CIA Director's Email Hacked by Wenjun Leng

Hackers recently accessed CIA director John Brennan’s personal email account. How did they do it? Well, they didn’t use their coding skills. All they had to do was ask the service provider's customer service to get access to all Brennan’s accounts. His personal AOL email account was accessed after the hackers talked to Verizon’s customer service. They told them that they got Brennan’s cell phone number, then the hackers were able to trick Verizon into handing over Brennan’s email-address, and also other personal information- one of which was his last four digits of his bank card. After that the hackers used his personal information to get AOL to reset Brennan’s password. When they accessed his account they claim to have obtained some sensitive documents- relating to the CIA personnel, as in their names and Social Security numbers.

Joe Biden Out of Race by Liz Orlova

If any of you watched the CNN Democratic Debate a few weeks ago, you may have noticed the empty speech podium that was present on the stage.  This podium was reserved for current vice president, as well as then-presidential-hopeful, Joe Biden.  However, America has carried his podium back into the storage room, where I daresay it belongs.  Although he is a great leader with a fantastic running mate (Elizabeth Warren of Oklahoma City), perhaps he is not yet qualified to run against the hugely popular Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.  It was most likely that he wasn’t ready to run because of the remaining grief from his son’s recent death.  In any case, Joe probably won’t be serving in office again, and if he were to step back in, it would take something fairly major to get him to do so.  

Democratic Debate: My View by Liz Orlova

As we all know, the first Democratic debate at CNN in Las Vegas was held recently.  This showcased many candidates such as former Senator Bernie Sanders, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator Jim Webb, Governor Martin O’Malley, and Senator Lincoln Chafee.  Although all five were present, it was fairly obvious that the debate was meant, almost exclusively, for Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders (although Jim Webb did try to get in on the action).  Clinton came prepared and polished, as usual, but Bernie gave his watchers more of that raw Brooklyn charm that they love.  The debate continued, with Sanders making appeals to the OWS (Occupy Wall Street) liberals, as well as the Green Party (the Environmentalists) liberals.  Clinton took a different approach, and tried to get the people in the bubble between Republicans and Democrats.  

Although CNN stated that Secretary Clinton won the debate, Bernie Sanders was the true victor, in the eyes of most other news sources (both relevant and irrelevant), as well the majority of democrats.  Also, according to a project done on Reddit, he was the most Google-searched person of the night.  Although he did not officially win, the first debate has done wonders for his publicity.  However, this is bad news for Hillary.  She did win the debate, but clearly the election process is a marathon, not a sprint.  Nobody really cares that she won, and Bernie Sanders is clearly gaining more followers.  Will Secretary Clinton be able to hold down her current supporters?  She started out as a “name-brand,” but can she keep that up?  

New Details About Malaysia Flight 17 by Hely Parmar and Ankur Purao

New details have been found on the crash of the Malaysia Flight 17. Read on to find out what actually happened.

1.The pilots were killed immediately. The missile was launched, and was less than 1 yard from the pilot’s cockpit.

2. The plane flew 5 miles without its control center. The cockpit had been unconnected, and blasted out of the plane’s body.

3. Investigators used paint to trace the missile. The missile was Russian made system, and was launched supposedly from Russia.

From Ankur Purao: 

In a final report made by the dutch safety board, inspecting Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 concludes that 298 people were killed that June last year. The flights crash was reportedly caused by a Russian made Buk missile which struck the plane’s frontal left side. The plane, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was flying over Ukrainian airspace during the height of conflict between Russian separatists, and the Russian military. The Safety board concludes that a Russian missile fired from either side could have fired upon it, causing it to crash because they thought that it could be a bomber, which wasn’t entirely unheard of.

Canada's New Prime Minister: Justin Trudeau by Liz Orlova

Recently, on October 19, Canada held its latest election for the Prime Minister. Justin Trudeau, head of the Canadian Liberal Party, as well as the son of perhaps the most influential Canadian politician in the Twentieth Century, won, ending the nine year Conservative “rule.”  He succeeded Stephen Harper, a key Conservative leader, who was hoping for another term as Prime Minister.  

Many Canadians are hoping that Trudeau will live up to his big promises.  One of the major things that he hopes to change is improving Canada’s role in world politics.  According to the Gazette, an important Canadian newspaper, Trudeau is a strong believer in “Positive Politics,” and he is also hoping to make Canada a bigger participant in the European Union.  Trudeau also has strong ties with Obama, which he is hoping to use as assets in bringing the two countries closer together, hopefully addressing big issues, such as the Keystone Pipeline.  He is hoping to bring back Canada’s pre-Harper world image, and he definitely has the support of the Canadian public.  

