In 2009, we have been shocked by some of the news that has hit the headlines. We've been in mourning of some of our favourite celebrities deaths, we have been worried about our money and the economy, and been disgusted at the way seemingly normal people live their lives. So here's 15 of the most shocking and important news stories of the year.
15. Female Nursery Teacher and two accomplises admit to child abuse
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Nursery worker Vanessa George has still not identified any of the victims she abused, it emerged today, as she was told she will be held in prison until she is no longer considered a danger to the public – which could be the rest of her life.
Judge Mr Justice Royce described George, who created and swapped graphic images of abuse and swapped them with fellow paedophiles Colin Blanchard and Angela Allen, as wicked and calculating.
He said the case had led to widespread revulsion, causing shockwaves in nurseries across the country. George, a married mother of two, had breached the trust of families who sent their children to Little Ted's nursery in Plymouth and "plumbed new depths of depravity".
She was told she would serve seven years before a parole board would consider sanctioning her release. Like George, Allen was given an indeterminate sentence. Blanchard is to be sentenced at a later date.
14. Barack Obama's Inauguration
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Barack Obama has taken the oath of office and been sworn in as America's 44th president - and the country's first African-American leader. More than one million people gathered in the National Mall in a wintry Washington DC, to see Mr Obama take the oath shortly after 1200 (1700 GMT). He used his inaugural address to vow to begin the work of "remaking America". The new US leader said his country faced a number of challenges but was entering a "new era of responsibility". But a shadow was cast over Mr Obama's celebrations in the hours after his swearing-in, as veteran Senator Ted Kennedy collapsed during the inaugural lunch.
13. Kanye West Crashes Taylor Swift's Acceptance Speech at the VMA's
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This year, Kanye West picked the beginning of the Video Music Awards to deliver one of his famous rants. The rapper stormed the stage just after the first award, for Best Female Video, was presented to Taylor Swift. He cut the teen singer off, grabbing the mic and protesting in support of Beyoncé.
"I'm sorry, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time," he proclaimed as B looked on from the crowd, stunned.
12. Balloon Boy
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A US man who triggered a major alert by falsely claiming his son was adrift in a helium balloon has been sentenced to 90 days in jail - and his wife to 20. Richard Heene, 48, and his 45-year-old wife Mayumi said in October their son had been carried off by the balloon.
Six-year-old Falcon Heene was finally found hiding at home. In court in Colorado, Heene appeared to fight back tears as he apologised to rescue workers and the community, saying he was "very, very sorry".
11. Jaycee Le DuGard is found alive after 18 years
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A girl who was snatched off the street 18 years ago has been found and the man-and-wife team that allegedly grabbed her has been arrested and charged with kidnapping and rape, officials said today. The identity of Jaycee Lee Dugard, now 29, was revealed when she accompanied Phillip Garrido for questioning by his California parole officer. Garrido, a convicted kidnapper and rapist, also was accompanied by his wife Nancy and two young children that Garrido said were his.
10. UK Snow Storms
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Heavy snowfalls and icy weather conditions are likely to continue throughout the week, bringing further chaos to the roads and public transport system, the Met Office said today.
Today's disruptions to trains, tubes and buses, which resulted in one in five people not making it to work, will probably persist until Friday, although the weather will become less severe as the week progresses.
9. Nick Griffin and his 21st Century KKK
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Griffin claims he was treated unfairly by the panel and audience and complained that the show, held at BBC Television Centre in London, was broadcast from a city which had changed beyond all recognition because of what he called uncontrolled immigration.
"That was not a genuine Question Time; that was a lynch mob," he told Sky News.
He went on: "That audience was taken from a city that is no longer British ... That was not my country any more. Why not come down and do it in Thurrock, do it in Stoke, do it in Burnley?
"Do it somewhere where there are still significant numbers of English and British people [living], and they haven't been ethnically cleansed from their own country."
8. Tiger Woods Scandal
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A Los Angeles-based cocktail waitress, Jaimee Grubbs, told Us Weekly that she had a 31-month fling with the married Woods. Grubbs said she has more than 300 text messages that prove this, and provided Us with a voicemail Woods reportedly left Grubbs on Nov. 24 in which Woods says that his wife suspects he is having an affair.
7. Katie Price & Peter Andre divorce
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The glamorous showbiz couple became just the second to last names on a list of 21 seeking a ''quickie divorce''. After the names were read out, District Judge Bradley pronounced decrees nisi and later divulged that both parties had cross- petitioned on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour. The judge said none of the papers involved would be released because Andre's lawyers had made an application to keep them confidential until a full hearing into whether they should be made public. Price, 31, also known as glamour model Jordan, and singer Andre, 36, chose to divorce each other, filing cross decrees under ''Price K v Andrea PJ'' - Andre's real name. The pair married in 2005 after meeting as contestants on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! the year before. They went on to star together in a series of reality shows for ITV2. They have two children together - son Junior, four, and daughter Princess Tiaamii, two.
