Devastating disaster
Residents walk past the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban City in central Philippines on November 10. At least 10,000 people were killed by the massive storm that hit six central provinces in the Philippines on November 8. — AP
Online affair
Singapore blocks website
Singapore — Singapore’s Internet regulator will block access to infidelity website AshleyMadison.com, which claims to match up married people for extramarital affairs.
“We recognise that site blocking is not a perfect way of denying access to prohibited content, as it can be circumvented,” Singapore’s Media Development Authority said in a statement, adding that the Ashley Madison website promotes and facilitates extramarital affairs and has declared that it will target Singaporeans. — Reuters
Finning finished
New Zealand to protect sharks
Wellington — New Zealand will ban shark finning in its waters within two years, Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy announced on November 10.
“It is already illegal in New Zealand to slice the fin off a shark and throw it back alive,” Nathan said.
The new ban would be extended to finning a shark and dumping the carcass at sea. The minster added that it will start to take effect in some areas next October and that the regulation will cover all New Zealand waters by 2016. — AFP
Solider ceremony
Indian paramilitary soldiers pay tribute to their slain colleagues during a wreath laying ceremony inside a base camp on the outskirts of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, on November 8. — EPA
Space odyssey
Olympic flame blasts off
Moscow — A rocket carrying the Olympic flame was launched into the sky. It successfully blasted off from earth ahead of the Sochi 2014 Winter Games.
The official event was captured by NASA Live TV, which showed the rocket’s successful launch from the Russian-operated Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The launch was broadcast on November 7. The torch will make its way to the International Space Station before being taken into space itself, making it the Olympic flame’s first spacewalk. — AP
Aid announced
US to help Palestine
Bethlehem — US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the United States will provide an additional $75 million (2.3 billion baht) in aid to create Palestinian jobs and to help them improve roads, schools and other infrastructure.
US officials say the aid is intended to boost Palestinian public support for faltering peace talks with Israel by showing them tangible benefits from the process. Kerry announced the news on November 6 in Bethlehem, where he had a meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas. — AP
UNESCO blow
US loses voting rights
Paris — American influence in culture, science and education around the world took a blow on November 8 when the US automatically lost voting rights at UNESCO after missing a deadline to repay its debt to the world’s cultural agency.
The US hasn’t paid its dues to the Paris-based UNESCO in protest over the decision by world governments to make Palestine a UNESCO member in 2011. Israel suspended its dues at the same time.
Under UNESCO rules, the US had until November 8 to resume funding or explain itself, or it automatically loses its vote.
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Volatile volcano
Eruption occurs in Indonesia
Karo — Mount Sinabung erupted in Karo, Indonesia. It happened on November 9. The volcano threw ash 7 kilometres into the sky. More than 1,000 people were evacuated from the nearby area. — AFP
Exercises
1. What does the AshleyMadison.com website do?
a. It encourages Singaporean kids to do extra-curricular activities.
b. It supports extramural activities among ASEAN countries.
c. It encourages Singaporeans to have extramarital affairs.
2. Who is the US Secretary of State?
3. How many people in Thailand were killed by dengue fever as of November 6?
Vocabulary
- paramilitary (adj): helping the official army of a country
infidelity (n): the act of not being faithful to your wife, husband or partner, by having sex with somebody else
extramarital (adj): happening outside marriage
circumvent (v): to find a way of avoiding a difficulty or a rule
carcass (n): the dead body of an animal, especially of a large one or of one that is ready for cutting up as meat
volatile (adj): likely to change or become dangerous suddenly
torch (n): a long piece of wood that has material at one end that is set on fire and that people carry to give light
