2016-2020 (Progress, Decline and Hope)
January 1st, 2016: In Japan, the People's New Party merges into the Democratic Party.
January 4th, 2016: The Vatican announces that the new Pope George will be making a round the world tour of the developing world in the summer. Pope George himslef says he is doing it to, “shed light on those of us who are truly suffering in a time of great unrest,” due to the economic downturn.
January 5th, 2016: Iowa Caucuses; In the Democratic contest, former Governor Brian Schweitzer (D-MT) wins an upset victory, immediately becoming the front runner. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) shocks many with her strong second place showing over Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), respectively.
On the Republican side, Governor Sam Brownback (R-KS) claims victory over President Romney, claiming a 55 percent margin of victory bolstered by turnout from the Tea Party, S.O.U.L., and other conservatives.
January 8th, 2016: New Hampshire Caucuses: On the Democratic side, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand wins with 41% to former Governor Schweitzer's 26% and Senator Tim Kaine's 15%. Gillibrand is quickly labeled by the media as the new front runner, noting her meteoric rise in the primaries from a no-name candidate to placing second in Iowa, and subsequently winning New Hampshire. Cuomo suspends his campaign after a poor showing and endorses his fellow New Yorker for the nomination.
On the Republican side, President Romney deals a heavy blow to the insurgent Brownback campaign, winning the Granite state with 58 percent of the vote.
January 10th, 2016: In Taiwan, Taichung Mayor Su Jia-chyuan (DPP) defeats New Taipei Mayor Eric Chu (KMT) in the Taiwanese presidential election, 2016, ending 8 years of KMT rule. For the first time in history, the DPP won a majority of seats in the Legilsative Yuan.
Republic of China legislative election, 2016 Democratic Progressive Party 62 Kuomintang 37 People First Party 5 Non-Partisan Solidarity Union 4 Independents 5 Incumbent speaker: Wang Jin-pyng (KMT) Speaker-elect: Ker Chien-ming (DPP)
January 11th, 2016: Baja California Sur becomes the first state to legalize cannabis. Over the next several months Sonora, Chihuahua and Tamaulipas follow suit.
January 16th, 2016: Students of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) lead a protest March along Paseo de la Reforma in México City against the near dictatorial powers the President is perceived to possess. The protesters gather in the Zócalo where they continue to cry out against the “New Dictatorship” imposed by “Doña Beatriz.” There are skirmishes with the police though on the whole the protests remain relatively peaceful.
January 21st, 2016: Almost a year after the disputed presidential election, the Ukraine has effectively been without a functioning government since *eptember 2015 due to the walkout of Eastern MPs. However, a coalition of moderates and Eastern MPs, known as the “Peace and Justice Alliance”, manage to convince the government to lift martial law in some oblasts after months of tenuous negotiation.
The Nigerien presidential election is held. There are few irregularities reported, and the vote is generally considered by international observers to be free and fair. Former President Mahamane Ousmane, who was ousted by a coup in 1996, is elected to a five-year term over Seyni Oumarou of the National Movement for the Development of Society Party, which was in power from 1996-2010. Niger is still plagued by unrest in the north, high unemployment, and extremely low human development. The election marks Niger's first peaceful democratic transfer of power.
February 3rd, 2016: Yankee Shortstop Derek Jeter, 41, announces his retirement after his 21st season as a major league. Jeter had a brief career renaissance after his 3,000th hit, hitting above .300 (.301 and .304) twice since. He ended his career with 3,654 hits, good enough for 4th all time in the MLB.
February 4th, 2016: Governor Tim James (R-AL) announces his resignation in Birmingham, Alabama amidst rumors of an extramarital affair come to light.
February 5th, 2016: After discussions with baseball executives and the player's unions, Commissioner Dave Dombrowski begins a series of reforms to the game. The playoffs expanding to an extra wild card team, with both wild card teams playing a 1 game playoff to decide who will move on, is the biggest and most noticeable change. The others are a list of minor changes and directives sent to umpires by Dombrowski that are meant to speed the game up, partially inspired by new Commissioner adviser Bill James. In 2015, games were averaging a time of 2:52. By 2020, games average a time of 2:31.
February 17th, 2016: Seth MacFarlane and the Fox network announce that the popular comedy Family Guy will end at the conclusion of the current season, the show's fourteenth. MacFarlane says that “we ran out of original ideas some time ago”, and that the cast members wished to move on to other roles.
February 23rd, 2016: Kirsten Gillibrand emerges as the presumptive Democratic nominee after winning the vast majority of delegates and states on Super Tuesday. Senator Tim Kaine and Governor Brian Schweitzer suspend their campaigns that night and endorse Gillibrand for the presidency.
On the Republican side, no clear front runner emerges from Super Tuesday, as both Romney and Brownback come out with roughly the same amount of delegates. However, Brownback has a slight edge and momentum from winning the crucial Ohio primary by a narrow margin (50.1-49.3).
March 3rd, 2016: The Working Class Zeroes release their hit album Apocalypse….Some Time Soon. The music sounds much like the 90's “pop-punk” bands but lyrical more akin to 80's hardcore punk, using the growth of radical Christian groups and the continued political and economic problems under President Romney as inspiration for biting commentary. They spawn a brief resurgence in punk rock's popularity in the few years before the end of the twenty teens.
March 12th, 2016: In Japan, Your Party withdraws from the coalition government, but promises supply and confidence.
March 20th, 2016: A 20-man militant Islamist cell within Kazakhstan assaults and kidnaps the first LDS missionaries sent to that country, holing up in a school in a remote region with the missionaries and 17 Kazakh converts. The militants claim that any of their ethnic brethren “should not be allowed to follow even a heretic version of the crusader faith”, and demand that the LDS Church cease proselytizing in their country. In a public statement, LDS President Monson asks that members of the church pray and fast for the missionaries and the now-famous “Kazakh 17”, while he and other church leaders negotiate with the militants. The media dubs the conflict the “Kazakh 17 crisis”.
March 25, 2016: The Treaty of Florianópolis creates the Aliança Latino-Americana pelo Desenvolvimento e Comércio (Alliance of Latin America for Development and Commerce, or as the media describes it, the Latin American Union), an updating of the Mercosur Free-trade Organization, now with more focus on a possible political union between its participants. Strangely, Argentina was not invited to the treaty, on the grounds of it protectionist policies being a contradiction to the tax-free commerce the ALADEC so clearly defends. Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia and Venezuela are the members of this new organization.
As their demands have not been met, the Islamic militants in Kazakhstan execute one of the LDS Kazakh 17 converts they have kidnapped, which immediately ends negotiations between them and the LDS Church. The Church proceeds to appeal to the Kazakh government for a strike on the Islamists to rescue the converts, while publicly urging moderation and denouncing any anti-Islamic bigotry by Mormon public figures.
During this crisis, Elder L Tom Perry, then President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church and second-in-line for leadership of the church suffers a massive heart attack, but does not die. It is debated whether the church could “retire” Perry to have a younger and healthier elder take his place.
April 1st, 2016: The Pingan International Finance Center is completed in Shenzen, China. Topping out at 2,165 feet, it is the tallest building in China and the second tallest in the world behind the Burj Khalifa.
April 2nd, 2016: The groundbreaking ceremony for the New York Tower begins. Construction is expected to take 6 to 7 years, with the building being done in time for the nearby Empire State Building's 100th anniversary.
As the Kazakh 17 crisis continues, President Monson declares the cancellation of the April session of General Conference, saying that just as Brigham Young stopped Conference in order to organize a rescue group for stranded handcart companies, “so must we roll up our sleeves and work for the freedom of our missionaries and our Kazakh brothers in faith.”
The Kazakh government agrees to send a strike force to eliminate the militants, on the condition that the LDS Church refrain from proselytizing in certain areas of their nation known to be sympathetic to the militants. The Church agrees.
April 3rd, 2016: The CIA releases a report stating that Cartel violence in north western Mexico has diminished by nearly half since combat operations began in 2006, going further by stating that many of the cartels in the country “have become shells of their former selves.”
April 8th, 2016: The saga of the Kazakh 17 crisis comes to a close with a bloody strike on the kidnappers by the Kazakh government, killing 10 of the militants and capturing the rest. Excluding the executed convert, the hostages and missionaries are sent safely home, and stories of faith and bravery on the part of the Kazakh 17 begin to circulate throughout the LDS community.
Quietly, the LDS Church puts out a statement that Elder L Tom Perry will be made an “apostle emeritus”, effectively retiring him and removing from him the responsibilities of an apostle. Among the more conspiratorially-minded LDS members, rumors being circulating that Perry was privately opposed to the decentralization of church organization, and that is why he was removed from his apostleship in the somewhat unprecedented “apostle emeritus” move. LDS Church spokesmen ignore the rumor. In Perry's place, Elder Randall K Bennett is made an apostle, in what is seen as a move to more easily appeal with Russian-speaking officials to avoid another Kazakh 17 situation.
April 9th, 2016: At least 50 people, mostly drug traffickers, are killed in a raid south of Navojoa, Sonora, near the Sonora-Sinaloa border.
April 26th, 2016: Elections are held in Equatorial Guinea. Results show that President Teodoro Obiang, who has ruled the country since a military coup in 1979, has won another 7 year term with 98.38% of the vote. The elections are widely held in the West to be highly rigged. The legal opposition party, the National Democratic Union of Equatorial Guinea, had its candidate barred from the ballot in all but one province. Meanwhile, the illegal opposition party Revolutionary Socialist Party of Equatorial Guinea (PARSOGE), was constitutionally prevented from putting forward a candidate. The leader of PARSOGE calls for protests beginning on May 1st (May Day) against President Obiang's rule.
May 1st-3rd, 2016: Large protests break out across Equatorial Guinea against President Teodoro Obiang's 37-year rule. Organized by PARSOGE, the protestors call for equal distribution of oil revenues and democratic elections. They are quite violent, torching government offices in seven cities nationwide and on one occasion beating back police sent to attack them with Molotov cocktails.
May 3rd, 2016: The IUPAC, as a chemical organisation, finds Putinium (and Sacharowium) eligible and approves Sacharowium as Sw, and Putinium as Pn.
May 4th, 2016: President Obiang of Equatorial Guinea bars foreign news organizations from his country as massive protests continue for the fourth day. Unclear reports emanating from Cameroon indicate that police have lost control of Kié-Ntem Province, although Army units from Wele-Nzas Province to the south are reportedly moving into the province.
May 5th, 2016: President Romney gives a speech and declares that he will raise funding for scientific laboratories (Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, etc.) so that an element is discovered in America again. They shall name said element after a president.
Two truck bombs explode in Equatorial Guinea's capitol, Malabo, outside the Presidential Palace and the Chamber of People's Representatives. They kill 22 people, including President Obiang's brother, the Minister of Defense, and seven legislator's from President Obiang's Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea.
May 7th, 2016: Amidst massive protests in Equatorial Guinea, the leader of the Revolutionary Socialist Party of Equatorial Guinea (PARSOGE), which has been coordinating the protests, gives a radio-broadcast speech. Rolan de la Cruz announces that PARSOGE is committed to the violent and revolutionary overthrow of President Obiang's government. Cruz urges Equatoguineans to take to the streets armed with guns, clubs, and rocks to oppose the “tyrannical power of the Army and the dictator, Obiang.”
May 9th, 2016: The Army of Equatorial Guinea begins a crackdown on street protests, which is initially remarkably successful. However, as protestors leave the street, they turn instead to violent attacks on Army positions. Western commentators note that they are well supplied with arms and ammunition, although their source is unknown. It is thought that more than 25 soldiers and over 70 militants die in clashes throughout the country.
May 10th, 2016: The Ukrainian parliament is dissolved following a motion of no-confidence succeeding against the Tymoshenko government.
May 12th, 2016: Amidst widespread army defections, President Obiang's government has lost complete control over the mainland portion of the country. However, the capitol, Malabo, which is on Bioko Island 100 kilometers to the northwest, has been under intense lockdown for several days, and all attempts at protest have been crushed.
May 15th, 2016: In Equatorial Guinea, protests reappear in the capitol, Malabo. Army units defect to the opposition party PARSOGE, and March on the Presidential Palace. President Obiang attempts to flee, but his helicopter suffers mechanical difficulties and he is arrested.
May 16th, 2016: Following a rather chaotic round of meetings, the EU member states cannot come to an agreement as to what course of action to take in the Ukraine. Many do not like the idea of having to “bail out” Eastern Europe, especially the Ukraine.
