Week 7 - 喜馬拉雅山雪崩

Nepal blizzards and avalanches claim many lives

15 October 2014

A blizzard and several avalanches in the Himalayas in central Nepal are reported to have killed at least 26 trekkers and three farmers.

The highest number of deaths - two Israelis, two Poles and eight Nepalese - happened when a blizzard hit a point on the Annapurna Circuit. Many trekkers returning from the circuit remain out of contact. BBC South Asia Editor Charles Haviland says it is one the deadliest spells of bad weather ever seen in the region. Avalanches to the east and west have left 10 more people dead or presumed dead, among them Canadians, Slovaks and an Indian as well as local people. A French man also died after slipping into the Budhi Gandaki river in heavy rains. Severe rain and snowstorms in Nepal appear to have been triggered by Cyclone Hudhud in neighbouring India.

Analysis: Phanindra Dahal, BBC Nepali, Kathmandu

It has not been good a year for Nepal's trekking and mountaineering industry. An avalanche on Mount Everest in April killed 16 Sherpas - and resulted in a massive reduction of expeditions to the world's highest peak during the spring season.

The latest disaster comes during the peak trekking period. Thousands of tourists head to Nepal in October, and many of them enjoy its high altitude mountain passes and pristine beauty. The freak heavy snowfall caught the trekkers off guard.

The tragedy will badly hurt Nepal's tourism, with officials worried about the wider negative message it sends. Trekking and mountaineering are the key backbones of the industry - the major foreign exchange earner for Nepal.

An army official co-ordinating the search operation said two military helicopters had been sent from the capital Kathmandu to assist the rescue operation. Thousands of trekkers visit the Annapurna Circuit every October, when weather conditions are usually favourable for hiking trips. What appears to be a freak snowstorm a little under the highest pass caused mayhem, with many people still believed to be trapped in snow. Only a little to the east, near Mount Manaslu, a French man died after being swept into a river. The deaths come just months after 16 Sherpa mountain guides died in Nepal's worst ever accident on Mount Everest. Nepal's high peaks attract some of the world's best climbers - but trekking is generally safe and appeals to masses of ordinary outdoor enthusiasts.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29625605

Structure of the lead :

WHO - 26 trekkers and three farmers

WHEN - 15 October 2014

WHAT - A blizzard and several avalanches in the Himalayas in central Nepal are reported to have killed at least 26 trekkers and three farmers.

WHY - the bad weather and the freak heavy snowfall such as severe rain and snowstorms in Nepal 

WHERE - In the Himalayas in central Nepal

HOW - not given

Keywords :

1. avalanche (n.) 雪崩

2. trekker (n.) 登山者

3. out of contact 失聯

4. presume (v.) 推測 ; 假定

5. hudhud 炫風

6. mountaineering (n.) 登山運動

7. expedition (n.) 探險隊

8. pristine (a.) 清新的 ; 美麗的

9. freak (a.) 反常的

10. co-ordinating (a.) 協調的

11. favourable (a.) 有利的

12. mayhem (n.) 大混亂

Week 6 - 年輕演員吸毒

Jackie Chan's actor son Jaycee formally arrested on drug charges

Thursday, 18 September, 2014

Jaycee Chan has been formally arrested on drug charges, nearly a month after he was caught smoking marijuana in Beijing.

The prosecutor's office, or procuratorate, in Beijing's Dongcheng district approved the arrest of Jaycee Fong Cho-ming, son of international kung fu icon Jackie Chan, on suspicion of "accommodating drug users".

This signals that authorities are moving forward with the case against Jaycee, who is currently in detention.

Jaycee, 32, was taken away by police on August 14 with his friend Taiwanese actor Ko Chen-tung, 23, for doing drugs at a foot massage parlour in Beijing.

Police recovered more than 100 grams of marijuana from Chan's home in Beijing.

Mainland media reported that Jaycee Chan admitted that he first abused drugs in the Netherlands in 2006, while Ko did so for the first time in Jaycee’s home two years ago.

