US Senate Resumes Debate on Iraq

By a vote of 70 to 24, the Senate agreed to begin debating a bill that would cut off money for the unpopular war in Iraq. The legislation is sponsored by Senator Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat and staunch opponent of the Bush administration policy in Iraq.

"The president's policies have actually empowered former insurgents and militia-infiltrated security forces with questionable loyalties. By supporting sheiks in al-Anbar and elsewhere, we may have reduced violence in the near term, but only by making it more difficult to achieve national reconciliation in the long run," he said.

Feingold and other Democrats argue that the war in Iraq has diverted attention and resources away from the wider war on terrorism.

Republicans, meanwhile, are opposed to Feingold's bill, saying it would, in effect, legislate defeat in Iraq. "Senator Feingold's amendment serves to tie the hands of our commanders on the ground," said Senator James Inhofe is an Oklahoma Republican.

Despite their opposition, Republicans did not block the measure from advancing. Debate on the bill will give them and their party's presumptive presidential nominee, Senator John McCain, the opportunity to criticize Democrats for trying to end funding for the war at a time when military progress is being made. McCain's support for the U.S. troop surge in Iraq has been a focus of his campaign.

cecilias News story

In China they are holding the 2008 Olimpics. It is taking place in Beijing. To help reduce the air pollution they are taking drastic measures to improve there air pollution. They need to lower there air amisions to meet the standard laid down by the World Health Organisation. They know they need to lower the air pollution because the density of breathable particles in the air - is still too high. a new car amision standard will be inforced on March 1. Cars and Buses that fail the checks will be banned from the streets. More than 1,300 petrol stations in Beijing are being upgraded to cut fumes and the rest will be shut down. also five provences around beijing will have to meet the standards.

SAVE THE ELEPHANTS!

South Africa is now making it legal for elephants to be killed. It has been illegal to hunt elephants for the past thirteen years. They have decided that it will help lower the elephant population by raising the ban. Many animal rights activists are angry and upset. Activists are threatening to boycott and plan protests.

When hunting elephants was popular in the early 1900's, it nearly killed off the elephant population. When it first became illegal, in 1995, there were 9,000 elephants. It has now risen to over 20,000 elephants. There is so many elephants that many crops and trees are trampled. There is not yet a specific date to when the ban will be lifted.

Historic Gate Burned Down.

Earlier this week a fire destroyed a large 600 year old gate in South Korea. It used to gate the city of Seoul. It was known as the National Treasure in South Korea. It is sad for many because it has been around for so long and survived so much. It survived both the Chinese and Japanese invasions and also the Korean War. On Monday they suspected a man named Chae had set it on fire and he later confessed to his crime. Two years ago, in 2006, he also set fire to the Changgyeong palace, which is also in Seoul that 4,230 dollars in damage. The Cultural Heritage Administration estimated that it will take a couple of years and about 21 million dollars to rebuild the gate.

Gang robs Zurich of top paintings

According to BBC News, an armed gang stole four paintings worth 160 million dollars, on Sunday. The painting were "Poppies near Vetheuil" by Claude Monet (1879), "Count Lepic and his Daughters" by Edgar Degas (1871), "Chestnut in Bloom" by Vincent Van Gogh (1890) and "Boy in a Red Jacket" by Paul Cezanne (1888). The painting were stolen at the Emil Buehrle Collection in Zurich at 1630 local time. One of the men threatened a security guard with a pistol, while the other two stole the paintings. The painting were put into a white vehicle outside the museum. Police have said that one of the robbers spoke German with a Slavic accent. Mario Cortesi, a Zurich police spokesman told journalists, "We're talking about the biggest ever robbery carried out in Switzerland, even Europe." The paintings were described as "the four finest in the museum's collection," by Museum director Lukas Gloor. The art theft is one of the biggest in the world in the last twenty years.

New-born rhino named Kofi Annan

According to BBC news a new-born rhinoceros in Kenya has been named Kofi Annan in honour of the former UN Secretary General. Baby Kofi was born on the weekend in the community-owned Ol Choro Oirogua Conservancy in the Maasai Mara reserve. Mr Annan is trying to mediate between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who disputed the results of elections in December. Kofi's birth comes three months after a new strategy was announced to increase the numbers of endangered rhinos. Rangers did not say there were any obvious comparisons between Mr Annan and the horned beast, but some have suggested he will need a thick skin to push forward difficult negotiations between Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga.

A new-born rhinoceros in Kenya has been named Kofi Annan in honour of the former UN Secretary General.

