Lisa Desjardins (voice-over):
Also on trial former President Trump who made multiple appearances in several of the federal and state courtrooms in which he faces a combined 91 charges both civil and criminal.
Even with the trials in motion, Mr. Trump's numbers soared in his bid for the Republican nomination. Polling puts him far in the front of the pack of contenders, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. threw his hat in the ring with a controversial run of his own.
Around the world, a wave of new populist far right leaders were elected to power from Argentina or the Trump adoring Javier Mileisays he'll rein in triple digit inflation by adopting the U.S. dollar and slashing government spending.
To the Netherlands where anti-Islam and anti-European Union populist Geert Wilders won a surprise victory. But in Britain, the ultimate status quo. Throngs of people converged on London for the coronation of King Charles III and his Queen Consort, Camilla.
In the U.S. some good economic news, inflation eased more than expected. Growth was healthy and unemployment stayed below 4 percent for the longest time since the 1960s. Still, Americans struggled with the cost of living and high mortgage rates made it challenging for new homebuyers to get a foothold on the property ladder.
Workers in several industries took to the picket line calling for better wages, hours and working conditions. United Auto Workers walked off the job for an unprecedented six weeks and coordinated strikes this fall and gained record wage increases, President Biden joined them in person.
Health care workers with Kaiser Permanente stage the largest health care strike in U.S. history over understaffing issues.
And in Hollywood, both writers and actors went on strike, bringing the industry to a standstill for months over fair pay on streaming services, and the threat of artificial intelligence in entertainment.
AI kept on growing and pushing into people's everyday lives on the one hand, making mundane tasks easier and faster. But on the other sounding alarm bells over how the technology will be regulated going forward. AI even helped generate a new song from the Beatles more than 50 years after they broke up now and then mixed in John Lennon vocals from an old cassette tape.
But other big name musicians drew big crowds on tour this year. Including two record breaking superstars. Beyonce is much anticipated Renaissance Tour was the highest grossing by a black artist in history. And Taylor Swift's tour set the record for all artists are sold out Eras Tour and subsequent film were economic juggernauts. The tour so far has earned over $1 billion in ticket sales and boosted the economies of cities where she performed.
2023 saw the continuing rise of female athletes, the Women's World Cup drew record crowds and viewers around the world and the U.S. team collapsed midway for new champions Spain, so did the women's NCAA basketball finals. The Louisiana State beat Iowa and the game broke records for scoring attendance and viewership.
Michaela Schifrin became the winningest alpine skier of all time male or female. 19-year-old Coco Gauff won the U.S. Open her first Grand Slam and she was the highest paid female athlete this year. Simone Biles made her gymnastics comeback after a mental health break, adding more gold medals to her collection, and an outdoor University of Nebraska women's volleyball match broke attendance records.
In the world of baseball a couple of firsts. The Texas Rangers won their first World Series and a record payout for Shohei Otani, the Japanese pitcher signed with the Dodgers for $700 million over 10 years, the most lucrative contract in professional sports history.
As the year comes to a close some of the final farewells of 2023. First Lady Rosalynn Carter passed away at the age of 96. Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court, the longest serving California Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat and conservative Christian media mogul Pat Robertson, from the world of arts, the Nobel Prize winning poet Louise Gluck, writer Cormac McCarthy from stage and screen, Bob Barker, Richard Belzer, Michael Gambon, Matthew Perry, Paul Rubens and Raquel Welch and a final exit for some legendary names in music, Tony Bennett, Harry Belafonte, Jimmy Buffett, David Crosby, Sinead O'Connor, Lisa Marie Presley, and Tina Turner.
And now the new year has already kicked off for many around the world from Auckland to Athens, cities rang in 2024 with countdowns fireworks and cheering crowds.
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