Tuesday, President Barack Obama made a surprise trip to Afghanistan to make a major announcement. Obama explained how the war in Afghanistan is going to end and spoke of a withdrawal of troops similar to that of Iraq.

Obama said that by the end of this summer, 23,000 soldiers will be returning home. Furthermore, the original deadline of 2014 still stands and Obama plans to leave the nation in control of the Afghani government.

The President made it clear that there will be no permanent military bases or stations in Afghanistan and that all duties will belong to the Afghani officials as American military presence will end.

A year after Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden, the President announced that his administration has spoken with Taliban officials. America has told the Taliban that if they cut all ties with al Qaeda, agree to adhere to the Afghanistan laws, and promise to refrain from violence, they can be a part of the future of the state.

The current plan for Afghanistan will see American troops slowly leave the nation as the government stabilizes over the course of the next two years.

With the Presidential election coming up, the announcement of the end of the Afghanistan War is a major plus for Obama.

Iran has officially discontinued the exporting of oil to England and France. As a result, the cost of oil from other sources has grown. Naturally, it is expected that the price of gas will increase as well.

Iran said this weekend that as a result of the European Union and the United States placing sanctions on Iran, the Middle Eastern state would stop supplying oil to some big states as revenge.

The cost per barrel of oil in Europe is over $120 now. With that price expected to rise, the subsequent cost of gas is expected to go up too.

In the United States currently, the average price per gallon of gas is $3.56. In larger states like California, gas prices are already over four dollars per gallon. Experts believe that this summer, the national average will once again be over four dollars. Some experts are even speculating that the average might creep dangerously close to five dollars.

All of this could undercut the major economic strides made in recent months by the federal government. With more money being spent on gas, Americans will have less of their newfound cash to spend on other domestic goods and thus add to the American economy.

Today, the Standard & Poor’s declared that it officially has downgraded many European states in terms of credit rating.

Most notably, France fell one rating from AAA to AA+. Also falling by one rating notch was Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Malta. Cyprus, Italy, Spain, and Portugal all fell two rating notches. This left Italy at a credit level of BBB+, which is very close to the level of a junk bond.

The Netherlands, Luxemburg, Germany, and Finland were all unaffected and stayed at their longstanding AAA levels.

It is unexpected how the rating drops will affect the European market and the economies of the effected states. This could potentially cause investors to stay away from those states and could increase the need to borrow money for those 9 states.

Standard & Poor’s announced that “Today’s rating actions are primarily driven by our assessment that the policy initiatives that have been taken by European policymakers in recent weeks may be insufficient to fully address ongoing systemic stresses in the Eurozone.”

The S&P then said that European states are still in danger of more downgrading as there have still been few notable improvements in the European economy despite great problems needing fixing.

It is not common for hundreds of thousands of people to attend a funeral and a memorial. However, the people of North Korea are mourning the loss of Kim Jong Il and are planning an enormous memorial for their long time leader.

Kim Jong Il passed away from a heart attack this month on December 17^th. He was 69 years old. He had been the leader of North Korea since his father, Kim Il Sung, passed away in 1994.

Many expect the funeral to be similar to Kim Jong Il’s father’s memorial in 1994. People are anticipating a showcase of the military and much celebration of Kim Jong Il’s life. Kim Jong Un, the son who is often in the spotlight, is going to be at the ceremony. It is unknown if the late leader’s other two sons will play a part in the memorial.

The memorial is expected to begin Wednesday and it will also be the official passing of the leadership of North Korea to Kim Jong Il’s son, Kim Jong Un.

After Kim Jong Un is crowned, the international community will look to see what type of changes, if any, are going to be made in North Korea. The isolationist nation that has very little communication with other states is an outcast in the international community and many are hoping that with new leadership, North Korea will enter better days.

As millions of people all around the world are celebrating Christmas with their loved ones, the Russian people instead chose to protest Vladimir Putin.

On Christmas Eve, instead of staying at home with family and friends, thousands upon thousands of Russian citizens flooded Moscow to protest Vladimir Putin.

The Russian people strongly dislike Putin and presume that there was a lot of corruption in the recent elections because with as much hate for him as there is in Russia, it is hard to believe that Putin’s party legitimately earned over fifty percent of the Russian vote.

With the vote for president of Russia set for March, many are speculating that corruption will lead to Putin essentially being handed the presidency by Dmitry Medvedev. Putin was already president from 2000 to 2008, but under Russian law, a president can only be in office for eight consecutive years, but can return to office for more terms after another person has been president for at least one term, as Medvedev has.

