Current Event Review #3 2016 - 2017

Baseball star’s 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. Perhaps no athlete has ever been more representative of the South Florida experience. The Marlins’ star pitcher made four attempts to leave Cuba for the United States before 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.

"Remember Him And What He Stood For" “He represented freedom in a way that most no one here can understand,” Marlins president David Samson said Sunday. “He always would tell me that: ‘You were born into freedom, you don’t understand freedom really.’

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 5-year-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, CCTV reported.

NBA’s 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 they’re 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 get pumpkins? For

play and public relations

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.

Smaller animals might “just use them more for going into and hanging out,” he said. Zoo workers sometimes carve out the pumpkins for birds to make them hollow. This provides them with a place to explore and “something exciting for them in the exhibit.” Elephants can crush them with their feet. Polar bears can take them 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, 10-inning 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.