Week 2 - Sewol disaster

Sewol disaster due to overloading, redesign, poor steering: prosecutors

AFP
October 7, 2014, 12:09 am TWN

SEOUL -- South Korean prosecutors said Monday that a deadly combination of cargo overloading, illegal redesign and poor helmsmanship led to the April ferry disaster that claimed more than 300 lives, mostly schoolchildren.

The Coast Guard's botched initial response also contributed to the high death toll, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (SPO) said, releasing the findings of a five-month-long probe into the disaster.

It backed charges and evidence presented at the ongoing murder trial of the vessel's captain and crew that the Sewol ferry was overloaded with cargo and not carrying enough ballast to balance the vessel correctly.

Investigators also found that a redesign in 2012 to increase cargo capacity had impaired the ship's stability, leaving it top heavy.

“The ferry had essentially lost its ability to maintain its balance,” the SPO said in a press release.

At the time of the incident, the 6,825-tonne Sewol was carrying 3,606 tonnes of freight and cars, more than three times its recommended maximum cargo, the SPO said.

The poorly trained crew then made a sharper-than-recommended turn as the ship sailed through a strong current.

“Due to the helmsman's unskilled handling, the ship listed, sending cargo towards to one side, and then sank.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/korea/2014/10/07/418883/Sewol-disaster.htm

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- South Korean prosecutors

WHEN- October 6, 2014, 12:09 am

WHAT- South Korean prosecutors said the reason why Sewol disaster happened.

WHY- To tell to the public
WHERE - not give

HOW- Opened press conference

Keywords：

1. overloading：超載的

2. helmsmanship：掌舵技術

3. The Coast Guard：海岸警衛隊

4. botched：拙劣

5. Supreme Prosecutors' Office：最高法院檢察署

6. probe：探測器

7. ballast：壓載

8. capacity：容量

9. freight：貨物

10. steering：掌舵

Week1 - Ukraine Crisis

Putin calls troops back from Ukraine border

By Anna Smolchenko, AFP

October 13, 2014, 12:05 am TWN

MOSCOW--Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his defense minister to pull thousands of troops from the border with Ukraine, ahead of key talks on a fragile truce in the ex-Soviet country.

The announcement by the Kremlin late Saturday comes as the Russian strongman is gearing up to hold the talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and European leaders in Milan on Friday, signaling the possibility of shoring up the rickety truce.

Russia is facing its most serious international isolation since the end of the Cold War, with the economy in tatters, intensified capital flight and an increasingly weakening ruble following several rounds of Western sanctions.

“The head of state has tasked the defense minister with beginning to bring troops back to their permanent bases,” the Kremlin said.

The order, the Kremlin said, meant that 17,600 servicemen, who had participated in summer drills in the southern Rostov region on the border with Ukraine, would be pulled back.

Defense minister Sergei Shoigu received the order after reporting that “summertime training on military ranges of the Southern military district is over,” the Kremlin said.

The late Saturday meeting between Putin and Shoigu took place after the president chaired a meeting of his national security council at his Black Sea resident in Sochi, said the Kremlin, without providing further details.

Kiev has reported that attacks by pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine have subsided.

The rebels and the Ukrainian military in the eastern Donetsk region said for their part they had agreed to a no-shooting period, and the army announced “progress” in negotiations and readiness to pull back forces.

End of 'New Russia' Project?

Some critics said the troop drawback meant that the Kremlin was keen to drop its support for separatists.

“The project Novorossiya (New Russia) is over,” former deputy prime minister turned opposition leader Boris Nemtsov said, referring to the loaded Tsarist-era name for what is now southern and eastern Ukraine.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/international/europe/2014/10/13/419325/Putin-calls.htm

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Russian President Vladimir Putin

WHEN- The announcement posted: October 6, 2014. The meeting: October 17, 2014

WHAT- Putin ordered his defense minister to pull thousands of troops from the border with Ukraine

WHY- To hold the talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and European leaders, ahead of key talks on a fragile truce in the ex-Soviet country.

WHERE- The meeting hold on Milan

HOW- Hold a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and European leaders.

Keywords：

   1. truce：停火、休戰

   2. gear up：整裝待發…

   3. shore up：支持

   4. intensified：加劇

   5. sanctions：制裁

   6. rebels：叛軍

   7. subsided：平息、減少

   8. negotiations：談判

   9. separatists：獨立派

 10. Tsarist-era：沙皇時代