Election grips U.S.; wars continue in Middle East, Ukraine; Boeing investigated

Dec. 13 (UPI) — The United States navigated an election of unprecedented stakes as wars raged on in the Middle East and Ukraine and a major airplane manufacturer became embroiled in investigations over safety and transparency in 2024.

The war in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas passed the one-year mark, expanding into a conflict involving Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Ukraine continues its defense against Russian invasion for a third year with North Korean troops becoming directly involved in recent months.

All the while, the United States’ role in both conflicts and even more world issues was among the considerations of voters as they cast ballots in the general election. Donald Trump, convicted on felony counts earlier in the year, won the election, granting him a path to cast aside multiple criminal cases against him in a return to the White House.

Here are the top stories of 2024.

U.S. Election

A crowded Republican primary quickly whittled down to nominate Trump as the party’s candidate for president, setting up a rematch of 2020 with President Joe Biden. Meanwhile, Trump faced federal criminal trials in Florida and Washington as well as state criminal trials in New York and Georgia.

The cases against Trump largely stayed on hold in the early months of 2024 as the U.S. Supreme Court mulled the former president’s claims of broad presidential immunity. Out of four trials that were slated to begin throughout the year, only one yielded actual proceedings in earnest.

Trump faced trial in New York and was convicted on 34 counts of business fraud for falsifying documents to cover up hush money payments he made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Daniels and Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen were star witnesses in the trial.

After the verdict came down, Trump was slated to be sentenced in July. New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan pushed sentencing back as Trump was campaigning for the presidency. He continued to push the date back until after the election before putting it on indefinite hold in November so he could consider a motion for dismissal.

Trump also attempted to oust Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the case against him for conspiracy to subvert the results of the 2020 election.

A hearing was held over a motion by one of Trump’s co-defendants to remove Willis, alleging she and lead prosecutor Nathan Wade had a conflict of interest because of a romantic relationship they were previously involved in. Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled to allow Willis to stay on the case under the condition that Wade resigned.

In Florida, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case against Trump over charges of improperly retaining and mishandling classified documents, including national security secrets. Cannon, a Trump-appointed judge, cited the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith to the case, ruling that it violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.

Smith appealed the decision.

In Washington, the case against Trump for his role in attempting to overturn the election results and inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot remained at a standstill most of the year. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan paused the trial, awaiting the Supreme Court’s immunity decision. Ultimately, she agreed to dismiss the indictment without prejudice, leaving the door open to try the case after Trump leaves office.

While Trump’s cases were up in the air, an unusually early presidential debate set the stage for an unprecedented change in candidates for the Democratic Party. On June 27, Trump and Biden met on the debate stage in Atlanta.

Trump spent his time avoiding questions, spreading falsehoods and downplaying his role in the Capitol riot. However, it was Biden’s hoarse performance that led to a shakeup. Less than a month later, Biden ended his campaign for re-election.

Biden gave Vice President Kamala Harris his endorsement to take up the torch for the Democratic nomination. Weeks after Biden stepped aside, it became clear that the party supported Harris’ bid. On Aug. 22, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Harris formally accepted the nomination.

On July 13, two days before Trump accepted the Republican nomination, he was wounded in a botched assassination attempt during a Pennsylvania rally. Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, fired multiple shots while Trump was on stage, killing one rally-goer and wounding two others spectators.

On Sept. 15, a second assassination attempt was thwarted outside Trump International Golf Club. A Secret Service agent spotted 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh hiding in the trees outside the golf course. Agents saw a rifle barrel protruding from the trees and fired at Routh, who then fled. He allegedly had a list of venues and dates for Trump’s public appearances and planned to assassinate him.

Routh pleaded not guilty to five federal charges for attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate.

Harris and Trump met for one debate on Sept. 10, in Philadelphia. Harris, who was running an abbreviated campaign — beginning 107 days before the election — used the stage to lay out her policy vision to a large television audience. Trump’s talking points were focused on conspiracy theories about immigrants eating dogs and cats and false claims about abortions being performed after birth.

On Nov. 5, despite a criminal conviction and two alarming debate performances, Trump was elected to a second term as president, making him the oldest person elected president in U.S. history.

Trump captured 312 electoral college votes, sweeping the battleground states that he lost in 2020. He also won the popular vote by the narrowest margin in a presidential election, receiving less than 50% of the vote.

