Paris climate change conference

According to the organizing committee of the summit in Paris, the objective of the 2015 conference was to achieve, for the first time in over 20 years of UN negotiations, a binding and universal agreement on climate, from all the nations of the world. Pope Francis published an encyclical called Laudato si'intended, in part, to influence the conference. The encyclical calls for action against climate change. The International Trade Union Confederation has called for the goal to be "zero carbon, zero poverty", and its general secretary Sharan Burrow has repeated that there are "no jobs on a dead planet".

In 1992, governments met in Rio de Janeiro and forged the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. That agreement, still in force, bound governments to take action to avoid dangerous climate change, but did not specify what actions. Over the following five years, governments wrangled over what each should do, and what should be the role of developed countries versus poorer nations.

Those years of argument produced, in 1997, the Kyoto protocol. That pact required worldwide cuts in emissions of about 5%, compared with 1990 levels, by 2012, and each developed country was allotted a target on emissions reductions. But developing countries, including China, South Korea, Mexico and other rapidly emerging economies, were given no targets and allowed to increase their emissions at will.

1.      binding (a) 連結的

2.      encyclical (a) 傳閱的；通諭的

3.      wrangled (v) 爭吵

4.   protocol (n) 協議

5.      allotted (v) 分配

6.      at will (adv) 隨意地

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_United_Nations_Climate_Change_Conference

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/02/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-paris-climate-summit-and-un-talks

Russian plane, crash, Egypt

The Airbus A321, operated by the Russian airline Kogalymavia, took off from Sharm el-Sheikh airport at 05:58 (03:58 GMT) on 31 October.

At 06:14 Egyptian time (04:14 GMT), the plane failed to make scheduled contact with air traffic control based in Larnaca, Cyprus.

The plane disappeared from radar screens six minutes later while flying over central Sinai. Egyptian authorities said no SOS calls were received by air traffic controllers.

Russia's Interfax news agency cited a source in Cairo as saying "uncharacteristic" sounds were picked up by the cockpit voice recorder before the plane disappeared from radar screens. "The recordings suggest that an emergency situation occurred on board unexpectedly and took the crew by surprise," the source said.

Data released by the flight tracking website Flightradar24 showed that just before the radar signal was lost, the aircraft reached an altitude of more than 33,000ft (10,060m), then started to descend with a vertical speed of about 6,000ft a minute. The plane's forward speed meanwhile dropped to around 170km/h (105mph), slower than the speed necessary to continue safe flight.

Egyptian military aircraft subsequently located the wreckage of the plane in the Hasana area, 95km (59 miles) south of the Mediterranean coastal town of el-Arish.

Russian officials said the wreckage was scattered across a 20 sq km (7.7-sq mile) area, meaning that the plane broke up in mid-air before falling to earth.

1.      uncharacteristic (adj) 異常

2.      subsequently (adv) 後來

3.      wreckage (n) 殘骸；廢墟

4.      coastal (adj) 沿海

5.      scattered (adj) 零落；疏散

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34687990

Paris terror attack, Abaaoud, French father and son, blindfolded Muslim, hug

France had been on high alert for terrorism since the Charlie Hebdoshooting and a series of related attacks in January by militants belonging to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and had increased security in anticipation of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, scheduled to be held in Paris at the beginning of December, as well as reinstating border checks a week before the attacks.

Throughout 2015, France witnessed smaller attacks: the February stabbing of three soldiers guarding a Jewish community centre in Nice, the June attempt to blow up a factory in Saint-Quentin Fallavier, and the August shooting and stabbing attack on a passenger train.

The Bataclan theatre had been threatened a number of times because of its public support for Israel. Two Jewish brothers, Pascal and Joël Laloux, owned the Bataclan for more than 40 years before selling it in September 2015. In 2011, a group calling itself Army of Islam told French security services they had planned an attack on the Bata clan because its owners were Jewish.

In the weeks leading up to the Paris attacks, ISIL and its branches had claimed responsibility for several other attacks: the downing of Metrojet Flight 9268 on 31 October and the suicide bombings in Beirut on 12 November.

Intelligence agencies in Turkey, Iraq and Israel had all warned of an imminent attack on France months beforehand, but were ignored by the French authorities.

