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Nearly nine years after U.S. forces stormed into Iraq, American involvement in the war ends with a flag-lowering ceremony attended by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Only a few thousand U.S. troops remain, and they are to leave within days.

The card — featuring his family in front of a taxidermic leopard killing a taxidermic antelope — has unleashed an Internet meme. The mayor of San Juan stood by the photo saying it brought publicity to a local wildlife museum.

The influential writer and cultural critic died Thursday at the age of 62 from complications of cancer of the esophagus. Hitchens confronted his disease in part by writing, bringing the same unsparing insight to his mortality that he had directed at so many other subjects.

Mitt Romney returned to form in the final Republican presidential debate before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses. Romney, who had perhaps his shakiest debate performance in Des Moines over the weekend, appeared to regain his composure in Thursday night's debate in Sioux City, Iowa.

Bonds was convicted in April of obstruction of justice in relation to an investigation into his use of steroids and human growth hormone. Bonds will also be on probation for two years.

Authorities stopped the actor from visiting a noted human rights lawyer in China.

Many villagers have had property disputes with local officials. But the one in the southern village of Wukan has turned especially bitter. One man died in police custody, and residents have chased local authorities out of the village in Guangdong province.

Ali Musa Daqduq was the last prisoner held by the United States in Iraq. His custody has been the subject of heated political arguments, so his transfer is likely to have political repercussions at home for the Obama administration.

A year ago, a Tunisian fruit-seller set himself on fire after being humiliated by a police officer. The event set off uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East known as the Arab Spring. Looking back at the year of mass protests, demonstrations and oustings of heads of state, the question remains: Is life better in the Arab world?

Vaclav Havel, the Czech playwright who led a revolution to bring down the country's communist regime, has died. During the communist era, Havel was one of Eastern Europe's foremost dissident writers and champion of human rights. He was 75.