Current Event Review #3

2016 - 2017

Baseball stars death cuts short

successful career and inspiring
attitude
MIAMI, Fla. The death of Jose Fernandez
was much more than the loss of one of the
brightest young stars in baseball.

"Remember Him And What He Stood For"

He represented freedom in a way that most

no one here can understand, Marlins
Perhaps no athlete has ever been more
president David Samson said Sunday. He
representative of the South Florida experience. always would tell me that: You were born
The Marlins star pitcher made four attempts into freedom, you dont understand
to leave Cuba for the United States before
freedom really.
succeeding by boat along with his mother when
he was 15.
The first three times, Fernandez was turned
back and jailed on the charge of being a traitor
to Fidel Castro, the leader of Cuba at the time.
On the fourth attempt, he jumped into the
water during the night to save someone who
had fallen overboard. He didn't realize that it
was his mother who he was saving.

New friend: Tiny talking robot

TOKYO, Japan A new robot from the
Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. can
chatter in a high-pitched voice but it can't do
much else.
The doll-like Kirobo Mini is 4 inches tall and
sells for 39,800 Japanese yen ($390). Its name
comes from a combination of the Japanese word
"kibo," which means "hope," and the word
"robot." Toyota says Kirobo is as smart as a 5year-old child.

Fuminori Kataoka is general manager in

charge of the Kirobo Mini project. He says
the robot has emotional value, because a
person can take it from their home to
their car to the outdoors as a faithful
companion. Of course, the owner must do
all the walking and driving.
Preorders start later this year and
shipments are set for next year. No
overseas sales are planned so far, but the
company said it plans to introduce Kirobo
to the world gradually. At first, sales will
be limited to the city of Tokyo and the
Aichi district in central Japan, near
Toyota's headquarters. The company wants
to get feedback from buyers before selling
more Kirobo Minis.

Two groups of animal lovers in

Hawaii fight over fate of feral cats
HONOLULU, Hawaii Two groups of animals lovers in Hawaii are arguing over cat
poop.
Researchers think feces, or poop, from wild cats is spreading a disease that is killing
Hawaiian monk seals. The species is one of the world's most endangered marine
mammals. Some experts suggest killing the cats, and that's got cat lovers up in arms.
"It's a very difficult, emotional issue," said Hawaii state lawmaker Mike Gabbard. He is
chairman of a state committee. It wanted to pass a law that would keep people from
feeding the wild cats on state land. After people protested earlier this year, the committee
dropped the plan.
The problem comes from a disease common in cats. The disease is called toxoplasmosis. It
has killed at least eight Hawaiian monk seals since 2001, said the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
There are only about 1,300 monk seals left in the world, said Michelle Barbieri. She is the
veterinary medical officer for NOAA's Hawaiian monk seal research program.

Hurrican causes major damage

to parts of Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti Hurricane
Matthew roared into the southwestern coast
of Haiti on Tuesday. The storm threatened a
largely undeveloped corner of the poor
Caribbean country with devastating storm
conditions. Matthew was heading north
toward Cuba and the eastern coast of
Florida.
The dangerous storm hit land around the
time the sun rose on Haiti's southern coast.
Many people live along that coast in shacks
of wood or simple concrete blocks. Those
homes cannot withstand the force of winds
that can reach 145 mph.

Matthew was causing significant damage. How

much was not immediately known, however,
according to Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, the head
of the country's Civil Protection Agency.
"It's much too early to know how bad things
are," Jean-Baptiste told The Associated Press.
"We do know there are a lot of houses that have
been destroyed or damaged in the south."

China embarks on its longest

manned mission to date
BEIJING, China On Monday, China sent
two of its astronauts on the nation's longest
mission involving humans.
The mission marks a major move in space
travel for the country.
The pair aim to dock with an orbiting space
lab and remain aboard for 30 days. This is an
important step in China's plans to operate its
own space station by 2022.

It is also part of the country's much broader

space program. China has ambitions to put
astronauts back on the moon and land an
unmanned rover on Mars.
Government-controlled China Central
Television (CCTV) showed the Shenzhou-II
spacecraft taking off from a launch center on
the edge of the Gobi Desert in northern
China early Monday morning. It was carried
by a Long March-2F, a Chinese space orbital
rocket.
The two astronauts were seen on board
saluting seconds before takeoff. They will
dock with the Tiangong-2 space lab in two
days and will conduct a series of scientific
experiments. They will be testing computers
as well as launch and life-support systems,

NBAs Wade seeks tougher gun laws

Chicago Bulls star Dwyane Wade lashed out
against his city's gun laws. He called them
weak and said he has urged city officials in his
hometown to create changes to help both
citizens and police.
The basketball player also said his children are
afraid of police officers the same way he was
when he was growing up. He thinks prisons
should help prisoners become better people.
Wade spoke to ABC News in an interview
broadcast one day before the funeral of his
cousin Nykea Aldridge. She was shot in
Chicago. "For our family, it was very tough,"
Wade said. "The headlines alone mother
walking down the street, registering her kids
in school, a mother of four gets murdered
it's tough to deal with.

