Tuesday, 20 December 2011Globe Magazine under Xinhua News Agency of China selected the top globe news events in 2011 with 12 different media branches including Journal of Turkish Weekly from developing countries. According to the results announced with a Releasing Ceremony, the top ten news events of 2011 are as follows:
1.Mega-Earthquake Causes Huge Tsunami and Nuclear Leaks Alarms the World
At 14: 46 local time, Mar.11 2011, an earthquake of 9.0 magnitudes struck the northwestern coast of Japan and brought huge waves on the sea, ranking the 5th globally since 1990 and the first in Japan’s history in terms of intensity, 700 times as powerful as the one attacking Haiti in early 2010. By 16:00 local time, Apr. 25, the earthquake and tsunami had claimed 14,358 lives and left 11889 still unfound. However, a series of nuclear leaks taking place at Fukushima Nuclear Power Station were even more terrifying. Hit by the intense earthquake, the first, third, second and fourth units exploded one after another, emitting radioactive substances which were carried into Atlantic Ocean with sewage water and the rain. As a result, Japan’s export suffered a severe setback. The Japanese government graded this accident at 7, the most serious level, parallel with the one happening at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. From then on, the nuclear crisis hanged over Japan and the world at large, drawing close attention even at present.
2.Arab Revolutions Break out and Topples Several Decades-ruling Regimes in North Africa and West Asia Arabic Region
Zine al-Abdine Ben Ali, the former president of Tunisia ended his over-20-year ruling of the Arabic country in northern Africa when he fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14, 2011. Yet the revolution that broke out in Tunisia in pursuit of democratic election later on swept several other Arab countries in northern Africa and western Asia.
Since late January 2011, waves of anti-government protests burst out in Yemen. On June 3rd, Yemen’s President Saleh was seriously injured during an attack against his resident palace. When he returned from Saudi Arabia on Sept 23, large-scale protests erupted again and haven’t yet ended till now.
The protests in Egypt led to the resignation of Mubārak on Feb 11 2011, who had ruled for nearly 30 years. Soon after, the revolution swept Libya and eventually ignited a civil war in mid-March. On Oct. 20, Muammar Gaddafi, the tough leader of Libya was shot dead by the rebels and ended his ruling of 42 years.
In March, western countries led by US, Britain and France, jointly demanded Syria’s President Bashar to step down and the Arab League at the same time declared to suspend Syria’s membership.
3.Al-Qaida Chief Osama bin Laden Killed by US Special Forces
US President Barack Obama announced on May 1, 2011 that U.S. special forces killed Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at a mansion outside the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
The U.N. Security Council later hailed bin Laden's death as a “critical development” in the global anti-terror campaign, and urged “all States to remain vigilant and intensify their efforts in the fight against terrorism.” During the past decade, after the U.S. military toppled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in late 2001, bin Laden was at large, acting as the spiritual leader of al-Qaida.
4.“Occupy Wall Street” Demonstration Breaks Out in New York
Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is an ongoing series of demonstrations initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters which began September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district. The protests are against social and economic inequality, high unemployment, greed, as well as corruption, and the undue influence of corporations—particularly that of the financial services sector—on government. The protesters' slogan We are the 99% refers to the growing difference in wealth in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population.
5.Eurozone Debt Crisis Deepens and Drags World Economy Recovering
Despite of the rescue package of EU and IMF, Greece failed to step out of the swamp of the debt crisis. And a series of riots and strikes have made the situation even worse, which inevitably led to the falling down of the Papandreou government.
The crisis, initiated from Greece quickly spread across Europe. Italy is the third largest economy in Europe and by November, 2011 the Italian bond yield was climbing above a dangerously 7 percent level where the country is thought to lose access to financial markets. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi took resignation. Under the influence of the crisis, Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party lost the election and Prime Minister Zapatero became the fifth European leader to resign in the crisis. On 21 November Moody warned France that its sovereign debt rating is likely to downgrade, provoking concerns of investors on the worsening of the crisis.
After the major political parties failed to reach consensus on the necessary measures to qualify for a further bailout package, the crisis sent ripples around the world, with major stock exchange exhibiting losses. Among the many uncertainties facing the world economy, there is one thing we can be sure about, that the world’s economy is entering a long-term recession.
