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  3. 2022: The Year in Photos

Rewind 2022: Year in Review
All Major Events That Happened This Year

War and fashion; protests and comicons; fire and flood. In 2022, our world, as is its wont, offered up an immaculate mix of chaos to put to rest any lingering notions of order and meaning.

Curated By Madhu Kapparath

BATTERED GROUND

Photo: Aris Messinis / AFP

Nine months on, with scores of civilian lives lost, cities devastated and families in disarray, the Ukraine-Russia war is a brutal stalemate with no end in sight. Ukrainian soldiers help people cross a destroyed bridge over the Irpin river as they evacuate the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, during heavy shelling on March 5.

SONG BIRD

Photo: Satish Bate / Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Starting her career in 1942, Hindi cinema's greatest playback singer has recorded 50,000 songs in over 30 different languages, a momentous, matchless feat. Born to a family of performers in Indore, her lilting voice has emoted for actors down generations, from Madhubala to Preity Zinta.

RENAISSANCE A(i)RT

Photo: Stefano Mazzola / Getty Images

Humanoid artist Ai-Da painting at the Giardini Della Biennale in Venice, Italy, on April 19. Devised in Oxford by art specialist Aidan Miller, Ai-Da has made history by becoming the first robot to speak in Britain's House of Lords. The robot artist told British lawmakers that although not alive, she was still "capable of producing art". Shortly after, Ai-Da did something very human: She 'fell asleep' inside the Parliament.

WARRIOR.....

Photo: Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP

Performers demonstrate Kung Fu-like manoeuvres during the spectacular opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics at National Stadium, Beijing, China, on February 4. Nearly 600 million Chinese had tuned in to the Winter Games at some point, and the opening ceremony was reportedly the country's most-watched broadcast in a decade.

.....GAMES

Photo: Toby Melville / Reuters

US's Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier compete in the figure skating pairs event during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on February 7. They could move up and win the gold medal if and when the IOC clears the pending doping investigation against Russian winner Kamila Valieva.

GOLD MINER

Photo: Courtesy Hombale Films

Directed by Prashanth Neel, K.G.F. - Chapter 2 has emerged as the highest-grossing film of 2022, crossing the Rs1,000 crore mark at the global box office. Starring South star Yash, the film follows the story of Rocky (Yash), an orphan who rises from poverty and eventually becomes the king of the gold mine. The multilingual film was released in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi.

HANGING GARDENS

Photo: Money Sharma / AFP

Autorickshaws are ubiquitous on New Delhi's roads, but Mahendra Kumar's vehicle stands out. Kumar drives his vehicle with a ‘garden' on its roof, aimed at keeping passengers cool during the searing summer season compounded by Delhi's poor air.

TRIGGER CRAZY

The year 2022 will go down in history as the one in which the second-highest number of mass shootings took place in the US. The country is the most heavily armed in the world, with more civilian-owned guns than people and has about 120.5 firearms per 100 residents, according to the Small Arms report. Despite vocal public outrage in the wake of mass shootings, only 52 percent of the US population supports stricter gun laws.

Photo: Armen Armenian / Reuters

Wounded people lie at the 36th Street subway station after a shooting, in New York City, on April 12.

Photo: Brandon Bell / Getty Images

Chris Shelton, 36, helps his son Luke, 7, steady a firearm at the National Rifle Association annual convention on May 28 in Houston, Texas. The convention comes days after a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which left 19 students and two adults dead.

INFLATABLE CREATION

Photo: Henry Nicholls / Reuters

A model presents a tentacle-like inflatable creation, which is part clothing and part sculpture, inspired by deep-sea life, during the ‘On/Off presents Jack Irving' show at the London Fashion Week on February 18. Irving incorporates elements of theatricality with a love for colliding technology with live performance.

GOLIATH?

Photo: Hollie Adams / Getty Images

Comic book fans in costumes during the MCM Comic Con London on May 28. The convention saw over 100,000 visitors in attendance over the weekend. Marvel, DC comics, anime, sci-fi and fantasy fans came together for an epic gathering to celebrate all things geeky and fun.

ABORTED RIGHTS

The US Supreme Court, in a seismic ruling in the Dobbs V Women's Health Organization abortion case, struck down the right to abort that shredded five decades of constitutional protections and prompted several right-leaning states to impose immediate bans on the procedure. The ruling overturned the landmark Roe v Wade abortion decision on June 24.

Photo: Jason Connolly / AFP

Abortion rights activists, dressed in outfits from The Handmaid's Tale, lead protestors during a march in Denver, Colorado, on June 27.

Photo: Evelyn Hockstein / Reuters

Anti-abortion demonstrators celebrate outside the US Supreme Court on June 24 after it struck down the right to abort.

