Week Five: Tianjin explosion

Chinese authorities ended the search for the remaining eight missing in a massive chemical warehouse explosion last month, setting the final death toll at 173 in China’s worst industrial disaster in years.
The announcement by the Tianjin city government said there was no hope of finding the eight people and the court would start issuing death certificates.

“After thorough investigations by all parties it is certain that there is no possibility of survivors,” said a statement on Friday night.

The eight include five firefighters, underscoring the explosion’s status as the worst disaster for Chinese first responders, more than 100 of whom were killed, including police officers. Among firefighters a total of 104 were killed.

Investigations into the 12 August blasts at the Ruihai International Logistics warehouses showed they were located closer to homes than permitted, and stored much more hazardous material than authorised, including 700 tonnes of highly toxic sodium cyanide.

A series of massive explosions late at night shattered windows and tore facades off buildings for miles around, while launching debris including heavy steel storage canisters into nearby communities with the force of an artillery shell. Homeowners have held protests demanding the government buy back their apartments, saying they are unliveable.

The disaster has raised questions about corruption and government efficiency, potentially tarnishing the government led by Xi Jinping, who has made those two issues a hallmark of his administration.

Authorities are investigating malfeasance in the issuing of permits and regulation of the company, and have detained 12 of its employees and executives. They include the primary owner, who was on the board of a state-owned company and kept his ownership of Ruihai hidden as a silent partner.

Also detained as part of the investigation are 11 government officials, while the head of the government body in charge of industrial safety, Yang Dongliang, has been placed under investigation for corruption.

Yang had previously worked for 18 years in Tianjin in state industry and local government, rising to executive vice mayor.

Authorities say they have sealed all waterways leading out of the blast zone to curb cyanide contamination as teams in hazmat suits clean up hazardous debris.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/12/tianjin-explosion-china-sets-final-death-toll-at-173-ending-search-for-survivors

Stucture of the Lead:

Who: people who live in Tianjin

When: August in 2015

What: A serious explosion happened in Tianjin

Why: people stored much more hazardous material

Where: Tianjin

How: it cause a serious disaster in Tianjin  

Keyword:

blasts (爆炸)

tore facades(摧毀外牆)

tarnishing(汙衊)

malfeasance(壞事)

detained(被拘留)

sealed (封口)

 curb (抑制)

 hazmat(危險品)

Week Four: Yangtze River, shipwreck, (tragedy, disaster, sink)

Jianli, China (CNN)The Eastern Star is upright once again, looking almost normal with its bottom resting on the water and its deck and cabins clear above it.

The ship's positioning Friday was a step forward in the dayslong nightmare playing out on a section of the Yangtze River that flows through Hubei province. It means answers should be easier to come by as to why the Eastern Star capsized Monday night and what can be done to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

It also means closure could be coming soon to hundreds of families.

At least 396 bodies had been recovered by Saturday, according to Chinese state media. There are 46 people still unaccounted for.

Of the 456 people on board, 14 survived. But rescuers have had no luck since Tuesday, when a 21-year-old sailor and 65-year-old woman were plucked from the water.

The chances of more miracles have dwindled with each passing day. And the salvage process has begun.

Scores of ships, thousands of soldiers involved

That process involved huge floating cranes that set up alongside the overturned river cruise ship, dropped cables and hooks into the water, rolled the ship upright and raised it to the surface. About 50 divers took part overnight Thursday by tying slings around the 2,200-ton vessel, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

State-run CCTV News tweeted pictures of the Eastern Star after this happened Friday. Parts of its top level looked smashed, but the other levels appeared largely intact. By draining the ship, the idea is that it could again float on its own.

Meanwhile, rescuers continue their work. After going through the submerged, capsized ship for three days, they'll now theoretically be able to walk its decks and open spaces.

The idea is to go cabin by cabin, looking for people who may have, by chance, survived in a cranny inside -- and for the many who most certainly did not. It's all part of a huge operation involving nearly 150 other ships, 59 machines, over 3,400 Chinese troops and 1,700 paramilitary personnel, Xinhua said.

