Bubbly performance
Artist Manny Ford performs with soap bubbles in New York City’s Central Park on August 23. — Reuters
Manila monsoon
Floods affect thousands
Manila — About 600,000 people in the Philippines remained at temporary shelters or with relatives on August 23 after days of heavy rain that killed around 20, officials said.
A day after floods hit the capital Manila, stagnant pools of water and high tides in coastal areas prolonged the misery in the central Luzon plains to the north, civil defence official Josefina Timoteo said.
Seasonal monsoons dumped a huge amount of rain in Manila and surrounding provinces, submerging about half the capital in flood water. — AFP
Bad blaze
Fire hits retirement home
Grenoble, France — At least three people died in a fire at a French retirement home on August 23. One resident was critically injured and remains on life support, police said.
The home in the southeastern town of La Terrasse, about 30 kilometres from Grenoble, had about 80 residents. Police said the fire at the Les Solambres residence broke out in one of the residents’ rooms. About 100 firefighters and police evacuated most of the residents. — AFP
Official reception
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki inspects a guard of honour at a ceremonial reception for him at the presidential palace in New Delhi, India on August 23. — AP
Copter crash
Four die in chopper accident
London — Four people on were killed when a helicopter carrying oil workers crashed into the sea off Scotland’s Shetland Islands, local media reported on August 24. Fourteen people were rescued after the Super Puma L2 helicopter came down.
It was the fourth incident in the area involving different models of the widely-used aircraft in just over four years.
A mother of one of the survivors told Sky News that the helicopter seemed to just drop into the sea.
“My son was by a window so he was able to escape as the helicopter rolled over,” she said. — Reuters
Virus victim
Mers kills Saudi man
Riyadh — A man in Saudi Arabia died from Mers, a new respiratory virus related to Sars, bringing to 40 the number of deadly cases in the kingdom at the centre of the growing outbreak.
The Saudi Health Ministry said on August 25 that the 51-year-old man who died in Riyadh was also suffering from cancer and other diseases. Tests of two new suspected cases involving two Saudi men in the southwestern province of Asir proved positive to Mers, officials said. — AP
Illegal meals
Protected turtles rescued
Taipei — Taiwan’s coast guard seized more than 2,500 protected turtles bound for dinner plates in China, officials said on August 25, calling it the biggest smuggling case of its kind they had ever seen.
The coast guard discovered the 2,626 rare turtles — 1,180 Asian yellow pond turtles and 1,446 yellow-lined box turtles — in a container on board a vessel in Kaohsiung, a port in the south of Taiwan, on August 24.
Officials arrested one man but were still trying to find the masterminds of the smuggling ring. — AFP
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Shaky ground
Landslides hit Laos
Vientiane — Landslides killed 16 people. It happened in Pakbeng, Laos on August 21. The landslides also damaged many houses and roads. — AP
Exercises
1. What happened in Taiwan?
a. More than 2,500 turtles were released during a religious ceremony.
b. Police arrested more than 2,500 illegal immigrants.
c. More than 2,500 protected turtles bound for dinner plates were seized.
2. In which country is Grenoble city?
3. When did the train derail in Lampang?
Vocabulary
- stagnant (adj): water or air is not moving and therefore smells unpleasant
prolong (v): to make something last longer
respiratory (adj): connected with breathing
mastermind (n): an intelligent person who plans and directs a complicated project or activity, often one that involves crime
