Do You Remember These Biggest International Stories of 2022?

The war in Ukraine, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, global inflation, extreme weather, scientific advances and the farewell to two great tennis players are just some of the biggest world news items that occurred in 2022.

War in Ukraine: the return of the conflict to European soil

On February 24 of this year, the world was rocked by the unthinkable. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “military operation” in Ukraine to defend separatists in the east of that country. The decision resulted in the worst conflict in Europe since the Balkan war in the 1990s.

The Russian army began to encircle the main Ukrainian cities, but was met with fierce resistance, armed by NATO and the US, which dashed Moscow’s attempts to achieve a lightning victory. Putin’s war provoked almost worldwide rejection, harsh sanctions were imposed that isolated Moscow, but unleashed an upward escalation in fuel and cereals.

Although the sides keep the death toll secret, US intelligence puts casualties at around 100,000 soldiers per side. The UN says that the total number of people who have fled Ukraine amounts to almost 8 million. Eleven months later, no way out is in sight.

Death of the Queen

On September 8, the United Kingdom brought an era to a close with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch in British history (70 years). After his death, the country entered a period of mourning that lasted until the day of the funeral, celebrated with all solemnity. Her son Carlos will succeed her.

The historic event added to the political crisis that led the country to have three prime ministers in one year.

Pressed by the scandals, Boris Johnson had to leave office to give way to the conservative Liz Truss, who later became the most fleeting premier with only 45 days in power. His departure then allowed the rise of Rishi Sunak, the first president from an ethnic minority.

The death of a young woman shakes the Iranian regime

The death in September of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish girl who died in custody by the Morale Police for not wearing the Islamic headscarf properly, sparked an unprecedented wave of protests in Iran.

After three months of mobilizations, more than 400 deaths and thousands of detainees in the country, the demonstrators call for the end of the Islamic Republic founded by Ayatollah Ruholá Khomeini in 1979, while the authorities began to execute demonstrators to try to deactivate some mobilizations carried out above all by young people and women who ask for more freedoms.

A record number for the migration of people

The world has witnessed an unprecedented wave of migration. According to UN data, between January and October 2022, 211,355 migrants crossed the Darien Gap towards the US, setting a record for these in transit in the area.

At the same time, 2,378,944 undocumented immigrants, 125,172 of them Colombians, were arrested at the US southern border, constituting an unprecedented number of migrant detentions. And in Europe, almost 45,000 people tried to cross the English Channel from France to the English coast in a dangerous journey that has left at least 205 dead or missing since 2014.

Global inflation to the limit, legacy of the pandemic

The global logistics crisis, a legacy of the pandemic, and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine had a hard impact on the planet’s economy.

Freight prices skyrocketed, raw materials and inputs for food production began to become scarce, and the value of a barrel of oil returned to US$100, all of which hit people’s pockets. Strong economies in Europe, as well as the US, registered inflation not seen in four decades and today they have the central bank raising its rates to the limit in years.

Extreme weather marked almost the entire planet

Extreme heat waves in Europe that only in Portugal and Spain left more than 1,700 dead. The strongest drought China has experienced in the last 60 years. A third of all Pakistan flooded and more than a thousand dead. Three years in a row of the La Niña phenomenon.

This is a reflection of how climate change is completely changing the way we live and relate to the planet.

The universe as seen through the James Webb telescope

In July, US President Joe Biden released the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant Universe, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, a collaboration of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian (CSA).

Since that first revelation, the most powerful space observatory ever built has continued to amaze the world with its images and provide scientists with invaluable data that will help to learn more about the universe.

Two tennis legends hang up the racket

2022 marked the end of an era, with the retirement of two figures who took tennis to another level and increased its popularity. First left the American Serena Williams, who on September 2 played her last match, falling in the third round of the US Open.

She left with 39 Grand Slam titles, among other achievements. 13 days later, the Swiss Roger Federer announced that he was ending his career. His last tournament was the Laver Cup. He won 20 big ones and lasted 310 weeks at the top of the world rankings.

Reversal of abortion in the US

The conservative US Supreme Court annulled on June 24 the historic ruling ‘Roe v. Wade’, which since 1973 guaranteed the right to abortion in that country. The Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion protections changed everything: from the political debate to the lives of millions of American women, whose rights now depend on the state in which they live. In 18 of them, abortion is now almost completely prohibited.

China’s ‘Zero COVID’ Policy

The world kept on being tested by the Coronavirus pandemic into 2022. However, the improvement of immunizations and therapeutics has facilitated the impacts of the infection and reestablished a level of business as usual in certain nations all over the planet.

The nation, however, that has kept standing out as truly newsworthy with its reaction to the infection is China. For the majority of this current year, China adhered to its forceful “zero Coronavirus” strategy, authorizing severe lockdowns and quarantine orders as well as mass testing to prevent the infection from spreading.

Argentina’s World Cup Win

Argentina secured a triumph over France in the last of the 2022 World Cup facilitated in Qatar — in perhaps quite possibly of the best game in the occasion’s set of experiences.

In what was perhaps one of the best matches in World Cup history, Argentina defeated France to win the 2022 championship, which was held in Qatar.

While Argentina was leading 2-0, the game was turned around by two goals from French talent Kylian Mbappé, including a penalty kick. The extra period between the two teams resulted in a 3-3 tie. Penalty shootouts decided Argentina’s victory.

This victory is Argentina’s third tournament triumph and the first World Cup victory in the 36-year-old Lionel Messi’s career. Messi created World Cup history by being the first player to score in every round of the tournament, from the group stage to the knockouts.