This roundup summarises the most important news stories around the world in the last month (November 2024).

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Dishearteningly, a United Nations report said that countries have made no progress in cutting emissions resulting from the use of oil, gas, and coal. No progress has also been made in tackling global warming. Later in the month, at the end of COP29, wealthy countries pledged to provide S$404 (US$300) billion annually to poorer countries so as to cope with the climate crisis and its impact. However, the figure has been criticised as woefully insufficient.

These happened as over 150 were killed in landslides and massive flooding in the Philippines, and historic flash flooding in Spain – the country’s worst in at least three decades – left over 200 dead. Angry protestors shouted and threw mud at the king and prime minister.

In Israel, the defence minister was fired. Then, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister and the former defence minister, for crimes against humanity and war crimes. A warrant was also issued for Hamas’s military chief, who is said to have been killed in an Israeli airstrike. Finally, the security cabinet voted in favour of a ceasefire deal to end the fighting with militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

And Ukraine marked the 1,000th day of the deadliest conflict in European history since the Second World War. Russia struck Ukraine with intermediate-range missiles, as Ukraine struck Russia with United States (US)-supplied short-range ballistic missiles. The US also confirmed reports of North Korean troops operating in Russia.

Trump’s triumph and other political developments

Former x president Donald Trump not only won the Electoral College but also the popular vote. He won despite leaving Washington in disgrace and having incited an insurrection, becoming – in the process – the first US president in over 130 years to serve non-consecutive terms.

As we wrap up a year of elections around the world, in other electoral news:

• In Botswana, the governing party lost power for the first time in nearly six decades.
• In Japan, the conservative ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost control of the lower house of parliament, marking the first time in more than a decade that the party has lost its absolute majority in the chamber. Later, the prime minister survived a run-off parliamentary vote to stay in his role.
• In Mauritius, with over 60 per cent of the vote, the opposition coalition secured a near clean sweep of parliamentary seats.
• In Moldova, by an extremely thin margin, just over 50 per cent of voters voted to join the European Union. The president then won re-election against a pro-Russian candidate.
• In Sri Lanka, the new president’s leftist coalition won parliamentary elections, giving him a mandate to broaden welfare programmes and facilitate economic recovery.

And in other political news:

• The former Brazilian president was indicted for an alleged coup attempt, following his 2022 election loss.
• The Haitian prime minister was fired by the country’s ruling council after a political power struggle. Later, Haiti’s international airport was shut down after gangs opened fire at commercial flights landing.

Strained geopolitics

Following Iran’s execution of a German-Iranian citizen, Germany closed three Iranian consulates and left only Iran’s embassy in Berlin open. Separately, the German chancellor fired his finance minister. In Hong Kong, pro-democracy leaders were sentenced to up to a decade in prison, a move which likely further erodes political dissent, as Beijing has asserted more control over the region.

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani was indicted in New York federal court on charges related to a massive bribery and fraud scheme to obtain solar energy supply contracts.

However, there were some good news in Asia. China and India withdrew their troops from an undefined but disputed Himalayan border, in a bid towards de-escalation. This happened, nevertheless, as a Chinese commercial ship is accused of sabotaging underwater telecommunications lines in the Baltic Sea.

Legislative contentions

Despite the lack of implementation details, Australia banned social media for children under 16. And in the United Kingdom, lawmakers voted in favour of an assisted dying bill which would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales – who have six months or less to live and who are capable of taking the life-ending drugs themselves – to end their lives.