YEAR IN REVIEW: 20 things we learned in 2024

As 2024 approaches its end, it's time for my annual YEAR IN REVIEW, where I will outline the 20 biggest news we learned throughout the year.

1) Donald Trump's re-election - Unfazed by controversies, two failed assassination attempts, and a guilty verdict regarding the "hush money" case, Donald Trump became the first Republican President in the US to win two non-consecutive terms. The world's greatest fear has been confirmed as Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress will undo what the Biden administration did.

2) Starmer becomes UK PM - In July 2024, the Labour Party officially won the 2024 UK General Election after reaching 326 seats. As a result, Keir Starmer became the new British Prime Minister, replacing Conservative Rishi Sunak. Labour won more than 400 out of the 650 seats in the Commons, while the Conservatives won only 110. The Lib Dems made big gains, while the SNP lost most of their seats.

3) Global IT Outage - On July 19, 2024, a faulty update to CrowdStrike's Falcon Sensor security software caused a widespread outage affecting over 8.5 million Windows devices.

4) Harrods Scandal - Harrods, a British luxury department store, faced a major scandal regarding sexual abuses done by its late owner, Mohamed Al Fayed. Over 250 people are seeking compensation claims, alleging historical sexual assault by the late tycoon.

5) 25 Years of SpongeBob - 2024 marks the 25th anniversary of Nickelodoen's megahit cartoon show, SpongeBob SquarePants. The SpongeBob franchise's 25th-anniversary celebration featured SpongeBob and Patrick hosting not just Super Bowl LVIII, where the Kansas City Chiefs crowned champions, but also the 2024 Kids Choice Awards alongside character Sandy Cheeks. It also packs special episodes, a collaboration with Wendy's to create a real-world Krabby Patty, Star Wars legend Mark Hamill to voice The Flying Dutchman in next year's SpongeBob movie, and more.

6) The end of Old Eat Bulaga - On January 5, 2024, a court ruled that TAPE, Inc. and GMA Network did not have the right to use the Eat Bulaga or EB trademark. As a result, the Eat Bulaga! variety show that Filipinos knew was rebranded as "Tahanang Pinakamasaya!" while the TV5 EAT... variety show was renamed as "EAT...BULAGA!" Two months later, Tahanang Pinakamasaya officially ended its broadcast run.

7) Robert Downey Jr returns to MCU - On the final day of the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con, actor Robert Downey Jr. made a shocking comeback to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was announced that RDJ will play Doctor Doom in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday movie. The news was met with mixed reactions from fans. Some are excited to see Downey Jr. take on a new role in the MCU, while others are disappointed that he won't be returning as Iron Man. However, Marvel Studios is not afraid to take risks.

8) Alice Guo's POGO problem - Alice Guo stripped off her Bamban, Tarlac mayoral position because of her involvement with the Bamban POGO hub. Guo went hiding following the revelation until she was caught by Indonesian authorities at Tangerang. Guo faced charges of graft and corruption, among others.

9) F1 2024 - The F1 2024 season marked the end of Lewis Hamilton's career as a Mercedes-AMG driver as he made the switch to Ferrari for the 2025 season. Not only that, it marked the end for Zhou Guanyu's F1 journey while Valtteri Bottas will return to Mercedes-AMG as a reserve driver. As Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won the World Champion title, it was the McLaren team that won its first Constructors Championship title in 26 years.

10) Paris 2024 Olympics - The Paris 2024 opening ceremony did not take part at a stadium for the first time in Olympic Summer Games history. Instead, it was held in the Seine River. During the course of 17 days, the United States scored 40 golds out of 126, China with 40 golds out of 91, and Japan with 20 golds out of 45. In conclusion, the US and China ended the Paris 2024 rivalry in an honorable draw in terms of gold medals but the real winner goes to Team USA for scoring the most medals in the Paris 2024 Olympics with 126 medals.

11) The downfall of the Assad regime - The reign of Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad ended when the former Al-Qaeda affiliate Islamist group stormed Syria and sent Al-Assad packing, only to end up in Russia for asylum. The HTS Islamist group that took over Syria promises to bring change to the war-torn country and bring down those who are loyal to Assad.

12) Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment - Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial rule prompted the National Assembly to nullify it and triggered the impeachment case against the South Korean leader. They failed in the first attempt because the ruling party boycotted it but in the second attempt, 204-85, the National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon Suk Yeol.

13) The murder of the UHC boss - In Early December, the boss of the United Healthcare insurance company was killed in New York City, triggering a manhunt for the gunman behind it. The gunman was revealed as 26-year-old Luigi Mangione and police arrested him and charged him with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

14) Sayonara, Toriyama-sensei - Akira Toriyama, the creator of the Dragon Ball series, passed away at the age of 68. The news shocked the anime world as it anticipates the airing of the latest Dragon Ball series, Dragon Ball DAIMA, which made its world television premiere last October 11, 2024.

15) The deadliest typhoons hit the Philippines - The Philippines was hit by several deadly typhoons this year, including Super Typhoon Leon (Kong-Rey), Typhoons Marce (Ynixing) and Nika (Toraji), and Super Typhoons Ofel (Usagi) and Pepito (Man-Yi). These storms caused catastrophic damage in Luzon provinces, especially those that were already hit by Severe Tropical Storm Kristine. The typhoons caused heavy floods, landslides, and storm surges, affecting over 15 million people and displacing over 600,000.

16) One For The Road - Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May have been butting heads for over two decades. Their final Grand Tour adventure, "One For The Road," signals the end of the world's most undesirable but desirable threesome. After over two decades, the days of seeing Clarkson, Hammond, and May butting each other came to a complete end. From Top Gear to The Grand Tour, driving and rambling across Europe, the Americas, and Asia, they have cemented themselves as the greatest motoring trio that ever existed. Now that they've fully served their purpose, it's hard to imagine what's next for them after their final Grand Tour.

17) Spain floods - Massive rainfall caused Spain to be hit by historic floods with over 200 people dying.

18) The Diddy Scandal - In mid-September 2024, hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs was arrested in New York City on unspecified federal charges. Diddy faced trial over sex trafficking charges. Diddy denied bail after pleading not guilty to charges. Over 100 people are suing Sean "Diddy" Combs alleging rape, assault, and sexual exploitation.

19) World's fastest convertible - Bugatti's W16 Mistral smashed the open-top road car speed record with 282mph top speed.

20) AMG ONE beats previous Nurburgring record - The Mercedes-AMG One hypercar re-attempted its Nurburgring Nordschleife time attack and set a new production car lap record in 6m29.090, beating its previous 2022 record.

As the saying goes, "The end of one nightmare is just the prelude to the next." So, what will the year 2025 bring us? Whatever it is, we should brace ourselves for impact and turbulence. Until then, let's all have a happy new year.