News that gripped the world

Headlined by murder of Saudi journalist, the 2018 list also covers the dramatic rescue of Thai soccer boys and the passing of many changemakers

File photo shows a demonstrator holding a poster with a picture of Khashoggi outside the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. — Reuters photo

Murder of newsman

Jamal Khashoggi, 59, was killed in October during a stop at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The journalist, who had been severely critical of Saudi’s Crown Prince Mohammed Salman, went there in the late afternoon of Oct 2 to collect documents pertinent to his upcoming marriage to fiancée Hatice Cengiz — he never came out of the consulate building.

A CIA assessment had pointed out the Crown Prince as having ordered the killing.

On Dec 10, Fahrettin Altun – the communications director at the Turkish presidency – said it would be in the best interest of the international community to seek justice for the late journalist, under international law. The statement came following Riyadh’s refusal to allow extradition of two senior Saudi officials, suspected of being involved in the killing. The Instanbul prosecutor’s office was quoted earlier as having concluded that Saud al-Qahtani – a top aide to Prince Mohammed – and General Ahmed al-Asiri, who was the deputy head of foreign intelligence, were the key suspects who planned Khashoggi’s murder. However, Saudi’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir ruled out sending the two to Turkey for trial, stating: “We don’t extradite our citizens.”

It was Saudi’s public prosecutor who confirmed that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate building ‘under orders of a rogue intelligence officer’. Turkish officials, however, disclosed that they had ‘all the evidence’ – including audio recording – that pointed at the journalist being killed by Saudi agents on orders that ‘came from the highest levels’.

Khashoggi’s remains have yet to be found.

‘Guardians of Truth’

According to Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the number of journalists killed around the world just because of their work had nearly doubled to at least 34 people in 2018. In 2017, the recorded number was 18. The jump this year reflected the killing of 10 reporters in Afghanistan, and four slain in a June attack at Maryland’s ‘Capital Gazette’ newspaper.

Overall, 53 journalists died on the job worldwide from Jan 1 to Dec 14 – including those killed inadvertently in combat or on other dangerous assignments.

This represented a 13 per cent increase from 47 deaths in 2017, reported CPJ – a US non-profit organisation that promotes press freedom. It is said that 62 per cent of the journalists killed covered politics – making it the ‘most dangerous beat’.

CPJ also reported a near-record number of journalists around the world are in prison in 2018 because of their work – including the two Reuters reporters who are still being detained in Myanmar.

On Dec 11, the Time magazine named Khashoggi, Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, the Myanmar-imprisoned Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, and the staff of Maryland’s ‘Capital Gazette’, as its collective ‘Person of the Year’.

The magazine, which has been awarding the ‘Person of the Year’ title since 1927, even published four different covers for that week’s edition, each honouring different honourees – all of whom are regarded as ‘the guardians of the truth’.

It was the first time for Time that someone was chosen posthumously for the prestigious cover. A handout photo – released by Thailand’s Ministry of Health on July 15, 2018 – shows members of the rescued ‘Wild Boars’ football team at a hospital in Chiang Rai Province in a photo-call after writing messages on a drawing of former Navy SEAL diver Saman Kunan, who died during the rescue mission. — AFP photo

Thai cave rescue

In what is regarded as one of the most inspiring rescue mission in the world, 12 young soccer players and their coach were rescued after more than two weeks being trapped inside a cave in the Chiang Rai province of Thailand.

The boys were reported missing on June 23. It is said that the coach, 25, and his charges – aged between 11 and 16 – had gone to the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai to celebrate a teammate’s birthday. However, heavy rain flooded the cave and trapped all of them inside. Moreover, the whole cave complex with over 10km of intricate and confusing networks of caverns and crevices, made the rescue mission highly challenging.

The death of an experienced diver – former Thai Navy SEAL, Saman Kunan, who died in his attempt to supply oxygen tanks to the boys – highlighted the danger of this operation.

British divers found the group on July 9 – then an international crew of rescuers came down and strove to rescue the boys before the arrival of the next monsoon downpour.

Every news print and broadcast, as well as social media, around the world reported the rescue marathon up till its conclusion on July 14.

Gone too soon

The year recorded a number of deaths of celebrities that were ruled as suicides.

On April 20, Swedish DJ and record producer Avicii, known for his electronic music, was found dead in Muscat, Oman. The artiste, whose real name was Tim Bergling, was 28. Although no cause of death was given, Bergling’s family appeared to suggest that he took his own life, saying in a statement: ‘He could not go on any longer’.

