Popular protest
Protesters in central Hong Kong on October 1 light up the night with mobile phones. Tensions were high after police were seen unloading tear gas and rubber bullets. — EPA
Many missing
Volcano buries victims
Tokyo — Rescuers searching a volcano that erupted without warning in Japan found dead hikers wedged between huge rocks and people half-buried in ash, authorities reported on October 2.
Authorities said at least 47 people were found dead after the eruption at the end of September, but up to 24 were still missing, with fears that some could be buried in the thick ash.
The 3,067-metre Mount Ontake was still billowing steam and toxic gas. Police found ash up to 50 centimetres deep at a shrine on the peak when they first arrived, the Mainichi newspaper reported. — AFP
Unhappy staff
Casino workers go on strike
Macau — Hundreds of casino workers in gambling hub Macau walked off the job on October 3 to demand higher wages and better benefits, a union leader said. It was the latest in a wave of labour unrest to hit casino operators also facing shrinking revenues.
Up to 300 dealers at the flagship casino of MGM China Holdings Ltd took collective sick leave on October 3, according to Leong Man Teng, head of the Forefront of Macau Gaming labour union behind recent protests. The company declined to comment on the strike. — Reuters
Soldiering on
Confetti rains on marching Filipino UN Peacekeepers as they are given a hero’s welcome on October 1 at Camp Aguinaldo in Manila, the Philippines. — AP
Fatal mistake
Unarmed man shot dead
New York — An unarmed man was shot dead in the back by New York police after intervening when a knife-wielding assailant threatened a woman and her two young children, police reported on October 2.
US media identified the victim as 51-year-old Rafael Laureano and quoted a police spokesman as saying that he was shot by mistake.
Police were called to a Brooklyn apartment where another man was assaulting a woman and her children. Police said that they ordered the suspect to drop the knife multiple times before shooting at the armed individual. Laureano, who also entered the apartment, was also shot and was pronounced dead at a hospital. — AFP
Bomb blasts
Soldiers killed in attacks
Benghazi, Libya — Thirty-six soldiers were killed and more than 70 wounded in car bomb attacks and clashes between troops and Islamists around Benghazi airport, a Libyan army spokesman said on October 3.
Two car bombs exploded when an army convoy travelled close to the airport, taking out three soldiers, the spokesman said. Later, a third bombing attack struck, also near the airport. — AFP
Troubled waters
Sharks killed after attack
Sydney — Two great white sharks were caught and killed off Western Australia after an attack in which a young surfer lost parts of both his arms. The capture of the sharks came as a man who witnessed the attack said the 23-year-old surfer, Sean Pollard, might have died if he had not received immediate medical attention.
The great whites, a protected species, were caught east of the town of Esperance near where Sean was mauled on October 1.
“Even upon examination it may not be possible to confirm that either shark was involved in the incident,” a state Department of Fisheries official said. — AFP
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Train trauma
Accident kills 14 passengers
New Delhi — Two trains collided in Uttar Pradesh state, India. Authorities reported the news on October 1. Fourteen people were killed. Many other people were injured. One train missed a signal to stop and hit another train. — DPA
Exercises
1. Which of the following is NOT true, according to the story about the shark attack in Australia?
a. Great white sharks are protected species.
b. The man attacked by the shark died in hospital.
c. The man attacked by the shark is in his twenties.
2. More than 70 soldiers were killed in car bomb attacks near Benghazi airport. True or false?
3. In what Thai province was marijuana recently seized?
Vocabulary
- flagship (n): the most important product, service, building, etc. that an organisation owns or produces
strike (n): a period of time when an organised group of employees of a company stops working because of a disagreement over pay or conditions
intervene (v): to become involved in a situation in order to improve or help it
assailant (n): a person who attacks somebody, especially physically
convoy (n): a group of vehicles or ships travelling together, especially when soldiers travel with them for protection
