Week4 - American Sniper

American Sniper is a 2014 American biographical war drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Jason Hall. It is based on the book American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History(2012) by Chris Kyle, with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice. With 255 kills, 160 of which were officially confirmed by the Department of Defense, Kyle is the deadliest marksman in U.S. military history. The film stars Bradley Cooper as Kyle and Sienna Miller as his wife Taya, with Luke Grimes, Kyle Gallner, Sam Jaeger, Jake McDorman, and Cory Hardrict in supporting roles.

The world premiere was on November 11, 2014, at the American Film Institute Festival, followed by a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 25, 2014 and a wide release on January 16, 2015. The film became a major commercial success, with a worldwide gross of over $534 million. It became the highest-grossing war film of all time, the highest-grossing film of 2014 in the United States, and Eastwood's highest-grossing film to date.

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, though it attracted some controversy over its portrayal of both the War in Iraq and of Chris Kyle. At the 87th Academy Awards, American Sniper received six nominations, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for Cooper, ultimately winning one award for Best Sound Editing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Sniper_%28film%29

Structure of the Lead: 

who - American Sniper

when - 2014

what - is a 2014 American biographical war drama film

why - not given

where - America

how - not given

Keywords:

Sniper 狙擊手

biographical 傳記的

Week3 - Charlie Hebdo attack

Paris (CNN)Paris' iconic Eiffel Tower went dark Thursday night, hours after silence descended across France for a minute as the nation marked poignant tributes for the 12 people killed in a terrorist attack a day earlier at the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris.

In the capital, many bowed their heads under umbrellas earlier as the bells of Notre Dame Cathedral tolled across the city.

It was a scene mirrored in towns and cities across France, and elsewhere in Europe, as people honored those who paid with their lives for press freedom.

On Thursday night (2 p.m. ET), lights on the Eiffel Tower were shut off in a somber tribute. Throughout the night, people lit candles, waved banners and paid their respect to the victims at makeshift shrines.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/08/world/france-rally-reaction-charlie-hebdo-attack/index.html

Structure of the Lead: 

who - Paris' iconic Eiffel Tower 

when - Thursday night

what - went dark

why - for the 12 people killed in a terrorist attack a day earlier at the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine

where - Paris

how - not given

Keywords:

Cathedral 大教堂

makeshift 臨時代用品；權宜之計[C]

Week2 - National Taichung Theater

National Taichung Theater starts trial operations

• Publication Date：11/24/2014
• Source： Taiwan Today
• President Ma Ying-jeou said Nov. 23 that National Taichung Theater will help attract more performing art groups to Taiwan and boost the country’s cultural profile.
  “The theater is set to become a new landmark on the local cultural and creative landscape,” Ma said during a ceremony marking the commencement of trial operations at the facility in central Taiwan.
  “Along with National Theater and Concert Hall in Taipei City and Wei-Wu-Ying Center for the Arts under construction in Kaohsiung City, the facility will help usher in a new era for the performing arts in Taiwan.”
  Taking five years to complete, the NT$4.36 billion (US$141.56 million) project features a beamless design and irregular curved walls. It is the brainchild of Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Toyo Ito from Japan, whose work on the Kaohsiung Main Stadium attracted worldwide praise.
  Covering 57,024 square meters in downtown Taichung, the facility includes a 2,000-seat grand performing hall, an 800-seat theatre and a 200-seat experimental theater. It will officially open to the public in early 2015 under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture.
  As part of the celebrations, Taichung City Government is staging dance and theater performances, as well as concerts and light shows, at the site.
  The inaugural show was a production of “Cat Man” by traditional opera troupe Ming Hwa Yuan Arts and Cultural Group. It is to be followed by performances of “Don Quixote” by the Paper Windmill Theatre Nov. 27 and 28. (SFC-JSM)
• http://www.taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=224373&ctNode=445

Structure of the Lead: 

who - President Ma Ying-jeou

when - not given

what - National Taichung Theater will help attract more performing art groups to Taiwan and boost the country’s cultural profile

why - not given

where - Taiwan

how - not given

Keywords:

commencement 開始，發端

beamless 沒有橫樑的

irregular 不規則的

Week1 - Is case of the 43 missing students in Mexico closed?

