2011 Year in Review: World News
2011: Year in Review
Egypt
An Egyptian protester throws stones towards a line of riot police in Cairo, Egypt, on Jan. 28, 2011. Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters poured into the streets of Egypt, stoning and confronting police who fired back with rubber bullets and tear gas in the most violent and chaotic scenes yet in the challenge to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.2011: Year in Review
Afghanistan
An injured woman is escorted out of a supermarket, on Jan. 28, 2011 in central Kabul, Afghanistan. An explosion rocked a grocery store frequented by foreigners in Kabul.2011: Year in Review
Egypt
Riot police fire water cannons at protestors attempting to cross the Kasr Al Nile Bridge on Jan. 28, 2011, in downtown Cairo, Egypt. Thousands of police were on the streets of the capital and hundreds of arrests were made in an attempt to quell anti-government demonstrations.2011: Year in Review
Egypt
A supporter of embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek rides a camel through the melee during a clash between pro-Mubarak and anti-government protesters in Tahrir Square on Feb. 2, 2011, in Cairo, Egypt. The day before, President Mubarak announced that he would not run for another term in office, but would stay in power until elections later this year. Thousands of supporters of Egypt's long-time president and opponents of the regime clashed then in Tahrir Square, throwing rocks and fighting with improvised weapons.2011: Year in Review
Egypt
A woman cries in Tahrir Square after it is announced that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was giving up power on Feb. 11, 2011, in Cairo, Egypt.2011: Year in Review
Egypt
Egyptians celebrate the news of the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, who handed control of the country to the military, at night in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, Egypt on Feb. 11, 2011.2011: Year in Review
Bahrain
A family member cries out at a funeral of an anti-government protester on Feb. 18, 2011, in Sitra, Bahrain.2011: Year in Review
Bahrain
Family members grieve during the funeral procession of anti-government protester Abdul Ridha Mohammed on Feb. 22, 2011, in Malkiya, Bahrain. Mohammed had been shot in the head when Bahraini security forces attacked anti-government demonstrators in Pearl roundabout last week.2011: Year in Review
New Zealand
Rescue workers search for victims buried under the rubble near the Canterbury Television building in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Feb. 23, 2011.2011: Year in Review
New Zealand
Murray and Kelly James look at their destroyed house in central Christchurch, New Zealand, on Feb. 23, 2011. The magnitude-6.3 temblor collapsed buildings, caused extensive other damage and killed dozens of people in the city.2011: Year in Review
Libya/Tunisia
Men reach for bread behind barbed wire while waiting to enter Tunisia after fleeing Libya on Feb. 28, 2011, in Ras Jdir, Tunisia. As fighting continued in and around the Libyan capital of Tripoli, tens of thousands of guest workers from Egypt, Tunisia and other countries were fleeing to the border of Tunisia to escape the violence.2011: Year in Review
Libya
A Libyan rebel scans the frontline as a facility burns on March 9, 2011, near Ras Lanuf, Libya. The rebels pushed back government troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi towards Ben Jawat.2011: Year in Review
Japan
A massive tsunami engulfs a residential area after a powerful earthquake in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on March 11, 2011. The earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused massive destruction - especially in northeastern Japan - and triggered a nuclear emergency. The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was severely damaged.2011: Year in Review
Japan
Chieko Chiba walks through the rubble after going to see her destroyed home March 16, 2011, in Kesennuma, Miyagi province, Japan. The 9.0 magnitude strong earthquake struck offshore on March 11 at 2:46 p.m. local time, triggering a tsunami wave of up to ten metres which engulfed large parts of northeastern Japan. As the death toll continued to rise, the country was also struggling to contain a potential nuclear meltdown after a nuclear plant at Fukushima was seriously damaged from the quake.2011: Year in Review
Japan
A protester holds a placard during an antinuclear rally in Tokyo on March 27, 2011. Leaked water in Unit 2 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant measured 10 million times higher than usual radioactivity levels when the reactor is operating normally, Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Takashi Kurita told reporters in Tokyo. "Genpatsu" on the sign means "nuclear power plant."2011: Year in Review
Yemen
Female anti-government protestors shelter from the sun during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa, Yemen, on March 21, 2011. Three Yemeni army commanders, including a top general, defected to the opposition, calling for an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule, further eroding his support as his own tribe called on him to step down.2011: Year in Review
Japan
Two boys look at a devastated area in Onagawa, northern Japan, on March 20, 2011, after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.2011: Year in Review
Libya
A Libyan rebel urges people to leave, as shelling from Moammar Qaddafi's forces started landing on the frontline outside of Bin Jawaad, about 90 miles east of Sirte, central Libya, on March 29, 2011.2011: Year in Review
Israel
Israeli rescue workers and paramedics work next to a pool of blood following an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem on March 23, 2011. A bomb exploded near a crowded bus, wounding at least eight people in what appeared to be the first militant attack in the city in several years.Libya
Libyan rebels riding at the back of an armed pickup truck brave a sand storm at the main road heading to Benghazi while leaving the eastern town of Ajdabiya, Libya, on March 30, 2011.2011: Year in Review
Yemen
Yemeni army officers react as they join anti-government protestors demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa,Yemen, on March 21, 2011. Three Yemeni army commanders, including a top general, defected to the opposition calling for an end to President Saleh's rule, as army tanks and armored vehicles deployed in support of thousands protesting in the capital. With the defection, it appeared Saleh's support was eroding from every power base in the nation - his own tribe called on him to step down, he fired his entire Cabinet ahead of what one government official said was a planned mass resignation, and his ambassador to the U.N. and human rights minister quit.2011: Year in Review
Japan
A woman finds negative film in an area devastated by the March 11 tsunami in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, on April 3, 2011.2011: Year in Review
Libya
Libyan rebels prepare to tow a vehicle, belonging to pro Qaddafi forces, that rebels claim were targeted by a NATO strike along the front line near Brega, Libya, on April 5, 2011.2011: Year in Review
Libya
A Libyan rebel commander looks through binoculars as he talks on a radio near front-line positions outside of Brega, Libya, on April 6, 2011.2011: Year in Review
Libya
Rebel fighters carefully move into a building where they had trapped government loyalist troops during street fighting on Tripoli Street in downtown Misurata on April 20, 2011, in Misurata, Libya.2011: Year in Review
Libya
A Libyan rebel fighter runs up a burning stairwell during an effort to dislodge some ensconced government loyalist troops who were firing on them from an upstairs room during house-to-house fighting on Tripoli Street in downtown Misrata, April 20, 2011, in Misrata, Libya.2011: Year in Review
Japan
Dogs wander around a town of Minami Soma, inside the deserted evacuation zone established for the 20 kilometer radius around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex in northeastern Japan on April 7, 2011.2011: Year in Review
Libya
Weary rebel fighters rest in the shade of the outside wall of a mosque, which was previously hit, on the outskirts of Ajdabiya, Libya, on April 10, 2011.2011: Year in Review
Ukraine
The widows of Chernobyl victims hold portraits of their husbands who died following the clean-up operations for the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear explosion, at Chernobyl's victim monument in Ukraine's capital Kiev, on April 26, 2011. Ukraine marked the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which spread radiation over much of northern Europe.2011: Year in Review
Japan
A vending machine stands intact in the area devastated by the March 11 tsunami in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, on April 9, 2011.2011: Year in Review
Peru
A voter wearing traditional Quechua indigenous clothing fills out her ballot during general elections in Cuzco, Peru, on April 10, 2011.2011: Year in Review
China
Dogs are seen behind cages on a truck transporting them from Henan province to Jilin province as it passes a toll booth near Beijing, China, on April 15, 2011. Chinese animal lovers mobilized by online calls for help blockaded a truck of hundreds of dogs being shipped off for food in a rare, permitted display of social action amid a broad crackdown on most kinds of activism.2011: Year in Review
Japan
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members search in the rain for victims' belongings in a devastated area in Minami Soma, northeastern Japan, on April 19, 2011. Their recovery operation ended earlier than usual due to bad weather.2011: Year in Review
2011: Year in Review
Japan
Anti-nuclear protesters write their wish on candle holders as they attend a candle light vigil in Tokyo on April 26, 2011, marking the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine in front of the headquarters of Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.2011: Year in Review
United Kingdom
As bridesmaid Grace van Cutsem, left, covers her ears, Britain's Prince William kisses his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the Royal Wedding in London on April, 29, 2011.2011: Year in Review
Pakistan
