News Timeline: North America 2019

 

January 25 – United States
Government shutdown
U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Congress agree to temporarily reopen the government for three weeks after 35 days, the longest government shutdown in the U.S. history. However, he indicates that he will trigger another shutdown or declare a national emergency if his demands are not met.

The shutdown took place after the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives voted to approve the appropriations bill (previously passed by the Republican-controlled Senate), which did not include $5.7 billion in funding to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico, Trump’s campaign promise. After facing heavy criticism from some right-wing media and commentators, he announced that he would not sign any appropriations bill that did not include funds for the wall construction.[1] As a result of this disagreement many federal offices closed and 800,000 government employees were furloughed. The House Democrats conditioned any negotiations on reopening the government first. It is estimated that this 35-day-government shutdown cost the economy $11 billion due to lost output from federal workers, delayed government spending and reduced demand.[2] If the two sides do not agree to a deal and President Trump declares a national emergency, this will divert military funding towards building the border wall and would provoke constitutional and legal challenges.
More on the impact of the shutdown

February 1 – United States 
The INF Treaty suspension
The United States formally suspends the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), an arms control agreement signed between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987, and then its successor state the Russian Federation. The Trump Administration accuses Russia of violating the deal and threatens to withdraw completely unless Moscow complies with its terms within 180 days. Russia denies the accusations.

The INF Treaty required destruction of the Parties’ ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, their launchers and associated support structures and support equipment within three years after the Treaty entered into force. By 1991, a total of 2,692 missiles were eliminated after the Treaty’s entry-into-force by both sides.[3]

(Feb 2): Following the U.S. decision, Russia says it will also withdraw from the INF Treaty within the next six months. On the same day, Russia’s military announces it has carried out a successful test of a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile, a system designed to carry thermonuclear warheads. The withdrawal from the INF Treaty raises concerns about a renewed arms race between the U.S. and Russia.[4]
More about impacts of abandoning the nuclear disarmament

February 12 – United States
Sentencing of El Chapo
Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, who operated the murderous Sinaloa drug cartel, the world’s largest drug trafficking organization, is found guilty on all ten counts during his federal trial in the United States. The charges included the distribution of cocaine and heroin, illegal firearms possession, and money laundering. He pocketed nearly $14 billion as the decades-long head of the cartel. Guzmán twice escaped from Mexican prisons in the last two decades, was extradited to the U.S. and is the highest profile Mexican drug cartel boss so far to stand trial in the US. He faces spending the rest of his life in prison in the U.S. It is believed that the conviction will not influence the operations of the Sinaloa drug cartel. The drug war in Mexico has killed about 100,000 people over more than a decade.[5]
Who is ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán?

February 27-28 – United States 
North Korea’s nuclear program 
The second North Korea-United States Summit on denuclearization of North Korea held between North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam is cut short and no agreement is reached. The White House explains the reason behind it being that for the promise of dismantling all of the Yongbyon nuclear weapons complex North Korea demanded that the U.S. lifts all sanctions on North Korea first.[6] North Korea, however, reports that it only sought a partial lifting of five United Nations sanctions imposed in 2016-17.[7]
North Korea’s missile and nuclear program
North Korea’s human rights: What’s not being talked about

March 14 – United states 
War in Yemen
The United States Senate votes to withdraw the military aid for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the war in Yemen. The U.S. sells weapons to Saudi Arabia and provides logistical and intelligence support used in the Yemen air strikes. The bipartisan vote is a rebuke to President Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Saudi Arabia. This non-binding resolution, however, is mostly symbolic as it still needs to clear in the House of Representatives, and is facing the presidential veto.[8]

According to the UN human rights office, OHCHR, the war in Yemen, since March 2015, has resulted in 18,173 of civilian casualties, which includes 7,025 killed and 11,148 injured. Some 3.3 million people have also been forced from their homes. Eighty percent of the 24-million people there is in need of humanitarian assistance and protection.[9]

April 10 – United States
Migrant caravan
Hundreds of Hondurans form a new migrant caravan and set off on a 2,500 mile-long journey to reach the United States. They will join thousands of other migrants from Central America, mainly El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, who have been fleeing persecution, poverty and violence in their countries. They are travelling in caravans, large groups, that include many women and children for safety reasons and to avoid paying high fees to smugglers known as “coyotes.” Some of these migrants will ask for asylum in Costa Rica, others will receive humanitarian visas in Mexico, but some will be deported. The US government has limited the number of people allowed to apply for asylum each day and many are sent back to the Mexican side of the border until their papers are processed.[10]

