week7- Himalayas avalanche

Nepal snowstorms kill at least 20 people in Himalayas

The search for trekkers missing after blizzards swept through Nepal resumed on Thursday as the death toll from the extreme weather reached at least 20 people, including eight foreign hikers.

Rescuers said the death toll could rise as dozens of other foreigners and locals who had been trekking were out of contact due to poor communication links and could have been caught in blizzards.

An avalanche buried one Indian and four Canadian trekkers in Phu on Wednesday, said the chief administrator of Manang district. The snow buried the trekkers’ bodies and digging them out would take days, he said.

Three yak herders were killed in the same district, about 100 miles north-west of the capital, Kathmandu, and their bodies were recovered on Wednesday.

In neighbouring Mustang district, four trekkers caught in a blizzard died on Tuesday. Rescuers recovered the bodies of the two Poles, one Israeli and one Nepali from the Thorong La pass area. The pass is on a route that circles Mount Annapurna, the world’s 10th highest peak.

It was initially thought the group had been caught in an avalanche, but Baburam Bhandari, governor of Mustang, said the group perished in a blizzard.

He added that emergency workers had rescued five German, five Polish and four Israeli trekkers who were trapped in the snowfall early on Wednesday. One German tourist fractured his leg, he said. They were taken to Jomson town by helicopter.

Police said eight Nepalis had also been killed in Mustang, which is about 150 km (93 miles) northwest of the capital, Kathmandu.

A government official said more bodies were likely to be found and that it was unclear how many people were on the snow-covered route, but dozens were believed to be stranded.

An avalanche on Mount Dhaulagiri – near the Annapurna area – hit climbers at the base camp who were preparing to scale the 8,167m (26,800ft) peak, the world’s seventh tallest. Two of the missing climbers were from Slovakia and three were Nepalese guides.

Weather forecasters said the blizzard was caused by cyclone Hudhud, which hit neighbouring India several days ago.

October is the most popular trekking season in Nepal, with thousands of foreigners hiking in the Himalayan mountains.

An avalanche in April just above the base camp on Mount Everest killed 16 Nepalese guides, the deadliest single disaster ever on the mountain. Climate experts say rising global temperatures have contributed to avalanches in the Himalayas.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/15/himalayan-snowstorm-nepal-mustang-district

Structure of the Lead：
WHO- trekkers, at least twenty people including eight foreign hikers.
WHEN-15 Oct. 2014, on Thursday
WHAT- trekkers missing after blizzards swept through Nepal resumed on Thursday
WHY-Nepal snowstorms
WHERE- Himalayas
HOW- the extreme weather

Keywords：
1.trekker：旅行者
2. resume：恢復
3. the death toll：死亡人數統計
4. avalanche：雪崩
5. administrator：管理人員
6. perish：毀滅
7 fracture：使斷裂
8. strand：處於困境
9. scale ：攀登
10. cyclone：旋風

week6-Massive Volcanic Eruption in Japan

Massive Volcanic Eruption in Japan

Dangerously thick plumes of volcanic ash have caused a significant number of flight cancellations and delays in southern Japan. The eruption of Mount Aso - one of the largest volcanoes in the world - also shook Kyushu island with a massive boom before raining lava and searing rocks on its largely uninhabited countryside.

The volcano and its respective island are about 625 miles away from Tokyo, and so far, no reports have come in concerning injury or death. However, according to the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA), this was a relatively unexpected blast, as Aso hasn't seen significant volcanic activity in more than 22 years. Concerns were first raised on Tuesday, when minor activity was detected, but local observatories had not expected the activity to increase in scale in a mere two days, according to The Associated Press.

The Thursday blast sent flying debris and a thick column of smoke and ash more than 3,200 feet into the sky. Planes will often stay grounded or be diverted to a longer route to avoid these conditions, as ash not only cuts visibility, but can clog even the most advanced of jet turbines, leading to dangerous engine failure of even fire.

Volcanic Ash Advisories kept planes grounded on Thursday, and have persisted into Saturday, sacrificing traveler convenience for the sake of safety.

A Japan Airlines spokesperson told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) that they had to cancel twelve flights in all on Thursday and have since been redirecting inbound air traffic to new destinations further from or around Kyushu island.