Aldridge was one of 90 people murdered

in August alone in Chicago, a city that has
experienced a lot of gun violence recently.
Wade is returning to Chicago this season
after spending the first 13 years of his
career playing for the Miami Heat.
"My purpose for being back in the city is
bigger than basketball," Wade said.
"Basketball is a big part of it, of course. It's
what I do for a living. But I think my
purpose at the end of the day is hopefully
to come to Chicago and be a part and be
the voice that can help bring people
together."

Melting ice brings polar bears

and humans closer together
Burning fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and gas,
as well as deforestation have pushed global
temperatures up by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit
since the 1800s. The Arctic is warming faster
than anywhere else. This is driving polar bears
onto the doorsteps of native Alaskans. Sea ice
retreats in the Beaufort Sea off north Alaska
into waters that can be too deep for foraging.
Increasing numbers of polar bears then are
forced to find food on the coast. If theyre
hungry enough, they roam into arctic villages.
Warmer temperatures have also melted locals
traditional permafrost freezers. The natives
have relied on these for more than 100 years to
store whale meat, called muktuk, after their
hunt. Now they are open to hungry bear raids.

While images of hungry polar bears have

become a symbol of the effects of climate
change, they present a real threat to Alaskans.
They face the bears on their own property
and do not want them to get hurt.
SimsKayotuk would occasionally see a polar
bear near her small village of Kaktovik as a
child, but never one at her door.
Now we have like 40 bears that are hanging
around our area, she said. You always have
to look out when you step out of your
house.

Why do zoo animals Smaller animals might just use them more for
into and hanging out, he said. Zoo
get pumpkins? For going
workers sometimes carve out the pumpkins for
birds to make them hollow. This provides them
play and public with a place to explore and something exciting
for them in the exhibit. Elephants can crush
relations
them with their feet. Polar bears can take them
Some animals that have no interest in
eating a pumpkin will receive one anyway.
At some zoos, visitors will find birds with
pumpkins, polar bears with pumpkins, owls
with pumpkins. Even snakes may get them.
At the Cincinnati Zoo, Evans says, staff
members let the animals decide what to do
with the gourds.

underwater, and then perhaps have them for a

snack.
Gigi Allianic works for the Woodland Park Zoo
in Seattle, Washington. She said pumpkins are
provided in order to promote natural animal
behavior and keep animals mentally stimulated.
The Detroit Zoo says it provides its animals with
pumpkins as part of its comprehensive program
of ensuring environments for animals that are
ever-changing and appropriately complex. Their
employees hide food items to encourage natural
behaviors animals would do in the wild,
according to a press release. It's good for the
animals to practice searching for food or
hunting for prey.

Chicago Cubs win World Series

championship with 8-7 victory
over Cleveland Indians
The most epic drought in sports history is
over, and the Cubs are world champions.
After 108 years of waiting, the Cubs won
the 2016 World Series with a wild 8-7, 10inning Game 7 victory over the Indians on
Wednesday night at Progressive Field. The
triumph completed their climb back from a
3-1 Series deficit to claim their first
championship since 1908.
A roller-coaster of emotions spilled out in a
game that lasted almost five hours, featuring
some wacky plays, a blown four-run lead, a
17-minute rain delay and some 10th inning
heroics that sealed the deal.

It was a perfect ending for a franchise

that had waited forever for just one
championship, and your stomach never
will be the same.
This is not a dream. The Cubs did it.

Migrant crisis: Hundreds dead

in shipwrecks off Libya
About 240 migrants are believed drowned in
two shipwrecks off the coast of Libya, migration
officials say.
The UN refugee agency was told the news by
survivors brought ashore on the Italian island of
Lampedusa, spokeswoman Carlotta Sami said.
No bodies have so far been recovered.
More than 4,200 migrants have died making the
dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea
this year, International Organization of
Migration spokesman Leonard Doyle says.

The UN has warned 2016 could be the

deadliest for migrants making the journey.
Nearly 330,000 migrants have crossed the
sea so far this year, compared with more
than one million in 2015.
Many of those killed in the latest two
incidents are believed to be migrants from
West Africa.
Ms Sami said 29 people had survived one
of the shipwrecks but about 120 others
were missing, feared dead. In the second,
two people were picked up after swimming
for safety but another 120 migrants were
still missing.
Smugglers who organise the treacherous
journeys overload flimsy boats and often
send them off in bad weather, the UN says.