Big thanks
Sports fans sit in formation spelling out their gratitude in an event at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building after the Japanese capital was chosen on September 8 to host the 2020 Olympic Games. — Reuters
School project
New campaign launched
Mogadishu — Somali authorities on September 8 launched a campaign aimed at getting one million children in the war-torn nation into school, the United Nations’ children’s agency announced. The Go 2 School initiative was launched in the capital Mogadishu and in Hargeisa and Garowe, the main cities of the autonomous and semi-autonomous northern states of Somaliland and Puntland respectively.
“The three-year campaign aims to give a quarter of the young people currently out of the education system a chance to learn,” a UNICEF spokesperson said. — AFP
Animal issue
Action demanded on stray dogs
Bucharest, Romania — Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Bucharest on September 8 to urge authorities to clear Romania’s streets of stray dogs after a four-year-old boy was mauled to death by a pack of strays.
“Authorities must adopt legislation, in keeping with European standards, to solve this issue,” organiser Anca Porneala said. Between 40,000 and 60,000 stray dogs are said to live on the streets of Bucharest. — AFP
Traffic trauma
Onlookers and rescue workers view the scene on the Sheppey Bridge Crossing near Kent, south England, following a multi-vehicle collision on September 5. Around 100-vehicles were involved in the pile-up, with at least eight people seriously injured. — AP
Growing threat
Virus claims more lives
Riyadh — Two women died from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) virus, and two more have contracted the disease in Saudi Arabia, the Health Ministry announced on September 7, raising to 44 the number of people in the kingdom who have died from the Sars-like virus.
The World Health Organisation said last month that the number of confirmed infections worldwide in the past year was 102, of whom almost half have died. — Reuters
Venue change
Miss World to be crowned in Bali
Jakarta — Indonesian officials said on September 7 that the final of Miss World later this month would take place on the Hindu-majority island of Bali instead of near the capital, after days of hard-line Muslim protests.
Thousands took to the streets to denounce the decision to hold the beauty pageant in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
The contest opened in Bali and later rounds were due to take place in and around Jakarta, with the winner originally set to be crowned at a venue outside the capital on September 28. — AFP
Wild weather
Flash floods hit Vietnam
Hanoi — Floods and landslides due to heavy rain killed at least 21 people in northern Vietnam, authorities said on September 6.
Ten people were swept away and buried in a flash flood in the mountains of Lao Cai province on the night of September 4, officials said on September 6.
In Lao Cai, two people were also killed when a gold mine collapsed due to heavy rain on September 4, officials said, adding that floods and landslides had destroyed 64 houses and inundated 1,700 hectares of rice crops. — DPA
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Palace intruder
Police arrest trespasser
London — Police arrested a man who climbed a fence to get into Buckingham Palace. It happened in London on September 7. He was arrested for trespass. — AFP
Exercises
1. Which of the following is true about the Miss World contest in Indonesia?
a. This year’s Miss World contest was cancelled due to a riot.
b. The Miss World contest will now take place in Hanoi.
c. The final of the Miss World contest will now be held in Bali.
2. Demonstrators in Bucharest urged authorities to clear streets of homeless people. True or false?
3. Where is Makarak Hospital located?
Vocabulary
- trespass (n): the act of entering land or a building that you do not have permission or the right to enter
hard-line (adj): having very fixed beliefs and being unlikely or unwilling to change them
denounce (v): to strongly criticise somebody or something that you think is wrong, illegal, etc.
