Tag Archives: International

Pending answers on Niger attack

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By IZABELLA FELPETO

The U.S. Department of Defense continues to investigate a more accurate account of events for the attacks in Niger.

On Oct. 3, 12 members of the U.S. Special Operations Task Force and 30 Nigerian forces left Niger’s capital, Niamey, to travel to a small village near Tongo Tongo, to complete a mission for the purpose of gaining information. The following day, U.S. soldiers and the Nigerien forces were ambushed by an Isis-affiliated group composed of 50 attackers.

Two hours after the attack, French Mirage jets came to assist the soldiers. Questions remain about why the soldiers waited an hour into the fight to call for help.

“But it’s important to note that when they didn’t ask for support for that first hour, my judgment would be that that unit thought they could handle the situation without additional support,” said Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford during a briefing at the Pentagon on Monday. “And so, what we’ll find out in the investigation exactly why it took an hour for them to call.”

Information is still pending about why the mission in Niger went wrong, leaving four U.S. soldiers dead, two soldiers injured and five Nigerien troops dead.

Even after the most updated timeline of events were released, it is uncertain why fallen solider Sgt. David Johnson’s body was left unrecovered for two days.

“We owe the families of the fallen more information and that’s what the investigation is designed to identify,” said Dunford.

The U.S. Africa Command is continuing a thorough investigation of what happened.

Fake stories, enemies of news media

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By REGINA SÁNCHEZ JIMÉNEZ

Since Oct. 15, Spain has suffered a wave of fires affecting Galicia’s region. These fires have calcined 35,000 hectares just in Galicia and have killed four people.

The victims were two old women, 80 and 88 years old, who died when they were trying to flee in a van, and two men that were trying to extinguish the fire. The number of deaths in Portugal has risen to 30 people.

Most of the fires were arson attacks. Two people have been arrested as the alleged originators of the fires. The first one, Miguel Angel, accused of setting fire to his farm when he was cooking with a barbecue. The second one, Maria Luisa, who was burning weed in her house.

But the government of Galicia, the Xunta, has qualified these fires as forest terrorism. The Xunta has suspicion that some of the other 146 fires have been started by an organized gang.

In that situation, when a whole country is focused on the issue, there are a large number of impressive photos with more impressive backstories. One of the most popular photos, in this case, has been the photo of a dog carrying a carbonized puppy. It was taken by the photojournalist Salvador Sas for the EFE agency.

The picture flooded social networks and accompanied many of the news media articles about the fire. Everybody knew about this mum dog, Jacki, carrying her own dead puppy. That was the story that many people are sharing. Everything right, so far. The problem occurred when a journalist discovered that the story attached to this photo was fake.

Jacki wasn’t a female and the dead puppy wasn’t his.

This is the article that uncovered the truth.

The owner of Jacki, recognized to the newspaper La Voz de Galicia, that her dog didn’t have descendants and that he was carrying a rabbit to eat, far from the story that was spread.

It is maybe an insignificant story and nothing will change after knowing the gender and the story of this dog. But once again, it is an example that news media publish and broadcast news without verifying. They seem to be following emotional criteria or mirroring everything that leads to success on social networks to attract the attention of an audience. Then, they correct the news en bloc. But it’s too late, the bad practice has been done.

If this has happened at this time, it could happen with other more relevant stories and the consequences affecting the reputation of the news organizations and society’s reliance on them would be far worse.

Italian schools to teach about news

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By VICTOR GUZMAN BERGER

Italiian high school students will receive journalism classes to prevent been caught by Jihadist terrorist groups through Facebook, Google, Twitter and Instagram

The Italian Ministry of Education has designed a program to teach high school student journalism techniques so they can distinguish real news from fake news.

Italian security services have found that extreme fanatic terrorist groups, as the Jihadists and others, are intervening real news from well-known media sources and
manipulating and distorting the information to capture innocent followers for their terrorist actions in diverse countries in Europe and the United States.

This initiative shows the crucial role of news media and social media today, around the globe, not exclusively for information purposes but in domestic and international states’ security. For more about this, go to
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/opinion/migrants-italy-europe.html.

Italian schools teach about fake news

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By VERONICA SPAGNA

Fake news has been around for a while, but with the existence of the Internet and ingraining of social media in people, this notion has been increasingly addressed and recognized as a critical issue. Italy has decided to create classes to teach high school students how to recognize fake news and the importance of not sharing false information, in addition to a new set of ethical commandments.

