From the death of Queen Elizabeth II to Elon Musk buying Twitter, these are the stories that made headlines

2022 has come to an end. For many, it was the first post-lockdown year, which was meant to signal a shift to new opportunities and recovery.

But the conflict in Ukraine and rising inflation has placed the world on the verge of economic downfall.

However, as 2023 nears there is optimism in the air as the world pauses to reflect on the biggest news stories this year.

War in Ukraine

In the early hours of 24 February, Russian troops stormed into Ukrainian territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described the offensive as a “special military operation”.

He said countries entering the conflict would be met with an “immediate” response “never faced in your history”.

At the same time, the United Nations was meeting in New York. Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations was grilled by Ukraine’s representative at the time.

In a matter of hours, air raid sirens rung across Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, as families rushed to evacuate the warzone.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky donned camouflage attire and rejected a U.S. evacuation offer. He reportedly said “I need ammunition, not a ride.”

Human rights groups have laid blame on Russia for committing alleged war crimes against citizens of Ukraine.

In September, President Putin claimed to annex four Russia-occupied areas in Ukraine’s Donetska, Luhanska, Zaporizka, and Khersonska regions.

Russian authorities purportedly held ‘referendums’ in these areas, with hastily staged ‘voting.’

On the backfoot, Mr Putin announced a partial military mobilisation’. It put 300,000 army reservists on standby as Ukraine continued to fight Russian forces on the frontlines.

Professor John Bryson from the University of Birmingham said success on the battlefield requires planning, strategy and logistics combined with a professional military.

“Russia does not have a professional military but relies on conscripts and mercenaries.”

“Putin has demonstrated that there are major problems with Russia’s military technology and capability, and this includes the all-important role logistics plays in warfare,” he said.

Death of Queen Elizabeth II

In September, Britain’s longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II passed away aged 96.

Days before her death, the Queen swore in his 14th British Prime Minister, Liz Truss.

It led to an outpouring of grief from around the world. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the late monarch as one of his “favourite people”.

As the world paid a final farewell to Queen Elizabeth, King Charles III made his ascension to the throne. Her funeral was a show of dazzling pomp and pageantry.

King Charles III became the head of state across the UK and across 14 Commonwealth realms following his mother’s death.

Covid-19 protests in China

As much of the world moved on from the grips of Covid-19, China was staying firm on its pandemic policy.

The “draconian” measures, according to Human Rights Watch, saw apartment blocks shut off as Beijing pushed ahead with its Covid-zero strategy.

After protests at Chinese universities, Beijing loosened some of its quarantine measures.

Inflation worsens

As the world begins its recovery from the pandemic, the war in Ukraine sent global shockwaves.

It led to economic uncertainty, and a stark reality that inflation remains far too high.

Global markets buckled under stress, and interest rates continued to trend upwards.

“There is considerable uncertainty about what rate will be sufficient, although there is no doubt that we have made substantial progress, raising our target range for the federal funds rate by 3.75 percentage points since March,” said Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell.

“It makes sense to moderate the pace of our rate increases as we approach the level of restraint that will be sufficient to bring inflation down,” he explained.

The financial burden and uncertainty is expected to continue into 2023 as the world nears the brink of recession.