Disease prevention
South Korean health officials on June 12 fumigate a cinema while wearing protective gear in Seoul, Korea as part of the effort to contain the MERS outbreak. — AFP
Pollution problem
Vietnamese villagers protest against pollution
Hanoi — Vietnamese police arrested six villagers over a protest against pollution from a coal-fired power plant in April, police said on June11. The protest caused a 20 kilometre traffic jam.
On April 14 and 15, thousands of villagers blocked a highway in the Tuy Phong district of Binh Thuan for 30 hours. Coal residue from the plant was dumped into a 15.3-hectare landfill without being covered and blew into the villagers’ homes. Repeated complaints were ignored, villagers said. — DPA
Cop clashes
Policemen killed by rebels
Kabul — At least 17 policemen were killed when rebels ambushed several security checkpoints in southern Afghanistan, a government official said on June 13.
“The policemen engaged with rebels for hours,” said Omar Zwak, the governor’s spokesman for the southern province of Helmand. He said the clashes were ongoing and reinforcements had been sent to the district.
Local media reported that 10 insurgents were also killed during the clashes. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. The pre-dawn raid occurred in volatile Helmand province as Taliban activity intensified. — DPA
First visit
Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi receives flowers from local supporters upon her arrival at Yangon International Airport as she departed for China on June 10. It was her first official visit to China with the aim of promoting relations and peace. — AP
Sting survivor
Man survives bee attacks
Phoenix — A man is lucky to be alive after having been stung 500-1,000 times by tens of thousands of bees near Kingman in northwestern Arizona on June 12, authorities said.
The man was in stable condition following the attack after he apparently disturbed a large hive in the backyard of a home, said Mohave County sheriff’s spokeswoman Leslie DeSantis.
“The number of bees in the shed was unbelievable,” Leslie said. “The deputy who arrived said it was it was like something you’d see in the movies.” — Reuters
Deadly innocence
Kid shoots himself
Cincinnati, Ohio — A three-year-old boy in the US accidentally shot himself by playing with a pistol he found in his mother’s purse, police said on June 12.
The boy’s mother placed an emergency call in Cincinnati on June 11 to say her son was not getting a pulse. Police said the boy was wounded in the chest and pronounced dead at a hospital shortly afterward.
It’s the second apparently accidental gunshot death of a child this month in the area, authorities said. — AP
Flying lizard
Reptile found in airline meal
New Delhi — Air India said on June 13 that it was investigating how a lizard ended up in one of its in-flight meals.
A picture on social media showed the reptile’s head poking out from under a bun on a meal tray wrapped in cling film. The incident happened on a flight from Delhi to London on June 11, an airline official reported.
It was not clear if the animal was dead or alive. “We are investigating how it got in the meal,” Praveen Bhatnagar, an Air India spokesman, said. — AFP
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Wild animal
Elephant kills man
Stuttgart — A circus elephant attacked a man. It happened in Buchen, Germany on June 13. The animal ran out of its tent and hit the man. The victim was killed. Police were investigating the incident. — DPA
Exercises
1. What happened on the Air India flight on June 11?
a. A lizard was walking in the aisle.
b. A reptile’s head was hidden inside a passenger’s luggage.
c. An in-flight meal contained a lizard.
2. How many villagers were arrested over a protest against pollution in Vietnam?
3. When did the accident happen in Phitsanulok?
Vocabulary
- residue (n): a small amount of something that remains at the end of a process
ambush (v): to make a surprise attack on somebody
insurgent (n): a person fighting against the government or armed forces of their own country
hive (n): a structure made for bees to live in
pulse (n): the regular beat of blood as it is sent around the body, that can be felt in different places, especially on the inside part of the wrist