May 18th, 2016: Rolan de la Cruz arrives in Equatorial Guinea's capitol, Malabo, and is declared General Secretary. He begins reorganizing the country into the People's Republic of Guinea, the world's first new officially socialist state since the creation of North Vietnam.
May 20th, 2016: The film, Superman:Last Son of Krypton Part I, the second Superman film to be directed by Zach Snyder is released. The film once again has Henry Cavill, Natalie Portman,Billy Zane and Jay Baruchel reprise their roles from the previous film, and adds Colin Salmon as the villian Brainiac. The first of a two-part story, the film ends with Brainiac taking over the Earth, and Superman leaving to go into exile. Though one of the most popular films of the year, and a box-office blockbuster, some critics and moviegoers dislike the “darker” direction the film series is being taken in.
May 22nd, 2016: A coalition of PRD, Nueva Alianza and Convergence Deputies fail to pass a motion which would limit President Paredes' powers, as the overwhelming PRI majority obstructed the bill's progression.
May 23rd, 2016: In response to the failure of an opposition law in Mexico, and using the strongest language the United States has to date, Secretary of State Jon Huntsman says “I deplore a dangerous trend in Mexico seen today towards authoritarianism in the name of security, limited freedoms in the name of order. This is against the principles of democracy and the aspirations of the Mexican people to live in freedom and safety.” In response, Mexican President Paredes calls on President Romney to fire Huntsman, replying that “Mexican democracy has never been stronger, and will be made safer by our aggressive action against the murderous cartels.” President Romney puts pressure on Huntsman to apologize, and Huntsman moderates his statement in a press conference on the 25th.
May 25th-26th, 2016: An attempted counterrevolution by members of the Nguma family and their allies in Equatorial Guinea (now the People's Republic of Guinea) is defeated. Rebellious army units briefly took control of part of Malabo, the capitol, but were brought down within 12 hours.
June 1st, 2016: After over ten years as Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper steps down, saying that he feels he has “served Canada well,” and that he wishes to,“ See what the rest of my life has in store for me.” Harper is replaced by long time Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
With the international mood of the time, the 2010s continues to be a time of escapism. Many see a return to campy styles. Bright and vibrant colors contrasted with sarcastic humor, and “grimmer and darker” reboots going out of style are the mainstays of this period. One magazine columnist would later describe the 2010s as “the visual style of anime, cynicism, and an influx of 80s and 90s throwbacks”.
June 6th, 2016: Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba dissolves the lower house for an earlier election, despite that Seiji Maehara's Democratic Party is enjoying a healthy lead over all parties inside the ruling coalition combined. As a result, elections for both the lower and upper houses will be held on the same day on July 10th.
June 7th, 2016: Governor Sam Brownback (R-KS) wins the California primary, defeating President Romney 53-47 percent. Faced with an insurmountable delegate lead and ever-increasing opposition from the GOP establishment, Romney suspends his presidential campaign, and Brownback becomes the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
June 10th, 2016: Former President Obiang and 18 members of his inner circle are executed following show trials by the People's Republic of Guinea. Human Rights Watch opposed the executions, saying that Obiang did not receive a fair trial.
June 14th, 2016: Spain wins its third trophy in Stade de France stadium, Paris after beating Germany 2-1 in the final match.
June 16th, 2016: Amidst the 2016 Presidential Election, Hollywood Actor and Director Ben Affleck muses in private and public about the possibility of one day running for public office himself. When asked why he would run, Affleck replies, “I don't like the direction I see my country going in.”
June 26th, 2016: The Governor of the Mexican state of Michoacán Silvano Aureoles, along with former governors Leonel Godoy and Lázaro Cárdenas Batel announce a new public works project to revitalize the states infrastructure. The plans include revamping roads, highways and rail lines. The plan also lays the foundations for a future High Speed Rail line connecting the cities of Zamora, Uruapan and Morelia with the intention to add a line from Morelia to México City.
June 29th, 2016: Oil workers begin to strike and protest in Bata, the largest city of the People's Republic of Guinea. International oil companies left during the country during its revolution in May, and Premier Cruz has not yet been able to entice them to return. Oil production has dropped to 12% of its 2015 level.
July 8th, 2016: The People's Republic of Guinea welcomes former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan and Cameroonian President Paul Biya. The two are the first international heads of state to visit Guinea since its socialist revolution in May. Former President Jonathan promises that Nigerian oil companies will soon begin work in the country and signs contracts with Premier Cruz.
July 10th, 2016: In Japan, the opposition Democratic Party wins the general election. The composition of the new House of Representatives is as followed: DPJ 247, LDP 110, YP 42, the New Komeito 22, Social Credit Party 22, JCP 17, SDP 6, New Blood League 2, Others, non-partisan and independents 12.
July 11th, 2016: Pope George embarks from Rome to begin his 2016 summer tour of the developing world.
July 20th, 2016: In a major address, Premier Cruz announces that all oil revenues will be split equally between every citizen of the People's Republic of Guinea. Mining and fishing incomes will be treated the same way, while education will be compulsory and free. Cruz encourages Guineans to move onto new collective farms being set up and to give up what he calls “the vestiges of tyranny.”
July 28th, 2016: Pope George gives an address in Nairobi, Kenya, to an audience of over 300,000 Catholics. The new pope is on a major tour of the developing world, as part of the Church's shift to focus on helping the poor. In the speech, Pope George announces that the Church will no longer be opposed to condom use to help prevent HIV/AIDS, and will, in fact, begin buying and distributing condoms in countries where HIV/AIDS infection rates are highest. The Pope makes clear that the Church still considers homosexuality and contraception a sin, but says that “God has told me that the greater sin is to allow the suffering of the afflicted to go unheeded and unheard.” His Holiness' decision is greeted extremely enthusiastically by the international health community and most African nations.
July-August, 2016: Pope George makes his first tour of the developing world. His trip includes stops in his home country of Honduras, in which he famously tells the people, “Though I May travel the world, I will always carry this country and it's people with me!” The Pope also visits Venezuela, and meets with President Hugo Chavez, and the two appear in photographs and video around the world, appearing very friendly. In America, various Anti-Catholic groups use this to attack the Pope. Other notable visits by the Pope include Kenya, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Israel, Iraq, Egypt and others.
August 2nd, 2016: A series of explosions in a Muslim district of Kolkata kill 112 people, 97 of whom were Muslim. The perpetrators, Paboo Lahiri and Rajiv Bannerjee, are caught 7 days later. During their prosecution, it is revealed that they received several phone calls from the deputy head of the RSS, a mainstream Hindu nationalist group. They also spent days at a time in a Hindu temple led by a radical priest, Arumi Asselleelam. This fact, in combination with the RSS's weak condemnation of the bombing, enrages Indian Muslims, and two days of rioting lead to 17 further deaths. Rahul Gandhi's government promises to crack down on Hindu right-wing groups.
August 5th, 2016: The XXXI Summer Olympiad opens in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
August 19th, 2016: Governor Sam Brownback formally accepts the Republican nomination for the presidency at the party's convention in Indianapolis, and taps Senator Mike Lee of Utah as his running mate. President Romney had formally endorsed Brownback at the convention, dispelling fears that he would not back him after such a bitter primary fight.
August 21st, 2016: The Olympic Games of 2016 at Rio de Janeiro close. As happened in 2008, China tops the ranking of Gold medals, with Brazil in 2nd and the United States in a very close third place (which was nonetheless seen as an humiliation- one in a long list for outgoing American President Mitt Romney).
August 24th, 2016: Rand Paul declares he will be an independent candidate for the Presidency, and chooses Tea Party Rep. Michele Bachmann as his running mate.
August 1st, 2016: Two prominent Catholic cardinals publicly oppose Pope George's shift on condom use in Catholicism. In separate TV interviews, Cardinal Juan Thorne of Peru and Cardinal Angelo Scola of Italy say that the Pope has “overstepped the bounds of true Catholicism” in announcing that the Church will distribute condoms in AIDS-stricken countries, while continuing to oppose contraception. The Cardinals' remarks cause a widespread stir, as they are seen as a challenge to papal infallibility, but Pope George chooses not to respond. Meanwhile, many liberal Catholics, including several American cardinals, suggest that Pope George did not go far enough, and that the Catholic Church should not oppose contraceptives at all.
August 30th, 2016: At the Democratic National Convention, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is nominated for the office of President, and House Speaker Keith Ellison of Minnesota is tapped for the office of Vice President. Though many see the choice of the first Muslim on a major party ticket as a positive step forward, S.O.U.L. members immediately begin protesting outside of Rep. Ellison's offices.
September 2016: The Pirate Party get 33.8 % of the Berlin State vote and is able to form the very first Orange-Green coalition (as they find out that the Greens are most compatible, and they got another 14.7 % of the vote, which secures the absolute majority). The media can't yet cope with an Orange-Green coalition, so in the October 26th issue of BILD, what should read “Orange-Green Coalition” is read as “Red-Green coalition”.
September 3rd, 2016: Rep. Ellison's office is broken into and damaged by S.O.U.L. members Harry Brime and Serrick James.
September 5th, 2016: In her annual State of the Union address, President Paredes highlights the successes her administration has had over the drug cartels by announcing the end of martial law in the states of Michoacán, Nuevo León and Baja California. She goes further by stating that civil government will return to all of Mexico before her term is over. This comes on the heels of extremely low approval ratings and increased opposition to her executive authority.
September 8th, 2016: Various Mexican politicians from the various left wing parties hold a forum in Mexico City titled The future of social democracy in Mexico, to discuss their inability to capture Los Pinos, citing how the centrist PRI and right of center PAN have both enjoyed executive power. The keynote address was given by senior PRD member Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, who urged the members in attendance to “stand united, or their prospect of leadership will only be a dream.” Many in attendance were moved by the speech given by Tlaxcala Senator Minerva Hernández Ramos, whom is thought to be a rising star in Mexican politics.
September 11th, 2016: In Hong Kong, the 6th Legislative Council elections are held. It is boycotted by the People Power and the Coalition for Democracy and Hope. International observers are not allowed to monitor the election. The moderate opposition Democratic Party and ADPL jointly wins 13 out of 70 seats in light of vote rigging.
September 12th, 2016: Although the Democrats manage to win a majority of seats, a coalition between DPJ, YP, and the New Komeito is formed to ensure a bulletproof supermajority. DPJ president Seiji Maehara becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
October 1st 2016: In a further move of decentralization, the LDS Church authorizes mission areas to allow missionaries to take part in and study authorized parts of a mission area's culture previously barred from them. This move is hailed as a forward-thinking move to help missionaries relate better to possible converts and avoid misunderstandings.
October 26th, 2016: In baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays win the World Series in 5 games over the Cincinnati Reds.
November 1st, 2016: The Democratic ticket of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand/Congressman Keith Ellison is elected overwhelmingly over the Republican ticket of Governor Sam Brownback/Senator Mike Lee. In congressional elections, Democrats increase their holds in the House and Senate, attaining a supermajority in the latter for the first time since 2010; Speaker and Vice President-elect Ellison is expected to be succeeded by House Majority Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid's retirement has led to expectations that he will be succeeded by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
In California, Proposition 9 is passed by a majority of 57.1-42.9 percent, repealing 2008's Proposition 8 that banned same-sex marriage in the state.
November 2nd, 2016: In response to Senator Rand Paul's presidential defeat and California's passage of Proposition 9, many S.O.U.L. supporters scream bloody murder. The group's Arizona leader, Sandra Roberts, infamously declares to “lay upon God's hand on America.”
November 9th, 2016: The kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro alongside FYROM enter the European Union. The Union State decries the “loss of sovereignty of nations traditionally allied to Russia”.
November 6th, 2016: In the Nicaraguan General Election, former President Daniel Ortega is elected by the National Assembly to become the nations first Prime Minister. The elections are noted for being unclean, raising protest from the United States, which are briskly brushed off by Ortega.
November 13th, 2016: The Los Angeles Galaxy win the Major League Soccer Cup over the C.D. Chivas USA, 1-0.
November 19th, 2016: The last episode of South Park airs, ending the show's 20 season run. The final episode ends with a seemingly touching ending, only to have Cartman make fun of Kyle for being a Jew. One then hears Kyle yelling “Shut up Cartman!” before the credits roll.
December 2nd, 2016: Despite concerns about his age and health (he is 71) Luiz da Silva, better known as Lula, the former Brazilian president, is elected as UN Secretary-General. Lula is the second Latin American Secretary-General. He will be inaugurated on January 1st, 2019.
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January 2nd, 2017: A man kills four Muslims in Seattle, Washington. His crimes over the next month will come to be spark a culture war in the city.