In addition to the human toll, there's an environmental toll from oil leaked into the Yangtze River, Transport Ministry spokesman Xu Chengguang said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/05/asia/china-yangtze-river-ship-sinking/

Stucture of the Lead:

Who: people on the  The Eastern Star

When: this year 

What: Many people died in the accident

Why: There is broken bottom under the ship

Where: Yangtze River in China

How: it cause not only human toll but environmental toll 

Keyword:

capsized (翻船)

dwindled (縮小)

salvage (搶救)

cranes (起重機)

Meanwhile (與此同時)

submerged (淹沒的)

theoretically (理論上地)

.cranny (裂縫)

Week Three: MERS, South Korea, camel

Two MERS patients have died in South Korea, marking the first deaths from an outbreak of the dreaded respiratory virus in the country, officials said.

The victims included a 58-year-old woman and a 71-year-old man who both had contact with the country's first MERS patient, South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare said.

So far, there have been 25 confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome in South Korea, including the two dead patients.

Officials are recommending the government temporarily ban people exposed to MERS from leaving the country to prevent the virus from spreading, said Kwon Jun-wook, a Health Ministry official.

During a Cabinet meeting Monday, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said there had been "some insufficiency" in her country's initial response to the virus and called for an "all-out" response to halt the spread of the disease.

Scientists studying how virus spreads

Scientists are still trying to discern how the virus is contracted. It can cause fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some people also have had gastrointestinal symptoms including diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, while people with severe complications from the virus suffered pneumonia and kidney failure.

For many people with MERS, more severe complications followed, such as pneumonia and kidney failure. About three to four out of every 10 people reported with MERS have died. Most of the people who died had an underlying medical condition, according to the CDC. Some infected people had only mild symptoms (such as cold-like symptoms) or no symptoms at all.

A paper published in July 2014 in the journal mBio said it might be airborne.

At the time, there was what the World Health Organization deemed a particularly alarming outbreak, in Saudi Arabia and the United States, CNN reported. The first cases were documented in spring 2012 and were linked to camels.

The researchers detected fragments of the virus in the air at a barn where four of nine camels were infected. They called for additional measures to prevent possible camel to human transmission, but also emphasized that more research was needed.

According to a May WHO report, between the 18th and 23rd of the month, the National Health Regulations arm of WHO received reports of four new cases of MERS in Saudi Arabia, including one death.

As of May 25,WHO had received 1,139 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS globally, including at least 431 related deaths.

Most South Korea cases tied to first patient

In South Korea, officials reported that at least 19 of the 25 MERS patients in the country had been in medical facilities and were in direct contact with the first patient to be diagnosed with the virus.

Among those sick, five are in unstable condition, with one in critical. The first patient developed symptoms on May 11 and suffered from pneumonia and respiratory difficulty, but is in stable condition. That means, according to officials, that person's odds of surviving are greater.

At least 682 people are quarantined in their homes or at medical facilities, Kwon said.

Fear about the virus is gripping many in South Korea. There are no vaccines, no cures and the fatality rate for the illness is high.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/01/world/south-korea-mers/

Structure of the Lead：

     WHO-Korean

     WHEN-June.2015

     WHAT-A serious virus spread in Korea

     WHY- An infected patient contact with other health people

     WHERE-Korea

     HOW-The government quarantined the infected patients 

Key words:

confirmed (確認).

halt (停止)

discern (辨別)

vomiting (嘔吐)

complications (併發症)

airborne (空降)

deem (認為)

camel (駱駝)

diagnosed (確診)

critical (嚴重)

quarantined  (隔離)

gripping (挾持)

Week Two: Nepal earthquake, 2015, death toll, kill

At least 3,617 people are now known to have died in a massive earthquake which hit Nepal on Saturday, police say.

More than 6,500 people have been injured, according to the National Emergency Operation Centre.

Dozens of people are also reported to have been killed in neighbouring China and India.

