World Current Affairs MCQs December 2022

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Saudi Arabia on December 7, 2022 on a visit Beijing hailed as its biggest diplomatic initiative in the Arab world, as Riyadh expands global alliances beyond a longstanding partnership with the West. The meeting between the global economic powerhouse and Gulf energy giant comes as Saudi ties with Washington are strained by US criticism of Riyadh`s human rights record and Saudi support for oil output curbs before the November midterm polls.

France and Spain have agreed in principle to build an underwater pipeline between Marseille and Barcelona at a cost of $2.6 billion to carry green hydrogen, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on December 9, 2022, adding he hoped the European Union would partly fund the project.

Each year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) releases the ‘World Malaria Report’, which provides a comprehensive assessment of trends in malaria control and elimination across the globe. The 2022 report is based on information received from 84 malaria-endemic countries in all WHO regions. There were an estimated 619 000 malaria deaths globally in 2021 compared to 625 000 in 2020. The global tally of malaria cases reached 247 million in 2021 compared to 245 million in 2020.

“Gaslighting” — behavior that’s mind manipulating, grossly misleading, downright deceitful — is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year. Lookups for the word on merriam-webster.com increased 1,740 percent in 2022 over the year before.

Brazilian football icon Pele, widely regarded as the greatest player of all time and a three-time World Cup winner who masterminded the beautiful game, died on December 29, 2022 at the age of 82, his family said. Named athlete of the century by the International Olympic Committee in 1999, Pele is the only footballer in history to win three World Cups -1958, 1962 and 1970.

Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in as Israel’s prime minister on Thursday Dec 29 2022 in a comeback at the head of a hard-right cabinet that promises to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and pursue other policies criticised at home and abroad. Israel’s parliament has sworn in Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister, inaugurating the country’s most far-right, religiously conservative government in history.

The United States said on 23 december,2022 it would provide Ukraine with the advanced Patriot air defence system to help counter Moscow’s relentless aerial attacks.

China appointed Qin Gang, its ambassador to the United States, as its new foreign minister on December 30, 2022, installing a top diplomat known for tough talk against the West. The 56-year-old replaces Wang Yi, who has been the face of Chinese diplomacy since 2013.

Indonesia`s parliament approved a new criminal code on December 6, 2022 that bans sex outside marriage with a punishment of up to one year in jail, despite worries the laws may scare away tourists from its tropic al shores and harm investment.

Former Pope Benedict XVI has died at his Vatican residence. He was 95. He led the Catholic Church for less than eight years until, in 2013, he became the first Pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415. Benedict spent his final years at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery within the walls of the Vatican. His successor Pope Francis said he had visited him there frequently. The Vatican said the body of the Pope Emeritus will be placed in St Peter’s Basilica from Monday for “the greeting of the faithful”.

The 17th Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting (APRM) of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) began in Singapore. “Integrated policy agenda for a human–centred recovery that is inclusive, sustainable and resilient” is the theme of the meeting.

China has launched a trade dispute at the World Trade Organization against the United States over its chip export control measures. The United States passed a set of regulations in October aimed to tackle the aggressive Chinese semiconductor industry.

At least one hundred million people up from some 90 million in 2021 were forced to leave their homes in 2022, says a UN end-of-the-year report with a warning that this record should never have been set. Outbreaks of violence, or protracted conflicts, were key migration factors in many parts of the world, including Ukraine, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Syria, and Myanmar, the report adds.

The United Nations Security Council urged Myanmar’s military to release Aung San Suu Kyi , who has been in prison for the past two years when the army staged a coup and ousted her civilian government. The UN body adopted its first-ever resolution on the situation in Myanmar. The last council resolution regarding Myanmar was the one the UN passed in 1948. The resolution was adopted after attaining 12 votes, with permanent members China and Russia abstaining