Aleppo air drops 'would endanger UK planes'-Week 07(white helmet)

British aircraft would risk being shot down if they were used to drop aid to the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo, a Foreign Office minister has said.

Tobias Ellwood said he was not ruling out the tactic but warned it would be "hugely complicated" and could place UK forces "in harm's way".

He was responding to an urgent question in the Commons on Aleppo.

More than 120 MPs have urged the government to authorise drops of food and medical supplies.

Their demands were reiterated in the Commons as Labour's Alison McGovern urged ministers to consider the move as a "last resort".

• What's happening in Aleppo?
• Why are children so badly affected in Aleppo?
• Rebel lose third of east Aleppo territory

She read out a statement from the Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, which warned that Aleppo is "in a state of emergency", with 279,000 people "under siege" for 94 days.

Mr Ellwood warned aid drops could land "in the wrong place" or "go to the wrong people", saying negotiating safe passage for land vehicles was a better option.

Given the scale of the aid that needs to get in, the number of aid drops would be "enormous", he said.

And responding to shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, who also called for air drops to be considered, he said: "She's now advocating that British aeroplanes, Hercules aircraft or otherwise, go into Syrian air space and make those drops.

"They will be shot down."

'No alternatives'

Challenged over his comments later in the debate, Mr Ellwood said there was "the possibility that a British aircraft could be shot down".

He added: "I use this opportunity to say that we are putting British air personnel in harm's way."

Mr Ellwood also referred to the first Commons vote on air strikes in Syria, which was rejected in 2013, saying the UK had "blinked" when it could have taken action.

Mr Ellwood said the government could only explore other "opportunities" with the full support of Parliament.

Ms Thornberry said nobody was "underestimating the complexity and risks involved" with air drops.

She added: "But with no alternatives, with thousands facing death if they do not get immediate supplies of food and medical equipment, these are risks we must be prepared to take."

Keywords:

referred 參考

advocating 倡導

reiterated 重申

under siege 兵臨城下

source:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-38134858

introduction:

這個嗎，所謂的白頭盔，看了這篇文章才知道，原來他們是敘利亞民間的防禦部隊。講難聽點就是在敘利亞的民兵拉。然後大概闡述了現在敘利亞發生的問題等等的。

Tory donor threatens to stop funding over Brexit plans-Week 08

A major Tory donor has warned that he will stop funding the party if Theresa May's Brexit plans involve the UK coming out of the single market.

Sir Andrew Cook, who has donated more than £1.2m to the party, told The Timesthe country could "sleepwalk to disaster" if it made such a move.

The engineering firm chairman said at least one of his factories was almost "entirely dependent" on access to it.

Sir Andrew backed the Remain campaign in the EU referendum.

He told the newspaper that the "economic arguments of staying in the single market are overwhelming" and it would be a "catastrophe" if the country left.

"It is very difficult to make a political donation to a party when, although I support it ideologically, I do not believe that my interests and my ideology are ad idem with the principal Brexiteers," he said.

Theresa May has insisted that she wants firms to have the "maximum freedom to trade with and operate in the single market".

But the prime minister is due to confirm in a speech later this month that the UK will have two fundamental red lines in its Brexit negotiations - control of its borders and freedom from the European Court of Justice.

She has pledged to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty - so getting leaving talks with the EU under way - by the end of March. These can take up to two years, unless an agreement is reached to prolong the process.

In November last year, the Conservatives reported more than £2.8m in donationsin the three months after the EU referendum - the highest amount of the major parties.

keywords:

dependent 依賴

referendum 全民投票

overwhelming 壓倒

ideologically 意識形態

insisted 堅持

source:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-38540813

introduction:

這篇文章就是一位在英國的政治人物，Andrew Cook在向英國民眾講英國脫歐的好處，一直在向社會大眾灌輸英國脫歐會有非常大的利益等等。可是現在再回顧過去這位人物說的一些對於英國的利益等卻沒有任何一項實現。可是這個議題公投可不是鬧著玩的，只有一次機會公投。所以現在的英國民眾非常後悔，而這位人物現在在英國也是被唾棄得非常徹底。

Week four: The revelent

Wilderness drama The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, has dominated this year's Baftas.

