FAREWELL TO 2022: what happened in the United States and around the world?

Midterms, Trump 2024, Mar-a-Lago raid

On the political front, the United States began 2022 with its sights set on the midterm elections on November 8. The Democratic Party wanted to maintain its majority in Congress, but the people decided otherwise. The Democrats lost their majority in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, the Republican Party managed to balance the number of seats. Incidentally, the defeat of the Democrats in the House brought about .

Joe Biden's first State of the Union Address to the House of Representatives was also noteworthy. In it, the president emphasized Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began a few days earlier.

Another political highlight was the return of Donald Trump, who announced his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election. He delivered his speech from his Mar-a-Lago home, which was the subject of an FBI raid in August looking for evidence of the former president's alleged involvement in the 2021 Capitol attack.

International elections, Ukraine

The midterm elections were not the only ones held throughout the world. There were also very important elections in Germany, Italy and France. In the first two cases, there was an ideological shift: the progressive politician Olaf Scholz won the German legislative elections, while Italians opted for the uncomplicated right-winged Giorgia Meloni. The French decided to reelect Emmanuel Macron.

Socialism reaped notable triumphs in Latin America. Lula da Silva and Gustavo Petro became presidents of Brazil and Colombia, respectively. In addition, Rodrigo Chaves became the new president of Costa Rica after winning in the second round.

If there was one event that had the whole world on edge, it was the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This war, which began in February, is not over yet, and an estimated 200,000 people have died, in addition to the millions of Ukrainians who had to flee their homes to escape the war. The latest development is that Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to negotiate an end to the conflict. Also, the last leader of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev died in August at the age of 91.

Elizabeth II, a political crisis in the United Kingdom, corruption in the European Parliament

It was not an easy year for the United Kingdom. If there was one person who managed to unify the British people, regardless of ideology or thinking, it was Elizabeth II. The monarch died in early September at the age of 96, after seven decades on the throne, one of the longest in history. Three days before her death, the country witnessed a change of prime minister: Boris Johnson resigned and his position was taken over by Liz Truss. She spent less than two months in office.

Corruption splashed the European Parliament. Vice-president and socialist Eva Kaili, was arrested, along with other members of parliament, for her alleged involvement .

China and the scourge of communism and 'socialism of the 21st century'

Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan (August) increased tensions between the United States and China, whose president, was reelected as general secretary of the Communist Party and therefore the country's strongman. China was shaken by a great wave of protests by the draconian restrictions and measures implemented by the regime to combat the coronavirus.

North Korea conducted military operations with missile launches very close to Japan. In Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega's regime exercised relentless persecution against the Catholic Church, even calling several bishops "terrorists" and besieging them. As for the now-former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo, he was arrested for attempting a self-coup to perpetuate himself in power.

Argentina's Cristina Fernández de Kirchner attracted attention in two specific moments of the year. The first was in September, when a man named Fernando Sabag Montiel tried to assassinate the current vice-president of Argentina, an incident that was surrounded by controversy. Three months later, she was sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of illicit association and fraudulent administration. However, her position (she is still the vice-president of the Southern Republic) protects her from spending time behind bars.

Abe assassination, Zawahiri elimination and attack on Salman Rushdie

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, the former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe was shot and killed while attending an election rally.

The Middle East also played a role. In the fight against Islamic terrorism, the CIA killed the Al Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a drone strike. On the other hand, the so-called Iranian morality police murdered Mahsa Amini, a young woman, for improperly wearing the hijab, triggering a wave of protests against the Islamist regime that resulted in more than 400 deaths.

British writer Salman Rushdie was attacked in New York as he was about to give a speech. Rushdie was taking the stage at the Chautauqua Institution, located in Chautauqua, near Lake Eire, when a man began punching and stabbing him. As a result of the attack, the writer lost his vision in one eye and mobility in one of his hands.

Inflation

This year, the country saw inflation levels that hadn't been seen in the last 40 years in the United States, reaching as high as 9.1%. This caused serious difficulties for both families and companies. Nevertheless, Biden, in one of his famously delusional outbursts, proclaimed, "The economy is strong as hell."

The economic crisis was noticeably reflected in the price of gasoline and oil and in the constant stock market crashes. In addition, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to over 4%.

Elon Musk freed the bird

Big Tech has been a hot topic. Elon Musk shook up the industry by buying Twitter for $44 billion and claiming, "The bird is freed." It was a story that contained months of negotiations, bids, and even court proceedings.

Another purchase that was executed was that of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. Meta Platforms, Facebook's parent company experienced the biggest setback and lost around $700 billion in valuation. Apple also played a leading role. Earlier this year, the company founded by Steve Jobs became the first publicly traded company to surpass a market value in excess of $3 trillion.

Covid: an end to restrictions?

2022 was the year in which the U.S. registered more than one million deaths from Covid-19. The restrictions put in place to combat the virus faded out, although at the end of the year some of them were reinstated for travelers from China, where the pandemic continues to wreak havoc.

In August, the threat of a new pandemic loomed on the horizon. The United States declared a public health emergency due to monkeypox. Around 30,000 cases and 20 deaths were reported. The emergency declaration will expire in January and is not expected to be renewed due to the decrease in the number of infections.

Artemis I' and the birth of a new star

On November 16, NASA launched the rocket Artemis I to the Moon. The mission was successful on the third attempt. A few days before the end of 2021, NASA, together with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency launched the James Webb Space Telescope, which replaced Hubble and Spitzer. It is in orbit at a distance of 930,000 miles from Earth.

