It was a year of victory, celebration, mourning and downfall of some of the self-acclaimed world’s despots. The people of Southern Sudan began their last move to freedom with a referendum on January 9, which favoured secession from the north. Following the outcome of the referendum, South Sudan officially became Africa’s youngest state on July 6. Salva Kiir was sworn in as the first president of the country on August 11. The referendum was the last step of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, CPA, designed to restore peace between the south and the north after years of violence.

Brazilians were on January 11, thrown into mourning after flood and mudslides in the state of Rio de Janeiro killed 903 people. Casualties were recorded in the cities of Nova Friburgo, Teresopolis, Petropolis, Sumidouro, and Sao Jose do Vale Do Rio Preto. That was the worst weather related natural disaster in the history of the country.

The Arab Spring which took most part of the year began on January 14, in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, former president of Tunisia, was ousted after more than a month protest against his government. He was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia with his wife and three children. Ben Ali became president of Tunisia on November 7, 1988, and was ousted after 23 years in power. The protest that ousted him began after a young man committed suicide because he was stopped by the police from selling vegetables on the streets of Tunis. The police alleged that the young boy was not licenced to sell vegetables.

A similar protest that lasted 18 days in Egypt motivated by the success of that of Tunisia forced Hosni Mubarak, the former president of Egypt, to resign on February 11. Mubarak stepped down after about 30 years on the throne. Mubarak and members of his family are facing prosecution for allegations of corruption and abuse of power.

The revolution further spread to Libya on February 15, as the people sought an end to the 42-year reign of Muammar Gaddafi, the former Libyan leader. Unlike that of Egypt and Tunisia, the revolution in Libya did not come with ease as Gaddafi descended heavily on the people to quell the protest. It degenerated into a civil war between forces loyal to Gaddafi and the National Transitional Council, NTC forces, an organised rebel group.

On February 26, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution which froze the assets of Gaddafi and key members of his regime, restricted them from travelling to countries in Europe, and referred the matter to the International Criminal Court for investigation. When Gaddafi resorted to the use of air power to quell the protest which killed thousands of Libyans, the U.N. passed another resolution in March which authorised member states to establish and enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. The UN also mandated member states to use all necessary measures to prevent attacks from Gaddafi forces on civilians.

On September 16, the UN formally recognised the NTC as the legal representative of the people of Libya, replacing the government of Gaddafi. Gaddafi remained at large until October 20, when he was captured and killed while trying to escape from Sirte. On October 23, the NTC declared Libya liberated from Gaddafi and officially ended the war that had lasted for almost nine months. A similar protest which began in Syria in November has continued till now with the country’s president unwilling to step down.

In the early hours of March 11, the people of Japan were thrown into mourning as 15,840 lives were lost and 3,926 were declared missing from an earthquake that hit the Pacific coast of Tohoku. The 9.1 magnitude earthquake was the most powerful known earthquake ever to have hit Japan, and one of the five most powerful earthquakes in the world since 1900. The earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves, which reached heights of 40.5 metres in Miyako, one of the eastern cities. In addition to loss of life and destruction of infrastructure, the tsunami resulted in the meltdowns of three reactors in the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant complex, and the associated evacuation zones affected hundreds of thousands of residents.

Laurent Gbagbo, former president of Ivory Coast, was on April 11, arrested in his home in Abidjan, by forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the elected president, after months of war. Controversies over the November 28, 2010 presidential election led to a civil war in which hundreds of Ivorians lost their lives. Gbagbo, who was then incumbent president, challenged the vote count, made allegations of fraud, and refused to step down for Ouattara who was declared winner and recognised as such by the international community. The Constitutional Council, which according to Article 94 of the Ivorian Constitution both determines disputes and proclaims the results of Presidential elections, declared that Gbagbo had won. After months of conflict, Gbagbo was arrested by the Republican Army of Ivory Coast. In November 2011, he was extradited to the International Criminal Court, ICC, to face charges of human rights abuses during the civil war.

The royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on April 29, was the most celebrated event of the year. An estimated two billion people watched the wedding at Westminster in London, England. Prince William, the eldest son of Charles, Prince of Wales, first met Catherine Middleton, in 2001, when both were studying at the University of St Andrews. They got engaged on October 20, 2010. The build-up to the wedding and the occasion itself attracted a lot of media attention, with the service being broadcast live around the world, and being compared and contrasted in many ways with the 1981 marriage of William’s parents, Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.  Over 5000 street parties were held to mark the Royal wedding throughout the United Kingdom and one million people lined the route between Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace.

The world got relief on May 1, when Barack Obama, president of the US, announced that Osama bin Laden, the founder and leader of Al-Qaeda, a notorious terrorist group, had been killed in a US military operation in Pakistan. Bin Laden was on top of the Federal Bureau of Intelligence, FBI, most wanted list.

On June 26, Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnia Serb army commander, wanted for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, was arrested.

On September 5, India and Bangladesh signed a pact to end their 40-year clash over border dispute.

Liberians went to the polls on October 11, to elect a new leader. The inability of any of the 16 presidential candidates to win the 50 percent of the total votes cast neccessated a run-off on November 8. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the incumbent president, won the run-off election after Winston Tubman, the opposition candidate, withdrew from the contest, alleging unfairness.

The lingering crisis in the Middle-East took a new turn on October 18, when Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant organisation, began a major prisoner swap. Israeli army captured in Gilad Shalit was released by Hamas in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian and Israeli-Arab prisoners held in Israel, including 280 prisoners serving life sentences for planning and perpetrating terror attacks.

On October 23, Turkey was thrown into mourning when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the city of Van, killing 604 people, and damaging about 2,200 buildings.

The world population hit seven billion people on October 31, as announced by the UN. Also on the same day, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, admitted Palestine as member, after a vote in which 107 member states supported and 14 opposed.