For most of us, 2022 has felt like more than just a year.
In the space of 12 months, the UK has had three prime ministers and two monarchs.
Russia went to war with Ukraine, causing a global financial and energy crisis, and after dominating our lives for more than two years, the coronavirus pandemic finally took more of a back seat.
So grab a cuppa, or mulled beverage, depending on the time of day, and let’s look back at what made the headlines this year.
The UK began 2022 still in the midst of the first Omicron coronavirus wave, with many having had what they hoped would be their first COVID-free Christmas in two years scuppered by cases.
Also in January, a Chinese Communist Party agent was revealed to have interfered in UK politics by making large donations to the Labour MP Barry Gardiner. Chinese officials denied Christine Lee was involved in any interference.
Down Under there was outrage after tennis world champion Novak Djokovic was given a medical exemption to play in the Australian Open – despite not meeting COVID vaccine requirements. He was eventually deported, missing the whole tournament.
Back home, the investigation into lockdown-breaking parties in Westminster carried out by senior civil servant Sue Gray was delayed by the Met Police’s own investigation.
An initial excerpt was published on 31 January, which forced then-prime minister Boris Johnson to apologise for breaking his own rules.
One you might have missed: A 24-year-old man, Jonathan Chew, from Essex, was jailed for eight weeks for harassing England’s chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty in St James’s Park in London the previous summer.
He was later prosecuted under the Animal Welfare Act and sentenced to 140 hours of community service.
The same month, Virginia Giuffre, the woman who accused Prince Andrew of sexually assaulting her as a teenager, made the surprise decision to drop her US civil case against him and settle out of court.
The Duke of York, who had already had his military titles and patronages stripped, donated to her victims’ charity on top of his undisclosed settlement – reported to be up to £12m.
Days later, the Queen tested positive for coronavirus, with Buckingham Palace saying she suffered “mild cold-like symptoms”.
In a video call to COVID bereaved families later in the year, she admitted it “leaves one very tired and exhausted”.
On 24 February, Boris Johnson removed all remaining coronavirus restrictions in England, declaring it was time to start “living with COVID”.
It meant people were no longer legally required to isolate after contracting the virus and the end to universal free testing.
On the same day, Vladimir Putin’s troops crossed the border from Belarus into Ukraine as part of what he called a “special military operation”.
The UK, US, EU and others condemned the war, quickly imposing sanctions and offering military support.
Elsewhere, the showbiz world was shocked by the death of YouTuber and SBTV founder Jamal Edwards at the age of 31.
Edwards, who the likes of Skepta and Ed Sheeran thanked for their careers, had a heart attack after taking cocaine, a coroner later concluded.
One you might have missed: A mum called Jane went viral after she spotted radio DJ Greg James on a train from Edinburgh – but was too shy to approach him so texted her daughter to check it was him. Jane’s daughter tweeted him, James spotted the tweet, and quickly surprised her by asking: “Are you Jane?”
The Kremlin’s hopes of storming Kyiv and claiming a swift victory were dashed as Ukrainian troops held firm.
Despite suffering horrendous losses, citizens remained defiant, with many women and children trying to flee to other countries.
In the UK, economic sanctions were imposed on all Russian assets, including Chelsea Football Club – owned by oligarch and close friend of Mr Putin, Roman Abramovich.
Fans were dismayed as it left the club unable to sell any new match tickets, merchandise, or buy players.
She was accompanied by fellow detainee Anoosheh Ashoori, who had been held since 2017.
Emotional pictures of her being reunited with her husband Richard and daughter Gabriella were followed by claims she was made to sign a false confession in the presence of British government officials.
The last day of March saw the internet’s mouth drop when actor Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith.
Later described as “the slap heard around the world”, it saw Smith banned from Oscars ceremonies for the next 10 years.
One you might have missed: The Met Police were forced to apologise after an officer strip searched a black schoolgirl while on her period after wrongly suspecting her of carrying cannabis.
April was a big month for showbiz news, starting with the death of much-loved EastEnders actor June Brown at the age of 95.
Days later a High Court judge ruled in Ed Sheeran’s favour that he didn’t plagiarise grime artist Sami Switch in his song Shape of You.
The artist had claimed Sheeran’s lyrics were “strikingly similar” to his 2015 song Oh Why.
In the US, David Beckham’s eldest son Brooklyn married the daughter of billionaire American businessman Nelson Peltz, Nicola, in a £3m ceremony.
In Las Vegas, Harry Styles’s then-partner Olivia Wilde was served divorce papers live on stage while promoting her film Don’t Worry Darling.