U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressuring Mexico to stop the flow of people heading north to the US border and has threatened to close the border with Mexico. He also orders the suspension of US aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to put pressure on these governments to do more to prevent people from migrating. The critics of his decision say his decision is counterproductive as the aid stimulates economic development and finances programs that encourage people to stay in their countries.[11]
Migrant desperation at the U.S. border (NYT video: 05:09 min)

April 16 – United States 
War in Yemen
United States President Donald Trump vetoes a bill ending U.S. support for Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen war. The bill was previously passed by members of both chambers of Congress in response to the humanitarian disaster in Yemen. President Trump says that the resolution is an attempt to weaken presidential powers.[12]

August 2 – United States 
Withdrawing from the INF Treaty
The United States officially withdraws from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) accusing Russia of violating the treaty. The INF Treaty, which banned missiles with ranges between 310-3,400 miles, was signed by US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987. Both the United States and NATO claim they have evidence that Russia has deployed a new type of cruise missile. The collapse of the agreement raises fears of a new arms race between the U.S., Russia, and China. The most important agreement of the old Cold War years – the New Start Treaty – that limits long-range nuclear weapons is set to expire in February 2021.[13]
Chart of estimated global nuclear warheads arsenals

August 29 – United States
The Measles disease on the rise
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the measles disease is on the rise with four European countries, Albania, Czechia, Greece and the United Kingdom, losing their status of being free of measles.[14] Countries are considered measles-free when there is no transmission for 12 months. In total, 49 of the 53 countries in Europe reported over 160 000 measles cases and over 100 measles-related deaths between 1 January 2018 and 30 May 2019. Compared to 2016, when only 13 cases were reported, this represents a dramatic resurgence of this highly contagious and potentially fatal illness.[15] The United States has also seen a spike in measles cases, with 1,234 cases in 31 states between January 1 and August 29, 2019, the highest number in 25 years.[16] The majority of these cases are among people who were not vaccinated against measles. Worldwide, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and Ukraine are suffering the largest outbreaks of measles. The disease can be prevented through two doses of the MMR vaccine. Misinformation and lies about the vaccine, and in some countries lack of access to vaccines, is blamed for the spikes in cases of this serious disease.[17]
What are vaccines, how do they work and why are people skeptical?

September 8 – United States
Peace negotiations with the Taliban
The United States cancels peace negotiations with Afghan Taliban after Taliban militants explode a car bomb at a checkpoint near NATO headquarters and the US embassy in Kabul on September 6, killing 12 people, including one U.S. and one NATO soldier.[18] The peace negotiations that sought to end 18 years of America’s involvement in Afghanistan were secretly conducted in Qatar’s capital, Doha. A meeting between the U.S., Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, and a senior Taliban leader was due to take place at Camp David within days. This initial US-Taliban deal was meant to pave the way for intra-Afghan talks on a broader political solution, and reduce the U.S. troop numbers to 8,600. The US currently has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan. The Taliban conditions its formal talks with the Afghan government on a timetable for the US troop withdrawal.[19]

Background: US-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in Afghanistan in the autumn of 2001, because the militants had given safe haven to the al-Qaeda network to plan the attacks on the US on 11 September. Nearly 3,500 members of the international coalition forces have died in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion, more than 2,300 of them American. The greatest losses, however, from the conflict are carried by Afghans themselves with more than 32,000 Afghan civilians, 58,000 Afghan security personnel and 42,000 opposition combatants in the same period of time. Despite 18 years of the U.S. military involvement, the Taliban again controls sizable swaths of territory.[20]
Tracking the killings in the Afghanistan conflict

September 24 – United States
Impeachment inquiry
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi initiates an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump over a formal whistleblower complaint to the Senate about a July 2019 phone call President Trump made to newly elected President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. In this phone call he and his top administration officials allegedly pressured Zelensky to investigate his political rival for the 2020 presidential elections, Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. In the now publicly released transcript of the call, Trump links this favor of obtaining damaging information on the Bidens to releasing the military aid to Ukraine previously approved by Congress but blocked by the President about a month before the call. Additional allegations of misconduct emerged in the days afterwards. His critics accuse him of abusing his power by using this aid as a bargaining tool for personal gain. They also say President Trump broke the law by seeking help from a foreign country to find dirt on his political opponent. The president denies any wrongdoing.[21] It is also known that about a dozen people have listened in on the conversation, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Background: Impeachment is the first part – the charges – of a two-stage political process by which Congress can remove a president from office. If the House votes to pass articles of impeachment, the Senate is forced to hold a trial. A Senate vote requires a two-thirds majority to convict. Trump is the first president to be subjected to a formal impeachment inquiry since Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1998.[22]
The impeachment process explained

