2015 Event H.J. Heinz Co and Kraft Foods Group Inc. will merge to form the third-largest global food company, Kraft Heinz Co.; the merger will be financed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and Jorge Paulo Lemann's 3G Capital 2014 Event The U.N. issues a report concluding that immediate global actions are needed to prevent runaway impacts of climate change; the report claims failure to act now will result in extensive future damage which will be prohibitively expensive to control 2014 Event Burger King Worldwide Inc. will purchase Canadian restaurant chain Tim Hortons Inc. and move its headquarters to Canada; Burger King will pay a little over $11 billion in U.S. dollars, and the merger will create the third-largest global fast food company 2014 Event While the world economy is growing, forecasts have been reduced due to weak global investment spending and risks to U.S. growth stemming from potential Federal Reserve attempts to end stimulus efforts 2014 Event The CEO of BlackBerry Ltd. will be refocusing its business on software and services in an effort to turn around the company; once a leader in the smartphone market, the company's products now account for less than 1% of global market share 2014 Event G-20 nations discuss ending stimulus efforts in economically advanced nations while planning ways to increase global trade and employment opportunities to achieve global GDP growth 2014 Event The World Bank global forecast predicts an increase in growth to 3.2 percent, from 2.4 percent in 2013 2013 Event At a World Trade Organization meeting, a trade agreement called the Bali Package is reached; the agreement will lower global trade barriers and will simplify trade deals to better enable poorer states in Bali, Indonesia to sell their goods 2013 Event A meeting between Pope Francis and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, is held at the Vatican; discussions include Iran's nuclear program among other global affairs 2013 Event A $3.4 billion takeover bid by American global food-processing giant Archer Daniels Midland for GrainCorp, an Australian agribusiness, is rejected by Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey 2013 Event The U.S. issues a global travel alert, claiming Al Qaeda and terrorist organizations may be planning an attack between now and the end of August 2013 Event Pope Francis condemns the 'global indifference' to the plight of immigrants who have drowned trying to reach Europe; he honors them in a mass held on Lampedusa, the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea 2013 Event James Hansen, a top scientist and professor from NASA, retires in order to concentrate on global warming activism 2013 Event The Arms Trade Treaty, the first-ever bill to regulate the global trade in conventional weapons, is passed by the U.N. General Assembly 2012 Event Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi and Thein Sein are listed first on 'Foreign Policy' magazine's 2012 Top 100 Global Thinkers 2012 Event A novel corona virus found in a Qatari man returning from Saudi Arabia is investigated by the World Health Organization, prompting the announcement of a global alert 2012 Event Deutsche Bank, the German global financial services company, announces plans to cut 1,900 jobs 2012 Event Scientists reveal new research identifying a mechanism by which Earth-warming carbon is pulled deep into the Southern Ocean, and locked away; scientists claim this process may be threatened by global warming 2011 Event John Corzine, former CEO of MG Global, testifies before a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, stating he doesn't know where hundreds of millions of dollars of his customers' money has gone 2011 Event John Corzine, former Governor of New Jersey, is issued a subpoena over the collapse of MF Global and disappearance of customer funds 2011 Event Part of the Prompt Global Strike program, a U.S. hypersonic weapon system undergoes a successful test, proving capable of striking targets 3,700 kilometres (2,300 miles) away in under 30 minutes 2011 Event For the second day in a row, global stock markets fall as fears of a deepening economic crisis continue 2011 Event The U.S. credit rating is downgraded from A+ to A by the Chinese Dagong Global Credit Rating 2011 Event The U.S. Department of State issues a global travel alert to all U.S. citizens, warning of enhanced potential for anti-American violence 2010 Event Christina Figueres of Costa Rica is appointed by U.N. Secretary - General Ban Ki Moon to lead efforts to combat global warming and climate change 2009 Event U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Danish hosts urged countries to agree on a new U. N. pact aimed at averting climate change and global warming 2009 Event The "swine flu", the H1N1 influenza strain is the first condition deemed a global pandemic since the Hong Kong flu of 1967 - 1968 2008 Event Iceland takes control of 3 banks due to the global financial crisis 1994 Death Elga Andersen, German/French model/actress (Global Affair), dies at 58 1988 Event Amnesty International's Global Concert Tour ends in Buenos Aires 1986 Event UN's WHO announces 1st global effort to combat AIDS 1978 Event U.S. launches Pioneer Venus 1; produces 1st global radar map of Venus 1973 Birthday Larry Page, born in East Lansing, Michigan, computer scientist, Google co-founder, named a Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum 1954 Birthday Jeffrey Sachs, born in Detroit, Michigan, Jeffrey David Sachs, economist, founder, co-President of the Millennium Promise Alliance to end extreme poverty and hunger, Senior Advisor to the Global Poverty Project
