LAHORE: The eventful 2015 finally bade adieu to over 7.3 billion inhabitants of planet Earth on Thursday, leaving many in pain and agony as a major part of the world was seen fighting against insurgency, provision of basic life amenities, unabated terrorism, surging poverty, chronic unemployment, ballooning debt levels, fiscal crises, energy shortages, devastation caused by natural calamities and other geopolitical conflicts.
It goes without saying that the Pak-India acrimony throughout 2015, the restive situation in Ukraine, Russia’s mounting tensions with Europe, the scenario in Yemen, the American strategic power struggles, the in-fighting within Afghanistan, the ever-worsening Syrian situation and the strained Chinese-Japanese relations etc. had remained matters of grave global concern.
Quoting the World Economic Forum’s yearly assessment, ahead of its annual meeting at Davos in January 2015, this is how a prestigious British newspaper “The Telegraph” had viewed about the biggest dangers facing the world over the next decade: “Chief among them were the Islamic State (ISIS) and this trend towards government collapse in Syria and Iraq is highlighted as one of the associated risks that come with geopolitical conflict. The ISIS has claimed control of territory and attracted 20,000 to 30,000 fighters from a near standing start. The group’s brutality could also lead to the use of weapons of mass destruction and increase the likelihood of large-scale terrorist attacks over the next decade.”
In its January 15, 2015 edition, the afore-mention British media house had added: “An estimated 4 billion to 5 billion people in the world suffer from strained access to clean water, with the Middle East in particular likely to be a hotspot for struggles around water supply. Agriculture already accounts for on average 70 per cent of total water consumption and, according to the World Bank, we would need to ramp up food production by 50 per cent by 2030 to meet the needs of the world’s population.”
The 15th year of the third millennium, designated as the International Year of Light and the International Year of Soils by the United Nations, had started with the news on January 1 that Lithuania had officially decided to adopt the Euro as its currency (replacing the Lithuanian Litas) to become the 19th Euro zone nation.
On January 7, two brothers, Said and Cherif Kouachi, had forced their way into the offices of a French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Armed with assault rifles and other weapons, they had killed 11 people and injured 11 others in the building. After leaving the premises, they also killed a police officer outside the building. Al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch had claimed responsibility for the attack.
A Jewish supermarket in Paris was attacked two days later. Altogether, 17 people were killed in the two attacks.
On January 11, about two million people, including more than 40 world leaders, had met in Paris for a rally of national unity and 3.7 million people had joined demonstrations across France. The staff of Charlie Hebdo continued with the publication, and the following issue print ran 7.95 million copies in six languages, in contrast to its typical print run of 60,000 in only French.
On January 22, after the Houthi forces had seizes the presidential palace of Yemen, the country’s President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi had opted to relinquish charge.
On February 14, two people were killed in Denmark after a gunman had attacked a cafe and a synagogue. This was one of the worst terrorist attacks the country had seen.
On March 18, an attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis had killed 21 foreign tourists and a Tunisian policeman.
On March 24, an Airbus owned by German budget airliner Messrs Germanwings had crashed in the French Alps with all 150 people on board declared dead. Investigators said co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed the plane.
On March 25, the Saudi Arabian-led coalition of Arab countries had initiated a military intervention in Yemen in order to uphold the Yemeni government in its fight against the Houthi rebels.
On March 26, jets from a Saudi-led coalition had begun a campaign bombing Huthi rebels in Yemen in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. The conflict had since left some 6,000 dead.
On April 2, 148 people—-predominantly students—were killed in a mass shooting at a Kenyan University. The attack was reportedly carried out by the Al-Shabaab militants.
On April 25, a magnitude 7.8 quake had jolted Nepal, leading to 8,857 deaths in the country. Some 130 people had perished in India, 27 had lost lives in China and four had succumbed to the calamity in Bangladesh. Overall, some 9,018 deaths were reported.
On May 7, British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives had won a general election victory that had actually opened the doors to a national referendum on EU membership.
