Dramatic election campaign in the USA – Trump becomes president again
Far into the year, it looked like there would be a rematch from the 2020 presidential election duel between the Democrats' Joe Biden and the Republicans' Donald Trump. But after a TV-broadcast debate where Biden was described as alarmingly incoherent, the criticism became too great for the sitting president. In July, Biden announced that he would not stand in the election after all, and Vice President Kamala Harris became his replacement with less than four months to go until the election in November.
It was a clear victory for Trump, who managed to secure 312 electoral votes, significantly more than the 270 required for him to return to the world's most powerful post. Trump will take office as the President of the USA on January 20, 2025.
Voters also gave the Republicans control over both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
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Trump targeted in assassination attempts
During the election campaign, Trump was targeted in two assassination attempts. The first was in July, when he was shot and hit in the ear during a speech at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. A man in the audience died in the shooting, and the young shooter was killed by security personnel.
The second assassination attempt took place in September, when a rifle barrel aimed at a golf course in Florida where Trump was playing a round was discovered by the Secret Service.
The man with the rifle fled when he was discovered, before any shots could be fired at Trump. The man was later arrested and has been charged with attempted murder.
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The Gaza War continued – ICC warrant for Netanyahu
Over 45,000 people have been killed in the Gaza War since it broke out on October 7, 2023, according to the Hamas-controlled health department. Alarms about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the strip have been sounded one after another, and criticism of Israel's warfare has reached a new level since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are to be arrested, accused of war crimes including the use of starvation as a weapon.
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Dayf, who Israel claims to have killed, something Hamas has denied.
There is, however, no disagreement that Israel has killed the two Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniya during the year.
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The Gaza War expanded to Lebanon
After the outbreak of the Gaza War, Israel and the Iran-backed Shia militia Hezbollah bombarded each other almost daily across the border to Lebanon, something that escalated in 2024. In September, Israel launched an offensive primarily targeting Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon. The long-time Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli attack in southern Beirut. A ceasefire was initiated in November between Israel and Hezbollah, but both sides have accused each other of violating it.
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The Assad regime in Syria fell surprisingly
After a lightning-fast offensive from various rebel groups, led by the Islamist movement HTS, the Assad regime in Syria was overthrown in December. The al-Assad family had ruled the country with an iron fist since the 1970s. The now-deposed President Bashar al-Assad had maintained his grip on power in Syria through the uprising against his regime that began during the Arab Spring in 2011 and turned into a civil war.
Bashar al-Assad has fled to Russia.
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No end in sight to the Ukraine War yet
Russia has continued its large-scale invasion of Ukraine, and has now also received support from North Korea. According to American estimates, North Korea has sent around 10,000 soldiers to Russia to participate in the war.
Last summer, Ukraine launched a ground offensive into the Russian region of Kursk, and as recently as last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that he does not know when the country can regain full control over the border region.
Donald Trump has said that he can end the war in 24 hours when he becomes the President of the USA and has signaled that American support to Ukraine may decrease. Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyj has met with Trump a couple of times during the fall to try to secure the crucial financial, military, and political support.
