World News Today - Article V
By Noah
Alter

Iran Starting Trouble in the Middle East
                 Iran has been making many disruptions in the Middle East over the years, but they have recently stirred up some big trouble with not only the United States, but with the world. Countries are afraid that Iran will create an atomic weapon. That would pose a very big threat the United States and the rest of the world. The United States and other countries have threatened Iran by putting sanctions on them, and they are trying to make them “discontinue” their nuclear program. The United States, United Kingdom and France have sent their military near Iran to show allied military force is present in the area if they try to close the Strait of Hormuz; we will retaliate.

               Iran has been “messing” around with an atomic program for quite some time. They say that their intentions are only for producing energy and research, but they refuse to stop their ability to enrich uranium. Everyone knows that is not their only intention. It is believed that they are trying to create the nuclear bomb. The EU (European Union) imports Iranian crude oil and they have put sanctions on Tehran (the capital city of Iran) over their nuclear program. In response Iran has threatened to cut off oil supply to the EU. Iran is trying to blame Israel for giving them a virus. It was a virus designed to get into their uranium enrichment labs. Israel also is being blamed for the killing of some of the scientists in the Iranian scientific community. Israel has made no comments to those accusations.

               By the United States and other countries putting sanctions on Iran; Iran is reacting by stopping the export of crude oil to “some” countries. America does not purchase any oil off of Iran, although the European Union does. The EU accounted for 25 percent of the Iranian crude oil sales in the third quarter of 2011. The United States is encouraging Asia to join the allies on putting sanctions on Iran, because they are the biggest oil market that Iran has. That would put even more pressure on Iran. Iran is repeatedly saying it would close the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is a huge shipping waterway that borders Iran. It would make exporting crude oil difficult to ship. Washington said it would not tolerate any such actions. One-fifths of the world’s oil supply gets shipped through this waterway.

               This issue is starting to escalate more day by day. It is very concerning to me and the rest of the world. The United States, United Kingdom and France have military power present near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is still threatening to make a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. There is a Royal Air Force base in Cyprus, 1,500 allied Navy personnel in the Gulf, four anti-mine vessels, which also includes the base for United States Navy’s 5th fleet. Britain has two frigates, three support ships, survey vessel and one hunter-killer nuclear submarine in the area. France has a small base in the United Arab Emirates. They have six Rafale warplanes and about 650 troops stationed there with an infantry battalion. The United States and other countries have already warned Iran if they try closing off the Strait of Hormuz; we will take action.

 

**Some of the Information was taking from www.msnbc.com**

World News Today - Article IV
 By Noah Alter

2012 Elections


            The 2012 presidential elections are right around the corner. They are this fall on November 6th, 2012. I believe it will be a very important election in United States history. The GOP (Republican Party) is currently working on deciding a candidate that can face Barack Obama in the elections on November 6th. Tuesday Nov. 3rd was the Iowa Caucuses and it was very close race between Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. Mitt Romney came in first place, Rick Santorum came in second and Ron Paul came in 3rd. Mitt Romney beat Rick Santorum by only 8 votes!! That shows you the power of a vote. I know people who say, “Oh, I am not going to vote; my vote won’t matter.” Well look at that. Can you tell me that a vote doesn’t matter?

            Majority of American’s do not know who is running and what the presidential candidates believe in. A lot of them are right in our school. Some people believe that politics doesn’t matter. Well it matters a lot. These people leading our country decide the fate of our country and the way we live. It is important.

            Mitt Romney is 64 years old. He is married to Ann Romney and they have five children.  He is the former Gov. of Massachusetts from 2003-2007. He is fluent in English & French. Mitt Romney has never served in the military. Mitt is a Mormon and is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He is pro-life. He supports the right to bear arms.

            Rick Santorum is 53 years old. He is married to Karen Santorum and they have7 children. He is the former U.S. Representative from 1991-1995 and U.S. Senator from 1995-2007. He is served the State of Pennsylvania. Rick is Roman Catholic. He favors the use of oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear energy. He opposed new regulations on natural gas and would allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He pledged to Repeal Obama Care.  He opposes abortion rights even in the case of rape. He would seek a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriages. He calls climate change “junk science.”

            Ron Paul is 76 years old. He is married to Carolyn Paul and they have 5 children; 18 grandchildren; 4 great-grandchildren. He is an Obstetrics & Gynecology Physician, he served as a U.S. representative from 1976-1977, 1979-1985 and 1997-present. He is Baptist. He says he would cut one trillion dollars his first year in office. Paul also pledged to repeal Obama Care. He is an isolationist. He believes in a marriage between a man and a woman, but he wants to leave it up to the states.