Japan has been seeing an uncharacteristic amount of volcanic activity recently, even for a country frequently assaulted by geological disasters. Another unexpected eruption that occurred last September trapped hundreds of hikers on Mount Ontake under thick volcanic ash. Search-and-rescue efforts revealed that 56 people had succumbed to asphyxiation, making it Japan's most tragic volcanic disaster in nearly 90 years.

Researchers suggest that these eruptions are becoming harder to predict because Japan's massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami event has left the region like a shaken bottle of champagne - ready to blow at any minute with little warning.

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/10788/20141129/massive-volcanic-eruption-japan.htm

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- not given

WHEN-29 Nov. 2014

WHAT- Massive Volcanic Eruption in Japan

WHY-Not given

WHERE- in southern Japan

HOW- Before raining lava and searing rocks on its largely uninhabited countryside.

Keywords：

1.lava：熔岩

2. observatory：天文台

3. blast：使爆炸

4. divert：使分心

5. clog：塞滿

6. turbine：渦輪

7 redirect：使改方向

8. inbound：歸國的

9. uncharacteristic ：不尋常的

10. geological：地質學的

week5-Boko Haram's treatment of captured Nigerian girls detailed in new report

Boko Haram's treatment of captured Nigerian girls detailed in new report

Nigerian girls have endured physical torture, rape and forced marriages in the secret forest camps of Islamist terror organization Boko Haram, according to a new Human Rights Watch report released Monday.

The report draws on interviews with 46 victims and witnesses of the group's destructive actions. Boko Haram came to international attention in April, when its fighters abducted more than 270 girls from a boarding school in northeastern Nigeria. The kidnapping sparked an international outcry and put pressure on the Nigerian government to secure their release.

Dozens of the captured girls have escaped, but officials estimate that 220 remain missing.Earlier this month, Nigerian officials claimed the release of the girls was near after a cease-fire agreement had been reached with the group. However, there has been no sign that the captives are close to being released, and thirty teenage girls and boys have been kidnapped since Wednesday from villages around Mafa town, 25 miles from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, the local government chairman Shettima Maina told reporters.

Escaping residents said Boko Haram insurgents abducted 80 girls and women from neighboring Adamawa state on Oct. 18.Older women in the group were released the following day and said the extremists kept about 40 younger women and girls, according to the residents. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation by the insurgents.In all, the group is believed to have abducted more than 500 women and girls since 2009.

One 19-year-old told how she and her five friends were ambushed, captured, and threatened with death by Boko Haram fighters while walking to school. They were released after several days only after promising to convert to Islam and give up school.

The report describes how the group, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in a rough translation, targets Christians and students, threatening to beat or kill them unless they convert to Islam, stop attending school, and wear the traditional hijab.

Other kidnapping victims are forced to take part in attacks and carry ammunition during a battle, and some are used to lure Christian men to places where they will be killed by Boko Haram, the report states.

The report also alleges that girls who escape are largely ignored by the Nigerian government, despite their potential intelligence value. Human Rights Watch claims that Boko Haram's captives have information on the group's chain of command and its information-gathering capability, but are "rarely, if ever" interviewed.

Last week, the Associated Press reported that people who escaped from Bama, a town in a part of northeastern Nigeria where Boko Haram has declared an Islamic caliphate, say hundreds of residents are being detained for allegedly breaking the group's strict version of Shariah law.

Residents who got out of Bama said so many people have been detained by Boko Haram that the local jail is overcrowded and houses are being used as makeshift prisons. Many young men have been forced to join Boko Haram, and those who refuse are killed, said those who ran away.

