2020 has been a terrible year because of the global pandemic we're dealing with as well as some other issues this year brought us. With 2020 drawing to a complete close, it's time to do some series of Year In Reviews highlighting what's going on throughout the year 2020.
1) COVID-19 - Allegedly originated from a certain seafood market in Wuhan, the coronavirus in question, codenamed SARS-COV2, has infected only a few numbers in the early months of the outbreak until it became a full-blown pandemic that infected over 80 million worldwide and killed around 1.8 million. The COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill, leaving people staying indoors, shutting down businesses, TV shows delaying broadcasts, and others, while some trying to brave the pandemic are adapting to the "new normal". Under the new normal, handwashing, social distancing, and wearing masks became part of everyone's daily life, not to mention restaurants doing take-outs, contactless deliveries, and other stuff.
2) Black Lives Matter - Brutal deaths of unarmed black people such as George Floyd and others by policemen delivered one of the most violent protests in American history. From Kenosha to Philadelphia, the so-called Black Lives Matter protests caused a lot of looting and violence as well as toppling down statues, and smearing policemen with words like ACAB, making such situations out of control.
3) The dramatic US 2020 Presidential Election - US President Donald Trump faced the most challenging election challenge of his presidential career when he's up against former Vice President Joe Biden, who ran as Trump's Democrat rival. After months of America facing the biggest struggles of its history, ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic and the violent BLM protests, Trump lost his re-election bid against Biden after the latter made headlines that he nicked battleground states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Michigan. However, Trump is adamantly resisting his election loss and he and his allies pulled the stops to the courts to nullify election results because of so-called election fraud. So far, his attempts never put a dent to Biden's election win and recently, the Electoral College certified the results. Now, it's up to Congress to decide the President-elect's fate.
4) The most powerful typhoons in the Philippines - The Super Typhoon Rolly and Typhoon Ulysses made headlines as they caused catastrophic damages to Philippine infrastructure and killed countless people caught in the monster storms.
5) The fall of ABS-CBN - The Philippines' largest TV network, ABS-CBN, met its legal demise after losing its long fight with the PH Congress over the extension of its franchise that expired at the 4th of May, 2020. Since the shutdown, the embattled network began laying off its workforce as well as the artists working on the network and cancelling some of its shows.
6) HK National Security Law - The Chinese Communist Party, last summer, made the Hong Kong national security bill into law, a move critics say that ended the "one country, two systems" approach. In response, the Trump administration revoked Hong Kong's special status and sanction any Chinese official involved in it. The HK National Security law arrested numerous pro-democracy protesters, including big ones like Jimmy Lai.
7) Taal Volcano eruption - The start of the year saw a massive eruption of the Taal Volcano, covering the surrounding areas, Metro Manila included, into volcanic ashes.
8) Iran Tensions - January saw a US-led airstrike that killed Iranian General Soleimani, sparking an all-out conflict between Iran and the US. In the eyes of the Trump administration, Soleimani is a terrorist, but for the United Nations, he is not and they've strongly condemned the US airstrike against the slain Iranian general.
9) Kim Jong Un's health - The health of the North Korean tyrant made headlines ever since he had a surgery in April, sparking reactions about what's happening to him. This is where his sister came in, filling up her brother's work by severing ties in the Korean peninsula such as blowing up a joint liaison office in response to protests by the defectors at the DMZ.
10) The road to Brexit - The United Kingdom is out of the EU in the end of January of this year but it's not formally until the start of 2021. The road to Brexit became a tough ride with the COVID-19 pandemic ruining their plans. UK PM Boris Johnson races against the clock to pursue a historic deal that will ensure future relations between the UK and EU post-Brexit.
11) SCOTUS tilting further to the right - Following the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was championed by liberals, the American conservatives used her death as a chance to fill in. his is what Trump's appointee Amy Comey Barrett comes in and the Republican-led US Senate confirmed her as the newest SCOTUS Attorney General, jeopardizing long-fought legal battles liberals fought hard for.
12) Bahrain and UAE normalizing Israeli ties - Bahrain and UAE joins the ranks of Egypt and Jordan in normalizing ties with Israel. Moves that prove that US President Donald Trump's ambitious Middle East plan is working, although some are unhappy with the developments.
13) PhilHealth scandal - 2020 is the worst year for a state-run healthcare provider in the Philippines, PhilHealth, because of the scandal involved.
14) The newest iPhones - Apple made headlines with the newest iPhone models known as the iPhone 12. Available in standard and Pro, the iPhone 12 is now capable of 5G speeds.
15) LeBron's first win as a Lakers - LeBron James' life as one of the Los Angeles Lakers wasn't a smooth sailing one but the NBA Finals win made the Lakers the king of the NBA bubble with him named the MVP.
16) The record-breaking F1 2020 season - the F1 2020 season saw some historic feats such as Lewis Hamilton making headlines for matching Michael Schumacher's seven world championship wins and overtook him by scoring 95 Grand Prix wins, making the 35-year-old Brit the Greatest of All Time. Apart from Hamilton's historic wins, the 2020 season saw Lando Norris' first podium finish, Romain Grosjean's horrifying crash at Bahrain, Max Verstappen's win at the 70th anniversary Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly's Monza win, and Ferrari's 1,000 race milestone at Mugello.
17) MMFF goes virtual - Due to the pandemic, the 2020 Metro Manila Film Festival goes virtual and for the first time in history, all entries are viewable online via UPSTREAM.ph until the 7th of January. In this year's film festival, Fan Girl wins the most awards as well as nicking the Best Picture title.
18) BTS's Dynamite year - 2020 became the year of K-pop boy group BTS because of their "dynamite" performance with their latest song Dynamite. They became the first Korean artist to win 50 music shows in one year thanks to their latest hit songs like this.
19) Next-gen consoles - The arrival of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation5 made gaming headlines since their unveiling. The console wars enters its new chapter and it's never cheap.
20) Kimetsu no Yaiba film slays the box office - The movie adaptation of the wildly popular Kimetsu no Yaiba series saw some record-breaking box office stats since the movie hit theaters in Japan mid-October. It even managed to overtook Spirited Away as Japan's highest-grossing film in history.
As the saying goes; "end of one nightmare, prelude to the another". So, what will the year 2021 bring us? Will this year be the end of the pandemic? Will Great Britain divided under Brexit? Will Joe Biden became president of the United States, the world rather? Let's hope for the best and prepare for the worst for what the year 2021 will bring us. Until then, have a happy new year.
No comments:
Post a Comment