On April 21, Verne Troyer – the diminutive actor who starred in the ‘Austin Powers’ movies as the villainous character ‘Mini Me’ died at a hospital in Los Angeles. Troyer, who stood at 81cm tall, was 49. The cause of death was not announced, but the family wrote: ‘Depression and suicide are very serious issues’.

Kate Spade, the designer who built a fashion empire on the popularity of her signature handbags before selling the brand, was found dead in her New York City apartment on June 5. She was 55.

On June 8, US celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who hosted CNN’s food-and-travel-focused ‘Parts Unknown’ television series, was found dead in a French hotel room. He was 61. On Sept 7, he posthumously earned a pair of Emmy Awards for his work on his famous CNN series

There were also deaths reported as being due to unnatural causes.

A coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death on Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer of Irish rock group The Cranberries, after the hearing on Sept 6. The 46-year-old singer was found submerged in the bathtub in her London hotel room on Jan 15 after excessive consumption of alcohol, expert witnesses told Westminster Coroner’s Court.

On Feb 24, India’s Sridevi – arguably Bollywood’s first female superstar – was found dead in a bathtub. Born as Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the actress was 54. She was in Dubai to attend a family wedding, and after a postmortem analysis, Dubai police said the cause of her death was that she drowned in the bathtub ‘following loss of consciousness’.

Mac Miller – a rap artiste from Pittsburgh whose debut album topped the charts in 2011 and was soul/pop singer Ariana Grande’s ex-boyfriend, died on Sept 7 in Los Angeles at age 26. On Nov 5, the Los Angeles coroner’s office said Miller – whose real name was Malcolm McCormick – died of an overdose of cocaine and the powerful opioid fentanyl. It is known that Miller had spoken openly about his drug addiction in interviews and in his music.

Honouring legends

The voice of Stephen Hawking was beamed into space with a message of peace and hope on June 15, as the British physicist was laid to rest during a service at London’s Westminster Abbey. The wheelchair-bound scientist died on March 13, at age 76, after a lifetime spent probing the origins of the universe. Hawking suffered from motor neurone disease, which forced him to use an electronic voice synthesiser.

Thousands of South Africans paid tribute to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela at a memorial service on April 11 in Soweto. Madikizela-Mandela, an active anti-apartheid campaigner during her husband Nelson.

The ‘Queen of Soul’ Aretha Franklin passed away on Aug 16 at age of 76. Franklin, who won 18 Grammys and had some 25 gold records, died at her home in Detroit. She was suffering from pancreatic cancer.

Former United Nations (UN) secretary-general and Nobel peace laureate Kofi Annan Kofi Annan died on Aug 18 in a hospital in Bern, Switzerland – at age 80. The Ghanaian national served two terms as UN secretarygeneral in New York from 1997 to 2006, and retired to live in a Swiss village in the Geneva countryside.

Microsoft Corp co-founder Paul Allen, the man who persuaded school-friend Bill Gates to drop out of Harvard to start what became the world’s biggest software company, died on Oct 15 at age 65.

Stan Lee, who dreamed up Spider-Man, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Black Panther and a cavalcade of other Marvel Comics superheroes that became mythic figures in pop culture with soaring success at the movie box office, died on Nov 12 at age 95. As a writer and editor, Lee was key to the ascension of Marvel into a comic book titan in the 1960s when, in collaboration with artists such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he created superheroes who would enthral generations of young readers.

Former US president George HW Bush died on Nov 30 at the age of 94. Bush, the 41st US president who served in the office from 1989 to 1993, was the father of former president George W Bush, who served two terms in the White House in the 2000s, and former governor of Florida, Jeb Bush. Bush Senior’s death came seven months after that of his wife, Barbara Bush, to whom he was married for 73 years.

She was 92. Anti-Brexit protestor Steve Bray (left) stands next to a pro-Brexit protestor outside of the Houses of Parliament, in London. — Reuters photo

Brexit saga

On Dec 9, British Prime Minister Theresa May warned that the Parliament’s rejection of her Brexit deal could leave Britain in the European Union (EU) and bring the opposition Labour Party to power. The embattled leader’s message came with her government fearing a heavy defeat on Dec 4, of the draft withdrawal agreement that she signed with Brussels in November.

May had been facing her biggest crisis since coming to power a month after the nation voted by a 52-48 margin in June 2016, to leave the world’s largest single market after 46 years.

