week 7-himalayan avalanche

German killed in Himalayan avalanche

A European team of elite mountaineers were 100 metres shy of summiting the world's 14th-highest peak -- China's 8,027-metre (26,335-foot) Shisha Pangma peak -- when Wednesday's avalanche hit.

"Two climbers -- one German, the other Italian -- were swept away in an avalanche on Shisha Pangma," said Ang Tshering Sherpa, presidentof the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

Mountaineering equipment company Dynafit, which sponsored the team, named the two dead men as Italian Andrea Zambaldi, 32, and German Sebastian Haag, 35.

In a separate accident, Japanese climber Yoshimasa Sasaki fell to his death on Friday when he slipped during an ascent of Mount Manaslu, the world's eighth-highest peak, located in northwest Nepal, according to a tourism ministry statement.

The 59-year-old, an experienced mountaineer, lost his footing at 7,300 metres after summiting the 8,156-metre (26,759-foot) peak.

"Rescuers are working to recover the body... (which) will be brought to Kathmandu as soon as possible," the tourism ministry said.

Dynafit said the force of the Shisha Pangma avalanche threw the two victims, along with German team-mate Martin Maier, across steep glaciers, dragging them down for around 600 metres before landing them in an inaccessible section of the mountain.

Their teammates attempted a rescue but were forced to turn around because they could not reach the victims, the company said.

"Sebastian and Andrea disappeared with the avalanche and their bodies could not be found."

Maier, who miraculously survived the accident, was receiving medical attention.

Haag, a former veterinary surgeon, had accomplished several speed climbs and high-altitude ski challenges during his mountaineering career. Zambaldi worked in the sales and marketing division of Dynafit.

Switzerland's Ueli Steck, the most experienced mountaineer in the team, made headlines last year when he and two other Western climbers traded blows

with a group of furious Nepalese guides over a climbing dispute on Mount Everest.

The Dynafit team had planned to speed-climb and ski down Shisha Pangma and the 8,201-metre (26,906 foot) Cho Oyu peak, located on the Nepal-China border,

via foot, ski, and bicycle in under a week.

Haag and Zambaldi had been forced to turn back during their first attempt ten days ago due to heavy snowfall and the threat of an avalanche, according to the official expedition blog.

As they neared the summit last Tuesday night, Zambaldi blogged: "The snow makes progress really tough. In steep sections we sometimes sink in up to the hip or chest."

"Let's hope the mountain gives us a chance."

By early Wednesday the weather was worsening, with team-mate Benedikt Boehm writing: "We are so close, but... the avalanche situation is still a bit tense and the deep, windblown snow is killing us."

Shrouded in mystery and closed to westerners until 1978, Shisha Pangma is considered a relatively accessible peak to summit with many expeditioners recommending that climbers attempt it as part of their training before turning their attention to higher mountains.

At least two dozen climbers have died on Shisha Pangma, including US mountaineering legend Alex Lowe, who was killed in a massive snow and ice avalanche in October 1999 while attempting the first American ski descent of an 8,000-metre peak.

Sixteen Nepalese guides were killed last April in an ice avalanche on the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest, in the worst disaster to strike the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) peak.

http://www.thelocal.de/20140928/german-killed-in-himalayan-avalanche

who:a European team of elite mountaineers

what:German killed in Himalayan avalanche

when:Wednesday

why:windblown snow is killing them

where:Himalayan

how:the snow makes progress really tough and in steep sections they sometimes sink in up to the hip or chest

keyword:

avalanche(n.)雪崩

elite(a.)優秀的

summit(n.)峰頂

expedition(n.)探險隊

week 6 - Scottish independence referendum

Scottish independence aftermath: Cameron ignored Darling's 5am plea to not restrict voting rights for MSPs

David Cameron reportedly ignored Alistair Darling's plea not to restrict Scottish lawmakers' voting rights in the immediate aftermath of the country's referendum in September.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the Better Together campaign leader phoned Cameron at 0500 GMT on the morning of the referendum, warning him not to restrict Scottish MPs' power to vote on English laws in Westminster.

Darling said that this course of action would conflating the issue of English-only votes with the devolution of further powers to the Scottish parliament, and would risk letting Alex Salmond back in the front door.

The issue of restricting Scottish MPs from voting on English matters in Westminster should be addressed but not in the immediate aftermath of the independence referendum, he added.

Cameron went on to congratulate Darling for "a well-fought campaign", as he promised to deliver on pledges. The PM "made clear to Darling that it was important to achieve a 'fair settlement' for the rest of the UK".

All the mainstream political parties promised that Westminster would grant Scotland enhanced devolution if Scots voted against independence during September's historic referendum.

