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On New Year’s Day California becomes the sixth state in the USA to legalise the recreational use of cannabis. As of 1st January 2018, anyone over the age of 21 is allowed to possess up to an ounce (28 grams) of the drug and to grow up to six marijuana plants at home.
On Wednesday, 3rd January, on the orders of Kim Jong Un, North Korea re-establishes contact with South Korea via a telephone hotline, which had not been used for nearly two years. On 9th January representatives of the two sides meet face to face in the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas.
An oil tanker, The Sanchi, and a cargo ship collide 260km (160 miles) off Shanghai on 6th January. The tanker catches fire and burns for more than a week before sinking on Sunday, 14th January. All 32 members of the crew lose their lives.
Flooding and mudslides cause chaos in southern California on 9th January, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.
On Saturday, 13th January Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency causes panic by mistakenly sending an alert to mobile phone users warning them of a "Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii”.
On Sunday' 14th January police arrest a couple, David Turpin and Louise Turpin, after discovering that their 13 children, ranging in age from 2 to 29 years old, had been held captive in their home at 160 Muir Woods Road, Perris, California, some of them bound with chains and padlocks.
Edwin Hawkins, best known for the 1969 hit Oh Happy Day, dies of pancreatic cancer on 15th February, aged 74.
On the same day The Cranberries' lead singer Dolores O'Riordan, 46, is found submerged in the bath in her hotel room at London's Park Lane Hilton. An inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court later finds that she died by drowning due to alcohol intoxication.
Carillon, the UK's second biggest construction firm, goes into compulsory liquidation on 15th January with debts of £900m.
On 22nd January, two days ahead of his 77th birthday, Neil Diamond announces his retirement from concert touring after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Hugh Masekela, "the father of South African jazz", dies of cancer on 23rd January, aged 78.
On 24th January the former US Olympic gymnastics team doctor, Larry Nassar, is sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for the sexual assault of minors.
During the last two weeks of January the Taliban and the Islamic State (IS) group carry out four major attacks in Afghanistan. On 20th January Taliban gunmen attack the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul. At least 22 people are killed. A week later, on 27th January, Taliban attackers detonate a bomb hidden in an ambulance, moments after passing through a security checkpoint in the centre of Kabul. At least 103 people are killed and 235 injured. Islamic State suicide attackers kill six people on 24th January in an attack on the offices of the Save the Children charity in Jajalabad. Five days later IS fighters kill at least 11 soldiers in an attack on an army post in Kabul.

Three British tourists on a sightseeing trip are killed in a helicopter crash in the Grand Canyon on Saturday, 10th February. Three other British passengers, two of whom later die in hospital, and the pilot are badly injured.
At least 19 people are killed and 65 injured on the same day when a double-decker bus crashes and overturns in the Tai Po area of Hong Kong.
A Saratov Airlines jet crashes near Moscow minutes after taking off from Domodedovo Airport on Sunday, 11th February. All 71 passengers and crew on board are killed.
London City Airport is closed on Sunday, 11th February following the discovery of a World War Two bomb in the George V Dock nearby. Flights to and from the airport on 12th February are cancelled while the bomb is made safe and removed.
Jacob Zuma announces his resignation as President of South Africa in a televised statement on 14th February.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2013, dies on the same day, aged 65.
Seventeen people are killed and many more injured when 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former pupil at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, opens fire on students and teachers in a Valentine's Day rampage.
An Aseman Airlines plane (Flight EP3704 from Tehran to Yasuj) crashes on 18th February near the city of Semirom. All 59 passengers and six crew members on board are killed.
Om Monday, 19th February the fried chicken chain KFC is forced to close more than half of its outlets in the UK after they run out of chicken. The company blamed a "couple of teething problems" with its new delivery partner, DHL.
Emma Chambers, best known for playing the role of Alice Tinker in the BBC comedy The Vicar Of Dibley and Honey Thacker in the film Notting Hill, dies on 21st February, aged 53.
US evangelist Billy Graham dies on the same day, aged 99.
On 22nd February Dutch MPs recognise the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 as genocide, following the example of more than 20 other nations, including France and Russia, as well as Pope Francis.
Justin Forsyth resigns from his post as Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF on 22nd February following complaints about his behaviour towards female staff while working for Save The Children.
Lewis Gilbert, director of Alfie, Educating Rita and three James Bond films, dies on 23rd February at the age of 97.
Eddy Amoo, lead singer with The Real Thing. dies on the same day, aged 73.
The UK's biggest toy retailer, Toys R Us, goes into administration on 28th February and launches a nationwide closing-down sale.

