Philippines

The Philippines is officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean.

The Capital of the Philippines is Manila.

The president is Benigno Aquino III. The new president, Rodrigo Duterte, took office on 6.30.16.

Official languages are: Filipino and English.

Religion: Nearly 90% of the Filipinos are Roman Catholic.

The Climate: A feature of the climate of the Philippines is the presence of strong typhoons. The Philippines is tortured by typhoons every year. In the whole Western Pacific typhoons occur in the period June - November.

Filipinos are asking why the country wasn’t better prepared to deal with the super storm ? Government officials claim they were ready, broadcasting warnings of a potential 20-foot storm surge on the hour, starting two days before the typhoon hit. Jerry Yaokasin, Tacloban's vice mayor, told Reuters that "some people just didn't believe us because it was so sunny. Some were even laughing." Many local men reportedly stayed in their homes to protect their belongings from looters. "People were warned about the storm surge," said Toby Monsod, an economics professor at the University of the Philippines in Manila. "Though, many probably thought that it would be one meter high, not five. This storm was off the scales," she told NBC News.

8.27.16: The president slams the U.S. for ‘killing black people.'

North Korea Rocket Test

Defying warnings from the international community, N. Korea launches a rocket it says is carrying a satellite into orbit.







The rocket test fails.








South Korea condems N. Korea's rocket launch.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Memorial Dedication

www.mlkmemorial.org





Dedication of the National Memorial Project

Americans urged to live MLK's ideals at memorial dedication





Video of the Memorial Dedication.








Civil Rights Pioneer Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth Is Remembered

Honoring the Memory and Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

Dedication of the National Memorial Project





2006 Groundbreaking: Congressman John Lewis

Groundbreaking: Congressman John Lewis by BuildTheDream





2006 Groundbreaking: Barack Obama

Groundbreaking: Senator Obama by BuildTheDream



2006 Groundbreaking: Yolanda King

Groundbreaking: Yolanda Denise King by BuildTheDream







2006 Groundbreaking: Martin Luther King jr. III

Groundbreaking: Martin Luther King III by BuildTheDream








2006 Groundbreaking: Bernice King

Groundbreaking: Bernice King by BuildTheDream









10.15.11 King's frat brother reflects on legacy






10.15.11 CNN's Reynolds Wolf talks to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s driver -- and friend.




10.15.11 A New March on Washington







10.15.11 MLK jr.'s daughter talk about his momument





10.15.11 Time-lapsed view of the MLK jr. Memorial

Syria

Syria officially the Syrian Arab Republic is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon to the southwest, the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest.

The capital is Damascus. The official language is Arabic. Sunni Muslims make up about 74% of Syria's population. 10% are Christian (the majority Antiochian Orthodox, the rest including Greek Catholic, Assyrian Church of the East, Armenian Orthodox, Protestants and other denominations).

The president was Bashar al-Assad (July 17, 2000 to December 8, 2024). His family is Alawite and Alawites (Shia Muslims), they dominate the government and hold key military positions. As of Jan. 29, 2025 the president is Ahmed al-Sharaa .

Pro-democracy protest erupted in March 2011 in the southern city of Deraa after the arrest and torture of some teenagers who painted revolutionary slogans on a school wall. After security forces opened fire on demonstrators, killing several, more took to the streets. The unrest triggered nationwide protests demanding President Assad's resignation. The government's use of force to crush the dissent merely hardened the protesters' resolve. By July 2011, hundreds of thousands were taking to the streets across the country.

The expanding Syrian refugee crisis highlights the differences among countries that welcome desperate migrants and those that don't. Some 4.1 million Syrians are fleeing a homeland riven by more than four years of civil war. Some countries have taken in so many migrants it's caused a population spike, while others have done little or nothing at all.


9.24.15: Syria's civil war prompts first 'Doomsday Vault' withdrawal. The Global Seed Vault, something of an agricultural Noah's Ark, keeps a seed of just about every known crop in the world inside a frozen vault on the Norwegian island of Svalbard.


2015: Syrian refugees : Which countries welcome them, which ones don't.


8.5.16: U.S. on Track for Syrian Refugee Resettlement Goal. It's Obama administration's goal to welcome 10,000 Syrians by the end of September. From Oct. 1, 2015, through Aug. 4 of this year, 8,004 Syrian refugees who fled violence and persecution in their home country have been resettled in the U.S. They were placed in 38 states: With 887 arrivals, Michigan was the top recipient, followed by California (783), Arizona (651), Texas (565) and Pennsylvania (481).


