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January:
- Croatia adopts the euro and joins the Schengen Area, becoming the 20th member state of the Eurozone and the 27th member of the Schengen Area. This is the first enlargement of the Eurozone since Lithuania’s entry in 2015, and the first enlargement of the Schengen Area since Liechtenstein’s entry in 2011.
- The funeral of Pope Benedict XVI is held at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican City.
- Nguyễn Xuân Phúc resigns as President of Vietnam amid several recent scandals in the government.
- The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago elects former senate president, minister and lawyer Christine Kangaloo as president in a 48–22 vote.
- Burkina Faso requests French forces to withdraw from its territory after suspending a military accord that allowed the presence of French troops in the country.
- Chris Hipkins succeeds Jacinda Ardern as Prime Minister of New Zealand, six days after she announced her resignation.
- The second round of the 2023 Czech presidential election is held, with Petr Pavel declared winner.
- Prime Minister of Fiji Sitiveni Rabuka confirms that Kiribati will rejoin the Pacific Islands Forum after leaving the organization the previous year.
February
- Lebanese liquidity crisis: The central bank of Lebanon devalues the Lebanese pound by 90% amid an ongoing financial crisis.
- Israel and Sudan announce the finalization of an agreement to normalize relations between the two countries.
- The 2023 Cypriot presidential election is held, with Nikos Christodoulides elected president.
- Cyclone Freddy forms in the Indian Ocean. It would become the longest lasting tropical cyclone in history and cause over 1,400 deaths and countless injuries and property damage across southeastern Africa.
- The 2023 Bangladeshi presidential election scheduled for 19 February is held, with Shahabuddin Chuppu of the Awami League, the only nominated candidate, elected unopposed.
- Vladimir Putin announces that Russia is suspending its participation in New START, a nuclear arms reduction treaty with the US.
- 2023 Nigerian general election: Bola Tinubu is elected as Nigeria’s president, defeating former vice president Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi.
March
- The National Assembly of Vietnam declares Võ Văn Thưởng as the country’s new president after receiving 98.38% votes from the Vietnamese parliament.
- UN member states agree on a legal framework for the High Seas Treaty, which aims to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.
- 2023 World Baseball Classic is held and won by Japan.
- The 2023 Chinese presidential election is held with the National People’s Congress unanimously re-electing Xi Jinping as the President of the People’s Republic of China to an unprecedented third term.
- Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to resume diplomatic relations which were severed in 2016, at talks mediated by China.
- Silicon Valley Bank, the 16th largest bank in the United States, fails, creating then the largest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis, affecting companies around the world.
- OpenAI launches GPT-4, a large language model for ChatGPT, which can respond to images and can process up to 25,000 words.
- The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Russian president Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights, marking the first arrest warrant against a leader of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
- In a deal brokered by the Swiss government, investment bank UBS agrees to buy Credit Suisse for CHF 3 billion (US$3.2 billion) in an all-stock deal.
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases the synthesis report of its Sixth Assessment Report on climate change.
- World Athletics, the global governing body for athletics, bans trans women who have gone through male puberty from competing in female events.
- Honduras switches its formal diplomatic recognition of “China” from the Republic of China to the People’s Republic of China.
- Brazil and China sign an agreement to trade in their own currencies, ceasing the usage of the United States dollar as an intermediary.
- Burkina Faso formally resumes diplomatic relations with North Korea after suspending them in 2017.
- Humza Yousaf becomes first minister of Scotland, succeeding Nicola Sturgeon.
April:
- The 2023 Bulgarian parliamentary election results in a GERB—SDS–PP–DB coalition government headed by Nikolai Denkov as prime minister, and ends two years of political deadlock.
- The 2023 Montenegrin presidential election is held, with Jakov Milatović of the Europe Now! movement winning in the second round, becoming the first president not from the DPS party since the introduction of a multi-party system in 1990.
- The 2023 Finnish parliamentary election is held, with the centre-right National Coalition led by Petteri Orpo receiving the most votes.
- The 2023 Andorran parliamentary election is held, with the ruling Democrats for Andorra led by Prime Minister Xavier Espot winning the majority of the seats.
- Finland becomes the 31st member of NATO, doubling the alliance’s border with Russia.
- Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) to search for life in the Jovian system, with an expected arrival date of 2031.
- Fighting breaks out across Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The RSF captures Khartoum International Airport, and the presidential palace in Khartoum.
- The 2023 Niuean general election is held and incumbent Dalton Tagelagi is re-elected as Premier of Niue.
