This column covers "developing stories" meaning that you can expect additional stories on the same subject in the near future. The material that follows was written using much of the same language as your Bangkok Post writers use in their stories.
INTERNATIONAL
Piecing things together
London police start a painstaking investigation
as G8 leaders pointedly carry out their business
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Sometime I feel sorry for television reporters covering a major news story like last Thursday bombings in London.
At first, they must feel real excitement as the initial reports come in and people try to piece together what happened. Last Thursday, for example, reports came out very quickly that there had been an explosion in the London underground, but it was initially thought the cause was electrical. Then, as reports of other explosions came in – one on a bus – it became clear that it was a coordinated terrorist attack.
It didn’t take long, however, before the flow of news slowed down and the television commentators found themselves saying the same things over and over again. And when they started interviewing police officials and terrorism experts, none of them had any hard evidence about what had really happened. It is hard to be interesting when all you have is pure speculation.
We usually have it considerably easier here at the Bangkok Post since we only put our out newspaper once a day. Consequently, we have the time to gather the facts in an orderly way and, in the case of international stories, to choose the best reports sent to us by the news agencies. Our first report on Friday – taken from the Associated Press (AP) –
was therefore quite detailed, explaining what had happened, giving an estimate of the casualties and the reactions from a wide range of people, including Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George Bush.
By now, of course, the story has changed and there is intense interest in finding and punishing the perpetrators. This is likely to take quite some time. British police investigators are working overtime viewing hours of close circuit television footage (there are six million such cameras in London) and sifting through tons of debris trying to find small traces of explosive materials and pieces of the devices that set them off.
If they are lucky – like the investigators in Madrid after the bombings there – they will find a major clue like an unexploded bomb or a mobile phone owned by one of the bombers. Chances are, however, there won’t be anything that significant and it will be a series of small pieces of evidence that lead them to the killers – if they ever find them, that is.
The attack was clearly timed to upset the G8 summit that was taking place in nearby Scotland. While it did briefly complicate the schedule of meetings, forcing Mr Blair to make a quick trip back to London to assess the situation, it did not stop the eight leaders of the world’s industrialised nations from making some very important commitments.
A day after the attack, they pledged to double African aid to $50 billion (2,000 billion baht) a year and to spend $3 billion to facilitate peace talks between Israel and Palestine. In addition, they agreed to cancel the debts of the world’s 18 poorest countries and to provide universal access to HIV drugs in Africa by 2010.
The deal on Africa delighted the organisers of the Live8 concerts that had done so much to raise public awareness of African poverty. Calling it a “great day”, chief organiser Bob Geldof paid tribute to the millions of people who had attended the concerts. “Never before have so many people forced a change of policy onto a global agenda,” he said.
Irish rock star and fellow anti-poverty activist Bono, praised the agreement to give universal access to Aids drugs.
“Six-hundred thousand Africans, mostly children, will remember this G8 summit because they will be around to remember this summit, and they wouldn't have otherwise,” said Bono.
You wonder if the terrorists who tried to disrupt this meeting had any idea of what was on its agenda.
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painstaking
extremely careful and correct
pointedly
in a very obvious way
piece together
to bring together many different pieces of information to form a conclusion
initially
at first
coordinated
effectively organised
speculation
forming an opinion or belief on incomplete information
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casualties
dead and injured people
intense
very serious
perpetrators
people who have committed a crime or a violent or harmful act
footage
a piece of film or video tape
sifting
making a close examination of all the parts of something
debris
broken or torn pieces of something larger
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clue
information that helps you find the answer to a problem, question, or mystery
upset
to disrupt; to cause confusion
summit
a meeting of country leaders
assess
to evaluate; to analysis the importance or seriousness of something
commitments
promises or firm decisions to do something
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pledged
formally promised
facilitate
to make it easier to do something
paid tribute
praised
agenda
a list of matters to be discussed; a list of aims
universal access
available to everyone
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Moving out
The Israeli government’s move to close
Jewish settlements in Gaza won’t be easy
As you might expect, these settlements have been a constant source of tension between the 9,000 settlers who live there and the Palestinians who live in the surrounding area. If all goes well, by mid-August that will no longer be the case.
As you might recall, Israeli Prime Minister Arial Sharon recently won government approval to close the settlements after a long and contentious political battle and to evict the settlers by force if necessary. The settlements are to be officially closed on July 20 and the settlers have until August 15 to depart. After that the Israeli army will start knocking on doors and, from the looks of it, there are likely to find many people still in their homes. The government estimates that up to a third of settlers will defy orders to leave. Others put the figure higher.
Two weeks ago, we saw a prelude to what might happen. The government had to deploy fifteen busloads of police in black jumpsuits, body armour and helmets, backed by a sizable contingent of soldiers to oust about 100 young Jewish protestors from an abandoned beachside hotel.
Some of those taken out were extremely violent, having just viciously stoned and beaten a young Palestinian boy nearly to death. He was finally saved by Israeli journalists and soldiers.
Since many of the militants came from outside the Gaza Strip and many more were expected to try to join them, the Israeli army closed off the area to all outsiders. It is now a “closed military zone”, but it remains to be seen if that will calm things down. Watch to see what happens.
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settlements
places where people have come to live and build homes
constant
happening all the time; repeatedly
tension
a situation in which people do not trust each other or feel unfriendly towards on another
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contentious
causing a lot of disagreement
evict
to force to leave
defy
to refuse to obey or follow an order, a law or a rule
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prelude
an action that happens before another more important one
deploy
to move soldiers or police into a position where they are ready for action
contingent
a group of soldiers
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oust
to force out
abandoned
left and no longer used or needed
viciously
violently and cruelly
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LOCAL
Scanners arriving?
Suriya says the CTX scanners will soon be delivered,
but others are not so sure
Suriya Juengrungruangkij |
Here’s an interesting news item to watch. According to the Bangkok Post, last Friday Transport Minister Suriya Juengrungruangkij gave assurances that the CTX 9000 airport bomb scanners will be delivered within this month pending the signing of direct sale agreements.
Really? These, of course, are the same scanners that were at the centre of a bruising no-confidence debate against Mr Suriya last month in which he failed to set aside suspicions that significant bribes had been promised in the awarding of the initial contract.
That process is still the subject of several investigations and a police complaint has been issued against one of the consulting firms in the procurement process. In addition, the Senate anti-graft panel has reportedly concluded that corruption was involved in the scanner purchase and a formal announcement is expected this week.
Then there is the matter of whether Mr Suriya will still be Transport Minister at the end of the month. A cabinet reshuffle is expected any day now and analysts are betting that he will be moved to a less influential position. According to a recent poll, Mr Suriya is now the least popular minister in the cabinet.
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assurances
promises that something will happen
pending
waiting for something to happen
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bruising
upsetting and damaging
bribes
money or presents improperly given in order to persuade someone to do something, usually something illegal
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procurement
the obtaining of equipment or supplies
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cabinet reshuffle
the changing of positions within the cabinet (the group of ministers who run the government)
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•This lesson was prepared by Acharn Terry Fredrickson, BA
Stanford, MA (TESL) University of Minnesota, Manager/Editor of the Learning Post at the Bangkok Post and general editor of this programme.
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Last modified: July 11, 2005
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