Evacuated 200,000 people in California for severe fires

Large wildfires in Southern California have forced the evacuation of 200,000 people from different areas. They are kilometers and kilometers of devastated areas. In the Ventura area, for example, the flames have already carbonized some 38,000 hectares. Both this city and Santa Paula and Los Angeles were sold by the fires.

The rustic areas that surround them are very arid. The effect of the flames has not been seen only in the forest areas, there are hundreds of records of burning houses. More than 1,100 schools closed their doors as a preventive measure.

The danger yesterday got worse by the hurricane wind that plagues the region, with gusts of up to 130 kilometers per hour which made the flames spread with great speed. The first outbreaks were declared last Monday and the situation is expected to remain critical until the weekend.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42263237

'Samurai sword' attack leaves three dead at Tokyo shrine

Three people were killed and another injured after a man attacked his sister with a Samurai sword, the chief priestess of a well-known Shinto shrine in Tokyo.

The event took place on Thursday night in the Tomioka Hachimangu sanctuary, located in the east of the Japanese capital and famous for being one of the sumo cradles in Japan, since it hosted tournaments of the sport during the Edo era.

 

The attack began when the 58-year-old priestess, Nagako Tomioka, got out of her car in the sanctuary and was confronted by her brother, Shigenaga Tomioka, the attacker,  who had 56 years old, and his wife, who had about 30 years old.

First,he attacked with a Samurai sword, his sister and caused her death, then the attacker's wife chased the priestess's driver and hurt him in the shoulder.

Shigenga Tomioka then stabbed his wife and committed suicide with the same bladed weapon.

The cause of the murdering appears to be the post of chief priest that his sister had relegated from him about a decade ago.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42275875

OPINION:

It sounds like a movie that siblings murder each other for a position. It is strange because the attacker, after killing his sister, also murder his wife and then himself, maybe was scared of the consequences of the crime.

Trump Jerusalem move sparks Israeli-Palestinian clashes

Thousands of Palestinians went out to the streets in Gaza, West Bank and the oriental zone of Jerusalem in the first protests against EEUU's decision of recognizing this city as the capital of Israel. 

In Gaza, hundreds of Palestinians came to the frontier zones, where they faced the Israeli troops, which answered with shots hurting six persons, one of which is in critical state, according to medical sources.


In Ramala (West Bank), hundreds of persons congregated to midday in Al Manara's square, from where they went towards a position of military Israeli control in the North-East of the city, where they threw stones and Molotov cocktails to the soldiers, who answered with live ammunition, bullets of steel covered with rubber and teargases.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42265337?intlink_from_url=http://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cp7r8vgl2lgt/donald-trump&link_location=live-reporting-story

OPINION:
I think Donald Trump shouldn't get involved in matters that don't concern him.
His making problems between two countries that already had their disputes and that is called making problems.

IOC bans Russia from 2018 Winter Olympics

The IOC (International Olympic Committee) bans Russia from participating 2018 Winter Olympic Games that would have placed in Pyeongchang.

All began when the director of Russia's anti-doping investigator, doctor Grigory Rodchenkov, alleged that the country has a programme of doping and revealed that he had created substances to enhance athlete's performances and switched urine samples to avoid detection. The Wada (The World Anti Doping Agency) to look into those allegations enlisted the services of a law professor and a sports lawyer, Richard McLaren. McLaren concluded that 1.000 athletes across 30 sports benefitted from the doping between 2012 and 2015. Wada obtained a Russian laboratory database which it corroborated McLaren's conclusions.

IOC's president, Thomas Bach after 17 months of investigations came to the decision  to suspend The Russian Olympic Committee. Whatever, the IOC will invite Russian clean athletes to compete in February under the name 'Olympic Athlete from Russia' (OAR) and with a neutral flag.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/winter-sports/42242007

OPINION:
I think that doping controls have to be more efficient. Nowadays the science has advanced and new technics of hides doping had appeared. In my opinion, if you want to win a competition, you have to do it honestly and without cheating, otherwise the merit of winning isn't real.

Bullied girl, Julia Derbyshire 'just wanted to be loved'

Julia Derbyshire is a girl who is death for talking about her sexuality. All begins when she has 13 years, Julia talks with a friend about her sexuality, and this friend told to everyone in the school what Julia had explained to her. From that moment the bullying started. Julia was abused physically, psychologically and online. When the bullying stated Julia was living in the USA, but she returned to the UK, to live the last years with her father.


