week7- Canada parliament shooting

Canada raises ‘terrorism’ alert after soldier’s death

CLEAR THREAT: The country’s public safety minister said the assailant struck two soldiers with his car in a deliberate attack ‘clearly linked to terrorist ideology’

AFP, OTTAWA

Canada raised its national “terrorism” alert on Tuesday, officials said, after a soldier run over by a suspected militant died in hospital.

The alert level was raised from low to medium after authorities said a man they believed to be “radicalized” struck two officers with his car on Monday, but authorities said the heightened alert was not “the result of a specific threat.”

“This level means that intelligence has indicated that an individual or group within Canada or abroad has the intent and capability to commit an act of terrorism,” Canadian Ministry of Public Safety spokesman Jean-Christophe de le Rue said.

The assailant in Monday’s attack was identified as 25-year-old Martin Couture-Rouleau, who was briefly detained at a Canadian airport in July last year when he sought to fly to Turkey, federal police said. Police did not have enough evidence to charge him with seeking to join a terrorist group abroad and released him.

Couture-Rouleau was fatally shot by police after he struck two soldiers with his car in a Quebec parking lot — a scenario which had been depicted only last month in Islamic State (IS) propaganda.

At a press conference, Canadian Minister of Public Safety Steven Blaney said the deliberate attack was “clearly linked to terrorist ideology.”

“I am horrified by what took place here,” he said. “This is a terrible act of violence against our country, against our military, against our values.”

The attack took place as Canadian warplanes headed to bomb Islamic State militants in Iraq.

Canadian Minister of Defense Rob Nicholson said the soldier’s death “in a senseless act such as this only strengthens our resolve” to take on militant groups such as IS.

Couture-Rouleau smashed his car into the two soldiers in a supermarket parking lot before fleeing with police in pursuit.

He called 911 to tell emergency workers about the attack as it was happening. Police said he then crashed his car into a roadside ditch and rolled it over. When he extricated himself from the wreckage brandishing a knife, officers shot him.

The slain soldier had been admitted in critical condition to a hospital in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, 40km southeast of Montreal. At 53 years old, he had served most of his adult life in the military.

Officials said the injuries to the other soldier were not life-threatening.

The motive behind the attack is still being investigated.

Quebec police said Couture-Rouleau may have stalked his victims, waiting for them in his car for more than two hours.

They said the “terrorist thesis [was] being considered by investigators.”

Source: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2014/10/23/2003602739

Structure of the lead

What- a man struck two officers

Where- in a Quebec parking lot

When- on October 22nd

Who- 25-year-old Martin Couture-Rouleau

How- with his car

Key words

assailant 攻擊者

deliberate 故意的

militant 激進

radicalized 激進

scenario 腳本

ditch 溝渠

extricated 擺脫

week6- actor, drug arrested

Jackie Chan's son Jaycee in drug arrest

The son of Hollywood actor Jackie Chan has been arrested on drug-related charges, Chinese state media say.

Actor Jaycee Chan, 31, and Taiwanese movie star Kai Ko, 23, were detained last Thursday, Beijing police said in a statement on their official microblog.

Police said both men tested positive for marijuana, with more than 100 grams of the drug found at Mr Chan's home.

Their arrest comes amid an ongoing crackdown on drugs which has already netted several celebrity figures.

Gao Hu, 40, who appeared in the 2011 Zhang Yimou film "The Flowers of War", was detained earlier this month for possession of marijuana and methamphetamines, state media said.

'Huge influence'

In June, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for "forceful measures" to tackle illegal drug use.

By arresting the son of one of the country's most famous actors, the Chinese authorities are sending a clear sign that drugs will not be tolerated, reports the BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing.

A government anti-drug advisor told the Associated Press news agency that Chinese celebrities were being targeted because of the "huge influence" their behaviour had on "their large numbers of fans".

Beijing Municipal Anti-Drug Office deputy director Jin Zhihai however, said that police were not specifically targeting celebrities.

"If there is an increased crackdown on drugs, the number of celebrity offenders will also rise," he told the Beijing Times on 14 August.

Last week, 42 artist management agencies in Beijing signed an agreement with police pledging not to recruit celebrities with reported drug use problems.

'Very big mistake'

Mr Chan, whose father Jackie was named an official "Narcotics Control Ambassador" by Chinese police in 2009, had been put under "criminal detention" for the suspected crime of "providing a shelter for others to abuse drugs", Beijing police said.

If convicted, he faces a maximum prison term of three years.