January 20th, 2017: Upon the inauguration of Kirsten Gillibrand as the 46th President of the United States, c. 325,000 supporters of S.O.U.L. and various other far-right groups protest on the National Mall, calling Gillibrand “an enemy of the state and God”.
January 21st, 2017: Queen Margarethe II of Denmark dies suddenly from complications of a stroke and is succeeded by her eldest son who assumes the regnal name King Fredrick X. The Queen was well loved by the Danish people and her death was sincerely mourned.
January 22nd, 2017: Still hale and hearty at the age of 79, President Sakskoburggotski begins his second term as President of Bulgaria.
January 23rd, 2017: First Vice-President of Cuba, as well as deputy to Cuban President Raúl Castro, José Ramón Machado, is hospitalized after suffering a stroke at his home in the city of Guantánamo. Despite managing to survive the stroke, Machado is feared to remain incapacitated for the foreseeable future.
January 25th, 2017: New Initiative; In her first Joint Session of Congress, President Kirsten Gillibrand puts forth her legislative agenda to lift the country out of the recession, introducing four key pieces of legislation:
- The Visionary Infrastructure Stabilization and Transportation Advancement Act (VISTA), which called for $1 trillion in spending on infrastructure revitalization projects, grants for states to expand their public works, and subsidies for public transportation nationwide.
- The Financial and Investment Regulations Expansion Act (FIRE), which would reinstate the provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill passed under Obama in 2010, and later repealed by the Romney administration.
- The Federal Income, Business, and Entitlement Tax Reforms Act (FIBER), which would do several things: lower the income tax rates for individuals making less than $250,000 annually, increase for individuals earning $250,000 or more, and create new specific brackets for millionaires; lower the corporate tax rate to 15 percent, replace the capital gains tax with a capital revenue tax, and close numerous legal loopholes in the tax code; remove the payroll tax cap for Social Security, and raise the minimum eligibility age to 67 years for those born after 1980.
- The Establishment of a Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan Act (E-CHIP), which would expand the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed under Obama in 2010, to include a federally-sponsored “public option” to compete with private insurers.
January 26th, 2017: United States Secretary of State Jon Huntsman announces that the US will provide a loan of $100 million to build 1,000 electrified schools with indoor plumbing throughout the People's Republic of Guinea. While some conservatives criticize President Gillibrand's administration for tacitly recognizing the revolutionary socialist state, officials in the State Department respond that building schools can hardly hurt American interests.
February 1st, 2017: Former US President Barack Obama releases his new book, the Unabashed Dream, a political memoir detailing his life from the 2008 Presidential Election until the end of his Presidency. The book becomes a bestseller and begins to establish Obama as the elder statesman of the Democratic Party, what with Former President Bill Clinton becoming more of a recluse in his old age. Despite this, many copies of the book are burned by radical right-wingers across America for being what they call, “Islamic Propaganda.”
February 2nd, 2017: FIRE (Financial and Investment Regulations Expansion Act) is passed relatively easily by the Democratic supermajorities in Congress and signed into law by President Gillibrand.
February 5th, 2017: Tea Party Representative Parker Griffith (R-AL) announces his abrupt resignation in Morgan County, Alabama, after reports of an extramarital affair come to light.
After a drawn out closed session within Cuba's legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power, junior Vice-President of the executive Council of Ministers Marino Murillo Jorge is promoted to acting First Vice-President. Murillo's promotion is of consequence due to his age, as he is the youngest member of the Council of Ministers, at the age of 55.
February 12th, 2017: Early into President Gillibrand's term, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg announces her retirement. She is in a leak as saying privately, “I was just waiting for that damn Romney to get out of the Oval!”. After 2 weeks, President Gillibrand announces that she will be replaced by Diane Wood, a appellate judge based in the Seventh Circuit (Chicago, Illinois).
February 10th, 2017: Elections are held in the People's Republic of Guinea to the Congress of the People. PARSOGE wins 82 seats out of 120, a surprisingly weak showing which showed Guineans' willingness to look for any option to reduce poverty and high unemployment.
February 17th, 2017: Lithuania and Latvia finally meet the Euro membership criteria and join the Eurozone.
February 18th, 2017: In the People's Republic of Guinea, the newly elected Congress of the People passes a law, the Protecting the Revolution Directive, which severely curtails the freedom of press and speech. Specifically, it bans any former member of the Obiang administration from holding elected office, working for a newspaper, radio or TV station, writing op-eds, or leading political parties. Additionally, protests deemed contrary “to the values and spirit of the Guinean people and the ideals of socialism” will not be tolerated, and “pro-tyrant” speech and writings are banned. The US State Department deplores the law for its broad language, lack of specificity, and generality, noting that up to 10% of Guineans had at one point held jobs in the former Obiang administration.
February 24th, 2017: FIBER (Federal Income, Business, and Entitlement Tax Reforms Act) is passed after a scrutinizing debate in Congress. The main point of contention was the revisions to Social Security, where Republicans supported a raising of the retirement age, and Democrats were against, but most ultimately supported it to maintain a semblance of bipartisanship.
February 28th, 2017: In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a military coup removes President Joseph Kabila from power. However, he manages to escape Kinshasha, the capitol, and flees to the southeastern city of Lubumbashi, where he announces that he will not “surrender the country to the traitors”. In the Battle of Mbuji-mayi (February 30th-March 12th), defecting army units battle with loyalist troops in brutal urban warfare, until the nation's third largest city falls to the coup conspirators on March 12th. This marks the beginning of the Third Congo War (also known as the Second Congolese Civil War).
S.O.U.L. becomes violent in the aftermath of the 2016 election, beginning a rein of terror on “places of atrocity”. The first incident is the bombing of an abortion clinic in Philadelphia, claiming 12 lives. Bombings spread sporadically nationwide, with the most devastating attacks occurring in the fall.
March 1st, 2017: The New York Times releases a study on the internet speeds that $40 buys around the world. In Japan the speed is 1Gbps or 1,000Mbps, throughout Europe the speed is 100Mbps, and finally in the US the speed is 8Mbps up from 5Mbps when the study was taken in 2013
March 2nd, 2017: Wuhan Riots; Riots erupt in Wuhan, China, amidst proposed restrictions against “mail order brides”.
March 7th, 2017: In the 2017 Canadian Federal Election, Conservative Prime Minister Jim Flaherty is defeat by Liberal Leader Dominic LeBlanc, who becomes the new Prime Minister with a small majority government. Flaherty resigns as leader of the Conservative Party, and is replaced by Peter MacKay later in the year.
March 17th, 2017: VISTA (Visionary Infrastructure Stabilization and Transportation Advancement Act) is passed after a lengthy debate in Congress, and signed into law by President Gillibrand.
March 18th, 2017: President Gillibrand gives a major address on Cuba. In response to recent reforms, she says, our “failed embargo” will be partially lifted. American companies will be allowed to import some Cuban goods, and export American products (especially cars and consumer goods) to the island. American tourists will also be able to visit Cuba, although obtaining a visa will be a tricky process.
March 21st, 2017: The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act is signed into law by President Kristin Gillibrand after passing both the U.S. House and Senate the week previously. Proposed by Senator Daniel Akaka over a decade before, the bill was amended giving Native Hawaiians all the rights of mainland Sovereign tribes, including the operation of gaming casinos and access to monies set aside for mainland tribes for health, education, etc.
Russell M Ballard of the LDS Quorum of Twelve Apostles dies, and is controversially replaced by Jon Huntsman Senior. In keeping with the LDS Church's new reform policies, Huntsman divests himself of all his financial holdings, which fund massive improvements in international Church Welfare programs and Church-supported education programs. Huntsman Senior also denounces political polarization within the LDS Church, saying that “God would not want us to hate each other on the basis of political partisanship; there's room for multiple political viewpoints in the Church”.
March 25th, 2017: The Chicago City Council votes 42-7 (1 absent) to sell the 3.24 acre DuSable Park to the Magellan Development Group for $16.8 million. Magellan plans to turn the park into a vertical farm of sixty-three stories capable of feeding up to 38,000 people called The Farm at Lake Michigan.
March 28th, 2017: The monthlong 2017 World Baseball Classic closes in Miami, Florida. Cuba emerge as the champions, beating out South Korea for the title. In third place are the Dominican Republic, and rounding out the heap in fourth place are Japan.
April 2nd, 2017: Presidential elections end with the reelction of François Bayrou in a second round against PS candidate François Hollande. UMP ran with ex-Prime Minsiter, Francçois Fillion, who however only got a slightly better result than Marine Le Pen's FN, but not enough to reach the MoDem or the PS.
April 9th-12th, 2017: Across Canada, memorial services are held to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, fought during the First World War, in which Canadian forces captured VImy Ridge and defeated the up until then undefeated German forces. The battle is often seen in Canada as the nation's “birth by fire.” Likewise, to coincide with the Anniversary,the film, At Vimy Ridge is released to high praise from critics and audiences alike. The film details the events leading up to and during the battle, and stars Canadian Actors Paul Gross, Michael Cera, Sarah Polley and others.
April 13th, 2017: Minerva Hernández Ramos announces her candidacy for the Presidency in 2018. Her contenders include Humberto Moreira Valdés of the PRI and Manuel Espino Barrientos of the PAN.
April 15th, 2017: As part of the United States' pentannual Farm Bill, President Gillibrand signs into law the AIDS Funding Research Reauthorization Act, which increases government spending on HIV/AIDS research to $7 billion, up from $3 billion 10 years earlier.
April 20th, 2017: Developments in the Second Congolese Civil War add a third faction to the conflict. The leader of the Hutu terrorist group FDLR, Sylvestre Mudacumura, announces that the group will resume military activities, in light of the opportunity presented by the chaos in the country. The group quickly seizes military control of much of Nord-Kivu and Sud-Kivu provinces.
April 28th, 2017: E-CHIP (Establishment of a Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan Act), arguably the most controversial of President Gillibrand's legislative proposals, is finally passed by Congress after a fiery debate between Democrats and Republicans over charges of “tyrannical government intervention” into health care. Upon signing E-CHIP into law, President Gillibrand calls the landmark bill “the pinnacle of a hundred years' worth of efforts started by President Theodore Roosevelt to uplift the standards of living for Americans.” E-CHIP was intriguingly passed just one day shy of the end of the President's “First 100 Days”.
May 5th, 2018: The Old Chicago Main Post Office is demolished after 21 years of disuse and several failed development plans. The land is sold by the City of Chicago (which assumed ownership in 2015) to a French-German development company.
May 7th, 2017: The IFAB rules that players shall not get a red card with a “second yellow”, but only with the third yellow card. If it is a second yellow card, the referee has to show the player two yellow cards.
May 17th, 2017: After two years of delays from the 2nd Korean War, the Light Tower in Seoul is finally completed. At the tip of its spire the building stands 2,100 feet tall. The building also contains all the parts of a modern city, including an aquarium, office buildings, stores, and residential areas. Many hail the building as the newest trend in urban development by building up instead of out.
May 18th, 2017: African Union forces withdraw from Somalia, declaring that the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is now capable of supporting itself with international monetary aid. The TFG is firmly in control of Mogadishu, Juba, Gey, and Puntland (an autonomous region in the northeast, but has not been able to get firm control over the coast or the Ethiopian border. Al-Shabab, after being pushed out of Mogadishu in 2012, regrouped and now rules over approximately sixty thousand square miles from their provisional capitol of Galkayo. Financially supported by piracy, Al-Shabab declared their independence from Al-Qaeda in 2015.
May 20th, 2017: In the final game of a seven game series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Vancouver Canucks, the Montreal Canadiens win a last minute goal to bring the Stanley Cup back to their city, winning the game 3-2. The win marks the first time Montreal has won the cup since 1993, and the 25th time overall. During the night in Montreal, several “disturbances” to break out in parts of the city, though few are injured.
May 25th, 2017: Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is killed in raid near the Sinaloa-Nayarit border. Over the summer various cartels begin to dismember as more raids arrest anyone suspected of harboring cartel sympathies.
May 28th, 2017: Diane Wood's nomination is confirmed by the Senate in a 75-25 vote. Despite her liberal tendencies, many Republicans voted for her because she was still slightly more centrist than Ginsburg had been, and thus would not noticeably change the balance of the court. She is inaugurated the next day.
May 30th, 2017: A second investigation into the disputed 2015 election takes place after the EU, Union State, and the Ukraine come to a shaky agreement. Until the conclusion of the investigation, the eastern oblasts elect their own provisional government to handle day-to-day affairs, effectively giving them autonomy. The West is outraged, however, their isn't much they can do given the unrest embroiling the country.