On May 12, yet another earthquake in Nepal had resulted in 153 deaths. Not fewer than 62 Indians, one Chinese and two Bangladeshis had also lost lives in this 7.3 magnitude quake. Overall, 218 deaths were reported.
On May 22, Ireland had legalised same-sex marriage, following a historic national referendum.
On May 29, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s elected President, had pledged to wage an intense offensive against the Boko Haram militants.
On June 1, a Chinese cruise ship had capsized in the Yangtze River, killing 442 of the 454 people on board.
On June 17, a white gunman had killed nine black people at a historic black church in South Carolina.
On June 26, the US Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was a right.
On June 26, an attack at a Tunisian holiday resort had killed 38 foreign tourists, most of them British.
On July 1, Greece became the first advanced economy to miss a payment to the IMF in the 71-year history of the institution.
On July 13, the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had accepted a three-year 86-billion-euro ($93 billion) EU bailout that saved it from crashing out of the Euro zone.
On July 14, Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
On July 20, United States and Cuba had reestablished their bilateral diplomatic ties, thus ending a 54-year stretch of hostility.
On August 12, massive explosions at a chemical storage facility in Tianjin, one of China’s biggest cities, had killed at least 165 people.
On September 2, the picture of a three-year-old Syrian boy s body, washed ashore on a Turkish beach, had focused attention on Europe s worst migration crisis since the end of World War II.
On September 18, German auto giant Volkswagen was alleged to have been involved in worldwide rigging of diesel emission tests, hence affecting an estimated 11 million vehicles globally.
On September 25, a deadly stampede during Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca had killed at least 2,236 people, besides injuring more than 900 others.
On September 30, Russia had launches air strikes on Syria, saying its intervention was against the ISIS, while Turkey and its allies said they were targeting moderate opponents of President Bashar al-Assad s regime.
On October 3, a US raid on a hospital in the northern city of Kunduz had killed 42.
On October 10, a suicide bomber had killed at least 100 people at a peace rally in Ankara, injuring more than 400 others.
On October 20, Justin Trudeau, son of a country’s popular former Prime Minister, had won a Canadian general election.
On October 26, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake had caused 398 deaths in the Hindu Kush region. Of these, 279 people had perished in Pakistan alone, while 115 Afghans and four Indians had also lose lives.
On October 31, a Russian passenger jet was hit on its way from Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh to Saint Petersburg, killing all 224 on board.
On November 1, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party had staged a thumping electoral comeback against a backdrop of renewed Kurdish violence and attacks.
On November 7, Chinese and Taiwanese presidents had formally met for the first time since the two sides had split in 1949.
On November 8, Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi had emerged triumphant in her country’s ballot exercise after decades of military domination.
On the evening of November 13, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks had occurred in a few Paris cafes, restaurants and a concert hall, killing at least 130 people. At least 368 people were wounded by terrorists, who later engaged in a stand-off with the French police. While seven of the attackers were killed by the police, authorities continued to search for accomplices. The attacks were the deadliest on France since World War II and the deadliest in the European Union since the 2004 Madrid Train Bombings.
On November 20, an Al-Qaeda siege at a luxury hotel in Mali had left at least 20 people dead.
On November 24, Turkey had shot down a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border, saying it had violated its airspace.
On November 24, the bombing of a presidential guard bus in Tunisia had killed at least 12 people.
On December 2, a couple had massacres 14 people in San Bernardino, California, before being killed in a police shootout.
On December 12, world’s 195 nations had approved a historic accord in Paris to stop global warming.
On December 12, at least 20 women had won seats for the first time in Saudi Arabia’s municipal polls.
On December 16, the US Federal Reserve had raised its main interest rate for the first time in more than nine years.
On December 18, the UN Security Council had unanimously adopted a resolution to endorse a peace process and thereby end the five-year conflict in Syria.
On December 21, The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the governing body of Football, had banned president Sepp Blatter and vice president Michel Platini for eight years for suspected corruption.
On December 27, China had scrapped its hugely controversial one-child policy, allowing couples to have two kids now.
On December 30, the UN refugee agency said that more than one million migrants and refugees had crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in 2015.