War in Gaza

The war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel continued to claim civilian lives as the Gaza Strip was ravaged by airstrikes from the Israeli Defense Force. On Jan. 7, the Gaza Health Ministry said nearly 23,000 people had been killed and another 58,416 injured.

As of Nov. 21, those numbers climbed to 44,056 killed and 104,268 injured.

Israel has continued to press for the release of hostages taken captive by Hamas, procuring piecemeal agreements for some of them to be released. More than 100 hostages have been released and more than 100 remain in captivity.

The military operations by Israel have killed multiple Hamas leaders throughout the year. Hamas military leader Mohammad Deif was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in August. Deif is said to be responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.

Yahya Sinwar, whom the IDF also claimed was the “mastermind” of Hamas’ attack on Israel, was killed during a ground operation in southern Gaza in October. Sinwar replaced another Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, after he was killed in July.

Israel received international criticism for attacking civilian infrastructure and pushing Palestinians from their homes into a compact portion of southern Gaza. The displacement of nearly 2 million people, or about nine in 10 Palestinians, ignited subsequent humanitarian crises.

On March 1, the United Nations reported that 10 children died of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza. The U.N. World Health Organization warned of food insecurity, saying that there were likely more dying of starvation that were not reported.

Humanitarian organizations reported to the U.N. Security Council that Israeli Defense Force attacks have targeted hospitals and humanitarian aid convoys in a systematic effort. Water supply and electricity had also been cut off by IDF attacks.

The World Central Kitchen is among those to send aid to Palestinians in Gaza. However it temporarily halted its operations in the region after seven of its workers were killed in an IDF airstrike. CEO Erin Gore called the attack “unforgivable.”

Gaza has faced a public health crisis as well. The ongoing conflict interrupted the drive to vaccinate Palestinian children for polio, leading to the first confirmed case in the region in 25 years. The World Health Organization warned that the destruction of critical infrastructure and forcing more than 2 million Palestinians into a small region created a “breeding ground” for polio to spread.

U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed that the United States was preparing to send aid to Gaza in early March. Other countries in the Middle East such as Jordan had already begun sending aid.

Public pressure in the United States and abroad was mounting in calls for a cease-fire and condemnation of Israel’s military operations in Gaza. College campuses became the epicenter of clashes over the conflict.

The University of Southern California canceled its graduation ceremony over protesting on campus. Some universities moved to online classes.

Columbia University in New York was the site of one of the largest encampments of pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Demonstrators at Columbia called for the university to completely end any relationship with Israeli academic institutions and divest from all pro-Israel entities.

On April 18, police descended upon the encampment and arrested more than 100 protesters. Some demonstrators were beaten and pepper sprayed during a violent clash with law enforcement officers and counter-protesters.

Dozens more universities dispatched law enforcement to tear down encampments and disperse demonstrators.

Republicans in Congress pressured universities to squelch demonstrations in support of Palestinians, bringing college leaders to Capitol Hill to testify. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce held five hearings about anti-Semitism on college campuses over the course of seven months. Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx characterized pro-Palestinian demonstrators as being “pro-terror,” “anti-Semitic” and “anti-Jewish.”

Demonstrators chided U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken as a “war criminal” during Senate committee hearings on the Department of State’s budget weeks after he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Blinken met with Netanyahu to discuss a cease-fire in the war.

Netanyahu said in June that there will be no permanent cease-fire until Hamas is destroyed and all of its hostages are freed. It is a position he has maintained since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas.

As Israel’s offensive in Gaza has continued, the United States has increased its calls for assistance to Gaza and for Israel to change its tactics and make efforts to improve the conditions for Palestinians. In October, the United States announced a $135 million aid package for Palestinians to contribute to clean water, sanitation and maternal health support.

In total, the United States has provided about $1.2 billion in humanitarian assistance to the region since the start of the conflict.

The United States has also given military support to Israel, something it has done for decades. In April, Biden signed a bill to approve $26 billion in new military aid for Israel. The package also included $60 billion in aid for Ukraine and $8 billion for Taiwan.

In a letter to then-Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that the United States would halt military assistance to Israel if it did not come into compliance with international law on humanitarian assistance. They wrote that the IDF had denied or impeded 90% of humanitarian movements in Gaza in September and cut off critical aid to 400,000 people in northern Gaza.

