Former S. Korean President No commits suicide

Former President of South Korea, No Moo Hyun, 62, committed suicide by leaping from a hill behind his house without any hesitation. He had gone hiking with a bodyguard, at 5:45 in the morning and jumped off the cliff of a rock called "Owl Rock." The hill was called, "Bong Hwa Mountain." The cliff was 20~30 meters high from the ground.

His main reason was his remorse after severe investigations despite his presidency that affected not only him, but every one of his family members and relatives. The president from 2003 to 2008 had been involved in an investigation of a bribery scandal. He had allegedly received $6 million dollars from a South Korean businessman while he was in office. His wife was scheduled to be questioned on Saturday, and himself was awaiting to be questioned the second time next week. During his time when he was in office, he had vowed to end corruption in the government, and many were disappointed when he had not made even a formal plea when he was accused. With his death, the case has been suspended.

He had left a short will to his family on a computer before he had left the house. It read, "It has been hard for me. I have become a burden for too many people around me. I cannot even read a book. Do not be sad. Aren't life and death both part of nature? Cremate me and place a small headstone near town."

However, there is now rumour going around in Korea that there was a piece of his last words that was kept secret from the public and then released later on by the police. Some people believe that the hidden part of his note said that he had done his best to serve his country with strong passion and that he is saddened. It had also said that he denies the accusation of the police that he was corrupted and that history will prove his innocense later on.

President Obama said in a statement that he was "saddened" by his death. He said, "During his tenure, President Roh contributed to the strong and vital relationship between the United States and the Republic of Korea. On behalf of the government of the United States, I offer my condolences to his family and to the Korean people." President No had tried to improve the relations between North Korea and the South while he was in office. He was the first South Korean leader to cross the DMZ and meet with Kim Jong Il. He continued to follow the "sunshine policy" by Kim Dae-Sung, his predecessor, that wanted to connect the North and the South. However, the current president, Lee Myung-Bak is establishing a higher and strong wall between the North and the South.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was saddened by this sudden tragedy, and I found myself becoming a believer in the rumour that is going around on the internet. However, there was a Korean news article that stated that the rumour was not true and that it was made up by President No's supporters to frame the police. To add, the police denied having released any other information or hiding any information. In my opinion, the case should be just dropped and never mentioned again in the public. The formal president is dead, and there is nothing that we can do about it. As he said in his note, we should stop the investigations and not cause any more controversies or even any kind of involvment of No Moo Hyun's family members. This is the least we could do.

U.S. Rejects Afghan Civilian Death Estimate

The United States military rejected on wednesday, the charge made by the Afghan government of 140 civilian deaths in a recent bombing in the western province of Farah. They said that instead of 140, about 20~30 were killed, but they said that up to 65 Taliban soldiers had also been killed.

This incident conflicted the statement from the American forces on May 5 made by the new American ambassador, Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry at that time, that the coalition forces would do their best to change their war tactics to minimize the civilian casualties in the future. The debate intensified, and to make things worse, the NATO-force confirmed on Wednesday that another airstrike killed 8 civilians in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. They also said that the soldiers used civilians as human shields during the Tuesday airstrike.

In response to this problem, retired general, General Eikenberry acknowledged the pain that the civilians of Afghanistan were going through. He was questioned by the Afghans, the wisdom of dropping 2-000 pound bombs on houses when it is unknown who might be inside. The ambassador called the air strike a tragedy and promised to reduce the chances of civilian casualties sharply in the future. He also flew to Farah and expressed his condolences and met with the several hundred elder leaders from the affected villages. “I assure the people of Afghanistan that the United States will work tirelessly with your government, army and police to find ways to reduce the price paid by civilians, and avoid tragedies like what occurred in Bala Baluk,” he said. “As U.S. ambassador, and with my previous experience as a soldier, I make this a solemn pledge.”

However, the American forces said that the casualty was not entirely their fault. Before the air strike, there was a ground fighting involved between the Talibans and the Afghan soldiers. The Afghan soldiers were outnumbered by approximately 300 Talibs, and asked for backup. The coalition forces then called for an air strike. The military said that the air support "provided fires in coordination with the ground commander on buildings and a tree grove insurgents were firing from and massing in." However, the ground commander is still unidentified.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The U.S. military must be more careful and learn to change their approaches. If they do not, they face the risk of the alienating the entire Afghan population and weakening the power of the Afghan government. I know that war brings unwanted consequences that must be taken for victory. However, if the U.S. military took more precautions before dropping their 2-000 pound bombs on houses and confirmed the need, a lot more people could have been saved and earned the trust and support of the Afghan population.

Spanish protesters demand protection for jobless

On Thursday, tens of thousands of Spanish civilians marched down the streets of Madrid holding up their red flags. These were protesters that planned this demonstration. They demanded better protection for workers who were hit hard by the economic crisis right now. They were wearing black clothings to represent the 4 million jobless citizens of Spain. They had one, big, simple message : It's time to focus on the workers.

