1. Iraq War Brought to Official End. At a ceremony in Baghdad, U.S. officials marked the end of nine years of conflict in Iraq. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told U.S. troops that the mission had been worth the large sum of money spent, and the number of lives lost. The invasion of Iraq began on March 19, 2003, with the stated goal of ousting Saddam Hussein and destroying the Iraqi government’s ability to produce weapons of mass destruction. No such weapons had been found, leading to criticism of the U.S. mission. Most of the war was defined by insurgent attacks against U.S. and coalition military forces, which accounted for many of the war’s casualties. Approximately 4,500 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq, and $1 trillion had been spent on the war. Nearly all American troops will have left Iraq by the end of the year. (Source: The Washington Post)
2. Five Killed in Belgian Grenade Attack. On Dec. 13, a gunman in the Belgian city of Liege killed four people and injured over 100 others when he threw grenades from the top of a roof and fired at people with an assault rifle before killing himself. There was no motive, but police in Belgium found the body of a dead woman in the suspected killer’s home after the attack. They have ruled out terrorism as a possibility. The suspected gunman, Nordine Amrani, had prior offenses relating to firearms, and had been summoned by police for questioning before the attack took place. The attack took place at the height of the holiday shopping rush, as many people were in the area purchasing gifts for Christmas. (Source: BBC)
3. Protests over Russian Election Fraud Continue. Protesters in Russia continued to fight against what they believe to be voting fraud committed by the incumbent United Russia party. United Russia, the party of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, lost seats in the most recent election, but still maintained a majority of parliamentary seats. Protests took place in at least 15 cities despite government restrictions on large public gatherings. Prime Minister Putin, who was President from 2000 to 2008, needs the United Russia party to remain in power in order to become president again in 2012. Hundreds were arrested in earlier protests, but police made no arrests at the largest demonstration held in Moscow since the breakup of the Soviet Union. (Source: AP, via MSNBC)
4. General Strikes, Armed Conflict amid Syrian Crackdown. Hundreds of army defectors fought with Syrian loyalists in the southern part of the country in response to an ongoing crackdown by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The clashes occurred as an ongoing general strike gripped Syria, with workers in many industries walking off their jobs to protest government brutality. Estimates now place the death toll in Syria at 5,000. The protests began as part of the Arab Spring, a series of popular uprisings against leaders believed to be unjust and brutal in their rule. The ex-presidents of Tunisia and Egypt were forced to resign, and the former leader of Libya was killed after an eight month revolution born out of the Arab Spring movement. (Source: Al Jazeera)
5. Russia Joins the World Trade Organization. After 18 years of negotiations, Russia has been admitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is one of the largest economies to join the WTO, and the last of the G20 industrialized nations to join. Russia’s admission was allowed by Georgia, Russia’s neighbor-state, which blocked Russia from joining the WTO after the two nations fought a brief war in 2008. The WTO was formed at the start of 1995 to negotiate and form trade agreements between all 157 of its members. Its agreements are binding and enforceable, unlike those of organizations such as the United Nations, and have played a major role in preventing barriers to free trade. (Source: BBC)