The public security bureau of Dongcheng had sought the procuratorate’s approval for Chan’s arrest on September 10, the statement on Weibo said.

Chinese police need official approval from prosecutors to formally arrest a suspect. During a period of formal arrest, police can continue to investigate. If they decide to criminally charge him, a trial would follow.

The maximum sentence for allowing others to take drugs in a property, workplace or hotel is three years’ imprisonment.

Ko was given a sentence of 14 days in administrative detention after he admitted using marijiuana.

On his release, he appeared at a news conference with his parents and agent and apologized for smoking the drug.

Jackie Chan, who was named an anti-drug ambassador in 2009 by Chinese authorities, has publicly apologized for his son’s drug use and pledged to work with him on his recovery.

A series of celebrities have been detained on drug charges following a declaration in June by President Xi Jinping that illegal drugs should be wiped out and that offenders would be severely punished.

Performing arts associations and theater companies in Beijing have pledged not to hire any actors connected with drugs, and national associations representing film actors, directors and producers have reportedly issued a notice saying members who repeatedly take drugs will be expelled and banned from making movies.

http://www.scmp.com/article/1594668/procuratorate-approves-arrest-jaycee-chan-drug-charges

Structure of the lead:

WHO - Jaycee Chan with his friend Taiwanese actor Ko Chen-tung,

WHEN - August 14

WHAT - Jaycee Chan has been formally arrested on drug charges, nearly a month after he was caught smoking marijuana in Beijing.

WHY - not given

WHERE – Beijing

HOW – Jaycee and his friend Taiwanese actor Ko Chen-tung,23, did drugs at a foot massage parlour in Beijing. Jaycee Chan admitted that he first abused drugs in the Netherlands in 2006, while Ko did so for the first time in Jaycee’s home two years ago. Ko was given a sentence of 14 days in administrative detention. On his release, he apologized for smoking the drugs.

Keywords:

1. marijuana (n.) 大麻

2. prosecutor (n.) 起訴人

3. procuratorate (n.) 檢查機關

4. suspicion (n.) 懷疑

5. detention (n.) 拘留

6. parlour (n.) 會客室

7. seek (sought) (v.) 搜索

8. trail (n.) 蹤跡

9. anti-drug (a.) 反毒的

10. ambassador (n.) 大使

11. pledge (v.) 發誓

12. detain (v.) 扣押

13. wipe out 徹底摧毀

14. offender (n.) 冒犯者

15. expel (v.) 驅逐

Week 5 - 高雄氣爆

Kaohsiung rocked by underground blasts

By Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

Sat, Aug 02, 2014

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.

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

Structure of the lead:

WHO - gas explosion

WHEN -  late Thursday night to early yesterday morning

WHAT - A series of suspected gas explosion claimed at least 26 lives and injured 269 people.

WHY - The volatile chemical propene, which is carried in pipelines that run alongside the city’s underground sewage system in the area.

WHERE -  Kaisyuan 3rd Road and Ersheng 1st Road in Cianjhen District. Later, the explosion took place on Yisin Road, Ersheng Road, Sanduo Road and Guanghua Road in the same district, and in neighboring Lingya District (苓雅).

HOW - 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.

Keywords:

1. suspected (a.) 可疑的

2. shake (v.) 使震驚 ; 使心煩意亂

3. claim (v.) 奪走

4. trench (n.) 溝渠

5. trapped (v.) 被困住的

6. rubble (n.) 碎石 ; 瓦礫

7. hurl (v.) 用力投擲

8. gout (n.) 一團

9. spew (v.) 噴出

10. press time 緊迫時刻

11. debris (n.) 殘骸 ; 碎片

12. excavator (n.) 挖掘機

13. shovel (n.) 鏟子

14. fatality (n.) 死亡

15. propel (v.) 驅使 ; 推動

16. call off 取消

17. crew (n.) 全體人員

18. consume (v.) 毀滅 ; 燒毀

19. volatile (a.) 不穩定的 ; 爆炸性的

20. propene (n.) 丙烯

21. sewage (n.) 下水道 ; 污水

22. valve (n.) 閥門

23. anomaly (n.) 不規則

Week 4 - 馬航MH17遭擊落

Malaysian MH17 remains return

AP, KUALA LUMPUR

Sat, Aug 23, 2014

Carried by soldiers and draped in the national flag, coffins carrying Malaysian victims of Flight MH17 returned home yesterday to a country still searching for those on board another doomed jet and a government battling the political fallout of the twin tragedies.

