"Nuclear power" in the news

Rucker, Philip. “Trump to North Korean Leader Kim: My ‘Nuclear Button’ is ‘much bigger & more powerful’.” The Washington Post, 2 Jan. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/01/02/trump-to-north-korean-leader-kim-my-nuclear-button-is-much-bigger-more-powerful/?utm_term=.fba4e2701de3. Accessed 4 Jan. 2018.

President Trump tweeted about the United State’s nuclear power in response to Kim Jong Un’s statement about North Korea’s nuclear power during his New Year’s Day speech. During his speech, Kim mentioned how he could hit the United States with his nuclear power, and he also said that he had the power to launch the nuclear weapons at any time using his “nuclear button”. In retaliation, Trump responded on Twitter, “I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" This is part of a much larger argument between the United States and North Korea that some believe will lead to a nuclear war. Trump additionally reintroduced “Rocket man” - his nickname for Kim - while showing concern about reduced tension between North and South Korea.

"Terrorism" in the news

“Russia Supermarket Bombing: St Petersburg Man Charged with Terrorism.” BBC, 2 Jan. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42540813?scrlybrkr=8fa63e14. Accessed 8 Jan. 2018.

Dmitry Lukyanenko was charged with terrorism for the bombing of a supermarket in St Petersburg during December that injured eighteen people, eight of whom are still in the hospital. The Russian Investigative Committee reports that Lukyanenko, now thirty-five, had been registered in a psychiatric clinic since he was nineteen. He has confessed to the crime and will be tested to diagnose if he is sane. His motive was “‘hatred towards the organisers and followers of the psychological training sessions.”

"Technology" in the news

Lever, Rob. "Security Flaws Puts Virtually All Phones, Computers at Risk."
    Public Radio International, 4 Jan. 2018, www.pri.org/stories/2018-01-04/
    security-flaws-put-virtually-all-phones-computers-risk. Accessed 8 Jan.
    2018.

On Wednesday, vulnerabilities, which hackers could use to obtain important data, were found in computer chips. These vulnerabilities named “Spectre” and “Meltdown” by Google were found to be plaguing computer chips from Intel, AMD, and ARM. Even though Microsoft said that they were unaware of the situation they had been launching updates “‘to protect Windows customers from vulnerabilities.’” According to security researchers, it is critical that updates are performed to ensure that passwords, credit card data, and other private information is not susceptible to hackers.

"Cooperation" in the news

Gracia, Catherine. "North Korea Reopening Cross-border Communication with South

    Korea." The Week, 3 Jan. 2018, theweek.com/speedreads/746345/

    north-korea-reopening-crossborder-communication-channel-south-korea.

    Accessed 4 Jan. 2018.

On Wednesday, it was announced on a radio address by the chairman of North Korea’s Committee for Peaceful Reunification that across-border communication channel will be opened. The communication channel was supposed to be opened in Panmunjom, a village on the border, according to the South Korea Unification Ministry. Earlier in the week, Kim Jong Un implied that he may dispatch a delegation to Pyeongchang for the Olympic Games, and South Korea expressed interest in talking with North Korea about cooperation involving the Olympics.  

"Diease" in the news

“Zambia Deploys Army to Fight Cholera Outbreak.” Al Jazeera, 30 Dec. 2017, www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/zambia-deploys-army-fight-cholera-outbreak-171230190812235.html. Accessed 30 Dec. 2017.

The president of Zambia, Edgar Lungu, sent out the country's military to combat the cholera outbreak, which had killed over forty people in the capital and affected many others. The outbreak had begun in the end of September in Lusaka. Although the outbreak had seemed to fade out by October, more cases arose in November. It was determined that the original outbreak was because of infected water and the resurgence of the disease came from people eating food from markets where contaminated food was being distributed. Despite the fact that cholera is easily treated, it can be fatal if not treated quickly.

“Disease” in the news

mla citation

Summary

Kurt"s Middle East News

Suzdaltsev, Jules. “The Rise of the Ottoman Empire.” Seeker, 16 Oct. 2017, www.seeker.com/the-rise-of-the-ottoman-empire-2049066695.html. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.

This video talks about the rise of the Ottoman Empire. Now before the Ottoman empire there was the Byzantine Empire that held power but just couldn’t keep up after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. During this time it also mentioned the Golden age of Islam which allowed for the rapid growth of Islam. The Ottoman Empire started to grow and then achieved victory at Constantinople. This video relates to the middle east unit because we studied the Ottoman Empire and the fall of other empires like the Byzantine Empire

Kurt's Foundation News

Bechly, Günter. "Human Origins: Out of Africa, or out of Germany?" Evolution
    News, Discovery Institute, 23 Oct. 2017, evolutionnews.org/2017/10/
    human-origins-out-of-africa-or-out-of-germany/. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.

This article is about the human evolution and the different discoveries that helped us know more about human evolution. Some discoveries included human fossil footprints. These fossils have helped us in trying to figure out how old and what origins these hominid apes are from. This relates to the foundations unit because we studied how hominoids looked and where they originated from.

Kurt's Africa News

Richardson, Jim. “South Sudan.” Upfront, vol. 159, no. 4, 30 Oct. 2017.

This article “South Sudan” is about the struggles facing south Sudan during their Civil War. When south Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 people were filled with happiness. But just soon after south Sudan had started a Civil War which has led to the tens of thousands of deaths. This has also led to a food shortage and millions are continuing to starve. This article relates to the African unit because it shows how all the wars and violence has caused the economies to become devastated. Which has also led to the mass numbers of deaths in Africa.

Kurt's Europe News

Castle, Stephen, and Thomas Erdbrink. “Europeans Leaders Criticize Trump’s Disaproval of Iran Deal.” New York Times, 13 Oct. 2017. Nytimes, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/13/world/europe/trump-iran-nuclear-deal.html. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.

This article "European Leaders Criticize Trumps Disapproval of Iran Deal" is about how president Trump made a decision to disavow the Iran nuclear deal. This nuclear deal was the culmination of 13 years of diplomacy and also made sure that Iran's nuclear program is not diverted for military purpose. This relates to the Europe unit because it talks about European leaders and the potential violence of such actions.