Here’s a look at the life of Ehud Olmert, former prime minister of Israel. Birth date: September 30, 1945 Birth place: Binyamina, British Mandate Palestine (now Israel) Birth name: Ehud Olmert Father:
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Here is a look back at the events of 2023.
January 3 – Republican Kevin McCarthy fails to secure enough votes to be elected Speaker of the House in three rounds of voting. On January 7, McCarthy is elected House speaker after multiple days of negotiations and 15 rounds of voting. That same day, the newly elected 118th Congress is officially sworn in.
January 7 – Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, is pulled over for reckless driving. He is hospitalized following the arrest and dies three days later from injuries sustained during the traffic stop. Five officers from the Memphis Police Department are fired. On January 26, a grand jury indicts the five officers. They are each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. On September 12, the five officers are indicted by a federal grand jury on several charges including deprivation of rights.
January 9 – The White House counsel’s office confirms that several classified documents from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president were discovered last fall in an office at the Penn Biden Center. On January 12, the White House counsel’s office confirms a small number of additional classified documents were located in President Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware, home.
January 13 – The Trump Organization is fined $1.6 million – the maximum possible penalty – by a New York judge for running a decade-long tax fraud scheme.
January 21 – Eleven people are killed in a mass shooting at a dance studio in Monterey Park, California, as the city’s Asian American community was celebrating Lunar New Year. The 72-year-old gunman is found dead the following day from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
January 24 – CNN reports that a lawyer for former Vice President Mike Pence discovered about a dozen documents marked as classified at Pence’s Indiana home last week, and he has turned those classified records over to the FBI.
January 25 – Facebook-parent company Meta announces it will restore former President Donald Trump’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram in the coming weeks, just over two years after suspending him in the wake of the January 6 Capitol attack.
February 1 – Tom Brady announces his retirement after 23 seasons in the NFL.
February 2 – Defense officials announce the United States is tracking a suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental United States. On February 4, a US military fighter jet shoots down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean. On June 29, the Pentagon reveals the balloon did not collect intelligence while flying over the country.
February 3 – A Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous materials derails in East Palestine, Ohio. An evacuation order is issued for the area within a mile radius of the train crash. The order is lifted on February 8. After returning to their homes, some residents report they have developed a rash and nausea.
February 7 – Lebron James breaks the NBA’s all-time scoring record, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
February 15 – Payton Gendron, 19, who killed 10 people in a racist mass shooting at a grocery store in a predominantly Black area of Buffalo last May, is sentenced to life in prison.
February 18 – In a statement, the Carter Center says that former President Jimmy Carter will begin receiving hospice care at his home in Georgia.
February 20 – President Biden makes a surprise trip to Kyiv for the first time since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago.
February 23 – Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly is sentenced to 20 years in prison in a Chicago federal courtroom on charges of child pornography and enticement of a minor. Kelly is already serving a 30-year prison term for his 2021 conviction on racketeering and sex trafficking charges in a New York federal court. Nineteen years of the 20-year prison sentence will be served at the same time as his other sentence. One year will be served after that sentence is complete.
February 23 – Harvey Weinstein, who is already serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York, is sentenced in Los Angeles to an additional 16 years in prison for charges of rape and sexual assault.
March 2 – SpaceX and NASA launch a fresh crew of astronauts on a mission to the International Space Station, kicking off a roughly six-month stay in space. The mission — which is carrying two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates — took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
March 2 – The jury in the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh finds him guilty of murdering his wife and son. Murdaugh, the 54-year-old scion of a prominent and powerful family of local lawyers and solicitors, is also found guilty of two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in the killings of Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh on June 7, 2021.
March 3 – Four US citizens from South Carolina are kidnapped by gunmen in Matamoros, Mexico, in a case of mistaken identity. On March 7, two of the four Americans, Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, are found dead and the other two, Latavia McGee and Eric Williams, are found alive. The cartel believed responsible for the armed kidnapping issues an apology letter and hands over five men to local authorities.
March 10 – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announces that Silicon Valley Bank was shut down by California regulators. This is the second largest bank failure in US history, only to Washington Mutual’s collapse in 2008. SVB Financial Group, the former parent company of SVB, files for bankruptcy on March 17.
March 27 – A 28-year-old Nashville resident shoots and kills three children and three adults at the Covenant School in Nashville. The shooter is fatally shot by responding officers.
March 29 – Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is detained by Russian authorities and accused of spying. On April 7, he is formally charged with espionage.
March 30 – A grand jury in New York votes to indict Trump, the first time in American history that a current or former president has faced criminal charges. On April 4, Trump surrenders and is placed under arrest before pleading not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business records. Prosecutors allege that Trump sought to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election through a hush money scheme with payments made to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump. He has denied the affairs.
April 6 – Two Democratic members of the Tennessee House of Representatives, Rep. Justin Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson, are expelled while a third member, Rep. Gloria Johnson, is spared in an ousting by Republican lawmakers that was decried by the trio as oppressive, vindictive and racially motivated. This comes after Jones, Pearson and Johnson staged a demonstration on the House floor calling for gun reform following the shooting at the Covenant School. On April 10, Rep. Jones is sworn back in following a unanimous vote by the Nashville Metropolitan Council to reappoint him as an interim representative. On April 12, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners vote to confirm the reappointment of Rep. Pearson.
April 6-13 – ProPublica reports that Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, conservative activist Ginni Thomas, have gone on several luxury trips involving travel subsidized by and stays at properties owned by Harlan Crow, a GOP megadonor. The hospitality was not disclosed on Thomas’ public financial filings with the Supreme Court. The following week ProPublica reports Thomas failed to disclose a 2014 real estate deal he made with Crow. On financial disclosure forms released on August 31, Thomas discloses the luxury trips and “inadvertently omitted” information including the real estate deal.
April 7 – A federal judge in Texas issues a ruling on medication abortion drug mifepristone, saying he will suspend the US Food and Drug Administration’s two-decade-old approval of it but paused his ruling for seven days so the federal government can appeal. But in a dramatic turn of events, a federal judge in Washington state says in a new ruling shortly after that the FDA must keep medication abortion drugs available in more than a dozen Democratic-led states.
April 13 – 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard is arrested by the FBI in connection with the leaking of classified documents that have been posted online.
April 18 – Fox News reaches a last-second settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, paying more than $787 million to end a two-year legal battle that publicly shredded the network’s credibility. Fox News’ $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems is the largest publicly known defamation settlement in US history involving a media company.
April 25 – President Biden formally announces his bid for reelection.
May 2 – More than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) go on strike for the first time since 2007. On September 26, the WGA announces its leaders have unanimously voted to authorize its members to return to work following the tentative agreement reached on September 24 between union negotiators and Hollywood’s studios and streaming services, effectively ending the months-long strike.
