Margaret Thatchers death

The Iron Lady died in her bed in the Ritz hotel at the age of 87. This has had mixed reactions. Close friends and supporters have felt sadness while opponents have celebrated. The North of England, Scotland and Ireland have all experienced street parties to celebrate as she proved very unpopular in these places.

Her critics have been protesting in different ways. Some have just criticised her while others have done demonstrations or parties. The song "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" rose to number 2 in the charts in a creative protest by anti Thatcher protesters while the song "I'm in love with Margaret Thatcher" only reached 35 in the charts after pro Thatcher supporters did their own campaign. It was originally created to mock Thatcher and now is being used to celebrate her life.

The BBC faced a backlash after only playing 5 seconds of "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" while playing all of "I'm in love with Margaret Thatcher". The BBC are now being labelled as favourtist and bias for opposing free speech. What could have been a small sub heading in news was blown completely out of proportion by the debate over whether it should be played.

The funeral is also being widely criticised as many see it as a waste of taxpayers money. The Thatcher family is by no means short of funds yet are still relying on the state to foot the bill while they put in a menial sum. There is likely to be protests while the funeral is going which will stretch police lines to the limit and put a strain on the defences of the procession route which will end at St Paul's Cathedral. It is the same route that the coffin of Princess Di took.

Some of the coffin bearers are from the Scots guards which has caused outrage in Scotland. Ever since she started the campaign for Poll tax, she has been a huge figure of hate. Many are angry with the Scots guards for agreeing to help. Other regiments from the British Isles are also attending to do coffin bearing and to form part of the procession.

Many people have a reason to dislike her. She made the rich richer and the poor poorer while in power. But the thing that she is often remembered for is her role during the Falklands conflict. Her quick action may have saved the island from falling into Argentinian rule. For that Britain is mainly grateful.

But on the other hand she destroyed the North's economy by smashing the National Miners Union led by Arthur Scargill. She faced down the strikes and caused an increase in poverty and unemployment never before seen. She ruined many peoples lives and for that she is an icon of a bad time for the North.

Likewise, she became a hate figure in Ireland when she declared war on the IRA and sent a large number of troops in to stop the "Trouble's". This led to resentment, unemployment, death and heartache. But she did manage to hold Northern Ireland in Britain. Whether that was a good thing or bad thing will be debated for years to come.

UKIP have declared that they will now fly the flag for Thatcherism. A brave move for a party who is now managing to establish themselves. This may backfire and they could lose support or it could gain them new supporters from the Tories. It does seem to make them look like mosquitoes sucking the blood from the Conservatives as they idealise their fallen leader.

The aftershocks of her death and legacy will be felt for the foreseeable future and will continue to divide the nation.

The Iron Lady
Rust in Peace.

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China's cyber war

The Chinese military are accused of being one of the worlds most prolific hacking group. They are feared to have hacked at least 141 organisations worldwide.This building is where the hacking supposedly takes place although little is known about it. A reporter and his camera crew were held captive for a brief period by the Chinese soldier guarding the high rise. They got released after handing over their footage but it shows how sensitive the area is.

Barack Obama has said he has taken his concerns to the Chinese leadership but they still deny any wrongdoing. It is hard to believe them when the IP and other information all points to this building run by the military. Many world leaders are wary of China's hacking as they face a long cyber war.

While David Cameron was in India, he promised the Indians that he would help them tackle cyber crime and Chinese hackers as they suffer a lot. They have lost a lot of data on many people and business's including some British citizens. This alliance could start helping to set a new tone in cyber warfare with countries helping each other instead of being paranoid.

 In a report by the American security company Mandiant, they have found a lot of worrying information. They discovered that these hackers have stolen many business plans and targeted business's that are useful for their 5 year growth plan and that they can access the infrastructure of several countries. This means that they can access energy systems, gas plants, waterworks and power grids.

All this information is very worrying and could worsen the relationship between the West and China.

Chris Huhne

Former Liberal Democrat MP Chris Huhne has admitted to perverting the cause of justice after his wife, Vicky Pryce took the blame for speeding in 2003. Huhne was driving the car when a speed camera caught him but he claimed his wife was driving. Pryce then took the points on her license but claims she protested.

She claims that she didn't have a choice about taking the blame because she was already down as the nominated driver. She insists that she is not responsible and has pleaded not guilty to perverting the cause of justice.

