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