2014年12月18日 星期四

Worst days in ISIS

11 June 2014 

The US-trained force lost unity, morale, leadership, and effectiveness. Good officers left or were pushed out or sidelined.

Unit cohesion dropped steadily, service support became a major problem, desertions and ghost soldiers increased, and sectarian tension grew.

The police deteriorated steadily and mixed corruption and abuses with a tendency to retreat to their stations whenever serious resistance occurred.

Mr Maliki became his own worst enemy, ignoring warnings from US advisers, dealing with Iran, and steadily losing confidence from Arab states while alienating the Iraqi Kurds.

His forces, which could not deal with urban warfare, tried to shell or bomb their way to victory, deserted under pressure, and found themselves under constant threat from low level ISIS and Sunni tribal attacks.

Some Iraqi forces still fought, as was the case in Samarra, but much of the west and north turned against Mr Maliki in spite of the abuses and extremism of ISIS.

This explains the collapse of the Iraqi force around Mosul, as well as the mass desertions and abandoned equipment and the other advances taking place, which now include Iraq's largest refinery.

It also raises serious questions about whether Iraq can move forward as long as Mr Maliki remains its leader.

He may still be able to bribe some key Sunni tribal leaders, and ISIS may soon alienate many Sunnis in the areas it occupies, but Mr Maliki has emerged as something approaching the Shia equivalent of Saddam Hussein, and is as much a threat to Iraq as ISIS.

Iraq desperately needs a truly national leader and one who puts the nation above himself.

Without one, ISIS may become a lasting enclave and regional threat - dividing Iraq into Shia, Sunni, and Kurdish sections - or drag Iraq back to the worst days of its civil war and create another Syria in Iraq.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27801680

 Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-not given

   WHEN-not given

   WHAT-the worst days in ISIS

   WHY-ISIS may become a lasting enclave and regional threat 

   WHERE-ISIS

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. morale：士氣

   2. cohesion：凝聚力

   3. sectarian：宗派

   4. deteriorated：惡化

   5. abuses：濫用

   6. extremism：極端主義

   7. desertion：遺棄

   8. refinery：煉油廠

   9. enclave：聚集地

2014年12月11日 星期四

More Nigerian girls abducted by suspected Boko Haram militants

6 May 2014 

The latest kidnapping happened on Sunday night in the village of Warabe, in Borno state. The girls taken were aged between 12 and 15.

On Monday, Boko Haram's leader threatened to "sell" more than 230 girls seized from their school, also in Borno, on 14 April.

Meanwhile, the US says Nigeria has accepted an offer of American help.

"We've already sent in a team to Nigeria," President Barack Obama said on Tuesday.

Mr Obama said the US aid was a combination of military, law enforcement and other agencies "who are going in, trying to identify where these girls might be".

He described Boko Haram as "one of the worst regional... terrorist organisations".

"Obviously it's a heartbreaking situation, an outrageous situation. This may be the event that helps to mobilise the entire international community to finally do something against this horrendous organisation that's perpetrated such a terrible crime."

The insurgency by Boko Haram has left thousands dead since 2009.

The BBC's Mansur Liman in Abuja says the area around Warabe is a stronghold of the Islamist movement.

The gunmen arrived in two trucks and also seized animals and food from the village.

Communications are very poor in the area, which explains why the news took several days to emerge, our correspondent says.

Residents from a nearby town told AFP that they feared Boko Haram would target them next.

"We have no security here. If the gunmen decide to pick our own girls, nobody can stop them," Peter Gambo said.

Warabe is also close to the Sambisa forest, where the first group of schoolgirls is thought to have been taken.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau released a video on Monday confirming that his group had abducted them.

"God instructed me to sell them, they are his properties and I will carry out his instructions," he said.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27298614

 Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-Boko Haram's leader

   WHEN-not given

   WHAT-Suspected Boko Haram Islamist militants have abducted eight more girls in north-eastern Nigeria.

   WHY-not given

   WHERE-Warabe 

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. abduct：誘拐

   2. suspect：懷疑

   3. militant：激進份子

   4. seize：搶佔

   5. enforcement：強制

   6. horrendous ：可怕的

   7. organisation：組織

   8. perpetrated：犯下

   9. correspondent：記者

2014年11月13日星期四

Placido Domingo accepts ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

August 25,2014

by David

Placido Domingo has added his name to the growing list of celebrities who have accepted the Ice Bucket Challenge in support of the ALS Assn.

In the video seen above, the 73-year-old Spanish tenor said he accepted the challenge from Formula 1 racer Fernando Alonso. In turn, the singer nominated soprano Anna Netrebko, pianist Lang Lang and singers from Il Volo for the challenge.

The Ice Bucket Challenge raises money and awareness for researching amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease. The challenge, which has been criticized recently for becoming a publicity stunt, has grown into an online phenomenon featuring celebrities, athletes, politicians and musicians.

