War Worries - Top U.S.Commander Reports to Congress This Week on War's Progress

Sep 29, 2026

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Current Events focuses on the week’s major storylines, linking U.S. war developments in Iraq with broader global updates. In Iraq, leadership and security challenges are examined alongside debate over whether a troop “surge” has brought Iraq closer to peace. The coverage also includes international news such as Greece wildfires and a toy safety recall highlighting poisonous lead paint and small swallowed components. Reader engagement sections invite letters and student reporter features.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

TALKBACK

CE NEWS FLASH!

CARTOON OF THE WEEK

COVERSTORY War Worries

2 CURRENT EVENTS Petros Giannakouris/AP Images 3 ATHENS,Greece—Wildfires ripped through parts ofGreece late this summer,razing entire villages and killingat least 64 people.Thousands of others were forced toevacuate their homes.Firefighters from all over Europebattled the blazes using helicopters and water-bombingplanes.As soon as one fire was contained,anotherseemed to start.The fires came close to destroying theancient site of Olympia,where the Olympic Games beganthousands of years ago,but firefighters stopped the blazewithin yards of the ruins.The wildfires were fueled bystrong,scorching winds and parched ground.Greek offi-cials believe,however,that the fires were started onpurpose."So many fires breaking out simultaneously inso many parts of the country cannot be a coincidence,"said Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.He hasoffered hefty rewards for information leading to thearrest of arsonists. TOXIC TOYS BBEIJING—U.S.toymanufacturer Mattelwasn't playing aroundwhen it recentlyrecalled more than18 million toys madein China.That meantheaps of toys featuringBatman,Elmo,PollyPocket,and other char-acters had to be yankedfrom store shelves and kids'toy boxes and returned to the manufacturer.Thosetoys and many others were made with poisonous leadpaint or tiny magnets that could be easily swallowed bysmall children.China has been working to close the fac-tories where the faulty toys were made,and U.S.toycompanies vowed to better inspect imported toys.Products brought into the United States are required bylaw to meet U.S.safety standards.About 80 percent ofall toys sold in the United States are made in China. # TALKBACK We want YOU to writeto US!Tell us what youthink about any of thestories in Current Events.In each issue,we willpublish some of your let-ters here.We can't printevery letter we receive,but we do read them all.We love to hear from ourreaders!For your letteror e-mail to be consid- ered for publication,youmust include your fullname,town or city,andstate.Only your firstname and state willappear in print. E-mail us at edce@weeklyreader.com. Or write to us atLetters,Current Events1 Reader's Digest RoadPleasantville,NY 10570-7000 # CE NEWS FLASH! Extra!Extra!The editors of Current Eventshave some exciting news to share with you:We'vestarted our own blog at cenewsblog.com.But reallyit's YOUR blog.We want you to have a place toget story updates and share your opinions abouttopics in the news.Check it out beginning Sept.7! CE is also proud to introduce its first studentreporters.They are the winners of the Weekly ReaderStudent Reporter contest from this summer.They willinterview other students,celebrities,politicians,andother newsmakers throughout the school year.Theirwork will appear in upcoming issues of CE.Some ofthem will be our regular student bloggers.Meet ourstudent reporters at www.weeklyreader.com. CART□□N □F THE WEEK # NOT EXACTLY A LOVE TRIANGLE Iraq's Shiites, Sunnis,and Kurds have one thing in com- mon—they're all- at each other's throats,in this cartoon anyway. What point is the cartoonist trying to make about possible unity in Iraq?Do you agree with the cartoonist?Why or why not? # COVERSTORYWar Worries Top U.S.Commander Reports to Congress This Week on War's Progress on momai George W.Bush announced a“surge”of 30,000 more U.S.troops aroundBaghdad,Iraq's capital,to keep thepeace and round up insurgents.Hasthe surge worked?Is Iraq now closerto peace than it was in January? t's easy to repair a broken pot orCasytpanf a DICnpoa plate,but how do you fix a bro-ken country?Despite the bestefforts of 160,000 U.S.troops andthe spending of hundreds of billionsof dollars over four years,Iraq todayteeters on the brink of civil war. Iraq's government cannot control itsown country.The document statesthat “Iraqi political leaders remainunable to govern effectively.” FIGHTING FACTIONS Iraq's population is composed mainlyof three groups that don't m

FAQs

What is the main focus of the cover story “War Worries”?

It centers on a report to Congress by the top U.S. commander on progress in the war in Iraq and whether the troop surge has improved the situation.

Why do Greek officials think the wildfires were started on purpose?

They believe the fires began intentionally, citing that numerous fires broke out simultaneously across many parts of Greece.

What safety problems were found in the recalled toys from China?

The toys were made with poisonous lead paint or tiny magnets that could be swallowed by small children, leading to their removal and return to the manufacturer.

Sep 29, 2026

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