‘American Sniper’ Trailer #2: Bradley Cooper is at War

There are a few cinematic biopics that will open in limited released on Christmas Day this year, so that they can be taken into consideration for the big awards shows in early 2015. One such project is American Sniper, as directed by Clint Eastwood and scripted by Jason Hall (Paranoia), based on the memoir “American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History” by the late Chris Kyle.

Kyle is portrayed in Eastwood’s film by Bradley Cooper, and the first American Sniper trailer highlighted one of the numerous incidents in his life where Kyle had to decide whether or not to shoot down a potential threat – knowing all too well that he would have terrible consequences to face should his instincts prove off… either way.

The second theatrical preview for American Sniper (watch it above) is on the whole more conventional in its design than its predecessor. However, by offering a somewhat vague yet all the same compelling portrait of Kyle, this trailer leaves you intrigued and wanting to know more about his story. Also featured prominently here is Sienna Miller as Kyle’s wife, Taya Renae Kyle, though she doesn’t have a whole lot to do in the trailer beyond worrying about her husband’s well-being (and with fair reason, at that).

American Sniper was passed over for recognition at the 2015 Golden Globes ceremony, but so far reviews for the movie has been pretty respectable on the whole. Eastwood’s recent films have tended to get a lukewarm reception from critics, but Sniper has earned praise from the likes of THR, with its review applauding the movie for being “a taut, vivid and sad account” of Kyle’s life. On the opposite side of the fence, though, EW calls Sniper a “repetition of context-free combat missions and one-dimensional targets.”

Other cinematic memoirs that will be opening in limited release next week (and then expanding after New Year’s Day) include the Louis Zamperini biography/war drama Unbroken - which, like Sniper, didn’t land any Globe nods from the Hollywood Foreign Press – as well as the Martin Luther King Jr. drama Selma, which received four Golden Globe nods. All of these films (Sniper included) seem to have something worthwhile to offer to the general moviegoing public, though, all this awards season talk aside.

American Sniper begins an Oscar-qualifying limited theatrical release in the U.S. on December 25th, 2014; it expands nation-wide on January 16th, 2015.

http://screenrant.com/american-sniper-movie-trailer-2014/

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO- not given

   WHEN- not given

   WHAT- There are a few cinematic biopics that will open in limited released on Christmas Day this year.

   WHY- They can be taken into consideration for the big awards shows in early 2015.

   WHERE-not given

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. cinematic：電影

   2. biopics：傳記片

   3. predecessor：前任

   4. intrigued：好奇

   5. prominently：顯著

   6. on the whole：總體上

   7. lukewarm：溫

   8. taut：拉緊的

   

Shanghai to curtail Chinese New Year celebrations after deadly stampede

Shanghai is toning down Chinese New Year celebrations by cancelling events and limiting people at tourist spots after a stampede killed 36 people seven weeks earlier.

Revellers, many of them young women, were trampled to death on New Year’s Eve after flocking to the historic riverfront, known as the Bund, a popular tourist destination.

Police on foot patrol and driving golf cart-like vehicles kept an eye on tourists who flocked to the Bund on Wednesday, the eve of the traditional festival.

Large stretches of the Bund remain closed off to the public by a temporary wall put up by the city shortly after the accident.

“Shanghai is safe. That was just a chance accident,” said one tourist from the southern province of Fujian, taking a group photo with family and friends near where the crush occurred.

In the wake of the accident, the Shanghai government has cancelled at least five events during the week-long holiday, including a food fair and traditional bell-ringing at the Longhua temple.

The city has also announced it will restrict the number of visitors at more than 70 tourist spots, including the viewing platform of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and the flagship Shanghai Museum.

Restrictions on numbers have not been announced for the Bund, where the crush also injured 49 people. However, police and security guards were limiting access to an elevated promenade along the riverfront through just a few designated points.

“This kind of accident is common in China, everyone going in one direction without thinking,” said another tourist from central Henan province, who gave his surname as Chao. “The government is giving it lots of attention now.”

An investigative report blamed police and city officials, who were aware of overcrowding but failed to act and communicate the risk to higher-level authorities.

In January, the city announced that 11 officials would be punished, with four removed from their posts.

China’s State Council, or cabinet, has called on local governments nationwide to control large gatherings at tourist spots during the Chinese New Year.

