Students: This is Coach Cook’s world geography class from SSHigh School coming straight to you live fromSadler, America, and Channel One News!
Keith:Thanks to the students at S SHigh in Texas for getting us started today. I am Keith Kocinski, and we are jumping right into the news.
First up, we head to the Middle East, to the country of Iraq, where the terror group ISIS has claimed responsibility for several deadly bombings in the capital city of Baghdad. Three separate bombs went off yesterday in crowded areas throughout Baghdad. Police say at least 93 people were killed and hundreds wounded.
The deadliest attack was a car bomb at a crowded outdoor market where families shop for food and clothes. Experts said yesterday's bombings were a reminder that even though ISIS has lost some territory, it is still seeking to cause chaos and will even attack everyday people.
More than 4,000Iraqi civilians have died from acts of terrorism since the start of the year. ISIS has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks, and they seem to be increasing. It is one of the reasons the president is sending more U.S. troops to Iraq to help in the fight.
All right, it is the most confusing part of trying to eat a balanced diet: What is healthy? Don't know the answer? Well, don't worry because neither does the Food and Drug Administration.But it is working on it.
Under growing pressure, the FDA is taking steps to redefine the term “healthy.” That is because the term was crafted more than 20 years ago, when low fat was the main focus. Sugar was not on the radar, allowing cereal and fat-free pudding to be labeled healthy foods. Nuts, avocados and salmon — foods high in nutritious fats — were left off the healthy listbecause they had too much fat.
So why the major change?Well, the FDA says evolving nutrition research and new food labeling makes it the perfect time to redefine healthy. And the FDA is taking public feedback on this one. Currently, the word “healthy” can only be featured on products when they meet certain criteria.
All right, coming up: Are we alone? Well,NASA's new discovery may provide new clues about what is really out there.
Keith: Now, next up —Mags, what are you doing?
Maggie: Keith, did you know there are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand here on Earth?
Keith: That is really cool, but you know, we are in a studio right now, and you are pointing up at the ceiling.
Maggie: All right, well, scientists now say there could even be more planets than there are stars, which makes us ask the question, if there are so many planets out there, are we really alone?
The Kepler mission launched seven years ago with one goal: to be the most powerful planet hunter ever made and maybe even find another planet like ours.
Woman: Kepler mission is a huge step forward in answering the question “What is our place in the universe?"
Maggie: Turns out our place might not be all that special. This week NASA announced the discovery of 1,284 new planets — the largest ever, doubling the number of confirmed planets previously discovered from the Kepler mission and bringing the number of potential Earth-like planets to 21.
These guys orbit just close enough to a star to potentially have liquid water, but just far enough away so that it is not deadly, a sweet spot for life known as the Goldilocks Zone — not too hot, not too cold.
Jon Jenkins: You know, there is something else out there that reminds usvery much of us.
Maggie: The Kepler works by noticing slight variations in brightness levels when a planet passes in front of its sun, similar to what happened to our star this week when Mercury went on the move. It uses this information along with statistical analysis to plot out the many planets of deep space.
Woman: How many stars like the sun did develop planets around them like the Earth? I think that’s such an important question to everyone and so interesting that we really have to do it, and it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity right now.
Maggie: Maggie Rulli, Channel One News.
Keith: Wow, that is really exciting stuff. I look forward to seeing what else the mission will find.
All right, after the break, Tom Hanson is in a pretty dangerous citywhere teens are tackling crime.
Keith: Next up, we are moving to Mexico City, where daily life in some parts includes out-of-control violence, killings and drug cartels. So how does someone dealwith a life like that?Well, Tom Hanson takes us to one part of this dangerous city that is gaining recognition for being a guiding light for young people who are trying to escape this raging violence.
Tom: On the streets of one of Mexico City's toughest neighborhoods, known for gang violence, Rosario finds her target, aims and fires.With her Rebel T3i, she is a sharpshooter in photography.In fact, photojournalism is her life.
Rosario: This is a project I did on children with Downsyndrome.
Tom: Rosario lives in Iztapalapa, a community on the outskirts of Mexico City with a population of nearly 2 million people. It is known for its high crime rates. Her home has tall walls lined with jagged shards of glass, keeping robbers out and shielding her family from the occasional bullets that echo through the streets.
How prevalent is gang violence?
Rosario: If one gang or another gang has a problem, it's just easier for one to kill the other, and the problem goes away.A good friend of mine was killed. He was at a store in the neighborhood, and gunfight broke out, and everyone there was shot and killed.
Tom: Still, each day Rosario gets up and makes a risky trek…
Rosario: This area is known for being pretty unsafe.
Tom: …over this bridge…
Rosario: My friends have been robbed right here.
Tom: …to her refuge, a place called Faro del Oriente. “Faro” means lighthouse, and this center helps light the way for the local youth, offering young people like Rosario safetyand an alternative to the life of drugs and crime that so many in this area turn to.From photography to yoga to concerts, Faro offers students many different options to learn the arts.
Jesus Villaseca: Faro del Oriente is a place for art. Like a lighthouse guides the ship, the school guides the students.
Tom: Famous Mexican journalist and photographer Jesus Villaseca joined Faro
13 years ago. After growing up in the area, he saw too many young people dying.
Villaseca: It's complex. There's a lack of opportunity. There's a lot of drug use, a lot of violence.We live in a social system that's broken, and it's really hard for everyone in this area.
Tom: He wanted to change that, so Jesus began mentoring young photographers like Rosario.His class, which meets in an old drainage tunnel at the facility, quickly became one of the most popular.Here, young people learn another meaning to the words "point and shoot."
Villaseca: Students here learn to observe. Once you learn to observe, your opinions of the world begin to change. You begin to see value in things you didn't see value in before.
Tom: But there is still a long way to go.Iztapalapa's murder rate outpaces almost any other neighborhood in Mexico City.Much of the area doesn't have access to clean drinking water, and many in the community believe the corrupt government ignores organized crime, allowing violent street gangs to operate without being punished.
For Rosario and other young people in the community, it is just a part of everyday life.
Rosario: I'm from the mentality that when it's your time to die, it's your time to die. If you're going to get killed or robbed, you can't stop it from happening.
Tom: Still, there is a fragile optimism that things will get better…
Is there hope forIztapalapa?
Rosario: Hope? Yes. But we have to wait in order to see if that actually happens.
Tom: …and that Faro could be the guiding light this community needs to better times.
Villaseca: Whoever comes to Faro isn't going to end up in cartels or gangs; they're going to have dreams and reach higher and higher and higher.
Rosario: I found what I was looking for as a person, as an artist, as a photographer, as a success.
Tom: Tom Hanson, Channel One News.
Keith: Tom, thanks for that story.
Now, getting through to teens with art is somethingthat many programs are trying to do, and we have a whole list of them over atChannelOne.com, so make sure you go check it out.
All right, guys, we are all out of time for today, but we will see you right back here tomorrow.
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