2015 the last week- ‘American Sniper’ author’s murder trial set to begin

A jury was seated on Monday in the trial of a man charged with killing the former US Navy SEAL depicted in the Oscar-nominated movie American Sniper, with the judge estimating no more than two dozen people were dismissed from service because of publicity about the case.

Ten women and two men will serve as jurors for Eddie Ray Routh’s trial, which is scheduled to start today with opening statements. Routh, a former US marine, is charged with capital murder in the deaths of 38-year-old Chris Kyle and Kyle’s friend, 35-year-old Chad Littlefield. Kyle and Littlefield were trying to help Routh when prosecutors say he shot them at a Texas gun range in 2013.

The Clint Eastwood-directed movie based on Kyle’s memoir as a celebrated sniper who served four tours in Iraq has grossed nearly US$300 million. In response to the attention paid to the Kyle case, officials called in more than four times as many potential jurors as they would for a regular trial. Yet it took just one day to seat the panel, after a screening process last week narrowed the jury pool.

Simply reading Kyle’s book or seeing the movie starring Bradley Cooper — which ends with a depiction of Kyle meeting Routh, followed by footage from Kyle’s funeral — were not grounds for dismissal. Instead, potential jurors were asked if they could set aside what they had already heard.

“It’s hard not to have knowledge of this case,” Erath County District Attorney Alan Nash said. “It’s pervasive.”

Judge Jason Cashon denied defense motions to delay the trial or move it to a different county, and noted how few potential jurors were dismissed because of pretrial publicity.

Routh’s attorneys plan to pursue an insanity defense. Prosecutors have said they would not seek the death penalty. He faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

Family members have said Routh, 27, struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder after leaving the US Marines in 2010. The small arms technician served in Iraq and was deployed to earthquake-ravaged Haiti. Kyle took Routh to the shooting range after Routh’s mother asked if he could help her son.

Kyle made more than 300 kills as a sniper for SEAL Team 3, according to his own count and earned two Silver Stars for valor. After leaving the military, Kyle volunteered to help veterans facing mental health problems, often taking them shooting.

About two hours after Kyle, Littlefield and Routh arrived at Rough Creek Lodge and Resort on Feb. 2, 2013, an employee discovered the bodies of Kyle and Littlefield at the remote range.

Authorities said Routh drove to his sister’s house in Kyle’s truck, telling her and her husband that he had killed Kyle and Littlefield.

His sister told police that Routh “was out of his mind, saying people were sucking his soul and that he could smell the pigs.”

link: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2015/02/11/2003611344

Struction:
who:A jury
what: was seated  in the trial
when: Monday
where:
why:
how:

KEYWORDS:
trial :審判
depict:描述
memoir:回憶錄
sniper:狙擊手
gross:總共的
juror:陪審員
insanity:精神病
attorney:律師
valor:英勇
parole:假釋
veteran:退伍軍人

2015 week-3 Uber taxi driver in India allegedly raped passenger

    An Uber taxi driver allegedly raped a 25-year-old woman in the Indian capital before threatening to kill her if she alerted police, the company and local reports said yesterday.

The woman, an executive for a finance company, dozed off in the taxi as she was returning home from dinner with friends on Friday night, media reported.

The woman has told police she woke to find the taxi parked in a secluded place where the driver assaulted and raped her, before dumping her near her home in north New Delhi.

The attack is a blow to Uber’s reputation in India, where women are extremely safety-conscious after dark following a string of rapes that sparked global shock and anger.

The woman clicked a photograph of the car’s number plate and then reported the crime to police, an officer told the Press Trust of India news agency.

“We have identified the cab company and the driver, who is in his mid-30s. Raids are being conducted to nab him,” the officer said.

The company said it was working with police to solve the “terrible crime,” while the driver’s license has been suspended.

“Our thoughts are with the victim of this terrible crime and we are working with the police as they investigate,” Uber spokeswoman Evelyn Tay said in a statement. “Safety is Uber’s highest priority and in India we work with licensed driver-partners to provide a safe transportation option.”

The fatal gang-rape of a student on a bus in Delhi in December 2012 unleashed outrage about the high number of attacks of women in India and inadequate efforts to keep them safe.

US-based Uber is gaining popularity in India, especially among young, urban workers who use its smartphone app to connect with and pay for local drive
Link: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2014/12/08/2003606263

Struction:

who: An Uber taxi driver 

what:   allegedly raped a 25-year-old woman 

when:  yesterday.

where:  in the Indian capital

why: not given

Keywords:

 dozed off: 打盹

 secluded:僻靜的

cab:計程車

raid:襲擊

nab:捉拿

unleash:發動

2015 week2- Pair of NYC policemen ‘assassinated’ on duty

CONDEMNATION:US President Barack Obama condemned the killings, as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio faced a tough reception from some officers

Two New York City police officers were shot by a suspect who then killed himself, police said, after a social media post indicated that the suspect might have been seeking revenge for recent deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of law enforcement officials.

