There have been some notable examples of workers uniting around the world, such as the global deal struck in December with G4S, a giant security company, to allow union recognition for all its 570, 000 workers in 100 countries, from America to Africa.

ECONOMIST: Unions

In December, international negotiators halfway around the world from each other debated provisions that would impact the free flow of information online and trade.

FORBES: WCIT, TPP, Russia PNTR: Growing Recognition of Internet Freedom As A Trade Issue

In December 2002, Japanese officials publicly rebuked China for exporting deflation around the world.

ECONOMIST: The Chinese fear inflation; the Japanese long for it

In December the OECD published the results of a test pitting teenage students around the world against each other in reading, science and maths.

ECONOMIST: The contest with China moves into the classroom and nursery

The new group will have a combined 117 million unique visitors a month in the United States and 270 million around the world, according to the release, which cited December 2010 data from the marketing research company comScore.

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