week-3 桃園大火

Taoyuan mayor promises transparency after deadly fire

Karlie LinThe China Post/Asia News NetworkThursday, Jan 22, 2015

- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/taoyuan-mayor-promises-transparency-after-deadly-fire#sthash.A4sLG6qT.dpuf



TAIPEI - Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan yesterday promised to release all information relevant to the fire that killed six firefighters on Monday.

Cheng said the bowling alley in the city's Xinwu District, where the fire took place, had kept expanding into a "large illegal structure" over the past 20 years despite multiple inspections by the authorities, reports of wrongdoings and demolitions. It was not a mistake of a single public servant but of the entire Taoyuan government.

"How can a large illegal structure keep operating for 20 years until this day?" he questioned.

Cheng said he would make public all relevant information and ask Deputy Mayor Chiu Tai-san o set up an investigation task force.

Cheng led senior Taoyuan officials in a silent tribute to those who sacrificed their lives on Jan. 20, saying that new firefighters in the future should have six additional months of training before deployment. He also said that firefighter commanders should enhance their search and rescue techniques.

In response to questions over the lack of experience and training of the firefighters killed, Cheng pointed out that students at the Taiwan Police College, which also trains the nation's firefighters, should undergo special training classes lasting for at least six months before being allowed on active duty.

This would allow them to become familiar with their teams before facing the dangers of the job, he said. He also called for junior firefighters and experienced firefighters to be assigned to the same brigades.

Cheng gave an order that the Taoyuan Department of Public Works should tear down large structures that pose a danger to public safety. The government will allocate an extra NT$30 million (S$1.271 million) for the removal of the said structures, which should be conducted immediately and without influence peddling

The National Fire Agency held a conference at 8 p.m. on Jan. 20, reviewing the cause of the tragedy and the arrangement of firefighters and equipment. Responding to suspicions of the public, the Fire Agency announced that the rescue commander was not to blame for the firefighters' deaths.

An audio recording made available yesterday revealed that the commander had asked the firefighters to retreat from the scene.

In related news, the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office (decided to perform autopsies on the six deceased firefighters to determine if the burns on their bodies were inflicted posthumously.

http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/taoyuan-mayor-promises-transparency-after-deadly-fire

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO- Cheng Wen-tsan

   WHEN- yesterday 

   WHAT- promised

   WHY-to release all information relevant to the fire that killed six firefighters on Monday.

   WHERE- no given

   HOW-no given

Keywords：

   1. relevant  相應

   2. commanders 指揮員

   3. demolitions 拆除

   4. brigades 隊

   5. allocate 分配

    6. autopsies 屍體解剖

week2-紐約警察遭槍殺

NYPD's Wenjian Liu, Killed In Dec. Shooting, Is Laid To Rest

JANUARY 04, 201510:18 AM ET

Updated at 12:50 noon ET

Thousands of police officers from across the country paid their respects to NYPD detective Wenjian Liu, one of two patrolmen who were gunned down last month in an unprovoked attack in a Brooklyn neighborhood.

Liu's widow, Pei Xia Chen, said "he is my hero." The couple had been married only a few weeks when the officer was killed on Dec. 20.

New York Police Department Chaplain Robert Romano quoted a Buddhist proverb: "When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. When you die, you rejoice, and the world cries."

But, as happened last week during the funeral for Liu's partner, Rafael Ramos, some officers used the service to stage a silent protest of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio by turning their backs on him as he spoke.

Ramos' funeral, held last week, also drew thousands.

The two were killed on Dec. 20 by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who approached their patrol car in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, firing several shots into their vehicle. The assailant later killed himself. Social media posts by Brinsley, who is black, suggest that the shooting was a revenge attack for the deaths of two or more black men at the hands of police.

The Associated Press says: "Buddhist monks will lead a Chinese ceremony for Officer Wenjian Liu, followed by a traditional police ceremony with eulogies led by a chaplain. Liu, 32, had served as a policeman for seven years and was married just two months when he was killed."

The mayor, FBI Director James Comey and Police Commissioner William Bratton were among those who spoke at the funeral.

"All of our city is heartbroken today," De Blasio said. "We've seen it these last few weeks. We've seen the pain."

He said Liu "walked a path of courage, a path of sacrifice, a path of kindness."

Many had been watching for the reaction from rank-and-file officers attending the ceremony after many turned their backs on the mayor at last week's funeral for Ramos.

As the mayor spoke last week, officers watching on a giant screen outside the church turned their backs in a gesture of disrespect for the mayor. Some officers had done the same thing when De Blasio arrived at the hospital where the slain officers had been brought on the day of the shooting.

WNYC's Stephen Nessen reports that "several dozen" officers turned their backs to the mayor at today's ceremony. The New York Times referred to
"handfuls."

As we reported at the time, the incident has "laid bare a rift between the mayor and the NYPD. Shortly after [the Dec. 20] attack, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association's president, Pat Lynch, accused the mayor of having "blood on his hands" for what is perceived as a lack of support for the department amid protests against police violence."

As the AP notes: "Many people, including Cardinal Timothy Dolan, have since pressed all parties to tone down the rhetoric. And this weekend, Police Commissioner William Bratton sent a memo to all commands urging respect, declaring 'a hero's funeral is about grieving, not grievance.' "

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/01/04/374934749/nypds-wenjian-liu-killed-in-dec-shooting-is-laid-to-rest

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO- Wenjian Liu

   WHEN- no given

   WHAT- pay their respects

   WHY-one of two patrolmen who were gunned down last month in an                                                                unprovoked attack in a Brooklyn neighborhood

   WHERE- no given

   HOW-no given

Keywords：

   1. unprovoked  無端

   2. funeral   葬禮

   3. slain   被殺

   4. rhetoric  修辭

   5. grievance  不平