Shouting matches, rigged elections, gullible governments, gaffes, dirty tricks, touchy monarchs and a new addition to the lexicon of sex scandals.

The past year has had seen many memorable moments in world politics. Let CTV.ca walk you through some of the highlights -- or, if you will, the lowlights.

'Why don't you just shut up?'

King Juan Carlos of Spain posed that question on Nov. 10 to the ever-loquacious President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. 

Chavez offended the king by calling former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar a "fascist," adding: "Fascists are not human. A snake is more human."

Aznar is a political conservative and an ally of U.S. President George Bush -- whom Chavez had called "the devil" in a 2006 speech at the United Nations.

The king's shot at Chavez ended up as a popular ring tone in Spain.

Not doing due diligence

Governments sometimes spend money in dubious ways.

A tribal healer, also known as a witch doctor, convinced Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe that she could create diesel fuel from rocks.

Mugabe paid Rotina Mavunga with three buffalo and two head of cattle for using her powers to extract fuel from rocks. Mavunga managed to get other top politicians to give her money, a car, and even land.

But instead of working the miracle, Mavunga used the money to buy diesel and pipe it into the rocks.

Mugabe had her arrested and charged with fraud.

Zimbabwe has been in economic crisis for years. It has one of the world's highest inflation rates. Fuel and food are in constant short supply.

Quitting while you're behind

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan abruptly stepped down on Sept. 12 one week after yet another cabinet minister became embroiled in scandal -- and two weeks shy of one year in power.

Abe, who became Japan's 90th prime minister on Sept. 26, 2006, lost four cabinet ministers to scandal-induced resignations and gaffes and one to suicide.

His defence minister had to quit in July after apparently brushing off the nuclear attacks on Japan during the Second World War.

"I think that it couldn't be helped," Fumio Kyuma said, claiming the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki "helped end the war."

In upper house elections later in July, Abe's Liberal Democratic Party got trounced.

Shortly after a late August cabinet shuffle, the new agriculture minister had to step down over problems that surfaced at a farm group he once headed. Abe's environment minister also came under fire over a political financing matter.

By the end, Abe was hospitalized for severe exhaustion.

Toughing it out in Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert came under investigation this summer for a house he purchased in Jerusalem, allegedly for a price significantly below its market value.

He is also facing allegations from the sale of an Israeli bank in 2005. Several close associates were arrested in a bribery scandal.

In May, he faced loud calls for his resignation following a scathing report about how the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon was conducted.

As of this writing, Olmert is still prime minister.

Saddam Hussein got 100 per cent

In most republics, a presidential candidate wins a landslide victory when he or she captures 60 per cent of the vote.

So hats off to Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who won the support of more than 89 per cent of voters in Turkmenistan's presidential elections back in January.

The high level could be partly explained by the fact that no opposition candidates were allowed to run.

U.S. and Russian diplomats attended the swearing-in ceremony of the new leader of the energy-rich Central Asian republic.

Berdymukhamedov is following in the footsteps of Saparmursat Niyazov. The former president died in December 2006 and left a legacy as one of the world's most eccentric leaders.

President for life? Why not?

Kazakhstan's parliament gave Nursultan Nazarbayev the green light to run for office as many times as he likes.

Nazarbayev, 66, has already ruled energy-rich Kazakhstan for 17 years. He is an ally of the United States.

There's something of a pattern in Central Asia. The presidents of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have also tried to extend their terms beyond constitutional limits.

Speaking of presidents for life ...

Rumours swirl around what Russia's President Vladimir Putin might do, with his second term winding down.

Russian presidents aren't allowed to run for three consecutive terms, but Putin mused about running for prime minister.

That fuelled rumours that whoever did become president would resign within months for reasons of ill health or to spend more time with his family or whatever. Then Putin would step into the breach.

Alternatively, some speculated Putin might "retire" a few months before the presidential elections and then run for president a third time. Except it wouldn't be three consecutive times - get it?

"I think Putin's time out of the Kremlin will be measured in days, not years," Globe and Mail journalist Mark MacKinnon, author of "The New Cold War," wrote on his blog.

Score one for democracy

Hugo Chavez held a referendum in early December that would have given him the power, among other things, to keep running for election for the rest of his life.

