Putin Warns of New Missle Crisis

Friday, October, 26 2007.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that the US plans for a missile shield which he thinks will cause another situation similar to the 1960's Cuban Missile crisis. "Russia is opposed to the US building missile bases in countries that were once in the Soviet Union." Says Putin.

The 1960's missile crisis brought the United States and the Soviet Union almost to a nuclear war and Putin like most other people do not want this to happen. Putin says that the crisis now is similar to the 1960's because the Soviet Union started building missile bases in Cuba within distance of the United States. Now the United States has bases within striking distance of Russia. Things will not escalate any further says Putin because the United States and Russia are on good terms. Unlike back in the 1960's.

I think that Russia should not worry about the missile bases popping up in Europe. Seeing as the US are allies with Russia there would be no gain in attacking Russia and if they did, it would start a World War. I also think though that the United States do not need so many missile bases in Europe. First of all the United States already have enough defenses but now with the growth of more bases it will create more problems because countries near the bases could start to worry about their own defense.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7064428.stm

Medal of Honor Awarded to Navy Seal

Monday, October, 22nd, 2007

Lt. Murphy was part of the Navy Seals and was killed back in 2005 in Afghanistan. Now in 2007 Lt. Murphy's parents will receive the Medal of Honor for their fallen son.=

In 2005 Murphy led his four man Seal team into a region that had many 10,000 foot mountains. They were searching for a terrorist but they were soon spotted and 40 insurgents started to fire on their position. The attack was well launched by the Taliban and soon after the fighting began all four of the men were injured. Murphy exposed himself to enemy fire as to keep his team together and still able to fight. The mountains were blocking any communications. Murphy moved into the open as to communicate to get reinforcements. At one point during the communications Murphy was hit in the back with a bullet and dropped the receiver but picked it back up and finished his communications. At the end of the communications he said thank you.

The day turned out to be the worst day for the Navy Seals since World War 2. Only one man survived the attack from the insurgents.

They will soon receive the Medal of Honor from President George Bush. His parents say he was "Very protective for other people and always looked out for the underdog." His dad also said, "Here is a man who had been shot in the stomach, and been fighting with this wound, gets shot in the back..... and then still has the presence of mind to say thank you. Michael was the politest guy in the world.

I think people like these are true heroes and do deserve awards. Even though Lt. Murphy is not around to receive his award I am sure that his family, friends, and the sole surviving Seal are very proud of his actions. Reading stories like these make me understand more about how people will do anything to protect their fellow man. I think people should all stick up for themselves and other people and they will be rewarded.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/22/murphy.medal.of.honor/index.html

By: Barbara Star and John Helton.

Navy: Sailor Kills Female Colleagues then Himself

Monday, October, 22nd 2007

Today in the United Arab Emirates at the American base in Bahrain, an American sailor took the lives of two women then turned the gun on himself. The man did not die from his wounds, but is in critical condition at the base's hospital.

The shootings occurred at around 5 a.m. local time. The motive for the shootings are unclear at the moment an official from the base states. The man is being held under very heavy security even though he is in a critical state at the moment.

So far we do not know the motive of why the sailor chose to do this, but I think that anyone who has the guts just to think about killing someone has a problem, and to try and take your own life after is even worse. I am sure that this man will receive a harsh penalty because he is not only representing the Marines but representing his country. People who commit acts like these should receive a long period of jail time without parole I think. When the man does go to court to face his charges I am sure that he will get a harsh penalty. If the motive is never released some people could think that this a crime against women. Until we are told of what his motive was we can only guess.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/10/22/bahrain.shooting/index.html

Written by: Barbarra Star and Caroline Faraj.

France Hit by Transport Strike

Thursday, October 18, 2007

France has been plagued by a one day nation wide public transport strike. The strike is to protect a pension system, that approximately 1.6 million workers have. Some unions that are involved in the strike say they may have to continue it for another day. This strike will also test Nicolas Sarkozy the President of France.

The strike is not in the best timing either as France is hosting the final game of the Rugby World Cup on Saturday.

In France 3 out of every 14 subway lines are shut and 1 subway train out of every ten are running. This also could cause problems for airports seeing as some workers might be late to work if the public transportation is not running. Out of the 700 fast trains only 46 are actually being operated meaning a lot less people are getting where they need to go. Bernard Thibault states, "Workers were fed up with being constantly portrayed as privileged or in some way guilty on the issue of pensions."

I think that this strike is a good thing because the workers deserve pensions that they want. Also this strike only lasted for about two days so I think that people can last two days without transportation, but I am sure that some people could find other modes of transportation.

http://voanews.com/english/2007-10-18-voa14.cfm

Korean Leaders in Historic Talks

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Kim Jong-il the leader of North Korea and Roh Moo-Hyun the leader of South Korea met at Pyongyang in North Korea. A meeting between the leaders of these two countries has only ever happened twice before. Live television showed them shaking hands. Moo-Hyun will remain in North Korea for three days for the peace and economic talks. The summit is to try and create a permanent truce between the two countries.
President Roh left Seoul in a motorcade and was dropped off just before the boarder where they was no military on either side. The president and his wife then got off and walked across the boarder. This is the first time a President from North Korea has ever done this. The president did this because he is trying to encourage people from both countries to try and "follow suit" Roh stated. When he arrived he was greeted by Kim Jong-il and crowds of people waving paper flowers.
I think that the meeting between these two leaders is an extremely good thing because North Korea and South Korea have always been having problems with each other and North Korea has been having problems with other countries as well. Also if these talks are successful maybe Jong-il will realise what the people are going through in his country and try to give more money back to the country. Also if these talks are successful it was make peace between the two nations which have been on a standoff since the Korean War.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7023079.stm

bbc.com