No generation has it ever been so easy and so fast to gain insight on what is happening around the world. Accessing information can be done with just a few taps on our phones. Laura Boldrini, the president of the Italian lower house of Parliament, told The New York Times “Fake news drips drops of poison into our daily web diet and we end up infected without even realizing it. It’s only right to give these kids the possibility to defend themselves from lies.”

Students will receive a list of commandments. One of them is: “Thou shalt not share unverified news; thou shall ask for sources and evidence; thou shall remember that the internet and social networks can be manipulated.”

There are so many sources where we can access our information and the velocity with which we can acquire it doesn’t allow people to constantly check the reliability.

People’s perception is manipulated and not accessing the truth affects people’s actions, as seen in the 2016 elections. In fact, one of the main reasons this program was created is for the upcoming elections in Italy, which are scheduled on May 20, 2018. The Web is already full of conspiracy theories against all parties and it is essential that the political view, especially of a generation ingrained on their phones, is based on the truth.

The Italian government has been working with companies, such as Facebook and Google, to build a program that focuses on training students on how to recognize fake news and conspiracy theories online. The program seeks the creation of “Fake News Hunters” and is expected to begin later this month. It will be launched in approximately 8,000 high schools around all of Italy.

Students will be taught the ethics of not publishing or sharing fake news and how important the impact of everything they share on social media can be. Facebook will be contributing that specific aspect, addressing to students how “likes” on the platform are “monetized and politicized.”

It is of value that a social media giant, such as Facebook has been collaborating with this program. Especially, because of the pressure, social networks and search engines have been given on finding a solution to filter fake news and conspiracy theories. In fact, a few weeks ago, on Oct. 6, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, wrote in a  post:

“We will do our part to defend against nation states attempting to spread misinformation and subvert elections. We’ll keep working to ensure the integrity of free and fair elections around the world, and to ensure our community is a platform for all ideas and force for good in a democracy.”

Mark Zuckerberg was never one to approve of the impact of social media, for years he would argue as seeing social media as just a method of communication. His complete change in opinion really brings to surface the importance of doing something about this issue. Facebook reported that if the program is successful, it will create similar programs for other countries in Europe.

Many of the reports on this story are written in detail and seem to deliver a lot of useful information. I am from Italy and this makes me proud especially because I study journalism in the United States, which has a big issue on fake news. I would be really interested in knowing more on who will be teaching these classes and the opinion of students on this new subject.

News media mum on Uranium One

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By DANNY LAROSE

What is shaping to be one of the most bombshell cases of federal corruption and shady politics of the year is receiving little to no attention from the mainstream news media.

According to Newsweek, the case originates around the sale of Canadian mining firm Uranium One “that has licenses to mine American uranium deposits in Kazakhstan, in 2009. The sale ended in 2013 and transferred the uranium—which made up 20 percent of American reserves—into Russian hands.” Additionally, Uranium One’s chairman donated $1 million to the Clinton Foundation, while another company he was a major investor in, UrAsia, donated over $8.5 million to the foundation.

Recent information has surfaced that indicates the FBI, under now Trump-Russia-special-counsel-head Robert Mueller, notified then-president Barack Obama and other top officials of the corruption among the Russians involved in the deal. And yet, we notice a news media blackout of this story.

President Trump tweeted early Thursday that the deal is the biggest story the news media are not following. Donald Trump has certainly damaged his credibility in calling out fake news because he’s called almost all mainstream news media fake, but Trump is correct in this latest assessment. What could have shaped up to be the next Watergate should Clinton have won the 2016 election is getting ignored by the television news media and newspapers, who instead are choosing to maintain focus on NFL anthem protesting and private phone calls to gold star families.

It goes without saying that if this story had “Trump” anywhere in it, it would be emblazoned as breaking news across every news station and outlet. We have seen this before, as any and every bit of information about Russia and its alleged tampering in the presidential election (whether the information is legitimate, from an “anonymous source,” or a hoaxed internet dossier) inevitably dominates the news cycle for a week.