May 31st, 2017: Princess Charlene of Monaco marries Pieter van der Merwe of Witwatersrand, South Africa and they have three children together. She remains on friendly terms with Monaco’s princely family the Grimaldis for the rest of her life.
June 1, 2017: Test results are released on the Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA of the Emperor Moctezuma II. They are discovered to be from distinct subclades of haplogroups Q1a3a1 and A2 respectively.
June 2nd, 2017: Marina Silva, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former presidential candidate, in a public rally in Rio Branco, Brazil, creates the Christian Socialist Party (PSC).
Iron Rod, the first self-proclaimed “Mormon Metal” band forms, created by the sibling trio of Zane, Ammon, and Anita Garrett. The band claims equal inspiration from LDS Church hymns and power metal bands such as Blind Guardian and Sabaton. With it's first single “Sons of Helaman”, the band proves to be a hit with LDS youth, rocketing up to the top of the charts in the Mormon-heavy states of Utah, Idaho, and Arizona. It is trumpeted as a “new wave of Mormon music” and “a new face in Mormon culture”, with the Garretts being proclaimed the “Osmonds of Metal”. However, the LDS Church leadership remain skeptical of Iron Rod, and forbid LDS youth to play it during any youth-based church functions.
June 7th, 2017: After months of fruitless negotiation and a failed second inquiry into the disputed 2015 election, a band of eastern Ukrainian MPs meet with Union State officials about a possible referendum for independence.
June 12th, 2017: The joint EU-Union State investigation provides the same results as the first EU-led investigation, however the Union State accuses the EU of “tainting” with the evidence. The EU counterclaims Russia's accusations, leading to a fall-out in the agreement. Civil unrest erupts once again in the east as they do not wish to fall under the west's control again.
June 15th, 2017: The crisis unfolding in the Ukraine forces EU President Nicolas Sarkozy to endorse a proposal put forth by Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling for a referendum on independence for the eastern oblasts. The referendum is to be held on January 1st of the next year. Meanwhile the provisional government in the east maintains control, and publicly states that they will petition to integrate into the Union State if the referendum is successful.
July 2017: Construction at the Pati Sonapur plant in the Indian state of Orissa has been delayed for 7 years while slow and unproductive economic surveys are completed by government bureaucrats and regulators. In desperation, the company building the plant flew in a team of experts from the EU and US, who concluded the proposed plant was perfectly safe. However, government regulators continue to forbid construction. It is estimated the plant will create 7,000 jobs and provide 9900 MW of power once complete, enough for 100,000 homes in the area. Frustrations over this and other similar issues have been growing in the Congress Party for several years. Meanwhile, in the Bharatiya Janata Party and other right-wing groups, moderates have been growing increasingly worried about ties to right wing groups who have connections with terrorists. On July 19th, these groups announce they are leaving their respective parties and forming their own party, the New Democratic Party of India (NDP). Modeling itself after the positions of the Democratic Party of the United States (economically moderate, socially liberal), the party begins with 72 seats in the Lok Sabha. They promise to crack down on corruption, over-regulation, Hindu nationalism, and Pakistani-based terrorist groups. In addition, they announce their firm support of closer ties with the US, green energy, rural development, and reconciliation with Pakistan.
July 1st, 2017: Canada celebrates it`s 150th Year since confederation in 1867.
July 7th, 2017: Apple, seeing the sales of iPhone, iPad and iPod declining and losing market shares to Android phones, buys up Acer and Asus.
July 14th, 2017: The film, Superman: Last Son of Kypton Part II, directed by Zack Snyder is released. The cast of the two previous films all reprise their respective roles, and adds Amanda Seyfried as new superhero Zara-Zor-el/Supergirl. The story raps up the one began in the previous film, and has Supeman return with Supergirl to Earth to defeat Brainiac, who now rules a large empire. Though the film is as successful ass the previous two, plans for a fourth film are put on hold, due to Warner Bros. wanting to focus on a new Batman film.
July 22nd, 2017: Surjaa Chakravorty, an MP from West Bengal who is only 29 years old, is elected as Deputy President of the NDP. She had been one of the three MP's to initiate discussions about forming the NDP, and had been influential in forming their policy planks. As Deputy President, she is placed in charge of outreach to the public due to her immense personal charm and charisma.
August 5th 2017: In an embarrassing and much-publicized incident, a Latino LDS stake president and several Latino LDS youth from Arizona are mistakenly deported to Mexico after being held in an immigration facility for three days. In the furor over the event and similar incidents, LDS Church President Thomas S Monson takes a rare political stance and calls for a reform in immigration policies, including the implementation of the DREAM Act and a streamlining of legal immigration. This follows only 6 years after the Presiding Bishop of the LDS Church embraced a moderate immigration plan in Utah.
August 10th, 2017: China sets up a $890 million fund to support the People's Republic of Guinea. China's foreign secretary says that in recognition of the creation of the socialist state, China will give a new airport to the country as a gift. China also plans to build roads and buy ships to set up a reliable ferry service between Bioko Island and the mainland.
August 20th, 2017: Birth of future Field Marshal Rory Michael David Windsor, eldest son of London financial analyst Freddie Windsor (Lord Frederick Michael George David Louis Windsor, b. 6 April 1979, the son of Prince Michael of Kent, grandson of King George V) and his wife the former Sophie Winkelmann.
August 30th, 2017: The increasingly popular web comic Human Legacy receives a publishing license from the manga publishing company Kodansha USA. The manga-inspired comic, created by University of California Berkeley Graduate Student Juan Rivera, revolves around a group of California high school students who are gifted with supernatural powers and subsequently have to face a slew of super-powered villains, all in the context of the social and political environments of the early 2010's.
September-November 2017: Autumn of Fire; Nearly 600 American civilians fall victim to S.O.U.L. and associate groups in bombings of abortion clinics, churches in support of same-sex marriage, scientific research centers, and even universities. President Gillibrand orders federal authorities to take action in response, and many S.O. U. L. supporters are arrested nationwide, though terror attacks still plague for years to come.
September 2017: The Greens get reelected, but lose a considerable amount of votes mainly because the MCA of Golfech is not a top theme anymore and the Atomausstieg (phase-out) is now safe. They drop from 43,9 to 34,1 % (which is considered a massive loss in germany), the Pirates as second-strongest party, get 22,4 % at the cost of SPD (17,8 %) and CDU (9,9 %). The NPD gets into the Bundestag for the first time with 6,3 %, the newly revamped Zentrum gets (as of yet) 3,5 % and misses the five-percent hurdle. Claudia Roth is elected Chancellor in the very first Green-Red (and not Red-Green) coalition.
September 5th, 2017: Having been fallowed by rumors for months now that he is planning to run for public office, Actor and Director Ben Affleck confirms that he will indeed be running for public office. Affleck soon moves back to his home state of Massachusetts, so he can gear up for a run for the US Senate against incumbent Senator Scott Brown.
September 12th, 2017: Indonesia adds Atheist to the list of officially recognized religions (Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism). Every Indonesian is required to hold an identity card identifying them as belonging to one of these religions.
September 16th-18th, 2017: A massive earthquake with a magnitude of 8.8 hits the prefectures Aichi and Shizuoka. There are 20,400 deaths, one of the most fatal earthquakes in Japan's history, worse than the Tohoku quake of 2011. The main reasons are that it hit without much warning and it was quite near to the major city of Nagoya. There are reports of major problems in the Hamaoka 4 nuclear power plant, and fears of the third MCA in just eight years spike all over the world. In Germany (the only country that I can tell something about), demonstrations and anti-nuclear rallies peak, even though it is sure that all German NPPs are switched off on January 1st, 2019.
September 19th, 2017: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and her husband, Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland announce the birth of a son, whom they name Johan Daniel Carl Gustaf. The baby prince is given the title Duke of Västerbotten.
September 20th, 2017: In Japan, the problem in Hamaoka 4 NPP is confirmed as “security-relevant” and the operator, Chubu Denryoku, says that there is no more danger for the population. The Hamaoka incident is rated INES 4.
September 21st, 2017: Parliamentary elections in France result in the consolidation of the new three-party system, resulting in a return to a coalition policy similar to those of the French Third and Fourth Republics. UMP-MoDem returns to power.
September 30th, 2017: The U.S. Secretary of the Interior appoints a nine-member commission to prepare a listing of everyone who qualifies as Native Hawaiian. The basic definition is someone of Polynesian ancestry who lived in Hawaii on 1 January 1893. The commission members are all Native Hawaiians and many are experts in Native Hawaiian genealogy.
October 2017: Due to the orange-green coalition having a majority in both Bundestag (parliament) and Bundesrat (an institution where representatives of the state legislations can have a say), and some factions of SPD (e.g. Northrhine Westphalia's Minister-President) and CDU supporting it, the BedGG comes through and goes into effect on January 1, 2019. At the same time, all taxes except the Mehrwertsteuer (VAT), which rises to 47%, are abolished.
October 3rd, 2017: The Bedingungsloses-Grundeinkommen-Gesetz (BedGG, Unconditional Basic Salary Act) is proposed by the Pirates and immediately hailed as success by Pirates, Greens and some CDU and SPD members. Not much is heard about it in the news due to the earthquake in Japan and the ongoing debate about nuclear energy.
October 5th, 2017: The TPD (TÜrkische Partei Deutschlands) is founded and immediately gains success. Membership is on rapid increase, and polls indicate that they could manage the 5 percent hurdle.
October 13th, 2017: 2K television is introduced to the public. The new format boasts a resolution of 2048 x 1920 doubling the resolution of 1080p 1920 x 1080 The new GVD will be the first medium to carry 2K resolution films with television networks upgrading their equipment 2K broadcasts are expected within a few years
October 14th, 2017: Former pop star Britney Spears is admitted to a mental hospital after suffering several nervous breakdowns. After her record label dropped her in 2015 due to sharply declining music sales, reality hit her harder than it should have, and she was determined to keep living her former lifestyle of fame and fortune.
October 17th, 2017: Former Vice President Bobby Jindal founds his new PAC, Troubleshooting America, one of whose primary goals is to fund Republican candidates for the 2018 midterm elections.
October 30th, 2017: In baseball, the Kansas City Royals win the World Series in 6 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Billy Butler wins MVP honors with 2 home runs and 4 doubles.
November 11th, 2017: Publication of Fat Mary, a biography of HRH Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck (1834-1897) by Sarah, Duchess of York which enjoys good reviews and sales. It is later made into a blockbuster movie starring Melissa McCarthy in the title role.
November 15th, 2017: President Gillibrand announces plans to dramatically slash the military budget and re-negotiate NATO treaties which will include closing all US bases in South Korea by 2020. Americans overwealmingly support the Korea plan as many are tired of the threat of war arising every time tensions arise in that region.
November 17th, 2017: D.C. United win the Major League Soccer Cup over Sporting Kansas City, 2-0.
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January 1st, 2018: The referendum in the Ukraine shows a 68 percent majority in favor, making the eastern oblasts independent and thus part of the Union State. While the EU (especially the eastern member states) decry fraud, the Democratic Republic of Ukraine (DRU) emerges in the east and immediately applies to become part of the Union State.
January 2nd, 2018: Former President Obama is appointed a goodwill ambassador to South Korea to oversea the transition.
January 20th, 2018: Amazon opens their first shopping mall in the outskirts of Hamburg, for the first time expanding out of online-shopping. This move proves to be so successful that Amazon-malls spring up in most major cities by 2025.
January 21st-February 13th, 2018: Cuban General Election; Nationwide elections for the Presidency and National Assembly are held across the island. To the surprise of very few, Raúl Castro is re-elected to another term since taking office over a decade earlier. The confirmation of Marino Murillo to become First Vice-Preisdent does, however, sends reverberations the world over, as Murillo is now seen as Raúl Castro's designated successor.
February 1st, 2018: Another presidential election takes place in Germany. Cem Özdemir seeks reelection and narrowly defeats the rehabilitated Sylvana Koch-Mehrin and Sebastian Nerz (as of January 19, 2012 chief of the Pirate Party).
February 9th, 2018: The XXIII Winter Olympiad opens in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
February 14th, 2018: Twin-kidnappings take place throughout major cities, especially Hong Kong, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Beijing, amidst the popular media image of the children of “multiple births” coming from affluent families.
