The year 2024 in A to Z: From astronauts stuck in space to Zakir Hussain

2024! What a year it has been! A rather tumultuous one defined by wars and a lot to worry about. West Asia has been gripped in turmoil. A year after the 7 October attacks, Israel fought wars on multiple fronts, eliminating top Hezbollah and Hamas leaders. As tensions with Iran escalated, there was the looming fear of a wider conflict. And now Syria is staring at uncertainty after rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has dragged on and will enter its fourth year in February 2025. In November, amid the escalation of war, there was increasing speculation of World War 3. Thankfully, it remained at that.

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The US presidential election came with much drama, from Joe Biden quitting the race to Kamala Harris stepping in and giving much hope to liberal America, from the failed assassination bids on Donald Trump to him making a stunning comeback.

India also held elections – the world’s largest – that saw Narendra Modi winning a third term. In the UK, the Conservative Patry was defeated, paving the way for Labour’s Keir Starmer. And in Canada, Justin Trudeau found himself on shaky ground.

Beyond conflict and politics, there was some good news: India’s T20 World Cup win that brought tears of joy to millions, Taylor Swift’s historic Eras Tour that made the Earth move – literally, and Thailand’s pygmy hippo Moo Deng, who had the world go aww. There was heartbreak too – the devastating floods in Europe, hurricanes Milton and Helene that ravaged the US, the shocking death of Liam Payne, the loss of Ratan Tata and Zakir Hussain and more.

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We look back at the year that was. Here’s a roundup – the A to Z of 2024.

A for Astronauts… stranded in space

They went to space in June for a week-long mission onboard Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule. But more than six months on, astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are still “stuck” there.

The capsule suffered multiple issues, making it too risky for them to return. The duo is now expected to return in March 2025.

Williams and Wilmore have captured the world’s attention, as they go about their work at the International Space Station (ISS) – carrying out research experiments and collecting data. Amid all this, they are doing the “routine” stuff – growing lettuce, celebrating birthdays, Thanksgiving and more.

Nasa and the astronauts have dismissed insinuations of being stranded. And while Williams once described space as her “happy place”, spending more than half the year there was never part of the plan.

B for Bangladesh crisis

It’s been a year of unrest in Bangladesh. In July, demonstrations started in Dhaka to demand a cancellation of a 30 per cent quota to families of war veterans. As the student-led protests turned violent, the Supreme Court abolished most of the quotas for civil services jobs.

However, it wasn’t enough to abate the anger. By early August, demonstrators started demanding the resignation of Sheikh Hasina. The clashes turned violent and the protesters defied curfew and stormed Hasina’s palace. On August 5, she stepped down as prime minister and fled to India.

Soon after, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took on the role of the interim chief advisor of Bangladesh. But four months on, there is a breakdown in law and order and violence against minorities continues. Political instability has added to its economic woes and elections are expected to be held by the end of 2025 or early 2026. The future looks bleak.

C for Crowdstrike outage

It was the largest IT outage in history. From the US to Asia, Microsoft’s computer systems experienced problems as the dreaded “ blue screen of death” appeared. Air travel was hit, financial services and supply chains were disrupted, and several broadcasters across the world went offline on July 19. It wasn’t a cyberattack or a security threat. However, the cause of all the chaos was a tech update by cybersecurity giant Crowdstrike for Microsoft Windows users.

The outage affected 8.5 million devices directly. It cost US Fortune 500 companies $5.4 billion, insurers estimated. The total insured losses for non-Microsoft Fortune 500 companies were said to be between $540 million and $1.08 billion, according to a report in the Guardian.

It took a day or two before all services were resumed.

D for Donald Trump

2024 belongs to Donald Trump. The Republican registered a thumping victory in the US election defeating Kamala Harris. In a stunning comeback after his loss to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump won all the swing states and his party gained control of both the House and Senate.