Baby Kofi was born at the weekend in the community-owned Ol Choro Oirogua Conservancy in the Maasai Mara reserve. Mr Annan is trying to mediate between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who disputed the results of elections in December. Kofi's birth comes three months after a new strategy was announced to increase the numbers of endangered rhinos. Rangers did not say there were any obvious comparisons between Mr Annan and the horned beast, but some have suggested he will need a thick skin to push forward difficult negotiations between Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga."Thick-skinned Kofi Annan is likely to spend years in the wild," the United Nations said in a statement. The new strategy to save endangered black rhino seeks to raise numbers from the current 540 to 700 by the year 2011.

Alice's GAOC for Feb. 14

On Monday, February 10 at 22:00 GMT, East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta was shot in the stomach at his house after two cars of renegade soldiers pulled up and began the attack. Ramos-Horta was taken immediately to a Australian-military run hospital in the country's capitol of Dili to have an emergency operation. His condition is said to be serious, but not life-threatening. Unconfirmed reports say that there was also an attack at the house of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, but that no one was killed or injured.

One renegade soldier, Alfredo Reinado, was shot dead by the President's guards after he got out of the car. Alfredo Reinado has in the past been indicted for fighting between rebel troops and police in 2006 which caused more than 150,000 to flee their homes. Reinado, in November of 2007, sent out a threat, saying that he would use forces against the government.

East Timor gained independence in 2002, 6 years after Jose Ramos-Horta and Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo won a joint Nobel Peace Prize after the campaign work to be independent from Indonesian rule when the Portuguese withdrew from East Timor in 1975.

Battles kill 41 in Iraq।

On Sunday, February 10th, a suicide car bombing in Iraq killed at least 19 people. The new violence came when Robert Gates; the U.S. Defense Secretary made an unanounced visit to Baghdad to talk with the U.S. commanders and iraqi leaders.
The car bombing happened near a market on the outskirts of Balad, a town just north of Baghdad. There were several raids in villiges in northwestern Iraq, triggering battles with neighborhood militias that killed at least 22 people. The village fights began when several gunmen's stormed villages near Mosul. Out of the 22 dead, 10 had been gunmen.

Feature Story

According to the Ny Times as the fighting in Chad decreases, there are more problems.

After three days of fierce fighting between government troops and rebels here, most of the dead citizens had been carried off, mourned and buried by their families. But the dead rebels had been lying in the streets for days, abandoned by their fleeing compatriots, and attracting black clouds of flies. Even the soldiers held their noses.

But other remnants of the battle that nearly toppled Chad’s government last weekend will not be wiped away so easily. The clash has heightened tensions between Chad and Sudan, threatening to pull the two neighbors deeper into each other’s vexing problems.

Each country accuses the other of forming and causing rebellions across their shared border, and now that Sudanese rebels who had previously been focused on their own struggle in the western Sudanese province of Darfur have come to the aid of Mr. Déby, it has added fuel to the cross-border enmity.Such international alliances and rivalries increase the chances that the entire region could fall into an uncontrolled conflict like the one that engulfed the Great Lakes region of Central Africa after the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

More immediately, the long-sought international peacekeeping missions in both countries have struggled to deploy, because of the new violence here in Chad and the Sudanese government’s stalling tactics in Darfur. This has plunged the fates of more than 2.5 million refugees on both sides of the border into even greater uncertainty.

African Echoes

The residents of this village, founded centuries ago by runaway slaves in the jungle of northern Colombia, try to manage with what they have. Pigs wander through dirt roads. On the surface it resembles any other impoverished Colombian village. But when adults here speak with one another, their language draws inspiration from as far away as the Congo River Basin in Africa. Today, fewer than half of the community’s 3,000 residents actively speak Palenquero, though many children and young adults can understand it and pronounce some phrases.

Palenquero is thought to be the only Spanish-based Creole language in Latin America. But its grammar is so different that Spanish speakers can understand almost nothing of it. It is spoken only in this village and a handful of neighborhoods in cities where workers have migrated.

The survival of Palenquero points to the extraordinary resilience of San Basilio de Palenque, part of whose very name — Palenque — is the Spanish word for a fortified village of runaway slaves. Different from dozens of other palenques that were vanquished, this community has successfully fended off threats to its existence to this day.

Colonial references to its origins are scarce, but historians say that San Basilio de Palenque was probably settled sometime after revolts led by Benkos Biohó, a 17th-century African resistance leader who organized guerrilla attacks on the nearby port of Cartagena with fighters armed with stolen blunderbusses. Palenquero may be the last remnant of a Spanish-based lingua franca once used widely by slaves throughout Latin America.