1.      reinstate (v) 復職

2.      stab (v) 刺痛；刺傷

3.      theatre (n) 劇院

4.      imminent (a) 即將發生的；逼近的

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_2015_Paris_attacks

曼谷爆炸案：Bangkok bomb, explosion/blast

On 17 August 2015, at 18:55 ICT(11:55 UTC), a bomb exploded inside the grounds of the Erawan Shrine, near the busy Ratchaprasong Intersection in Bangkok's city centre. The Royal Thai Police said that 3 kilograms (6.6 lb) of TNT had been stuffed in a pipe and left under a bench near the outer rim of the grounds surrounding the shrine, and that an electronic circuit suspected to have been used in the attack was found 30 metres (98 ft) from the scene.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. The attacks are thought to have targeted Thailand's tourism and economy, but there has been a range of inconsistencies in the statements of Thai authorities on those arrested and the reasons for the attack. The Thai government has at times suggested the bombers acted to avenge a crackdown on their human trafficking network, to take revenge for Thailand's deportation of a group of Uighurs back to China in July 2015, to strike a blow for the insurgents fighting the Thai government in the Deep South, or for reasons related to Thailand's domestic politics. The government has implicated a range of other suspects in the bombing, mostly Thai opponents of the military regime.

The site of the bombing had been cleaned, and the crater paved over with cement, by 19 August.

1.      Erawan Shrine (n) 四面佛

2.      rim (n) 輪緣

3.      shrine (n) 神社

4.      circuit (n) 電路

5.      metre (n) 公尺

6.      crackdown (v) 鎮壓

7.      deportation (v) 被驅逐出境

8.      Uighurs (n) 維吾爾人

9.      insurgents (n) 叛亂份子

10.  regime (n) 政權

11.  crater (n) 彈坑

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Bangkok_bombing

New Horizons, Pluto, Earth 2.0, Kepler 452b

The planet takes 385 Earth days to orbit its star. It is 60% bigger than Earth, and lies within the conservative habitable zone of its parent star.

It has a probable mass five times that of Earth and its surface gravity is twice Earth's, though calculations of mass for exoplanets are only rough estimates. If it is a terrestrial planet, it is most likely a super-Earth with many active volcanoes due to its higher mass and density. The clouds on the planet would be thick and misty, covering much of the surface as viewed from space. From the surface, its star Kepler-452 would look almost identical to the Sun as viewed from the Earth.

It is not known if Kepler-452b is a rocky planet or a small gas planet, but based on its small radius, Kepler-452b has a reasonable chance of being rocky. It is not clear if Kepler-452b offers habitable environments. It orbits a G2V-type star, like the Sun, with nearly the same temperature and mass and 20% more luminous. However, the star is six billion years old, making it 1.5 billion years older than the Sun. At this point in its star's evolution, Kepler-452b is receiving 10% more energy from its parent star than Earth is currently receiving from the Sun. If Kepler-452b is a rocky planet, it may be subject to a runaway greenhouse effect similar to that seen on Venus.

1.      orbit(v) 環繞

2.      habitable(a) 可居住的，適於居住的

3.      exoplanet(n) (太陽系以外的)外部行星

4.      terrestrial(a) 陸地的；人間的；地球上的

5.      misty(a) 模糊的；多霧的；朦朧不清的

6.      luminous(a) 明亮的；清楚的；有見識的；明白易懂得

7.      Venus(n) 金星

1.      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-452b

Should Same Sex Marriage Be Left to the States?

The Supreme Court recently announced that it would be hearing two cases involving same sex marriage, both of which have implications for states' rights to recognize same sex marriage. The high court will examine the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal¹ law which says that states that prohibit same sex marriages do not have to recognize the same sex marriages of the states (there are currently nine plus the District of Columbia) where it is legal. It also says the federal government does not recognize same sex marriages, blocking same sex spouses² from receiving the numerous federal benefits their heterosexual³ counterparts⁴ are eligible for.

The court will also weigh in on Proposition⁵ 8, California's voter-passed state referendum⁶ that overturned⁷ the judicial⁸ ruling making same-sex legal in California.

How the court decides both cases could be watershed⁹ moments for gay rights activists; the decisions will almost certainly effect what role states can play in recognizing same sex marriage. Some, including President Obama, say states and states alone should decide whether same sex marriage is legal within their borders. Others, including many activists on both sides of the same sex marriage issue, say the federal government must have the final word on same sex marriage.

Should same sex marriage be left to the states? Here is the Debate Club's take:

http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-same-sex-marriage-be-left-to-the-states

1.      federal (adj) 美國聯邦政府的

2.      spouse (v) 結婚；(n) 配偶

3.      heterosexual (a) 異性戀的，異性的；(n) 異性戀者

4.      counterpart (adj) 對等的；(n) 極相似的人或物

5.      proposition (n) 提議，建議

6.      referendum (n) 公民投票權

7.      overturn (v) 推翻

8.      judicial (a) 司法的，公正的，審判的

9.      watershed (n) 分水嶺，轉折點

Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi movie

It was a long time coming, but the first biopic¹ based on the life of Burmese(緬甸語) pro-democracy² icon Aung San Suu Kyi—The Lady, to be released in the U.S. today—could not have reached the world’s movie screens at a better moment. Although the Luc Besson–directed flick³ focuses on the long nightmare of oppressive⁴ military rule in Burma (now known as Myanmar)—during which Suu Kyi famously battled the junta⁵, even facing down a line of armed soldiers—the film comes at a time when the country finally seems to be on the path to democratic reform.

The Lady stars Malaysian-born Michelle Yeoh as Suu Kyi, who was sentenced⁶ to multiple house arrests over the past three decades. The audience watches her spend 15 years as a lonely and dejected⁷ prisoner, playing the piano and listening to the BBC. Critics have complained about the melodrama⁸ of such scenes, but agree that Yeoh captures the poise⁹ and steely determination of Suu Kyi. “I lived and breathed her for four years,“ the actress said.

The movie ends with a message of hope and defiance¹⁰, and it’s no small irony that Suu Kyi won a parliamentary¹¹ seat in the real-life elections, held April 1. Suu Kyi’s victory marked another milestone for the government, which recently released political prisoners, signed cease-fire agreements with militias, and relaxed restrictions on the media and her party, the National League for Democracy.

Readers of this magazine have seen the country evolve as a destination, too: Contributing editor Susan Hack explored Myanmar’s hermetic¹² temples and untouristed¹³ lakes and rivers in October 2007, but in the aftermath¹⁴ of government crackdowns¹⁵, Paul Theroux in August 2008 described the Burmese as “the worst-governed, belittled, and persecuted¹⁶ of any people.”

And today, thanks to the government’s loosened grip¹⁷, the country is becoming a hot spot. “It’ll be the destination for 2012,” says travel specialist Phoebe Weinberg. Her ideal itinerary¹⁸ combines Yangon, beautiful Inle Lake(茵萊湖), and a four-night cruise from the majestic city of Bagan(浦甘) to the cultural hub¹⁹ of Mandalay(曼德勒) on the Orient-­Express’s luxe Road to Mandalay (four-night sailings from $2,560 per person). And whether you decide to sail the Irrawaddy(伊洛瓦底江) or merely go to the theater to see the movie, we’ll all be watching the latest chapter of Suu Kyi’s story, which is unfolding before our eyes.

Written by Colin Hinshelwood

  April 13, 2012

http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2012-04-13/the-other-iron-lady-movie-myanmar-aung-san-suu-kyi

1.      biopic (n) 傳記片

2.      pro-democracy (n) 親民主

3.      flick (v) 彈

4.      oppressive (v) 壓抑

5.      junta (n) 軍政府

6.      sentenced (v) 被判刑

7.      dejected (adj) 垂頭喪氣的

8.      melodrama (n) 音樂劇

9.      poise (n) 平衡

10.  defiance (n) 蔑視

11.  parliamentary (n) 議會

12.  hermetic (adj) 密閉的

13.  untouristed 人煙稀少的 (它不是單字 un+tourist) 

14.  aftermath (n) 後果

15.  crackdown (n) 鎮壓

16.  persecuted (v) 迫害

17.  grip (n) 控制 (v) 握緊 

18.  itinerary (n) 路線，旅程

19.  hub (n) 中心，輪軸