Sir Roger Bannister, the first athlete to run a mile in under 4 minutes, dies on 3rd March, aged 88.
Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy, and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, both of whom had been poisoned with a Russian-made Novichok nerve agent, are found unconscious on a bench outside a Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury on Sunday, 4th March. Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, a police officer attending the incident, also becomes ill. Ten days later the Prime Minister Theresa May announces a series of sanctions, including the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats. Twenty-nine countries expel 145 Russian officials in solidarity with the UK; NATO orders 10 Russians out of its mission in Belgium.
The Shape Of Water wins the Oscar for Best Picture at the 90th Academy Awards ceremony on 4th March.
The New Musical Express (NME), which was launched in 1952, publishes its last weekly printed edition on Friday, 9th March.
French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy, who created famous looks for Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Jackie Kennedy, dies on 10th March at the age of 91.
Sir Ken Dodd dies on 11th March, aged 90.
On 13th March US President Donald Trump fires Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State via Twitter, naming CIA Director Mike Pompeo as his replacement.
The visionary British physicist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease and given only a few years to live at the age of 22, dies on 14th March, aged 76.
A newly-constructed footbridge connecting Florida International University to a student housing area in the city of Sweetwater collapses on 15th March, crushing cars on the highway below. Six people are killed and nine others injured.
TV presenter Ant McPartlin is arrested on Sunday, 18th March on suspicion of drink-driving after a collision involving three cars on the Lower Richmond Road in Mortlake, south-west London. He pleads guilty to the charge and on 16th April is fined £86,000 and given a 20-month driving ban.
Vladimir Putin is re-elected for a fourth term as President of Russia on 18th March. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny is prohibited from standing because of a fraud conviction.
Katie Boyle, the model, advice columnist and broadcaster who presented the Eurovision Song Contest four times, dies on 20th March, aged 91.
Mark Anthony Conditt, a suspect linked to a series of parcel bombings in Texas, kills himself on 21st March by detonating a device to avoid arrest.
On 23rd March a self-proclaimed "soldier of Daesh", Redouane Lakdim, kills a customer and a store worker at the Super-U supermarket in the small town of Trèbes, before taking others as hostages. Lt Col Arnaud Beltrame, who traded places with one of the hostages, is shot and stabbed to death; Lakdim, who had previously hijacked a car, killing a passenger and injuring the driver, is shot dead when police storm the supermarket.
On the same day The Greatest Showman soundtrack album begins its eleventh week in a row as the UK's number 1 album, equalling the chart-topping run of Adele's album 21.
Lys Assia, the winner of the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, dies on Saturday, 24th March, aged 94.
On the same day a student-led March for Our Lives demonstration in support of tighter gun control takes place in Washington D.C., supported by similar events throughout the USA and around the world.
At least 64 people are killed on 25th March by a fire at the Winter Cherry shopping centre in the Siberian coal-mining city of Kemerovo.
A decision by the Parole Board to release the rapist John Worboys is overturned by three judges at the High Court in London on 28th March, prompting the Board's chairman Nick Hardwick to resign.

On 3rd April a woman later named as Nasim Aghdam, who was angry with YouTube for filtering some of her videos, shoots and injures three people at the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California, before fatally shooting herself.
Eric Bristow, a five-time darts world champion, dies of a heart attack on 5th April, aged 60.
A bus carrying members of the Humboldt Broncos junior ice hockey team collides with a semi-trailer truck near Armley, Saskatchewan on 6th April, killing 16 people and injuring 13 others.
A man later identified as Herbert Reul drives a van into a crowd in the western German city of Münster on 7th April, killing two people before shooting himself dead.
More than 40 people are killed on the same day in a suspected chemical attack on Douma by the Syrian air force. The Syrian government denies the allegation. The USA, UK and France respond by bombing three government sites in Syria in an early morning operation on 14th April targeting chemical weapons facilities.
On 11th April a Russian-built Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane carrying soldiers and their families crashes soon after taking off from Boufarik military airport in northern Algeria, killing all 257 people on board.
On 15th April, in the face of mounting criticism, the Home Secretary Amber Rudd apologises to Commonwealth-born long-term UK residents - the Windrush generation - who had been classified by the Home Office as illegal immigrants and threatened with deportation. A taskforce is set up dedicated to helping those affected.
An engine explodes in mid-air on a Southwest Airlines' Boeing 737-700 on 17th April, smashing a window over the left wing and causing cabin depressurisation. A woman on board, Jennifer Riordan, dies after being partially sucked out of the smashed window. Seven other passengers are injured.
Barbara Bush (née Pierce), who, as the wife of the former US President George H.W. Bush, served as First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, dies on 17th April, aged 92.
TV and radio presenter Dale Winton, who hosted Supermarket Sweep and the National Lottery's In It To Win It, dies on 18th April, aged 62.
From 21st April North Korea stops nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's second son, His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge, is born on Monday, 23rd April at St Mary's Hospital in London, weighing 8lb 7oz. The new prince is fifth in line to the throne.
On the same day 10 people are killed and 16 injured when a 25-year-old man (Alek Minassian) drives a rented van into pedestrians along a 1km stretch of Yonge Street in Toronto.
On Thursday, 26th April a jury at Montgomery County Courthouse convicts comedian Bill Cosby of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand: penetration with lack of consent, penetration while unconscious and penetration after administering an intoxicant. It was the second time the actor had stood trial for the allegations, after an earlier jury failed to reach a verdict on 17th June 2017. On 25th September Cosby is fined $25,000 plus the prosecution costs and sentenced to 3-10 years in prison.
Amber Rudd resigns as Home Secretary on 29th April, saying she "inadvertently misled" MPs over illegal immigrant removals targets. Sajid Javid replaces her as Home Secretary.