Palenquero was strongly influenced by the Kikongo language of Congo and Angola, and by Portuguese, the language of traders who brought African slaves to Cartagena in the 17th century. Kikongo-derived words like ngombe (cattle) and ngubá (peanut) remain in use here today.

The defenders of Palenquero view their struggle as a continuation of other battles. “Our ancestors survived capture in Africa, the passage by ship to Cartagena and were strong enough to escape and live on their own for centuries,” said Mr. Salgado, the schoolteacher.

“We are the strongest of the strongest,” he continued. “No matter what happens, our language will live on within us.”

Rwanda-DRC quaks kills dozens

Two earthquakes hit southern Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, on Sunday, killing 39 people and leaving hundreds severely injured. The first earthquake hit the Democratic Republic o Congo with a magnitude of 6.0 at 10:30am local time. The second earthquake hit southern Rwanda with a magnitude of 5.0 at 1:56 pm local time. In Rwanda 34 people were killed and 231 were injured. Ten people out of the 34 people were killed when a church collapsed. Bernard Watunakanza from the DRC said, "Up to now there are five dead and 149 seriously injured, many people are traumatized."

rhino poaching in india

India is deploying gaurds to watch over a protected game reserve in India’s northeast area. The gaurds were deployed after a poacher killed a rare Rhino. The rhino was killed recently after a mother rhinocerous and her baby were killed in the same park. The main reason why the rhinos are being killed is because their horns can be used to make medicines, but some people use the horns for weapons. After the death of the mother rhino, veterinarians tried to help but they had no luck. The rhino population is rising, due to the fact of their conservation, so they are easier to be attacked by poachers. More rhinos have died this year then in 2006. And the overall number of rhino deaths in the past 40 years is 650 rhinos.

Pakistani Taliban Declares Truce

According to Reuters International, today the Pakistani Taliban declared a truce but the truce was denied by a military spokesman. The denied truce put the Pakistani forces a step back because they were hoping for peace between the two parties. Seven people were declared killed by helicopter crash but was later decided a accident. Even though peace between the two would be safer for all the continued violence and deaths have led to mistrust. About 30 people have died since the start of the year and the numbers continue to climb, in hope to stop the climbing amount of deaths the Taliban hopes to come to an understanding with the Pakistani militants.

Yogi Dies

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi died on Tuesday. The Famous yogi who was the a spokesperson for the Transcendental Meditation movement that was brought to he united states in 1959. The Transcendental Meditation movement (or TM) didn't gain alot of popularity until The Beatles visited him in India in 1968. The TM is about "leading humanity towards a new era of peace and harmony". The organization, originally based off of ancient scriptures, has become a world wide multi-million dollar empire comprised of more than 5 million supporters. The yogi died at the age of about 91 in his house in the Netherlands from natural causes.

I used The Guardian Unlimited UK
bbc news UK
and the times online UK

this story is very interesting and I did not know a lot about transcendental Meditation" before i read these articles.

-Maya

Lena's Focus Story

Lena’s Focus Story:
China has freed the Hong Kong journalist, Ching Cheong, 58, who was jailed for charges of spying on Taiwan. Cheong was a correspondent for The Straits Times in Singapore and was released from a prison in Guangdong Province a few days before the Lunar New Year holiday. He spent nearliy two years out of the five-year sentence. It was not cleared why Cheong was freed. The chief executive of Hong Kong, Donald Tsang said “It is most gratifying that he could reunite with his family in time for the Spring Festival”. Cheong was sentences concerned selling state secrets to a Taiwan donation. Soon after Cheong’s arrest, he admitted to spying. Human rights campaigners in Hong Kong said that Choeng’s early arrest was valid, and the conviction had been flawed. The direstor of the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, Law Yuk-kai, said, “It fell far short of the standards of criminal proof required under international human rights treaties, and there was no presumption of innocence.”

sams focus story

Today in jeruselum israeli attackers killed nine hama militants in the gaza strip after people in the hama religion admitted to suicide bombing parts of israel a few years earlier. Hamas statement of responsibility for the earlier attackings have provoked a number of retaliation attacks and they are expecting more. One of the attackers blew himself up outside a row of stores in Dimona.

Meena's GAOC

The Pakistan People's Party has released the political will of former leader Benazir Bhutto in which she states her husband to be party leader. The Pakistan's People Party originally withheld the contents of the document shortly after her assassination in December. A PPP spokesman said they were now releasing it to end debate and speculation about its contents.

Super tuesday- Cecilia

half the country is voting on tuesday febuary 5th, 2008 for the next president of the united states. George is one of the magor states that has closed the polls. The results for the Republican party have shown that John McCain has slitly more votes than his challenger, ex-Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. FOr the result for the Democratic party is too close a tie between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to call. Justin Webb, the BBC's North America editor, says one thing is certain: any candidate who does badly today will be finished.

