week3-French expats pay tribute to victims of terror attack

Hundreds of people showed up for a silent sit-in in Taipei last night organized by a group of French people living in Taiwan “in memory of the victims of the attack on the offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris” and to show support for the freedom of expression.

The gathering, titled “Nous sommes Charlie” on Facebook, took place at Liberty Square last night, with people carrying placards reading “Je suis Charlie” and “Nous sommes Charlie” in French and Chinese. First standing and later sitting around an installation carrying a poster reading “我們是Charlie” (“We are Charlie”) and showing the 12 victims, the participants remained silent, some with lit candles.

Pierre-Yves Baubry, one of the initiators of yesterday’s event, said what happened in Paris “has shocked France and the French people living abroad. In many cities around the world people have gathered in the same way as [we are] tonight.”

He said besides the gathering in Taipei, there was also an event taking place simultaneously in Kaohsiung, both organized by French people living in Taiwan with the help of Taiwanese friends.

“There are two main significations; first is to mourn the victims in solidarity with the families, and also to support freedom of speech and freedom of the press” since the terrorist act was obviously targeted at the magazine for what it has expressed, he said.

“I felt the same way as I felt after 9/11,” said Florian, a French citizen who went to the vigil yesterday. “These journalists and cartoonists were part of our life; [the French people] grew up with them, who were not only working for one newspaper, but many.”

“They represent liberty of speech and freedom of what we could say and even think,” he said.

Nicolas, a French expatriate who has been living in Taiwan for more than 10 years, said the rally is to say that “we are not afraid of the [terrorist act]” and that “everybody has stood up against this barbarity and killing.”

“This is the worst [terrorist] attempt in France in the past 50 years. It was a great shock to France and all over the world not only for the attack itself, as 12 people have died, but also because it is a direct attack on the freedom of expression and press,” Bureau Francais de Taipei Director Olivier Richard said.

Worldwide people are demonstrating like people here are today,” he said, adding that the French office also held a minutes’ silence on Thursday morning and has opened a book of condolence.          

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2015/01/10/2003608904

week2-Sydney café, hostage

A lone gunman kept terrified staff and customers captive into the night yesterday in a downtown Sydney cafe, brandishing an Islamic flag, as five of his hostages managed to flee for their lives.

The pre-Christmas siege of the Lindt Chocolat Cafe triggered a security lockdown in an area of Australia’s biggest city that houses several government and corporate headquarters, as hundreds of armed police surrounded the site.

The government said there was no clear motivation, but the flag appeared to be one commonly used by jihadist groups bearing the Shahada, or profession of faith in Islam.

More than 40 Australian Muslim groups jointly condemned the siege and the use of the flag, which they said had been hijacked by “misguided individuals that represent no-one but themselves.”

“We reject any attempt to take the innocent life of any human being or to instill fear and terror into their hearts,” they said in a statement.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott convened a national security meeting to deal with the “disturbing” development.

About six hours into the siege, three men emerged from the popular cafe and ran from the building, two from the front door and one from an emergency exit.

About an hour later two distraught women also fled. It was not clear if they escaped or were released.

One was barista Elly Chen, whose sister Nicole said on Facebook: “Yessss I finally see you. I’m so glad you’re safe!!!!”

As the siege neared its 12th hour last night, basic questions remained unanswered. Police refused to say how many hostages were inside the cafe, what they believed the gunman’s motives might be or whether he had made any demands.

They also did not rule out the possibility that there might be more than one suspect inside.

“I would like to give you as much as I can, but right now that is as much as I can,” New South Wales Police commissioner Andrew Scipione said. “First and foremost, we have to make sure we do nothing that could in any way jeopardize those still in the building.”

Police were negotiating with a suspect and said they had no information to suggest that anyone had been hurt.

Scipione said they had not confirmed whether the siege was related to terrorism.

“Our only goal tonight and for as long as this takes is to get those people that are currently caught in that building out of there safely,” he said.

Channel 10 news said it received a video in which a hostage inside the cafe had relayed demands by the gunman. The station said police requested they not broadcast it, and Scipione separately asked all media outlets that might be contacted by the man to urge him to talk to police instead.

The incident began at about 9:45am in Martin Place, a plaza in the heart of the city’s financial and shopping district that is packed with holiday shoppers this time of year.

Television video shot through the cafe’s windows showed several people with their arms in the air and hands pressed against the glass, and two people holding up a black flag with the Shahada written on it.

