Italian region to pay women not to have abortions

A northern Italian region will not pay women from low-income families to not have an abortion. They will receive $5,500 a year and about $306 per month for the first 18 months. They only will get the money if they change their mind about getting the abortion because of economic reasons. They created a $6.1 million budget to help with the amount of abortions that occur in the Lombardy Region of Italy that borders Switzerland. They want to try to eliminate as many obstacles for the child to be born as possible and believed that the best way to start was with people who can't afford a child. The option to accept the check will be prevented to the women when they go in for the consultations before an abortion. They believe this is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. The fund is called "Nasko" after the Italian word "Nasco" which means "I'm being born." There was about 128,000 abortions performed in Italy last year. England and Whales had 195,743 and the United States had 846,181 in 2006.

I believe that this solution won't work. I believe that more people will just become pregnant for the easy money. I believe that this will make Italy go into debt or further if they already are in debt. I do believe that the United States have more abortions, but we also have more people and as greater land mass. I know that people in the United Stats will keep having kids so that they can have the government programs pay for a lot of what they need to survive. I do know that a lot of people of low-income families will spend their money on cigarettes, going out, lottery, and other unessential items and let the government pay for all of their food and some of their rent. I believe that they could learn how to spend their money more wise and that they then could be able to keep their child and not get an abortion. I believe that if they do this, that Italy could spend their fund on more useful programs like education.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/06/03/italy.abortions/index.html

School expels Pakistani boy, 13, for getting married

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2010/05/31/sayah.pakistan.expelled.marriage.cnn
Click the link above to learn more and to see some pictures of the wedding.

In Peshawar, Pakistan, a 13-year-old, Gherat Khan has taken his school to court after getting expelled. The boys wife is 16-years-old. Pakistan has no rules for underage marriage. The civil law states that a boy needs to be 18 and a girl 16 to get married. But Islamic law says they can as long as both the people have hit puberty and the parents approve of the marriage, then it can be performed. The reason the got married so young is that his father had passed away and his mother was sick. The family helped him to find a wife that could help with housework, but he does love her too. The school expelled him because they thought that he would share intimate details of married life with the other students. He only wants to finish his education so that he can become a doctor.

I believe that he should be able to go to that school. By not allowing him to attend the school, they are discriminating against him. He knows that he got married young, but he was trying to help out his mom. He got married because his mom is sick and his dad passed away. He needed someone to help him out with the housework since he wants to become a doctor. I can see why he wants to stay at that school because it's close to home and all of his friends are there. If I were Khan, I would first ask my family for help, then my neighbors, and then resort to marriage at the last measure. I'm glad that he found someone he loved, but he has to realize that she gave up her future to help out his. I believe that they both should wait on having children since they are both still children themselves. Also because they both have a lot of responsibilities with taking over all of the housework, school, and taking care Khan's mom.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/05/31/pakistan.expelled.for.marriage/index.html

Mom of toddler smoker in Indonesia seeks help for him

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2010/05/31/ctw.damon.indo.baby.smokers.cnn
Click above link to watch the video of the boy smoking.

In Jakarta, Indonesia, there is a two-year-old boy, Aldi, that smokes. Diana, Aldi's mother, says he throws a tantrum when he wants a cigarette. Aldi is nearly twice the weight of boys his age weighing about 44 pounds. Once a video of him circulated the Internet last year, he became an instant celebrity. Smoking has become part of their culture for so long that it isn't even perceived as dangerous. Many parents will hold their baby in one hand and a cigarette in the other hand. Aldi is a victim of him environment. Aldi smokes about 40 cigarettes a day which cost his family about 4 dollars. Aldi's family wants him to quit not for his health, but for the cost of buying cigarettes. Aldi has cut down how much he smokes and both of his parents have quit.

I believe that Albi shouldn't be able to smoke. I also believe that they shouldn't laugh at Albi because it'll want him to smoke more. I believe that Indonesia should put more restrictions on smoking and that they should take Albi away from his parents. I believe that the parents should've stopped him from smoking and not allowed him to smoke. I believe that he needs to go into some sort of treatment center to stop smoking. I also think that he needs to get help with his weight. If he's already double the healthy weight at 2, then he mostly likely will stay overweight. I believe that his parents shouldn't have let him become overweight and smoke just because he throws a tantrum. All kids throw tantrums at some point in their lives. I also believe that Albi's parents should go through some sort of classes or counseling sessions to learn how to keep Albi healthy once he's out of treatment.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/05/31/indonesia.smoking.baby/index.html?hpt=T3

American boy, 13, breaks Everest record

On Saturday, May 21, 2010, an American boy broke the record for the youngest person to climb Mount Everest. Jordan Romero is 13-years-old from Big Bear, California. The trip up the mountain was tracked by a GPS as her climbed up the 29,028 feet (8,847 meters) above sea level. Before Jordan broke the record, the youngest person was a 16-year-old boy named Temba Tsheri of Nepal. Jordan started his journey up the mountain on the Chinese side because Nepal denied him permission on age grounds. Jordan wants to continue climbing and become a motivational speaker to get obese kids outside and exercising. Jordan has now climbed 6 out of 7 of the Seven Summits. The final summit he has to climb is in Antarctica and he plans to climb Vinson Massif in December.

