Trump's legal troubles to the rise of Milei, the top news stories of 2023

EUROPE

On May 6, a historic moment unfolded as Charles III ascended to the British throne in a coronation at Westminster Abbey, marking the first such ceremony in 70 years.

At 12:02 pm, Archbishop Justin Welby placed the symbolic St Edward's Crown — crafted from solid gold and symbolising the sacred authority of the monarch — upon Charles's head, at which point the 2,300-member congregation erupted in a chorus of "God Save the King" while ceremonial gun salutes echoed across the country.

The ceremony, a showcase of tradition and monarchist power, was met with protests from anti-monarchy groups, revealing an increasingly prominent battle in the UK between deference to history and modern-day dissent.

ASIA

In a dramatic turn of events, Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested on May 9 following a court's decision to sentence him to three years in prison for the alleged illegal sale of state gifts during his tenure as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.

The conviction barred Khan from future involvement in politics — a ruling he later challenged. The Islamabad High Court issued an arrest warrant swiftly following the ruling, and police in Lahore promptly transported the former PM from his residence to the Pakistani capital.

Khan's political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which filed an appeal in the country's Supreme Court soon after the conviction, denounced the trial as the "worst in history."

Imran Khan also faced another legal setback as a Pakistani court indicted him on charges of leaking state secrets, hindering his chances of contesting the federal elections that followed.

The indictment was related to a classified cable from Pakistan's ambassador in Washington, which Khan — who alleged that it exposed a conspiracy by the Pakistan military and the US government to overthrow his government in 2022 — was accused of making public.

The conviction marked the second time Khan faced such charges, with his earlier indictment struck down on technical grounds.

AFRICA

Turmoil in Sudan was exacerbated when a conflict erupted in the country on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by Abdel Fattah al Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

This internal strife — which unfolded during Ramadan — was primarily centred around Khartoum and the Darfur region. The RSF initiated the conflict with attacks on government sites, unleashing air strikes, artillery, and gunfire across Sudan.

Khartoum and Omdurman became battlegrounds, prompting al Burhan to relocate the government to Port Sudan as RSF forces seized control of key buildings. International efforts — including the Treaty of Jeddah, which was due to impose a week-long ceasefire — proved ineffective, leading to a prolonged stalemate.

By October, momentum shifted in favour of the RSF, which defeated army forces in Darfur and made gains in Khartoum State and Kordofan. Despite ongoing negotiations, several countries provided military or political support to al Burhan or Hemetti.

The UN reported staggering casualties, with over 12,000 killed and 33,000 wounded. Half the population — around 25 million people — required humanitarian aid, and seven million faced displacement within Sudan or sought refuge in neighbouring countries.

The crisis deepened as the RSF's paramilitary control extended to strategic roads, prompting a state of emergency in the Al Qadarif governorate. Following intense clashes from December 15 onwards between the army and the RSF in northern rural areas near the central town of Wad Madani, a state of emergency was declared in Al Jazirah state.

After months of conflict with the RSF, the governorate enacted emergency measures, restricting movement, demonstrations, and business operations from 6 pm to 6 am local time.

MIDDLE EAST

Palestinian resistance group Hamas launched Operation Al Aqsa Flood against Israel on October 7, firing a barrage of rockets towards Israel and launching a surprise attack across the border, where it took some 240 hostages.

The group said the attack — which ultimately claimed between 900 to 1,200 lives — was in response to the Israeli army’s storming of the Al Aqsa Mosque earlier in the year and increased settler violence in occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

Following the Hamas attack, the Israeli army launched Operation Swords of Iron, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announcing a “total blockade” of Palestine’s Gaza, cutting the enclave off from electricity, food, and fuel supplies amid the military’s relentless bombardment of the besieged territory.

During a temporary truce that lasted seven days between November 23 to 30, Hamas released 105 hostages, and, in exchange, Israel freed 240 Palestinian women and minors being detained in Israeli prisons.