He made history in more ways than one: At 78, he is the oldest to win the presidential elections. He is only the second to win two non-consecutive terms. When he takes oath on January 20, he will be the first US president with a felony conviction and the only one who has faced impeachment proceedings twice.

Trump’s track record is questionable. Yet he defied all odds to win a dramatic election – he survived failed assassination bids and proved all pollsters wrong.

Now in 2025, America and the world await what Trump 2.0 has in store.

E for Eras Tour

We live in the age of Taylor Swift. After 21 months, the singer wrapped up her history-making Eras Tour in Vancouver, Canada on December 8.

The tour broke many a record and set some new ones. Taylor Swift Touring, the pop star’s production company, told The New York Times that her tour sold $2,077,618,725 tickets which is “double the gross ticket sales of any other concert tour in history”. It confirmed that 10,168,008 attended her concert.

But that’s not all. The tour gave us Swiftonomics, as the singer boosted economies. Her fans caused the Earth to shake, causing seismic activity equivalent to a 2.3 magnitude quake.

The Eras Tour is concluded but we will be talking about it for months to come.

F for Floods in Europe

Climate change makes things worse with each passing year. Europe bore the brunt in mid-September when Storm Boris unleashed unprecedented rain. The worst-hit nations were Romania, Poland, Poland, Czechia, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Germany.

The floods claimed at least 24 lives and caused widespread destruction – bridges were damaged, cars submerged and several towns were left without power.

The four-day rainfall was the heaviest ever recorded in Central Europe. It was twice as likely because of warming from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, according to World Weather Attribution, a collection of scientists that run rapid climate attribution studies from Europe. Climate change also made the rains between seven per cent and 10 per cent more intense, the study found.

Yet not enough is done to tackle the problem staring Europe and the rest of the world in the face.

G for Gisèle Pelicot

It was a case that sent shivers down spines. In France, a man named Dominique Pelicot drugged his wife Gisèle Pelicot to sleep and then raped her. He didn’t stop at that. The husband invited at least 70 more men to rape her for a decade.

The 72-year-old Dominique Pelicot and the accused, who included firefighters, soldiers, a journalist, and a DJ among others, went on trial and the husband has now been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Through it all Gisèle Pelicot emerged a hero. She waived her right to anonymity in the trial, which allowed it to go public. The 72-year-old survivor also convinced the judge overseeing the case to make the video recordings public.

Gisèle Pelicot fought the shame. At the mass trial, she famously said, “When you’re raped there is shame, and it’s not for us to have shame, it’s for them.”

H for Hezbollah

Since the October 7 attacks, Israel has been fighting against many enemies. There is the Hamas, of course, but also the Hezbollah.

The Lebanon-based militant group has been engaged in a conflict across the southern border with Israel since October 8, 2023. It was to deter the Jewish nation from the Gaza war.

The tensions between the two sides escalated in September this year after Israel carried out pager and walkie-talkie blasts targeting Hezbollah fighters. The Jewish nation then struck Beiruit and other Hezbollah targets in Lebanon over the next few days. Then on September 28, the Israeli military announced that it had killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike in the Lebanese capital. That came as a big blow to the Iran-backed militia. Israel continued to eliminate other top Hezbollah leadership.

And while the militant group has a new head today, it is weakened.

I for IPOs

One of the remarkable stories from India is the success of IPOs (initial public offerings). In 2024, 12 start-ups went public, creating a record and raising billions. The big name, of course, was Swiggy, which raised $1.35 billion, a standout tech list worldwide.

But beyond startups, there was a lot more to cheer about. By November, the amount raised by IPOs crossed $14 billion (Rs 1.19 lakh crore) surpassing the record in 2021.

India’s IPO fundraising this year is second only to the US. China ranks third. Some IPOs that deserve a mention are OLA Electric and Bajaj Housing Finance.

