanimously agreed to accept six new members: Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Ethiopia and Argentina. Thus, from August 2023, BRICS will have 11 members.
Currently, 23 countries have applied to join BRICS (in ASEAN there are Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam).
Minh Hoa (t/h)
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