Pakistan

According to Guardian Unlimited, UK in Rawalpindi, Pakistan a motorcyclist rammed a military bus, setting off a bomb killing himself, four medical staff and one civilian. The Chief of the city police says that at least 30 were wounded in the attack and 10 seriously injured. The explosion happened just about 100 meters from the back of the military head quarters. The explosion damaged several vehicles and many military caps were scattered around the explosion site. This is the seventh suicide attack with in the last six months in Paki(stan.


(By Gillian)

Lucy's Blog Post

According to Aftenposten France's new first lady, supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni, is to begin recording her third album this later this month. However her agent says that there is a questionmark over the likelihood of concerts. "The album is on the way, in pre-production," Bertrand de Labbey said in a telephone interview. "When you record at this time of year, you always release after the summer, in September, October or November. There's no decision yet and we don't know whether we'll release a single or not." Bruni's highly-publicised whirlwind romance clinched by her wedding last weekend with President Nicolas Sarkozy would have little effect on the new album, he said, as "most of the songs were written some time ago." "What will change is the way we release the album to the public," he added, saying "the release will not be routine." No plans existed to date for a concert or tour, he said. "I will be discussing this with her but for now I think her new functions will force her to observe some reserve," he said.

Bush Seeks Budget of $3.1 Trillion

on monday, february 4th, president bush submitted a federal budget of $3.1 trillion saying that the plan would help keep the united states safe and despite its record size, would still keep to his long time promised plan of letting americans keep as much of their own money as possible.
he said, "thanks to the hard work of the american people ans spending discipline in washington, we are now on a path to balance the budget by 2012. our formula for achieving a balanced budget is simple: create the conditions for economic growth, keep taxes low and spend taxpayer dollars wisely or not at all."

Chavez says Colombia hostage mission to start soon

Accordind to Reuters Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Monday his government has started preparing for an operation to rescue three hostages held by Colombian rebels, raising hopes others held in jungle camps could be released.The Marxist FARC rebels said over the weekend they would free three Colombian politicians suffering health problems to Chavez or his delegate after the Venezuelan leader brokered the release of two hostages last month. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has approved the rescue mission despite a diplomatic dispute with Chavez, who describes the United States as an "empire" and accuses White House ally Uribe of plotting a U.S.-sponsored attack on Venezuela.

Sri Lanka's Independence

Sri Lanka’s 60^th anniversary of independence falls just one day after a suicide bomb in the railway station killed 11 people, reported BBC News. The anniversary was marked with high displays of military hardware and tightened security in Colombo, the country’s capitol. The tightened security is posing problems for the people of Sri Lanka, including slowing down rush hour traffic. Even with such extreme security the Tamil Tigers are still on everyone’s mind, “the fear has really got into people’s minds,” said student Janai Wijentuge to BBC News reports. The independence parade happening in Colombo will also include lots of military equipment and presence. Which leaves the people of Sri Lanka to wonder and dread what would happen if the Tamil Tigers were to strike now.

53 sea lions have been found massacred in Galapagos

Park wardens from Galápagos National Park discovered the bodies while working in early January to remove feral goats from the islands of Floreana, Isabela, Santiago, and Pinta, all part of the famed Galápagos Islands located off Ecuador's Pacific Coast on Pinta, a protected island surrounded by the Galápagos Marine Reserve, workers found the dead sea lions "in an advanced state of decomposition," according to Victor Carrion, the park manager. The animals, nearly all showing signs of being beaten in the head, were distributed within a half-mile radius in a spot known as Puerto Pasado, Carrion said.The marine mammals are Galápagos sea lions, listed as a threatened species by The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Kathryn's GAOC focus story

It all started on the first of February. Fighting broke out for the controll of the Chad's capital. On the third day of fighting, hundreds of civilians were injured, as France tried to broker a settlement in it's former colony. Rebel leaders, one of which is the President's nephew Timane Erdimi, are insistent that their only motive is to "topple a corrupt and authoritarian remgime". France has 1,450 troops currently in Chad as well as an sircraft, but have refused to break up the fighting. The capital city is currently broken into two sections. The rebels in the west, and the government and their supporters in the east. French military planes evacuated more than 500 foreign residents by the 4th, and still had another 400 people waiting to be evacuated. When the president of Chad accused Sudan of helping the rebel attack, Sudan denyed any sort of involvment. The fighting still hasn't stopped.

Suicide Attack in Colombo.

