2023 in Review: Arab states go to space, climate change and war dominate the news
It was the year when the world saw an unprecedented war on multiple fronts. As the Russia-Ukraine conflict continued into its second year, the world’s eyes turned to the Middle East amid the devastating Israel-Gaza conflict, with the two geographical turmoil dominating the headlines in 2023.
The past 12 months have also seen record-breaking weather events, a new UK King coronated, the first mugshot of a US President, devastating natural disasters – including floods and earthquakes – and a historic foray into space by Saudi Arabia garner global headlines.
Qatar, a Gulf country at odds with its neighbors in the GCC until tensions cooled following the AlUla Declaration in 2021, has been working bilaterally through 2023 to restore ties and restart trade, travel and diplomatic missions.
Contrastingly, divisive actions like the burning of the Quran split opinion over freedom of speech versus Islamophobia, resulting in complex discussions around policy changes in Sweden and Denmark and protests by Muslim-majority nations.
In 2023, a record number of people were displaced from their homes and countries, which directly fueled migration – often in a dangerous and illegal manner.
Here are some of the biggest news stories – locally, regionally and internationally – that kept the tickers busy over the last 12 months.
January
On January 15, a plane carrying 72 passengers crashed in Nepal, killing 71 and leaving one missing who was presumed to be dead. The incident was live-streamed on Facebook by one of the passengers when, with no warning, the Yeti Airlines ATR 72 turboprop aircraft nosedived near the tourist city of Pokhara. In December 2023, a Nepali investigation concluded that pilot error caused the crash.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made a shocking announcement that she had “no more in the tank” to continue leading the country, would step down and not seek re-election. Ardern said it had been a tough five-and-a-half years as prime minister and that she was only human and needed to take a step back.
On January 19, Saudi Arabia’s national women’s football team won its first-ever trophy after emerging victorious in a four-team tournament held in the Kingdom featuring Pakistan, Mauritius, and Comoros.
January witnessed the death of ‘Last of Us’ and ‘Star Trek’ actress Annie Wersching, who passed away on January 29 at 45 after battling cancer, and the passing of rally driver and stuntman Ken Block, who died in a snowmobile accident on January 2 at 55.
February
Saudi Arabia won the bid to host the 2027 Asian Cup in a decision announced on February 1. This would see the renovation of existing stadiums and the building of new ones.
On February 4, a cargo train got derailed in the midwestern US town of East Palestine, sparking a massive fire and triggering the release of small amounts of vinyl chloride, a hazardous chemical. The effects of the chemicals, which choked the town’s residents during the incident, are now reportedly causing long-term side effects, including headaches, rash, coughs, eye irritation, diarrhea, and, in many cases, PTSD as well.
Also, on February 4, a US Air Force fighter jet shot down a Chinese “spy” balloon in dramatic fashion with a missile after the balloon was spotted over American airspace in late January. The balloon, which was later found not to have collected any data, made headlines around the world and nearly triggered an international incident.
Tropical Cyclone Freddy killed hundreds and left thousands of homes destroyed in Malawi, Madagascar, and Mozambique. Freddy was recorded as one of the longest-lived storms ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere, if not the whole world.
On February 6, Turkey and Syria witnessed two massive earthquakes, with the first measuring 7.8 magnitude and the second one measuring 7.5 magnitude, which were followed by numerous aftershocks that caused building collapses. This resulted in 59,000 deaths in Turkey, 8,000 deaths in Syria, with hundreds of thousands more injured, and scores of buildings leveled.
The Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the UAE’s freight train network on the rapidly developing Etihad Rail system on February 23. It would connect four major ports and seven logistics centers across the UAE.
February 24 marked the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that started in 2014. The invasion was the largest attack on a European country since World War II. To date, the war rages on, killing tens of thousands on both sides of the conflict.
