week 7- Hong Kong occupy central

Occupy founders ‘surrender,’ urge HK protest retreat

DISOCCUPY:The architects of Occupy Central plan to turn themselves in today, but analysts say the call for pro-democracy protesters to fall back will be ignored

Wed, Dec 03, 2014  / AFP, HONG KONG

    The original founders of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Occupy Central movement yesterday tearfully announced that they will “surrender” by turning themselves in to police, urging protesters to retreat.

    Frustrated demonstrators at the territory’s main protest site said they felt “abandoned” by the move from academics Benny Tai (戴耀廷) and Chan Kin-man (陳健民), and Baptist minister Chu Yiu-ming (朱耀明).

    Their announcement came after hundreds of protesters clashed with police overnight on Sunday, leaving dozens injured in one of the worst nights of violence since rallies began in September.

    “As we prepare to surrender, we three urge the students to retreat — to put down deep roots in the community and transform the movement,” Tai said.

Tai said the trio would surrender to police today in a commitment to the rule of law and “the principel[s] of peace and love.”

    However, other protesters who have blocked three of Hong Kong’s major intersections since late September to demand free leadership elections said they cannot leave until their demands have been met.

    “The demand for civil nomination and true democracy has not been achieved and this site has not been cleared. Now they say they are turning themselves to police — the only thing I can say is that they abandoned us,” a 17-year-old protester said.

    “Now they talk about retreat. It is a betrayal of what we have insisted for all along,” 24-year-old protester Raymond Tsang said.

Teenage protest leader Joshua Wong (黃之鋒) paid tribute to Tai and said the student groups leading the movement would “discuss” Occupy’s request.

    “If Benny Tai did not publicize the idea of civil disobedience at the beginning, then there would be no ‘Umbrella movement’ today,” said Wong, who began a hunger strike on Monday in a last-ditch bid to force the government into further talks.

    “Surrendering is not an act of cowardice; it is the courage to act on a promise. To surrender is not to fail, it is a silent denunciation of a heartless government,” Tai said.

Tai said he did not know how police would respond to their surrender, but that the three were prepared for any consequences.

    Experts say the students are not likely to heed the call for retreat.

    “The students have always thought that they were the major protagonists of the movement and that Benny Tai and so forth have always been riding on their coattails,” Chinese University of Hong Kong Professor Willy Lam (林和立) said, but added that this was still a turning point in the movement.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/12/03/2003605850

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-The original founders of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy 

   WHEN-late September

   WHAT-Occupy Central movement

   WHY-to demand free leadership elections

   WHERE-Hong Kong

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. Frustrated : 失意的

   2. surrender : 投降

   3. nomination：提名

   4. democracy : 民主

   5. civil disobedience：非暴力反抗

   6. last-ditch：最後一搏

   7. heed：聽從

   8. protagonists：主角

   9. riding on：依靠

 10. coattails：政治影響力

week 6 -伊拉克ISIS-Iraq

Iraq wins promises of support against Islamic State

Tue, Sep 16, 2014

 AFP, PARIS

The world’s top diplomats yesterday pledged to support Iraq in its fight against Islamic State [IS] militants by “any means necessary,” including “appropriate military assistance”, as leaders stressed the urgency of the crisis.

Representatives from about 30 countries and international organizations, including the US, Russia and China, gathered in Paris as the brutal beheading over the weekend of a third Western hostage focused participants’ minds.

    The pledge came as US Secretary of State John Kerry stepped up efforts to forge a broad anti-jihadist coalition.

    In a joint statement issued after the talks, the diplomats vowed to support Baghdad “by any means necessary, including appropriate military assistance, in line with the needs expressed by the Iraqi authorities, in accordance with international law and without jeopardizing civilian security.”

    They stressed militants of the Islamic State, previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, were “a threat not only to Iraq, but also to the entire international community” and underscored the “urgent need” to remove them from Iraq, where they control about 40 percent of its territory.

    However, the final statement made no mention of Syria, where the extremists hold one-quarter of the country and where the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad still had friends around the Paris conference table, including Russia.

    Opening the conference, French President Francois Hollande emphasized there was “no time to lose” in the fight against the jihadists.

    “The fight of the Iraqis against terrorism is our fight as well,” Hollande said, urging “clear, loyal and strong” global support for Baghdad.

    Iraqi President Fuad Masum also stressed the urgency of the crisis, saying there was a risk the militants could overrun more countries in the region.

    “We are still asking for regular aerial operations against terrorist sites. We have to pursue them wherever they are. We need to dry up their sources of finance,” he said.

    As if to underscore the urgency of the campaign, French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian announced just hours ahead of the conference it was joining Britain in carrying out reconnaissance flights in support of the US air campaign against the jihadists.

    Shortly afterward, two French Rafale fighter jets took off from the al-Dhafra base in the United Arab Emirates, reporters said.

