Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/  MONTSAME National News Agency names top 10 events happened in the world throughout the year of 2018.

1. 2018 United States- North Korea summit 

The summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, was successfully held on June 12, 2018 at the Capella Hotel, Sentosa, Singapore. Leaders of the two countries that have had a conflict since 1953 greeted each other by shaking hands.

Prior to the summit, they held an individual meeting with presence of interpreters only. Following the individual meeting, the sides held an extended talk and signed a joint statement.

2. Warming relations between North and South Koreas

As the Leader of North Korea made a historic crossing into the South on April 27, Kim Jong-un became actually North Korea’s first leader who crossed the border and went to negotiate with South Korea.

He was welcomed by his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in for summit. Furthermore, they held meetings again on May 26 and September 18-20, aiming to end conflict between two countries, denuclearize the Korean peninsula and build peace.

3. FIFA World Cup 2018 led to numerous successes

The 21^st FIFA World Cup took place in the Russian Federation from June 14 to July 15. At an estimated cost of over USD14.2 billion, 2018 FIFA World Cup was the most expensive World Cup. It was also the first World Cup to use the video assistant referee system.

A total of 64 matches were played in 12 venues across 11 cities and 3,031,768 spectators watched it. France and Croatia contested in the final match and the French team won their second World Cup by defeating Croatia 4-2. 

4. U.S.-China triggers trade war

China and the United States engaged in a trade war as the U.S. President Donald Trump made a decision to impose tariffs on Chinese imports beginning from January.

After the decision to impose tariffs on Chinese goods worth USD 34 billion came into effect on July 5, Chinese authorities took responsive actions against US exports and placed tariffs on its various products from soybean to electric car. Since that time, the sides have been mutually imposing tariffs on products to be costed at billions of dollars. Dispute between the two strong economies is becoming a worldwide issue. The heads of the two countries met during the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires where they agreed to postpone imposition of tariffs on goods for 90 days and to hold talks on resolving trade disputes during the period.

5. First meeting of Putin and Trump

The first official meeting of the heads of state of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, took place on July 16 in Helsinki, Finland.

During the meeting, the parties agreed to restore normal bilateral relations and cooperate in resolving pressing international issues. However, the US announcement to withdraw from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty negatively affected the bilateral relations. US President Donald Trump changed his decision to meet Russian President several times due to the Kerch Strait incident, and has cancelled the planned meeting on his way to Argentina. The White House officially announced his decision. Nevertheless, leaders of the two countries met briefly at the G20 summit.

6. Vladimir Putin elected President of Russia for the fourth time

Vladimir Putin won the Presidential Election of Russia held on March 18, getting 76.6 percent of the votes.

Thus, V. Putin won his fourth term as President of the Russian Federation. He has served as the President and Prime Minister of Russia for the past 18 years since 1999, and will continue to lead Russia for the next six years.

7. Natural disaster and plane crash in Indonesia

On September 28, the Sulawesi island of Indonesia was struck by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake, causing a tsunami.

Due to the natural disasters, 2,256 people were killed and 10,679 people got injured. Furthermore, over 70,000 buildings were destroyed, making 206,524 people homeless. The total damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami amounted to USD 911 million.

On October 29, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft operated by the Lion Air airline, which was carrying 189 passengers, crashed into the Java Sea. Rescuers were unable to find a single survivor from the crash site of the flight, which lost contact 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta.

8. US midterm elections: Democrats win control of House but Republicans tighten grip on Senate

The US midterm elections took place on November 6 and 35 out of 100 senators, all 435 members of the US House of Representatives, 39 governors of states and territories, as well as 6073 state legislative officials were elected. 

In the election, the Democratic Party won control of the House of Representatives with over 218 seats gained while the Republicans kept their majority status in the Congress.

A majority in the House gave Democrats the power to control White House. Even though they could not exert influence on the appointments of high-ranking officials, the Democratic Party will still oversee members of the Cabinet. However, the Republican Party holding on to its majority status in Senate is a joyful result for Donald Trump as it has influence over the President’s endeavours. In particular, the Presidential appointments of US Secretary, Ambassador, justices of the Supreme Court and federal judges require confirmation by the Senate. As Republicans tightened their grip on the Senate, Donald Trump can still make key appointments.

9. Woman gives birth using womb transplanted from dead donor

A woman in Brazil has given birth to a healthy baby after a womb transplantation from a dead donor, the first time such a transplantation from dead donor has been successful. It has been recorded as a new discovery in health and science fields as well as one of highlight events of the year.

Previously, Sweden succeeded in transplanting a womb from a living donor in 2014.

10. SpaceX opens new era of space exploration

In May 2018, SpaceX company has set a new historic record by launching 64 satellites into orbit.

In addition, NASA’s InSight lander successfully landed on Mars on November 26. Then early December, InSight sent back pictures and recordings of the sounds of wind on Mars to the earth for the first time, which is now going viral.