Fast ferries
Ferries race past the Opera House at the annual Harbour Ferry Boat Race during Australia Day celebrations in Sydney, Australia on January 26. — AP
Doctor demands
Medical workers end strike
Kathmandu — Thousands of doctors in Nepal ended a five-day strike on January 24 after the government assured them that there would be changes in the country’s medical education system.
The protest was triggered by a physician who went on a 15-day hunger strike to demand the removal of the government-appointed head of Tribhuwan University Teaching Hospital. The protesters said political appointees should not hold top positions at government hospitals. — AP
Fatal flu
Woman admitted to hospital
Beijing — Chinese authorities confirmed a second human case of the new H10N8 strain of bird flu, contracted by a woman who was in critical condition in hospital in the east of the country, state news agency Xinhua reported.
The 55-year-old woman was admitted to hospital in Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province, on January 15, Xinhua said on January 25.
“An investigation showed that she had exposure to an agricultural market,” the report said. In December, China confirmed its first death from the H10N8 strain, also in Nanchang. — Reuters
Water damage
A woman walks through a flooded street in Jakarta on January 24. Torrential rains damaged more than 10,000 houses and about 64,000 people were evacuated from their homes. — Reuters
Marine mystery
Pilot whales found dead
Miami — US biologists are examining the remains of 25 dead pilot whales found off the coast of southwest Florida to determine the cause of their deaths.
Wildlife officials completed necropsies on six whales among the group of 16 females and 9 males, a spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
The whales were part of a pod formerly seen swimming in shallow waters near the city of Naples on January 25. — Reuters
Google gone
Site temporarily goes offline
San Francisco — Google disappeared from the Internet for nearly half an hour for most users on January 24. Google Inc claimed it was due to software errors. The search engine company apologised on January 25 for the disappearance of Gmail, Google+, Calendar and other affiliated applications.
“Most Google users who use logged-in services found that they were unable to access those services for approximately 25 minutes,” engineering vice president Ben Treynor said in a blog post. — AFP
Boating disaster
Many missing after accident
Jakarta — A flash flood surged down a mountain and capsized a boat on the coast of a northern Indonesian island, leaving two people dead and 27 missing, a disaster official said on January 26.
Eight people managed to escape when water engulfed the boat early on January 25 on Siau Island during a tropical downpour, authorities reported. — AFP
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Cat attack
Tiger kills three women
Delhi — A tiger killed three women. It happened in the Doddabetta forest in southern India. The tiger was later shot dead. Local media reported the news on January 23. — DPA
Exercises
1. How many people were killed by the tiger in India?
2. Chinese authorities confirmed that three people were infected by the new H10N8 bird flu virus. True or false?
3. Who conducted the Bangkok Poll survey?
Vocabulary
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strain (n): a particular type of plant or animal, or of a disease caused by bacteria, etc.
agricultural (adj): connected with the science or practice of farming
necropsy (n): an official examination of a dead body, especially that of an animal, in order to discover the cause of death
search engine (n): a computer program that is used to search the Internet for information
surge (v): to move quickly and forcefully in a particular direction
downpour (n): a heavy fall of rain that often starts suddenly
