Lloyd Jones, AAP World Bureau Chief
(Australian Associated Press)

 

A TIMELINE OF INTERNATIONAL EVENTS THAT CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION IN 2019:

JANUARY

3 – A Chinese spacecraft with a lunar rover aboard makes the first-ever landing on the far side of the moon.

23 – Photographers flock to Niagara Falls in Canada after a cold snap freezes the iconic waterfall. The falls have only ever frozen over once before – in 1948.

25 – A dam collapse at a Vale mine in Brazil kills more than 300 people as mining waste spills into a nearby town.

FEBRUARY

14 – An Islamist militant suicide bomber kills 44 paramilitary policemen in Indian-controlled Kashmir, escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

24 – Rami Malek takes out the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as Freddy Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, while Olivia Coleman is awarded a Best Actress gong for The Favourite. Green Book wins Best Picture.

MARCH

10 – An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crashes at Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board, prompting the grounding of MAX 8 and 9 Boeings worldwide.

14 – British MPs vote to delay leaving the EU beyond March 29 after rejecting Prime Minister Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement.

15 – Cyclone Idai kills more than 1000 people as it lashes Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

15 – A gunman opens fire at two mosques in Christchurch, killing 50 people, with Australian white supremacist Brent Tarrant charged with murder.

24 – US Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election finds no evidence Donald Trump committed a crime but doesn’t exonerate him.

APRIL

11 – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London after his South American hosts abruptly revoke his seven-year asylum.

15 – France’s famed Notre-Dame Cathedral is engulfed by fire, which destroys large parts of the 850-year-old Parisian landmark.

21 – Bombings at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday kill nearly 300 people.

30 – Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor is found guilty of murder for shooting dead Australian life coach Justine Ruszczyk Damond.

MAY

6 – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcome a healthy baby boy in London.

14 – American explorer Victor Vescovo dives almost 11km down the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, where he finds a plastic bag and lolly wrappers and at least three new sea animals.

JUNE

9 – Hundreds of thousands of people protest in Hong Kong to oppose a proposed extradition law allowing suspects to be sent to mainland China to face trial.

30 – Donald Trump becomes the first sitting US president to set foot in N