Top 10 World News Stories in 2012

1. Elections Around The Globe

New leaders were elected in many countries in 2012. While Barack Obama won a second term as U.S. president, Vladimir Putin, Francois Hollande, Mohamed Morsi and Enrique Pena Nieto were elected the respective presidents of Russia, France, Egypt and Mexico. Shinzo Abe became Japan’s prime minister following a long period of political strife in the country. Park Geun-hye became the first female president of South Korea.

2. Hopes for a Sustainable Future

Countries af fi rmed their commitment to environmentally friendly growth at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 20-22, with the adoption of an outcome document titled The Future We Want. A number of industrialized nations agreed on December 8 to participate in the second commitment period (2013-20)of the Kyoto Protocol,the only legally binding agreement that demands developed countries cut greenhouse gas emissions, at the UN Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar. But global sustainable development remains an uphill battle, especially regarding differences between industrialized and developing countries over the issue of how to approach sustainability.

3. Tension and Cooperation in East Asia

The Japanese Government’s “purchase” of three islets in the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, which have been on China’s official atlas for centuries, from their “Japanese owner” in September, triggered a diplomatic row between the two neighbors. Prior to this move, Japan found itself embroiled in island disputes with Russia and South Korea. In April, China ran into a dispute with the Philippines in the South China Sea after a Philippine naval ship attempted to harass Chinese fi shermen near China’s Huangyan Island, over which the Philippines claims sovereignty.

Despite these territorial spats, countries in the region have vowed to pursue free trade. At the East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia,on November 20, leaders from 10 ASEAN nations and its six dialogue partners—China,South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand—initiated negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).The RCEP, expected to take effect by the end of 2015, will give birth to the world’s biggest regional free trade area.

4. Growing U.S. Presence In the Asia-Pacific

U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled on January 5 a new military strategy that called for a shift of focus to the Asia-Pacific region. At the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in June, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the United States seeks to transfer 60 percent of its naval ships to the region by 2020. Also, Obama became the fi rst sitting U.S. president to visit Myanmar on November 19, a move that marked a dramatic improvement in Washington’s previously strained ties with the Southeast Asian nation.

5. North Korea’s Satellite Launches

North Korea successfully launched the second version of theKwangmyongsong-3satellite with carrier rocket Unha-3 on December 12 after a failed attempt in April. The launches,seen by the West as possible tests of longrange ballistic missiles in disguise, drew international concern.

6. Permanent European Bailout Fund

The euro zone inaugurated its permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, on October 8 as a “historic milestone” in shaping the future of the monetary union. The 700-billioneuro ($927 billion)fund is designed to provide financing to distressed euro-zone members on condition that they commit to strict fiscal and structural reforms.

7. Lasting Turmoil in The Middle East

As fighting between Syrian authorities and opposition forces escalated, UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous declared in June that the country is in a state of civil war, the fi rst time for a UN official to formally voice that view. Countries that have undergone political transitions such as Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Libya continued to suffer economic slowdown and social instability.

The chronic conflict between Israelis and Palestinians also fl ared up. Israel conducted fi erce airstrikes on Gaza in November, shortly before the UN granted an upgrade of Palestine’s status from an “entity” to a “non-member state,” an implicit and symbolic recognition of Palestine’s statehood at the UN.

8. Muslims’ Outrage Against U.S. Film

A U.S.-made movie trailer insulting Prophet Muhammad sparked massive protests across the Islamic world in September. In Libya, protesters stormed the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on September 11, killing U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other American diplomats.

9. New Impetus to China-Africa Ties

The Chinese Government announced new measures to promote cooperation with Africa at the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing on July 19-20. These include providing a $20 billion credit line to African countries and sponsoring 100 research and exchange programs with Chinese and African academic institutions and scholars over the next three years.

1 0. Mars Touchdown

U.S. roverCuriositylanded on Mars on August 6 after an eight-month journey from Earth. The car-sized vehicle, the first full-fledged mobile science laboratory ever sent to a distant world, is on a two-year mission in search of evidence for habitable environments on the Red Planet.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and then UN Under Secretary General Sha Zukang (right)at the closing ceremony of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro on June 22

A Chinese marine surveillance ship patrols waters off the Diaoyu Islands on September 14

Visiting U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Myanmar’s oppositionleader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon on November 19

North Korean carrier rocket Unha-3blasts off with the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite on December 12

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde (right)chats with Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the Euro Group, at an EU fi nance ministers’meeting in Luxembourg on October 8, the day the European StabilityMechanism was of fi cially launched

Syrians gather at the site of an explosion in Damascus on November 5

The rover Curiosity moves across the Martian landscape on October 31

Pakistani protesters in Lahore on September 21 topple a cargo container placed by police to block a street during a demonstration against a U.S.-made anti-Islam movie

The Fifth Ministerial Conference for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation opens in Beijing on July 19