Since the culmination of the ceasefire, Israeli troops have pushed into southern Gaza and have taken "aggressive" action against Hamas and other resistance groups in and around the city of Khan Younis.

Israel has carried out a large number of air strikes around the southern city of Rafah, near the Egyptian border, where it had told residents of Khan Younis to flee.

There continues to be fierce fighting in the north, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are thought to remain — specifically around the Jabalia refugee camp and the Shejaiya district of Gaza City.

Israel's war on besieged Gaza also marked the deadliest period ever recorded for journalists, with 97 journalist casualties since the onset of the brutal aggression, representing the highest number in a single year at a specific location, according to The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

As of December 27, Israel has killed at least 20,915 Palestinians and wounded more than 54,918 others, displacing nearly 2 million — 90 percent of Gaza’s population — as its brutal military campaign rages on into its 82nd day.

LATIN AMERICA

Argentina witnessed a seismic political shift on November 19, when libertarian Javier Milei won the country’s presidential election, securing 55.7 percent of the vote to decisively defeat his rival, Economy Minister Sergio Massa, who conceded with 44 percent.

Milei, a 53-year-old libertarian economist, took the stage during his campaign with a powered-up chainsaw, symbolising his commitment to making drastic cuts to a state he sees as bloated.

In addition to standing against abortion, he challenged the death toll of Argentina's Dirty War of the 1970s, questioned human involvement in climate crisis and pledged to sever ties with key trading partners China and Brazil.

With a dishevelled mop of hair and a cultivated “rock star” persona, Milei was sworn in as the country’s president on December 10, promising no "half-measures" in addressing overspending, debt and convoluted currency controls in the third-largest economy in Latin America.

He plans to "dynamite" the central bank, replace the peso with the US dollar, and confront the staggering inflation of almost 140 percent as 40 percent of Argentina’s population lives in poverty.

US & CANADA

Former US President Donald Trump was at the epicentre of multiple criminal cases in 2023, and was the first US president to be indicted in the nation's 234-year history. Trump is entangled in legal battles related to his business and political activities and is facing a total of 91 criminal charges across four separate cases.

The former president and business tycoon is confronting 34 felony counts in New York for hiding hush-money payments, 40 felony charges in Florida for obstructing retrieval of classified documents, four counts in Washington, DC, linked to alleged election interference, and 13 felony charges in Fulton County, Georgia, related to attempts to overturn the 2020 election result.

The latter charges stem from a recorded phone call in which Trump pressured Georgia's Secretary of State to "find" votes. In another case, federal prosecutors, led by special counsel Jack Smith, accused Trump of trying to overturn the 2020 election outcome, charging him with crimes such as conspiracy to defraud the United States.

On August 24, Trump was booked at the Fulton County Jail and a $200,000 bail agreement was negotiated in advance of his court appearance.

The legal saga is unfolding against the backdrop of Trump's 2024 presidential bid, with the trials — a prolonged series of legal battles accompanied by political drama — scheduled to unfold in the early months of 2024.

AUSTRALIA

A constitutional referendum in Australia that sought recognition of Indigenous populations and the establishment of an "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice," was rejected in 2023.

Despite the ongoing efforts to address Indigenous welfare, the 'No' camp led in polls, highlighting the challenges faced by Australia's Indigenous people in achieving constitutional recognition and the need to address socio-economic gaps.

Australia's Indigenous citizens, constituting approximately 3.8 percent of the country’s population, have a rich history spanning 60,000 years, yet they are not acknowledged in the constitution and lag behind national averages in socio-economic indicators.

While a successful 1967 referendum counted Indigenous people as part of the country’s population, the 2023 referendum lacked unified political support.

With approximately 5 million Australians participating in the voting process, polls indicated a 56 percent lead for the ‘No’ camp, with 'Yes' tailing behind at 38 percent and 6 percent undecided.

Following the rejection, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles reaffirmed the government's commitment to improving Indigenous welfare and addressing the eight-year life expectancy gap between Indigenous Australians and the wider community.