Here is a selection of major government shifts around the globe and bloggers’ reactions:

	CUBA: In February, Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba’s president after ruling since 1959. His brother Raúl Castro, also of the Communist Party, is now serving as president. (Feb. 18)	Blogger “Circles Robinson” outlines Cuba’s future under the new Castro, arguing that U.S.-Cuba relations will not change.
	PARAGUAY: Left-wing candidate Fernando Lugo swept to victory in Paraguay’s April elections, ending more than six decades of rule by the right-wing Colorado Party. (April 20)	A writer at “Upside Down World” writes about the historic election from Asunción.
	RUSSIA: Vladimir Putin stepped down as president of Russia after eight years in office in May, handing the job to chosen successor Dmitry Medvedev. (May 7)	Blogger Eugene Ivanov reccomends that Medvedev take several steps to repair U.S.-Russian relations.
	LEBANON: The parliament elected army chief Michel Suleiman as head of state in May, ending a standoff between the U.S.-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition that had lasted for over a year. (May 25)	A blogger at “Independence” writes that calm was somewhat restored to Beirut after Suleiman’s election.
	MAURITANIA: The African nation held its first free elections in more than 20 years in 2007, but in August 2008, a group of military officers staged a coup and took power from the elected government. The coup leader says that Mauritania will hold presidential elections in May 2009. (August 6)	A local government official in Mauritania blogs about the current political situation there.
	PAKISTAN: Pervez Musharraf, who came to power in a 1999 coup, resigned in August. Asif Ali Zardari — head of the Pakistan People Party and husband of its slain former leader Benazir Bhutto — assumed office in September. (August 18)	A blogger bids farewell to the Musharraf era.
	MALDIVES: The small island nation went to the polls for the first time in three decades this year and unseated Asia’s longest-serving ruler. Former political prisoner Mohamed “Anni” Nasheed won a runoff vote. (October 28)	Read the Worldfocus Blogwatch here.
	UNITED STATES: Democrat Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States in November, and will succeed two-term Republican President George W. Bush in late January. (Nov. 4)	Hear how the world reacted to Obama’s election here.
	THAILAND: Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was forced to resign. Replacement Somchai Wongsawat later resigned as a result of anti-government demonstrations. A ruling coalition led by Abhisit Vejjajiva took power in December. (Dec. 17)	Read what a Worldfocus contributing blogger had to say about the future of Thailand.
	GHANA: President John Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party stepped down after two terms in office. A tight presidential race followed, and John Atta Mills of the opposition National Democratic Congress party narrowly won in December’s runoff vote. (Dec. 28)	Read what a Worldfocus contributer wrote about the significance of the peaceful election for Africa.
	SOMALIA: President Abdullahi Yusuf resigned in December after acknowledging that Islamist insurgents had gained control over much of the country. The country’s parliament can select a new leader. (Dec. 29)	Read what a Worldfocus contributing blogger had to say about possible Islamist rule in Somalia.
	BANGLADESH: An army-backed interim government lifted the country’s state of emergency to allow for elections for prime minister, and Sheikh Hasina Wajed won a landslide victory. (Dec. 29)	A blogger at “In Asia” writes about Bangladeshis’ hope that the election will lead to successful governance.

Below is a list of the interviews that were most popular with viewers in 2008.

	Financial crisis impacts developing countries	Randall Filer of Hunter College and the City University of New York discusses how the financial crisis impacts the borrowing power and interest rates of developing countries.
	Congo’s women mutilated, children sent into battle	John Prendergast of the ENOUGH project discusses the use of rape as a weapon in eastern Congo as well as prospects for the U.N. in the region.
	Russian warship to arrive in Venezuela	Shannon O’Neil of the Council on Foreign Relations examines Hugo Chávez’s position and the future of Venezuela in light of the country’s local elections and forthcoming joint naval exercises with Russian warships.
	Tweets, texts and chats change coverage of Mumbai	Sree Sreenivasan of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism discusses how new media tools have helped speed up communications and news coverage of the Mumbai attacks.
	Pirates overshadow humanitarian crisis in Somalia	Somali human rights worker Zam Zam Abdullahi Abdi speaks about the critical situation in her country — the widespread hunger, lawlessness and targets on humanitarian aid workers.

