26 July 2012

Hungarian complacency? By Emma



Laszlo Csatary was the most wanted Nazi war crimal in the world. He was arrested by the Hungarian authorities on Wednesday 18th July 2012 in Budapest, 68 years after the end of the war...

In 1944, Mr. Csatary served as a senior Hungarian police officer in the eastern Slovak city of Kosice and is accused of the deportation of 15,700 Jews from Kosice to the Auschwitz death camp. He was condemned to death in absentia on June the 8th 1948.
 
On January the 19th 1945, he escaped to Canada where he worked as an art dealer in Montreal and Toronto under a false identity. In 1995, the Canadian authorities discovered his real identity and he then escaped back to Hungary. He lived there under his real identity for 17 years before being finally arrested...

Why did Hungary, a member State of the European Union, wait so long to arrest this Nazi? Perhaps it is because he is old. But, surely, once a Nazi, always a Nazi? I think he should have been punished for the crimes he committed, especially as he has not apparently shown any remorse...

Dark satanic?

23 July 2012

Is Iran provoking Israel? By Sophie



There has been an explosion on a bus transporting Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. The result is eight deaths and about thirty people injured. According to a Bulgarian Minister, the attack was committed by a suicide bomber whose identity has not yet been established.

Benyamin Netanyahou (Prime Minister of Israel) has accused Iran of being responsible for this attack but also for many other attacks in places like India, Thailand, Georgia, Cyprus and Kenya.

Israel promises a strong counter attack against the Iranian terrorist offensives. But this kind of reaction may cause a war... Israel will probably react in rather a more discreet fashion.

Podentially dangerous! By Baptiste


The Belgian theatre group Time Circus offers hotel customers the exciting experience of spending the night up in the air... This weird news was broadcast by the BBC on the 30th May 2012.
 
Customers take part in a theatrical ritual organized by the hotel staff in sci-fi clothes. Then they are taken to their rooms: pods hung from trees in a Norfolk forest (UK). They are given the bare essentials. However, the room is very comfortable.

I think that this is fun and crazy! I couldn’t imagine sleeping up in a tree, it must be very cool. But, security measures are not mentioned in the video and the pods are very high up... I hope it is safe!

Should kids do holiday homework? By Lydwine


 
Some people think it is a good thing for children to work a little during the holidays because that way pupils will not forget what they have learnt. Teachers often favour holiday homework because that way they will be more able to complete their teaching programmes...


Others think holidays are holidays and that children should forget all about school during them! There must be a real break between two school years. Most pupils of course are in favour of this option!


But, what is best? Send me your comments please!

12 July 2012

Iconoclasts in Timbuktu... By Hugo



Jihadist militants, linked to Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), have destroyed a holy tomb (UNESCO World Heritage Site) in the holy city of Timbuktu in northern Mali. This sacrilege has led to unprecedented terror within the local population.

We must strive to understand how, despite such acts, Al Qaeda continues to impress Muslims and to pursue its strategic objectives.

Al Qaeda's diatribe against "infidels" is in fact violent intolerance of all the forms of Islam which are not to their liking, such as that practiced in Mali and elsewhere. Jihadists seek to sweep away a glorious past to impose a totalitarian creed.

Also, nothing would make the Jihadist more pleased than to provoke foreign intervention; this would worsen the chaos in Mali and allow AQIM and its allies to portray themselves as defenders of Islamic lands...

I find it very unfortunate that such important monuments become stakes in this religious and political conflict.