(CNN)Mexican authorities say they're not done. There are still suspects at large they have to detain, and detainees they must try and sentence. But Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam says there is "legal certainty" that 43 college students who went missing four months ago in the Mexican state of Guerrero were murdered.

At a news conference in Mexico City Tuesday, Murillo Karam said 99 suspects have been detained so far. Authorities have also obtained hundreds of testimonies, confessions and pieces of evidence.

"These and other elements we found during the investigation allowed us to carry out an analysis about the logical causes and, without a doubt, we can conclude that the students at the teachers' college were abducted, killed, burned and thrown into the San Juan River, in that order," Murillo Karam said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/28/americas/mexico-missing-students/index.html

Structure of the Lead: 

who - Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam

when - four months ago

what - says there is "legal certainty" that 43 college students who went missing

why - not given

where - in the Mexican state of Guerrero

how - not given

Keywords:

testimonie（人、物、資格、品質等的）證明書；推薦書

confession 承認；坦白

Week7 - Taiwan’s ‘Gutter Oil’ Scandal

By THE EDITORIAL BOARDSEPT. 18, 2014

Since Sept. 4, the Taiwanese authorities have been struggling to control a food scare caused by 645 tons of adulterated cooking oil produced by the Chang Guann Company and distributed to more than 1,200 restaurants, schools and food processors. As of Monday, health authorities had identified a wide array of more than 1,300 food products tainted by the oil, including instant noodles, snacks, cakes, dumplings, bread, canned pork, meat paste and glutinous rice. Taiwan obviously needs a stronger food-safety policy with meaningful penalties.

Chang Guann has been buying what’s known as “gutter oil” — recycled oil from restaurant waste and animal byproducts — from an illegal factory and mixing it with lard to make its Chuan Tung cooking oil. Though the illegal factory had been in business for more than a decade, the authorities had failed to detect what it was up to. Chang Guann had also managed to delude inspectors. Recycled gutter oil can contain carcinogens. No case of illness has been reported so far. Chang Guann was fined a trifling $1.67 million for its illegal sales.

The investigation also revealed that Chang Guann had been importing lard from Hong Kong that was intended for industrial purposes but falsely listed by the Hong Kong company as fit for human consumption.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare is now working to set up a system to monitor about 100 oil manufacturers and 500 importers in Taiwan, requiring them to register information about their products. Submitting fraudulent information could lead to a maximum fine of $100,000 and suspension of business for one year.

The scare follows a series of other food scandals last year; in one case, a factory owner was sentenced to 16 years in prison for adding a banned coloring agent, copper chlorophyllin, to olive oil. The Taiwanese authorities need to be doing more than reacting to food-safety problems on an ad hoc basis to ensure that what people eat is safe.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/opinion/taiwans-gutter-oil-scandal.html?_r=0

Structure of the Lead: 

who - the Taiwanese authorities

when - Since Sept. 4

what - have been struggling to control a food scare

why - not given

where - Taiwan

how - caused by 645 tons of adulterated cooking oil produced by the Chang Guann Company

Keywords:

adulterated 攙雜，攙假

glutinous 黏的，黏稠的；黏著性的

Week6 - Iraq ISIS

Indonesia's Jakarta Post rejects blasphemy claim over IS cartoon

The Jakarta Post has defended the publication of a cartoon criticising Islamic State (IS) militants, after its editor was named in a defamation case.

The cartoon shows a flag similar to ones used by IS with the words "there is no God but Allah", and a skull and crossbones.

The phrase is considered sacred by Muslims and the cartoon was seen by some as offensive.

The newspaper called the cartoon a "journalistic piece".

IS, also known as Isis, is a militant Islamist group fighting a brutal campaign in Syria and Iraq.

'Not blasphemous'

Published on 3 July, the cartoon replaces the oval shape on the original flag with a skull and crossbones but leaves the Arabic religious phrase "Laa ilaaha illallaah", meaning "there is no God but Allah".

