Welcome back teachers and students!
PLEASE NOTE:  “Answers” emails resume Tuesday, September 2nd.  
Questions or comments?  Send us an email at editors@studentnewsdaily.com.

1. For each of the 3 countries, provide the following information:
a) capital:
b) location/the countries that share its borders:
c) the religious breakdown of the population:
d) the type of government:
e) the chief of state (and head of government if different) [If monarch or dictator, since what date has he/she ruled? - include name of heir apparent for monarch]:
f) the population:

[Find the answers at the CIA World FactBook website. For each country, answers can be found under the "Geography" "People" and "Government" headings.  Go to worldatlas.com for maps and a list of continents.]

NOTE: “Answers” emails will resume September 2nd. 

2. For ISRAEL:
a) list the who, what, where and when of the news item
b) How many Hamas tunnels into Gaza has the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) destroyed so far?
c) What is the purpose of these tunnels?
d) How important is it to destroy these tunnels? Explain your answer.

3. For TURKEY:
a) list the who, what, where and when of the news item
b) What is the role of the president and of the prime minister in Turkey's government?
c) What do opponents fear Recep Erdogan is trying to do with this balance of power in Turkey?
CHALLENGE QUESTION 1: The leader of which country made the same move from prime minister to president in 2012? (Name the leader and the country.)
CHALLENGE QUESTION 2: Read the opinion about Erdogan's transition from Prime Minister to President at: theglobeandmail.com.  What concern does Mr. Khan have over Mr. Erdogan's election?

4. For GREAT BRITAIN:
a) list the who, what, where and when of the news item
b) Define jihadist, rebuttable presumption and caliphate as used in this news report.
c) For what reason does London's mayor Boris Johnson want to bring back control orders, as well as change the law specifically for those who travel to war zones without notifying British authorities?
d) What do you think of the British Home Secretary's reaction? (Consider the fact that a prime suspect in the beheading of American journalist James Foley is Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, a 23-year-old British born London rapper who left his family a year ago to fight with the Islamist fanatics. Bary is the son of an Egyptian-born terrorist who is awaiting trial on terror charges in New York tied to the deadly 1998 bombings of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.)
e) What do you think British authorities should do with British citizens who travel to wage jihad and then return to England?
f) Do you think the U.S. government should be proactive in addressing this potential problem in the U.S.?  Explain your answer.

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