Trump is right. This is fake news. These outlets have forfeited their credibility by unjustly steering the focus of their broadcasts away from anything that might justify Donald Trump or harm Barack Obama. This is getting ridiculous. At a certain point, the news media have to understand that the public is entitled to be informed about legitimate news that affects the world.

Enough with the rumors, anonymous sources, or whispers and leaks from inside the campaign; finally the news media have significant evidence of actual collusion with Russia among federal officials and they choose to turn away from it. Forgive me, then, news media, if we choose to turn away from you.

Berlin soccer teams kneel before match

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By NINA GARZA

NFL players have been kneeling during the national anthem before games to protest discrimination but now the movement has gone worldwide.

During Hertha Berlin’s home game against Schalke 04, the starting players on the field, coaches, officials and substitutes all took in a knee in unity with the NFL players.

The soccer club team took to Twitter with a picture of the players kneeling and the caption “Hertha BSC stands for tolerance and responsibility! For a tolerant Berlin and an open-minded world, now and forevermore! #TakeAKnee #hahohe”

Sebastian Langkamp, Hertha defender, told a reporter during halftime, “We’re no longer living in the 18th century but in the 21st century. There are some people, however, who are not that far ideologically yet.”

Through the power of social media, this story has gone viral. Hertha’s tweet has received more than 13,000 retweets and counting. This shows how powerful Twitter is in distributing news and information, as well as all other social media platforms today.

The other battle for independence

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By REGINA SÁNCHEZ JIMÉNEZ

Catalonia voted for its independence on Oct. 1. The called “referendum” was held illegally. Independence politicians sought refuge under the made up “right to decide” to accomplish the voting.

After ignoring the orders of the government to not hold the query because it was against the Constitution and disobeying the judgment of the Court, the first Sunday of October everything was ready in Catalonia for the referendum.

The government replied sending hundreds of police officers and Civil Guards. Their only goal was to close peacefully every school where people could vote. Because the local police (Mossos d’Esquadra), under the orders of Catalonia’s government, didn’t obey to Spanish government.

When the polling day was about to start, the Catalonia’s government announced that the requisites changed: Universal suffrage and people could vote with a ballot paper printed at home. The computer system for vote counting failed, because the Spanish government locked the Web site. So, people could vote more than once, because all the control measures were write down the ID number on a sheet. Likewise, people from other parts of Spain with a Spanish ID could vote.

While this fraud was happening, the police were trying to close every polling place. The order was to do it peacefully, but, in some places, independence citizens opposed and the provocations started. The eviction that had to be peaceful became a battle with violence of both sides.

The Catalonia’s government found in this violence an opportunity to give visibility to its referendum and deflect attention from the referendum’s problems. So, they reached their goal and international news media focused on the violence.

National and international news media published photos of individuals wounded by the police, finding them on social media platforms such as Twitter. But soon, other Twitter accounts, started to determine that some photos were fake or didn’t occur on that date.

So, we could see some news media didn’t fact-check the information and the consequences were horrible for the Spanish conflict. For the world, the police was demonized, the Spanish government appeared guilty, the Catalan government was the victim, and people around the world criticized Spaniards.

Days later, other news media revealed how some photos were edited, some of the images of  injured people belonged to 2012 protest march when Mossos d’Esquadra beat demonstrators, and to other conflicts in other places around the world. Other photos were real, but the story behind them was false. Thus, the international opinion started to change again in favor of Spanish government.

In the same conflict, we could see two different practices, one right and one wrong, and how it affects public opinion, even at international level. In journalism, it’s not just about ethics, it’s about having a responsibility with the world and the society.

Some of the corrections that news media have published belong to the Twitter account @malditobulo and here are some examples:

This two wounded are attributed to the police charges during the first day of October.

But this photo is from 2012, in a manifestation of miners.

This other belongs to a manifestation in 2012 in Barcelona, when Mossos d’Esquadra charged against the demonstrators.

In the video, an independence citizen tells how Police has broken her fingers one by one.

Days later, she recognized that she had made up the story. This is one of the stories that media have covered the most.

Plague in Madagascar panics locals

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By KAYLA FOSTER

The plague has returned to the country of Madagascar as reports of more than 194 people contacting the disease came in Tuesday.

For majority of the world, the plague is a thing of the past but, for the country of Madagascar, is it a seasonal worry that has taken the lives of 63 out of the 275 reported cases last year. Officials are particularly worried about this season’s outbreak, as it is mainly affecting heavily populated areas.

Madagascar has temporarily shut down all public and government institutions, including its capital, Antananarivo, home to 1.3 million residents. World Health Organization officials said plans to ship emergency supplies are underway.

Madagascar’s Minister of Public Health, Mamy Andriamanarivo, says the country is running low on face masks for the public, CBC reports.

On average, Madagascar accounts for 82 percent of the world’s plague related deaths. It is also one of the poorest countries in the world, most people making under $2 per day, The Washington Post reports. For the United States, rare cases have been reported and all have survived.

So far there has been little news media coverage on the condition of Madagascar, as most of the United States is giving attention to Sunday night’s Las Vegas massacre, as well as Houston, Florida, and Puerto Rico rebuilding after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

Epidemic season runs from September to April in Madagascar. So far the disease has killed 30 people.

Nobel awarded for fruit fly research

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By ANDRES ARENAS GRAYEB

This Monday, the Nobel Prize for medicine was awarded to Drs. Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Robash and Michael Young in recognition of their research pertaining to circadian rhythms.

After years of research, the trio was able to identify a molecule (called a “period”) that is linked to our bodies’ energy levels. As the day goes on, period levels drop, giving us the energy to get through the day. As night approaches, period levels increase, prompting us to call it a day.

The period molecule functions in all animals and is responsible for their daily cycles of wake and rest. But the model organisms this year’s Nobel Prize recipients used was none other than the humble fruit fly.

Being a cost-and-time efficient test subject, fruit flies are also genetically very similar to humans. As such, they have been the stars in numerous important areas of research, five of which led to past Nobel prizes.

New York Times‘ open-ended contributor David Bilder did a thorough job covering not only what happened, but why it is relevant and what are its consequences. He explained in simple terms what the research was and how it applied the ordinary person. He also called attention to the danger that research like the one that is the topic is in, with looming budget cuts from a Congress that does not understand the importance it holds. This also served the purpose of being a call to action for fascinated readers.

He also offered a brief history of the research behind the fruit fly, as a supplement to his urging readers as to the importance of this type of research. Overall, he provided enlightened and complete coverage of the event.

Open roads for women in Saudi Arabia

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By IZABELLA FELPETO

As of Tuesday, Sept. 26, Prince Muhammad bin Salman lifted the ban on women driving in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“This is the right time to do the right thing,” he said to American reporters.

Not only has the young Prince challenged social order by lifting this ban but, on Sept. 23, the country’s National Day; women were allowed to present themselves in the Riyadh stadium for the first time. His promises to Saudi Arabia’s youth, which make up about 70 percent of the country, have posed a threat to the traditional religious views of the Islamic religion.

His efforts to banish conservatism have been publicly critiqued, especially, on social media. Hours after the news was released, “the women of my house will not drive” quickly became the most popular Twitter hashtag in Saudi Arabia.

Beginning June 17, 2018, all women have the right to get behind the wheel and obtain a driver’s license, with permission of a male guardian.

This victory has not been easy as confirmed by many Saudi women activists who have fought hard against female oppression in the country. Manal al Shariff, who has a history of charges for “driving while female,” shed tears after hearing this and said “Saudi Arabia will never be the same again. The rain begins with a single drop.”

The driving restriction can improve the country’s economic state. With limited transport, it is difficult for women to commute to work unless they have a car service, which can be expensive. The other option would be to travel with a male guardian. However, some Islamic extremists still argue that driving could affect a woman’s fertility by harming her ovaries.

In celebration, women have posted photos and videos on social media of them driving. Madeha al Ajroush, a proud Saudi woman, tweeted: “The will for women to drive has finally come. We Saudi women has the freedom of mobility.”

Earthquake strikes near Mexico City

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By ANAEL GAVIZON

During the three-week improvised break that we had, there were a lot of big stories featured on the news. One that caught my eye was the earthquakes in Mexico, mostly the second one which was closer to Mexico City, Puebla and Morelos.

Last week, on the same date as the anniversary of the second strongest earthquake in Mexico in 1985, the National Seismology Service reported a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. The epicenter was located in Mexico City, however, it heavily affected all the surrounding states.

Streets were full of victims, people trapped under collapsed buildings, familiar streets divided by strands of red and yellow emergency tape; but most streets were plenty of fear.