6.Phone-Hacking Scandal Hits Rupert Murdoch and News Corp.
The world media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp were heavily hit by a phone-hacking scandal. News of World (NoW), a 168-year-old tabloid under News Corp. was reported to have hacked into the phone of 13-year-old murder victim Milly Dowler and the scandal sparked widespread public furore. In response to the pressure from the public, Rupert Murdoch shut down News of World on July 7 and gave up the acquisition of the stocks of Sky TV. Furthermore, several high-level managers of were arrested, including Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of News International, the British division of Murdoch's News Corporation and publisher of NoW, and Andy Coulson, an ex-NoW editor. On Nov 23, Murdoch’s son, James Murdoch resigned as director of the companies that publish The Times, The Sunday Times, and the Sun.
7.Steve Jobs Passes Away
Steve Jobs, Apple Inc’s former CEO died at age of 56 on October 5. Jobs' life undoubtedly had a profound impact on the tech industry and the way individuals interact with technology. With his passing, the question has now become what the post-Jobs technology era will look like and how his legacy will live on. Since co-founding Apple in 1976 at the age of 21, Jobs had been a key figure in defining the technology agenda, beginning with the introduction of personal computing to the consumer market with co-founder Steve Wozniak. After leaving the company in 1984 following a fall-out with the board, Jobs returned in 1996 to develop a series of industry-defining products, including the iPod portable music player, the iPhone mobile device, and the iPad tablet PC. Apple's iPad, which was introduced in August 2010, was the fastest adopted consumer electronics device in history, with 3 million units sold within the first 80 days. More than creating products that redefined the way consumers relate to technology, Jobs' creative genius and business acumen lied in his ability to change traditional industry practices and business models. Apple's iTunes store, which has sold more than 16 billion songs since its inception in 2003, has revolutionized the album-based model historically championed by recording studios into singles priced at 99 cents delivered completely online.
8.China Launches Tiangong-1 Space Ship
The Long March-2 FT1 rocket carried China's first space lab module Tiangong-1 took off at 9:16 pm Beijing Time, on September 29 2011. The Tiangong-1space lab module which will dock with Shenzhou-8, is also planned to dock with the Shenzhou-9 and -10 to be launched in the future.
From the launch of Chinese first spacecraft, the Shenzhou-1, to the smooth implementation of Manned space flights of Shenzhou-5,-6,and -7, to the successful launch of Tiangong-1, China's space industry has continuously grown and made brilliant achievements. Yanghong, the technical director of Tiangong-1 said that the first ducking of Tiangong-2 and Shenzhou-8 means that China becomes the third state after the United States and Russia which masters independently the docking technology, and helps China to lay a solid technology foundation for a more large-scale space explorations and the manned space station.
9.BRICS Convenes First Summit and Strengthens Cooperation Between Emerging Countries
The third meeting of BRIC leaders was held on April 14 in Sanya, Hainan Province of China. The meeting issued the "Sanya Declaration", which is the combination of the five countries’ consensus on kinds of meeting issues, making clear the deepening cooperation direction and field of the world's five major emerging economies. This year’s BRIC summit is the first one after the expansion of new members, which significantly strengthen its geographical representation. And it is the first one hosted by China. Sanya summit witnessed the continuous growth of emerging countries on the world stage, with openness, transparency, and attitude of cooperation. It shows a vision in the next decade for emerging countries, strengthening mutual trust and consensus through dialogue, getting mutual benefit and prosperity through cooperation.
10.Population of the World Reaches 7 Billion
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) expected that the global population would hit 7 billion on October 31. Yet the date is only symbolic. Many countries, such as Philippines, Russia and India have chosen the newborns as the symbolic 7 billionth babies.
Mae Guevarra, born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was declared as the six billionth newborn in 1999. It is only 12 years later that the world's population reaches 7 billion. The UNFPA 's Statistics shows that it took more than a century for global population to reach 2 billion from 1 billion, and 32 years to 3 billion.
1.8 billion of world population are youth of age between 18 to 24. It is predicted that the global population would not shop increasing until it reach 9 billion it in the middle of the century if the currently birth rate remains. The world’s population would exceed 10 billion by end of the century. |
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Journal of Turkish Weekly
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