Back in the UK, Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie and then-chancellor Rishi Sunak were all handed fixed penalty notices for breaking lockdown rules.
This made Mr Johnson the first prime minister to be reprimanded by the police in office.
And 26-year-old Ali Harbi Ali was sentenced to a whole-life prison sentence for stabbing Southend MP Sir David Amess to death in his Leigh-on-Sea constituency in October 2021.
One you might have missed: The Otley Burger Company in Yorkshire had an advert banned because it made light of the disappearance of toddler Madeleine McCann in Portugal 15 years ago.
It read: “With burgers this good, you’ll leave your kids at home. What’s the worst that could happen?” and featured a man running in the background with an image of Madeleine in his hands, alongside the words: “Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums out there.”
She didn’t do it 1959 and 1963 on the advice of her doctors as she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and Edward.
Prince Charles took her place due to the mobility problems she had been experiencing since the autumn.
The next day, the long-awaited Wagatha Christie trial began at the High Court in London.
It was given that name after Coleen Rooney claimed in 2019 to have carried out her own sting operation into who was leaking stories about her to the press.
After declaring it was fellow footballer’s wife Rebekah Vardy, Vardy sued her for libel, alleging her claims had damaged her reputation. After six weeks, the judge sided with Rooney.
On 24 May, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos shot his grandmother before storming Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and killing 21 people.
Ramos was shot dead and the police were later criticised for waiting more than an hour before engaging him, triggering a wider discussion about US gun laws.
Back in the UK, the long-waited Sue Gray report into lockdown gatherings in Downing Street was finally published in full.
It contained damning revelations about parties where civil servants were so drunk they were sick and broke the prime minister’s son’s swing.
One you might have missed: Seventeen-year-old Jake Daniels, who plays for Blackpool, came out and became the first openly gay male professional footballer in the UK.
On 1 June, a Virginia court found that actor Amber Heard had defamed her ex-husband Johnny Depp in a Washington Post article about their relationship.
She was made to pay £8.5m in damages and almost immediately said she would appeal.
It came after Depp lost a UK libel trial against The Sun over an article that described him as a “wife beater”.
Britons got a long Bank Holiday weekend from 2 to 5 June to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The Queen played herself in a skit with Paddington Bear in which she admitted to hiding marmalade sandwiches in her handbag – to the nation’s delight.
Concerns for her health were fuelled after she had to pull out of the Buckingham Palace pop concert and other events because of her mobility issues.
Prince Louis stole the show on the palace balcony with his visible dislike of the noisy flypast.
In more showbiz news, Justin Bieber announced he was suffering from a form of facial paralysis and had to cancel tour dates.
On 7 June, the prime minister narrowly survived a no confidence vote over the findings of the Sue Gray report in the Commons.
In the US, the historic legislation that guaranteed abortion rights in all 50 states was overturned by the Supreme Court on 24 June.
The ruling on Roe v Wade sparked fears for abortion rights in other countries around the world.
Back in the UK, traces of polio were found in traces of sewage in London, triggering a warning from the UK Health Security Agency.
And on 29 June, campaigner Dame Deborah James died five years after being diagnosed with bowel cancer.
She was given a damehood personally at her Surrey home by Prince William and raised more than £7m for cancer research with her Bowel Babe fund.
One you might have missed: The Binley Mega Chippy near Coventry shot to global fame with its own song after becoming a TikTok sensation.
As summer got underway in the UK, it was plagued by blistering temperatures and travel chaos.
The heatwave saw temperatures surpass 40C (104F) for the first time on 19 July.
And as airlines struggled to cope with staff vacancies from the pandemic, thousands of flights were cancelled, causing holiday chaos for families.
July began, however, with a political crisis.
On 3 July, two further allegations of sexual assault emerged against Conservative deputy chief whip Chris Pincher.
When it transpired concerns about his behaviour had been reported to Downing Street before and seemingly ignored, it triggered a huge backlash within the Tory Party.
Already furious over his involvement in lockdown parties, momentum against Boris Johnson finally grew to the point of no return.
Conceding that “them’s the brakes”, he also suggested he might return to frontbench politics with a reference to Roman leader Cincinnatus.
Earlier in the month, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner were cleared over the beergate scandal.
They offered to resign if police found they had broken lockdown rules by accompanying a campaign meeting in Durham with a beer and curry, but were cleared on 8 July.
July was the month that England got behind its Lionesses at the European Championships, and football came home at Wembley with a 2-1 win over Germany.