Other than getting help from countries all over the world, the Mexican society has found a way to prove wrong to the socially divided mark. Citizens from up and down the economic spectrum have found a way to help others, seizing a sense of unity in an atmosphere of destruction.

I think that the coverage of the event overall was pretty good for different reasons. It was really immediate. A big part is thanks to the instant nature of technology, but also thanks to the people that reported and recorded it as evidence. Most of the newscasts and videos I watched got their visuals and content from social media.

There were also a lot of stations that either had correspondents in Mexico or they had affiliates that would send information. I think they had really good visuals and images from all over the place, and also good stories people liked to hear about. For example, the kids that got trapped in a school, soldiers coming to help, the dogs that could locate people to rescue.

An example of CNN”s coverage can be found at http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/19/americas/mexico-earthquake/index.html.

Venezuelans fight for their future

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By VIVIANA ONORATO

The situation in Venezuela is critically bad.

There is poverty, unemployment, insecurity, lack of political input, among other issues. A large number of Venezuelans have died because of a shortage of food, medicine or being killed defending their rights.

The quality of life in Venezuela is getting worse every day. People live with the risk of dying without being able to buy food because of its high cost or because there is no food at all. For the last five years, people have been starving. About 75 percent of the country has lost an average of 19 pounds per person since the food crisis.

In addition, the minimum wage does not cover all the necessary expenses in a low cost living. For these reasons, the people in Venezuela decided to take to the streets to defend their rights. Once again, this freedom could not be achieved so there is a lot of emigration in the country not only by the people but also airlines and importing companies.

Venezuela has always been a country that has a lot of potential and wealth. It was the richest country in Latin America and now it is broke thanks to the collapse of the oil industry and general mismanagement of the economy.

It used to welcome many foreigner visitors and today, this beautiful country full of landscapes, beaches and tropical climates has become the most corrupt country in South America.

President Nicolas Maduro isn’t helping to improve the situation. While people are starving, president Nicolas Maduro focuses on changing the constitution in order to give himself more power. This means, people in Venezuela would not be able to have the right to vote anymore.

We as journalists need to stop ignoring the situation in Venezuela. We need to be the voice for those who do not have one. We need to make the world see the reality of Venezuela and contribute to those Venezuelans desperate to have that freedom they have fought so much.

Support offered for Mumbai victims

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By IZABELLA FELPETO

More than 23 people have been found dead Thursday morning after a five-story building in Mumbai collapsed.

Rescue workers continue to search for at least 30 missing victims at the scene of the tragedy, while local firefighters remain on location, clearing out debris that could potentially cause victims who are still trapped in the remains to suffocate.

Located in India’s West Coast, this city is known for its heavy rainfall and flooding. Although five were reported dead as a result of the heavy flooding; authorities are uncertain if the collapse was due to rainfall, which began on Saturday morning.

According to local news media, the 117-year-old building on the busy street of Pakmodia needed repairs since 2013. Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai was the current owner of the building and is now being investigated for the negligence of necessary renovations.

MCGM claims to have urged the inhabitants to evacuate the building earlier this year, however, it is still unknown as to why they remained after a warning. The company is said to appear in court on Wednesday.

Government spokesperson Vijay Khabele Patil said “they are concerned officers who had to look after repairs and other things” did not do that.

City officials remain concerned with the construction of buildings in Mumbai, and fear that this may only be the first tragedy of many. They fear that hundreds of buildings in the city may be unfit for living conditions.

Although the flood waters increase each day, fortunately, so does the support, concern, and medical response for the citizens of Mumbai.

Many celebrities have reached out on social media to share their support. Dilip Kumar, an Indian producer, actor and activist tweeted “May Allah keep all of you safe. #mumbaiRains. I’ve been told the authorities are doing their best to make it easy for you. God bless.”

Diana is remembered after 20 years

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By NINA GARZA

It has been 20 years since Princess Diana of Wales died in Paris after the car that she was riding in crashed. People gathered in Britain to pay their respects to the princess, whose legacy still lives on.

Flowers, candles and letters were left outside the gates of the Kensington Palace in memory of the late princess. People also took to social media to pay their tributes.