On 8th May, going against advice from European allies, US President Donald Trump announces that he will withdraw the USA from an Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran and re-impose sanctions.
The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, which had been the governing party of Malaysia and its predecessor state, Malaya, since the country's independence in 1957, is defeated in the general election held on 9th May. Mahathir Mohamad is sworn in as the new Prime Minister.
On 11th May the Leave.EU campaign is fined £70,000 for breaches of election law in the 2016 EU referendum.
Tessa Jowell, the ex-Labour cabinet minister who played a key role in bringing the Olympics to London in 2012, dies on 12th May, aged 70.
Israel, represented by Netta with the song Toy, wins the 63rd Eurovision Song Contest, held in Lisbon on 12th May. The UK entrant SuRie, who is interrupted by a protester while performing her song Storm, finishes 24th out of the 26 countries in the final.
On Sunday, 13th May a family of six (a mother and father, their two sons and two daughters) carry out suicide bomb attacks on three churches in Surabaya, killing themselves and 12 other people.
On 14th May (the anniversary of the foundation of the Israeli state on 14th May 1948) Israeli forces shoot and kill at least 60 Palestinians and wound at least 1,200 more as tens of thousands of people protest at the Gaza border against the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem. US President Donald Trump praises the embassy opening as a "great day for Israel".
A Boeing 737-201 leased to the Cuban state airline Cubana de Aviación by the Mexican company Aerolineas Damojh, crashes shortly after taking off from Havana on Friday, 18th May. 112 people on board the internal flight to Holguin are killed; there is only one survivor.
On the same day eight students and two teachers are killed at Santa Fe High School, with 13 other people wounded, when Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a 17-year-old student at the school, opens fire with a shotgun and a revolver taken from his father.
The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is held at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on Saturday, 19th May.
The former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone resigns from the Labour Party on 21st May. His membership had been suspended in 2016 following comments he made about Hitler and Zionism.
On 22nd May the Archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, is found guilty of failing to report allegations of child sexual abuse in 1976. He is the most senior Catholic in the world to be charged and convicted of the offence.
On 25th May Ireland holds its sixth referendum on the issue of abortion. 66.4% of those who voted back reform of the constitution.
On 29th May the ABC TV network cancels Roseanne Barr's sitcom after the comedian posted a racist Tweet.
Arkady Babchenko, a Russian journalist who had denounced Russia's actions in Syria and eastern Ukraine, is reported to have been shot dead outside his apartment in Kiev on 29th May. The following day Babchenko appears at a news conference, saying that he had faked his death as part of a sting with Ukrainian security services to foil a Russian assassination plot.

The Fuego volcano in Guatemala erupts on Sunday, 3rd June, burying villages on its slopes in volcanic ash and mud.
Nightclub owner Peter Stringfellow dies on 7th June at the age of 77.
The Queen's Birthday Honours List, published on 8th June, includes Knighthoods for the author Kazuo Ishiguro and for the former football player and manager Kenny Dalglish. Actress Emma Thompson is made a dame.
On Tuesday, 12th June US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sign an agreement at a summit meeting in Singapore. The summit is the first time a sitting US president has ever met a North Korean leader.
Leslie Grantham, best known as the roguish "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC One soap Eastenders, dies on 15th June, aged 71.
On 19th June the Canadian Senate votes by 52-29 to legalise the recreational use of marijuana.
On 22nd June the European Union introduces tariffs on imported goods from the USA such as blue jeans, motorbikes, orange juice and bourbon whiskey in retaliation against the import duties on steel (25%) and aluminium (10%) imposed by US President Donald Trump.
On 27th June a heterosexual couple, Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan, win their legal bid for the right to have a civil partnership instead of a marriage. The Supreme Court unanimously rules in their favour, saying that the Civil Partnership Act 2004 - which only applies to same-sex couples - is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
On 28th June a gunman opens fire on the newsroom of the Capital Gazette newspaper in the city of Annapolis, just east of Washington DC. Five people are killed and two wounded.
On the same day soldiers from 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, join the fire service to fight a fire on Saddleworth Moor, which first started on Sunday, 24th June and reignited the following day.
A man and woman from Amesbury are taken to hospital on 30th June after being exposed to the nerve agent Novichok. The woman (Dawn Sturgess) dies on 8th July; the man (Charlie Rowley) recovers and is discharged from hospital on 20th July.

On 1st July Canada imposes retaliatory tariffs on US imports in response to the Trump administration's steel and aluminium levies.
López Obrador wins Mexico's presidential election held on the same day.
Alan Longmuir, one of the founding members of the Bay City Rollers, dies on Monday, 2nd July, aged 70.
Twelve Thai boys and their football coach, who had been missing since 23rd June, are found alive by rescue divers in the Tham Luang cave complex in Chiang Rai on 2nd July. They are all successfully rescued by 10th July but Saman Gunan, one of the rescue divers, dies in the caves on 6th July when he runs out of oxygen.
Seven members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult who left punctured bags filled with Sarin on the Tokyo underground in March 1995 are executed on 6th July, including cult leader Shoko Asahara.
On the same day the USA begins a trade war with China, imposing 25% tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese products. China retaliates by imposing tariffs of 25% on $34 billion of US goods.
The Brexit Secretary, David Davis, resigns on Sunday, 8th July, following a day-long meeting of the Cabinet at Chequers on 6th July, at which government ministers had come to a ‘collective’ agreement on negotiating the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. Dominic Raab is appointed as the new Brexit Secretary.
Boris Johnson resigns as Foreign Secretary on Monday, 9th July. He is replaced by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt; Matt Hancock is appointed as the new Health Secretary.
US President Donald Trump arrives in the UK on Thursday, 12th July for a two-day working visit, including tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle the following day. Thousands of people march in protest against his visit.
Sir Cliff Richard wins his legal battle with the BBC over its coverage of a police raid on his home in 2014. On 18th July High Court judge Mr. Justice Mann awards an initial £210,000 in damages. In response to the news Lyn Paul Tweets: "Fantastic news regarding @sircliffrichard. He is a wonderful guy and a gentleman." She continues: "The pictures of @sircliffrichard in the papers are heartbreaking. I worked with this man at the BBC in the '70s. A nicer, kinder, gentle soul you couldn’t wish to meet. He came to see me in 'Blood Brothers' and was still the same... I hope the people involved at the BBC hang their heads in shame!" The BBC agrees to pay Sir Cliff Richard £850,000 towards his legal costs.
Two people are killed and twelve wounded when a man opens fire in the Greektown district of Toronto on Sunday, 22nd July.
Two fires break out either side of Athens on Monday, 23rd July - one in a pine forest near the seaside settlement of Kineta, 30 miles west of Athens, and another to the northeast near the port of Rafina.
A wildfire breaks out in Shasta County, California on the same day. Fueled by high winds and dry conditions, the Carr Fire becomes a firestorm, jumping across the Sacramento River on 26th July.
Ex-cricket star Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party wins 116 of the 270 National Assembly seats in the general election held on 25th July. The election is marred by violence, with at least 31 killed in a suicide bomb attack outside a polling station in Quetta.
On 30th July Zimbabwe holds its first presidential and parliamentary elections since Robert Mugabe was ousted from power. At least six people are killed two days after the vote in clashes between security forces and MDC Alliance supporters, who allege that the ruling Zanu-PF party had rigged the election results.

Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro survives an apparent assassination attempt on 4th August when explosives loaded onto two drones are detonated during a military parade in the capital Caracas.
A 6.9-magnitude earthquake hits the Indonesian island of Lombok on 5th August. It leaves at least 321 people dead, 1,033 seriously injured and 270,000 people displaced from their homes.
Richard Russell, an employee of Horizon Airlines, steals an empty passenger plane belonging to the airline from Seattle Airport on 10th August. He is killed when the plane crashes on Ketron Island after a 90 minute flight tracked by two F15 fighter jets.
The Nobel Prize-winning author VS Naipaul dies on 11th August, aged 85.
On Tuesday, 14th August the Morandi motorway bridge in Genoa collapses during torrential rain. 43 people are killed as vehicles, concrete and twisted metal plunge to the ground 50 metres below.
Aretha Franklin dies of pancreatic cancer on 16th August, aged 76.
Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general from 1997 to 2006, dies on 18th August, aged 80.
John McCain, the Republican Senator for Arizona who ran for president against Barack Obama in 2008, dies on Saturday, 25th August after halting treatment for a brain tumour.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Neil Simon dies on Sunday, 26th August, aged 91.
On the same day Pope Francis ends his two-day visit to the Republic of Ireland by celebrating a Mass at Dublin's Phoenix Park. He asks for forgiveness for the "abuses of power, conscience and sexual abuses" perpetrated by Church leaders in Ireland.
Alex Salmond, the former leader of the SNP, resigns from the party on 29th August amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
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On 4th September, after months of rows, the UK Labour Party's ruling body agrees to adopt in full the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism.
On 5th September two Russian nationals - named on their passports as Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov - are charged by the Crown Prosecution Service over the Novichok poisoning of Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal. The pair are subsequently revealed to be undercover officers of the Russian Military Intelligence. Boshirov is identified as Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, Petrov as Alexander Mishkin, who had been presented with the Hero of the Russian Federation award in 2014.
Burt Reynolds, whose many films included starring roles in Deliverance (1972), Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and The Cannonball Run (1981), dies from a heart attack on 6th September, aged 82.
Fenella Fielding, who appeared in the films Carry On Regardless (1961) and Carry On Screaming! (1966), dies on Tuesday, 11th September, aged 90.
Early on 14th September Hurricane Florence makes landfall just south of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, resulting in at least 53 deaths and damage estimated at more than $38 billion.
The MV Nyerere ferry capsizes in Lake Victoria on 20th September, killing at least 227 people.
Chas Hodges, one half of the duo Chas and Dave, dies on 22nd September, aged 74.
On the same day gunmen open fire on an Iranian military parade in the south-western city of Ahvaz, killing 25 people and injuring 60.
On 24th September the USA escalates its trade war with China by imposing duties on almost 6,000 imported items, including rice, textiles and consumer goods such as luggage and furniture. China retaliates by introducing new trade tariffs on $60 billion worth of US goods.
A magnitude-7.5 earthquake hits the Indonesian city of Palu on Sulawesi island on Friday, 28th September.

Charles Aznavour, the French singer born to Armenian immigrants, who was best known in the UK for his 1974 hit She, dies on Monday, 1st October, aged 94.
On 2nd October Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi goes missing after being recorded on video entering the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. Having initially claimed that Khashoggi left the consulate alive the Saudis admit for the first time on 19th October that he is dead, explaining that he had been killed in a fight. This is contradicted on 25th October when Saudi Arabia's attorney general states that the murder was premeditated.
On Friday, 5th October Banksy's 'Girl With Balloon' is auctioned at Sotheby's in London. Moments after it has been sold the painting descends through a shredder hidden in the bottom of its frame, followed by a captioned photo of the incident on Banksy's Instagram account: "Going, going, gone..."
Opera singer Montserrat Caballé, whose 1987 duet with Freddie Mercury became the signature song of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, dies on 6th October, aged 85.
On the same day Brett Kavanaugh is sworn in to the United States Supreme Court, following weeks of controversy over allegations made against him of sexual assault. Hundreds of people protest against his nomination at the US Capitol in Washington.
On Wednesday, 10th October the UK's Supreme Court rules that the refusal (in 2014) by the Ashers Baking Company Ltd. in Northern Ireland to make a cake with a slogan supporting same-sex marriage was not discriminatory.
On the same day Hurricane Michael makes landfall near Mexico Beach in Florida, having already caused the deaths of 15 people in Central America. 33 deaths are attributed to the storm in the United States.
On Tuesday, 23rd October China's President Xi Jinping officially opens the world's longest sea crossing (a 30km bridge and a 6.7km undersea tunnel) linking Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.
The owner of Leicester City football club, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, and four other people are killed in a helicopter crash on Saturday, 27th October. The helicopter crashes just outside the King Power Stadium, where Leicester had drawn 1-1 in a match against West Ham United.
On the same day 11 people are killed in a gun attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Babs Beverley, one third of the 1950s pop trio The Beverley Sisters, dies after fighting cancer on 28th October, aged 91.

