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The following are the top 10 world news events of 2001 selected by
Xinhua. The top 10 world news includes those cocerning the important
issues and events in politics, economy, sci-tech, sports, etc. The
events are arranged in chronological order:
1. 20,000 People Die in Violent Earthquake in India
A wild earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richer scale jolted Gujarat of
India on January 26, killing at least 20,000 people and injuring
167,000 others. The earthquake severely destroyed the infrastructure
of the disaster area, demolished lots of villages and towns and caused
a total economic loss of more than 2.1 billion U.S. dollars. This is
the strongest quake in India since the 8-magnitude earthquake in 1950.
2. Human Genome Sequence Revealed
The human genome sequence and the preliminary analysis result were
revealed on February 12 jointly by scientists from China, Japan,
Germany, France, Britain, and the United States, and Celera Genomics,
a U.S. company. The human genome was proved to contain some 30,000 to
40,000 genes consisting of 3.2 billion alkali base pairs. This was
another major step in exploring the mystery inside the human being. It
was estimated that the work of mapping the entire human genome can be
finished by the year 2003.
3. Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Severely Escalates
Since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon took office on March 7, his
government has pursued a series of tough policies which have aroused
intense resentment from the Palestinians. Some radical Palestinian
military factions carried out bombing attacks at Israelis. In
retaliation, Israel resorted to force by launching targeted killings,
bombing Palestinian security offices, and invading Palestinian-ruled
cities. The conflict has escalated to a situation unprecedented in the
past decade. On December 3, the Israeli cabinet accused the
Palestinian National Authority (PNA) led by Yasser Arafat as an entity
supporting terrorism and then cut relations with Arafat. The Middle
East peace process is currently going through a crucial period.
4. OAU Transformed into AU
The 37th summit of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) held in
Lusaka, Zambia, on July 9-11 ratified the transformation of the
38-year-old OAU into the African Union (AU). The 53-member AU is
expected to be more capable of resolving major political, economic and
social issues faced by the African continent, and of coping with
globalization. This was the last meeting of leaders from the OAU
members, which marked the start of the one-year transitional period
from the OAU to the AU.
5. September 11 Terror Attacks in the United States
On September 11, two hijacked American airliners plowed into the twin
towers of the World Trade Center in New York which collapsed
successively, and one crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C.
Relevant U.S. authorities announced that more than 3,200 people were
killed or missing as a result of the terror attacks, and that the
economic loss, direct or indirect, reached hundreds of billions of
dollars. The September 11 terror attacks have been the most carefully
planned in the world and aroused shock and strong condemnation by the
international community.
6. Afghan Taliban Regime Collapses
Maintaining that Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, then sheltered
in Afghanistan and protected by the Taliban, masterminded the
September 11 terror attacks, the U.S. government launched large-scale
military strikes on Afghanistan as of October 7. Meanwhile, the Afghan
Northern Alliance launched counteroffensive against the Taliban
militia. The Taliban gave up resistance completely in early December.
Representatives of four Afghan groups reached an agreement in Bonn,
Germany, on December 5 to establish an interim administration. The
interim government headed by Hamid Karzai was sworn in on December 22.
7. Successful APEC Summit Held in Shanghai
On October 21-22, the ninth informal meeting of leaders from the 21
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members was successfully held
in Shanghai, China. Chinese President Jiang Zemin chaired the meeting,
delivered an important speech and had meetings with leaders present at
the conference. During the meeting, leaders of APEC members, focusing
on "Meeting new challenges in the new century; Achieving common
prosperity through participation and cooperation," had an in-depth
exchange of views on the current world economic situation, human
capacity building and future development of APEC, reached a broad
consensus and issued a declaration and the Shanghai Accord.
8. China's Entry into WTO
The legal document on China's accession to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) was unanimously adopted on November 10 during the
fourth WTO ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar. On December 11, China
officially became the 143rd full member of the organization.
During the meeting, representatives of the 142 WTO members, after
negotiations on the topics and objectives of a new round of trade
talks, passed a ministerial declaration and agreed to start a new
round of multilateral trade talks.
9. The United States Unilaterally Withdraws from the Anti-ballistic
Missile Treaty
U.S. President George W. Bush announced on December 13 the decision to
withdraw from the 1972 Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty, which
immediately met strong criticism from the international community.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Bush's decision was "a
mistake." Many other leaders and international analysts held that the
withdrawal cleared the way for the United States to deploy the
National Missile Defense System and further established the U.S. as
the biggest nuclear power. However, it undermined the process of
international disarmament and would lead to a new round of arms race.
The U.S. withdrawal from the ABM also severely damages the foundation
of international security and strategic stability, and will bring
unexpected effect on the future world order.
10. World Economic Slowdown
Since the beginning of this year, a most serious economic slowdown in
20 years has occurred in most areas of the world. The U.S. economy
started recession in March; affected by the U.S. economic fallout, the
15-member European Union underwent a sharp economic contraction; the
Japanese economy experienced a further deterioration; the Asian
economy, which was on recovery from the 1996 financial crisis, also
slowed its pace of growth; and Latin American economy plunged into
difficulty, with political disturbance breaking out in Argentina owing
to the country's economic crisis at the end of the year. The September
11 attacks not only dealt a blow on the U.S. economy, but also
severely affected the economies in other parts of the world. The
International Monetary Fund estimated that the world economy would
grow by only 2.4 percent this year, 2.3 percentage points lower than
last year.
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