At the Yu Garden, another tourist site located on the site of Shanghai’s former old city, metal barriers and security guards loudly blowing whistles kept the crowds in check.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1718053/shanghai-tones-down-chinese-new-year-celebrations-after-fatal-stampede

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-not given

   WHEN- New Year’s Eve

   WHAT- a stampede killed 36 people

   WHY-not given

   WHERE- Shanghai

   HOW- trampled to death

Keywords：

   1. curtail：縮短

   2. stampede：踩踏

   3. flagship：旗艦

   4. promenade：漫步

   

2 NYPD police officers 'assassinated'; shooter dead

By Joshua Berlinger, Ray Sanchez and Shimon Prokupecz, CNN

updated 11:43 PM EST, Sat December 20, 2014

Officer Rafael Ramos sat in the driver's seat. Officer Wenjian Liu was at his side.

The two cops weren't at their usual precinct -- normally, the pair was assigned to downtown Brooklyn, but they were working a "critical response" detail in an area with higher crime, police said.

That's where they were slain, ambush-style -- Saturday afternoon as they sat in their patrol car, New York Police Commissioner William Bratton said at an evening news conference.

The gunman approached the passenger side of the patrol car and took a shooting stance, witnesses told police. He opened fire several times, striking both officers in the head, Bratton said.

They were "shot and killed with no warning, no provocation," Bratton told reporters. "They were quite simply, assassinated."

The gunman was found dead in a nearby subway station from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The families of the fallen officers rushed to Woodhull Medical Center on Saturday, as dozens of their comrades gathered in a show of support.

Ramos had just turned 40 this month; Liu got married two months ago.

Both dreamed of being police officers, Bratton said.

"One of the unfortunate realities of policing is that you put that blue uniform on and you become part of the thin blue line between us and anarchy," Bratton said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Bratton met with the families of the victims. De Blasio said that Ramos' 13-year-old son couldn't comprehend what had happened to his father.

"When a police officer is murdered, it tears at the foundation of our society," the mayor said. "It is an attack on the very concept of decency."

Police identified the shooter as Ismaaiyl Brinsley.

He arrived in New York from Baltimore, but had a residence in Atlanta. Bratton said that Brinsley was somehow connected to Brooklyn, but would not discuss that information.

Bratton said at this time, there was no indication Brinsley was connected to any terrorist groups or organized entity.

Police were investigating posts Brinsley allegedly made on social media. Bratton said that the suspect had earlier shot and seriously wounded a woman believed to be his ex-girlfriend in Baltimore.

Baltimore police received information that Brinsley had made threatening comments about police, and sent a warning to police in New York, Bratton said.

That message came almost the same time the ambush happened.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called the attack "an unspeakable act of barbarism."

De Blasio also called the shootings an "assassination."

"It is an attack on all of us," he said. "It is an attack on everything we hold dear."

A White House official says President Barack Obama was briefed on the shooting.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/20/us/new-york-police-officers-shot/

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO- two cops

   WHEN- Saturday afternoon

   WHAT- shot and killed

   WHY- not given

   WHERE- Brooklyn

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. precinct：管理區

   2. slain：被殺

   3. provocation：挑釁

   4. comrades：同志

 

Ting Hsin food firm boss charged over tainted cooking oil

The head of a lard supplier in Taiwan was formally charged yesterday with deliberately selling adulterated cooking oil.

The indictment of Wei Ying-chun, one of four brothers who run the Ting Hsin International Group, was delivered by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office. Charges include fraud and forgery.

Wei was already in custody in Chunghua county in the centre of the island on a charge linked to a cooking oil scandal implicating another subsidiary of the group.

It has been accused of using oil meant for animal feed in its products.

Another subsidiary of the firm, Wei Chuan Foods Corp, Taiwan's second-largest food manufacturer, was found to have sold food products made with gutter oil, a potentially harmful mixture of waste oil recycled from restaurant fryers and slaughterhouse byproducts.

Bowing to public pressure, Wei had resigned from his positions as chairman of three of the group's subsidiaries.

Ting Hsin has said it will shut down its oil manufacturing business in Taiwan.

It will also donate NT$3 billion (HK$765 million) to the government or government-designated foundations to help restore the reputation of Taiwan's food industry.

Critics described the move as a token gesture aimed at propping up its business across the strait.

Its oil manufacturing operations in Taiwan generated only US$65 million last year, about 0.08 per cent of the group's revenues. The firm's food business on the mainland generated US$10 billion.

President Ma Ying-jeou, who has declared the contaminated cooking oil scandal a national security issue, said the food industry might lose NT$16 billion following a series of food safety fiascos.

Lard supplier Chang Guann was fined NT$50 million last month for selling a product containing gutter oil as cooking oil. Several firms were also found last year to have illegally added colouring agents to cooking oil, or blended olive oil with cheaper products such as cottonseed oil and sold it as pure olive oil.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1621238/billionaire-chief-lard-firm-charged-fraud-over-taiwan-tainted-oil-scandal

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO- the head of a lard supplier

   WHEN-yesterday

   WHAT- charged

        WHY- deliberately selling adulterated cooking oil

       WHERE- Taiwan

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. forgery：偽造品

   2. custody：拘留

   3. subsidiary：附屬的

   4. contaminated：污染

 

Soldier and gunman killed in Ottawa shootings

A gunman armed with a rifle has shot and killed a Canadian soldier guarding Ottawa's war memorial, before being pursued by police into the national parliament building and shot dead himself.