Voters in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia choose to remain part of France in a referendum held on 4th November. 56.4% vote for maintaining the status quo, 43.6% in favour of independence.
Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy after spending eight years in solitary confinement, is released from prison in Multan on Wednesday, 7th November.
On the same day 12 people are killed in a shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, north of Los Angeles.
The next day a wildfire breaks out nearby, jumping Highway 101 and spreading into coastal areas, including the beach resort of Malibu. The Woolsey Fire, as it is known, destroys the Paramount Ranch movie set and forces stars such as Kim Kardashian and Lady Gaga to evacuate their homes. Another wildfire further north, the Camp Fire, destroys the town of Paradise, burning down 18,804 structures and causing the deaths of at least 88 people.
On 9th November, four months after his brother Boris quit as Foreign Secretary, Jo Johnson resigns as Minister for Transport, saying that the proposed Withdrawal Agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union would be a "terrible mistake". On 15th November Dominic Raab resigns as Brexit Secretary, followed by junior Brexit minister Suella Braverman and Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey.
Israel's Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman resigns on 14th November after the Israeli cabinet agrees to an Egyptian-mediated cease-fire ending two days of fighting in Gaza.
John Bluthal, best known for playing Frank Pickle in the BBC sitcom The Vicar Of Dibley, dies on 15th November, aged 89.
Former BBC news reader Richard Baker dies on 17th November, aged 93.
On Saturday, 17th November 'yellow vest' protesters clad in fluorescent high-visibility jackets express their anger at higher fuel taxes by taking part in protests across France. 227 people are injured during the day; one female protester is run over and killed at a blockade in Savoie when a panicked driver surrounded by demonstrators accelerates.
Matthew Hedges, a PhD student at Durham University who had been accused of spying, is pardoned and freed from solitary confinement in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, 25th November.
On the same day Russian coast guard boats fire on and capture three Ukrainian Navy vessels as they attempt to pass from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov through the Kerch Strait. Each country blames the other for the incident.
Meanwhile, after 20 months of negotiations, European Union leaders meet in Brussels to approve the agreement on the UK's withdrawal from and future relations with the EU. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker describes it as a "sad day".
George H.W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993, dies on Friday, 30th November, aged 94.

Pete Shelley, the lead singer with The Buzzcocks, dies on Thursday, 6th December, aged 63.
On Monday, 10th December, following a fourth weekend of violent protests, the French President Emmanuel Macron makes a televised address to the nation, promising a 7% rise in the minimum wage; the removal of tax and social charges on overtime; encouragement to employers to give workers a tax-free bonus; and an end to a surcharge on most pensions. Despite this 'yellow vest' protesters gather in Paris and other cities on 15th December for a fifth consecutive Saturday of demonstrations.
Convicted paedophile Russell Bishop, already serving a life term for attempting to murder a seven-year-old girl at Devil's Dyke in 1990, is found guilty on Monday, 11th December of killing two nine-year-olds in Brighton in 1986.
On Wednesday, 12th December the Prime Minister of the UK Theresa May wins a Tory MPs' vote of confidence in her leadership of the Conservative Party by 200 votes to 117.
On the same day US President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen is given a 36-month prison sentence, having pleaded guilty to tax evasion and bank fraud and to eight counts of campaign finance violations (hush money payments to women who alleged that they had had affairs with Mr. Trump).
Nancy Wilson, best known for her 1964 hit (You Don't Know) How Glad I Am, dies on 13th December at the age of 81.
On Friday, 14th December French police shoot and kill Cherif Chekatt, the gunman who had opened fire on the crowd at Strasbourg's Christmas market three days earlier. Five people are killed and 11 injured in the attack on the market.
Toll charges are taken on the M4 and M48 Severn bridges for the last time on Sunday, 16th December. The next day people are able to cross the Severn Estuary for free for the first time since Roman times.
On 19th December Donald Trump announces that all US troops are to be withdrawn from Syria. The US Defence Secretary James Mattis announces his resignation the following day.
London's Gatwick Airport is closed on 19th December after drones are spotted flying over the airfield. Flights resume on Friday, 21st December.
Donald Moffat, whose many film and television roles included Lyndon Johnson in The Right Stuff (1983), Edgar Halcyon in Armistead Maupin's Tales Of The City (1993) and the shady president in Tom Clancy's Clear And Present Danger (1994), dies on 20th December, aged 87.
Paddy Ashdown, the leader of the UK Liberal Democrats between 1988 and 1999, who also served as the United Nations' high representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina, dies on 22nd December, aged 77.
On the same day a tsunami hits coastal towns on Indonesia's Sunda Strait.
Sister Wendy Beckett, who became an unlikely television star in the 1990s when she presented a series of documentaries for the BBC on the history of art, dies at the Carmelite Monastery in Quidenham, Norfolk on 26th December, aged 88.
Dame June Whitfield, who starred in the BBC sitcom Terry and June (1979-87) and played the part of 'gran' in Absolutely Fabulous, dies on 28th December, aged 93.
Ray Sawyer of Dr. Hook also dies on 28th December, aged 81.
The New Year's Honours List is published on the same day: former England cricket captain Alastair Cook and Monty Python star Michael Palin are both knighted; former model Twiggy is made a dame.
Dean Ford, the lead singer of The Marmalade from 1966 to 1974, dies on 31st December, aged 72.

• Benny Blanco
  
• Lewis Capaldi
  
• Billie Eilish
  
• Dalton Harris
  
• Ladbaby
  
• Ava Max
  
• Freya Ridings
  
  

• Anne-Marie
  2002
  
• Baddiel, Skinner & The Lightning Seeds
  Three Lions (Football's Coming Home)
  
