Holy rituals
On October 30, Hindu devotees perform rituals during the Chhath Puja ceremony to pray for Surya (the God of Sun) and Chhatti Mai (the Goddess of Power) in Bhopal, India. — EPA
Heavy drinking
Man dies trying to break record
Paris — French police opened an investigation on October 29 following the death of a man in his 50s after he downed 56 shots during a drinking competition.
The man was attempting to beat the previous record of 55 shots in a bar in Clermont-Ferrand in central France on October 24.
“He swallowed around 30 glasses in the space of a minute,” a police source said.
The man was driven home and emergency services took him in later that night. He died the next day in hospital after falling into a coma and suffering a heart attack, his21-year-old daughter said. — AFP
Sad search
Ferry disaster body found
Seoul — South Korean divers discovered another body inside the sunken Sewol ferry on October 28, six months after it capsized and more than 100 days after the last body was recovered, officials said.
The body was found inside a women’s restroom in the upturned ferry, which sank on April 16 and cost more than 300 lives.
The last body to be pulled from the upturned ship was on July 18, and since then divers have continued to search the ferry on a near-daily basis as victims’ relatives refuse to approve the raising of the Sewol before all the dead are accounted for. Nine victims remain missing. — AFP
Looking for survivors
Sri Lanka residents search for survivors at the site of a landslide caused by heavy monsoon rains in Koslanda village in central Sri Lanka on October 30. — AFP
Big bang
Brothers killed by grenade
Phnom Penh — Two brothers were killed in Cambodia after one detonated a grenade in the midst of an argument over an inheritance, local media reported on October 28.
Five other family members were also injured in the explosion in the northern province of Oddar Meanchey, The Cambodia Daily newspaper reported.
The brothers were former Khmer Rouge soldiers and had a stash of old grenades at their home. One of the men grabbed a grenade as an argument over money from inherited property became heated. When his brother tried to take it from him, it went off. — DPA
Report revealed
Indian women worse off
New Delhi — A recent global report showed that Indian women still face some of the world’s worst inequality in access to healthcare, education and work, despite years of rapid economic growth.
According to the annual Gender Gap Index by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum released on October 28, India’s ranking fell from 101st out of 136 countries surveyed last year to 114th out of 142 countries this year. That puts India far below other fast-developing nations, including China, ranked 87th, and Brazil at 71.
Nordic nations lead the world in promoting equality of the sexes, with Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark in the top five spots. — AP
Help needed
Somalia faces crisis
Mogadishu, Somalia — At least 3 million people in Somalia need humanitarian aid, and the country is threatened with famine, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on October 29.
The United Nations said in September more than a million people in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa country were struggling to meet daily nutritional needs.
“More than 3 million Somalis are in need of humanitarian assistance, and unfortunately that number is growing,” Ban said during a visit to the Somali capital. — Reuters
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Illegal load
Elephant tusks found in Hanoi
Hanoi — Customs officials seized nearly a tonne of elephant tusks. It happened in Hanoi, Vietnam. Authorities reported the news on October 28. The tusks were hidden inside a container. — DPA
Exercises
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the story about the accident in Cambodia?
a. Three brothers were killed by a grenade explosion.
b. The news was reported on October 18.
c. Five family members were injured and two brothers were killed.
2. Ban Ki-moon is the UN Secretary-General. True or false?
3. How many people were arrested on October 27 for stealing motorcycles?
Vocabulary
- shot (n): a small amount of a drink, especially a strong alcoholic one
detonate (v): to explode or to make a bomb, etc. explode
inheritance (n): the money, property, etc. that you receive from somebody when they die
heated (adj): full of anger and excitement
equality (n): the fact of being equal in rights, status, advantages, etc.
humanitarian (adj): concerned with reducing suffering and improving the conditions that people live in
famine (n): a lack of food during a long period of time in a region
