2018 Arizona's 8th congressional district special election, Background
It was initially thought that Arizona's resign-to-run law would have required sitting members of the Arizona Legislature to resign their seats in order to run in the special election. Arizona's resign-to-run law does not require someone to resign if they file to run when they are in the final year of their term. However, the deadline to submit nominating petitions will be January 10 and the end of the current term for members of the Arizona Legislature is January 14, 2019. However, legal advice from the legislature's nonpartisan counsel stated that any incumbent state legislator would not be required to give up his or her seat in order to run in the special election.


2018 Arizona's 8th congressional district special election, Republican primary
Two of the major candidates in the Republican primary drew controversy late in the campaign. Former state senator Steve Montenegro faced calls to withdraw, including by former Governor Jan Brewer, after news articles revealing sexually suggestive text messages between Montenegro and a legislative staffer surfaced. Additionally, complaints were filed against former state senator Debbie Lesko over her campaign finance records.


2018 Arizona's 8th congressional district special election, Green primary, Candidates, Declared
Each candidate received 13 write-in votes in the primary. Neither was placed on the special election ballot.


2018 Arizona's 8th congressional district special election, Libertarian primary, Candidates, Declared
The candidate received 22 write-in votes in the primary and was not placed on the special election ballot.


2018 Arizona's 8th congressional district special election, General election
Republican candidate Debbie Lesko received over $1 million in funding from Republican groups outside the state.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team
The 2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team (variously the OmaHogs or the Diamond Hogs) represented the University of Arkansas in baseball at the Division I level in the NCAA for the 2018 NCAA Division I baseball season. They played their home games at Baum Stadium and are coached by Dave van Horn. They finished as the national runner-up after falling to Oregon State in three games at the 2018 College World Series.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
First inning — The Gators started the game in the field; Florida pitcher Brady Singer started on the mound. Casey Martin achieved the Hogs' first hit with a single to left field. Third to bat for Arkansas was Heston Kjerstad, who flew out to right field, but advanced Martin to second in the process. Arkansas' fourth hitter was designated hitter Luke Bonfield, who, on the at bat's tenth pitch, singled to center field, scoring Martin to make it 1–0 Hogs.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
Isaiah Campbell started on the mound for the Hogs. Florida's Deacon Liput flew out to short to begin the inning; Nelson Maldonado grounded out to first two pitches later. Third in the lineup for the Gators was third baseman Jonathan India, who struck out after chasing a 2–2 pitch outside, ending the inning. Arkansas 1, Florida 0


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
Second inning — Carson Shaddy and Jared Gates both grounded out to give Florida a quick two outs. Catcher Grant Koch walked on a 3–2 pitch, and advanced to second on a Jax Biggers single to right field. On the next pitch, Eric Cole, the Hogs' first hitter, grounded to first for the third out.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
Isaiah Campbell retired three straight batters in the bottom of the second with three strikeouts in a row, putting him at four on the night and ending the inning. Arkansas 1, Florida 0


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
Third inning — Casey Martin delivered his second hit of the game to start the third, a single to left. Heston Kjerstad got to first and advanced Martin to second on an error after Blake Reese dropped a grounder. Dominic Fletcher batted in Arkansas' second RBI with a single to right, advancing Kjerstad to third. Carson Shaddy struck out and Jared Gates grounded out to end the top of the 3rd.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
Second baseman Blake Reese flew out to start the inning for the Gators. Campbell struck out Brady Smith for the second out and Nick Horvath for the third, ending the inning and putting his tally at six. Arkansas 2, Florida 0


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
Fourth inning — Grant Koch flew out to short to begin the fourth inning. Jax Biggers followed by flying out to left field for the second out, and Eric Cole grounded out to short, quickly ending the inning for the Gators defense.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
Deacon Liput was first up for Florida in the fourth; his fly ball to center was the first time the Gators had left the infield on a swing. Maldonado grounded to short for the second out, and Jonathan India popped up to first for the third. Arkansas 2, Florida 0


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
Fifth inning — Arkansas' Casey Martin became 3-for-3 with a double to left field. Kjerstad was next up; his groundout to first advanced Martin to third. Luke Bonfield delivered the Hogs' third RBI on the next AB, and Dominic Fletcher followed that up with a solo home run to right field, the game's first.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
Florida's first hit came with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, as Austin Langworthy singled to center field. Campbell hit the next batter to put runners on first and second. Brady Smith, Florida's next hitter, gave the Gators their first RBI with a single to center, putting runners on the corners. Florida's second run came via a wild pitch, as Blake Reese came in to score from home. Campbell then struck out Nick Horvath, forcing the Gators to strand one runner and ending the inning. Arkansas 4, Florida 2


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
Sixth inning — Following 89 pitches and 2 strikeouts, Florida elected to pull Brady Singer from the game and put Tommy Mace on the mound. On Mace's second pitch, Jared Gates singled to left field for the Hogs' eighth hit of the night. Jax Biggers took advantage of a wild throw to first on his hit, advancing to second and moving Gates to third. Casey Martin continued a good night with a single and another Razorback RBI, putting runners on the corners. Unfortunately for the Hogs, 2 runners were stranded when Kjerstad chased a pitch in the dirt for the third out.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
Deacon Liput reached base after a wild throw to first, Arkansas' first error of the game. After throwing 85 pitches and recording 8 strikeouts in 5⅓ innings, Isaiah Campbell exited the game and right-hander Jake Reindl took the mound. Reindl's first pitch resulted in a fly-out to center, as did his ninth, which ended the inning. Arkansas 5, Florida 2


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
Seventh inning — First up for Arkansas was Luke Bonfield; he grounded out to short for the inning's first out. The second came several pitches later as Dominic Fletcher popped up to center field. Carson Shaddy struck out on a 1–2 pitch to end the inning moments later, marking the second inning of the game without an Arkansas runner on base.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
The first pitch of the bottom of the seventh resulted in a fly-out to left field. Two Florida batters then walked, but Reindl regained his confidence to finish the inning with a strikeout and a groundout to third, stranding two Gator batters. Arkansas 5, Florida 2


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
Eighth inning — Jared Gates and Grant Koch provided two quick outs before Jax Biggers found center field for a single. However, Biggers ended the inning stranded after Eric Cole was thrown out at first several pitches later.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
Reindl was taken out of the game, having thrown 27 pitches (with 1 strikeout), and left-handed closer Matt Cronin took the mound. On his fifth pitch, leadoff hitter Deacon Liput ripped a single to right for his first hit of the night and the Gators' third. A fly ball to left field that found the glove of Heston Kjerstad was the source of the first out, with the second coming on a called strike three to Jonathan India and the third coming a pitch later on a fly ball to deep center field. Arkansas 5, Florida 2


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
Ninth inning — The ninth inning began with Casey Martin popping up, the first time on the night he had not reached base. Heston Kjerstad flew out to center two pitches later, ending his night at 0–5. Luke Bonfield singled to center on the next pitch, his second hit of the night. Several pitches later, however, Dominic Fletcher was thrown out at first, putting the game in the hands of his defense.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, College World Series, Semifinals
The bottom of the ninth began with a long, fly ball to right field; the ball was caught by Eric Cole in foul territory for the first out. The next batter up was Austin Langworthy, who grounded out to first for the second out. Matt Cronin then delivered his second strikeout of the game on a 0–2 pitch, retiring Blake Reese and ending the game, sending Arkansas to the College World Series Championship Series for the first time since 1979. Arkansas 5, Florida 2


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, CWS Championship Series, Game 1
Game 1 of the CWS Championship series was originally scheduled for June 25 at 6:00 p.m. CDT, but it was postponed to June 26 due to inclement weather following a 97–minute delay.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team
The 2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the University of Arkansas in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Razorbacks played their home games at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with one home game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Arkansas played as a member of the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Razorbacks were led by first-year head coach Chad Morris. They finished the season 2–10, 0–8 in SEC play to finish in last place in the Western Division.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Previous season
The Razorbacks finished the 2017 season 4–8, 1–7 in SEC play to finish in last place in the Western Division.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Preseason, Spring game
The 2018 Arkansas Red–White Spring Football Game took place at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, with kickoff at 1:00 p.m. CT on April 7. It was broadcast on the SEC Network. The white team consisted of the offense and the red team consisted of the defense.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Preseason, Spring game
The spring game followed a different format: the game was played in twelve minute quarters, rather than fifteen, with a running clock in the second half. The game was scored traditionally on offense (white team), but the defense (red team) could earn points for a variety of achievements (6 pts. for touchdown, 3 for turnover or 4th down stop, 2 for three-and-out, 2 for blocked kick, 1 for sack or TFL).


