Entry #4-Sept 25th 2014

Barack Obama vows at UN to dismantle ISIS 'network ofdeath'

Sep 24, 2014

CBC News

'The only language understood by killers like this is the language of force,' President tells UN.

As many people know, ISIS has been getting out of hand lately and U.S. President, Barack Obama,  declared the world to be at a crossroads between war and peace. He promised that, on Wednesday, he would lead a coalition to dismantle the ISIS network of death that has wreaked havoc in the Middle East and drawn the U.S. back into military action in the region. President Obama also said the U.S. would be a respectful and constructive partner in confronting the militants through force. He said that he wants the people in the Middle East to address this problem by themselves. President Obama also said that "Ultimately, the task of rejecting sectarianism and extremism is a generational task a task for the people of the Middle East themselves. No external power can bring about a transformation of hearts and minds."  The U.S has been bombing constantly over the last couple of weeks, and President Obama doesn’t want to continue bombing,  but due to recent threats Obama has been drawn back into it. 

I believe that the U.S should get their military there as soon as possible to help the Middle East get around this crisis. I don’t think that by just bombing them that  they are having a major effect because they are also killing civilians that live in that town (or city).  I think President Obama  should stop talking about what he is going to do and start doing it. President Obama has been taking about sending troops to help and how the U.S will bomb them, now he said they should solve their own problem. I think he should make up his mind and do what ever it is he decides on.

Entry #3-September 23rd 2014

Turkey clamps down on Syria borderafter Kurdish unrest

Published: 22nd September 2014

Cite: BBC News World

As people know, the crisis on ISIS is getting out of control. And to make matters worse Turkey (one of Syria's neighbouring countries) has closed its borders off to the people of Syria. This was caused by Kurds protesting and wanting to go into Syria and fight the ISIS. Before this current border lock-down, there has been over a million refugees from Syria into Turkey. On Monday, two out of nine border gates were open. Turkey fears that the Kurds are trying to join the Syrian military. The worry is that, renewed by fresh recruits, it could ally with the outlawed PKK and launch attacks on Turkish soil. There has been multiple demonstrations by the Kurds (mostly on the Turkish side of the border). Some of the protesters through stones at the security guard which responded with water cannons and tear gas. The PKK has also called the Kurds to join the fights against ISIS. People say that the recent events here have shaken a fragile peace between Turkish and Kurds. ISIS is closing in a the Kurdish town of Kobane. The attack started on Tuesday, September 16th, and by that Sunday, ISIS was about 10 km away. Reports say that ISIS are using heavy weapons in the attack including tanks. Attacking ISIS in Syria is considered more complicated, partly because of the strength of the country's air defence system and because foreign strikes do not have the approval of President Assad. President Obama has previously ruled out the involvement of US ground troops, and has instead promised to provide arms and training to local forces fighting against ISIS.

I believe that the Syrian Prime Minister should let the U.S and the U.K do air strikes because if they don’t they will start to lose more land to ISIS. I also believe that Turkey should allow the Kurds to do what they want because by not letting them go to help, they are practically asking for civil war. The Turkish are afraid that if they let the Kurds go they will join the military, and the military would supply them with weapons. The Turkish are afraid that they will use these weapons against them. I also think that the U.S should get there to help as soon as possible so things don’t spiral to far out of control.

Entry #2-Sunday September 21st

Results of Scotland independence referendum: 'No' campaign victorious

Published: Friday September 19th

Author: Euan McKirdy, Laura Smith-Spark and Nic Robertson

Site: CNN World

As many people know, Scotland had a vote on Thursday, Sept. 18th, to become independent and not part of the United Kingdom. The People of Scotland have made up their mind that they will be staying part of the U.K. The vote final score was 54% of people saying no and 46% of people saying yes. Even though in Glasgow and a few other towns more people said yes then no, the difference was not big enough to sway the vote to independence. Out of Scotland's 5.3 million population, 4.2 million voted for this cause. British Prime Minister David Cameron said, before the voting, that in the event that the Scottish do stay part of the United Kingdom they will be granted more rights and the same goes to Wales and Northern Ireland. During the voting, people were saying that there was fraud going on with the voting even though they had no real proof. The council did state that there was no double voting and if there was, they are looking through records to make sure there was none. For the first time, the vote was extended to 16 and 17 year olds can vote, and almost 110, 000 people under the age of 18 voted. Some of the rules of voting were if you lived in Scotland but you had a different citizenship before, you were not allowed to vote to make sure they didn’t have a bias opinion from other countries, but if you were Scottish and you lived outside of Scotland you were not allowed to vote either. Nearly 800, 000 people applied for a postal vote, the most ever in Scotland.

I think that it is good that Scotland stayed because if Scotland were to leave, they would still need a lot of support from the U.K. because their healthcare would go down and the elderly wouldn't be getting their retirement money. I also think that by England giving more rights to Scotland and the other countries that are part of the U.K., they are preventing other situations like this from occurring

. Scotland, even if they don't know it, is still very reliable on England for their economy and their healthcare.

pasted from: http://mapsof.net/uploads/static-maps/united_kingdom_labelled_map.png 

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/18/world/europe/scotland-independence-vote/index.html?hpt=wo_c1

Entry #1-Sept 14th 2014

Ukraine crisis: Poroshenko offers rebels more autonomy

September 10th, 2014

BBC, News

As many people know, there are issues in the Ukraine right now, but the recent cease fire has changed a lot.  Since the Pro-Russian Rebels and the Ukrainian government first started clashing, more then 2000 people have died, but a truce came into effect on Friday September 5th, 2014. Before the truce, the Rebels had taken over multiple towns across eastern Ukraine including Novoazovsk and Bezimenne (has shown in map below). President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, has stated that since the truce was made the situation has changed drastically to the better. Although Russia has denied sending troops into Ukraine, the latest Ukrainian (and other countries) intelligence stated that Russian troops have crossed back into Russia.  Russia was called to help the United Nations investigate war crimes in the Ukraine.

I think that the cease fire is a good idea and a step in the right direction in order to solve the present problems and let the families of the people that have died, have a chance to morn their lost ones.  During this cease fire, Ukraine should help get the citizens that are there, out so they don’t get injured or die.  I also think that Ukraine should try and keep this truce going for as long as they can so they can avoid further destruction and death.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29140593