Gulf News 2012 Looking Back

Gulf News

Gulf News takes a look back at major world events in 2012. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv

Transcript

00:00Good day. Welcome to the Gulf News Year in Review. Here's a look back at the top stories

00:09of 2012.

00:10It was a year of high-profile elections, record-breaking adventures and heart-breaking disasters. The

00:17first man on the moon died in the same month that the Mars rover Curiosity landed on the

00:21Red Planet.

00:22In Syria, embattled President Bashar al-Assad continued to lose control of territory as

00:27the country that has been gripped by a 21-month conflict slipped into a sectarian civil war

00:32claiming over 40,000 lives.

00:34Palestine gained non-observer membership of the United Nations as the Palestinian Authority's

00:39relationship with Israel deteriorated with the occupying power continuing to build Jews-only

00:45colonies on Palestinian land.

00:47Following the election of a Muslim Brotherhood president, Egypt's revolution moved on to

00:51a phase of confrontation between Islamists and secularists battling to have a say in

00:56the making of the new regime and influence in its institutions.

01:00U.S. President Barack Obama won a second term defeating Republican contender Mitt Romney

01:05in a closely fought election. Opinion polls had showed both contestants running neck and

01:09neck till Election Day.

01:11In France, François Hollande became the first socialist to win the presidential election

01:16in more than 20 years when he defeated incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.

01:20And in Russia, Vladimir Putin began a historic third term as president, even as activist

01:25protested his 12-year reign.

01:28Xi Jinping was named the new leader of China's Communist Party.

01:32In India, Pranab Mukherjee was elected as India's 13th president. And in Venezuela,

01:37President Hugo Chavez was re-elected to the top post.

01:402012 also had its share of controversies. In Pakistan, Prime Minister Yusuf Reza Gilani

01:46was disqualified by the Supreme Court and Raja Pervez Ashraf appointed in his place.

01:52In South Africa, thousands of people attended the centenary celebrations of the formation

01:56of the ruling African National Congress. And in Myanmar, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's

02:03party won a landslide victory, filling 43 of 45 vacant seats in the parliament.

02:09Closer to home, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari made his first official visit to New

02:14Delhi in seven years and met Indian Prime Minister Monmahan Singh for talks on bilateral

02:19relations.

02:20In the Philippines, the government and the country's biggest Muslim rebel group announced

02:24they had agreed on a deal to end a decades-long insurgency.

02:28The Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 was awarded to the European Union for its contribution

02:32to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.

02:38Topping the list of adventurers for 2012 was Austrian Felix Baumgartner who made history

02:42when he jumped off a balloon from the edge of space. He made the world's highest freefall

02:47travelling faster than the speed of sound.

02:49Dutch teenager Laura Dekker became the youngest sailor to complete a solo circumnavigation

02:53of the world, and Tamei Watanabe became the oldest woman at the age of 73 to reach the

02:59summit of Mount Everest.

03:00Scientists also announced the discovery of a subatomic particle thought to be the Higgs

03:05boson, the elusive last key to understanding why we have life and diversity in the universe.

03:11This year had its share of disasters, some natural, others man-made. More than 1,000

03:15died after Typhoon Bofa hit the southern Philippines, toppling power lines, destroying

03:20homes and leaving more than 300,000 homeless.

03:23Super Typhoon Sandy hit the east coast of the United States, claiming more than 100

03:27lives and causing damages worth US$63 billion. The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia capsized

03:33off the coast of Tuscany, killing 32 people.

03:36Two garment factory fires, one in Pakistan and the other in Bangladesh, killed nearly

03:41400 people. Another blast at a fireworks factory in Tamil Nadu in India killed more

03:46than 50 people.

03:47US gun laws were back in the spotlight after 20 children and six adults were shot dead

03:52at a school in Connecticut. It was the latest in a series of shootings, including one in

03:56a crowded cinema in Colorado, where 24 people were killed.

04:00Japan imposed a 40-year cap on the life of nuclear reactors following the Fukushima disaster.

04:06An FBI investigation into threatening emails sent to a Florida socialite led to the resignation

04:11of CIA Director and the general who had overseen both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, David Patrios.

04:18In Nepal, 72-year-old Chandra Bahadur Dangi from a remote valley was declared the shortest

04:23man ever documented by Guinness World Records officials. He measured 21.5 inches.

04:30Former Liberian President Charles Taylor was sentenced to 50 years in prison for arming

04:34rebels in Sierra Leone in return for blood diamonds.

04:37High-flyer Bo Xilai was ousted from China's ruling Politburo, engulfed by scandal involving

04:43his wife, a police chief, and the murder of a British businessman.

04:47Eugene Pauly, the inventor of the first wireless TV remote control, died from natural causes

04:52in his home of Chicago at the age of 96.

04:55Philippine Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo died after his plane crash-landed into the

04:59sea while attempting an emergency landing.

05:02The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, died at 82.

05:06Former King Norodom Shihanouk, regarded as the father of modern Cambodia, died at the

05:10age of 89.

05:11Bel Thakre, founder and chief of the Shiv Sena in India, died at 86.

05:17Ajmal Kasab, convicted terrorist of the 26-11 Mumbai attack, was hanged in India.

05:23Sir Patrick Moore, Britain's most famous contemporary astronomer, died at the age of 89.

05:2914-year-old Pakistani girl Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban for speaking

05:33out against militants and campaigning for the right to education for girls.

05:38The year ended on a sad note when Jacinta Saldana, a nurse who was the victim of a prank

05:43call by an Australian radio channel, was found dead in what was suspected to be a suicide.

05:48Saldana was working at the King Edward VII Hospital and put through a call inquiring

05:53about the health of the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge.

05:56James Cameron, the director of Titanic and Avatar, touched down in the western Pacific

06:00Ocean, reaching the depth of 10,898 metres in a specially designed submarine.

06:06Rover spacecraft Curiosity landed on Mars to search for evidence that conditions were

06:10fit for life.

06:12Mining giant Rio Tinto unearthed a 12.76 carat pink diamond in Australia, while 35 carat

06:18Beaux-Anci, a centuries-old diamond, was sold for $9.7 million at a Sotheby's auction in

06:24Geneva.

06:25Nuri, the first cloned Pashmina goat, was presented by Indian scientists, and Lolong,

06:30infamous for deadly attacks in South Philippines, was named the world's biggest crocodile in

06:35captivity by the Guinness Book of Records.

06:38December 21st saw the end of the mining calendar with looming predictions of the end of the

06:42world.

06:43Except for scamsters making a quick buck, life on Earth continued as normal and we can

06:48all look forward to an eventful 2013.

06:51A reminder that our next newscast is January 2nd.

06:54We wish you all a happy and prosperous new year.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended