week4-Israel ,Gaza conflict

Israel, Palestinians begin new talks to solve Gaza conflict

Reuters, GAZA and JERUSALEM

Tue, Aug 12, 2014

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators yesterday resume indirect talks mediated by Egypt and aimed at ending a month-old Gaza war, Egyptian state news agency MENA said, after a new 72-hour truce between the warring sides appeared to be holding.

The Israeli military said one rocket was launched toward Tel Aviv before the ceasefire began at 9pm on Sunday and may have landed in the sea. Hamas said it fired the missile.

A senior Israeli official said on Sunday that Israeli negotiators, who left Cairo on Friday last week hours before a previous three-day ceasefire expired, would return to Egypt to resume the talks only if the new truce held.

Hamas is demanding an end to Israeli and Egyptian blockades of the Gaza Strip and the opening of a seaport in the enclave, a project Israel says should be dealt with only in any future talks on a permanent peace deal with the Palestinians.

A month of fighting between Hamas and Jerusalem has killed 1,938 Palestinians and 67 Israelis, while devastating wide tracts of the densely populated strip. Gaza hospital officials say the Palestinian death toll has been mainly civilian since the July 8 launch of Israel’s military campaign to quell Hamas’ rocket fire, with the heavy civilian losses and destruction of thousands of homes drawing international condemnation.

Israel has lost 64 soldiers and three civilians.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the new talks would be “the last chance” for a deal. Israeli representatives are not meeting face-to-face with the Palestinian delegation because it includes Hamas, which Jerusalem regards as a terrorist organization.

Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Yuval Steinitz said in a radio interview yesterday that disarming Gaza militants was crucial to sustain a long-term truce and he hoped this could be done by diplomacy rather than force.

“If there will not be a diplomatic solution, I am convinced that sooner or later we will have to opt for a military solution of taking temporary control of Gaza to demilitarize it again,” he told Israel Radio.

In Gaza, shops began to open and traffic was normal as some displaced families returned to the homes they fled during Israeli attacks, expressing hopes that this truce would last after a series of failed ceasefires.

“God knows if it is permanent,” Abu Salama, a resident of Gaza’s Shejaia District, said as he and his family headed home on a donkey cart. “A truce, no truce — it is becoming like Tom and Jerry. We want a solution.”

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/08/12/2003597220

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- not given

WHEN-Tue, Aug 12, 2014

WHAT-To resume indirect talks mediated by Egypt and aimed at ending a month-old Gaza war

WHY- not given

WHERER- Israeli and Palestinian

HOW- not given

Keywords：

1. negotiator：協商者

2. resumed：繼續

3. indirect：間接的

4. mediate：調解；傳達

5. truce休戰，停戰

6. expired滿期，屆滿

7. blockades實施封鎖

8. enclave 使人消除敵意

9. permanent持久的

10.devastating破壞；使荒廢

11.quell鎮壓(叛亂等)，壓制；平息

12.condemnation定罪，宣告有罪

13.delegation委派，派遣

14.disarming使人消除敵意(或懷疑、怒氣等)的

week3-Robin Williams, dead, suicide

Robin Williams had Parkinson’s: wife

AP, LOS ANGELES

Sat, Aug 16, 2014 - Page 7

Robin Williams was in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease at the time of his death, his wife said on Thursday.

In a statement, Susan Schneider said that Williams, 63, was strugglingwith depression, anxiety and the Parkinson’s diagnosis when he died on Monday in his Northern California home. Authorities said he committed suicide.

“Robin’s sobriety was intact and he was brave as he struggled with his own battles of depression, anxiety as well as early stages of Parkinson’s disease, which he was not yet ready to share publicly,” Schneider said.

Schneider did not offer details on when the actor comedian had been diagnosed or his symptoms.

Williams’ death shocked fans and friends, despite his candor about decades of struggle with substance abuse and mental health.

Parkinson’s disease is an incurable nervous system disorder that involves a loss of brain cells controlling movement.

Actor Michael J. Fox, who has long had the disease and is known for his efforts to fund research into it, commented online.

“Stunned to learn Robin had PD. Pretty sure his support for our Fdnpredated his diagnosis. A true friend; I wish him peace,” Fox tweeted.

Boxer Muhammad Ali, the late radio personality Casey Kasem and the late Pope John Paul II are among other well-known figures diagnosed with the disease.

Parkinson’s affects about 1 million people nationwide, 6 million globally. The cause is not known.

There is no standard test for Parkinson’s; doctors rely on symptoms, medical history and neurological exams to make the diagnosis.

Christopher Gomez, neurology chairman at the University of Chicago, said depression and Parkinson’s are thought to affect the same regions of the brain.

Schneider said that those who loved Williams are taking solace in the outpouring of affection and admiration for him.

“It is our hope in the wake of Robin’s tragic passing, that others will find the strength to seek the care and support they need to treat whatever battles they are facing so they may feel less afraid,” she said.

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Robin Williams

WHEN- Thursday

WHAT- his wife said his wife said

WHY- depression

WHERER-not given 

HOW- not given

Keywords：

1.stage:上演，發起

2. Parkinson’s disease:帕金森氏症

3.struggling: 努力，奮鬥；同…鬥爭

4.depression:憂鬱症

5. sobriety:認真，節制，謹嚴

6. intact :地久天長

7. candor:率直，坦率

8. incurable:醫治不好的，不能矯正的

9. comment:注解，說明

10. predate:在日期上早於…

11. neurology:神經病學

12. solace: 緩和，安慰