City rally
Demonstrators cover their faces on June 20 as they march during an anti-austerity protest in central London, UK. — Reuters
Suspicious fall
Man falls from plane
London — Police were investigating reports on June 19 that a body found on the roof of a building in London was that of a stowaway. He had possibly fallen from the undercarriage of a plane as it came in to land.
The man’s body was discovered on an office roof. Shortly before, another man had been found unconscious in the undercarriage of a plane that had just arrived at Heathrow airport from Johannesburg. The man was taken to hospital in critical condition. — Reuters
Pending deaths
Death penalty postponed during Ramadan
Islamabad — Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has asked authorities to temporarily suspend the use of the death penalty during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
A statement released by the PM’s office on June 18 says the prime minister ordered a pause to observe the holy month, which began in most parts of Pakistan on June 19.
Nawaz partially lifted Pakistan’s suspension on executions in December specifically for terrorism-related cases following the Taliban attack on a school in the city of Peshawar that left 150 people dead. — AP
Ramadan reading
Yemeni Muslim worshippers on June 21 read the Koran, Islam’s holy book, during Ramadan month at the Great Mosque in the capital of Sanaa. — AFP
Unexpected loss
World’s oldest woman dies
Washington — The oldest person in the world has died at the age of 116, according to the US-based Gerontology Research Group.
Jeralean Talley, born May 23, 1899, in Georgia, died peacefully in her home in a Detroit suburb, said her daughter, Thelma Holloway. “She was ready to go home and rest,” Thelma, 77, told the Detroit Free Press. “When she left here, she didn’t suffer. She asked the Lord to take her peacefully and he did. Now she’s at peace.” — DPA
Late pregnancy
Old woman gives birth
Berlin — Doctors say quadruplets born prematurely a month ago to a 65-year-old woman in Germany are doing well and gaining weight, but one remains on a respirator.
Berlin’s Charite Hospital said on June 17 that the four babies have put on 30-50% of their birth weights since they were delivered on May 19. The hospital says one has been taken off a respirator but another still needs help breathing.
The mother, Annegret Raunigk, a retired teacher, is believed to be the oldest woman to have ever delivered quadruplets. — AP
Assault prevention
Egypt attacks terrorists
Cairo — Egypt’s army said on June 17 that it had prevented an assault against security forces in the restive North Sinai region, killing seven suspected militants and destroying two weapon caches.
The announcement by the army spokesman came hours after a police officer was killed and four others were wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in el-Arish, the provincial capital.
The army said it received intelligence that terrorist elements were transferring weapons in an attempt to attack security forces. — Reuters
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Fatal booze
Alcohol kills Indians
New Delhi — Forty-one Indians were reported dead. Authorities reported the news on June 18. It happened in Mumbai, India. They died after drinking illegally-brewed alcohol. — DPA
Exercises
1. Which of the following is NOT true about Annegret Raunigk?
a. She is in her seventies.
b. She delivered quadruplets.
c. She was a teacher.
2. Who is Pakistan’s prime minister?
3. What does MERS stand for?
Vocabulary
- austerity (n): a situation when people do not have much money to spend because there are bad economic conditions
stowaway (n): a person who hides in a ship or plane before it leaves, in order to travel without paying or being seen
undercarriage (n): the part of an aircraft, including the wheels, that supports it when it is landing and taking off
brew (v): to make beer
quadruple (n): one of four children born at the same time to the same mother
