AGENDA WORLD 2022 ---------------------------------------- 35 15 3 30 32 23 ---------------------------------------- JANUARY 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 FEBRUARY 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 MARCH 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 APRIL 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 MAY 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 JUNE 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 JULY 19 The EUFA 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 AUGUST 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 SEPTIEMBRE 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 host the BRICS group of the world's leading emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa OCTOBER 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 NOVEMBER 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 DECEMBER 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 ---------------------------------------------------- Sources: Newsahead, Julie Mullins *1 quadrillion is followed by 15 zeros Pictures: Newscom, Getty Images, NASA/John Hopkins APL, NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU © GRAPHIC NEWS