Week 4- American sniper

‘American Sniper’ Chris Kyle shot to death: reports

Reuters Mon, Feb 04, 2013

Chris Kyle, a former US Navy SEAL sniper who was responsible for 160 kills during his career as a sniper, was shot and killed along with another man at a gun range on Saturday, said Scott McEwen, the co-author Kyle’s autobiography.

A suspect, identified as Eddie Ray Routh, was arrested, reports said.

Kyle, who wrote the book American Sniper about his time in the military from 1999 to 2009, and another man were found dead at the Rough Creek Lodge’s shooting range on Saturday, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported, quoting Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant.

The second victim was not identified.

“It just comes as a shock and it’s staggering to think that after all Chris has been through, that this is how he meets his end, because there are so many ways he could have been killed” in Iraq, McEwen said.

Rough Creek Lodge is in Glen Rose, Texas, about 80km southwest of Fort Worth. Rough Creek Lodge referred calls to the Erath County Sheriff’s Office, but Bryant was not immediately available for comment.

Kyle served four combat tours of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom and elsewhere, winning two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars for bravery, his book says.

After leaving the US Navy, Kyle founded Craft International, a firm that provided combat and weapons training to military, police, corporate and civilian clients.

In an interview last year with Time magazine, he was asked what went through his mind when he aimed at a target.

“The first time, you’re not even sure you can do it, but I’m not over there looking at these people as people. I’m not wondering if he has a family. I’m just trying to keep my guys safe,” he said. “Every time I kill someone, he can’t plant an IED [improvised explosive device]. You don’t think twice about it.”

Kyle is the co-author of another book coming out in May, titled American Gun — A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms. For the book, he fired 10 weapons — such as the Spencer repeating rifle from the US Civil War, the Colt .45 used in the Old West era and the Thompson sub-machine gun popular with law enforcement and gangsters in the 1920s — and discussed their parts in US history.

In the wake of the slayings of 20 children and six adults at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, in December last year, Kyle was interviewed last month about rising calls for curbing gun violence in the US. He told the Web site guns.com that he favored arming teachers who have been screened and trained, and spoke against restrictions on gun owners.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2013/02/04/2003554221

Structure of the Lead：

        WHO- Chris Kyle

  WHEN- on Saturday

 WHAT- a former US Navy SEAL sniper who was responsible for 160 kills during his career as a sniper, was shot and killed along with another man at a gun range

 WHY- not given

WHERE- Scott McEwen, the co-author Kyle’s autobiography

 HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. sniper：狙擊手

   2. autobiography：自傳

   3. suspect：犯罪嫌疑人

   4. Iraq：伊拉克

   5. combat tour：戰旅

   6. Navy：海軍

   7. target：目標

  8. slaying：兇殺案

WEEK 3- Taoyuan blames ex-official for fire deaths

Taoyuan blames ex-official for fire deaths

By Jake Chung  /  Staff writer, with CAN

Sat, Jan 31, 2015 

The Taoyuan City Government yesterday implicated former deputy county commissioner Yeh Shih-wen (葉世文) in the deaths of six firefighters after a fire in a bowling alley in Sinwu District (新屋).

Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) accused Yeh of holding a special meeting on April 2 last year to help the owners of the plot of land on which the bowling alley was built circumvent regulations on land use, adding that the land had been registered for agricultural use.

At the meeting, it was decided that any decisions regarding the land would be made by the department of agriculture instead of the bureau of urban development, Cheng said.

A report was changed to say that the building was not public property, Cheng said.

The decision was an error and it indicated administrative laziness among civil servants in the then-county government, Cheng said.

The contents of the meeting must be looked into and laid open for public scrutiny, Cheng added.

There might have been mistakes made by the past administration, but we must face facts and not seek to cover them up, Cheng said, adding that the city government would fully cooperate with investigations.

“Every mistake that is uncovered in the investigation will become the basis for government’s reforms,” Cheng said.

Cheng said that the Sinwu case involved an illegal construction built 20 years ago that had in the past year been flagged for a joint inspection, but the case had not been handled properly.

The problem clearly does not lie with any individual public servant, but with the local administration of the time, Cheng said, adding that a new government is expected to correct the mistakes of previous governments.

According to preliminary investigations by the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office, a then-county official surnamed Chang (張) and a Sinwu District Office official surnamed Cheng (鄭) have been accused of colluding over the construction of the building and are in custody.

The Department of Agriculture said it had alerted the Department of Public Works that the construction was in violation of regulations and should be prioritized for removal, but the district office said it had been awaiting further investigations.

 http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2015/01/31/2003610493

Structure of the Lead：

        WHO- The Taoyuan City Government

   WHEN- yesterday

 WHAT- former deputy county commissioner Yeh Shih-wen (葉世文) in the deaths of six firefighters

 WHY- a fire in a bowling alley

WHERE- Sinwu District (新屋)

 HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. death：死亡

   2. bowling alley ：保齡球館

   3. circumvent：規避

   4. register ：註冊

   5. scrutiny：審查

   6. reforms ：改革

   7. Agriculture：農業

Week 2- Taliban

‘Facilitator’ of attack on school killed in Pakistan

AFP, PESHAWAR, Pakistan

Sun, Dec 28, 2014 - Page 5

Pakistani security forces have killed a Taliban commander who allegedly facilitated the Peshawar school massacre, which left 148 people dead in the country’s worst-ever terror attack, officials said on Friday.

Named only as “Saddam,” the militant was killed on Thursday night in a gunbattle with security forces in the restive Khyber tribal district, which borders the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar where last week’s attack took place.

“Commander Saddam was a dreaded terrorist, who was killed in an exchange of fire with the security forces in Jamrud town of Khyber tribal region,” top local administration official Shahab Ali Shah said at a press conference in Peshawar. “Six of his accomplices were injured and arrested.”