May 9 – A Manhattan federal jury finds Trump sexually abused former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll in a luxury department store dressing room in the spring of 1996 and awards her $5 million for battery and defamation.
June 8 – Trump is indicted on a total of 37 counts in the special counsel’s classified documents probe. In a superseding indictment filed on July 27, Trump is charged with one additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts, bringing the total to 40 counts.
June 16 – Robert Bowers, the gunman who killed 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, is convicted by a federal jury on all 63 charges against him. He is sentenced to death on August 2.
June 18 – A civilian submersible disappears with five people aboard while voyaging to the wreckage of the Titanic. On June 22, following a massive search for the submersible, US authorities announce the vessel suffered a “catastrophic implosion,” killing all five people aboard.
June 20 – ProPublica reports that Justice Samuel Alito did not disclose a luxury 2008 trip he took in which a hedge fund billionaire flew him on a private jet, even though the businessman would later repeatedly ask the Supreme Court to intervene on his behalf. In a highly unusual move, Alito preemptively disputed the nature of the report before it was published, authoring an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in which he acknowledged knowing billionaire Paul Singer but downplaying their relationship.
June 29 – The Supreme Court says colleges and universities can no longer take race into consideration as a specific basis for granting admission, a landmark decision overturning long-standing precedent.
July 13 – The FDA approves Opill to be available over-the-counter, the first nonprescription birth control pill in the United States.
July 14 – SAG-AFTRA, a union representing about 160,000 Hollywood actors, goes on strike after talks with major studios and streaming services fail. It is the first time its members have stopped work on movie and television productions since 1980.
August 1 – Trump is indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, DC, in the 2020 election probe. Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.
August 8 – Over 100 people are killed and hundreds of others unaccounted for after wildfires engulf parts of Maui. Nearly 3,000 homes and businesses are destroyed or damaged.
August 14 – Trump and 18 others are indicted by an Atlanta-based grand jury on state charges stemming from their efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 electoral defeat. Trump now faces a total of 91 charges in four criminal cases, in four different jurisdictions — two federal and two state cases. On August 24, Trump surrenders at the Fulton County jail where he is processed and released on bond.
August 23 – Eight Republican presidential candidates face off in the first primary debate of the 2024 campaign in Milwaukee.
September 12 – House Speaker McCarthy announces he is calling on his committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden, even as they have yet to prove allegations he directly profited off his son’s foreign business deals.
September 14 – Hunter Biden is indicted by special counsel David Weiss in connection with a gun he purchased in 2018, the first time in US history the Justice Department has charged the child of a sitting president. The three charges include making false statements on a federal firearms form and possession of a firearm as a prohibited person.
September 22 – New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez is charged with corruption-related offenses for the second time in 10 years. Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, are accused of accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes” in exchange for the senator’s influence, according to the newly unsealed federal indictment.
September 28 – Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving female US senator in history, dies at the age of 90. On October 1, California Governor Gavin Newsom announces he will appoint Emily’s List president Laphonza Butler to replace her. Butler will become the first out Black lesbian to join Congress. She will also be the sole Black female senator serving in Congress and only the third in US history.
September 29 – Las Vegas police confirm Duane Keith Davis, aka “Keffe D,” was arrested for the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.
October 3 – McCarthy is removed as House speaker following a 216-210 vote, with eight Republicans voting to remove McCarthy from the post.
January 8 – Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro storm the country’s congressional building, Supreme Court and presidential palace. The breaches come about a week after the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in a runoff election on October 30.
January 15 – At least 68 people are killed when an aircraft goes down near the city of Pokhara in central Nepal. This is the country’s deadliest plane crash in more than 30 years.
January 19 – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden announces she will not seek reelection in October.
January 24 – President Volodymyr Zelensky fires a slew of senior Ukrainian officials amid a growing corruption scandal linked to the procurement of war-time supplies.
February 6 – More than 15,000 people are killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes Turkey and Syria.
February 28 – At least 57 people are killed after two trains collide in Greece.
March 1 – Bola Ahmed Tinubu is declared the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election.
March 10 – Xi Jinping is reappointed as president for another five years by China’s legislature in a ceremonial vote in Beijing, a highly choreographed exercise in political theater meant to demonstrate legitimacy and unity of the ruling elite.
March 16 – The French government forces through controversial plans to raise the country’s retirement age from 62 to 64.
April 4 – Finland becomes the 31st member of NATO.
April 15 – Following months of tensions in Sudan between a paramilitary group and the country’s army, violence erupts.
May 3 – A 13-year-old boy opens fire on his classmates at a school in Belgrade, Serbia, killing at least eight children along with a security guard. On May 4, a second mass shooting takes place when an attacker opens fire in the village of Dubona, about 37 miles southeast of Belgrade, killing eight people.
May 5 – The World Health Organization announces Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency.
May 6 – King Charles’ coronation takes place at Westminster Abbey in London.
August 4 – Alexey Navalny is sentenced to 19 years in prison on extremism charges, Russian media reports. Navalny is already serving sentences totaling 11-and-a-half years in a maximum-security facility on fraud and other charges that he says were trumped up.
September 8 – Over 2,000 people are dead and thousands are injured after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hits Morocco.
October 8 – Israel formally declares war on the Palestinian militant group Hamas after it carried out an unprecedented attack by air, sea and land on October 7.
Awards and Winners
January 9 – The College Football Playoff National Championship game takes place at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The Georgia Bulldogs defeat Texas Christian University’s Horned Frogs 65-7 for their second national title in a row.
January 10 – The 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards are presented live on NBC.
January 16-29 – The 111th Australian Open takes place. Novak Djokovic defeats Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets to win a 10th Australian Open title and a record-equaling 22nd grand slam. Belarusian-born Aryna Sabalenka defeats Elena Rybakina in three sets, becoming the first player competing under a neutral flag to secure a grand slam.
February 5 – The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony takes place in Los Angeles at the Crypto.com Arena.
February 12 – Super Bowl LVII takes place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35. This is the first Super Bowl to feature two Black starting quarterbacks.
February 19 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wins the 65th Annual Daytona 500 in double overtime. It is the longest Daytona 500 ever with a record of 212 laps raced.
March 12 – The 95th Annual Academy Awards takes place, with Jimmy Kimmel hosting for the third time.
March 14 – Ryan Redington wins his first Iditarod.
April 2 – The Louisiana State University Tigers defeat the University of Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 in Dallas, to win the program’s first NCAA women’s basketball national championship.
April 3 – The University of Connecticut Huskies win its fifth men’s basketball national title with a 76-59 victory over the San Diego State University Aztecs in Houston.
April 6-9 – The 87th Masters tournament takes place. Jon Rahm wins, claiming his first green jacket and second career major at Augusta National.