• Benny Blanco, Halsey & Khalid
  Eastside
  
• Jonas Blue featuring Jack & Jack
  Rise
  
• Clean Bandit featuring Demi Lovato
  Solo
  
• Dave featuring Fredo
  Funky Friday
  
• Lil Dicky featuring Chris Brown
  Freaky Friday
  
• Drake
  God's Plan
  
• Drake
  In My Feelings
  
• Drake
  Nice For What
  
• Drake featuring Michael Jackson
  Don't Matter To Me
  
• Zac Efron & Zendaya
  Rewrite The Stars
  
• Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran
  River
  
• George Ezra
  Paradise
  
• George Ezra
  Shotgun
  
• 5 Seconds Of Summer
  Youngblood
  
• Jess Glynne
  I'll Be There
  
• Ariana Grande
  God Is A Woman
  
• Ariana Grande
  No Tears Left To Cry
  
• Ariana Grande
  Thank U, Next
  
• Halsey
  Without Me
  
• Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa
  One Kiss
  
• Calvin Harris & Sam Smith
  Promises
  
• Hugh Jackman, Keala Settle, Zac Efron, Zendaya & The Greatest Showman Ensemble
  The Greatest Show
  
• Ladbaby
  We Built This City
  
• Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
  Shallow
  
• Dua Lipa
  IDGAF
  
• Little Mix featuring Nicki Minaj
  Woman Like Me
  
• Marshmello & Anne-Marie
  Friends
  
• Marshmello & Bastille
  Happier
  
• Ava Max
  Sweet But Psycho
  
• Kylie Minogue
  Dancing
  
• Liam Payne & Rita Ora
  For You (from 'Fifty Shades Freed')
  
• Portugal The Man
  Feel It Still
  
• Post Malone featuring Swae Lee
  Sunflower
  
• Mark Ronson featuring Miley Cyrus, Macklemore & Dan Caplen
  Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
  
• Rudimental featuring Jesse Glynne, Macklemore & Dan Caplen
  These Days
  
• Keala Settle & The Greatest Showman Ensemble
  This Is Me
  
  

• Christina Aguilera
  Liberation
  
• All Saints
  Testament
  
• Lily Allen
  No Shame
  
• Arctic Monkeys
  Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
  
• Rick Astley
  Beautiful Life
  
• The Beach Boys
  The Beach Boys With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
  
• Boyzone
  Thank You And Goodnight
  
• Leon Bridges
  Good Thing
  
• Michael Bublé
  Love
  
• David Byrne
  American Utopia
  
• Camila Cabello
  Camila
  
• Alessia Cara
  The Pains Of Growing
  
• Chvrches
  Love Is Dead
  
• Drake
  Scorpion
  
• Eminem
  Kamikaze
  
• Editors
  Violence
  
• George Ezra
  Staying At Tamara's
  
• Bryan Ferry and his Orchestra
  Bitter-Sweet
  
• Florence + The Machine
  High As Hope
  
• Jess Glynne
  Always In Between
  
• Gorillaz
  The Now Now
  
• Ariana Grande
  Sweetener
  
• Josh Groban
  Bridges
  
• Paul Heaton
  The Last King Of Pop
  
• Buddy Holly & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
  True Love Ways
  
• Judas Priest
  Fire Power
  
• Mark Knopfler
  Down The Road Wherever
  
• Lenny Kravitz
  Raise Vibration
  
• John Legend
  A Legendary Christmas
  
• Little Mix
  LM5
  
• Paul McCartney
  Egypt Station
  
• Jane McDonald
  Cruising With Jane McDonald
  
• Post Malone
  Beerbongs & Bentleys
  
• Manic Street Preachers
  Resistance Is Futile
  
• Shawn Mendes
  Shawn Mendes
  
• Kylie Minogue
  Golden
  
• Jason Mraz
  Know.
  
• Mumford & Sons
  Delta
  
• Olly Murs
  You Know I Know
  
• Muse
  Simulation Theory
  
• Kacey Musgraves
  Golden Hour
  
• The 1975
  A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
  
• Rita Ora
  Phoenix
  
• Roy Orbison
  Unchained Melodies
  
• Rick Parfitt
  Over And Out
  
• Prince
  Piano & A Microphone 1983
  
• The Prodigy
  No Tourists
  
• Cliff Richard
  Rise Up
  
• Calum Scott
  Only Human
  
• The Shires
  Accidentally On Purpose
  
• Paul Simon
  In The Blue Light
  
• Simple Minds
  Walk Between Worlds
  
• Snow Patrol
  Wildness
  
• Bruce Springsteen
  Springsteen On Broadway
  
• Lisa Stansfield
  Deeper And Deeper
  
• Rod Stewart
  Blood Red Roses
  
• Sting & Shaggy
  44/876
  
• Barbra Streisand
  Walls
  
• Take That
  Odyssey
  
• Justin Timberlake
  Man Of The Woods
  
• KT Tunstall
  Wax
  
• UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, Astro and Mickey Virtue
  A Real Labour Of Love
  
• Various Artists
  The Greatest Showman (Motion Picture Cast Recording)
  
• Various Artists
  Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Motion Picture Cast Recording)
  
• Various Artists
  A Star Is Born (Motion Picture Cast Recording)
  
• Various Artists
  Now That's What I Call Music! 100
  
• Paul Weller
  True Meanings
  
• Jack White
  Boarding House Reach
  
  

• All The Money In The World
  
• Ant-Man 2
  
• Avengers: Infinity War
  
• Beautiful Boy
  
• Black Panther
  
• BlacKkKlansman
  
• Bohemian Rhapsody
  
• Can You Ever Forgive Me?
  
