This week on YouTube

This Week's Top News Stories on YouTube--Palestinians make history at the UN, a highly controversial death penalty case, and Republicans square off in their seventh debate.

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. Every week we'll post a weekly recap of the top news stories of the week:

• We watched as hundreds of protesters in New York City marched to "Occupy Wall Street" in an effort to end "corporate greed."
• We witnessed powerful Typhoon Roke sweep through Japan and cause heavy flooding and landslides that left as many as thirteen people dead or missing as 2.2 million residents across the country were ordered to evacuate their homes.
• We observed the highly contentious request by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the United Nations for full Palestinian statehood recognition while clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank.
• We kept track of attempts to save convicted felon Troy Davis from his eventual controversial execution in Georgia.
• We followed a busy week on the US campaign trail as President Obama took aim at the wealthy saying they must pay their fair share of taxes while the Republican contenders squared off in their seventh debate.
• We held our breath as markets continued to slide amid fears of a global recession while Greeks protested austerity measures.
• We monitored a bloody week in Yemen where armed security forces reportedly killed numerous anti-government protesters as they marched for their rights and mourned their martyrs.
• And finally, we saw baseball's NY Yankees clinch their twelfth AL East title in sixteen years after they beat the Tampa Bay Rays in both games of a double-header.

DADT Officially Over; Soldier comes out on YouTube

Following the official end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, one soldier who has been anonymously posting videos on his channel about being gay in the military finally showed his face. The 21 year-old Air Force serviceman filmed a heartfelt call from Germany coming out to his father, who assured his son "I still love you. It doesn't change our relationship."

Since April, the US soldier has gained close to 10,000 subscribers and describes himself via his Twitter account as a "Military member in the closet, using social media to build up the courage to come out to family, girlfriend, friends, and coworkers." He has done just that and more. His video, posted less than 48 hours ago, has almost 2,000,000 views and 22,000 likes.



Ferris Salameh, YouTube Policy, recently watched "Fox News Google Debate"

This Week's Top News Stories on YouTube--A brazen twenty-hour Taliban attack, a hi

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. Every week we'll post a weekly recap of the top news stories of the week:

• We were saddened by the deaths of two hundred passengers on a ferry carrying at least eight hundred people that capsized in Zanzibar.
• We witnessed an awful oil pipeline explosion in a Nairobi, Kenya slum village that killed more than eighty people.
• We watched an incredibly brazen twenty-hour attack on the US Embassy compound and ISAF headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan by the Taliban that left a number of local Afghanis dead
• We saw a Norwegian cruise ship fire kill two people and injure at least nine after what was believed to be an explosion in the ship's engine room
• We followed Rick Perry with Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann with Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and Ron Paul slamming Mitt Romney and Rick Perry as "pretty boys" this week on the US campaign trail.
• We marked a historic day in Libya as the first two high-level foreign diplomats to visit the country since the Gadhafi regime was toppled, UK prime minister David Cameron and French president Nicolas Sarkozy, promised to help rebuild the embattled nation.
• And finally, we commemorated the people lost and reflected on the horrific events of September 11, 2001 on the ten year anniversary of that tragic day.

This Week's Top News Stories on YouTube--A tragic Russian plane crash, extreme US weather, and fresh violence in Syria.

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. Every week we'll post a weekly recap of the top news stories of the week:

• We were saddened by the Yaroslavl, Russia plane crash that killed almost the entire Lokomotiv KHL hockey team and its crew on board.
• We documented dramatic images of the fires raging across Texas in the state's worst wildfire season (in terms of acres burned) on record.
• We watched as Tropical Storm Lee moved across the US, but first pounded the Gulf Coast bringing heavy rain to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama while President Obama inspected Hurricane Irene damage in Paterson, New Jersey, and the Northeast flooded as a result of both storms.
• We saw Typhoon Talas wreak havoc on Japan, swelling rivers and causing mudslides as more than one hundred people died or went missing in the aftermath.
• We followed a busy US campaign trail with the Republican debate at the Reagan Library in California and President Obama's jobs speech to a joint session of Congress.
• We tracked opposition fighters in Libya as they surrounded the Gadhafi stronghold Bani Walid hoping to find him there and finally end the war.
• And finally, we witnessed a new wave of deadly force from the Syrian government on protesters throughout the country as the victims appealed for international help.

This Week's Top News Stories on YouTube--Libya is overthrown, a rare earthquake rattles the US East Coast, and Hurricane Irene slams the Caribbean on

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. Every week we'll post a weekly recap of the top news stories of the week:

• We were on the edge of our seats as rebel forces in Libya gained control of the capital Tripoli and pressed on in search of Moammar Gadhafi in order to claim an all out victory in the fight against his regime. Meanwhile, we were amused by this viral video of the man who had captured Gadhafi's hat.
• We got rattled by a rare 5.8 magnitude earthquake in Virginia that shook up many all along the US East Coast but caused no casualties or serious damage.
• We watched some Caribbean islands get slammed with heavy rains and flooding by Hurricane Irene as the major storm approached the US East Coast.
• We saw prominent Indian social activist Anna Hazare take on a 15-day fast, supported by thousands of followers seeking stronger legislation against corruption.
• We followed John Huntsman slamming Barack Obama , President Obama vacationing on Martha's Vineyard, and a mob of "barbarians" as they took on Marcus Bachmann's clinic in a dancing flashmob this week on the US campaign trail.
• We recognized aid workers who help millions of people around the world and celebrated World Humanitarian Day in their honor along with the UN.
• And finally, we reflected on the amazing contributions of technology pioneer Steve Jobs after hearing the announcement of his resignation as CEO of Apple.