Sorrowful day
Residents on July 12 ride a motorcycle near Mount Raung as it spews volcanic ash in East Java, Indonesia. — EPA
Baby boom
Chinese families expand
Beijing — China will soon replace its one-child policy with a two-child policy, a local newspaper reported on July 22.
Nearly all couples would be allowed to have two children after an announcement to be made late this year or early next year, according to China Business News, citing the National Health and Family Planning Commission.
The newspaper reported that a commission official seeking permission to extend a local scheme in Shanxi province was told that soon all Chinese could have two children. — DPA
Censorship row
Government blocks website
Kuala Lumpur — Malaysian authorities on July 20 blocked access to a website critical of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government, saying the British-based news portal had breached a local internet law, in a move condemned by opposition lawmakers.
Sarawak Report has been publishing documents that allegedly include graft and mismanagement by the state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said the site had breached a law under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. — Reuters
Freedom of speech
Supporters of Indian communist parties on July 21 shout anti-government slogans in New Delhi, India. Nationalist leaders are facing corruption accusations. — AP
Cheeky monkey
Monkey grabs money
New Delhi — A monkey showered devotees at a temple town in northern India with tens of thousands of rupees after snatching a woman’s bag, officials said on July 20.
The monkey swooped down on the 50-year-old, who was travelling with her family, and grabbed her bag at a temple in Vrindavan, Times of India reported.
Some 150,000 rupees (about 82,000 baht) were scattered by the monkey, the report said. The woman retrieved only a small amount of the cash, Hindustan Times reported. — DPA
Faith matters
Protesters throw chairs
Kathmandu — Protesters demanding that Nepal be turned back into a Hindu nation scuffled with police on July 20 and threw chairs at the country’s deputy prime minister when he was collecting suggestions on a draft constitution.
About 200 protesters stormed into the national stadium as Deputy Prime Minister Prakash Man Singh addressed a crowd gathered as part of a campaign to collect public suggestions. No one was hurt and riot police pushed the protesters out of the arena. — AP
Naked crackdown
Police arrest Spartans
Beijing — A salad store paraded dozens of half-naked Western men dressed as Spartans through China’s capital on July 23 as a publicity stunt, causing a stir and drawing a police crackdown.
About 40 men in Spartan shorts and capes marched through central Beijing on July 22. The bare-chested men attracted crowds and posed for photos which were widely shared on social media. Police stopped the parade and wrestled two of the Spartans to the ground. Police said they had to control the foreigners in short pants to restore public order. — AP
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Speedy arrests
Police take drugs
Taipei — Police seized 138kg of amphetamines. It happened in a port in Taiwan. Authorities reported the news on July 23. Three people were arrested.
Exercises
1. Where is Vrindavan located?
a. In India.
b. In China.
c. In Thailand.
2. Prakash Man Singh is Nepal’s prime minister. True or false?
3. How many kilogrammes of marijuana were seized in Satun on July 21?
Vocabulary
- breach (v): a failure to do something that must be done by law
graft (n): illegal or unfair methods used to gain advantage in politics
constitution (n): the system of laws and basic principles that a country is governed by
crackdown (n): action taken to restrict the activities of criminals or undesirable people
wrestle (v): to fight somebody by holding them and trying to throw or force them to the ground
