Pakistan protests after Nato helicopters wound troops

NATO helicopters from Afghanistan intruded into northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, wounding two troops, officials said, prompting a protest from the military already seething over the secret U.S. operation to kill Osama bin Laden.

The military said it had sought a flag meeting with NATO commanders over the incursion in Pakistan's North Waziristan near the Afghan border which has been repeatedly targeted by U.S. drone aircraft as a hub of al Qaeda linked militants.

Relations between the U.S. and Pakistan have been pushed almost to the breaking point after the May 2 raid on Abbottabad that killed bin Laden, with Pakistan's parliament condemning the operation as a violation of the nation's sovereignty.

(Reuters, 17 May 2011)

vocabulary

intruded	entered unlawfully
prompting	provoking
seething	extremely angry; resentful
a flag meeting	a military officials meeting between two border countries
incursion	sudden attack; raid
drone	an aircraft without a pilot, controlled from the ground
hub	centre; the most important place
militants	fighters; militant reformers
pushed	reached; affected
breaking point	point of greatest strain; verge of collapse; crisis; brink
condemning	criticizing; expressing very strong disapproval of

Exercise

Fill in the blanks with the following words:

1. seething 2. condemned 3. intruded 4. hub 5. drone

1. By the end of the meeting he was . . . . . .

2. They . . . . . on our dinner party.

3. Pakistan condemns US . . . . . attacks.

4. The editor of the newspaper was . . . . . as lacking integrity.

5. The City of London is the . . . . . of Britain's financial world.

Answer key: 1. seething 2. intruded 3. drone 4. condemned 5. hub

Israeli troops kill 13 protesters along Lebanon border

Potential new flashpoints in the Middle East unrest have opened after Israel shot at pro-Palestinian protesters on its borders with Syria and Lebanon, killing at least 13 people and drawing furious condemnation from the Syrian regime.

Protests erupted in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem as well as on Israel's northern borders, as Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops and police and hundreds were injured.

Demonstrators commemorating Nakba day, marking the 1948 war in which hundreds of thousands of people became refugees after being forced out of their homes, were met with live gunfire, rubber bullets, stun grenades and teargas.

Although Israel had been braced for violent protests, the clashes on its borders were largely unexpected. Israeli politicians, already deeply alarmed about uprisings in neighbouring Arab countries, now face heightened tensions with Syria and Lebanon.

(The Guardian, 16 May 2011)

vocabulary

potential	possible; that can develop into
flashpoints	situations in which violence starts and cannot be controlled
unrest	social and political discontent
drawing	producing (a reaction or response)
condemnation	criticism; an expression of very strong disapproval
erupted	broke out; started happening, suddenly and violently
clashed	fought; came into conflict
commemorating	reminding; remembering; honouring the memory of
forced	drove; compelled
stun grenades	small bombs that shock people so that they cannot do anything, without seriously injuring them
braced	prepared itself (for the difficulty, shock, etc)
alarmed	worried; anxious
heightened	intensified

Model sentences and idiomatic expressions with “clash”:

• The two sets of supporters clashed outside the stadium.
• The two teams clash in tomorrow's final.
• Demonstrators clashed violently with police.
• Troops clashed near the border.

• The president and Congress clashed again over the budget.

Exercise

Fill in the blanks with the following words:

1. heightened 2. commemorates 3. braced 4. flashpoint 5. erupted

1. Tension in the city is rapidly reaching . . . . . .

2. The unrest . . . . . into revolution.

3. A plaque . . . . . the battle.

4. UN troops are . . . . . for more violence.

5. Tension has . . . . . after the recent bomb attack.

Answer key: 1. flashpoint 2. erupted 3. commemorates 4. braced 5. heightened

Kerry to ask Pakistan tough questions

U.S. Senator John Kerry will press Pakistani leaders for answers on Osama bin Laden in talks this week but he will be keen to ensure Pakistani anger over the raid does not subvert vital security cooperation.

U.S. special forces found and killed the al Qaeda leader in the garrison town of Abbottabad, 50 km north of Islamabad on May 2.

His discovery living comfortably in a high-walled compound virtually under the noses of military authorities has revived suspicion that Pakistani security agencies knew where he was all along.

Pakistan welcomed bin Laden's killing as a big step against militancy.

But the secret U.S. raid to get him has been condemned as a violation of sovereignty which embarrassed and outraged the military. Military officials say it has caused a breakdown in trust which has cast a shadow over security cooperation.

Pakistan might be tricky ally but it is vital to U.S. efforts to combat Islamist militants and to efforts to stabilise Afghanistan, where U.S. forces depend on Pakistani supply lines for water, food, fuel and other essentials.

The U.S. administration has not accused Pakistan of complicity in hiding bin Laden but has said he must have had some sort of support network, which it wants to uncover.

