week 5 - Bangkok bomb explosion

Death toll rises in Bangkok bomb blast

Duncan Forgan and John Bacon, USA TODAY5:43 p.m. EDT August 17, 2015

BANGKOK — A deadly bomb blast Monday rocked a downtown shopping and tourism hub here during the evening rush hour, killing at least 18 people and injuring scores more, authorities said.

“It sounded like thunder,” said Alexander Hotz, an American filmmaker who works in the area. “We were sitting in the office, and at first we thought it was just an amazingly loud rainstorm coming through. Then one of our Thai interns came back upstairs and told us that things were going crazy.”

A BBC correspondent said there were "body parts scattered everywhere" and a crater, indicating a bombing. People near the Erawan Shrine, a Hindu religious site where the explosion took place, were hit by the “full force of the blast,” the BBC reported. Burned motorbikes could be seen in the road.

Police initially said they found a suspicious object near the blast site and were concerned about a second explosion. Later, national police chief Somyot Poompummuang told the Associated Press the object had been determined to be harmless.

At least 18 people were confirmed dead and 117 injured, AP said, citing emergency officials. The Bangkok Post, citing the Royal Thai Police, put the death toll at 19.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

The Post said an improvised explosive device placed inside the shrine complex detonated at 6.55 p.m. local time. The newspaper said the scale of the explosion set motorbikes and taxis ablaze near the Rajprasong intersection, cite of political protests in recent years.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan condemned the bombing and expressed condolences to the families of the dead and injured. He told the Post it was too soon to say if the attacks were politically motivated.

"But it was clear that the perpetrators intended to destroy the economy and tourism, because it occurred in the heart of (Bangkok's) business district," Prawit said.

The White House also condemned the attack and said U.S. officials would remain in close contact with Thai authorities investigating the blast. The statement, from National Security Council spokesman Ned Price, extended "our deepest condolences to all those affected by the explosion."

While such attacks are rare here, there have been smaller incidents in recent months. In February, a small, homemade pipe bomb exploded near a Bangkok shopping mall. In March, grenades were tossed in front of the Central Criminal Court in Bangkok, and in April seven people were injured in parking lot blast in the tourist island of Koh Samui.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/08/17/large-explosion-bangkok/31840823/

who : Thailand officials

what : a serious explosion occurred to Bangkok

when : August 17, 2015

where : Bangkok , Thailand

why : a man put a bomb in a downtown shopping and tourism hub

how : the bomb exploded caused at least 18 people dead and a lot of people injuiring

* keyword:

Scatter(v.)分散;消散

Crater(n.)彈坑;火山口

Improvised(n.)自製炸彈

Detonate(v.)指示;表示

Condolences(n.)哀悼

Perpetrator(n.)犯罪者

Grenade(n.)手榴彈

week4 - Yangtze river,shipwreck

Hundreds Missing After Chinese Cruise Ship Sinks on Yangtze

By EDWARD WONGJUNE 1, 2015

BEIJING — Most of the 458 people aboard a chartered cruise ship in China were still missing on Tuesday morning, more than a dozen hours after the vessel sank during a torrential rainstorm along the central Yangtze River, according to a report by Xinhua, the state news agency.

Just 13 people had been rescued, local news media reported, making this perhaps the worst passenger maritime disaster in East Asia since the sinking of the South Korean ferry Sewol last year.

The water where the boat sank is about 50 feet deep. Rescuers could hear the sounds of people trapped inside, according to a Twitter post by China Central Television, the main state network. The ship, whose name translates as Oriental Star, was crossing Hubei Province in the middle of the country when it sank at 9:28 p.m. on Monday, Xinhua reported, citing the Yangtze River Navigation Administration. Rescue work was hampered by strong winds and heavy rain.

Most of the passengers were 50 to 80 years old and had been traveling on a group tour, according to Hubei Daily. The newspaper reported that one body, which appeared to be that of a tour guide, had been discovered. Hundreds of soldiers and police and paramilitary officers were on the scene. More than 100 boats and divers were also there, the newspaper reported. The ship had capsized, with part of the hull above the surface of the water.

The captain and an engineer were detained by the police, Xinhua reported on one of its social media accounts, citing the river administration authorities. The report did not say why they were being held, or whether that was a routine procedure in the investigation.

According to Xinhua, the authorities learned of the disaster after several survivors swam to shore and alerted them. At least eight people were reported to have been hospitalized.