The United States demanded that Israel allow at least 350 trucks delivering humanitarian assistance be allowed into Gaza each day in preparation for the winter. On Nov. 13, the U.S. State Department announced that Israel substantially met its demands to improve the humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

War in Ukraine

Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion entered its third year with more bloodshed on New Year’s Day and the death and destruction continued throughout the year. North Korea and Iran have become more involved in their support of Russia with Ukraine encountering North Korean soldiers on the battlefield.

On New Year’s Day, Russia launched 90 Shahed drones at Ukraine, killing a 15-year-old boy in the Odesa region. The drones spread about multiple regions in Ukraine including Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzia, targeting residential areas. The Ukrainian military reported that its air defenses worked on all fronts and brought down 87 drones.

Days later, Russia launched a large-scale missile attack using 40 different types of aerial weapons. More than half of the missiles failed to reach their intended targets and Ukraine thwarted the rest. It then took down two Russian command-control aircraft, one of which being a key surveillance platform, according to air defense specialist Justin Bronk.

The Ukrainian Air Force understood the failing of Russia’s missile attack as an indication that the quality of its weapons was declining. This observation came with a warning that Russia’s efforts still posed a substantial threat.

Russia continued to launch aerial attacks, targeting infrastructure and civilians. In April, it launched aerial strikes targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Eighty-two missiles and drones were launched in an overnight attack. Ukraine shot down 57, including 10 missiles that were targeting Kharkiv.

The Trypillia Thermal Power Plant south of the capital city Kyiv was among the targets. It was destroyed in the attack, losing all capacity to generate electricity. The plant was the main provider of electricity to Kyiv and the Zhytomyr and Cherkasy provinces.

Infrastructure may have bore the brunt of many of Russia’s offensives but there was also bloodshed. On July 8, a Russian missile strike killed 37 people and injured more than 170 in what was one of the deadliest attacks in months at that point.

More than 40 missiles were launched, targeting Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Slovyansk and Kramatorsk. They struck residential complexes and a children’s hospital east of Kyiv.

“This is horror and genocide! More than a hundred rescuers are sifting through the debris in the children’s hospital, which was targeted by an enemy rocket,” said Vitali Klitschko, mayor of Kyiv, in a post on social media. “Patients from the children’s hospital are being evacuated to the municipal hospital in the city.”

In November, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that his military attacked a Ukrainian aerospace plant with an experimental hypersonic missile. It was the first use of a nuclear-capable weapon in the war with Ukraine.

Putin said that the use of the missile was in response to NATO’s “aggressive actions against Russia.”

At the start of the year, NATO announced a $5.5 billion deal to purchase about 1,000 Patriot air defense systems to be supplied to Ukraine. Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain agreed to acquire these defense systems for Ukraine.

The contribution to Ukraine’s defense was part of NATO’s continuing support for a country vying for membership. It also agreed to coordinate security assistance, training and donations of military equipment to Ukraine. In total, NATO members have pledged more than $44 billion in military assistance to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remained persistent about his hope for full membership into NATO. During a visit to Ukraine in October, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte assured Zelensky that Ukraine is closer to joining NATO than ever before.

Zelensky has said he believes NATO membership would bring about an end to the war. He would require that Ukrainian territory taken by Russia be ceded back and recognized as part of the membership. NATO has not extended an official proposal for Ukraine to become a member.

The United States continued its contributions to Ukraine in 2024, announcing a $1.7 billion assistance package in July. The package for lethal assistance included additions to Ukraine’s air defense, anti-tank weapons, artillery ammunition, demolitions equipment and small arms. In December, the U.S. Department of Defense announced a $725 million package for Ukraine to include artillery, rockets and more air defense equipment.

“The president has directed the Department of Defense to deliver the material to Ukraine rapidly — to ensure that Ukraine has the equipment it needs to defend itself,” said Jake Sullivan, national security adviser. “Between now and mid-January, we will deliver hundreds of thousands of additional artillery rounds, thousands of additional rockets, and other critical capabilities to help Ukraine defend its freedom and independence.”

Sullivan made a surprise trip to Kyiv earlier in the year in a show of support for Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president made several changes to leadership and advisers in 2024, first in firing his armed forces Commander in Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi in February. Colonel-General Oleksander Syrskyi was named his replacement. Zelensky made the change after the progress of his military’s counteroffensive slowed.

Zelensky later removed several advisors, including a longtime friend and business partner Serhiy Shefir. Shefir was the First Assistant to the President and had known Zelensky for decades.

