Entry #11- November 3, 2013

Nigerian wedding party in Borno State massacred by gunmen

BBC News

November 3rd

During a wedding party in Borno State, Nigeria, gunmen raided the event and murdered over 30 people. The groom was reportedly amongst the victims. The group that attacked, was an Islamic militant group called Boko Haram. They have carried out many frequent attacks in the area, even though there was a state-of-emergency declared in North-East Nigeria. Over one thousand troops have been sent there to fight the Boko Haram, who have been fighting to make an Islamic state. 

I think Nigeria, and many other parts of Africa are getting out of hand with these random attacks on public events. The people should get together and make a plan to stop this from happening once and for all. They should start bringing more police and military soldiers to these public events as security, just in-case any more of these random attacks happen 

Entry 10- November 3, 2013

Facebook beheading video: Who was Mexico's Jane Doe?

BBC News 

November 3rd

On Facebook, there was a horrific video posted of a woman in Mexico getting beheaded. There were many reports and complaints about the video, but no one has identified the woman in the video. In this video, the woman is on her knees, wearing a pink top with jeans, then a masked man holding a knife appears and says "Well gentlemen, this is what happens to all those in the Gulf Cartel. On behalf of Los Zetas. Many people complained about the video, including the British Prime Minister, David Cameron who said Facebook was "irresponsible." After a couple days Facebook made a final decision, and decided to take down the video. According to resources, there has been no investigation so far for this murder. Dr. George Grayson, who is one of the world's authorities on Los Zetas, says that the problem is that many municipal police officers work for the public during the day, but at night they work for the cartel. He also included that fear is a powerful tool used by the Zetas. 

First of all, I think it was a very bad decision by Facebook to leave the video up on their website. They should have taken it down the minute it was posted because nobody should be watching those types of videos, especially on public websites like Facebook. Second of all, I think Mexico should be looking to watch over their officers and politicians as many of them are affiliated with trafficking and the cartel. I also find it irresponsible and careless that there is no investigation for this murder.

Entry 9- October 16, 2013

Kenya to microchip every rhino in anti-poaching drive

October 16, 2013

BBC News

In Kenya, wildlife officials are embarking on an ambitious plan to plant microchips in every single Rhinoceros in the country in a drive to combat a surge of poaching. These microchips will be implanted in the horns of over 1,000 rhinos. The wildlife officials hope that these chips will enable live animals to be tracked and poached horns to be traced, improving the chances of finding poachers and prosecuting them. The big prices for rhino ivory horns have aroused a gold rush in poaching across of Africa. Rhino horns are also very highly priced in Asia, as it is mostly used for medicine. The horns are made of keratin, which is also the same substance as human finger nails. With poachers getting more sophisticated and wiser, it is important that we protect these animals. This will serve to strengthen rhino monitoring, protect all the rhinos on sight and also support anti-trafficking nationally and regionally. 

I think this is a great idea. Poaching has become very popular amongst the people of Africa and we should be trying to stop this ASAP. Many rhinos are in the endangered species and we need to find a way once and for all to put this to an end

Entry 8- October 07 , 2013

New global index exposes 'modern slavery' worldwide

October 16, 2013

BBC News

Right now there are nearly 30 million people all over the world that are living and being used for slavery. There are 162 countries that are still using these people as slaves. India has the highest number of people living in these conditions. They have over 14 million people being used as slaves. Modern slavery is very different from what it used to be many years ago. Now they are being used for debt bondage, human trafficking, forced marriage and etc. The International Labour Organization estimates that almost 21 million people are victims of forced labour. India, China, Pakistan and Nigeria have the highest number of people enslaved. Together, with five other countries, they account for three-quarters of the total estimated number of people in modern slavery worldwide. 

I still don't why slavery is still going on all over the world. Mrs. Clinton says that "I urge leaders around the world to view this index as a call to action, and to stay focused on the work of responding to this crime." I agree with what Mrs. Clinton had to say and that leaders every where in this world should at least try and contribute to stopping slavery for once.

Entry 7- October 3, 2013

Italy boat sinking: Dozens of 

migrants die off Lampedusa

October 3

BBC News

Today on the Southern Italian Island of Lampedusa, at least 130 African migrants have died due to their boat sinking in the water. The coast guards have found 103 bodies, and more have been found inside the wreck so far. Most of these migrants were from either Somalia or Eritrea, and they threw themselves in the sea when a fire broke out. More than 150 migrants were rescued. The Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano says that the ship travelled from Misrata, Libya and began taking on the sea when its motor stopped working. It is believed that some of the people on board set fire to a material to attract the attention of incoming ships, but only to have the fire spread to the rest of the boat. The spokeswoman for the International Organization of Migration in Rome, Simona Moscarelli, estimated that only 6 of the 100 women on the boat survived and that most of the migrants were unable to swim.

I believe this is a huge tragedy and disappointment. We should be taking better care of our own people and making sure that they are safe. 

