WE MAY be five days already into the new year and whilst 2011 offers most the chance of a fresh start, the year 2010 gave us some dramatic stories in one of the most spectacular years of recent modern times. Here are my own personal reflections of ten of the top stories that made the headlines last year.
The Chilean miners’ miracle
For me, the story of the year was the miraculous rescue of the Chilean miners. When the 33 miners were first reported missing on August 6, there seemed to be little hope of survival. However, they sent messages at the end of the month which confirmed they were still alive, and on one emotional October day, the 33 men were bought to surface for the first time since the mine they were working on collapsed. Mining is a dangerous business, as was tragically shown by the events in New Zealand at the end of the year, but this was the miracle of all miracles. All the miners seem to be relatively uninjured, despite being underground for over two months and now are experiencing fame for the outcome. The whole rescue was amazing and gave me such a positive vibe, to have a happy story dominate the headlines, rather than the usual depressing gloom of political strife or our brave soldiers perishing in conflicts abroad.
Haiti’s devastating earthquake
In the late hours of Tuesday January 12, the lives of thousands of people in Haiti changed forever, when a devastating earthquake hit the country. Measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, it bought scenes of tragedy, carnage and devastation to a nation already suffering as one of the poorest in the world. With the cholera outbreak at the end of the year, the people of Haiti will want to forget 2010 in a hurry. If you weren’t moved by this story, then you have serious mental issues! The pictures on the news shook me up totally. Seeing the stories of broken families, tales of staggering survival brought tears to my eyes. The aid appeal was unbelievable, something not seen around for over 25 years. I donated some of my own money and it makes you stop and think ‘How lucky we are,’ when others are so less fortunate.
The General Election
 |
| DEBATE: The leadership televised contests were intriguing |
Traditionally, the General Election has been nothing more than a damp squib, certainly in my generation. It was so different in 2010, with a stuttering Gordon Brown, a confident David Cameron and the underdog, Nick Clegg all fighting for supremacy. The televised leadership debates put a new dimension on the election campaign and when Brown uttered his ‘bigoted woman’ comment after a confrontation with Gillian Duffy in Rochdale, his fate was sealed. A ‘hung parliament’ for the first time since the 1970’s put the country on tenterhooks. Eventually, Brown did the dignified thing and stepped down and a new coalition government was formed, with Cameron at the head of it. The election campaign was spectacular and 2010 was the most interesting race for a long time. Even though I’m not a politics fan, it was a great campaign and I enjoyed every minute of it.
England’s superstars flop in South Africa
 |
| FLOP: Gerrard was one of many to under-perform in South Africa |
The World Cup went to Africa for the first time ever last summer, and whilst the ‘vuvuzela’ took a lot of the colourful atmosphere, England’s failure to perform was maybe not a total surprise, but certainly, an unexpected shock. Once Robert Green made his catastrophic mistake against the United States in Rustenberg, England’s campaign went downhill from there. Fabio Capello failed to manage the players, former captain John Terry led a player rebellion which went nowhere and Wayne Rooney’s lack of performance was startling. Forget the ‘goal’ in Bloemfontein against the younger and stronger German side; we still would have lost the game anyway. England arrived in South Africa full of pride of confidence. When they left, that had turned into shattered dreams of epic failure. It was a crushing disappointment and made me ashamed to support the national team, so much so, I’m not interested in their Euro 2012 campaign. The superstars flopped in spectacular fashion.
Cheryl Cole’s miserable year
If any celebrity had the worst year in 2010, it had to be Cheryl Cole. The Girls Aloud singer and X-Factor judge broke up from Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole, after allegations of Ashley sleeping around with women were published in the tabloids again. In the summer, a mosquito bite she picked up whilst on holiday with good friend Derek Hough in Tanzania led to Cheryl picking up a deadly case of malaria. She was close to death, but pulled through and began work on the X-Factor. Her judging decisions in not selecting Gamu Nhengu for the final stages and for not choosing between her acts Treyc Cohen and Katie Waissel during a live elimination also led to a barrage of criticism in her direction. For me, Cheryl is the nation’s sweetheart and she had no choice to end her marriage and the malaria was a real shock to many in general. She didn’t have the greatest X-Factor ever, but I’m confident that Cheryl will be back to her best this year.
Tragic mass shootings in Cumbria
The tragic mass shootings in Cumbria bought a community together and placed a nation into grieving shock. The actions of taxi driver Derrick Bird were despicable and left twelve innocent people dead and twenty-five seriously wounded. Whitehaven may be able to recover in the future, but it will sadly have a place in the history books for being Britain’s biggest massacre since the Dunblane tragedy of 1996. Like everyone else, thoughts were with the friends and family of the dead and I was at a loss to sum it all up.
Volcanic ash cloud
Air travel was left in shutdown mode by the massive volcanic eruption in Iceland. Large amounts of ash were thrown into the skyline, which left many passengers stranded across airports in Europe for safety reasons. Organisation could have been improved, but what can you do when Mother Nature decides to take control? It was a unique event, as I can’t remember a time when air travel had completely been shut for this kind of reason and for those close to the volcano, made for a lovely picture sight.
The travel chaos & the BA cabin crew strikes
 |
| TOUGH: It was a year to forget for the travel industry. |
The Icelandic volcanic eruption added to the troubles for the travel industry, which endured a bleak 2010. Chaos by snow in the UK throughout January and December created misery for many and the British Airways cabin crew strikes of the spring were to me, seen as poor, unnecessary and silly. BA’s fortunes recovered slightly in the second half of the year, but their reputation took some daft knocks at the start of the year.
The hunt for Raoul Moat
Less than a month after the Cumbria shootings, news headlines were dominated by more shootings, this time the hunt of Raoul Moat. Moat was released from prison after an 18-week sentence and ended up shooting his ex-girlfriend, killed her new lover and blinded an innocent police officer. After a tense six hour stand-off with police in Rothbury on Friday July 9, Moat shot himself dead, bringing an unsavoury conclusion to a drama that gripped the nation. My feelings were of a mixed feeling. Moat’s actions can’t be condoned and the police were placed in a very difficult position when it came to the final stand-off.
Tuition fees violence
 |
| UNSAVOURY: The tuition fees violence bought dark days back |
The decision to raise tuition fees at University for upto £9,000 a year from 2012 onwards was a drastic measure by the coalition government, and bought scenes of violence in the capital that hadn’t been seen since the Poll Tax Riots of 1990. The actions of those who decided just to destroy things, such as smash windows in the Treasury, throw a fire extinguisher off Tory HQ and attack the car of the Prince of Wales bought the good name in ‘student’ down. However, Nick Clegg’s u-turn couldn’t be ignored and he was a deserved target for students who felt that their promises had been broken and vote in the election wasted. Although the rise has gone through in both the House of Commons and House of Lords, there are many unhappy with the situation and I don’t predict an end to the unsavoury scenes we saw in the final two months of 2010.
No comments:
Post a Comment