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Schedule
The Razorbacks' 2018 schedule consisted of 7 home games, 4 away games, and 1 neutral game in the regular season. The Razorbacks hosted SEC foes Alabama, Ole Miss (in Little Rock), Vanderbilt, and LSU, and traveled to Auburn, Mississippi State, and Missouri. Arkansas played against Texas A&M in Arlington, Texas for the fifth year in a row.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Schedule
Arkansas hosted three of its four of its non–conference games: against Eastern Illinois from the Ohio Valley Conference, North Texas from Conference USA, and Tulsa from the American Athletic Conference. The lone away non–conference game saw the Hogs travel to Fort Collins, Colorado to play Colorado State, from the Mountain West Conference.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Schedule
Per southernpigskin.com, the Razorbacks' schedule ranked as the 39th-toughest of the 66 Power Five teams in the nation.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Personnel, Coaching staff, Coaching changes
Chad Morris, former head coach at Southern Methodist University, was hired on December 6, 2017, to be the 33rd head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, following the dismissal of Bret Bielema just under two weeks prior. On January 9, 2018, Joe Craddock was named offensive coordinator, and John Chavis was named defensive coordinator. Both had previously served the same roles at SMU and Texas A&M, respectively.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Personnel, Coaching staff, Coaching changes
Barry Lunney Jr., the tight ends coach, and John Scott Jr., a defensive line coach, were the only two assistants retained, and will enter their sixth and second seasons, respectively, in their current positions with the Razorbacks.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Personnel, Team captains
Prior to the season, Coach Chad Morris announced that permanent captains would not be announced until later in the season, and the captain spots would rotate until then.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Personnel, Team captains
Prior to the Week 5 game against Texas A&M, permanent captains were announced.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Game summaries, Eastern Illinois
Coach Morris named Hjalte Froholdt, Jared Cornelius, Santos Ramirez, De'Jon Harris, and Dre Greenlaw team captains for Arkansas' first game. Cole Kelley was named starting quarterback, though Ty Storey played the majority of the game, throwing three touchdown passes. With the victory, Arkansas improved to 98–23–4 all-time in season openers, with Chad Morris becoming the eighth consecutive Razorback head coach to win their first game at Arkansas. This game also gave Arkansas a 6–0 record against current OVC members, their last win coming in 2015 against UT Martin.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Game summaries, at Colorado State
Coach Morris named Michael Taylor II, Armon Watts, Brian Wallace, and Jeremy Patton as the captains for Arkansas' second game. The pregame depth charts named both Cole Kelley and Ty Storey as starting quarterbacks, though Storey started the game and played the entire first half. However, he was replaced by Kelley for the second half after throwing two interceptions. The loss dropped the Razorbacks to 14–2 against current MWC opponents, with the last contest, in 2011, resulting in an Arkansas win over New Mexico.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Game summaries, North Texas
For Arkansas' third game, Coach Morris named Jonathan Nance, McTelvin Agim, Deion Malone, and Nate Dalton as captains. For the second straight game, the pregame depth chart listed both Kelley and Storey as starting quarterbacks; Cole Kelley ultimately got the start and played into the third quarter before being replaced by freshman Connor Noland, who shared the remaining drives with freshman John Stephen Jones. The loss dropped Arkansas to 54–30 against current C–USA opponents, 10–1 since joining the SEC.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Game summaries, at No. 9 Auburn
Coach Morris named Randy Ramsey, Jared Cornelius, Hjalte Froholdt, and Santos Ramirez to be captains for Arkansas' fourth game. For the first time this season, Ty Storey was named the sole starting quarterback; he played the entire game, save for a few snaps given to Kelley.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Game summaries, vs. Texas A&M
Prior to Arkansas' fifth game, Chad Morris named the permanent captains for the remainder of the season: Santos Ramirez, Hjalte Froholdt, Dre Greenlaw, and De'Jon Harris. For the second game in a row, Ty Storey was named the starting quarterback.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Game summaries, No. 1 Alabama
For the third consecutive game, pregame depth charts listed Ty Storey as Arkansas' starting quarterback. This was Arkansas' 24th matchup against an AP No. 1 team; the loss dropped them to 4–20. Additionally, Cheyenne O'Grady became only the 3rd SEC player to score two receiving touchdowns in one half against a Nick Saban–led Alabama team.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Game summaries, Ole Miss
This game was the first since 2014 that Arkansas faced an SEC opponent in Little Rock.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks football team, Game summaries, Tulsa
For the fourth time in the last five years, the Razorbacks faced a non–P5 opponent for their homecoming game. After Ty Storey was injured against Ole Miss, freshman Connor Noland was named the starter. Noland played into the third quarter until he was injured on a hit and momentarily replaced by Cole Kelley. He and Kelley shared the remainder of the snaps in the game.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks women's soccer team
The 2018 Arkansas Razorbacks women's soccer team represented the University of Arkansas during the 2018 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. This season was the 33rd in program history. The Razorbacks played their home games at Razorback Field in Fayetteville.


2018 Arkansas Razorbacks women's soccer team, Previous season
In 2017, the Razorbacks finished the regular season 9–9–1, 4–5–1 in SEC play, and were seeded eighth in the SEC Tournament, where they defeated top-ranked South Carolina en route to the championship game, where they fell to Texas A&M. The Razorbacks were selected as an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to NC State in the first round of the North Carolina bracket. The Hogs finished their season with a record of 11–11–2.


2018 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team
The 2018 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team represented Arkansas State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Red Wolves played their home games at Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and competed in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by fifth-year head coach Blake Anderson.


2018 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team, Previous season
The Red Wolves finished the 2017 season 7–5, 6–2 in Sun Belt play to finish in third place. They received a bid to the Camellia Bowl where they lost to Middle Tennessee.


2018 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team, Preseason, Sun Belt coaches poll
On July 19, 2018, the Sun Belt released their preseason coaches poll with the Red Wolves predicted to finish as champions of the West Division. They were also predicted to win the Sun Belt Championship game.


2018 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team, Preseason, Preseason All-Sun Belt Teams
The Red Wolves had nine players selected to the preseason all-Sun Belt teams. Quarterback Justice Hansen was selected as the preseason offensive player of the year.


2018 Arkansas elections
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Arkansas on November 6, 2018. All of Arkansas' executive officers were up for election as well as all of Arkansas' four seats in the United States House of Representatives. Primaries were held on May 22, 2018. Polls were open from 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM CST. Republicans retained of all statewide offices and all four seats in the United States House of Representatives.


2018 Arkansas elections, Governor
Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson was elected to a second term.


2018 Arkansas elections, Lieutenant Governor
Republican Lieutenant Governor Tim Griffin was elected to a second term.


2018 Arkansas elections, Attorney General
Republican Attorney General Leslie Rutledge was elected to a second term.


2018 Arkansas elections, State Treasurer
Republican Treasurer Dennis Milligan was elected to a second term.


2018 Arkansas elections, Commissioner of State Lands
Incumbent Commissioner of State Lands John Thurston (R) was term-limited and could not run for re-election. He successfully won his race as Secretary of State of Arkansas. Republican Tommy Land was elected to a first term.


2018 Arkansas elections, United States House of Representatives
All of Arkansas' four seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 2018. Republicans held on to all four seats.


2018 Arkansas gubernatorial election
The 2018 Arkansas gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the Governor of Arkansas, concurrently with elections to the United States Senate in other states, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.


2018 Arkansas gubernatorial election
Incumbent Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson won reelection to a second term in the biggest margin for a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arkansas history, carrying all but seven counties.


2018 Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions football team
The 2018 Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions football team represents the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Golden Lions are led by first-year head coach Cedric Thomas and play their home games at Golden Lion Stadium in Pine Bluff, Arkansas as members of the West Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).


2018 Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions football team, Previous season
The Golden Lions finished the 2017 season 2–9, 1–6 in SWAC play to finish in last place in the West Division.


2018 Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions football team, Previous season
On November 20, 2017, head coach Monte Coleman was fired. He finished at APBU with a ten-year record of 40–71.


2018 Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions football team, Preseason, SWAC football media day
During the SWAC football media day held in Birmingham, Alabama on July 13, 2018, the Golden Lions were predicted to finish last in the West Division.


2018 Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions football team, Preseason, Presason All-SWAC Team
The Golden Lions had three players at four positions selected to Preseason All-SWAC Teams.


2018 Armagh Senior Football Championship
The 2018 Armagh Senior Football Championship is the 118th edition of Armagh GAA's premier gaelic football tournament for senior clubs in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The winners represent Armagh in the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship.


2018 Armagh Senior Football Championship
The championship begins with sixteen teams competing in four groups of four teams before proceeding to a knock-out format. Prior to 2018 the competition had a back-door format. The winners receive the Gerry Fegan Cup.


2018 Armagh Senior Football Championship
Armagh Harps were the defending champions after they defeated Maghery Seán McDermott's in the 2017 final.


2018 Armagh Senior Football Championship
This was Killeavy St. Moninna's and Silverbridge Harps' return to the senior grade after they claimed the 2017 I.F.C. and I.A.F.L. titles respectively.


2018 Armagh Senior Football Championship
Whitecross St. Killian's and Tír na nÓg Portadown were relegated to the I.F.C. and I.A.F.L. for 2019 after they finished 7th and 8th in the S.B.F.L. respectively. They will be replaced by the I.F.C. & I.A.F.L. champions Lurgan St. Peter's as well as I.A.F.L. runners-up Culloville Blues.


2018 Armagh Senior Football Championship
Crossmaglen Rangers claimed their 44th S.F.C. title and their 20th in 23 years when defeating Ballymacnab 0-24 to 1-15 in the decider at the Athletic Grounds on 21 October 2018.


2018 Armagh Senior Football Championship, Team Changes
The following teams have changed division since the 2017 championship season.


2018 Armagh Senior Football Championship, Group stage
All 16 teams enter the competition at this stage. The top 2 teams in each group go into the quarter-finals while the bottom team of each group enter the relegation playoffs. The team named first in each round listed below received home advantage.


2018 Armed Forces Bowl
The 2018 Armed Forces Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 22, 2018. It was the 16th edition of the Armed Forces Bowl, and one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. Sponsored by aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin, the game was officially known as the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl. On December 18, it was announced that the game had officially sold out of tickets, the first such sellout in the Armed Forces Bowl's 16-year history.


2018 Armed Forces Bowl
Army's 70–14 victory tied the largest margin of victory in a bowl game, 56, set by Tulsa in the 2008 GMAC Bowl when they defeated Bowling Green 63–7. Army's 70 points tied the record for most points in an FBS bowl game, set by West Virginia in the 2012 Orange Bowl, when they defeated Clemson 70–33.


2018 Armed Forces Bowl, Teams
The bowl originally planned to invite teams from the Big 12 Conference and the American Athletic Conference (The American). When fourth-ranked Oklahoma was selected for the College Football Playoff, a Big 12 bowl tie-in was left open. Army, an FBS Independent, was selected to fill this opening, facing off with The American member Houston.


2018 Armed Forces Bowl, Teams, Army Black Knights
Army received and accepted a bid to the Armed Forces Bowl on December 2. The Black Knights subsequently won the Army–Navy Game on December 8, and entered the bowl with a 10–2 record.


