Spanish Employment Rate At 23 Percent

In Spain's fourth quarter financial report, it was announced that Spain has a gigantic rate of unemployment, nearing close to 23 percent. Unfortunately, this amount looks to be steadily rising, up from a rate of 21.5 percent back in the third quarter of Spain's financial quarter. For comparison, the United States rate of unemployment has taken a steady decline down from nine percent since last year. Along with close to a quarter of the population being without work, officials say that Spain's domestic outcome has fallen 0.3 percent. These results from the most recent budget evaluation are giving more and more signs that steps are needing to be taken to repair Spain's economy.

While their Prime Minister has been making necessary budget cuts and increases in taxes, there is still a need for more efficient means of softening their deficit while not hurting citizens. Over the past year, Spaniards have been taking to the streets to protest the harsh austerity measures made by the government. While it is still being decided what the measures will be best for the Spanish people, the European Union has made the commitment to working towards taking Spain away from the threat of recession. However, it is not just Spain's economy that needs repairing. Over the entire European continent, other countries such as Italy and Greece are bringing down other countries economic condition with their outstanding debt. Hopefully, through efficient measures such as making the Euro currency better and more economic, that the general European economy can be repaired.

-Nate

Sources:
CNN
U.S. Edition
NY Times
Nidata Plus
Reuters

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, the Italian president from 1992 to 1999 dies at age 93

 

 Oscar at a conference on September 9th 2005.

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro was the president of Italy from 1992 until 1999 for a total of seven years                                    in office. That is a long time for an old man such as himself.  Oscar died at age 93 yesterday. Italy's current president, Giorgio Napolitano, recalled Scalfaro's time as a member of parliament, interior minister and eventually president.

"Scalfaro has been a leading figure of the democratic political life in the various decades of the republic, a perfect example of coherence and moral integrity," Napolitano said in a statement.

Prime Minister Mario had this to say: "He has been a distinguished protagonist of ... Italian political and institutional life and a luminous example of perfect consistency and integrity,"  said Monti in a statement.

Pope Benedict XVI said Scalfaro was an “illustrious Catholic statesman," This is from a news release on the Vatican's website. In condolences sent to Scalfaro's daughter, Pope Benedict XVI said this about the Italian president: " Oscar did his best to promote the common good and the perennial ethical and religious values, that is proper to Italy's historical and civic tradition."

Scalfaro joined Italy's legislature in 1946, soon after the end of World War II, and served as minister and secretary multiple times. In 1992, he became the parliamentary speaker of Italy. Then, a month later, he became president.

Scalfaro remained in that position for a seven-year term, as I said above. He served as president in a time of political instability in Italy as he faced regular calls for new elections and working with several prime ministers, including Giuliano Amato, Romano Prodi and Silvio Berlusconi. By the way, all of them ended up serving additional terms later.

In 1999, Scalfaro handed over the reins to Carlo Ciampi, making him the current president.

                                                                                                                   Jake Grider

Cruise victim may have saved older man

About 4,200 people were on board the Costa Concordia when it collided with rocks on January 13.  Officials said Sunday that they identified a body found a day earlier as that of Erika Fani Soria Molina, a Peruvian. She was not wearing a life jacket. Witnesses and survivors have said that the Peruvian bartender gave her jacket to an elderly man who survived.

17 people have been confirmed dead from the ship. Another 15 are still missing.

Authorities have stopped the search for victims Sunday after the ship jolted slightly and then slowly moved even further, about 4 centimeters over only a period of a few hours.

Officials are particularly concerned for divers who are searching submerged areas of the ship because of all the debris, including heavy items and wires.

The ship's movement renewed fears that the vessel could slide further.

Earthquakes in the region last week also caused fears that the ship could sink deeper into the waters.

The weather is also why recovery operations have stopped until Tuesday or Wednesday, officials said.

In the meantime, there will be no fishing, diving, snorkeling, or other normal use of the water near the wrecked ship, extending the disaster's economic toll.

-Amelia Hernigle

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/29/world/europe/italy-cruise-ship/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2

Fuel Pumping

On January 13^th, an Italian cruise ship called the Costa Concordia sank off the Tuscan coast with 4,200 people on board. The Costa Concordia crashed on the first day of a seven-day cruise around the Mediterranean, so it was carrying a full load of fuel, about 1.9m liters of fuel in 13 tanks.

A civil protection official says there is no risk the Costa Concordia could sink lower, but to be sure, the salvagers must first attach steel moorings to the front of the ship. They must also install a double containment boom around the ship to limit any spill. "Booms are commonly used to reduce the possibility of polluting shorelines and to help make oil recovery easier."

Although there has been no leak so far, the civil protection agency says there is pollution in the water from cleaning chemicals and disinfectants which were aboard the ship.

