Official outfits
Models dressed in traditional attire take part in the closing ceremony of the 27th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur on November 22. — AFP
Muddy waters
Rains cause landslide
Beijing — The death toll from a landslide triggered by flooding in China rose to 38, with no more missing, officials said on November 19.
An avalanche of mud and rock caused by torrential rains engulfed 27 homes in Lishui, Zhejiang province. Only one person escaped and over 2,300 rescuers with 60 digging machines searched for victims.
The sole survivor, identified only as Li, 26, said, “I saw the house in front of me was ablaze before it was buried by mud.” — AFP
Old murder
Police arrest ageing suspect
London — British counterterrorism officers said they arrested a man in his 50s on November 19 on suspicion of conspiracy to murder over the 1984 death of a policewoman shot outside the Libyan embassy in London.
The police said the man was also suspected of money-laundering, as were a woman in her 40s and a man in his 30s, who were also arrested. Policewoman Yvonne Fletcher, 25, died after she was shot in the back while guarding the embassy. — DPA
Northern lights
Young participants on November 18 prepare to release a lantern during the Tazaungdaing Lighting Festival at Taunggyi in Myanmar's northeastern Shan State. — AFP
Burning bush
Wildfire claims four victims
Sydney — Four people died in one of a series of wildfires sparked by lightning in Western Australia, police said on November 17, in a deadly start to the country’s summer bushfire season. Western Australia police said the deaths occurred in a fire near southwestern Esperance.
The blaze is one of three major fires burning in the state since Sunday. “There was an inland trough that brought hot, dry and windy conditions,” said Darryl Vink, forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology. — Reuters
Heavy traffic
Authorities arrest smugglers
Mexico City — Mexican and US authorities on November 21 said eight people have been arrested in an international trafficking ring that forced women and underage girls into prostitution.
Prosecutors in both countries say the ring was run by four families and based mainly in Mexico’s Tlaxcala state and New York. Mexican criminal investigations chief Tomas Zeron said the suspects wooed underage girls in Mexico via social media.
The women and girls were smuggled into the US. — AP
Danger zone
Murderers target activists
Bogota — The United Nations says 729 human rights activists have been killed in Colombia in the past two decades — an average of nearly three a month — officials said on November 21.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ office in Colombia said 30 activists were slain in the first nine months of this year. It added that 20 others were the targets of attempted murder in 2015.
The chief prosecutor’s office responded by saying investigating violence against activists is a priority. — AP
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Coal fire
Miners die in China
Shanghai — A fire destroyed a coal mine. It happened Heilongjiang province on November 19. Twenty-one people were killed. Police were investigating the cause of the fire. — AFP
Exercises
1. How many people survived the landslide in China?
a. 38.
b. 27.
c. One.
2. The UN said 729 human rights activists were killed in Colombia in the past two years. True or false?
3. When did the annual buffet for elephants take place in Surin?
Vocabulary
- ablaze (adj): burning quickly and strongly
counterterrorism (n): action taken to prevent the activities of political groups who use violence to try to achieve their aims
conspiracy (n): a secret plan by a group of people to do something harmful or illegal
bushfire (n): a fire in a large area of rough open ground, especially one that spreads quickly
ring (n): a group of people who are working together, especially illegally