    The Paris conference was one of a series of diplomatic gatherings in the run-up to a UN General Assembly later this week.

    German Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier said meetings would come “thick and fast” in the coming days and his French counterpart, Laurent Fabius, said there would soon be a conference on Islamic State funding organized by Bahrain.

    While there was no mention of Syria in the final statement, Hollande said the international community “needs to find a durable solution in the place where the [IS] movement was born. In Syria.”

    “The chaos is benefiting the terrorists. We therefore need to support those who can negotiate and make the required compromises to secure the future of Syria,” Hollande said. “They are the forces of the democratic opposition. They need to be backed by all means.”

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/09/16/2003599814

Structure of the Lead：

  WHO-Representatives from about 30 countries and international organizations

  WHEN-yesterday

  WHAT-support Iraq in its fight against Islamic State [IS] militants

  WHY-a threat not only to Iraq, but also to the entire international community

  WHERE-Iraq

  HOW-any means necessary,” including “appropriate military assistance

Keywords：

   1. appropriate : 適當的

   2. Representatives : 代表

   3. beheading : 斬首

   4. hostage : 人質

   5. stepped up : 加緊

   6. anti-jihadist coalition : 反聖戰聯盟

   7. overrun : 侵占

   8. reconnaissance flights : 偵察飛行

   9. The chaos : 混亂

 10. be backed : 支持

week5-美警槍殺黑人

Ferguson erupts after no charges in shooting case

Wed, Nov 26, 2014 

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    Enraged protesters looted businesses, and set fire to buildings and cars in Ferguson, Missouri, after a grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer in the death of an unarmed black 18-year-old, whose fatal shooting exposed deep racial tensions.

    Ferguson burned through the night, despite pleas for calm from US President Barack Obama and the family of victim Michael Brown after St Louis County’s top prosecutor announced the officer faces no state criminal charges.

    Monday night’s destruction appeared to be much worse than protests after Brown’s death in August. Authorities used tear gas to try to disperse the protesters and reported hearing hundreds of gunshots, which prevented fire crews from fighting the flames.

    Officer Darren Wilson’s fatal shooting of Brown in an Aug. 9 confrontation ignited a fierce debate over how police treat young African-American men and focused attention on long-simmering racial tensions in Ferguson and around the US, four decades after the 1960s civil rights movement.

Police were criticized for responding to protests with armored vehicles and tear gas.

Monday night’s protests were “probably much worse than the worst night we ever had in August,” said St Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, who added police had not yet fired a shot.

    Obama said on Monday night from the White House that some Americans might be angry, but need to accept the decision.

    “We are a nation built on the rule of law, so we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury’s to make,” Obama said.

    St Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch said that the grand jurors, who had met weekly since Aug. 20, were “the only people who heard every witness... and every piece of evidence.”

    When Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, heard the decision, she burst into tears and began screaming, before being whisked away by supporters.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/11/26/2003605314


 Structure of the Lead：
   WHO-Officer Darren Wilson and Michael Brown
   WHEN-Aug. 9
   WHAT-Enraged protesters looted businesses, and set fire to buildings and cars
   WHY-a white police officer in the death of an unarmed black 18-year-old, whose fatal shooting
   WHERE-Ferguson, Missouri
   HOW-not given

Keywords：
   1. Enraged : 憤怒的
   2. protesters : 示威者
   3. looted : 洗劫
   4. indict : 起訴
   5. unarmed : 手無寸鐵的
   6. criminal charges : 刑事指控
   7. ignited : 點燃
   8. armored vehicles : 裝甲車
   9. witness : 見證
 10. be whisked away : 被接走

week 4-冰桶挑戰

Challenge raises funds, icy response

By Jason Pan  /  Staff writer, with CNA
Wed, Aug 20, 2014 
Taiwanese celebrities and public figures braced themselves to have buckets of ice water dumped on their heads yesterday as they joined an Internet sensation to raise awareness about a paralyzing disease.

Business tycoon Terry Gou (郭台銘) took the Ice Bucket Challenge in New Taipei City alongside people fighting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, and volunteers from the Taiwan Motor Neuron Disease Association, which helps people with ALS.

Standing under a bucket controlled by a robotic arm, the chairman of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, also known as Foxconn in China, was soaked after his wife and an ALS patient in a wheelchair pulled a rope tied to the device.

Gou participated after being nominated by Xiaomi Corp CEO Lei Jun (雷軍) for the task, in which participants can either douse themselves in ice water or donate US$100 to an ALS charity, or both.

However, Gou did not stop at US$100, but pledged US$200,000 to the Taiwanese association and announcing a further cash donation of US$100,000 to a former employee who was diagnosed with the disease.