The bodies and ashes of 20 victims from the Malaysia Airlines jet that was shot down over eastern Ukraine last month were given full military honors and a day of national mourning was declared — the first in the country’s history.

Many office workers in the nation of 30 million observed a minute’s silence as the hearses drove from the tarmac of Kuala Lumpur International Airport to private funerals. Some of the capital’s public trains stopped operating.

All 298 people on board died when the jet, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over an area of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists. The victims included 43 Malaysians and 195 Dutch nationals. An international investigation is ongoing, but no one has been arrested.

The bodies’ return also represented a political triumph for Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose already shaky popularity ratings were hit by his handling of the still-unsolved disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and its 239 passengers and crew in March.

“Today we mourn the loss of our people. Today, we begin to bring them home,” Najib said in a statement. “Our thoughts and our prayers are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives. Today we stand with you, united as one.”

Najib claimed personal credit for negotiating a deal with pro-Russian separatists for the return of all the bodies of the 298 people on board. Few details have been released over what the separatists were given in return, and some critics have said that the negotiations with people many regard as terrorists set a dangerous precedent.

“Everyone wants closure for the families, there is no question,” National Taiwan University research associate Bridget Welsh said. “But on the other hand, they [Najib’s advisers] saw this as an opportunity for him to look good. It was critical for the government to be seen as responsive and differentiate itself from the handling of [disappeared Flight] MH370.”

The remains of the victims were carried aboard a specially chartered Malaysia Airlines jet from Amsterdam, where they had been taken to from the crash site. Three had already been cremated.

On arrival in Kuala Lumpur, the coffins were individually lowered from the plane and slowly carried by teams of eight soldiers to waiting hearses.

“They were casualties of war, unfortunately, and the world community needs to work toward a solution to these conflicts,” said Abdul Mueiem, a Malaysia Airlines pilot who attended the ceremony. “Everyone is feeling sad and depressed, but the important thing is that Malaysia Airlines is one big family, and we are together with the nation.”

The repatriation was the first of the Malaysian passengers and crew on the flight.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/08/23/2003598055

Structure of the lead:

WHO - Coffins carrying Malaysian victims of Flight MH17

WHEN - Fri, Aug 22, 2014

WHAT - Soldiers carried coffins carry Malaysian victims of Flight MH17 and returned to the country. And they would mourn the loss of our people who be brought to home by soldiers.
WHY - A government battling the political fallout of the twin tragedies

WHERE - Eastern Ukraine 

HOW - Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down over eastern Ukraine.

Keywords:

1.draped (v.) 垂掛

2.coffin (n.) 棺材

3.doomed (a.) 命注定的
4.jet (n.) 噴出物

5.shot down 射落；擊落

6.funeral (n.) 喪葬，葬儀

7.separatist (n.) 分離主義者
8.shaky (a.) 不穩固的；搖晃的；不堅定的
9.still-unsolved (a.) 仍未解決的 
10.mourn (v.) 哀痛，哀悼

9.precedent (n.) 先例，前例

10.closure (n.) 關閉；結束

11.cremate (v.) 將……燒成灰；火葬
12.hearse (n.) 靈車

13.casualty (n.) 死者；傷者

14.repatriation (n.) 遣送回國；調回本國

15.crew (n.) 全體船員

Week 3 - 加州大學城慘案

Taiwanese among six killed in California

By Jake Chung  /  Staff writer, with CNA and AP

Tue, May 27, 2014

US authorities have confirmed that at least one of the victims in a killing spree last week in California was a Taiwanese student, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Anna Kao (高安) said yesterday.

Representatives from the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Exchange Office (TECRO) branch in Los Angeles has “established direct contact with local authorities” and the University of California at Santa Barbara to offer its assistance, Kao added.