J for Justin Trudeau

It’s not been Justin Trudeau’s year. He has left India miffed. The Khalistan issue continues to divide New Delhi and Ottawa. In October, the prime minister once again alleged India’s role in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canada even went ahead and named the Indian high commissioner as a “person of interest”. The two sides then expelled each other’s diplomats.

Even back home, Trudeau faced big challenges. His most uncertain moment came in late October when nearly two dozen backbench Liberal MPs called for him to step down fearing that his declining popularity could hurt them in the elections next year. But Trudeau remained defiant. On December 16, his deputy PM and finance minister Chrystia Freeland quit after disagreeing with Trudeau over Donald Trump’s tariff threats. Now calls for his resignation have grown again. His key political ally, Jagmeet Singh of the New Democratic Party, on Friday announced his party’s intention to bring down the government.

Trudeau remains unpopular among his colleagues, countrymen and even overseas.

K for Kate Middleton

Catherine, Princess of Wales, popularly known as Kate Middleton, is one of the most photographed people in the United Kingdom. No surprise then that the rumour mills went into overdrive after she disappeared from the public eye earlier this year. There was speculation about trouble in her marriage with Prince Williams, buzz about a botched surgery and even some wild claims by online sleuths that she was dead.

Of course, all were to be taken with a pinch of salt. However, it didn’t help that the Princess put out a picture, which turned out to be manipulated. It only fuelled more conspiracy theories.

Then in March, Kate made a shock announcement. She revealed that she was diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer and was receiving preventive chemotherapy. She remained away from the public eye and made her first appearance at King Charles’ birthday in June.

Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas 🎄 pic.twitter.com/pL3t13sTlu

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) December 19, 2024

In September, Kate said that she completed her treatment and was focused on being cancer-free.

L for Liam Payne death

Liam Payne was a global star, part of ‘One Direction’ and a solo artist. The boyband reached peak popularity and dominated the charts from 2010 to 2016. But fame has its fallout – obsessed fans and hounding popularity made it difficult for bandmates to have a personal life and Payne took to drinking to cope.

One Direction split and Payne went his own way.

Payne saw his ups and downs but life came to a tragic end when he died on October 16 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina’s Buenos Aires. The hotel staff had called emergency services to report a guest “who is overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol” and “destroying his room”.

Toxicology tests revealed traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his body.

Payne’s death came as a shocker and there was an outpouring of grief by fans the world over.

M for Moo Deng

In a year, where headlines were largely about conflict and chaos, a baby pygmy hippopotamus from a zoo in Thailand caught the world’s attention.

Moo Deng, who was born in July, became an internet celebrity after the zoo held a Facebook poll to name her. Content creator Yammi Saracino translated the poll into English and shared it on social media. Moo Deng, which translates to “bouncy pork”, was picked over Moo Sap (“minced pork”) and Moo Daeng (“red pork”).

Videos shared by the hippo’s zookeeper started going viral, garnering millions of views. People flocked to the zoo to get a glimpse of Moo Deng. The endangered hippo became so popular that she was made to ‘predict’ the US election winner. Of course, she got it right.

N for Narendra Modi

It was a year of elections but the one in India was the most challenging. The country held the world’s largest election in May. The results came as a bit of a surprise. Yes, the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance won a third term but not with the margin it expected.

The BJP fell short of a majority of its own and would depend on allies to form a government. Coalition politics was new for Modi’s party which has dominated the electoral landscape for the past decade. Nothing the PM could not manage.

O for Olympics 2024

It was the greatest sporting event of the year. The 2024 Paris Olympics saw the participation of over 200 countries and around 10,500 athletes. Over 9.5 million tickets were sold to spectators that thronged the French capital.

The tournament was pegged as the “ Greenest Olympics yet” and it boosted the French economy by 0.4 per cent. And while there was a lot to boast about, there were also reasons to worry. The internal strife in France and heightened geo-political tensions made it the most high-risk event in Olympic history.

