Landslide loss
Rescuers on October 4 search for survivors from a landslide in Santa Catarina Pinula, Guatemala. At least 83 were killed and hundreds were missing. — AFP
Train trouble
Migrants storm tunnel
London — Around 200 migrants tried to get into the Channel Tunnel from the French side on October 3, clashing with staff and police and forcing a temporary suspension of rail services, a spokesman for Eurotunnel said.
Rail services then resumed but traffic was slow due to continued safety checks, the company said.
“Such a large group had no chance of reaching the UK,” Eurotunnel said in a statement. — Reuters
Emergency over
Tunisia lifts measures
Tunis — Tunisia lifted a state of emergency on October 2 imposed nearly three months ago following a massacre at a beach hotel that killed 38, mainly British tourists, the president’s office announced.
President Beji Caid Essebsi imposed the measure after the June attack, which was the second deadly attack on foreigners in three months.
The gunman behind the beach attack was killed by police, and the Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the massacre. — AP
Rubber souls
Refugees rest onboard after they were rescued from their rubber boat in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya on September 29. — AFP
Missing Mexicans
Parents lead march
Iguala, Mexico — Hundreds of people, led by the parents and relatives of 43 missing students, on September 27 toured various sites in southern Mexico linked to the disappearance of the young people just over a year ago.
The march came a day after the anniversary of the September 26, 2014, disappearance of the students. The crime sparked protests across Mexico, and thousands of people marched in Mexico City on Saturday to demand justice. — AFP
Refugee restrictions
Germany limits arrivals
Berlin — Germany’s president has warned that there are limits to how many refugees his country can absorb as it prepares for as many as 800,000 arrivals this year, officials said on September 28.
The comments from the head of state were set to fuel a raging debate about how so many newcomers can be integrated into German society.
“We want to help. We have a big heart. However, there is a limit to what we can do,” President Joachim Gauck said in a speech. — AFP
Hazy days
Fires break records
Jakarta — The forest fires blanketing Southeast Asia in choking haze are on track to become among the worst on record, NASA has warned, with a prolonged dry season hampering efforts to curb a crisis that has persisted for nearly two decades, officials said on October 2.
Malaysia, Singapore and large expanses of Indonesia have suffered for weeks from acrid smoke billowing from fires on plantations that are being illegally cleared by burning.
The crisis grips the region nearly ever year during the dry season. — AFP
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Special skies
Moon gets closer
Washington — A rare event happened on September 28. A supermoon and lunar eclipse combined. It was visible from many countries across USA, Europe, Africa and western Asia. — AFP
Exercises
1. Who is Joachim Gauck?
a. A rescuer.
b. A German migrant.
c. Germany’s president.
2. Around 2,000 migrants tried to get into the Channel Tunnel from the French side on October 3. True or false?
3. Who surveyed the satisfaction of students toward the class cuts?
Vocabulary
- refugee (n): a person who has been forced to leave their country
migrant (n): a person who moves from one place to another, especially to find work
eclipse (n): an occasion when the moon passes between the earth and the sun so that you cannot see all of the sun
plantation (n): a large area of land where crops are grown