February 15th, 2018: In a major address, President Anas Urbaningrum of Indonesia lays out his goals for the country in a possible second term. He says that he wants to get rid of Indonesia's “identity card” system and repeal anti-blasphemy laws “in order to move our great country into a new age of openness and tolerance.” His speech is received poorly by Indonesia's large conservative faction, who rally around his main opponent, former First Lady Ani Bambang Yudhoyono. Her husband, Susilo Yudhoyono, was previously a close supporter of Urbaningrum, but the two men have grown apart during President Urbaningrum's six years in power.
February 25th, 2018: Stunning many, Taiwanese president Su Jia-chyuan visits China and met with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. Outraged, Tainan Mayor William Lai announces that he would challenge President Su in the DPP presidential primaries, 2020.
February 27th, 2018: Leaders of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi Party, the Janata Dal (United) Party, the DMK, and the Nationalist Congress Party announce that they are joining the New Democratic Party, along with several independents and other members of the Congress Party and the BJP. This bumps NDP numbers up to 129 members of the Lok Sabha. The membership of the Lok Sabha, as it currently stands, is:
Government: - United Progressive Alliance, led by the Congress Party: 201 seats. - Left Front: 78 Seats. - Anglo-Indian Representatives: 2 seats.
Opposition Parties: - National Democratic Alliance, led by the BJP: 107 seats. - New Democratic Party of India: 129 seats. - Fourth Front: 16 seats. - Independents: 12 seats.
March 13th, 2018: King Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia (b. 1933) dies. Suffering from osteoporosis and diabetes, the king falls at one of his residences in Riyadh and suffers a severely fractured femur. He dies in surgery. He is succeed by his brother Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz (b. 1936).
March 6th, 2018: The Union State formally integrates the DRU, making the Ukraine split between east and west.
March 8th, 2018: As agreed in the Nouméa Accord (1998), New Caledonia holds a referendum on the independence of the island. Despite the active Yes campaign, the anti-independence vote wins 57.5% of the total votes, while the pro-independence vote wins 43.6%. Pro-independence organizations and parties (as Caledonian Union and Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) claim that the referendum was rigged by the French authorities in order to keep a strategic island for any naval deployment in the Pacific Ocean. An international commission oversees the results and declares the elections free and fair, however the vote leads to severe problems in Kanak-dominated areas of the collectivité.
March 20th, 2018: In only a year since the American embargo of Cuba was partially lifted by President Gillibrand, American companies have invested and traded goods and services worth $18.2 billion, making Cuba America's 34th-biggest trade partner. Trade is expected to rise to over $25 billion by 2020.
March 21st, 2018: The Pirates, just having been elected and having selected Fabio Reinhardt as chancellor of Germany, plead to firms with the slogan “Free the Workers, Employ more Robots”. This at first causes massive international outrage, but as the Pirates explain their concept behind it all, outrage lessens to the extent that only those being against it for the sake of being against it (“Ich bin dafür, dass wir dagegen sind”) still gripe.
April 4th, 2018: Across America, people remember the Assassination of famed Civil Right leader Martin Luther King, Jr., which took place 50 years ago on this day. At the Washington Monument, where King gave his famous, I Have a Dream speech, a memorial service is held, however it is hijacked by several S.O.U.L. members, who cause a disruption. Fights break out, and many are injured. Later that night, Former President Barack Obama notes that, “this was a sad day in our history, and it just got sadder.”
April 12th, 2018: Cuban President Raúl Castro dies of a heart attack at age 88. Castro had undertaken significant economic reforms, but had failed to allow any political reforms, and continued his elder brother's authoritarian tendencies.
April 13th, 2018: In an emergency session of the National Assembly, Marino Murillo is elevated to the Presidency of Cuba, becoming the third President of the Communist island nation, as well as the first individual not related to the Castro's to gain the office.
May 5th, 2018: The Old Chicago Main Post Office is demolished after 21 years of disuse and several failed development plans. The land is sold by the City of Chicago (which assumed ownership in 2015) to a French-German development company.
May 2nd, 2018: President Abdulaziz Bouteflika, dictator of Algeria, dies of old age. He is succeeded by Prime Minister Ahmed Hanoune, son of former opposition leader Louisa Hanoune. Hanoune is considered to be something of a reformist. However, this analysis quickly proves false. Concerned by the growing political power of the army, he arrests several generals “on suspicion of a coup attempt”, and shuts down a dozen small political parties. Only 43 years old, he is expected to remain in power for many years.
June 1st, 2018: South Ossetia is formally integrated into the Union State, despite protests from Georgia, which still claims sovereignty over the breakaway province. Abkhazia remains independent under Russian military protection.
June 7th, 2018: David Cameron resigns as British Prime Minister and is succeeded by Home Secretary Nick Herbert who becomes Britain's first gay Prime Minister.
June 18th, 2018: Noted Atheist and Author Sam Harris releases his latest book, Holy Terror: The Rise of S.O.U.L. in America. The book details the events leading up to and after the groups formation, and includes an indepth look at the Autumn of Fire. The book becomes a bestseller, but S.O.U.L. itself puts a “divine ban” on the book, which results in many copies of the book being burned, and many people reading the book are attacked by hysterical members of the group.
July 18th, 2018: The twenty-first FIFA World Cup concludes in Russia. Germany wins the final 2-1 over the Brazilian team. An estimated 760 million people watch the final.
June 30th, 2018: After 17 years at war, the United States finally withdraws from a ravaged and disunited Afghanistan, except for a military base near Kabul. The ravaged nation begins the long and uncertain process of centralizing power and stability, despite Taliban holdouts in the mountains.
July 2nd, 2018: Minerva Hernández Ramos is elected President of Mexico, becoming Mexico's first nationally elected female head of state (Beatriz Paredes having been elected by Congress).
Minerva Hernández Ramos (PRD): 45.96% Humberto Moreira Valdéz (PRI): 34.69 Manuel Espino Barrientos (PAN): 16.33%
July 13th, 2018: Investigative journalism by the New York Times reveals what the reporter calls a “devil's bargain” struck between Premier Cruz of the People's Republic of Guinea and Nigerian/Cameroonian officials. The two countries had supplied Cruz' party, PARSOGE, with guns and ammunition, in return for oil contracts in the newly reconstituted country. The deal was struck in 2014, and was successfully completed in July 2016, when oil contracts for Guinea's oil were given to Nigerian and Cameroonian firms.
July 18th, 2018: The twenty-first FIFA World Cup concludes in Russia. Germany wins the final 2-1 over the Brazilian team. An estimated 760 million people watch the final.
July 22nd, 2018: Former Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame with 98.25% of the vote. He becomes only the second Panamanian in the Hall of Fame after Rod Carew.
July 31st, 2018: Celebrated British author J.K. Rowling releases a new book for children, Little Loser. Widely popular, Little Loser becomes the third bestselling book of the year and the bestselling book for children of the decade.
August 1st, 2018: 'The Tomorrow Knight' is released in cinemas. The sequel to 2015's 'Batman Begins,' it continues the story of Terry McGinnis assuming the role of Batman three decades into the future. Featuring a take on Riddler, played by David Tenannt, as the main villain, the story concentrates on McGinnis coming to terms with his new role and his choice to continue as Batman as a means of redemption for his past sins rather than merely as a means to avenge the death of his father, as happened in the preceding film.
August 3rd, 2018: The Razgrad Crisis erupts as representatives of the discontented ethnic Turkish minority in this Bulgarian community seize the city center and and proclaim the Free Razgrad Community. Before violence can break out between the Bulgarian armed forces and the rebels, President Sakskoburggotski, in a marathon negotiating session, resolves the crisis to everyone's satisfaction. Razgrad remains Bulgarian but the Turks are given expanded cultural rights.
August 13th, 2018: Pope George makes his first official visit to America, and meets personally with President Kristen Gillibrand. When asked in a press conference what he thought about the group S.O.U.L., the Pope tells reporters, “ In my lifetime, I have never seen a group get the message of Christ more wrong.” The Pope then goes on to attack S.O.U.L. for it's use of violence, much to the dislike of S.O.U.L. and it's Catholic members.
August 15th, 2018: In Japan, the Heiwa Memorial is officially opened in Kyoto. It is a separate secular memorial where the prime minister can make official state visits for memorial purposes, so as to avoid visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. Seiji Maehara, despite his anti-China views, officially apologizes to China for “past mistakes during the Second World War”, and vows to promote a “peace and non-nuclear” new world.
September 12th, 2018: Chinese military officials announce the active service of J-20 stealth fighters in Chengdu, China.
September 12-29th, 2018: In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, forces loyal to the military junta which controls much of the western part of the country seize the city of Kisangani from the FDLR after a three-week siege. The ongoing three-way Third Congo War is estimated to have killed over 200,000 people thus far, and displaced millions more.
October 2nd, 2018: In México City, over 75,000 people fill the Plaza de las Tres Culturas to honor of the victims of the Tlatelolco Massacre, the date marking the 50th anniversary of the event. The mass of people also use the occasion to voice their discontent with the ruling PRI government, as the mass of people March the 4 miles from Tlatelolco to the Zócalo. There protesters jibe at President Paredes, stating that her term has been like “another '68.”
October 28th, 2018: In baseball, the Cincinnati Reds win the World Series in a sweep of the Baltimore Orioles.
November 2nd, 2018: On the weekend of the 10th anniversary of the 2008 US Presidential Election, the film “2008: The Year Things Changed” is released to high praise from critics and movie-watchers. The film details the events of the 2008 presidential election, and stars Will Smith as Barack Obama, Harrison Ford as John McCain, and Jamie Lee Curtis as Hillary Clinton. Curtis would win Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars for her portrayal of Clinton, and both Smith and Ford were nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but the award ultimately went to Ford.
November 3rd, 2018: Despite a peaceful resolution over the Ukraine referendum earlier in the year, potential conflict once again erupts in the autonomous region of Crimea (which did not participate in the referendum) when it asks for a similar referendum on independence. When the government denies the request, Crimea immediately falls into chaos as pro-independence supporters organize and plan their own referendum.
November 6th, 2018: U.S. Midterm Elections; Democrats benefit from a third straight election of gains, thanks to the recovering economy and President Gillibrand's crackdown on far-right terrorism from groups including S.O.U.L.
In Illinois' 9th District, 26-year-old future President Ryan Kirkpatrick is elected to the House of Representatives; former Representative Jan Schakowsky had chosen to retire that year.
November 11th, 2018: In Europe and around the World, people mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. The world leaders of many nation that fought and participated in the war gather in France for a memorial service, taking place near some of the last remaining trenches preserved since the war.
November 21st, 2018: Sporting Kansas City win the Major League Soccer Cup over the San Jose Earthquakes, 3-2.
November 15th, 2018: The still under construction New York Tower becomes the tallest building in New York as it reaches 1,778 feet/542m in height. Still, another 1,500 feet/500m are needed for it to reach it's final height.
December 3rd, 2018: A bombing in the Rwandan city of Butare kills autocratic President Paul Kagame and several of his aides. He is succeeded by party leader Rose Mukantabana of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), who vows vengeance upon the assassins.
December 5th, 2018: DRC-based Hutu Power group FDLR claims responsibility for the assassination of Rwandan President Paul Kagame. In a statement, the militant group justifies his killing by saying that the had favored Tutsis in Rwanda, citing his appointment of a Tutsi as Prime Minister the previous year. President Rose Mukatabana of Rwanda, in response, announces a military intervention into the Congo to “find and destroy those groups opposed to liberty and democracy in Rwanda and across Africa.” The military deployment begins with a cross-border invasion into FDLR territory on December 9th. Both of the other parties in the Congolese Civil War, the military junta and ousted President Joseph Kabila, formally protest the violation of Congolese sovereignty, although there are rumors that Kabila worked with the Rwandans, as he attacked the FDLR in apparent coordination with the foreign intervention.
December 11th, 2018: The incumbent Tymoshenko government becomes increasingly unpopular among Ukrainians, due to the fragmentation of the country and the current crisis in the Crimea. Meanwhile, no headway is made in trying to reinstate order in Crimea by the government, and the Union State makes rumblings about intervening. After tensions rise, the government steps back and allows the referendum to occur however reluctantly.
December 18th, 2018: American Airlines, after years of being in the red due to the Great Recession and the collapse of the air travel market, declares Chapter 7 bankruptcy, sending shock waves throughout the industry. By 2020, several airlines in the US have folded, leaving United, Delta, and Southwest as the remaining major players.
January 1st, 2019: The first Unconditional Basic Salary is paid to all those living in Germany.
The Czech Republic formally adopts the Euro.
For the first time since the copyright term was extended in 1998, the public domain grows in the United States, as the copyrights of all works published in 1923 officially expire. Several prominent websites that collect works in the public domain, such as Project Gutenberg and Wikisource, publicly celebrate and are busy throughout the year transcribing these new texts to their digital archives. Notable works entering the public domain this year include H.G. Wells' Men Like Gods and Robert Frost's poetry collection New Hampshire.