April 17 – The 127th Boston Marathon takes place. The winners are Evans Chebet of Kenya in the men’s division and Hellen Obiri of Kenya in the women’s division.
May 6 – Mage, a 3-year-old chestnut colt, wins the 149th Kentucky Derby.
May 8-9 – The 147th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show takes place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York. Buddy Holly, a petit basset griffon Vendéen, wins Best in Show.
May 20 – National Treasure wins the 148th running of the Preakness Stakes.
May 21 – Brooks Koepka wins the 105th PGA Championship at Oak Hill County Club in Rochester, New York. This is his third PGA Championship and fifth major title of his career.
May 22-June 11 – The French Open takes place at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris. Novak Djokovic wins a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title, defeating Casper Ruud 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-5 in the men’s final. Iga Świątek wins her third French Open in four years with a 6-2 5-7 6-4 victory against the unseeded Karolína Muchová in the women’s final.
May 28 – Josef Newgarden wins the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500.
June 10 – Arcangelo wins the 155th running of the Belmont Stakes.
June 11 – The 76th Tony Awards takes place.
June 12 – The Denver Nuggets defeat the Miami Heat 94-89 in Game 5, to win the series 4-1 and claim their first NBA title in franchise history.
June 13 – The Vegas Golden Knights defeat the Florida Panthers in Game 5 to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.
June 18 – American golfer Wyndham Clark wins the 123rd US Open at The Los Angeles Country Club.
July 1-23 – The 110th Tour de France takes place. Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard wins his second consecutive Tour de France title.
July 3-16 – Wimbledon takes place in London. Carlos Alcaraz defeats Novak Djokovic 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 in the men’s final, to win his first Wimbledon title. Markéta Vondroušová defeats Ons Jabeur 6-4 6-4 in the women’s final, to win her first Wimbledon title and become the first unseeded woman in the Open Era to win the tournament.
July 16-23 – Brian Harman wins the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, Wirral, England, for his first major title.
July 20-August 20 – The Women’s World Cup takes place in Australia and New Zealand. Spain defeats England 1-0 to win its first Women’s World Cup.
August 28-September 10 – The US Open Tennis Tournament takes place. Coco Gauff defeats Aryna Sabalenka, and Novak Djokovic defeats Daniil Medvedev.
October 2-9 – The Nobel Prizes are announced. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,” according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
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Here’s a look at the life of award-winning screen legend Sophia Loren.
Birth date: September 20, 1934
Birth place: Rome, Italy (grew up in Pozzuoli, outside of Naples)
Birth name: Sofia Villani Scicolone
Father: Riccardo Scicolone
Mother: Romilda Villani
Marriages: Carlo Ponti (April 9, 1966-January 10, 2007, his death; September 17, 1957-September 3, 1962, annulled)
Children: Edoardo, Carlo Jr.
At six, her chin was cut by shrapnel during a bombing in World War II.
Other screen names used before becoming Sophia Loren were Sofia Lazzaro and Sofia Scicolone.
Nominated for two Academy Awards and won one. She also received an honorary award.
Nominated for eight Golden Globes and won five. She also received the honorary Cecil B. DeMille Award.
Nominated for one Grammy Award and won.
An accomplished cook, she has written three cookbooks.
1949 – Enters the Queen of the Sea beauty contest and comes in second, winning a train ticket to Rome, where she begins modeling and acting in B-movies.
Early 1950s – Is the runner-up in a nightclub beauty contest for Miss Rome. Movie producer Carlo Ponti is one of the judges.
1951 – Makes her US film debut as an uncredited extra, with no lines, in the film “Quo Vadis?”
Early 1950s – Adopts the last name Loren.
October 23, 1953 – “Aida” opens; it’s her first major leading role.
1957 – Loren appears in her first English-speaking leading role, “The Pride and the Passion.” She learns her lines by using cue cards of English words written phonetically.
1962 – Wins the Best Actress Academy Award for “La ciociara (Two Women).”
September 3, 1962 – Her marriage of almost five years to Carlo Ponti is annulled. Neither the Vatican nor Italian law recognizes Ponti’s 1957 divorce by proxy from Giuliana Ponti. Loren and Ponti are forced to annul their marriage after warrants for their arrest are issued.
1964 – Stars in the movie, “Matrimonio all’italiana (Marriage Italian Style).” Nominated for an Academy Award.
1964-1965 – Moves to France with Carlo Ponti and becomes a French citizen.
1965 – Giuliana Ponti obtains a French divorce recognized by Italian law.
April 9, 1966 – Loren and Carlo Ponti marry for the second time.
July 24, 1968 – Loren and Ponti cleared of bigamy charges by Rome’s criminal court.
January 23, 1979 – Loren is tried (in absentia), and acquitted, of complicity with Ponti in income tax evasion, misuse of government subsidies, and illegal export of Italian funds and artwork. Carlo Ponti is convicted and sentenced to four years in prison (two years were pardoned) and fined 22 billion lire ($24 million). All charges against him were cleared in 1987.
1980 – Portrays both herself and her mother in the made-for-TV movie “Sophia Loren: Her Own Story,” based on her 1979 autobiography, “Sophia: Living and Loving, Her Own Story,” written with A. E. Hotchner.
May 20, 1982 – Loren begins her 30-day jail term for tax evasion, for unpaid supplementary taxes for 1963-1964.
June 5, 1982 – Serves 17 days of her 30-day jail term.
1991 – Receives Honorary Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement.
2003 – Winner, Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children (along with Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev) for reading Prokofiev’s “Peter and The Wolf.”
2009 – Appears in the movie “Nine,” her first role in five years.
November 2014 – Loren’s memoir, “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: My Life,” is published.
November 13, 2020 – “The Life Ahead” premieres on Netflix. The film stars Loren and is directed by her son, Edoardo Ponti.
April 2021 – Loren opens Sophia Loren Original Italian Food, a restaurant and pizzeria, in Florence, Italy.
September 24, 2023 – Is taken to hospital for surgery after falling in her home and suffering several fractures to her hip and thighbone.
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Here’s a look at the life of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Birth date: November 23, 1962
Birth place: Caracas, Venezuela
Birth name: Nicolás Maduro Moros
Father: Nicolás Maduro García
Mother: Teresa de Jesús Moros
Marriage: Cilia Flores
Children: Nicolás Jr.
Worked as a bus driver for Caracas Metro and belonged to the transit union.
Maduro campaigned for Hugo Chavez’s release from prison for the 1992 attempted coup to overthrow President Carlos Andres Perez.
After Chavez’s release, Maduro helped him found the political party Fifth Republic Movement.
1999 – Maduro is elected to the National Constituent Assembly, the body convened to draft a new constitution.
2000 – Is elected to the National Assembly, the country’s legislative branch of government
2005-2006 – Serves as Speaker of the National Assembly.
