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