Yemen’s North Hit by Bloodiest Fighting in Years

The Yemeni Army fought back a major offensive by rebels in the northern city of Sadah early Sunday morning, killing dozens of insurgents, witnesses and Yemeni officials said. The battle appears to have been the boldest rebel attack yet in five weeks. Yemen’s government for five years, and the latest round of fighting, which erupted last month after a yearlong cease-fire, has been the bloodiest so far. The attack started just before dawn on a Sunday, people say that hundreds of Houthi rebels ambushed three military checkpoints and tried to take othe place of the presidential palace in Sadah, the provincial capital. The Sadah conflict has underscored the vulnerability of Yemen. This particular country has goten realy poor and is also facing a separatist movement in the south and a resurgent presence of Al Qaeda.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/world/middleeast//21yemen.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=yemen=cs.

Pressure mounts for Afghan election runoff

        The U.S. urges President Hamid Karzai to accept a U.N.-backed panel’s decision to throw out hundreds of thousands of ballots. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says she’s encouraged. He says that he will no longer accept ellection votes. Reporting from Kabul, a United Nations-backed panel Monday tossed out hundreds of thousands of ballots cast inAfghan President Hamid Karzai.  Election observers said the new figures dictated that a runoff election should take place and that there should be a run-off election. Observers want this to happen because the investigators think he did not attain the majority needed for him to win his first election for its round. This  runoff has its challenger. While Abdullah renewed demands for a runoff vote. Many Afghans are not agreeing on this and are saying that there is nothing wrong with voting. The government should really change because this president has got some major PROBLEMS!!

Flooding Kills at Least 31 in Turkey

Flash floods killed at least 31 people in and around Istanbul on Wednesday, the government said, as the area continued to struggle with its heaviest rainfall in 80 years. The water rose very quick and people couldn’t do anything much. After just a few hours of heavy rain, water had covered the city’s low-lying areas,  the primary highways connecting the city center, and the main airport. Drivers who were caught, by the heavy rains told the semiofficial Anatolian News Agency that the fast-rising waters were strong enough that they could push heavy trucks off the road and many other buses on the road. Many people were injured and had to go imidietly to the hospital. A news station showed a video of people running and climbing on top of vehicles and trees in order to escape the rising waters which came in like a second or two. Twenty-six people were killed in central Istanbul, and five people died in an outlying area of the city. Nine of the people were missing around the city.

This affects me and my community because a lot of these floods make huge disasters  around the global world, but this article shows me and tells me that we should always be careful and prepared at many times just incase because you never really know.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/world/europ/10turkey.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=A%20flood%20in%20Turkey%20kills%20at%20least%2030&st=cse

The Tree of Life: Cold Start?

One surprise in the tree was the appearance of bacteria that thrive in high temperatures , near or at the root of the tree. This scientist says this tree has bacteria cells. This basic tree has led to speculation that can originate in very hot environments. In cold temperatures it stay steady. The speculation that life arose in a hot environment have become widely accepted among researchers, and have taken on the status of the origin of life. The bacteria has shown that it wouldn’t adapt to the cold, only the warmth. This kinda goes with what topic we are learning because of how other cells react to different things they are not really used to. This was interesting because the different temperatures can be a different way of reacting and what their response is.

http://www.astrobio.net/exclusive/302/the-tree-of-life-cold-start

Iranian Students Stage 2nd Big Protest Since Returning to University Campuses

          Students at one of Iran’s largest universities staged an antigovernment protest on Tuesday, the second big demonstration at a major university in two days. Government efforts say student leaders have not been entirely successful. Over 1,000 students demonstrated at Sharif University in Tehran. They protested a visit by the minister of science and higher education, Kamran Daneshjoo, who helps students higher in their education. All protesters carried colored ballons such as green with ribbons as a symbol of the protest movement since the disputed June 12. This represents when the presidential election started and which banners read ” The University is still alive” acoridding to the website which Kamran D. made to help students.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/world/middleeast/30iran.html?scp=13&sq=Iran%20articles&st=cse