Category The World Around us

What important event happened in 2022 in all over world?

1. Russia-Ukraine war

Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the invasion a "special military operation" rather than a full-scale war. While sending troops into Ukraine from the north, south, and east, he told the Russian people his goal was to "demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine". On February 28, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity. According to the U.N., a third of the population has fled Ukraine since the invasion started. Meanwhile, over 17,000 confirmed civilian casualties in Ukraine were reported till December.

2. Death of Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8, 2022 in Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. She was the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from February 6, 1952, to September 8, 2022. In 2015, she surpassed Victoria to become the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Her eldest son Prince Charles, who was the Prince of Wales, became the proclaimed King in September following the Queen's death. He is now known as King Charles III. He has become head of the Commonwealth, an association of 56 independent countries including Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, and Canada.

3. Rishi Sunak becomes UK's PM

The year 2022 saw an early end to the Prime Ministership of Boris Johnson, resignation of a newly-elected PM in 45 days, and the UK getting an Indian-origin PM for the first time. In the face of scandals such as partygate and rising inflation, Johnson was forced to resign in July. During the prime ministerial election, Mary Elizabeth Truss defeated rival Rishi Sunak with 81,326 to 60,399 votes among party members. However, she quit after 45 tumultuous days in office, and former Chancellor Rishi Sunak became the third leader to enter London's 10 Downing Street in a year- in October 2022.

4. Sweden, Finland rush to join NATO

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland petitioned to join NATO in May 2022. Finland shares a long border with Russia, and Sweden is just across the Baltic Sea from Russia. While Sweden's application has been approved by 28 of the alliance's 30 members. Turkey and Hungary are yet to ratify Nordic nations membership in the alliance. However, Hungary has signalled it could approve Finland's and Sweden's bids in early 2023. Turkey said the countries need to take more concrete steps to cut ties with Kurdish militant groups such as Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) before approving the nations' entry into NATO.

5. China in lockdown

Since the beginning of the pandemic, China has been one of the toughest anti-Covid regimes in the world. The government had followed the zero-Covid policy wherein the local authorities were ordered to impose strict lockdowns even if a handful of cases were reported. People had been protesting against the strict lockdown rules for months. However, public anger increased when the lockdown rules hampered the rescue efforts during a fire incident in Urumqi. After nearly three years of snap lockdowns, border closures and financial hardship, the government in December 2022 began easing some of its lockdown measures such as allowing home quarantine.

6. Iran protests

Iran witnessed the biggest protest in years following the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022. The country's morality police had arrested Amini for not wearing her hijab properly and sporting skinny jeans. Iranians irrespective of age, ethnicity and gender are protesting against the strict law. Meanwhile, the security forces cracked down on protesters ruthlessly. A number of journalists, lawyers, celebrities, sports stars and civil society figures have been put behind bars for supporting the protesters. By December, about 458 people, including 63 children, were killed. While two people were executed, two teenagers are facing death penalty.

7. Biden's mid-term poll win

The year 2022 was a test for U.S. President Joe Biden. The mid-term elections are held every two years for the Senate and the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives has 435 members, and the Senate (upper house) has 100. The 2022 election saw a fierce contest between the Democrats and the Republicans. President Biden's Democratic Party now holds the upper chamber of Congress by 51-49. Democrats retained control of the Senate by winning the state of Pennsylvania in November 2022. Meanwhile, the Republicans gained a stronghold over the House of Representatives by winning 221 seats.

8. Pakistan: Sharif succeeds Khan

Pakistan saw the end of the rule of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was ousted in March 2022. Khan, the first Pakistani PM to lose a no-confidence vote, had attempted to block a no-confidence motion against him by dissolving parliament and calling for snap polls. However, Pakistan's top court ordered the motion to be held following which parliament elected Shehbaz Sharif as the new PM in April. Meanwhile, Khan blamed "foreign conspiracy" for his removal. In the by-elections held in October in three provinces, Khan won six National Assembly seats. Sharif, who succeeded him, is from the Pakistan Muslim League.

9. North Korea missiles

There was a significant rise in the number of missile tests conducted by North Korea, including one with a range long enough to hit the U.S. The country tested a variety of ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles. Hypersonic missiles have the capacity to fly at several times the speed of sound and at low altitudes to escape radar detection. North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years in October 2022. In November, one of its intercontinental ballistic missiles landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone.

10. Kazakhstan protest

Several cities in Kazakhstan witnessed unrest as thousands of protesters in January 2022 took to the streets against a sharp hike in the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and rising inflation, which was closing in on 9% year-on-year the highest in more than five years. As many as 225 people were killed and many more were injured as per the official records. The Kazakh authorities imposed a nationwide state of emergency and sent military units to fight the "terrorists". President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had ordered the security forces and the army to open fire with lethal force against the protesters.

