The Vietnam News Agency(VNA) has selected the top ten events in the world in 2013 as follows
1. Tense disputes on sea and island sovereignty in Northeast Asia
The territorial sea sovereignty disputes between China, Japan andthe Republic of Korea (RoK) became tenser after Beijing onNovember 23 unilaterally declared an air defence identification zone(ADIZ) which overlaps the territorial waters claimed by Japan andthe RoK.
2. Political instability in several Southeast Asian nations
Thailand experienced seriously political crisis in late Octoberdue to profound party conflicts. To put an end to continuous rallies byanti-government demonstrators, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatraon December 9 announced the dissolution of the House of Representativesand affirmed that an ahead-of-time election will be held on February 2,2014.
Political tension in Cambodia acceleratedwhen the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party rejected the resultsof the July 28 general election according to which the rulingCambodian People’s Party won 68 out of the 123 parliamentary seats.
3. New deals reached for Syria crisis and Iran ’s nuclear programme
Syria evaded a military attack after its President Basharal-Assad, with the mediation by Russia , agreed to disarm itschemical arsenal in September.
After rounds ofnegotiations, Iran and the P5+1, including the UK, France, the US,Russia, China and Germany, on November 24 reached a historic deal onTehran’s nuclear programme, paving the way for a comprehensive andlong-term solution to this issue.
4. US world-shaking bugging scandal
The US’ former intelligence worker Edward Snowden on June 6leaked the National Security Agency (NSA)’s global surveillanceprogramme had bugged telephone conversations of many world leaders.Snowden’s revelations caused bad impact on the relationship between theUS and many countries, including its allies in Europe .
5. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, former South African President Nelson Mandela pass away
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias, influential leader of theleft-wing Fifth Republic Movement in Latin America, died on March 5 atthe age of 58.
On December 6 (December 5 - local time), NelsonMandela, former President of South Africa, passed away at the age of95. He is an anti-apartheid icon and one of the most outstandingpoliticians in the 20 th century.
6. Recovery of European economy
The euro area (Eurozone) officially escaped from the longest-evereconomic recession since it was established in 1999. The GDP positivegrowth rate of many countries, led by Germany , marked the start ofthe economic recovery in the Eurozone. However, the gloomy situation ofemployment market, the high rate of unemployment and public debt(equivalent to 92 percent of GDP) made the zone’s economic recoverymomentum remain vulnerable.
7. US government shutdown for over two weeks
The contradiction on public debt ceiling between the Democrats whocontrol the Upper House and the Republicans who dominate the Lower Houseforced the US government to cease its activity from October 1-16,2013. The situation forced 250,000 state public servants out of work,deprived the country’s economy of 24 million USD and caused a seriousimpact on the global economy.
8. Bali agreement to facilitate WTO negotiation
The World Trade Organisation, for the first time since its foundingin 1995, reached an agreement on reforming trade at its meeting inBali, Indonesia, in December. The deal was considered as abreakthrough to promote the Doha negotiation round on the globaltrade liberalisation launched by WTO in 2001 but later deadlocked.
9. Storm Haiyan’s havoc in the Philippines
Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms in history, hit thePhilippines on November 8, causing serious losses damage to thecountry. It took the lives of more than 5,500 people, left about1,600 others missing and made millions homeless.
10. Successful cloning of human stem cells for the first time
After 15 years of research, US scientists were successful in cloningstem cells from existing human cells by a technology similar to thoseused to create the cloned Dolly sheep in 1996. The success ushered in anew prospect for curing fatal diseases such as Parkinson, heart diseaseand spinal cord lesions.-VNA
1. Tense disputes on sea and island sovereignty in Northeast Asia
The territorial sea sovereignty disputes between China, Japan andthe Republic of Korea (RoK) became tenser after Beijing onNovember 23 unilaterally declared an air defence identification zone(ADIZ) which overlaps the territorial waters claimed by Japan andthe RoK.
2. Political instability in several Southeast Asian nations
Thailand experienced seriously political crisis in late Octoberdue to profound party conflicts. To put an end to continuous rallies byanti-government demonstrators, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatraon December 9 announced the dissolution of the House of Representativesand affirmed that an ahead-of-time election will be held on February 2,2014.
Political tension in Cambodia acceleratedwhen the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party rejected the resultsof the July 28 general election according to which the rulingCambodian People’s Party won 68 out of the 123 parliamentary seats.
3. New deals reached for Syria crisis and Iran ’s nuclear programme
Syria evaded a military attack after its President Basharal-Assad, with the mediation by Russia , agreed to disarm itschemical arsenal in September.
After rounds ofnegotiations, Iran and the P5+1, including the UK, France, the US,Russia, China and Germany, on November 24 reached a historic deal onTehran’s nuclear programme, paving the way for a comprehensive andlong-term solution to this issue.
4. US world-shaking bugging scandal
The US’ former intelligence worker Edward Snowden on June 6leaked the National Security Agency (NSA)’s global surveillanceprogramme had bugged telephone conversations of many world leaders.Snowden’s revelations caused bad impact on the relationship between theUS and many countries, including its allies in Europe .
5. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, former South African President Nelson Mandela pass away
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias, influential leader of theleft-wing Fifth Republic Movement in Latin America, died on March 5 atthe age of 58.
On December 6 (December 5 - local time), NelsonMandela, former President of South Africa, passed away at the age of95. He is an anti-apartheid icon and one of the most outstandingpoliticians in the 20 th century.
6. Recovery of European economy
The euro area (Eurozone) officially escaped from the longest-evereconomic recession since it was established in 1999. The GDP positivegrowth rate of many countries, led by Germany , marked the start ofthe economic recovery in the Eurozone. However, the gloomy situation ofemployment market, the high rate of unemployment and public debt(equivalent to 92 percent of GDP) made the zone’s economic recoverymomentum remain vulnerable.
7. US government shutdown for over two weeks
The contradiction on public debt ceiling between the Democrats whocontrol the Upper House and the Republicans who dominate the Lower Houseforced the US government to cease its activity from October 1-16,2013. The situation forced 250,000 state public servants out of work,deprived the country’s economy of 24 million USD and caused a seriousimpact on the global economy.
8. Bali agreement to facilitate WTO negotiation
The World Trade Organisation, for the first time since its foundingin 1995, reached an agreement on reforming trade at its meeting inBali, Indonesia, in December. The deal was considered as abreakthrough to promote the Doha negotiation round on the globaltrade liberalisation launched by WTO in 2001 but later deadlocked.
9. Storm Haiyan’s havoc in the Philippines
Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms in history, hit thePhilippines on November 8, causing serious losses damage to thecountry. It took the lives of more than 5,500 people, left about1,600 others missing and made millions homeless.
10. Successful cloning of human stem cells for the first time
After 15 years of research, US scientists were successful in cloningstem cells from existing human cells by a technology similar to thoseused to create the cloned Dolly sheep in 1996. The success ushered in anew prospect for curing fatal diseases such as Parkinson, heart diseaseand spinal cord lesions.-VNA
