{"id":719,"date":"2014-01-01T09:41:27","date_gmt":"2014-01-01T09:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=719"},"modified":"2014-01-01T11:49:03","modified_gmt":"2014-01-01T11:49:03","slug":"a-look-at-the-top-10-news-events-of-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/a-look-at-the-top-10-news-events-of-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"A look at the top 10 news events of 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the world readies to wave a goodbye to 2013, we here provide a glimpse of the top news stories that took place during this eventful year, listed in a chronological order.
\nMilitary operation in Mali<\/strong>
\nOn January 11, French President Francois Hollande announced that the French armed forces had begun a military operation in Mali to help its government fight al-Qaeda-linked rebels controlling the northern part of the country.
\nThe government in Mali urged France\u2019s support after Islamist rebels begun expanding their territory towards the south. Western countries said they feared Islamist fighters would launch attacks threatening Europe and other parts of the world.
\nHundreds of French soldiers were involved in the mission, which the United Nations said was in accordance with international laws.
\nFrench forces managed to expel al-Qaeda fighters from the Malian cities of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal, according to France 24. However, Islamist rebels have continued to launch attacks targeting French and Malian troops in the country.
\nA French soldier stands guard in an armored vehicle as a helicopter carrying Army Chief of Staff General Bertrand Ract-Madoux leaves a position in in northern Mali on March 21, 2013. (Reuters)
\nPope Francis election<\/strong>
\nOn March 13, the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church chose a new pope after Pope Benedict XVI announced a historic resignation.
\nJorge Mario Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected and adopted the name Pope Francis.
\nPope Francis, who is Argentinian, is considered to be the first non-European pope to be elected in more than 1,300 years.
\nPope Francis greets children assisted by volunteers of Santa Marta institute during an audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican on Dec. 14, 2013. (Reuters)
\nU.S. Boston bombings<\/strong>
\nOn April 15, two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing at least three people and injuring 200 more. Two Chechen brothers, who immigrated to the United States in their childhood, were behind the attacks. Authorities said Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev carried out the bombings in retaliation for U.S. involvement in Muslim countries.
\nOn April 15, two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. (Reuters)
\nTurkey protests<\/strong>
\nThe 2013 protests in Turkey started on May 28, 2013, initially to contest the urban development plan for Istanbul\u2019s Taksim Gezi Park. Protest soon spiraled into a nationwide wave of protest against Prime Recep Tayyip Minister Erdogan, accused by his critics of becoming increasingly authoritarian.
\nFive people died during the protests, which saw the use of plastic bullets and water cannons by riot police and according to an indictment by a Turkish prosecutor in the province of Antalya, more than 3.1 million people joined the street protests in 80 provinces of Turkey, Turkey\u2019s Hurriyet Daily News reported in December.
\nCurrently, 167 people are under arrest for their involvement in the protests.
\nThis year, Turkey also witnessed a corruption scandal resulting in the resignation of key government figures.
\nThe crisis erupted on Dec. 17 when police detained the sons of three ministers as part of a sweeping investigation, in one of the most brazen challenges to Erdogan\u2019s 10-year rule.
\nIn early morning raids the police also found $4.5 million stashed in shoeboxes in the home of one of the suspects, the chief executive of Turkish state-owned Halkbank.
\nA total of 89 people, including several close Erdogan allies were detained in the dawn raids, sparking a crisis which rattled the stock market and sent the Turkish lira to an all-time low.
\nRiot police use water cannons to clear a protest in Turkey. (Reuters)
\nMursi\u2019s ouster<\/strong>
\nOn July 3, 2013, the Egyptian armed forces ousted the country\u2019s first elected civilian President Mohamed Mursi, following four days of nationwide protests demanding his departure.
\nMursi\u2019s removal after just a year in office marked another twist in Egypt\u2019s turmoil since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
\nArmed forces chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi addressed the nation on that day saying Mursi had failed to meet demands for national unity.
\nA range of political leaders backed the Egyptian military\u2019s move, while some remained reluctant to accept it.
\nAs a result of the move, former Egyptian judge Adly Mansour was sworn in as interim president on July 4.
\nSupporters of Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic movement he hails from, took to the streets and protested against his overthrow, calling it a \u201cmilitary coup.\u201d
\nThousands of Mursi\u2019s supporters had been camped at two major sites in Cairo demanding his return to power.
\nOn August 14, 2013, Egypt has witnessed one of the bloodiest days in decades, when security forces crushed protest camps belonging to Muslim Brotherhood supporters.