Julia developed mental health problems from the bullying and returned to the websites where she was abused to convince the people that she was a great person, and she only wants to be loved and accepted. Julia died in October 2015 and she was 16, after five days trying to kill herself. 

Since that day, Julia's father, Adrian Derbyshire, started a campaign to offer "support against self harm and suicide. "I wouldn't want any other parent to go through what I am going through at the moment," He said. Adrian had talked to more than 200.000 children in the last two years about his experience and he thinks that should be more education in schools about abuses online to protect our children. He also shared pictures of her dead daughter in the hospital to raise awareness, "It was a very difficult decision to take the picture" he said.

OPINION: I think that what the father said about the education about abuse online should exist in all the schools to make awareness, and also normalize sexuality because it is a natural thing. It's pathetic that a young girl, with the world on her foot, die because talking about a normal and natural thing, and that is why I think schools and the child's parents have to talk openly about these subjects, to avoid unnecessary deaths. 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39241467

BACKPACKER

I have always been fascinated and liked the wild animals, jungle, exotic and unexplored places. I have a list of things I like to do and places where I would like to go, like diving in the Maldives, go on a safari to see elephants, crocodiles, buffaloes, leopards, bears, deer, lizards, orangutans and many more animals that I love. Also, one of my destinations is the Amazonia of Brazil and do expeditions in it. On the other hand, I also want to go on a cruise around the Antarctic to discover glaciers, fjords and observe polar bears, arctic foxes, reindeer, seals, walrus, whales and flocks of birds.

Visit amazing temples in different countries and cultures, Buddhists and Hindus. Get into the crater of a volcano, such as the island of Java in Indonesia. Live for a while in the city of Chiang Mai, Thailand and try their delicious food. Enjoy traditional massage each city I will visit. Bathe in paradisaical beaches with turquoise and crystal clear waters, coral reefs and white sand. Visit the curious and quirky country of Myanmar. Spending time in a meditation centre and visit indigenous tribes. 

The list would continue, since the world is very big, but in short, I want to explore every place and site of this world. My only fear that I have is not to be able to make it for any reason, not have the sufficient time or the money, for example.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES

One of my favourite series is The Vampire Diaries. As the name indicate is a fantasian serie about two vampire brothers, Damon and Stefan, who fight for a human girl love, Elena. I started watch this serie because of my friend Xana, who recomended me. 
There are 8 seasons and all of them are plenty of of adventures, a lot of people die and many new characters appear. I don't gonna to explain the plot because as I say, happens a lot of things and I would never end but I'm going to explain who is my favourite character. There are many character that I like but if I have to chose, I would chose Bonnie. Bonnie is Elena's best friend and she is a Bennett witch. Aside from her supernatural abilities, she is very loyal and caring about her friends, even when it constantly went against her code of magic. Over the seasons, she slowly became a strong and independent woman. She always put on a brave face, but she faced very difficult situations in her short life, like the death of her parents, some of her friends and even her own death, but she never lost the hope. 

FUTURE PLANS

I often wonder about my future as I am studying the second scientist Batxillerat.

The number one question on my mind is which profession should I choose? It's very hard to make any definite choices, because I know they will affect me for the rest of my life. 

I want a profession that will satisfy me, challenge me, and bring me joy. I believe that a job should be like a hobby. I want to love my work, and know that I'm making a difference in this world helping other people. But I have the fear of not finding a job when I finish my career.

But for now, I'm only focusing my attention on passing the exams with good marks, which is very difficult.

I also have plans with my friend Paula about travelling through all the continents and visit countries like Thailand, New York, Japan and Brazil.

FINAL REFLECTION 1BAT

I improved in many things between the two last years, I have learned many new vocabulary and improved a little bit more my grammar, although I have to practice more in this subject because I find it difficult. 

I think the activity that shows best my level of English are the yoursays because I can talk about any subject I want and explain myself openly. The activities I found that improves my level of English are the presentations, although I don't like it, because forces me to talk in public and improve my bad prounciation, and the skill exams because contains trick questions and can prove that you really understood the reading or the listening.

The activities I found useful are listening and evaluating other presentations because everyone, at least me, are not objective and hadn't have enough judgement to decide the marks. The activities I like to do next year to keep improving my English are reading books and the oral exams because I wide a lot my vocabulary. Also, I have to say that I learnt a lot watching series in English with spanish subtitles, almost all the series I watch are in English, so we could watch more films or videos on class. Kahoot is also very funny but I didn't think that are very useful to prove your English.

