January 2020: In Russia, after 17 years of negotiations between NGOs and the authorities – 300,000 hectares of virgin forest were protected from timber harvesting. The Arkhangelsk region is home to one of the last remaining intact areas which is now protected with a nature reserve status. January also seen a boost to global safety with the death of Iran’s head of terrorism Gen. Qassim Soleimani!
February:
Movie producer, professional bully and all-round scumbag Harvey Weinstein was found guilty & later sentenced to 23 years in prison for sexually abusing multiple women. Due to poor health, his lawyer claims he will not survive prison, boo-hoo!
March:
A Netflix docu-series named Tiger King introduced the world to Joe Exotic – a crazy 57-year-old gun-toting, gay country music-singing tiger trainer with a mullet and a tv show that for many was the reprieve needed for a pandemic that enforced global lockdowns. What a time to be alive!
April:
Many people who were forced to work from home have now realised that their office cubicle is unnecessary. Showering is still necessary, however, but sadly many people have given up on that aspect too!
May:
For the first time in 9 years, astronauts were launched from US soil and SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, became the first private company to launch astronauts. The future of space exploration is exciting!
June:
In a world that was ravaged by fear, negativity, Covid-19 and general disaster and chaos. We launched Tidningen Maïa. A newspaper with a very clear goal: to bring you positive news about the world we live in!
July:
A new breakthrough in Cancer research finds a possible Cancer-vaccine with positive results in pre-clinical trials. The biggest game changer in this treatment would be it’s over the counter availability rather than the high cost & case specific treatments currently used. In other good news, Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested for her role in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking ring. She awaits trial on multiple counts and the worlds elites are very worried she might tell tales. Let us see if she survives until court! Remember #epsteindidntkillhimself
August:
Possibly the best news of the year came in the form of the complete eradication of the poliovirus from Africa! Also, in August, a woman in Orissa, India successfully petitioned the high court to allow her to cohabitate with a same-sex partner. This might seem trivial but, in a country, where LGBTQ+ are subject to attacks, this is big news, and it is fucking awesome!
September:
The biggest news story of the year which you maybe never heard about! A historic peace deal signed between Israel & UAE normalises relations for the first time in 25 years. Commercial and transport flights resume, and subsequent deals are made between Bahrain, Egypt, and Morocco. For the first time in my life, it looks as though peace in the Middle East might be possible! Why didn’t you hear about it? Oh, it is because it was brokered by Donald J. Trump!
October:
The world finally realises that Big Tech and social media are one of the biggest threats facing society after the documentary movie, Social Dilemma, achieves widespread acclaim by becoming the most watched and talked about film of the year. If you haven’t watched it, do it now!
November:
Despite possibly the most divisive elections in modern history and all the drama that has followed, one thing was clear in the US: voters want climate action. Across the country and from the White House to the local kommun’s, people have chosen climate leaders to represent them!
December:
The news we waited for all year! Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna begin rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine! Although there are quite a lot of slow months ahead until we can be confident of victory and do all of the wonderful things we did pre-Covid….we will get there!
And just a quick note on people saying that the ‘new normal’ is here to stay – Fuck You! We will get back to kissing our loved ones, embracing our friends and colleagues, going to music festivals, theatres and sports games. We will travel, we will talk to strangers, we will see the world and we will LIVE once again!