Volcano erupts
Smoke billows from Mount Tavurvu after an eruption in Kokopo, Papua New Guinea on Friday August 29. Nearby communities were evacuated and some international flights were diverted when the volcano erupted. — AP
Harsh sentence
Journalist’s appeal fails
Dubai — A Bahraini appeals court on August 31 upheld a 10-year-jail term against photojournalist Ahmed Humaidan, who was convicted of attacking a police station, a judicial source said.
Human rights watchdogs say Humaidan was merely covering the pro-democracy protests that erupted among the Shia majority in the Sunni minority-ruled Gulf kingdom in early 2011.
However, the appeal judges confirmed the sentence handed down by a lower court on March 26. — AFP
Air alert
Volcano affects aviation in Iceland
Reykjavik — Icelandic authorities on August 31 raised an aviation alert to the highest level for a small area in the southeast after a fissure eruption near the Bardarbunga volcano. Initial reports said the eruption was not producing ash, which could potentially harm aeroplane engines.
All the country’s airports remained open, spokesman Eggert Mangusson said. The restriction area covers airspace up to an altitude of 1.8 kilometres, which does not affect commercial flights, officials said. — DPA
National celebration
Malaysian children wave national flags during the 57th National Day celebrations at Independence Square in Kuala Lumpur on August 31. — AFP
Drug haul
Chinese police seize cocaine
Beijing — Chinese police seized 70 kilogrammes of cocaine in the country’s biggest single haul in recent years, state media reported. Police were tipped off about a suspect shipping container arriving from Peru by US Drug Enforcement Administration officials, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Xinhua reported that by analysing phone messages and emails of a Mexican drug cartel member who had been murdered, the DEA said the container would arrive in Shanghai on August 18. Police searched the ship upon its arrival and found the cocaine. — AFP
Miners trapped
Rescue efforts continue
Managua — Twenty miners were rescued on the night of August 30 from a Nicaraguan gold mine after being trapped 450 metres underground since August 28. The number of miners who had yet to be rescued after a shaft collapsed remained unclear. Reports said 29 were believed to be initially trapped, while two escaped on their own.
Members of the military, police and municipal authorities were collaborating in the rescue effort alongside the Colombian firm Hemco, which operates the mine. The gold mine is in Nicaragua’s north Caribbean region. — DPA
Illegal meal
Man caught eating tortoises
Citrus County, Florida — Wildlife authorities in Florida caught a man who killed and ate 15 gopher tortoises and planned to slaughter 11 more of the threatened reptiles, a spokeswoman said on August 28.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said a tip-off led an officer to woods in Citrus County on Florida’s west coast where he found tire tracks and shells dumped on the ground. Returning the next day, he found a container holding 11 live gopher tortoises. — Reuters
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Road accident
Many killed in crash
Kabul — Afghan police said 23 people were killed in a road accident. A passenger van and a fuel tanker collided. It happened on August 31 in western Afghanistan. — AP
Exercises
1. The volcano eruption in Iceland caused all of the country’s airports to be closed. True or false?
2. How many kilogrammes of cocaine did Chinese police seize?
3. How many headless bodies were found in Pattaya on August 28?
Vocabulary
- billow (v): to rise and move in a large mass
watchdog (n): a person or group whose job is to check that companies or governments are not doing anything illegal or ignoring people’s rights
fissure (n): a long deep crack in something, especially in rock or in the earth
collide (v): if two things collide, they crash into each other
suspect (adj): that you suspect of being dangerous or illegal
threatened (adj): if a species of animal or plant is threatened, it is in danger of becoming extinct