Below is a list of the blog entries that were most popular with viewers in 2008.

	Canadian coalition moves to unseat prime minister	Canada’s major opposition parties signed an agreement to form a coalition and sit poised to overthrow Stephen Harper’s conservative minority government.
	World bloggers consider race in U.S. election	A look at international opinions on the issue of race in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
	From marbles to keystrokes: How the world votes	Countries weigh the accuracy, anonymity and security of how they vote. Take a look at our slideshow on how people physically cast votes and see sample voting ballots from around the world.
	Chinese investment in Africa soars	The debate on China’s expanding investments and interests in Africa falls somewhere between paranoia and praise.
	The world according to energy	With resources dwindling, energy dominates many political and economic debates. Our interactive map illustrates worldwide distribution and consumption of natural resources like oil, natural gas and water.

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Below is a list of the blog entries that were most popular with viewers in 2008.

	Q&A: Kashmiri people, history and human rights	Cultural Anthropologist Haley Duschinski has researched issues of the Kashmiri people for the past 10 years and answers viewer questions about the disputed region here.
	Ponzi schemes strike in U.S., Russia and Colombia	In the wake of the $50 billion Madoff fraud case, a Worldfocus contributing blogger writes about worldwide Ponzi schemes and their relationship to the global financial crisis.
	FDA failures contribute to spread of contaminated drugs	Since the 1930s, heparin has helped save the lives of millions of dialysis and surgery patients. Then, in 2006, Chinese suppliers of the drug’s basic material contaminated it with a mysterious ingredient. Patients began to die.
	Chinese factory closures exaggerated by media	A Worldfocus contributing blogger writes about the impact of factory closures on day-to-day life in southern Dongguan.
	Sarkozy thinks global, should look local	A Worldfocus contributing blogger wrote about the international ambitions of Nicolas Sarkozy as the French president headed to a recent G20 meeting of world leaders.

Below is a list of the signature stories that were most popular with viewers in 2008.

	War in DR Congo: The story of Pascal and Vestine	In the last year alone, more than a million people have fled the fighting in eastern Congo. Worldfocus correspondent Michael Kavanagh tells one family’s story.
	Coffee producers fight cancer in Nicaragua	Cervical cancer is the number one killer of women in Latin America, but Nicaraguan women are finding hope with the help of the country’s top export — coffee.
	Turkish immigrants cement Islam in Germany	As the immigration debate heats up in Germany, mosques are popping up and Turkish immigrants are rising up through the political system.
	Rwanda aims for one laptop per child	Once a site of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, the town of Rwamagana is now going online thanks to the One Laptop Per Child program.
	America looms large in India	Worldfocus correspondent Daljit Dhaliwal reports from New Delhi on how Indians perceive the U.S.
	Middle class sprawls in Nairobi, Kenya	The scene in downtown Nairobi reflects Kenya’s growing middle class, with towering buildings and multinational businesses.
	Italy’s immigration debate intensifies	In the northern city of Treviso, Italy, a gunslingling mayor cracks down on illegal immigration, even as accusations of racism linger.
	India’s outsourcers look to outsource	In the last 10 years, India has become a global center for foreign companies. But worldwide economic strife may lead to shifts in outsourcing patterns.
	Rape as a weapon of war in DR Congo	In the Democratic Republic of Congo, war has raged for more than a decade. The United Nations estimates that 200,000 women and children have been raped in that time, some victims as young as three years old.
	Soviet style hampers a democratic Ukraine	Political progress has come slowly in Ukraine, where new businesses are finding it difficult to escape the Soviet ways.
	Muslim insurgency simmers in southern Thailand	Beyond the recent turmoil in Bangkok, a violent Muslim insurgency has emerged in Thailand’s south.