The World

10 ESSENTIAL STORIES

By Harriet Barovick, Ishaan Tharoor, Alexandra Silver, Claire Suddath, Frances Romero, Kayla Webley and Josh Sanburn Monday, Nov. 22, 2010

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    Global energy use will grow 36% by the year 2035, spurred mostly by China's rapid increase in energy consumption, according to the International Energy Agency's annual report. China overtook the U.S. in 2009 to become the largest energy user, and its per capita consumption--currently one-fifth the U.S.'s--is expected to rise over the coming decades, with automobile use projected to increase tenfold.

    Primary energy demand in the U.S. and China

    (MTOE: energy output equivalent to 1 million metric tons of oil)

    USA

    CHINA

    3,500 MTOE

    2,500

    1,500

    500

    SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY

    7 | Yemen

    Pursuing Al-Awlaki

    A Yemeni judge ordered the arrest of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical cleric linked to several U.S. terrorist plots. Two days later, a video was released of the American-born al-Awlaki--believed to be a force in the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula--calling for death to Americans. But his followers will see less of him: YouTube has removed videos of some of his sermons.

    8 | Burma

    A Vote Without Hope

    In a foregone conclusion, the main political party backed by Burma's ruling junta claimed an overwhelming victory in the country's first election in 20 years. Foreign journalists and observers were barred from monitoring the vote, which has been widely dismissed abroad as a rubber stamp for Burma's repressive military regime.

    9 | Congo Republic

    Polio Emergency Declared

    The U.N. prepared to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of people as a polio scare swept through the port city of Pointe-Noire. More than 200 cases of paralysis--one of the disease's main symptoms--and about 100 deaths were reported; officials blamed the lack of recent immunization campaigns on the country's political instability. The disease was thought to have been eradicated in the Republic of the Congo in 2000.

    10 | Western Sahara

    CLASHES BREAK OUT

    The long-disputed territory saw its worst violence in decades after Moroccan security forces dismantled a protest camp set up by thousands of Saharawi. The flare-up arose as another round of U.N.-mediated talks between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front--both of which claim sovereignty over the area--were about to commence. The meetings ended without a resolution.

    * | Who's Rapping in Zimbabwe:

    President Robert Mugabe, 86, is the unlikely star of several music videos by African group the Born Free Crew. According to the Guardian, the group set a recording of the aged leader mocking "old white folks' behinds" to a dance beat. He is also shown using a Shona-language slang equivalent of "Wassup?" Although the despot didn't create the videos, he reportedly approves of them as a way to appeal to young voters ahead of next year's elections.

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