OVERCROWDED ZONE
Migrants and refugees walk to board a bus after crossing the Macedonian-Greek border on September 10. More than 10 thousand refugees and migrants arrived in Piraeus from the overcrowded Greek islands. — AFP
MILITARY OPERATION
Egyptian army kills jihadists
Cairo — Egypt’s army said on September 8 that it had launched a major military operation against the Islamic State in the Sinai Peninsula, killing 29 jihadists and leaving two soldiers dead.
The army said it launched the operation on September 7 to eliminate terrorist elements around the north Sinai towns of Rafah, Sheikh Zuweid and el-Arish.
In a statement the Egypt’s IS affiliate said it killed the two soldiers with a roadside bomb that targeted their vehicle as it left a military base. — AF
FOOLS GOLD
Farmer sentenced to jail
Beijing — A Chinese farmer who posed as a Qing Dynasty princess has been sentenced to 13.5 years in prison for scamming victims out of 2.3 million yuan (13 million baht).
Wang, 49, allegedly told people she needed to borrow money to bribe authorities to release royal assets worth 175 billion yuan.
She said she would reward them three times their investment and offered fake gold bars, fake dollars and homemade treasure maps as collateral, the official Xinhua news agency reported on September 8. — DPA
FESTIVE DANCE
On September 8, performers dance during the celebration event marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region, in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. — Reuters
CRUEL CRIMINALS
Police arrest war crime suspects
Sarajevo — Bosnian police have arrested four men, including an active officer of the state intelligence agency, suspected of committing war crimes during the country’s 1992-95 conflict, officials reported on September 8.
A statement from the prosecution office said that the men were senior members of the Bosnian Serb police during the war and that they are suspected of illegally imprisoning, beating and torturing Muslim Bosnian civilians in the northeast city of Janja. — AP
MUSLIM MATTERS
Muslim clerics condemn IS
New Delhi — More than 1,000 Muslim clerics in India have ratified a religious ruling condemning the Islamic State (IS), calling the extremist group’s actions “un-Islamic.” Religious leaders from hundreds of mosques, education institutions and civic groups across India have signed the edict, saying the actions of the IS group went against the basic tenets of Islam.
The edict has been signed by the leaders of all the main mosques in India. “The acts of the IS are inhuman and un-Islamic,” Muslim leader Abdul Rehman Anjaria said. — AP
TRIGGER HAPPY
Lioness shot on motorway
Beijing — A lioness found prowling along a motorway in China after apparently jumping from a moving lorry has been shot dead by police, officials said on September 9.
How the protected animal came to be on the highway in Anhui was not clear, but the illegal raising of endangered species is not unusual in China. Officers took more than 20 shots to kill the lioness after deciding it would take too long to use a tranquilliser gun. — AFP
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
KNIFE ATTACK
Man stabs court officials
Beijing — A man stabbed four court officials. It happened in Hubei province, China on September 9. Police said people behind the attack were separatists. — Reuters
Exercises
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the fake princess story?
a. Wang was formerly a Chinese princess.
b. Wang is 49 years old.
c. Wang has assets worth 175 billion yuan.
2. Egypt’s army launched a major military operation and killed 29 jihadists. True or false?
3. What does KCUC stand for?
Vocabulary
- jihadist (n): a fighter in a holy war fought by Muslims to defend Islam
bribe (v): to give somebody money or something valuable in order to persuade them to help you, especially by doing something dishonest
separatist (n): a member of a group of people within a country who want to separate from the rest of the country and form their own government
tranquilliser (n): a drug that causes a human or animal to be very calm