On February 28, two trains collided head-on in Greece, killing at least 36 people and injuring 85. An intercity passenger train traveling from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki collided with a cargo train outside the city of Larissa in central Greece, with the impact causing a fire in a number of the passenger carriages, burning many commuters who were rushed to hospitals.
March
Al Arabiya marked its 20th anniversary as the Arab world’s leading news service on March 3.
Thousands of schoolgirls across dozens of educational institutions in Iran were poisoned in March. According to an official count provided on March 7, “more than 5,000 students” were affected by poisonings in more than 230 establishments located in 25 of the country’s 31 provinces. Following international media attention, the Iranian government set out to investigate the incidents, and some arrests were made.
On March 10, Saudi Arabia and Iran normalized ties in a deal brokered by China. The move was seen as a major win for regional peace and stability. The deal was expected to decrease Iran’s influence over the region through its proxies in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria, but the latest Israel-Hamas war has thrown a wrench in the mix.
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was shut down in March after its investments greatly depreciated, and its depositors withdrew large amounts of money after months of rumors surrounding a recession and doubts over the bank’s ability to keep its doors open. It was well known for servicing startups. Its collapse, along with Signature Bank’s, brought back memories of the 2008 financial crisis that rendered many homeless and unemployed globally.
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz ordered that March 11 will be observed as National Flag Day in honor of Saudi Arabia’s founder, King Abdul Aziz al-Saud’s approval of the standardization of the current flag design in 1937.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the launch of a new national airline, Riyadh Air, on March 12. It is wholly owned by state wealth fund PIF and made its debut flight across the Kingdom’s capital in June, sporting its indigo livery.
On March 17, an arrest warrant was issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin by the International Criminal Court on suspicion of illegally deporting hundreds of children or more from Ukraine.
Taylor Swift started her record-breaking Eras Tour on March 17. The opening performance smashed the record for the most-attended concert by a female artist in America with 69,000 fans turning up. At a few concerts by the artist, mini earthquakes of around 2.5 magnitudes were recorded due to intense movement at the fan pits. There are 146 planned stops around the world until the end of 2024, and the tour has grossed over $1 billion.
Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan was named the UAE’s Vice-President, and Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was appointed the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, on March 29. Sheikh Mansour will serve alongside Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed and Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed were named Deputy Rulers of Abu Dhabi.
On March 30, Donald Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, making him the first former US president to face a criminal charge and jolting his bid to retake the White House.
April
Finland, previously militarily neutral, joined NATO on April 4 after a sense of vulnerability set in, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Talks for Sweden to join the military coalition are still ongoing after Turkey and Hungary initially blocked its accession following differences of opinion.
Sudan descended into civil war on April 15 as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under Hemedti disagreed over government transition talks. Saudi Arabia and the US continued to mediate for a permanent ceasefire.
The Marburg virus found in Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea brought back memories of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. The highly dangerous microbe, which causes severe fever, is often accompanied by bleeding and organ failure. Saudi Arabia and the UAE were among the countries that issued warnings to travelers.
India surpassed China to become the world’s most populous nation with 142.86 crore people, UN data showed at the time. China had a population of 142.57 crore, according to the UN World Population Dashboard. The US is a distant third, with an estimated population of 340 million, UN data showed.
On April 26, Japan’s ispace lost contact with the Hakuto-R Mission 1 spacecraft, carrying the UAE’s Rashid rover, only a few feet from the surface of the moon. It marked the Arab region’s first mission to the Moon. Soon after the lander crashed, Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced that the UAE would embark on a second attempt to land a rover on the Moon.
May
Hollywood actors and writers went on a strike that would go on for 118 days that rocked the entertainment industry in 2023 as workers demanded higher pay in the streaming TV era.
The head of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) declared an end to COVID-19 as a public health emergency, while stressing that it did not mean the disease was no longer a global threat. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the time the pandemic “has been on a downward trend,” with immunity increasing due to the highly effective vaccines developed in record time to fight the disease and infections.
