Shah, 39, earned a medical degree from University of Pennsylvania and a master’s in public health from Wharton. He’s worked for Al Gore and Bill Gates, for whom he ran a multi-billion dollar vaccination program. Now he runs an organization that has a $22 billion budget, 8,000 employees and an unfortunate degree of modesty.

A recurring theme in Israeli public discourse surrounds what Israelis call the “hasbara problem.” Hasbara (Hebrew for explanation) is the task of making the case for Israel and its positions. The commonly held perception is that Israel’s deteriorating international image is a consequence of poor hasbara.

In a statement, founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt said that they are "proud and pleased" by the takeover, noting that the two news agencies share similar goals. Al Jazeera plans to discontinue Current's programming -- including a primetime lineup of liberal hosts -- and replace it with its own broadcasts.

Chinese netizens gave a mixed reaction to an article carried by U.S.-based Washington Times that lauded the impact of Taiwan's soft power on China. The article , 'Only Taiwan' holds any reins on China, cited Steven S. F. Chen, former Taiwan representative to the United States and now an adviser to President Ma Ying-jeou, as saying that Taiwan is "the only force on Earth that may have an impact on the future political development of China."

The development caught the attention of the Saudi Internet news service, Al Arabiya, which reported this week that Netanyahu's Twitter account has drawn new followers from Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon, currently numbering 717 followers.

On December 18, the US State Department’s Accountability Review Board (ARB) released an unclassified version of its investigation into the September 11 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya. US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the attack, so the report was widely anticipated by the public and by government officials alike.

Forecasting the major international stories for the year ahead is a time-honored pastime, but the world has a habit of springing surprises. In late 1988, no one was predicting Tiananmen Square or the fall of the Berlin Wall. On the eve of 2001, the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan were unimaginable. So with that substantial disclaimer, let's peer into the misty looking glass for 2013.

China's ambassador to the UK defended the country's internet crackdowns on Friday during an interview with the BBC. Liu Xiao Ming told Newsnight's Gavin Essler that there was a "misperception" about the internet in China and the way the Communist Party dealt with it. He also denied that it was difficult for Chinese bloggers to publish their opinions because of crackdowns on free speech.