Week 7 - Occupation in Hong Kong

Hong Kong authorities start to clear section of pro-democracy protest sit

By Katie Hunt and Vivian Kam

November 18, 2014

Hong Kong (CNN) -- Hong Kong authorities began clearing barricades at a section of a downtown protest camp on Tuesday, taking action against the pro-democracy demonstrators that have occupied parts of the city for almost two months.

The clearance followed a court order to remove obstructions outside CITIC Tower, a 33-story office building close to the main protest site in Hong Kong's Admiralty district.

There were no signs of resistance from protesters, some of whom helped bailiffs, police and CITIC representatives move the metal barricades away from the area covered by the court injunction.

Earlier, others packed up their tents to pre-empt the bailiffs.

The court order only covers a small part of the main protest site, which sprawls over a major eight-lane highway that connects Hong Kong island's main financial and commercial districts.

Hong Kong's High Court has also issued a separate injunction to clear sections of a smaller protest site in Mong Kok, a densely populated neighborhood that has witnessed some of the most violent clashes.

Earlier attempts by riot police to clear the demonstrators have not been successful, and negotiations between student leaders and government representatives didn't yield any progress.

In their early days, the protests brought tens of thousands of people onto the city's streets to call for full universal suffrage after Beijing said candidates for election in 2017 would have to be screened by a committee.

However, their numbers have since dwindled and polls show that public support for the protesters is dropping.

The city's government said on Monday that police "would arrest anyone obstructing the bailiffs."

Hong Kong leader C.Y. Leung said on Tuesday that the protesters were breaching the law and there was no point to resist the court order.

Structure of the Lead：
Who:Hong Kong authorities
When:Tuesday
What:clear section
Why:people that have occupied there for almost two months
Where:protest camp

Keywords：
1.barricade(s) : 障礙物
2.bailiff(s) : 區鎮的地方長官
3.injunction : (法院的)強制令
4.sprawl : 蔓延
5.clash(es) : 衝突
6.yield : 同意
7.suffrage : 投票權
8.dwindle : 使減少
9.poll(s) : 民意測驗
10.breach : 違反

Week 6 - Chinese actors drug arrest

Jackie Chan's son held in anti-drugs crackdown in China's capital

By Paul Armstrong, CNN

August 19, 2014

Hong Kong (CNN) -- The 32-year-old son of actor and kung fu star Jackie Chan has been arrested in Beijing on drugs charges, as authorities clamp down on celebrity offenders.

Police say they detained Jaycee Chan, who is originally from Hong Kong and also an actor, as well as Kai Ko, a 23-year-old Taiwanese actor, during a raid on Thursday in Dongcheng district, the city's commercial and cultural center, state media, citing Beijing police, said Tuesday.

Both men tested positive for marijuana.

Police later found more than 100 grams of the drug after searching Chan's apartment. He was also accused of "hosting others to take drugs," the state-run China Daily said. He could face three years in jail under Chinese law.

State broadcaster CCTV aired footage of Chan, his face blurred, showing police where the drugs were hidden at his home, while Ko was shown making a tearful apology.

"I very much regret about what happened. I'm very sorry to those who support me, like me or even know me personally," he said. "I just want to tell them I'm really sorry. I've set the worst example, which had the most terrible influence. And this is a huge mistake."

Celebrity targets

The two actors are being seen as the targets of the capital's latest anti-drugs campaign, which has seen more than 7,000 people detained for using drugs, a 72% year-on-year increase, according to the China Daily.

Celebrities are increasingly in the spotlight, with a number of high-profile arrests over drug-related incidents in recent months, including popular movie actor Zhang Mo and singer Li Daimo, who was actually sentenced to nine months in jail for hosting a crystal meth party at his home, according to the China Daily.

Earlier this month, dozens of management agencies representing performers in the entertainment industry signed an agreement with Beijing authorities banning drug use from the industry and pledging to sack artists who break the law.

The elder Chan, who has starred in a number of Hollywood movies including "Rush Hour" and "The Karate Kid," has actually campaigned against drug use, and was named an anti-drugs ambassador in China in 2009.