            Michele Bachmann was in the race to become the Republican candidate in the primaries, but she did horrible in the Iowa Caucuses and decided to drop out.

            Newt Gingrich is 68 years old. He is married to Callista Gingrich and they have 2 daughters and 2 grandchildren. He has been a U.S. representative from 1979 to 1999. He was also the Speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999. He is a Roman Catholic. He has pledged to balance the budget. He also wants to repeal Obama Care. He wants to secure the border by Jan. 1st, 2014. He wants to expand the development of oil, natural gas, coal, biofuels, wind and nuclear sources of energy. He considers himself against abortion. He believes that gay marriage is basically just a trend and will soon dissipate. I am not sure if Newt believes in Global Warming or not. In my personal opinion; I think he is neutral.

            Jon Huntsman is 51 years old. He is married to Mary Kaye Huntsman and they have 3 daughters, 2 sons and 2 adopted daughters. He has been the U.S. ambassador to Singapore 1992 to 1993, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative 2001 to 2003, Gov. of Utah 2005 to 2009 and U.S. ambassador to China 2009 to 2011. He is a Mormon. He favors balancing the budget and cutting debt. He wants to repeal Obama care. He wishes to leave Afghanistan. He wants to complete the fence along the Mexican-American border. He is against abortion. He is against gay marriage, but favors civil unions. He wants to leave that issue up to the states. He believes that global warming exists. 

            Rick Perry is 51 years old. He is married to Anita Perry and they have 1 son and 1 daughter. He wants to balance the budget and cut spending. He seeks to repeal Obama care. He opposes a border fence, but would defend the border with drones and soldiers. He is in favor of loosening regulations on coal, oil and natural gas and he says that would create 1.2 million jobs. Perry is against Abortion. He is against same-sex marriage. He doesn’t believe in global warming.

            I wanted to give everyone a quick rundown on political candidates background, what they believe in and what they plan to do if they become President of the United States. I encourage everyone to continue their research on the candidates. I surely don’t have enough information for anyone to make a firm decision on their favorite GOP candidate. If anyone has a question to ask me about the 2012 elections; I will do my best to answer them. Please contact me through the Trojan Horse and I will get back to you.

           

**Some of this information was taken from www.msn.com & http://2012.republican-candidates.org/**

World News Today - Article III
 By Noah Alter

America Officially Ended the Iraq War!

The Iraq war officially began during the year of 2003 on March 20th. It basically was a counter “attack” to the terrorist attacks in 2001 in New York City, Washington D.C. & Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The invasion of the Republic of Iraq was lead by President George W. Bush of the United States and by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The invasion of the country became an “occupation” then lead to the hanging of the horrible President Saddam Hussein. He was proven guilty to the murder of 200,000 civilians (OF HIS OWN PEOPLE!).

The Iraq War officially ended on December 15th, 2011 by a low-key flag lowering ceremony in Baghdad ending a nearly 9 year war. “Since 2003, we have helped the Iraqi forces grow from nothing to 650,000 strong to protect themselves,” Austin says. “This is not the end, this is the beginning,” Panetta says. “May God bless Iraq, its people and its future.” ”Your sacrifice has helped the Iraqi people begin a new chapter in history, free from tyranny,” Panetta says. “We look forward to an Iraq that is sovereign, secure and self-reliant.” US Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey says. I believe that the United States as long with the several other countries that were involved sometime throughout the war can be proud of their accomplishments despite the horrible cost of life and money.

The United States plans to keep a strong diplomatic presence in Iraq, to make sure that we have a strong relationship with the country for years to come and also to make sure to have a strong military force present there. There are now only two military bases there with 4,000 troops left compared to the 500 military bases and 170,000 troops at the beginning back in 2003.
All troops should be out of Iraq by the end of the year,” stated President Barack Obama back in October. They will be officially all back home in a couple months.  The remaining troops will be sent to Kuwait awaiting their trip back to home and to also be there to provide quick action if any “quick reaction force” is needed.

A citizen of Sadr City in Iraq stated, “The American’s didn’t leave modern schools or big factors behind them. Instead, they left thousands of widows and orphans.” 100,000 troops have been killed since the invasion and majority of those horrible casualties were civilian. Almost 4,500 soldiers were killed and tens of thousands Iraqis lost their lives. Some believe that the Iraq War was the most unpopular since the Vietnam War back in the 1960’s & 1970’s. The war also left 32,000 American soldiers wounded and cost our country more than $800 BILLION. “Thanks to the Americans; they took us away from Saddam Hussein, I have to say that. But I think now we are going to be in trouble, said Malik Abed, 44, a vendor at a Baghdad fish market. “Maybe the terrorists will start attacking us again.”

