Viking festival
The Up Helly Aa Viking festival is held on January 27 on the Shetland Isles in Scotland to celebrate the influence of the Scandinavian Vikings in the Shetland Islands. — AFP
Illegal load
Cat carrier arrested
Hanoi — Police in Hanoi have seized a truck carrying over a ton of cats smuggled from China to sell to restaurants in northern Vietnam, authorities said on January 28.
“After receiving a tip, we searched the truck and discovered the cats inside,” Dong Da District police official Cao Van Loc said, adding that the driver bought the cats at the border area of Quang Ninh province.
The cats were crammed into wooden crates. Cao said the cats will be destroyed and the owner fined for transporting goods without the correct documents. — DPA
Gas leak
Fumes kill at least nine
Islamabad — At least nine people, all women and children, died after inhaling noxious fumes from an electricity generator outside their house in southwest Pakistan on January 29, officials said.
The incident happened in Killi Karbala village, 70 kilometres north of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.
“The people were asleep in the same room and inhaled poisonous gases emitted by an electricity generator installed outside their room,” local official Bashir Ahmad Bazai said.
Frequent blackouts due to a long-standing energy crisis in Pakistan have forced many to power their homes with generators. — AFP
Not forgotten
Holocaust survivors watch suspended screens in a tent raised at the entrance of the Birkenau Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, on January 27, during an official remembrance ceremony. — AP
Lost at sea
Migrants missing after boat sinks
Dhaka — About 40 illegal migrants heading from Bangladesh to Malaysia to look for work were missing on January 29 after their boat sank, police said.
The coastguard rescued 33 of them and six of them were taken to hospital. Police officer Aung So Pry Murma said a pirate ship was waiting offshore to take them to Malaysia to look for work. — Reuters
Foul feast
Officials eat endangered animal
Beijing — Chinese officials feasted on a critically endangered giant salamander and turned violent when journalists photographed the luxury banquet, according to media reports on January 27.
The 28 diners included senior police officials from the southern city of Shenzhen, the Global Times reported.
The giant salamander is believed by some Chinese to have anti-ageing properties but there is no evidence to back the claim.
The species is classed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of threatened species. — AFP
No name
Nutella not allowed by court
Paris — A French court blocked parents from naming their baby girl Nutella after the hazelnut spread, arguing that it would make her the target of mockery, authorities said on January 27.
A registrar recording the baby’s birth last September flagged the unusual name to local prosecutors who took it to a family court judge. The parents did not attend the court hearing and the judge decided in their absence to rename the baby Ella. — AFP
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Copter crash
Four soldiers killed
Hanoi — A military helicopter crashed on January 28. It happened in Hanoi, Vietnam. The helicopter was used during the Vietnam War. Four soldiers were killed in the crash. — AP
Exercises
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the story about the parents naming their child Nutella?
a. A French court allowed parents to name their baby Nutella.
b. A French couple wanted to call their baby girl Nutella.
c. French parents were not allowed to call their child Ella.
2. At least nine men died after inhaling noxious fumes from an electricity generator in Pakistan. True or false?
3. Which part of China is Xu Baosong from?
Vocabulary
- the Holocaust (n): the killing of millions of Jews by the Nazis in the 1930s and ‘40s.
noxious (adj): poisonous or harmful
blackout (n): a period when there is no light as a result of an electrical power failure
salamander (n): an animal like a lizard, with short legs and a long tail, that t lives both on land and in water
mockery (n): comments or actions that are intended to make somebody or something seem ridiculous