2018 Armed Forces Bowl, Teams, Houston Cougars
Houston received and accepted a bid to the Armed Forces Bowl on December 2. The Cougars entered the bowl with a 8–4 record (5–3 in conference).


2018 Armenian Cup Final
The 2018 Armenian Cup Final was the 27th Armenian Cup Final, and the final match of the 2017–18 Armenian Cup. It was played at the Republican Stadium in Yerevan, Armenia, on 16 May 2018, and was contested by Gandzasar Kapan and Alashkert. It was Alashkert's first Cup final appearance, and Gandzasar Kapan's second, having lost to Pyunik in 2014. Gandzasar Kapan were victorious 4–3 on penalties after the game finished 0–0 in normal time and 1–1 after extra time, with Mihran Manasyan scoring for Alashkert and Lubambo Musonda scoring the equaled for Gandzasar Kapan.


2018 Armenian local elections
Local elections were held in Armenia on 11 March, 10 June, 24 June and 21 October 2018.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election
Snap parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 9 December 2018, as none of the parties in the National Assembly were able to put forward and then elect a candidate for Prime Minister in the two-week period following the resignation of incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on 16 October. They were the first elections after the 2018 revolution and the country's first-ever snap elections.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election
The result was a landslide victory for Pashinyan's My Step Alliance, which received 70% of the vote and won 88 of the 132 seats in the National Assembly.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Electoral system
The 101 members of the National Assembly are elected by party-list proportional representation. Seats are allocated using the d'Hondt method with an election threshold of 5% for parties and 7% for multi-party alliances. However, at least three political forces will pass into parliament regardless of the performance of the third best performing party or alliance.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Electoral system
The ballot paper has two sections; one of which is a closed list of candidates for the party at the national level and the other an open list of candidates for the constituency (of which there are 13) that the voter is voting in. Voters vote for a party at the national level and can also give a preference vote to any of the candidates for the same party in a district list.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Electoral system
Seats are allocated to parties using their national share of the vote, with half awarded to those on the national list and half to those who receive the most preference votes on the district lists. Four seats are reserved for national minorities (Assyrians, Kurds, Russians and Yazidis), with parties having separate lists for the four groups. A gender quota requires at least 25% of a list to be male or female, and nationwide lists can't include more than three consecutive members of the same gender.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Electoral system
If a party receives a majority of the vote but wins less than 54% of the seats, they will be awarded additional seats to give them 54% of the total. If one party wins over two-thirds of the seats, the losing parties will be given extra seats reducing the share of seats of the winning party to two-thirds. If a government is not formed within six days of the preliminary results being released, a run-off round between the top two parties must be held within 28 days. The party that wins the run-off will be given the additional seats required for a 54% majority, with all seats allocated in the first round preserved.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Electoral system, Proposed changes
Before its resignation, the government submitted a bill to the National Assembly proposing modifications to the electoral system. These included lowering the thresholds for parties and electoral alliances to 4% and 6%, respectively, minimum representation of four political forces in the parliament (provided the fourth strongest receives at least 2% of the votes), abolition of open lists of candidates from 13 regional constituencies leaving only nationwide closed lists and introduction of TV debates. The bill sought to raise the minimum representation of each gender from 25% to 30% of the seats on a party list.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Electoral system, Proposed changes
On 22 October, a vote was held on the bill. Most members of the Republican Party (RPA) boycotted the vote; this meant that there were not enough MPs present to pass the bill into law (63). The final vote was 56 in favour, three against. RPA deputy chairman Armen Ashotian insisted that the electoral system must not be changed less than two months before the elections, as this would amount to "building democracy in the country with undemocratic methods". The Pashinyan government submitted the bill to parliament a second time, and it was discussed on 29 October. Once again, the bill failed to receive enough votes, and as a result the election took place according to the legislation created by the RPA-era government.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, List of participating parties and alliances
Parties and electoral alliances were required to inform the CEC of their participation in the election and submit the corresponding documents by 6:00 pm on 14 November. In total, nine parties and two alliances (listed below in accordance with their number on the ballot paper) participated in the election:


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Declined participation or failed to register
The following parties declined to participate in the election or failed to register: Armenian Communist Party, Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (Ramgavar), Armenian National Congress, Dignified Future, Democratic Party of Armenia, European Party of Armenia, For Social Justice, Green Party of Armenia, Heritage, Social Justice Party, Liberal Democratic Union of Armenia, National Agenda Party, National Democratic Union, People's Party of Armenia, Unified Armenians Party, Union for National Self-Determination, Yerkir Tsirani (Apricot Country Party).


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Criticism
Some politicians and analysts criticized the date of the election based on the fact that an amended Electoral Code was not passed by the parliament. Paruyr Hayrikyan, the leader of Union for National Self-Determination, expects the elections to be "antidemocratic".


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Criticism
Vazgen Manukyan, the leader of National Democratic Union, said while they were preparing for elections in spring, elections in December were too close prepare for. He also said that they "do not consider that the hasty elections will promote the establishment of stable political field".


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Criticism
Aram Gaspar Sargsyan, leader of the Democratic Party of Armenia, has declared that the DPA is abstaining from participation in the election, amidst concerns that, because of Pashinyan's failure to rewrite the RPA-era electoral code, new authorities will likely exploit the current version over the electoral code with amendments. He also stated, that "this election will be the same charade as in 2017".


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Criticism
Some critics believed that the current legislation favored the Republican Party of Armenia in the previous parliamentary election. The country's former ruling party, commanded a majority in the National Assembly prior to the elections, initially called for elections to take place in summer 2019 in order to give the parties time to prepare for elections and make amendments to Armenia's electoral code.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Campaign, Debates
Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan proposed to form a tradition of holding live pre-election debates involving the top figures of all forces participating in the elections.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Campaign, Debates
On 28 November, vice chairman of the Republican Party Vigen Sargsyan invited Pashinyan to take part in a live TV debate but the proposal was turned down by Pashinyan.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Campaign, Debates
Leaders of all eleven participating parties took part in a live debate that was hosted by Armenian Public Television on 5 December.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Campaign, Alleged violations, Independent reports
On 28 November, it was reported that a working group set up by Human Rights Defender of Armenia revealed several violations, such as using insults and intolerance to influence others' opinions.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Campaign, Alleged violations, Independent reports
Former Ombudsman Larisa Alaverdyan said that black PR has been used from the first days of the campaign, and called on all participants to move to a positive field. Also she mentioned that unlike in previous years, the early start of campaign is not regarded as a violation of law by the CEC.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Campaign, Alleged violations, Independent reports
Also on 28 November, newspaper Zhamanak reported that in Yerevan some posters of Bright Armenia party had been torn down and replaced with My Step Alliance posters.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Campaign, Alleged violations, Claimed by campaign participants
On 27 November, the Republican Party said that some of the acting PM's statements during the election campaign were clear examples of hate speech.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Electoral Assistance
In response to a formal request from the Government of Armenia, the European Union as well as the Governments of Germany, the United Kingdom, and Sweden agreed to provide financial and electoral assistance prior to and during the election.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Electoral Assistance
The US Embassy in Armenia also announced that the United States and USAID would provide financial assistance and collaboration with the Government of Armenia ahead of the parliamentary elections, including the September 2018 signing of an $8.6 million, four-year agreement to support the integrity of Armenian elections.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Monitoring
OSCE/ODIHR will conduct a large-scale observation mission. Observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will join the observation mission later. There will be over 200 short-term observers.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Monitoring
Observers from all four factions of the Russian parliament will also take part in the monitoring.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Monitoring
Voting at 1,500 polling stations (where over 90% of voters are registered) out of 2010 will be broadcast live.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Monitoring
Head of the European Union permanent delegation to Armenia, ambassador Piotr Switalski has declared that Armenia has managed to achieve the highest standards of freedom of speech following the Velvet Revolution. According to the diplomat, the country now ensures freedom of expression and assembly. Switalski said he hopes it will be possible to minimize hate speech during the election campaign.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Results
Turnout was 48.62%, 12 percent lower than the 2017 elections.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Results
All the four seats reserved for national minorities (Assyrians, Kurds, Russians and Yazidis) were won by My Step Alliance.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Results
The result was somewhat ironic for the Republican Party, as even though they would have lost seats regardless, if the electoral reform law they had boycotted earlier in the year had been allowed to move forward, they would have successfully exceeded the new 4% threshold for parties and obtained seats. Instead, they failed to reach the current 5% threshold, and received no seats.


2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Reactions
Catholicos Karekin II congratulated all parties, called the outcome of the elections a "milestone" and stated that he was praying for successes of the new Parliament.


2018 Armenian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Armenia on 2 March 2018. As a result of the 2015 Armenian constitutional referendum, this was the first time in Armenia's history when the president was elected by the National Assembly instead of popular vote. Another outcome of the referendum was that the newly elected president will perform a ceremonial role as the country is currently transitioning from a semi-presidential system to a parliamentary republic. Incumbent president Serzh Sargsyan was barred by the Constitution of Armenia from running for a third consecutive term. Armen Sarkissian ran unopposed due to no other party nominating a candidate and easily won the election in the first round with 90 electoral votes.


2018 Armenian presidential election, Background
In accordance with Article 124 of the amended Constitution, a non-partisan president will be elected for a seven-year, non-renewable term. In accordance with Article 125, the candidate that receives at least three fourths of votes of the total number of Deputies of the National Assembly will be elected President of Armenia. If the President is not elected, a second round is held wherein all candidates who took part in the first round may participate.


2018 Armenian presidential election, Background
In the second round, the candidate that receives at least three fifths of votes of the total number of Deputies will be elected as President of the Republic. If President is still not elected, a third round of elections will be held wherein the two candidates who received a greater number of votes in the second round may participate. In the third round, the candidate who receives the majority of votes of the total number of Deputies will be elected.


