A protester holding a banner with an image of Yoon during a candlelight rally in Seoul, calling for the president’s ouster. — AFP
The year 2024 was marked by a series of pivotal events that reshaped the global landscape.
Among the most notable were Sweden’s historic decision to end over two centuries of neutrality by joining Nato, the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreement, and Donald Trump’s unprecedented journey as both a convicted former president and a re-elected leader in a dramatic political comeback.
Here’s a look back at the major global headlines of 2024.
> On Jan 1, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Japan’s western coast, killing an estimated 120 people and injuring more than 100.
Hundreds of aftershocks were recorded in the week after the quake.
> On March 7, Sweden officially joined the Nato military alliance, ending decades of neutrality amid concerns about Russia’s aggression in Europe.
For more than 200 years, Sweden avoided military alliances and adopted a neutral stance in times of war.
However, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb 24, 2022, spurred on Sweden and its neighbour Finland, which shares a border with Russia, to apply to join Nato.
> On March 22, an attack on the Crocus City concert hall in Russia on March 22 left at least 145 people dead and 550 injured. Islamic State extremists claimed responsibility for the mass shooting, which was the worst terror attack on the country in two decades.
> On March 26, a Singapore-flagged cargo ship struck Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, causing the 2.6km-long, 47-year-old structure to completely collapse.
Wong (left) shaking hands with Lee during the swearing-in ceremony as President Tharman Shanmugaratnam looks on at The Istana, Singapore. — AFP
> On May 15, Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong stepped down after 20 years in office, succeeded by his deputy Lawrence Wong.
> On May 30, Donald Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes as a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election.
Trump was accused of falsifying business documents in relation to a hush-money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the election.
Voters queueing up outside a polling station during the first phase of voting for India’s general election in Dugeli village. — AFP
> On June 1, the world’s largest-ever election ended in India after six weeks with 642 million people voting in the country’s general election, including a record 312 million women.
Following the election, prime minister Narendra Modi will serve a third term in office after the National Democratic Alliance coalition headed by his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party won the required 272 seats for a majority.
> In July, news broke that the oldest example of figurative cave art was discovered on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi by Australian and Indonesian scientists.
The painting, which depicts human-like figures interacting with an animal, is at least 51,200 years old, more than 5,000 years older than the previous oldest cave art.
> On July 13, Trump, then the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party in the 2024 presidential election, survived an assassination attempt while speaking at an open-air campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump was wounded in his right ear in the shooting, and one spectator was killed.
On Sept 15, another attempt was recorded as he golfed at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
> On July 29, a knife attack at a children’s dance event in Southport, England, killed three children and injured eight more, with the 17-year-old attacker arrested.
In the days after the tragic incident, dozens of protests erupted in several locations around the country.
Several rallies erupted into riots after an anti-immigrant misinformation campaign stoked outrage and far-right agitators targeted hotels housing asylum seekers.
> On July 31, Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran by an apparent Israeli attack.
He was a prominent figure within Hamas since the organisation’s founding in 1987 and was the highest-ranking political leader killed since the start of Israel’s war on besieged Palestinian territory Gaza.
> In August, the World Health Organisation declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern after it spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to other countries, with 15,600 cases and 537 deaths.
Trump standing on stage with his wife Melania and son Barron during an election night event at the Palm Beach County Convention Centre, United States. — © 2024 The New York Times Company
> On Nov 5, Trump was re-elected to the US presidential post, beating Democratic vice-president Kamala Harris in a stunning White House comeback in the 2024 presidential polls.
> On Nov 27, a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah took effect after 14 months of cross-border fighting that has killed thousands. Israel claimed it would gradually withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon over the next 60 days under the deal.
> On Nov 28, the word “demure” was named Dictionary.com’s 2024 word of the year.
The word experienced a meteoric rise in usage in 2024, a spike largely attributed to TikToker and beauty influencer Jools Lebron’s popularisation of the phrase “very demure, very mindful” in a series of satirical videos.
> On Dec 3, South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law for the first time in 50 years, prompting an emergency vote against it by the National Assembly.
Yoon’s short-lived decree triggered weeks of protests and political turmoil.
He was subsequently suspended from office.
> On Dec 4, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed outside a hotel in Manhattan, New York.
Twenty-six-year-old Luigi Mangione was identified as the prime suspect and was later charged with murder.
> On Dec 7, Paris’ Notre-Dame Cathedral reopened five-and-a-half years after a devastating fire destroyed its roof and spire and caused major damage.
> On Dec 19, a French court sentenced Dominique Pelicot to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping his ex-wife Gisele Pelicot for nearly a decade and facilitating her rape and assault by dozens of other men.Fifty co-defendants received sentences ranging from three to 15 years for their involvement.
This landmark case drew international attention, with public figures commending Gisele’s courage in bringing the heinous crimes to light.
