Page 14 - Masala Lite Issue 156 December 2023

• The ninth FIFA Women’s World Cup
was co-hosted by Australia and New
Zealand, and wowed the world with the
skill showcased in a tournament that is
unfortunately still ignored in favour of its
male counterpart.
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
inaugurated the Dhola-Sadiya Bridge in
Assam, India’s longest bridge spanning 9.15
km, prompting hopes for better connectivity
in the region.
• The 2023 Thai general election saw
unprecedented turnout from the youth, and in a surprising turn, the
progressive Move Forward Party won the highest number of votes
and seats. However, the party was unable to form a government, and
instead, the Pheu Thai party took over the majority, dissolving its
alliance with Move Forward and naming real estate tycoon Srettha
Thavisin as Prime Minister.
• The Writers Guild of America went on strike, one of the most
well-known in a protracted series of strikes and labour disputes
• Croatia became the 20th member of the Eurozone, worldwide, now known as “hot labour summer.” Shortly after, SAG-AFTRA also
adopting the euro as its official currency in place of went on strike, the longest in the Guild’s history, leading to studios pushing their
the kuna. slate of films and series by months and even years. Among other disagreements
was the use of actors’ likenesses in AI-generated content for films.
• Following his mysterious disappearance from the
public eye, Jack Ma made a visit to Bangkok following • The UK celebrated its first coronation since 1953, that of King Charles III, and
his reappearance and trip to Japan in 2022. estimates believe the ceremony may have cost up to GBP 250 million.
• 93-year-old Buzz Aldrin, the second man to set foot • Elon Musk was given the go-ahead by the FDA for human trials of his controversial
on the Moon, married girlfriend Anca Faur on his Neuralink brain implants, even after reports of deaths of, and health issues in,
birthday, making this his fourth marriage. monkeys that had been used for testing.
• Prince Harry released his memoir, Spare, which
recounts his life growing up as a royal. The • The US experienced yet another banking crisis, resulting in
autobiography, which contained some eyebrow-raising the collapse of several regional banks and the acquisition
reveals, received mixed reactions, despite becoming of Credit Suisse by UBS in Switzerland.
the UK’s fastest-selling nonfiction book ever.
• In what is now known as the deadliest rail disaster
• The literary world was titillated to hear that romance worldwide since 2004, three trains collided in Odisha,
author, Susan Meachen, had faked her suicide two India, leading to the derailment of more than 20 coaches,
years ago to boost book sales, and she herself revealed over 900 injured, and a total of 296 people killed.
that the reports of her death were greatly exaggerated • A fishing trawler carrying up to 800 migrants, mostly from
via a Facebook post.
Pakistan, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Afghanistan, sank
off the coast of Greece. Over 500 people were presumed
dead, with the tragedy considered the second-deadliest
• The US reported that unidentified high-altitude
refugee and migrant shipwreck recorded.
objects were sighted over North American airspace,
prompting many to speculate about ‘spy balloons.’ • Titan, a submersible operated by OceanGate and carrying five billionaires to
The objects, balloons or not, were shot down by explore the wreck of the Titanic, imploded after the passengers ignored safety
US fighter jets. concerns from numerous industry experts. The story captured the world’s attention,
eclipsing much deadlier disasters such as the sinking of the migrant boat above.
• A catastrophic 7.8 magnitude earthquake
struck Turkey and Syria, killing 59,259 people and
injuring and displacing countless more; the worst • Elon Musk announced the rebrand of social media platform
earthquake for the two countries in centuries. Twitter to X, prompting outrage and a flurry of memes
online mocking the name change. Instagram capitalised
• Ozzy Osbourne, legendary singer-songwriter and on the chaos and launched their new app Threads, which
the founding member of heavy-metal band Black nevertheless has not captured the zeitgeist like former-
Sabbath, announced his retirement from touring Twitter has.
due to ongoing health concerns.
• Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (2023) and Christopher Nolan’s
Oppenheimer (2023) both opened in cinemas on the same
• After the unprecedented success of the free-to- day, starting what is now known as the ‘Barbenheimer’
use ChatGPT, which had taken the world and most phenomenon. Droves of people showed up to cinemas
industries by storm, OpenAI announced the release dressed in costume, to watch both movies back to back.
of GPT-4, a paid version of the AI chatbot, boasting Despite their diametrically-different genres, both films’
several upgrades and more processing power. critical acclaim, and their viral fame, launched them both
to huge box office successes.
• The International Criminal Court (ICC) judges
issued an arrest warrant against Russian President • British pop rock legend Elton John announced the end
Vladimir Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova- of his touring career with a final concert in Stockholm,
Belova, for their role in the ongoing conflict in Sweden.
Ukraine.
• Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra returned
to Thailand for the first time since 2008, having been living
• Elon Musk-owned SpaceX
launched the Starship rocket, in self-imposed exile since his indictment. A week later, he
which boasted the title of the was granted a royal pardon, commuting his sentence to one
largest rocket ever built, and year instead of eight.
which subsequently exploded • Russia’s Luna 25 lunar lander mission, which was meant to
shortly after its launch, to land on the lunar South Pole, instead crash-landed on the
much schadenfreude online. Moon’s surface.
Thankfully, the rocket was
unmanned. • The Chandrayaan-3 lander successfully landed on the Moon’s
surface, making India the fourth nation to successfully do so,
• NASA announced the first and the only one to land on the Moon’s South Pole.
trip to the moon in over 50
years, and gave us the names • After four indictments related to falsifying government
of the astronauts who would be documents and attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump
making this historic journey. became the first former US President to have their mugshot taken.
• Severe heatwaves hit India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, affecting billions of people. • The state of Hawaii suffered from a series of wildfires, predominantly on the island of
Temperatures rose to as high as 44.6℃. Maui, resulting in over 100 deaths and USD 5.5 billion worth of damage.
MASAL A LITE ISSUE 156 - DECEMBER 202 3