Major events that left their mark on 2017 (5)

By Sibel Ugurlu, Nilay Kar and Ilker Girit

ANKARA (AA) - North Korea’s nuclear tests, referendums in Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and Catalonia, shooting at a concert in Las Vegas and the Rohingya crisis made headlines in September and October.

On Sept. 3, North Korea launched its sixth and biggest nuclear test since 2006.

An independence referendum, in which ‘yes’ vote won by 92.73 percent, was held in the KRG region although Federal Supreme Court of Iraq ruled it “unconstitutional”. The international community has widely rejected the poll results which followed in intervention by the forces of Iraqi central government.

Another unilateral independence referendum comes from Catalonia in Spain on Oct. 27. The attempt resulted in Madrid to take direct control of Catalonia.

On Oct. 1, Stephen Paddock opened fire on thousands attending a concert in Las Vegas from his room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino across the street, killing 59 people and injuring more than 500 before turning his gun on himself.

Over 656,000 Rohingya have so far crossed from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh after a military operation in which security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women and children, looted homes and torched Rohingya villages.

Mexico was struck by powerful earthquakes first on Sept. 8 and then on Sept. 19 near the capital, killing a total of 462 people and damaging thousands of buildings.

Here are some developments from September and October.

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 4

The Colombian government signs a ceasefire deal with ELN rebels in Ecuador's capital Quito.

Sept. 6

- The United Nations’ Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic confirms Assad regime used Sarin gas in Syria’s Khan Sheikhun region on April 4 and announces the regime committed war crimes as it used chemical weapon on civilians.

The commission also states that the U.S. airstrikes killed 38 civilians near al Jinah, west of Aleppo, on March 16.

Sept. 9

- The terror organization PYD/PKK conducts a U.S.-backed operation in then Daesh-held Deir-ez Zor in Syria.

- Mexican director Guillermo del Toro's romantic fantasy “The Shape of Water” wins the Golden Lion at the 74th Venice Film Festival.

Sept. 11

- Scientists manage to transform successfully human skin cells from healthy adults directly into motor neurons without going through a stem cell state.

Sept. 12

- The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopts a U.S. draft resolution, which limits refined petroleum exports and aims to prohibit the sale of natural gas to North Korea and to impose a ban on the country's textile exports.

- Hurricane Irma in Caribbean islands, Cuba and the U.S. state of Florida kills at least 134 people.

Sept. 13

- Singapore names Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of Parliament, as the country's first female president. She also becomes the world’s first head-scarf wearing president.

Sept. 14

-At least 59 people are killed and 96 others injured in Daesh twin attacks in southern Iraqi province of Dhi Qar.

Sept. 15

- Turkey, Iran and Russia agree on a "de-escalation" zone in Syria's northern Idlib province near Turkish border during the sixth round of talks in Kazakh capital of Astana.

- After 20 years in space, NASA's Cassini spacecraft completes its mission with death plunge into Saturn's atmosphere.

Sept. 18

- At least 15 people are killed and 43 others injured in a suicide attack carried out by Boko Haram militants in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno.

Sept. 19

- Bashar al-Assad forces carry out around 50 air strikes in more than 10 locations in Idlib, which is one of the four de-escalation zones. At least 11 civilians are killed and dozens of others injured in the strikes.

- Scientists manage to store light-based information as sound waves on a computer chip for the first time.

Sept. 20

- Spanish police raid Catalan regional government offices and arrest officials as part of an operation to halt an independence referendum.

Sept. 21

- Two asteroids orbiting each other between Mars and Jupiter are discovered in the solar system.

Sept. 22

- A team of astronomers suggest that the high-energy cosmic rays coming to the Earth may originate from beyond the Milky Way.

- At least 12 civilians are killed in 70 airstrikes in opposition-held northern Syrian province of Idlib.

Sept. 25

- An independence referendum is held in the KRG region although Federal Supreme Court of Iraq ruled it “unconstitutional”. According to the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG)’s official electoral commission, ‘yes’ vote wins by 92.73 percent in the illegitimate referendum in northern Iraq.

- 27 civilians are killed and 30 others wounded in airstrikes in Syria’s opposition-held Idlib, Hama and countryside of Latakia provinces.

