CNN 2012-02-14

 Our social media question this week was about sociology and a student at C P School was the first one to get it right. Nice work! I'm Carl Azuz. Let's get to today's headlines.

First up. We are looking at a huge deal that involves states, banks and the U.S. housing markets.A lot of experts say that the melt-down in the housing market was one of the main causes of the 2008 financial crisis.Part of the recession was still feeling the affects. Yesterday's deal is about foreclosures. That's when a lander takes back her home bacause a person who used to living there can't afford their monthly mortgage payments.States had accused landers of making some closures without following the proper procedures. This deal is a settlement for 26 billion dollars who has involved five of the country's biggest landers.They made this deal with Federal government and with 49 states.
Oklahoma made a separate deal with the banks. How does it work? Well if you are behind your mortgage payments,and you owe more money than your houses actually worth. This could lower those monthly payments, maybe make it easier for you to keep up. If your house was foreclosed on, you could be elligible for some money. Some critics say this deal doesn't go far enough though and while it could help some people most struggling home owners woo qualify for any of the money in the settlement.
Next up. The U.S. military is planning to let female troops serve closer to the frontlines. It's a changing policy that dates back to 1994 and originally said that women can't serve in units that are directly involved in combat.But Pentagon offials say reality doesn't match that policy now.Women have served in support positions like military police or medics that are ragulary ?away.More than 140 female troops lost their lives in Irap and Afghanistan. What the military plans to do now is open up around 14,000 jobs to female troops.Things like tank mechanics or crew members on missle launchers. They still won't be allowed in certain combat jobs but they will be able to serve closer to the frontlines. 
Nuclear power provides around 18% of electricity use in the United States. That number could get bigger. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission signed off on licenses 1 for two new reactors 3 in the State of Georgia. They are expecting to cost around 14 billion dollars and to generate enough electricity to power a million homes.These are the firts nuclear reactor 2 licenses approved since 1978 that was a year before a nuclear accident in Pennsylvania.Could it say the design for the new reactors isn't safe enough? The companies that build them says they made improvements to make the reactors much safer than older ones. 
Is this Legit? A country that has sovereignty is free from any outside coutrol.Absolutely true. Sovereign countries make all of their own decisions.
Argentina and United Kingdom both claim they have sovereignty over a group of islands off the coast of South America. This is actually a debate that's been going on for 30 years now.It centers around the Falkland Islands which is smaller than the U.S. State of Connecdicut. Jim Clanzy looks at the tension in the past and the presents.
The Falkland Islands are located about 250 nauticle miles east off the coast of Latin America.So they are about 500 km due east of what is the country of Argentina.
Britain calls them the Falklands. Argentina calls them the Malvinas Islands. And there has been a long standing 4 dispute over sovereignty. In 1982 there was another set of islands. It's South Georgia islands and a group of Argentinians went to those islands and planted a flag. It became a medium ?.
Well the military hunter that was in charge of Argentina, they invaded, they took over those islands.Britain went to war. And almost 900 people lost their lives.250 or more on the British side and 450 on the Argentine side. 
Why are these two islands back in the news? First of all it's the 30th anniversay of the war and Britain plans to commemerate it.Argentina is pressing its claims of sovereignty over the islands. At the same time it's rallying its neighbours to apply economic pressure on Britain. Third, we have the issue of oil.That is increasing everyone's interest. It is not proven how many reserves are there. But some say the resources are viable 5 and others say they are substantial.
Prince Williams is there. Part of the ? told us a routined employment by his Royal Airforce Searching and Rescue Squadrum.The Duke of Cambridge's presence though is seen as provocative 6 by many Latin American who feel this as a resurrection if you will of colonialism.They see the clear presence of the crown. Britain says it's not porvocative at all. What they really mean to do is commemerating those more than 250 people who lost their lives defending the Falkland Islands.
This isn't going to come to a conflict but could very well end up in an International course and before the United Nations. Once again, we have competing claims of sovereignty. It's a hugely popular and popular issue in all across Latin America.Argentina is seeking its allys bringing together the region to put economic pressure on Britain. The overwhelming majority of the islands' a few thousand residents are British and they want to remain British. And it is that righted self-determination that really fuels a lot of sentiments in London and beyond about the future of the Falkland Islands.