The attack began at about 9.50am on Wednesday local time (13.50 GMT) when the man shot and killed the uniformed soldier, Cpl. Nathan Frank Cirillo. It was reported by Canadian media that the suspect then stole a car and drove to nearby Parliament Hill.

He was then confronted by police and killed. Video obtained by Canada's Globe and Mail showed officers moving through parliament before an  exchange of gunfire is heard. A body was reported lying on the ground after the gunfire.

Canadian local authorities confirmed the name of the dead gunman as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who was first identified by the US television network CBS. The 32-year-old suspect was deemed a "high-risk traveler" by intelligence services, and according to media reports he had recently had his passport confiscated.

No information has as yet been given as to a possible motive for the attack.

In a television address, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper condemned the "brutal and violent" incident, adding that it was a reminder that "Canada is not immune to terrorist attacks."

"Canada will never be intimidated," he said.  

Harper was holding a meeting with party members in the centre block as the gunfire erupted.

"PM was addressing caucus, then a huge boom, followed by rat-a-tat shots. We all scattered. It was clearly right outside our caucus door," said Tony Clement, a member of the treasury board.

Another witness, Marc-Andre Viau, told the AFP news agency that he saw a man run into a meeting inside parliament, chased by police who yelled "take cover". That was followed by up to 20 gunshots.

People fled parliament by scrambling down scaffolding being used in renovations, witnesses told the Canadian Press news agency. 

Police had by this point sealed the area and were combing buildings for more gunmen, with unconfirmed reports they were positioned on roofs. Police said the investigation was active but no one else had been found.

Gunfire was also reported at the nearby Rideau shopping centre, but police later said there was no such incident.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from parliament at 11.30am local time (15.30 GMT), as police continued to hunt for suspects, Senator Jim Munson told how his offices had been placed "in lockdown".

"People are quite shaken. This kind of terrorist attack did not seem possible," he said.

Parliament was still sealed by police at 5:00 local time (21:00GMT), according to Al Jazeera's Jet Belgraver, who is reporting from Ottawa.

"When we arrived the streets were rather empty especially around the parliament buildings," she said. "As we approached, the parliament buildings were cordoned off. But the scenario right now in Ottawa seemed to have calmed a little bit."

Hospital officials told the Reuters news agency that they had received three patients - two suspects and the soldier. One of the suspects and the soldier were confirmed dead by police at about 1pm local time.

The attack came hours after Canada raised its terrorism threat level from low to medium, the highest it has been for four years.

It also comes two days after two Canadian soldiers were run over - and one of them killed - in Quebec.

Harper warned that the "facts are still being gathered" and said he condemned the "despicable act".

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2014/10/canada-ottawa-2014102214189269507.html

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO- A gunman、a Canadian soldier

   WHEN- at about 9.50am on Wednesday local time (13.50 GMT)

   WHAT- A gunman armed with a rifle has shot and killed a Canadian soldier guarding Ottawa's war memorial

   WHY- not given

   WHERE-canada

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

 1. confiscated：沒收

   2. condemned：譴責

   3. brutal：殘酷

   4. intimidated：恐嚇

   5. caucus：預備會議

   6. scaffolding：腳手架

   7. renovation：裝修

   8. cordoned off：封鎖

   

EDITORIAL: Scottish vote reflects a wider win

Scotland’s independence referendum ended in a resounding victory for the side advocating Scotland remaining within the UK as the “No” side received 55 percent of the vote against the “Yes” side’s 45. The result notwithstanding, the referendum itself has been lauded as a great victory for democracy and something that Scotland and the UK should be proud of.

In the past, governments treated independence movements as secessionists betraying their nation and they often ended in bloody suppression.

However, the UK showed tolerance and followed democratic ideals in giving Scots the freedom to decide their own future, with the queen encouraging Scots to “think very carefully about the future,” while British Prime Minister David Cameron said that Scottish independence would “break [his] heart.”

Although the “Yes” side lost, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who led the pro-independence effort, accepted the loss and said he would resign from his post in November. Although he lost this battle, he gained a place in history and has probably also managed to improve Scotland’s situation within the UK. After the result was announced, Scotland remained mostly calm and both sides have displayed the demeanor one would expect in a long-standing democracy.

