The 2022 Winter Olympics opening ceremony kicks off at the National Stadium in Beijing on Feb. 4. Capital Beijing is the first city in the world to have hosted both summer and winter Olympic games. Photo: Ramsey Cardy/VCG

Ukrainians huddle under a damaged bridge on March 3 while fleeing the war-torn country. Millions of people have been forced to leave their homes as the war persists. Photo: Emilio Morenatti/VCG

Trucks loaded with stone block a street in the northern Serb-dominated part of Mitrovica, an ethnically divided town in Kosovo, on Tuesday as tensions between Serbia and Kosovo have escalated. Photo: Bojan Slavkovic/VCG

Rescue personnel search through the debris at the China Eastern Airlines jet MU5735 crash site in Tengxian county, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. The jet crashed in the area on March 31, killing all 132 people on board. Photo: Xinhua

In late March, Shanghai launched a two-month lockdown on its 26 million residents to contain a Covid-19 outbreak. Photo: VCG

Abortion-rights activist Caroline Rhodes protests in front of the Supreme Court following the announcement of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling on June 25 in Washington, DC. The Court’s decision overruled the 50-year-old Roe v. Wade case, removing a federal right to an abortion. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/VCG

Nasibe Samsaei, an Iranian living in Turkey, cuts her ponytail off during a protest in Istanbul on Sept. 21. Activists were angered by the death of an Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, who died after she was arrested by the country’s morality police in Tehran. Photo: Yasin Akgul/VCG

Migrants in a wooden boat float in the Mediterranean Sea south of the Italian island of Lampedusa on Aug. 11. An UNHCR report shows 27,633 refugees and migrants arrived in Italy by sea in the first six months this year, 7,101 more compared to the same period last year. Photo: VCG

On Oct. 8, an explosion crippled the Crimea-Russia Bridge. The 12-mile bridge that spans the Kerch Strait between Russia and Crimea is considered “the construction of the century” in Russia. It’s destruction amplified tensions in the Russia-Ukraine war. Photo: Viktor Korotaev/VCG

A factory fire caused by illegal welding killed 38 people in Anyang, Central China’s Henan province, on Nov. 21. Photo: VCG

A woman mourns for victims at the site of a deadly crowd crush in Seoul, South Korea on Nov. 2. More than 150 people were killed on Oct. 29 during Halloween festivities in the city’s Itaewon neighborhood. Photo: Yomiuri Shimbun/VCG

A medical worker waits for a patient at the entrance of a fever clinic in North China’s Tianjin on Friday. China’s shift from its strict “zero-Covid” policy is putting pressure on its health care system. Photo: VCG

China’s first C919 passenger jet takes off Monday to carry out a 100-hour verification flight. Photo: Xinhua

China completed the construction of the Tiangong space station in January. The space station is now in its T-shape configuration. Photo: Courtesy of China Manned Space Agency

On Nov. 20, the FIFA World Cup, one of the most watched sporting events globally, kicked off in Qatar. Photo: VCG