Year in Review 2021 (part 2) - 31st December, 2021

July 2021 began with great dance steps from a hip-hop group in Cuba. The arrival of the Internet on the Caribbean island saw Datway mix hip-hop with some Cuban moves to international acclaim.

Whilst in Cuba they were burning up the dance floor temperatures reached record highs across North America.

"It was like 90 degrees at midnight or some - or 80 degrees or something - it was crazy."

Meanwhile parts of Western Europe were dealing with severe flooding and both Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos launched the first space tourism flights.

Jeff Bezos: "We're going to build a road to space, so that our kids and their kids can build the future. And we need to do that. We need to do that to solve the problems here on Earth."

In August, the eyes of the world were on Japan for the postponed 2020 Olympics. However, most had to enjoy the games remotely.

Takako: "I'm Japanese and because of the Covid, I couldn't go back to Japan. That's why I went to see the Olympic Games on a big screen in the UK."

In Greece, tourists donned wetsuits and diving gear to visit the country's first underwater museum.

Hans Jurgen Fercher: "It makes it special and unique that it's a combination of diving and archaeological diving. It's diving into history."

September began with an announcement that millions had been long awaiting - the return of the 70s pop group Abba. Abba announced both a new album and their first virtual tour!

Hakan: "I'm knocked out! ABBA is back! ABBA is back! ABBA are avatars!"

In a more sombre mood, New York marked the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the US, which saw the death of 2977 people. President at the time George W Bush remembered.

George W Bush: "In the weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks, I was proud to lead an amazing, resilient, united people."

September through October, the focus of the news was on freedom. We saw the plight of Haitian refugees stuck in Mexico. Britney Spears was finally released from the conservatorship of her father and giant puppet Little Amal walked 2000 kilometres from the Syrian border to the UK to highlight the plight of child refugees.

Jude Law: "It just seemed the most brilliant way to celebrate, try and raise awareness and share with the people who have taken a similar path to little Amal."

November saw environmental conferences being held across the world culminating in COP26 in Scotland. Climate activists including Greta Thunberg led the call for change and faster action from governments.

Jenny Rise: "A lot of politicians are scared of the power of this movement and that we can achieve something."

And as 2021, the world's second year of living with Covid, grew to a close we turned to both the future and tradition. Robot teaching assistants are helping out in classrooms in Korea, Barbados became a republic and gingerbread houses in Sweden are helping people develop an interest in architecture.

Sara Sandell : "So it's a lot of things that go with architecture and the design but also it's fun and everybody loves gingerbread houses!"

So what will 2022 hold for us all?