\nArmored bulldozers moved deep into the main camp near Cairo\u2019s Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque. More than 200 people were killed in the assault.
\nThe army-backed government later announced a state of emergency as fierce clashes spread across the country in response to dispersing the Cairo sit-in.
\nThe use of violence was defended by Egypt\u2019s interim authorities but was condemned by the U.S. and some other Western governments.
\nProtesters opposing Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi wave Egyptian flags and shout slogans against him during a protest in Cairo on. June 30, 2013. (Reuters)
\nChemical attacks in Syria<\/strong>
\nOn August 21, 2013, the world woke up to a new deadly massacre in the Syrian crisis when video footage showing bodies of civilians on the ground reportedly killed by a toxic lethal gas on the outskirts of Damascus.
\nThe Syrian opposition blamed forces loyal to embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the attack, which killed nearly a thousand people. Syria\u2019s government however blamed the attack on foreign fighters and their international backers.
\nBodies seen in footage circulated on the internet showed signs of people being killed from asphyxiation, analysts said.
\nA U.N. mission that went to Syria to investigate the attacks on specific sites said there was \u201cconvincing evidence\u201d of the use of the toxic sarin gas against civilians in the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Ghouta, and few more sites.
\nA report released by the United Nations in September confirmed the use of chemical weapons but did not explicitly blame any side of the conflict.
\nThe United States threatened to launch military strikes against the Syrian government to deter further chemical attacks.
\nBut President Barack Obama\u2019s administration set an agreement with Russia, Syria\u2019s main ally, to convince the Syrian regime to put its chemical arsenal under international control.
\nIn October, International chemical experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) began overseeing the destruction of Syria\u2019s chemical weapons arsenal, a mission that is expected to continue until mid-2014.
\nA U.N. chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Damascus on August 29, 2013. (Reuters)
\nKenya\u2019s Westgate mall attack<\/strong>
\nOn September 21, 2013, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group stormed an upscale shopping mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, killing over 67 people, among them were 61 civilians, six security personnel and five militants.
\nSomalia\u2019s al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group claimed responsibility for the Westgate mall attack. It said it was retaliation for the presence of Kenyan soldiers in southern Somalia.
\nHorrific pictures and videos were released showing militants spraying bullets and grenades at shoppers, executing unarmed men, and victims escaping to save their lives.
\nA police officer tries to secure an area inside the Westgate Shopping Centre where gunmen went on a shooting spree in Nairobi on Sept. 21, 2013. (Reuters)
\nTyphoon Haiyan in the Philippines<\/strong>
\nOn November 8, 2013, a strong typhoon smashed into the islands of Philippines, killing at least 6,102 people, with nearly 1800 missing, and 4 million either homeless, according to Reuters.
\nHaiyan is considered to be the strongest typhoon to ever hit Philippines.
\nThe United Nations appealed for the world for funds to help the country recover from the amount of devastation caused by Haiyan.
\nAn aerial view of a coastal town, devastated by super Typhoon Haiyan, in Samar province in central Philippines on Nov. 11, 2013. (Reuters)
\nIranian nuclear deal<\/strong>
\nThe interim deal struck between Tehran and Western powers may have been one of the political highlights of 2013. On Nov. 24, Iran sealed a deal with six world powers in exchange for limited sanctions relief.
\nThe move consists of a six-month process aimed at a permanent solution to the decade-old stalemate over Iran nuclear program. The United States and its allies accuse Tehran of building nuclear weapons.
\nAccording to the landmark deal, Iran is committed to stop uranium enrichment above five percent, in return for some $7 billion in sanctions relief. World powers have also agreed not to impose any fresh sanctions for six months if Iran abides by the deal.
\nIranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (2nd R) hugs French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius after a ceremony at the United Nations in Geneva on Nov. 24, 2013. (Reuters)
\nNelson Mandela\u2019s death<\/strong>
\nOn December 5, 2013, the world lost South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, who died at his house aged 95 after a prolonged lung infection.
\nThe announcement of his death shook many in South Africa and around the world, prompting people to take to the streets, lit up candles and recite their prayers to mourn Mandela.
\nTributes for Mandela began flooding from around the world. The flags of many governmental and international institutions were flown at half mast.
\nA police officer places a photo of former South African President Nelson Mandela outside of Mandela\u2019s house in Johannesburg on Dec. 15, 2013. (Reuters)<\/p>\n

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