The Chinese Navy was sending a contingent of more than 140 divers to the site of the capsized ship, the Twitter account of the state-run People’s Daily reported. People’s Daily also reported that a 65-year-old woman had been rescued early Tuesday afternoon, more than 15 hours after the ferry sank. It was not clear where she had been found. People’s Daily originally reported that the woman was 85 years old.

The ship had been hired by the Shanghai Xiehe Tourism Agency to carry hundreds of retirees on a multiday trip along a long, scenic stretch of the Yangtze. A handwritten sign posted on the company’s door on Tuesday said the head of the company had gone to the scene. A mobile number scrawled on the sheet was busy throughout Tuesday morning.

Some relatives of the passengers were furious that they learned about the accident through news reports and not directly from the travel agency, according to a report by The Paper, an investigative news organization.

The people on board included five employees from one or more travel agencies and 47 crew members.

The vessel sank in Jianli County in Hubei Province. It was sailing between two of China’s largest cities, from Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province, on the east coast, to Chongqing, an  interior metropolis. That journey takes several days.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/world/asia/ship-reported-sunk-in-chinas-yangtze.html?_r=0

who : visitors, ship crews, rescuers
where : Oriental Star in the central Yangtze Rive
when : JUNE 1, 2015
why : a tornado crosses the river

how : not given

what : a cruise ship sink


*keywords
1. torrential (adi.)洶湧的;奔流的
2. paramilitary (adj.)輔助正規軍的
3. hospitalize (v.)住院
4. contingent (n.)分隊;偶然的事情
5. interior (adj.)內部的
6. metropolis(n.)大都市;重要中心

week3-Formosa Fun Coast explosion

  TAIPEI — The number of people injured in a fire at a Taiwan water amusement park rose to 516 on Sunday, government officials said, with more than 180 still in intensive care.
  Media reported four mainland Chinese and two foreigners were among those injured after Saturday's fire, during a party where up to 1,000 revelers were sprayed with colored powder as they danced to music, seeking to escape the summer heat.
  The blaze, which broke out around 8:30 p.m. at the Formosa Fun Coast water park on the outskirts of the capital, Taipei, is suspected to have been caused by an explosion of the powder, local government official Lin Chieh-yu told Reuters.
  "It remains under investigation as to what made the powder explode," he added. Authorities have banned the use of the powder until the investigation is completed.
  "The next few days will be a critical time for the injured," Taiwan Premier Mao Chi-kuo told reporters, adding that 410 people were still in hospital on Sunday, with 194 being treated for serious injuries.
  In the immediate aftermath of the explosion, rescuers treated hundreds of people, most of them aged between 20 and 30, wearing wet swimsuits and lying on inflatable plastic doughnuts. Television showed images of people running from sky-high flames.
  "There was blood and people were on fire," one injured man said.
  No death has yet been reported, but victims of the incident suffered burns to the limbs, with some passing out from the pain while others had burned clothes stuck to their skin, media reports and pictures showed.
  Soldiers, army vehicles and medical services joined the rescue effort, while hospitals in four municipal precincts, along with Taipei, are treating sufferers.
  "We are very sorry about what happened and we will investigate the cause to find out who is responsible," Eric Chu, the mayor of New Taipei City, where the park is located, said on Saturday, adding that it had been ordered to shut down.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/tally-injured-rises-more-500-after-taiwan-water-park-fire-n383226
who: government official.revelers
where:Formosa Fun Coast water park,Taipei
when:Saturday
why:The number of people injured in a fire 
how:An explosion of colored powder 
what:colored powder
*keywords
1.reveler(n.)飲酒狂歡者
2.spray(v.)噴灑
3.break out(v.)爆發
4.outskirts(n.)市郊;邊界
5.aftermath(n.)結果
6.inflatable(adj.)膨脹的;得意的
7.doughnut(n.)油炸圈餅
8.limb(n.)肢;臂
9.municipal(adj.)市政的
10.precinct(n.)選區;管轄區域

week2-Nepal earthquake 2015

  A magnitude 7.3 earthquake shook parts of Nepal Tuesday, collapsing buildings and killing at least 79 in an area still struggling to recover from last month's destructive temblor. It brought fresh fears to a people that have been terrified since the initial quake, a 7.8-magnitude tremor on April 25.