He mused about serving as Venezuela's president until 2050 -- when he would be 95.

Venezuelans said no thanks. They narrowly voted down Chavez's proposals. To his credit, Chavez said he accepted the referendum's outcome.

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the legislature

Iraq's 275 parliamentarians took the month of August off, leaving some critical legislation in limbo.

Temperatures in Baghdad can hit 60 degrees Celsius in August. Some U.S. soldiers tartly observed they weren't getting August off.

The speaker of Iraq's parliament announced on Dec. 7 that things would shut down until Dec. 30 to mark Muslim religious holidays.

This further delayed the passage of some U.S.-backed national reconciliation legislation.

Desperate times call for desperate measures

In the waning days of Australia's general election, the "Islamic Australia Federation" circulated a leaflet in one hotly contested riding.

"We gratefully acknowledge Labor's support to forgive our Muslim brothers who have been unjustly sentenced to death for the Bali bombings," it said. The 2002 terror attack in Bali, Indonesia left more than 200 dead, including many Australians.

There is no "Islamic Australia Federation." Two activists with the Liberal party of Prime Minister John Howard confessed to the dirty trick.

Howard strongly condemned their actions. While the stunt likely wasn't the final straw, Howard's 11 years in power came to an end on Nov. 24, with the Labour party's Kevin Rudd winning a majority.

Lèse-majesté in the news

Travelling to Thailand? Don't publicly mock the king.

A court sentenced Oliver Jufer, a 57-year-old Swiss national, to 10 years for drunkenly spray-painting portraits of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The king pardoned his tormentor. Jufer was then kicked out of the country.

In Spain, a satirical magazine published a cartoon in July that made fun of both a prince and a new government policy encouraging Spanish women to have more babies.

The drawing showed Prince Filipe having sex with his wife, Princess Letizia, with the caption: "Do you realize that if you get pregnant, it will be the closest thing to work I've done in my life?"

That earned the cartoonist "Guillermo" and cartoons editor Manuel Fontdevila of El Jeuves fines of 3,000 euros each, or more than $4,400.

We'll have none of this nosy journalism stuff

Romanian legislators passed a law that puts journalists at risk of a jail sentence of up to seven years if they broadcast secretly filmed video of politicians accepting bribes.

This law came after footage was broadcast of a government minister accepting cash. That minister resigned.

In Egypt, 11 different independent or opposition editors have been fined or jailed in recent months on charges ranging from "publishing fake stories" to "insulting icons of the ruling party" and "spreading rumours."

The tempestuous Mr. Sarkozy

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France stomped out of an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes after interviewer Leslie Stahl asked him about his wife Cecilia.

The interview was recorded before it became public that the couple was divorcing (as an aside, Segolene Royal, Sarkozy's left-wing opponent in the presidential election this year, saw her relationship break up too).

While on vacation in New Hampshire in August, Sarkozy jumped aboard the boat of some Associated Press photographers and started yelling at them in rapid French as they took photos of him.

Sarkozy has gotten an easier ride from some of the French mainstream media.

Paris Match airbrushed out some unsightly love handles visible in a photo of Sarkozy as he canoed in the U.S.

A brash new French news website named Rue89 broke the story that Cecilia had failed to vote in the May run-off election between Sarkozy and Royal.

Le Journal du Dimanche, the main Sunday newspaper in France, would not publish that story. Its owner is Arnaud Lagardère, who calls Sarkozy "a brother."

According to a New York Times article, Sarkozy told one group of journalists: "It's funny. I know all your bosses."

And the most absurd episode of 2007?

Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho gave his "wide stance" as the reason why he made foot contact with an undercover police officer in the next stall of a Minneapolis airport washroom.

His hand running under the edge of the stall? He dropped a piece of toilet paper.

The officer, on the job because of complaints the washroom had become a gay sex hotspot, arrested Craig. The Republican quietly pleaded guilty to one count of disorderly conduct, but the news exploded.

However, Craig has since claimed he was entrapped and insisted: "I am not gay. I have never been gay." He has backed off an earlier promise to resign.

With America being America, one company recently came out with a Larry Craig talking action doll that repeats the "I am not gay" phrase - and they did it in time for Christmas!