People are jailed after brief "trials" for infringements like smoking cigarettes, said Amina Bukar, a middle-aged woman who said she hiked through the bush for five days before reaching Maiduguri, the Borno state capital nearly 50 miles away.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/10/27/boko-haram-treatment-captured-nigerian-girls-detailed-in-new-report/

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Nigerian girls

WHEN-27 Oct. 2014

WHAT-have endured physical torture, rape and forced marriages in the secret forest camps of Islamist                             terror organization Boko Haram

WHY-Not given

WHERE-in northeastern Nigerian

HOW-not given

Keywords：

1. abduct：劫持

2. outcry：強烈抗議

3. estimate：評斷

4. insurgent：叛亂者

5. extremist：極端主義者 

6. anonymity：匿名者

7 retaliation ：報仇　

8. ambush：伏擊

9. ammunition ：軍火

10. detain：拘留

Week4-German FM plays down intel claiming Ukraine militia downed MH17

German FM plays down intel claiming Ukraine militia downed MH17

The German Foreign Ministry maintains the media interpretation of an October statement by the president of national intelligence agency alleging self-defense militia downed MH17 flight in Ukraine was incomplete and taken out of context.

The Russian embassy in Berlin received an official response to note #3693 from October 27 regarding Germany’s Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND intelligence agency) President Gerhard Schindler’s allegations that local militia in eastern Ukraine shot down the Malaysia Airlines flight in July.

“The media interpretation of the report of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) president delivered to the Bundestag Committee overseeing intelligence activities on October 8 is incomplete and arbitrarily taken out of context,” the note says.

German diplomats insisted that the BND’s analysis and evaluation was based “on information obtained from intelligence and from open sources,” which included data from the interim report of the Dutch investigation commission conducting the inquiry.

The report delivered by Schindler “evaluated multiple valid scenarios with regard to their plausibility and probability,” the note said. The ministry stressed that according to the decision of the International Civil Aviation Association (ICAA), investigation of the MH17 flight crash was handed over to Dutch authorities, authorized to exclusively deliver all information on the issue.

According to information made public by Germany’s Der Spiegel daily on October 19, Schindler delivered a statement in Bundestag on October 8 in which he claimed the militia in Ukraine’s Donetsk Region fired a rocket from a BUK defense missile system which it had captured from a Ukrainian base. It shot down the Malaysian Boeing as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 passengers and crew aboard.

Putin accuses Ukrainian troops of shelling MH17 crash site

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who met on Monday with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on the sidelines of an APEC summit in China, has also spoken on the issue of flight MH17.

Having expressed condolences to the families of the perished passengers and Malaysian state, Vladimir Putin confirmed that Moscow insists on a complete and objective international investigation of the MH17 catastrophe in accordance with the corresponding UN resolution.

At the same time Putin disagreed with the Malaysian PM, who demanded greater access to the crash site” fully controlled by the local militia.” The reference that the crash site is fully controlled by so-called pro-Russian separatists is absolutely inconsistent, because it is not them, but the opposite side that is constantly shelling that territory,” Putin said. He noted that it is this shelling that prevents investigators from working properly at the crash site.

He welcomed the fact that Malaysian experts have finally got access to fully-fledged participation in the investigation.” I’m sure your experts will contribute the necessary to the adequate investigation of this tragedy,” Putin told Razak. An international team of investigators managed to recover more human remains from the MH17 crash site in eastern Ukraine, the Dutch prime minister announced in late October. Still, investigators are intending to continue with the search operation and hire local contractors to collect plane debris beyond their reach, Reuters reported last week.

http://rt.com/news/203995-germany-intelligence-report-mh17/

Structure of the Lead：
WHO- The German Foreign Ministry
WHEN- 10 Nov. 2014
WHAT- MH17 flight in Ukraine was incomplete and taken out of context.
WHY-Not given
WHERE-German
HOW-not given
Keywords：
1. interpretation：解釋
2. embassy：大使
3. allegations：主張
4. militia：國民軍
5. interim：過渡期間
6. condolences：弔唁
7 catastrophe：大災
8.  accordance：授予
9.  fully-fledged  ：鞏固的
10. contractors：立約人

week3-Vietnam anti-China protest: Factories burnt

Vietnam anti-China protest: Factories burnt

At least 15 foreign-owned factories have been set on fire amid anti-China protests at industrial parks in southern Vietnam. Hundreds more were attacked by some of the 20,000 workers who protesting in the streets of Binh Duong province. They are protesting after China moved a drilling rig into waters also claimed by Vietnam earlier this month.

No casualties have been reported but officials said at least 200 people had been arrested over the violence. In response to the protests, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said Vietnam was the "provocateur", and that Beijing had expressed concern to Hanoi. Meanwhile, Taiwan summoned the Vietnamese envoy to Taipei after reports that many Taiwanese firms were targeted having been mistaken by rioters for Chinese factories. Singaporean and Japanese plants were also targeted.