On May 6, King Charles III was anointed and crowned in a UK coronation, Britain’s biggest ceremonial event in seven decades, in a remarkable display of pageantry dating back 1,000 years. During the historic and solemn two-hour service, which dates back to the time of William the Conqueror in 1066, Charles’ second wife Camilla was also crowned queen.
The Arab League agreed to reinstate Syria, ending a 12-year suspension and taking another step toward bringing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a long-time regional pariah, back into the fold.
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested by Pakistani authorities in connection with a corruption case. The arrest sparked deadly unrest across the country. He was later sentenced to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts, barring the opposition leader from contesting an upcoming election.
Lebanon received an Interpol red notice for its former central bank governor Riad Salameh, an alert typically reserved for international fugitives, as part of an investigation into whether the governor had embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds. He is currently facing numerous other cases from Germany, France and other countries.
Saudi astronauts Ali al-Qarni and Rayyanah Barnawi – the latter being the first Arab woman ever sent into orbit – completed a successful mission to the International Space Station. During their time in the orbiting laboratory, the Ax-2 astronauts successfully executed over 20 STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) outreach engagements and more than 20 research studies in microgravity, as well as eight media events.
On May 24, rock vocalist Tina Turner, famously known as the ‘Queen of Rock and Roll,’ died at 83, fighting long-term illnesses.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the country’s presidential election, defeating opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu and stretching his rule into a third decade.
June
Crown Prince of Jordan Hussein bin Abdullah wed Saudi architect Rajwa al-Saif on June 1 in a royal wedding ceremony, following an intimate engagement ceremony in August 2022. High-ranking officials and international royal family members were present in Jordan to mark the occasion.
In the world of Golf, leading rival tours, the PGA Tour and the Saudi PIF-backed LIV Golf announced a surprise merger after months of legal disputes between the two. The deadline to reach an agreement to the proposal expires on December 31.
Four Indigenous children were found alive after spending more than a month lost in the Columbian Amazon rainforest, following a small plane crash, President Gustavo Petro announced. “A joy for the whole country! The four children who were lost 40 days ago in the Colombian jungle were found alive,” Petro tweeted at the time.
Search for a missing submarine at the site of the Titanic’s wreckage left the world on the edge of its seat. For days, the US Coast Guard searched for the submersible that went missing during a dive into the famous shipwreck. The craft, Titan, was carrying three fee-paying passengers: British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman. The US authorities said at the time a debris field located in the North Atlantic led to a conclusion that OceanGate’s Titan submersible suffered a “catastrophic implosion” (a violent collapse inwards), instantly killing all five passengers on board on June 18. ‘Titanic Submarine’ was one of the most Googled searches in 2023.
US Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley was stripped of his security clearance and put on indefinite leave from the US State Department in late June. No official reason for his suspension was mentioned. Some reports suggested Malley was under investigation for mishandling classified information.
July
July 2023 became the hottest month ever recorded. It led to UN chief Antonio Guterres pleading for immediate radical action on climate change, saying that record-shattering months showed Earth had passed from a warming phase into an “era of global boiling.”
Big-ticket movies ‘Barbie’, directed by Greta Gerwig and featuring Margot Robbie, and ‘Oppenheimer’, directed by Christopher Nolan and featuring Cillian Murphy, launched on the same day on July 21 and became the highest-grossing movies of 2023. Their contrasting themes and cult-like following became a hot topic of discussion, leading up to its launch. In the weeks that followed, the phenomenon earned the unofficial title of ‘Barbenheimer.’
The iconic blue bird perched atop social media platform Twitter vanished in July as part of a company rebrand under a new name: X. The revamp marked the latest change enacted by billionaire owner Elon Musk, who took over the mega social platform in 2022 in a much-publicized $44 billion deal in 2022, but stepped down as CEO in 2023, while retaining a prominent role in the company.
On July 26, 2023, the military of the West African country of Niger overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum. Democratically elected Bazoum, his wife, and his 20-year-old son were held captive after the coup.
