The global news that got us talking this year:
Jan 10 - Singer David Bowie dies after battling cancer
Jan 28 - The World Health Organisation convenes an emergency meeting to discuss the spread of the Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects
Feb 19 - Death of American writer Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird
March 22 - Three co-ordinated suicide bombings kill 35 people in Brussels
April 21 - Musician Prince dies of an accidental opioid overdose
May 19 - Egypt Air Flight 804 crashes into the Mediterranean sea en route to Cairo International airport
May 28 - Harambe the gorilla is shot dead after a three-year-old boy climbs into his enclosure at Cincinnati Zoo, prompting an outpouring of online grief
June 3 - Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies of complications from Parkinsons Disease
June 12 - Gunman Omar Mateen kills 49 patrons in a shooting at Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, seen by many as a gay hate crime.
June 23 - Britain votes to leave the EU in a shock result in the Brexit referendum
July 2 - Federal election - Malcolm Turnbull wins knife-edge result - a one-seat majority in the House of Reps.
July 25 - Solar Impulse 2 becomes first solar powered aircraft to circumnavigate the world
July 14 - A truck smashes into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86
August 5-21 - Games of the XXXI Olympiad open in Rio de Janeiro
Aug 25 - Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes central Italy, killing 300 and destroying the village of Amatrice
Sept 8 - Apple iPhone 7 is launched, sparking furore over a decision to do away with the headphone jack
Sept 9 - North Korea conducts fifth and biggest nuclear test
Sept 28 - International investigators confirm that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by a Buk missile that came from an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels
Sept 5 - President Obama cancels a meeting with Rodrigo Duterte after the firebrand Philippines president calls him a son of a whore
Sept 21 - Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt announce they are splitting
October 2 - Kim Kardashian is tied up and robbed of $US10 million of jewels at gunpoint in Paris
Oct 2 - A group of Australian men known as the "Budgie Nine" are arrested in Malaysia after stripping down to flag-emblazoned budgie smugglers at a Formula 1 Grand Prix event.
Nov 7 - Death of singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen
Oct 13 - Bob Dylan wins Nobel prize in literature
Oct 21 - Wonder Woman is appointed an honorary UN ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls. The news is met with praise and criticism
Nov 8 - Donald Trump wins US presidential election
Nov 14 - Two people die in Kaikoura earthquake (magnitude 7.8) in the South Island of New Zealand
Nov 25 - Death of Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro
Nov 28 - Colombia plane crashes near Medellin, killing 71 people including 19 members of the Chapecoense soccer club
December 7 - More than 100 people die and tens of thousands are displaced after a 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes off the province of Aceh
December 8 - Donald Trump is named Time Person of the Year
December 5 - John Key announces he is resigning as NZ prime minister
