week7-加拿大國會槍擊案

Canadian Parliament security chief hailed as hero after shooting AFP October 24, 2014, 12:06 am TWN

OTTAWA, Ontario--The Canadian Parliament's 58-year-old head of security was being hailed as a hero on Wednesday after shooting dead a gunman who stormed the building.

Ministers, lawmakers and Canadian lawmakers identified the House of Commons' Sergeant-At-Arms, Kevin Vickers, as the man responsible for firing the shots that brought down the assailant.

Member of Parliament Craig Scott said on Twitter Vickers had slain the gunman just as he approached rooms packed with politicians.

“MPs and Hill staff owe their safety, even lives, to Sergeant at Arms Kevin Vickers who shot attacker just outside the MPs' caucus rooms,” Scott wrote.

Vickers, a 29-year veteran of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, was appointed Sergeant-At-Arms in 2006.

The position leaves him in charge of security at the Parliamentary buildings.

He also carries the mace, the symbol of Parliamentary authority, during formal proceedings and ceremonies.

Canada's Minister of Justice Peter Mackay named Vickers in a post on Twitter following the shoot-out drama.

“To all in Ottawa, stay safe & strong. Thank God for Sgt at Arms Kevin Vickers & our Cdn security forces. True heroes,” Mackay wrote.

Canadian minister of veteran affairs, Julian Fantino also identified Vickers in a post.

“I am safe & profoundly grateful to Sgt at Arms Kevin Vickers & our security forces for selfless act of keeping us safe,” he wrote.

Senator Linda Frum responded to a tweet identifying Vickers as the man who had brought the shoot-out to a bloody conclusion with one word: “Hero.”

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/international/americas/2014/10/24/420177/Canadian-Parliament.htm

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-Canadian 

   WHEN- Wednesday

   WHAT-not given

   WHY-shooting dead a gunman who stormed the building

   WHERE- not given

   HOW-being hailed as a hero

Keywords：

   1. hailed 歡呼

   2. assailant 攻擊者

   3. slain 被殺

   4. carries 攜帶

   5. profoundly 深深地

    

   

week2-日本火山爆發

Mt. Ontake eruption exposes difficulty in predicting volcanoes

The Yomiuri Shimbun/Asia News Network
September 30, 2014, 12:03 am TWN

Once again, we have been confronted with a graphic reminder of the ferocity of volcanoes.

 Mt. Ontake, a peak more than 3,000 meters above sea level that straddles the Nagano-Gifu prefectural border, erupted shortly before noon Saturday.

With the start of the year's autumnal foliage season on the weekend, a large number of hikers were on the mountain when it blew its top.

Many people were reported to have been seriously injured from extremely hot volcanic ash. A number of people took refuge in mountain lodges, but rescue operations were hindered as eruptions continued.

The government set up a liaison office at the Crisis Management Center in the Prime Minister's Office to speed information-gathering efforts concerning casualties and damage. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe issued instructions to officials to place priority on rescuing victims and ensuring the safety of climbers, and ordered the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces personnel to the affected area.

All-out endeavors must be made to minimize the extent of damage, and no time should be wasted in transporting victims and carrying out search-and-rescue operations for people unaccounted for.

It is unclear when Mt. Ontake's volcanic activity will subside.

Plumes of smoke billowed high into the sky from spots near the mountaintop in the volcano's eruption, and a huge amount of volcanic ash spread over the mountain's slopes at tremendous speed. Volcanic rocks were also flung around extensively.

A close watch must be kept on the mountain's volcanic activities, while efforts should be made to prevent secondary dangers.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued an alert, warning that further eruptions on a scale similar to Saturday's are possible. The agency has raised the eruption alert level on its scale of five from the lowest 1 at normal times to 3, meaning climbers are restricted from entering the mountain range.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/commentary/the-china-post/special-to-the-china-post/2014/09/30/418344/Mt-Ontake.htm

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-not given

   WHEN- noon Saturday.

   WHAT-explanation

   WHY-Mt. Ontake erupted 

   WHERE- the Nagano-Gifu prefectural border

   HOW-confronted with a graphic reminder of the ferocity of volcanoes.

Keywords：

   1. confronted  with  面臨

   2. straddles  跨越

   3. liaison office  聯絡處

   4. dispatch  調度

   5. flung  甩到

    

   

   

week5-高雄氣爆

Flammable gas all but purged from pipes

CNA
August 5, 2014, 12:02 am TWN

TAIPEI--Progress has been faster than expected in the removal of hundreds of tons of flammable gas still in a pipe under the site hardest hit in Thursday's fatal gas blasts in Kaohsiung, an official said Monday.