In July, smoke from wildfires in Canada reached a historic peak, affecting over 100 million people, according to various reports. Neighboring US felt a significant impact from the wildfire smoke from Canada, while skies in Europe turned brown from the haze. In Italy, Spain, and Greece, wildfires took over many small communities and islands, prompting evacuations and seeing numerous health and safety warnings. Uncontrollable blazes extended into other parts of Europe early in August.
Chinese-American singer and songwriter Coco Lee died by suicide on July 5 at 48. Irish singer-songwriter Sinead O’Connor was initially unresponsive and later declared dead on July 26 at 56. American actor Angus Cloud, who rose to fame in the TV series ‘Euphoria’, died on July 31 at 25 after an accidental drug overdose.
August
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) confirmed the arrest of an alleged Russian informant connected to a plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine early in August.
Fast-moving wildfire tore through parts of Maui, killing about 100 people. The August 8 blaze leveled the historic royal seat of Lahaina with flames that appeared to have erupted from a downed power line as fierce winds whipped the archipelago. The fire produced such intense heat that it melted metal and left mounds of ash where houses once stood. It was recorded as the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century.
The United Nations secured funding to offload oil from the decaying FSO Safer in Yemen after years of campaigning to raise funds and avoid an environmental disaster in the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia, the US, and the UK were among the donors to fund the recovery.
India became the fourth country to land an unmanned vehicle on the Moon and the first to do so near the Moon’s south polar region.
On August 23, mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin of the Wagner Group died in an air crash. Prigozhin, two top lieutenants of the mercenary group and four bodyguards were among the 10 who died when the Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft they were flying in crashed north of Moscow.
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the UAE were invited to join the BRICS bloc of developing nations, starting in 2024.
Donald Trump surrendered in Georgia on charges of plotting to overturn the state’s 2020 election results. His arrest saw the first-ever mugshot taken of a former US president. In the District of Columbia, Trump stands accused of obstructing official proceedings related to the electoral certification of the 2020 election on January 6. The New York indictment said the former president falsified business records to conceal an alleged hush money payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels. In Florida, he faced charges of obstruction and mishandling classified information. The most serious was the 41-count Georgia indictment. All trials are scheduled for 2024.
On August 30, minutes after Ali Bongo was named president again after 14 years of rule of the oil-rich but corruption-wracked Gabon, the military announced a seizure of power and shut the country’s borders. It ended the 56-year-long rule of the Bongo family.
September
UAE astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi arrived back on earth after he became the first Arab to perform a spacewalk and completed the Arab world’s longest mission onboard the International Space Station.
On September 8, a strong earthquake struck Morocco, killing more than 2,900 and leaving 5,500 injured. The 6.8 magnitude quake struck 72 kilometers southwest of Marrakech and leveled housing blocks.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the annual G20 summit in New Delhi. The meeting was overshadowed by Russia’s war in Ukraine, although members overcame deep divisions over it to produce a consensus document and move forward on issues such as overhauling institutions such as the World Bank.
Floods in Libya killed thousands in the city of Derna and displaced more than 43,000 people. A tsunami-sized flash flood broke through two aging river dams upstream from the city after heavy rains lashed the area on September 10. It razed entire neighborhoods, sweeping thousands into the Mediterranean Sea.
On September 11, Egypt issued a decree banning the niqab face covering for girls in schools. Schoolgirls were permitted to wear the hijab head covering, but needed to confirm that they were not coerced into wearing it. The ruling was met with some resistance from parents, while response in general was mixed.
September 15 marked the third anniversary of the Abraham Accords, which saw the normalization of relations between UAE, Bahrain, and Israel. The deal was brokered by former US President Donald Trump in 2020. However, ties between Arab states and Israel are on shaky grounds, following Tel Aviv’s military rampage in Gaza.
