Week 7-Canadian Parliament. Ottawa. shooting. gunman

Canadian Parliament Shooting: Gunman Identified As Michael Zehaf-Bibeau

Nathan Cirillo, a soldier standing guard at Parliament Hill in Ottawa was tragically shot and killed on the morning of Oct. 22. The shooter, who was killed by police, has been identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, according to USA Today.

The morning of Oct. 22 was a horrific day for the residents of Ottawa when Parliament Hill came under attack. Nathan Cirillo, 24, a soldier guarding at the Canada’s war memorial, was gunned down by lone gunman, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, 32. After numerous reports that there were several gunmen, Canadian police confirmed that Michael was acting alone in the shooting before he was killed by police, USA Today reports.

Canadian Parliament Hill Ottawa Shooting — Gunman Identified

Two soldiers were standing guard at the Canada’s war memorial in Ottawa when Michael opened fire on one of them, a witness told CNN. Gunshots were also heard inside the halls of Parliament.

The fallen soldier was later identified as Nathan Cirillo, a 24-year-old Canadian army reservist.

“I heard this pop, pop, pop and thought it was dynamite for construction rather than something else,” John McKay, a member of Parliament, told CTV.

A “lone gunman is deceased” a member of the nation’s Parliament, Bob Zimmer, tweeted after shots were fired. Michael was a recent convert to Islam, a government official told Associated Press. He also had a drug problem before he converted, a source told CNN. “In the days to come we will learn about the terrorist and any accomplices he may have had,” Prime Minster Stephen Harper said.

Michael’s passport was confiscated by Canadian authorities when they learned he planned to go fight overseas, a U.S. law enforcement official told CNN.

Ottawa police confirmed shots were fired at three locations: the war memorial, inside Centre Block and at the Rideau Centre shopping mall east of Parliament Hill. On Oct. 22, the Prime Minister’s Office reassured the public that Stephen Harper is safe and was not on Parliament Hill during the shooting. Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau were also safe from harm.

“This week’s events are a grim reminder that Canada is not immune to the types of terrorist attacks we have seen elsewhere around the world,” Stephen said on Oct. 22. “Let there be no misunderstanding: We will not be intimidated. Canada will never be intimidated.”

Reason For Shooting

The motive for the attack is still unclear, but it came days after Canada raised its domestic terrorism threat level. Canadian authorities feared knife and gun attacks.

Earlier this week, a man who Canadian authorities said was “radicalized” was shot to death after killing a Canadian soldier.

Our thoughts go out to Nathan’s family and friends and the entire country of Canada during this difficult time.

– Shira Benozilio 

http://hollywoodlife.com/2014/10/22/canadian-parliament-hill-ottawa-shooting-gunmen-loose/

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Nathan Cirillo

WHEN- The morning of Oct. 22 

WHAT- was shot and killed

WHERE -Canadian Parliament

HOW-tragically 

WHY- not given

Key Words:

1. confirm 證實；確定

2.reservist 後備役軍人

3.dynamite 炸藥

4.deceased 已故的

5.accomplice 共犯，同謀，幫兇

6.confiscate 沒收

7.intimidated 害怕的；受到恐嚇的

8.radicalize 使激進；使偏激

Week 6 - ISIS-Iraq. IS(Islamic State)

Jimmy Carter: Obama dropped the ball on ISIS threat

Former president Jimmy Carter has criticized the Obama administration’s handling of the crisis in the Middle East and the growing threat of the Islamic State, joining a growing list of the president’s allies who are scrutinizing his strategy in Syria and Iraq.

In an interview with the Fort Worth, Texas Star-Telegram published on Oct. 7, Carter said the US had waited too long to respond to the growing power of the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) extremist group, which also goes by the name Islamic State.

“We let the Islamic State build up its money, capability and strength and weapons while it was still in Syria,” Carter said. “Then when [ISIS] moved into Iraq, the Sunni Muslims didn’t object to their being there and about a third of the territory in Iraq was abandoned.”

Carter added that the use of ground troops in addition to the current air campaign could ensure the US succeeds in Iraq. “If we keep on working in Iraq and have some ground troops to follow up when we do our bombing, there is a possibility of success,” he said.

President Barack Obama acknowledged last month that US intelligence did not anticipate the threat that ISIS posed in Iraq but has maintained that arming Syrian rebels would have been untenable, and might have led to militants obtaining arms.