Huhne has stepped down as MP and as part of the cabinet. He has previously been noted for criticising the Conservatives and has ran for leader of the Lib Dems on multiple occasions and only narrowly missed out to Nick Clegg.

The trial is still going on and Huhne now faces a jail sentence. But many question why Pryce decided to admit this at this current time. Huhne had an affair with one of his advisers which led to his divorce from Pryce who he had been married to for 26 years. After this Pryce said she was going to "nail him". The reliability of her testimony is now being debated but it seems unlikely that it will make too much difference to Huhne although it might cause Pryce to get a prison sentence as well if she is found guilty.

This is a huge blow to the Liberal Democrats as they are already having problems within the coalition and now have lost a very prominent cabinet member.

70 years since Stalingrad

70 years ago, Nazi forces attacked the city of Stalingrad and started a battle which changed the course of World War 2. The German 6th army attacked the Russians in an attempt to take over the nearby oil fields but were forced back. Soviet troops followed and eventually reached Berlin.

Vladimir Putin paid tribute to the veterans of the battle during a celebration held in the city of Stalingrad which has been named Volgograd since 1961 although it was renamed for the celebration. Many joined in the celebrations which included a T-34 tank which is a symbol of the Soviet Union.

Veterans were present and heard Putins speeches praising Russia and the Red Army and called it "a proud moment for Russia". The celebration was ended with an 18 gun salute using WW2 era Russian artillery.

The battle that won the war will be remembered as one of the bloodiest but also because of the bravery of the Red Army fighting in freezing conditions to save the country and save the world from fascism.

Russians flee Syria

A  very large amount of Russians are escaping the Syrian conflict in any way they can. Many are getting on planes and leaving from Beirut. Many Russians are still heading to Beirut in Lebanon.

Moscow claim this is not a mass evacuation although they admit they have contingency plans to do so if the trouble gets worse. A Russian evacuation would almost certainly see the navy being used.

Many are fleeing as they fear being targeted by anti Assad supporters who are trying to seize the country. Vladamir Putin and Moscow have been staunch allies of President Assad throughout the conflict although they acknowledge that Assad may lose.

The trouble in Syria has been going on for a while now but no side is making considerable progress. Many hoped it would be a quick rebellion and they would win at little cost much like Libya but it is not turning out quite like that.

Another threat looming in Syria is that extremist Islamists are trying to take power along with the the other rebels. If these Islamists take over then it's almost certain that the West would intervene to stop Syria being a terrorist haven like many other countries.

It still looks like the conflict may continue for a very long time and so far everyone is waiting to see what happens before acting.

Lance Armstrong

The world of cycling has again been plunged into crisis after 7 time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong has admitted doping to win his titles. His confessions were shown on an interview with Oprah Winfrey. He admitted using EPO and testosterone.

Lance Armstrong was one of the worlds most admired cyclists. He beat cancer when he was told he was unlikely to survive and then went on to win a medal in the Olympics and win 7 Tour De Frances. Many now have turned their back on him while some still support him.

Cycling is in crisis after fears they may drop out of the Olympics in the wake of this scandal. Cycling has been 'tarred' according to many former and current cyclists. The UCI could be linked to doping allegations which would be a huge problem for a lot of people.

Armstrong has also been branded a bully as well as a cheat. People claim that while he was team leader of US Postal he encouraged or bullied members to use performance enhancing substances such as EPO. He has also admitted this. 

Michele Ferrari was his trainer for a while. They were introduced by Eddy Merckx. This was when rumours started spreading about Armstrong and doping as Ferrari was known to have doped other riders in the past. Armstrong is reported to have paid him millions during their cooperation.

Armstrong still claims that he was drug free from 2005 onwards. He said it was necessary to dope early in his career as almost all the other riders did it as well. So he says it was not cheating as it was getting a balanced field. During his comebacks he says he did not need to dope as the sport was relatively clean.

Armstrong insists he does not deserve a life time ban from all sports as everyone else being caught has only been given 6 month suspensions whereas he has a so called death penalty. He admits he would like to return to competitive sport sometime in the future.

He has lost most of his sponsors already. 6 days after the allegations spread he had what he called a '75million dollar day' when he lost 75 million dollars worth of sponsors from companies such as Trek and Nike.

Although he is plagued with controversy he has still got a lot of support and is still undoubtedly one of the greatest cyclists of all time.