Week 3 - China confirms identities of 36 stampede deaths

China confirms identities of 36 stampede deaths

Chinese authorities confirmed the identities of the 36 people who died in a stampede on New Year’s Eve in Shanghai as the metropolis of 23 million engaged in citywide safety checks.

More than two-thirds of the fatalities were female, according to a statement on the city government’s official microblog.

The youngest was a 12-year-old boy.

Victims included students of Fudan University, East China Normal University and East China University of Political Science, Xinhua news agency reported, citing unidentified people.

The incident has dealt “a heavy blow” to Shanghai’s image, state media Chinanews.com said in a commentary on New Year’s Day.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) ordered an investigation and told local governments to prioritize safety as the nation prepares for mass celebrations for the Lunar New Year next month.

Local authorities started emergency safety inspections across Shanghai on New Year’s Day, according to a statement on the city government’s Web site on Saturday.

The metropolis canceled several New Year’s events including a light show and concert as it deployed resources to public areas where crowds are expected, it said.

The disaster was Shanghai’s deadliest since a highrise apartment building fire in 2010 that left 58 people dead.

Inadequate surveillance and shoddy construction standards were the cause of that inferno, according to then-mayor Han Zheng (韓正), who has since been promoted to the city’s highest-ranking Communist Party official.

In Hong Kong, on New Year’s Eve, 1993, 20 people, mostly teenagers, died and 71 were injured in a stampede in the Lan Kwai Fong entertainment district, the South China Morning Post reported.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2015/01/05/2003608522

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Chinese authorities, the victims

WHEN- Dec 31, 2014

WHAT- China confirms identities of 36 stampede deaths

WHY- 36 people were stampeded to deaths on New Year’s Eve in Shanghai

WHERE – Shanghai

HOW- Were stampeded to deaths

Keywords：

01. confirmed：證實(v.)

02. stampede：踩踏(n.),(v.)

03. fatalities：死亡(n.)

04. microblog：微博(n.)

05. prioritize：分優先順序(v.)

06. inspection：檢查(n.)

07. Inadequate：不足的(a.)

08. surveillance：監控系統(n.)

09. shoddy：劣質的(a.)

10. inferno：地獄、火海(n.)

Week 2 - Pakistani terrorist attack

Taliban kill 132 at school in Pakistan

ATROCITY:The victims were mostly schoolchildren, in the deadliest terror attack in the country since at least 2007, in what Islamabad has called ‘a decisive moment’

Taliban militants killed dozens of children in an attack on an army-run school in Peshawar, Pakistan, that has left 132 people dead so far, the country’s deadliest terrorist attack since at least 2007.

Two attackers were holding 40 teachers and 20 students hostage, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province Minister of Information Mushtaq Ghani said by telephone before a military source announced that a nine-hour Pakistani Army operation to retake the school was complete

All nine attackers were reportedly killed, the source said.

Four attackers blew themselves up and another was shot dead by soldiers, he said.

The strike is the worst since the army began an offensive against Taliban insurgents near the Afghan border earlier this year.

The military is expected to want to hit back hard as the Taliban looks for more so-called “soft targets,” such as shopping centers and restaurants affiliated with the armed forces, according to Omar Hamid, head of Asia-Pacific country risk at IHS Inc.

“A lot of the kids that go to this school would have parents in the army who are taking part in the operation,” Hamid said by telephone from London. “It’s an attempt to bring the conflict into the homes of the military, especially in Peshawar.”

The dead included 123 male students, as well as nine staff members, including a female teacher, Peshawar government spokesman Feroze Shah said by telephone.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the Express Tribune, citing Taliban spokesman Mohammed Khorasani.

The attack was in retaliation for the military’s operation in North Waziristan and Khyber tribal agency, it said.

“This is a decisive moment in the fight against terrorism,” Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told reporters in televised remarks from Peshawar. “The people of Pakistan should unite in this fight. Our resolve will not be weakened by these attacks.”

Terrorism has killed more than 50,000 people in Pakistan since 2001 and complicated efforts to revive South Asia’s second-biggest economy.

Yesterday’s strike is the deadliest on a school since a 2004 assault by Islamic militants in Russia, according to Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore.

About 350 people died then in Beslan, North Ossetia, half of them children.

It also came a day after a self-proclaimed Islamic cleric from Iran held 17 hostages at a Sydney cafe for 16 hours. He died along with two hostages.

“Due to the momentum of events in Syria and Iraq, the number of groups in Pakistan have become more galvanized,” Gunaratna said. “You can see a trend toward hostage-taking and barricade-type situations. It’s a very serious situation.”

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/12/17/2003606919

.Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Taliban militants, army-run school students and teachers

WHEN- Wed, Dec 16, 2014

WHAT- Taliban kill 132 at school in Pakistan

WHY- The attack was in retaliation for the military’s operation in North Waziristan and Khyber tribal agency.
WHERE – Peshawar Pakistan

HOW- holding 40 teachers and 20 students as hostage and shot them to dead.

Keywords：

1. Taliban：塔利班

2. Peshawar：白沙瓦

3. hostage：人質

4. blow up：引爆

5. insurgents：叛亂份子

6. retaliation：報復

7. self-proclaimed：自詡為

8. hostage-taking：挾持人質