The team appeared slightly worse for wear in bucket hats as they sang Sweet Caroline at their victory parade in London’s Trafalgar Square the following day.
One you might have missed: A study was published that the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhoea is the reason humans have grandparents.
As Britain’s parks and fields remained scorched brown from the heatwave, monster wildfires raged across Europe.
A report later found more than 5,000 square miles had been burnt.
Back in the UK, a long High Court battle between doctors and the family of a 12-year-old boy from Essex, Archie Battersbee, ended with his life support machine being turned off.
He had been ruled “brain stem dead” by medics after he was found unresponsive at home months before, but his family insisted he had shown signs of improvement.
On 10 August, Dame Olivia Newton-John, who played Sandy in the 1978 musical Grease, died aged 73 from cancer.
Her co-star John Travolta led tributes, signing his off: “Yours from the first moment I saw you and forever! Your Danny, your John.”
Days later, the British-Indian author Sir Salman Rushdie was stabbed 12 times as he spoke on stage in New York.
Sir Salman lost the sight in one eye and the use of one of his hands in the attack. A 24-year-old man is still awaiting trial in the US.
Back in the UK, the death of nine-year-old girl Olivia Pratt-Korbel in her own home in Liverpool shocked the nation. Thomas Cashman, 34, has been charged with her murder and her mother Cheryl’s attempted murder and will go on trial in 2023.
The month ended with outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson travelling to Kyiv to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
One you might have missed:Two men on motorised surf boards were branded “idiots” by the mayor of Venice for speeding down the city’s famous canals.
Only licenced vehicles are permitted to use the waterways as concerns mount about foundations of buildings there.
September was arguably the biggest month in news the UK has seen in decades.
Mr Sunak kept a low profile after his defeat – 43% to Ms Truss’s 57% – only to replace her as leader seven weeks later.
Ms Truss travelled to Balmoral to be formally appointed leader by the Queen – as opposed to Buckingham Palace – as is tradition.
The pair were pictured together in Scotland, with many commenting on Her Majesty’s frail appearance.
Three days later on 8 September, business in the Commons was interrupted by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle announcing the Queen’s doctors were “concerned for her health” and she was “under medical supervision” at Balmoral.
Party leaders swiftly left the chamber and after hours of speculation, at around 6.30pm it was announced the Queen had died.
Flags dropped to half mast, not just in the UK, but around the world, and a period of national mourning was declared as King Charles’s reign began.
People queued throughout the day and night to observe Her Majesty’s coffin, with one man arrested for a public order offence for trying to grab it.
TV presenters Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield faced a fierce backlash over allegations they were able to skip the long wait – in a row that became known as queuegate.
The funeral took place on 20 September, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex returning from their new lives in the US to pay tribute.
As day-to-day life returned to normal, just three days later the new PM Liz Truss and her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng revealed their “plan for growth”.
The mini-budget, as it became known, included a new price cap on energy, and huge tax cuts, but didn’t include a forecast of how the £45bn would be funded from the Office for Budget Responsibility.
The Bank of England had to make an unprecedented intervention after it sent the pound and pension markets plummeting – and mortgage rates soaring.
One you may have missed: A 48-year-old man from Norfolk was jailed for life for murdering his neighbour over a row about noise from his motorbike. He told police: “Killing people isn’t always a bad thing.”
The mini-budget triggered a general lack of economic confidence in October, exacerbating the cost of living crisis that began earlier in the year and sending inflation to a record high of 11.1%.
Mortgage rates became almost unaffordable and house sales and purchases fell through.
On 3 October, the chancellor U-turned on one of his most controversial mini budget measures – a tax cut for the wealthiest 1%.
Elsewhere, Thailand experienced its worst ever mass killing when a sacked policeman killed 36 people, including dozens of children, at a day care centre on 3 October.
Back in the UK, the trial of former nurse Lucy Letby began in Manchester, where she denied murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others in her care between 2015 and 2016.
Harry Potter fans mourned the death of Hagrid actor Robbie Coltrane – and James Corden was forced to apologise after he was outed by a New York restaurateur for being rude.
On 15 October, Kwasi Kwarteng’s flight back from the US appeared to be delayed as rumours of his imminent sacking swirled.
After another five days, her former leadership rival Rishi Sunak replaced her.
And at the end of October, more than 150 people died in a crush at a Halloween event in Seoul, South Korea, and Twitter was bought by Elon Musk – beginning what has already been a chaotic new era at the social media company.
One you might have missed: Much-loved local radio presenter Tim Gough died live on air while broadcasting from his home in Suffolk. He was 55.