He added that Saddam is believed to have facilitated the school attack, although the extent or capacity of his alleged involvement was not yet known.

“Authorities are currently interrogating the injured terrorists,” Shah said.

He described Saddam as an important commander in Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and said he had masterminded several bomb attacks.

Saddam and his accomplices had been involved in several recent attacks on security forces that had resulted in heavy casualties, Shah said.

The military said it killed 23 militants in aerial strikes in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border on Friday evening.

“In very effective and precise aerial strikes in North Waziristan this evening, 23 terrorists including some important commanders were killed,” the military said in a statement. “A huge underground ammunition dump and tunnel system have been destroyed.”

The Taliban and other militants have taken refuge in the Khyber region from a major Pakistani army offensive launched in June in North Waziristan, another restive tribal area on the Afghan border that has been a hub for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants since the early 2000s.

In related news, a US drone strike on a Taliban compound in North Waziristan killed at least four militants on Friday, officials said, the second such incident in a week. Another drone strike in North Waziristan on Saturday last week killed at least five militants, officials said. The area is generally off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to independently verify the number and identity of the dead.

Washington pressed Islamabad for years to wipe out militant sanctuaries in North Waziristan, which have been used to launch attacks on NATO forces in Afghanistan. The Pakistani military says it has killed more than 1,700 militants so far in its heavy offensive in the tribal zone, with 126 soldiers having lost their lives.

Pakistan has ramped up its anti-terror strategy in the wake of the attack on Tuesday last week of an army-run school in Peshawar, where 134 children were among the victims shot to death by heavily armed Taliban militants.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has announced the establishment of military courts for terror-related cases in order to accelerate trials, and he has also lifted a six-year moratorium on the death penalty, reinstating it for terrorism-related cases.

Officials said on Monday that Pakistan plans to execute about 500 militants in the coming weeks.

 http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2014/12/28/2003607793

Structure of the Lead：

        WHO- officials

   WHEN- Friday

 WHAT- Pakistani security forces have killed a Taliban commander

 WHY- not given

     WHERE-Peshawar school

 HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. commander：指揮官

   2. allegedly：據稱

   3. facilitate ：促成

   4. massacre：大屠殺

   5. Saddam ：薩達姆

   6. gunbattle：槍戰

   7. terrorists：恐怖份子

   8. Taliban：塔利班

   9. militants：武裝份子

  10. execute：處決

Week 1- Ting Hsin oil

Ting Hsin’s Wei Ying-chun indicted

Staff writer, with CAN

Wed, Oct 22, 2014

Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) executive Wei Ying-chun (魏應充) was indicted yesterday on charges of fraud, forgery and food-related regulatory violations for his role in an oil adulteration scandal that erupted last year. Wei, former chairman of Cheng I Food Co (正義股份), Ting Hsin Oil and Fat Industrial Co (頂新製油實業) and Wei Chuan Foods Corp (味全食品工業), faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted.

Also indicted was former Wei Chuan general manager Chang Chiao-hua (張教華) and former Ting Hsin Oil and Fat general manager Chang Mei-feng (常梅峰), as well as 10 other Wei Chuan employees.

Ting Hsin Oil and Fat, which made cooking oils marketed under the Wei Chuan brand, was found in November last year to have used adulterated oils obtained from Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co (大統長基) in its finished products.

Chang Chi used cottonseed oil and other cheap oils in its more expensive grapeseed and olive oils, and, in some cases, used copper chlorophyllin to make the substitutes look more like olive oil.

According to the indictment, Ting Hsin Oil and Fat manufactured 65 olive oil and grapeseed oil products for Wei Chuan using oils supplied by Chang Chi between 2007 and last year, generating more than NT$792 million (US$26 million) in revenue.

Prosecutors allege that Wei and Chang were aware that they were buying adulterated oils from Chang Chi because they were informed by their quality-control department that Chang Chi’s oils were problematic, but insisted that the supplier’s products continue to be purchased.

Wei and Chang have denied the charges.

Wei has been detained by prosecutors since Oct. 17 over his involvement in a more recent edible oil scandal.

In the latest case, Ting Hsin Oil and Fat and Cheng I, another company previously led by Wei, was found to have used oils meant for animal feed in lard-based cooking oil products. The oils were also used by Wei Chuan in its food products.

Wei resigned from his posts as chairman of Wei Chuan, Ting Hsin Oil and Fat, and Cheng I — all subsidiaries of the Wei family-owned Ting Hsin International Group — on Oct. 9 following the more recent food scare.

 http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/10/22/2003602623

Structure of the Lead：

        WHO- Ting Hsin International Group executive Wei Ying-chun

   WHEN- yesterday

 WHAT- Wei Ying-chun was indicted

  WHY- on charges of fraud, forgery and food-related regulatory violations for his role in an oil adulteration scandal that erupted last year.

  WHERE-not given

  HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. executive ：總裁

   2. indicted：被起訴

   3. forgery ：偽造品

   4. convicted：定罪

   5. adulterated ：摻假

   6. deny：否認

   7. charges：指控

   8. prosecutors ：檢察官

   9. resign：辭職

  10. subsidiaries ：子公司

Week 7 -Chang Guann oil

Taiwan’s ‘Gutter Oil’ Scandal

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

SEPT. 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- Sept. 4

 WHAT- 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. 

  WHY- 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.

  WHERE-not given

  HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. Gutter oil：地溝油

   2. adulterated ：摻假

   3. food-safety ：食品安全

   4. waste：廢棄物

   5. lard：豬油

   6. delude ：騙

   7. carcinogens ：致癌物

   8. scare ：恐慌

       9. copper chlorophyllin：葉綠素銅

  10. olive oil ：橄欖油