LIBYA

A shift in the global military balance is one of the inalienable fallouts of the economic winter experienced by the Western world. While military spending in the U.S., the reigning super power, is increasingly coming under a scanner, the extended defense holiday in Europe signals that the continent’s global influence is on irreversible decline.

With oil prices already high at/near $100 per barrel and the global economy no where near its GDP output potential, OPEC is once again in the catbird seat as it heads into its December meeting.

Panetta is heralding what now appears to be an improving security situation in Afghanistan.

OPEC began negotiations on Monday on a new production deal aimed at healing the rift caused by a bad-tempered failure to agree an output target when it last met in June.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's opponents hope to bring large numbers of people out onto the streets across Russia on Saturday for rallies that will test their ability to channel outrage over allegations of election fraud into a powerful protest movement.

Libya's interim government has issued an ultimatum to regional militias lingering in the capital of Tripoli: disarm or leave.

Facebook revealed its top 10 global topics for 2011 on Wednesday. Yes, planking made the list.

In late September Interpol issued a ‘red notice’ for Saadi.

The aftermath of the Arab Spring uprisings is at a critical juncture and economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa must include all members of society to fulfill the promise of the Arab Spring, according to Christine Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief, who spoke on Tuesday.

Twitter has released a list of Hot Topics for 2011; according to its data, Hollywood actors Charlie Sheen and the late Elizabeth Taylor were among the top-trending actors for the year.

Former pizza magnate Herman Cain's bid for the White House was an unconventional long shot from the start, but behind the colorful Cain Train a dysfunctional team has always been on the verge of running off the tracks.

Herman Cain has quit the 2012 presidential race, suspending his GOP primary campaign and hinting at an endorsement in the coming weeks. As the one-time Republican front-runner stepped down, however, he hinted at a Plan B to keep him in the political game, and reactions to his announcement on sites like Twitter are increasing by the minute.

Michele Bachmann had yet another oops moment on Nov. 30 when she argued that she would remove the U.S. embassy from Iran if she were president. The problem? America hasn't had an embassy in Iran since 1980. Here, watch the GOP presidential hopeful's top ten gaffes, from her confusion about Libya to the founding fathers.

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of deceased Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, might need to have one or more fingers amputated.

Meet Lynsey Addario - a Pulitzer-winning news photographer who says being a woman works in her favor when she is out covering war zones, infamous for their gross ill-treatment of women.

Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo was arrested and flown to The Hague overnight to face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, the first former head of state to be tried by the ICC since its inception in 2002.

The Israeli Defense Ministry issued an apology Monday, for mistreating Pulitzer Prize-winning American news photographer Lynsey Addario, who was in Israel recently on a New York Times assignment.

The year is giving out, and it was not exactly an annus mirabilis. However, 2011 had its sensational moments, marked by major political upheavals in the Middle East, deaths of historic figures, and economic uncertainty highlighted by the Occupy movement.

China is set to embrace Canada's offer of more crude, heating up competition with the United States as the world's top two oil consumers jostle to secure supplies and meet ravenous demand.

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor said on Wednesday he was happy for Libya to try Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam instead of sending him to the Hague, and cast doubt on whether the country's former intelligence chief had been caught.

Some of Libya's clans said on Wednesday they would not recognise the government, a day after the unveiling of a new cabinet revived regional and tribal rivalries which threaten the country's stability.