Elton John, who sang at Princess Diana’s funeral, tweeted a photo of him and Diana with the caption, “20 years ago today, the world lost an angel. #RIP #Diana20”. Piers Morgan took to Instagram with a picture of the two of them, captioning it, “RIP Princess Diana. The biggest star of them all.”

Diana was famous for many things, one being her AIDS activism. She often visited patients suffering with HIV, being almost the first person with a high profile to have her picture taken hugging AIDS victims.

From the streets of London to posts on social media, the media has done a great job reporting people paying respects and remembering Diana’s legacy, To further commemorate the princess, a documentary on her life and death, starring her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, will air on BBC in seven days.

Is there a future for nuclear energy?

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By NOELIA GRAHAM

In the 1950s, nuclear energy was all the rage, promising to supply the world all of it’s energy. With the passing of time however, nuclear energy has faded from innovative to cumbersome.

Nuclear energy is costly, dangerous, and powerful. As the world looks to cleaner sources of energy, what does this hold for the future of nuclear energy?

Several large-scale incidents have paved the way for nuclear energy way out, including the incident at Chernobyl in 1986 and more recently Fukushima’s nuclear accident in 2011.

Mostly likely as a result of the disaster in Fukushima, Germany decided to phase out nuclear power altogether by 2022.

Also, South Korea, which invested many years into its nuclear energy technology will be scaling back in their nuclear energy consumption and released a plan called the “One Less Nuclear Power Plant” initiative one year after the incident in Fukushima.

Public opinion about the reliability of nuclear energy has tanked, putting politicians and world leaders in the midst to figure out what to do next. But it’s more than just public opinion, keeping nuclear energy around has a lot to do with economics.

While nuclear energy in the United States does offer some benefits, it’s too expensive to maintain when you take into account all of the money spent in making sure it’s done safely.

“You can make it go fast, and you can make it be cheap — but not if you adhere to the standard of care that we do,” said Mark Cooper of the Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School, referring to the United States regulatory body. “Nuclear safety always undermines nuclear economics. Inherently, it’s a technology whose time never comes.”

Yemen’s cholera crisis may worsen

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By NOELIA GRAHAM

In the midst of Yemen’s civil war, thousands are dying. Not because of airstrikes or bombs, but because of cholera.

Yemen is one of the Arab world’s poorest countries and its civil war is centered around Houthi rebel forces and those who are loyal to the government system of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.

According to Johannes Bruwer, worker for International Committee of the Red Cross who is currently in Yemen, “The cholera outbreak has infected more than 200,000 people across Yemen, and it appears that 500,000 could eventually become sick. More than 1,300 people have already died.”

With the knowledge of modern medicine preventing cholera should be an easy task. But in a war torn country whose sewer system stopped working on April 17, clean water is hard to come by.

“Clean water in Yemen is a luxury. Municipal workers in Sanaa have not been paid in months. And so we have no electricity, rubbish piling high in the street, and a crippled water system,” Bruwer wrote.

The cholera crisis in Yemen is centered to be the largest outbreak in modern times. With no end to the war in sight, Yemen faces is facing more than just a health crisis. Because of the economic collapse due to the war, cholera will continue to spread without the proper access to food, clean water and health care.

In a statement released by senior UN official in Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, spoke about the lack of international response.

“The politics of the situation has overcome the humanity,” Goldrick said.

“The humanity doesn’t work anymore here. The world has turned a blind eye to what’s happening in Yemen … right now we are so under-resourced for this crisis, it’s extraordinary.”

Fitness blogger dies in freak accident

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 By GABRIELA SANTOS

A French fitness blogger has died after a whipped cream dispenser malfunctioned and exploded. The canister lodged into her thorax and killed her.

Rebecca Burger, 33, was a fitness and travel blogger on such social media sites Facebook and Instagram. She had amassed about 200,000 followers on the sites.

Burger’s family made posts for her followers on her social media sites.

They wrote: “It’s with great sadness that we announce the death of Rebecca on Sunday 18 June 2017 following an accident in the home.” It was signed “her grieving family, friends and husband.”

Her family also took to social media to warn about the kitchen utensil, the dispenser. The canister exploded and pierced her chest, causing her to have a heart attack. She was taken to the hospital but died the next day. The local prosecutor is investigating the matter.