Water on Mars by Hely Parmar

Water has been discovered on planet Mars!  NASA scientists reported on Monday, while revealing a breakthrough, that they hope to find life on Mars and try to continue their research there.  While the breakthrough doesn’t confirm that there is certainly water on Mars, it does give reasonable hope that, in fact, there is. Liquid water ran down the canyons and mountains in the summer months on Mars.  These water patterns left long, dark stains that reached hundreds of meters downhill.  Scientists are unsure about where the water originated, but they suspect underground ice, or even salty aquifers.  An aquifer is a rock that holds or moves groundwater.  “It’s a fascinating piece of work,” quoth John Bridges, professor of planetary science at the University of Leicester.  “our view of Mars is changing, and we’ll be discussing this for a long time to come.”  

Manatee Awareness by Lily Bang

Manatees are one of the many endangered animals that have managed to stay alive for a very long time. Manatees are also nicknamed the Sea Cow although its technical name is Trichechus. There are three main kinds of manatees: the West Indian manatees, the Amazonian manatees, and the African manatees. An adult manatee can weigh 880 to 1200 pounds and can swim an average 3.1 to 5 miles in an hour. The adults can also grow to be 9.2 to 9.8 feet long and its rank is genus. They live around the coasts of central America and south, west Africa. Manatees are herbivores which mean that they only eat plants. The main cause of manatees’ deaths are human issues for example, most manatees surfer from motor boat injuries such as getting scrapes on their backs and severe internal injuries that can lead to death.

You could make a difference by following motor boat laws such as not boating in certain areas of the coasts and by going against, as in  not wanting to pollute the ocean pollution. Now there are many rehabilitate centers for manatees. The manatees might go extinct soon which means that there would be one less species of amazing animals left on Earth. Which means if manatees can’t live then chances are that other beloved species can’t live either.    

NASA Explores Journey to Mars by Hamna Ahmad

Recently, NASA has announced more steps to their journey to Mars.  While Mars is a long distance away, today NASA is closer than they ever have been to sending astronauts to Mars.  There are three incredibly challenging things astronauts would have to do to get to Mars, the red planet.

Earth Reliant:  If Mars is proven safe for us humans to go.  Scientists are still figuring out how our human body adapts to space.  Using advanced and modern technology, including 3D printers scientist will eventually figure this out.

Proving Grounds:   Astronauts will conduct series of tests into deep space.  This step includes the EM-1 exploration mission which will be conducted in 2018.  As well, as a test when astronauts will take a huge boulder from an asteroid and transfer it back to proving grounds for more research.  This is called the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission which will most likely take place in 2020.

Earth Independent:   This is the last stage.  This step is after the two previous steps.  After NASA get to know Mars a bit better they will harvest food, building materials, and oxygen.  This will only happen once they reach the Martian surface.  NASA would also like to install a high tech communication system which will allow data and science experiments from mars back to earth within 20 mins daily.  

It has not come to an exact year when astronauts will land on Mars.  However, NASA will find its way through and go to Mars sooner than we think.

Ankara in Mourning After Blast by Hely Parmar

Ankara is the capital of Turkey in Europe. The attack, for which no group has so far claimed responsibility, killed 95 people at a peace rally on Saturday, October 10. Turkey residents mourned Sunday, October 11, at the sites of the bombings. The bombings were supposedly planned and executed at the Ankara Railway Station.

The party that organized Saturday’s rally said that 245 people were injured, and 48 of them with serious injuries. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that there’s evidence that two suicide bombers were responsible for the bombings. Turkey declared three days of mourning, in which Sunday was the first. The mourning will end Tuesday, October 13th.

U.S. and Russia Joint Airstrikes Hit Kabul Hospital by Ankur Purao

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN -- Two days ago on October 3rd a Russian and American joint airstrike targeted a group of ISIS militants but also hit a Kabul hospital. In an official statement, Washington said that the hospital was collateral damage that was caused by engaging hostile militants. Ban Ki-Moon, the head of the United Nations condemned the attack and the United States for firing where they knew there was a civilian hospital nearby.

At least 19 people are known to have been killed in the airstrike, including twelve staff members and seven patients, three of whom were children. Thirty-seven were wounded by the airstrike, but have since been airlifted to another Kabul hospital, for immediate medical treatment. The attack was carried out at exactly 2:15 AM by an American AC-130 gunship that was supporting special operations troops on the ground.

The real question is whether this will continue in Afghanistan as 20,000 civilians have now been killed as “collateral damage”.