It all turned out well, save for the many controversies – the gender row involving Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who bagged a gold medal in women’s boxing, and the disqualification of Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat, among others. But the Games also gave us reasons to cheer – Neeraj Chopra’s silver, Manu Bhaker securing India’s first women’s shooting medal, Simone Biles cementing her status as the greatest gymnast of all time, and of course, Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikeç who became a celebrity of sorts for his nonchalant approach.

P for Pager attacks

In the age of smartphones, who uses pagers and walkie-talkies? Turns out, Hezbollah’s operatives… maybe not anymore.

Israel has been fighting the Lebanon-based militants since the October 7 Hamas attacks. But this year, the Jewish nation scored a massive win and proved that it is the master of covert ops.

On 17 September, pagers in Lebanon and Syria started detonating. Israel had infiltrated the devices to target Hezbollah fighters. Still reeling from the shock, the next day, Hezbollah received another big blow. It was the walkie-talkies that exploded.

The attacks, which killed 27 and left 2,931 wounded, were “unprecedented in the history of the resistance in Lebanon”, said Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader who was killed days later on September 27.

Q for Qatar espionage case

One of India’s biggest diplomatic wins this year came in February. Eight former Indian Navy personnel, who were arrested in Qatar in an alleged case of espionage, were released.

The men were awarded a death sentence following their arrest in August 2022. However, after diplomatic intervention by New Delhi, a Qatar court in December last year commuted the death sentence.

The eight veterans were working for a private company in their personal capacity to oversee the induction of Italian U212 stealth submarines in the Qatari Emiri Naval Force. What was their crime? The allegations against them are not known.

However, India stepped in and ensured their release. The Navy personnel were grateful and they had one man to especially thank – PM Modi.

R for Ratan Tata

India lost one of its biggest heroes this year, its most respected businessman – Ratan Tata. He passed away on October 9 at the age of 86.

A reclusive Parsi bachelor, Ratan Tata turned his family business into a global empire. He served as a chairman of Tata Group for more than two decades until he retired in 2012.

Tata was as much an entrepreneur as a philanthropist – he did everything he could to make cancer treatment more accessible and he poured his heart out to protect strays. His passing away left a huge void. And to bid him goodbye, all of Mumbai gathered from the bigwigs to the Everyman.

S for Syria

The unthinkable happened in Syria in a matter of weeks. On November 27, rebel fighters launched an offensive against pro-government forces. The rebels led by
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) soon started gaining ground, first taking Aleppo, the country’s second-largest city. Their advance continued and within days they took control of Hama, Homs and then Deraa.

Their final destination was the Syrian capital of Damascus. The rebel groups headed north and they took Damascus in the wee hours of December 8.

President Bashar al-Assad was ousted. He fled to Russia, ending the 50-year reign of the tyrannical family. Syrians have since then celebrated but with HTS, a group which was once an affiliate of Al Qaeda, at the helm, their future remains uncertain.

T for T20 World Cup

In November of 2023, a billion hearts were broken. The Indian cricket team lost to Australia in the World Cup final played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

But Rohit Sharma & Co. got a chance at redemption. India would go on to play the shorter version of the game in June 2024 – the ICC T20 World Cup.

The Men in Blue were on a mission. They won all the matches to make it to the final in Barbados. They were up against South Africa and the two sides put up a spectacle worthy of a final.

It was an emotional win. The images of Rohit tasting the soil and lying on the ground, Hardik Pandya tearing up, Rohit and Virat hugging, and of course, the skipper’s famed walk before he lifted the coveted Cup will stay with us for years to come.

U for the United States presidential election

The 2024 US presidential election was touted as the most important in recent history. It turned out to be far more exciting than expected. Joe Biden was up against Donald Trump at first – whoever won would go on to become America’s oldest president.

But in one of the biggest surprises in American election history, Biden withdrew in July after a disastrous performance against Trump in the first debate. He passed on the mantle to his vice president, Kamala Harris. But clearly, America was not ready for its first woman president.