It was named best film while DiCaprio won best actor and Alejandro G Inarritu best director.

The Mexican director described the win as "overwhelming". He said DiCaprio's "talent and commitment" to the "risky project" had "kept the film breathing".

The ceremony at London's Royal Opera House on Sunday was hosted by Stephen Fry.

Reaction to Bafta winners

DiCaprio, who plays fur-trapper Hugh Glass, said he was "humbled and honoured" and praised the influence of British actors on his acting career. He also used his win to wish his mother a happy birthday.

Many of Monday's newspaper front pages carried pictures of DiCaprio, with The Independent noting that his win "puts him in pole position to win his first acting Oscar" at the end of the month.

This years Bafta awards was watched by a live audience of 4.5 million people - slightly down from last year when nearly five million tuned in.

It's also less than the 5.06 million that the 9pm slot on Sunday usually attracts for BBC One.

Apocalyptic action movie Mad Max: Fury Road took four awards: for make-up and hair, editing, costumes and production design.

Brie Larson won the best leading actress award for her role as a kidnapped mother in Room.

Director Lenny Abrahamson, who picked up the award on her behalf, called her "one of the best actors of her generation."

Both supporting acting prizes went to British winners.

keyword:

overwhelming：壓倒性

fur-trapper：毛皮陷阱設置者

Bafta：英國電影和電視藝術學院

source:

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35559488

introdution:

這篇新聞說明該年度的奧斯卡金像獎由神鬼獵人獲得了壓倒性的勝利，並說明了一些其他得獎人的情況等等。

Week 6 rocket recycling

Private firm SpaceX has carried out its first test of the Raptor rocket engine, designed to send humans to Mars.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced that the engine had been fired at the company's facility in McGregor, Texas.

If his vision is realised, it could power a super-heavy launch vehicle that would transport people to the Red Planet in coming decades.

But sending astronauts on round trips to our neighbour remains a formidable challenge.

Beyond the astronomical cost, there are the technical hurdles - currently unsolved - of protecting humans from the radiation levels they would be exposed to, once in deep space.

Mr Musk is set to outline his vision for a programme to colonise Mars at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Tuesday.

His announcement is being watched closely because SpaceX has already made several landmark achievements for a private space company, including successful upright landings of orbital rocket stages.

In an earlier series of tweets, Mr Musk pointed out the "Mach diamonds" in a picture of the engine test.

This is the name given to a type of wave pattern that appears in the supersonic exhaust plume of a rocket engine or jet engine.

When the Raptor was first announced in 2012, SpaceX said it would be several times more powerful than the Merlin 1 family of engines designed to power the company's Falcon launch vehicles.

And, unlike the Merlin engines, which use a combination of refined kerosene and liquid oxygen as fuel, the Raptor will be powered by liquid methane and liquid oxygen.

Raptor engines could eventually lift SpaceX's Mars Colonial Transport (MCT) towards the Red Planet.

For Mr Musk, Tuesday's speech should offer welcome respite from dealing with the fall-out of the company's launch pad explosion in September, which destroyed one of the company's Falcon 9 launchers and its payload - an Israeli-built communications satellite for Facebook.

Keywords:

respite：喘息

kerosene：煤油
orbital：軌道的
programme：程序
colonise：殖民
formidable：強大
neighbour：鄰居
realised：實現

sources:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37473609

Introduction:

這則新聞提到了SpaceX，一家已持有能夠回收火箭的技術的公司，說出了他們將來的計劃以及正在進行的實現。並指出如果想要實現他們的計畫，必須投入相當多的資金及資源…

Week 5 COP 21

A Scottish Conservative MEP has joined a think tank set up by former California governor and action film star Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Ian Duncan said he was delighted to be appointed to the board of advisers of the Schwarzenegger Institute at the University of Southern California.

The pair met at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December.

Mr Duncan, who will not be paid for the role, said he was "not going anywhere yet" and is focused on the Brexit deal.

