Fighting breaks out across Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. January 12 – Deep Impact is launched from Cape Canaveral with the purpose of studying the comet Tempel 1. June 24 – The Supreme Court rules that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion, thus overruling the 1973 case Roe v. September 8 – Elizabeth II, the longest reigning British monarch and longest reigning female monarch dies, and is succeeded by Charles III, her eldest child. Because of sex-selective abortion, fewer girls have been born in the 21st century (and since the early 1980s) compared to past centuries, mostly because of son preference in East and South Asia.

The key question within the black community involves the unfolding relationship between material success and attachment to the American polity. million unassociated passwords (unsalted SHA-1 hashes) had been stolen by attackers and posted onto a Russian hacker forum.This is the first case of a NATO member destroying a Russian aircraft since the attack on the Sui-ho Dam (during the Korean War). The International Court of Justice rules that the United States violated its Treaty of Amity with Iran when it allowed its domestic courts to freeze assets held by Iranian companies. S. Treasury Department announces an ease of certain oil, gas, and gold sanctions on Venezuela following the Venezuelan government and opposition's agreement to conduct elections.

Climate change remains a serious concern; UN Chief António Guterres, for instance, has described it as an " existential threat" to humanity. In a statement published in November the same year, the hotel giant said: “On September 8, 2018, Marriott received an alert from an internal security tool regarding an attempt to access the Starwood guest reservation database.

Advances in technology such as ultrasound, prenatal genetic testing and genetic engineering are modifying the demographics and has the potential to change the genetic makeup of the human population. But the converse belief–that Congress should not limit affirmative action–received considerable support only from African Americans.