The need to trust in the public was one important lesson to be learned from this referendum. Government leaders did not try to block it by saying that there was no need for a referendum at this time, and instead let Scots decide their own future. The government did not treat the referendum as a bloodthirsty monster or play around with referendum legislation and set irrational restrictions to create a “birdcage” referendum law which would make passing a referendum, although nominally possible, very difficult or even impossible in practice.

Instead, all that was required to win the referendum was a simple majority: half of all votes plus one. UK and Scottish politicians did not have the idiotic idea that the future of Scotland should be decided by all UK citizens, in the way that some people feel that Taiwan’s future should be decided by all Chinese.

Although the UK government was fully opposed to Scottish independence, it did not treat the prospect of it as a rebellion or imprison pro-independence leaders. Nor did it hold military exercises or fire missiles or say that “no one who promotes independence will meet with a happy ending,” as former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji (朱鎔基) once said.

The Scottish independence movement issued a detailed white paper detailing what the nation would look like following independence to give the public a clear blueprint when considering their future. In the end, the Scots considered their own future based on their national identity, and in addition to national defense and foreign affairs, they considered taxes, healthcare, how the North Sea oil resources should be distributed and which solution would be more beneficial to themselves, Scotland and the UK as a whole.

Although the whole world was waiting to find out how Scottish independence would affect the UK, the EU and the rest of the world, the result was a soft landing, as the Scots decided to remain within the UK and observers breathed a sigh of relief. Someone has said that referendums are populist, but the people of Scotland displayed their intelligence and wisdom throughout the entire process.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2014/09/21/2003600192

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO- all the citizens in Scotland

   WHEN- not given

   WHAT- Scotland’s independence referendum ended in a resounding victory for the side advocating Scotland remaining within the UK as the “No” side received 55 percent of the vote against the “Yes” side’s 45.

   WHY- not given

   WHERE- Scotland

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. resounding：轟動的

   2. notwithstanding：雖然

   3. suppression：抑制…

   4. demeanor：風度

   5. nominally：名義上

   6. idiotic：痴

   

Boko Haram militants abduct dozens more girls in Nigeria despite reported truce, parents say

Boko Haram militants abduct dozens more girls in Nigeria despite reported truce, parents say

Updated 24 Oct 2014, 11:52amFri 24 Oct 2014, 11:52am

Suspected Boko Haram militants have kidnapped at least 25 girls after an attack on a remote town in north-eastern Nigeria, according to parents whose daughters were taken.

The apparent kidnapping took place despite reported truce and talks aimed at freeing more than 200 other girls taken hostage by militants in April.

John Kwaghe, who witnessed the latest attack and lost three daughters to the abductors, and Dorathy Tizhe, who lost two, said the attackers came late in the night, forcing women and girls to go with them.

They said some older girls were later released.

The authorities have not confirmed the latest kidnappings.

"We are confused that hours after the so-called ceasefire agreement has been entered between the federal government and Boko Haram insurgents, our girls were abducted by the insurgents," Mr Kwaghe said.

"We urge the government to please help rescue our daughters without further delay, as we are ready to die searching."

Nearly a week after the government announced a deal with the militant group for a ceasefire, which it said would include the release of the 200 girls kidnapped from a secondary school in Chibok in April, there is still no sign of them being freed.

Talks to release the girls are taking place this week between the government and a Boko Haram representative in the Chadian capital N'Djamena, but they are shrouded in secrecy.

Since the girls' abduction in April, Nigeria's military has twice claimed to have rescued some or all of the girls, only to back-track hours later.

Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates as "Western education is sinful", has killed thousands of people in a five-year insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic caliphate in the vast scrubland of Nigeria's impoverished north-east.

"I wish to inform this audience that a ceasefire agreement has been concluded," Marshal Alex Badeh said in a statement after three days of talks with the militant group.

A Nigerian presidency source said the agreement stretched to the girls, who were abducted from a secondary school in Chibok near the Cameroon border in April, sparking a worldwide outcry.

The girls have remained in captivity ever since, although police and a parent of some of the missing students said last month one of the girls had been released.

President Goodluck Jonathan has been criticised at home and abroad for his slow response to the kidnapping and for his inability to quell the violence by the Islamist militants, seen as the biggest security threat to Africa's biggest economy.

The United States is among several Western allies helping Nigeria's military with training and intelligence support to tackle Boko Haram.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-24/boko-harma-militants-abduct-more-women-and-girls/5837824

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-girls

   WHEN-April

   WHAT-kidnapped

   WHY-not given

   WHERE-on a remote town in north-eastern Nigeria

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

1.      insurgents：叛亂分子

2.      abducted：綁架

3.      shrouded：籠罩

4.      caliphate：哈里發政權

5.      scrubland：灌木叢

6.      outcry：喊叫

7.      quell：蕩平

8.      tackle：逮捕