In October, the James Webb telescope captured high-definition images of the Pillars of Creation, and in November it captured the birth of a new star. Another space milestone achieved by NASA was impacting an asteroid with the DART probe, with the objective of deflecting it from its orbit.

'Fiona,' 'Ian,' 'Elliott,' Mauna Loa

Up to 16 tropical storms were recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane season kicked off in early June with Alex, which affected Florida, Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala, Bermuda, and Belize. The hurricanes that caused the greatest devastation in the Atlantic area were Fiona, leaving 45 dead- and Ian, killing 158 civilians. In the Pacific, 19 typhoons were recorded.

After almost four decades of inactivity, erupted at the end of November. In Sicily (Italy), the Stromboli volcano entered an eruptive phase in early December, as did the Semeru mountain in Indonesia. Earlier this year, lava also erupted from the crater of Mount Hunga Tonga (Tonga). The Fuego Volcano (Guatemala) and the Villarrica Volcano (Chile) also erupted.

To conclude the chapter on catastrophes and meteorological phenomena, we closed the year with , which left at least 57 people dead. The most affected state was New York, with 31 fatalities. Elliott was the deadliest storm in NY history.

Abortion, censorship

Judicially, numerous cases have aroused enormous public interest due to their repercussions. The Supreme Court ruled that abortion is not a constitutional right and overturned Roe vs. Wade. The decision caused a major drop in the number of abortions, like in Texas, where the number of abortions fell by 97% from June to July.

Censorship on social media was one of the big issues of the year. The country finally recognized that Hunter Biden's computer was no Republican invention. There has also been talk about the links that companies such as Google have with the Chinese communist regime or how they have allowed themselves to be manipulated by the FBI. The latest we have learned is that Google "frequently makes links disappear," as Elon Musk condemned. Twitter's own CEO pledged to uncover the censorship that existed in the social network under the previous management.

Student debt, migration crisis

One of Joe Biden's election promises was student debt forgiveness. The president's plan would cost more than $2,000 per taxpayer, or about $230 billion in total. Justice took action and declared it illegal.

In the last few days, Title 42 has been on the front pages of the media. Faced with uncontrolled immigration, the Biden Administration's position was to end to the plan, but once again the courts have taken a stand against the President's intentions. The Supreme Court decided to rule in favor of Title 42, which will remain in effect until at least February. Meanwhile, the southern border continues to be a chaotic and dangerous place even for immigrants themselves.

Depp vs. Heard and Will Smith's slap in the face

Much of the country followed the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial. The actress accused her ex-husband of alleged abuse, although finally the courts ruled in favor of Depp and Heard had to recant. As a penalty, the actress will have to compensate him with one million dollars for defamation.

This year's Oscars won't go down in history for CODA winning Best Picture or Dune for having the highest number of nominations but for Will Smith slapping Chris Rock after he mocked Jada Pinkett Smith, wife of the star of Bad Boys and Men in Black, for having alopecia.

Avatar 2 and Bad Bunny

Hollywood released spectacular productions, such as the Avatar sequel. Lovers of James Cameron's films had to wait 13 years to see the sequel. At the moment, its success at the box office has been disappointing. Top Gun: Maverick, Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness or Black Panther: Wakanda Forever were more successful and grossed more at the box office.

From the big screen to the small screen, House of the Dragon, a Game of Thrones prequel, the fourth season of Stranger Things, the second season of The White Lotus and Merlina were the most successful series of 2022. All of them were produced by platforms such as HBO Max or Netflix.

In music, the name that stood out the most was Bad Bunny. The Puerto Rican singer became the first Hispanic to win Artist of the Year at the MTV Awards. In addition, on-demand music platforms such as Spotify or Apple Music revealed that Bad Bunny was the most listened to singer of 2022.

Argentina and Pelé. And Brittney Griner

Argentina was crowned champion of the Qatar World Cup in one of the best finals in history. The tournament was full of surprises, such as Morocco, or major disappointments, such as Germany and Spain.

We bid farewell to 2022 with the sad news of . The legendary soccer player, for many the best in history, passed away at the age of 82 after months of battling cancer. Thanks to his many goals and unforgettable plays, Brazil managed to go down in soccer history and O Rei won three World Cups, among many other collective and individual titles.

Brittney Griner got more attention than she has ever gotten on the court. The basketball player was arrested in Russia for carrying cannabis oil in her luggage. She was sentenced to 9.5 years in prison, but after several months in a Russian prison, she was exchanged for the arms dealer Victor But, who had been imprisoned in the United States.

There was more news in sports. Tennis legends Roger Federer and Serena Williams ended their careers, by winning 20 and 23 Grand Slams, respectively. The Golden State Warriors won their fourth NBA Ring in seven years and the Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl.

Extra: VOZ MEDIA WAS BORN

Coinciding with Independence Day, Voz Media was born with the objective of becoming a reference for the Hispanic community and to defend the principles, ideas and values that have made the United States of America great.

The public presentation took place at Mercury Studios in Dallas on November 17. Both the founding president and CEO, Orlando Salazar, and the chief operating officer (COO), Pablo Kleinman, emphasized in their speeches the importance of the growing and influential Hispanic community having a media outlet that can keep up with them.

The event was attended by numerous figures from the world of communication, politics and business, who were enthusiastic about the launch of a project that they consider to be increasingly necessary.