2006-2013 – Serves as foreign minister.
October 12, 2012 – Is selected by Chavez to serve as vice president.
December 9, 2012 – Facing his fourth surgery for cancer, Chavez endorses Maduro to succeed him.
March 8, 2013 – Is sworn in as interim president following the death of Chavez.
April 14, 2013 – Wins the presidential election by fewer than two percentage points. Maduro’s opponent, Henrique Capriles Radonski demands a recount. On April 17, a manual recount is ruled as unconstitutional by the country’s chief justice.
April 19, 2013 – Maduro is sworn in.
September 30, 2013 – Maduro announces on state-run TV that he is expelling three US diplomats. He claims they were involved in a widespread power outage earlier in the month. “Get out of Venezuela,” he says, listing several names. “Yankee go home. Enough abuses already.”
February 12, 2014 – Ongoing student protests attract global attention when three people are killed. Major social and economic problems have fueled the protests, with some blaming the government for those problems.
February 20, 2014 – Venezuela revokes press credentials for CNN journalists in the country and denies them for other CNN journalists entering the country, following Maduro’s announcement that he would expel CNN if it did not “rectify” its coverage of anti-government protests, calling it war propaganda. On February 22, Venezuela reissues press credentials for CNN journalists in the country.
February 21, 2014 – Maduro calls for US President Barack Obama to “accept the challenge” of holding direct talks with Venezuela.
January 15, 2016 – Following the release of years of economic data, Maduro declares a state of economic emergency.
May 1, 2017 – Maduro announces that he has signed an executive order paving the way for changes in the constitution that will reshape the legislature and redefine his executive powers.
May 13, 2016 – Maduro declares a constitutional state of emergency, which expands on the economic emergency he declared in January.
October 30, 2016 – Maduro participates in talks with political opponents for the first time in two years.
July 30, 2017 – An election is held to replace the National Assembly with a new pro-Maduro legislative body called the National Constituent Assembly. Amid clashes between police and protestors, at least six people are killed. Although Maduro claims victory, opposition leaders say the vote is fraudulent.
July 31, 2017 – The US Treasury Department sanctions Maduro’s assets and bars US citizens from dealing with him. This comes a day after elections are held for a new lawmaking body.
January 24, 2018 – Announces he will run for reelection.
May 20, 2018 – During an election denounced by opposition leaders and the international community, Maduro wins another six-year term. Voter turnout falls to 46%, down from an 80% participation rate in 2013. The next day, an alliance of 14 Latin American nations and Canada, known as the Lima Group, releases a statement calling the vote illegitimate.
August 4, 2018 – Several drones armed with explosives fly towards Maduro in an apparent assassination attempt during a military parade. The next day, the interior minister announces that six people have been arrested in connection with the attack. Maduro is not injured.
August 5, 2018 – Interior Minister Néstor Reverol says that six people have been arrested after the apparent assassination attempt on Maduro.
September 8, 2018 – The New York Times reports secret meetings between US officials and Venezuelan military officers planning a coup against Maduro. CNN confirms the report, which describes a series of meetings over the course of a year.
September 17, 2018 – Maduro is criticized for eating a lavish meal by celebrity chef Nusret Gökçe, also known as Salt Bae, in the midst of a food crisis.
September 25, 2018 – The United States imposes sanctions on Maduro’s wife and three other members of his inner circle, as an attempt to weaken his grip on power.
September 26, 2018 – Maduro speaks at the UN General Assembly, calling the humanitarian crisis in his country a “fabrication.” He accuses the United States and its Latin American allies of “trying to put their hands in our country.”
October 8, 2018 – One of the suspects in the apparent assassination attempt dies in a fall from the tenth floor of a building. Intelligence officials say the death was a suicide.
January 10, 2019 – Maduro is sworn in for his second term, although most democratic countries in the region refuse to recognize him as president. The Organization of American States says its member nations voted 19-6, with eight abstentions, to not recognize the legitimacy of Maduro’s government.
January 23, 2019 – Juan Guaido, who leads the National Assembly, declares himself the interim president amid anti-government protests. Following Guaido’s announcement, US President Donald Trump says that the United States recognizes him as the legitimate president. Maduro accuses the United States of backing an attempted coup and gives US diplomats 72 hours to leave the country.
April 30, 2019 – During a live televised address, Maduro claims troops loyal to him defeated a “coup-de-etat attempt” by Trump and national security adviser John Bolton. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tells CNN that Maduro had been preparing to depart the country via airplane, but Russians convinced him to stay. A spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry says Pompeo’s claim is false.
July 4, 2019 – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights publishes a report highly critical of the Maduro regime. Based on research conducted January 2018 to May 2019, the report “highlights patterns of violations directly and indirectly affecting all human rights.” Responding a few days later, Maduro says the report contains manipulations and inaccurate data.
March 26, 2020 – The Justice Department announces narco-terrorism and other criminal charges against Maduro and senior leaders from his government. Federal prosecutors in New York’s Southern District, Miami and Washington, DC, allege the officials are the leaders of the so-called Cartel de los Soles and coordinate with the Colombian rebel group FARC to traffic cocaine to the United States.
May 4, 2020 – In a live address on state television, Maduro reports that two American “mercenaries” have been apprehended after a failed coup attempt to capture and remove him. He identifies the captured Americans as Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41. He shows what he claims are the US passports and driver’s licenses of the men, along with their ID cards from Silvercorp, a Florida-based security services company. On August 8, the men are sentenced to 20 years in prison.
July 24, 2021 – During an interview with Venezuela’s state-run television, Maduro says he is ready to open negotiations with the Venezuelan opposition in August.
October 16, 2021 – Venezuela suspends on-going negotiations with the opposition following the Cape Verde extradition of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, alleged financier to Maduro, to the United States on money laundering charges.
September 20, 2022 – A new UN report documents the crimes against humanity, including acts of torture committed by the Venezuelan security forces. The report says the orders for the crimes came from Maduro and other high level officials.
In photos: Venezuela in crisis
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Here is a look at the life of Jair Bolsonaro, president of Brazil.
Birth date: March 21, 1955
Birth place: Campinas, Brazil
Birth name: Jair Messias Bolsonaro
Father: Percy Geraldo Bolsonaro, dentist
Mother: Olinda Bonturi Bolsonaro
Marriage: Michelle Bolsonaro; Ana Cristina Valle (divorced); Rogéria Bolsonaro (divorced)
Children: with Michelle Bolsonaro: Laura; with Ana Cristina Valle: Jair Renan; with Rogéria Bolsonaro: Flavio, Carlos and Eduardo
Education: Agulhas Negras Military Academy, 1977
Military: Army, Captain
Religion: Roman Catholic
A conservative provocateur, Bolsonaro has a predilection for making inflammatory statements. His rhetorical targets include women and the LGBTQ community. In 2003, he told a congresswoman that she was not worthy of being raped. During a 2011 interview with Playboy magazine, Bolsonaro said he would be incapable of loving a gay son. He has expressed a sense of nostalgia for Brazil’s past as a military dictatorship.