Vehicles are parked inside the compound of a house where al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden lived in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 2, 2011. Bin Laden, the glowering mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of people, was slain in his hideout in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, in a firefight with U.S. forces, ending a manhunt that spanned a frustrating decade.2011: Year in Review
More Photos
Complete coverage: The killing of Osama bin Laden
Pakistan
Locals and the media gather outside the perimeter wall and sealed gate into the compound and a house where al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was caught and killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan.2011: Year in Review
Inside the compound
Complete coverage: The killing of Osama bin Laden
Spain
Demonstrators in tents spend the night at Sol square during a protest in Madrid, on May 20, 2011. Spanish university students and youth groups are protesting against a youth unemployment rate of 40 percent and austerity measures taken to end Spain's debt crisis. The biggest banner in Spanish reads "Change."2011: Year in Review
Haiti
A woman gathers her belongings after being evicted from a camp for those displaced by the 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on May 25, 2011.2011: Year in Review
Kenya
Crowds gather to look a building after it collapsed, in Nairobi, Kenya, on June 14, 2011. A six-story building under construction in Kenya's capital collapsed, killing at least two people.2011: Year in Review
Chile
Volcanic lightning is seen over the Puyehue volcano, over 500 miles south of Santiago, Chile, on June 5, 2011. Authorities evacuated about 600 people in the nearby area.2011: Year in Review
New Zealand
New Zealand's Mount Taranaki has a warm glow lighting the snow peak as an ash cloud from a Chilean volcano drifts across the Pacific, on June 12, 2011. Most airlines grounded flights to and from southern Australia and New Zealand after an ash cloud from the Cordon Caulle volcano in southern Chile expanded.2011: Year in Review
India
A protestor runs away after setting fire to a government bus in Gauhati, India, on June 22, 2011. A protest march held against the eviction of people settled around the hills near Gauhati turned violent after police resorted to a baton charge and lobbed tear gas shells, according to local news reports.2011: Year in Review
Canada
Riot police walk in the street as a couple kiss on June 15, 2011, in Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver broke out in riots after their hockey team, the Vancouver Canucks, lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.2011: Year in Review
China
Actors dressed as communist Red Army soldiers hold banners and a picture of Mao Zedong during a battle re-enactment of the Defense of Yan'an at a tourist attraction in Yan'an, in northwestern China's Shaanxi province, on June 29, 2011. Yan'an is celebrated as the birthplace of China's communist revolution. Communist forces led by Mao Zedong, ousted from bases in the south, retreated to Yan'an during the Long March and from there plotted the revolution that brought them to power in 1949. China marked the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party on July 1, 2011.2011: Year in Review
2011: Year in Review
India
A leopard attacks a forest guard at Prakash Nagar village near Salugara, on the outskirts of Siliguri, India, on July 19, 2011. The leopard strayed into the village area and mauled several villagers, including three guards, before being caught by forest officials, according to news reports. The leopard, which suffered injuries caused by knives and batons, died later in the evening at a veterinary center. The forest guard being attacked was injured.2011: Year in Review
Norway
The scene after an explosion in Oslo, Norway, on July 22, 2011. A loud explosion shattered windows at the government headquarters in Oslo which includes the prime minister's office, killing eight. Hours later, a gunman opened fire at a summer camp on an island, killing 69. Anders Breivik, described by authorities as a right wing extremist, confessed to the killings. But he denied criminal guilt because he believed the massacre was necessary to save Norway and Europe.2011: Year in Review
South Korea
Vehicles are submerged in floodwater after heavy rain in Seoul, South Korea, on July 28, 2011. Thousands of rescuers used heavy machinery and shovels to clear mud and search for survivors after huge landslides and flooding killed more than 40 people in South Korea.2011: Year in Review
China
Emergency workers and others carry an injured passenger, at left, from the wreckage of one of two train carriages knocked off a bridge following a train crash in Wenzhou in east China's Zhejiang province, on July 23, 2011. A Chinese bullet train lost power after being struck by lightning and was hit from behind by another train, knocking two of its carriages off a bridge, killing at least 16 people and injuring 89, state media reported.2011: Year in Review
Somalia