The two New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers, Rafael Ramos, 40, and Wenjian Liu, 32, were ambushed in their patrol car on Saturday afternoon, NYPD Police Commissioner William Bratton said.

“They were quite simply assassinated, targeted for their uniforms,” he told a news conference after the attack, the first in which NYPD officers had been killed by gunfire since 2011.

The two men were attacked outside a housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn at a tense time for the NYPD, the largest police force in the US.

Protests over policing tactics have roiled the city since a grand jury chose this month not to indict a white NYPD officer in the killing of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man who died after being placed in a prohibited chokehold during a July arrest on Staten Island.

The shooter fired through the passenger-side window of the officers’ marked patrol car, striking both in the head before they had a chance to respond, Bratton said.

The suspect fled on foot, followed by other police officers, then took his own life on a subway platform, he added.

US President Barack Obama condemned the killings, saying: “Two brave men won’t be going home to their loved ones tonight.”

US Attorney General Eric Holder promised the support of the US Department of Justice throughout the investigation.

Bratton said the suspect, identified as Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, had made “anti-police” comments online.

Shortly before the double shooting, a message on an Instagram account apparently belonging to Brinsley said: “They Take 1 Of Ours ... Let’s Take 2 of Theirs.”

The post was followed with hashtags referencing Garner and Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager shot and killed by a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in August.

Bratton said that investigators were checking whether Brinsley had attended any of the protests.

The killings also revealed bitter anger among some police toward New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who they see as not being supportive in the face of public anger.

Several officers turned their backs on De Blasio when he arrived at the Brooklyn hospital where the two officers were taken after they were shot, video showed.

Patrick Lynch, head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the nation’s largest municipal police union, said: “There’s blood on many hands tonight.”

It was unclear why the suspect chose Brooklyn.

Authorities said Brinsley, who previously lived in Georgia, had shot and wounded his girlfriend in Baltimore early on Saturday morning before heading north to New York City.

Baltimore County Police said in a news release that officers had learned of the Instagram threat and contacted the NYPD by telephone about 30 minutes before the shooting, following that warning with a faxed photo of the Brinsley.

linking: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/12/22/2003607306

Struct:
who: Two New York City police officers 
what:  were shot by a suspect 
when:  no given
where: no given
why : seeking revenge for recent deaths of unarmed black men 

Keywords:

indict:控訴
patrol:巡邏
condemn:譴責;宣告
strike:攻擊

2015week1-Policeman who killed a black man with a chokehold

‘I CAN’T BREATHE’:The demonstrators condemned the decision not to indict a policeman who killed a black man with a chokehold and other deaths at the hands of police

  Thousands of protesters clogged streets in New York and other major US cities for a second straight night on Thursday to condemn police killings of young, unarmed black suspects.
  The largely peaceful demonstrations came as details emerged of another racially tinged death.
The US’ largest city of 8.4 million again saw bursts of outrage after a grand jury on Wednesday decided not to indict a white officer for the death by chokehold of an unarmed black father of six.            Demonstrators blocked roads, tunnels and bridges, with many of them shouting: “I can’t breathe” — the words that heavy-set asthma sufferer Eric Garner, 43, gasped repeatedly as police wrestled and held him to the ground during his arrest in July for selling untaxed cigarettes.
Video of the arrest has been aired repeatedly on TV. Garner, a father of six, died of what was called a heart attack.
   Dozens of people were arrested in Thursday’s rallies, the New York Times reported, quoting police.
   Demonstrations were also held in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, where they snarled traffic near the White House as US President Barack Obama lit the national Christmas tree.
   As helicopters hovered above, thousands of activists massed in New York’s Foley Square, near the city police headquarters, shouting: “Shut it down” and carrying placards saying: “Black Lives Matter” and “Racism Kills.”
   “We cannot tolerate police impunity. The government has to do something. They have a video showing what happened,” said a 40-year-old demonstrator who gave his name only as Jonathan.
    Police sealed off the Holland Tunnel, the key road link into New Jersey as US media reported that thousands streamed up the west side of Manhattan, clogging streets in downtown Manhattan and shutting traffic on the Manhattan Bridge heading to Brooklyn.
   Another group marched across the Brooklyn Bridge, with a black banner that said: “This stops today” and 10 black coffins inscribed with names of people killed by police in different city boroughs.
    Hundreds then continued the march through Brooklyn, followed by police, but a reporter saw no incidents of unrest.
   National controversy over Garner’s death and a series of other incidents were fanned further on Thursday by a damning US federal investigation which concluded that police in Cleveland routinely employ “excessive force.”
   Meanwhile, in Arizona, police said a white officer shot dead a 34-year-old black man during a confrontation outside a convenience store.
    Phoenix police said the officer involved shot dead Rumain Brisbon after mistakenly believing he was reaching for a gun inside his jacket. Brisbon was unarmed.
     The killing is the latest of several cases since the death of Garner which have triggered a national debate about how minorities are treated by police and the US criminal justice system.
      Police shot dead a 12-year-old boy carrying a toy gun in Cleveland last month, while another grand jury last week decided not to prosecute a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri, who killed unarmed black teen Michael Brown in August.
      Protests in New York have been overwhelmingly peaceful, but police arrested 83 people following Wednesday’s decision not to press charges in Garner’s death.

