In+the+News

Third Marking Period News Article:
Article Title: "Czechs bid farewell to anti-communist hero Havel" Source: CNN.com Date: December 19, 2011 Link: []

=== The former Czech president Vaclav Havel, died on Sunday, December 18, 2011 at the age of 75. Admirers of Havel poured into the streets with candles and showered them with flowers on Prague Sunday night in memory of Havel. The former president helped overcome issues such as communism in eastern Europe with the power of his words, "Truth and love triumph over love and hate." In addition, Havel spend four and a half years in prison for opposing Czechoslovakia's communist government. He then went on and became president of Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic when the country split in two at the end of 1992. His love of rock and roll and his moral outrage influenced him to co-write the influential anti-communist declaration, Charter 77 in protest at the arrest of a Czechoslovak rock band. Havel was a potential Noble Peace Prize contestant, but never won. However, he remained active in his anti-communist causes from Cuba to China until his death. For instance, he urged Chinese authority to release Liu Xiaobo, whose Chinese political freedom was inspired by Czechoslovakia's Charter 77. Unfortunately, the former Czech president died peacefully in the presence of his wife that Sunday morning. Havel's anti-communist beliefs influenced change in other countries other than Czechoslovakia; his selfless generous ways that put others before him is note worthy and will never leave the hearts of the fellow Czechoslovakian citizens. ===

Second Marking Period News Article:
Article Title: "Scores held in European pedophilia investigation" Source: CNN.com Date: December 16, 2011 Link: [|Article Link:Scores held in European pedophilia investigation]

Twenty-two European countries are confirmed that pedophile ring spanning has occurred. These countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Croatia, Norway and Switzerland. Moreover, one-hundred and twelve people have already been arrested, according to London(CNN), and two-hundred and sixty-nine are being marked as suspects. This ongoing international investigation started out by the exchanging of videos and images of horrifying situations. These situations involve the sexual abuse of babies and toddlers. Reporters say that the users are using special encryption tools to hide their identities and allows them to share files anonymously. This of course causes a challenge for the authorities to trace the pedophiles down. Officials are still in the process of tracking down the users and putting charges towards them.

Article Title: "8 dead, 14 wounded in Slovakia shooting" Source: CNN Date: August 30, 2010 3:09 p.m. EDT Link: []

According to the Slovakian officials, a gunman killed eight people and left fourteen injured on Monday in Slovakia's capital, Bratislava. The gunman killed seven people instantly and left one injured who then later died. After being concerned about the police, the gunman decided to take his own life. The shooting took place in the neighborhood of Devinska Nova Ves in Bratislava. The gunman was holding an illegally obtained assault rifle and two other guns along with ammunition. It is reported that among those wounded was a three-year-old child. The police received an alarming call reporting that shots have been heard in one of the apartment buildings in the neighborhood of Devinska Nova Ves. policemen arrived immediately and spotted the gunman leaving the crime scene. Inside the apartment room, four women and one man were found dead; one man was found dead in the building's hallway. Apparently, all all six of these victims were of the same family. The gunman began to shoot at the police on the street but was later cornered, and committed suicide. This mysterious gunman was not identified immediately, nor were the motives of his rampage.