Deputy Economics Minister Duh Tyzz-jiun said that almost all the 260 metric tons of propylene remaining in the pipe had been removed as of Monday morning, ahead of previous estimates that the removal would not be completed until after Aug. 10.

The remnants were expected to be cleared by 5 a.m. the following day, according to Chen Chin-der, director of Kaohsiung's Environmental Protection Bureau, which will lessen the risk for rescuers sifting through the debris looking for survivors.

The 26-kilometer pipeline in question leads to China Petrochemical Development Corp.'s (CPDC's) plant in Kaohsiung's Dashe District. It is adjacent to a pipe thought to have leaked propylene in the hours leading up to the explosions that killed 28 people and injured 307.

In a surprise announcement, Chen said there was also propylene remaining in the allegedly leaking pipe used by LCY Chemical Corp., which the petrochemical firm denied.

Chen said the remaining propylene in the firm's pipe would not disperse by itself just because the pipe is damaged, adding that special measures need to be taken to purge the remnants.

A repair patch on the pipe used by LCY Chemical was found to be loose during an initial investigation, triggering suspicions that this could be the source of the leakage of tons of propylene that caused the multiple blasts.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2014/08/05/414112/Flammable-gas.htm

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO- official

   WHEN-Monday.

   WHAT-explanation

   WHY-the removal of hundreds of tons of flammable gas still in a pipe under the site

   WHERE-Kaohsiung

   HOW-Progress has been faster than expected

Keywords：

1.flammable  易燃的

2. metric 度量標準

3.remnants 殘存

4.allegedly 據稱

5.petrochemical 石化

6.purge 清洗

week4-以色列轟炸加薩

Hamas accepts a 24-hour holiday truce for Gaza

AP, GAZA CITY

Hamas yesterday agreed to observe a 24-hour humanitarian truce after initially rejecting such an offer by Israel, as fighting resumed and the two sides wrangled over the terms of a lull that the international community hopes can be expanded into a more sustainable truce.

Between the rival announcements Palestinian militants fired rockets deep into Israel, prompting it to resume an offensive aimed at destroying rocket launchers and cross-border attack tunnels used by Hamas.

Hours later Hamas said it would be willing to abide by a new 24-hour humanitarian truce ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the truce would go into effect at 2pm yesterday. The three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday is expected to begin today or tomorrow, depending on the sighting of the new moon.

Israel had offered a 24-hour truce late on Saturday, but Hamas — which has demanded the lifting of the Israeli and Egyptian blockade on Gaza, as well as the release of Palestinian prisoners — rejected it.

Israeli Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner did not say if Israel would hold its fire during the time requested by Hamas, but said troops would continue demolishing militant tunnels.

The 20-day war has killed more than 1,050 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to Palestinian health officials. Israel has lost 43 soldiers. Two civilians and a Thai worker in Israel were killed by rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza.

The military had earlier said about a dozen rockets were fired toward Israel since midnight — without causing casualties or damage — and that as a result it would “resume its aerial, naval and ground activity in the Gaza Strip.”

The Israeli military released a video showing a rocket being fired from what it said was a Gaza school.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/07/28/2003596096

  WHO-Hamas

  WHEN-yesterday 

  WHAT-agreement

  WHY-24-hour humanitarian truce 

  WHERE-not given

  HOW- international community hopes can be expanded into a more sustainable truce.

Keywords：

1.humanitarian truce   人道主義停火

2. wrangled over   爭吵

3.prompt 促使

4.blockade  封鎖

5.demolishing  拆遷

week3-越南排華暴動

Vietnamese workers in Taiwan saddened by protests

Staff writer, with CNA

Several Vietnamese workers in Taiwan voiced concern over the violent anti-China protests in their home country last week and called on their compatriots to exercise restraint.

The Vietnamese workers told the Central News Agency that since the protests in Vietnam erupted earlier last week, they have been trying to tell their friends via social media that Taiwan is different from China and that patriotism should not be about violence, but wisdom.

Vietnamese protesters vandalized and set fire to scores of factories in the southern province of Binh Duong in protest against a Chinese oil-drilling venture in an area of the South China Sea that Hanoi regards as within its exclusive economic zone.

“I really don’t know what else I can do... I feel terrible and very sad because Taiwanese are all very friendly and nice,” said Le Thi-phuong, a 32-year-old domestic caregiver who has been working in Taipei for 10 years.