There was a suicide attack at Fort Railway Station in Colombo on Sunday. The suicide bomber killed 12 people and at least a hundred were injured. The suicide bomber was a woman and is rumored to be part of the LTTE (The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). The government is blaming the Tigers for the bombing. Also earlier in the day there was a small grenade explosion at the Dehiwala Zoo. 7 people where injured from the small blast. These explosions happened the eve of Colombo's 60th independence day. Since 2002 the Tigers have been attacking on the eve of Colombo's independence.

Cecilia's news

In America vending machines are starting to be placed around California. In these vending machines the drug marijuana can be bought. people trying to buy the drug will have to give a perscription and a fingerprint. The person will also have a picture taken of them. After they have given these things they are given a card wich can be put in the machine to buy the marijuana. They'll be greeted by a security guard right there. They'll slide the card in and they'll fingerprint in to verify that it's them," he was quoted by KWTX News 10 as saying."A camera takes a picture of them, verifying that they're actually at the machine. And they get the medicine and they move on." The operators think that the sight of a marijuana vending machine will become a common sight. Proponents say that marijuana is a valiable drug that helps realives pain. However, it remains banned by the 1970 Controlled Substances Act and the US federal government does not currently recognise any legitimate medical use.

Alice's Feature Story

According to The BBC News, United Kingdom, more than 170,000 people are stranded at a train station in Guangzhou, China due to heavy snowfall. In other cities, many roads are blocked and people stranded because of icy roads and limited supplies of salt for them. More than 20 people have been killed from heavy weather conditions and many regional airports have been closed as well as most trains being delayed or cancelled.

Many people are traveling right now because Lunar New Year is on Monday, February 4th. Last year, more than 2 billion people traveled around this time for the New Year, and it was considered the largest mass migration on Earth.

Even though the Guangzhou train station is closed, many citizens have flocked to public schools and government buildings in Guangzhou that Chinese officials have set up as shelters for citizens to escape power, food, and other necessity shortage in their own homes. The heavy snow has caused homes and power lines to collapse and crops and stores to be destroyed. As of Monday, over 67 million people have been affected by this weather, according to the civil affairs ministry and the Chinese government is working to provide temporary shelters and food for this mass of people.

Feature Story

There has been a major outbreak of bird flu in the Indian state of West Bengal. Birds were found to be carrying the H5N1 virus, which can cause avian influenza in humans. Luckily, no human has been found with the disease. The test results of five people suspected of having bird flu came back negative.
Officials say that the bird flu affects seven out of the nineteen districts in West Bengal, with a total population of twenty-four million people.
Surya Kanta Mishra, the State Health Minister, has asked eight other states for help in culling two million birds believed to have bird flu. Officials from Delhi are concerned that the pace of the culling operation is too slow. They say that only 300,000 birds have been killed so far. Sanchita Bakshi, the state health services director said, “There is every chance of the virus spiraling out of hand if it is too late.”
Authorities face a major challenge because it is difficult to chase and catch chickens roaming around infected areas, before being killed.
Reporters say that attempts to contain the disease in West Bengal are being hampered because farmers insist that their poultry is healthy, and refuse to give them up for culling. Farmers also refuse to give up their chickens, because they say that government compensation was insufficient.
The problem is made bigger when farmers who are poor and illiterate don’t understand basic hygiene. People who are not aware of the risks from the H5N1 virus have dumped dead birds in wells and ponds.
In the meantime, Nepal has stopped all imports of poultry from India. A border between West Bengal and Bangladesh has been sealed. There are fears of an outbreak of bird flu in Bangladesh, which has been trying to contain the increase of bird flu since March of last year.
There have been outbreaks of bird flu in India before. A major outbreak in Manipur last year was controlled, as were previous outbreaks in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
The West Bengal government says that it wants to get health workers to carry out an awareness drive to educate their citizens on the risks of bird flu. The battle to fight bird flu in West Bengal continues.

Israel and Palestine discuss Gaza

According to BBC News, Israel halted it's fuel supply to Gaza after Hamas militants used "rocket attacks" at the border. On Sunday, Israel stated that they would resume the fuel shipments, but not at normal levels. They will only give Gaza the minimum amount of fuel it takes to run the power station. On Sunday the president of the Palestine Authority and the prime minister of Israel discussed the issue. Both leaders are concerned about "the need to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip."

sams focus story

Today former indonesian president suharto died. He was regarded as a great leader and has been bringing indonesia out of poverty since he had been in office. He is also credited with uniting the diverse population of indonesia as one people. To the Us however Suharto has been seen as a dictorial leader focused on classism and traditionol javanise customs. He dies at the age of 86 and was born on june 8th 1921. He was only given a surname he has never had a last name. Although he is gone now, he will forever be remebred as a powerful yet controversial leader in indonesian history.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, have met for the first time since last month's disputed presidential election.The talks in Nairobi were mediated by former UN chief Kofi Annan, who said some first steps had been taken towards a peaceful solution to the crisis.
Weeks of violence followed the election results, rejected by Mr Odinga and described as flawed by observers.