Even though despite the normal disagreements of a few citizens; our countries military and other nations militaries have freed millions of people from the leader Saddam Hussein who was hung on December 30th, 2006. We have set Iraq on a path toward democracy.

Some of this content from WWW.MSN.COM

World News Today - Article II
  By Noah Alter

What’s going on in Italy?

             Silvio Berlusconi was the premier of Italy. A premier is similar to the prime minister of Canada or United Kingdom and the president of the United States. He was basically forced out of office this past Saturday. Giorgio Napolitano (the president of Italy) plans to ask Mario Monti to try to form an intermediate government once Berlusconi resigned. The president of Italy in my opinion is similar to a monarch figurehead like her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II of England. During his last term, he was known for his sex scandals, “bunga bunga” parties and criminal charges that he paid a 17-year-old girl to have sex, but he denies his actions. His bunga bunga antics and legal troubles aside, Berlusconi’s biggest shortcoming is to have failed to put in place the “liberal revolution” that he promised in 1994. The Silvio Berlusconi era is finally over. Every year, 90,000 people leave the country of Italy and nearly a million in the last decade, due to a shortage of jobs. The people believe that post-Berlusconi’s Italy is going to be chaotic. Mario Monti’s government found out that they have to pay as much to borrow money as the previous (Berlusconi) administration. Italy had to pay 6.29% already to raise 3 billion euro (over 4 billion USD) of five-year money plan; considerably higher than the 5.3% stated only a month ago. Jens Weidmann, president of the German Bundesbank & Member of the 23-strong ECB governing council told FT, he doesn’t think anything has changed at all. “What we are facing in Italy is a small confidence crisis and only the Italian government can resolve that crisis,” he said. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in her speech to her CDU party that “political union” is the main goal to make changes to EU (Europe) treaties to put a budgetary discipline across the eurozone (all countries that partake in the euro currency)  in action. People believe that until the problem is acted upon, the eurozone seems no closer to fixing the issue. Italy has the third largest bond market in the whole world follow Japan and the United States with debts of around 120% of national income. The Chancellor of Germany said, “If the euro fails then Europe will fail.” A lot of the people in Italy blame Silvio Berlusconi for are inability to properly lead a country. I find it quite strange that they act on him now, when he didn’t get in trouble previously for is immoral acts with many young women, but I don’t know the answer to that. Italy is now looking to basically reform the government of their country. Stay tuned for more information.

**Some of this content was taken from The Guardian News in the U.K.**

World News Today - Article I
 by Noah Alter

What’s going on with the Euro?

 

            The Euro is a form of money like the United States Dollar here, but the Euro consists of many countries in Europe using the same money. There are 17 countries that currently use this currency. They are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. European leaders are set to call on the European Central Bank to go on buying bonds to support the Italian and Spanish debt, according to planning discussions about the upcoming meeting on Wednesday, but Germany said it opposed such a move. The leaders will say in their conclusions: “We fully support the ECB (European Central Bank) in its actions to keep stability in the Euro. The buying of bonds has distressed euro zone areas in the secondary market, which it began again in August to help boost the economies of Italy and Spain. German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted very fast in Berlin, telling reporters she didn’t want a declaration from politicians telling the ECB what to do. The ECB has been buying bonds to save Italy and Spain for two months now and investors fear that both countries could be heading in the direction of the financial crisis of Greece, Ireland and Portugal, all of which have received EU/ IMF bailouts. Many economists say that the only way for the 17-nation euro using countries to protect themselves from further pressure and win back confidence is to place the ECB and its unlimited liquidity at the center of Europe’s rescue of heavily indebted sovereigns. Germany and France told Greece Wednesday to make up its mind quickly whether it wants to stay with the rest of the users of the Euro after an abrupt decision to call a referendum on a 130 billion euro (178 billion USD) bailout sparked scare on global markets. France and Germany are concerned about the strain that Greece is putting on the Euro currency value. Greece’s financial situation is the worst if not one of the worst on the Euro currency. A German Finance Ministry spokesman said Greece apparently has enough money to keep running until mid-December, when it has to redeem more than 6 billion Euros in debt. The purchasing power of the Euro has also been slowly decreasing. In October it fell to 47.1 from 48.5 in September. That marks the third month in a row that manufacture’s PMI has been the 50 level that divides contraction from growth. Factory growth in the United States, measured by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) index, unexpectedly slowed in October, in line with similar trends in China, Britain, and Canada. Europe is having issues stabilizing the Euro currency along with almost every other countries currencies trying to  stabilize their own currency, economy, etc. in the world. Germany has already discussed going back to the Deutsch Mark which they stopped using in the year of 2002. Keep your eyes peeled for any updates on the situation in Europe with the Euro currency.

(This topic was partially supported by information from Reuters and MSNBC)