November began with the bizarre news that former health secretary Matt Hancock had signed up to be on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!
He had the Conservative Party whip suspended as a result, but said he “hadn’t lost his marbles” and wanted to show that politicians are “real people”.
After suffering countless bushtucker trials and tense encounters about his handling of the pandemic with his campmates, he finished third and later announced he would be stepping down at the next election.
Ousted Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan was shot four times in the leg in what his supporters described as an assassination attempt.
The US midterms saw the Republicans take control of the House of Representatives, while the Democrats maintained the Senate – having won Pennsylvania.
It took more than a month for the Georgia’s Senate result to be declared – with Democrat Raphael Warnock beating former American footballer and Donald Trump-backed Republican candidate Herschel Walker.
Mr Trump announced his intention to run for president again on 16 November – despite most of his candidates losing their races.
On the same day in the UK, a coroner ruled that a two-year-old boy called Awaab Ishak had died of the effects of damp and mould in his family’s flat in Rotherham.
Politicians described it as a “defining moment” and “wake-up call” to improve social housing conditions.
Four days later, amid much controversy over the country’s treatment of LGBTQ people and migrant workers, the FIFA World Cup kicked off in Qatar.
Wales qualified for the first time since 1958 – but failed to make it through the group stages.
Elsewhere in football, Cristiano Ronaldo gave a TV interview where he slated Manchester United and its management, quickly sparking his departure from the club.
One you might have missed: An angler from Kidderminster showed off a 30kg giant goldfish he nicknamed “the carrot”, after he fished it out of a lake in France.
Three years of China’s strict zero COVID policy culminated in rare protests across the country in December.
Fears of a brutal crackdown came after people chanted “down with Xi Jinping” in the streets, but party officials ultimately relaxed restrictions.
The Royal Family was rocked with fresh racism allegations when a London charity boss claimed she had been repeatedly asked “where in Africa” she was from at a Buckingham Palace reception.
Lady Susan Hussey, one of the Queen’s longest-serving ladies-in-waiting, apologised and stepped down as a result.
The release of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s tell-all Netflix documentary put further strain on the palace in December.
One you might have missed: A man who murdered his wife in 1985 was the first in the UK to have his parole hearing held in public.
Russell Causley has always denied killing her and told the hearing he came home, where his mistress also lived, to find her dead. “It was a lovely summer’s day and my wife’s dead body was in the garage,” he said.
Footage of the moment 10-year-old Sara Sharif’s alleged killers were detained after police boarded their plane back to the UK has been played in court.
As they are approached by officers, Sara‘sstepmother Beinash Batool is heard saying: “I think you’re looking for us.”
Batool, 30, Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, 42, and uncle Faisal Malik, 29, are accused of carrying out a campaign of abuse against her culminating in her death at her family home in Surreyon 8 August last year.
The defendants, along with five of Sara’s siblings, aged between one and 13, flew to Pakistanthe following day.
Sara’s body was found by police in a bunkbed on 10 August after Sharif called police from Pakistan to say he had beaten her “too much” for being “naughty”.
A murder investigation was launched involving agencies including Interpol and the National Crime Agency to locate the defendants.
More on Sara Sharif
Related Topics:
They returned to the UK on a flight from Dubai to Gatwick Airport on 13 September.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:38
‘I beat her up too much’
The clips of officers’ body-worn video shown to the jury on Friday captured the moment police boarded the plane and detained the defendants at 7.42pm, seven minutes after touchdown.
After Batool addresses the officers, Sharif, who had been sitting next to her, is asked to follow them.
The three were then taken off the plane and arrested.
A post-mortem examination established Sara had sustained extensive and significant injuries over a sustained period prior to her death.
The jury heard on Friday how concerns were raised by Sara’s school about bruising on her body in June 2022 and March 2023.
Several items seized from Sara’s home were also reviewed by the court, including a leather belt which had full DNA samples at both ends for Sara, Sharif, and Malik.
A cricket bat was also found to have Sara’s DNA profile on it, along with the DNA samples of Sharif and Malik.
Neither item had a DNA trace of Batool.
The court also reviewed the defendants’ bank accounts – both joint and separate.
All three defendants have pleaded not guilty to murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.
Six teenagers have been arrested after a 13-year-old girl was found with multiple stab wounds on a roadside near Hull.
Police said she was found around 6.50am on the A63 in Hessle with “life-threatening injuries” including “lacerations to her neck, abdomen, chest and back”.
Four boys and two girls – aged between 14 and 17 – were quickly arrested in a nearby wooded area and are being questioned on suspicion of attempted murder.
