Top news: After a year of grim economic news and internal strife, the European Union has been given a vote of confidence by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awarded it the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. Committee Chairman Thorbjorn Jagland said the award was for the part the EU played in stabilizing the continent in the wake of World War II and the positive role in played in encouraging the democratization of Eastern and Southern Europe. “The stabilizing part played by the E. U. has helped to transform most of Europe from a continent of war to a continent of peace,” he said. Norway is not a member of the E.U.

EU Commission President Juan Manuel Barroso said on his Twitter feed, "It is a great honour for the whole of the EU, all 500 million citizens, to be awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace prize."

Addressing the EU's recent tensions, Jagland said,  "we want to remind us all what can happen if disintegration starts and if we let extremism and nationalism start growing". He also put the blame for the continent's financial woes squarely on the United States.  “There are many things to say about the economic crisis — where it originated for instance,” he said. “It started in the United States, and we had to deal with it.”

U.S. Election: Congressman Paul Ryan and Vice President Joe Biden clashed on Libya, Iran, and Afghanistan in last night's vice presidential debate.