Structure of the Lead：
Who:Jaycee Chen and Kai Ko
When:Tuesday
What:arrested
Why:using drugs
Where:Chan's house

Keywords：
1.detain : 扣留
2.air : 發表
3.footage : (影片的)連續鏡頭
4.blur : 使模糊
5.pledge : 發誓
6.sack : 解僱
7.ambassador : 大使 

Week 5 - Nigeria's kidnap

Nigeria, Boko Haram reach ceasefire deal, kidnapped girls to go free, official says

By Ray Sanchez and Aminu Abubakar, CNN

October 17, 2014

(CNN) -- Nigeria has reached a ceasefire agreement with the Islamist terror group Boko Haram that includes the release of more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls, Nigerian officials said Friday.

The deal came Thursday night after a month of negotiations with representatives of the group, said Hassan Tukur, principal secretary to President Goodluck Jonathan.

"We have agreed on the release of the Chibok schoolgirls, and we expect to conclude on that at our next meeting with the group's representative next week in Chad," Tukur said.

Officials provided few details about the release.

Doyin Okupe, a government spokesman, did not specify when the girls would be freed. He said not all would be let go at once, but a "significant number" would be released soon.

"A batch of them will be released shortly, and this will be followed by further actions from Boko Haram," he said. "It is a process. ... It is not a question of hours and days."

The Nigerian government consented to some demands by Boko Haram, but Okupe declined to provide details.

The government, he said, "is looking beyond the girls. We want to end the insurgency in this country."

"On the war front," he added, "we can say there is peace now."

The agreement was first reported by Agence France-Presse.

What is Boko Haram?

The terrorist group abducted an estimated 276 girls in April from a boarding school in Chibok in northeastern Nigeria. Dozens escaped, but more than 200 are still missing.

Nigerian officials met with Boko Haram in Chad twice during talks mediated by Chadian President Idriss Deby, according to Tukur.

"The group has shown willingness to abide by the agreement which ‎it demonstrated with the release of the Chinese and Cameroonian hostages few days ago," Tukur said.

In cross-border attacks by Boko Haram this week, eight Cameroonian soldiers and 107 group members were killed in heavy fighting that lasted two days in northern Cameroon, the country's defense ministry said Friday, according to state broadcaster CRTV.

The militants led an incursion near Limani, close to the border with Nigeria, on Wednesday, equipped with heavy weapons, including at least one tank, CRTV said, citing information from the defense ministry.

The fighting lasted two hours and resumed on Thursday, when Cameroonian soldiers forced the militants back across the border into Nigeria. Seven Cameroonian soldiers were injured. A Boko Haram tank and other vehicles were destroyed and weapons and ammunition were seized by Cameroonian forces, according to CRTV.

A source involved in talks with the militants told CNN last month that Nigerian government officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross had discussions with Boko Haram about swapping imprisoned members of the group for the more than 200 schoolgirls. It is unclear, however, whether the deal includes a prisoner swap.

Where are the missing girls?

The name "Boko Haram" translates to "Western education is sin" in the local Hausa language. The militant group is trying to impose strict Sharia law across Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa.

In recent years, its attacks have intensified in an apparent show of defiance amid the nation's military onslaught. Its ambitions appear to have expanded to the destruction of the Nigerian government.

The militant group has bombed schools, churches and mosques; kidnapped women and children; and assassinated politicians and religious leaders alike.

The group has said its aim is to impose a stricter enforcement of Sharia law across Nigeria, which is split between a majority Muslim north and a mostly Christian south.

Boko Haram was founded 12 years ago by Mohammed Yusuf, a charismatic cleric who called for a pure Islamic state in Nigeria. Police killed him in 2009 in an incident captured on video and posted to the Internet.

Structure of the Lead：
WHO:Nigeria's girls
WHEN:April
WHAT:Kidnap
WHY:Girls accepting education are sin 
WHERE:Northeastern Nigeria

Keywords：
1.specify : 指定
2.consent : 同意
3.insurgency : 暴動
4.abduct : 綁架
5.incursion : 侵入
6.intensify : 變激烈
7.onslaught : 猛攻