MONTSAME: THE KEY EVENTS OF THE WORLD-2013

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The MONTSAME national news agency is naming the most important events that have taken place this year around the world. 1. Situation in Middle-East is still unstable Some 1,400 civilians were killed during a chemical weapon attack in August due to the civil war in Syria which is lasting for 30 months. The side of the current President of Syria Bashar al-Assad and the opposition side have been accusing each other with this attack. In accordance with permission of the Syrian authorities, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is working to abolish the chemical weapons in Syria. 2. Territorial disputes among states have not eased yet Territorial disputes among some nations are still continuing, for example, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has announced it has set up a new protection zone against air attack, covering the Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Islands/ Pinnacle Islands, and it has been criticized by the international community. 3. Steps towards avoiding nuclear threats Neglecting the United Nations (UN) convention and resolution, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) performed three-time underground nuclear tests. Because of this, the international community has toughened the economic sanctions against North Korea. 4. Secret materials and Edward Snowden A former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee, and former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden disclosed classified NSA documents to several media outlets. Furthermore, the President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff canceled her planned visit to the USA due to information about spying of the CIA over phone calls. 5. Ukraine and Thailand were also hot spots The President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych rejected to sign an agreement with the European Union (EU), preferring to join the customs union led by Russia. The action of Yanukovych has been severely protested by the public in the country. 6. Worst natural disasters occurred From quick-striking monster typhoons to slow-onset drought, natural disasters impacted the lives of millions of people around the world in 2013. Considered one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall, the Typhoon Haiyan tore through the central Philippines November 8, killing nearly 6,000 people and displacing more than 3.6 million. The Chelyabinsk meteor was a near-Earth asteroid that entered Earth atmosphere over Russia on 15 February 2013, injuring 1,491 people, including 311 children. 7. New leaders emerged New political leaders have emerged such as the Iranian president Hassan Rouhani and the South Korea's president Park Geun-hye, while US president Barack Obama re-elected to the office. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires was elected to be the 266th pope of the Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Francis. Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez died aged 58, after 14 years in power. Nelson Mandela, revered for his efforts to end apartheid in South Africa, and Margaret Thatcher, the "Iron Lady" who imposed her will on Britain's politics and economy, were among notables who passed away in 2013 8. New China led by Xi Jinping Mr Xi Jinping mostly influenced the year 2013. The constant movement in China contrasted with the lack of leadership in the European Union and the American political paralysis, on the global chessboard, the West lost the advantage of the initiative, and it simply reacted to China's new moves and rapid actions. Within 12 months, China's top leader introduced a powerful narrative apt to express the Chinese zeitgeist, the "China Dream," he managed to reconnect with Deng Xiaoping's spirit of reform, and, from Sunny lands to Bali, he occupied without departing from his natural modesty the center of the world's political stage. 9. Russia's Putin Scraps Major State-Run News Agency Russian President Vladimir Putin dissolved one of the country's official news agencies and an international radio broadcaster, setting up a new organization to be run by a news anchor known for his ultraconservative views. RIA Novosti, the news agency, and Voice of Russia, the broadcaster, will be absorbed by a new entity, Russia Today. The new company will focus on "coverage abroad of Russian state policy and public life" with multilingual services as a way of "raising efficiency of state media resources," the document published on the Kremlin website said.