Still missing
On May 5, school pupils hold a rally calling for the release of 276 missing schoolchildren in front of the state government house in Borno state, Nigeria. — AFP
Homemade weapons
Man arrested with 3-D guns
Tokyo — A Japanese man suspected of possessing guns made with a 3-D printer has been arrested, reports said on May 8, in what was said to be the country’s first such arrest.
Officers who raided the home of Yoshitomo Imura, a 27-year-old college employee, confiscated five weapons, two of which had the potential to fire lethal bullets, the NHK broadcaster reported. They also found a 3-D printer from the home in Kawasaki, near Tokyo, but did not find any ammunition for the guns, Jiji Press reported. — AFP
Singapore sentence
Man jailed for riot
Singapore — On May 8, a Singaporean court sentenced an Indian construction worker to 30 months in jail and three strokes of the cane for his role in a rare riot in the city-state.
Ramalingam Sakthivel, 33, pleaded guilty to taking part in a street rampage last December that left 39 people injured and 25 vehicles destroyed. In the incident, an estimated 400 migrant labourers from South Asia enjoying a Sunday off work erupted in anger after an Indian worker was crushed to death under a bus in Singapore’s congested Little India district. — AFP
Bomb inspection
Policemen on May 5 inspect a suspicious item at the scene of a roadside bomb that targeted but missed a military bus in Sanaa, Yemen. — Reuters
City shake-up
Tokyo hit by earthquake
Tokyo — A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake shook buildings in the Japanese capital Tokyo on May 5.
Tokyo inhabitants were woken shortly after dawn by the quake, which jolted the city’s densely-built apartments and office blocks. Local media said that 17 people were injured as they stumbled while trying to take cover, with a 74-year-old woman dislocating her shoulder. — AFP
Fine art
Museum gets collection
Munich — A collection of art masterpieces has been willed to the Museum of Fine Arts in Bern, Switzerland, the institution reported on May 7 after receiving confirmation from the deceased owner’s lawyer.
The museum noted that it had never had any connection to the deceased owner, Cornelius Gurlitt, who died on May 6 at the age of 81.
The collection of around 1,400 pieces came to light in 2013 after investigators announced they had raided Gurlitt’s home amid suspicions that he was holding work that had been illegally expropriated during the Nazi era. — DPA
Capital punishment
Businessmen pay for crime
Hanoi — Vietnam’s Supreme Court on May 7 upheld the death sentence of two former chiefs of shipping giant Vinalines convicted of corruption.
Duong Chi Dung, former chairman of Vietnam National Shipping Lines, or Vinalines, and Mai Van Phuc, the former chief executive, were convicted of embezzling 10 billion dong (15.3 million baht).
The two, both 56, were also given 18-year prison sentences for acting against the state’s economic management regulations with severe consequences in the Hanoi People’s Court in December. Vietnam applies the stricter of any simultaneous sentences. — DPA
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Drug drop
Two dealers arrested
Buenos Aires — About 400 kilogrammes of cocaine was seized. It happened in Argentina, authorities said on May 7. Bags filled with cocaine were thrown from a plane. Two people waiting for the drugs on land were arrested. Three others fled the scene. — DPA
Exercises
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the story about the earthquake in Tokyo?
a. A 7.0-magnitude earthquake shook buildings in Tokyo.
b. The incident slightly injured 70 people
c. The accident happened on May 5.
2. There is a Museum of Fine Arts in Bern, Switzerland. True or false?
3. What does AMLO stand for?
Vocabulary
- ammunition (n): a supply of bullets, etc. to be fired from guns
rampage (n): a sudden period of wild and violent behaviour, often causing damage and destruction
will (v): to formally give your property or possessions to somebody after you have died, by means of an official legal document called a will
expropriate (v): to take somebody’s property and use it without permission
embezzle (v): to steal money that you are responsible for or that belongs to your employer