Mr Ko, a Taiwanese actor and singer, won the best new actor award in 2011 at the Golden Horse film awards - known as the Oscars of the Chinese-language film industry. He also won a Chinese Film Media award for his role in the movie "You Are the Apple of My Eye".

Accused of consuming drugs, Mr Ko had received a two-week detention term, his management firm Star Ritz Productions said.

"I feel very regretful, very sorry to all the people who support me. I've been a very bad example, I've made a very big mistake," he said in an interview broadcast on Chinese state television on Tuesday.

Beijing police also said two other people, a 36-year-old assistant and a 33-year-old suspected dealer, were detained in the incident.

Mr Chan's management firm M'Stones International apologised on his behalf for the "social impact" caused and said they would "supervise his rehabilitation and help him return to the right path".

His father Jackie has not yet commented on the incident but his publicist told the Associated Press news agency that Mr Chan had travelled to Beijing to deal with his son's arrest.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28848199

Structure of the lead

What- Actor Jaycee Chan, 31, and Taiwanese movie star Kai Ko, 23, were detained.

When- 2014/08/14

Where- at Chen’s house

Key words

1.      marijuana 大麻

2.      ongoing 不斷的

3.      methamphetamines 甲基苯丙胺

4.      target 矛頭指向

5.      recruit 招收

Week-5 Kaohsiung gas explosions

Kaohsiung rocked by underground blasts

SEARCH AND RESCUE: As city officials and companies sought the cause of the series of explosions that claimed 26 lives, teams searched the rubble for survivors

By Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

A series of suspected gas explosions that shook Greater Kaohsiung from late Thursday night to early yesterday morning claimed at least 26 lives and injured 269 people.

The blasts tore through the city’s roads and dug a 100m trench up to 1.8m deep. At least 1.5km of roadways were damaged.

Cars and fire trucks were trapped and overturned in the rubble. Vehicles were hurled through the air, landing on the roofs of houses. Flames erupted from manholes after their covers were blasted off, with gouts of fire reaching 15 stories high.

According to the Greater Kaohsiung Government, at 8:46pm on Thursday it received reports of manholes spewing white smoke and the suspected smell of gas near Kaisyuan 3rd Road and Ersheng 1st Road in Cianjhen District (前鎮). A few hours after the first report, a series of explosions took place on Yisin Road, Ersheng Road, Sanduo Road and Guanghua Road in the same district, and in neighboring Lingya District (苓雅).

At press time, city government information showed that the incident had claimed 26 lives and injured 269. Among the 26 confirmed dead were three firefighters and one volunteer who rushed to the scene after residents smelled gas. Rescuers were also searching for two others who went missing.

At 8:30pm yesterday, two people were reportedly discovered alive under debris, and rescue workers were trying to free them using excavators, shovels and their bare hands. It has not been confirmed whether the two men are the two firefighters who were reported missing.

Some of the fatalities were homeowners checking out their properties after being informed about the first blasts.

Two injured people rescued from a fourth-floor balcony said that they had been propelled to the rooftop by the blasts.

The Chinese-language Apple Daily newspaper’s reporter Wei Bin (魏斌) was injured by the explosions, receiving second and third-degree burns over about 50 percent of his body, the paper reported.

Schools and work were called off in Cianjhen and Lingya districts yesterday.

Hundreds of troops and firefighters from neighboring Greater Tainan, Chiayi City, Taitung County and Pingtung County were deployed to support the rescue effort.

Yesterday morning, fires still burned on the streets, but the local government said that they were left burning to avoid further explosions, adding that the firefighting crew was on the scene to keep the fire from consuming nearby buildings.

The cause of the explosions had not been determined, with authorities now focusing on the volatile chemical propene — which is carried in pipelines that run alongside the city’s underground sewage system in the area — as the suspected cause.

Chemical companies such as CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油), China Petrochemical Development Corp (中石化), China General Terminal and Distribution Corp (CGTD, 華運), LCY Chemical Corp (李長榮化學) and Hsin Kao Gas Co Ltd (欣高), which have pipelines in the area, were called in by the city government’s emergency response center amid the inquiry into the cause of the fatal blasts.

Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) said yesterday morning that natural gas has been excluded from the list of possible causes, adding that gas check valves in the area have been closed.

The Greater Kaohsiung Government said a 4-inch pipeline carrying propene was found to have encountered a pressure anomaly between 8:40pm and 9pm on Thursday night.