More than 200 climbers have been rescued around Mount Everest, which was struck by deadly avalanches in the 7.8-magnitude quake.

Vast tent cities have sprung up in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, for those displaced or afraid to return to their homes as strong aftershocks continued. Thousands spent Sunday night - their second night - outside.

Officials have warned that the number of casualties could rise as rescue teams reach remote mountainous areas of western Nepal.

Initial reports suggest that many communities, especially those close to mountainsides, suffered significant quake damage.

"Villages like this are routinely affected by landslides, and it's not uncommon for entire villages of 200, 300, up to 1,000 people to be completely buried by rock falls," said Matt Darvas, spokesman for aid agency World Vision.

A man evacuated by helicopter to Pokhara, 200 km from Kathmandu, said almost every home in his village of more than 1,000 houses had been destroyed.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32475030

Stucture of the Lead:

Who: the refugee in Nepal

When: this April

What: A serious Earthquake hit Nepal

Why: there is not Earthquake for a long time

Where: Nepal

How: they receive the assistance around the world 

Keyword:

1.neighbouring 鄰近

2.Vast 龐大的

3.sprung up 如雨後春筍般

4.aftershocks 餘震

5.casualties 傷亡

Week One: Apache helicopter scandal, Lao, Janet Lee

Military officers disciplined over Apache photo scandal

By Stephanie Chao ,The China Post
April 4, 2015, 12:08 am TWN

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Army Command Headquarters (ACH, 陸軍司令部) yesterday announced the updated list of five penalized military officials involved in local celebrity Janet Lee (李蒨蓉) entering the cockpit of an Apache helicopter, including an Army Special Forces (航特部) lieutenant general commander, who is the highest ranking officer to be punished.

The penalized officers include Army Special Forces Lieutenant General Commander Chen Chien-tsai (陳健財) with one demerit, Army Special Forces 601 Brigade Commander Major General Chien Tsung-yuan (簡聰淵) with two demerits. 601 Brigade Chief of Staff Tan Chia-cheng (談家成), as the main commander on base on March 29, was penalized with a serious demerit and post transfer. 601 Combat Division commander Lieutenant Colonel Tseng Ming-hsiung (曾明雄) was punished with two demerits.

Authorities also updated Lao Nei-chen's (勞乃成) punishment, the lieutenant colonel deputy commander and chief information security officer who took Janet Lee onto the military premises. Originally penalized with three reprimands, Lao was disciplined with one serious demerit, removed from his post and will face prosecution.

In response to questions on the punishment update, the Ministry of National Defense (MND, 國防部) replied that the three reprimands were originally a suggestion made by the combat division. It was during the conference held by the brigade that they decided to finalize the penalties, authorities said.

Lao took Janet Lee and her family onto Longtan Base in Taoyuan, giving a tour of a repair warehouse that contained an AH-64E Apache. He let Lee take photos with the aircraft and sit in the cockpit, violating national defense security regulations.

Lao Took 20 People onto Premises

During further investigations into the Apache controversy, the Army also found that Lao had taken 20 relatives and friends to tour the military base on March 29 without approval. The group comprised 13 adults and seven children, officials said.

Lao, also a seed instructor for AH-64E Apaches, personally showed the aircraft to his relatives and friends. During the tour, members of the group took photos of military aircraft with their smartphones. Among them, Janet Lee made posts on Facebook, attracting controversy and debate about slack military management.

Deputy Commander Pan Ku-yu (潘家宇), as the spokesman during the press conference held yesterday, apologized to the nation on behalf of the Army.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2015/04/04/432802/Military-officers.htm

Stucture of the Lead:

Who:Janet Lee

When:This year

What:apologized

Why:everyone reprimands her behavior
Where:the military in Taiwan
How:they were prosecuted

Keywords:

1.penalized(處罰)

2.cockpit(座艙)

3.demerit(過失)

4.reprimands(譴責)

5.prosecution(起訴)

6.finalize(完成)

7.slack (散漫)