She added that she feels sorry for the Taiwanese businesspeople in Vietnam who have suffered lossesas a result of the rioting.

One of Le’s friends, Ng Thi-hoa, who also works as a caregiver, said that she was deeply saddened by the incidents.

“Vietnam has finally seen some peace and prosperity recently, but now the riots are scaring all foreign investment away,” Ng said, adding that she has not been sleeping well since the unrest started.

The Vietnamese workers said they had been closely following the latest developments in their home country and hope their government will take immediate steps to restore order.

They also said they hope the incidents will not affect the good ties between Taiwan and Vietnam.

There are currently more than 489,000 foreign workers in Taiwan, 25.6 percent of whom are from Vietnam, making the country the second-largest source of migrant workers in Taiwan, according to official statistics.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/05/19/2003590718

 Structure of the Lead：

  WHO-Several Vietnamese workers in Taiwan

  WHEN- last week

  WHAT- call on

  WHY- Vietnamese workers in Taiwan voiced concern over the violent anti-China protests in                            their home country

  WHERE-in Taiwan

  HOW-call on their compatriots to exercise restraint

 Keywords：

1. call on     呼籲

2.compatriot    同胞

3.restraint    克制

4.patriotism    愛國主義

5.vandalized   惡意破壞

week2-馬航MH370失聯

Search mission for MH370 in Indian Ocean: Malaysia

The Star/ANN

June 6, 2014, 12:05 am TWN

KUALA LUMPUR -- The search for missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 is to remain in the southern corridor despite the failure to locate the aircraft's black box in the southern Indian Ocean.

Acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein said although the search area would be re-evaluated, the hunt was still going to be in the southern Indian Ocean.

“The issue of it being in the southern corridor was never disputed but the question is where. We will rely on the expertise of all those involved to figure out a new search area,” he told reporters after a meeting with four of the ministerial committees set up to handle the crisis here Wednesday.

Last week, the authorities had said that the pings previously picked up by search vessels did not belong to the aircraft's black box and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau had discounted the vicinity as the location of the plane.

Hishammuddin said at least six private companies, including Petronas, Boustead and Deftech, had entered into an open tender to help search for the plane.

On a statement by a British sailor that she saw a plane on fire flying overhead while she was crossing the Indian Ocean in March, Hishammuddin said that all claims would be looked into.

“However, I wish to remind everyone that of all the numerous claims we have received, so far nothing has been proven,” he said.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/regional-news/2014/06/06/409485/Search-mission.htm

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-not given

   WHEN-not given

   WHAT-announce

   WHY-The search for missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 is to remain in the southern corridor

   WHERE-southern Indian Ocean.

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

1.corridor  空中走廊

2.re-evaluated 重新被評估

3.expertise  專家鑑定

4.vicinity  鄰近地區

Week1-太陽花學運

Sunflowers launch group

By Tseng We-chen and Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Key figures in the Sunflower movement are launching an organization called “Taiwan March” (島國前進), which they say will work to amend the Referendum Act (公民投票法) and serve as a motivating force to improve civil society.

Three pre-eminent leaders of the student-led movement — National Taiwan University graduate student Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆), National Tsing Hua University graduate student Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷) and Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), associate researcher at Academia Sinica — are among the initiators for “Taiwan March.”

Others include academics Frida Tsai (蔡培慧) and Chen Hui-min (陳惠敏), along with graduate students Chou Fu-i (周馥儀), Oliver Chen (陳瑞光) and Lin Liang-chun (林亮君).

Lin and Chen Wei-ting are slated to hold a press conference this morning to formally announce the organization.

The working focus of “Taiwan March” is to scrutinize the cross-strait service trade pact in the legislature and the oversight bill to monitor the pact and future cross-strait agreements, as well to effect changes to the Referendum Act, in order to achieve direct “rule by the people” and democratic rights of citizens.

In response to media inquiries about the possibility of them starting a new political party, Chen Wei-ting yesterday said there current is no such plan.

This story has been updated since it was first published.

This story has been viewed 1761 times.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/05/18/2003590638

WHO-not given

WHEN-not given

WHAT-explain

WHY-work to amend the Referendum Act and serve as a motivating 

WHERE-not given   

HOW- lanch an organization called “Taiwan March”   

Keywords:
1.amend   修訂
2.initiators  發起人
3.slated to  預定
4.scrutinize  仔細檢查
5. pact   契約