2018 Armenian presidential election, Background
According to Article 125 of the constitution, at least one fourth of the total number of Deputies of the National Assembly shall have the right to nominate a candidate for president. This means that at least 27 members of parliament must back the respective candidate in order for that candidate to be officially nominated. Thus, in the case of a wide consensus, a candidate may very well run unopposed since minority parties with less than 27 members in the National Assembly will not be able to nominate a candidate.


2018 Armenian presidential election, Eligibility
According to the amended Constitution, everyone who has reached the age of forty, held citizenship of only Armenia for the preceding six years and permanently resided in Armenia for the preceding six years, has the right of suffrage, and speaks the Armenian language may be elected as President of the Republic.


2018 Armenian presidential election, Candidates
President Serzh Sargsyan on 18 January recommended the candidacy of Armen Sarkissian, the current Armenian ambassador to the United Kingdom, for president to be supported by the ruling Republican Party. Sargsyan stressed the necessity for the presidential candidate to have wide support in the National Assembly when elected. On 16 February, Armen Sarkissian officially accepted the Sargsyan's offer to become the Republican Party's candidate for president.


2018 Armenian presidential election, Candidates
The ruling coalition, which consists of the Republican Party of Armenia and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, officially nominated Armen Sarkissian for president on 23 February. On 24 February, the Prosperous Armenia party, which is in opposition, signalled that it would vote for the ruling coalition's candidate. This means that the only party left that did not nominate a candidate was the Way Out Alliance.


2018 Armenian presidential election, Candidates
As a party or coalition must have the support of at least one fourth of the deputies in the National Assembly, the Way Out Alliance were not able to nominate a candidate as they only had nine deputies in the National Assembly. Sarkissian will take up office on April 9, 2018.


2018 Armenian revolution
The 2018 Armenian Revolution (most commonly known in Armenia as #MerzhirSerzhin (Armenian: ՄերժիրՍերժին), meaning "#RejectSerzh") was a series of anti-government protests in Armenia from April to May 2018 staged by various political and civil groups led by a member of the Armenian parliament  — Nikol Pashinyan (head of the Civil Contract party). Protests and marches took place initially in response to Serzh Sargsyan's third consecutive term as the most powerful figure in the government of Armenia and later against the Republican Party-controlled government in general. Pashinyan declared it a Velvet Revolution (Թավշյա հեղափոխություն).


2018 Armenian revolution
On 22 April, Pashinyan was arrested and held in solitary confinement overnight, then released on 23 April, the same day that Sargsyan resigned, saying "I was wrong, while Nikol Pashinyan was right". The event is referred to by some as a peaceful revolution akin to revolutions in other post-Soviet states. By the evening of 25 April, the Republican Party’s coalition partner ARF-Dashnaktsutyun had withdrawn from the coalition.


2018 Armenian revolution
By 28 April, all of the opposition parties in Armenia's parliament had announced they would support Pashinyan's candidacy. A vote was scheduled in the National Assembly for 1 May; for Pashinyan to be elected Prime Minister, which required 53 votes, he would have had to win the votes of at least six members of the Republican Party. Pashinyan was the only candidate who was put forward for the vote. However, the Republican Party unanimously voted against Pashinyan – 102 MPs were present, out of which 56 voted against his candidacy and 45 voted for it. One week later, on 8 May, the second vote took place. Pashinyan was elected Prime Minister with 59 votes.


2018 Armenian revolution, Preceding situation
In 2012–2017 reported levels of trust in national government (25%) and confidence in judicial system (29%) in Armenia were below of all its neighbouring countries.


2018 Armenian revolution, Nomination of Sargsyan for the post of Prime Minister
Demonstrations and protests began in March 2018, when members of the Republican Party did not exclude the option of nominating Serzh Sargsyan for the prime minister's post. This meant a continuation of Sargsyan's rule (as either Prime Minister or President) since March 2007. He had amended the constitution in 2015 to remove term limits which would have prevented him doing this.


2018 Armenian revolution, Nomination of Sargsyan for the post of Prime Minister
Protesters had vowed to block the party's headquarters on 14 April, where leaders were going to gather to formally nominate Serzh Sargsyan for prime minister. The Republican Party held its meeting outside of capital Yerevan and unanimously voted to formally nominate Serzh Sargsyan for the office of prime minister. The coalition partner Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaksutyun (ARF-D) supported the ruling Republican Party’s decision, as did most of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party caucus.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests
On 31 March, Nikol Pashinyan began his Im Qayl (my step) protest walk, starting in the city of Gyumri, and walking through cities and towns such as Vanadzor, Dilijan, Hrazdan, and Abovyan, before finally reaching Yerevan on 13 April and holding a small rally.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests
About 100 protesters stayed overnight on France Square after the first day of protests, and an equal number did the same on Saturday night, some sleeping in tents, others gathered around fires. As of Sunday morning, the Armenian police had made no effort to disrupt the demonstrations.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests
On Monday 16 April, the "Take a Step, Reject Serzh" campaign began actions of civil disobedience. On 17 April, the day that the prime minister's election was scheduled, the protesters intended to block entrances to the building of the National Assembly in order to prevent the vote from taking place. Lines of riot police stopped them from advancing further towards the National Assembly building.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests
After the election of the former president Serzh Sargsyan as the new prime minister, the protests continued to grow, despite hundreds of people being detained by police. The prime minister in response asked the government to take back the presidential mansion which it had given him a few weeks earlier. The crowds reached 50,000 on the night of 21 April, with countless sporadic street closures in the capital, which also began to spread across the country.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests
As the crowds grew, the new prime minister called repeatedly for talks with the leader of the protest movement, Nikol Pashinyan, but Pashinyan said he was only willing to discuss the terms of the Prime Minister's resignation. After Pashinyan's rally was visited by the Armenian President on the evening of 21 April for a brief chat with Pashinyan, Pashinyan agreed to meet the prime minister at 10 am on 22 April, saying he believed the topic would be Serzh Sargsyan's resignation.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests, 22 April
The meeting, which lasted for a mere three minutes, failed to achieve anything, with Sargsyan walking out of it and accusing the opposition of "blackmail" when Pashinyan stated he had only agreed to discuss terms of the Prime Minister's resignation and nothing else. During the meeting, Sargsyan asked Pashinyan not to speak on behalf of the people and not to issue ultimatums to the government, given the low level of support for his political alliance (less than 10 percent of the vote in the past parliamentary elections).


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests, 22 April
He also warned that Pashinyan had not "learned the lessons of March 1", a reference to the protestors killed by police while contesting the validity of the election results of Sargsyan's election 10 years earlier, amounting to an open threat of violence against the protesters gathering daily in around the nation.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests, 22 April
Immediately after the meeting, Pashinyan led a group of supporters from the site of the meeting by Republic Square on a long march down Tigran Mets and Artsakh streets to the Erebuni district, where they were met by riot police and stun grenades as Pashinyan was detained followed by mass detentions of protestors, including opposition lawmakers Sasun Mikayelyan and Ararat Mirzoyan. Protests continue throughout the city. By the evening 232 protestors had been detained or arrested, and, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, tens of thousands gathered in Republic Square to continue to demand the resignation of PM Serzh Sargsyan. The police issued a statement saying that Pashinyan, Mikaelyan and Mirzoyan had been detained for 72 hours; however criminal charges could only be brought against them if the Republican-controlled National Assembly stripped them of their parliamentary immunity.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests, 23 April
Protests resumed on 23 April, with media outlets reporting that former and current members of the Armenian armed forces, including participants of the 2016 April War, have joined in the rallies for the first time. This information was later confirmed by the Ministry of Defence.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests, 23 April
Pashinyan was released at 3pm, and went directly to Republic Square where he spoke briefly, saying he would return at 6:30pm. By 4:30pm, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan had posted a message on the official website of the prime minister announcing his resignation. Former Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan succeeded Sargsyan as acting Prime Minister.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests, 24 April
24 April is marked as the national day of remembrance of the Armenian genocide. The protesters gathered in masses and walked to Tsitsernakaberd, Armenia's national Genocide Memorial. No protest was held on that day.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests, 25 April
Pashinyan called for renewed protests on 25 April after talks with the Republican Party were cancelled due to Karapetyan’s refusal to accept preconditions laid down by Pashinyan. Earlier Pashinyan stated that the Republican Party had no right to hold power in Armenia, and that a "people's candidate" should be appointed prime minister prior to holding snap elections. He added that the protest movement should nominate this transitional prime minister, a position that was rejected by the current government as it would violate the law.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests, 25 April
Protesters took to the streets to block the road to Yerevan’s international airport and the road leading to the border with Georgia. Meanwhile, the Prosperous Armenia Party and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation both declared their support for Pashinyan's movement, with the latter pulling out of the ruling coalition. Pashinyan vowed to continue the protests until he was appointed prime minister.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests, 26 April
Tens of thousands continued to protest on 26 April, though Pashinyan asked protestors to stop blocking streets. The ruling HHK party announced it was ready to meet with Pashinyan without any preconditions, while Pashinyan offered to negotiate with them while insisting he must become Prime Minister.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests, 27 April
Pashinyan called on his supporters to suspend their rallies in Yerevan for 2 days while he held rallies in Gyumri on 27 April and Vanadzor on 28 April. In the morning he met with Armenia's largely ceremonial President, leaders of the governing party's former coalition partner the ARF, as well as Parliament's second largest faction BHK. In an interview on the same day, the president hailed the "New Armenia" that has come about due to the protests, and the chance for "a real democratic state". Meanwhile the ruling HHK party announced that they do not see any regime change occurring in Armenia.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests, 28 April
On 28 April, Pashinyan held rallies in Vanadzor and Ijevan, while the second and third largest parties in Parliament – BHK and ARF – announced they would support his candidacy for PM, and the ruling HHK party announced they would not block Pashinyan's candidacy, and that they would not put forward their own candidate.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests, 1 May
Parliament held elections for a new Prime Minister, with the opposition leader Pashinyan the only nominee, as over 100,000 people watched the 9 hour session being broadcast live at Republic Square. However the majority party blocked his nomination by voting against him with one exception. After the election, prominent Armenian singers such as Iveta Mukuchyan and Sona Shahgeldyan performed for the crowd and made inspiring speeches. Pashinyan walked to Republic Square and told the crowd to go on strike the next day, and block all transportation from 8:15 in the morning until 5 in the evening, then gather for another rally at 7pm in Republic Square.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests, 2 May
The nation ground to a halt as countless streets and highways were peacefully blocked throughout the nation, and many workers and businesses went on strike. The main airport access road was cut off, with some workers striking, and even land crossings were blocked. 150,000 people gathered in another evening rally in Republic Square to listen to Pashinyan speak, and were told that he had been informed that due to the strike, the ruling party had decided to support his candidacy in the next round of voting on 8 May. Protests were suspended in the meantime.