SUN BURN

A series of intense heatwaves across Europe, paired with unusually dry conditions, has led to a summer of extremes, causing major wildfires, travel disruption, deaths and the worst drought in centuries, attributed to human-caused climate change. With further warming inevitable as long as greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise, in less than a couple of decades, the 2022 summer might become the norm.

Photo: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

Women dip their heads into the fountain to cool off in Trafalgar Square, London, as temperatures hit 40°C, leading to the first Red extreme heat warning in England in July.

Photo: Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP

A firefighter battles a wildfire that has been raging at the Serra da Estrela Natural Park in Manteigas, central Portugal, on August 10.

Photo: Luis Tato / AFP

Elephant keeper Kiapi Lakupanai plays with two abandoned calves at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in Samburu, Kenya, on October 12. Kenya's worst drought in 40 years has led to parched lands and dry wells, causing many calves to lose their exhausted mothers, or get abandoned or lost.

SEEN, HEARD

Photo: Evelyn Hockstein / Pool/ AFP

The most searched person on the internet this year, actor Amber Heard, awaits the jury verdict in the Depp V Heard civil defamation trial at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Virginia on June 1. While announcing split verdicts in favour of Heard and her ex-husband Johnny Depp on their claim and counter-claims, the jury declared that she defamed Depp in an intense libel trial involving bitterly-contested allegations of sexual violence and domestic abuse.

TRIBAL CHIEFTAIN

Photo: Ajay Aggarwal / Hindustan Times via Getty Images

The newly-elected President of India, Droupadi Murmu, inspects the guard of honour at the Rashtrapati Bhavan forecourt in New Delhi on July 25. Murmu is the first person from India's tribal minority to occupy the top constitutional post. Born into a Santhal family in Uparbeda village, Mayurbhanj district, Odisha, in 1958, she was the first girl in her village to go to college. She went on to serve as a panchayat councillor, a minister of state and the governor of Jharkhand.

THE STORMING

Photo: Dinuka Liyanawatte / Reuters

Angry demonstrators protest inside the President House—Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office and residence —after he fled, amid the country's economic crisis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on July 9. The nation is suffering its worst financial crisis in recent history caused by economic mismanagement, as its foreign exchange reserves plummeted to record lows, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine and fuel.

REVELATION

Photo: Handout / NASA / AFP

The image shows a bright star at the centre of Nebula NGC 3132, a bright and extensively studied planetary nebula in the constellation Vela at a distance of 2,000 light-years, viewed by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in near-infrared light on July 12. The JWST is the most powerful telescope launched into space; it reached its final orbit around the sun, approximately 930,000 miles from Earth's orbit, in January.

LITHIUM FIELD.....

Photo: John Moore / Getty Images

Pools of brine, containing lithium carbonate and salt bi-product, stretch through a lithium mine in the Atacama Desert, Chile. To meet the rising global demand for lithium carbonate, the main component in the manufacture of electric batteries, US-based Albemarle Corp's mining operations involve pumping natural brine to a series of evaporation ponds during an 18-month process, yielding a lithium concentration of 6 percent.

.....LOVE GROVE

Photo: Carl Recine / Reuters

A heart-shaped clearing can be seen in a woodland where a heartbroken widower, Winston Howes, planted 6,000 oak trees in a six-acre field on his farm. He left the clearing in the middle as a tribute to his late wife Janet, whom he was married to for 33 years, in Wickwar, Gloucestershire, Britain.

LEAP YEAR

Photo: Tim Clayton / Corbis via Getty Images

India's Avinash Sable created history at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, winning the silver medal in the men's 3000m steeplechase in Birmingham, England, on August 6. The first non-Kenyan to win a medal since 1994, Sable was separated from gold medal winner Kenya's Abraham Kibiwott by five microseconds.

FLAME THROWER

Photo: Fabrice Coffrini / AFP

India's Neeraj Chopra competes in the men's javelin event during the Diamond League athletics meeting at Stade Olympique de la Pontaise in Lausanne. Chopra's 88.44m throw in Zurich, in the final of the elite series, won him the Diamond League trophy on September 8.

HAIR RAISER

Photo: UGC / AFP

An unveiled woman stands on top of a vehicle on October 26 as thousands make their way towards Aichi cemetery in Saqez, Mahsa Amini's home town, in the western Iranian province of Kurdistan, defying a bloody crackdown on women-led protests. A wave of unrest has rocked Iran since 22-year-old Amini fell into a coma and died on September 16 following her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly breaching the country's strict rules on hijab headscarves and modest clothing.