- The 2023 Paraguayan general election is held, with the Colorado Party candidate Santiago Peña being the president-elect of Paraguay, winning in a plurality.
- The second round of the 2023 French Polynesian legislative election is held; the Tāvini Huiraʻatira party wins a majority of seats. Moetai Brotherson, Tāvini Huiraʻatira’s deputy leader, is elected President of French Polynesia.
May
- 2023 banking crisis: San Francisco-based First Republic Bank fails and is auctioned off by the US FDIC to JPMorgan Chase for $10.7 billion. The collapse surpasses March’s collapse of Silicon Valley Bank to become the second largest in US history.
- The World Health Organization ends its declaration of COVID-19 being a global health emergency, but continues to refer to it as a pandemic.
- The coronation of Charles III and Camilla as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms is held in Westminster Abbey, London.
- Syria is readmitted into the Arab League after being suspended since 2011.
- Cyclone Mocha forms in the Indian Ocean, killing over 400 people and injuring over 700 as it strikes Myanmar and Bangladesh.
- The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is held in Liverpool, UK. Swedish contestant Loreen wins with the song “Tattoo”.
- The World Health Organization ends its declaration of mpox being a global health emergency.
- 49th G7 summit takes place in Hiroshima, Japan. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives in Japan on the second day of the summit.
- The May 2023 Greek legislative election is held; the ruling New Democracy wins a plurality of seats in the Hellenic Parliament. Just days later incumbent prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, called for another snap election to be held in June.
- Canada and Saudi Arabia agree to restore full diplomatic relations after a breakdown in relations in 2018 over the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.
- The 2023 East Timorese parliamentary election is held; with the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction and Fretilin parties receiving the most votes. Xanana Gusmão is elected Prime Minister of East Timor.
- Russia and Belarus sign an agreement in Minsk allowing the stationing of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory.
- The second round of the 2023 Mauritanian parliamentary election is held; with the ruling El Insaf Party receiving the most votes.
- The second round of the 2023 Turkish presidential election is held; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defeats Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu with 52.18% of the vote to win a third term as president.
- The 2023 Latvian presidential election is held; Edgars Rinkēvičs is elected the President of Latvia.
June
- 2 June – A train collision in Odisha, India results in at least 296 deaths and more than 1,200 others injured.
- The 2023 Guinea-Bissau legislative election is held; the coalition Inclusive Alliance Platform – Terra Ranka led by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, wins a majority of seats.
- Russian invasion of Ukraine: The Nova Kakhovka dam in the Russian-controlled region of Kherson is destroyed, threatening the region with devastating floodwaters.
- Honduras opens its first embassy in Beijing, China, after breaking off relations with Taiwan in March.
- Honduras opens its first embassy in Beijing, China, after breaking off relations with Taiwan in March.
- Scientists report the creation of the first synthetic human embryo from stem cells, without the need for sperm or egg cells.
- Titan submersible implosion: All five crew members of Titan, a deep-sea submersible exploring the wreck of the Titanic, are killed following a catastrophic implosion of the vessel.
- The United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopts the High Seas Treaty, the first treaty aimed towards marine conservation in international waters.
- Qatar and the United Arab Emirates announce that they will restore diplomatic relations after relations were suspended during the Qatar diplomatic crisis.
- Russian invasion of Ukraine: The Wagner Group, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, begins an armed conflict with the Russian military, seizing the city of Rostov-on-Don and portions of the Voronezh Oblast before withdrawing the next day, after a peace agreement brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
- The June 2023 Greek legislative election is held; Kyriakos Mitsotakis becomes prime minister after his centre-right party, New Democracy, wins a majority of seats in the Greek parliament.
- The 2023 Sierra Leonean general election is held; Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party is re-elected president.
- The United Nations Security Council votes unanimously to end MINUSMA, its peacekeeping mission in Mali.
July
- Indian oil refiners start payments for Russian oil imports in Chinese yuan as an alternative to the US dollar due to increasing sanctions against Russia.
- 4 July – Iran joins the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, becoming the organization’s ninth member.
- In the Netherlands, the governing coalition collapses and Prime Minister Mark Rutte announces his upcoming resignation.
- New Zealand signs a free trade agreement with the European Union, increasing bilateral trade.
- China and the Solomon Islands sign a cooperation agreement between the People’s Police and the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force in an upgrade of bilateral relations.
- The European Commission and the U.S. government sign a new data communication agreement aimed at resolving legal uncertainties that European and American companies face when transferring personal data.