On Friday night, Elliot Rodger, 22, allegedly stabbed to death his two roommates — Hong Cheng-yuan (洪晟元), also known as James, 20, and George Chen, 19 — and a visitor, Wang Weihan, 20, from Fremont, California, in their apartment near the university campus.

Rodger then drove to the Alpha Phi sorority house on campus and shot three women on the lawn.

Katherine Cooper, 22, and Veronika Weiss, 19 — both students at the university — were killed. The third women, as yet unidentified, is being treated for multiple gunshot wounds.

Rodger drove on to a local deli, went inside and shot and killed Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez, 20.

He injured 13 more either with gunshots or a car that he used as a battering ram against bicyclists and skateboarders.

The killing spree claimed seven lives, including Rodger’s.

The Santa Barbara County Sherriff’s Office said Rodger took his own life after the rampage.

US media reports said Rodger had uploaded multiple YouTube videos, including one, which has since been removed, titled Day of Retribution, promising to have “his revenge against humanity” — particularly the women whom he claims rejected him.

Hong, who identified himself on Facebook as having grown up in Taipei, had graduated from Lynbrook High School in San Jose, California, the TECRO office in Los Angeles said.

The office is still seeking confirmation with the university whether Chen was also Taiwanese.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/05/27/2003591349

Structure of the lead :

WHO - a Taiwanese student

WHEN - not given

WHAT - The Taiwanese student was died in a killing spree.

WHY - not given

WHERE - California

HOW - The suspect, Elliot Rodger, took the gun and drove the car to kill six people at random.

Keywords :

1. killing spree (n.) 殺人魔

2. allegedly (adv.) 據傳說，據宣稱

3. stab (v.) 刺傷

4. lawn (n.) 草坪

5. unidentified  (adv.) 未辨別出的；身分不明的

6. deli (n.) 熟食店

7. battering ram 撞車

8. claim (v.) 奪走

9. rampage (n.) 瘋狂的行為

Week 2 - 台北捷運屠殺

MRT attacker kills 4 people, injures 22

By Stacy Hsu  /  Staff writer, with CAN

A 21-year-old student allegedly killed four people and injured 22 yesterday in a random killing spree on a train of the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system’s Bannan Line.

The four victims were a 47-year-old woman, a 62-year-old woman and two men aged 20 and 30. They had reportedly lost all vital signs before they were rushed to the New Taipei City Hospital’s Banciao Branch, the Taipei Hospital and the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital respectively.

It was the first deadly attack on an MRT train since the Taipei commuter rail system went into commercial service in 1996.

The suspect, who has been identified as Cheng Chieh (鄭捷) from Greater Taichung’s Tunghai University, allegedly started attacking passengers around him with a 30cm-long fruit knife while the train was traveling between the Longshan Temple Station and the Jiangzicui Station at approximately 4:26pm.

He was apprehended by security guards, police officers and other passengers shortly after the train stopped at the Jiangzicui Station, from where he was taken to the Jiangzicui police station for questioning.

According to New Taipei City Police Department Director-General Chen Kuo-en (陳國恩), Cheng boarded an MRT train heading to the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center at the Jiangzicui Station earlier in the afternoon and alighted at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station.

He subsequently hopped on the ill-fated train heading to the Banciao Station before carrying out the killing spree, Chen added.

“The suspect told us that he had since elementary school wanted to ‘do something big’ and that he had shared the idea with some of his high-school and college classmates,” Chen said.

Chen said Cheng originally planned to execute the idea after he graduated from university, but decided to move it forward to yesterday after giving it some thought last week.

“He bought two fruit knives of different sizes from a supermarket before he boarded the trains… His blood-alcohol content registered 0.04mg/L and he has no medical records of mental illness,” Chen said.

“He showed no signs of remorse during questioning,” Chen added.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said that for the next two weeks, the city government planned to deploy 80 special police officers to MRT stations to conduct routine patrols, to assist the 143 MRT police officers.