Peter Hain Resigning

Peter Hain resigned early this week after an issue with his campaign funding. He sais he had “no other choice” after a complaint about his failed bid to become the Labor Partys leader last year was referred to police. James Purnell is Britain’s secretary of culture and sport, he will also be succeeding Hain. Purnell, 37, is a high –flyer in the government and one of the youngest secretaries to ever serve in the Brown’s cabinet. He will not be succeeding Hain as secretary of state for Whales, Hain will be appoint that position later reported Reuters UK.
Peter Hain resigning represents the first loss in Prime Minister Gordon Browns’ cabinet since he taking that office. Peter Hain will announce later this week who will take his position as secretary of state.

Crash kills 20 after air safety meeting

According to The Associated Press, Twenty members of the Polish Air Force returning from a flight-safety conference have been killed when a transport plane crashed in the northwest of the country. The transport plane crashed on its approach to the airport near the town of Miroslawiec. Authorities had initially said the crash on Wednesday evening killed seven people. A general was among the 16 passengers and four crew members who were killed, Defense Ministry Col. Cezary Siemion said. The Spanish-built CASA transporter crashed near the town of Miroslawiec, a few hundred kilometers northwest of Warsaw, around 7 p.m. (1700 GMT). The passengers had attended the 15th annual Flight Safety Conference, held in Warsaw on Wednesday. The plane took off from Warsaw and was making several stops before returning to its home base in Krakow. Officials said it was the first accident in Poland involving a CASA transporter, which is generally considered an extremely reliable aircraft. Siemion said investigators were working to determine the cause of the crash, which occurred as the plane was about to land. "Soldiers, husbands and fathers have died, and that is the most tragic result of this catastrophe," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

Core B hannah news story

French bank Societe Generale says it has uncovered "massive" fraud by a Paris-based trader which resulted in a loss of 4.9bn euros ($7.1bn; £3.7bn). The bank said the fraud was based on simple transactions, but concealed by "sophisticated and varied techniques".
It also announced fresh losses of 2.05bn euros related to the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US.The losses are four times greater than those made by Nick Leeson, the rogue trader who brought down Barings Bank.

Leeson the man behind all of the fraud was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail.

French bank Societe Generale says it has uncovered "massive" fraud by a Paris-based trader which resulted in a loss of 4.9bn euros ($7.1bn; £3.7bn). The bank said the fraud was based on simple transactions, but concealed by "sophisticated and varied techniques".
It also announced fresh losses of 2.05bn euros related to the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US.The losses are four times greater than those made by Nick Leeson, the rogue trader who brought down Barings Bank.

Leeson the man behind all of the fraud was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail.

thalia

A woman believed to be the last native speaker of the Eyak language in the north-western US state of Alaska has died at the age of 89. Marie Smith Jones was a champion of indigenous rights and conservation. She died at her home in Anchorage.
She helped the University of Alaska compile an Eyak dictionary, so that future generations would have the chance to resurrect it.Nearly 20 other native Alaskan languages are at risk of disappearing."To the best of our knowledge, she was the last full-blooded Eyak alive," her daughter Bernice Galloway told the Associated Press news agency.With her husband, a white Oregon fisherman, Ms Jones had nine children, seven of whom are still alive.But none of them learned Eyak because they grew up at a time when it was considered wrong to speak anything but English, her daughter said.

Twenty people from the Polish Air Force returning from a flight-safety conference had been killed when a transport plane crashed.

Authorities had first said that the crash on Wednesday evening killed seven people.

A general was among the 16 passengers and 4 crew members who were killed.

It was the first accident in Poland involving that type of plane, which is generally considered an extremely reliable aircraft.
"Soldiers, husbands and fathers have died, and that is the most tragic result of this catastrophe," said Prime Minister Donald Tusk

Cecilia News on Deforestation in South American

In south America deforestation is reaching all time high. In the past 5 months deforestation in Brazil has hit a all time high. In the past 5 months Brazils Amazon has lost 3,235 sq km. Officials say because of rising commodity prices we are encouraging farmers to clear more land. "We've never before detected such a high deforestation rate at this time of year," Mr Camara said. Ms Silva said that the raising price of raw material is causing the farmers cut down more of the Amazon. Mato Grosso a state in Brazil has contributed to half the deforestation. Mato Grosso has cut down 1,786 sq km. The amount of forest cleared might be doubled as more detailed satellite images come in. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is made to attend a emergency meeting January 24, 2008. Last year President Lula said that the governments efforts to control illegal logging and a better certification of land ownership helped reduce the amount of deforestation significantly. As he celebrated the environmentalist warned him that the rate of deforestation was rising.

