Year Ender 2023: Israel-Hamas war to Twitter name change - 12 events that hit global headlines

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As 2023 comes to an end, a number of noteworthy occurrences have influenced the year. Notable events include the conflict between Israel and Hamas and India overtaking China as the world's most populated nation. These are a few remarkable events that have happened throughout the world so far in 2023. 

1. Turkey and Syria Earthquake

Turkey was awakened to a catastrophic earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 on February 6. Approximately 350,000 square km in both adjacent Syria and Turkey were impacted. An estimated 14 million individuals were impacted, and there were around 60,000 recorded deaths.

2. Israel-Hamas war

On October 7, Hamas launched attacks on several Israeli cities, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostages. Israel retaliated forcefully, bombarding Hamas's heartland, the tight Gaza Strip. Israel's violent reaction in the Gaza Strip, which is home to approximately 2 million Palestinians, has earned international criticism as the conflict continues.

3. India becomes most populated country

India surpassed China to become the world's most populous country. India now hopes to reap the benefits of its demographic dividend as the share of the working population in its total population grows.

4. Titan submersible incident

The Titan submersible, which was carrying five people, disappeared on June 18, 2023, in international seas in the North Atlantic Ocean close to Canada's Newfoundland shore. An hour and forty-five minutes into its dive to the wreck site, communication was lost.

5. Twitter logo and name changed

Elon Musk purchased Twitter last year and rebranded it as "X." At first, he stated that he would purchase it in April 2022 at a specific price per share, but by July, he had changed his mind. On October 27, 2022, he formally took over as the new owner following a few ups and downs. Musk began referring to Twitter as "X" in July 2023, and the company modified its mobile logo. The website and Twitter accounts have also undergone modifications before this.

6. King Charles' coronation

Charles was crowned king in May, eight months after he ascended to the throne, in a majestic ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey that traces its history back more than 1,000 years. Camilla, Charles’ second wife, was crowned queen.

7.Yevgeny Prigozhin plane crash

The rebellion against the Kremlin began in late June when Yevgeny Prigozhin, the commander of the Wagner mercenary group, took over Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia. 

Two months later, on August 23, just north of the city, a private Embraer plane carrying Prigozhin and nine other passengers—including Dmitry Utkin and Valery Chekalov—as well as four bodyguards and three crew members were killed.

8. COP28 climate summit ends with deal to transition away from fossil fuels

At the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the countries reached an agreement on the transition away from fossil fuels. The agreement signals the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era by laying the ground for a swift, just and equitable transition, underpinned by deep emissions cuts and scaled-up finance.

9. Re-election of Xi Jinping

 Xi Jinping achieved an unprecedented third term as president of China in March. As the country emerges from a COVID downturn and diplomatic problems grow, he strengthened his grip on authority over the second-largest economy in the world.

In an election when there was only one contender, over 3,000 members of China's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), overwhelmingly supported the 69-year-old Xi in the Great Hall of the People.

10. Vladimir Putin's arrest warrant by ICC

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine. The Hague-based court said in a statement the warrant was issued over Putin’s suspected involvement in the unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.

11. Xi Jinping - Vladimir Putin meeting

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing in October. Putin affectionately called Xi his "close friend" and praised the Belt and Road Initiative for promoting worldwide connectivity and cooperation.

Putin’s visit was also a show of support for Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road drive to build infrastructure and expand China’s overseas influence.

12. Chinese spy balloon

In February this year, the balloon spent a week flying over the United States and Canada before it was shot down by a fighter jet off the Atlantic coast, on orders from President Joe Biden. The sensors from the suspected Chinese spy balloon were later retrieved from the ocean. The incident caused a strain between the US and China.