It also shows the words Allah and Muhammad, which are sacred to Muslims and found on IS flags, inside the skull shape.

The Post, a leading English-language daily, said the cartoon was meant as a critique of the use of religious symbols in acts of violence.

But some Muslim groups said the cartoon was offensive towards Islam. The Post apologised and retracted the cartoon on 8 July, saying it regretted the "error in judgement".

On Thursday, police named the Jakarta Post's editor-in-chief, Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, a suspect for religious defamation.

"We are amazed because the fact is we did not commit a criminal act as accused," the newspaper responded in a statement on Thursday.

"What we produced was a journalistic piece that criticised the Isis movement, which has carried out violence in the name of religion. It means that the Isis caricature was not blasphemous."

Rights group Amnesty International has condemned the move by police. In a statement the group said the incident went against President Joko Widodo's commitment to press freedom in Indonesia.

A police spokesman told the BBC Mr Suryodiningrat could be summoned next week. He could be facing five years in prison for religious blasphemy.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30444002

Structure of the Lead: 

who - The Jakarta Post

when - after its editor was named in a defamation case

what - has defended the publication of a cartoon criticising Islamic State (IS) militants

why - not given

where - Iraq

how - not given

Keywords:

blasphemy 褻瀆

cartoon （以政治、時事為題材的）諷刺畫

summon 召喚；傳喚；請求；要求

defamation 誹謗

Week5 - Ebola

Ebola out of headlines but on the horizon

By Irwin Redlener

November 28, 2014 -- Updated 1956 GMT (0356 HKT)

(CNN) -- Ebola may have faded from the headlines in the United States, but the threat -- to Africa and the rest of the world -- remains.

This month, the Senate Homeland Security Committee held a hearing on Ebola, including testimony by Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He noted that the CDC had lowered its estimate of the number of cases likely to emerge in West Africa. Despite this positive news, Ebola remains largely out of control in Sierra Leone.

The World Health Organization announced this month that Guinea is "relatively stable," but the recent spread of the virus into Mali only confirms the need for a greater sustained effort to combat Ebola at its origin.

That's why many experts are cautioning that declaring the emergency over is premature. And it's why the Obama administration and key members of Congress are requesting $6.1 billion to beef up our ability to eradicate Ebola and prepare for future epidemics.

There are two reasons why this emergency is far from over.

First, as long as Ebola rages in West Africa, health care systems in the United States and elsewhere will need to remain on high alert. There is no way to assure that Ebola -- or other known and unknown biological threats -- will be contained without the ability on a global scale to identify, manage, eradicate or even prevent these diseases from spreading.

Improving our capacity to develop vaccines, respond to crises overseas and develop other countermeasures for dangerous viruses are vital.

Second, the death from Ebola of Thomas Eric Duncan in Dallas was a powerful illustration of how unprepared we are to deal with large-scale biological threats. Few of the almost 5,000 hospitals in the United States are at the level of Bellevue Hospital Center in New York, Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, the University of Nebraska Medical Center or the handful of other facilities that have been designated as ready to handle Ebola-like illnesses.

Why aren't we ready? Part of the problem is that budget cuts over the last decade have slashed the federally funded Hospital Preparedness Program and special disaster funding for public health agencies. Indeed, since 2008, some 50,000 public health positions have been eliminated due to funding cuts.

For many public health agencies, even getting routine work done, never mind responding to crises, is proving a challenge for many communities in the United States.

The emergency funds being sought to respond to Ebola here and in Africa are critical to helping protect the American public.

The recent U.S. experience of Ebola was a wake-up call. But if the country hits the snooze button once the media coverage fades, we'll have missed a critical moment to deal not just with this deadly illness, but with future disasters, too

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/28/opinion/redlener-ebola-not-done/index.html?iref=allsearch

Structure of the Lead: 

who - Ebola

when - not given

what - may have faded from the headlines

why - not given

where - in the United States

how - not given

Keywords:

combat 反對

eradicate 連根拔除，根絕；消滅

countermeasure 對策；反抗手段

eliminate 排除，消除，消滅

snooze button 鬧鐘上的打盹按鈕