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Syria violence, SpaceX Landing, Second Earthquake Strikes Italy

By Olivia Ma

Director, Google News Initiative

Everyday on the CitizenTube channel (and @CitizenTube on Twitter), along with our curation partners @storyful, we look at how the top news stories are covered on YouTube. Each week we post a weekly recap of the top news stories of the week, as seen through the lens of both citizen-reported footage and professional news coverage.


  • We were shocked at the deaths of dozens of children and hundreds overall during a week of horrific violence in Syria. (Warning: Scenes of an extremely graphic nature)
  • We saw millions across America commemorate Memorial Day by honoring those who died in service to their country.
  • We viewed the successful return of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to Earth, ending a 9-day voyage to the ISS with a splashdown in the Pacific.
  • We were saddened at yet more deaths in Italy, as a second earthquake rocked the North East of the country, killing 15, just days after a first earthquake hit.
  • We followed the presidential candidates on the US campaign trail as Mitt Romney finally officially clinched the Republican nomination by reaching the magic number of 1,144 delegates. 
  • We watched thousands of fans descend on Monte Carlo for the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix.
  • We observed the staging of colorful "slutwalks" across Brazil as thousands of women participated to promote LGBT equality.
  • We witnessed a fire in a Doha shopping mall claim the lives of 19, including 13 toddlers. 
  • Finally, we saw Twilight stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart cause a stir in Cannes as they attended film screenings together.


Come back to watch the news unfold on YouTube. 

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