Hazardous haze
Students wear face masks to protect themselves on June 28 in haze-hit Dumai of Indonesia’s Riau province on Sumatra island. — Reuters
Lip lock
Woman glues mouth shut
Wellington — A New Zealand woman accidentally glued her lips together when she picked up a tube of super glue when reaching for her lip gloss in the dark, the Otago Daily Times reported on June 28.
Local police said the emergency operator thought the woman might be gagged or suffering from a medical condition when she called for an ambulance shortly before midnight on June 27.
The 64-year-old was taken to Dunedin Hospital. She was later released with her lips unstuck. — DPA
Crash carnage
Petrol tanker explodes
Kampala, Uganda — A car crashed into a petrol tanker, sparking a fire that killed at least 29 people and left scores more badly burned, Ugandan police said on June 30.
Spokesman Ibn Senkumbi said the petrol tanker was knocked from behind by a car and petrol started leaking. Motorcyclists and pedestrians gathered around in the hope of obtaining the leaking fuel but the tanker suddenly went up in flames, engulfing nearby cars and people.
Police were still looking for dead bodies in a nearby swamp where many had run to douse themselves after catching fire. — AP
Official welcome
South Korean President Park Geun-hye inspects a Chinese honour guard during a welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 27.
Bad medicine
Illegal drugs seized in Spain
Madrid — Spanish police said on June 29 that they had seized hundreds of thousands of packets of unlicensed medicine illegally imported from China and India, after an operation coordinated by the international and European agencies Interpol and Europol.
The Civil Guard seized more than 250,000 units of illegal medicine, officials said. Authorities also shut down 26 websites selling unauthorised medicines, which the police said were potentially harmful to health. — AFP
Crash landing
Six killed plane accident
Mexico City — A small plane crashed in an isolated mountain area of western Guatemala on June 28, killing six men.
The plane smashed into a hill in the town of Nuevo Porvenir, 150 kilometres from the Mexican border, a spokesman said. The spokesman added that local villagers were seen taking luggage and cash in US dollars and Mexican pesos that the passengers had been carrying. — AP
Time out
Myanmar bans magazine
Yangon — Myanmar on June 25 banned a Time magazine cover story about Buddhist-Muslim religious violence. A government spokesman said the magazine was banned to prevent further conflict after days of angry reaction to the article.
The ban of the piece, which carried a front page photograph of a prominent radical Buddhist monk accused of fuelling anti-Muslim violence with the headline The Face of Buddhist Terror, comes despite the apparent easing of censorship rules in a reforming nation whose former military regime closely controlled the media. — AFP
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Fatal flood
Many killed in northern India
New Delhi — A huge flood hit northern India. About 3,000 people were thought to be missing. More than 840 people were killed. The news was reported on June 28. — DPA
Exercises
1. What was the headline of the Time magazine story banned in Myanmar?
a. Buddhist-Muslim religious violence.
b. Tough time in Myanmar.
c. The Face of Buddhist Terror.
2. There has recently been major flooding in southern India. True or false?
3. How much money has Vietnam donated to build a monument in Nakhon Phanom?
Vocabulary
- engulf (v): to surround or to cover something completely
douse (v): to stop a fire from burning by pouring water over it
radical (adj): in favour of thorough and complete political or social change
regime (n): a method or system of government, especially one that has not been elected in a fair way