(Courtesy of Liberty Times)

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2014/11/11/2003604122

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Former president Jimmy Carter

WHEN- not given

WHAT- criticized the Obama administration

WHERE- not given

HOW-not given

WHY- the US had waited too long to respond to the growing power of the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS)

Key Words:

1.dropped the ball:搞砸了

2.allies:（第一次世界大戰時的）協約國

3.scrutinizing:詳細檢查；細看
4.extremist:極端主義者；過激分子
5.goes by :以...為名
6.rebels:造反者；反抗者；反叛者
7.untenable:難以防守的，不能防守的
8.militants:好戰的；富於戰鬥性的；激進的

Week 5 - Ferguson, Michael Brown, Darren Wilson, Missouri

Ferguson policeman resigns as shooting protests continue

Officials in Ferguson, Missouri, yesterday planned to address the resignation of police officer Darren Wilson, who fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown.

A grand jury decision on Monday last week not to charge Wilson in connection with the Aug. 9 shooting touched off days racially charged violence across the US.

Wilson, who had been on administrative leave since the shooting, resigned on Saturday, effective immediately, according to his lawyer, Neil Bruntrager, who declined further comment.

An attorney for Brown’s family did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Wilson, who had been with the Ferguson Police Department for less than three years, told the St Louis Post-Dispatch he decided to step down after the department told him it had received threats of violence if he remained on the force.

“I’m not willing to let someone else get hurt because of me,” Wilson told the newspaper.

Wilson wrote in the letter that “it is my hope that my resignation will allow the community to heal.”

“It was my hope to continue in police work, but the safety of other police officers and the community are of paramount importance to me,” the letter from the 28-year-old Wilson said.

Ferguson officials planned to make a statement on Wilson’s resignation yesterday, city attorney for Ferguson Stephanie Karr said.

Karr earlier this week said Wilson had been on paid leave pending the outcome of an internal police investigation.

Following news of the resignation, more than 100 protesters gathered near police headquarters, where they were outnumbers by officers. At least one person was arrested after a brief standoff with officers.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/12/01/2003605694

Structure of the Lead：

WHEN - yesterday
WHO - Officials

WHAT - planned to address the resignation of police officer Darren Wilson.

WHY - police officer Darren Wilson, who fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown.

WHERE - Ferguson, Missouri

Keyword:

1.  resign  辭職

2.  address 向…講話

3.  touched off 引起; 觸發

4.  racially 按人種地；人種上

5.  charge 控告，指控；指責

6.  administrative 行政的

7.  leave 准假；休假；休假期

8.  attorney【美】律師

9.  paramount 至高無上的；最重要的；主要的

10.pend 等候判定或決定

11.outnumber 數量上超過

12.standoff 【美】僵持

Week 4- Malaysia Airlines, MH17, shot down, Ukraine

First bodies of Flight MH17 victims arrive in Netherlands

AP, EINDHOVEN, Netherlands

Two military transport planes carrying 40 coffins bearing victims of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 landed yesterday in the southern city of Eindhoven, while pro-Russian rebels shot down two fighter jets in Ukraine’s restive east as fighting flared in the region.
Six days after the Boeing 777 was shot down over the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, the first bodies finally arrived in the Netherlands, the country that bore the heaviest toll in the crash that killed all 298 passengers and crew.

A Dutch Hercules C-130 that Dutch government spokesman Lodewijk Hekking says carried 16 coffins was the first to land, closely followed by an Australian C-17 Globemaster plane carrying 24 coffins.

British investigators began work on a pair of “black boxes” to retrieve data on the flight’s last minutes, while Dutch officials said they have taken charge of the stalled investigation of the airline disaster and pleaded for unhindered access to the wreckage.

Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch said that Dutch authorities had delivered the plane’s voice and data recorders to the agency’s base at Farnborough, southern England, where the information will be downloaded.

Experts will also check for signs of tampering.

The two military transport planes departed Ukraine at midday, and landed at Eindhoven Air Base where the flights were met by Dutch King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and other government officials.

Hundreds of victims’ relatives were also there, Hekking said.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said two fighter planes were shot down about 30km south of the site of the Malaysia Airlines wreckage.