Sept. 26

- The world’s second biggest diamond “Lesedi La Rona” -- which means "Our Light" in the Twsana language -- is sold for $53 million.

- The world's first unmanned and amphibious commercial aircraft is produced in China.

- Saudi Arabia issues a decree granting driving licenses for women and allowing them to drive.

Sept. 27

- Palestine joined the international police organization Interpol as a member state.

Sept. 28

- A study showed that intravenous stem cell infusion derived from umbilical cords can boost heart muscle function in patients with heart failure.

- A team of scientists from the Universities of Oxford and Exeter in the UK and the University of Munster in Germany develops photonic computer chips that imitate the way a brain’s synapses operate to process and store information.

Sept. 29

- At least 22 people are killed and 27 others injured during a rush-hour stampede at a train station in Mumbai.

- Researchers find the oldest evidence of a possible life on Earth with graphite -- a form of carbon compound -- in 3.95-billion-year-old rocks from the northern Labrador, Canada.

- At least 67 civilians are killed in several attacks in opposition-held “de-escalation zones” of Idlib and Eastern Ghouta in Syria.

OCTOBER

Oct. 1

- Spanish police and gendarme forces do not permit the independence referendum in Catalonia and raid voting centers.

- A law in Austria named as “burqa ban” prohibiting the public wearing of veils that cover the face comes into effect.

Oct. 2

- In the United States’ Las Vegas city Stephen Paddock fires on thousands attending a concert from his hotel room across the street, killing 58 people and injuring 525.

- Nobel medicine prize is awarded to three American scientists Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their discoveries of the microscopic biological machinery that controls the circadian rhythm, or the 24-hour body clock.

Oct. 4

- Yahoo says its 3 billion user accounts were hacked in a 2013 data breach.

Oct. 6

- The United States administration lifts 20-year-old economic sanctions on Sudan.

- The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway’s Oslo.

Oct. 9

- Wildfires in 17 different places in the state of California are not brought under control for a week. 40 people lost their lives in the fires.

Oct. 11

- In Vietnam, storms and heavy rains lead to floods in many areas. 68 people lose their lives and 34 people are missing.

Oct. 14

- A massive truck bombing in the Somali capital kills more than 400 people and injures hundreds more.

Oct. 15

- Kyrgyzstan’s Social Democratic Party nominee Sooronbay Jeenbekov wins the presidential election.

- The United Nations ends 13-year-old peacekeeping mission in Haiti.

Oct. 16

- More than 300 fires in central and northern Portugal kill 36 people and injure 63 others.

Oct. 17

- 41 people are killed and 158 others injured in Taliban attack on provincial police headquarters in Afghanistan’s southeastern Paktia.

Oct. 18

- Quebec National Assembly in Canada passes a law barring Muslim women to cover their faces in public places.

Oct. 20

- An invisible magnetic tail behind Mars shaped by sun winds is discovered.

- Andrej Babis, the billionaire businessman and leader of the ANO party wins general elections in the Czech Republic, getting 29.8 percent of votes.

- Suicide bombings in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul and western Ghor province kill at least 50 people.

Oct. 22

- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s governing Liberal Democratic Party and its allies win the majority of the seats in the lower house of Parliament after the snap general elections.

- The PKK/PYD terrorist group seizes control of Syria’s largest oil field in the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor after the Daesh terrorist group withdrew from it.

Oct. 23

- An estimated 603,000 Rohingya fleeing violence cross Myanmar's western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh since Aug. 25, according to the UN.

- About 411 members of the Boko Haram group are killed in an air campaign in the northeastern Borno State of Nigeria.

Oct. 24

- American engineers produce transparent and permeable solar energy cells that can function as glass.

Oct. 25

- A note that Albert Einstein gave to a courier in Tokyo in 1922, describing his recipe on happiness was sold at auction for $1.56 million in Jerusalem.

Oct. 26

- Dutch parties form a coalition government after 225 days of talks, a record in the country's history.

- Scientists in the U.S. create three-dimensional computer models of living human brain cells.

- Scientists discovered a new type of enzyme enabling directly and permanently change the single base pairs of DNA.

Oct. 27

- In a report to the UN Security Council, OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) finds the Syrian regime responsible for Khan Sheikhun chemical attack on April 4.

Oct. 30

- Saudi Arabia allows women to enter three stadiums in the country from 2018.