2018 Armenian revolution, Protests, 8 May
On 8 May Parliament again had a vote on a new Prime Minister, and again Nikol Pashinyan was the only candidate. This time the majority Republican party gave Pashinyan enough votes to win with a 59–42 margin. All the votes against Pashinyan still came from the Republican party.


2018 Armenian revolution, Reactions
On 4 April Edmon Marukyan, leader of the Bright Armenia party, which cooperates with the Civil Contract party lead by Nikol Pashinyan in the Way Out Alliance published an article in Aravot newspaper, in which he stated his preference for formal means of counteracting the ruling coalition rather than civil disobedience actions.


2018 Armenian revolution, Reactions
Leader of the Free Democrats party and former MP Khachatur Kokobelyan attended protests and expressed his support for the actions.


2018 Armenian revolution, Reactions
Many cultural figures had already declared solidarity with the opposition movement. In particular, well-known musician Serj Tankian of System of a Down addressed the activists declaring his solidarity and support, stressing the impermissibility of one-party rule in Armenia. Some organizations of the diaspora, in particular the Congress of Armenians of Europe, also expressed support for the opposition.


2018 Armenian revolution, Impact
During the 2020 Belarusian protests, the Armenian revolution was brought up as a model for Belarus for its lack of anti-Russian or pro-Western geopolitical orientation by commentators such as Carl Bildt, Anders Åslund, Ian Bremmer, Yaroslav Trofimov, Ben Judah, and others. Belarusian journalist Franak Viačorka criticized this notion. Armenia's Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan also rejected the comparisons. "Armenia followed its own path and it’s not quite correct to draw parallels based on that. True, there might be some common parameters, but on the whole these are different situations," he said.


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes
The 2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes began on 20 May 2018 between the Armenian Armed Forces and Azerbaijani Armed Forces. Azerbaijan stated to have taken several villages and strategic positions within the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. However, these areas had previously been part of a no man's land between the Azerbajiani and Armenian lines.


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes
One soldier of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, and one or two soldiers of the Armenian Armed Forces were reported KIA during the military operations.


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Background
Azerbaijan accused Armenian forces of seizing control of Gyunnut, which is located Sharur District of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, in 1992.


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Background
On 16 May 2018 Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. He stated that Nakhchivan branch of the Azerbaijani Army possessed missiles which could easily reach Armenia's capital, Yerevan. Two days later, on 17 May Armenia's new Minister of Defence and Foreign Affairs visited the Armenian–Nakhchivan border to inspect military positions.


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Clashes
According to some Azerbaijani military bloggers and news sites, Azerbaijani positions in the Sharur District of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic became exposed to artillery fire of the Armenian Armed Forces.


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Clashes
On the end of May, Nakhchivan Separate Combined-arms Army claimed to have control of Gyunnut, a village in Sharur District that has been completely destroyed by the Armenian forces in 1992, and two strategic positions, Khunutdagh and Aghbulag. Azerbaijani Armed Forces also claimed control of and took new positions on Kyzylkaya and Mehridagh strategic positions. They also claimed to have new positions in a previously unoccupied neutral zone in Nakhchivan near Armenian village of Areni in Vayots Dzor Province.


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Aftermath
Eurasianet reported that Azerbaijani claims of advancement had been highly exaggerated, and whatever territory Azerbaijan had claimed control over was never claimed by Armenia, adding that "while the details of the Azerbaijani advance remain unclear, the lofty rhetoric seems to be a significant exaggeration. Whatever new territory Azerbaijan controls militarily was never claimed by Armenia, and it's not clear if there was any fighting. ".


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Aftermath
The Armenian Ministry of Defense made a statement against Azerbaijani claims of territorial advances, claiming that a request by Azerbaijani citizens to visit the cemetery in the ruins of Gyunnut had been granted as a humanitarian gesture. Footage of Azerbaijani villagers being escorted to the cemetery was released to confirm this.


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Aftermath
Armenia's Foreign Ministry condemned Azerbaijan's actions at the border as "unacceptable and irresponsible steps aimed at escalating the situation". They also said that "it is regrettable but at the same time very predictable practice of Azerbaijan to exploit any display of goodwill and humanistic approach [from] Armenia for its own propagandistic purposes". They also warned that "any provocative action on the Azerbaijani side will be immediately stopped and will trigger the adequate response from the Armenian side".


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Aftermath
Azerbaijani military experts accused Armenia of planning an attack on Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Aftermath
On 8 June 2018 Azerbaijani Government announced that they started to build a new road that would be 50 km long. They also started to rebuild the roads that were destroyed during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. Azerbaijani Armed Forces have taken up new positions in strategic locations.


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Aftermath
Arif Mamedov, a former Azerbaijani diplomat and EU Ambassador, criticized the coverage by the Azerbaijani press on a Facebook post: "Is there at least one reasonable person who believes in fairy tales that 11 thousand hectares of land could be liberated in Nakhichevan without a fight? Do they understand what 11 thousand hectares means, or is everything so tragic even with their math? Once Armenians occupied only the Kyark enclave in that territory, formerly inhabited by Azerbaijanis. Nakhichevan territories, including the village of Gyunnut, have never been occupied. Our official maps prove this too.


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Aftermath
It is ridiculous to imagine the empty village of Gyunnut village, which is in a neutral zone and has no military significance, as a strategic area. We have heard about less than 5 percent of the unemployment rate in the country, human rights protection in Azerbaijan and the collapse of Germany. Now they tell us fairy tales about victories. How many people can be fed by fairy tales?"


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Aftermath
Two years later, Azerbaijan would launch an offensive against the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, beginning the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Aftermath, Casualties, Azerbaijani casualties
On 20 May 2018 Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defence reported the death of infantryman Adil Tatarov who died while "carrying out an official assignment on the border of [Nakhchivan] and Armenia". The Armenian side stated that the corresponding Azerbaijani soldier had advanced towards the border. In response the Defence Ministry of Armenia accused Azerbaijan of breaking the ceasefire and said that "in recent weeks, at certain sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border Azerbaijani forces are conducting active engineering works to improve and move forward their positions". Nevertheless, on 6 June Adil Tatarov received the "For Heroism" Medal with an order of Defense Minister of Azerbaijan, colonel-general Zakir Hasanov.


2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Aftermath, Casualties, Armenian casualties
Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence claimed that three Armenian soldiers were killed during the operation. Armenian Ministry of Defence confirmed the death of Martin Khachatryan, but denied the claims of Hamlet Grigoryan getting killed in Northern Nakhchivan. They reported that he committed suicide in Eastern parts of de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.


2018 Army Black Knights football team
The 2018 Army Black Knights football team represented the United States Military Academy as an independent in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Black Knights were led by fifth-year head coach Jeff Monken and played their home games at Michie Stadium. Following their 28–14 victory over Colgate in Week 12, Army entered the AP Poll at No. 23 and the Coaches' Poll at No. 24, the first time Army had entered the national rankings since finishing the 1996 season at No. 25 in the AP and No. 24 in the Coaches'.


2018 Army Black Knights football team
On December 2, Army accepted an invite to participate in the Armed Forces Bowl against the Houston Cougars of the American Athletic Conference. On December 8, Army defeated its archrival Navy by a score of 17–10, increasing their Army-Navy Game win streak to three in a row and winning the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy for the second straight year. With the win the Black Knights also secured their second straight 10-win season, the first time that had been accomplished in the Academy's long and storied history.


2018 Army Black Knights football team
In the Armed Forces Bowl, they defeated Houston by a score of 70–14 to tie NCAA bowl game records for points scored and margin of victory. Their 11 wins are the most in one season in program history. As a result of his team's 2018 accomplishments, Coach Monken was awarded the George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year Award by the Maxwell Football Club, the Vince Lombardi College Football Coach of the Year Award by the Lombardi Foundation, and the President's Award by the Touchdown Club of Columbus.


2018 Army Black Knights football team
Army finished the season with a ranking of No. 19 in the AP Poll and No. 20 in the Coaches' Poll, their highest finish in both polls since Pete Dawkins's Heisman Trophy-winning season in 1958 where the Cadets finished No. 3 in both polls. Following the completion of the season, the Black Knights were awarded the 2018 Lambert Trophy by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and Metropolitan New York Football Writers, signifying them as the best team in the East in Division I FBS. This was the eighth overall time the Lambert Trophy had been awarded to Army, and the first since 1958.


2018 Army Black Knights football team, Previous season
The Black Knights opened the 2017 season with two consecutive wins over teams they had lost to over the previous two years: a blowout win over Fordham and a fourth-quarter comeback over Buffalo to open the year at 2–0. They then dropped the next two games against No. 8 (final No. 5) Ohio State and Tulane.


2018 Army Black Knights football team, Previous season
Following these setbacks, the Black Knights ripped off a string of six straight wins, highlighted by a 31–28 overtime victory against Temple to become bowl eligible, a 21–0 beat-down of service-academy rival Air Force (the first shutout of a service-academy opponent by Army since a 27–0 victory over Navy on Nov. 29, 1969), and a 21–16 victory over Duke to secure their first unbeaten home schedule in a season since the 1996 team that finished 10–2 (and just the sixth Black Knights squad to go undefeated at home since 1960). Following this string of victories, Army dropped a shootout to 2016 Heart of Dallas Bowl opponent North Texas on a last second field goal to enter the 118th Army-Navy game with a record of 8–3 and the opportunity to secure their first Commander-in-Chief's Trophy in over twenty years.


