Top news: President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he will withdraw 34,000 troops from Afghanistan within a year, seek aggressive action to combat climate change, and negotiate a trade deal with Europe, laying out a modest foreign policy agenda in the first State of the Union address of his second term.
Along with the troop reduction in Afghanistan, Obama pledged that a residual force would remain in the country to combat al Qaeda. Though the troop drawdown represents an important step in ending the U.S. presence there, Obama made only fleeting mention of administration's ongoing use of drone strikes in countries like Yemen and Pakistan, saying only in a veiled reference that "we must enlist our values in the fight" and "forge a durable legal and policy framework to guide our counterterrorism operations."
On climate change, Obama encouraged Congress to pass a cap-and-trade regime to regulate carbon emissions and threatened that if it failed to take action the White House would bypass Congress to aggressively pursue regulations that would cut emissions.
As part of a package of initiatives to boost job growth, Obama announced that he would seek a trade deal with Europe, which, if signed, would be the largest bilateral trade deal ever. Wednesday morning European and American officials announced that they would begin negotiations as early as this summer.
Syria: Heavy fighting is underway in Damascus as rebels have launched an assault on the capital and government forces are striking back hard with airstrikes and artillery to rob the rebels of their foothold in the capital city.
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