French consumer magazine 60 Millions de Consommateurs said it had warned readers about the gas capsules in cream dispensers for years after about 60 reports of exploding siphons causing injuries ranging from broken teeth, tinnitus, multiple fractures and, in one case, the loss of an eye. The problem affected more than a dozen models produced between 2009 and 2013, the magazine said.

“Due to a fault in its conception, the siphon’s plastic cap appears much too fragile to withstand being put under pressure … as a result, the siphon could explode and injure the user and those around them,” the magazine warned.

What we’re seeing now in the news media is a response to this claim. These canisters should have all been recalled and clearly there was something forgotten in the process.

It’s unfortunate that it took someone of international popularity to die for this to be brought forward but hopefully authorities can prevent anymore senseless deaths form occurring.

Student returned from North Korea dies

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By ALEJANDRO GRANDA

After returning from North Korea in a comatose stte, 22-year-old Otto Warmbier died Monday.

“Surrounded by his loving family, Otto died today at 2:20 p.m.,” said his parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier.

Doctors at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center said he had extensive brain damage that has lasted longer than year and that he was in a state unresponsive wakefulness and wasn’t aware of his surroundings.

The family did not mention the cause of death.

Warmbier was arrested in Pyongyang in January 2016 while on a tourist trip to North Korea and was charged with committing a hostile act against the government. He had tried to steal a propaganda poster from a hotel hallway wall. He was convicted and sentenced to 15 years hard labor.

It is ludicrous that North Korea arrests, then tortures someone so harshly just for stealing a poster.

NBC News has done a great job reporting what has happened along with background information to support their report.

3-on-3 Olympic basketball planned

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By MYLES VALENTINE

The International Olympics Committee added 3-on-3 basketball to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic program on Friday. The IOC called the changes more youthful, urban and female focused. They are striving to one day have an even split of 50 percent male and 50 percent female athletes. There were about 45 percent female athletes in Rio. As far as what teams are selected and how teams qualify, that’s still unclear.

“They don’t want just the basketball powers to compete in 3-on-3,” said USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley . “FIBA will get together and figure out how teams will qualify. They will definitely want to reward countries that have been doing a lot of 3-on-3 activities.”

The U.S. has been pushing 3-on-3 over the past few years and held a national tournament last month. The winners will head to the World Cup in France later this month.

Three-on-three only uses half of the court. It’s played with one-basket with two teams of four players (one sub). Typically, game time is 10 minutes or first team to 21 points. The 2020 Olympic 3-on-3 tournaments will include eight men’s teams and eight women’s teams.

The rules are made for more up-tempo competition. There should be more updates in the coming weeks .FIBA said it will announce qualification procedures and a competition format at a later date.

Madrid cracks down on ‘manspreading’

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By GABRIELA SANTOS

Madrid, the Spanish capital, will begin to place signs on city buses that will prohibit “manspreading.” Much like those already in place that do not allow smoking or littering.

Manspreading is the practice whereby a man, especially one traveling on public transport, adopts a sitting position with his legs wide apart, in such a way as to encroach on an adjacent seat or seats, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary.

Cities around the world, like New York and Philadelphia, have been adopting these kind of campaigns to dissuade riders from practicing the careless behavior.

“The mission of this new signage is to remember the need to maintain civic behavior and to respect the space of everyone on board the bus,” Spanish bus operator EMT said in a statement this week.

The decision came after a Spanish feminist group called “Mujeres en Lucha” created a petition that garnered more than 600 signatures on the popular site Change.org. They also created the hashtag #MadridSinManspreading (MadridWithoutManspreading) to help spread the message.

Manspreading “is not something that occurs sporadically, but if you look, you will realize that it is a very common practice,” the petition read. “It is not difficult to see women with their legs closed and very uncomfortable because there is a man next to her who is invading her space with his legs.”

Transport officials in Madrid also plan to use this campaign for the city’s metro system, according to BBC News.

The term “manspreading” has become a worldwide phenomenon and has led to many men being called out via social media. So much so that the Oxford Dictionary entered it into their online dictionary in 2015.

The practice has become so commonplace that most perpetrators don’t even realize that they’re doing it- and if they do they certainly don’t care. Hence, the new campaign to put a stop to it.

News media outlets have maintained a pretty good level on non-bias reporting on this topic, which surprisingly has been reported on by most top sites.

This is just one of those issues that is non-partisan, because after all, how can you be mad at people just trying to make the world more polite?