11. Chinese missile attack in Taiwan

On August 4, 2022, China fired ballistic missiles near Taiwan as part of huge military drills to show its opposition to a visit by senior US politician Nancy Pelosi to the island. According to Taiwanese officials, China launched 11 ballistic missiles into waters around Taiwan's northeast and southwest coasts. Beijing saw Pelosi's visit as a challenge to its claims of Sovereignty over Taiwan. She was the most senior US politician to visit the island in 25 years. In September, the U.S. State Department approved $1.1 billion sale of military equipment to Taiwan, including 60 anti-ship missiles and 100 air-to-air missiles.

12. Brazil: Bolsonaro out, Lula in

Jair Bolsonaro became the first sitting President in Brazil to lose a re-election. He lost to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva by a thin margin, garnering 49.1% of the vote to da Silva's 50.9% in October 2022. However, former army captain Bolsonaro did not concede the election. He argued that votes from some machines should be "invalidated" in a complaint that election authorities met with scepticism. Meanwhile, his supporters continued demonstrations and torched cars and buses and tried to storm the federal police headquarters in the country's capital. They camped outside army bases for weeks, urging the military to overturn the victory of Lula.

13. Sri Lanka in crisis

Sri Lanka faced its worst economic crisis in March 2022 since its independence in 1948. The country had also defaulted on international loans. Protesters in large numbers took to the streets in the face of severe economic hardships marked by power blackouts, and shortages of fuel, cooking oil and food. They demanded the resignation of the Rajapaksa-led government. To launch a crackdown on the anti-government protests, the government imposed a state of emergency. Following months of protests and the resignation of then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on May 9, his brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country on July 13.

14. Israel election: Netanyahu – again!

After five elections in three years, Israel's longest-serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu re-entered office after winning a majority in Israel's Knesset, or parliament. After the 2021 general election, Naftali Bennett joined a coalition with Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist party Yesh Atid. The coalition allowed Bennett to become Israel's Prime Minister in a two-year rotation with Lapid. However, Lapid's term, which began on July 1, 2022, was a short one as the November 2022 election brought Netanyahu once again to office. Netanyahu is the prime minister of the country's most right-wing government in history.-

15. Gorbachev, Abe no more

The year 2022 witnessed the death of the last leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev and former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe. Gorbachev was the President of the Soviet Union from 1990-91. His efforts to democratise Soviet Union's political system and decentralise the economy led to the downfall of communism and the breakup of the U.S.S.R. in 1991. However, his role in bringing an end to the Soviet Union's post-war domination of eastern Europe earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. Meanwhile, Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest-serving Prime Minister, was assassinated while campaigning in Nara for a parliamentary election on July 8, 2022.

16. Philippines: Marcos Jr makes it

In the Philippines, Marcos Jr became the country's President, capping off his family's decades-long quest to regain power after it was driven out in the 1986 uprising. His father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr, had ruled the country for two decades under the martial law. In May 2022, Marcos Jr won 31.63 million votes, or 58.8% of the ballots cast, the highest among the six presidents elected since the People Power revolution of 1986. Sara Duterte, daughter of Rodrigo Duterte, garnered 61.5% of the ballots in the vice-president or vice-president elected in the past 36 years.

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Why are the Petronas Towers famous?

Petronas Twin Towers were once the tallest buildings in the world. Now the world’s tallest twin structures, the 88-storey buildings were designed by Cesar Pelli & Associates with both towers joined at the 41st and 42nd floors (175m above street level) by a 58 metre-long, double-decker Sky Bridge.

Standing 452 metres tall, the Petronas Twin Towers retained its world-title claim to fame until 2004 when Taipei’s 101 was built, measuring 508 metres tall. Today, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (opened in 2010) retains the spot as the world’s tallest building. Located in the KL city centre, the Petronas Twin Towers’ architecture is Islamic-inspired and the buildings primarily house the corporate headquarters of the Petronas Company and other offices.

The towers were designed by Argentine architect César Pelli. A distinctive postmodern style was chosen to create a 21st-century icon for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Planning on the Petronas Towers started on 1 January 1992 and included rigorous tests and simulations of wind and structural loads on the design. Seven years of construction followed at the former site of the original Selangor Turf Club, beginning on 1 March 1993 with excavation, which involved moving 500 truckloads of earth every night to dig down 30 metres (98 ft) below the surface.

Due to the huge cost of importing steel, the towers were constructed on a cheaper radical design of super high-strength reinforced concrete. High-strength concrete is a material familiar to Asian contractors and twice as effective as steel in sway reduction; however, it makes the building twice as heavy on its foundation as a comparable steel building. Supported by 23-by-23 metre concrete cores and an outer ring of widely spaced super columns, the towers use a sophisticated structural system that accommodates its slender profile and provides 560,000 square metres of column-free office space. Below the twin towers is Suria KLCC, a shopping mall, and Petronas Philharmonic Hall, the home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

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What are famous skyscrapers?

Superman may be able to leap over tall buildings in a single bound, but most people are amazed when they see them from the ground. Skyscrapers first appeared during the late 1800’s in Chicago and New York, U.S.A. Builders could fit more offices in one area by building upward. The 10-storey Home Insurance Building in Chicago, built from 1884 to 1885, was the first skyscraper with a metal frame.