FORMAL LETTER

Fatine Ikane

Carrer Bernar Nº5

Castello d'Empúries, 17486

Spain

June 2, 2017

Horsmonden,

Tonbridge

Kent, 01892

United Kingdom

Dear Mr. Philip Russell

I am writing this application as I am interested in volunteering for PMGY Summer Volunteer & Adventure Experience and would love the opportunity to be able to work with construction, teaching English, elephants & turtles helping. I am enclosing my CV with this letter for further information.

I have not any experience in this environment because I am just turning 18, so I had not the chance of doing any volunteering job before. I will enjoy the chance to be able to work with orphans, endangered animals and people in need and found that it will really improve my communication and patience skills.

Personal qualities I posses that I believe will prove me to be a good candidate for the position include empathy, patience, an animal lover and generous.

I would greatly appreciate being considered to assist in any way that I can. My timetable is flexible and I am willing to work whenever possible. Please contact me if there is any further information you require.

Sincerely, Fatine Ikane

MY GAP YEAR

My gap year will be a volunteering Sri Lanka with an international volunteer abroad organisation. It will take place after batxillerat and before starting the Univerisity. I think it will be good to do it, to relax for a year and to clear my mind for the next one. I will do it with PMGY, a page who helps you a organise your trip. My gap year will last only a month but then I can visit other countries or just relax. 

You will be collected at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo by PMGY’s local coordinator who will be waiting for you at arrivals holding a name sign.

I will get a plane from Barcelona to Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, and there I will be collected by a PMGY’s local coordinator. Among other activities, I will visit one of the world's largest elephant orphanages, the Iconic Kandy Temple of the Tooth Room and The Cultural Triangle. I will see the famous Kandyan dances, leopards in Yala National Park, chilling on the Mirissa beach, and fishing with sticks in Waligama. 

At the end of the trip I will start my volunteering job at Ambalangoda and join the English teaching projects working in local schools and community education projects. Wildlife, renovation and medical experiences take place in the morning for 3-4 hours and teaching and community programmes take place in the afternoon for 3 hours.

All my accommodation is organised by PMGY. During the travelling I will stay at guesthouses/hotels in the various places we will visit and I will share a room with other travellers. Three meals per day are also included across the whole four weeks of the trip. Most meals are traditional Sri Lankan dishes. All the volunteering is going to cost me £ 849 plus the flights.

London private school may let boys wear skirts

Last year, some boys from a private school in East Sussex wore skirts to school in hot weather as a protest.

And now, the school has started an initiative to change their uniform policy and allow boys to use skirts and girls trousers, since the number of children questioning their gender has increased over the years. They also want to do allow unisex toilets and open sports to al pupils. 

Eighty institution, forty of them primary schools, participates in the initiative. The government has financed with the objective of opening minds on schools about children that question their gender. 

The policy supports neutral gender, and gave to the pupils the option of choosing between wearing a skirt, trousers or both of them. According to the principal there are more girls that use trouser than boys using skirts, and adds that it's a reflection of what society considers normal and what doesn't, and we can change that.

The parents have reacted well to change, the new rules do not force children to do anything. "They just give them a choice."

Paula Weaver, the principal of Allens Croft, a school in England was the first in the UK to change the dress policy a year ago.

A lot of students suffer bullying and abuses from other students so the school is trying to help the LGTB community, too.

http://www.bbc.com/news/education-39921309

I like the new policy because I think that everyone has the right of wearing whatever they want, independently of their gender. Besides, there are people that don't identify theirselfs with the society classification about male or female. 
Some people feel trapped in the wrong body from the moment they are born, there are boys who are convinced they should be girls. Also, there are girls who say they should be boys. Since we were born, society teaches us how a man should look or how a woman should behave. However, many students disagree with these gender roles. I believe that society should not decide what it means to be a man or to be a woman, and neither decide if you should wear a skirt or a pants.

United Airlines Passenger Is Dragged From an Overbooked Flight

A man was violently removed from a United Airlines flight by aviation police officials at Chicago’s O’Hare international airport on Sunday. 
The accident was filmed by another passenger who were screaming and horrified by the situation. In the video you can see how the officers aggressively grabbed, and then dragged the passenger down the aisle of the plane, after refusing to give up his seat to an employer.

The plane was overbooked, so United asked for 4 volunteers to leave the plane offering 800 credit points, but the volunteers would have to wait till the next plane which was going to be the next day. At the first David Dao and his wife agreed but when they realised that the plane wasn't until the next day and they had to be at work, they changed their minds.