Gou also nominated others to take on the challenge, including Taiwanese supermodel and actress Lin Chi-ling (林志玲), who has agreed to take part, he said.

After Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文) and his main rival in the Taipei race, independent candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), took the plunge a day earlier, local politicians continued with the challenge yesterday.

KMT Yilan County commissioner candidate Chiou Shu-ti (邱淑媞), after having a bucket of ice water poured on her, challenged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

The Presidential Office said Ma opted to make a donation rather than take the icy bath.

However, Taipei City councilor Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) of the Democratic Progressive Party deplored the “celebrity showboating” aspect of the phenomenon.

In a post on Facebook yesterday, Wu said the name-dropping in the Ice Bucket Challenge has become a celebrity marketing activity, “to show off how well-connected a person is and to flaunt one’s wealth and power networking... The focus now seems to be on the ice bucket rather than ALS sufferers.”

“When a charity campaign becomes a celebrity PR activity, those who benefit from it are not society’s disadvantaged,” she added.

Citing examples, Wu said National Development Council Minister Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔), after dumping ice water over himself, challenged newly sworn-in Minister of Economic Affairs Woody Duh (杜紫軍) to do it, and from there, Duh named some business tycoons to follow up.

Wu added that after Lien drenched himself, he challenged New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who in return nominated Wowprime Group chairman Dai Sheng-yi (戴勝益).

“Doesn’t this manifest the intricate links of business money and political power in Taiwan? Through the Ice Bucket Challenge, this link between politics and money is shown in its naked openness to the public, and these people have no qualms about it,” Wu said.

“After Lien was doused with the ice water, he said: ‘It felt great!’ That left me speechless. As it becomes about showing off, concern for ALS sufferers fades into the background,” Wu said. “Most of the time, government officials try to evade responsibility when things go wrong. Miraculously, officials are now serving easy balls for each other to hit. The Ice Bucket Challenge has become ‘showboat’ time for these figures.”

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/08/20/2003597822

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-Taiwanese celebrities and public figures

   WHEN-yesterday 

   WHAT-participants can either douse themselves in ice water or donate US$100 to an ALS charity, or both.

   WHY-to raise awareness about a paralyzing disease.

   WHERE-Taiwan

   HOW-doused with the ice water

Keywords： 

   1. braced  : 支撐

   2. alongside : 一起

   3. amyotrophic lateral sclerosis : 肌萎縮側索硬化症

   4. soaked : 浸泡

   5. pledged : 承諾

   6. was diagnosed with : 被診斷出患有

   7. plunge : 投入

   8. deplored : 痛惜

   9. showboating : 賣弄

 10. intricate : 錯綜複雜的

week 3-台灣核四停工

Taiwan’s nuclear power plants are safe, expert says

By Mo Yan-chih  /  Staff reporter

Wed, May 08, 2013

Replacing nuclear power with coal-fired or fuel-fired energy sources would result in more casualties, a Hong Kong nuclear engineering expert said in a speech at the Presidential Office yesterday, adding that Taiwan’s nuclear power plants were safe.

City University of Hong Kong president Kao Way (郭位) made the comments in his speech on nuclear power as the keynote speaker at the Presidential Office’s monthly meeting.

He said that while nuclear power sources accounted for 13 percent of energy globally, coal-fired power, which is responsible for 40 percent of global energy, is the most dangerous energy source, as more than 100,000 people die every year due to mining accidents.

According to an unpublished report by NASA, about 1.8 million people around the world would die in the next 50 years if nuclear power was entirely replaced with coal-fired and fuel-fired power, and about 6,000 people in Taiwan would die, he said.

“I do not support nuclear power, and neither am I against it. I hope people will rationally explore the relationship between energy and the environment,” he said.

Kao’s speech on nuclear power came amid ongoing disputes over the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao Dictrict (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市).

Following Kao’s speech, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) asked whether nuclear power is a global trend or if anti-nuclear power movements have just become a hot topic.

Kao said the development of nuclear power has slowed down in the past two years, but it should not be interpreted as a result of a rise in opposition to nuclear power.

Japan and Taiwan are the two nations that have most serious debates on the issue, and the most countries support nuclear power, he said.

He also defended the safety of nuclear power plants in Taiwan despite growing concerns about the issue among Taiwanese.

In a safety assessment on nuclear power plants in more than 30 nations that depend on nuclear power, the three nuclear power plants in Taiwan are listed high on the safety list, while the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan was ranked 26 in the safety list.

“The three nuclear power plants in Taiwan have maintained a good record in the past 30 years, and Taiwan should be proud of the safety of its power plants,” he said.

In response to public concerns about the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, he said the key issue would be whether the plant is equipped with a good automated control system in case the system suffered operational problems.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/05/08/2003561748

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-Fourth Nuclear Power Plant

   WHEN-not given

   WHAT-Kao’s speech on nuclear power came amid ongoing disputes over the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao Dictrict (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市).