6. Jade Goody dies of Cervial Cancer
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Reality TV star Jade Goody has died at the age of 27.
She died at home with her family in Upshire, Essex, in the early hours of Sunday after a high-profile battle with cervical cancer.Her mother Jackiey Budden, who was at her side as she died, said: "My beautiful daughter is at peace."Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was "deeply saddened" by the news and described Goody as "a courageous woman both in life and death".
"The whole country has admired her determination to provide a bright future for her children.
"She will be remembered fondly by all who knew her and her family can be extremely proud of the work she has done to raise awareness of cervical cancer, which will benefit thousands of women across the UK."
5. Susan Boyle
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Susan Boyle was a feel good story almost from the first minute she took the stage on Britain's Got Talent. She walked on as frumpy contestant 4321, which turned out to be just the countdown to the first nationally televised standing ovation of her career. It was clear she had, as they say, spunk, then the judges asked her age and she rolled her hips and said, "I am 47. And that's just one side 'o me." It was clear she had ambition and a theatrical bent when Simon Cowell asked her whose success she'd like to mimic, and she named English theater star and singer Elaine Paige. And when she said she was going to sing "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Miserables, it was clear to the audience that she was delusional. That is, until she opened up her mouth to sing.
4. Rihanna beaten up by boyfriend Chris Brown
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With the awards ceremony under way, Brown was booked by Los Angeles police for purportedly "making criminal threats." He was soon released. But Brown's under investigation for the more serious charge of felony domestic violence, with girlfriend and fellow Grammy-nominated R&B singer Rihanna named as the victim.The arrest stemmed from a 12:30 am Sunday morning incident in which a female, now known to be Rihanna, argued with Brown outside his car on the way back from a pre-Grammy party at Clive Davis' house. The argument escalated, a bystander called 911, Brown left the scene. The woman suffered visible injuries, according to police, and identified Brown as her assailant. E! said the injuries were facial bruises. (Police said Brown had no apparent injuries.)
3. Recession of '09
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The Bank of England surprised the City today by announcing that it was to increase the size of its quantitative easing (QE) operation by £50bn to £125bn. The move came as the Bank's monetary policy committee decided to leave rates at a historic low of 0.5%. Amid growing concern that the QE programme announced two months ago was failing to turn the economy around, the MPC said that surveys at home and abroad showed "promising signs" that the pace of decline had begun to moderate.But it warned that the world economy remained in deep recession and that increased saving by consumers, weak demand from abroad and the continued restructuring of the British banking sector would "continue to act as a significant drag on economic activity".
2. Swine Flu
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Seoul - South Korea on Tuesday raised the flu alert level to its highest status because of the rising spread of swine flu. The red alert level, the highest on South Korea's four-level scale, means that government authorities would be mobilized to fight the virus and restrictions on travel and public events could be put in place more quickly.The red alert was put in place primarily to control the spread of the H1N1 strain of the flu, said Park Ha Jeong, a deputy minister for public health.The next four to five weeks could show whether South Korea hits the peak of its flu infections, he said.
1. Michael Jackson's Death
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Pop star Michael Jackson has died in Los Angeles, aged 50.
Paramedics were called to the singer's Beverly Hills home at about midday on Thursday after he stopped breathing.
He was pronounced dead two hours later at the UCLA medical centre. Jackson's brother, Jermaine, said he was believed to have suffered a cardiac arrest.
Jackson, who had a history of health problems, had been due to stage a series of comeback concerts in the UK, beginning on 13 July.
Speaking on behalf of the Jackson family, Jermaine said doctors had tried to resuscitate the star for more than an hour without success.
Jermaine Jackson on his brother's sudden death
He added: "The family request that the media please respect our privacy during this tough time."
"And Allah be with you Michael, always. I love you."
TV footage showed the star's body flown from UCLA to the LA County Coroner's office where a post-mortem is expected to take place on Friday.
Marina & The Diamond! ^_^!
Gossip Girl and iCarly! House and 30 rock!
I really need to check out True Blood at some point. Even my boss loves that show! That and Mad Men.
I either agree with the non-singles or I feel like I need to check out the unknown stuff. Good list!
You actually liked Confessions of a Shopaholic? Really? Good to see (500) Days of Summer! <3 Looove your top two and Star Trek! I have yet to see Zombieland and 2012 but I expect them to be good.
Wow, interesting news articles. Some of them I really had no idea about!