Asbury,+Kylis

__U.N. Seeks to Drop Some Taliban From Terror List__
The United States want to remove a senior Taliban leader from the U.S. terrorist's list so it will help them get in the direction of negotiating, and also quicken the army's review of terrorist detainees from the Taliban that are in the U.S. possession right now. Kai Eide, the United Nations special representative, is hoping that fulfilling these two acts will get him a chance to have a face to face talk with the Afghan officials and Taliban leaders and discuss a negotiation on their behavior. In recent days, Afghan and American officials have given signs of allowing negotiations, including striking the names of some Taliban leaders from the terrorist list, as Mr. Eide is suggesting. American, Afghan and NATO leaders are also preparing to start a program abbout persuading Taliban fighters to give up in exchange for schooling and jobs. That plan, expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, will be the focus of an international conference this week in London. This program will be directed at the foot soldiers of the Taliban because they are mostly poor and have no education. So the U.S. has suggested the Taliban to be taken off the list as long as "they are not senior commanders responsible for atrocities or associated withh Al Qaeda".

Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/25/world/asia/25taliban.html?ref=asia http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/afghanistan/090617/taliban-talks

I think it is good that they U.N. is trying to make negotiations with the Taliban and help keep people safe, but if these Senior Taliban Leaders are dangerous then maybe they should stay on that list. I don't think the U.N. should do anything that would involve letting criminals go, that might harm more people. I also think it is good that they are trying to create a program for the illiterate and poor soldiers of the Taliban. That will probably earn the U.N. some brownie points.

There were vast differences between the articles because the New York Times article was more focused on what the U.N. was going to do to help create oppurtunities for negotiating while the Global Post focused more on the Taliban Side of the story and what they thought. I thought that this was significant because it gave a better understanding of what both sides were thinking and helped the reader(me) of what was going on. They were similar because they both focused on negotiations the U.N. and Taliban were making and also each had pictures, this is important because the pictures gave a better visulaization of who and what we are dealing with. The similar topic was important because the articles both helped eachother and the reader to understand from different points of views on what was going on.

__Stampede kills 7 pilgrims in eastern India__
 Seven people were killed in a stampede in eastern India on Thursday, while 17 others were injured. Six women and a three-year-old child were the ones to die. The stampede started when some people fell while boarding a Sagar Island-bound vessel, government officials said. All of these people were on their way to a Hindu festival. There had been a   The 12-hour //bandh// (shutdown)  that occured the day before, so everyone was in a rush to catch the vessel.  Chief secretary Asok M Chakrabarti has promised to take appropriate action against the people responsible for the deaths. Union minister of state for information and broadcasting CM Jatua said the district committee has given 500,000 rupees for what happened to the family of the deceased. The injured persons have beenmoved to hospitals in Kakdwip and Diamond Harbour in South 24-Parganas. Three intensely injured people have been transferred to National Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

Sources: http://www.asianewsnet.net/news.php?id=9592&sec=1 http://world-countries.net/archives/6616

I think that is terriblle that people were in such a rush that they ended up trampling and killing people. It's nice that the chief secretary and minister of state are compensating for it, But that doesn't change the fact that 7 people are dead and 17 others injured. I'm confused why no one thought to help these people? Is it okay to kill in the hindu religion, considering these people were on their way to a Hindu Festival.

The differences in both article were that in the world country raticle it was very short and blunt, it also only contained the information about who died and how. Where as the Asia News article went into detail and had interviews and quotes from other people that had been around, and it also contained information about what the peoiple did to make up for the deaths. Both article did however cover who died,was injured and how. I think the differences were pretty significant because the Asia News article which covered more background information gave a better visual and understanding of what happened, and the World Country article only told about the people who died and was very short; I don't think it had enough information.

__Gambian President Roars at Gays__
The president of Gamia, Yahya Jammeh, who is very against Gays and Lesbian was bashing on them. "The Gambia is a country of believers...sinful and immoral practices as homosexuality will not be tolerated in this country," he said in May 2008. But now he is saying that they are not to be in the army because they are indecent and it shows 'indiscipline'. Jammeh has even gone as far as to demote Gays and Lesbians in the Military, that have earned their spot, to the lowest postitions possible. Yahya has also in the past has put drug dealers, theives, and homosexuals in the same category, telling them all to leave his country. His latest comment was ‘‘We will not encourage lesbianism and homosexuality. It is a taboo in our armed forces.”, he made it known that he would fire all known gay and lesbians in the army.

Sources: http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/12/08/Gambian_Pres_Wants_to_Fire_all_Gay_Soldiers/ http://www.africanews.com/site/Gambian_president_roars_at_gays/list_messages/28458

I think the Africa News article was better because it had more quotes and evidence that he really dislikes the gays and lesbians. It even showed a quote from him saying he would behead all the homosexuals. Where as in the Advocate article it wasn't as blunt and it only had the quotes when he called gays being "taboo" and "evil". I think they tried to sugar coat it, unlike the Africa News article. Plus the Africa News article was longer and touched on things that happened in the past.

I think Yahya Jammeh is very wrong, and it is incredibly rude to make such comments. But going as far as to saying he will "behead" all gays and lesbians is past the line. That is outrageous. I don't understand why he is so against homosexuality? It doesn't affect the person and who they are, so why should he have to threaten killing them them or even take them out of the army? I disagree with his opinion, and I wish someone could make him understand that there is nothing wrong with gay people.

