Sculpting snow
On February 5, visitors gather around a large Star Wars snow sculpture during the 66th annual Sapporo Snow Festival in Sapporo, Japan. — AFP
Happy birthday
Oldest man turns 112
Tokyo — A Japanese man recognised as the world’s oldest living male by Guinness World Records turned 112 on February 5.
Sakari Momoi, a resident of Saitama city, north of Tokyo, responded with a smile as his family celebrated his birthday with him, the Kyodo news agency reported, citing his 66-year-old son Hiroo. Momoi enjoys his food, stays active and practises calligraphy, the family said.
The family said they were very happy that Momoi reached his 112th birthday safe and sound. — DPA
Religious protest
Police detain Christian marchers
New Delhi — Hundreds of Christian protesters clashed with police in India’s capital on February 5 as they tried to press demands for better government protection amid concern about rising intolerance after a series of attacks on churches.
Demonstrators were pulled onto police buses as they tried to march from one of the city’s largest cathedrals near parliament to the residence of the home minister, Rajnath Singh. Police imposed an emergency law known as Section 144 which prohibits gatherings.
About 200 police were stationed outside the cathedral while several hundred protesters were inside. — Reuters
Air accident
Rescuers lift part of the wreckage of Trans Asia Airways flight GE235 plane after it crashed into a river in New Taipei City, Taiwan on February 5. — Reuters
Serial rapist
Man arrested for assaults
Tokyo — Japanese police arrested a man for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting more than 100 women who believed they were part of a medical study, local media reported on February 4.
Police said many women responded to adverts seeking volunteers for clinical research measuring blood pressure during sleep over two years to November 2013. They believe Hideyuki Noguchi, 54, gave the women sedatives after luring them to hotels and hot spring resorts.
Once the women were unconscious, he raped them, filming each assault, police said. The footage was posted online or sold to porn film producers, allegedly netting Noguchi more than 10 million yen (2.7 million baht). — AFP
Offensive ad
Malaysian company under fire
Jakarta — Indonesia on February 4 urged Malaysia to ban an advert by a Malaysian company selling robotic vacuum cleaners that tells people to dismiss their Indonesian maids.
The ad by Robovac Malaysia sparked anger in Indonesia after a picture of it was posted on the internet.
“Fire your Indonesian maid now,” read the ad, with the word “Indonesian” underlined. “The ad by the private company Robovac is utterly insensitive and demeaning to the people of Indonesia,” an official from the Indonesian embassy in Malaysia said. — DPA
Shaky landing
Plane slides off runway
Jakarta — A passenger jet skidded off the runway as it landed at a holiday island in central Indonesia, a spokesman said on February 4. None of the 33 people on board were hurt when the turboprop jet belonging to Indonesian flag carrier Garuda slid about 10 metres off the runway into the grass at the airport on Lombok Island, a spokesman said.
The ATR 72-600 plane was arriving from the neighbouring island of Bali when the accident happened on the evening of February 3. — AFP
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Improper pics
Sisters kicked out of Cambodia
Phnom Penh — Two American sisters were deported from Cambodia. They took naked photos at Angkor Wat on February 6, officials said. The women were banned from entering Cambodia for four years.
Exercises
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the story about Hideyuki Noguchi?
a. He was arrest for killing more than 100 women.
b. He was conducting medical research.
c. He allegedly raped many women.
2. Sakari Momoi lives in a city south of Tokyo. True or false?
3. When did the freight car plough into buffers at Hua Lamphong railway station?
Vocabulary
- calligraphy (n): beautiful handwriting that you do with a special pen or brush
intolerance (n): the fact of not being willing to accept ideas or ways of behaving that are different from your own
sedative (n): a drug that makes somebody go to sleep or makes them feel calm and relaxed
insensitive (adj): not realising or caring how other people feel, and therefore likely to hurt or offend them
turboprop (n): a plane that gets its power from propeller engines