“Our priority is to restore order and security at MRT stations to make sure that our passengers do not feel afraid when taking the metro,” Hau said.

New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said the city government had instructed all available police officers to patrol the areas surrounding the city’s 34 MRT stations shortly after the incident, in an effort to tighten security.

Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (台北捷運公司) general manager Tan Gwa-guang (譚國光) said the company would give NT$4 million (US$132,000) in compensation to the families of the victims and would take care of all medical expenses incurred by the injured passengers.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/05/22/2003590929

Structure of the lead :

WHO - A 21-year-old student, Cheng Chieh (鄭捷)

WHEN - Yesterday

WHAT - Cheng Chieh killed four people and injured 22 in a random killing spree.

WHY - not given

WHERE - On a train of the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system’s Bannan Line.

HOW - Attacking passengers around him with a 30cm-long fruit knife

Keywords :

1. spree (n.) 嬉戲 ；歡鬧

2. allegedly (adv.) 據宣稱 ；據傳說

3. apprehend (v.) 逮捕

4. board (v.) 上 (船、車、飛機等)

5. alight (v.) (從車輛)下來

6. subsequently (adv.) 其後，隨後，接著

7. ill-fated (a.) 惡運的；不幸的

8. execute (v.) 實施；執行

9. blood-alcohol content 血液酒精含量

10. remorse (v.) 痛悔；自責

11. deploy (v.) 使展開；使疏開

12. patrol (n.) 巡邏，偵察

13. metro (n.) 地下鐵道

14. tighten (v.) 使變緊，使繃緊

15. compensation (n.) 補償，彌補；賠償；賠償金；補償金

Week 1 - 太陽花學運/服貿協議

“Sunflower student movement” in Taiwan: Taiwanese students seek peaceful solution in the protest over China trade pact

By Ichiachiu  |  Posted March 21, 2014  |  Taipei

In Taiwan, a new student movement has come into formation. As the occupation of the Legislative Yuan entered its third day, students from all around the island came to give their support. It is estimated that more than thirty thousand students are involved in the demonstration.

On this Friday morning (3/21), students started to deliver sunflowers, which are viewed as the emblem of the movement against the dark and invalid moves by the government.

Despite of the increasing police force mobilized, students insisted in non-violent ways in the protest. Cards written with blessings are seen on the barriers set to stop more protesters from joining. On Friday morning, a police, with a mask to protect the identity, stepped out to talk with the crowds, encouraging them to persist.

Earlier on this Tuesday (3/18), to oppose the forcing through the China trade pact by the KMT, the ruling party led by President Ma Ying-jeou, more than a hundred students burst into the Legislative Yuan and started the first occupation of the Assembly Hall. Many accused the government of disregarding the fact that more than 70% of the Taiwanese hopes to have the trade pact (The Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement) scrutinized with deliberation and thus consider such action a disrespect to the principles of democracy.

At six on Friday, three demands are issued by Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆), a National Taiwan University student and one of the main leaders of the protest. He insisted that President Ma Ying-jeou and legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng should come to have a face-to-face response with the protestors. He also urges the president to withdraw the pact back and start a cross-strait supervision law.

For now far no response is received from the president, Lin now declare there will be further action for the protest. He demands people to have a sit-in in front of the KMP’s headquarters and its branches.

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1110479

Structure of the lead :

WHO - Students from all around the island

WHEN - March 18

WHAT - Students protested against the agreement of the trade pact.

WHY - The movement against the dark and invalid moves by the government.

WHERE -Legislative Yuan

HOW - not given

Keywords : 

1. emblem (n.) 象徵
2. invalid (a.) 無效的 ; 無用的
3. mobilize (v.) 動員
4. KMT 中國國民黨
5. disregard (v.) 不理會 ； 忽視
6. trade pact 貿易條約
7. scrutinize (v.) 詳細檢查
8. deliberation (n.) 審議
9. legislative (a.) 立法的
10. withdraw (v.) 撤回
11. cross-strait supervision law 兩岸監督法
12. sit-in (n.) 靜坐抗議
13. branch (n.) 分局