Greater Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Lee Yung-te (李永得) said CGTD Corp was attempting to transfer propene, a compressed fuel gas, from the seaport to LCY Chemical Corp, and the correspondence between the workers of the two companies showed that the effort failed. It was suspected that the gas had leaked during the transfer process, causing the explosions.

Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), at a meeting with Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) at the city’s emergency response command center, said that Cianjhen District had seen another gas explosion that had caused serious damage in 1997 and called on the central government and the Industrial Development Bureau to examine and overhaul the city’s pipeline network.

Life detectors and rescue dogs have been employed in the rescue operation, as well as helicopters searching for signs of life within what is known as the “golden 72 hours,” during which most survivors are found.

Additional reporting by Huang Wen-huang and Wu Chun-feng

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/08/02/2003596471/2

Key Words

1. propene 丙烯

2. suspected 嫌疑

3. blast 爆破

4. trench 溝

5. spew 噴

6. excavator 挖掘機

7. exclude 排除

8. pipeline 管道

Structure of the lead

What- gas explosions

Where- Greater Kaohsiung, Taiwan

When- 2014/07/31-2014/08/01

Why- propene released

week4- Israel-Gaza conflict

Israel-Gaza conflict: How to help

By Katie Walmsley, CNN

July 31, 2014 -- Updated 1508 GMT (2308 HKT)

(CNN) -- The death toll on both sides from hostilities in Israel and Gaza is now over 1,000; among them are scores of children, and many more civilians are injured. Thousands are forced to flee their homes, and those who stay are left terrified by the bombs raining down.

As negotiations for a cease-fire continue, many organizations have begun to provide relief to those in harm's way and to protect those affected by the crisis.

UNICEF estimates that thousands of families in Gaza have seen their homes destroyed or damaged. 

"UNICEF and partners are procuring essential pediatric drugs for hospitals and health facilities," its website says, "and child protection teams are helping children and their caregivers cope with the psychological distress.

"The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is also on the ground in both Gaza and Israel. In Gaza, it is providing first aid and emergency support, with several medical centers operating where casualties are worst. Teams were able to enter some of the worst hit areas during short-lived ceasefires to help evacuate victims, many of whom were trapped in the rubble of destroyed buildings.

In Israel, Red Cross partner organization Magen David Adom says it has treated hundreds for shrapnel injuries and psychological trauma. The organization is also providing ambulance transport for some critical patients transferred from Gaza.

UNICEF stressed that "the escalating violence in Gaza and Israel threatens devastating physical harm and mental distress for children on all sides, the effects of which can last a lifetime as their sense of security is undermined.

"The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee is working with the elderly and disabled in Israel to ensure that they have access to food and supplies, and providing psychosocial support for children in shelters.

The Jewish Federations of North America are helping those Israelis in rocket range find safe spaces, as well as providing trauma counseling and other emergency services.

The organization Medecins sans Frontieres has been supporting Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City with a surgical team and other medical supplies.

Save the Children has been working with local partners in Gaza to provide medical supplies and help those who have lost their homes with necessities such as baby food and mattresses.

Mercy Corps is also providing assistance to civilians in Gaza, delivering food and necessities to those who need them, as well as medical kits to hospitals and clinics.

As the conflict continues, pleas for peace echoed around the world.

On its website, Save the Children joined other organizations in calling for an immediate cease-fire. "We call for parties to address the root causes of violence that has left people in Gaza and in Israel caught in a cycle that must stop once and for all.

"UNICEF tweeted a poignant quote, reminding us that children in conflict zones everywhere are perhaps the ones who suffer the most: "I hate the future so much. We might live, or we might die.

"The organization Seeds of Peace brings teenagers from around the world together to work on peacekeeping skills. A charter on its website reads, "We refuse to be victims. We know it is possible to redirect human passions, even calls for revenge, toward the positive goal of creating peace."

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/28/world/iyw-israel-gaza-conflict-how-to-help/index.html?iref=allsearch

structure of the lead

what- conflict between Israel and Gaza

where- Israel and Gaza

who- UNICEF(聯合國兒童基金會) The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies(紅十字會  紅新月會國際聯合會)

why-The death toll on both sides from hostilities in Israel and Gaza is now over 1,000.

key words

1.hostility 敵意

2.flee 逃跑

3.negotiation 談判

4.distress 苦難

5.ceasefire 停火

6.shrapnel 榴彈

7.shelter 庇護所

8.counseling 輔導服務

Week 3-Vietnam Cracks Down on Anti-China Protests

Vietnam Cracks Down on Anti-China Protests

HANOI—Protests against China’s deployment of an oil rig in waters claimed by Vietnam were shut down by police on Sunday. The move follows a week of demonstrations, with some turning violent.