So the company decided to put all the passenger's names in a computer and choose 4 of them randomly, casually the same man who offered himself in the first place and his wife were two of the selected. They asked him politely leave the plane but David said that he was a doctor and needed to see patients at a hospital in the morning, so they called to the police and dragged the man out of the plane.

"Everyone was shocked and appalled," a witness said. "There were several children on the flight as well that were very upset."


United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz apologized for having to “re-accommodate” customers aboard the flight and said they were investigating the incident, but many on social media said that the apology fell short.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/nation-now/2017/04/10/united-under-fire-after-man-dragged-off-overbooked-flight/100287740/

I think that no one should be forced to leave the flight when they had paid the flight and it's the airline's problem for "overbooking". Every passenger has the right to stay on board and they had no right to draw and violently throw passengers of the flight.
And even more if you have a job and duties to attend that depends on arriving at your city on that plane.

SCHOOL TRIP (DAY 4)

The fourth day was the last day, which in my opinion was the best. We wake up early, get dressed, and went downstairs to have breakfast. Then we take the bus to go to the Valporquero caves, my favorite visited place. It was very cold and they warn us that inside the cave were 90% of humidity, so we prepared our hats, scarfs and gloves. We slept in almost all the trip and we missed the sights.

The entrance to the cave is located at 1,309 meters of altitude, under the town of Valporquero. The cave is amazing because of its complexity and diversity of geological formations that take place over the years. There are many stalagmites and stalactites that form a wonderful landscape. We visited the seven halls of the cave and the visit lasted about an hour and a half. We took pictures, but can't appreciate the beauty of seeing it in person.

After the visit, we returned to León where we eat and then visited at 4 p.m. La Colegiata de San Isidoro, a Christian temple of Romanesque style built during the XI-XII centuries. It is one of the most outstanding in Spain, for its history, architecture, sculpture, and for the Romanesque luxury objects that have been preserv

ed. It has a Royal Pantheon located at the foot of the church, with Romanesque mural painting, and where most of kings and queens of Leon's kingdom were buried.

I really liked this temple.

Finally, we visited the cathedral of Leon, which was declared of Cultural Interest in 1844. Started in the eighteenth century, it is one of the great works of the Gothic style, and French influence. We made an audio-guide and after that they let us free time.

We went for a walk and bought some souvenirs and food for the trip back. Then we sit in a bar and rest a little, but some doves attacked us so we left. Because it was the last day we were allowed to return to the hotel at 3, so we went to the hotel, showered, dressed and went to dinner. We ask for pizzas and squids. After dinner we search for some pub and with other classmates we enter. At 3 am we returned at the hotel where were expecting us.

SCHOOL TRIP (DAY 3)

The third day we were going to León, so we take our suitcases, we put them in the bus and we prepared the cushions because a large travel was waiting for us. Before going to León we went to Las Médulas. It was the most important gold mine, and largest open pit gold mine, in the entire Roman Empire. It was named as one of the World Heritage Sites, too.

When we arrive at Las Medulas we eat and then we were in the cultural space and there a guide explain us that the Romans employed a type of hydraulic mining which involved undermining the mountains with large quantities of water. The water was supplied with inter-basin transfer. She also said to us that wasn't worthwhile because the work was so hard and the gold obtained was minimum, but o

bviously the Romans had slaves which did the dirty work so they didn't care.

After the talk we did a foot tour to the viewpoint, we walked about three hours, it was horrible because they told us to wrap up us warm and the sun was radiant. We had to climb a steep slope, but finally the views made up for the suffering. We also walked into a natural cave where in the past the water flowed. When we had recovered our strength, we went down, but it was easier because there wasn't pendent, just a descent.

After we get up to the bus and went to León. I wasn't expecting too much of León, but when I saw it, I surprised because it exceeded my expectations. It was full of people, cars, and there was a good ambient, so they had us time to eat. When we went to the hotel, we take a room for four persons, and I preferred Burgos hotel, but it wasn't bad.

SCHOOL TRIP (DAY 1)

In this entry I am going to explain the trip that we did this year to Burgos and León. We were an April 4th and returned the 8th. We were in the bus, so I had to wake up at 4:30 am to be on the road at 5 a.m.. Our first destination was Burgos so we travel for ten hours, we spent the most of the time sleeping. Before arriving to Burgos we stopped at a service station to eat. We arrived at 3 pm, we left the suitcases at the hotel, changed of our clothes and we went to visit the cathedral of Burgos.