“I walked up to the door and then everyone was sitting down and the door’s locked which is pretty weird because it’s never locked and there was one guy walking around with a hat and a beard,” a man who identified himself as Bruno, a worker at the cafe, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp, referring to the suspected assailant. He said he then turned away.                                                                                          http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/12/16/2003606841

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- A lone gunman

WHEN- the night yesterday

What- brandishing an Islamic flag, as five of his hostages managed to flee for their lives.

WHY- there was no clear motivation

WHERE- a downtown Sydney cafe

  

HOW-not given

Keywords:

1.    brandishing 揮舞

2.    assailant 兇手

week1-Eric Garner, NYPD, I can’t breathe, chokehold

More than four months after an unarmed black man died in a chokehold during an arrest by a New York police officer, the criminal case against the officers involved in his death has collapsed with a special grand jury decision not bring charges, according to an attorney for the victim’s family.

The Associated Press quoted Jonathon Moore, who represents Eric Garner’s family, saying he was “astonished by the decision”.

The decision comes after racial tensions reached fever pitch in Missouri, the scene of violence and rioting after a grand jury declined to bring charges against a white police office in the killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. His death sparked hundreds of protests across the country and snapped into focus seething race issues.

Only 17 July, police stopped the heavy-set father of six on Staten Island under suspicion of peddling untaxed “loose” cigarettes. Garner had been arrested previously for selling untaxed cigarettes, marijuana possession and false impersonation.

A video shot by a bystander shows Garner resisting arrest as a plainclothes officer.A video shot by a bystander shows Garner resisting arrest as a plainclothes officer attempts to to handcuff him. Backing away from the officer, Garner tells him: “This stops today,” which has become a rallying cry for protesters in New York. A struggle ensues. Eight-year NYPD veteran Daniel Pantaleo responds by putting his arm around Garner’s neck in a chokehold – banned under police policy – and wrestling the asthmatic man to the ground with the aid of several officers. Garner gasps “I can’t breathe” until his 350lb body goes limp. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.Speaking at Garner’s funeral in July, the Rev Al Sharpton urged a federal civil rights investigation, and argued for charges to be brought against the officer.

“Let’s not play games with this one. You don’t need no training to stop choking a man saying ‘I can’t breathe’,” Sharpton shouted to a packed church. “You don’t need no cultural orientation to stop choking a man saying ‘I can’t breathe.’ You need to be prosecuted.”

Garner’s death touched off protests and rallies across the city. Weeks later, the city’s medical examiner ruled Garner’s death a homicide, heightening calls for criminal charges. The autopsy findings said Garner died as a result of the chokehold, compressions to his chest and prone positioning during his restraint by police.

Pantaleo was stripped of his gun and badge while an investigation takes place; the actions of the other officers and emergency responders involved in the incident were also examined.

Tensions had been simmering all week as New Yorkers braced for the verdict, delivered ahead of the anticipated grand jury decision on whether to bring charges against the officer who killed Michael Brown in Ferguson.

Activists called for a day of action following the verdict to protest the decision not to pursue charges against Pantaleo. Protesters are also demanding an end to a policing philosophy championed by NYPD commissioner William Bratton. The policing model, known as “broken windows,” emphasizes attention to petty crime – such as selling untaxed cigarettes – as means of stymying more serious crime.

The decision may compound already frayed relations between the New York police department and minority communities, which Bratton and the city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, pledged to repair.

The NYPD outlawed chokeholds over two decades ago, exactly because they can be deadly if administered inappropriately or carelessly. Still, between January 2009 and June 2014, the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board, an independent agency that investigates police misconduct, received 1,128 civilian complaints involving chokehold allegations. Of these, only a small fraction of the cases are ever substantiated – just ten during the five and a half year window.

In the days after Garner’s death, Bratton said all 35,000 officers would be retrained on the department’s use of force policy.

The family has sued the city and the police department, as well as several officers involved in the incident.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/03/eric-garner-grand-jury-declines-indict-nypd-chokehold-death                                                                                                                                                                 Structure of the Lead：

 WHO-an unarmed black man

 WHEN-More than four months

 WHAT- the criminal case against the officers involved in his death has collapsed with a special grand jury decision not bring charges,

 WHY-The decision comes after racial tensions reached fever pitch in Missouri

WHERE-New York

  HOW-not given

   Keywords：

1.     attorney  律師

2.      plainclothes 便衣

3.      impersonation 模擬                                                                                                                                                             

week7-Canadian Parliament, Ottawa, shooting, gunman

Canada's capital has been jolted by the fatal shooting of a soldier and an attack on the parliament building in which gunshots were fired outside a room where Prime Minister Stephen Harper was speaking.