January 7th, 2019: The California High Speed Rail system is officially opened to the public, operating between San Francisco and Los Angeles at speeds of 200 mph. Initial ridership figures are higher than expected, with President Gillibrand calling the system “a symbol of America's future”.
January 12th, 2019: Chinese Communist Party leaders debate the need to reform immigration in an effort to allow for “mail order brides” in Beijing, China.
January 18th, 2019: IUPAC approve discovery of Uue, Ubn, Ubb and Ubq. Uue is named Heisenbergium (Hb), Ubn will be Daltonium (Da), Ubb is Chadwickium (Cw) and Ubq is Kennedium (Ky) - named after John F. Kennedy.
February 1st, 2019: The Brazilian Presidential elections begin. Outgoing President Dilma Rousseff endorses the candidacy of Alexandre Molon, a rather obscure former senator from Rio de Janeiro. The rest of the Party, however, prefers Guido Mantega, the Finance Minister throughout both the Lula and Rousseff presidencies. In the end, a compromise is settled: the ticket would be Mantega/Molon.
The PMDB and the PSD surprise the government by announcing their own candidates, and their withdrawal from the government's coallition. Michel Temer, Dilma's former VP, is chosen as candidate. Marina Silva is naturally chosen as candidate of the PSC amidst accusations of eco-terrorism; the former Governor of Minas Gerais Aécio Neves is chosen as the candidate of the Social-Democrats. Other than that, the constitutional changes allowed by the referendum of 2012 allowed independent candidacies from the election of 2019 and on, and thus was created the curious cadidacy of José Sarney, former President of Brazil, President of the Senate, former Governor of Maranhão and well-known kleptocrat, at 90 years of age.
February 7th, 2019: Mexican President Minerva Hernández gives a speech during a joint session of congress in where she announces her domestic policy objectives for her term. Among other things, she proposes reform for México's penal system (a process already stared under her predecessor), job creation via public works projects and greater investment towards education.
February 8th, 2019: Construction begins in Chicago on The Farm at Lake Michigan, a 73-story vertical agriculture building being built by Magellan Development. The Farm will be built on the 3.24 acre site of the former DuSable Park, adjacent to the long-cancelled Chicago Spire. Magellan hopes to open The Farm by 2027.
February 17th, 2019: In Hong Kong, ADPL lawmaker Tam Kwok-kiu of Kowloon West is mysteriously killed in a “car accident”, leading to the first wave of anti-government protests since 2014. The ADPL claims that the government is behind the death of Tam, but Chief Executive Regina Ip instead accuses the banned Labour Party, claiming that it wants to create social disturbances.
February 24th, 2019: Former Hong Kong Labour Party leader Lee Cheuk-yan “commits suicide out of guilt” mysteriously a week later. Western countries condemn the Tam Kwok-kiu and Lee Cheuk-yan Incidents, and Ip is declared a persona non grata by the European Union and the United States. Several Western firms announce that they would move their headquarters from Hong Kong to Taiwan citing the “lack of security and protection”.
March 1st, 2019: The Crimea referendum shows overwhelming support for independence; however the Ukrainian government immediately cries electoral fraud. The Union State, which helped “oversee” the election, contends the results were legitimate.
March 3rd, 2019: Prime Minister Tymoshenko instates martial law in Crimea and sends in troops to quell pro-independence protests. The Union State claims to “defend the soveriegnty of the Crimean people,” and Vladimir Putin infamously gives an ultimatum to the Ukrainian government: withdraw from Crimea or face military intervention.
March 4th, 2019: At a hastily organized meeting, EU officials contemplate what to to in response to the Union State ultimatum against the Ukraine. The Eastern states want to intervene along with President Sarkozy, but others are flatly against in regards to the tenuous energy relationship with Russia. After calling Putin's bluff, Sarkozy famously states at a press conference, “Putin won't try anything,” not when the Ukraine is in negotiations for joining the EU.
March 5th, 2019: Second Crimean War; The Union State invades the Ukraine, as well as commencing bombing raids that devastate the capital of Kiev. The Ukrainian government vows to fight, while the EU is internally paralyzed to react.
March 8th, 2019: The General Assembly of the United Nations votes to allow the People's Republic of Guinea to become a member, following pressure from China and Nigeria. On the same day, the African Union removes the suspension of Equatorial Guinea and welcomes the People's Republic of Guinea as a member.
March 10th, 2019: Crimea finds itself under the occupation by Union State forces within a week of the invasion, Ukrainian troops having been overwhelmed.
March 11th, 2019: Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) announces his intention to seek the presidency in 2020. Calling for a return to the political center after a decade of spiraling into the political abyss thanks to the antics of the Tea Party and far-right, Brown gains a following among reformist Republicans. However, he is bitterly opposed by the still-strong conservative wing, who distrust “a carbon copy of Mitt Romney,” as FOX News' Sean Hannity put it.
March 15th, 2019: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and her husband, Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland announce the birth of a second son, whom they name Oscar Fredrick Harald Bertil. The baby prince is given the title Duke of Halland.
March 25th, 2019: Former Sen. Rand Paul, and still angry from his loss in 2016, announces he will run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2020, despite the fact he left the Republican Party in 2016 to run as an independent candidate for President. This angers many Republicans, who consider Paul to be little more than a traitor and the reason for Romney's electoral loss.
March 22nd, 2019: US President Kristen Gillibrand introduces the Dating Modernization Act (DMA) to Congress. The act seeks, as its name implies, to change America's dating system to the International Standard. The bill mandates that all federal government institutions switch from the Month/Day/Year dating format to the Day/Month/Year format by 2025, with state and local governments to follow by 2030 and 2035 respectively. Public schools and accredited private schools are required to switch over by 2033. In addition, the act gives tax credits to businesses that switch over to this format on legal and work-related documents.
March 27th, 2019: Rwandan troops pull out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, ending their intervention in the Second Congolese Civil War. President Rose Mukantabana announces that “the FDLR has been destroyed and its leaders have been killed. This terrorist organization no longer poses a threat to Rwanda or to the people of the DRC.” Troops loyal to ousted President Joseph Kabila take control of the eastern provinces from Rwandan troops.
April-May 2019: Parliamentary elections are held in India. The current Prime Minister is Rahul Gandhi of the Congress Party. He has presided over continued economic growth of around 8% per year on average, and has managed (despite a scare in early 2016) to keep inflation low. In addition, his signature domestic policy, the Allowing for Advancment Act, has begun to show some fruits, with 8 new University campuses having already been opened, and over 300 state officials having been prosecuted for corruption. Nevertheless, his government is quite unpopular due to the continued attacks of the Naxalites, the still-rampant corruption, and the unfriendly environment for business.
The official election results show the seating of the Lok Sabha now stands as thus:
United Progressive Alliance (led by Congress): 198 seats. Left Front (Communist/Socialist Parties): 70 seats. National Democratic Alliance (led by the BJP): 110 seats. New Democratic Party: 141 seats. Independents: 14 seats. Anglo-Indian Representatives: 2 seats.
After 2 weeks of haggling, the United Progressive Alliance and the Left Front form a government, along with several independents. The NDP says that it May support their proposals occasionally, but chooses not to be part of the government. The governing coalition controls 273 seats; only 5 more than a majority. Rahul Gandhi is re-inaugurated several days later.
April 1st, 2019: Taiwanese president Su Jia-chyuan is shot by a mad supporter of former President Chen Shui-bian, while visiting Tainan. China condemns the attack as well, calling it an attempt to halt the peace process.
April 13th, 2019: Former Vice President Bobby Jindal confirms speculation that he will not seek the 2020 Republican nomination or Mary Landrieu's Senate seat, but says “I have no intention of fading into the shadows. I will continue to remain active in public life, but at times of my choosing.”
April 17th, 2019: At the annual American Atheists convention in Chicago, Illinois, two S.O.U.L. members open fire on the crowd, killing 14 and injuring 31 before being wrestled to the ground by security. The gunmen are both convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
April 21st, 2019: In effect on January 1 of the following year, education duties will be passed from the states (Länder) to the federal government (Bund).
April 24th, 2019: President Su Jia-chyuan fully recovers. In a nationally televised speech, President Su urged reconciliation and argued for the importance of establishing a stable relationship with China. Former Tainan Mayor William Lai announces that he would withdraw from the race, and endorses President Su for reelection.
April 25th, 2019: Guinea worm is officially declared extinct in the wild by the United Nations Health Office, becoming the first human parasite driven out of existence by our efforts. The last known case was in 2015 in South Sudan, and the worms have a lifespan of only 1 year. Former US president Jimmy Carter, who passed away in 2012, had dedicated much of his life to eradicating the pestilence.
April 29th, 2019: Jason Carson founds his own hydrogen fuel station, known as Carson Fuel Incorporated, in Los Angeles, California as the first fuel cell cars begin to show up on the roads.
April 30th, 2019: The Northern Arapaho Nation votes to adopt the Amicus Arapahoviae DNA based system of identity (shortened to Amarap) for determining membership in the tribe becoming the first tribe to officially abandon blood quanta or proof of descent for the new system. Many tribes oppose DNA testing for religious reasons so the system is not universally adopted in Indian country.
May 2nd, 2019: The Brazilian Army launches a ground-air assault on a drug camp in the far reaches of the Brazilian state Amazonas, only 42 miles from the border with Colombia. The camp, which had been located through satellite imagery, had over 100 acres of marijuana-growing fields, and a small factory to process the goods. 2 Brazilian soldiers were injured, while 16 narcones were killed and an additional 12 captured. The leader of the cartel running the camp, called Padrinho (The Godfather), was not present during the raid. 4 tons of marijuana awaiting shipment was captured.
May 12th, 2019: President Su Jia-chyuan visits China again. In a historical summit, President Su and President Xi sign the Shanghai Accords, which was also known as the Consensus of 2019 (similar to the Consensus of 1992), to be renewed in 2049. China removes all missiles targeting Taiwan, while both sides agree with the spirit of “One China, Different Expressions” outlined in 1992. Taiwan shall not declare independence, but could participate in a number of international organisations using the name “Chinese Taipei”. Taiwan is also allowed to establish formal diplomatic relations with other nations, under the name of “the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu”. It was a historical breakthrough in cross-strait relationship.
May 17th, 2019: Taiwanese leaders blame a series of electronic infrastructure failures on Chinese hackers, during a press conference in Taipei.
FIFA decides to expand the World cup to 48 teams, effective for the France 2026 bid (which is also accepted on this day, winning against Germany, Canada and the EAF). It will be eight groups of six, of which four advance.
May 19th, 2019: The French movie Ma Cherie, starring Natalie Portman and French Arab actor Salim Kechiouche, is released in the United States. With French dialogue and subtitles, Ma Cherie becomes the highest-grossing foreign-language film of all time within the United States. The film explores a French woman's conversion to Islam after she marries a French Arab man. The film later goes on to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
May 20th, 2019: In Hong Kong, despite allegations of vote rigging and unfair campaign bias, 38-year-old opposition ADPL District Councilor Wong Chi-yung of Lai Chi Kok South is elected lawmaker for Kowloon West, replacing the seat vacated by the late Tam. With a 57% turnout, Wong gets 52% of the popular vote over 41% for the pro-government candidate.
May 25th, 2019: Tymoshenko’s government is overthrown by a military junta. The EU repeals the membership application of Ukraine.
May 28th, 2019: Mexican President Hernández signs into law the Infrastructure Construction and Restoration Act of 2019. It allows for the creation of a commission to oversee various projects intended to renovate ailing infrastructure as well as build new infrastructure across the country. The commission plans to renovate the water management systems in México's major cities, as well as renovation and extension of freight rail lines in southern México. Plans for a High Speed Rail line from México City to Guadalajara are also approved, with construction beginning in September 2019 and an expected completion time in mid to late 2023.
June 1st, 2019: Average attendance per game in Major League Soccer rises above 20,000 for the first time. The most-attended team was Seattle Sounders FC, with an average of 42,192 fans per game.
June 2nd, 2019: The Second Crimean War comes to an end after a military junta that previously overthrew the Tymoshenko government surrenders to Union State forces in the ruined capital city of Kiev. Union State forces occupy over half of the Ukraine's territory, including the Black Sea coast, Crimea, and the eastern half including Kiev itself.
