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International News Stories

Domestic News Stories

Buzzwords

International News Stories

December 21st, 2012 was believed to be the doomsday. The date originated from the Mayan calendar, but actually gained popularity through the blockbuster movie, "2012".

International News Stories of 2012

Scientists are calling for more efforts to promote scientific understanding to avoid similar rumors in the future.

world, touched down on the red planet seeking signs of past and present habitable environments. U.S. President Obama has set a goal of astronauts orbiting Mars by the mid-2030s followed by a landing.


On Aug. 6, NASA's Mars rover, Curiosity, loaded with the most sophisticated instruments used to explore another


President Barack Obama beat Republican challenger Mitt Romney to win a second term, winning 332 votes to Romney’s 206.

Mr. Obama said he was returning to the White House “more determined, and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do, and the future that lies ahead”.

laborious negotiations. By including Russia, with a population of 143 million and ranked 11th globally in terms of nominal GDP, the WTO now covers 98 percent of global trade.

Russia officially became the 156th member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Aug.22 after 18 years of


Legendary singer and actress Whitney Houston was found dead on Feb. 11 in a Beverly Hills hotel. Tragically, the singer had just talked about overcoming her much-publicized struggle with drugs and alcohol. Her funeral was attended by celebrities and broadcast to millions around the world.


Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner, was stripped of his titles and lost millions of dollars after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released an report accusing the cyclist of doping throughout his career.



Fans gathered in London, around TV sets and online to witness a 16-day gathering of nations at the Olympics. Particularly buzzy were the advances for female athletes: the first-ever women's boxing matches, and the women on the U.S. team outnumbering men for the first time in Olympic history.

On Dec. 14, a shooting left 28 dead in the Connecticut. The gunman, Adam Lanza, shot his mother in her bed. With his mother's guns, Lanza then headed to Sandy Hook Elementary School, where his mother is said to have volunteered and where he had once briefly attended. He shot 20 children and six adults, then killed himself after police arrived.


“Gangnam Style,” a music video featuring the infectious, dance moves of a little-known South Korean rapper named Psy, became the most-watched video in YouTube history in 2012.


The video pokes fun at the consumerism of Gangnam, an wealthy suburb of the South Korean capital Seoul.

Domestic News Stories

The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) convened in Beijing from November 8 to 14.

Domestic News Stories of 2012

On November 15, Xi Jinping was elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the CPC's Central Military Commission .

On September 10, 2012, the Japanese government announced the “purchase” of Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated Nan Xiao Dao and Biaxial Dao and the


implementation of the so-called “nationalization.”

No matter what step Japan takes over Diaoyu Dao, it will not change the fact that Diaoyu Dao belongs to China.

In June, China sent three astronauts, including the country’s first female astronaut, Liu Yang, into space for the nation’s manned space docking mission.


spacecraft and the orbiting Tiangong-1 in space before making a safe return to Earth.

The three astronauts successfully completed an automatic and a manual docking between the Shenzhou-9

China’s first aircraft carrier “Liaoning” officially entered service on Sept.25, making China the 10th country in the world to have such a vessel in active service. The Ministry of National Defense said the carrier, Liaoning, would “raise the overall operational strength of the Chinese navy.”


The Swedish Academy awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature to Mo Yan on December 10 in Stockholm, Sweden, making Mo the first Chinese novelist to win the literary honor. The 57-year-old writer, is from a farmers’ family and dropped out of school at the age of 12.


On April 15, a China Central Television program on quality standards stated that nine companies had manufactured drug capsules with industrial gelatin containing levels of chemicals exceeding legal limits.


After the scandal broke, the State Food and Drug Administration launched a nationwide inspection on all medicines.

The State Council passed revised air quality standards that include an index for fine particulate matter 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter (PM2.5), on February 29. In 2013, PM2.5 monitoring will be extended to 113 cities on the state environmental protection list.


A number of officials have been removed from their posts due to corruption or misconduct after investigations by disciplinary authorities. However, all were exposed by Internet users who found the initial clues that led to investigations.


Chinese netizens are accepting and supporting “online anti-corruption”, a sign of the country’s effort to fight wrongdoing.

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