From the Japan earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, to the deaths of Osama Bin laden, Moammar Gadhafi and Kim Jong-il. 2011 was a massive year in world news. Take a tour of our collection of some of the biggest international stories of the year.Click on the small images above to see who made the cut in our Year in Review.
A massive 9.0 magnitude quake hit the northeast coast of Japan on March 11. The earthquake and the ensuing powerful tsunami left nearly 20,000 people dead or missing. It sparked a nuclear meltdown and the release of radioactive material from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, causing the largest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. [
Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the September 11 attacks, was found and shot dead by US special forces in his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 1. His body was buried at sea within hours. [
The last convoy of US soldiers pulled out of Iraq on Dec 18, ending their occupation and nearly nine years of war and military intervention that cost almost 4,500 American and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives. [
Moammar Gadhafi，the Arab world's longest-serving leader, was killed on October 20 after being caught by rebel forces who had seized control of Libya. [
International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn quit after being accused of sexually assaulting a maid at a New York Hotel on May 14, destroying his chances of becoming the next president of France. Prosecutors eventually dropped all charges. [
Passionate, prickly and deemed irreplaceable by Apple fans and investors, Steve Jobs made a life of defying conventions and expectations. His death on Oct 5, at the age of 56, prompted a global gasp as people remembered how much he had done to transform the world of computing, music and mobile phones. [
Two years into a debilitating debt crisis, the European Union (EU) passed a slew of reforms in December to weather the hard times, spur growth in the economy and prevent a Euro meltdown. [
Kim Jong-il, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), passed away on December 17 at the age of 69. His youngest son Kim Jong-un, in his 20s, was hailed as the 'great successor'. [