Defying polls, Donald Trump went on to register a thumping victory. The Republicans won the Senate and the House of Representatives. Trump’s win came after failed assassination bids and a vitriolic campaign.

Now, as he finalises his Cabinet, the world prepares for Trump’s America.

V for Vinesh Phogat

India suffered a heartbreak at the Olympics. Wrestler Vinesh Phogat was going strong in the tournament, taking down someone who had not been defeated. Her eyes were set on an Olympic medal. If she won a gold, it would have been history-making.

But a day, which was expected to end in celebration, turned out to be one of heartbreak. Phogat was disqualified from the 50-kg bout for being overweight by 100 grammes. The decision was a subject of much speculation and debate, leaving the sporting world divided.

After returning to India, the wrestler announced her retirement. She had other plans. Phogat stepped into the political arena, joining the Congress party and contesting the Haryana election. Politics wasn’t completely new to her. She led protests against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accused of sexually harassing female wrestlers when he was the chief of the Wrestling Federation of India.

Phogat won her debut election from the Julana seat. The young MLA has a different dangal to fight now.

W for Wars

Another year was marred by wars. The world saw a surge in conflicts in 2024. At least 233,000 people are estimated to have been killed over the past 12 months. Over the past five years, conflicts around the world have doubled, according to recent data released by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), an independent non-profit, reports The Washington Post.

The Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict have dominated headlines. While these were the deadliest in the year, there was also large-scale devastation in Lebanon as Israel launched its offensive. In Syria, the civil war, which entered its 14th year, saw rebels ousting Bashar al-Assad.

The fighting in Sudan has led to a humanitarian crisis; the Democratic Republic of Congo and Myanmar are among other nations gripped by armed conflict.

2025 is expected to be no different.

X for X exodus

Elon Musk has been a regular feature of the 2024 news cycle. A lot has gone in his favour – he has become the first in the world with a net worth of more than $400 billion and has become one of Trump’s most trusted men. But he has had some reasons to be concerned. One of them is X.

On November 6, the day after the US presidential election, the microblogging site saw its largest exodus since Musk took over in 2022. From bots to harassment and partisan advertisement, the reasons to leave were many.

Since the election, at least one million users have left and joined its rival Bluesky. These include publications like The Guardian, author Stephen King, American singer and actor Babra Streisand, UK’s Labour MPs, and CNN’s Don Lemon among others. Is this the end of X, wondered many.

Y for Yoon Suk Yeol

He was once South Korea’s star prosecutor. But today the impeached president has become one of the country’s most controversial leaders in recent times. He won a narrow election in 2022 and his rule has been marred by scandals – allegations of his wife accepting illegal gifts from a pastor and accusations of stock manipulation. It wasn’t a smooth ride but such a dramatic downfall wasn’t expected.

After announcing martial law, which the president quickly withdrew, the anti-Yoon sentiment in South Korea swelled. He was impeached on December 14 after surviving the first attempt. Now a constitutional court will take a final call on his suspension. However, his legacy will be marred by a decree that wasn’t.

Z for Zakir Hussain

As we prepared to wrap up the year, the world lost another legend. Zakir Hussain, one of the greatest tabla players of all time, died at the age of 73 after suffering from a lung disease at a hospital in San Franciso.

Hussain was a four-time Grammy winner and he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award. He became an ambassador for Indian classical music worldwide.

Born of Ustad Allarakha, an iconic table player, Hussain was a child prodigy. By 12, he was performing with music greats like Pandit Ravi Shankar. With guitarist John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain co-founded Shakti, a group which fused Indian classical music with jazz. He also shared the stage with George Harrison of The Beatles.

Hussain touched the hearts of music aficionados and masses, alike. His appearance in Mile Sur Mera Tumhara and the Taj Mahal tea ads will be remembered by those who did not understand the intricacies of the tabla.

Zakir Hussain might be gone. But the rhythm he created will reverberate in India and beyond for years to come.