This Madrid demonstration was organized by the European Trade Confederation was the start of more activities that would follow the days after. To protest for the outrageous European unemployments rate, they are planning to do these kinds of demonstrations in Berlin, Prague, Luxembourg, Bucharest, and Birmingham. They plan to do more demonstrations in June when the European Parliament holds elections.

In Spain, the unemployment rate in the construction industry has risen to 17%, the highest in all of the European Union countries. Last year, Spain's Gross Domestic Product stats decreased by 2.9%. This year, it continues to drop by 1.8%. The European Parliament responded by saying that, "the depth of the financial crisis has been brutal," and that they have been working to establish a clearer European regulatory system with more banking supervision and also trying to relieve the effects of the recession. Members of the parliament have agreed for increase in funding for those who became jobless as a result of the financial depression, grant full rights for temporary employees and open more opportunities for training and education.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With the world going through an economic recession, it comes to no surprise that the Europeans are all protesting. The European Trade Confederation's plan of a continent-wide campaign is a very effective way to raise awareness in Europe, but if things get extreme, a little spark or stimulus could cause chaos. An economic depression like this one makes one think back in history during the Great Depression in the 1930s and the early 1940s. Unfortunately, World War II had lifted the world from depression; industries expanded, technology developed rapidly, and the war eventually helped to boost some countries' economic situations. I hope that this recession does not come to another world war.

Sri Lanka: At Least 2,400 Break out of War Zone

Hundreds and thousands of people fled across a lagoon under a storm of rebel gunshells on Thursday to get out of Sri Lanka's warzone. 4 civilians were dead and 14 were wounded from bullets from the Tamil Tigers. Even health workers abandoned their hospitals and fled, leaving hundreds of wounded patients, crying for food and water.

The government had cornered the Tamil Tigers on a spit that was between the sea and the lagoon after twenty five years of a civial war. The rebels were using civilians as their shields, and 2,700 civilians ran across the lagoon into the government-controlled land despite the gunfirings. Another 2,000 were waiting on the shore to escape.

Approximately 200,000 civilians fled from war-zones in the past few months and are being held in crowded displacement camps. Unfortunately, an estimated number of 50,000 civilians were still trapped, holding the government forces back from their attack.

The fighting during the last few month had been brutal. Approximately 6,500 people were killed in the last three months. Unrelenting shelling in the area over the past 6 days had killed hundreds more. About 100 of those dead died in two strikes on the makeshift hospital. However, the doctors and workers of hospitals abandoned the civilians and fled, saying that the shellings made it too risky for them to work there. They had left 400 wounded people in the hospital. The medical staff hid inside bunkers and ignored the cries of patients begging for help. The trapped civilians were taking cover in bunkers and in underground spaces, and they are out of water and food.

In response to this brutal humanitarian crisis, President Obama demanded the rebels to lay down their weapons and release the civilians. He also demanded that Sri Lanka's government stop firing shells. The U.N. Security Council had similar demands, and Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon's chief of staff would leave for Sri Lanka for his plea to end the conflict without furthermore bloodshed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is like a hostage situation, but with a massive number of 50,000 hostages. Unless a superhero exists on this Earth, the demands of the rebels must be heard and met first because the safety of the 50,000 civilians is top priority. Another solution would be providing a federal state for the Tamil Tigers and negotiate to evacuate the Tigers out of the war zone. We should also try to negotiate to bring the sick out of the warzone. In addition, we should provide those who managed to escape enough food, water, and medicine. With regards to the doctors that fled the hospitals and abandoning the sick and the wounded, they should be stripped of their professions. A doctor's duty is to cure anyone regardless of who the person is or under what circumstances. Doctors are supposed to breathe life back into bodies, but they have fled as cowards.

Ex-soldier could face death over Iraq murders, rape

A U.S. soldier has been convicted of raping a 14-year old Iraqi girl and killing her and her family. He now faces a death penalty. His name is Steven Green of Midland, Texas. He was found to be guilty of murder, rape, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice, according to the court. The 23-year-old man had led a group of soldiers back in 2006 in the Mahmoudiya area, south of Baghdad. They killed the girl's father, mother, and younger sister before raping her and burning her bodfy. Three other soldiers were given sentences in prison ranging from 27 years to 100.
Spc. James Barker said that the soldiers were drinking whisky and playing cards when Green started the idea of going to the house near the checkpoint where they were stationed and raping a girl.

This kind of crime also happened last year. Formal Pfc. Jesse Spielman received a 110-year sentence in prison. He was guilty of felony murder, conspiracy to commite rape, and housebreaking with the intent to commit rape.