October 6 – United States 
U.S. military withdrawal from Syria and Turkey’s incursion into Syria
The United States President Donald Trump orders American troops (about 1,000) to withdraw from northeastern Syria. The move is controversial and seen as a betrayal of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that consists mostly of the Kurdish fighters, and draws condemnation even from the President’s Republican allies. The Kurds have been key US allies in fighting the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria; they also guard thousands of IS fighters in prisons and camps in areas under their control and it is unclear whether they will be able to have them detained. It is feared that the destabilization of northern Syria could lead to jihadist resurgence. It is also feared that the U.S. withdrawal from northern Syria clears the way for Turkey to invade the area.[23]
(Oct 9): Turkey’s military launches an offensive on Kurdish–held areas in northeastern Syria.  According to the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the operation is intended to create a “safe zone”, a buffer clear of Kurdish fighters regarded by Turkey as terrorists due to their ties with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey. Turkey plans to repopulate the zone with about two million Syrian refugees that fled to Turkey as a result of the Syrian civil war.[24] The offensive is condemned by many countries around the world.
(Oct 16): The U.S. House of Representatives passes a joint resolution to rebuke President Trump’s decision to pull out the U.S. troops from Syria. It also calls for President Erdogan to cease military operations against Kurdish-led forces in Syria.[25] As a result of the incursion, 300,000 civilians are displaced and 120 civilian killed in 11 days.[26]
(Oct 22): Turkey and Russia make a pact according to which Russian and Syrian forces will oversee the Kurdish pullback from the border area about 20 miles deep and 260 miles along the Turkish border. After that Russian and Turkish militaries will patrol the area. The pact cements Turkey’s annexation of a significant part of Kurdish-held land in Syria where in the past few years they created a self-governing sub-region called Rojava. It also cements Russia’s status as the main power broker in the region.[27]
Turkey vs Syria’s Kurds

October 21 – Canada
Elections
Canada is holding federal general elections for the House of Commons of the Parliament. With a turnout of 66 percent, the Liberal Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, wins the most seats, 157, but loses its majority from 177 seats in the previous parliament. Since it is needed 170 seats to secure a majority government, the Liberals will govern as a minority government, which might be harder to push through its policies. The Conservative Party, led by Andrew Scheer, wins 121 seats (up from 95) and will remain the official opposition. The Bloc Québécois, under Yves-François Blanchet, wins 32 seats (up from 10) and regains official party status, becoming the third party for the first time since 2008. The Green Party saw its best election results receiving over one million votes and winning three seats.

The election was seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Trudeau who has been criticized for abandoning some of his progressive promises he made in 2015, such as his anti-environmental support for the Trans Mountain oil pipeline project and federal electoral reform.[28]
The History of Canada’s Parliament in a Nutshell

October 27 – United States
Islamic State
The leader of the Islamic State (IS) group and the world’s most wanted man, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, kills himself and two of his children by detonating a suicide vest during a military raid conducted by the US forces on a compound where he was hiding in Syria’s village of Barisha in northwestern Idlib Province.[29]
(Oct 31): Islamic State confirms the death of al-Baghdadi and announces that little known Abu Ibrahim al Hashimi al-Qurayshia become its new leader.[30]

Background: In 2014, Baghdadi announced the formation of the caliphate in areas belonging to Iraq and Syria and declared himself its leader. Baghdadi and his ISIL jihadist group were known for their brutality and atrocities committed under their rule, as well as various terrorist attacks around the world. Although the group steadily has lost most of its territory to Iraq and Syria, its fighters remain active and dangerous.
Who was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?

November 5 – United States 
The Paris Agreement
The United States begins the process of withdrawing from the Paris Agreement by sending a notice of intent to the United Nations. The process will be complete in November 2020. The Trump Administration says that the deal puts an “unfair economic burden” on the U.S. The decision of the U.S. withdrawal – one of the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases – draws condemnation from other countries, as well as American environmentalists, politicians, and business leaders. In response, hundreds of local governments, businesses and organizations in the U.S. have joined the We Are Still In movement and have pledged to cut emissions and move to renewable energy.[31]