Bolsonaro served seven terms as a congressman in the Chamber of Deputies. While in congress, his priorities included protecting the rights of citizens to own firearms, promoting Christian values and getting tough on crime. In 2017, he said, “A policeman who doesn’t kill isn’t a policeman.”
Bolsonaro changed his party affiliation numerous times, ultimately campaigning for president as a member of the Social Liberal Party.
When Bolsonaro took office, Brazil was suffering through a prolonged period of economic malaise and rising insecurity. His ascent was preceded by a corruption scandal that rocked political and financial institutions. During his inaugural address, Bolsonaro vowed to transform Brazil into a “strong and booming country.”
1986 – Bolsonaro writes an opinion column for the magazine Veja that criticizes the Brazilian Army’s pay system. He is subsequently disciplined for insubordination.
1989-1991 – Councilman for Rio de Janeiro.
1991-2018 – Congressman representing Rio de Janeiro in the Chamber of Deputies.
July 22, 2018 – Bolsonaro announces he is running for president.
August 15, 2018 – Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a former president of Brazil, announces he has submitted the necessary paperwork to register as the Workers’ Party candidate to run against Bolsonaro. Lula da Silva campaigns from prison, where he is serving a 12-year sentence for corruption.
September 1, 2018 – Brazil’s top electoral court bars Lula da Silva from running for reelection while incarcerated. Ultimately, a former mayor of São Paulo named Fernando Haddad steps in as the Workers’ Party candidate.
September 6, 2018 – Bolsonaro is stabbed in the stomach during a campaign rally. He spends more than three weeks in the hospital recovering.
October 7, 2018 – Voters cast ballots in the first round of elections. Although Bolsonaro wins more votes than Haddad, he doesn’t surpass the 50% threshold. A runoff is set for later in the month.
October 28, 2018 – Bolsonaro wins the runoff. The final tally shows Bolsonaro with 55.13% and Haddad with 44.87%.
January 1, 2019 – Bolsonaro is sworn into office. On the same day, he issues a series of executive orders. One order could potentially strip away many LGBTQ civil rights protections by eliminating LGBTQ issues from the list of matters handled by the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights. Another order gives the Agriculture Ministry the authority to designate indigenous lands, paving the way for agricultural development in areas that were previously off limits.
January 15, 2019 – Signs an executive order temporarily eliminating a regulation that limits firearms purchases only to individuals who provide a justification for owning a gun. The regulation gave police discretion to approve or deny gun sales.
January 28, 2019 – Officials say Bolsonaro has undergone successful surgery to remove a colostomy bag he was fitted with after being stabbed four months ago.
February 28, 2019 – Bolsonaro meets with Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaidó in Brasilia. During a joint news conference, Bolsonaro pledges Brazil’s support to help ensure “democracy is re-established in Venezuela.”
May 3, 2019 – A spokesman for Bolsonaro announces that the president has canceled a trip to New York, where he was set to be honored with a Person of the Year award from the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce. The trip was scrapped amid a political backlash. The event’s original host venue, the American Museum of Natural History canceled and some corporate sponsors dropped out. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio had called Bolsonaro “a dangerous man.”
May 7, 2019 – Bolsonaro signs an executive order relaxing gun control restrictions. The executive order makes it easier for guns to be imported and boosts the amount of ammunition an individual can purchase annually.
July 11, 2019 – During a news conference, Bolsonaro says that he wants his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, to serve as ambassador to the United States. He says that Eduardo is friendly with the children of US President Donald Trump.
August 23, 2019 – Bolsonaro announces a plan to send army troops to fight wildfires sweeping through the Amazon rainforest.
August 26, 2019 – At the G7 summit in France, French President Emmanuel Macron announces a $20 million emergency fund to help Brazil with the fires. Bolsonaro responds that he cannot accept Macron’s “intentions behind the idea of an ‘alliance’ of the G7 countries to ‘save’ the Amazon, as if we were a colony or no man’s land.” The dispute devolves after a Facebook user posts a meme ridiculing the appearance of Macron’s wife on Bolsonaro’s page and the president jokes, “Don’t humiliate the guy…haha.”
September 8, 2019 – Bolsonaro undergoes a hernia operation to treat complications from prior surgeries conducted as he recovered from a stab wound.
December 24, 2019 – Tells the Band TV network that he was hospitalized overnight after falling in the presidential palace December 23. He says he had brief memory loss, but that he has recovered.
April 19, 2020 – Bolsonaro joins a rally in the country’s capital, where protesters called for an end to coronavirus quarantine measures and some urged military intervention to shut down Congress and the Supreme Court. He later defends his participation, saying that he was not calling for military action against the country’s other branches of government.
June 23, 2020 – Bolsonaro is ordered by a federal judge in Brasilia to wear a face mask in public or face a fine. The decision extends to all government employees in the Federal District, where the capital Brasilia is located.
July 7, 2020 – Bolsonaro announces he has tested positive for Covid-19, following months of downplaying the virus.
March 16, 2021 – A Brazilian court orders Bolsonaro to pay damages to a journalist after he made remarks that questioned her credibility.
April 27, 2021 – Brazil’s Senate launches an inquiry Tuesday into the federal government’s response to Covid-19.
July 14, 2021 – Bolsonaro is admitted to the hospital to investigate the cause of persistent hiccups that are leading to abdominal pains, according to Brazil’s Special Secretariat for Social Communication.
December 3, 2021 – Brazil’s Supreme Court orders an investigation into Bolsonaro’s false claim that people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 may have a higher risk of contracting AIDS. The inquiry is launched in response to a request by the country’s parliamentary commission which has been investigating Bolsonaro’s government’s response to the pandemic.
January 3, 2022 – Bolsonaro is admitted to a hospital with a blockage in his intestine, the latest medical issue linked to his 2018 stabbing.
June 29, 2022 – A Brazilian court rules that Bolsonaro must pay “moral damages” of 35,000 reais (approximately $6,700) to a Brazilian journalist after making remarks with sexual innuendo about her in 2020.
October 2, 2022 – In the presidential election, Bolsonaro finishes with 43.2% versus Lula da Silva’s 48.4%. Either candidate needed to surpass 50% to be elected in the first round of voting, so the two will face each other in a runoff on October 30.
October 30, 2022 – Bolsonaro loses his bid for a second term, after receiving 49.1% of the vote against Lula da Silva, who wins with 50.9%.
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Here’s a look at what you need to know about the Oslo Accords, a series of agreements between Israel and the Palestinians signed in the 1990s.
