This is my last post on the blog. This was an interesting activity, I really enjoyed it. Also it is very productive and it helped me so much.

Advantages
1.- It helped me to practice and improve my writing, grammar and pronunciation.

2.- It was useful to be aware of what was happening in the world.

3.- It was a good way to look for current information in English.

4.- Students get a lot of opportunities to put into practice the objectives and the contents of the course. It is harder than making a group presentation.

Recommendations

1 .- Spend time on the blog, i.e. think about what to upload: latest news, articles relevant to internationalists.

2 .- Make weekly entries: in this way you will make your blog very dynamic.

3 .- Focusing on the things you love and do the job with enthusiasm. In my case, I focus on Asia. I also liked to apply the translation techniques we learned in English IV and continue in English V. Grammar exercises were also important for the texts chosen contained most of the problems studied in class and in the programme.

Spain earthquake: Lorca residents assess damage

                            The quake caused widespread panic in Lorca

Residents in the Spanish town of Lorca are assessing (Present Continuous) the damage from quakes that killed nine people and forced thousands to spend the night outdoors.

The mayor of the historic town, with a population of 90,000, said: "Almost no-one slept in their homes".

Some 20,000 buildings are believed to have been damaged in what was Spain's worst earthquake for 50 years.

The magnitude 5.2 tremor hit early on Wednesday evening, around two hours after a quake measuring 4.4.(P.P.C)

Those who died – including (P.P.C) at least one pregnant woman and a child - were killed by falling (After a Preposition)masonry in the second tremor.

Regional officials say at least 130 people have been injured, with several in a serious condition.

'Very scared'

Lorca's Mayor Francisco Jodar said most of the town's population had spent the night sheltering (P.P) in their cars, streets, public squares or other towns.

Some camped out in an outdoor basket ball court, and others used children's playgrounds.

"We have provided them with blankets, food, water and both medical and psychological attention," he said.

"It is very sad to see neighbours spending (P.P) the night in the street," he added. "There is desperation and fear that there could be another seismological event."

Many people were queuing (Present Continuous) at first light for food and hot drinks from emergency workers.

Some were returning ( Past Continuous) to their homes to assess the damage, although many were ordered to keep away until a safety assessment of their buildings had been carried out.

"We are very scared, because ours [house] didn't collapse, but they are very damaged," one resident, Jose Crespo, said. "All the village has fallen, everything... All the buildings (Noun) have been affected."

"We know we live near a fault line but we never thought this would happen," another resident Pepe Tomas, 56, told the AFP news agency. "People are afraid. No-one here has ever seen anything like this before."

The Red Cross says it has moved in 24 ambulances and set up three field hospitals.

Hundreds of military teams are now in the town, searching (G.P) the rubble for victims and survivors, beginning (G.P) the clean-up and checking (G.P)which buildings (Noun) are safe to enter.

Schools and some roads remain closed, although some train services have now been restored, Spanish media reports.

Medieval town

The most powerful earthquake struck the town, in Murcia region, at 1847 (1647 GMT), at a depth of just 10km (six miles). The shock could be felt as far away as Madrid.

"These [tremors] were like huge pushes from below, then violent shakes left and right. It was quick, but completely terrifying," (As a Abjctive)Lorca resident Angel Dominguez.

Hundreds of residents and workers streamed out of buildings (noun)and gathered in squares, parks and open spaces amid fears of further tremors.

Witnesses described seeing (P.P) rubble and masonry rain down on people as they fled.

Some 350 ambulances were used to evacuate 400 patients from two hospitals in the town, regional officials said.

Lorca is an ancient town, with many medieval buildings and streets badly damaged in the quake.

A Spanish cameraman had a lucky escape after TV pictures captured the dramatic moment the bell tower from a 17th Century church crashed to the ground just metres from him.

Spain has hundreds of earthquakes every year but most of them are too small to be noticed.

Murcia is the country's most seismically active area and suffered tremors in 2005 and 1999. It is close to the large faultline beneath the Mediterranean Sea where the European and African continents meet.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13371472

Bin Laden death 'not an assassination' - Eric Holder

Bin Laden death 'not an assassination' - Eric Holder

US Attorney General Eric Holder: "He (Bin Laden) had indicated he was not going to be taken alive" (PresentCOntinuous)

US Attorney General Eric Holder has said that the raid on Osama Bin Laden's hideout, in which the al-Qaeda leader was killed, was "not an assassination".

Mr Holder told the BBC the operation was a "kill or capture mission" and that Bin Laden's surrender would have been accepted if offered.

The protection of the Navy Seals who carried out the raid was "uppermost in our minds", he added.

Bin Laden was shot dead on 2 May in the complex in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The raid has had a mixed reaction in Pakistan, and on Thursday several hundred supporters of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif rallied in Abbottabad shouting anti-US slogans.

The marchers shouted "Go, America Go", "Down with [US President Barack] Obama" and "Down with [Pakistani President Asif Ali] Zardari", and waved the green flags of Mr Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party.

Mr Sharif has called for a full judicial inquiry into the raid.

'Legal operation'

Mr Holder said the special forces had acted "in an appropriate way" in the absence of any clear indication Bin Laden had been going to (Past Perfect Continuous) surrender.

"If the possibility had existed, if there was the possibility of a feasible surrender, that would have occurred," he said.

"But their protection, that is the protection of the force that went into that compound, was I think uppermost in our minds."

The attorney general reiterated that the operation was legal, saying (Past Continuous) that international law allows the targeting (Noun) of enemy commanders.

Supporters of Pakistan ex-PM Nawaz Sharif in Abbottabad denounced the US government

"I actually think that the dotting (Noun) of the i's and the crossing (Noun) of the t's is what separates the United States, the United Kingdom, our allies, from those who we are fighting," (Present Continuous) he said.

"We do respect the rule of law, there are appropriate ways in which we conduct ourselves and expect our people to conduct themselves, and I think those Navy Seals conducted themselves in a way that's consistent with American, [and] British values."

The interview with Mr Holder comes a day after a statement by Bin Laden's family questioning  (P.P)why he was not captured alive.

His sons criticised the US for carrying(After a Preposition) out his "arbitrary killing". (Noun)

The UN has also raised concerns.

Special rapporteurs Christof Heyns and Martin Scheinin said in a statement that deadly force was permissible in exceptional cases as a last resort.

"However, the norm should be that terrorists be dealt with as criminals, through legal processes of arrest, trial and judicially decided punishment," they added.

'Gruesome pictures'

Members of US Congress are being (Present Continuous) shown photos of Bin Laden just after his death, which the US government has so far refused to publish.

Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, who saw them on Tuesday, described them as "pretty gruesome".

Meanwhile, documents seized during the raid suggested Bin Laden had a hand in every recent major al-Qaeda threat, US officials have said.

In the latest of a series of media briefings, unnamed US security and and intelligence officials said the documents showed that Bin Laden had calculated how many Americans would have to die before the US withdrew from the Middle East.

He also encouraged his followers to attack cities such as Los Angeles, as well as New York.

Intelligence agents are continuing to analyse the documents - said to be stored on around 100 flash drives and five computers.

source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13370919