She was under attack from more strident Brexit backers in her own party, as well as the ‘Europhiles’ who wanted either a second referendum or a pact that would maintain stronger EU-UK ties than the one offered by May. Prince Harry gestures next to his wife Meghan Markle as they ride a horse-drawn carriage after their wedding ceremony at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. — Reuters photo

Royal wedding

On May 19, United Kingdom’s Prince Harry wed American actress Meghan Markle – now addressed as the ‘Duchess of Sussex’ – in a beyond-grand, crème-dela-crème-filled ceremony that took place at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. It is said that the broadcast viewership of this event surpassed the wedding of ‘Big Brother’ Prince William and Kate Middleton – over 29 million people in the US tuning in to watch Harry and Meghan tie the knot, versus William-Kate’s 23 million. Combined, more than 50 million people in the US and the UK watched the lavish affair. As with other newcomers into England’s royalty, Markle remains under public scrutiny but so far, she has been doing well. Residents inspect the damage to their houses on Carita beach after the area was hit by a tsunami on Dec 22, said to have been triggered by the Anak Krakatoa volcano. — AFP photo

Indonesia pummelled by disasters

On Dec 22, a tsunami struck, almost without warning, along the rim of the Sunda Strait in Indonesia – affecting the islands of Java and Sumatra. Thousands of residents were forced to evacuate to higher ground. By late afternoon the next day, Indonesia’s disaster agency had reported a death toll of at least 222, with 843 injured and 28 missing.

A grim footage of the waves smashing into a beachside concert at Tanjung Lesung, where a year-end party was taking place, had gone viral. The dramatic video recording, which spans over one minute, shows members of popular band Seventeen tumbling off a collapsing stage as strong waves break in and violently sweep down the place.

Indonesia – a vast archipelago that sits on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, has suffered its worst death toll from disasters in over a decade. Earthquakes flattened parts of the tourist island of Lombok in July and August – killing more than 500 people, mostly on the northern side of the island; and a double quake-and-tsunami that that hit the city of Palu, killed more than 2,000 people on Sulawesi Island in September.

United States – A league of its own

This nation concludes the last five of major world headlines for 2018. A sign displayed at the National Archives building, which was closed because of the US government shutdown in Washington, DC. — AFP photo

Government shutdown

The US government began a Christmas shutdown on Dec 22, after Congress adjourned without passing a federal spending bill or addressing President Donald Trump’s demand for money to build a border wall. Operations for several key agencies ceased at 12:01am on Dec 22, despite last-ditch talks that continued on Capitol Hill between White House officials and congressional leaders in both parties. Trump has dug in on his demand for US$5 billion for construction of a wall on the US border with Mexico. The shutdown was the third this year and it remained unclear how long it would last. Trump had expressed hope that ‘it would not last long’.

Diversity rules in US midterm polls

The 2018 US midterm elections was seen as a historic one – perhaps as significant as, if not more than, the presidential election. A diverse set of candidates won big late Nov 13 night after citizens voted at record levels for a midterm election. The individuals who made history in the 2018 midterm elections include — Rashida Tlaib (Michigan’s 13th District) and Ilhan Omar (Minnesota’s Fifth District) became the first two Muslim women elected to Congress; former high-school teacher Jahana Hayes, first black woman elected to represent Connecticut in the House of Representatives; Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts’ first black congresswoman; Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland, first two Native American women elected to Congress; Sylvia Garcia and Veronica Escobar, Texas’ first Latina women in Congress; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, youngest woman (under age 30) ever elected to Congress; Jared Polis of Colorado, the first openly gay man to be elected governor of a US state; Marsha Blackburn, the first woman elected to the Senate for Tennessee; Democrats Cindy Axne and Abby Finkenauer, the first women ever in House of Representatives in Iowa; and Kristi Noem and Janet Mills, the first female governors in South Dakota and Maine, respectively.

US-China trade war

US President Donald Trump said on Nov 26 that he expected to move ahead with raising tariffs on US$200 billion in Chinese imports to 25 per cent from the current 10 per cent, and repeated his threat to slap tariffs on all remaining imports from China. Trump had earlier said that it was ‘highly unlikely’ for him to accept China’s request to hold off on the increase, which is due to take effect on Jan 1. Kim (left) shakes hands with Trump after taking part in a signing ceremony at the end of their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island in Singapore. — AFP photo

Trump, Kim meet in Singapore

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump reached the venue of their historic summit in Singapore on June 12, after both sides sought to narrow differences over how to end a nuclear standoff. Trump was committed to providing security guarantees to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and Kim had reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

US Embassy in Jerusalem

The US opened its embassy in Jerusalem on May 14, moving it from Tel Aviv – a move that reversed decades of US policy, delighted Israel and infuriated the Palestinians. The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest obstacles to forging a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, who with broad international backing, wanted East Jerusalem – captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War – as their capital. On the day the US opened its new embassy, Israeli troops killed 60 Palestinian demonstrators near the border in Gaza. Israel said the violence was incited by Hamas, the Islamist group that runs Gaza. Hamas had denied blame. — Agencies