2018 Army Black Knights football team, Previous season
In a steady snowfall on the afternoon of December 8, after hosting ESPN's College GameDay and wearing uniforms honoring the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division, the Black Knights defeated their arch-rival Navy by a score of 14–13 after taking the lead on a fourth-quarter go-ahead scoring drive followed by a missed last-second 48-yard Midshipmen field goal. This secured their second victory in a row over Navy and their first Commander-in-Chief's Trophy since 1996.


2018 Army Black Knights football team, Previous season
The Army team then capped off the season by earning their second straight bowl victory (first time since the 1984–1985 seasons) over the San Diego State Aztecs in the Armed Forces Bowl by converting a go-ahead 2-pt conversion after scoring with 18 seconds left in regulation (with the final score being 42–35 following a fumble returned for a touchdown as SDSU attempted a lateral-filled desperation tying score on the last play of the game). This secured the Black Knights' second ever 10-win season, finishing with a final record of 10–3. Following the season, they were chosen as the 2017 ECAC Division I Football Subdivision Team of the Year. Quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw finished the season with an Army and all-service-academy single-season rushing record of 1,746 yards.


2018 Arnold Palmer Cup
The 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup was a team golf competition held from  6–8 July 2018 at Evian Resort Golf Club, Évian-les-Bains, France. It was the 22nd time the event had been contested and the first under a new format in which women golfers played in addition to men and an international team, representing the rest of the world, replaced the European team. The United States won the match 38½–21½.


2018 Arnold Palmer Cup, Format
The contest was played over three days. On Friday, there were 12 mixed four-ball matches. On Saturday there were 12 mixed foursomes matches in the morning and 12 fourball matches in the afternoon, six all-women matches and six all-men matches. 24 singles matches were played on Sunday. In all, 60 matches were played.


2018 Arnold Palmer Cup, Format
Each of the 60 matches was worth one point in the larger team competition. If a match was all square after the 18th hole, each side earned half a point toward their team total. The team that accumulated at least 30½ points won the competition.


2018 Arnold Palmer Cup, Michael Carter award
The Michael Carter Award winners were Olivia Mehaffey and Collin Morikawa.


2018 Artsakh Football League
The 2018 Artsakh Football League was the 1st official professional season of the Artsakh Football League. It started on the 14 July and ended on 18th of November. It was composed of eight clubs which competed for the title.


2018 Artsakh Football League, Participants
Eight Teams took part in the 2018 competition. All eight clubs had participated in the past in other competitions and tournaments, but this was the first year for them in the Artsakh Football League.


2018 Artsakh Football League, Results
The league was played in two stage, one home and one away, for a total of 14 matches per team.


2018 As-Suwayda attacks
The 2018 As-Suwayda attacks were a string of suicide bombings and gun attacks that took place in and around As-Suwayda, Syria on 25 July, killing at least 258 people and injuring 180 others. The attacks were committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and largely targeted Syria's Druze minority.


2018 As-Suwayda attacks, Attacks
The attackers began by assaulting defensive positions in the city. When they depleted their ammunition, they detonated their explosive vests. The Syrian Arab News Agency reported two separate suicide attacks in Suweida, with security forces killing two other attackers before they could blow themselves up, and arresting another inside Suwaida General Hospital. Groups of militants also attacked areas in the Al-Mushannaf nahiyah in a coordinated assault and four villages ( Al-Sbeky , Ramy , Ghethet-Hamael and Tarbeh ), gaining temporary control of several settlements, slaughtered families in their houses and seizing hostages.


2018 As-Suwayda attacks, Attacks
Local people gathered and defended their villages with simple weapons and  retook the villages without support of governmental forces . A substantial number of Druze militias were involved in driving the ISIL forces back, most notably the Rijal al-Karama movement and the Mountain Brigade, one of whose sub-commanders (Sheikh Abu Mu'annis Nabil Saymu'a) was killed in course of the fighting. The SSNP also aided the local pro-government defenders, whilst the Syrian Army arrived in the area two days after the combat had ended.


2018 As-Suwayda attacks, Attacks
A suicide bombing in a vegetable market in the capital of the province, Al Suwayda, resulted in at least 38 casualties. Following the attack, three captured ISIL fighters were publicly hanged by the angry local Druze people in the provincial capital.


2018 As-Suwayda attacks, Casualties
Initially, the head of the Sweida health authority told the pro-Damascus Sham FM radio some 96 people were killed and 176 wounded in total. Later, the director of health updated the number of deaths and injuries and said that 215 people were killed and 180 others injured in the attacks. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported 258 deaths (142 civilians and 116 government fighters), in addition to 63 ISIL fighters. Also, between 14-20 and 36 Druze women and children were abducted by ISIL fighters during the raid, and taken to their holdouts in the desert.


2018 As-Suwayda attacks, Casualties
Afterward some managed to escape while several died in captivity. ISIL executed all the Druze men they've captured. ISIL executed several Syrian army soldiers and NDF members captured during the raid, posting videos of their executions on the Internet. ISIL had threatened to execute the captured Druze women if the Syrian army didn't stop their offensive against ISIL in the Yarmouk basin in western Daraa province.


2018 As-Suwayda attacks, Aftermath
As-Suwayda Governor Amer al-Eshi reported that the city had been secured by evening. The state-run television station, Ikhbariyah TV, reported that the Syrian Air Force has launched a bombing campaign on ISIS-held villages of al-Matouna, Duma, and Tima. On the 31st of July 2018, in exchange for the release of the Druze women captured by ISIL in the raid in eastern Suweida, the Syrian Army evacuated hundreds of ISIL fighters from the Yarmouk basin in western Daraa to their strongholds in the Badiya region in eastern Syria Desert.


2018 As-Suwayda attacks, Aftermath
Many Druze people were very angry with the Syrian Military because of the incompetent security measures in Suwayda province, accusing the Syrian Government of deliberately allowing the attacks so that they can have a casus belli to reimpose stricter government control over the Suwayda province and end the Druze autonomy, especially because the attack was made by ISIL fighters evacuated from Southern Damascus to Eastern Syria Desert in May 2018.


2018 As-Suwayda attacks, Aftermath
Afterwards, the Syrian government offered a deal to ISIL, that the 30+ captured Druze civilians will be swapped in the prisoner exchange for over 200 ISIL fighters of Jaysh Khaled bin Walid who surrendered in southwestern Daraa on 31 July 2018, however ISIL forces in Badiya region refused the prisoner exchange, and instead requested a large sum of ransom money for the release of the captured Druze civilians, which the Syrian army refused to pay.


2018 As-Suwayda attacks, Aftermath
In order to pressure the Syrian government to pay the ransom, ISIL executed one of the male Druze civilians captured in the raid on August 2, and posted the video of his execution on the internet. In response, the Syrian army threatened ISIL forces in Badiya region that if they did not release the captives, that they would be destroyed in the upcoming military operation in Badiya al Sham region. It was reported from local residents that the defense forces belonging to Al-Baath Party removed its defensive medium-sized weapons four days before the attack despite knowing the imminent threats.


2018 Asdira funeral bombing
The 2018 Asdira funeral bombing took place on April 12, 2018 in the village of Asdira, located in the Al-Shirqat District of Saladin Governorate in Iraq. The bombing killed 25 people and wounded 18 others. The attack took place at a funeral for Iraqi fighters who had been killed by ISIS.


2018 Asia Cup
The 2018 Asia Cup (also known as Unimoni Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that was held in the United Arab Emirates in September 2018. It was the 14th edition of the Asia Cup and the third time the tournament was played in the United Arab Emirates, after the 1984 and 1995 tournaments. India were the defending champions, and retained their title, after beating Bangladesh by three wickets in the final.


2018 Asia Cup
The five full members of the Asian Cricket Council took part in the tournament: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. They were joined by Hong Kong, who won the 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier tournament. Hong Kong had lost their ODI status after finishing tenth in the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in March. However, on 9 September 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded ODI status to all matches in the tournament.


2018 Asia Cup, Background
Originally, the tournament was scheduled to be played in India. It was moved to the United Arab Emirates, following ongoing political tensions between India and Pakistan.


2018 Asia Cup, Background
On 29 October 2015, following the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Singapore, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary stated that the 2018 edition of the tournament would be held in India. In August 2017, the BCCI sought government clearance to host the tournament, after the 2017 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup was moved to Malaysia. In April 2018, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, asked if the BCCI and ACC would consider hosting the tournament in Abu Dhabi, in a bid to ensure Pakistan's participation.


2018 Asia Cup, Background
Pakistan were scheduled to host the 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup ahead of the tournament in April. With the announcement that the Asia Cup would be played in the United Arab Emirates, the Emerging Teams Asia Cup was moved to December 2018, with Sri Lanka co-hosting the tournament with Pakistan.


2018 Asia Cup, Format
The schedule and format of the tournament was announced on 24 July 2018, with the six teams split into two groups of three. The top two teams from each of the groups progressed to the Super Four section of the tournament. From there, the top two teams of the Super Four section played each other in the final. Initially, the team that finishes second in Group A were scheduled to play their first Super Four game in Abu Dhabi. However, India would be based in Dubai, irrespective of where they finish in the pool. On 19 September 2018, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) revised the schedule for the Super Four section The captains of Bangladesh and Pakistan were both critical of the ACC's new schedule.


2018 Asia Cup, Squads
Before the start of the tournament, Wafadar Momand was ruled out of Afghanistan's squad due to injury and was replaced by Yamin Ahmadzai, and Mominul Haque was added to Bangladesh's squad. Dinesh Chandimal and Danushka Gunathilaka were ruled out of Sri Lanka's squad due to injury. They were replaced by Niroshan Dickwella and Shehan Jayasuriya respectively. Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal suffered a wrist injury in the opening match and was ruled out of the rest of the tournament.