Aden Madow carries the body of Hamza Ali Faysal, 3, from a camp of displaced Somalis within the rubble of the Cathedral of Mogadishu on Aug. 13, 2011, in Mogadishu, Somalia. The malnourished child died of sickness two weeks after fleeing with his family from famine and drought in far southern Somalia. The U.S. government estimates that some 30,000 children have died in southern Somalia in the last 90 days.2011: Year in Review
United Kingdom
A hooded youth walks past a burning vehicle in Hackney on Aug. 8, 2011, in London, England. Pockets of rioting and looting continues to take place in various boroughs of London, as well as in Birmingham, prompted by the initial rioting in Tottenham and then in Brixton. Disturbances broke out in Tottenham and the surrounding area after the killing of Mark Duggan, 29 and a father-of-four, by armed police in an attempted arrest on Aug. 4.2011: Year in Review
Somalia
Safia Adem mourns the death of her son Hamza Ali Faysal, 3, in a camp of displaced Somalis within the rubble of the Cathedral of Mogadishu on Aug. 13, 2011, in Mogadishu, Somalia. The malnourished child died of sickness two weeks after fleeing with his family from famine and drought in far southern Somalia.2011: Year in Review
Chile
A police officer confronts a youth during clashes after the start of a national strike in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2011. Chilean students, opposition politicians and union workers are leading a two-day nationwide strike to fight for fundamental changes in government.2011: Year in Review
Italy
Amanda Knox breaks in tears after hearing the verdict that overturns her conviction and acquits her of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher, at the Perugia court, central Italy, on Oct. 3, 2011. An Italian appeals court threw out Knox's murder conviction and ordered the young American freed after nearly four years in prison for the death of her British roommate. Her co-defendant, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, also was cleared of killing 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in 2007.2011: Year in Review
Libya
Revolutionary Libyan fighters inspect the tunnels where Moammar Qaddafi is claimed to have been found in, in Sirte, Libya, on Oct. 20, 2011. After his capture, Qaddafi was violently attacked by a crowd of militants and died a short time later.2011: Year in Review
Libya
The body of Libyan dictator Moammar Qaddafi lies on a mattress a commercial freezer at a shopping center in Misrata, Libya, on Oct. 21, 2011, one day after his death.2011: Year in Review
Greece
Protesters shouts anti-austerity slogans during a 24-hours general strike in Athens on Dec. 1, 2011. Thousands of protesters bitterly opposed to government austerity measures marched through the Greek capital, as another general strike closed schools and public services, left hospitals functioning on reduced staff and confined ferries to port. The banner in red reads: "people fight they are sucking your blood."2011: Year in Review
Pakistan
Pakistani firefighters try to extinguish burning NATO oil tankers after allegedly torched by militants at a terminal on the outskirts of Quetta, Pakistan, on Dec. 8, 2011. Militants torched more than 20 tankers in Pakistan carrying fuel for U.S. and NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan, after Islamabad closed the border to protest coalition airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani troops last month.2011: Year in Review
Panama
A motorcade is seen approaching the Iberia airliner that carried home Panama's ex-dictator Manuel Noriega after his arrival at the Tocumen international airport in Panama City, on Dec. 11, 2011. Noriega's return comes after spending more than 20 years in U.S. and French prisons for drug trafficking and money laundering. Panama convicted him during his captivity overseas for the slayings of two political opponents in the 1980s.2011: Year in Review
Belgium
In this image taken from video, a man lays injured in the moments immediately following a grenade attack in the city center of Liege, Belgium, on Dec. 13, 2011. A man armed with hand grenades and guns opened fire in the crowded center of the Belgian, killing four people and wounding 75, an official said. This amateur video was filmed on a mobile phone by a man who was nearby when the grenades exploded.2011: Year in Review
Iraq/Kuwait
The last vehicles in a convoy of the U.S. Army's 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division crosses the border from Iraq into Kuwait, on Dec. 18, 2011. The brigade's special troops battalion are the last American soldiers to leave Iraq. The U.S. military announced that the last American troops have left Iraq, as the nearly nine-year war ends.2011: Year in Review
North Korea
North Koreans cry and scream in a display of mourning for their leader Kim Jong Il at the foot of a giant statue of his father Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang, North Korea, after Kim Jong Il's death was announced on Dec. 19, 2011. North Korea's news agency reported that he had died at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 17, after having a heart attack on a train, adding that he had been treated for cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases for a long time. He was 69.2011: Year in Review