   WHY-coal-fired power, which is responsible for 40 percent of global energy, is the most dangerous energy source

   WHERE-Taiwan

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

   
   1. coal-fired : 燃煤

   2. fuel-fired : 燃油

   3. keynote speaker : 主講嘉賓

   4.mining accidents : 煤礦事故

   5.rationally : 理性地

   6.debates : 爭論

   7.ongoing : 進行的

   8.disputes : 糾紛

   9. safety assessment : 安全評估

 10.automated control system : 自動化控制系統

week 2-台北捷運屠殺

MRT attacker kills 4 people, injures 22

By Stacy Hsu  /  Staff writer, with CNA

Thu, May 22, 2014

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.

Additional reporting by Liu Ching
hohttp://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/05/22/2003590929

Structure of the Lead：

WHO-A 21-year-old student Cheng Chieh
WHEN- yesterday 
WHAT-A 21-year-old student allegedly killed four people and injured 22
WHY-The suspect told us that he had since elementary school wanted to ‘do something big’
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. allegedly : 涉嫌
2. The suspect : 犯罪嫌疑人
3. security guards : 保安員
4. apprehended : 被捕
5. the ill-fated : 命運多舛
6. blood-alcohol content : 血液酒精含量
7. deploy : 部署
8.remorse : 悔意
9.tighten : 加強
10. compensation : 賠償

week 1-2013年回顧

Spain crash victims identified

Wed, Jul 05, 2006 - Page 6

Distraught relatives and friends began arriving yesterday at the municipal morgue of this eastern port city, a day after the worst subway accident in Spain's history left 41 people dead.

Forensic experts said all but one of the victims' bodies had been identified. Thirty were women and most were Spaniards, although Red Cross workers said there was at least one foreign national.

The subway train derailed and overturned on Monday in a tunnel near Jesus station in downtown Valencia. Authorities and witnesses said the train was going too fast and that one of its wheels had broken into pieces.

But Valencia's regional Transport Minister Jose Ramon Garcia Anton said preliminary inspections showed the wheels and the train tracks appeared to be in perfect condition. He said the likely cause was speeding.

Garcia Anton described the scene inside the tunnel as "alarming, a pile of twisted steel, bent and destroyed carriages, broken glass and bent doors."

Of the 47 people injured, 12 remained in hospital and two of those were reported to be in a critical condition.

The train was crowded, as the accident occurred shortly after 1pm when many people would have been heading home for lunch.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero cut short a visit to India to travel to Valencia. Officials said he was expected to attend a funeral mass at Valencia's cathedral yesterday evening. King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia were also expected to attend the mass.

Police experts in disaster management were deployed to establish why the train had derailed.

Hundreds of thousands of people were traveling to Valencia yesterday for this week's World Meeting of the Families, to be attended on Saturday and Sunday by Pope Benedict XVI.

The pope prayed for the victims and "has followed with pain ... the dramatic reports," the Vatican said.

Organizers called off all festive celebrations that had been planned ahead of Benedict's visit.

It was the second accident on Valencia's No. 1 line in less than a year. A September collision involving three trains injured at least 30 people, four of them seriously.

Jorge Alvarez, secretary-general of the Independent Railway Union, said it was too early to blame Monday's accident on human error.

He said his union repeatedly warned of safety problems on Valencia's 18-year-old subway system, particularly the No. 1 line.

"The train began to go faster than usual and started to move from one side to the other," Cesar Hernandez Nunez, a 21-year-old student traveling in the second car, told the newspaper El Mundo.

"Right after that it was chaos," he said.

Nunez said he was able to break open a door to leave the train.

"When I got to the track I noticed there were only two carriages. The first had overturned and mine was in a normal position," he said. "There were people on the ground. I couldn't think very much. I pre-ferred to turn away."

About 150 people were evacuated from the station, authorities said.

More than 60 million people used Valencia's subway system last year -- some 165,000 people a day, according to its Web site. The subway has four lines and 116 stations in this city of 800,000 on the country's east coast, some 350km from Madrid.

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網址：

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/07/05/2003317373

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-Valencia's No. 1

   WHEN-on Monday

   WHAT-The subway train derailed and overturned

   WHY-the train was going too fast and that one of its wheels had broken into pieces

   WHERE-in a tunnel near Jesus station in downtown Valencia

   HOW-The train began to go faster than usual and started to move from one side to the other

Keywords：

   1.morgue : 太平間

   2.Forensic experts : 法醫專家

   3.derailed : 脫軌

   4.preliminary inspections : 初步調查

   5.tunnel : 隧道

   6. funeral : 葬禮

   7. cathedral : 大教堂

   8. secretary-general : 秘書長

   9. chaos : 一片混亂

10. evacuated from : 疏散