Feast

It was the biggest London bash in decades, as England's Prince William married longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29. The pair officially became the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Famine

Horrifying images of nearly-starved babies revealed Somalia's latest crisis: The worst drought in 60 years combined with entrenched militias in the lawless land brought one of the worst famines in decades. As much as a quarter of Somalia's population fled the country, packing into overflowing refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. The UN estimated that nearly 12 million people in the Horn of Africa needed food. By year's end, rain and aid had helped ease the crisis in parts of Somalia. But militant and terrorist-linked groups that control large parts of the country continued to block aid groups in many regions, and the UN reported that nearly a quarter of a million Somalis still faced imminent starvation.