Foreign investment fears

The protesters began gathering in Thuan An town, in Binh Duong - Vietnam's industrial heartland - on Monday, officials said. They then moved on to two nearby industrial parks on Tuesday. Three factories were set on fire on Tuesday evening after workers had gone home, a spokesperson for the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) told the BBC. An employee of a Singaporean company told the BBC they saw four burnt buildings on Wednesday morning, and another eight - including one belonging to a Taiwan-founded shoe firm - with shattered windows and smashed front gates.

"The protesters appeared to have targeted companies that had Chinese characters in their logos or signs," said the employee, who declined to be named. The protest has spooked some foreign companies. Reuters reports that Hong Kong-listed sports shoe maker Yue Yuen, which supplies footwear to Adidas, Nike and other international brands, had suspended production in Vietnam.

Territorial disputes

Earlier this month, China moved its Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig 120 nautical miles off the coast of Vietnam. The area is near the Paracel Islands, over which China and Vietnam have contesting claims. The move sparked a bitter protest from the Vietnamese government, which demanded an immediate pull-out, and clashes between ships from both countries around the rig.

Protests have been staged in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, while on Tuesday the US warned China that its actions were "provocative”. Beijing claims a U-shaped swathe of the South China Sea that covers areas other South East Asian nations say are their territory.The Philippines on Wednesday accused China of reclaiming land on a disputed South China Sea reef in order to build a new facility - possibly an airstrip or a military base. Manila lodged a protest last month after images taken from the air showed China had been moving materials into Johnson Reef in the Spratly Islands, officials said.

"We're not exactly sure what their intentions there are," Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario told AP news agency. Ties between Beijing and Manila have deteriorated severely in recent months because of the territorial row. Manila is taking Beijing to an international court over the issue. It also recently signed a security deal with the US allowing more troops onto its soil, in a move seen as reflecting the difficult ties with China.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27403851

Structure of the Lead：

WHO-Vietnam’s 15 foreign-owned factories employees

WHEN-14 May 2014

WHAT-Because they have been set on fire amid anti-China protests at industrial parks in southern Vietnam.

WHY-For her work in furthering education for children

WHERE-Taliban 

HOW-not given

Keywords：

1.province：地區

2.arrest：拘捕

3.summon：喚起

4.envoy：外交官

5.rioter：喧鬧者 

6.smash：擊潰

7.footwear：鞋類　

8.suspend：使終止

9.lodge：提出

10.dispute：爭論

Week2-South Korea ferry disaster

South Korea ferry disaster: students testify in captain's murder trial

Student survivors of South Korea's Sewol ferry disaster, testifying in the murder trial of the captain and crew, recalled being repeatedly told to stay put as the ship was sinking.” They kept saying the same thing over and over," one said, describing how she and classmates obeyed the order until the ferry had listed so far that the door to their cabin was above their heads. Another described watching a wave sweep her classmates back inside the sinking boat.

The trial is taking place in the southern city of Gwangju, but the judges and lawyers decamped to a court in Ansan city, south of Seoul, for a special two-day session with the 17 students who agreed to testify. Police cordons blocked public access to the district court as the students – all from Ansan's Dawon high school – arrived in a red minibus and were escorted into the building by a tight phalanx of police officers.

Although they were offered the option of testifying by video from a nearby room, five of the six female students involved in Monday's morning session chose to give their testimony in the courtroom. The student who took the video option described how passengers suddenly slid to one side as the ferry listed heavily.

"The internal tannoy announcement said we should put our life vest on and stay put," she was quoted as saying by a pool reporter in the court, adding that the message was given repeatedly. The 6,825-tonne Sewol passenger ferry capsized on 16 April off South Korea's southern coast. Of the 476 people on board, 325 were Dawon high school pupils on an organised outing. Only 75 students survived. The female student said they had obeyed the order not to move until water started coming through the window of their cabin which, by now, was under their feet.