• The Children Act
  
• Coco
  
• Creed 2
  
• Darkest Hour
  
• Deadpool 2
  
• Early Man
  
• Edie
  
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald
  
• The Favourite
  
• Fifty Shades Freed
  
• Finding Your Feet
  
• First Man
  
• Funny Cow
  
• Game Night
  
• The Girl In The Spider's Web
  
• The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society
  
• The Happy Prince
  
• Hereditary
  
• Hostilities
  
• Hotel Transylvania 3
  
• I Feel Pretty
  
• I, Tonya
  
• If Beale Street Could Talk
  
• Incredibles 2
  
• Journey's End
  
• Jungle Book: Origins
  
• Jurassic Park 5
  
• Lady Bird
  
• Lean On Pete
  
• The Leisure Seeker
  
• Love, Simon
  
• Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
  
• Mary Magdalene
  
• Mary Poppins Returns
  
• Mary, Queen Of Scots
  
• The Mercy
  
• Mission: Impossible 6
  
• Molly's Game
  
• The New Mutants
  
• Nothing Like A Dame
  
• Ocean's 8
  
• Pacific Rim: Uprising
  
• Peter Rabbit
  
• Phantom Thread
  
• The Post
  
• A Quiet Place
  
• Rampage
  
• Ready Player One
  
• Red Sparrow
  
• Roma
  
• The Shape Of Water
  
• Sherlock Gnomes
  
• Show Dogs
  
• Solo: A Star Wars Story
  
• Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
  
• The Spy Who Dumped Me
  
• Stanley: A Man Of Variety
  
• A Star Is Born
  
• Swimming With Men
  
• Three Billboards Outside Of Ebbing, Missouri
  
• Tomb Raider
  
• Tully
  
• Venom
  
• Whitney
  
• Widows
  
• Wonder Wheel (Woody Allen)
  
• The Wound
  
  

Tony Award for Best Musical:
The Band's Visit

Olivier Award
for Best New Musical:
Hamilton

• American Crime Story: The Assassination Of Gianni Versace
  
• The Apprentice (Series 14)
  
• Benidorm (Series 10)
  
• Better Call Saul (Season 4)
  
• The Big Bang Theory (Season 12)
  
• The Bisexual
  
• Black Earth Rising
  
• Bodyguard
  
• BoJack Horseman (Season 5)
  
• Butterfly
  
• Civilisations
  
• The Cry
  
• Cunk On Britain
  
• Derry Girls
  
• Doctor Who (Series 11, Jodie Whittaker)
  
• Friday Night Dinner (Series 5)
  
• GLOW (Season 2)
  
• Gogglebox (Series 11 and 12)
  
• The Good Fight (Season 2)
  
• The Good Place (Season 3)
  
• Grace And Frankie (Season 4)
  
• The Great British Bake Off (Series 9)
  
• The Handmaid's Tale (Season 2)
  
• The Haunting Of Hill House
  
• I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! (Series 18)
  
• Informer
  
• Inside No. 9 (Series 4)
  
• Killing Eve
  
• Kiri
  
• The Kominsky Method
  
• The Little Drummer Girl
  
• Love Island (Series 4)
  
• Maniac
  
• Michael Palin In North Korea
  
• Mum
  
• Naked Attraction (Series 3 and 4)
  
• Ordeal By Innocence
  
• Ozark (Season 2)
  
• Queer Eye
  
• Reporting Trump's First Year: The Fourth Estate
  
• RuPaul's Drag Race (Season 10)
  
• RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (Season 3)
  
• Salt Fat Acid Heat
  
• Schitt's Creek (Season 4)
  
• Stath Lets Flats
  
• Stephen: The Murder That Changed A Nation
  
• Stewart Lee: Content Provider
  
• Strictly Come Dancing (Series 16)
  
• This Country (Series 2)
  
• This Is Us (Season 2)
  
• Top Gear (Series 25)
  
• Trust
  
• Two Doors Down (Series 3)
  
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Season 4)
  
• Vanity Fair
  
• Vera (Series 8)
  
• A Very English Scandal
  
• Who Do You Think You Are? (Series 15)
  
• Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (Series 31 - Jeremy Clarkson)
  
• The X Factor (Series 15)
  
• Young Sheldon (UK: Seasons 1 and 2 / USA: Season 2)
  
  

BBC Sport

BBC
Sports Personality
of the Year:
Geraint Thomas

Darts: Rob Cross wins the PDC World Championship in his first appearance with a 7-2 win over retiring 14-time champion Phil Taylor.
Glen Durrant successfully defends his BDO world title, defeating Mark McGeeney 7-6 in a closely-contested final. Durrant becomes the ninth player to win more than one BDO world title - along with Eric Bristow (five), Raymond van Barneveld (four), John Lowe and Martin Adams (three apiece), and Ted Hankey, Phil Taylor, Scott Waites and Jocky Wilson (all with two).

Surfing: Brazilian Maya Gabeira sets a world record for the largest-ever wave surfed by a woman, catching a 20.72m (68ft) wave at Praia do Norte in Nazarein, Portugal.

Cricket: Australia beat England by an innings and 123 runs in the fifth Test in Sydney to win the 2017-18 Ashes series 4-0.
The captain of the Australian cricket team, Steve Smith, and vice-skipper David Warner are banned for a year for their part in a plan to tamper with the ball during Australia's tour of South Africa. Cameron Bancroft, who used sandpaper to damage the ball during the third Test against South Africa, is given a nine-month ban by Cricket Australia. South Africa win the Test series 3–1.
New Zealand win their two-match Test series against England 1-0. Although New Zealand come close to losing the second Test, the team hangs on for a draw to secure a first series victory at home over England since 1983-84.
Alastair Cook, England's most-capped player, leading run-scorer and century-maker, ends his 12-year Test career after the Summer Test series against India. England win the Test series 4-1. England's James Anderson takes the final wicket in the Fifth Test (his 564th) to become the most successful fast bowler in Test cricket, surpassing the record of Australia's Glenn McGrath.
England also win the Test series against Sri Lanka 3-0, completing the “clean sweep” with a 42-run victory in the third Test in Colombo.

Snooker: Mark Allen wins The Masters, beating Kyren Wilson 10-7 in the final at Alexandra Palace.
Mark Williams beats John Higgins 18-16 to win his third World Championship - 15 years after his last. After saying that he would speak to the media naked if he won the title, Williams walked into his post-tournament news conference wearing only a towel.
Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Mark Allen 10-6 to win a record seventh UK Championship and become the first player to win 19 'Triple Crown' titles.