I'm glad that he broke the record for the youngest person to climb Mount Everest. I believe that if Jordan keeps up with climbing and becomes a motivational speaker, that he can help American children get healthy. I believe that if kids hear the importance of exercise from other kids and not just adults, they'll be more willing to exercise. I also believe that he can get the message through to kids not to give up and just to go for your dreams. I believe that Jordan will be a very motivational kid and will always stay active. I believe that if other kids what he has accomplished, they will feel that they can accomplish what they set their minds to. I could see Jordan becoming a motivational speaker for his career when he's older. I also believe that Jordan will break more records. I believe that he can become the youngest person to climb the most mountains or the Seven Summits. I believe that Jordan is sending a great message to people by his actions about the importance of being outdoors and getting exercise.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/05/22/teen.mount.everest/index.html

Lebanon claims latest title in 'Hummus War'

Lebanon set a new record for the largest plate of hummus. Lebanon won the title in the continuous war of good eating against Israel. This war has been going on for years between the two countries with each country outdoing the next one of the world's best or largest hummus dish. There were 300 Lebanese chefs, gathered in the village of al-Fanar, that made the dish that weighed 11.5 tons. That turns out to be 23,042 pounds or 10,452 kg. This new weight more than doubled the old record set in January in the Arab-Israel village of Abu Gosh. The old record was more than 4 tons or the average weight of 4 cars. The Lebanese chefs used more than 8 tons of hummus, 2 tons of tahini, 2 tons of lemon juice, and 154 pounds (70kg) of olive oil. Hummus is made of chickpeas, sesame paste, garlic, and other ingredients. Hummus is a popular dish in the Middle East. Lebanon is trying to make hummus the national dish like what the Greeks dis with feta cheese. The hummus market is worth $1 billion.

I think it's cool that two different groups of people are having a "friendly war" over hummus. There hasn't been reported violence over the records. I do believe that competing for the hummus record is like competing for the largest pizza in the United States. Everyone would love to have a record, but once it has been broken, then you want it back. I believe that this little "War" will continue for a long time, if not forever. I think it would've been really cool to be at the event when the record was broken, especially since the broke the record by more than doubling it. I also think it's cool that the Arabs and Jews share the same taste in hummus. You normally only hear about all of the fighting in the Mille East and with the religions.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/05/09/lebanon.hummus/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Children's cold, allergy medicine recalled

A recall has been issued for more than 40 over-the-counter children's medicine, including Tylenol and Motrin, because they don't meet quality standards. These aren't being recalled because of adverse medical effects, but parents and caretakers of children shouldn't give these products to children. FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg claims that the change of serious health issues to be "remote." Some of the products recalled may have a higher amount of the active ingredients and some may have an ineffective ingredient that doesn't meet health codes. The recalled products include Tylenol Infants' Drops, Children's Tylenol Suspension, Children's Tylenol plus Suspensions, Motrin Infant Drops, Children's Motrin Suspensions, Children's Zyrtec Liquids in bottles, and Children's Benadryl Allergy Liquids in bottles. The medicine was made in the United States and distributed to Canada, the Dominican Republic, Dubai, Fiji, Guam, Guatemala, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago, and Kuwait. None of the generic brands of the recalled medicine was affected.

To learn more about the recalled products call 1-888-222-6036 or visit McNeil's website.



I believe that the United States should know better than to send medicine that they haven't finished testing or is unsure about out of the country. If they keep on doing this, they soon won't have any other countries buy their products. That could potentially hurt our economy worse than how it is already doing. I don't get how after keeping these medicines the same for years, that all of a sudden there is a recall. They have the recipe for making the medicine and they know what ingredients go into it. So than why is the medicine first recalled now after all these years? I never knew that we send medicine to so many other countries because I thought that many countries use home remedies to get better or just let nature take its course. I also don't get why the FDA claims there isn't any serious health problems, but yet that's normally why they recall medicine.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/01/drug.recall/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

China lifts ban barring entry to foreigners with HIV and AIDS

The Chinese Government has lifted a 20 year old ban saying that foreigners who have HIV or AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, and leprosy from entering the country. China lifted the ban because they realized that it did little to help prevent the spread of diseases and prevented the country from hosting international events. the government had temporarily lifted that ban during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and other large-scale occasions. China's government has estimated that the number of people living with HIV in China had reached 740,000 people. The decision to lift the ban came several months after the Center of Disease Control and Prevention removed HIV infection from the list of diseases that prevent U.S. Citizens from entering the country. Until January, the U.S. was 1 of 7 countries that prevented entry of people with HIV.

I'm glad that China had lifted the ban because many people don't go to another country and have sexual relations with that countries people. This could help to stimulate China's economy. I'm also glad that the U.S. realized the same thing. This could boost our economy because now we can have more people come to the U.S. on vacations or for medical attention. If the come to the U.S., they'll have to spend money here. By spending money, our economy will grow and we'll be able to provide more jobs. I believe the foreigners aren't the reason to blame for the increase of HIV, AIDS, and many other sexually transmitted diseases. I believe that the ban being lifted can boost everyone's economy. I also believe that China will now hold many national events.