2018 Asia Cup, Squads
After the conclusion of the India-Pakistan match in the group stage, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur were all ruled out of India's squad for the rest of the tournament due to injuries. They were replaced by Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar and Siddarth Kaul. At the Super Four stage of the tournament, Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes were added to Bangladesh's squad. Shakib Al Hasan was ruled out of Bangladesh's final Super Four match, and the rest of the tournament, due to an injury he initially sustained in January 2018, during the final of the Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series.


2018 Asia Cup, Match officials
The ICC appointed the following umpires and match referees for all thirteen matches. Six match officiating umpires were from participating countries of the Asia Cup who are the members of ICC International Panel of Umpires, four umpires were from neutral countries, while the remaining two umpires belonged to the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires.


2018 Asia Cup, Group stage
Bangladesh faced Sri Lanka in the opening game of the tournament at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. It was Bangladesh's first match in the United Arab Emirates since April 1995, when they faced Pakistan in the 1995 Asia Cup.


2018 Asia Cup, Group stage
In Group B, Sri Lanka were eliminated from the tournament, after losing both of their matches. Therefore Afghanistan and Bangladesh progressed to the Super Four section of the competition. In Group A, Hong Kong also lost both of their matches, meaning that India and Pakistan progressed to the Super Fours.


2018 Asia Cup, Super Four
In the penultimate round of Super Four matches, India beat Pakistan by nine wickets and Bangladesh beat Afghanistan by three runs. Therefore, India progressed to the final of the tournament and Afghanistan were eliminated. In the final Super Four match, Bangladesh beat Pakistan by 37 runs to advance to the final.


2018 Asia Cup, Super Four
In India's last Super Four match, against Afghanistan, captain Rohit Sharma and vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan were both rested for the match. MS Dhoni was named captain of the side in their absence, and became the first cricketer to lead India 200 times in ODIs. Dhoni became the oldest player to lead India in an ODI. The match finished in a tie, the first time this had occurred in the Asia Cup. It was also the first time that Afghanistan were involved in a tied game in ODIs.


2018 Asia Cup Final
The 2018 Asia Cup Final was the final of the 2018 Asia Cup, a One Day International cricket tournament, and was played between India and Bangladesh on 28 September 2018 in Dubai. India were the defending champions, and retained their title by beating Bangladesh by three wickets in the final over.


2018 Asia Cup Final, Background
The 2018 Asia Cup started on 15 September 2018 and was hosted by United Arab Emirates across 2 venues. Five full member national teams and an associate team from the qualifier were split into two groups of three. The top two teams from each of the groups progressed to the Super Four section of the tournament. From there, the top two teams of the Super Four section played each other in the final. Initially, the team that finishes second in Group A were scheduled to play their first Super Four game in Abu Dhabi. However, BCCI later announced that India would be based in Dubai, irrespective of their standing in Super Four.


2018 Asia Cup Final, Road to the final, India
In the second match of group A, India beat Hong Kong by 26 runs, with Khaleel Ahmed making his debut for India in the match. Shikhar Dhawan's 14th ODI century carried India to 285 for 7, with Hong Kong's bowlers negating a powerful start to allow only 48 runs in the last 10 overs. They carried that momentum with them when they came out to bat, with openers Nizakat Khan and Anshuman Rath putting on a 174-run partnership, the highest for Hong Kong in ODIs.


2018 Asia Cup Final, Road to the final, India
On 19 September 2018, India faced rivals Pakistan and followed the close match against Hong Kong to with a much improved bowling performance and registered their most comfortable chase against Pakistan, winning with 126 balls remaining. Pakistan had shown a lack of experience of batting through 50-over innings by attempting big shots every time they were tied down. India had won two ODIs on consecutive days and headed to the Super Four stage as leaders of the group.


2018 Asia Cup Final, Road to the final, India
In the first match of Super Four, India beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets, with Rohit Sharma's unbeaten 83 from 104 balls the major contribution in India successfully chasing the total of 173. In the next match India faced Pakistan again and openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan starred with the bat as India defeated their rivals Pakistan by nine-wickets and qualified for the final.


2018 Asia Cup Final, Road to the final, India
Sharma, the Indian skipper, scored his 19th ODI century, while Dhawan scored his 15th and their partnership of 210 was India's highest while batting second against Pakistan and in their highest for the first wicket in Asia Cup history. In the process, Sharma scored his 7,000th run in ODI cricket. On 25 September 2018, India faced Afghanistan in their final game of the Super Four stage.


2018 Asia Cup Final, Road to the final, India
Left needing seven runs off the final over, with one wicket in hand, India scored six runs off first four balls to level the scores, but with the fifth, Rashid Khan got the better of Ravindra Jadeja to bowl India out for 252, leaving the match tied. This was the first tie in the history of the Asia Cup and the first tied ODI featuring Afghanistan.


2018 Asia Cup Final, Road to the final, Bangladesh
On 15 September 2018, Bangladesh produced an all-round performance to defeat Sri Lanka by 137 runs in the first match in the group B of the Asia Cup, recording their biggest win in the history of Asia Cup. In the next match they were bowled out for just 119 runs to suffer 136 run defeat to Afghanistan, but  still qualified to the Super Four stage. They faced India in the Super Four on September 21, when they only made 173 runs and lost  by 7 wickets.


2018 Asia Cup Final, Road to the final, Bangladesh
On 23 September, Bangladesh beat Afghanistan by 3 runs in their second Super Four match and kept their chances of qualifying for the finals in their own hands. Chasing 250 to win, Afghanistan needed 8 runs off the last over, but Mustafizur Rahman restricted them to just 4 to help his team win. On 25 September, Bangladesh beat Pakistan by 37 runs to confirm their berth in the Asia Cup 2018 final against India. This was Bangladesh's first win against Pakistan at the Asia Cup.


2018 Asia Cup Final, Venue
The match was played at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in UAE.


2018 Asia Cup Final, Match, Bangladesh innings
Mehedi Hasan opened the innings with Liton Das, the first time he had done so in ODIs. Their opening stand of 120 was Bangladesh's highest since 31 December 2016, when Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal put on 102 runs against New Zealand. With the fifth ball of the 21st over, Kedar Jadhav took the wicket of Mehedi for 32, followed by that of Mushfiqur Rahim six overs later, either side of Chahal trapping Kayes LBW in the 24th over. Das brought up his maiden ODI century in the 29th over, having faced 87 balls.


2018 Asia Cup Final, Match, Bangladesh innings
In the 33rd over, Kuldeep Yadav took his first wicket in the match to dismiss Mahmudullah, later also dismissing Das and Mashrafe Mortaza, both stumped by MS Dhoni. Soumya Sarkar provided some resistance in the end to drag Bangladesh beyond the 200-run mark as they managed to make 222 all out with nine balls left. Yadav finished the innings with figures of 3/45 and Jadhav 2/41 to help India regain control. Das was the top-scorer with 121 off 117 balls.


2018 Asia Cup Final, Match, Indian innings
The Indian team did not start well, losing the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Ambati Rayudu in the first eight overs. Rohit Sharma, with a score of 48, and Dinesh Karthik, with 37, steadied the run chase for India in the middle overs. After the departure of Rohit, Karthik built a 54-run partnership with MS Dhoni, before the Bangladesh bowlers dismissed them both to put India back under pressure. Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar then put together a 45-run partnership for the seventh wicket to take India close to their target. Kedar Jadhav, who had retired hurt after suffering a hamstring injury, returned in the penultimate over and took India across the line on the final ball of the match.


2018 Asia Cup Final, Match, Scorecard
Fall of wickets: 1-120 (Mehedi, 20.5 overs), 2-128 (Kayes, 23.5 overs), 3-137 (Rahim, 26.5 overs), 4-139 (Mithun, 28 overs), 5-151 (Mahmudullah, 32.2 overs), 6-188 (Das, 41 overs), 7-196 (Mortaza, 42.5 overs), 8-213 (Nazmul, 46.4 overs), 9-222 (Sarkar 48.1 overs), 10-222 (Rubel 48.3 overs)


2018 Asia Cup Final, Match, Scorecard
Fall of wickets: 1-35 (Dhawan, 4.4 overs), 2-46 (Rayudu, 7.3 overs), 3-83 (Sharma, 16.4 overs), 4-137 (Karthik, 30.4 overs), 5-160 (Dhoni, 36.1 overs), 6-212 (Jadeja, 47.2 overs), 7-214 (Kumar, 48.1 overs)


2018 Asia Cup Qualifier
The 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament that was held in Malaysia from 29 August to 6 September 2018. The event served as the qualifier for the 2018 Asia Cup. The top two teams from the group stage met in the final, with the winner progressing to the 2018 Asia Cup. The fixture between the United Arab Emirates and Nepal on 30 August 2018 was a One Day International (ODI) match. It was the first time both sides had played each other in an ODI match, with the UAE going on to win the fixture by 78 runs.


2018 Asia Cup Qualifier
The United Arab Emirates finished top of the group stage with eight points. They were joined in the final by Hong Kong, who finished second with seven points, and a better net run rate than Oman, who also finished with seven points. Hong Kong won the final, beating the UAE by two wickets, to qualify for the 2018 Asia Cup. Hong Kong's captain, Anshuman Rath, said afterwards that "all the hard work that has gone in this tournament over the last couple of months really has paid off".


2018 Asia Cup Qualifier, Squads
The following teams and squads were selected to take part:


2018 Asia Cup Qualifier, Squads
Prior to the tournament, Anshuman Rath replaced Babar Hayat as captain of Hong Kong. Jhathavedh Subramanyan was ruled out of Hong Kong's squad with injury, and was replaced by Aftab Hussain.


2018 Asia League season
The 2018 Asia League season consists of the Summer Super 8 tournament in July and The Terrific 12 tournament in September 2018 which are organized by Asia League Limited.