UNDERWATER

Photo: Aamir Qureshi / AFP

Internally displaced people wade through floodwaters to return home after heavy monsoon rains in Dadu district, Sindh province, Pakistan, on September 7. From late June, torrential monsoon rains triggered the most severe flooding, leaving a third of Pakistan under water; millions of people remain homeless, roads are destroyed and tens of thousands of schools and hospitals lie in ruins.

THE CROWN, PRIME TIME

The year began with celebrations to mark the start of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee Year, as she became the first British monarch to reign for seven decades. On September 8, the Queen passed away at Balmoral, aged 96, ruling over 15 countries in the Commonwealth and 14 additional overseas territories. Hundreds of thousands of mourners lined up to pay their respects, a testament to her role as a unifying figure, someone all Britons could look up to.

Photo: Daniel Leal / AFP

Pictures of Queen Elizabeth II are displayed on the big digital screens at Piccadilly Circus in central London on February 6 to mark the start of Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee Year.

Photo: Alastair Grant / Pool via Reuters

Britain's Prince Charles sits next to the Queen's crown during the State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster in London on May 10.

Photo: Aaron Chown / Pool/ AFP

The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the Long Walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the Committal Service at St George's Chapel on September 19.

Photo: Aaron Chown / Pool/ AFP

Britain's King Charles III greets the newly-appointed Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Buckingham Palace in London on October 25. Sunak inherits a UK economy headed for recession.

FABRIC-ATED

Photo: Julien de Rosa / AFP

US model Bella Hadid is dressed by spraying Fabrican spray-on fabric during the Coperni Spring-Summer 2023 fashion show as part of the Paris Womenswear Fashion Week, on September 30. Dr Manel Torres, the inventor and head of Fabrican (left), created a minimalist Coperni slip dress directly onto Hadid's body.

OFF THE COURT

Four tennis legends made sporting headlines around the world this year: Djokovic winning anti-vaxxer fans for his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19; the 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams pirouetting to say goodbye; and a retiring Roger Federer in tears after partnering with Rafael Nadal in a match, ending a great rivalry rooted in mutual respect.

Photo: Christopher Pike / Reuters

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic arrives at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport on January 17, after the Australian Federal Court upheld a government decision to cancel his visa to play in the Australian Open.

Photo: Timothy a. clary / AFP

US player Serena Williams celebrates after defeating Montenegro's Danka Kovinic in the US Open women's singles match in New York, on August 29. The 23-time Grand Slam champion was preparing to bid an emotional farewell to tennis.

Photo: Glyn Kirk / AFP

Switzerland's Roger Federer (left) sheds a tear after playing his final match, doubles with Spain's Rafael Nadal, for Team Europe in the 2022 Laver Cup at the O2 Arena in London, on September 24. Federer brings the curtain down on his spectacular career in a "super special" match with long-time rival Nadal.

TWIT-ERRORS

Photo: Twitter account of Elon Musk / @elonmusk / AFP

This video grab from the Twitter account of Elon Musk on October 26 shows him carrying a sink as he enters the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco. Musk changed his Twitter profile to “Chief Twit”, days before his contentious $44 billion takeover of the company was finalised. Musk has been critical of Twitter's management and moderation policies, clashing over the terms of the takeover by accusing Twitter of providing misleading information about the platform's user numbers. Musk, a self-styled “free speech absolutist”, will have to contend with a huge number of impossible political problems around speech, content moderation, and trying to make money.

STILL VIRAL

Protests against Covid-19 restrictions, which feature mass testing and snap lockdowns, spread across China in late November. Crowds took to the streets and university campuses in Beijing, Shanghai and elsewhere, venting their anger and frustrations on local officials and the Communist Party. The whole of Xinjiang had been under continuous lockdown for about 100 days. Adding to the unrest are the protests by thousands of workers at the Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou over terrible living conditions and payment denials.

Photo: Thomas Peter / Reuters

Residents of Beijing gather on November 27 for a vigil and hold white sheets of paper in protest against Covid-19 restrictions during a commemoration of the victims of a fire in Urumqi, as outbreaks of coronavirus continue in China.

Photo: Noel Celis / AFP

Workers wearing personal protective equipment ride on a tricycle along a street in Beijing on November 26.

SKYWARD

Photo: Courtesy Skyroot

Skyroot founders Pawan Kumar Chandana (left) and Naga Bharath Daka, both former Isro scientists, made good their $51 million funding promise. Skyroot Aerospace made history by launching India's first privately-developed rocket, Vikram-S, successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on November 18. The successful launch of the half-tonne rocket marks the entry of the private sector into the Indian space program, which has, so far, remained government-controlled and funded.