Kathryn's Gaco Focus City

This week, the Palestinians who live in Gaza tried to stop the Israeli blockade. A Palestinian who was crossing the boarder, said that 'People are very happy. We have been living like birds in a cage. Now we have been released, we are so happy.'
The majority of the Palestinians who crossed the boarder into Cairo, Egypt came to shop, and there were people everywhere running about on their motorcycles carrying their bought goods.
With the boarder now gone, families who had been separated by the boarder took the chance to be reunited with their loved ones.
The Egyptian President said that he supports the Palestinians, and that he had authorized the crossing of the boarder into Egypt. Many Palestinians now in Egypt are welcome to stay, eat, and buy thing, and then be let back into Palestine as long as they aren't carrying weapons.
Israel wants the Egyptian police to do something about the surge of people, because they do not want the Palestinians to smuggle weapons back into their country. But, the police were powerless. They had tried to get the Palestinian protesters to move by beating them and spraying them with water, but they didn't budge an inch.
It remains unclear about hat is going to happen.

U.S. military kills 20 in al Qaeda Iraq raids

US soldiers raid over the past two days on suspected al Qaeda members killed 20 people. The military was searching for an al Qaeda network leader near Baquda, which is 40 miles north if Baghdad. When they arrived, they saw a number of civilians in "fighting positions." In a statement the military said, "Responding in self-defense, the ground force called supporting aircraft to engage the hostile force, killing 10 terrorists." In a nearby building, 3 other terrorist were killed by US soldiers.

इराक एक्स्प्लोसिओं

On Wednesday, January 23rd, in Baghdad, Iraq, a thunderous blast tore through a apartment building. Luckily, the apartment building is vacant, but still, it killed at least 17 people, and injured at least 130 people. Rescue crews searched under collapsed walls and ceilings. The hunt through the debris lasted for many hours. The explosion happened right after the troops arrived but no soldier was reported killed or injured.

Reconciling Kenya

The former UN secretary general Kofi Annan is holding talks between Kenya feuding parties, in order to solution the political crises that has been going on for weeks now. The African statesman has a hard job resolving bitter rivalry between the Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition group leader Raila Odinga over the disputed poll that plunged Kenya into chaos and ethnic bloodshed. Annan told reporters “we are determined to work with the parties to find a solution as quickly as possible.” “We want to determine by tomorrow how quickly the parties want to work with us” he also stated while in the company of his two fellow mediators Benjamin Mkapa, former President of Tanzania, and Graca Machel, the wife of Nelson Mandela. Clashes between the supporters of these political figures have caused ethnic unrest and a brutal crackdown by security forces the combination has killed over 650 people within the past month. Odinga says the dec 27th poll that turned Kibaki to power was fraudulent. Odinga supporters have taken to the streets targeting mostly Kibakis tribe the Kikuyu. Odinga and Kibaki have so far refused tp talk to each other despite pressure from western powers.
(by Gilllian)

a suicide bomber killed 17 people in Baghdad

A suicide bomber killed 17 people in Salahuddin Baghdad outside of the capital. 17 people were killed and 11 wounded. There was a high level of anger in Albo Issa, the village were it took place. Different families talked about the ones they had lost. "after this crime, we will never allow any of those people stay in our area, not even their women and children. we will not permit anyone with such an ideology to stay in or village" said Mohammed Hadi Hassan, whose father was killed. The suicide bombming took place at a celebratory lunch. People say the bomber was 13 or 14 by the name of Ali Hussein Allawi al-Issawi. Later on some men who lost people in the bombing set the boys house on fire, and it set off explosions.

feature story, Kenya

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/01/18/seemungal.kenya.chaos.cnn - video

BUSIA, Uganda-- because of the conflict in Kenya, refugees have been running to the borders to reach the relative safety of Uganda. the majority of the refugees are women and their children. Now, they stand in a line, waiting for a small portion of food; if they're lucky. There is now more than 600 children living in refuge in Busia, and over 7,000 people in small cities along the border. 2 days ago more than 500 Kenyans made it to Busia.

More than 255,000 Kenyans have fled their homes since supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga began contesting the election, in which President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner. International and local observers have also said the vote was rigged.Odinga's followers rioted and looted and then turned to ethnic attacks on Kibaki's Kikuyu people.