April 2018 pres. Trump making plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.

October 2019, Pres. Trump ordered U.S. troops to pull out of Syria. Kurdish forces backed by U.S. strike a deal with Syria's Assad.

10.7.19: Trump Defends Decision to Pull U.S. Troops from Northern Syria.

10.13.19: Trump Pulls out Remaining Troops from N. Syria; Warns of 'Powerful Sanctions' on Turkey.

10.27.19: ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed in a daring U.S. raid in Syria; Trump says. He and Jihadi John are responsible for the killing of Kayla Mueller, and beheadings of James Foley, Steven Sotloff, David Haines, Alan Henning, Peter Kassig, Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto.

Pres. Trump said a U.S. special operations forces mission went after the ISIS leader, in Northern Syria, and there were no U.S. deaths during the operation. Several ISIS fighters and companions of Baghdadi were killed, including two women wearing suicide vests and three children. Trump said Baghdadi was chased to the end of a dead end tunnel by dogs, bringing three children with him. At the end of the tunnel, he detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and the children with him. The President said "immediate" and "totally positive" test results proved it was Baghdadi, saying a lab technician on the scene of the raid confirmed the ISIS leader's death. "He died like a dog. He died like a coward. The world is now a much safer place," Trump said. Trump described the situation, saying the ISIS leader "spent his last moments in utter fear, in total panic and dread, terrified of the American forces bearing down on him."

10.28.19: Baghdadi Operation Named After Christian Woman, Kayla Mueller, Who Refused to Give Up Faith Before ISIS Killed Her.

United Nations

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly.








President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke to reporters about Palestinian statehood, saying direct negotiations were the only way to achieve Middle East peace.





President Obama addressed the United Nations General Assembly. He focused on various events from the preceding year, including democratic movements in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, the killing of Osama bin Laden, as well as challenges remaining in Iran, Syria, and North Korea. He also spoke about the Middle East peace process and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' desire to seek full recognition from the U.N.











Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the United Nations General Assembly.

Libya

Libya is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya faces Egypt to the east, Sudan to the south east, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west.



The capital is Tripoli.

97% of the population in Libya are Muslims, who belong to the Sunni branch. Small numbers of Ibadi Muslims and Sufis also exists in the country. The main language spoken in Libya is Arabic (the Libyan dialect) by 95% of Libyans, and Modern Standard Arabic is also the official language; the Berber languages spoken by 5% (i.e. Berber and Tuareg languages), which do not have official status, are spoken by Berbers and Tuaregs in the south part of the country beside the Arabic language.

Muammar Gaddafi has no official title, but he runs Libya and is the de facto chief of state. His four decades of iron-fisted rule is coming to an end. But Fareed Zakaria says Gadhafi will not surrender. In 2011, an anti-Gaddafist uprising led by the National Transitional Council (NTC) broke out, resulting in civil war. NATO intervened militarily on the side of the NTC, resulting in the government's downfall. Retreating to Sirte, Gaddafi was captured and killed (Oct. 20, 2011) by NTC militants.




The Country profile , the CIA Factbook, and the history.


Muammar al-Qadhafi's history.




Pres. Obama's Timeline of the conflict in Libya


Transition from autocratic rule in Libya a challenge



Qaddafi's final moments as his era comes to an end . World leaders react to Gadhafi's death with common themes: regret for those killed during Gadhafi's rule, calls for national reconciliation and a move toward democracy.

" For four decades, the Qaddafi regime ruled the Libyan people with an iron fist. Basic human rights were denied. Innocent civilians were detained, beaten and killed. And Libya’s wealth was squandered. The enormous potential of the Libyan people was held back, and terror was used as a political weapon. Today, we can definitively say that the Qaddafi regime has come to an end. The last major regime strongholds have fallen. The new government is consolidating the control over the country. And one of the world’s longest-serving dictators is no more. " - Pres. Obama's remarks







“The NATO alliance worked like it was designed to do, burden sharing. In total it cost us $2 billion, no American lives lost, we carried the burden a lot of other places where NATO is-the primary burden like in Afghanistan–and this was really burden sharing. That’s the model.” VP Biden