Entry 6- October 2, 2013

Brazil police charged with Rio murder over Amarildo case

October 2, 2013

BBC News Latin American & Caribbean

Ten Brazilian police officers were charged for murdering a drug dealer named Amarildo de Souza in Rio de Janeiro. De Souza who was 43, has not been seen since July 14 when the police officers took him in. Mr. De Souza's wife claims she last saw her husband on July 14 when he went to go shopping for dinner. Those 10 police officers have been charged for torturing and murdering De Souza and then hiding his body. The investigators say that Mr. De Souza was an epileptic and died during while being tortured in the questioning room. Also the police officers claimed that they let Mr. De Souza go and they have nothing to do with his disappearance. 

I believe the fact that the police officers took in Mr. De Souza for questioning, tortured him which caused him to have an epilepsy episode and die. I also think that these officers should be sentenced for life in prison for killing an innocent man 

Entry 5- October 2, 2013

10 wildlife secrets caught on thermal cameras

October 2, 2013

BBC Nature

The military has led to the development of the use of thermal technology on animals, insects, birds and all different types of wildlife. The type of thermal technology being used on these animals are infra-red rays. Using infra-red radiation to visualize differences in temperature has brought some surprising facts and information about these animals. The military has used these rays on 10 different types of animals and these are some of the facts that they have found. For example they used these rays to find out when a panda bear is pregnant, to indicate different diseases and conditions like arthritis in elephants and rabies in raccoons, to determine the temperature of the outer coats of penguins, to determine where elephants lose and gain heat in their body during the day and etc.

I think this technology is great. I like how we can now find out any medical conditions or any other problems that some animals have by using this technology. I also think it would be great if this technology were to be used on humans more often to find out if they are pregnant, sick or have any other serious conditions.

Entry 4- September 23, 2013

Nairobi Westgate attack: Assault begins to break siege

September 23, 2013

BBC News

Al-Shabab, which is a terrorist group that is located in Somalia and is also linked with al-Qaeda attacked a local mall in Nairobi, Kenya called the Westgate Shopping Complex. al-Shabab is mainly fighting in general to make Somalia an Islamic state. They have been pushed out of many key cities in the past couple years, but still have control over many small towns on the countryside. The terrorist group  states that this mall attack is a retaliation for the Kenyan military operations in Somalia.   Over 1,000 people were in the mall during the attack and so far there has been 62 people killed and more than over 170 people injured.

I think that the Kenyan Police and Military should try negotiating or making contact with these terrorists before anything else dangerous happens. They have already found out why these terrorists are here, but they haven't found a way to stop them and I think that they should try and negotiate a deal with these terrorists and find out what they want. 

Entry 3- September 19, 2013

Iran won’t ever seek nuclear weapons, says Rohani

September 19, 2013
Toronto Star

The U.S has suspected that Iran has and is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iranian President Hasan Rouhani claims that his country has never made any nuclear bombs. On Wednesday in Tehran, Hasan Rouhani spoke to the American Television Network and stated "We have never pursued or sought a nuclear bomb and we are not going to do so." "We have time and time again said that under no circumstances would we seek any weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, nor will we ever"

I believe that the U.S shouldn't make any military actions yet on Iran, but still keep watch over them just in case they do have any nuclear weapons. But if the U.S makes any military actions on Iran or keeps pressuring them to show their weapons, this could possibly start another war.

Entry 2 September 17, 2013

Navy Yard shooting: What we know and don't know

September 17, 2013

CNN

On Monday, September 16 an IT contractor named Aaron Alexis walked into Building 197 which is a Navy Yard Building in Washington, and murdered 12 people. We don't why he walked in and killed all those people but we do know that he used to work for the navy, but was discharged in 2010 for insubordination and unauthorized absences. We also know that Aaron was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder from trying to help rescue civilians from the 9/11 attacks back in 2001.
In recent years after being discharged, he appeared to be very troubled . He was hearing voices and having problems sleeping. Then on August 7th, there was a complaint at a Marriott Hotel in Rhode Island involving Aaron Alexis. Apparently he was being followed by 3 people who had followed him to the hotel and were talking to him through the walls and floor by using a "machine" to send vibrations to prevent him from sleeping. The police then contacted the Navy and the FBI asking them if they had anything to do with this but they both had no comment in the situation


I think that Aaron Alexis was going through a very rough time and was mentally breaking down. Also, that he may have believed that the Navy sent the men to follow him around the hotels and that is why he reacted by attacking the Navy Yard Building in Washington and murdering 12 people. 

Entry 1- Sept 11, 2013

Syria crisis: Barack Obama puts military strike on hold

September 11, 2013
BBC News

President Barack Obama has decided to put his military actions against Syria on hold so that they can remove them of their chemical weapons, but in a more peaceful way. The US has been suspecting that Syria was holding chemical weapons for a while now and Damascus has finally admitted that they have been holding chemical weapons. Syria has agreed to abide with Russia's plan to hand over their chemical weapons. But President Obama has ordered the military to maintain their current position to keep pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and to be in position to attack if diplomacy fails.

I think that if the Syrian's don't hand over their chemical weapons, The US should fight against the Syrians until they find their chemical weapons and destroy them. I believe this should happen because many people in Syria have already died from these chemical weapons and if the US doesn't do anything to stop them Syria will start using them against other countries and it will lead to destruction