The separatist Donetsk People’s Republic said in a statement on its Web site that one of the pilots was killed and another was being sought by rebel fighters.

While the insurgents deny having missiles capable of hitting a jetliner at cruising altitude, rebel leader Alexander Borodai has said that separatist fighters do have Strela-10M ground-to-air missiles which are capable of hitting targets up to an altitude of 3,500m.

Separately, senior US intelligence officials on Tuesday said that Russia was responsible for “creating the conditions” that led crash, but they offered no evidence of direct Russian government involvement.

The officials, who briefed reporters under ground rules that their names not be used, said the plane was likely shot down by an SA-11 surface-to-air missile fired by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The officials cited intercepts, satellite photographs and social media postings by separatists, some of which have been authenticated by US experts.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/07/24/2003595807

Structure of the Lead：
WHEN- yesterday
WHO- First bodies of Flight MH17 victims
WHAT- Two military transport planes carrying 40 coffins bearing victims of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 landed.
WHY- pro-Russian rebels shot down two fighter jets in Ukraine’s restive east as fighting flared in the region
HOW- not given
WHERE-  in the southern city of Eindhoven

Keyword:
1.  rebel 造反者；反抗者；反叛者
2.  restive 喧鬧的；焦躁的
3.  retrieve 重新得到，收回
4.  plead for 請求
5.  unhindered 未受阻撓的；未受妨礙的
6.  wreckage（失事船或飛機等的）殘骸
7.  tamper 損害，削弱；竄改
8.  separatist 分離主義者
9.  insurgent 起事者；暴動者；叛亂者
10.jetliner 噴射客機
11.cruising 【空】最省油之飛行的
12.altitude 高，高度；海拔
13.intercept 攔截；截住；截擊
14.authenticate 證明……是真實的

Week3 - Vietnam, anti-China protest, riot

Anti-China Riots in Vietnam Leave at Least 21 Dead

Protests against China's territorial ambitions in the South China Sea have spread to central Vietnam, where more factories have been torched. Hundreds of ethnic Chinese have fled the country

At least 21 people were killed as anti-China riots in southern Vietnam escalated and spread to the center of the country on Thursday.

A doctor in Ha Tinh province described five of the dead as Vietnamese workers and others as Chinese. He said they were among roughly 100 people sent to his hospital, Reuters reports. Over 600 Chinese have fled across the border to Cambodia.

The riots erupted following a large-scale demonstration on Tuesday to protest China’s May 1 deployment of an oil rig in waters claimed by both Beijing and Hanoi, triggering the most critical stand-off between the two countries in over three decades.

Rioters have torched and vandalized dozens of foreign-owned factories, mistaking them for Chinese enterprises. On Wednesday, they attacked a $20 billion Taiwanese-owned steel plant set to be the largest in Southeast Asia once it is completed in 2020.

About 600 people have been arrested for looting and inciting the crowd in Binh Duong province, where the riots started, state-run Thanh Nien newspaper quoted the local police chief as saying.

An editorial in the Beijing-friendly Global Times said that Vietnam had “cornered itself” and pointed out that demonstrators during similar outbursts of nationalist fervor in China — such as the anti-Japan demonstrations of 2012 — were more restrained. (However, Japanese automakers lost an estimated $250 million in output during the protests over the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands.)

Vietnamese and Philippine hopes of a united regional stance in the face of Chinese assertiveness were meanwhile dashed as Southeast Asian leaders failed to agree on a joint statement during the ASEAN summit last weekend. Hanoi and Manila are the most embroiled in territorial conflicts with China in the South China Sea, but face opposition from neighboring countries with precious economic ties to Beijing.

The United States has called on both sides to show restraint, with White House spokesman Jay Carney telling a regular briefing that this kind of dispute needs “to be resolved through dialogue, not through intimidation.”

http://time.com/100492/vietnam-anti-china-riots-21-dead/

Structure of the Lead：
WHEN- on Thursday
WHO- At least 21 people
WHAT- were killed
WHY- Protests against China's territorial ambitions in the South China Sea
HOW- not given
WHERE- central Vietnam