Oslo I is formally known as the Declaration of Principles (DOP). The pact established a timetable for the Middle East peace process. It planned for an interim Palestinian government in Gaza and Jericho in the West Bank.
After the signing, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat shook hands.
The United States was not actively involved in the negotiations.
The meetings were carried out in secret over several months in 1992 and 1993.
Oslo II, officially called the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza, expanded on Oslo I. It included provisions for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from six West Bank cities and about 450 towns. Additionally, the pact set a timetable for elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council.
April 1992 – Terje Rod-Larsen, head of a Norwegian research institute, suggests to Israeli politician Yossi Beilin that Norway act as an intermediary between Israel and the PLO.
September 10, 1992 – At a secret meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel, Norwegian State Secretary Jan Egeland formally offers his country’s help.
December 1992 to April 1993 – Fourteen meetings are held, in London and Norway, between Professor Yair Hirschfeld and Ahmed Qorei, of the PLO.
April 1993 – After several months, Qorei insists on meeting with someone officially representing Israel’s government. Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Uri Savir takes over for Hirschfeld. Qorei and Savir meet 11 more times between April and August.
August 19, 1993 – Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres secretly flies to Oslo, Norway, and meets with Qorei. He witnesses the signing of the agreement between Savir and Qorei.
September 10, 1993 – The PLO reaffirms its recognition of Israel’s right to exist, and in turn, Israel recognizes the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people.
September 10, 1993 – US President Bill Clinton announces a resumption of talks between the United States and the PLO. This clears the way for Arafat to travel to the United States.
September 13, 1993 – The Oslo Accords (referred to as Oslo I at this point) are signed by Peres and Mahmoud Abbas, and witnessed by Rabin and Arafat, in Washington, DC.
October 1994 – Arafat, Peres and Rabin are awarded the Nobel Peace prize.
September 28, 1995 – A second significant agreement is signed in Washington, DC. This agreement is often referred to as Oslo II.
November 4, 1995 – Rabin is assassinated at a peace rally.
July 25, 2000 – Clinton’s efforts to achieve a final status agreement between Israelis and Palestinians end in failure at Camp David. Both sides blame each other for intransigence, though there is a shared sense that none of the parties were properly prepared.
September 28, 2000 – Clashes erupt between Israeli forces and Palestinians following a visit by Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to Jerusalem’s most important holy site, sacred to both Muslims and Jews. The violence escalates to include waves of suicide bombings and becomes known as the Second Intifada, or uprising.
November 11, 2004 – Arafat dies in Paris.
September 30, 2015 – Abbas accuses Israel of not committing to the Oslo Accords and declares that Palestinians “cannot continue to be bound by these agreements.”
September 28, 2016 – Peres dies at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv after suffering a massive stroke two weeks prior.
January 14, 2018 – Abbas calls on the PLO to “revise all the agreements signed between the PLO and Israel because Israel has brought these agreements to a dead end,” and accuses Israel of ending the Oslo agreement. This criticism comes six weeks after US President Donald Trump announces that Washington recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The Declaration calls for:
– Israel to withdraw from Jericho and Gaza, and eventually the West Bank.
– Five years of limited autonomy for Palestinians in those areas.
– Election of Palestinian Legislative Council within nine months.
– Establishment of a Palestinian police force.
– The question of Jerusalem was left undecided.
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Here’s a look at what you need to know about the Camp David Accords.
On September 17, 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and US President Jimmy Carter signed the Camp David Accords in Washington.
Called for a formal peace treaty to be signed between Israel and Egypt, within three months.
Called for establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Called for Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula in stages, to be completed within three years.
Called for further meetings to resolve the Palestinian question. The meeting would include Jordan and a representative of the Palestinian people.
Called for a five-year transitional period of Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza. This transitional period would include the introduction of Palestinian self-government.
Called for an end to Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Did not settle the question of East Jerusalem.
November 9, 1977 – Sadat announces that he is “ready to go to the Israeli parliament itself” to resolve the conflict in the Middle East. This is despite the fact that the two countries do not have diplomatic relations and are technically still at war.
November 15, 1977 – Through the United States, Israel formally extends an invitation to Sadat to visit the country.
November 19-21, 1977 – Sadat makes a historic first visit by an Arab head of state to Israel. During the three-day visit, Sadat meets with Begin, addresses the Knesset, and lays a wreath at a monument to Israeli war dead.
December 2-5, 1977 – Representatives from Syria, Iraq, Libya, Algeria, South Yemen and the Palestine Liberation Organization meet in Libya to discuss ways of stopping the Israeli-Egyptian peace process.
December 5, 1977 – Egypt cuts diplomatic ties with Syria, Iraq, Libya, Algeria and South Yemen.
December 14, 1977 – Egypt hosts Israel, the US and the United Nations at a peace summit in Cairo.
December 25-26, 1977 – Sadat hosts Begin at a summit in Ismailia, Egypt.
September 6, 1978 – The peace summit begins in Camp David, Maryland. After meeting formally on the first day of the 13-day summit, Sadat and Begin do not meet again during the negotiations. Instead, Carter acts as a go-between.
September 19, 1978 – The Egyptian Cabinet approves the agreement.
September 28, 1978 – The Israeli Knesset approves the agreement.
November 1978 – PLO leader Yasser Arafat travels to Moscow to discuss organized opposition to the agreement. The PLO and the Soviet Union release a statement describing the accords as “a collusion at the expense of and behind the backs of the Arabs aimed at helping Israel entrench [itself] on captured Arab land, including Palestine, and prevent implementation of the Palestinians’ inalienable national rights.”
March 26, 1979 – In a ceremony in Washington, Egypt and Israel formally sign a peace treaty ending 31 years of war between them.
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Here’s a look at the life of Ehud Olmert, former prime minister of Israel.
Birth date: September 30, 1945
Birth place: Binyamina, British Mandate Palestine (now Israel)
Birth name: Ehud Olmert
Father: Mordechai Olmert, member of the Knesset
Mother: Bella Olmert
Marriage: Aliza Olmert, artist and playwright
Children: two sons: Ariel and Shaul, and three daughters: Dana, Michal and Shuli
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, B.A., 1968 (psychology and philosophy), Hebrew University of Jerusalem, L.L.B., 1973 (law)
Military service: Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Combat Infantry Unit Officer
Religion: Jewish
Olmert grew up in Nahalat Jabotinsky, a village that was later incorporated into Binyamina.
Elected mayor of Jerusalem in 1993; Olmert defeated Teddy Kollek with 59% of the vote. Kollek had been mayor since 1965.
He was successfully treated for prostate cancer in 2007.
1971 – Completes military service in the IDF as a military correspondent for the journal “Bamachane.”
1973 – Becomes the youngest person ever elected to the Knesset.
