Family gathering
Britain’s Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, holds her son Prince George as she talks to other parents at a Plunket play group event at Government House in Wellington on April 9. Plunket is an NGO that provides care for children and families in New Zealand. — AFP
No Noah
Film banned in several countries
Kuala Lumpur — Malaysia and Indonesia have banned the film Noah, joining other Muslim nations that forbid the Hollywood movie for its visual depiction of the prophet.
Film censors in both countries said the portrayal of the ark-building prophet by Russell Crowe was against Islamic laws. Depictions of any prophet are shunned in Islam to avoid worship of a person rather than God.
The head of Indonesia’s censor board, Muchlis Paeni, said the plot of the film contradicted both the Quran and the Bible. — AP
Diplomat detained
Italian held by Philippine police
Manila — Philippine police said on April 7 that they have detained and filed a complaint of child trafficking against a vacationing Italian diplomat found at a resort south of Manila allegedly in the company of three street boys aged nine to 12.
Members of the child rights group Bahay Tuluyan who resided in the same resort in Laguna province became suspicious when they saw the man accompanied by the children. Police said their investigation showed that prior to bringing the children to Laguna, the diplomat also took them to his accommodation in Manila. — AP
Search continues
A helicopter from Australian Navy ship HMAS Toowoomba unloads supplies on the deck of HMAS Success on April 7 in the southern Indian Ocean during the continuing search for Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. — Reuters
Public apology
Scientist makes televised statement
Tokyo — A young female scientist accused of fabricating data made a tearful apology live on Japanese television on April 9 for mistakes in her research, but insisted her ground-breaking conclusions on stem cells were accurate.
Haruko Obokata, 30, blamed her youth and inexperience for errors in her methodology, but said she had managed to create the building-block cells capable of growing into the specialised cells of the brain, liver, heart or kidneys. The research was hailed as a breakthrough that could provide a ready supply of the base material for much-needed transplant tissue. — AFP
Troubled teens
Girls plan family murder
Paris — Two French girls aged 13 were charged on April 9 with plotting to kill the family of one of the teens.
The girls, who lived in a small village near the southern city of Narbonne, were arrested after a knife attack on the 6-year-old brother of one of them raised suspicion among hospital staff who alerted authorities.
The boy remained in hospital after the March 28 attack. The two girls confessed to planning to kill the boy and one of the teen’s parents, and appeared to have no remorse for the plot, police said. — AFP
Rebel violence
Official guards killed
Delhi — Maoist rebels killed three soldiers guarding polling officials in central India on April 9, highlighting security concerns in the world’s biggest elections as the second phase of voting got under way.
The rebels staged the attack in the country’s insurgency-wracked centre one day ahead of polling in Chhattisgarh state as voters in the northeast of the country cast their ballots. Police said rebels attacked a convoy of paramilitary commandos as they were returning from escorting election officials to a polling station. — AFP
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Terror attack
Explosion kills 21 people
Islamabad — There was an explosion at a market. It happened on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan on April 9. Police said the attack was made by a Taliban terrorist group. The explosion killed 21 people. — AP
Exercises
1. Which of the following statements is NOT true, according to the news story about Haruko Obokata?
a. Haruko is a scientist.
b. Haruko is South Korean.
c. Haruko apologised for mistakes in her research.
2. Which Hollywood film was recently banned in Indonesia and Malaysia?
3. Many people were injured in a grenade-firing attack in Bangkok on April 8. True or false?
Vocabulary
- depiction (n): to describe or give an impression of something in words or with pictures, film, etc.
ground-breaking (adj): making new discoveries; using new methods
inexperience (n): lack of knowledge and experience
remorse (n): he feeling of being extremely sorry for something wrong or bad that you have done
paramilitary (adj): helping the official army of a country
