This is a post addressing most of the interesting events which have taken place since the start of the year 2020.

The United States assassinated Quassim Suleimani, who basically was a top tier Iranian general on Iraqi soil. Iran retaliated by firing missiles at the US embassy and a military base in Iraq. Later on, whether by accident, or design, a civil Ukrainian plane was shot at by an Iranian missile. The assassination of this Quassim is not to be confused with the recent announcement by the White house, according to which Qassim al-Rimi, the leader of al Qaeda, the terror group in the Arabian Peninsula, was killed in an airstrike in Yemen.

Court in Saudi Arabia sentenced five men to death for the famous murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Turkey sent troops in order to protect the UN-backed government in Libya.

Khalifa Haftar, the representative of the opposing side in the Libyan government, (with the pressure of the United Arab Emirates) refused signing the ceasefire agreement in Moscow. Never the less, the Berlin summit regarding the situation in Libya took place. The foreign powers decided to stop intervening in the war. Nontheless, the struggle continues, while the arms keep flowing despite the embargo being set.

Speaking of Africa, Mr. Macron addressed the threat of Islamic militancy in the Sahel. He decided to send 220 more soldiers adding up to the already present 4.500 there.

The Chinese have upgraded their navy with its new 055 destroyer.

The US trade deficit fell for the first time in the last six years, as a result of the trade war with China. This is also reflected by the increase of 225.000 job positions in the United States.

Philippines want to be more independent from the US’ military presence.

The republican led Senate let Trump off the hook regarding the impeachment accusations.

Mr. Trump also proposed a new Israel -Palestine deal, which, as expected was turned down by Palestinian authorities and is widely criticized by the Arab world. The conversation is ongoing.

The United Kingdom, eventually, left the European Union. We are also witnessing changes, a revival of the Northern Ireland Powersharing deal. Britain is now actively reinventing its role in the world, one step at a time, like, for example, with ambitious trade deal with Japan, matching Japan’s agreement with the European Union.

Russia changes the balance of powers between its internal institutions, giving more power to Duma and the state council. This set of moves is viewed as a maneuver by Mr. Putin to keep hold of power even after his presidential term ends in 2024.

The new, quite conservative, Indian budget for 2020 was announced.

The International Court of Justice issued a preliminary order, demanding that Myanmar stops any potential harm to the Rohingya Muslim Minority.

Last, but not least, the world is worrying about the new epidemy in China, called the “Coronavirus”. Despite the obvious human cost, there is a significant economic cost as well. That icludes the Tech sector which includes, for example, the Toyota plant closures in Mainland China.