WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM
WORLD & NATION
NEWS IN BRIEF
Stories by Becca Heller
Graphic by Bre^ Shepard
ICELAND
One of Iceland's largest volca
noes, the Eyja^allajokull, had
been dormant for two centuries
before returning to life last
week. An explosion sent clouds
of ash soaring as high as 11,000
meters, disrupting air travel
throughout northern Europe. The
eruption led to the evacuation of
hundreds of rural Icelanders, many
of whom have been anticipating this
eruption for many years. According to
The New York Times, more than 24,000
flights have been cancelled every day
throughout Europe, causing huge eco
nomic losses to airline companies and
major disruptions in peoples' travel
plans. According to the Washington Post
European flights are expected to resume
soon, as an increasing number of airline
tests have proven the decrease of volcanic
ash in the atmosphere.
UNITED
SWES”
According to a BBC World Service Poll, global views
of the United States have improved sharply over the
past year. Having fallen to a low international approval
rate of 28% in 2007, the sentiments of the 14 countries
included in the census have risen to 40 percent in this
year's poll. For the first time since 2005, this poll has
shown that more countries see the United States' influ
ence on the rest of the world as positive rather than
negative. Analysts do not hesitate to point out that this
rise in United States popularity has coincided with the
election of President Obama in 2009.
This week Venezuela celebrated its 200th year as an
independent country. The festivities have inspired
people from every sector of Venezuelan society to come
out and show pride in their country. Olympic athletes,
indigenous leaders, and afro-caribbean descendants all
joined together to march past socialist President Hugo
Chavez, who was joined by President of Cuba Raul
Castro and Bolivian President Evo Morales for the occa
sion. According to BBC, Chavez took the opportunity
to speak to his supporters, drawing parallels between
Simon Bolivar and Venezuela's liberation and his own
socialist ideal of Latin American unity and indepen
dence from the West.
On April 14 China fell victim to the latest earthquake,
a 7.1 magnitude which shook the Qinghai region in
the Tibetan plateau. Today, the death toll is reported at
over 500. While the Qinghai region is not as densely
populated as much of China, the Washington Post has
reported at least 589 dead arid over 10,000 injured.
According to the-CNM News Network, 90 percent of
the homes in the area were leveled, leaving most of
the population homeless. The earthquake is the most
damaging since the devastating earthquake that took
place in Chile in February.
Poland mourns the death of president, plans to move forward
By Izak Shapiro
Staff Writer
On April 10, President of Poland Lech
Kaczynski was killed, along with many
important Polish leaders, when the plane he
was in crashed in Smolensk, Russia.
According to Russian officials, 97 people
were killed in the crash, including First
Lady Maria Kaczynska, Chief of the General
Staff of the Polish Armed Forces Franciszek
Gagor, and eight crew members.
The group of Polish officials was flying for
the 70^“ anniversary of the Katyn massacre
of thousands of Poles by Soviet forces during
WWII. The group was traveling in a Tupolev
154, a Soviet-designed plane that was more
than 20 years old. The pilots were Russian.
"For the life of me I can't understand
why so many prominent Polish people were
flying on a commercial airline maintained
by ex-Soviet military pensioners," said Ken
Gilmore, associate professor of political sci
ence. "It'd be like asking Obama and con
gress to eat Mexican from a food cart in
Tijuana."
Many people speculate that the pilots are in Poland, and at 12 p.m. on April 18, two
at fault for the plane's crash. minutes of silence were held throughout the
"Flight controllers ... suggested that the country, according to FoxNews.com.
plane be forwarded to Minsk but as far as Poland now has the task of grieving and
we know the crew took an independent moving forward as a nation in the coming
"I can say, at this point, that I've been impressed by the
orderliness of the succession process in Poland thus far. They've
been very 'constitutional' in picking various successors, including
the interim president, who seems ready to hold elections."
Ken Gilmore, associate professor of political science
decision to land the plane in Smolensk,"
Andrei Yevseyenkov, Smolensk regional gov
ernment spokesman, told Russian television,
according to BBC.com.
Russian and Polish officials are still gath
ering information about the crash. For now,
a week of remembrance has been declared
weeks.
"The Polish state must function and will
function," said Polish Prime Minister Donald
Tusk, who was reportedly in tears when
news of the crash reached his ears, according
to BBC.com.
Poland became a democracy within the
last 25 years and this is the first death of a
Polish president while in a democracy. The
speaker of the lower house of parliament,
Bronislaw Komorowski, is now the acting
president.
"I can say, at this point, that I've been
impressed by the orderliness of the suc
cession process in Poland thus far," said
Gilmore. "They've been very 'constitutional'
in picking various successors, including the
interim president, who seems ready to hold
elections."
As Poland continues to move forward
after the deaths of so many government offi
cials, the upcoming elections could provide a
shift in Polish politics.
"(Kaczynski) had advocated a right-wing
Catholic agenda, opposed rapid free-market
reforms and favoured retaining social wel
fare programmes," according to BBC.com.
Kaczynski was a polarizing figure in
Poland, but those who agreed and disagreed
with his policies mourned together, and will
continue to mourn together. Although tragic
and painful, perhaps this accident will bring
Poland together and make it stronger.