Thousands of ethnic Armenians fled the Nagorno-Karabakh region after the long-contested territory was surrendered to Azerbaijan on September 20, following a military offensive led by Baku. The breakaway region will cease to exist from January 1, 2024, after years of war over control of the piece of land.
A fire at a Christian wedding party in Iraq claimed over 100 lives on September 26. The Qaraqosh blaze was ignited after fireworks lit inside the hall caught onto the ceiling and spread rapidly. Soon after, lights went out and caused immense confusion. Both the bride and groom survived the fire, but lost their closest family and friends.
October
Hamas launched an attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and around 240 more were taken hostage, among them elderly people and children. In response, Israel launched a relentless bombing campaign and ground offensive in Hamas-ruled Gaza. To date, the death toll in Gaza since the war began on October 7 has soared past 20,000, with 50,897 injured – claiming mostly civilian women and children’s lives.
More than 2,400 people were killed in earthquakes in Afghanistan in the deadliest tremors to rock the quake-prone mountainous country in years. They were among the world’s deadliest quakes of 2023 after tremors in Turkey and Syria had killed an estimated 50,000 in February.
A teacher was killed and several people injured in a knife attack at a school in the northern French city of Arras. It prompted the government to put France on its highest security alert. President Emmanuel Macron condemned the attack at Lycee Gambetta High School as “barbaric Islamic terrorism” as the nation poured out grief for the slaying of the teacher Dominique Bernard, killed by a 20-year-old man.
American-Canadian actor Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing in the hit TV show ‘Friends’ passed away at 54 on October 28 from the acute effects of ketamine, a powerful anesthetic used to treat depression, anxiety, PTSD, and more. He long struggled with drinking and drug use, for which he went to rehab multiple times.
November
North Korea launched its first reconnaissance satellite, which it said was designed to monitor US and South Korean military movements.
Australia won the men’s Cricket World Cup for the sixth time, beating India to claim the title on November 19 in Ahmedabad.
On November 24, after nearly a month of constant fighting and bombardment in Gaza, a seven-day ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas helped civilians in Gaza to receive aid, Tel Aviv released over 200 Palestinian prisoners, and Hamas released more than 100 hostages. Some foreign nationals were evacuated from Palestinian territories. The brief interval brought about hope for a permanent end to the fighting, but at the end of the seven-day ceasefire, the bombings and attacks resumed.
The Saudi capital, Riyadh, won the right to host the 2030 World Expo, defeating rival bids from Italy and South Korea. Needing only one round of voting and securing the necessary two-thirds majority of member states at the general assembly of organizers Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in Paris, Riyadh won 119 votes, South Korea’s Busan 29 and Italian capital Rome 17, the BIE said. The Kingdom will host the Expo in Riyadh from October 1, 2030, to March 31, 2031, centered around the theme ‘The Era of Change: Together for a Foresighted Tomorrow.’
Rosalynn Carter, a former First Lady of the US, passed away at 96 on November 19. American billionaire businessman Charlie Munger, who was the vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, died on November 28 at 99.
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger died on November 29 at the age of 100. He was a controversial figure in many aspects, including human rights, who had played a key role in building US-China ties, contributed towards the US ending the war in Vietnam, and helped stabilize tensions between Russia and the US during the Cold War.
December
COP28 was staged in Dubai. After two weeks of tough negotiations, COP President Sultan al-Jaber announced a new global stocktake had been unanimously approved by 198 nations, marking a “historic” moment to keep the target of 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach and which the UN described as “the beginning of an end on fossil fuels.” The deal accomplished something that had never happened in decades of climate talks – the winding down of the use of oil.
‘Authentic’ was named the Word of the Year 2023 by Merriam-Webster, which followed ‘Gaslighting’ from 2022. Slang word ‘Rizz,’ ‘Kibbutz’ settlement in Israel following the Gaza war, and ‘Deepfake’ were among the other words that made the list. ‘Hallucinate’ was chosen as the 2023 Word of the Year by Dictionary.com.