This has led to some politicians calling for "English votes for English laws".  This comes in answer to  the West Lothian Question, which asks why MPs from other parts of the UK should be able to vote on certain English issues, when English MPs have no say on those same issues in the devolved national assemblies.

On 18 September 55% of Scots voted against independence while 45% wanted to break the union.

A day later, the UK government appointed the panel, led by Lord Smith, to analyse what extra powers Scotland could be given over taxation and social issues, without creating an imbalanced schism within the union.

Cameron confirmed that English Votes for English Laws would be addressed "in tandem with, and at the same pace as, the settlement for Scotland".

Within weeks the SNP surged in popularity and racked up thousands of new members.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/scottish-independence-aftermath-cameron-ignored-darlings-5am-plea-not-restrict-voting-rights-1479699

who: David Cameron

what: Scottish independence referendum

when: in September

where: Scottish

why: not given

how:  55% of Scots voted against independence while 45% wanted to break the union

keyword:

1.aftermath(n.)後果

2.referendum(n.)公民投票權

3.conflate(v.)合併

4.pledge(v.)保證

5.mainstream(n.)主流

week 5 - Ebola virus

Ebola: 250 Nigerian Volunteers Depart for Liberia, Others Today

As the world fights against the scourge of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) that has plagued Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, Nigeria is finally set to join forces with the volunteer teams from other countries by deploying 250 volunteers who have been specially trained to offer vital services to contain the spread of the virus.

This was made known at the formal departure programme of the 250 Nigerian volunteers held yesterday at the Eko Hotel and Suites Victoria Island, Lagos on Wednesday.

Present at the event were the Head of State, President Goodluck Jonathan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador. Aminu Bashir Wali, Supervising Minister of Health, Dr. Khaliru Alhassan and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr.  Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

It was revealed that the volunteers are part of a team of a 1,000-strong health personnel force being deployed under the African Union Support to Ebola Outbreak in West Africa (ASEOWA). 250 of the volunteers have concluded their training yesterday in Lagos which is a mandatory step before they can be deployed.

The contingent will depart Nigeria on today and will undergo another round of training in their country of deployment in the neighbouring West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone where the disease is most prevalent.

The health team consists of doctors, nurses,  pharmacists and other cadre of health professionals.

However, President Jonathan who was represented by the Supervising Minister of Health, charged the volunteers on professionalism.

He cautioned them not to see themselves as heroes, but persons who would explore their skills to combat the disease.

He reiterated Nigeria’s readiness to assist Africa and indeed the world wherever there is need to do so and thus save humanity.

Also at the event, the consortium of business institutions in Nigeria, including the Africa Development Bank, donated about $34 million to help fight the Ebola virus disease.

The fund came following increased calls for financial aid by the African Union to bring continued agonies arising from the disease in the West-African region to an end.

The donations were announced by Chairperson of the AU, Dr Dlamini Zuma, during the launch of Africa against Ebola Fund where African Development Bank and MTN donated $10 million each to the fund.

Meanwhile, one of the leading service providers in the country, Airtel, donated 250 phones and lanterns to the volunteers.

The company also promised them free recharge cards to call their relatives

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/ebola-250-nigerian-volunteers-depart-for-liberia-others-today/195757/

who:250 volunteers & some officialswhen:on Wednesday
what:Nigeria is finally set to join forces with the volunteer teams from other countries

why:As the world fights against the scourge of the Ebola Virus Disease
where:Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone
how:President Jonathan charged the volunteers on professionalism

Keyword:

vital(a.)生死攸關的
departure(n.)出發
union(n.)工會;聯盟
reiterate(v.)重身
combat(v.)反對;與...戰鬥

Week 4 -Israel-Gaza conflict

Israeli airstrikes hit two more Gaza high-rises

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israel bombed two Gaza City high-rises with dozens of homes and shops Tuesday, collapsing one building and severely damaging the other in a further escalation in seven weeks of cross-border fighting with Hamas.

In the past, the military has hit targets in high-rises in pinpoint strikes, but left the buildings standing. Since Saturday, it has toppled or destroyed five towers and shopping complexes in an apparent new tactic aimed at increasing pressure on Hamas.

Tuesday's strikes leveled the 15-story Basha Tower with apartments and offices and severely damaged the Italian Complex, built in the 1990s by an Italian businessman, with dozens of shops and offices.

Both buildings were evacuated after receiving warnings of impending strikes. Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said 25 people were wounded in the attack on the Italian Complex.

