Graphic shows a selection of events scheduled during 2022.
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Preview of news events in 2022
By Jordi Bou
December 31, 2021 - Selected events scheduled during 2022 include the U.S. mid-term elections, presidential elections in France, South Korea, Brazil and the Philippines, and Chinese president Xi Jinping's bid to win an unprecedented third term. Queen Elizabeth becomes the first British monarch to mark 70 years on the throne, and India and Pakistan celebrate 75 years of independence. Sporting highlights include the Beijing Winter Olympics and the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
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1. France takes over the rotating six-month presidency of the European Council.
2. Eric Adams is sworn in as the second Black mayor of New York City.
3. Libya is due to hold legislative elections, to help unify the country after years of conflict.
4. Beijing hosts the Winter Olympics, the first city to stage both the Summer and Winter Games.
5. China marks the Year of the Tiger. People born in Tiger years are said to be passionate, daring and fearless.
6. Queen Elizabeth becomes the first British monarch to mark 70 years on the throne. Celebrations will take place in June.
7. A committee dominated by pro-Beijing voices will choose Hong Kong's next chief executive.
8. South Koreans cast their votes in presidential elections.
9. The 94th Academy Awards take place in Los Angeles.
10. French voters decide whether to give Emanuel Macron a second term at the Elysée during a two-round presidential election.
11. NASA's SuperBIT, the next-generation space telescope that rides above the clouds on a balloon, is due to launch.
12. World leaders meet in Kunming, China, for the second phase of the COP15 biodiversity summit.
13. A virtual concert by pop legends Abba, featuring digitized versions of the band members, debuts in London.
14. Philippine voters head to the polls to elect a successor to President Rodrigo Duterte.
15. Russia is scheduled to launch Luna 25 – the country's first mission to the Moon's surface in 45 years.
16. Matariki, the Maori new year, becomes a public holiday in New Zealand.
17. Glastonbury – one of the world's largest music festivals – returns after a two-year break.
18. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to rule on the most important abortion case in a generation and perhaps overturn the 1973 ruling that legalized the procedure nationwide.
19. The UEFA Women's Euro 2022 tournament kicks off across England.
20. The Tour de France rides into history with the inaugural Tour de France Femmes.
21. Germany starts returning its Benin Bronzes, looted from the Benin Kingdom during colonial times, to Nigeria.
22. A NASA mission will investigate Psyche, a metal-rich asteroid that could contain $10,000 quadrillion of iron alone.
23. Nuclear-armed rivals, India and Pakistan, mark 75 years of independence.
24. Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris 25 years ago.
25. NASA's DART spacecraft is due to crash into a space rock to test technologies to prevent an asteroid from a potential doomsday collision with Earth.
26. China hosts the BRICS group of the world's leading emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
27. Voters in Sweden head to the polls to elect a new parliament.
28. General elections take place in Brazil.
29. The Chinese Communist Party holds its 20th National Party Congress, where Xi Jinping is expected to seek an unprecedented third term as president.
30. Egypt hosts COP27, picking up where COP26 in Glasgow left off in trying to secure meaningful targets to halt global warming.
31. U.S. mid-term elections see Democrats hoping to keep their narrow control of the Senate and the House.
32. The FIFA World Cup in Qatar is staged in winter to avoid the emirate's hot summer.
33. One year since Barbados became a republic, construction starts on a memorial to West African slaves, designed by renowned architect David Adjaye.
34. An animated movie based on the popular Super Mario Bros video game is released.
35. Ireland commemorates the centenary of the foundation of the Irish Free State.
36. China expects to have completed construction of its first permanent space station.
PUBLISHED: 14/12/2021; STORY: Julie Mullins; PICTURES: Newscom, Getty Images, NASA/John Hopkins APL, NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU