2015年3月11日 星期三

Week 3 - Shanghi, new year, stampede

Shanghai New Year's stampede kills dozens

At least 36 people killed and dozens injured in a stampede during New Year's celebrations in China's largest city.

 | Environment, Humanitarian crises, Asia Pacific, China

At least 36 people have been killed and dozens injured after a stampede broke out during New Year's celebrations in the Chinese city of Shanghai, state-run media has said.
Citing Sina News, CCTV America said the the cause of the stampede on the Bund, the financial hub of Shanghai's popular waterfront area, was unclear.
At least 48 people were also injured, reports said.

Jenny Chan, 24, visiting from Hong Kong for New Year at Chenyi Square on the Bund, told Al Jazeera: "I was heading up to the viewing platform in order to see the light show.

"But there were so many people, I couldn't put my feet down on the steps. People behind me kept pushing.
"I could hardly move and I felt as though I was dangling in mid air.
"It was very crowded. I almost couldn't breathe and I heard someone behind me call for her help, and someone scream.
"It was a total mess. Someone pulled my hair. I think they were trying not to fall down.
"Someone brought out a loudspeaker and tried to maintain the order. On the ground I could see blood and bodies, and some people's faces were covered in bruises.
"I've never felt so near death."
Speculation
US national Andrew Shainker said that "it was impossible for emergency services to get in there given the people and chaos".
"We saw people on the opposite side of the street pushing - people trying to go up and people trying to go down. We heard screams of panic," Shainker, who teaches English in the city, told AFP news agency.
Pictures posted on social media showed huge crowds surrounding people lying on the ground in the middle of the street.
Local media say witnesses reported earlier seeing coupons, which at first glance looked like dollar bills, being thrown into the crowd which triggered the stampede.
Pictures of the coupons have appeared on social media and a news portal.
However, police dismissed speculation that the coupons had triggered the stampede, saying they were thrown after
the crush.
Authorities had earlier cancelled a New Year's countdown with a 3D laser display at the Bund due to crowd concerns, the Shanghai Daily reported last week.
The event had been growing in popularity for three years, but last year's turnout of some 300,000 people far exceeded authorities' expectations, the report said.


Structure of the Lead：

WHO- At least 36 people and dozens injured

WHEN- during New Year's celebrations

WHAT-  a stampede broke out

WHERE - in the Chinese city of Shanghai

HOW- not given

WHY- people trying to go up and people trying to go down


Key Words:

1.state-run 國營的
2.hub（興趣、活動的）中心
3.waterfront 水邊，灘；（城市中的）濱水區
4.dangle 懸擺，懸蕩；吊，掛
5.Speculation 思索；沉思；推測
張貼者： 於 4 則留言:

2015年3月4日 星期三

Week 2 - Sydney cafe. hostage

Hostage situation erupts in Sydney cafe


SYDNEY — Three people ran out a fire exit of a Sydney cafe where a gunman took an unknown number of people hostage at the height of Monday morning rush hour. Two people inside the cafe were seen holding up a flag containing an Islamic declaration of faith.
New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn confirmed that the three people "have now emerged from the location" where the hostage crisis had been unfolding for more than six hours.
"The first thing that we are doing is making sure that they are OK. We will then establish who they are and then we will continue to work with them," Burn said.
"We do not have any information that suggests that anybody is harmed at this stage," she added.
The three people were seen on live video footage bolting out of the door past heavily armed police and then disappearing around a corner.
The development came six hours after a gunman entered the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Martin Place, a plaza in the heart of the city's financial and shopping district that is packed with holiday shoppers this time of year. Many of those inside the cafe would have been taken hostage as they stopped in for their morning coffees.
New South Wales state Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said police did not know the gunman's motivation and were not sure how many people were being held inside.
"We have not yet confirmed it is a terrorism-related event," Scipione said. "We're dealing with a hostage situation with an armed offender and we are dealing with it accordingly."
Burn said that police negotiators have made contact with the gunman.
Hundreds of police flooded into the area, streets were closed and offices evacuated. The public was told to stay away from Martin Place, home to the state premier's office, the Reserve Bank of Australia, and the headquarters of two of the nation's largest banks. The state parliament house is a few blocks away.
Television footage shot through the cafe's windows showed several people with their arms in the air and hands pressed against the glass, and two people holding up a black flag with the Shahada, or Islamic declaration of faith, written on it.
The Shahada translates as ""There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger." It is considered the first of Islam's five pillars of faith, and is similar to the Lord's Prayer in Christianity. It is pervasive throughout Islamic culture, including the green flag of Saudi Arabia. Jihadis have expropriated the Shahada in their own black flag.
"We don't know whether this is politically motivated, although obviously there are some indications that it could be," Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters in the nation's capital, Canberra. "We have to appreciate that even in a society such as ours, there are people who would wish to do us harm."
Heavily armed officers were lined up outside the cafe, and a man with a backpack inside the cafe could be seen walking back and forth in front of the glass doors.
"Police have been in attendance and have controlled the situation from very early this morning," said Scipione, the police commissioner. "We are at this stage continuing to secure and make sure that we are doing all we can to bring this to a peaceful outcome."
Abbott said the National Security Committee of Cabinet met to be briefed on the situation.
"The whole point of politically motivated violence is to scare people out of being themselves," Abbott said. "Australia is a peaceful, open and generous society — nothing should ever change that. And that's why I would urge all Australians today to go about their business as usual."

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- a gunman; hostage
WHEN- at the height of Monday morning rush hour
WHAT-  the hostage crisis
WHERE - SYDNEY
HOW- not given
WHY- not given

Key Words:
1. height 頂點；極致
2. confirm 證實；確定
3. establish 確定；證實；表明
4. footage（影片的）連續鏡頭
5. bolt 衝出；逃走；快速移動
6. plaza 廣場
7. premier 首相，總理
8. pervasive 普遍的
9. expropriated 徵用，沒收; 剝奪……的所有權

張貼者： 於 5 則留言:
訂閱： 文章 (Atom)