"The door was above our heads. We had our lifejackets on and the president of our class suggested we wait until we could float upwards and then escape," she said. Eventually some classmates managed to clamber up fixed furniture. They pulled the others up and out as the waters inside rose. Another witness, who testified in the courtroom, said at no time was she or those who escaped with her helped by any crew. As the ferry keeled over to one side, she said a group of students managed to move along a now horizontal stairwell towards an escape hatch. At the moment she jumped out, a sea swell swept over their escape route.

"There were many classmates in the corridor and most of them were swept back into the ship," she recalled. The tragedy, and in particular the loss of so many young lives, rocked South Korea. In the days immediately after the disaster, TV stations broadcast wrenching mobile phone footage taken by one student victim of himself and his classmates laughing and joking about being in the Titanic movie as the ferry begins to list.As the situation worsens, the students begin to panic, even as the ship tannoy can be heard advising them to stay put.Sewol captain Lee Joon-Seok and three senior crew members are accused of "homicide through wilful negligence" – a charge that can carry the death penalty. Eleven other crew are being tried on lesser violations of maritime law.

The bulk of the charges against the crew arise from the fact that Lee and the others chose to abandon ship while hundreds of people were still trapped inside the heavily listing vessel before it capsized. The final death toll was just over 300.The crew were also condemned for ordering the passengers to remain where they were when the ship began listing. A handful of crew members who stayed and tried to guide passengers to safety were among those who died. Lee and his crew were publicly vilified in the wake of the tragedy, and there have concerns about the possibility of a fair trial with emotions still running high.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/28/south-korea-ferry-disaster-students-testify-captain-murder-trial

 Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Ansan's Dawon high school students

WHEN-not given

WHAT-South Korea's Sewol ferry disaster

WHY-Student survivors of South Korea's Sewol ferry disaster, testifying in the murder trial of the captain and crew

WHERE-Korea’s the southern city of Gwangju

HOW-not given

Keywords：

1. testify：證實

2. trial：審訊

3.decamp：逃走

4. escort：護送

5. testimony：證言

6. quote：引述

7. internal Tannoy：國內廣播系統

8. keeled over：倒塌

9. corridor：通道

10. wrenching：動盪不清的

Week1-Malala

Nobel Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai's Most Inspiring Moments

Seventeen-year-old Malala Yousafzai became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner on Friday for her work in furthering education for children. Malala, a schoolgirl and education campaigner from Pakistan who was shot twice in the head by the Taliban in 2012, accepted the award with humility and grace.

"I really believe in peace. I really believe in tolerance and patience. I used to say that I do not think I deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. I still believe that," said Yousafzai as she addressed a crowd in Birmingham, UK.

In true form, Yousafzai waited until after her school day was complete to speak to the press, hours after the Nobel Prize's announcement she got word of the win while in chemistry class.

"Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzai has already fought for several years for the right of girls to education, and has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to improving their own situations," the Nobel committee said in a statement. "This she has done under the most dangerous circumstances. 

"Through her heroic struggle she has become a leading spokesperson for girls’ rights to education."

Yousafzai, and Kailash Satyarthi of India, shared the Nobel Peace Prize for work fighting extremism and child labor at great risk to their own lives.Yousafzai said that the award going to people from the two neighboring countries demonstrated a new step in the peace process between the often-feuding nations. “We will try to build strong relationships between India and Pakistan," she said, adding that she and Satyarthi planned to invite the leaders of their countries to the official acceptance event.Yousafzai said she hoped that her receipt of the award would encourage children internationally to speak out for their rights.” I decided that I would speak up. Through my story I want to tell other children all around the world they should stand up for their rights," said Yousafzai. "They should not wait for someone else. This award is especially for them, it gives them courage."

http://mashable.com/2014/10/10/malala-nobel-moments/

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO- Malala Yousafzai

   WHEN-In 2012

   WHAT-Became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner,and accepted the award                          with humility and grace.

   WHY-For her work in furthering education for children

   WHERE-Taliban 

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1.tolerance：耐心

   2.patience：寬容

   3.press：報刊

   4.heroic：英勇的

   5.extremism：極端主義

   6.often-feuding nation：長期爭鬥的地區

   7.speak up：大聲地說　

   8.humility：謙遜

   9.grace：慈悲

  10.inspiring：激勵人心的