The international community has pressured Kenyan leaders to resolve the election crisis as soon as possible, and stop violence that has killed at least 500 people.

Kenya, long one of the most stable and economically developed nations in East Africa, descended into chaos after the Dec. 27 elections.

heath ledger

Today the popular 28 year old australian born actor Heath Ledger was found dead. the police said that Heath ledger was found dead in Soho NYC where he had been renting an apartment. He was found naked with sleeping pills near his body. The police stated that there was no indication of a disturbance and added that there where no signs that he had been drinking. Police officials also found some sleeping pills but are sure that they have nothing to do with his death. Close friends said that Heath was actually happy before the incident, and had been seen many times laughing with his two year old daughter. They are not yet aware if it was suicide or an accident.

Lucy's Newsieness

According to China News, Norway and Chile signed a pact to extend an existing fishing research and cooperation agreement to cover the fight against illegal fishing, technological training, internships for public sectors experts and sharing experience on a sustainable environment. Jorge Chocair, Chile's vice minister of fishing, met Norwegian counterpart Vidar Ulriksen in the port city of Valparaiso, one hundred and twenty miles west of Chile's capitol city Santiago. Chocair told media after the event that it had focused on fighting illegal fishing and an information exchange mechanism covering salmon farming. The two also discussed the Norwegian companies' fulfillment of environment and labor laws; and the effect of fish consumption on human health. Ulriksen described the agreements as very important. "We will continue developing and promoting aid and exchanges, whether it be studies and research in fishing or areas closely related to international trade," Ulriksen said.

P.S. Ask me about the pictures, the top one is Jorge Chocair, and the bottom one is Vidar Ulriksen. If you can't figure it out come talk to me

Lena's Focus Story

Lena’s Focus Story:

Thousands of people came to attend the funeral of Sir Edmund Hillary in New Zealand on Tuesday. Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to climb the world’s highest peek, Mt. Everest. Saffron-robed Buddhist monks, Nepali Sherpas and grey-bearded mountaineers were mixed in with Hillary’s family at the funeral. "His loss to us is bigger and heavier than Mount Everest," Ang Rita Sherpa told the service in a small church in Auckland. "He is our true guardian and our second father, but he has left us behind today." Hillary’s coffin was filled with a cream-colored Nepali prayer scarves, Hillary’s climbing axe, a carved walking stick, and draped with the New Zealand flag. The Prime Minister Helen Clark said, "We mourn as a nation because we know we're saying goodbye to a friend,"

Suicide Bomber Kills 17

According to NYtimes, A suicide bomber killed 17 people in Salahuddin Province north of Baghdad on Monday in the latest suicide attack outside the capital.

In the attack on Monday, a suicide bomber in the village of Hajaj near the northern oil refinery town of Baiji entered a communal hall where a feast was under way, observing the end of the seven-day mourning period for the uncle of a high-ranking security official in the Salahuddin provincial government. The bomber detonated his explosive vest, demolishing the hall.

Seventeen people were killed and 11 wounded, according to a senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media.

Democratic Republic of Congo's death toll is more than 5 million

According to BBC, The International Rescue Committee(the IRC) says 45,000 people are dying every month in the central African state. A total of 5.4 MILLION have been killed over the past decade. This death toll surpasses any other conflict since World War II. The IRC concludes that there are now 45,000 more deaths every month, than would ever be expected from the average, already poor conditions in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. Because of the DRC's large population, the country stretches across the whole of the center of the continent- it's a worse humanitarian crisis even more so than other African wars. Another report's author, Dr Richard Brennan, says a few other countries like Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Angola have see sustained elevations of mortality for a number of years after conflicts.

"What is different about Congo is the scale. There are just so many more people living in Congo than there are in these other countries." says Dr Brennan

So many more are dying there, from easily preventable conditions like malaria, pneumonia and malnutrition. The report's authors say that the Congolese government have the greatest responsibility to address this crisis, while international aid also has a vital role to play. The authors also add that the DRC's crisis still continues to be overlooked, with all the need, there is at the least to say, inadequate funding and support.

Swede Cow Belching!

According to the Associated Press, Sweden has been given $590,000 to figure out how much methane is emitted whenever a cow burps. Cows emit many gases, but it is known that 95% of their gas by products come out as burps. Project Leader Jan Bertilsson of the Swedish University for Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, about 40 miles North of Stickholm, told AP that they will give the cows different diets, and see how it affects the methane. The levels will be monitored by a device that is attached to their necks. But the Swedes are not the first to research this project, Canada has been involved in the problem for a while so they will be in touch further on in our project. The research is funded by a government research facility called Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning.