La Nación / Six events that will mark 2022

High-risk elections for Joe Biden in the United States, an unprecedented soccer world cup and an expected resurgence of festivals: these will be some of the events expected for next year.

The world elite of winter sports has an appointment at the Beijing Olympic Games, from February 4 to 20, for which China applied drastic measures, undoubtedly the most radical for a sporting event of this magnitude since the beginning of the pandemic .

All participants will have to be vaccinated or respect a quarantine of 21 days and then they will enter a “sanitary bubble” for the entire duration of the games. Only people living in China could or will be able to buy tickets.

Threats of a boycott for humanitarian reasons and the case of tennis player Peng Shuai will also hang over the event.

The Rio de Janeiro carnival prepares its great return, from February 25 to March 1, after two years of waiting due to the pandemic.

The mayor of the city, Eduardo Paes, assured that he would not impose any rule of physical distancing, or the use of a mask, thanks to the advance of vaccination in the country, since 60% of Brazilians have already received two doses. The authorities, however, condition the celebration of the carnival -which attracts two million tourists every year- to the epidemiological situation.

Glastonbury, the legendary British music festival, is scheduled for June 22-26, for the first time since 2019. Covid-19 spoiled the celebrations of what should have been its 50th anniversary in 2020. The 2021 edition, for which 135,000 tickets were sold was also canceled. Only the presence of a great figure, the American Billie Eilish, has been confirmed for now.

Often considered the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao, Xi Jinping will be ratified in the fall for a third term as head of the party (and therefore the country) during the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

Since his arrival in command of the country, the 68-year-old leader has centralized power in his hands and has modified the constitution to be able to continue ruling for more than two terms. His rise in power has been accompanied by tighter control by the opposition, whether in Hong Kong or the Muslim-majority Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (northwest).

The Republican party will try to retain control of both houses of the US Congress during the midterm elections on November 8.

A little less than a year after those traditionally delicate elections for the ruling party, the Democrats do not have them all with them, after their defeat in Virginia and a more just victory than expected in New Jersey. And as a backdrop, there is the decline in popularity of President Joe Biden.

Kevin McCarthy, leader of the opposition in the House of Representatives, predicts a Republican surge, betting on 60 additional seats for his party, which currently has 213 (compared to 221 for Democrats).

Qatar will host the first soccer World Cup organized in the Middle East from November 21 to December 18, hoping to change the controversial image of that small but wealthy Gulf emirate that has invested billions in the sport.

The country faced allegations of vote buying after its election in 2010 and was criticized for its treatment of migrant workers, especially those who built World Cup stadiums. The event will be held for the first time in autumn, to avoid the sweltering heat of summer in Qatar.

Source: AFP.