Major events that left their mark on 2018 (3)

ANKARA (AA) - Here are the main developments of the year day by day, and month by month:

-MARCH-

Mar. 1

- Record-setting cold weather continues to grip Europe.

Intense winter weather wreaks havoc on Europe as frigid temperatures, heavy snowfall, and icy roads create treacherous conditions. More than 35 people have died in Belgium, England, Scotland, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Spain, France and Germany in weather-related incidents.

- Leader of France's far-right National Front party, Marine Le Pen, formally charged over graphic tweets of Daesh violence she posted in 2015.

- US President Donald Trump says he would implement stiff new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

Mar. 2

- Two Greek soldiers were detained after crossing the border in northwest Turkey, inadvertently by their account.

- An Anadolu Agency photographer was injured by Israeli gunfire while covering clashes between Palestinian youth and Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.

- At least two people are killed after a gunman opens fire at a dormitory at Central Michigan University and the suspect remains at large.

- Prime Minister Theresa May conceded that the U.K. would have limited access to the single market once it leaves the EU.

Mar. 4

- Hollywood confronts itself and inequality at 90th Oscars

In what was one of the tightest Academy Awards contests in recent history, the 90th Oscars were defined in many ways by a Hollywood confronting its history of underrepresentation of women and minorities, as well as recent revelations of sexual abuse and misconduct by some of its most powerful elites.

Mar. 6

- All-woman international convoy starts its three-day journey in Istanbul to raise awareness of the suffering of women and young girls imprisoned by the Syrian regime.

- North Korea vows not to use nuclear weapons against South Korea.

- Russian military transport aircraft An-26 crashes in Syria while landing at the Hmeimim airport, killing all 39 people on board..

- Amazon's founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is the world's richest person with a mind-blowing $112 billion fortune in 2018, according to business magazine Fortune.

- Trump's top economic adviser departs the White House after clashing with the president over planned tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Mar. 7

- Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee announces plans to hold a meeting of the Palestinian National Council after a 22-year hiatus.

- UN’s human rights chief voices 'strong suspicions' that Myanmar’s ethnic Rohingya might be the victims of genocide and continued 'ethnic cleansing'.

- Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were 'targeted specifically' in suspected poisoning, says British police.

Mar. 8

- Turkish military and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) liberates Jinderes town center in Syria’s Afrin region from terrorists during Operation Olive Branch. The town was cleared of terrorists following fierce street fighting with terrorists.

- 11-country Trans-Pacific Partnership officially signed in Chile, representing $10 trillion of the global economy.

- Trump formally orders new tariffs on steel and aluminum imported into the U.S.

- Trump accepts North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's invitation to meet for de-nuclearization talks.

Mar. 10

- Two German journalists arrested in Greek forbidden military zone near the Turkish border.

Mar. 11

- Turkish mosque in Berlin set alight a day after the PYD/PKK terrorist group threatens to carry out more violence against Turkey.

Mar. 12

- Myanmar authorities building security force bases and bulldozing land where Rohingya villages were burned to the ground just months before.

Mar. 13

- Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi lifts ban on international flights to northern Iraq’s Kurdish region in place since September 2017, when the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) held an illegitimate referendum on regional independence.

Mar. 14

- Renowned scientist Stephen Hawking dies at the age of 76. He was best known for his work on black holes and his theory of relativity.

- Angela Merkel bags votes at the German parliament for her fourth term as the country’s chancellor to head a 'grand coalition' of conservative and center-left parties.

Mar. 18

- Turkish Armed Forces and Free Syrian Army take complete control of northwestern Syria's Afrin town 58 days after Turkey launches Operation Olive Branch to prevent the formation of a terror corridor along its southern borders with Syria.

Mar. 19

- Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark was attacked by four people with Molotov cocktails.

Mar. 20

- World’s last male northern white rhino named Sudan, 45, dies of old age-related complications at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in central Kenya.

- 23 Russian diplomats expelled from the U.K. over the poisoning of ex-Russian spy Skripal and his daughter.

- Two students injured after a gunman opens fire with a handgun at Great Mills High School in eastern Maryland.

Mar. 21

- People in Turkey’s northern province of Kastamonu, the 2018 Cultural Capital of the Turkic World, begin celebrating the Nevruz spring festival by lighting a symbolic fire signifying the joy of spring.

- Nearly 70 million U.S. East Coast residents are hit by Winter Storm Toby -- the fourth massive storm in less than three weeks -- as schools and federal buildings shut down and thousands of flights are canceled.

Mar. 22

- U.S. State Department spokesperson says the U.S. has no intention to leave Manbij despite Turkey’s pledge to clear YPG/PKK terrorists from the region in northern Syria.

- Shortly before being named the new U.S. national security advisor, John Bolton links terror group YPG in Syria to the PKK, a group that has taken over 40,000 lives in Turkey in a 30-year terror campaign.

Mar. 23

- Bashar al-Assad regime and its allies target a shelter in the Arbin town of Syria’s besieged Eastern Ghouta, burning at least 37 civilians -- mostly women and children -- to death.

Mar. 24

- Thousands urge gun control across U.S. and Canada. Heeding the call from high school students who survived a deadly school shooting, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in cities across the U.S. join The March For Our Lives protests, urging lawmakers to act on gun control.

- Syria’s Afrin region taken under 'complete' control as part of Turkish-led Operation Olive Branch, Turkish military announces.

Mar. 26

- Bosnian photojournalist Damir Sagolj’s striking shot of a dead boy, his eyes covered with leaves, chosen Photo of the Year 2018 in the Istanbul Photo Awards.

- Sudan and Qatar signs $4 billion agreement to develop former Ottoman port city of Suakin in northeastern Sudan.

Mar. 28

- River floodwaters deluge Edirne province in northwestern Turkey

After topping the flood plain, discharge from Tunca River jumps from 38 cubic meters per second to 308 per second within 24 hours, deluging bridges, cars, and historic areas.

Mar. 29

- Rioting and a fire in a police station in northern Venezuela's Valencia leaves at least 78 people dead amid an attempted jailbreak by inmates.

- U.S. will be leaving Syria 'very soon', says Trump.

Mar. 30

- Tens of thousands of Palestinians in blockaded Gaza Strip converge on the strip’s eastern border with Israel, where they are holding rallies reaffirming their right to return to their ancestral homes in historical Palestine.