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| A Roundup of the Major Global Events in 2010 08/01/2011 |
| (2011-01-07) |
| Last updated: 2011-01-10 13:06 EET |
After years of being the powerhouse ensuring global financial stability, the Eurozone has become the Achilles’ heel of international markets. The debt crisis in Greece and Ireland seriously affected the stability of the Eurozone and shook the domination of the single currency. In exchange for substantial foreign aid packages from the European Union and the IMF, the Irish and Greek governments adopted austerity measures, triggering a massive wave of strikes and protests. Big rallies were also staged in the wake of unpopular measures adopted in France, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain and Italy. In order to prevent the financial slumps of Greece and Ireland from becoming contagious, the EU agreed to modify the Lisbon Treaty. Moreover, a financial relief mechanism was set up as a last resort for Eurozone countries facing extreme financial difficulties. In addition, a control mechanism was put in place prescribing pre-emptive measures against member states failing to observe public deficit set parameters or against member states with high-rising debt levels.
2010 was a year of natural disasters leaving hundreds of thousands dead, millions down-and-out and causing extensive material damage. In Haiti, an earthquake measuring 7.3 degrees on the Richter scale killed over 250 thousand people and left 1.5 million others destitute. Another 8.8 degree earthquake rocked Chile. The ensuing tremors killed over 500 people and cause extensive damage, estimated at 10 billion US dollars. In Iceland, a volcano erupted after 200 years of inactivity, which resulted in massive volcanic ash cloud disrupting air travel for over a month. Thousands of flights were cancelled while air travel agents suffered huge financial losses worth some 1.7 billion dollars. 2010 also saw one of the greatest ecological disasters in the history of the United States, after a drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico causing 5 million barrels of oil to spill into the ocean. In Pakistan, heavy monsoon rains were the cause of the most devastating floods over the past 80 years, killing 1,800 people and leaving millions destitute.
The international community was shocked at the brutal death of Polish president Lech Kaczynski and of numerous political and military officials, religious leaders and former anti-communist dissidents, who died in a plane crash near Smolensk in western Russia. All 96 people on board the presidential aircraft lost their lives. The Polish delegation was to attend ceremonies marking 70 years since the Katyn Forest massacre, when the Soviet Secrete police executed some 22 thousand Polish military and civilians.
On the political stage, 2010 saw a change of political leadership in Ukraine. The pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovici won the presidential election, thus succeeding former pro-Western head of state Viktor Yushchenko. In Great Britain, after 13 years of Labour Party rule, Tony Blair’s legacy to PM Gordon Brown, the Labour Party lost the parliamentary elections to their Conservative rivals. The ex-Soviet Republic of Moldova, with a majority Romanian-speaking population, held elections in an attempt to overcome the political deadlock regarding the appointment of the new head of state. Following the November ballot, the Liberals, Liberal-Democrats and the Democrats failed to secure enough deputy seats to allow them to designate the new president. However, following repeated rounds of talks, the pro-Western centre-right alliance was made whole again, after the Democratic Party accepted to join in. The Communists remained in opposition, although they too held talks with the Democrats with a view to set up a centre-left alliance that would facilitate their political comeback. Subsequently, Democrat leader Marian Lupu was elected Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament, while Liberal-Democrat leader Vlad Filat was appointed Prime Minister, a position he had assumed up to that point.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was the most controversial figure of 2010, after the WikiLeaks website posted some 250 thousand classified US international documents and diplomatic mail, with far-reaching global effects. Of these, over one thousand documents were rated “top-secret” or “classified”. The WikiLeaks revelations incurred the wrath of several international cabinets, especially in Washington. US officials warned the release of documents would put many lives at risk, including members of the international community. The U.S. intends to put Assange on trial on charges of espionage. Meanwhile, Julian Assange was detained in Great Britain pending his extradition to Sweden, where he was presented with allegations of sexual abuse.
The ten-week operations to rescue the 33 miners trapped deep underground in Chile was one of 2010’s highlights setting off massive waves of emotional response. Millions of TV viewers held their breath while each of the miners was being brought to surface by means of a capsule lowered underground through a shaft that was drilled through one of the mine’s galleries. The miners’ willpower as well as the rescuers’ resolve to keep going roused the admiration of the entire world. Accordingly, RRI listeners have designated the 33 Chilean miners as “The Personalities of the Year on RRI”.
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