Festival of faith
Hindu devotees on July 18 gather to take a holy dip in the Godavari River during the Maha Pushkaralu festival in Andhra Pradesh, India. — Reuters
Train trouble
Many hurt after trains collide
Johannesburg — About 240 people were injured when two commuter trains collided near South Africa’s commercial capital Johannesburg, authorities said on July 18.
None of the victims sustained critical injuries, and at least 100 have already been discharged from hospital. Authorities were investigating why two trains travelling from Booysens to Soweto on the same line collided. One of the trains hit the other from behind, and the engine drivers were among those injured, local media said. — DPA
Suspicious admission
University admits killer
Copenhagen — The University of Oslo says convicted mass killer Anders Breivik was admitted to its political science programme, adding that the 36-year-old right-wing extremist would remain in his cell to study.
University officials said on July 17 that all inmates in Norwegian prisons are entitled to higher education in Norway if they meet the university requirements.
The admission stirred a debate in Norway. Anders is serving a 21-year prison sentence for killing 77 people in massacres in 2011. — AP
Unwanted attack
On July 18, residents walk past the site of a suicide car bomb attack at a market in northeastern Baghdad, Iraq. More than 100 people were killed. — Reuters
Triple bombing
Blasts hit Nigeria
Kano, Nigeria — At least 13 people were killed on July 17 in triple bomb blasts in the northeastern Nigerian city of Damaturu, as residents prepared to celebrate the Eid al-Adha festival.
Residents said twin explosions near a prayer ground in Damaturu had killed two people, before a third blast went off moments later near a mosque, leaving another 11 people dead, according to medics.
They followed a double bombing in the town of Gombe on July 16 which killed at least 49 people. — AFP
Monk bust
Monk jailed for gambling
Hanoi — A court in central Vietnam on July 17 jailed a monk for gambling. Mho Sy Quynh received a year in prison, the newspaper Thanh Nien reported.
In March, police caught three monks and two others gambling in a pagoda in Da Nang province. Police seized two packs of cards and some cash at the scene. Gambling is popular but illegal in Vietnam. Quynh received a tough sentence because he had been jailed for three years in 2011 for drug trafficking. — DPA
New ranking
US upgrades Cuba
Washington — The United States is set to remove Cuba from the list of worst offenders in failing to suppress human trafficking and forced labour, US sources said on July 17, removing a long-standing irritant between the former Cold War enemies at a time of détente.
The upgrade would lift Cuba to the “Tier 2 Watch List” in the State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons report from Tier 3, the lowest rank, where it has languished for 12 years because of allegations of sex trafficking and forced labour. — Reuters
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Lights out
Lightning kills hiker
Colorado — A lightning strike killed a woman. It happened in Colorado, USA on July 17. She was on a hiking trip with three others. The others were slightly injured and sent to hospital. — Reuters
Exercises
1. Which of the following is TRUE about Mho Sy Quynh?
a. He wasn’t a monk.
b. He was arrested for running a casino.
c. He was formerly jailed for drug trafficking.
2. What is Anders Breivik studying?
3. In what province did the rapes take place?
Vocabulary
- discharge (v): to give someone permission to leave a place
massacre (n): the killing of a large number of people especially in a cruel way
détente (n): an improvement in the relationship between two or more countries which have been unfriendly towards each other in the past
languish (v): to be forced to stay somewhere or suffer something unpleasant for a long time