They are being extra careful, because the area around the ship is part of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, which is the largest marine park in Europe. It is home to rare flora and fauna, including tree frogs, finches, and geckos.

Italian Admiral Ilarione Dell'Anna predicts it will take about 28 days to remove all the fuel, without any interruptions.

-Amelia Hernigle

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-16687012

Dutch Teen Completes Historic Solo Sail Around The Globe

While other teens have made similar sea voyages, the Dutch girl is the youngest to do so while sailing alone. In 2010, an Australian named Jessica Watson finished a non-stop, solo voyage just a few days after her 17th birthday.

 It took Laura Dekker, a 16-year-old teen, 518 days to complete her circumnavigation of the entire globe on a sailboat by herself. She sailed into a Caribbean port on Saturday to round off her historic voyage.

The Dutch girl arrived in Sint Maarten around 3 p.m. said her spokesman Anton Van de Koppel to reporters asking what happened. A picture linked from Dekker's official website shows her standing behind a group of children holding a sign that said, "Congratulations Laura Dekker ... Welcome back to St. Maarten," signifying her amazing success at going on this crazy trip.

Sailing journalists have said that her route was less than 21,600 nautical miles, which is the length of the equator and the distance generally used for round-the-world sailing records in most cases.

Dekker states on her website that she traversed about 27,000 nautical miles on her own solo voyage on her 38-foot yacht, which she named Guppy. When Laura started this voyage she was 14 years old. She started on August 21, 2010, in Gibraltar and then headed west across the Atlantic Ocean, through the Panama Canal, across the Pacific, through the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope, and finally to the end in the Caribbean.

Dutch officials did try to stop Laura both legally and physically but they still failed in the end. They tried to make stop for her own safety as she was not only alone, but she was a minor and they thought she didn't know where she was going. Laura insured everybody that did not think that she could make it all he way, that she could and they should have no fear. Sure enough, she made it, but by the skin of her teeth as the crew that checked  her sailboat afterwards said her main sail was just about to break and she forgot to put fuel in the small emergency motor in case of a sail breaking.

Long story short, she could have died.                                                      -Jake Grider                                                                  

                                                                                                                                               

Will The IRA Return To Violent Tactics?

On last Thursday, the 19th of January, two bombs were set off in Northern Ireland, in a city name Londonderry. Luckily, before the bombs were detonated, a phone call was sent in to Police Services warning of the imminent attack. Thanks to the skill of the local police officers, the civilians located in the building were evacuated before the bomber was able to set off the bomb. The terrorist like traits of this attack point to the Irish Republican Army, otherwise known as the IRA. Before 1997, when the IRA officially accepted a ceasefire which was brought forward by the British government. Furthermore, in 2005, the IRA announced they had completely unarmed themselves.

However, in recent years, splinter groups of the IRA have been carrying out attacks against the British government. They're looking to create a separate, Irish, government which would rule over Ireland, rather than the current British rule. Through using terrorist tactics, as well as other types of strategies, such as attacks on English soldiers. Back in the March of 2009, two unarmed British soldiers were murdered while picking up a pizza from a delivery man. Luckily, the one of the two men guilty of carrying out this attack was convicted and given imprisonment for life. Nevertheless, there is still the constant fear that these splinter groups will continue their violent tactics, rather than accepting the non-violent, negotiating ways of the official IRA.

-Nate

Sources:

• CNN
• The Independent 
• About.com Terrorism
• New York Times
• New York Times

Plans to restore crumbling Colosseum cause rumblings in Rome

The Colosseum, a 2,000-year-old amphitheatre in the heart of ancient Rome has become a symbol of Italy. Plans to restore this historical structure have been a recent topic in the news. 

Diego della Valle, owner of a luxury Italian brand called Tod’s, will sponsor $33 million (25 million euro) to restore the amphitheater in exchange for advertising rights.

But members of the Restorers Association of Italy are unhappy about the plans, because they believe non-specialist restorers are being employed, which could "run the risk of causing irreparable damage to the monument."  The Director of the Colosseum says, however, that the workers employed to do the restorations are in fact "specialized in architectural restoration, they're not just ordinary workmen."

The Secretary General of Europa Nostra, an organization dedicated to protecting cultural heritage in Europe, says that the Colosseum has suffered in recent years from underfunding caused by government cuts and that the revenue from ticket sales only covers the yearly upkeep of the city's ancient sites.  She added, "We at Europa Nostra and anyone dealing with heritage would say that it's wonderful to have private companies and individuals wanting to support heritage at a time when public budgets are being cut."

-Amelia Hernigle

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/06/world/europe/rome-colosseum-restoration-plan-protests/index.html?hpt=ieu_mid