DIVE TRAJECTORY

Photo: Ruhani Kaur / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and chairman of One97 Communications, Paytm's parent company, in Noida, on July 22. With over 21 million merchants and 337 million users, Paytm is India's largest digital ecosystem. However, Paytm's 75 percent gain since its IPO is the worst for large IPOs in a decade, according to a recent Bloomberg report. To add to its ongoing woes, One97 saw its shares plummet to an all-time low after Macquarie Group analysts warned of potential risks associated with its competition: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's entry into the financial services industry with Jio Financial Services. The year-end has also seen a greater scrutiny of stocks like Nykaa, Paytm and Zomato in terms of their business models and growth prospects.

BABY'S DAY OUT

Photo: KCNA via Reuters

The "most beloved" daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, is believed to be named Ju Ae and is about nine years old. She has suddenly been featured in the North Korean state media alongside her all-powerful father, inspecting Hwasong-17, an intercontinental ballistic missile in this undated photo released on November 19. North Korea's ability to deliver a nuclear strike on the US and its allies in Asia has grown under Kim Jong Un to the point where there are calls to declare Pyongyang a nuclear weapons state.

BEYOND BELIEF

Photo: Angela Weiss / AFP

Former US President Donald Trump arrives for a “Save America” rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on November 5. Trump's persistent—and baseless—denial of his 2020 election loss have eroded public confidence in the nation's political process. Even out of office, Trump consistently attracts thousands to his rallies and remains his party's most prolific fundraiser, raising hundreds of millions of dollars. Trump has announced his candidacy for President in 2024.

WEIGHING.....

Photo: Robyn Beck / AFP

Environmental activist Rob Greenfield walks around Beverly Hills, California, on May 16 wearing a specially designed suit filled with every piece of trash he has generated by living and consuming like a typical American for one month, to raise awareness about how much garbage just one person generates. On day 27 of the 30-day project, he is wearing 28.5 kg of trash.

.....SCALE

Photo: Damien Meyer / AFP

French tightrope walker Nathan Paulin walks on a slackline in the bay of Le Mont Saint-Michel, north-western France, setting a new world record on May 24. Paulin took two hours on the 2.2-km-long walk on the 2 cm wide slackline suspended between a crane and the abbey on the tidal island.

STILL COUNTING

Photo: Anindito Mukherjee / Getty Images

Newborn babies at a district hospital in Noida. The global population hit 8 billion on November 15, according to the UN. After China, India is currently the world's second most populous country, with about 1.4 billion people, nearly one-fifth of humanity. The milestone comes as questions are increasingly being raised about the measures needed to adapt to global warming, as well as about how humanity consumes Earth's resources.

FLIP FLOP

It was already a shock to some that Qatar chose to host the FIFA World Cup, the smallest nation ever to do so. But the shocking upsets at the World Cup have pushed the fans to the edge of their seats. On Day 3, Saudi Arabia stunned Argentina, and a day later, Japan beat Germany and followed up with a rout of Spain to top their group, only to lose to Costa Rica. Not to be outdone, a vibrant Morocco beat Belgium, France was defeated by Tunisia and Brazil lost to Cameroon. To top it, Morocco not only stunned Spain on penalties but broke Portugal too, qualifying for the semis! This may explain why the fans aren't grumbling about the lack of hotel rooms and transport from the venues.

Photo: Karim Jaafar / AFP

A view of the dismantlable 974 Stadium built out of shipping containers on Doha's waterfront. 974 stands for the number of containers used in the stadium's construction and the international dialling code for Qatar.

Photo: Liu Lu / VCG via Getty Images

Cameroon's delirious supporters during the Group G match against Serbia at the Al-Janoub Stadium on November 28.

Photo: Liu Lu / VCG via Getty Images

Saudi Arabia's Salem Al-Dawsari somersaults to celebrate the winning goal against Argentina in the Group C match in the Lusail Stadium on November 22.

Photo: Matthew Childs / Reuters

Japan supporters are in a state of disbelief after the team's stunning victory over Germany in Group E. The fans also stayed behind to help clean the Khalifa stadium after the match on November 23.

Photo: MB Media / Getty Images

Abde Ezzalzouli of Morocco leaps into the stands to hug his mother upon their win over Spain to enter the quarter-finals at the Education City Stadium on December 6.

Photo by David Ramos - FIFA via Getty Images

After the shocking opening game defeat to Saudi Arabia, predictions abound that Messi would - like Brazil’s Neymar and Portugal’s Ronaldo in the superstar stratum- underwhelm and go home. But on a December night in Qatar, the world's most popular player finally won soccer's most important trophy, as Argentina beat France in one of the most thrilling finals in World Cup history, to put the final touch on a career résumé that was already enough to put Messi among the all-time greats.

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