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