Internationally, it was a massive year for news: the Arab Spring, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, the death of Osama Bin Laden, the massacre in Norway and, oh yes, the lavish marriage of two rich folks in England.

The United States had its fair share of big stories too: the Joplin tornado, Occupy Wall Street, the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords, the Penn State sex abuse scandal and – it goes without saying – Washington gridlock.

South of the border in Mexico, President Felipe Calderon continued his policy designed to grind down the nation’s powerful drug cartels, despite many calls for him to scale back military operations.  The daily death toll  occupied the headlines most days, along with the occasional arrest of a drug kingpin.  Here’s a brief selection of some of the stories making headlines in this newspaper in Guadalajara, the Lake Chapala area and the rest of the nation during the past 12 months.

Google, the world’s most popular search engine, has just unveiled Zeitgeist 2011, the company’s 11th annual list of the most popular and fastest-rising internet searches.
Revealing the names, news stories and products that interested the most people, this is essentially the world’s biggest survey of the year.

Mexican artists continue to find inspiration in the birth of Jesus. And the Instituto de las Artesanias Jalicienses near Parque Agua Azul offers a gamut of creche scenes, some of which, pictured here, are not likely to be found in the Christmas markets that pepper Guadalajara.

Mexico’s leading presidential candidate must be ruing the day that Twitter grew from soapbox for an online minority into an influential conduit of public opinion.

Given a recent surge in break-ins, which have become particularly prevalent in the Lake Chapala area, the Jalisco Attorney General’s Office (PGJEJ) has issued advice for state residents to help beat the burglars.

Nestled in a complex on a sunny expanse in the northwestern stretches of Zapopan, many Christmases have gathered. Here, in a special seasonal exhibit called “Merry Christmas! A Tradition that Unites People,” the Trompo Magico interactive museum aims to show the different traditions of six countries at this time of year.