June 5th, 2019: The commission authorized by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to prepare a list of all people eligible for Native Hawaiian status submits its findings. It is determined that there are 487,123 people who are eligible for Native Hawaiian status. Only 385,345 people are eventually certified as eligible to vote because of various restrictions.
June 8th, 2019: Treaty of Sevastopol; The Crimea is given its independence from the Ukraine following a “free” referendum where 98 percent vote in favor, and the Republic of Crimea emerges. In addition to Crimea, the Union State annexes parts of the Black Sea coast as war spoils. Union State troops immediately withdraw from the rest of Ukrainian territory.
President Sakskoburggotski of Bulgaria, as the main negotiator of the Treaty of Sevastopol barely manages to preserve the integrity of the rump Ukrainian Republic, which lay prostrate at the feet of the victorious Union State. Even though much Ukrainian territory was lost, the President of Bulgaria is lionized as a hero for preserving Ukraine as an independent state. Later that year, after resolving several minor disputes in Africa, the former king of Bulgaria wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
June 11th, 2019: Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) announces his candidacy for President in 2020. He quickly gains a following among conservatives who are distrustful of Brown, or refuse to consider Paul.
June 20th, 2019: South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, and Ethiopia jointly recognize the sovereignty of Kosovo. Despite concerns over local separatist groups, the four countries collectively decided that the goodwill of the West was worth the risk of a separatist group winning independence. In addition, India announces that they will open a consulate in Pristina, although they do not accept Kosovo's independence, over concerns in Kashmir. Many small states follow the lead of these countries, under pressure from them and from the United States. By the end of the year, Kosovo has been recognized by 103 states.
June 29th, 2019: During a Q&A session at the Los Angeles based Anime Expo Convention, Juan Rivera announces that his comic series Human Legacy is in the works to become an animated series, and would air in the winter or spring of 2021.
July 7th, 2019: In Japan, the ruling Democratic Party wins a majority of seats in the upper house election, Your Party withdraws from the coalition government citing the reason that “the era of distorted parliament has come to the end”.
July 8th, 2019: 33 high-ranking officials are forced to resign amidst reports of defiance to the “one-child policy” in Beijing, China.
July 9th, 2019: Indonesia holds a presidential election. Former first lady Ani Bambang Yudhoyono of the Reformed Democratic Party is elected to the post of President, and will serve until 2024. The election was seen as a watershed for Indonesia, as defeated President Urbaningrum had taken a strong stand for greater religious openness and equality. However, conservatives chose to support Yudhoyono, who is sometimes viewed as a puppet for her husband, the former two-term President.
July 15th, 2019: The India Tower is completed in Mumbai, rising 2,300 feet into the skyline of the city. It is the centerpiece of the rapid urban renewal that is beginning in India to turn their population centers from slums to modern cities of steel and concrete. At it's opening, Indian President *INSERT NAME, I HAVE NO CLUE * makes a speech, claiming that “this building will shine forth, bringing India into a new age”. At it's completion it takes over honors as second tallest building in the world.
July 23rd, 2019: Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, husband of the late, lamented Queen Elizabeth II passes away quietly in his sleep at the ripe old age of 98.
July 26th, 2019: The Dating Modernization Act (DMA) is debated by the US House of Representatives. Some Republican congressmen accuse President Gillibrand of “selling out American exceptionalism to foreign interests,” but in general the bill is widely supported. After lobbying from various conservative interest groups, a minor change is made to the bill which allows the D/M/Y format to include an abbreviation of the month to avoid confusion (I.E. 2 Jan 2020 rather than 2/1/2020). The bill then passes the House of Representatives 374-100-1 and the Senate 54-46.
July 28th, 2019: US President Kristen Gillibrand signs the Dating Modernization Act (DMA) into law, thus mandating a switch to the Day/Month/Year format for official governmental and school purposes by 2025 and 2033, respectively.
August 1st, 2019: The Republic of Crimea's petition to join the Union State is accepted by Moscow, and is admitted on its own, separate from the existing eastern Ukrainian state.
August 8th, 2019: Chinese scientists Yi Zhao, Bing Qi, and Hoi-Kwong Lo announce the “end of privacy” with the development of “quantum hacking”, granting CCP officials greater security abilities in Beijing, China.
August 12th, 2019: While at his home in Bethesda, Maryland, Chief Justice John Roberts suffers a severe heart attack at the age of 64. He is rushed to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center immediately, but dies there early the next morning at 3:12 AM. President Gillibrand calls the event a national tragedy and announces that she will begin searching for a worthy successor after his funeral. Congress is currently in their summer recess.
August 22nd, 2019: President Gillibrand, in a bold move, announces that she will nominate former President Barack Obama to the Chief Justice’s seat on the Supreme Court. The announcement draws widespread praise from nearly every major Democrat; Obama is regarded as an elder statesman within the party. Major Republican figures issue “wait-and-see” statements, with a few coming out in opposition to Obama’s nomination. S.O.U.L. denounces the nomination, calling former President Obama “a murderer of the unborn”.
August 27th, 2019: General elections are held in Namibia. Elijhah Ngurare of the SWAPO Party of Namibia is reelected to the post of President, and will serve until 2024. President Ngurare has made fighting the chronic unemployment in the country a top priority of his first and second terms.
September 17th, 2019: NSA reports that 75% of American personal computers can be accessed by Chinese hackers, during a security briefing
September 19th, 2019: While attending a political rally in Atlanta, Vice President Keith Ellison is shot four times in the chest by an unknown assassin. He is taken to the hospital and dies roughly 30 minutes after his arrival.
September 20th, 2019: Eric Nester Greene is arrested as the assassin of Keith Ellison. He will later be sentenced to death.
September 21st, 2019: S.O.U.L. Leader Jimmy Fitzgerald calls the assassination of Vice President Ellison a “regrettable, but necessary action” while on NBC's News Hour.
October 1st, 2019: The Brazilian Presidential elections are held. With no less than 5 relevant and nation-known candidates, it was the most disputed election ever held in Brazil. Nonetheless, the soaring economy, over which Guido Mantega had previously presided as Minister of Finance, is a decisive point in the Worker's Party victoy with 51,1% of the vote, cancelling the need for a run-off election, not without complant of a one-party dominance, since the PT has now dominated Brazilian politics for 17 years, with seemingly many more to come.
Guido Mantega / Alexandre Molon (PT): 51,1% Marina Silva/ Alexandre Lemos (PSC): 17,9% Aécio Neves / Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB): 16% Michel Temer / Renan Calheiros (PMDB): 7,7% José Sarney / Dora Calheiros (Independent): 6,3%
The crushing defeat of both the PSDB(Party of Brazilian Social-Democracy) and the PMDB(Party of the Movement for Brazilian Democracy) was at the root of the withering away of both parties in the coming decade, while the PSC continued to see itself as a rising force.
A femur bone 2.98 m long is found in China (Inner Mongolia). Out of patriotism, the species is called Maozedongosaurus. The length and mass estimates are even vaster than for Bruhathkayosaurus: 58-65 m in length and 190-240 tons in weight.
October 3rd, 2019: Former President Obama is confirmed as Chief Justice of the United States by a 68-30 vote in the US Senate. Two Republicans do not vote. The nomination process was contentious but fairly civil, at least within the bounds of the Senate Chamber. Chief Justice Obama is sworn in 2 days later, on October the 5th. He becomes the first African-American Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and at 68, the oldest appointed to the Chief Justice’s seat since Harlan Stone of the WWII era.
October 7th, 2019: President Gillibrand nominates Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) to replace the late Vice President Keith Ellison. Booker is swiftly confirmed in the Senate and sworn into office on October 20th.
October 19th, 2019: Sony and other firms announce that production of Blu-Ray players will be discontinued in 2021. This surprises many laymen, but experts are not surprised seeing the success of the GVD (which outperformed Blu-Ray sales five-to-one two years after its introduction).
October 29th, 2019: In baseball, the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Kansas City Royals to win the World Series in 5 games. Trevor Bauer wins MVP honors for his two complete game wins to start and finish the series.
November 9th, 2019: Japan announces plans for manned space mission within 5 years. At the same time, Prime Minister Seiji Maehara announces that private companies would be allowed to launch their own spacecrafts for tourism purposes.
November 11th, 2019: It is announced that Taiwanese President Su Jia-chyuan and Chinese President Xi Jinping won the Nobel Peace Prize for the Shanghai Accords. Riots against awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Xi Jinping broke out in Oslo, at least 24 are killed. The Chinese embassy is set on fire, killing the ambassador and 14 others.
November 13th, 2019: The Portland Timbers win the Major League Soccer Cup over the New England Revolution, 1-0.
November 19th, 2019: S.O.U.L. has for the most part been fairly quiet since the federal crackdown following the Autumn of Fire in 2017, but violence quickly erupts again in the wake of VP Ellison's assassination. The first attack is the deadliest by far committed by the far-right group, a car bomb detonated in San Francisco's Castro district that kills c. 52 people.
November 20th, 2019: President Gillibrand officially condemns S.O.U.L. as “a radical organization bent on spreading their message of hate through unjustified terrorism upon the American people.” Another, harsher crackdown takes place on S.O.U.L., resulting in arrests of thousands of members nationally in the next few months. Meanwhile, an estimated 150 American civilians are killed in the weeks following the Castro attack.
November 21st, 2019: Former Vice President Bobby Jindal, as well as presidential candidates Scott Brown and Jim DeMint, publicly condemn S.O.U.L. as “an illegitimate force of terror in the eyes of America.” Rand Paul, however, remains mum on the issue, further discrediting him in the eyes of the Republican Party outside of a fringe few.
December 12th, 2019: The nations of Jordan and Morocco become members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Both countries had requested membership in May 2011, as they were the only Arab monarchies outside the council.
December 25th, 2019: King George and Queen Camilla of Great Britain celebrate a traditional Christmas at Sandringham. Included for the first time in many years is the king’s brother’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, the mother of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
December 26th, 2019: A electrical fire breaks out at Sandringham in Norfolk while most of the royal family is in the house. All of the houseguests escape unharmed except for Prince Andrew, the Duke of York who is trapped and unable to exit the building. Thinking his demise is imminent, he phones his ex-wife to make sure she is safe and to say goodbye. In an act of heroism the Duke’s flame-haired ex-wife drives a land rover through a burning wall and rescues the badly burnt Duke. She is uninjured and over the next several years faithfully nurses her ex-husband (whom she calls “her bestest friend”) through several skin graft surgeries and rehabilitation.
December 31st, 2019: Artificial eyes become an expensive option for those stricken by vision problems.
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January 1st, 2020: The United States formally withdraws all military forces from the Korean peninsula following an agreement with Seoul, considering that North Korea as a existential threat had been removed several years prior.
After several years of delays, Romania formally adopts the Euro. The Eastern European country had intended to adopt it in 2015 but faced protracted difficulties meeting the convergence criteria.
January 7th, 2020: Iowa Caucus; Former Senator Scott Brown narrowly wins the Iowa contest, claiming a 33-31-27 victory over Senator Jim DeMint and former Senator Rand Paul, respectively.
January 12th, 2020: In Taiwan, incumbent President Su Jia-chyuan (DPP) wins a landslide victory against Nantou magistrate Tsai Yi-chu (KMT) with 60.7% of votes in the presidential election, even winning Nantou county.
In the legislative elections, however, DPP only manages to gain 2 seats, because radical pro-independence members of the DPP formed the Taiwanese Patriotic Party - a splinter group which manages to win 2 seats in the nationwide constituency. As a result, KMT gains 1 seat too.
Republic of China legislative election, 2020 Democratic Progressive Party 64 Kuomintang 38 Non-Partisan Solidarity Union 3 Taiwanese Patriotic Party 2 People First Party 2 Independents 3 Labor Party 1 Incumber Speaker: Ker Chien-ming (DPP)
January 16th, 2020: In Japan, internal fighting inside the opposition Liberal Democratic Party continues. Shinjiro Koizumi, son of former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, joins Your Party with 26 LDP MPs.
January 20th, 2020: Marina Silva is killed by a bomb set by eco-terrorists while she gave a speech in São Paulo, on the ground of becoming “softer” for the purpose of gaining votes. Her death is mourned all across the world, especially in Brazil, and President Mantega declares two days of mourning.
February 3rd, 2020: The first budget of President Gillibrand's second term expands funding for NASA's New Frontiers program, which seeks to robotically explore the Solar System. $25 billion is allocated over fifteen years to fund the New Frontiers missions.
