2024

2024 (MMXXIV) is the current year, and is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2024th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 24th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 5th year of the 2020s decade. So far, this year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war, and the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel. In November, heavy fighting resumed in the Syrian civil war, leading to the toppling of Ba'athist Syria, with Bashar al-Assad fleeing Syria in December. The ongoing Israel–Hamas war has led to spillover into numerous countries, most notably Lebanon, who Israel invaded in October. This followed an intensification of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. In the preceding month, Israel escalated an offensive against the group, including an attack using explosives-laden communication devices, and carrying out a bombing of its headquarters which resulted in the killing of the Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah. Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, had already been assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran in July. The year also saw a rise in activity by the Houthi movement which has contributed to a crisis in the Red Sea that has impacted global shipping. The ongoing conflict has sparked widespread protests against the war. Approximately 80 countries, representing around four billion people, are expected to conduct national elections throughout the course of the year, including eight out of ten of the world's most populous countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, Pakistan, Russia, India, Mexico, Indonesia, and the United States) as well as France, the United Kingdom and Japan. The European Parliament also held elections. Among democracies, over 80 percent saw the incumbent party lose support compared to the last election. Many of these incumbent losses were historic. In countries like Japan, Botswana and South Africa, incumbent parties that had dominated domestic politics for decades lost their majorities and have either relinquished power or are holding on through cobbled-together coalitions with minor parties. Bassirou Diomaye Faye won the 2024 Senegalese presidential election, becoming the first opposition candidate to win in the first round since independence in 1960. In Sri Lanka, voters delivered a landslide win to the National People's Power, previously a minor party. Republican Donald Trump won the 2024 United States presidential election, becoming the first U.S. president to be elected to a non-consecutive second term in 132 years, when Grover Cleveland won the 1892 election.

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