Entry 20 May 23rd

22 Afghan Police Officers Are Killed in Attacks by Taliban

Rod Nordland

In Kabul it was a very bloody day for the police officers of Afghanistan. 22 officers were killed from 4 separate attacks around the country by the Taliban. One of the places hit was in the northern province of Badakhshan. This was where officers complained the the U.S. military was no where to help them. The officers in Afghanistan have always had high casualties but this was one of the worst.  In Yangan part of Badakhshan is where the government has been battling the Taliban for 2 days in a government complex. Up to 40 security guards and government workers are stuck in a bunker under the facility. 16 police officers have been killed so far. The people in the bunker are now running low on supplies and ammo. Their plan was to interrupt the soon coming government election.

The attacks that are going on in Afghanistan are truly outrageous and have to be stopped. The Taliban have been given too much power and should not go unpunished  for their crimes. The officers that were killed were only doing their jobs. The Taliban were not targeting them but they got in cross hairs. I am sorry for the families of the police officers and my deepest condolences.  

Entry 19 May 21st

Stabbing spree leaves 4 dead in Taiwan subway

Johnson Lai

In the capital of Taiwan the killing of 4 people in a subway took place. At at the 21-year-old second-year student at Tunghai University in the central city of Taichung was wielding a knife on a subway leading to the southwestern suburbs of Taipei. The boy killed four people and injured 21 others during the attack. Photos of the attack showed blood splattered subway car and video of men using umbrellas to restrain the attacker. Security guards quickly called police who then apprehended him and said he reeked of alcohol. The man told the police the he wanted to do something "Shocking" and had been planning this since childhood. He there were no other motives involved and he did not suffer from any mental health problems. 

He boarded the train two stations earlier and started stabbing people when they passed the first. The attacker was using a 10 centimeter knife and was carrying another that was 30 centimeters longs. He stuck victims in the stomach and chest. Attacks like this are very rare in Taipei.

I cant imagine how someone could think that stabbing a bunch of people on a subway would be a good idea with having any sort of mental instability. The people on the subway were innocent and should not have hurt or killed from stupidity. The security guards on the subway should have been more aware of what was happening and should have intervened. Also they should station a guard on all of the subways so this wont happen again.   

Entry 18 May 13th

‘All options open’ to rescue schoolgirls, says Nigeria

 Bloomberg

In Abuja, Nigeria a government official said "all options open" help save the girls. 300 hundred girls were abducted by the Boko Haram last month from their school Borno state. The U.S has sent air reconnaissance to help in the search effort.  The Boko Haram's leaders was seen in a video that they released he said “I swear to almighty Allah, you will not see them again until you release our brothers that you have captured.” He was also seen threatening to sell the girls in the slavery. Parents of the girls who have been captured are being asked to watch the video to see if they can identify any of the girls in them. The Nigerian government originally decided they were not going to negotiate with them  but that might be relaxed. Mike Omeri said that the government will use whatever type of action it takes to free the girls. This has not been the first attack by the Boko Haram and people started a protest in the streets of Abuja for the government to do more about finding the girls and stopping the Boko Haram. 

The Boko Haram has been terrorizing the people of Nigeria to help project their mission. The government of Nigeria has not been doing nearly enough to track down them before more people get killed. The Boko Haram have killed hundreds of people in Nigeria and we can't let the girls be the next victims. Taking the girls from the school will prove to be worthless to their mission and will have been a waste of time. I hope that the girls will be returned to their families without being harmed.

Entry 17

Bus Crashes and Burns in Mexico, killing at least 36

The Associated Press

In Mexico a passenger bus slammed into a broken down truck which caused it to burst into flames with the people inside. This killed at least 36 people on Sunday morning in southern Mexico. Official say the 4 people survived the crash which happen after midnight in the southern state of Veracruz. The people on the bus were business people travelling from Villahermosa in Tobasco State to Mexico City. The victims were burned to death alive inside the bus.  Bus crashes cause hundreds of deaths in Mexico each year. 

It is the bus drivers fault for the crash of the bus. Even though the bus hit a tractor trailer it was parked on the side of the road and the driver should have been able to avoid the tractor trailer. I am very sorry for the families if the people who died in the crashes. Things like these should not happen and there should be more precautions. 