February 28th, 2020: Three years to the day after the coup that overthrew him, President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo recaptures the capitol of Kinshasha, killing all of the members of the military junta. The city falls after a two-month siege by Kabila's forces. The President is infamously said to have remarked, “Je suis de retour, les chiennes! Ne pas essayer de nouveau!” The Second Congolese Civil War (2015-2018), ends. The war has claimed over 500,000 lives, and an estimated two million rapes have taken place. In addition, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is now estimated to be the world's poorest country, with an HDI of only .156, a drop from several years ago.
February 18th, 2020: Elections are held in the People's Republic of Guinea for seats in the Congress of the People. International monitors report voter intimidation at some polling places throughout the country. Specifically, monitors write that members of the People's Revolutionary Socialist Party, the ruling party, set up barriers outside some polling locations and asked people who they were voting for before letting them enter. Outright ballot stuffing and fraud are not reported, but the UN monitors say that this marks a dangerous trend.
February 21st, 2020: Election results from the People's Republic of Guinea show that PARSOGE, the ruling party, has won all but six seats in the Congress of the People. Minor protests begin, claiming that the Revolution of 2016 was being betrayed. In Bata, the largest city, more than 10,000 people hit the streets, but are attacked with water cannons.
February 22nd, 2020: Premier Cruz of the People's Republic of Guinea makes a nationally televised speech, apologizing for the recent elections. He acknowledges that some principles of the socialist revolution that brought him to power had been put to the wayside, and promises accountability in the future. The chief of Bata is sacked for allowing protestors to be attacked, along with dozens of other officials in PARSOGE. Premier Cruz offers to resign and calls for new elections in April. However, supporters flood Marx Square in Malabo, and show their support for Premier Cruz.
February 29th, 2020: Pro-democracy demonstrators occupy the main Ukrainian cities in response to the establihsment of curfew and the restriction of personal liberties during the last two years of the junta government led by Admiral Mykhailo Yezhel.
March 11th, 2020: Amazon acquires OBI, a German do-it-yourself store that filed for insolvency, restructuring the shops and enhancing their presence.
April 1st, 2020: A second round of elections is held in the People's Republic of Guinea. PARSOGE, the revolutionary party, loses seats to a pro-Western party, a pro-Chinese party, and a traditionalist African party. A pro-business party called the People's Alliance of Democracy, led by mining businessman Thierry Fidjeu also gains seats. Nevertheless, PARSOGE retains a majority in the 120-seat body and promises to lead a new wave of democratization and reform.
April 4th, 2020: The newly reelected Congress of the People in the People's Republic of Guinea repeals the Protecting the Revolution Directive of 2016, which removes most limits on freedom of speech and press in the PRG. Repealing the directive had been a major goal of opposition parties in the 2020 elections.
April 5th, 2020: S.O.U.L. leader Jimmy Fitzgerald is arrested at his home in Florida, after it was found that he approved of the Castro bombing to be carried out by organization members. S.O.U.L. is formally disbanded by the federal government shortly after, effectively ending the far-right's brief reign of terror in the United States, although some rogue units continue sporadic bombings over the next few years.
April 7th, 2020: Nicholas Randall, a 24 year veteran of the security services is named as the new Director-General of MI5, following the retirement of his predecessor, Dame Jasmine Rees.
April 18th, 2020: Election for Native Hawaiian Interim Governing Council is held by Native Hawaiians.
May 1st, 2028: Premier Cruz of the People's Republic of Guinea (PRG) is replaced by Thierry Fidjeu after elections to the Congress of the People. The PRG has been able to hold fairly free elections since the 2016 Revolution, which ousted former President Obiang. Premier Fidjeu announces his intent to take the PRG in a new pro-business direction, including the privatization of the mining industry. However, he pledges not to stop the equal distribution of the country's oil profits - currently, each citizen of Equatorial Guinea receives $180 a month from the nation's oil industry. These handouts are, of course, wildly popular.
May 5th, 2020: The Conservative Government of Nick Herbert is narrowly re-elected albeit in a further minority situation. Herbert fails to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats again and goes it alone.
May 8th, 2020: Lawrence Livermore discovers the isotopes 311-Ky and 312-Ky, which are noticed to be unusually stable. 311-Ky has a half-life of 87,4 days and 312-Ky of 20,9 days. This is the longest known half-life of an isotope since Fermium-257 (100,5 days). It is not 310-Ky because of relativistic/quantum effects. The decay product of 312-Ky, 308-Cw, is also quite stable with 2,9 days. This is hailed as proof of the existence of an “island of stability”, proposed since the 1990s.
May 15th, 2020: China lands their first man on the moon. People in the US begin saying that the Chinese will dominate the USA if they are allowed to claim first man on Mars. Regardless of the falseness of this statement, the newly appointed head of NASA plays it perfectly in order to get funding.
May 20th, 2020: By this time almost all major television networks have made the switch to 2K broadcasts providing a picture that is double the resolution of 1080p
May 25th, 2020: Chinese military officials announce the global deployment of the “Beidou” global positioning system (GPS), effectively ending American monopoly over the technology.
May 28th, 2020: The New York Tower becomes the tallest skyscraper in the world as it passes the Burj Khalifa at 2,718 feet/828m. However, with 4 other 3,000 feet/900m + skyscrapers already under construction and many others close to construction, it is a title that won't be held for long.
June 1st, 2020: Intercontinental Airlines launches its first flight as a commercial airline from New York's JFK Airport to London Heathrow, using a Boeing 787-9 aircraft. Intercontinental offers exclusively international flights with service rivaling that of the Middle East and Asia's 5 star airlines, and is famously declared by The New York Times in 2027 as “the rebirth of the American flag carrier” for its internationally known brand and product.
June 3rd, 2020: Chinese officials announce the deployment of the Beidou-2 (a.k.a. “Compass”) global positioning system, effectively ending American monopoly on the technology.
June 10th, 2020: Prince Harry of Great Britain (b. 15 September 1984) marries longtime girlfriend Lady Natasha Howard (b. 1987) the daughter of the 21st Earl of Suffolk. He is granted the title Duke of Sussex.
June 17, 2020: A even larger species of the Turiasaurus genus is found in Italy, and it is called Turiasaurus montiensis.
June 20, 2020: A message on Twitter is discovered that one of the scientists, Emanuele Pirlo, wanted to use the epithet berlusconiensis and that a, supposedly “heated” argument broke out over the species epithel. The scientists could then agree on montiensis after Berlusconi's successor
July 5th, 2020: Japanese general election: thanks to the unprecedented economic growth since the 1980s and a severely divided opposition, the ruling Democratic Party wins a landslide victory and 54% of votes. Seiji Maehara continues to serve as Prime Minister of Japan, while the DPJ-Komeito coalition continues. Your Party replaces LDP as the main opposition party. The election results are as followed: DPJ 309, YP 54, SCP 37, LDP 35, New Komeito 23, JCP 8, SDP 4, New Blood League 3, Others / Non-partisan / Independents 7.
July 29th, 2020: The results of a South African HIV/AIDS study are published, sparking intense interest in the global health community. A followup to a 2009 Thai study which used a vaccine to reduce AIDS infections by 30%, the international study finds that a new vaccine can reduce infections by approximately 55%, a large improvement. However, the treatment is very expensive and finicky, and team leader Francois Venter says, “a 45% infection rate is 45 times worse than what we were hoping for.”
August 3rd, 2020: The XXXII Summer Olympiad opens in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
August 7th, 2020: Chinese military officials announce the active service of the J-22 stealth bomber in Shenyang, China.
August 10th-13th, 2020: Republican National Convention; Former Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) is nominated for President. He taps Senator Paul Ryan (R-WI) as his running mate, in order to ideologically balance the ticket.
August 20th, 2020: The East African Federation referendum passes on it's second attempt, with Tanzania narrowly voting “Aye”. Formal integration of the East African Shilling member states (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda) is set to be completed by January 1st, 2023.
August 23, 2020: The United States Supreme Court passes judgement on, among other cases, Anson v. ASCAP. The appellant, Arnold Anson, organised a small, non profit community festival in his home town, as part of which he had his friend Adam Jennings play music for free. Adam performed amongst a variety of songs, including two Muse pieces, “Citizens Erased” and “Plug In Baby.” ASCAP heard of the performance and demanded that Anson pay them license fees for the performance of the Muse songs.
In their ruling, the court held that Anson owed no fees as, under 'Fair Use', Jenning's performance did not otherwise constitute copyright infringement. In a 5-4 judgement, the Court ruled that under the first factor, nature of the work, it was enough that the infringing work be merely non commercial rather than specifically educational, thus Jenning's performance qualified for consideration. Under the fourth condition, effect on the market of the original work, it upheld the broad point of Princeton University Press v. Michigan Document Service that damage to potential licensing was sufficient to void 'Fair Use' status, but distinguished it by saying that the size and nature of the festival, and the substantial other areas of income for licensers, such as large festivals and mechanical licensing, meant that Jenning's performance did not constitute the same threat to their legitimate economic interest.
“When all of this is viewed through the prism of the Constitution, namely it's explicit mention of promoting the progress of science and useful arts,” the majority judgement read, “we can come to no other conclusion that the infringement constitutes 'Fair Use.'”
August 24th, 2020: The Netherlands beats Turkey in the final of the 2020 UEFA Championship after a bitter match with a 1-0 result in the minute 96.
September 13th, 2020: In Hong Kong, despite the relatively strong economy thanks to the “Hong Kong Stock Through Train” Program and government intimidation against opposition candidates, the opposition camp surprisingly wins 36 out of 80 seats in the Legislative Council. Among them, the People's Governance Party, merged by the moderate Democratic Party and ADPL, wins 20 seats, followed by 7 for the Coalition for Democracy and Hope, 4 for the People Power, 3 for the Democratic Labor Party and 2 independents. This is the first time the Legco is elected through universal suffrage, despite that the functional constituencies still exist, making the nomination process rather unfair. Since international observers are allowed to observe the election, vote rigging like in previous elections does not take place at all. Also, China would like to gain the confidence of the Taiwanese during the continuous peace process.
September 14th, 2020: President Minerva Hernández formally announces the creation of Alta Velocidad Mexicana (AVEMEX), a nationwide high speed rail service, at a press gathering at Los Pinos. Plans are also announced for future lines connecting México City with Puebla, Veracruz, Acapulco and Monterrey.
October 7th, 2020: Former US President Mitt Romney his presidential memoir, the Times That Try Men's Souls, the title taken from the famous qoute by Thomas Paine. Though critics see the book as an attempt at sympathy after what many consider a failed Presidency, the book still goes on to be a bestseller, and helps to reestablish Romney's reputation.
October 12th, 2020: In baseball, the Seattle Mariners win the World Series.
November 3rd, 2020: President Kirsten Gillibrand and Vice President Cory Booker are comfortably re-elected over the Republican ticket of MA Senator Scott Brown/WA Governor Rob McKenna.
Wealthy retired PEMEX executive Jose Sebastiano Romo de Vivar Cano founds the Fundacion Tlatoani Moctezuma para la Filantropia, an organization dedicated to helping the poor in Mexico. Membership is limited to those who can prove by DNA testing that they share the same Y-DNA or mtdna as the Emperor Moctezuma II Xocoyotzin. Thousands across Mexico and in other countries discover they share the royal DNA. Over the next decades, the Fundacion Tlatoani Moctezuma builds a series of free hospitals and clinics which greatly improves health care provided to the poor all across Mexico. The Fundacion Tlatoani Moctezuma is the first major organization of many founded during the Twenty-First Century whose eligibility for membership is DNA based. November 6th, 2020: President Yevhenia Tymoshenko declares the hostilities with the junta government over in the Independence Square of Kiev. She announces the return to democratic normalcy and a series of processes of liberlaization and privatization, following the Slovak model to engage with memership talks with the EU.
November 19th, 2020: The Portland Timbers win the Major League Soccer Cup over Toronto FC 5-4 on penalties.
November 30th, 2020: The New York Tower tops out at it's final height of 3,342 feet/1019,m. The building will still need roughly a year for it to be completed and opened.
December 9th, 2020: Anima Mills, leader of the National Democratic Congress Party, wins the Ghanian presidential election with 54.2% of the vote, thus avoiding a runoff. She is the second female African head of state/government, after the venerable Ellen-Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, who had retired 6 years previously. She promises to usher in a new era of development, focusing especially on education.
December 24th, 2020: The World Health Organization announces that for the first time since the the 1990s, the total number of people dying from HIV/AIDS-related illnesses each year has dropped to under a million, due to developments in antiretroviral drugs. The advance in AIDS treatment has, however, resulted in a slight increase in the number of people who live with AIDS, as they have much longer life expectancies than in previous years, and the rate of infection has not dropped considerably.