Top ten world events

1. "Arab Spring" movement

The Arab Spring is also known as the Arab Awakening with a strong wave of demonstrations and protests spreading across the Arab world since December 18, 2010 to call for democracy and bringing down the regimes in a number of Middle Eastern and North African countries.

As a result, leaders in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen were overthrown. Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi was seized and killed and Syria has been thrown deeper into civil war while uprisings are smouldering in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Kuwait.

The Arab Spring has ushered in a new era full of upheavals and put Muslim politicians on the throne.

2. Eurozone crisis  

The Eurozone has fallen into serious crisis and there is a lot of public concern about the danger of its collapse. Many EU member countries which are confronted with huge public debts, have to adopt austerity policies. European streets continue heating up with demonstrations, strikes and protests against unemployment and budget cuts caused by economic stagnation and pubic debt crisis.

In the face of the political storm, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou had to resign on November 9 and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi also stepped down on November 12 after 17 years of rulling.

The Eurozone crisis has driven a wedge between EU member countries which are struggling with their public debts and want to reconsider the Lisbon Treaty.

3. Earthquake and tsunami in Japan

The 9 magnitude earthquake struck the north-eastern coast of Japan on March 11, followed by a massive tsunami that swept away cars, ships, and buildings and left nearly 28,000 dead or missing and worse still, caused by explosion of the atomic reactor No1 at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

The World Bank said such disasters cost Japan US$235 billion, equal to 4 percent of its GDP, making many countries reconsider their nuclear development policies.

4. Big storm in the Philippines and deluge in Thailand

Storm Washi recently hit Mindanao, in the southern part of the Philippines, leaving more than 1,000 dead or missing and forcing nearly 100,000 others to evacuate. This was the most tragic storm ever experienced by the island country after many years.

Not long before that the historic floods lasting from July to November in 62 out of 77 provinces in Thailand killed 533 people and affected 3.3 million others. The Thai Government announced that the natural disaster had caused huge damages estimated at US$33 billion, equal to 1-1.7 percent of GDP.

5. COP-17 one of the most controversial conferences on climate change

Although the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in South Africa lasted two days longer than scheduled, it failed to reach a legally binding agreement in the fight against global climate change.

This is the third consecutive year world leaders have missed the boat when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol is to expire on December 31, 2012 and the impact of climate change is becoming ever more serious than before.

The need for internal development, conflict of interests and disputes over the sharing of responsibility for saving the planet enabled COP-17 to simply agree on a roadmap for new framework negotiations.

6. The East Sea becomes a hot global issue

Not only regional countries but also powerful countries like the US and Russia have shown keen interest in issues related to the East Sea. However, thanks to efforts of all sides, the tension is gradually easing.

The basis agreement between China and ASEAN on the guideline for implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and building a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) is considered a new step forward on the way to settling disputes and maintaining stability in the East Sea.

7. Al-Qaeda founder and leader Osama Bin Laden killed

After nearly ten years of searching and gathering intelligence, a US commando unit made a surprise attack on a house in Abbotabad, 50km far from Islamabad, Pakistan and killed Ossama Bin Laden.

This was a success of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the war on terror but it has affected US-Pakistan alliance relations.

8. Occupy Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is a protest movement which began on September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district, on the initiative of the Canadian activist group Adbusters to oppose US financial policy. It has quickly sparked across the US and similar protests in Japan and Europe.

Two months later, protestors launched a new “close Wall Street” campaign against policies which are in favour of bankers and the rich which account for 1 percent of the US population.

9. World population hit 7 billion on October 31

Danica Camcho came into the world at two minutes before midnight of October 30 and became a symbol of the world's population reaching 7 billion. The world welcomed the 7 billionth citizen with more worry than joy over food security, environment and other issues.

The United Nations then chose October 31 as a day for all countries to join hands to create opportunities and overcome challenges.

10. 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for women

The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was presented to three African women on October 9. They are Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirliaf, Liberian human rights activist Leymad Gbowee and Yemeni journalist and human rights activist Tawakkul Karman.

This was the first time in history the Nobel Prize Committee honoured women’s rights activists for their active role in promoting peace across the world.