10 Global Current Events

Lakers Move To Western Semi-Finals.

The Lakers beat the New Orleans Hornets this Thursday in a 4-2 series. The Lakers won handily by 18 points, Kobe was the leading scorer with 24 points. After winning back to back world championships it appears the Lakers are headed to another title. Their head coach, Phil Jackson has won 11 of the past 20 championships with 3 three-peats. He hopes to extend that streak this June. The Lakers will face the Dallas Mavericks in the western semi-finals. Myself being a Lakers fan always like to see my team to do well.

Death Of Osama Bin Laden

Osama Bin Laden was killed today by US navy seals. President Obama called this the “most significant achievement to date” in the effort towards defeating al Queda. Osama, believed to be the mastermind of the 2001 attacks on America, has finally been brought to justice after being in hiding for over 10 years. While I am glad that Osama has been caught the risk of terrorism is still there and terrorists must be tirelessly chased.

NATO Attacks Tripoli

The largest of the recent attacks from NATO on Tripoli happened today. With at least 18 rockets hitting the capital of Libya. These attacks sparked an immediate response from President Obama who said, “"Gadhafi has lost legitimacy to rule. He cannot regain control of Libya. And he must step down immediately." At least 3 where killed with over 150 wounded. The attacks will likely continue until Gadhafi is out of power.

Unrest Reaches Israel

The growing number of Arabs rebelling has spread to Israel. A large group numbering the thousands tried to cross the states border with Syria, Gaza and Lebanon. 15 were murdered as Israeli solders shot the protesters, dozens more where injured. The demonstrators hope to convince the UN to create a Palestinian state before 2012. The UN should take a serious look at their request, however if it does not benefit the majority of the people than they should maintain the policies and political boundaries already in place.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Unknown Child

Arnold Schwarzenegger publicly admitted to having a son with a member of his household staff. He said he had an affair prior to his first term as governor in 2003. The child is now 14 and many speculate this to be the reason of his recent separation with his wife. Arnold hopes to revisit his acting career and signed contracts to three new films, two of which are part of the Terminator series. With Arnold being the ex-governor of California this does not set a good example of how our country presents our self to the rest of the world.

Mississippi River Flooding

Over three million acres of farmland has been flooded by the Mississippi River. Damages have been estimated at 9 billion from Memphis to the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi normally floods but this year it is unusually high. Records are being broken across flooded area. Experts attribute the high flooding to the large amount of rain this area has been and is receiving. While the immediate effects of the flooding will misplace thousands in the long term the flooding will provide the soil with nutrients, perfect for the large percentage of farmers in the area.

Nuclear Power Plant Worse Than Originally Thought

The nuclear power plant at Fukushima is worse than TEPCO officials originally thought said The Week magazine. The company announced this week that three of the reactors experienced at least a partial meltdown however they still plan to have the reactor stable by January. This has caused the majority of the public to view nuclear power in a negative way. Japan was on its way to have 50% of their power provided from nuclear power plants, it now plans to look into other sources. With this negative reputation the benefits of nuclear power to help fix our dependence on fossil fuels will be overlooked because of this one-in-a-million event.

US Begins Negotiation To Stop War In Iraq

A US official began meeting with a Taliban leader to stop the ongoing war in Afghanistan. Negotiation talks with the Taliban have been held in Qatar and Germany. The US and Afghan governments are requiring the Taliban respect the rights of minorities and women while renouncing violence. While peace talks with the Taliban may work, it leaves room for wondering if they shall uphold their end of the agreement, they are in fact a terrorist group. If they do break the agreement than US intervention will likely be needed.

Planking Taking Australia By Storm

Planking is where someone takes a picture of themselves laying down. This have become increasingly popular in Australia where their Facebook planking page has almost 200,000 followers. However while this may seem like a harmless activity some participants are pushing it to dangerous limits. A planker named Acton Beale was killed after he fell 7 stories to his death while trying to lay on a balcony rail. While planking can be a source of entertainment Prime Minister Julia Gillard urges Australians to not take it to such extreme measures. Planking may not effect the US immediately although if planking continues its trend into popularity the number of deaths will grow linearly with it, causing it to become a dangerous activity.

British Polluting The Oceans

The British created a refueling station off the coast of Spain to take advantage of the heavy boat traffic that passes through the area. 10% of the worlds shipping, or 100,000 ships, refuels there. Because of no fueling regulations by either Spain or England every time a boat is refueled some of the oil leaks into the surrounding waters, which as a result has caused the volume of fuel in the bay over the past 10 years to increase by five fold. If not regulated the waters in not only the surrounding waters but the water on the east coast of America will become polluted, killing fish and other undersea life, while possibly costing billions.