[Whitfield:] From political scandals to the growing refugee crisis, 2016 was a momentous year. CNN's senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward takes a look at the top 10 international stories.
[Clarissa Ward, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] We begin our top 10 with Brazil, a country whose rollercoaster of scandals and triumphs made news the world over. A mosquito born Zika virus outbreak leading to a spate of rare birth defects. Then, a political crisis that rocked the corridors of power.
[Unidentified Female:] The Senate removed Dilma Rousseff as president.
[Ward:] All this a backdrop to Brazil's moment in the sun.
[Unidentified Male:] The whole world will be watching Brazil as it hosts the Olympics.
[Ward:] Which despite a few setbacks was widely considered a success.
[Unidentified Female:] The Turkish military announcing it has taken over the country and imposed martial law.
[Ward:] In the dead of night, machine gunfire rings out as a coup attempt takes over. And almost as quickly as it began, it was over. The president survives the coup attempt, but some 290 others would not. Seeking retribution, President Erdogan would go on to detain and dismiss tens of thousands of people. A diplomatic thawing sees a U.S. president touch down on Cuban soul for the first time in 88 years, infuriating Fidel Castro. Eight months later.
[Unidentified Male:] Breaking news out of Cuba, Fidel Castro has died.
[Ward:] For some, grief for the loss of a revolutionary. For others, celebration for the death of a ruthless dictator. Cuban exiles thrilled as they remember a tyrant who imprisoned and executed his opponents and brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. A global migrant crisis worsening by the minute, 65 million people now displaced.
[Unidentified Female:] 2016 has been the deadliest year ever for migrants and refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean.
[Unidentified Male:] Among those rescued, this five-day-old infant peering out of his pink blanket.
[Ward:] Wars, terror, poverty, seeing migrant camps across the world swelling to unsustainable levels, one camp in France bulldozed to the ground.
[Unidentified Female:] What is this life? Have mercy on us, have mercy.
[Unidentified Male:] I wanted to tell you are not alone.
[Ward:] Coming in at number six, seismic stations around the world pick up on the unmistakable signs of North Korean aggression. But this time it is different.
[Unidentified Female:] North Korea exploding its most powerful nuclear warhead ever.
[Unidentified Male:] The equivalent of at least 10,000 tons of TNT detonated deep underground.
[Ward:] The question now, will the next warhead be mounted on a missile.
[Unidentified Male:] When you have this many tests, you are eventually going to get it right.
[Ward:] Unimaginable acts of terror in the name of ISIS leave a bloody trail beyond the borders of Iraq and Syria.
[Unidentified Female:] Two explosions rocking the main terminal at Brussels airport.
[Unidentified Male:] Across town in the center of the city, a bomb exploded on a metro train.
[Ward:] Those three suicide bombers killed 32 people. Three months later, another airport is hit. Three men wearing explosive vests carrying AK-47s exiting a taxi curbside, shooting at panicked travelers before blowing themselves up. And 44 people would never make it out of that Turkish airport.
[Unidentified Female:] About six to eight gunmen have taken over this bakery restaurant in Dhaka in this more affluent, posh area of the city in Bangladesh.
[Unidentified Male:] Military commandos moved in. The siege ended with 13 hostages saved but 20 others dead at the restaurant. This is CNN breaking news.
[Unidentified Female:] We are following breaking news out of France.
[Unidentified Male:] More than a mile of carnage as the truck drove down the beachside promenade killing as many people as the driver could.
[Ward:] A day of celebration for French independence ending with the slaughter of 84 people. While the so-called soldiers of ISIS waged war in cities across the world, back in Iraq, the land they once laid claim to was being taken back.
[Unidentified Female:] The Iraqi city of Fallujah we understand has been eliminated. Iraq's victory is claiming victory in Ramadi. Breaking news in to CNN. In Iraq and offensive to retake the key city of Mosul from ISIS is now underway.
[Unidentified Male:] One came right at me.
[Ward:] CNN's own team would later make it inside the city limits of Mosul and very nearly would not make it out.
[Unidentified Female:] We realized we're trapped, our MRAP takes a direct hit. We need to move but every time we try, gunfire drives us back.
[Ward:] Arwa Damon and her team would spend 28 hours trapped. An estimated 1 million civilians are still within this embattled city. Across the border in Syria, another hellish landscape unfolds. It's biggest city, Aleppo, the epicenter of this horror.
[Unidentified Female:] This is what hell feels like.
[Unidentified Male:] The Syrian's regime's latest aerial assault.
[Unidentified Female:] Gallon drums filled with explosives and shrapnel shoved out of helicopters.
[Unidentified Male:] They say nine people still stuck under that rubble.
[Ward:] A dazed and shell shocked boy pulled from the wreckage of his home would become the bloodied face of Syria's suffering.
[Unidentified Female:] He hasn't cry once. This is Omran. He is alive. We wanted you to know.
[Ward:] Coming in at number two, Russia flexing its military muscle at home.
[Unidentified Female:] Vladimir Putin moving nuclear capable missiles to the border with Poland and Lithuania.
[Ward:] And on a global stage.
[Unidentified Male:] The U.S. is blaming Russia for bombing a humanitarian convoy in Syria.
[Ward:] Moscow using its superior arsenal to turn the tides of war in favor of Syrian president Bashar al Assad.
[Unidentified Female:] He told us that Russian and regime forces target hospitals cynically and deliberately.
[Ward:] The diplomatic vacuum between the U.S. and Russia intensified with activations of hostile acts still shrouded in mystery.
[Unidentified Male:] A series of cyber-attacks on Democrats indicate Russia is trying to sway the election for Donald Trump.
[Ward:] And in our number one slot this, the surge of populism across the west as voters rejected the establishment. Many feeling ignored by politicians and left behind economically.
[Unidentified Male:] This is CNN breaking news. The people have voted to leave the European Union. Dare to dream that the down is breaking on an independent, United Kingdom.
[Ward:] It was a vote that took the world by surprise. One of the main forces behind Brexit, anger over immigration.
[Unidentified Male:] They should go back to where they came from before we rip their heads off.
[Ward:] And of course, in the U.S., where president-elect Donald Trump capitalized on the issue.
[Donald Trump,  President-elect:] Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.
[Ward:] The rejection of globalization resonating with voters.
[Unidentified Male:] CNN projects Donald Trump wins the presidency.
[Ward:] Will the march of populism continue? With elections in France and Germany coming up, 2017 promises to be an interesting year.
[Whitfield:] Interesting, indeed. Clarissa Ward, thank you so much. We are just minutes away now from the first college football playoff game of the year, the Peach Bowl. We will go live to the site of one of today's games for a preview next. And with today being New Year's eve, we are taking a look at celebrations around the world. Apple partnered with Instagramers to capture the celebrations, these images coming from India. We're back in a moment.