Rising on Twitter: Commandant Addresses Midshipmen

We're seeing more and more videos pour in from across the country of celebrations and gatherings late last night following President Obama's announcement that the United States military had killed Osama bin Laden. Numerous videos have been posted from the service academies where midshipmen and cadets were out celebrating into the early morning, most of whom were young children nearly decade ago on September 11th. (Here are examples from Annapolis, West Point, and the Air Force Academy.)

Trending late this morning is a video captured at the U.S. Naval Academy of its Commandant, Captain Robert E. Clark II, addressing midshipmen with a bullhorn from his porch late last night. Capt. Clark relates the story of when he learned of the 9/11 attacks and leads the gathered crowd through a rendition of the "I Believe" cheer:

(Some adult language.)

Osama bin Laden News Draws YouTube Reaction from Across the Country

UPDATED

Sunday night, President Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed in Pakistan by U.S. forces. As the news broke, searches for videos about the story -- "osama bin laden dead" -- were by far the top rising terms on YouTube. Other top searches were for songs including Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue," "Good Bless America," and Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A," among others.

One of the top trending videos on Twitter was President George W. Bush's famous bullhorn speech from ground zero in 2001.

After the announcement, YouTube began seeing a surge in videos uploaded of both YouTube user reactions and on-the-scene videos from gatherings and celebrations around the country, including at the United States Naval and Air Force academies, Ground Zero, and a number of universities, which can be seen in the playlist of clips below.

Update 9amET: Now with more, clearer videos from the service academies and with clips from Time Square, Boston, and other locations:



(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here.)

WE WILL CONTINUE TO UPDATE AS MORE VIDEOS ARE POSTED

Frightening Tornado Videos from Tuscaloosa

Nearly 200 people were killed this week by severe weather that blasted the South, with a reported 32 deaths in Tuscaloosa alone where one of the largest tornados touched down Wednesday at around 5pm. Wind speeds are said to have topped 135 mph.

Following the storm, we're seeing an influx of incredible video of that tornado. Wednesday evening into Thursday morning, searches for videos from the storm were among the top rising on YouTube. Below you is a play list of some of the videos drawing the most attention overnight and this morning:



(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here.)

We will update if/when more video becomes available.

On the Scene Footage: Friday Protests Across Syria

Earlier in the week, we highlighted videos coming out of the Syrian city of Homs, which purported to depict large-scale protests as well as gunfire from government forces. Today, we have new footage said to be from cities across Syria of the many Friday protests that broke out in another day that is reported to turn violent.

Here is some of that footage, which has been curated on CitizenTube in partnership with Storyful. It's been labeled by the city it was said to have been shot in.

Damascus:	Zabadani:
Banias:	Homs:

There is also footage of reported gunfire and tear gas used to disperse crowds that's begun to draw some attention:

On the Scene Footage: Japan Earthquake, Tsunami

A 8.9 magnitude earthquake, one of the largest ever, struck off the coast of Japan today, causing serious damage and spawning a deadly tsunami. Scores of on-the-scene videos are being posted to YouTube and many have been curated by CitizenTube and in partnership with Storyful. You can view them all here, but below are a few dramatic clips:

Residents capture the frightening experience inside their Sendai home.	Yokohama mall shoppers evacuated as the earthquake strikes.

Explosions and fires are captured in the disaster's aftermath:

UPDATE

Buildings and trains sway as the earthquake strikes:

Video from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration depicting the spread of waves across the Pacific after the quake:

Footage from Scene: Moscow Airport Blast

An explosion this morning at Moscow's Domodedovo airport is reported to have killed 31 people and is being referred to as a terrorist attack. A YouTube user in Russia has uploaded this video reportedly showing the scene within the airport immediately following the explosion:

(WARNING: SOME GRAPHIC CONTENT)



We will update if and when more video surfaces.

More: A montage of some other pieces of bystander footage.

Forest Fire in Israel

YouTube's CitizenTube channel has begun collecting citizen-reported footage from the disastrous forest fire that's struck Isreal today. The wildfire is reportedly the largest in the country's history and has killed over 30 people.

You can view the clips here as well as below: