Major Events In 2019

Heavily armed militants storm a military training center in southwestern Pakistan, killing four troops.

- The Taliban storm the administrative headquarters of Sayaad district in northern Afghanistan on New Year's Eve, killing at least 20 security forces.

- An 11-month-old baby is rescued from the rubble of a partially collapsed building in Russia.

- Brazil's newly elected President Jair Bolsonaro takes the office after a sworn-in ceremony.

Jan. 2

- An Iraqi military officer says U.S. troops in Syria are going to leave the war-torn country through northern Iraq.

- Israel approves the construction of almost 10,300 new Jewish-only settlement units in the occupied West Bank in 2018, says a report released by the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

- Around 7,000 civilians were killed in attacks across war-torn Syria in 2018, according to Syrian Network for Human Rights, a human rights watchdog.

Jan. 3

- Turkey's education body Maarif Foundation takes over management of schools linked to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) in Pakistan.

- China's spacecraft becomes the first to land on the far side of the moon.

- The Egyptian army announces destruction of 37 cross-border tunnels linking the blockaded Gaza Strip to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula over the course of 2018.

- The U.S. Catholic Church plunges deeper into crisis as more evidence is uncovered of sex abuse involving clergy and minors.

Jan. 4

- U.S. President Donald Trump blasts calls for his impeachment as Democrats take the reins in the House of Representatives.

- Trump threatens to shut down the government for months or possibly years unless he gets the $5 billion he is seeking for a wall along the U.S.- Mexico border.

- Palestinian group Fatah announces the closure of all its offices in the Gaza Strip over security concerns.

Jan. 5

- Russian authorities announce the capture of six Russian sailors by the pirates near Benin on Jan. 1.

- The Iraqi government says a fire killing six in a women's shelter in the capital Baghdad was "planned".

Jan. 6

- A major 6.8-magnitude earthquake shakes northwestern Brazil.

- Firebrand Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's parliamentary bloc reiterates rejection of the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq's capital Baghdad.

- The death toll from the powerful storm Usman that triggers landslides and flash flood in the Philippines climbs to 126, according to China's official Xinhua.

Jan. 7

- Local Turkish officials say six seamen are killed when a Panama-flagged cargo vessel sinks off Turkey's Black Sea coast.

- The Israeli government suspends the transfer of Qatari funds allocated to pay salaries of employees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, says Israeli television.

- The Gabonese government says it has quashed a coup attempt in the country after a group of soldiers seize the state radio.

- Bangladesh's Sheikh Hasina is sworn in as the prime minister for her fourth term.

Jan. 8

- India takes over operations of the Chabahar Port in mineral-rich Iran's Gulf of Oman, which is the first port operation of India abroad.

- Several thousands of apparel industry workers in Bangladesh's capital stage a demonstration and block a road leading to the airport, demanding implementation of minimum wage.

Jan. 9

- Norway's Geir O. Pedersen assumes his position as fourth UN envoy for Syria amid ongoing Syria crisis.

- Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie announce they will be divorcing after 25 years of marriage.

- Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the so-called most-wanted drug lord across the globe, is captured for a third time, Mexican authorities announce.

Jan. 10

- At least 10 Yemeni military commanders are wounded in a drone attack targeting a military parade in the southern province of Lahij.

- Turkey freezes assets of Iraqi-born Hajji ABD al-Nasir for his links to terror groups.

- A woman surviving Ebola while pregnant gives birth to a healthy child in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

- An official from the Pentagon confirms the U.S. starts withdrawing military equipment from Syria.

Jan. 11

- A Myanmar court rejects an appeal by two Reuters journalists, who were jailed for an investigation into the killing of Rohingya Muslim men by security officials in the western Rakhine state.

- Afghanistan is named by the country's Afghan Journalists Safety Committee, an NGO supporting press freedom, the most dangerous country for journalists, with a death toll of 17 journalists and media workers in 2018.

- French authorities ban Yellow Vest protests expected to take place at the historic city center of Bourges.

Jan. 12

- The UN human rights body's experts express "alarm" over alleged 59 extra-judicial killings by police in the Uttar Pradesh state of India, where many victims belong to Muslim community.

