BEIJING, Dec. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- The following are the top 10 world news events in the year 2005 selected by Xinhua:     

¡¡¡¡1. World crude price hits record high.

    The crude prices started to soar early this year amid concerns over rising demand for heating oil because of the cold weather that fell on the United States. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil futures rose to above 50 U.S. dollars a barrelin February before climbing up to over 60 dollars in June.

    The prices were pushed higher and surged to an astonishing all-time high of above 70 dollars on Aug. 29 amid concerns over supply shortages caused by the upcoming Hurricane Katrina.

    The prices fell later but still stayed at around 60 dollars at the end of the year.     

¡¡¡¡2. More countries are plagued by bird flu.

    Bird flu began spreading in more than 10 Asian countries and regions, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and China. Later in the year, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Britain, Colombia and Turkey were also hit by avian flu.

    In some Asian countries, human beings started being infected and killed by the virus, which triggered grave concern over the possible transmission of the virus through human-to-human contact.

    The United Nations and other international organizations convened a string of meetings calling for international cooperation to address the issue. ¡¡

¡¡¡¡3. UN reform staggers along.

    A proposal submitted by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on March 21 to the General Assembly envisions unprecedented changes to the United Nations.

    On July 7, China issued a position paper, the first of its kind elaborating on China's all-around stance on UN reform. It emphasized multilateralism and urged the reforms to meet the need of the developing countries.

    On the expansion of the Security Council, draft resolutions proposed separately by the African Union, the Group of Four (Germany, Brazil, India and Japan), the United States and the Uniting for Consensus (UFC) group led by Pakistan, Italy and South Korea were tabled to the General Assembly, but none of them was put to a vote due to lack of support.     

    4. World leaders attend commemoration of World War II.

    On May 9, leaders of more than 50 countries attended commemorative events held in Moscow on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the victory of Russia's Great Patriotic War and theend of World War II in Europe.

    On the same day, the UN General Assembly held a special sessionto mark the anniversary and honor the wartime soldiers and victims of the war.

    Meanwhile, Asian countries, including China and South Korea, also held events to celebrate the victory of anti-Japanese aggression war.     

    5. France, Holland reject EU constitution.

    The process of EU constitution ratification was crippled on May 29 when the French rejected the European Constitutional Treaty in a public referendum with 54.87 percent of the votes against it. Two days later, the treaty was rejected again by the Netherlands.

    Britain, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, Poland and Finland all saidthe ratification of the treaty should be postponed. On June 16, the EU leaders decided during a summit to extend the deadline to ratify the treaty beyond the planned November 2006.     

¡¡¡¡6. Terrorism remains a global concern.

    Terrorism remains a grave concern as regional stability was constantly threatened by explosions that hit countries across the world.

    A series of blasts ripped through London's transport system on July 7 during rush-hour morning, killing 56 and injured more than 700 others. Blasts hit London's subway and buses again later that month.

    In the year, explosions, one after another, hit Egypt's Sharm el-Sheik resort, Indonesia's Bali island, the Indian capital New Delhi and Jordan's capital Amman, causing heavy casualties and posing a severe threat to world peace and stability.     

    7. Six-party nuclear talks make headway.

    The six-party nuclear talks, participated by China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, Russia, South Korea and Japan, made substantial progress in 2005.

    The talks reopened in late July in Beijing after one-year suspension, and the parties adopted a Joint Statement which outlines the principles for the solution of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula after two phases of tough negotiations.

    The fifth round of the six-party talks ended in November with a chairman's statement, which reaffirmed that all the parties involved would "fully" implement the Joint Statement in line with the principle of "commitment for commitment, action for action."     

    8. Israel withdraws from Gaza.

    In spite of strong opposition, the Israeli government kicked off its unilateral plan to withdraw some 25 Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, marking an end to the country's decades-long occupation of the territory.

    The plan, however, has left serious political, social and moral scars on Israel, and eventually led to a political turmoil as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon quit the ruling Likud party in November to set up a new central party and demanded an early poll.

    Analysts say Sharon, keeping away from the constraints of the Likud, will be free to pursue a more moderate line he has espoused in recent years -- a two-state solution and the so-called roadmap peace plan.     

    9. Natural disasters hit the world frequently.

    More than 1,200 people were killed by Hurricane Katrina that hit the United States on Aug. 25. It was the most deadly hurricanethat had struck the United States since 1928.

    The Pakistani-controlled Kashmir was rocked by a powerful earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale on Oct. 8. About 73,000 people were killed, 130,000 injured, and 2.8 million displaced.

    The World Meteorological Organization said on Dec. 15 in its annual review that weather extremes reached new levels in view of the unprecedented severity of drought, flood and hurricanes that hit the world in 2005.     

    10. France was plagued by riots.

    France was ravaged by widespread riots apparently triggered by the electrocution of two teenagers trying to escape police on Oct.27 in a northern Paris suburb.

    The riots, which lasted for more than 10 days and spread to hundreds of French towns, prompted the French government to declare a state of emergency on Nov. 8.

    Over 9,000 cars were burned and dozens of buildings were damagedin the riots, the French police said. Enditem