The Russian people want to have a clean government system that allows for true progress and real representation of the views of the people. Under Medvedev and Putin, they have had to deal with the exact opposite.

Early today, the Prime Minister of Iraq, Nuri al-Maliki, stepped into the White House in Washington DC to speak with President Barack Obama.

The two men met just days before the completion of the troop withdrawal from Iraq, signaling the end of the Iraq War. The exit of the American soldiers is expected to be complete by the end of the month, completing the mission right before 2012 strikes.

Many are fearing that as the troops leave and the new Iraqi government, military, and police forces are left to fend for themselves, other groups will begin to rebel and a power struggle might come.

As of today, there are approximately six thousand American soldiers left inside of the borders of Iraq.

This will be the first time in nearly a decade that Iraqi officials will have full control over their state. And it marks the first time in a long time where their control will not be in the form of a dictatorship run by Saddam Hussein.

The withdrawal also marks the completion of one of Obama’s main 2008 campaign promises, the ending of the struggle in Iraq and a complete troop withdrawal by the year 2012.

Reuters/Caren Firouz

Earlier today, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, came out to refute the report issued by the United Nations about the nuclear weapons program of Iran.

The report indicated that Tehran has been working on designing an atomic bomb. Netanyahu claims that Iran is much further along in the process than the report says. The Prime Minister made it clear that Iran is definitely closer than the United Nations thinks.

Netanyahu did not disrespect the United Nations report as he acknowledged that they could only officially report what they could fully prove.

While he did not express exactly what he knew about Iran that the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency does not, he did make a strong plea “to stop Iran’s race to arm itself with a nuclear weapon before it is too late.”

Iran has challenged the claims repeatedly saying that the only nuclear projects they work on are for electricity and other technological advances that are purely peaceful.

It is now being speculated that with all of the conflicts that either Israel or the United States might step in and force Iran to stop all nuclear power experiments.

CNN

A 7.3 magnitude earthquake has ravaged Eastern Turkey. The initial quake was followed by seven aftershocks. As buildings have collapsed, rescue workers have begun to search through the rumble for survivors.

The area hit is one of the poorest in the entire state.

Many of the damaged buildings include about 25 apartment complexes as well as a dorm building for students in the area. A part of a local hospital also collapsed.

An undisclosed number of injured civilians were taken out of the buildings to get treated. With the rumble on the roads, it was difficult for the ambulances and rescue workers to get to the people in need. Luckily, many civilians took part in the rescue effort and have been assisting the official rescue squads.

The total number of casualties has not been determined and probably will not be for a few days.

This is just another major natural disaster to strike a poor region in recent years.

Today, President Barack Obama announced that finally, essentially all of the American troops in Iraq would be coming home as the Iraq War is coming to an end. The troops will be home by the end of 2011.

Obama said, “After nearly nine years, America’s War in Iraq will be over. The coming months will be a season of homecomings. Our troops in Iraq will definitely be home for the holidays.”

By December 31^st, the majority of the 39,000 American soldiers in Iraq will be home. Approximately 150 other troops will stay behind to help arms distribution.

When Obama was elected in 2008, one of his promises was to end the conflict in Iraq. Less than four years later, Obama is coming through on his word.

Obama spoke with President Nuri al-Maliki of Iraq and the two were very pleased with the way the American mission in Iraq is concluding.

Now, the new mission is for the Iraqi officials to continue to run the state successfully with America as an ally and without the daily presence of troops.

After thousands of lives lost and trillions of dollars spent on the Iraq War, it is time for a new chapter in Iraq.

Ismail Zitouni/Reuters

In crossfire earlier today, Moammar Gadhafi was finally found by Libyan rebel forces and murdered. This symbolizes the official transition into a new Libyan system and government.

The Libyan transitional Prime Minister, Mahmoud Jibril, said, “This is a time to start a new Libya, with a new economy, with a new education, and with a new health system.”

Gadhafi was initially captured alive and taken from his hometown, but gunfire quickly rose. As Gadhafi was being driven away, he was caught in the crossfire and shot in the head. He had ruled over Libya for almost 42 years.

Video footage of Gadhafi in his final moments was shown on Arabic television. Some of the footage showed him bloody and being driven away. Other footage showed him dead with a gun shot to the head.

According to sources, Gadhafi was found in a drainage pipe filled with garbage and sand. The scenario was not very different from the capture of Saddam Hussein.

Now it is time for Libya to finally rebuild and start anew.