1975-1978 – Practices law in a private firm.
1988-1990 – Olmert is appointed Minister without Portfolio, responsible for minority affairs, by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir.
1990-1992 – Minister of Health.
1993-2003 – Mayor of Jerusalem.
1998 – Resigns from the Knesset, in keeping with an amendment to the Basic Laws of Israel that forbids Knesset members from holding other public offices.
February 2003 – Is re-elected to the Knesset and named Vice Prime Minister. Olmert is also named Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor.
August 9, 2003-January 10, 2005 – Minister of Communication.
August 9-November 7, 2005 – Acting Minister of Finance, replacing Benjamin Netanyahu.
November 7, 2005 – Olmert is appointed Minister of Finance.
November 2005 – Leaves the Likud party and joins Ariel Sharon to form the new Kadima Party.
January 5, 2006 – Is named Acting Prime Minister after Sharon suffers a stroke.
March 28, 2006 – The Kadima party wins the largest number of parliamentary seats, ensuring that Olmert will be the next Prime Minister.
May 4, 2006 – Is sworn in as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel.
May 26, 2006 – Addresses a joint meeting of the US Congress.
May 2008 – Israeli newspapers report that investigators have launched a probe into whether Olmert received money illegally while in office.
July 30, 2008 – Olmert announces he will resign as prime minister when Kadima elects a new chairman.
September 18, 2008 – Tzipi Livni becomes the leader of the Kadima Party.
September 21, 2008 – Resigns shortly after police recommend charges in corruption probes.
August 30, 2009 – Is indicted on charges including fraud and breach of trust in dual scandals called the Talansky affair and the Rishon Tours affair. The trial begins in September 2009.
January 5, 2012 – While on trial for fraud and breach of trust, Olmert is indicted for bribery in a separate case. The charge is related to three real estate projects, including a controversial housing development in Jerusalem called Holyland. The scandal becomes known as the Holyland affair.
July 10, 2012 – Olmert’s trial ends after almost three years. He is found guilty of breach of trust and acquitted on two corruption charges. He receives a one year suspended jail sentence and is ordered to pay a fine of 75,000 shekels (about $19,000).
March 31, 2014 – Is convicted of bribery charges in a trial related to the Holyland Affair. Olmert is sentenced to six years in prison and fined 1 million shekels ($289,000). His sentence is later reduced to 18 months by the Supreme Court.
August 6, 2014 – The Supreme Court orders a retrial in the Rishon Tours/Talansky case, as new evidence emerges, enabling prosecutors to challenge Olmert’s acquittals on corruption charges in 2012.
March 30, 2015 – Olmert is convicted of fraud and breach of trust in the retrial of the Rishon Tours/Talansky case. His total prison sentence for the Talansky/Rishon Tours case and the Holyland Affair is 27 months.
February 15, 2016 – Olmert arrives at prison.
July 2, 2017 – Olmert is released after serving 16 months, two-thirds of his original 27-month prison term.
September 3, 2020 – “Honorable Men,” a documentary about Olmert, premieres at Tel Aviv’s DocAviv documentary film festival.
May 6, 2021 – Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s family sue Olmert for defamation.
January 10, 2022 – The defamation trial between Olmert and the Netanyahu family begins.
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CNN
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Here’s a look at the life of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Birth date: October 21, 1949
Birth place: Tel Aviv, Israel
Birth name: Binyamin Netanyahu
Father: Benzion Netanyahu, a historian
Mother: Cela (Segal) Netanyahu
Marriages: Sara Ben-Artzi (1991-present); Fleur Cates (1981-1988, divorced); Miriam Haran (divorced)
Children: with Sara Ben-Artzi: Avner and Yair; with Miriam Haran: Noa
Education: Attended Harvard University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, B.S., 1974, and M.S., 1976
Military service: Israeli Defense Forces, 1967-1972, Captain
Religion: Jewish
Leader of the right-wing Likud Party.
Is known throughout Israel by the nickname “Bibi.”
Spent his teenage years in the United States; went to high school in Philadelphia.
First Israeli prime minister to be born after the state was founded in 1948.
Netanyahu’s brother, Yonatan, was killed in action in 1976 while leading a mission to rescue Israeli passengers on a hijacked Air France plane.
Netanyahu organized two international conferences on ways to combat terrorism, one in 1979 and another in 1984.
1967-1972 – Serves in the Israeli Defense Forces in the elite commando unit Sayeret Matkal.
1976-1978 – Works in the United States for Boston Consulting Group.
1982-1984 – Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
1984-1988 – Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.
1988 – Returns to Israel and wins a seat in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
1988-1991 – Deputy foreign minister under Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir.
1991-1992 – Deputy Minister in the prime minister’s office.
1993 – Is elected the Likud party chairman.
June 1996-July 1999 – Prime Minister of Israel.
September 1996 – Has first meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
October 23, 1998 – Arafat and Netanyahu sign the Wye Memorandum, an interim accord, exchanging land and power to secure Israel from political violence.
1999 – Following his defeat in the elections, Netanyahu resigns from the Knesset.
1999-2002 – Works in the private sector.
2002-2003 – Minister of Foreign Affairs.
2003-2005 – Minister of Finance.
August 2005 – Resigns in protest over the plan to withdraw Jewish settlers from Gaza and return their land to Palestinian control.
December 2005 – Is elected leader of the Likud party.
August 2007 – Is reelected.
February 10, 2009 – After the election, the results remain unclear as to who will become prime minister, Netanyahu or chief rival Tzipi Livni. Both make claims to the position.
February 19, 2009 – Wins backing from the Israeli parliament.
February 20, 2009 – Becomes the prime minister-designate and begins working on the formation of the new government.
March 31, 2009 – Is sworn in as prime minister.
September 1-2, 2010 – Attends a meeting in Washington hosted by US President Barack Obama to possibly restart peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Other leaders in attendance are Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, King Abdullah II of Jordan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
September 14, 2010 – Meets with Abbas in Egypt for second round of peace talks in two weeks. Also in attendance are US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Special Envoy to Middle East George Mitchell.
May 4, 2011 – Denounces the reconciliation agreement signed by Fatah and Hamas in Egypt and calls on Abbas to “immediately cancel the reconciliation deal with Hamas and choose the path of peace with Israel.”
May 24, 2011 – Addresses a joint meeting of the US Congress. Netanyahu says that he is prepared to make “painful compromises” for a peace settlement with the Palestinians. However, he repeats that Israel will not accept a return to its pre-1967 boundaries.
June 13, 2012 – Israel releases a 153-page report criticizing Netanyahu’s handling of a raid against a Turkish aid flotilla to Gaza in 2010, where nine Turkish activists were killed.
