CNN 2011-02-24

After a day off to celebrate Presidents Day, CNN Student News is back! So am I. Thanks for spending some of your Tuesday with us. I'm Carl Azuz. Let's get to today's headlines.

Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of the United Nations, has a message for Libya: the violence must stop immediately. The situation has boiled over in that country with protesters and the government facing off against each other. That government is run by Moammar Gadhafi, who's been in power for 42 years. Libya is located in northern Africa. And it's literally 1 between two countries -- Tunisia and Egypt -- where long-time leaders have stepped down after recent protests.

During a speech on local TV, one of Gadhafi's sons made what seemed like an offer. He said, "we can speak rationally, we can spare the blood, we can stand all together for the sake of Libya." But he also added that if the protests continue, "forget about democracy, forget about reform... it will be a fierce civil war."

It's very hard for us to confirm some of the events that are reportedly happening in Libya. The government has a tight control on communications, and it hasn't responded to CNN's requests for access to the country. But based on the reports that are coming in, Don Lemon explains how we got to this point.

February 14th: Peaceful demonstrations 2, fueled through Facebook, are planned against Libya's leader, Moammar Gadhafi, who supported Mubarak before his exit.

February 16: About 200 demonstrators hit the streets in the coastal 3 city of Benghazi to rally for human rights activist 4 Fethi Tarbel. Police make few arrests.

February 17: State-run media outlets 5 report 110 political prisoners are released, but the move doesn't stop calls for a "Day of Rage," meant for the fifth anniversary of a bloody 6 protest that left 12 dead. Medical sources say seven die on this day after clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

February 18: Gadhafi supporters rally back in Tripoli. But on the coast in Benghazi, security forces reportedly attack anti-government backers numbering in the tens of thousands. Medical sources report 20 die and 200 are hurt.

February 19: Benghazi gets worse. Reports leak out of tear gas and bullets. A doctor says his hospital has seen at least 30 bodies. And Human Rights Watch tallies 7 84 dead over the last five days.

February 20: Benghazi boils over. Violence surges and protesters strike, demanding change. Eyewitnesses 8 say demonstrators have taken the city and much of Tripoli. A ban on foreign reporters makes the claim difficult to confirm. But Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, warns the protesters to stop or, "blood will flow. Rivers of blood in all the cities of Libya."

We've done some reports about the potential long-term effects of the political protests happening in the Middle East. But there's another effect that some of you might be noticing right now: gas prices. According to a study that came out on Sunday, the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.18. That's an increase of 5 cents from two weeks ago, and 55 cents from a year ago. The study says part of the reason for the increase is the tension in the Middle East, where a lot of the world's oil comes from. Experts predict that gas prices could keep going up over the next couple weeks.