Keyword:
1.  riot 暴亂
2.  territorial 領土的
3.  ethnic 種族（上）的
4.  flee 逃
5.  escalate 使逐步上升（增強或擴大）；使（戰爭）逐步升級
6.  Cambodia 柬埔寨
7.  demonstration 示威，示威運動
8.  deployment 部署；調度
9.  rig 鑽井架，鑽塔
10.Hanoi 河內（越南首都）
11.trigger 觸發，引起
12.vandalize 任意破壞
13.loot 搶劫，洗劫；強奪
14.incite 激勵；激起；煽動
15.corner 壟斷 ; 使陷於絕境
16.restrain 抑制，遏制
17.stance 立場；態度
18.assertiveness 自信；魄力
19.embroiled 捲入（糾紛）的
20.intimidation 恫嚇，恐嚇；脅迫

Week 2 - World Cup, 2014, Brazil, German

Brazil rethinking national team's future after disastrous loss, failure in home World Cup

SAO PAULO –  The World Cup held potential disaster for Brazil - the country, not the team.

Yet the country pulled of a magnificent tournament, albeit with a few bumps. It's the team that has left many Brazilians wondering what went horribly wrong.

The cup was widely seen as theirs for the taking, especially on home turf. They leave the Cup in fourth place with their star badly injured and the brutal memory of a 7-1 rout by the Germans in front of a global audience.

The most successful nation in World Cup history has been eliminated in three straight tournaments, enough to raise questions about whether it's doing the right things to keep up with countries that have dominated the sport in recent years.

It's already clear Brazil won't be the same after the home tournament.

A change in coach is almost certain, and new players will be joining Neymar and Oscar for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Critics say bigger changers are needed, including in the local football confederation.

The resounding 7-1 loss to Germany, which embarrassed the nation, could become a turning point for the national team. The semifinal defeat has everyone thinking about the need to rebuild.

"We failed. We didn't play up to expectations, we know it wasn't a good tournament," said striker Neymar, who missed the last two matches because of a back injury. "We didn't play the kind of football that the Brazilian national team plays. It was just regular, and that's why we still reached the semifinals, but it wasn't Brazilian football, not the kind of football that enchants everybody."

Brazil never displayed its traditional "Jogo Bonito," or "Beautiful Game," and ended the tournament with three wins, two draws and two losses, including 3-0 to the Netherlands in the third-place match on Saturday.

"Brazilian football has to evolve in general," right back Dani Alves said. "We can't discredit the work that has been done by this team, but we have to find a way to start restructuring our football from the youth levels up."

The president of the Brazilian confederation, Jose Maria Marin, had said that losing the World Cup at home would be like "going to hell."

"We need to think football differently," said Brazilian coach Paulo Autuori, who led Sao Paulo to the Club World Cup title in 2005. "We need the Brazilian confederation in the hands of people from football. We need people in charge who can think football."

Marin, a former politician, is leaving the confederation next year and will be replaced by Sao Paulo state federation president Marco Paulo Del Nero. Both were politically linked to Ricardo Teixeira, who ruled the confederation for more than 20 years before resigning in 2012 citing medical reasons and amid a cloud of allegations of corruption and irregularities in his administration.

Del Nero had said he would like Scolari to stay as the head of the national team despite his failure to win the title at home, but Marin was expected to announce on Monday that the confederation will not keep the coach after the World Cup. Scolari had said it would be up to the confederation to decide whether he would continue.

Scolari was picked to lead the 2014 team mostly because of his popularity and experience from the 2002 title, but many critics said he was outdated as a coach. Before rejoining the national team, the coach was relegated in the Brazilian league with Palmeiras.

"We should thank him, but we need to choose new people with new thoughts about how to play the Brazilian way," said former Brazil star Zico, who also blamed Brazil's problems "on poor administration, a lack of structure and a vacuum of leadership."

Scolari said Brazil is going through a period in which there are "fewer young promising players" in the country, and said that the confederation needs to "keep working" to make sure more appear in the future.

There are a few names already rumored to be the next coach, including Tite and Muricy Ramalho, who have been successful with local clubs in recent years. Ramalho is a four-time Brazilian champion, while Tite led Corinthians to the Club World Cup title in 2012. There is also talk in local media about international coaches, including Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, and Chile's Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli.

Regardless of the new coach, many of the players will be changing.

Of the 23 players picked by Scolari for the home tournament, only seven will be younger than 30 in Russia — Neymar, Oscar, Marcelo, Luiz Gustavo, Paulinho, Willian and Bernard.

"It was disappointing in the end, but we have to remember that this generation has started a rebuilding process for 2018 with a fourth-place finish at the World Cup," Scolari noted.

Neymar, who will be 26 in Russia, will still be carrying the hopes of the national team for a sixth world title.

"This will hurt for a long time, but we know that better days will come," the 22-year-old striker said. "We have to do whatever possible to make sure we can make the Brazilian people happy again."

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/07/14/brazil-rethinking-national-team-future-after-disastrous-loss-failure-in-home/

Structure of the Lead：
WHO-the country (Brazil)
WHEN- after disastrous loss, failure in home World Cup
WHAT- The World Cup held potential disaster for Brazil - the country, not the team.
WHY- disastrous loss
HOW-not given
WHERE- SAO PAULO

Key Words:
1. tournament: 比賽；錦標賽；聯賽
2. albeit: 儘管，雖然

3. brutal: 殘忍的，冷酷的；野蠻的；粗暴的
4. rout: 潰敗，潰退

5. eliminated: （比賽中）淘汰
6. confederation 同盟，聯盟；邦聯
7. semifinal 準決賽的
8. enchant 使著魔
9. discredit 使丟臉；敗壞……的名聲
10.allegation 斷言；申述；辯解；主張
11.relegate 貶謫；放逐
12.vacuum（跟外界隔絕的）孤立狀態

Week1-Ukraine Crisis

Gas Deal Eludes Russia and Ukraine, but Talks Will Continue

By JAMES KANTEROCT. 21, 2014

BRUSSELS — Russian and Ukrainian officials meeting here on Tuesday failed to reach a deal that would restart Russian deliveries of natural gas during the coming winter.
The dispute, which focuses on how much and how soon Ukraine should pay Russia for gas it has already consumed, and the terms for future deliveries, has raised concerns in Europe that supplies of energy from Russia that are piped through Ukraine could be interrupted this winter.
Günther H. Oettinger, the European Union energy commissioner who has already brokered several rounds of talks, told a news conference that he aimed to sign a final agreement next Wednesday.During the coming days “everyone has got some homework to do,” Mr. Oettinger said late Tuesday, after talks that lasted most of the day. But “we have some prospects of a secure supply situation this winter for all European citizens,” he said.The standoff between Russia and Ukraine is delicate for the European Union, which is reliant on the shipment of gas through Ukraine for about a fifth of its gas supplies. Gazprom, Russia’s natural-gas giant, shut the taps in 2006 and 2009 because of disputes with Ukraine, leaving many homes in Central and Eastern Europe without heat.Russia raised its gas prices to Ukraine early this year, and Gazprom halted exports in June because of the size of Ukraine’s outstanding bills. But the Ukrainians have accused the Russians of deliberately setting unfair terms to penalize the government in Kiev for tying itself more closely to the West.
The gas feud represents another front between Ukraine and Russia. Skirmishing in eastern Ukraine has continued in recent weeks between pro-Russian rebels and forces allied with the government in Kiev despite a cease-fire.Key sticking points in the gas talks have been how to calculate the size of Ukraine’s debt and how quickly it should be repaid. One remaining question is whether the European Union will step in to help Ukraine pay its bills.Of the $3.1 billion that Ukraine was agreeing to pay toward settling its debt, an amount of $1.6 billion “is still lacking,” Alexander Novak, the Russian energy minister, told reporters.“This cash gap requires funding,” said Mr. Novak, who suggested that the European Union “should examine the situation and share some of that burden.”For the Ukrainian energy minister, Yuri Prodan, the main contention appeared to be the terms on which it had agreed to buy further supplies of gas, at $385 per 1,000 cubic meters.“The situation needs to be regulated in a fashion so as to continue until spring of next year,” said Mr. Prodan, who called for a binding agreement locking in that price.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/22/business/international/gas-deal-eludes-russia-and-ukraine-but-talks-will-continue.html?_r=0

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Russian and Ukrainian officials

WHEN- on Tuesday

WHAT- meeting

WHERE- Brussels

HOW-not given

WHY- failed to reach a deal that would restart Russian deliveries of natural gas during the coming winter.

Key Words:

1.      standoff:僵局

2.      halt:暫停

3.      penalize:【律】對……處刑；規定……應處刑使不利；對……不公平

4.      skirmish: 進行小規模戰鬥