U.S.-flagged ship intercepted by Iranian patrol

      My article is about a U.S. flagged ship being intercepted and stopped by an Iran Revolutionary Guard naval patrol this past Friday. This took place when four Iranian naval vessels surrounded the U.S. flagged Maersk Tigris which was crossing the Strait of Hormuz. This happened after an encounter last Tuesday in which Iran Revolutionary Guard patrol boats fired shots at a commercial cargo ship and then intercepted the vessel. A senior U.S. military official who has spoken to tha captain of the Kensington (Maersk Tigris) told CNN that "the Iranians encircled the Kensington and followed the ship on its course for a period of time before withdrawing and breaking away." After that, the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet issued a notice to mariners about the incident. The crew aboard the ship is safe and in good spirits, and were about nine miles out from shore when this article was posted. 

      This article was informative and talked lots about our marine military program. I learned about our offshore and international international relations which directly pertains to this class. I don't have a standpoint on this article because none of it pertains to me, but I believe our military did a good job to inform other mariners about this incident. They possibly prevented more ships from being stopped. I am also glad that after this stressful situation the crew of the ship are all okay. 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/28/politics/iran-seizes-commercial-ship-u-s-official-says-no-americans-on-board/index.html

live link above 

U.S. Drone Strike Accidentally killed two people

      My article is about Barack Obama recently announcing that in an effort of counterterrorism involving a drone, two innocent hostages were accidently killed including one American. Multiple U.S. officials informed CNN that the hostages were in fact killed by a U.S. Military drone that was targeting Al-Qaeda. The hostages were one American named Warren Weinstein and an Italian native named Giovanni Lo Porto. This took place earlier this week.

      Barack Obama's statement about this attack was: "As president and as commander in chief, I take full responsibility for all our counterterrorism operations including the one that inadvertently took the lives of Warren and Giovanni." He said this earlier this week in a White House briefing room. 

      This article was very interesting and talked about drones and how they can effect is positively and negatively. I learned that unmanned robotics such as drones can be dangerous but very helpful as well. This article related directly to our AP Gov class because it discusses

our international relations and the Presidents responsibilities and duties. I believe that drones are very useful, and mistakes will be made in figuring out how to use them correctly.

Live link below 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/23/politics/white-house-hostages-killed/index.html

Australian ex-model, DJ, killed fighting for ISIS in Syria, family friend says

      The article I read this week was about a male model and DJ being killed fighting for ISIS this past week.  The mans name was Sharky Jama and he was born and raised in Melbourne. For the past few months Sharky was living in the Iraqi city of Falluja which is currently under ISIS control. News of his death came to his parents and public attention Monday, from a call and text message to his mother from the president of the Somali Austrailian council of Victoria. The call stated they were sad to inform the family of their loss, and disappointed Sharky, who was 25, had joined ISIS forces. The parents and family members had not known of this even though Sharky's man social media posts supporting ISIS. Sharky was killed in a firefight, who by is still unknown. 

      My article this week was interesting and informational. It talked about how ISIS is still in control over many regions and cities and how they are still at large. It also discussed how they manage to recruit new members. I find it crazy how people such as Sharky Jama, who grew up with a great family and great future, could be drawn into joining a terrorist group. This article relates to out class topics by talking about international relations and how our government is dealing with ISIS. If it were up to me, I would try and find away to make them surrender to end the killing of innocents. This was a very unsettling article to read because I learned just how many people are joing ISIS. 

Full article

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/16/asia/australia-isis-sharky-jama-killed/

Admitted highjacker dreams of coming home after 43 years hiding in Cuba

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/09/americas/us-cuba-fugitive-charlie-hill/index.html

     The article I read this week was about Charlie Hill contemplating coming back to the United States after hiding out in Cuba for many years. For about 43 years Cuba has been provided ong  refuge for Hill from facing charges that he killed a New Mexico police officer and hijacked an airliner to Havana. Hill, who is now 65 decided to do is first recorded interview with with CNN. Hill said durig this interview that the reason he would want to come home would be to see his family, and enjoy things be used to while he was in America. Hill was a black power militant and stated that he is a revolutionary. 

      I chose this article because I did not know much about our nations ties with Cuba, and we discuss international relations in class. Critics of the new opening to Cuba say Havana's harboring of fugitives like Charlie Hill is enough of a reason to maintain a hard line against the government of Cuba and keep them on the State Department list of countries that support terrorism. I believe that Charlie should not be allowed to live like he does in Cuba with no punishment.