My first impression of the city was negative because I was expecting to see more people and environment, but once we went to the downtown already I changed my opinion. After the visit of the cathedral of Burgos, very nice and big, they left us free time to visit the city. Xana, Maria, Paula and I went immediately to a bar to sit down because we were very tired and starving. Burgos is a city known by ''tapas'', so we ask for a lot of food.


After, we went to the hotel for dinner. The room was of the two persons, me and Paula, we had a shower and put our pajamas. Then, Maria and Xana came and we stayed talking a little bit more before sleep.

SCHOOL TRIP (DAY 2)

The next morning, we wake up with sleepy. We went downstairs to have breakfast and then we leave on foot to the Museum of Human Evolution(MEH). It is located 16 km west of the Sierra de Atapuerca, location of some of the most important human fossil finds in the world and declared World Heritage Site as the museum.

A guide shows us the most important things of the museum, we saw some of the original and the oldest fossils founded in the Sima de Los Huesos and a recreation of the brig in which Darwin traveled. She has also explained us how our ancestors were and how they managed to discover the fire, make tools, and how the social organization was. There also was a large-scale brain recreation.

After the visit, which I find quite interesting, we went to Atapuerca to see the archaeological sites. We had to wear a helmet for safety and they didn't let us take pictures. In there the guide explains us kind of the same that in the museum. The visit goes through the Trinchera del Ferrocarril, an artificial passage of open limestone rock, that give rise to three of the most important sites of Atapuerca: Sima del Elefante, Galería and Gran Dolina.

After, we went to have lunch in a small village named Ibea de Juarros and then we went to the Centro de arquelogia experimental (CAREX) and there they explain us how our ancestor did the processes of elaboration and use of the tools, cabins, fabrics, ceramics or art works. She also teaches us how they made fire, tools, haunt and you could see replicas of archaeological materials.

Then we returned to Burgos and the teachers let us free time, that was the best of the day because I was tired and bored of explanations. We visited for the last time Burgos and then we went to have dinner. Later, we returned to the hotel made our bags and despite our effort we couldn't stay awake and we slept early.

Terror arrest near Houses of Parliament

A man carrying knives near the Houses of Parliament, has been wrestled to the ground by armed police and arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences.

The arrest happens in an area normally full of workers and tourists. 

The Metropolitan Police said: “A man has been arrested in Whitehall this afternoon, at approximately 14:22, following a stop and search as part of an ongoing operation.''

“He is being detained under the Terrorism Act and is in custody in a south London police station.


“Detectives from the Counter Terrorism Command are continuing their investigation, and as a result of this arrest there is no immediate known threat.”

The area around Whitehall has been on alert since 22 March when a terrorist killed five people, including a police officer, in a terrorist attack.

The Metropolitan Police said there were no injuries. Some that witnesses said that the suspect was acting very calm and not acting aggressively, others said that seeing a knife in his pockets and a large bread knife on the ground.

After research they found that the suspect was in surveillance for some time before this accident.




http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39736733

GLOBAL ISSUE NEW

Syria war: 2016 deadliest year yet for children, says Unicef

It was six years from now when the first protest against Syria's president began. A group of teenagers wrote an anti-government graffiti and they were arrested and tortured. The protest began to release those children and since then the toll on children has only increased.

2016 has been until now the worst year for the Syrian's children, according to Unicef, at least 652 children died last year and 255 of them in or near a school. This number increases 20% since 2015, and only includes the formally verified deaths.

UNICEF believes that more than 850 children were recruited to fight in 2016, and this number also increase 50% since 2015. Those children are in the Frontline or used as executioners, suicide bombers or prison guards.

"The depth of suffering is unprecedented. Millions of children in Syria come under attack on a daily basis, their lives turned upside down, " said Geert Cappelaere, Unicef regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Save the Children warned that millions of Syrian children could be living in a state of "toxic stress", which could be irreversible. Two-thirds of children had lost a family member, their house had been bombed or injured for the rest of their life.

Saja has lived in war for six years and moved home six times because of war. She lost her brother and four of her best friends in a bomb attack. She lost her leg and before that she was a keen gymnast. She says that balancing with only one leg is now too difficult and she hopes to be a professional gymnastics coach.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39252307

GLOBAL ISSUES:ANIMAL EXTINCTION