The gunman in the parliament building was shot dead, and Harper was safely removed.

Canadian police said they could not "at this point" confirm whether the man who shot dead the soldier, who was guarding the National War Memorial in central Ottawa, was the same person who shortly afterwards attacked the nearby the parliament building.

Witnesses said at least 30 shots were fired after a gunman entered the parliament building and was pursued by police.

The assault came very near the room where Harper was meeting with members of his Conservative party, a government minister said.

"PM (Harper) was addressing caucus, then a huge boom, followed by rat-a-tat shots. We all scattered. It was clearly right outside our caucus door," Treasury Board Minister Tony Clement told Reuters.

The incident, shocking in Canada's normally tranquil capital, was not over.

Parliament and buildings in downtown remained on lock down.

Harper stressed that government and parliament should continue its work, a spokesman said. "While the prime minister stated that facts are still being gathered, he condemned this despicable attack," the spokesman said.

Police said that an operation was under way to make parliament safe and they were still in the middle of an active investigation.

"It caught us by surprise... If we had known that this was coming, we would have been able to disrupt it," Gilles Michaud, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, (RCMP) told a news conference.

GUNS DRAWN IN PARLIAMENT

Dramatic video footage posted by the Globe and Mail newspaper showed police with guns drawn inside the main parliament building. At least a dozen loud bangs can be heard on the clip, echoing through the hallway.

Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino, a former policeman, told the Toronto Sun that parliament's head of security, Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers, shot dead a suspected gunman.

"All the details are not in, but the sergeant-at-arms, a former Mountie, is the one that engaged the gunman, or one of them at least, and stopped this," Fantino said.

Canadian cabinet minister Jason Kenney said a guard in parliament buildings was also wounded in the incident.

There was no word yet on the identity of any suspect or suspects. It was also unclear whether there was any connection to an attack on Monday when an Islamic convert ran down two Canadian soldiers with his car, killing one, near Montreal, before being shot dead by police in the first fatal attack on Canadian soil tied to Islamic militants.

Canada announced this month it was joining the battle against Islamic State fighters who have taken over parts of Iraq and Syria.

Canada said on Tuesday it had raised the national terrorism threat level to medium from low because of a rise in "general chatter" from radical groups such as Islamic State and al Qaeda but said there had not been a specific threat.

The RCMP's Michaud said the threat level on Parliament Hill had been on medium for some time.

No group, Islamic or otherwise, claimed responsibility for either the attack in Ottawa or the one near Montreal. Monday's attacker, 25-year-old Martin Rouleau, who converted to Islam last year, was among 90 people being tracked by the RCMP on suspicion of taking part in militant activities abroad or planning to do so.

POLICE FLOOD STREETS

As the drama in Ottawa unfolded, police in dark bulletproof vests and carrying automatic rifles flooded the streets near parliament.

Some took cover behind vehicles and shouted to people to clear the area, saying: "We do not have the suspect in custody. You are in danger here."

Police quickly cleared several blocks of downtown Ottawa.

Several police cars were parked on the lawns outside the parliament buildings. Small groups of police could be seen sheltering behind at least two cars.

Members of parliament were told to lock or barricade themselves in their offices, and stay away from the windows.

At the time of the shooting, the opposition New Democrats were holding their weekly caucus meeting. A tweeted picture sent from the room showed a pile of chairs jammed up against the main door to prevent anyone from entering.

The soldier who died in the shooting was taken into an ambulance in which medical personnel could be seen giving him cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. Authorities did not identify him and it was not clear if he was armed or not when he was shot.

CBC News reported that he was a reservist who had been serving in Hamilton, Ontario.

'DOUBLE-BARRELLED SHOTGUN'

In Washington, a White House official said U.S. President Barack Obama had been briefed on the situation. He said the United States had offered assistance to Canada.

Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada, which has stricter gun laws than the United States, and the regulations at one point included a national registry of rifles and shotguns. Legislation was passed in 2012 to scrap the registry.

Ottawa has a low murder rate. There were nine homicides in 2013 and seven in 2012, in a city of 885,000 people. Compared with Capitol Hill in Washington, security on Parliament Hill is also fairly low key. Anybody could walk right up to the front door of parliament's Centre Block with arms and explosives without being challenged before entering the front door, where a few guards check accreditation.