Link:http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2014/12/06/2003606118

Struct:
who:  thousands of protesters
what:  clogged streets 
when: on Thursday
where: in New York and other major US cities
why : condemn police killings of young, unarmed black suspects

Keywords:

indict:起訴
chokehold:使某人窒息
clog:阻塞
asthma:氣喘
untaxed cigarrate:私煙
snarl:咆哮
hover:徘徊
impunity:有罪不罰
confrontation:對抗
prosecute:起訴

week 7 -Hong Kong- ‘umbrella revolution’

    Hong Kong democracy activists yesterday marked one month of mass protests by unfurling a sea of umbrellas as student leaders called for direct talks with Beijing officials, the first time such a request has been made.

At an evening rally at the main protest camp, thousands raised umbrellas to mark the moment a month ago when police fired tear gas at largely peaceful crowds — beginning the most concerted challenge to Beijing since the bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

As protesters streamed into the site, Alex Chow (周永康) — president of leading protest group the Hong Kong Federation of Students — said he would seek a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) if the Hong Kong government failed to relay protesters’ demands to mainland authorities.

Parts of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory, an Asian financial hub, have been paralyzed by a month of mass rallies and roadblocks.

Protesters want China to rescind its decision in August that all candidates in elections for the territory’s leader in 2017 must be vetted by a loyalist committee — an arrangement demonstrators derided as “fake democracy.”

Talks between the government and student leaders last week made little headway. The government offered to write a report to Beijing on events since protests began and to set up a committee with demonstrators to discuss further constitutional reform, but Chow yesterday said any report must include a direct request from the territory authorities calling on mainland authorities to withdraw their August decision.

“If the Hong Kong government has difficulty meeting our demands, we sincerely hope that arrangements could be made for us to directly meet with Premier Li Keqiang as soon as possible,” Chow said.

It is the first time students have broadcast the idea of going straight to Beijing to negotiate.

Their request echoes the Tiananmen protests, when student leaders eventually met then-Chinese premier Li Peng (李鵬) for what turned out to be fruitless talks.

On June 3 and June 4 the movement was brutally crushed.

The protests have been dubbed the “umbrella revolution” following the creative ways demonstrators used them to shelter from the heat, torrential rain, pepper spray and police batons.

Yesterday’s rally opposite the territory’s government headquarters in Admiralty District started with an 87-second silence at 5:57pm. At that time on Sept. 28, riot police shot the first of 87 canisters of tear gas at crowds who had taken over a highway near government buildings.

That decision backfired, drawing tens of thousands of sympathizers onto the streets.

Protest leaders are also aware that the disruption caused by their roadblocks has sparked mounting public frustration.

Occupy’s co-founder and university professor Benny Tai (戴耀廷) said he planned to spend more time away from the protest sites and return to teaching, but insisted it was not a retreat.

However, many of those at the rally said they could not leave the streets until genuine democratic progress was made.

“We can’t retreat because we haven’t got anything yet,” 52-year-old computer programmer Any Ho said. “Democracy cannot be taken for granted. We have to be persistent for it to come.”

來源: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/10/29/2003603164

Struction:

who: Hong Kong democracy activists

what:marked one month of mass protests

when:yesterday

where :Hong Kong

why: student leaders called for direct talks with Beijing officials

how:unfurling a sea of umbrellas 

Keywords:

unfurling:揚起Tiananmen Square protests:天安門事件

relay:傳達

premier:總理

dub:配音

 constitutional:合法;構成

backfired:事與願違

 roadblock :路障

week 6 - The terrorist organisations --ISIS

    Former president Jimmy Carter has criticized the Obama administration’s handling of the crisis in the Middle East and the growing threat of the Islamic State, joining a growing list of the president’s allies who are scrutinizing his strategy in Syria and Iraq.

In an interview with the Fort Worth, Texas Star-Telegram published on Oct. 7, Carter said the US had waited too long to respond to the growing power of the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) extremist group, which also goes by the name Islamic State.

