Four British soldiers killed in accident in Helmand

Summary

Another four British soldiers died in the Helmand province in Afghanistan, while working together with the Afghan police. The four soldiers were making their way near Gereshk when their vehicle simply rolled off the road into a canal, submerging under water. The Ministry of Defense has made the assumption the men have died because of drowning. David Cameron’s reaction to the news: "This was a completely tragic case. Obviously we are paying a very high price for what we are doing in Afghanistan.” Another tragedy the MoD reported was that of a Royal Marine commando being killed in a firefight in Sangin; Steven Darbyshire, from Wigan; married father of two.

My Opinion

I think the United Kingdom is indeed paying a high price for what they are doing in Afghanistan. The only news coming out of Afghanistan is news of soldiers being killed. I think neither the United States nor the United Kingdom is accomplishing anything when it comes to warfare in Afghanistan. At least no major changes are being achieved, as far as I know, While the soldiers are fighting in another country, the news their wives and children are getting is of their husbands and fathers dying.

Link

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jun/24/four-british-soldiers-killed-afghanistan

Budget: Harman says government 'not being straight'

Summary

The government has been accused of breaking their promises by no-one less than Labour party leader Harriet Harman. Apparently, the Prime Minister had made a promise, saying the families that live from an income of less than forty thousand pounds, would not lose tax credits, and it seems the Budget “small print” said the opposite. According to Harman, Mr Osborne, minister of Finance, also made a promise, about the effect of the Budget on the same group of people, but in this case too the “small print” said otherwise. Mr Cameron blamed it on the government, saying it was "making sure that the least well-off families get the most money".

My opinion

I think that as the Prime Minister, it is unethical, unfair and certainly unprofessional to make such a mistake. Promising half of the United Kingdom something which you afterwards do not fulfill. I do not believe this to be a mistake. When you have such a function it is not possible for you to make such mistakes. When it does happen you make such a mistake, at least be man enough to correct it yourself and explain how it happened. Do not wait untill somebody else does it for you.

Link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/politics/10391081.stm

England football fans are watching its World Cup tie

Summary

Millions of England fans were cheering for their team as they started the match against Slovenia, 1500 BST today. The game is the first England match during the working day, this means that a lot of businisess and stores, even schools, have worked something out to be able to watch the match. There is a lot of interest in the World Cup in the United Kingdom, even Prime Minister David Cameron said he would watch as many matches as possible. England needed to win to make it to the knockout stages of the World Cup Championship, which they did, to great joy of the fans.

My opinion

It is very obvious there is a lot of interest in the World Cup in the United Kingdom. Every country that is participating in South Africa has their citizens sitting on the edge of their seats every match. Although England is one of the countries that has drawn eyes on themselves because of one particular match: United States - England. The goalie for England; Robert Green, blundered by letting a ball go that was very easy to stop. I do hope England gets far in the tournament, they have a good team, but when they face the Netherlands, I know what side to be on.

Link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/10381395.stm

Glastonbury 2010: Festival set for sunshine

Summary

The Glastonbury festival is coming up and one of the most wanted things at a festival is good weather. It looks like the people going to the festival are going to get what they want; temperatures around 20 degrees and dry and sunny skies. However, Met Office’s Helen Chivers warns for possible rain, so just do not leave your umbrella’s at home yet: "Although the weather looks fine – dry and sunny for most of the weekend – there is a possibility of thundery showers on Sunday in Somerset. It's pot luck as to whether this will reach the festival itself."

My opinion

I have never been to the Glastonbury festival, let alone the South-West of England. I have not been to many festivals, but I can understand that when you are partying like a mad-man, just enjoying yourself, the last thing you would like to have is bad weather. That is why I am very glad for everybody going to Glastibury this weekend, I hope they will all have a very good time and not only enjoy thereselves, but also look up in the sky and be thankful for the beautiful weather.

Link

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/23/glastonbury-2010-festival-sunshine

Budget 2010: George Osborne puts debt reduction ahead of restoring economy

Summary

George Osborne, minister of Finance, thinks the only threat the UK is facing when it comes to debts, is that of a bond strike. What Mr Osborne thinks is that there is a possibility that investors of the UK could be frightened because of the amount of debts the UK has worked itself into. This would mean that those investors could ask back a whole lot more money than they are lending Britain in the first place. Britain could wine up in a debt spiral Osborne says, but when Osborne might get into trouble, the Bank of England is there to help him.

My Opinion

Every country is in debt, I think Osborne is doing a good job running the Financing department of Britain. He keeps trying to restore the British economy with all means neccesary, but now decided to set different priorities. Especially "after" the economic crisis the UK has been in some trouble when it comes to debts, a lot of other countries have been as well. I think it is good the Bank of England chips in to help Osborne when things seem to go bad. I am just wondering whether the United Kingdom will actually wine up in a debt spiral..

Link

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/blog/2010/jun/23/budget-2010-debt-reduction-economy

Royal Marine is 300th British death in Afghanistan

Summary

On June 12^th, the 300^th British casualty in Afghanistan has occurred. Because the family of the British soldier would like to keep his name unknown, the name has not yet been published. What is released is that the soldier got injured by an explosion while patrolling in the Sangin district of Helmand. He makes number 15 in the amount of soldiers dying in the province in the last month. The US and the UK are having some kind of an argument over the amount of soldiers lost in Afghanistan; both the US as the UK say they have lost more men.

My opinion

This article is more about the amount of deaths in war of the United Kingdom against the amount of deaths in war of the United States. I know that when two heads of countries can not get allong and one starts to threat the other they obviously have to go to war, but when is this all going to stop? When two countries who are on the same side go and whine about who has the most deaths, I think we can all agree that the world is coming to an end! No, but why go to war AND wine about who has more deaths? Just form a good coallision and take those !@#$ out!

Link

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jun/21/royal-marine-300th-british-death-afghanistan

Police saw Derrick Bird shoot victims during Cumbria rampage - Speakerscorner

Summary

Last Wednesday, taxi driver Derreck Bird performed a mass shooting where twelve people were killed. After killing the first three victims, three unarmed policemen tried to follow Bird to stop him from killing more people. They failed and Bird succeeded in killing another nine more. The first policeman that arrived did not have a car to follow bird but was given a lift by a member of the public. They tried to follow Bird but failed because he shot two people and they stopped to help them. The two other policemen got close at one moment but had to stop following Bird because he started shooting at them.

My opinion

Since the officers were unarmed, they did not have the right equipment to stop Derrick Bird. This plus the fact the police department of Cumbria did have a fast enough vehicle on the ground to be able to chase after Derrick Bird. Of course was the incident that occurred very unsuspected, but I believe they could have done more to stop Bird if they would have had the right equipment. I am aware of the fact policemen in the United Kingdom do not carry any guns and it takes the armed police to solve these kind of incidents. Maybe this should be changed..?

Link

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jun/07/police-tracked-derrick-bird-cumbria-shootings