Background: Signed in 2016, the Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to combat climate change and to accelerate the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future. The United States entered the agreement on 4 November 2016.[32] As of 2019, 197 countries have become parties to the Convention.[33] The Paris accord commits the signatory countries to keeping rising global temperatures below 2C above pre-industrial levels and attempting to limit them even more, to a 1.5C rise.
Climate change: How 1.5C degrees of global warming could change the world (video, 02:21 min)

November 18: Untied States
Reversal of the U.S. policy on Israeli settlements in the West Bank
The United States declares that it no longer considers Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land of the West Bank to be illegal. These settlements are communities established by Israel on land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war. This declaration marks rejection of 2016 United Nations resolution that settlements on the West Bank are a ‘flagrant violation’ of international law and the US legal position on the issue since 1978. It is also a renunciation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which outlaws transfers of population by an occupying power. By shifting its policy on this issue, the U.S. breaks with the position of most of its allies. The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo argues that the U.S. no longer views the Israeli settlements as inconsistent with international law and that it is for Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate their status.[34]

December 18 – United States
Politics: impeachment of the president
After weeks of impeachment inquiry, the U.S. House of Representatives votes to approve two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, making him only the third president in US history to be impeached. The two articles include abuse of power that accused President Trump of using his official position to pressure president of Ukraine to launch an investigation into his political rivals, and obstruction of Congress. The voting took place along party lines, with most Democrats voting in favor and Republicans against the impeachment. The articles of impeachment will be sent to the Senate for a trial, which is expected to take place in January 2020. The Senators, who are supposed to be impartial, will decide whether to acquit the president or convict and remove him from office.[35]
What does it take to impeach a president?

December 19 – United States / Canada
NAFTA vs. USMCA Trade Deal
With an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, the House of Representatives approves the renegotiated by the House version of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) signed by United States President Donald Trump, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on November 30, 2018. The USMCA replaces the NAFTA trade deal of 1994.

The USMCA modernizes trade rules and includes a number of changes. It gives incentives for more domestic production of cars and trucks, and their parts, and ensures higher labor standards in Mexico. It increases environmental standards, provides updated intellectual property protections, and creates new safeguards against currency manipulation. The new deal also provides for quicker dispute resolution and stronger enforcement of all elements of the deal, as well as it creates new rules for e-commerce, an area of trade that has boomed since NAFTA was enacted in 1994.[36]
Detailed provisions of the USMCA

 

