January
January 6: Supporters of Donald Trump storm the U.S. Capitol building.
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Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
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January 20: Joe Biden brings the U.S. back into the Paris Climate Agreement.
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January 26: The world surpasses 100 million recorded COVID-19 cases.
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Changing of the guard
Joe Biden is inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States on January 20 | Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Mario Draghi becomes Italy’s prime minister on February 13 | Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images
Raúl Castro resigns, ending six decades of Castro rule in Cuba, April 19 | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Olaf Scholz wins Germany’s election and takes over from the retiring Angela Merkel | John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images
Austria’s Sebastian Kurz resigns as chancellor, October 9 | Hans Klaus Techt/APA/AFP via Getty Images
Magdalena Andersson becomes Sweden’s first female prime minister, November 24 | Pontus Lundahl/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images
February
February 1: The world surpasses 100 million COVID-19 vaccines administered.
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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is sentenced to prison on February 2, and loses an appeal against the decision on February 20.
Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images
Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images
In memoriam
Marielle de Sarnez, former MEP and French EU affairs minister, January 13 | Benjamin Cremel/AFP via Getty Images
Prince Philip, April 9 | WPA pool photo by Yui Mok/Getty Images
Donald Rumsfeld, American politician, June 29 | Mark Wilson/Getty Images
British MP David Amess, October 15 | Zoe Norfolk/Getty Images
Colin Powell, former U.S. secretary of state, October 18 | Stephen Chernin/Getty Images
South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu, December 26 | Scott Barbour/Getty Images
March
March 23: The ship Ever Given gets stuck in the Suez Canal for six days.
Mahmoud Khaled/Getty Images
April
April 7: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is relegated to a sofa in a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara.
European Union
May
May 14: The Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system (left) intercepts rockets (right) fired by Hamas towards southern Israel.
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May 23: Belarus forces a Ryanair plane carrying journalist Roman Protasevich to land in Minsk, where the activist is arrested.
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June
The UK hosts the G7 summit in Cornwall.
WPA pool photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
July
Several European countries are hit by severe flooding.
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Christof Stache/AFP via Getty Images
Tokyo finally gets to host the 2020 Olympic Games.
Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
August
The Taliban make rapid gains in Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal, resulting in Western nations scrambling to evacuate embassy staff and civilians.
Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images
Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images
Taylor Crul/U.S. Air Force via Getty Images
September
German elections are held on September 26, with Olaf Scholz’s SPD winning 25.7 percent of the vote.
Pool photo by Michael Kappeler/Getty Images
October
The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) begins in Glasgow on October 31.
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November
Poland beefs up security on its border with Belarus after hundreds of migrants head toward the border.
Irek Dorozanski/Polish Ministry of National Defence via Getty Images
December
The Omicron coronavirus variant sweeps across the world and results in further restrictions. Below, people sunbathe in Lima, Peru.
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