There was a heavy police presence outside the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi Sunday morning, with a park used by protesters last week fenced off.

The few demonstrators who turned up were quickly surrounded by police, who tried to prevent them from speaking to reporters. Le Thien Nhan, a regular participant on anti-China protests, was one of them.

He said several of his friends wanted to join the protest Sunday morning but were prevented from leaving their homes by police.

Several protesters were detained by police in Ho Chi Minh City. In Hanoi, while speaking to VOA, a 22-year-old protester was shoved by plain-clothes police until they eventually dragged him and his friend away.

One policewoman said gatherings were “illegal” in the area.

It’s a dramatic turnaround for the government, which just last week sanctioned large protests across the country. However, during the week riots linked to the protests broke out in industrial parks in South and Central Vietnam, with two Chinese workers killed and around 100 others injured.

Some observers have speculated that the riots gathered momentum over poor factory conditions rather than anti-China sentiment.

At a press conference on the riots on Saturday officials attempted to reassure investors. Officials said that the situation was now under control and companies affected would be compensated for their losses.

Dang Minh Khoi, assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, said the protests had "badly impacted the business activities of enterprises, people’s lives and social order, creating a bad image for Vietnam’s investment environment."

Lieutenant General Hoang Kong Tu, chief of the Ministry of Public Security’s Investigation Department, told reporters that hundreds of people had been arrested.

The Ministry of Public Security has been criticized for acting too slowly, but Tu said the government’s response had been “timely”. It had reacted in a proactive and drastic manner to mitigate losses, he said.

The dispute over the oil rig shows no sign of abating. Vietnam said China has increased the number of vessels at the area to 130 vessels, including four navy ships.

China has evacuated over 3,000 citizens from Vietnam following the riots, official news agency Xinhua reported.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung sent a series of text messages to subscribers of state-run mobile phone networks calling for people to show their patriotism but not to get involved in “illegal” protests. The first of such messages were sent Thursday.

What exactly constitutes an “illegal” protest remains unclear, however the message sent by police on Sunday suggests the government will not allow space for more anti-China protests any time soon.


http://www.voanews.com/content/hanoi-changes-tack-over-anti-china-protests-/1916973.html


Structure of the Lead
What- protest against China
Who- some Vietnamese protesters
Where- industrial parks in South and Central Vietnam
When- May 13th to 14th, 2014
Why-  Territorial disputes in the South China Sea and Haiyang Shiyou 981 standoff


Key words
1.deployment:部署
2.demonstration:遊行
3.detain:扣留
4.shove:推
5.dramatic:戲劇性
6.speculate:推測
7.sentiment:情緒
8.compensate:補償
9.mitigate:減輕
10.patriotism:愛國主義

Week2-馬航MH370失聯

Malaysia Airlines MH370: Plane 'changed course'

Military radar suggests the missing Malaysia Airlines plane turned west, away from its planned route, before vanishing, Malaysia's air force says.

Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing went missing on Saturday, after taking off with 239 people on board.

The international search for any wreckage has been widened.

Earlier, it emerged two men travelling on stolen passports on board the plane were Iranians with no apparent links to terrorist groups, officials said.

The international police organisation Interpol's Tehran bureau has said the two Iranians had no criminal records and had left Iran legally. One of the men is believed to have been migrating to Germany.

Wider search

There are reports that the plane veered from its route and reached the Malacca Strait, west of Malaysia.

The Malaysian authorities initially said flight MH370 disappeared about an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, as it flew over the South China Sea, south of Vietnam's Ca Mau peninsula.

No distress signal or message was sent, but it is believed the plane attempted to turn back, perhaps towards Kuala Lumpur.

Officials still do not know what went wrong with the aircraft.

None of the debris and oil slicks spotted in the South China Sea or Malacca Strait so far have proved to be linked to the disappearance.

In the US, CIA Director John Brennan said the possibility of a terror link could not be ruled out. But he said "no claims of responsibility" over the missing jet had "been confirmed or corroborated".

"Clearly this is still a mystery, which is very disturbing," he said at the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank.

Two-thirds of the passengers on board the plane were Chinese. Some were from a range of other Asian countries, North America or Europe.

Relatives have expressed frustration at the lack of information about the plane's fate.