The Israeli military said it targeted sites linked to militants Tuesday, but made no specific reference to the two buildings. Israel alleges Hamas often operates from civilian locations. The military has not said why it has begun collapsing large buildings, rather than carrying out pinpointed strikes against suspected militant targets located there.

Also Tuesday, two people were killed in an airstrike on a house in Gaza City, police said.

Israel's military said it carried out 15 air strikes in Gaza on Tuesday.

It said eight rockets were launched from the coastal strip at Israeli territory, including one that caused extensive damage to a home in the southern city of Ashkelon and lightly injured more than a dozen people there.

The Reuters news agency reports two rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanon Monday night. The Israeli military said it hit back by firing artillery shells at the "source of the attack". No injuries were reported by either side.

The latest strikes came as Egypt urged Israel and Hamas to resume indirect talks on a permanent cease-fire, based on an Egyptian proposal for a new border deal for blockaded Gaza.

The Egyptian offer calls for a gradual easing of restrictions on trade and movement in and out of Gaza and would give Hamas' Palestinian rival, President Mahmoud Abbas, a foothold in Gaza.

Hamas seized Gaza from Abbas in 2007, triggering the blockade that has been enforced to varying degrees since then.

Israel and Hamas have not responded to Egypt's latest call.

The Gaza war has so far killed at least 2,133 Palestinians and wounded more than 11,000, according to Palestinian health officials. The U.N. estimates more than 17,000 homes have been destroyed, leaving 100,000 people homeless.

On the Israeli side, 68 people have been killed, all but four of them soldiers.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/israeli-airstrikes-hit-two-more-gaza-high-rises/

Structure of the Lead :

who: Israel

when: a certain Tuesday
what: two high-rises and dozens of homes and shops

why: not given

where: in Gaza Cityhow: not given


Keywords :

cross-border(a.)跨越邊界的,跨境的
topple(v.)使倒塌
complex(n.)綜合設施
agency(n.)代理處
trigger(v.)發射
blockade(n.)阻礙物,障礙物

week 3 -nuclear power plant

Taiwan's Fourth Nuclear Power Plant a hot topic among activists and youth

Tens of thousands of protesters in Taipei stepped onto the streets in Taiwan's capital city on April 26 as part of a latest round of anti-nuclear demonstrations that has been going on for years in the island country to demand its government immediately terminate the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project.

The event, joined by men and women of different ages and political affiliations, was one of the largest anti-nuclear protests in Taiwan following the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident in neighboring Japan, and was held to support the hunger strike launched by former opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Lin Yi-hsiung (林義雄).

An iconic figure in the island nation who has been pushing the anti-nuclear movement for decades, Lin began his hunger strike in mid-April, stressing that he would not stop the strike until the government had met his demand that the nation's Fourth Nuclear Power Plant be scrapped for safety reasons.

According to the protesters, the island that lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire is prone to earthquakes and not suitable for nuclear power.

There are already three nuclear plants in operation on the small island of 36,000 square kilometers, while the fourth is under construction.

With four nuclear plants in Taiwan, they argue that once a nuclear disaster occurs, the densely populated country will suffer catastrophic damage.

Moreover, the fourth plant, which is currently under construction in New Taipei City's Gongliao District (貢寮), is situated less than 30 kilometers away from Taipei, the economic and political hub of the country with a population of nearly three million. The cost for the plant has already exceeded NT$350 billion in a 15-year on-and-off-construction.

All of Taiwan's nuclear plants have been rated as some of the world's most dangerous plants by the World Nuclear Association, the activists argue, calling on the government to halt construction on the fourth plant and cease operations on the three remaining plants as soon as possible.

In response to the protesters, Taiwan's Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) announced on April 28 the suspension of construction of the controversial Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, pending a public referendum on whether to resume it.

The government's latest announcement was seen as a victory for the anti-nuclear activists. Two days after Jiang's announcement, Lin also decided to stop the hunger strike and be transferred to a hospital.

The decision by the ruling administration of President Ma Ying-jeou to halt the power plant's construction despite its continuous plead that giving up nuclear power — which constitutes about 18 percent of national energy production — could deal a serious blow to the country economically and to the well being of all Taiwanese.

The state-run Taiwan Power Company also warned that there is a risk that the country may face energy rationing by 2021 if all three existing nuclear power plants are decommissioned and if the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is scrapped as demanded by activists. A huge surge in electricity prices once nuclear power is abandoned is almost a certainty, the company claimed.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2014/09/21/417622/Taiwans-Fourth.htm

Structure of the Lead :

who: men and women of different ages and political affiliations

when: on April 26

what: an anti-nuclear event

why: once a nuclear disaster occurs, Taiwan will suffer catastrophic damage

where: Taipei

how: not given

Keywords :

affiliations(n.)附屬機構;聯盟

iconic(a.)圖標的

operation(n.)經營

activist(n.)激進主義分子

controversial(a.)有爭議的

Week 2 -Malaysia Airlines MH370

MH370: search moves further south to unmapped area in Indian Ocean

The search for missing flight MH370 has moved further south in the Indian Ocean, with searchers forced to spend three months mapping previously uncharted waters before a proper investigation can take place.