Mr Duncan, who is a member of the European Parliament's energy and environment committees, will advise the Institute on energy policy and climate change.

Mr Schwarzenegger introduced a carbon cap and trade system while governor of California, and the pair discussed market-based solutions to global warming when they met in Paris in 2015.

The MEP said: "I am honoured to be asked to serve on the board of advisers to the USC Schwarzenegger Institute.

"The Institute has an impressive track record and I look forward to exploring solutions to the challenges presented by a warming planet, energy poverty, and our ongoing dependence upon fossil fuels."

Bonnie Reiss, global director of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, said: "We are honoured to have Ian join our board of advisers. Ian's experience and global perspective on policy and climate change and many other critical issues will bring great value to our work."

Keywords:

MEP：運動估計處理器

honoured：榮幸

Brexit：英國退歐(Bretish+exit)

perspective：透視

governor：統治者

source:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-37438811

Introduction：

這篇報導指出了一個團體加入了由前加州州長阿諾史瓦辛格所創立的智囊團。並且說明了他們在2015年會面，並指出了這個組織的目的以及計畫

Syria's refugees (week3) by afl3a 08

Alan Kurdi: Has one picture shifted our view of refugees?

A huge online conversation is taking place around the picture of a dead 3-year-old Syrian boy from Kobane, washed up on a Turkish beach. Will it change the way the world views Syrian refugee migrants?

Warning: This article contains a distressing image

The picture was of Aylan Kurdi, one of 12 Syrians who drowned off the coast of Turkey as they tried to reach the EU by boat. They were heading towards the Greek island of Kos.

A Turkish news agency shared the picture of his lifeless body being washed up and carried ashore by a Turkish policeman and it has sparked a huge - and global - surge on social media.

Here are five of the biggest talking points.

1. 'Humanity washed up ashore'

This Turkish phrase was used as people first began to share the picture using a Twitter hashtag ("#kiyiyavuraninsanlik"). It has been used 200,000 times in the past 24 hours. Other tags, such as "where children die in the world," also trended.

Turkish internet users commented on the moral issues the picture raises. "You should be quiet when kids are asleep, not when they die," said Ba Bacio. "Forgive us child, we did not care about you as much as we do for beached whales," said Burak Ates.

In English, debates soon emerged over whether the picture would change the way Europe views its refugee crisis, and debating how this image was different from the other graphic pictures that emerged from Syria.

2. Here is how we should remember him

Images that seem to show Aylan Kurdi and his 5-year-old brother Galip alive, and in happier times, soon emerged onto social media.

It's not clear where these images were first used, although Canada's National Post featured the pictures alongside an interview with the children's aunt who lives in Vancouver, and other journalists have said family members shared these pictures.

Online, many people are sharing these images and many are commenting that it's a better way to remember Aylan Kurdi. His name has now been used 50,000 times on Twitter.

3. Is it even right to share this image?

The BBC has chosen to publish only one photograph of Aylan, in which he is being carried by a Turkish police officer and is unidentifiable. However, several news organisations have published more graphic images of the boy.

On social media there was a similar debate about what purpose was served by retweeting or sharing such a graphic image. A blog post by human rights watch was widely shared, arguing the image being shared might influence European leaders. But many others urged people not to share the image, as it was too heartbreaking and graphic to take in.

4. 'The Arab conscience is dead'

There was an even bigger conversation about the pictures in Arabic than English, with 300,000 messages on Twitter using the tag "A Syrian Child Drowns". Many shared cartoons and memes commenting on the moral issues raised.

By Thursday, another Arabic tag was trending - "Arab Conscience". People using it argued that the Arab world was abrogating its responsibility towards these Arab refugees, who were instead heading to the West. The campaign to ask wealthy Gulf states to change their restrictive rules on refugees also picked up steam - with 12,000 messages declaring that "there is a popular demand to let in refugees" in Saudi Arabia.