Entry 16

Chileans flee from burning port city after 2,000 homes destroyed

Graciala Ibanez and Marianela Jarroud

After two days of trying to control the blaze Chilean fire fighters that have killed 12 people, injured 500, destroyed 2,000 homes and have forced 10,000 people to leave the dense hills where they live. They thought the fires had been contained after 24 hours but started up again after the winds picked up and started to spread the fires to different neighbourhoods. Having no fire hydrants it was very difficult for fire fighters to bring water to the fires and often had to watch neighbours hoods burn. 20 air planes and helicopters we deployed to drop water a hot spots but even with that they could no completely put out the fire. The fire began in a forested ravine next to ramshackle housing and quickly spread because of the wooden housing.

I am very sorry for the people who live in Chile and I hope that the fire goes out as quickly as possible. I hope that something like this doesn't happen again. I think that the Chilean government should invest in some better way of fighting fires in the neighbour hoods where they are likely going to start. This stuff does happen and I want the people to not give up. 

 

Entry 15

Blast at Nigerian bus station kills scores

Associated Press

In Abuja, Nigeria a large explosion tore through a local bus station during the morning rush hour. The explosion killed at least 71 people and wounded 124. This marked the largest terrorist attack ever to hit Abuja. President Goodluck Jonathan visited the horrifying scene and blamed the Boko Haram responsible for the attack on the bus station. The Boko Haram is an Islamic extremist group that operates in Northern Nigeria and has been threatening to attack the capital. Authorities thought that the bomb was either planted in the ground or hidden in a car. The blast destroyed 16 luxury buses and 24 minibuses and cars. 

The Boko Haram organization has done some truly terrible things to the people of Nigeria. The Nigerian police have to get ride of them from their country before they become even more deadly then they are already. Doing this to innocent civilians is truly despicable. The government has to do something about the problem before more lives are lost.

Entry 14

Man suspected of cannibalism arrested in Pakistan; police say he and brother are repeat offenders

Associated Press

In Islamabad police arrested a man on Monday who is suspected of being a cannibal. Body parts had been found in his house including a skull of a small child. The man's neighbours had complained about a foul smell coming from his house which gave the police a reason to mount a raid on his house. The police believe that the man and his brother had been digging up graves in a nearby graveyard where people had seen the men lurking. The body parts that were found appeared to be a skull of the child but are sending them in for further testing. The police are looking for the man's brother. The man had just recently been let out of jail after dehumanizing a body. In Pakistan there is no law against cannibalism. Many cooked human body parts were found in the brothers homes and are now sentences to 2 years in prison. 

It is truly unthinkable that two people could even think about eating another human being even if they had already passed away. I think that sending them away for 2 years is not long enough and they should have been given life sentences for their crimes. Eating another person is beyond imaginable and it should not be allowed anywhere. 

Entry 13

Over 500 DNA tests demanded from French high school staff and students after student rape

Lori Hinnant

The French authorities are taking DNA tests of male students and faculty. They are testing 527 including boys as young as 14 years of age. They are looking for the boys who recently raped a girl on the campus.

The Fenelon-Notre Dame high school in western France began testing on Monday. Investigators are using all of their resources to find the rapist of this young girl for September 30 when the girl was raped in a dark bathroom of the school. Many rapists have been found using this method like in the small town in Wee Waa Australia and Narborough England 

I think that it is good the authorities are taking such extravagant actions towards finding the rapist of the young woman. I cannot even imagine what would have been going through her mind while it was happening and having this done to help prevent something like this to happen again is very pleasing. I hope that the rapist is found and gets what he deserves.  

Entry 12

Video of cellblock police assault against Toronto man made public

  Jennifer Pagliaro

Recently a video capturing four Toronto police officers assaulting a man while he is in a cell block. The video had been kept a secret but is now out for the public to see. When Justice Donna Hackett found out that the four police officers had lied about the attack on Curtis Young she knew that there were two videos crucial to finding out the truth.
Curtis Young arrived at a police station in Scarborough after being picked from sleeping in a bus stop drunk and possessing a bag of marijuana. In the video at the police station Young is complaining about his swollen eye and how they had punched him in the face. Which was ignored by the judge in court. The officers brought him into a holding cell where they were on top of him for 7 minutes and when they get of Young is on the ground motionless. Later paramedics arrived on the scene to access Young.

It is truly awful that officers think that they have the right to do this. The suspect was doing nothing to provoke the officers to begin attacking them but they decided to do any way. Police these days have too much power over civilians which leads to violence similar to this. 

Entry #11 February 28th

Egyptian army’s claim to have found AIDS cure draws ridicule

Maggie Micheal 

The Toronto Star

Cairo, Egypt's military leaders are facing ridicule after the chief army engineer said that they had a "miraculous" set of devices that can detect, cure AIDS, hepatitis and or viruses. The claim of this was dismissed by experts who called it "shocking to scientists" by the presidents science adviser. This has struck a blow to Egypt's well managed image. 