- Typhoon Doksuri forms in the eastern Pacific Ocean, going on to kill 137 people in Southeast Asia.
- 20 July–20 August – The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is held in Australia and New Zealand. In the final, Spain wins 1–0 against England.
- Bolivia and Iran sign a memorandum of understanding, in an upgrade of bilateral relations, expanding cooperation in the security and defense sectors.
- 2023 Greece wildfires: Tens of thousands of tourists flee Rhodes, Greece, amid wildfires and a major heatwave, in what officials say is the largest evacuation in the country’s history.
- Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard wins the Tour de France for the second consecutive time.
- The 2023 Spanish general election is held, with the People’s Party becoming the largest party in the Congress of Deputies.
- President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger is toppled in a coup d’état after members of his presidential guard and the armed forces seize control of the country and install General Abdourahamane Tchiani as leader of a military junta.
August
- Global warming: The world’s oceans reach a new record high temperature of 20.96 °C (69.73 °F), exceeding the previous record in 2016. July is also the hottest month on record for globally averaged surface air temperatures by a considerable margin (0.3 °C (32.5 °F)).
- 2023 Hawaii wildfires: 17,000 acres of land are burned and at least 100 people are killed, with four others missing, when a series of wildfires break out on the island of Maui in Hawaii.
- Tapestry, the holding company of Coach New York and Kate Spade, announces it will acquire Michael Kors’ Capri Holdings, which also owns Versace and Jimmy Choo.
- Hurricane Hilary, a Category 4 Pacific Hurricane, strikes the Baja California peninsula and later Southern California, the region’s first in 84 years.
- American–Japanese–Korean trilateral pact: The United States, Japan, and South Korea agree to sign a trilateral pact.
- 2023 Guatemalan presidential election: After two rounds of voting, Bernardo Arévalo of Semilla is elected with 58% of the vote.
- 23 August – India’s Chandrayaan-3 becomes the first spacecraft to land near the south pole of the Moon, carrying a lunar lander named Vikram and a lunar rover named Pragyan.
- Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder Dmitry Utkin and eight others are killed when their plane crashes in Russia.
- Following the announcement of incumbent president Ali Bongo Ondimba’s reelection as President of Gabon after the 2023 presidential election, the military launches a successful coup d’état and creates the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions to govern the country, ending the rule of the Bongo family after 56 years in power.
September
- 2023 Singaporean presidential election: Economist and former deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam is elected president with a vote share of over 70%.
- 2 September – The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launches Aditya-L1, India’s first solar observation mission.
- The 2023 Rugby World Cup is held in France. South Africa beat New Zealand 12-11 in the final at the Stade de France, claiming their 4th Rugby World Cup title.
- 2023 Marrakesh–Safi earthquake: A 6.9 magnitude earthquake strikes Marrakesh–Safi province in western Morocco, killing at least 2,960 people and damaging historic buildings.
- 9 September – At the 18th G20 summit in New Delhi, the African Union is announced as the 21st permanent member of the G20.
- Storm Daniel, a Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone kills at least 5,000 people, with a further 10,000 to 100,000 reported missing. In the city of Derna in Libya, two dams collapse, resulting in a quarter of the city being destroyed.
- The European Central Bank (ECB) raises eurozone interest rates to an all-time high of 4%, amid ongoing inflationary pressures across the continent.
- The United Auto Workers (UAW) begin a strike against the three largest American automakers, namely Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.
- Archaeologists in Zambia find the world’s oldest wooden structure, dating back 476,000 years, consisting of two interlocking wooden logs connected by a notch securing one perpendicular to the other.
- Rupert Murdoch announces his retirement and passes his businesses on to his son Lachlan. Murdoch led News Corp and Fox, and formerly Sky Group.
- 2023 Nigerien crisis: French President Emmanuel Macron announces that France will end its military presence in Niger and will recall its ambassador from the country.
- 2023 Slovak parliamentary election: Smer, under the leadership of former prime minister Robert Fico, wins a plurality of seats in the National Council.
October
- Elected on 8 January, Kevin McCarthy is removed as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, with Mike Johnson being elected new Speaker on 25 October.
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war: Hamas launches an incursion into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, prompting a military response from the Israel Defense Forces. Israel launches numerous air strikes on Lebanon after rockets are fired by Hezbollah and further attempts are made to penetrate Israel.
- A series of earthquakes occur in Herat Province in Afghanistan, killing over 1,000 people and injuring nearly 2,000, with tremors felt in Iran and Turkmenistan. The earthquakes are the deadliest in the country since 1998.
- 8 October – Israel’s Security Cabinet formally declares war for the first time since the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
- ExxonMobil announces it will acquire Pioneer Natural Resources for $65 billion USD, the first of two major energy industry acquisitions of the month. The second occurs less than two weeks later on 23 October, where Hess announces it will be acquired by Chevron for $50 billion.
- After British regulators’ approval, Microsoft closes its $68.7 billion USD acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
- 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum: A majority of Australians vote against establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in the constitution.
- 2023 New Zealand general election: The National Party wins a plurality of seats under leader Christopher Luxon, while the Labour Party suffers the worst result for an incumbent ruling party in modern New Zealand history.
- In the second round of the 2023 Ecuadorian general election, Daniel Noboa of the National Democratic Action is elected as the youngest-ever President of Ecuador.
- 2023 Polish parliamentary election: The Law and Justice party wins the most seats, but loses its majority, with its incumbent president Mateusz Morawiecki being succeeded by the Civic Platform party’s Donald Tusk on 13 December.
- An explosion occurs at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, where displaced Palestinians are taking refuge. Many fatalities are reported, but estimates vary significantly, from 100 to as many as 471, depending on the source.
- 2023 Swiss federal election: The Swiss People’s Party retains its majority in the National Council.
- Hurricane Otis, an eastern Pacific tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Mexico near Acapulco, leaving at least 80 dead. It is the most powerful hurricane to make landfall in Mexico, with the highest winds reaching 165 mph, surpassing Hurricane Patricia’s landfall in 2015.
November
- The first AI Safety Summit takes place in the United Kingdom, with 28 countries signing a “world first agreement” on how to manage the riskiest forms of artificial intelligence.
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war: The death toll in Gaza is reported to have passed 10,000. Speaking with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Joe Biden calls for a “humanitarian pause” in the fighting to increase the flow of aid to civilians.
- 9 November – U.S. surgeons at NYU Langone Health announce the world’s first whole eye transplant.
- Chinese president Xi Jinping visits the United States for the first time since 2017 to hold a key summit with U.S. President Joe Biden. Both China and the U.S. agree to reopen their suspended military communications and to cooperate against the increasing climate crisis.
- 17 November – The global average temperature temporarily exceeds 2°C above the pre-industrial average for the first time in recorded history.
- 19 October- Australia defeats India and wins the 2023 Cricket World Cup.
- 2023 Argentine presidential election: Following the first round on 22 October 2023, Javier Milei wins in the second round of the 2023 Argentine presidential election, assuming office on 10 December with Victoria Villarruel as his vice president.
- Israel and Hamas agree to a four-day ceasefire, the first pause in fighting since 7 October, during which many Israeli hostages will be released, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
- 2023 Dutch general election: Far-right Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) wins the most seats.
- Somalia is admitted as the eighth member of the East African Community, having applied for membership in 2012.
- Brazil announces it will join OPEC+ at a meeting of the organization to discuss oil output strategy in 2024.Brazil is the largest oil producer in South America, producing 4.6 million barrels per day of oil and gas.
December
- 2023 Guayana Esequiba crisis: Venezuela votes in a symbolic referendum on whether voters agreed with creating a subdivision in the disputed territory of Guayana Esequiba currently under the control of neighboring Guyana. Analysts say the referendum’s practical implications are likely to be minimal.
- Google DeepMind releases the Gemini Language Model. Gemini will act as a foundational model integrated into Google’s existing tools, including search and Bard.
- At the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, a consensus is reached for countries to “transition away” from fossil fuels, the first such agreement in the conference’s 30-year history.
- The 2023 FIFA Club World Cup is held in Saudi Arabia. In the final, Manchester City win 4-0 against Fluminense.
- Emir of Kuwait Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah dies at the age of 86 and is succeeded by his half-brother Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
- The 2023 Serbian parliamentary election is held with the SNS coalition led by Miloš Vučević winning 128 of 250 seats in the Serbian National Assembly.
- A number of shipping companies, including oil giant BP, announce a temporary suspension of their operations in the Red Sea, due to continued attacks on vessels by Houthi rebels.
- The European Court of Justice rules that threats by FIFA and UEFA to sanction football clubs that wish to join the European Super League are unlawful.
- The deadliest mass shooting in the Czech Republic’s history occurs at a Prague university, with 15 killed and 25 others wounded.
- 2023 Israel–Hamas war: The death toll in Gaza is reported to have passed 20,000, almost 1 percent of its population and surpassing the casualties in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.