Tennis: Caroline Wozniacki, twice a runner-up at the US Open, wins her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, beating world number 1 Simona Halep in the women's singles final, 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-4. Roger Federer wins his 20th Grand Slam title and sixth Australian Open title with a five-set victory over Marin Cilic in the men's singles final (6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 3- 6, 6-1). On 17th February Federer beats Robin Haase 4-6 6-1 6-1 in the last eight of the Rotterdam Open to replace Rafael Nadal at the top of the men's tennis rankings, so becoming the oldest world number one in tennis history.
Simona Halep wins the women's singles title at the French Open, beating Sloane Stephens in the final 3-6 6-4 6-1.
Rafael Nadal wins the men's singles title for the 11th time with a 6-4 6-3 6-2 victory over Dominic Thiem.
Angelique Kerber beats seven-time champion Serena Williams 6-3, 6-3 in the women's singles final at Wimbledon.
Novak Djokovic wins the Wimbledon men's singles title for the fourth time, beating Kevin Anderson in the final, 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7-3).
Naomi Osaka wins the women’s singles title at the US Open, defeating Serena Williams 6-2, 6-4 in the final. During their match Serena Williams receives a code violation for coaching, a penalty point for racquet abuse and a game penalty for calling the umpire a "liar" and a "thief".
Novak Djokovic defeats Juan Martin del Potro in the men's singles final, 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.

Winter Olympics: Russia is banned from competing in the Winter Olympics over proven state-sponsored doping during the previous Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014. Despite this, 168 Russian athletes, all of whom had to demonstrate that they were 'clean' before the Games, compete in Pyeongchang as Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR). The OAR team wins 17 medals, including two golds, though two of the athletes - Russian bobsleigh pilot Nadezhda Sergeeva and curler Alexander Krushelnitsky - fail doping tests.
Great Britain's Lizzy Yarnold defends her Winter Olympic title with a gold medal in the women's skeleton. British skater Elise Christie, who was disqualified in all three of her events at the 2014 Winter Olympics, comes home without a medal again. She falls in the 500m final and the 1,500m semi-final and is disqualified in her 1,000m short track heat.

Rugby Union: Ireland win the Six Nations Championship, completing the 'Grand Slam' in style by beating England 24-15 at Twickenham on St. Patrick's Day..

Rowing: the University of Cambridge crew beats Oxford by three lengths in the 164th men's University Boat Race. Cambridge also win the women's race.

Horse Racing: Native River, ridden by champion jockey Richard Johnson, wins the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Tiger Roll, ridden by Davy Russell, wins the Grand National, beating Pleasant Company by a head in a photo finish.

Boxing: Anthony Joshua beats Joseph Parker on points to add the WBO world heavyweight belt to his WBA and IBF titles.
The WBC heavyweight fight in Los Angeles between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury ends in a draw.

Golf: Patrick Reed wins the Masters, finishing on 15 under par for the tournament, 1 shot ahead of compatriot Rickie Fowler.
Brooks Koepka defends his US Open title with a one-shot victory over Tommy Fleetwood at Shinnecock Hills. In the final round Fleetwood shoots a seven-under-par 63 - the joint lowest round in US Open history. Koepka also wins the US PGA Championship, holding off a challenge from Tiger Woods to win by two shots and become the first man since Woods in 2000 to win the US Open and US PGA in the same season..
Francesco Molinari wins The Open Championship at Carnoustie, ending the tournament on eight under, two clear of Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Kevin Kisner and Xander Schauffele.
Europe beat the United States by seven points (17½-10½) to regain the Ryder Cup.

Football: Manchester City win the Premier League title for the third time in seven years, setting records of 18 consecutive wins and 32 wins in total on their way to the title. City amass a record 100 points and 106 goals as they win the title by 19 points from nearest challengers Manchester United.
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah breaks the record for the most goals scored in a 38-game Premier League season, scoring his 32nd goal in a match against Brighton & Hove Albion on 13th May.
Chelsea win the FA Cup. A first-half penalty shot in the final by Eden Hazard earns the team a 1-0 victory over Manchester United.
Arsene Wenger leaves Arsenal after 22 years as manager. He is succeeded by Unai Emery.
Real Madrid beat Liverpool 3-1 to win the Champions League for the third year in a row.
France win the World Cup for the second time, besting Croatia 4-2 in the final.
Wayne Rooney makes his farewell appearance for England in a friendly match against the United States at Wembley on 15th November.
After starting the 2018–19 season with just seven wins in the first 17 Premier League games, José Mourinho is sacked as manager of Manchester United on 18th December.

Cycling: Geraint Thomas wins the Tour de France. Four-time Tour champion Chris Froome finishes third.

Swimming: Adam Peaty wins the 4x100m mixed medley, the 100m breaststroke and the 50m breaststroke titles at the European Championships. He breaks his own 100m breaststroke world record, setting a new fastest time of 57.00 seconds - 0.13 seconds quicker than his previous best time.

Motor Racing: Fernando Alonso and his Toyota team-mates Sebastian Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima win the Le Mans 24 Hours race. In August Alonso announces that he will retire from Formula 1 at the end of the season.
On 2nd September Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen sets the fastest lap in F1 history to take pole position at the Italian Grand Prix, his lap of one minute 19.119 seconds equating to an average of 163.793mph.
Lewis Hamilton wins the F1 World Drivers' Championship for the fifth time.

Man Booker Prize

Winner:
Anna Burns
Milkman

Esi Edugyan
Washington Black

Daisy Johnson
Everything Under

Rachel Kushner
The Mars Room

Richard Powers
The Overstory

Robin Robertson
The Long Take

Women's
Prize for Fiction

Kamila Shamsie
Home Fire