September 27, 2012 – In an address to the United Nations, Netanyahu urges the General Assembly to draw “a clear red line” to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
October 9, 2012 – Calls for an early election after failing to agree on a budget with his coalition partners.
October 9, 2012 – Israel’s parliament votes to dissolve itself and schedules an election for January 22, 2013.
January 22, 2013 – According to media exit polling, Netanyahu’s Likud Beitenu party wins 31 Knesset seats in the election. The Yesh Atid party, a new centrist movement, comes in a surprising second place with at least 19 seats.
March 24, 2013 – Apologizes to Turkey for the 2010 raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla Mavi Marmara.
October 1, 2013 – In a speech at the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu accuses Iranian President Hassan Rouhani of seeking to obtain a nuclear weapon and describes him as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a wolf who thinks he can pull the wool over the eyes of the international community.”
November 24, 2013 – Tells reporters that the Iran nuclear deal that world leaders reached with Tehran is a “historic mistake.”
April 27, 2014 – Tells CNN that Israel cannot negotiate with the government of Abbas while it is backed by Hamas, saying, “I call on President Abbas: Tear up your pact with Hamas.”
September 29, 2014 – Warns delegates at the UN General Assembly not to overlook threats posed by Iran and Hamas in their zeal to defeat ISIS.
December 2, 2014 – Calls for the dismissal of two members of his coalition cabinet and announces he will call for the dissolution of the nation’s legislature.
March 3, 2015 – Addresses a joint session of the US Congress.
March 18, 2015 – Is reelected prime minister.
October 1, 2015 – Netanyahu says he is “prepared to immediately resume” direct peace talks with the Palestinian Authority “without any preconditions whatsoever.” His remarks come a day after the leader of the Palestinian Authority said Palestinians are stepping away from the Oslo Accords.
October 20, 2015 – During a speech at the 37th Zionist Congress, Netanyahu says that Adolf Hitler “didn’t want to exterminate the Jews” but was urged to do so by Haj Amin al-Husseini, a former grand mufti of Jerusalem.
January 2, 2017 – Israeli authorities question Netanyahu for three hours. He is suspected of corruption related to benefits he allegedly received from businessmen. The prime minister denies the allegations, suggesting that there are political motives for the probe. In a Facebook post, Netanyahu lists the charges and says that investigators will find “nothing” to support each allegation.
August 4, 2017 – It is announced that Ari Harow, Netanyahu’s former chief of staff has agreed to testify against him in the graft probe.
February 13, 2018 – Israeli police announce there is “sufficient evidence” to indict Netanyahu on criminal charges in two corruption cases. According to a police statement, authorities found evidence of “accepting bribes, fraud, and breach of trust.” Netanyahu says the allegations against him will be dismissed.
March 2, 2018 – Netanyahu is questioned for five hours in Case 4000, which alleges he gave regulatory benefits worth up to 1 billion shekels (approximately $280 million) to his friend in exchange for favorable media coverage. This is the third case in which he has been named as a suspect. Police simultaneously interrogate Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, at a different location. Netanyahu proclaims his and his wife’s innocence in a Facebook video shortly after the interrogations conclude.
March 27-28, 2018 – Is hospitalized with a mild viral illness of the upper respiratory system, and released after a series of exams.
April 30, 2018 – During an address from the Israel Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu says Israel has evidence Iranian officials were lying when they said Iran wasn’t pursuing nuclear weapons and that the Islamic republic is keeping an “atomic archive” at a secret compound. The following day, IAEA spokesman Fredrik Dahl tells CNN that there are “no credible indications of activities in Iran relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device after 2009.”
September 27, 2018 – Speaking to the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu claims that Iran has a second “secret” nuclear facility and warehouse in Tehran. He offered no proof of the claim or details.
February 28, 2019 – Israel’s attorney general announces that Netanyahu will be indicted on bribery and breach of trust charges stemming from three investigations, pending a hearing. The hearing is not expected to take place before April’s election, in which Netanyahu will seek a fifth term in office. Netanyahu responds by saying that the “left” has “exerted extraordinary pressure on the attorney general” in an attempt to “influence the elections and to crown a left-wing government.”
April 9, 2019 – Is elected to his fifth term as prime minister.
May 29, 2019 – Netanyahu fails to form a coalition government from the parties elected on April 9, the first time in Israel’s history that a general election has failed to produce a government. New elections are scheduled for September 17, 2019.
July 20, 2019 – Netanyahu becomes the longest-serving leader in Israel’s history, surpassing the country’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s 4,875 days in office.
September 17, 2019 – Exit polls for the repeat general election fail to give either Netanyahu or former military chief Benny Gantz a majority in the new Parliament.
October 2, 2019 – Pre-indictment hearings begin in three criminal investigations against Netanyahu.
October 21, 2019 – Netanyahu fails to form a coalition government for the second time. Two days later, Gantz is given an official mandate by President Reuben Rivlin to try and form a ruling government coalition.
November 21, 2019 – Israel’s attorney general unveils charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust against Netanyahu in three separate corruption investigations.
December 26, 2019 – Retains leadership of political party Likud after a resounding victory over his challenger Gideon Sa’ar.
January 28, 2020 – Netanyahu is formally indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, shortly after withdrawing his request for parliamentary immunity, a request he was almost certain to lose.
March 2, 2020 – The Likud party wins 59 seats in the general election, but is three seats short to win a majority.
April 20, 2020 – Netanyahu and Gantz announce their agreement on the formation of a national emergency government, according to a joint statement.
May 17, 2020 – Netanyahu is sworn-in as Israel’s prime minister after his coalition government wins a vote of confidence by 73 votes to 46. Gantz is sworn-in as alternative prime minister and will replace Netanyahu as prime minister in November 2021.
May 24, 2020 – The trial begins in Jerusalem’s District Court.
September 15, 2020 – Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump join the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain at the White House to mark historic normalization agreements between Israel and the two Arab countries. The agreements mark the first time such a ceremony has taken place in Washington since 1994, when President Bill Clinton looked on as Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordanian King Hussein signed a declaration that paved the way for a peace deal months later.
December 19, 2020 – Netanyahu becomes the first sitting prime minister publicly known to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
December 23, 2020 – The seven-month-old emergency government collapses after the parliament fails to meet a deadline for passage of the 2020 and 2021 budgets.
March 21, 2021 – Israel holds its fourth general election in two years. Though Netanyahu’s party wins the most number of seats in parliament, neither he nor his opponents are able to prove they have the numbers needed to bring together enough parties to reach the 61 seat majority necessary.
June 13, 2021 – Netanyahu loses office for the first time in 12 years after rival Naftali Bennett wins a parliamentary vote to form a government.
May 6, 2021 – Netanyahu’s family sue former prime minister of Israel Ehud Olmert for defamation.
January 10, 2022 – The defamation trial between Olmert and the Netanyahu family begins.
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