Domingo is the general director of Los Angeles Opera and will appear next month in the company's production of "La Traviata" at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Other local cultural leaders who have accepted the challenge include Michael Ritchie of the nearby Center Theatre Group and staff members of the Geffen Playhouse and Pasadena Playhouse.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-placido-domingo-ice-bucket-challenge-20140825-story.html

 Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-Placido Domingo

   WHEN-not given

   WHAT-he accepted the Ice Bucket Challenge in support of the ALS Assn

   WHY-raises money and awareness for researching amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

   WHERE-not given

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. tenor：男高音

   2. nominate ：提名

   3. soprano：女高音

   4. publicity ：公開

   5. stunt：特技

  

2014年11月6日星期四

Father of California mass killer never knew 'the monster' in son

by STEVE GORMAN

LOS ANGELES Sat Jun 28, 2014 

The father of a 22-year-old man who killed six college students and himself near Santa Barbara, California, says he had long known his son was deeply troubled but realized too late "the monster" lurking within him.

Peter Rodger, an assistant director on the film "Hunger Games," told ABC's Barbara Walters in an interview televised on Friday that he initially thought his son, Elliot, was one of the victims, rather than the killer, in the May 23 massacre.

Rodger recounted first learning something terrible was afoot while dining with friends that night about 100 miles (161 km) away in Los Angeles and receiving an email from his son with a lengthy, menacing manifesto titled "My Twisted World".

Moments later, Rodger received a phone call from his ex-wife, Elliot's mother Li Chin, who had gotten the same email and then googled their son's name to find a chilling video he had posted on YouTube called "Elliot Rodger's Retribution."

At that point, the father recalled, "A really dark force of horrible energy hit me." He hastily embarked on a desperate road trip, hoping to reach his son in time.

"We were just driving up there in absolute fear for him and confusion," Peter Rodger said.

Elliot Rodger had by then already begun his killing spree, stabbing three people to death, including his two roommates, at their beachside apartment in the town of Isla Vista.

As Peter Rodger neared his son's home, local news media had begun reporting that a gunman was on the loose. In the end, three more college students were shot to death and 13 other people were wounded before Elliot committed suicide.

Peter Rodger said he was devastated by news that his son was among the dead but did not learn he was suspected of being the killer until seeing it reported hours later on the Internet.

Rodger insisted he never imagined his son capable of violence, despite chronic social problems Elliott had suffered among his peers since boyhood and years he had spent in therapy.

He was aware that his son was obsessed with having never had sex, and once suggested taking him to Las Vegas to lose his virginity, an idea his son rejected.

Rodger recalled rebuking his son years later when he found out he had been dabbling in websites devoted to misogynist ideology, but even then did not appreciate the level of hatred his son harbored toward women.

Rodger said his son was "incredibly brilliant at hiding" his inner demons and expressed remorse for the pain that has caused the victims' families.

"I wish that these families didn’t have to go through this terrible ordeal," Rodger said. "It's very hard for them to understand that I didn’t know the monster that was in my son."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/28/us-usa-shooting-california-idUSKBN0F30B220140628

 Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-Peter Rodger

   WHEN-not given

   WHAT-he realized too late "the monster" lurking within him

   WHY-not given

   WHERE-not given

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. lurk：潛伏

   2. massacre： 大屠殺

   3. recount：各顯神通

   4. afoot：在進行中

   5. absolute：絕對的

   6. ordeal：考驗

   

2014年10月29日星期四

Alleged MRT killer had ‘fascination with murder’

By Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Court proceedings this week into the Taipei Metro stabbing spree earlier this year heard key witnesses testifying that Cheng Chieh (鄭捷) had been planning to carry out a mass public murder for many years.

One account came from a man surnamed Lee (李), who was a junior-high classmate of Cheng and said they have maintained contact and remained good friends.

Lee told New Taipei District Court’s presiding judge on Tuesday that Cheng had made a vow in his junior-high school days to carrying out a public killing. Lee said he had tried many times to talk his friend out of the idea.

Family members of Cheng’s alleged victims attended the hearing.

Cheng, 21, allegedly went on a stabbing spree on the Taipei MRT’s Bannan Line on May 21, resulting in four deaths and 24 people injured.

Another witness, a high school friend of Cheng’s, said that Cheng two years ago wrote online: “I will go and kill people on Taipei Metro trains; when it is moving, no one can escape. Even if someone that I care for is standing in front of me, I will kill him without thinking.”

Witnesses testified that Cheng showed no feeling toward fellow human beings and had a twisted mind with a fascination for killing.

Witnesses said that Cheng was into playing video combat games and reading comics with horror themes, including murder, as well as self-centered characters with no regard for human life, saying that these may have been contributing factors to Cheng’s mental state.

The parents of Chang Cheng-han (張正翰), one of the people allegedly murdered by Cheng, attended the hearing carrying a framed, enlarged photograph of their son. Chang, a 26-year-old graduate student, was the youngest of the four killed.

Chang’s parents cried throughout the hearing. His mother handed a letter to the presiding judge, in which she asked the judge to hand down the death penalty, as Cheng had shown no remorse.

She said the court and the public should know of the pain felt by the victims’ families.

“My son met a devil and his life was lost. Who knows the pain and suffering of a mother who has lost a son? Yet why is this devil still sitting here, while my son can never return home?” she said.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/11/06/2003603809

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-Cheng Chieh and his friends

   WHEN-the day before yesterday

   WHAT-Cheng Chieh's friends told of his alleged long-held plans to carry out a large-scale public murder, while victims' families told of their heartbreak  

   WHY-not given

   WHERE-not given

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. proceed：繼續

   2. testify：作證

   3. vow：發誓

   4. allege：斷言

   5. stab：刺

   6. preside：主持

   7. remorse：悔恨