2007's top 10 stories
Updated on 11 December 2007
We round up the events that defined the year that was 2007.
1. Iran arrests British sailors
23 March: Iran accused the British Navy of illegally entering its waters, triggering the arrest of 15 British servicemen. They were freed after almost two weeks in Iranian captivity.
Iran accuses British Navy of illegal entry
Relief as sailors arrive home
2. Madeleine goes missing
3 May: Madeleine McCann disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal. More than six months later she is still missing.
Parents pray for missing girl in Portugal
Girl's parents stay in Portugal
3. SNP's historic win
4 May: The SNP surged to an historic victory over Labour and become the Scottish parliament's largest party on a gloomy final election day for Tony Blair.
Election 2007 results
Salmond begins coalition talks
4. Sarkozy is president
6 May: Nicolas Sarkozy became the new French president after his Socialist rival Segolene Royal lost the elections.
Sarkozy runs into trouble
Sarkozy becomes French president
5. Gordon Brown for PM
27 June: Gordon Brown becomes Britain's new prime minister, as Tony Blair stepped down, with promises that he would "try his utmost".
Gordon years: prime minister in waiting
Gordon Brown is new prime minister
6. Britain under water
23 July: Flooding in central and western England is declared a national emergency that will cost billions of pounds.
'Worst floods in modern history'
Flood gallery
7. Northern Rock crisis
13 September: Across the country there was a run on Northern Rock,after the Bank of England offered unlimited support following the 'credit crunch' squeeze.
The Northern Rock bank run
Northern Rock: sinking like a stone?
8. Burma uprising
27 September: The Burmese military junta cracked down on pro-democracy protesters across the country, killing eight monks and a Japanese photographer in Rangoon.
Nine dead in Burmese clampdown
Burma: a journalist's report
9. Missing discs
20 November: It was revealed that an official in the Revenue and Customs office had downloaded the confidential details of 25 million people onto two discs and put them in internal post. They are yet to be found.
25m confidential records missing
Poll blames Brown for data fiasco
10. The canoeist lives
3 December: John Darwin, a man believed to have died five years earlier in a canoeing accident, walked into a police station in London.
Missing canoeist appears after five years
Canoeist's wife in custody