Saying that you have to cure to AIDS and not having anything to back it up is truly insulting to the people who have it. Many people have been diagnosed with AIDS and are eager to get ride of it. Giving people false hope is very is dishonourable. People with AIDS suffer terribly. 

Entry 10 February 26th

Toronto Zoo keepers speak out about trip to PAWS

Amy Dempsey 

Toronto Star

Elephant handlers from the Toronto zoo speak about their journey to California and losing the animals that they cared for for so long.  

It was a long and tiring ride from the Toronto Zoo to the PAWS sanctuary based in San Andreas. The youngest of the elephants was showing signs of stress and was not wanting to come out of the crate she was getting transported in. The keepers had to caux her out of the crate and in to the elephant barn. Keepers Rebecca Clark and Brendan Linnell called to the elephant "Alllright. Alllright." Clark called to Thika in a soothing tone. She repeated this over and over . For four years the keepers had been working with the elephants and could interpret what they were thinking by every movement and rumble. 

This was Thika's first time out of the zoo in her 33 year life and overwhelmed by all the noises and sounds. She needed to familiarized her self with something. The keepers asked for water and juice crystals for the elephants because that is what they like to drink and familiarize them selves. After the elephant was out of the crate after a 4,100 km trip. The keepers jobs were done.

The keepers were worried how the elephants would coupe at the PAWS center after the them and the people at PAWS had been fighting for the past two years. City councillors voted to send the animals to California without telling the keepers. This lead to many keepers not being allowed to enter the sanctuary or come on the trip.

I don't like how people could decide on taking away animals that people had spent a majority of their zoo keeper career with the animals and take them away. The animals have grown used to the keepers being with them and being at the zoo. They just decided to ship them off to a place they have never been and with people they have never met which i think isn't humane to both the elephants or keepers.

Entry 9 February 25th

Islamic militants attack Nigerian school, killing dozens of students

Adamu Adamu and Michelle Faul

Globe and Mail

In Northern Nigeria, Islamic militants set fire to a school dormitory. Then shot and slit the throats of students trying to escape through the windows during the before Tuesday morning attack. At least 58 students were killed many of which were burned alive.They “slaughtered them like sheep” said one teacher, Adamu Garba.

The soldiers that were guarding the coed government school were mysteriously taken away hours before the attack happened. Female students were spared during the attack. Although girls have been abducted in the past by militants of the Boko Haram movement. Which means western education is forbidden. The attackers went to the female dormitories and told the girls to go home,get married and abandon the western education. All of the people killed were teenage boys and young men. The age of the victims appeared to be between the ages of 15 to 20. 

The Islamic's, who struggle for an Islamic state have killed thousands which has made them the biggest threat in Nigeria. They have increasingly killed civilians both Muslim and Christian. In the last month around 300 people have died.

It is crazy how people can commit such horrific crime towards somebody else just because they are a part of the western culture or for this instance learning the ways of another part of the world. The innocent boys at the government school were sleeping in their beds to wake up to their home being burned down and no way to get out. The soldiers who left the post so the militants could gain access to the school are truly terrible people and this should no be allowed to happen. 

Entry 8th February 23th

Ukraine’s future hangs in the balance as Yanukovych is impeached, opposition icon freed

Tanya Talaga 

Toronto Star

The politics in Ukraine has changed again. One day after a compromise was signed to end a bloody week in the capital of Kyiv. After 24 hours after the compromise was signed between the Ukrainian President Viktor Yunakovych and the opposing leaders. The President left the country. He then was impeached and demonstrators provided security to the abandoned government building. The next election was scheduled for May 25th. He leading opponent Yulia Tymoshenko was released form jail and the head of the Army said he would not get involved. Yulia made her way from the eastern Ukraine to Independence Square to talk to the pro-democracy movement that freed her after two years behind bars.From her wheelchair she told the crowd "The people who died here are the heroes." He suffered severe back problems from the time she served in solitary confinement . 

Yanukovych left to Kharkiv a Russian-speaking part of Ukraine where he holds most of his political power. “They are trying to scare me. I have no intention to leave the country. I am not going to resign; I’m the legitimately elected president,” a shaken Yanukovych said in a televised statement.

