CNN news 2013-01-16 加文本

cnn news 2013-01-16

First story we're talking about today is in Northern Ireland, protests have been going on there for about a week now. The ones yesterday in the Northern Irish capital of Belfast. They started out peacefully, but some of them turned violent later on, there is a lot of history behind these protests. And it starts with geography, here is Northern Island, what's interesting is that it's not actually part of the Republic of Ireland, it's a part of the United Kingdom. And that's what behind this tension, nationalists who are mostly Catholic think Northern Ireland should be part of the Republic of Ireland. Unionists or loyalists who are mostly protestants want to stay part of the United Kingdom.

The conflict of between those two groups led to decades of violence, more than three thousand people were killed before a peace deal was signed in 1998. The protests happening now are connected to a decision regarding the British flag. In Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, the flag used to fly over City Hall everyday of the year. Last month local officials decided to limit that to 18 days per year. Unionists weren't happy about that, they've been protesting in front of City Hall and another spot around the Northern Ireland. In some cases, protesters have fought with police officers, they've thrown concrete blocks, bricks, even gasoline bombs at police, officers have responded by using water cannons to break up the protests. Some protestants and Catholics have also been fighting with each other.

We stay in Europe for our next story, which takes us from Northern Ireland down to Italy. One year ago, yesterday, a cruise ship ran aground off Italian coasts, a lot of you remember this. There were 3200 passengers on board the Costa Concordia, there were another 1000 crew members and 32 people on that ship lost their lives in the accident. Family members of the victims and some of the people who survived the wreck gathered for memorial service on the anniversary. A large boulder with victims' names was lowered into the sea. And relatives tossed writs and notes into the water. This is what the Costa Concordia looks like now, it's still on its side in the water. Crews are working to salvage the ship to get the thing upright and towed in the port. Those efforts are taking longer than expected, an official say it could take into this September.

Next up, we're heading to the capital of China, Beijing. Experts say that city has something in common with Los Angles  Smog, this gray haze hanging in the air, making things hard to see. Yesterday, the smog levels in Beijing hit record levels, the numbers off the charts. Authorities warned people there to stay inside. Last year, nearly 700 flights were canceled at Beijing airports because of haze and smog, officials in China say that the air quality in the capital has gotten better since Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympics. But residents say the pollution levels have gotten worse.

Back to U.S, two sides of country experience very different kinds of weather this weekend. On one coast you had freeze warnings, on the other you had people walking around in shorts. You might expect the warmer temperatures to be out west, no, not the case here. It was 30 degrees below normal in some spots there, overnight low in Los Angeles, 38 degrees, a freeze warning in Phoenix, Arizona. But then you move over to the east, in some cities had temperatures were 30 degrees above normal, in Washington DC, the high on Saturday was 62, here in Atlanta, 76.