- A Saudi teen who fled alleged abuse by her family and barricaded herself in a Bangkok airport hotel room arrives in Toronto.

- At least 24 people are killed in Sudan since protests begin on Dec. 19 over the country's deteriorating economy.

Jan. 13

- At least 21 miners are killed after a coal mine collapses in northwestern China, with two trapped miners found dead.

Jan. 14

- The Indonesian Navy announces that its team found the cockpit voice recorder of October's crashed Lion Air JT-610 aircraft, which crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 89 people on board.

- At least 16 people are killed when a Boeing 707 cargo plane operated by Kyrgyzstan Airlines crashes while landing in Iran.

Jan. 15

- Iran fails to launch a satellite into space, a process criticized by the U.S. and deemed challenging to UN Security Council resolutions.

- Ice sheets in the Arctic of the southern hemisphere are melting at a threatening level, with a six-fold increase in yearly mass loss.

- In humiliating defeat, British lawmakers reject Prime Minister Theresa May's EU withdrawal agreement after 432 of them voted against it.

Jan. 16

- Iranian television anchorwoman Marzieh Hashemi is arrested in the U.S., reports Iran's English-language Press TV.

- Notorious Mexican drug cartel leader, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, gave $100 million in bribe to a former Mexican president, according to a witness speaking at the drug lord's trial.

Jan. 17

- Denmark suspends arms sales to the United Arab Emirates for its role in the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

- In a push towards energy-efficiency, South Korea aims to produce over 6 million hydrogen-run cars over the next twenty years.

- Poll reveals most eligible Americans are unlikely to cast their ballots in favor of President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential race.

- Terrorist drives car full of explosives into a crowd in Colombia's capital Bogota, before a graduation ceremony of a police academy, killing 21 policemen in one of deadliest terrorist attacks in recent years.

Jan. 18

- Two Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers collide midair during a training flight.

Jan. 19

- At least 114 people are killed after a deadly pipeline explosion in Tlahuelilpan, north of Mexico City -- roughly 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the capital Mexico City.

Jan. 20

- At least 10 Chadian UN peacekeepers are killed in an attack against a UN camp in northern Mali.

Jan. 21

- The world's oldest man Masazo Nonaka dies in Japan at the age of 113.

Jan. 22

- The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claims the "caliphate" of Daesh/ISIS terror group has been defeated in Syria and Iraq.

- Amazon maintains its title as the world's most valuable brand, the Brand Finance, an independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy, announces.

- Israel successfully tests a system to intercept ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere.

Jan. 23

- Venezuela's National Assembly head Juan Guaido declares himself the interim president of the country amid ongoing anti-government protests.

Jan. 24

- Iranian television anchor Hashemi, detained in the U.S. 10 days ago, is released from custody.

- Following the shocking resignation of Malaysian King Sultan Muhammad V on Jan. 6, Malay royals name Sultan Abdullah of Pahang state as the new king for next five years.

Jan. 25

- Greece's parliament ratifies a historic deal to end the 28-year dispute over its neighbor Macedonia's name, paving the way for the Balkan country to join NATO and the EU.

- The Philippines' landmark Bangsamoro Organic Law is officially ratified following a referendum win on granting comprehensive autonomy to Moro Muslims.

- The collapse of a tailings dam at an iron ore mine in southern Brazil's Minas Gerais state leaves at least 168 people dead, 186 others missing.

Jan. 26

- The U.S.' Pompeo calls on all countries to cut economic relations with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, recognizing opposition's Guaido as the nation's president.

Jan. 27

- At least 27 people are killed and several others injured after two bombs explode at a church in the Philippines' southern Sulu province.

- The death toll from torrential rains triggering landslides and floods on Indonesia's Sulawesi island climbs to 68.

Jan. 29

- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accepts the resignation of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and his Cabinet.

Jan. 30

- Fifty mass graves, each containing 100 bodies, are discovered in Mai-Ndombe, western Democratic Republic of Congo.

Jan. 31

- Sultan Abdullah of Pahang is sworn in as the 16th king of Malaysia.

- The European Parliament recognizes Venezuela's self-declared president Guaido in an official vote. -