2018 Asia League season, Summer Super 8
The Summer Super 8, which featured eight teams was held from 17 to 22 July 2018 at the Macau East Asian Games Dome in Cotai, Macau. The Guangzhou Long Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association won over the Seoul Samsung Thunders of the Korean Basketball League in the final.


2018 Asia League season, The Terrific 12
The Terrific 12 tournament took place at the Studio City Event Center in Macau from 18 to 23 September. Unlike in the Super Summer 8, imports are eligible to compete in The Terrific 12. The group stage featured four groups of three with the top team advancing to the semifinal.


2018 Asia League season, Summer Super 8 Coaches' Clinic
The Summer Super 8 Coaches’ Clinic was led by CBA Xinjiang Flying Tigers’ head coach Brian Goorjian, and former B.LEAGUE Tochigi Brex head coach Tom Wisman. The clinic also featured former Philippine national player and San Miguel Alab Pilipinas, Jimmy Alapag.


2018 Asia League season, Summer Super 8 Coaches' Clinic
The two-day programme was delivered at the tournament venue, the Macao East Asian Games Dome, from 19 – 20 July 2018. 58 coaches from around the region participated in the clinic, all of whom received Asia League certification following its completion.


2018 Asia Pacific Masters Games
The 2018 Asia Pacific Masters Games (Malay: Sukan Masters Asia Pasifik 2018), the inaugural edition of the Asia Pacific Masters Games, was held in the Malaysian state of Penang from 7 to 15 September 2018. Organised by the International Masters Games Association (IMGA), it is the first ever Masters Games for the Asia-Pacific region.


2018 Asia Pacific Masters Games
The multi-sport event is open to participants of all abilities and most ages – the minimum age criterion ranges between 25 and 35 years depending on the sport. There are no competition qualification requirements apart from the age requirement and membership in that sport's governing body.


2018 Asia Pacific Masters Games, Host city
Penang was selected as the host of the inaugural edition of the Asia Pacific Masters Games during a bidding process in Nice, France in 2015.


2018 Asia Pacific Masters Games, Venues
18 venues within Penang's four districts were utilised in the Asia Pacific Masters Games. Most of the venues for the event are situated around Penang's capital city, George Town on Penang Island.


2018 Asia Pacific Masters Games, Mascot
Cun the cat is the official mascot of the 2018 Asia Pacific Masters Games.


2018 Asia Pacific Masters Games, Sports
The inaugural edition of the Asia Pacific Masters Games in 2018 will include 22 sports.


2018 Asia Pacific Masters Games, Participating Nations
Below are the countries of origin of the participating athletes. Note that there are no national delegations in Masters Games, as the athletes compete on their own.


2018 Asia Pacific Masters Games, Athlete's death
On 13 September 2018, Ukrainian football player Oleksandr Shcherbinin died of a heart attack in his hotel room at 6.45 am, after he complained of chest pain and collapsed.


2018 Asia Rugby Championship
The 2018 Asia Rugby Championship was the fourth annual rugby union series for the top-level Asia Rugby nations. The Asia Rugby Championship in 2018 formed part of the World Cup qualifying process and, as such, did not include Japan who had already qualified as the 2019 Rugby World Cup host. Hong Kong and South Korea were joined by Malaysia, promoted from Division 1, to compete in the 2018 series. Other Asian nations played in the lower division tournaments.


2018 Asia Rugby Championship
The format of the tri-nations series is a double round-robin where the three teams play each other twice on a home and away basis. The team finishing on top of the standings at the end of the series is declared the winner. The 2018 series winner Hong Kong advanced to a cross-regional play-off series against Oceania 4, Cook Islands, to earn a berth in the repechage tournament.


2018 Asia Rugby Championship, Teams
The teams involved, with their world rankings prior to the 2018 tournament in brackets:


2018 Asia Rugby Championship division tournaments
The 2018 Asia Rugby Championship division tournaments refers to the divisions played within the annual international rugby union tournament for the Asian region. The Asia Rugby Championship (ARC) replaced the Asian Five Nations tournament in 2015. The main tournament is now contested by the top three teams in Asia. The other national teams in Asia compete in three divisions.


2018 Asia Rugby Championship division tournaments, Teams
Note:The national teams from United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka (both Division I) and Laos (Division 3 East) were originally scheduled to play in their respective divisions, but withdrew prior to the draw being finalised.


2018 Asia Rugby Championship division tournaments, Division 1
The Division 1 tournament consists of two matches between the Philippines and Singapore on 23 and 26 June. Both games took place at Southern Plains in Calamba, Laguna.


2018 Asia Rugby Championship division tournaments, Division 2
The Division 2 tournament was held during May 2018 in Pattaya, Thailand.


2018 Asia Rugby Championship division tournaments, Division 2
Four points for a win, two for a draw, one bonus point for four tries or more (BP1) and one bonus point for losing by seven or less (BP2).


2018 Asia Rugby Championship division tournaments, Division 3 West
The Division 3 West tournament was held during April 2018 in Beirut, Lebanon.


2018 Asia Rugby Championship division tournaments, Division 3 East
The Division 3 East tournament was held during May 2018 in Brunei.


2018 Asia Rugby Championship division tournaments, Division 3 Central
The Division 3 Central tournament was held during May 2018 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.


2018 Asia Rugby Sevens Series
The 2018 Asia Rugby Sevens Series was the tenth edition of Asia's continental sevens circuit. The lower-tier Trophy tournament, hosted in Singapore, served as a qualifier, with the top team qualifying for the main series hosted in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Sri Lanka.


2018 Asia Rugby Sevens Series
Japan won all three tournaments of the 2018 series to retain their title as champions of Asia. Hong Kong and Philippines, as the two highest placed teams not already having core status on the Sevens World Series, gained entry to the 2019 Hong Kong Sevens for a chance to qualify as core teams for the following World Series.


2018 Asia Rugby Sevens Series
United Arab Emirates won the 2018 Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy, and qualified to the 2019 Asia Rugby Sevens Series, replacing the eighth placed team of 2018 Asia Rugby Sevens Series. Malaysia.


2018 Asia Rugby Sevens Series, Trophy
The men's trophy was held 4–5 August at Queenstown Stadium in Singapore. All times in Singapore Standard Time (UTC+08:00).


2018 Asia Rugby Sevens Series, Asia Rugby Sevens Series, Hong Kong
The tournament was held 14–15 September  in Hong Kong. All times in Hong Kong Time (UTC+08:00).


2018 Asia Rugby Sevens Series, Asia Rugby Sevens Series, South Korea
The men's trophy was held 29–30 September in Incheon. All times in Korea Standard Time (UTC+09:00).


2018 Asia Rugby Sevens Series, Asia Rugby Sevens Series, Sri Lanka
The tournament was held 13–14 October  in Colombo. All times in Sri Lanka Standard Time (UTC+05:30).


2018 Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series
The 2018 Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series was the nineteenth edition of Asia's continental sevens tournament. The series will be played over three legs in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Sri Lanka.


2018 Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series
The top two teams that are not already core teams on the 2018–19 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series will earn qualification to the 2019 Hong Kong Women's Sevens for a chance to earn core team status for the following World Series.


2018 Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series, Hong Kong
The tournament was held 14–15 September in Hong Kong. All times in Hong Kong Time (UTC+08:00).


2018 Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series, South Korea
The tournament was held 29–30 September in Incheon. All times in Korea Standard Time (UTC+09:00).


2018 Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series, Sri Lanka
The tournament will be held 13–14 October  in Colombo. All times in Sri Lanka Standard Time (UTC+05:30).


2018 Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship
The 2018 Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship is being held in Saitama, Japan with 10 national teams in competition, from July 29 to August 5. It is the tenth edition of the Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship and serves as a qualifier for the 2019 IKF World Korfball Championship, with the top 6 teams qualifying (with a minimum of 1 for Oceania). Chinese Taipei are the defending champions and have all previous editions, except the edition of 2004 which was won by Australia.


2018 Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship, Group Stage
The ten participating teams were drawn into two groups of five, with teams in each group playing one another in a round-robin basis. The top two teams in each group qualify for the semi-finals, while the teams finishing third and fourth playoff for places 5 to 8. The two teams finishing last will play for 9th place.


2018 Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship, Final standings
The top 6 qualified for the 2019 IKF World Korfball Championship.


2018 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship
The 2018 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship season is an international rally championship sanctioned by the FIA. It is being held for the 31st time. The championship was contested by a combination of regulations with Group R competing directly against Super 2000 cars for points.


2018 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship
The championship began in New Zealand on 4 May and is scheduled to finish in China on 21 October after five rallies. A sixth event in India in December was cancelled.


2018 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, Championship standings
Note: 1 – 14 refers to the bonus points awarded for each leg of the rally for the first five place getters, 1st (7), 2nd (5), 3rd (3), 4th (2), 5th (1). There were two bonus legs for each rally.


2018 Asian Airgun Championships
The 2018 Asian Airgun Championships were held in Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex Kuwait City, Kuwait between November 2 and 12, 2018.


2018 Asian Alpine Ski Championships
The 2018 Asian Alpine Ski Championships were the 27th Asian Alpine Ski Championships and took place from March 4–6, 2018, in Darbandsar Ski Resort, Darband Sar, Iran.


2018 Asian Beach Volleyball Championships
The 2018 Asian Beach Volleyball Championship was a beach volleyball event, that was held from 24 to 28 September, 2018 in Satun, Thailand.


2018 Asian Boys' U18 Volleyball Championship
The 2018 Asian Boys' U18 Volleyball Championship was the 12th edition of the Asian Boys' U18 Volleyball Championship, a biennial international volleyball tournament organised by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) with Islamic Republic of Iran Volleyball Federation (IRIVF). The tournament was held in Tabriz, Iran from 29 June to 6 July 2018. The top four teams of the tournament qualified for the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Boys' U19 World Championship as the AVC representatives.


2018 Asian Boys' U18 Volleyball Championship
Players must be born on or after 1 January 2001. And they can enroll themselves maximum for one championship.