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The Most Shocking Second a Day Still the Most Shocking Second a Day (Question 1)
Syrian Refugees in America - Part 1 Watch the video. (Question 5) Syrian Refugees in America - Part 2 Watch the video. (Question 6) Syrian Refugees in America - Part 3 Watch the video. (Question 7) ISIS ISIS Video and Interactive Watch the video and examine the graphics (questions 1-4) ISIS Article Scroll down and read the section titled Fighting ISIS in the article (questions 5-6) Has ISIS Already Lost The War In Iraq And Syria? Watch the video (questions 7-9) What Non-Intervention has Produced… (questions 16-17) Deaths. Estimates of war casualties are about 470,000 depending on who is counted. Since the Islamic State created its caliphate in Syria, an estimated 4,000 civilians have been executed by the group. Life expectancy in Syria has dropped from almost 80 to 55. Refugees. According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there were 5,276,506 refugees as of October 5th, 2017. There are thought to be an additional 2 million refugees who remain inside Syria but are displaced from their homes. Three-quarters of those who have fled their homes are women and children. Most own nothing except what they are wearing. Physical destruction. The ancient cities of Aleppo, Bosra and Palmyra are irreparably damaged. Damascus is badly damaged. Infrastructure — roads, bridges, factories — across the country has been destroyed. Schools and hospitals have been leveled. Only last month, the Syrian government bombed four makeshift hospitals and a blood bank in Aleppo. Destabilization of the region. The vast majority of the refugees are in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, where they put an enormous economic and political burden on poorer, frailer states. A fifth of the residents of Lebanon are Syrian refugees, numbers that may upset the delicate political balance there. Riots have broken out in refugee camps in Jordan. In Turkey, the side effects of the Syrian war also include the exacerbation of tensions with the Kurdish minority and other groups inside the country, as well as high rates of crime, smuggling and unrest along the border. How much humanitarian aid has the U.S. provided, and where is it going? (question 18) The U.S. is the world’s largest bilateral donor of humanitarian aid. To date, the U.S. has provided $4.5 billion in humanitarian assistance since the start of this crisis and is leading the world in responding to this crisis through relentless humanitarian, diplomatic, and development efforts. This assistance provides healthcare, food, water, and basic necessities to people suffering in all 14 Governorates of Syria and to Syrian refugees in neighboring countries. The U.S. Government assists approximately 6.6 million Syrians per month with this assistance. When communities are bombed, our support for medical teams means more than a half-million surgeries that are helping save lives. When there is no food in the market, our partners risk their lives to deliver that food to displaced families. When neighboring communities have strained to care for refugees in their midst, the U.S. helps them upgrade their electrical grids, build more pumps for clean water, and manage double or triple shifts in their schools. Syrian Journey: Choose Your Own Escape Route Follow the instructions to choose your own routes as you try to escape war torn Syria (questions 19-20)
Current US Foreign Policy Read the section on the White House webpage titled America First Foreign Policy (questions 3-5) Watch this clip of President Trump’s speech to the UN General Assembly on Sept. 19th, 2017 (questions 8-9) Foreign Relations with North Korea
Background (question 10) On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces invaded South Korea. Led by the United States, a United Nations coalition of 16 countries undertook the defense of South Korea. Following China's entry into the war on behalf of North Korea later that year, a stalemate ensued for the final two years of the conflict until an armistice was concluded on July 27, 1953. A peace treaty has never been signed. North and South Korea have had a difficult and, at times, bitter relationship since the Korean War. The two countries are separated by a demilitarized zone. North Korea has been ruled by successive generations of Kim Il Sung’s family, and its political and economic structure is centrally controlled. The current leader of North Korea is Kim Jong-Un. The United States believes that a constructive and serious dialogue between North and South Korea is necessary to improve inter-Korean relations and to resolve outstanding problems, including the North's attempts to develop a nuclear program and its human rights abuses. Stalemate: a position counting as a draw or a tie. Armistice: an agreement made by opposing sides in a war to stop fighting for a certain time; a truce. Demilitarized Zone: remove all military forces from an area. Human Rights Abuses (question 11) Under the rule of Kim Jong-Un, North Korea remains among the world’s most repressive countries. All basic freedoms have been severely restricted under the Kim family’s political dynasty. A 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry found that abuses in North Korea were without parallel in the contemporary world. They include extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions, and other sexual violence. North Korea operates secretive prison camps where perceived opponents of the government are sent to face torture and abuse, starvation rations, and forced labor. Fear of collective punishment is used to silence dissent. There is no independent media, functioning civil society, or religious freedom. Dissent: hold or express opinions that are at in conflict with those of the government and/or leader Independent Media: News or media sources not controlled by the government Nuclear (question 12) North Korea's interest in a nuclear weapons program dates to the end of World War II. There have been various attempts to agree disarmament deals, but none of this has ultimately deterred North Korea. In 2005, North Korea agreed to a landmark deal to give up its nuclear ambitions in return for economic aid and political concessions. In 2008, it destroyed the cooling tower at Yongbyon as part of the disarmament-for-aid deal. But implementing the deal proved difficult and talks stalled in 2009. The US never believed Pyongyang was fully disclosing all of its nuclear facilities - a suspicion bolstered when North Korea unveiled a uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon. In March 2013, after a war of words with the US and with new UN sanctions over the North's third nuclear test, Pyongyang vowed to restart all facilities at Yongbyon. By 2015, normal operations there appeared to have resumed. The 2016 tests brought international condemnation, including from China - the North's main trading partner, and only ally. In 2017, the UN agreed a new sanctions package in response to the tests. In August, President Donald Trump threatened North Korea with "fire and fury" should the country not abandon its threats against the US. Open Door Policy
No links, the reading is on your assignment The Panama Canal Watch the video on the Panama Canal (question 1) Read the article on the Panama Canal (questions 2-7) |