In the 1940’s and 1950’s, German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe became famous for his glass and steel skyscrapers. His most famous structure in the Seagram Building in New York City, U.S.A. This skyscraper has bronze walls and bronze-coloured windows.

 

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What are National Monuments?

Around the world, thousands of buildings, statues, and parks helps us remember the past and honour people who made a difference in the world. These places are called national monuments.

One of the world’s famous monuments is the Statute of Liberty in New York Harbor, U.S.A. This majestic copper sculpture of a woman holding a torch towers 46 metres. A stairway inside the statue lets visitors look through Liberty’s crown. For immigrants who enter the U.S.A. through New York Harbor, the statue is a symbol of freedom and opportunity. The statue was a gift from France to the U.S.A. in 1885.

At Dinosaur National Monument in the U.S.A., tourists can see fossils of prehistoric reptiles. This national monument in Colorado and Utah also has canyons cut by the Green and Yampa rivers.

One of the greatest battles ever won by the British navy is remembered with a huge statue of Admiral Horaito Nelson in Trafalgar Square in London, England. Nelson was killed in the battle, but his statue has become one of the world’s famous landmarks.

In the centre of Hiroshima, Japan, a huge sculpture stands near the ruins of a building destroyed during a nuclear bomb attack. The ruined building, and the sculpture, known as the Atomic Bomb Dome, a part of Peace Memorial Park. The monument serves as a reminder of the atomic bomb that was dropped on the city during World War II.

 

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What are the ancient wonders of the world?

Did you know that there are monuments, tombs, and huge walls that were built hundreds or even thousands of years ago? Sometimes only small parts, or ruins, of these places remain. But you can still visit them today.

In England, tourists and scientists alike are amazed by Stonehenge, a group of huge, rough-cut stones set in circles. Scientists believe that ancient people built Stonehenge as a gathering place. Much of the monument is gone, but scientists think that when it was first built, an earth wall about 98 metres across circled it. Thirty blocks of grey sandstone stood like guards 4 metres above the ground.

Another wonder from long ago is the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt. Pyramids were built by Egyptians about 4,500 years ago as tombs for their kings. The Great Pyramid contains more than 2 million stone blocks.

In Peru, you can visit the ruins of Machu Picchu, once a walled city on the top of a mountain. It was built during the late 1400’s by the Inca and was probably a home for the Inca royal family.

The longest structure ever built is the Great Wall of China. Its main part stretches more than 8,850 kilometres. The wall was built to protect the northern Chinese border against enemies. Most of the wall that stands today was built in the 1400’s.

Another famous ruin is the Colosseum in Rome, Italy. The structure was completed in A.D. 90. From that time until 404, the Colosseum was a place where people could watch fights between gladiators who were slaves or paid fighters. Battles between men and wild animals and other events entertained Romans. The Colosseum was later abandoned. Many of its stones were used to build other structures.

The Colosseum was the largest outdoor theatre in ancient Rome. It could seat about 50,000 people. It is made of brick and concrete and is surrounded by 80 entrances.

The Parthenon is a famous ruin on top of a hill in Athens, Greece. It was constructed between 447 and 432 B.C. The Parthenon was a temple built to honour the Greek goddess Athena.

The Parthenon is shaped like a rectangle. It stands about 18 metres high. When the Parthenon was built, it had many brightly coloured statues and sculptured panels that showed stories from ancient Greece. Today, many of those statues are at museums in Athens and in London, England.

 

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What are modern wonders of the world?

People have built many incredible structures. Some soar to dizzying heights. Others cross huge lakes or rivers. Here are just a few modern wonders you can see around the world.

The Eiffel Tower is a huge iron tower in Paris. Built for a world’s fair in 1889, the tower rises 300 metres. You can take stairs or lifts to the top. The Eiffel Tower was the highest structure in the world for many years.

In Toronto, Canada, stands the CN Tower, one of the world’s highest free-standing structures. The communications and observation tower stands 553 metres high. It was completed in 1976.

In 1998, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge opened in Japan. Its main suspension span, the world’s longest, stretches 1,990 metres across the Akashi Strait. The bridge took about 10 years to build.

The Channel Tunnel is an undersea railway that connects the United Kingdom with France. It opened in 1994. Fast electric trains carry cars and buses, people and goods through the tunnel, under the English Channel. The journey can take less than 35 minutes.

The Suez Canal waterway joins the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea in Egypt. It is 190 kilometres long and 19.5 metres deep. When the canal opened in 1869, ships travelling between England and India no longer had to sail around Africa. This shortened the trip by 8,000 kilomteres!

Another famous canal was built between North America and South America to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. When the Panama Canal was finished in 1914, it shortened the trip between New York City, New York and San Francisco, California, by 14,500 kilometres. Ships no longer had to sail around South America.

 

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