This Week's Top News Stories on YouTube-- North Korea holds two days of funeral ceremonies for Kim Jong-il, Arab league monitors arrive in Syria, and Nordic storm "Dagmar" batters Scandinavia

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 observed scenes of uninhibited mourning in North Korea as the country held two days of funeral processions to mark the passing of Kim Jong-il.
• We monitored the heavy military crackdown in Syria as Arab League officials arrived in Homs amid large-scale funerals and demonstrations.
• We witnessed the powerful storm "Dagmar" smash into Northern Europe, causing building damage and huge power cuts.
• We viewed dramatic images of bomb attacks on five churches in Nigeria on Christmas day.
• We followed the GOP candidates on the US campaign trail in Iowa as Occupy Caucus protesters made their presence known. 
• We watched in shock as Turkish air-strikes mistakenly killed 30 Kurdish villagers, believing they were rebels.
• We watched Australia suffer through an unpleasant Christmas as Melbourne was hit with tennis ball-sized hail and the country endured widespread flooding.
• We saw heavy snow in Texas interrupt the holidays as poor road conditions caused life to slow to a crawl.
• And finally, we celebrated the holidays in style as we watched the world celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

This Week's Top News Stories on YouTube--North Korea's "dear leader" dies, Egyptian women protest after beatings, and dozens killed in Iraq after US troops leave

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 monitored the news out of secretive North Korea that the country's notorious "dear leader" Kim Jong-il died and the videos showing a country in mourning. 
• We witnessed an unprecedented uprising of thousands of Egyptian female protesters who marched in solidarity for more rights, democracy, and respect after seeing other women brutally beaten by the country's armed forces.
• We saw dozens of Iraqis die in a series of Baghdad bomb blasts a day after the last US troops left a country embroiled political chaos.
• We watched devastating floods kill over one thousand people in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Washi (or Sendong) roared through over the weekend.
• We followed the wives of the GOP candidates on the US campaign trail as they became more visible and featured themselves in ads.
• We were saddened by the death of former Czech president Vaclav Havel, who was one of the key figures in Czechoslovakia's democratic reform movement.
• We watched security forces in Bahrain and Syria continue to violently suppress protesters as tensions escalated in both countries.
• We viewed dramatic videos from Kazakhstan that showed striking oil workers clashing with police in the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau.
• And finally, we got in the holiday spirit with some celebrities who spread Christmas cheer and goodwill in different ways. 

The Top Political Videos of 2011

From candidate ads to pundit debates, speeches from the White House to impassioned pleas from the American heartland, this year’s most-viewed political videos show us that a message that resonates can come from anywhere -- and anyone.

Surpassing the President and various presidential hopefuls in views, the #1 video on our list comes from a young man in Iowa speaking candidly to his government. This video of Zach Wahls speaking about gay marriage has been viewed more than 18 million times.



Three candidates for 2012 made the most-viewed political videos list. Gov. Rick Perry's highly-covered "Strong" ad was uploaded just this month, but has already racked up 7 million views (another one of his ads, “Proven Leadership” is also on the list). Herman Cain, who recently suspended his bid for President, showed that quirky gets views. President Obama reached an audience of millions on YouTube as both commander in chief, and stand up comedian.

Here’s the full list of the most-viewed political videos from the YouTube News and Politics category:

1. Zach Wahls speaks about family
2. President Obama at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner
3. Strong [Rick Perry ad]
4. President Obama on death of Osama bin Laden
5. Brother, can you spare a trillion? Government gone wild!
6. Seth Meyers remarks at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner
7. Rick Perry - Proven Leadership
8. Jon Stewart Goes Head-to-Head Bill O'Reilly
9. Now is the time for action! [Herman Cain ad]
10. President Barack Obama's First Ad of 2012 [NRSC Ad]

In all, the videos on this list account for over 50 million views, demonstrating that there is significant interest in political video on YouTube before the primaries have even begun. For all the key moments in online political video during the coming election, visit YouTube.com/Politics. For more of YouTube’s most-viewed videos of 2011, visit YouTube.com/Rewind.