SOURCES:
[1] Sarah Ferris and john Bresnahan. “House and Senate on collision course as shutdown nears.” The Atlantic. 20 December 2018. Web. Accessed 31 January 2019.
[2] Niall McCarthy. “The Government Shutdown Cost The U.S. Economy $11 Billion.” Forbes Magazine. 30 January 2019. Web. Accessed 31 January 2019.
[3] U.S. Department of State. “Treaty Between The United States Of America And The Union Of Soviet Socialist Republics On The Elimination Of Their Intermediate-Range And Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty).” n/d. Bureau Of Arms Control, Verification And Compliance. Web. Accessed 13 February 2019 from https://www.state.gov/t/avc/trty/102360.htm
[4] Nathan Hodge and Sheena McKenzie. “Russia will exit INF nuclear missile treaty in six months.” CNN. 6 February 2019. Web. Accessed 13 February 2019 and “INF nuclear treaty: Russia plans new missile systems after pullout.” BBC News. 5 February 2019. Web. Accessed 13 February 2019.
[5] “El Chapo trial: Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán found guilty.” BBC News. 21 February 2019. Web. Accessed 13 February 2019.
[6] “Trump-Kim summit breaks down after North Korea demands end to sanctions.” BBC News. February 27, 2019. Web. Accessed March 4,2019.
[7] “North Korea Disputes President Donald Trump’s Assessment Of Hanoi Summit.” NBC News. February 28, 2019. Video. Web. Accessed 4 March 2019 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyuLhoIJXb0
[8] Senate votes to end US support of Saudi-led Yemen war.” BBC News. 14 march 2019. Web. Accessed 24 March 2019.
[9] The United Nations. “UN and partners to hold conference seeking urgently needed funds to save millions in Yemen from ‘horrific’ plight.” UN News. 24 February 2019. Web. Accessed 27 March 2019 from https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/02/1033401
[10] “Migrant caravan: Hundreds of Hondurans leave on new trek.” BBC News. 10 April 2019. Web. Accessed 24 April 2019 and “Migrant caravan: Mexico detains hundreds in raid.” BBC News. 24 April 2019. Web. Accessed 30 April 209119.
[11] “Dismay after Trump moves to cut aid to Central America.” BBC News. 31 March 2019. Web. Accessed 24 April 2019.
[12] Deb Riechmann. “Trump vetoes bill to end U.S. involvement in Saudi-led Yemen war — the second veto of his presidency.” The Chicago Tribune. 16 April 2019. Web. Accessed 17 April 2019.
[13] “INF nuclear treaty: US pulls out of Cold War-era pact with Russia.” BBC News. 2 August 2019. Web. Accessed August 21, 2019.
[14] The World Health Organization (WHO). “European Region loses ground in effort to eliminate measles.” Press Release. August 29, 2019. Web. Accessed September 3, 2019 from http://www.euro.who.int/en/media-centre/sections/press-releases/2019/european-region-loses-ground-in-effort-to-eliminate-measles
[15] The World Health Organization (WHO). “Situation report # 1: Measles in the Who European Region.” Regional Office for Europe. July 2019. Web. Accessed September 3, 2019 from http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/407346/Measles-Situation-report-July-2019_final-2.pdf?ua=1
[16] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Measles Cases and Outbreaks: Measles Cases in 2019.” 2019. Web. Accessed September 3, 2019 from https://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html
[17] “Measles: Four European nations lose eradication status.” BBC News. August 29, 2019. Web. Accessed September 3, 2019
[18] Michael Callahan. “Pentagon identifies US soldier killed in suicide car bomb attack in Afghanistan. “ CNN. September 8, 2019. Web. Accessed October 9, 2019.
[19] “Trump cancels secret US meeting with Afghan Taliban.” BBC News. September 8, 2019. Web. Accessed October 9, 2019.
[20] Ibid 19.
[21] Heidi Przybyla and Adam Edelman. “Nancy Pelosi announces formal impeachment inquiry of Trump.” NBC News. September 24, 2019. Web. Accessed October 3, 2019 from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/pelosi-announce-formal-impeachment-inquiry-trump-n1058251
[22] “Trump impeachment inquiry: The short, medium and long story. BBC News. October 2, 2019. Web. Accessed October 3, 2019.
[23] “Turkey launches offensive in northern Syria with air strikes.” BBC News. October 9, 2019. Web. Accessed November 11, 19.
[24] Ibid 23.
[25] ”Turkey’s Erdogan ‘threw Trump’s Syria letter in bin’.” BBC News. October 17, 2019. Web. Accessed November 8, 19.
[26] “11 days of Operation “Peace Spring”: 120 civilian casualties, SDF withdraws from “Ras al-Ain” and the international coalition withdraws from 2 military bases.” The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. October 2019. Web. Accessed November 13, 2019.
[27] Lara SeligmanElias GrollRobbie Gramer. How Turkey and Russia Carved Up Northern Syria.” Foreign Policy.  October 23, 2019. Web. Accessed November 13, 2019.
[28] Nadine Yousif, Omar Mosleh, Madeline Smith, Rosa Saba, Amy Tucker, Kashmala Fida and Hamdi Issawi. “Election 2019 Canada: Alberta election results return a sea of Conservative blue with one orange blip.” The Star. October 21, 2019. Accessed October 29, 2019 from
https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/2019/10/21/live-2019-federal-election-results-in-alberta.html and “Canada election: Trudeau’s Liberals win but lose majority.” BBC News. October 22, 2019. Web. Accessed October 28, 2019.
[29] “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: IS leader ‘dead after US raid’ in Syria.” BBC News. October 28, 2019. Web. Accessed November 4, 2019.
[30] Martin Chulov. “Islamic State names new leader after death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.” The Guardian. October 31, 2019. Web. Accessed November 4, 2019.
[31] “Paris climate accords: US notifies UN of intention to withdraw.” BBC News. November 5, 2019. Web. Accessed November 30, 2019.
[32] United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. “The Paris Agreement.” 2019. Web. Accessed December 3, 2019 from http://unfccc.int/resource/bigpicture/#content-the-paris-agreemen
[33] United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. “Paris Agreement – Status of Ratification.” Web. Accessed December 3, 2019 from https://unfccc.int/process/the-paris-agreement/status-of-ratification
[34] Julian Borger and Oliver Holmes. “US says Israeli settlements no longer considered illegal in dramatic shift.” The Guardian. 18 November 2019. Web. Accessed December 4, 2019.
[35] Nicholas Fandos and Michael D. Shear. “Trump Impeached for Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress.” The New York Times. December 18, 2019. Web. Accessed December 19, 2019.
[36] Erica Werner. “House passes reworked North American trade deal in victory for Trump, Democrats.” The Washington Post. December 19, 2019. Web. Accessed January 2, 2020.