Centre Block is the main building on Parliament Hill, a sprawling complex of buildings and open space in downtown Ottawa. It contains the House of Commons and Senate chambers as well as the offices of some members of parliament, senators, and senior administration for both legislative houses.

A construction worker who was on the scene in Ottawa when the shooting began told Reuters he heard a gunshot, and then saw a man with a scarf over his face running towards parliament.

"He was wearing blue pants and a black jacket and he had a double barrelled shotgun and he ran up the side of this building here and hijacked a car at gunpoint," construction worker Scott Walsh told Reuters.

The driver got out safely, then the man drove the car to the Centre Block, where construction work is underway, Walsh said.

The Canadian military closed its bases across the country to the public following the events in Ottawa, CBC TV said.

Canadian and U.S. stock markets declined after the shootings in Ottawa. The Toronto Stock Exchange's TSX index dropped 1.6 percent, while the S&P 500 gave back 0.7 percent.

The attacks in Ottawa and in Quebec took place as the Canadian government prepared to boost the powers of its spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Public Safety Minister Stephen Blaney said last Thursday the new legislation would let the agency track and investigate potential terrorists when they travel abroad and ultimately prosecute them.                                                                            http://www.odt.co.nz//news/world/320904/gunman-opens-fire-canadas-parliamen                  Structure of the Lead：                                                                                          who- a soldier                                                                                                               when-not given                                                                                                             what- the fatal shooting                                                                                                  why-not given                                                                                                              where-  the parliament building                                                                                     how- not given                                                                                                              Keywords：                                                                                                              1.jolt 顛簸 2.parliament  議會

week6-Scottish referendum

After the Scottish independence referendum ends, a new UK will surely emerge. Rather than having  having London as the core, there is now a call for a fairer balance of power throughout the union.

The flag of Scotland will now stand for more than just the blue backdrop to the Union Jack, as the Scottish people’s decision to remain in the union, through self-determination, has instigated the need for renewed negotiations on the UK’s constitutional arrangements. This referendum has precipitated a new understanding of what plebiscitary democracy means. Britain, an island state, set the standard for both plebiscitary democracy and nationalism in the 21st century.

What can Taiwan learn from the referendum process?

While the pro-unification and pro-independence camps might be more concerned about the outcomes from the perspective of their respective positions, this is perhaps a good time to examine Taiwan’s “birdcage” Referendum Act (鳥籠公投). The nation’s referendum process is pseudo-democratic, falling short of the more civilized standards seen in the Scottish referendum.

When Holyrood pushed for a referendum, the British Parliament at the Palace of Westminster — an instigator of modern representative democracy — did not pass a law to restrict the content of the referendum due to its fear of direct democracy. Nor did the British prime minister establish a referendum review committee to check whether a proposal was appropriate. The Scottish people did not have to collect 1 million signatures first in order to have the right to hold a referendum. Nor was a threshold imposed, so the ruling Conservative Party did not have to call on its supporters to boycott the referendum in order to nullify the results by ensuring that the threshold was not reached. As a result, there has been little controversy over the outcome, which was immediately accepted by the unification and independence camps, allowing the UK to concentrate on the future.

Of particular interest to Taiwanese was the nature of the question asked in the Scottish referendum: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”

There were only two simple choices — yes or no — while the referendum was implemented by a simple majority method. This is a civilized referendum system, a model that could point the way for furthering Taiwan’s democratization.

As a former member of the Cabinet’s referendum review committee, I used to support all the proposals during my term, irrespective of whether they were proposed by the blue or the green camp. Eventually, I chose to withdraw from the committee to show my protest against the unfair mechanism.

Today, many of my former colleagues serve as Examination Yuan and Control Yuan members or chair conglomerates. This highlights the barriers of interest to the civilization of Taiwan’s referendum system.