__AU condemns killing of Somali ministers__
A suicide bomber disguised as a woman entered a University in Somalia that was having a graduation ceremony. Before last year's graduation, almost two decades had passed since anyone earned a medical degree in Somalia, so it was a big event. 19 people were killed including 3 ministers of the government; Qamar Aden Ali, Ahmed Abdulahi Waayeel, and Ibrahim Hassan Addow. Somalia's President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad said the attack was a national disaster. Suicide bombings in Somale have become more frequent. Somalia has not had a a very good government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Moham iv. No group has come out and claimed the responsibility for the bombing but government officials accused of Islamist rebel of Al-shabaab.

Sources
 * http://www.africanews.com/site/AU_condemns_killing_of_Somali_ministers/list_messages/28361

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091203/ap_on_re_af/af_somalia

I think both articles were good even though they varied on information. The Yahoo article said 22 were dead while the Africa News article said 19 were dead. The Africa News article was pretty short, but it was also to the point and contained valuable information. The Yahoo article was better than the Africa news article because it was longer and contained quotes and opinions from people who were attending the graduation. It also described the scene and what the still living people had endured. I guess it gave a better visual.

I think that it is terrible when people do things like suicide bombings, they are completely unnecessary. And it's especially messed up that someone would go bomb a university when they are celebrating students who are graduating and getting medical degrees, those students are probably going to benefit Somalia with doctors. Why would you want to kill them? Yes, I think it is quite sad that this happened.

__South Africa Is Divided on Gesture by Educator__
Last year there was a video made by four white boys at the University of Free State. The video, meant "to protest the idea of racial integration in student housing", showed a young man peeing into a bowl of stew. The food was then served to five black house cleaners. The boys said it was just a joke, but they were expelled anyways. Recently the head of the University, Mr. Jansen, made a speech about the past incident. He proceeded to tell they very large crowd of racial protesters and also students that he is going to drop the charges and they will be allowed to come back. Many people were shocked that he didn't even demand an apology from the boys. Some folks that he was curageous for forgiving the boys when others that it was outrageous and were very displeased. Mr. Jansen says that he is very doubtful the boys will come back. Criminal prosecution of the four is continuing.

Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/world/africa/18safrica.html?_r=1&ref=africa http://article.wn.com/view/2009/11/18/South_Africa_Is_Divided_on_Gesture_by_Educator/

The New York Times article was much better than the World News article because it was much longer and went into more depth on the issue and the past incident. The World News article was extremely short and contained little information. Also the NYT article had pictures of protesters at the speech and it gave a better visual of how everyone was reacting and so on. All in all the NYT article was very good with lots of quotes and opinions from many people.

I think that it was nice Mr.Jansen was forgiving them, but I would have atleast made the boys apologize. I also think it's really messed up what they did, i can't believe there's still such bad racism. Oh well, i hope they get what they deserved sooner or later.

__**Egypt: Two Christians condemned to death**__
Two men named Rami and Raafat Khella, brother and uncle of a woman named Mariam Khella have been sentenced to death for killing her husband last year. Mariam who was a Christian like her brother and uncle, converted to Islam in order to marry her husband, Sallah. Her family did not want her to marry him, but she did anyway. When Rami and Raafat came to Mariam's house to kill her husband they also wounded Mariam and her Baby, Nur. They killed her husband because he was Islam and they did not want their family married into that. 10% of Egypts 80 million population are Egyptian Christians. They often complain of discrimination and harassment, but researches have shown that they live harmoniously in the majority Muslim country.

Source: http://www.africanews.com/site/Egypt_Two_Christians_condemned_to_death/list_messages/28080 http://europenews.dk/en/node/27622

The Africa news article was better than the Europe news, because it had pictures and the wording was more intriguing. I think the Europe news article was similar but the Africa news article had statistics and quotes, which gave a better understanding. I think this was quite tragic. Bummer that they killed him, But I think it was especially messed up that they also shot the wife and kid. There is nothing wrong with being Islamic or any religion in general, so killing him was very unnecessary. It's weird that they would want to kill him when they live in a country with Islam as their state religion.

__Hunger Strike__
This article was about youths in Conakry the capital of Guinieawent on a hunger strike a month after the military attack on the civilians. The youngsters did it to call for political dialogue, an end to violence and the arrest of those who attacked demonstrators. "No to violence, no to injustice and impunity, yes to national unity, yes to peace and social tranquillity" was what they said. 30 people gathered for the five-day hunger strike. Some say that it was dedicated to the women and girls who were savagely attacked. "The situation in Guinea today is extremely difficult, and no one knows how things will evolve," he said. "This is why we want now to urge everyone to avoid more violence." said Thierno Baldé, president of the Federation of Youth Associations of Guinea

Sources: Alla Africa: http://allafrica.com/stories/200910290792.html Irin News: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86783

Both articles were very alike in wording, and had the some quotes and information. But the Irin News article had pictures, giving the reader a better visual understanding.

I think it is very good that they are doing non violent protests, and trying to get people to start doing that more. Their reasons behind the strikes were admirable and I think that they are going in a good direction with no violence. This act of 30 people are making a change and I think more people should join in the non violent protests.