  The quake was centered about 47 miles east-northeast of the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu near the border with Tibet and much closer to the Mt. Everest base camp, where an avalanche triggered by the April 25 quake claimed 18 lives. The temblor was felt as far away New Delhi, India, and Dhaka, Bangladesh. Tuesday's quake has been labeled as an aftershock by the U.S. Geological Survey.

  Outside of Nepal, the earthquake killed at least one person in Tibet and 16 people in India, according to the Associated Press, meaning the most recent temblor has killed a total of 54 people. Nearly 2,000 people have been reported injured.

  A U.S. Marine Corps helicopter providing aid in Nepal has gone missing, military officials say. The Huey was near Charikot, Nepal, when it disappeared, but officials say there are no indications that it crashed. Six U.S. Marines and two Nepalese soldiers were on the missing aircraft.

  The threat hasn't passed, either. The USGS issued an aftershock advisory, predicting more tremors in the coming months. Officials demanded residents leave damaged buildings, fearing more catastrophe could occur in another large aftershock, the AP also reported.

   "I think we could expect six months to a year or more of aftershocks," USGS research geophysicist Dan McNamara told The Weather Channel. "It's a very large earthquake, so it's not unexpected to have a very active aftershock sequence."

  Officials expect the death toll to climb and have sent medics to surrounding areas to help the injured. The International Organization for Migration reported several buildings had collapsed in the town and that bodies were being pulled out of the rubble.

http://www.weather.com/news/news/nepal-earthquake-may122015

Who:Nepalese and official
why:not given

when:2015 April 25
What:A earthquake occured to Nepal
Where:Nepal

How:The quake was centered about 47 miles east-northeast of the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu 

*keyword
1.magnitude(n.)震級;強度
2.avalanche(n.)山崩
3.temblor(n.)地震
4.advisory(n.)報告
5.tremor(n.)顫抖;顫慄
6.catastrophe (n.)大災難
7. geophysicist(n.)地球地理學家
8. sequence(n.)結果;連續
9. toll(n.)傷亡人數;使用費
10.rubble(n.)碎石;瓦礫堆

week1-Apache helicopter scandal

    The Control Yuan has voted to impeach 601st Air Cavalry Brigade Lieutenant Colonel Lao Nai-cheng （勞乃成） and two other officers over security breaches and rule violations in what came to be known as the “Apache helicopter scandal” earlier this year.
    A nine-member Control Yuan committee yesterday said that it had voted unanimously to impeach Lao, a pilot-instructor for the US-made AH-64E Apache attack helicopter.
    Brigade commander Major General Chien Tsung-yuan （簡聰淵） was impeached after a unanimous vote, while brigade personnel section head Lieutenant Colonel Tao Kuo-chen （陶國禎） was impeached after an 8-1 vote.
    Lao took a group of 26 relatives and friends, including a Japanese man and five domestic caregivers who were foreign nationals, on a private tour of a restricted-access base which houses Apache helicopters and other advanced aircraft.
    That visit on March 29 led to a firestorm after one visitor, TV personality Janet Lee （李蒨蓉）, posted photographs on Facebook that drew widespread public criticism.
    The Control Yuan report accused Lao of “wasting” the NT$40 million （US$1.28 million） the government spent to send him to the US for flight training.
    “Lao took the nation’s assets as his own private property. He used the Apache helicopter as a social networking tool and took the helicopter helmet as a prop for a private party. During the investigation, Lao continued to lie about his actions and tried to cover them up. He has brought dishonor to the military,” the report said.
     Chien was was the first person to breach base security with a tour for his relatives and friends on Feb. 20 this year, the report said, adding that Lao followed Chien’s example.
     The investigation said that Tao was in charge of security and access to the base on March 29, but violated registration requirements and other regulations in permitting Lao’s group to bypass security checks.

http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/focus/breakingnews/1372387

Who:Lao Nai-cheng. Janet Lee .Chien Tsung-yuan.Tao Kuo-chen
why:not given
when:March 29
What:Apache helicopter scandal
Where:not given
How:not manage the security well

*keyword
1.impeach(v.)檢舉;歸咎;彈劾
2.breach(n.)違反;破壞
3.unanimously(adv.)無異議地;同意地
4.brigade(n.)旅;隊
5.caregiver(n.)受雇照顧的人;傭人
6. restricted-access(adj.)限制進入
7. registration(n.)登記
8.bypass(v.)省略;忽視