What Happened Worldwide from A-Z in 2020
Some netizens once said that in the history textbook hundreds of years later, there are many knowledge points to remember in 2020. Today, let’s review 2020 through 26 letters from A to Z.
A: Australian Bushfire Season
The wildfires raging Australia in early 2020 are still fresh in memory.
The wildfire, which began in 2019, killed at least 34 people, destroyed more than 5,900 buildings and burned about 18.6 million hectares of land.
At the same time, nearly 3 billion terrestrial vertebrates were affected, and at least 34 species were extinct in the wildfire.
According to economists, wildfires in Australia may cause more than $79.2 billion in property damage, which makes it the most “expensive” natural disaster in Australia so far.
B: Brexit (“Brexit”)
On January 31, 2020, under the leadership of current Prime Minister Johnson, the United Kingdom left the European Union and entered an 11-month transition period.
After many rounds of negotiations, on December 24th local time, Britain and Europe finally reached a series of agreements, including trade agreements.
At 23:00 on December 31, the “Brexit” transition period ended, and Britain will officially leave the European Union. So far, after four years of negotiations and three prime ministers, Brexit has come to an end.
C: Chang’e-5 (The successful exploration of the moon on the fifth lunar mission)
At 1:59 a.m. on December 17, 2020, the E-E-5 Relider carried lunar samples and landed safely in the scheduled area of the Fourth Prince Banner of Inner Mongolia, marking the complete success of the Moon Exploration Project E-E-5 mission and is also regarded as “a big step forward by China’s spaceflight”.
The New York Times wrote that “China may be a latecomer to the moon landing.
When it returns to Earth as a capsule full of lunar rocks and soil, it lays the foundation for a new space race in the coming decades.”
D: Desert Locust
In February 2020, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said that the East African region was the most affected by desert locusts.
Since then, the desert locust infestation has spread to more than 20 countries, including Africa and South Asia, covering an area of more than 16 million square kilometers.
For Kenya, the desert locust infestation is the worst in 70 years, while Ethiopia and Somalia have experienced the worst desert locust infestation in 25 years.
E: Economy During the Coronavirus Pandemic
In 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic swept the world, which has a serious impact on people’s lives.
The global economy has thus fallen into the worst recession since the end of World War II, with negative growth, fiscal deficits and soaring debt ratios becoming “keywords”.
According to a report released by the International Monetary Fund, the global economy will shrink by 4.4% in 2020.
However, China will become the only major economy in the world to achieve positive growth.
F: Floyd (Afro-American man Floyd incident)
On May 25, 2020, white Minnesota police kneeled and crushed Floyd’s neck of an African-American man for eight minutes during law enforcement, which eventually led to Freud’s death.
This incident subsequently triggered anti-police violent law enforcement and anti-racial discrimination protests across the United States, and “Black Lives Matter” became the slogan of the protest.
G: Ginsburg (Justice Ginsburg of the Supreme Court of the United States)
On September 18, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at the age of 87 due to complications caused by pancreatic cancer.
Ginsburg is one of the most respected women in the United States and the oldest and longest-serving justice of the nine justices of the Supreme Court.
Due to the tenure of justice appointment, after Ginsburg’s death, current U.S. President Trump soon nominated a conservative justice Barrett, which gave conservatives and Republicans a 6-3 advantage in the Supreme Court and may have a deep impact on future health care, immigration and abortion policies. Far-reaching impact.
H: Harvey Weinstein Verdict (Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced)
On March 11, 2020, former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison by the U.S. Supreme Court of New York for sexual assault and rape.
Previously, Weinstein was identified as sexual harassment or rape by more than 80 women, and then triggered a huge anti-sexual harassment and anti-assault movement in Hollywood.
It is also because of Weinstein’s crimes that the #Metoo movement that swept the world began to ferment.
After Weinstein’s 23-year prison sentence, the Manhattan District Attorney General said, “The six women who testified in court and the two women prosecutors in charge of the case brought the American judicial system to the 21st century and they changed history.”
I: India Farmer Protest
Since November 2020, large-scale protests against the Modi government broke out among Indian farmers.
Demonstrators clashed with the police and gradually turned into riots, which is regarded as one of the most serious governance crises encountered by the Modi government.
J: Joe Biden Confirmed as President-elect
According to several American media reports, on November 7, 2020, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden won 270 electoral votes first, thus becoming the president-elect of the United States.
On December 14, 538 voters from the United States Electoral College voted for the President and Vice President of the United States according to the results of the state elections. In the end, Biden officially locked in the victory with 306 electoral votes.
On January 3, 2021, the new Congress was sworn in; on the 6th, Congress will certify the results of the voting by the Electoral College. On January 20, the new president was sworn in.
K: Kobe Bryant (Kobe)
On January 27, 2020, NBA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter accident at the age of 41.
According to US media reports, Kobe’s private helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California, killing all the people on board, including Kobe’s second daughter, 13-year-old Gianna, who was once considered to be the best basketball player of Kobe’s four daughters.
L: Lebanon Explosion
On August 4, 2020, a serious explosion occurred in the port of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, causing at least 200 deaths, injuring more than 6,000 people and leaving about 300,000 people homeless.
Lebanon’s political arena in an unprecedented crisis.
M: Maradona (Maradona died)
On November 25, 2020, Diego Maradona, a legendary star of a generation, died at the age of 60 after his heart stopped and his rescue was ineffective. Maradona was once named the “Best Player of the 20th Century” by FIFA.