Nearly 100 hundred people died and many more injured after the pro-European demonstrators stood up to Yanukovych failed to tie Ukraine closer to Europe. The demonstrators are known as the Euromaidan. The protesters began a peaceful tour on Nov 21st after Yanukovych stopped pursuing the European economics ties and get better support from Russia.  

The violence in Ukraine cause by Yanukovych when the government forces shot live ammunition at a demonstrators last week. Peaceful protests can often turn into riot if and extremist wants to turn it in to a riot like it happened last week. Things like this should not be allowed to happen because of the risk it bring to people there. Over all what is happening in Ukraine is likely to last for a while and wont be good for the country.

Entry 7 February 18th

U.S. Navy set to add lasers, rail guns to its arsenal

David Sharp
The Globe and Mail

The United States Navy has decided to add lasers and rail guns to their arsenal in the up coming two year. They are designing lasers to shoot down aerial drones and rail guns that can shoot a projectile at hyper-sonic speeds. They are trying to resort to using there weapons for the economic part. These weapons cost much less than the amount of missiles that they use that will eventually run out where as the lasers and rail guns will not. 

The Laser technology has evolved to a point where a single laser will be able to operate by only one sailor. The laser system is designed to target things that the Navy considers asymmetrical threats. These things include aerial drones, speed boats and swarm boats which are all potential threats to warships in the Persian Gulf. The lasers do have some short comings as they are often lose their effectiveness when it is raining, dusty or their is turbulence in the air. They have found ways to deal with bad weather but the range would be reduced a lot. 

The rail guns which have been tested on land in Virginia that travels six or seven the steed of sound which is enough velocity to create a lot of damage. The rail also requires a lot of energy to shoot the projectile. The Navy's new destroyer the Zumwalt is the only destroyer that has enough energy to power a rail gun. The Zumwalt's generators create 78 megawatts of power which is enough to power a medium sizes city and more than enough for a rail gun. Engineers are also working on creating a battery system that will allow rail guns to be installed on ships that are currently in the fleet.

Putting the lasers and rail guns onto new ships will be a good thing as apposes to the missile and machine guns before. The lasers and rail guns are much less expensive as missiles. Also you cannot run out of ammunition on them where as apposed to missiles they run out a lot and are very expensive. The U.S. Navy is doing a good job at inventing new and affordable weapons which I think is important to keeping North America safe.

Entry 6 January 10th

Anger Erupts After Danish Zoo Kills a 'Surplus' Giraffe

New York Times
Nelson D. Schwartz

Maruis the giraffe died at the Copenhagen Zoo on Sunday. He was 2 years old. Maruis was killed by a shotgun and after a public autopsy he was feed to the zoos lions and other big cats. The administrators said that they had decided to kill Marius because his genes were well represented in the captive giraffes in the European zoos. This did not satisfy animal rights activists who made a large last minute campaign  in order to save him. 

The activists collected nearly 30,000  online signatures from people who did not want Marius killed. People from the Copenhagen zoo also received death threats after they turned down adoption offers from other zoos ad a bid of 500,000 euros from somebody to take Marius in.

Bengt Holst, the zoos scientific doctor said that he decided against send Marius to another zoo because in doing so would have opened the door to inbreeding and potentially removed a place for a giraffe whose genetic makeup was more valuable in terms of future off spring in captive breeding programs. For the people who offered the buy the giraffe the giraffe is a social animal and can't be kept in isolation.

Cruelty towards animals is an unthinkable thing to do and killing an animal with a good reason to do so. It is even worse the people at the Copenhagen Zoo had many other options for places they could bring Marius but instead they decided to kill the helpless animal. This was a truly vicious act towards animals and there should be laws against this from happening.  

Entry #5 January 9th

Online drinking game 'NekNomination' raises concerns

The Globe and Mail

Gayle Macdonald 

The new online drinking game NekNomination which involves students posting them selves chugging beer and hard liquor. This trend has started up in Canada, universities and high school officials are going on to social media to warn people about the risks. NekNomination is the blame of two deaths last week in Ireland.

NekNomination originated in the Australia where "Neck" is slang for drink. It started where people filmed them self online drinking heavily and then dare or "nominate" to follow up in the next 24 hours. This swiftly went through Europe and the rest of the world. It takes hold of a region for a couple of weeks until everybody has done it then it will move to another area. Magida El Timani, 21 a student and the University of Guelph says " The drinking is something that happens daily in any college around the world, so that aspect doesn't really shock or bother me. It’s that people are doing it half-naked in the freezing cold. They can get sick and die.”