Thanks to the efforts of their ancestors, the Scottish people have been able to avoid the bloody wars that tore Ireland in two, and now they have had the chance to decide their own future through a referendum. The option was always there and has become an example for Taiwan’s democracy to follow.                                            http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2014/09/24/2003600432                                                 Structure of the Lead：                                                                                            who-not given                                                                                                              when-  After the Scottish independence referendum ends                                                                       what-  having     London as the core, there is now a call for a fairer balance of power throughout the union.                                                                                                                                                   why- not given                                                                                                                                                           where-  Scottish                                                                                                                                                       how-  not given                                                                                                                                                               Keywords： 1.  backdrop  背景 2.   referendum 公投 3.    constitutional 構成   4.    furthering  深化

week5-ebole west Africa

            An angry crowd attacked an Ebola treatment center in Guinea on Friday, accusing its staff of bringing the deadly disease to the town, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said, as Mali identified its first suspected cases.More than 90 people have already died in Guinea and Liberia in what MSF, or Doctors Without Borders in English, has warned could turn into an unprecedented epidemic in an impoverished region with poor health services.The outbreak in Guinea is the first time the disease — epidemics of which occur regularly in Central Africa — has appeared in the country. Infected patients initially went undiagnosed for several weeks before tests confirmed Ebola.News of the outbreak has sent shockwaves through communities with little knowledge of the disease or how it is transmitted, and the suspected cases in Mali have added to fears that it is spreading in West Africa.
MSF spokesman Sam Taylor said that the attackers in Macenta, about 425km southeast of the Guinean capital, Conakry, had accused staff of bringing the disease to the town.
In a statement broadcast on state television late on Thursday, Mali’s government announced that three people had been placed in quarantine and samples sent off to Atlanta, Georgia, for tests.
The latest outbreak originated in Guinea two months ago.
Sierra Leone has since reported suspected cases, while Liberia’s government has confirmed the disease’s presence there.
The Gambia placed two people in quarantine, although the Gambian Ministry of Health has since said the cases tested negative for Ebola.
The Guinean Ministry of Health said two more suspected victims of the virus had died, bringing its death count to 86.
Liberia also reported three new deaths among its suspected 14 cases, raising its death toll to seven.                                          

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/04/06/2003587382                                        Structure of the Lead：    who-An angry crowd  where- Guinea  when-on Friday  what-attacked an Ebola treatment center  why-accusing its staff of bringing disease to the town how-not given        Keywords： 1.accuse 指責 2.impoverished 貧困  

week4-TransAsia Airways plane crash, Penghu

A TransAsia Airways (復興航空) plane crashed on Penghu yesterday, killing at least 47 people, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said last night.

The flight from Greater Kaohsiung crashed near the Magong Airport’s runway with 54 passengers and four crew on board, the agency said.

Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) said that 47 people were confirmed dead and 11 injured.

According to the CAA, the 70-seat turboprop ATR72 model plane carried 54 passengers and four crew.

TransAsia Flight GE222 had been scheduled to depart Greater Kaohsiung at 4pm yesterday. However, because of Typhoon Matmo it was delayed, not departing until 5:43pm.CAA Director General Jean Shen (沈啟) said air traffic control personnel received the request from the flight for a go-around at the Magong Airport at 7:06pm, but they lost track of the flight afterward.

“It’s chaotic on the scene,” Reuters quoted Shen as saying.

The plane made a forced landing in Sisi Village (西溪), just outside the airport.

Several buildings on the ground were set on fire by the crash, but no one on the ground was injured, local officials said.

"A few empty apartment buildings adjacent to the runway caught fire, but no one was inside at the time and the fire was extinguished," said Hsi Wen-guang, a spokesman for the Penghu County Government Fire Bureau.

About 100 firefighters were sent to the scene, besides 152 military personnel and 255 police, he added.

CAA information said the pilot, Lee Yi-liang (李義良), 60, has 15 years of experience in flying civilian aircraft.

The co-pilot was identified as 39-year-old Chiang Kuan-hsing (江冠興).

Witnesses have said that there was heavy rain at the time. However, the CAA said that the visual range was 800 feet (243.8m), which was adequate for landing.

The agency said that it will dispatch officials to Penghu today to help with the investigation into the cause of the crash, but the investigation will be led by the Aviation Safety Council.

Penghu County Fire Department Director-General Hong Yung-peng (洪永澎) said the airplane tried to land at the airport, but had pulled up to make another try because the heavy rain was hampering the pilot’s vision.

Executive Yuan spokesman Sun Lih-chuyn (孫立群) said Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) had ordered the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to report on the situation as soon as possible.                                                                                                                                                                                               http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/07/24/20035958                                     Structure of the Lead：                                                                         who- A TransAsia Airways                                                                                                                        when- yesterday                                                                                                                                        what-   crashed on Penghu                                                                                                                        why-weather                                                                                                                                               where-  Penghu                                                                                                                                           how-not given                                                                                                                                                                               Keywords：                                                                                                 1.chaotic 亂        2.    adequate  充足        3.extinguished 熄滅