“We let the Islamic State build up its money, capability and strength and weapons while it was still in Syria,” Carter said. “Then when [ISIS] moved into Iraq, the Sunni Muslims didn’t object to their being there and about a third of the territory in Iraq was abandoned.”

Carter added that the use of ground troops in addition to the current air campaign could ensure the US succeeds in Iraq. “If we keep on working in Iraq and have some ground troops to follow up when we do our bombing, there is a possibility of success,” he said.

President Barack Obama acknowledged last month that US intelligence did not anticipate the threat that ISIS posed in Iraq but has maintained that arming Syrian rebels would have been untenable, and might have led to militants obtaining arms.

來源;http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2014/11/11/2003604122

Structure:

who:Jimmy Carter
where:no given
what: criticized the Obama administration’s handling of the crisis in the Middle East and the growing threat of the Islamic State,
when:no given
why:no given
how:no given

Keywords:

drop the ball : 搞砸follow up: 追蹤anticipate; 預期
ally:盟友;聯盟國scrutinizing:仔細檢查

week 5 - 219 nigerian girls were kidnapped

Abducted girls married off: Boko Haram

FIRM DENIAL:The militant group’s leader said Allah told them not to negotiate. He added that they had not agreed to a ceasefire, and are holding a German hostage

Boko Haram has claimed that the 219 schoolgirls it kidnapped in Nigeria earlier this year have converted to Islam and been married off, according to a new video obtained by Agence France-Presse on Friday.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau also denied claims by Nigeria’s government that it had agreed to a ceasefire and apparently ruled out future talks.

In addition, Shekau said the militants were holding a German national, who was kidnapped in Adamawa state in northeastern Nigeria in July.

The schoolgirls were kidnapped from the remote northeast town of Chibok in Borno state in April, raising global awareness about the group whose five-year insurgency in northern Nigeria has claimed an estimated 13,000 lives.

The new video comes after a surprise announcement by the Nigerian military and presidency on Oct. 17 that a deal had been reached with the militants to end hostilities and return the children.

There was immediate skepticism about both claims. Previous ceasefires have proved fruitless and there is little trust in the influence of the purported Boko Haram envoy, Danladi Ahmadu.

Violence — and fresh kidnappings — have continued unabated since the announcement, including a triple bombing of a bus station in the northern city of Gombe on Friday that killed at least eight people.

Nigeria’s government maintains that talks are ongoing in the capital of Chad, Ndjamena.

However, Shekau, speaking in Hausa, dressed in military fatigues and boots with a black turban, and flanked by 15 armed fighters, said: “We have not made a ceasefire with anyone.”

“We did not negotiate with anyone... It’s a lie. It’s a lie. We will not negotiate. What is our business with negotiation? Allah said we should not,” he added.

He also said he did not know Danladi.

There was no indication of when or where the video was shot, but it was obtained through the same channels as previous communications from the group.

In it, Shekau mentions the Chibok girls for the first time since a video obtained on May 5, when more than 100 were shown in a rural location dressed in hijabs and reciting verses from the Koran.

Then, the militant leader said many of the girls had converted to Islam, but in the latest, he indicated that all of those held had become Muslims.

“Don’t you know the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls have converted to Islam? They have now memorized two chapters of the Koran,” he said.

Shekau previously threatened to sell the girls as slave brides and also suggested he would be prepared to release them in exchange for Boko Haram prisoners.

In the latest message, he said while laughing: “We have married them off. They are in their marital homes.”

Human Rights Watch said in a report published this week that Boko Haram was holding upwards of 500 women and young girls, and that forced marriage was commonplace in the militant camps.

One former hostage said she saw some of the Chibok girls forced to cook and clean for other women and girls who had been chosen for “special treatment because of their beauty.”

Shekau’s claim in the video that they were “holding your German hostage” is the first claim of responsibility for the abduction, which happened on July 16.

The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in Berlin it did not want to comment.

Gunmen kidnapped the foreigner, who was said to be a teacher at a government technical training center in Gombi, about 100km from the Adamawa state capital, Yola.

Suspicion immediately fell on Boko Haram, which has repeatedly attacked schools teaching a so-called Western curriculum, as well as teachers and students.

The UN high commissioner for refugees on Friday said that worsening Boko Haram violence in northeastern Nigeria and cross-border attacks inside Cameroon had heightened fear, and made it increasingly difficult to relocate refugees.

“Cameroonian civilians are living in a state of terror due to frequent insurgent attacks,” a statement said.

來源:http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2014/11/02/2003603510/1

Structure of the Lead：

who: Boko Haram
what:the 219 schoolgirls it kidnapped in Nigeria earlier this year have converted to Islam and been married off
why:not given
when: earlier this year
where: Nigeria 
how:not given

Keywords

hostility: 敵意 insurgency ; 暴動

marry  sb off:把某人嫁出recite: 背誦 commissioner :長官refugee: 難民