Top 10 world events of 2010
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Haiti Earthquake |
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The devestating magnitude-7.3 earthquake that rocked the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on January 12, 2010 brought down most of the buildings of the captical and left some 230,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands injured. It was?the worst earthquake that?hit the country in more than 200 years.[Full coverage]
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Greece debt crisis |
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Years of unrestrained spending, cheap lending and failure to implement financial reforms left Greece badly exposed when the global economic downturn struck.
Greece's national debt accumulated to €300 billion ($413.6 billion) which was bigger than the country's economy. [Full coverage]
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Thailand political turmoil |
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Anti-government demonstrators, known as "Red Shirts," organized a series of political protests?in Bangkok from March to May. They called on the Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and hold elections. Repeated negotiations failed to set an election date.
The protests then escalated into prolonged violent?clashes between the protesters and the military, which left dozens dead and many others injured. [Full coverage]
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Korean clash |
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The sinking of?the Korean navy warship Cheonan in this March?killed 46 sailors. A Seoul-led multinational team of investigators later concluded the tragedy was caused by a torpedo attack of the DPRK.?But the DPRK denied any involvement in the incident.?
And in November the DPRK artillery shelled the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong amid a joint ROK-U.S. drill, killing two marines and two civilians, which prompted immediate return fire from South Korean forces. [Full coverage]
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Polish president's plane crash |
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A plane carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski and hsi wife?crashed near the Smolensk airport in western Russia on April 10, killing the president and all 97 people on board. Victims also included Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer, Central Bank Governor Slawomir Skrzypek, Chief of the National Security Bureau Aleksander Szczygo, among other high-ranking officials.
They were?flying from Warsaw to the Russia city of Smolensk to attend events in Russia marking the 70th anniversary of the massacre in Katyn forest of thousands of Polish officers.[Full coverage]
Iceland volcano eruption
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The Iceland volcano started eruption for the first time in almost 200 years on March 21.?The volcano continued to belch out of ash clouds and?wreak havoc?in the European air traffic in the following?two months.
The volcanic ashes shut down?mahor?airports in Europe and grounded thousands of flights?and stranded millions of?passengers. [Full?coverage]
Gulf of Mexico oil spill
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The Gulf of Mexico oil?spill?was an?oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed for?three month,?making it the?worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.
The oil spill?inflicted great damages to marine and wildlife habitats as well as the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries. [Full?coverage]
2010 FIFA World Cup
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The World Cup fever swept across the world from June 11 to July 11 this summer. Soccor fans from the other?side of the world sit up all night just trying to enjoy the exciting and fantastic games.
South Africa is the first Africa nation to host the FIFA World Cup and it proved to the world that the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a great success. [Full coverage]
WikiLeaks revelations
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Whistle-blower website Wikileaks carried out the biggest leak of diplomatic documents in history when it released 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables on November 28, 2010.
Previously it had made public tens of thousands of classified documents on the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. [Full coverage]
Pakistan floods
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Pakistan was hit by the worst floods in?80 years this summer. Continued rains and?floods starting from July 22, in 2010 killed?nearly 2000?people and affected up to 20.5 million others nationwide, with the threat of disease ever present in the camps sheltering survivors.
The?worst natural disaster devestated everything in the country, houses, schools, health clinics, roads, bridges, electricity and communications. [Full coverage]