5. Demands to change the West's asylum system - including in the UK

The demand to lift restrictions on asylum laws also surged further after the picture emerged. The "Refugees Welcome" tag, discussing Germany's relaxation of restrictions, gained an additional 74,000 tweets, and nearly 20,000 more used the English phrase "People Not Migrants".

A petition on the UK Parliament's website calling on the government to "Accept more asylum seekers and increase support for refugee migrants in the UK" saw a rapid surge in signatories - adding 150,000 new names on Thursday. It now stands at 240,000 signatories. The threshold for Parliament to consider the topic for a debate is 100,000 signatories.

keywords:

debating:爭論

alongside:在...旁邊

 unidentifiable:不可識別的

 campaign:風潮

threshold:門檻

introduction:

該則新聞是在闡述之前發生的國際新聞事件，一名12歲的敘利亞男童屍體趴臥在土耳其海岸邊。該照片由一名記者拍攝，此照片一上傳在推特，就引起許多人的注意，並且開始思考為何會發生這種事，然後才了解到敘利亞內戰所導致的難民問題越來越嚴重。許多人看到這張相片後紛紛表示感到傷心難過，該則新聞由此議題討論了許多層面的問題，像是難民潮該如何解決等等。令我們再度思考戰爭所帶來的慘痛代價

sources:

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-34142804

Paris attack

The attacks in Paris on the night of Friday 13 November by gunmen and suicide bombers hit a concert hall, a major stadium, restaurants and bars, almost simultaneously - and left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded.The attacks were described by President Francois Hollande as an "act of war" organised by the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

Shootings and bomb blasts left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded, with more than 100 in a critical condition.

"Three co-ordinated teams" were believed to have been behind the attacks, according to Paris chief prosecutor Francois Molins.

In the days immediately after the attacks, French police carried out hundreds of raids across the country, as the search for suspects continued. Raids also took place in the Belgian city of Brussels.

This is how the attacks happened.

21:20 (20:20 GMT) First explosion at the Stade de France

The first of three explosions occurred outside the Stade de France stadium on the northern fringe of Paris where France were playing Germany in an international football friendly.

A man wearing a suicide belt was reportedly prevented from entering the stadium after a routine security check detected the explosives. According to the Wall Street Journal, the man backed away from security guards and detonated the explosives.

The bomber and a passer-by were killed.

The game, attended by President Francois Hollande, was being broadcast on TV. After a second man detonated his suicide vest outside a different stadium entrance at 21:30, the president was rushed to safety.

21:25 Gun attack on Rue Alibert

Shooting: Le Carillon

Meanwhile, other attacks were unfolding nearer to the centre of town, around popular nightlife spots. The first took place at about 21:25 in the 10th district (arrondissement), not far from the Place de la Republique.

The gunmen arrived at the scene in a black Seat car, later found abandoned, about three miles (nearly 5km) away in the eastern suburb of Montreuil.

Witnesses at Le Carillon bar, 18 rue Alibert, said they initially thought a firecracker had gone off before realising that they were under fire from semi-automatic rifles.

"People dropped to the ground. We put a table over our heads to protect us," said Ben Grant, who was with his wife at the back of the bar.

Bar reels from attack

Restaurant attack: Le Petit Cambodge

Witnesses describe how a man then crossed the road and turned his gun on a restaurant, Le Petit Cambodge (Little Cambodia).

Fifteen people died in the attack on the bar and restaurant, with 15 severely injured. More than 100 bullets were fired.

21:32 Diners shot in Rue de la Fontaine au Roi

Then came an attack on diners a few streets south of rue Alibert, in front of the Cafe Bonne Biere and La Casa Nostra pizzeria in rue de la Fontaine au Roi. Five people were killed and eight were severely injured.

Again, witnesses reported that the gunmen were travelling in a black Seat.

keywords:

co-ordinated:協調

chief prosecutor:首席檢察官

raids:襲擊

semi-automatic:半自動

detonated:引爆

resources:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34818994

introduction:

去年十一月發生的巴黎恐怖攻擊事件，根據該新聞報導闡述。該則新聞說明了發生地點以及大約的起因後果，並且詳細記載了死傷人數以及犯人的特徵等等。