Boeing plane malfunction sparks investigation

A malfunction on a Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft on Jan. 5, put the manufacturer in the spotlight, sparking questions of safety and transparency.

Passengers on an Alaska Airlines Flight from Portland, Ore., heard a loud boom and felt a gust of wind after takeoff. Part of the fuselage fell off of the plane, forcing an emergency landing back to Portland International Airport. A door plug — a panel that is placed where an optional emergency exit can be installed later — flew off of the craft and landed in the backyard of a Portland-area resident.

The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded 18 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft for inspection before putting them back into services.

The National Transportation Safety Board found the door plug days later. In its initial analysis, it found there were four bolts missing that were intended to keep the aircraft door from falling off. At that point it did not establish who was at fault, but records showed that employees of Spirit AeroSystems replaced damaged rivets in September 2023 at Boeing’s Renton, Wash., facility.

A month after the report was published, the NTSB reported to the Senate Committee on Commerce Science and Transportation that Boeing overwrote security camera footage relevant to its investigation of the door plug. Boeing explained that it does not keep security footage beyond 30 days. It was more than 60 days since the incident at this point, and months longer since the door plug was worked on.

On March 9, days before the letter to the Senate committee, a former Boeing employee who raised concerns about the quality control of another Boeing aircraft — the 787 Dreamliner — was found dead of an apparent suicide.

John Barnett was an employee of Boeing for 32 years, serving as a quality manager for the 787 Dreamliner production line until retiring in 2017. In 2019, he sounded the alarm on concerns about the aircraft’s production.

The week before his death he was questioned in a defamation suit against the company. The suit claimed Boeing overworked employees at its South Carolina plant and often installed faulty parts on the 787 Dreamliner aircrafts.

By March, several Boeing passenger airliners had experienced emergencies during takeoff.

Along with the door plug incident in Oregon, a Boeing 737-8 Max landing in Newark, N.J., experienced stuck rudder pedals, a tire fell from a Boeing 777-200 while taking off from San Francisco International Airport, a “technical event” caused a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to drop about 300 feet mid flight from Sydney to Chile and a Boeing 777 blew a tire while landing at Los Angeles International Airport.

The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into the Jan. 5 incident with the Alaska Airlines flight in early March.

On March 21, it was reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigations had sent letters to all 171 passengers of the Jan. 5 flight to inform them they were being treated as possible victims of a crime.

In April, a pair of whistleblowers testified to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that Boeing is producing unsafe aircraft and not being transparent about the risks. Whistleblower and Boeing engineer Sam Salephour described Boeing as having a “broken safety culture.”

“They are putting out defective airplanes,” Salephour told the subcommittee. “I have serious concerns about the safety of the 787 and 777 aircraft and I’m willing to take on professional risk to talk about them.”

Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun appeared before the same Senate subcommittee in June, facing sharp criticism from both sides of the political aisle.

“I apologize for the grief we have caused,” Calhoun said. “We are focused on safety.”

Senators told Calhoun they believed he and Boeing attempted to shift blame and focused more on profits while continuing to fall short in the focus on quality and safety. Calhoun admitted that Boeing has retaliated against whistleblowers, though he did not share how many employees the company has fired.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., recalled the death of Barnett, sharing that Barnett’s supervisor at Boeing was calling him 20 times a day and said, “I’m going to push you until you break.”

“He broke,” Blumenthal said.

Calhoun had agreed to step down by the end of the year. The Boeing board of directors chose Robert Kelly Ortberg as its new CEO in July. He is a former president and CEO of Rockwell Collins, an avionics and information technology service provider for aircraft manufacturers and the government based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

On July 1, Boeing agreed to acquire Spirit AeroSystems in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $4.7 billion. Spirit AeroSystems supplies parts for the Boeing 737 Max.

The following week, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to defraud the government. This charge was in connection to two crashes of 737 Max jets over the course of six months in 2018 and 2019, killing nearly 350 people.

More than 30,000 Boeing employees went on strike in September after rejecting a contract proposal, with 94.6% of members of the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers voting against the deal. Ninety-six percent voted in favor of striking.

The strike lasted more than a month before the union members approved a ratified contract.

Amid strife with its workers and concerns about its safety practices, Boeing lost $6.7 billion in the third quarter. Ortberg called for a “reset” of the company, saying it was implementing changes.

The company also undertook massive layoffs throughout the fall, cutting more than 10% of its workforce as more than 30,000 employees returned from the strike.