UNITED KINGDOM
2022 clearly dictated Boris Johnson's fate.
Early in the year, revelations emerged that in the early stages of the pandemic Johnson furtively held numerous boozy parties while under lockdown decrees.
That triggered an explosive "Sue Gray" report attesting to the party, along with pictures.
Critics accused the Prime Minister of lying to Parliament as he apologised for the scandal.
Still, the Labour Party initiated a parliamentary probe into his lies so as to oust him.
The probe was passed without a formal vote on April 22nd, but the PM still dodged an ouster later.
This, as Boris Johnson, his wife, and multiple staff, were all fined for the notorious scandal.
In July, a flurry of resignations as over 50 junior and senior members of Johnson's cabinet quit, starting with then-Treasury Chief Rishi Sunak and Health Minister Sajid Javid.
At first, Johnson defied the odds.
But hours later, he resigned.
Despite the humiliating scandal, he was credited with accomplishing Brexit and his handling of the economy.
After a summer of non-stop campaigning, in September foreign secretary Liz Truss won the country's top job.
But Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng rattled markets with his wide-ranging tax cuts and borrowing.
But only weeks on the job, Kwarteng was ousted.
Jeremy Hunt immediately assumed his post and abandoned Truss' tax-cutting agenda.
But it was not to be for Truss.
After just 44 days on the job, on October 20th, she threw in the towel and became Britain's shortest-serving Prime Minister.
Then it was show time for her rival in the last PM vote -- Rishi Sunak -- who later snatched the post with no other contenders.
On November 17th, Treasury Chief Jeremy Hunt unveiled the new administration's economic plan.
It includes a 55-billion pound package of tax increases and spending cuts.
Richer families braced for higher taxes as the government increased its expenditure on health care.
But setbacks were also inevitable for Rishi Sunak.
First, he faced criticism for welcoming back Suella Braverman as home secretary despite her email scandal.
Sunak responded by saying Braverman had acknowledged her mistakes.
In late November, the country's Supreme Court obstructed another Scottish independence referendum unless with the British government's approval.
Many Scots were outraged.
But Scotland's First Minister said she would pressure the UK government to negotiate if she gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the next UK general election.
Then in winter, massive rolling labour strikes as workers demanded pay raises in line with inflation.
But the government stood firm and train, medical and postal services were disrupted even over Christmas.
CHINA
October marked a monumental month for China as it held its five-yearly Communist Party Congress.
President Xi Jinping elevated four officials to the powerful Politburo Standing Committee.
In the cabinet shakeup, Premier Li Keqiang was surprisingly ditched, with Li Qiang said to replace him.
While there is no obvious successor to Xi in the coming years, the President acknowledged the hurdles ahead, but called for determination.
In late November, a rare display of dissent as protests unfolded in Xinjiang following a deadly fire in Urumqi and draconian COVID measures.
UNITED STATES
In the United States, the country's first Black female Supreme Court judge -- 51-year-old Ketanji Brown Jackson -- was sworn in after months of wrangling in Congress.
But gripping America this year was that deadly spate of mass shootings.
From the Buffalo supermarket shooting in mid-May...
to the Uvalde school shooting -- one of the worst in U.S. history, killing 22.
Then there was the stabbing of 75-year-old author Salman Rushdie allegedly for his blasphemous 1988 novel "The Satanic Verses."
Also haunting America this year was the January 6 investigation and the surprise Mar-a-Lago raid in August.
Explosive, unseen footage of the January 6 riot was unveiled with the President apparently aiding and inciting the riot.
Witnesses testified one by one, including Trump's family members and former aides.
Former President Trump was back in spotlight in August when the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago resort over allegations he brought home classified documents.
While Trump announced he is running for the White House in 2024, his fellow Republicans began to desert him.
The FBI then released a redacted affidavit citing around 180 classified records being mishandled.
In November, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of a special counsel to preside over the Trump investigations.
This as Trump repeatedly lashed out at the Jan. 6 Committee.
A breakthrough came in December when, after 18 months of investigation, the January 6 Committee recommended criminal charges against Trump.
They include obstructing the peaceful transfer of power, fabricating a false statement and inciting an insurrection.
{Soundbite}
LIZ CHENEY, January 6 Committee Vice-Chairperson:
January 6th, 2021 was the first time one American President refused his constitutional duty to transfer power peacefully to the next.
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Abortion also stirred up a hornet's nest in America this year.
In early May, media widely reported the Supreme Court was about to overturn Roe v. Wade that legalised abortion.
Then the most dreaded move came in June when the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to strike it down affecting nearly half of America's fifty states.
Abortion rights activists were quick to protest the ruling, so was U.S. President Joe Biden.
{Soundbite}
JOE BIDEN, U.S. President (6/25/2022):
The Court literally taking America back 150 years. I will do all in my power to protect a woman's right in states where they will face the consequences of today's decision.
{VO}
But August kicked off with Kansas defying the rule as 59 percent of voters backed abortion.
The showdown stretched all the way to the mid-terms that centred on abortion rights even as the economy was ailing under the war.
In the end, Democrats managed to keep their Senate majority, but lost to the GOP in the House of Representatives.
In the wake of the deadly November gay nightclub shooting in Colorado, President Joe Biden signed a same-sex marriage law in December protecting both gay and inter-racial unions.
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CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate change also made waves this year.
From the stifling wildfires and heat waves in Europe, to Kentucky's flooding predicament to hurricanes Fiona and Ian in eastern America.
Still, a breakthrough did materialise at the end of this year's COP27 climate summit in Egypt.
Following overtime talks, a historic climate compensation deal was struck, calling for affluent nations to financially support poor countries ravaged by climate change.
But climate activists and many countries admitted, the deal was far from enough.
ASIA
One of the world's deadliest football matches degenerated into mayhem in Indonesia on October 2nd.
A stampede ensued when riot police resorted to tear gas as crowds flocked to the Malang stadium's exit, only to be crushed.
At least 125 people were killed and more than 300 injured.
Then on October 30th, another stampede, this time in South Korea.
Boisterous crowds crammed into a steep and narrow alley in the famed nightlife district of Itaewon.
Many revellers were trampled to death at the scene.
In the aftermath, bloodied bodies lined the streets, with paramedics rendering CPR.
In the end, 153 people were killed, many in their late teens or early 20's, with 82 others injured.
OBITUARIES
The world lost quite a considerable number of legends this year.
They include former Chinese President Jiang Zemin...
America's first female Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright...
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's first wife, Ivana Trump...
Singer Olivia Newton-John...
and actress Nichelle Nichols.
QUEEN ELIZABETH II
{Soundbite}
My sister, Margaret Rose, and I feel so much for you as we know from experience what it means to be away from those who love the most of all.
{VO}
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, the world's longest-reigning monarch, died on September 8th.
A massive military procession carried her coffin from Balmoral Castle back to Westminster Abbey where her funeral was held.
While her legacy included firestorms over Princess Diana's death and her treatment of Meghan, her passing brought together a younger royal generation.
Prince Charles was later proclaimed the new king.
The national anthem "God Save the Queen" was changed to "God Save the King", with paper notes replaced.
SHINZO ABE
And among the most traumatic was the assassination death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July.
He was gunned down while campaigning in Nara and later pronounced dead at a hospital at the age of 67.
MIKHAIL GORBACHEV
The world also bid farewell to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died at 91 in August.
He was instrumental in the historic collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and his audacious economic and political reforms.
Western leaders were quick to send their well-wishes, but his funeral was snubbed by President Vladimir Putin.
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