Haitian president assassination
On July 7 the president of Haiti was assassinated in his home. The 53 year old ruler was shot 12 times in the city of Port au Prince. Many of his bones had been intentionally broken and one of his eyes had been removed. His wife, First Lady Martine Moïse was also shot but survived and was quickly taken into protective custody. It was found that foreign mercenaries were responsible for the killing, 26 from Columbia and two Haitian Americans.
New COVID- 19 variants
Two new variants of the COVID-19 virus continued to spread in 2021. The Delta variant was first identified in India. The CDC stated that this variant was more severe and more contagious than the original COVID-19 virus. More recently, the Omicron variant has begun to spread throughout the world as was first identified in South Africa. According to the CDC the Omicron variant is the most contagious out of the three. However, it appears have less severe affects, particularly for those who are fully vaccinated and boosted.
El Salvador makes Bitcoin official currency
El Salvador made history as the first country to adopt Bitcoin as a national currency for its citizens. This meant that almost all places of business should accept bitcoin as payment for transactions. The country also introduced something called the “Chivo App,” which was is designed to simplify the process of using the currency. To encourage citizens to download the app the government is offering a small amount of Bitcoin to those who participate. Later in 2021 the country did hit a snag as the Chivo App was running into many technical difficulties with individuals being unable to download it. El Salvador is continuing to work on being the experience as user friendly as possible
Pandemic Olympics
Tokyo hosted the Summer 2021 Olympics where thousands of athletes from across the worth came together to represent their country and compete for medals. This year however was very different because there were no spectators allowed in the crowds because of the risk surrounding the pandemic. Many athletes spoke out about the mental health challenges they faced competing this year without the support of fans. Olympic gold mentalist Simone Biles received both support and backlash after she chose to withdraw herself from the event in order to preserve her mental health.