Members of the public came to the girl’s aid before emergency services arrived, Humberside Police said.
Detective Superintendent Simon Vickers said they “believe the attackers knew the victim” and the circumstances are still being investigated.
“The girl remains in hospital in critical condition and her family are being supported by officers at this difficult time,” he added.
The boys arrested are aged 14, 15, 16 and 17, and the girls 14 and 15.
Cordons are in place around a wooded area off Ferriby High Road while investigations continue.
Police said they would have an increased presence in the area over the weekend and have asked anyone with information or video to get in touch, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously.
A former soldier has told a jury his escape from Wandsworth prison to avoid being held with sex offenders and terrorists showed his “skillset”.
Daniel Khalife, 23, who was being held accused of passing secrets to Iran said he was “never a real spy” but planned a fake defection to the state following his arrest after watching American television show Homeland.
He said he wanted to be moved to a high-security unit because he was getting unwanted attention from the sex offenders on the vulnerable prisoners wing and feared a move to Belmarsh prison because, as a British soldier, terrorists wanted to kill him.
Khalife said he first wanted to “make a show” of escaping, acting suspiciously and covering himself in soot from a food delivery lorry on 21 August last year, while he was working in the prison kitchen.
He was spotted and reported to security but was “pretty shocked” when nothing happened so decided to take the “full measure,” he told the jury.
Talking about his escape for the first time at his Woolwich Crown Court trial, Khalife told how he fashioned a makeshift sling from kitchen trousers and carabiners used by inmates to keep their possessions safe from rats.
He attached it to the Bidfood lorry on 1 September last year, to see if it would be spotted by officers at Wandsworth or other prisons on the delivery route.
“I put the two carabiners and the makeshift rope underneath the lorry,” he said.
“When I had made the decision to actually leave the prison I was going to do it properly so I tested the security not just in Wandsworth
Advertisement
“Strangely, over the coming days, I could see it but it wasn’t spotted in Wandsworth or any other prison.”
Then on the morning of 6 September, Khalife said he concealed himself underneath the lorry, resting his back on the sling as the lorry was searched.
“They did normal checks around with torches but they didn’t find me. After that, a governor came to the tunnel and said, ‘Have you searched the vehicle?’
“I was facing upwards. There was action around the lorry.”
He said that when the vehicle stopped he “came out underneath the lorry and stayed in the prone position” until the lorry moved off.
Khalife, who joined the Army aged 16 and took up a post with the Royal Signals, based in Beacons barracks, Staffordshire, said he made no attempt to leave the country and had no intention to “run away” from the charges he was facing.
He was arrested three days later on the footpath of the Grand Union Canal in Northolt, west London, after a nationwide manhunt.
Asked why he had not handed himself in after his escape, Khalife said: “I was finally demonstrating what a foolish idea it was to have someone of my skillset in prison. What use was that to anyone?”
“I accept that I left the prison and didn’t have any permission to do so,” he said. “I accept absolutely that I shouldn’t have done what I did.”
Inspired by Homeland
The court has heard Khalife initiated contact with Iranian intelligence officers after he was told he could not pass developed vetting because his mother was born in Iran.
Khalife told MI5 he wanted to be a “double agent” and he said in court he thought he would be “congratulated” but described his arrest as like a “punch in the face”.
Wearing a blue checked shirt and chinos, he said police were “blinded at the prospect of a successful prosecution” but he did not think being in prison would be in “the public interest”.
“I didn’t do anything that harmed our national security. I wanted to put myself in a position where I could help my country,” he said.
“I believed I could continue my work actually located in the state – the state being Iran.”
Khalife said he took inspiration from watching Homeland, starring Claire Danes and Damian Lewis, in which Americans and terrorists go undercover, on Netflix.
“I had seen one of the characters in the programme had actually falsely defected to a particular country and utilised that position to further the national security interests of that character’s country,” he said.
“The country in question, Iran, thought it was real. She did it to further the interests of her own country.”
Khalife told jurors he is a “patriot”, adding: “I do love my country. All I wanted to do was help. I never wanted to do any harm, I never did do any harm.”
He added: “It is tragic it has come to this and I would do anything to go back to my career.”
Khalife, from Kingston, southwest London, denies a charge of committing an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state under the Official Secrets Act between 1 May 2019 and 6 January 2022.
He has also pleaded not guilty to a charge under the Terrorism Act of eliciting information about Armed Forces personnel on 2 August 2021, perpetrating a bomb hoax on or before 2 January 2023 and escaping from prison on 6 September last year.