At least 40 ships and 34 aircraft are taking part in the search in the seas off Vietnam and Malaysia.

Search teams from Australia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, New Zealand and the US are assisting in the operation on both sides of the Malay Peninsula.

The area has been expanded from 50 nautical miles (57 miles; 93km) from where the plane disappeared - over waters between Malaysia and Vietnam - to 100 nautical miles.

Stolen passports

Earlier, Malaysian police named one of the two men who travelled on the plane on a stolen passport as Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad, 18, and said he was probably migrating to Germany.

Interpol identified the other man as Delavar Seyed Mohammadreza, 29.

Experts have said the presence of two people with stolen passports on a plane was a breach of security, but one that is relatively common in a region regarded as a hub for illegal migration.

Malaysian police say the younger Iranian was "not likely to be a member of a terrorist group", adding that the authorities were in contact with his mother in Germany, who had been expecting her son to arrive in Frankfurt.

And Interpol says the two men travelled from Qatar's capital Doha on their Iranian passports, and switched to stolen Italian and Austrian passports to board the Malaysia Airlines flight.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26527439

Structure of the Lead
Who- Malaysia airlines MH370

What- Flight MH370 was missing

When- March 8th, 2014
Where- in the seas off Vietnam and Malaysia
Why- The plane veered from its route.

Keywords
1.wreckage：殘骸
2.apparent：表面的
3.migrate：移民
4.veered：轉向
5.peninsula：半島
6.attempt：企圖
7.debris：廢墟
8.corroborate：證實
9.assist：協助
10.presence：存在

week1-太陽花學運

Protesters give thumbs down to Cabinet proposal

By Loa Iok-sin  /  Staff reporter

Student activists occupying the legislative chamber yesterday rejected the Cabinet’s proposal for legislation to monitor cross-strait agreements, calling it an empty, insincere proposal aimed at deceiving the public.

“The Cabinet proposal is rather superficial, especially when [the premier] rejects our demand to apply the law to the review of the cross-strait service trade agreement,” student leader Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan.

“The proposal is empty, insincere and deceptive, and ignores the demands raised by the 500,000 people who took part in Sunday’s demonstration [in Taipei],” he said.

None of the protesters’ five major demands were included: the public’s participation in the reviews of cross-strait pacts, making all information public, stipulating the government’s responsibilities, human rights protection and granting the legislature the actual power to review cross-strait agreements.

“We hereby declare that the Executive Yuan has flunked class, because it failed to respond positively to the public’s demands,” Chen said.

Academia Sinica associate research law fellow Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that he agreed with Chen.

“In the proposal for the legislation to monitor cross-strait agreements raised by non-governmental organizations [NGOs], the legislature is given full power to review any cross-strait agreements, and the government would be required to report to the legislature on plans to sign an agreement with China prior to the beginning of negotiations for such a pact,” Huang said.

These mechanisms are absent from the Cabinet’s version, he said.

Human rights protection is an important element for many countries when signing free-trade agreements (FTA) with other nations, he said.

“In many FTAs, there are clauses concerning human rights protection, such as stipulating a suspension of the agreement when human rights are violated, or providing a way to appeal for those who feel that their rights have been compromised by the agreement,” Huang said.

“Unfortunately, such a mechanism does not exist in the Cabinet’s proposal,” he said.

Huang said the NGOs’ draft proposal also stipulates that if the government negotiates an agreement with China that involves a change in the political “status quo,” the agreement would have to be voted on by the public in a referendum before being ratified, but that was not mentioned in the Cabinet’s version either.

Attorney Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) said that according to the NGOs’ draft proposal, the government not only has to report to the legislature before negotiating an agreement with China, but it also has to hold public hearings in advance.

The Cabinet’s proposal that only national security agencies would need to review a cross-strait pact before it was signed was not enough, the attorney said.

“One of the controversies concerning the cross-strait service trade pact is that the government only held public hearings after the pact was signed,” Lai said.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/04/04/2003587233

Structure of the Lead
Who-protesters (students)

What- rejected the Cabinet’s proposal for legislation to monitor cross-strait agreements

Where- legislative chamber

When-2014/04/03 (三)

Why-The Cabinet proposal is rather superficial.

       -The proposal is empty.

How- by occupying the legislative chamber

Keywords

1.the legislative chamber：立法院

2.insincere：言不由衷

3.conference：會議

4.deceptive：騙人的

5.mechanism：機制

6.proposal：提案

7.stipulate：規定

8.referendum：公投

9.negotiate：談判

10.compromise：妥協