Japan

Dec 26: Putin declares Moscow ready for talks to end War in Ukraine, Taliban orders all NGOs to stop female employees from working, Gunman opens fire in Paris killing three people and wounding three others.

Dec 5: Chevron to resume operations for oil in Venezuela after agreement with the government, Iran began construction on a new nuclear power plant, Uganda discharges last known Ebola patient.

Oct 31: Halloween crowd surge in Seoul kills at least 153 people, Brazilian leftist presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva leads over far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) government orders expulsion of Rwandan Ambassador Vincent Karega.

Sept 26: Rightist Giorgia Meloni becomes Italy’s first female prime minister on Sunday (Sept 25), As protests over the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody flared, Iran restricts access to various social media platforms on Wednesday (Sept 22), Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meet on Friday (Sept 23) to contain the rising tensions on Taiwan.

Sept 12: North Korea passes law cementing its right to use preemptive nuclear weapons for self-defence last Thursday (Sept 8), US pledges another US$2.6 billion (S$3.64 billion) in new aid for Ukraine and allies, and led its allies to reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, Queen Elizabeth II passes away aged 96, her son Charles III ascends to the throne last Thursday (Sept 8).

August 29: The death toll from monsoon floods in Pakistan crossed 1,000 on Sunday (Aug 28), Fears of a nuclear disaster were heightened on Sunday (Aug 28) as heavy artillery was fired at the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Moderna sued vaccine makers Pfizer and BioNTech on Friday (Aug 26) over alleged infringements of its patents on mRNA technology.

July 11: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last Thursday (July 7) that he would step down from his position after losing support from fellow ministers and lawmakers, Seven people were killed and dozens more were injured after a gunman opened fire on a 4th of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, on Monday (July 4), Japan’s former and longest-serving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was pronounced dead last Friday (July 8) after being shot while delivering an election campaign speech in the southern Japanese city of Nara.

Feb 28: US joined allies last Friday (Feb 25) in imposing stringent sanctions on Russia, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected Russia’s invitation for peace talks in Belarus last Sunday (Feb 27), Five staff of a medical charity were kidnapped last Friday (Feb 25) by armed men in Cameroon.

Feb 21: The Myanmar junta refused to cooperate with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) terms for discussion on Thursday (Feb 18), Ecuador’s National Assembly approved regulations to allow women and girls access to abortions in cases of rape on Thursday (Feb 17), Russia conducts nuclear exercises on Saturday (Feb 19) as the conflict with Ukraine heats up. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that his country would disregard Russian provocation.

Feb 7: Thousands protest against vaccine mandates in Canada last Saturday (Feb 5), Amnesty International calls Israel an apartheid state last Tuesday (Feb 1), Demonstrators protest against racism in Brazil after Congolese refugee killed last Saturday (Feb 5).