What was the biggest news story of 2023?

[SnowLabrador]

In my mind, it was probably the Israel-Hamas war. What do you all think?

[2952-0-0]

The purges within the CCP didn't get nearly as much attention as they deserve. I don't think it definitively answers the question, but it's certainly the most underrated story.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I'd say Israel-Hamas without a doubt. Followed by the migrant crisis at the border. Otherwise, I can't think of many BIG stories. The Ukraine has bogged down into a stalemate. The primaries on both sides are pretty much going as expected. There hasn't been much drama in Britain since Sunak took over. North Korea has been pretty quiet. No race riots in America, the mass shootings are getting less and less shocking, inflation and abortion are old news, etc, etc.

[Vosem]

As every year, the best answers to this question come from Quanta.

[CumbrianLefty]

I'd say Israel-Hamas without a doubt. Followed by the migrant crisis at the border. Otherwise, I can't think of many BIG stories. The Ukraine has bogged down into a stalemate. The primaries on both sides are pretty much going as expected. There hasn't been much drama in Britain since Sunak took over. North Korea has been pretty quiet. No race riots in America, the mass shootings are getting less and less shocking, inflation and abortion are old news, etc, etc.

Depends very much on what you mean by "drama".

[Meclazine for Israel]

October 7.

Plenty of changes yet to come following that date. It's the day the Israeli's said "OK, that's enough".

[wnwnwn]

October 7, surely.
After that, Milei's victory.

[Meclazine for Israel]

According to Facebook, the biggest news story of the year was the ball girl who got hit in the neck in Paris at the French Open.

2023 French Open

Ball Girl Struck

https://youtu.be/wYJODLjDfgw?feature=shared

[Blue3]

I'd say Israel-Hamas without a doubt. Followed by the migrant crisis at the border. Otherwise, I can't think of many BIG stories. The Ukraine has bogged down into a stalemate. The primaries on both sides are pretty much going as expected. There hasn't been much drama in Britain since Sunak took over. North Korea has been pretty quiet. No race riots in America, the mass shootings are getting less and less shocking, inflation and abortion are old news, etc, etc.

I never even heard a single news story about a border crisis this year, just a homeless migrant problem in a neighboring state. I really only hear it when Republicans talk about it being a huge problem, and never in non-online life. It really seems like astroturfed, manufactured crisis to me. Not even the local Republicans or other conservatives here ever talk about it.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I'd say Israel-Hamas without a doubt. Followed by the migrant crisis at the border. Otherwise, I can't think of many BIG stories. The Ukraine has bogged down into a stalemate. The primaries on both sides are pretty much going as expected. There hasn't been much drama in Britain since Sunak took over. North Korea has been pretty quiet. No race riots in America, the mass shootings are getting less and less shocking, inflation and abortion are old news, etc, etc.

I broadly agree with this.

[CumbrianLefty]

October 7.

Plenty of changes yet to come following that date. It's the day the Israeli's said "OK, that's enough".

And next year could be the one where Israel's friends and allies tell them "OK, that's enough".

[Lord Halifax]

October 7.

Plenty of changes yet to come following that date. It's the day the Israeli's said "OK, that's enough".

And next year could be the one where Israel's friends and allies tell them "OK, that's enough".

no need for the plural, Israel only a one friend and ally that matters.

[Vosem]

October 7.

Plenty of changes yet to come following that date. It's the day the Israeli's said "OK, that's enough".

And next year could be the one where Israel's friends and allies tell them "OK, that's enough".

Could also be the year the Singularity shows up!

[Progressive Pessimist]

The Israel-Hamas conflict by far.

Prior to that it was probably Trump's legal troubles.

[morgieb]

Israel-Palestine war is the clear answer.

Taking that out of the equation....maybe the Titanic submersible implosion? Was a big talking point for a month at least.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

The Russia-Ukraine War

[CumbrianLefty]

Could also be the year the Singularity shows up!

I really wish I possessed your ironclad self-confidence that you are totally right about everything.

[Vosem]

Could also be the year the Singularity shows up!

I really wish I possessed your ironclad self-confidence that you are totally right about everything.

You are perhaps missing the context that a substantial number of people do think that AGI is coming next year; among people betting on the question 25% say that it will arrive before 2026.

In both houses of the US Congress, both parties are led by men -- Johnson, Schumer, McConnell, and Jeffries -- that have repeatedly voiced support for large increases in funding to the Israeli war effort, and the reason this has not happened yet is purely because of an unrelated dispute about border security funding. The idea that the US might not be very supportive of Israel in 20 years is not an insane one: I think there are many problems with the mechanisms that people who predict this suggest, but fundamentally "opinion of a foreign country" is a question on which people everywhere are given to large swings in response to events. But the idea that US governance will shift next year, when we know exactly who will be making the decisions, is motivated by the same kind of wishful thinking as people who think the Singularity will appear next year.

[Mr. Matt]

I would add to the list (though definitely not the biggest story of the year which is Israel/Hamas) the Hollywood strikes affecting the entertainment industry this year and the Canada wildfires of June sending a lot of the US smoke.

[DavidB.]

After October 7 it must actually be the Ukraine war deadlock / failed counteroffensive. Runners-up are Milei's election, the earthquake in Turkey and the failed coup in Russia.

[JGibson]

Gaza/Israel Conflict (Israel/Hamas War) gets my vote. Trump's legal troubles come close.

[President Johnson]

The Israel-Gaza conflict and October 7 attack.