This Week's Top News Stories on YouTube--The war in Iraq officially ends, post-election violence in Egypt, and a tragic attack in Belgium

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 witnessed the relatively low-key end to the nine-year war in Iraq in a quiet withdrawal of troops that left many wondering if it was all worth it.
• We watched more violence erupt in Egypt, this time following the country's second round of parliamentary voting as a sit-in at the parliament reached two weeks long, with rumors of activists being detained and badly beaten.
• We saw an awful tragedy unfold in Liege, Belgium when a man went on a rampage in a busy marketplace with grenades and firearms, killing at least five people and himself.
• We observed the largest protests to take place in Russia in decades after people fed up with corruption came out in the tens of thousands against recent allegedly fraudulent parliamentary elections.
• We followed all of the GOP candidates on the US campaign trail in their final debate before the primary season kicks off with the Iowa caucuses on January 3.
• We were saddened by the killing of two student-teacher protesters during clashes with police in Mexico in which the demonstrators were reportedly protesting their daily food subsidies.
• We noted the first post-World War II conviction for a former French head of state in which Jacques Chirac was found guilty of embezzlement and sentenced to a 2-year suspended jail term.
• We monitored Occupy protests all along the US west coast that attempted to shut down numerous city ports as well as an Occupy protest at Goldmen Sachs bank in New York.
• And finally, we took note of record breaking rains, mudslides, and flooding on New Zealand's south island with an array of videos documenting the damage. 

This Week's Top News Stories on YouTube--Horrible deja vu for Virginia Tech, Mass sectarian killing in Afghanistan, and Russians protest election

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 shocked by the shooting on the Virginia Tech campus that left people with a feeling of deja vu in which a police officer was killed and another person was found dead.
• We witnessed the first sectarian attack in Afghanistan in recent memory that left at least 55 Shi'ite Muslims dead and tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan strained.
• We observed thousands of angry Russians take to the streets in unprecedented protests after reports of fraud and irregularities in parliamentary elections.
• We saw embattled former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky get arrested and jailed on new charges of child molestation.
• We followed Herman Cain's announcement he was "suspending" his campaign and a controversial Rick Perry ad on the US campaign trail.
• We watched Syrian president Bashar al-Asad speak to America's ABC News and deny accusations that the government is involved in killing thousands of protesters as more violence raged on.
• We monitored opposition protests around the world as people waiting to hear election results in the Democratic Republic of Congo grew frustrated at what they fear is a sham vote.
• We took in the early winter snow storm across parts of Texas and New Mexico as locals had some fun with the unusual weather.
• And finally, we gazed at images of NASA's incredible discovery of an Earth-like planet with the potential of containing life 600 light years away.

This Week's Top News on YouTube: Egyptians voting, Clinton in Burma, and #OWS kicked out in LA and Philly

This Week's Top News Stories on YouTube--Egyptians go to the polls, Secretary of State Clinton goes to Burma, and Occupiers in LA and Philadelphia go away

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 history unfold in Egypt as citizens went to the polls to elect their first post-Mubarak parliament after a week of violent clashes and protests killed dozens of people.
• We monitored US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's trip to Burma (Myanmar) to promote change and democratic freedoms on the highest level US official visit to the country in more than 50 years.
• We noted police raids on Occupy encampments in Los Angeles and Philadelphia that ended in arrests and effectively wiped out the movements' city bases.
• We witnessed enraged Iranian protesters storming the British embassy in the capital Tehran after diplomatic relations with the UK were downgraded by the Iranian parliament.
• We followed Rick Perry confusing the voting age, a Sarah Palin for president ad, and a creative promo from Jon Huntsman's daughters on the US campaign trail.
• We saw up to two million public sector employees go on a strike in the UK that closed down schools, hospitals, and transport in an effort to prevent having to pay and work more for their pensions.
• We observed the second elections to take place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the country's five year war amid reports of widespread irregularities and following violence.
• We were blown away by videos showing uprooted trees, property damage, and power outages because of extremely high winds from California to Utah.
• And finally, we marked World AIDS Day by looking at the state of the disease around the globe and hearing from world leaders and those affected.