At Western, director of campus police John Carson calls it a “challenging situation” Both Western and Queens are staring campaigns to encourage students to make NekNominations in NiceNominations. Which are pooping up across Canada and as far as South Africa that shows people giving sandwiches, coffee, chocolate bars, and red Olympic gloves to homeless people.  

NekNominations is kids just trying to impress each other. They is not need for people to be punished and turning it into some for people to be nice to each other. The fact that two people is Ireland died just last week needs to stop. People are doing a lot of harm to their bodies and this can also lead to alcohol poisoning. I am glad that university's are doing some thing to stop it.  

Entry 4 February 9th

Wielding Whip and a Hard New Law, Nigeria Tries to ‘Sanitize’ Itself of Gays

New York Times

Adam Nossiter

In Bauchi, Nigeria a young man cried out after being whipped 20 times on a court room bench. When it was over the mans side and back were very bruised. Still the crowd outside was upset because the penalty for gay sex in the Islamic law is death by stoning. "He is supposed to be killed" said judge Nuhu Idris Mohammed.

Outside of the courtroom the crowd is unforgiving in the North Nigeria metropolis. Where nine others are accused of being game by Islamic police are behind the central prisons high walls. Stones and bottles are being thrown at them and some of the officials said some of the mob wanted to set the courthouse on fire.

Since Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan, sign a new harsh law against homosexuality. Arrests have of gays have multiplied. Gay sex in Nigeria has been illegal since British rule but convictions were rare. The new law bans same sex marriage and goes as far to 10 years in prison for people who directly or indirectly make a public show of a same sex relationship. As well is also punishes anyone who participates in gay clubs and gay organizations. Navi Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights says "Rarely have a seen a piece of legislation that is so few paragraphs directly violates so many basic human rights.   

It is unacceptable to for people to be punished for who they are. It does not matter what your culture is human rights apply to everybody. There is nothing wrong with with being gay and something should be done about it.

Entry 3- February 5

An Olympics in the Shadow of a War Zone

New York Times
Steven Lee Myers
February 5th

In Baksan, Russia on Friday a week way from the start of the Olympic Winter Games. 180 miles away. Russian forces appeared on Makhov Street at 8:30 am. They condoned and area around a brick and stone building . Inside of the house one of the men told his father that they were surrounded. They said farewell because they knew they were going to die. The men in the house exchanged gunfire only stopping to let the children leave. The shooting lasted until the afternoon where four men were dead. The men in the house blew it up leaving angry neighbors. This is the first time an Olympic Games are being played outside of a war zone.This war is one of the longest running in the world. It is being fought between two groups; increasing radicalized militants who operate in the shadows of society and a security force that can be brutal but useful. The Olympic being held in Russia has such a importance for Russia and President Vladimir V. Putin which has cause many Islamic terrorist groups to vow a wave of attacks. They are trying to establish an independent caliphate across the North Caucasus. The Russian Government has put into place what experts describe as the most extensive security operations in sports history. They are sealing off the city and have been doing months of operations to crush the terrorists. This has left 529 people dead.

I think that is very important to make sure to keep everybody safe at all times during the Olympic Games. What the Russian Government is doing to keep them safe is important. This is a very important time for Russia therefore they should do whatever they can to keep them safe for everybody watching. There might have been better choices location of the 2014 Olympic Games but in 2007 they did not know that they was going to be such a threat.

Entry #2 January 28th

Toronto Mayor Admits Crack Use, as Wild Ride in Office Continues

Jan 30th, 2014

New York Times

Ian Austen

The mayor of Toronto Rob Ford was shown in a video that showed him smoking crack cocaine. This sends us back to May where Ford told a group and reporters and camera men that he has smokes crack before but he was not an addict. Ford said "“I wasn't lying; you didn't ask the correct questions. No, I’m not an addict and no, I do not do drugs. I made mistakes in the past and all I can do is apologize, but it is what it is.” During a news conference at City Hall, Rob Fords denial turns quickly into a confession and apologizes for how often he gets drunk avoiding the cocaine issue. Ford confession only forced more of his allies, city council members and opponents to step down from office. Nobody in Ontario Municipal Law has the power to make Rob Ford step down from office unless he doesn't show up to work for and extended period of time.  Although Rob Ford confessed to using drugs he has given back to the City of Toronto Ford has saved Toronto around a billion dollars. 

Rob Ford has done a lot of things in the last year bad and good. He has saved this city a lot of money but has also committed a lot of crimes. He is planning to stay in office until his term is over. Which I am not sure is a good thing.