The Iraqi citizens are outraged. The demanded that American soldiers accused of crime against Iraqi civilians should be prosecuted in an Iraqi court. However, the U.S. military and civilian officials said otherwise, but vowed to bring justice to those guilty.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These soldiers who were found guilty should be kept behind bars for the rest of their lives. Instead of fulfilling their duties as soldiers to fight to help bring peace to a foreigh country, they had done the opposite. This incident completely tainted the reputation of the U.S. military and bring out some provoking questions. Should U.S. soldiers just be left out there to do whatever they want? As shown above, a U.S. soldier could easily walk into a house and kill an entire family. Every crime has its consequence, and the soldier failed to think about them.

U.S. sends musicians to make overtures in war zones

In March 2009, 4 musicians from Alvin Atkinson and the Sound Merchants traveled with the U.S. State Department for a new diplomacy program called Musical Overtures. They visited Armenia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon, with the hopes of bridging the cultural divide between he U.S. and these conflict–area zones.

Pianist Jonathan Lefcoski walked into a rehearsal at a music club in Baghdad. He did not know if he would be welcomed, or at least his music recognized. However, he was playing through Caraven, an American Jazz classic with an Iraqi bass player. He said that he realized that, "music was universal."

The U.S. musicians had already traveled to other countries in the past. However, this was the first time that Music Overtures took musicians into the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan. The State Department had always wanted to send musicians over to Iraq and Afghanistan, but they could not because of the brutal situations in those areas that did not provide musicians with enought safety.

This kind of project is called a cultural diplomacy. This type of diplomacy dates back to the Cold War. Music was considered as a "good cultural weapon." The government back then sponsored musicians, especially Jazz musicians because Jazz was the most internationally known type of music that originated in the U.S. Jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie were sent into countries.

However, Alvin Atkinson (the lead singer and drummer) and his band had faced problems in the past also. On a different tour two years ago, a man in Jordan called him a "bloodsucking imperalist." and told him to leave the country. A black president seemed to improve foreign attitudes toward the U.S. On the other hand, Atkinson remembers his day in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, where he danced on stage with Hassan Bismil, a famous singer. Atkinson began to sing, and the crowd quickly grew from a few dozen to more than 300 people. They did not know any English, but they tried to sing along with him anyway.

Now, Musical Overtures is growing steadily, mainly from the influence of George W. Bush. He had increased the budget of such cultural programs from $900,000 to $1o million in 2008. The budget right now remains at $8.5 million. Hilary Clinton, Secretary of State, stated that the cultural exchange is an important part of Obama administration's emphasis on using non-military ways to expand American influence.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The responses from other readers to this article was mostly negative. They were criticizing that this news article should not be one of the head articles. I disagree. Music Overtures is one of the few ways that can reach out to civilians, the true owners of their countries, and speack of peace through music. Music has no boundaries. Music is one of the few things that every single person on this planet appreciates and is fond with. Instead of guns, why not use music? I also admire the musicians who traveled into the war-zones despite risks of death.

World battles swine flu as death toll rises

The police are guarding the hospital entrance. No one knows how to treat it properly yet. the doctors at mexico were mystified. Everyone has their masks on. Patients keep flowing into hospitals all day long. People are sick and are dying. At a school in New York, the school was closed due to 28 confirmed cases of the swine flu. So far, a total of approximately 90 cases of outbreaks were confirmed around the world. 50 in the states, 6 in Canada, 3 in New Zealand, 2 each in spain and the UK, and 1 in Israel. Experts suspect that there are 11 more other countries that are infected. In response to the problem, the World Health Organiztion raised its alert level to 4 on the six-level-scale. This shows that the UN Agency thinks that the virus can be spread human-to-human.

Over the last 2 weeks, out of nearly two thousand that came to a hospital in Mexico, 150 died. Patients are kept clustered in rooms. There is also a problem trying to figure out if someone actually needs treatment or not. Hospital workers are complaining because they were not given medicine or masks. All school in Mexico have closed until at least the sixth of May. Mexico also ran out of medicine and sanitary masks, which is growing to be a huge problem. Airport quarantine systems have become more strict than before. China and Russia have cut off pork imports coming in from the US and Mexico. Japan and Indonesia are using thermographic censors to check the temperatures of the passengers arriving from Mexico. The Phillipines Health Department even urged people not to kiss in public.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although not mentioned in this paper, South Korea is influenced by the disease. The South Korean government has confirmed a suspected case of the swine disease. Pork prices have falled drastically during the past days. People are frightened. The Agriculture and Forestry Ministry stated that the government and the Korea Swine Association are coming up with new standard procedures to check for possible infections and devising actions to be taken if a sick animal is discovered. They are also limiting pork imports from the US and Mexico. This shows that the disease is highly contagious because it has reached people living on the other side of the Earth. It is a problem that should not be taken lightly.