The Australian deputy prime minister, Warren Truss, announced the search for the plane off Western Australia had moved further south and was still about 1,800km offshore.

An expert satellite working group defined a new search zone of up to 60,000 square kilometres along the arc in the southern Indian Ocean in the hunt for the plane which has so far been fruitless. The new search area has not been mapped and Chinese and Australian ships are mapping the seafloor. This is expected to take three months.

The search will be able to start properly in August and could last for 12 months.

The chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Martin Dolan, joined Truss for the press conference in and said it was “highly, highly likely” that MH370 was on autopilot for hours before it crashed.

He said the conclusion was reached because of the orderly path the plane took.

The federal budget set aside $90m over two years for the search and authorities are still confident the Malaysian Airlines plane is off Australia’s west coast.

“Specialists have analysed satellite communications information, information which was never initially intended to have the capability to track an aircraft, and performed extremely complex calculations,” Truss said of how the new search area was established.

“The new priority area is still focused on the seventh arc, where the aircraft last communicated with satellite. We are now shifting our attention to an area further south along the arc based on these calculations.”

Structure of the Lead :

who: Warren Truss

when: start properly in August and could last for 12 months
what: search further south to Indian Ocean
why: hunt for the plane
where: unmapped area in Indian Ocean
how:

Keywords :

investigation(n.)調查

announce(v.)宣布

fruitless(a.)無結果的;不成功的
arc(n.)弧形物
satellite(n.)衛星

Week 1-Ukraine crisis

Pro-Russia rebels attempt to seize Donetsk airport in Ukraine

Pro-Russia rebels attempted to seize a key airport in eastern Ukraine on Friday despite fierce resistance from government forces.

An Associated Press reporter saw three rebel tanks firing their cannons at the main terminal of Donetsk airport, where government forces are holed up. Sniper shots rang out around the area.

Rebels have made some gains in the area near the airport, seizing some buildings on its fringes and using them to target the main terminal.

Ukraine’s national security and defence council spokesman Col Andriy Lysenko said two servicemen had been killed and another nine wounded since Thursday. He said Ukrainian forces at the airport had undergone rotation and firmly stood their ground.

The airport, located just north of Donetsk, the largest city in the east, gives the Ukrainian forces a convenient vantage point to target rebel positions. Its loss would be a major blow to Ukraine and would also allow the rebels to receive large cargo planes with supplies in addition to truck convoys from Russia.

Fighting for the airport has intensified this week, threatening to derail the truce declared on 5 September. A follow-up deal which called for both parties to pull back their artillery to create a buffer zone hasn’t been implemented.

Kiev and the west have asserted that Moscow is fuelling the separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine by providing arms and personnel, something Russia denies. Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Yuriy Sergeyev, told reporters on Friday that “it is evident that Russia demonstrates little resolve to fully comply with obligations under the Minsk arrangements.”

He said the failure to follow the agreement “would be absolutely disastrous”.

Sergeyev said Russia still regularly shells Ukrainian military and civilian areas.

“So far, positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been shelled about 800 times,” he said. “As a result of these attacks, about 40 Ukrainian servicemen were killed and about 200 wounded.”

At least a dozen civilians have been killed since the ceasefire, he added.

Residential areas in Donetsk have been caught in the crossfire. A Red Cross worker died on Thursday when a shell landed near the group’s office in the city.

The rebels said the shelling came from the Ukrainian side, while the Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin blamed the death on “terrorists”.

A spokesman for the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, issued a statement saying the aid worker’s death, along with the shelling of a school that killed three people earlier this week, “underscore the fragility of the current ceasefire and the importance of ensuring a secure environment in south-eastern Ukraine that will allow humanitarian actors to carry out their work and deliver critical assistance to those most in need.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/03/pro-russia-rebels-donetsk-airport-ukraine


Structure of the Lead :

who: pro-Russia rebels
when:Friday 5 September 2014
what:seize a key airport
why:the loss of Donetsk Airport would be a major blow to Ukraine
where:Donetsk Airport in Ukraine
how:



Keywords :

seize(v.)攻佔
terminal(n.)航廈
serviceman(n.)軍人
intensify(v.)加劇;增強