He is not only a “Golden Boy” in the eyes of Argentines, but also a hero in the hearts of Naples. His “Hand of God” is a classic moment that fans have been talking about for many years.
N: Nth Room Case (Room N case)
“Room N” is an encrypted chat room opened by suspects on the social platform Telegram.
Some illegally taken sexual exploitation videos and photos are widely shared in such chat rooms and can only be watched by becoming members.
According to the investigation of South Korean police, the number of members of “Room N” is about 260,000, and the female victims involved are at least 74, including 16 minors, the youngest of whom is only 11 years old.
On November 26, 2020, the Seoul Central District Court of South Korea sentenced Zhao Zhubin, the operator of “N Room”, to 40 years in prison.
O: Oil Prices Go Negative
On April 20, 2020, WTI’s first May crude oil futures contract fell to -37.63 USD/barrel, the first negative value in oil price history, and the one-day decline was the largest since the listing of the WTI crude oil futures contract in 1983.
P: Pandemic
On 11 March 2020, WHO Director General Tedros Tedros said that COVID-19 “has already been characterized by a global pandemic”.
Q: Queen Elizabeth II
On January 23, 2020, Queen Elizabeth II, 93, signed the bill to approve the “Brexit” bill, which was finally law and ended the parliamentary struggle. On March 25th local time, the Queen’s son Prince Charles tested positive for the virus. In the context of the global pandemic, the Queen has repeatedly transferred her “base” to avoid contracting the novel coronavirus.
This year, the queen of “super long standby” was “a little busy”.
R:RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement)
On November 15, 2020, the eight-year Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) was finally officially signed.
This is the largest free trade agreement in the world.
The member countries include 10 ASEAN countries and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. These 15 member countries account for about 30% of the total population, economy and total trade.
At the same time, the signing of RCEP allowed China and Japan to reach a bilateral tariff concession arrangement for the first time, achieving a historic breakthrough.
S: Soleimani (Iranian General Soleimani)
On January 3, 2020, three rockets landed near Baghdad International Airport, the capital of Iraq, killing at least eight people. Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Al-Quds Brigade, was also killed in the attack.
The U.S. Department of Defense immediately issued a statement saying that Trump ordered the killing of Iranian commander Suleimani.
The Associated Press pointed out that the killing of Suleimani thus became a turning point in the situation in the Middle East, causing tensions between the United States and Iran to reach a new high.
T: Tokyo Olympic Games
Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, the Tokyo Olympic Games, originally scheduled for July 2020, have been postponed to the summer of 2021.
According to Time, since the opening of the first Olympic Games in 1896, three Olympic Games have been cancelled due to war, in 1916, 1940 and 1944. However, in the history of the Olympic Games, the event has never been postponed.
U:UN 75th Anniversary
2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations.
In a statement, the United Nations pointed out that in 2020, the unprecedented public health crisis and serious economic problems will cause great damage to the world.
The United Nations calls on the world to strengthen dialogue and come together to discuss as a priority for the human family and how to build a better future for people all over the world.
V:Vaccine
In January 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic broke out.
Against this background, countries began to accelerate the development of a coronavirus vaccine.
According to CCTV news, the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council held a press conference today (December 31).
At the meeting, it was introduced that the Chinese bio-coronavirus inactivated vaccine of the State Pharmaceutical Group has been approved by the State Food and Drug Administration for listing conditionally.
According to the available data, the protection rate is 79.34%, which achieves the unity of safety, effectiveness, accessibility and affordability, and meets the relevant standards of the World Health Organization and the State Food and Drug Administration.
Up to now, there are 18 enterprises in China, which have successively carried out production capacity construction according to their own R&D progress.
Previously, on December 9 and 13, Bahrain reviewed and approved the official registration and listing of China Biological Coronavirus Inactivated Vaccine of China National Pharmaceutical Group in accordance with the relevant technical standards of the World Health Organization on December 9 and 13, respectively.
W: WHO (World Health Organization)
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the World Health Organization has played a significant role, not only officially naming the virus “2019-nCoV”, but also providing corresponding guidance according to the different circumstances of each country.
X: Christmas under the epidemic
Christmas 2020 is a little “different” due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to the guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people are advised to look forward to staying at home and reduce going out this Christmas holiday. Some European countries have also issued “lockdown orders”.
Since December 20, the southeastern, eastern and London of England have been upgraded from level three to the new level four for two weeks.
Germany entered a strict lockdown on December 16, closed non-essential stores, and people began to work remotely from home.
Y: Yoshihide Suga (Suga Yoshihiro)
On August 28, 2020, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would resign as Prime Minister due to his poor health.
Since then, Yoshihiro Kan has become the 99th Prime Minister of Japan and formed a new cabinet until the end of September 2021.
Z: Zero Carbon Emission (Net Zero Carbon Emission Target)
December 12, 2020 marks the 5th anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement, and the United Nations and relevant countries held a climate ambition summit.
UN Secretary-General Guterres called on world leaders to declare a “climate emergency” until carbon neutrality is achieved. So far, 38 countries have said that they will take measures to achieve the goal of “net zero carbon emissions”, and China has joined the ranks.
During the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Xi Jinping proposed that China’s carbon dioxide emissions should strive to peak by 2030 and strive to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
This commitment to reduce emissions attracted world attention and a warm response from the international community.