U.S. legislators have questioned whether Pakistan is serious about fighting militants and some have called for a suspension of U.S. aid.

Asked if the United States would conduct a similar raid inside Pakistan to kill Mullah Omar, the reclusive leader of the Afghan Taliban, Kerry said Washington would consider all options.

Kerry, speaking a day after two suicide bombers killed 80 people at a Pakistani paramilitary academy, said Pakistan was a victim of extremism and faced its own tough decisions.

(Reuters, 15 May 2011)

vocabulary

press for	demand; push for; ask for; urge for
raid	sudden surprise attack
subvert	weaken; disrupt; destabilize
garrison	troops stationed in a town; military base
compound	an enclosed group of buildings; an enclosed area where a particular group of people live
under the noses of	right before them; directly in front of
all along	all the time
militancy	combativeness; violence
outraged	shocked and angered
breakdown	collapse; cessation; interruption
cast a shadow over	spoilt
tricky	difficult to deal with; crafty; deceitful
combat	stop; fight against
complicity	involvement; partnership in wrongdoing; collusion
network	system; set-up
legislators	lawmakers; people who have the power to make laws
reclusive	living alone and avoiding other people; hermit
paramilitary	organized on military lines; helping the official army of a country

Model sentences and idiomatic expressions with “combat”:

• He was killed in combat.

• There was fierce combat between the two sides.

• No one knew how many troops had died in combat.

• The soldiers were engaged in hand-to-hand combat (=fighting in which you are close enough to touch your opponent).

• The film explores the combat between good and evil.

• Pilots re-enacted the aerial combats of yesteryear.

Exercise

Fill in the blanks with the following words:

1. raid 2. under his nose 3. complicity 4. breakdown 5. press for

1. They continued to . . . . . a change in the law.

2. They launched a bombing . . . . . on enemy bases.

3. I put the bill right . . . . . so that he couldn’t miss it.

4. The . . . . . of the negotiations was not unexpected.

5. She is suspected of . . . . . in the fraud.

Answer key: 1. press for 2. raid 3. under his nose 4. breakdown 5. complicity

Mubarak's wife suffers heart attack after arrest

Suzanne Mubarak, the wife of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, suffered a heart attack Friday after learning that prosecutors had ordered her detention in a broadening criminal probe into the source of the family’s wealth, Egyptian state television reported.

The former first lady, 70, was being treated in the intensive care unit at Sharm el-Sheikh Hospital in the Sinai resort town, to which her family fled after a popular uprising led to her husband’s ouster three months ago.

A report on the Web site of the government-run Middle East News Agency (MENA) said the former first lady would be detained for 15 days as the investigation into allegations of corruption continues. Her husband and sons have been remanded in custody for a month on similar detention orders.

Suzanne Mubarak became an influential figure in Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, serving as the public face of many of the government’s social and welfare programs.

The MENA report said prosecutors ordered her detention because they suspect she obtained “illegal wealth using her husband’s position and political authority.”

(The Washington Post, 14 May 2011)

vocabulary

prosecutors	legal representatives who officially accuse someone of committing a crime, especially in a court of law
detention	arrest
probe	a thorough and careful investigation
intensive care unit	the part of a hospital that provides continuous treatment for patients who are seriously ill
resort	a place where a lot of people go on holiday/vacation
uprising	revolution; rebellion; revolt
ouster	removal; the act of removing or forcing somebody out of a position
first lady	the wife of the president
detained	kept in custody; locked up
remanded	locked up or confined
in custody	in prison (while waiting for trial)
position	rank; status; social standing

Model sentences and idiomatic expressions with “uprising”:

• The government quickly put down the uprising.

• The uprising was quickly and brutally suppressed.

• an armed uprising against the government

• to crush/suppress an uprising

• a popular uprising (= by the ordinary people of the country)

Exercise

Fill in the blanks with the following words:

1. detained 2. remanded 3. first lady 4. ouster 5. intensive care

1.    Mrs Mubarak fainted and was moved to . . . . . .

2.    Egypt’s former . . . . . is unlikely to leave medical supervision before 72 hours.

3.    Mrs Mubarak was told she would be . . . . . for 15 days.

4.    Mr Mubarak was . . . . . for interrogation to answer accusations of financial corruption and ordering the killing of protesters.

5.    Egyptian protesters rejoice at Mubarak’s . . . . . .

Answer key: 1. intensive care 2. first lady 3. detained 4. remanded 5. ouster

Palestinian reconciliation

The announcement on April 27th that the Palestinians’ two main factions, the secular-minded Fatah and the Islamist Hamas, will form a government of national unity and hold elections could be a dramatic game-changer in the long-stalled Middle East peace process—if it actually happens. And even if it does not, a new dynamic in Palestinian politics, generated by the revolution in Egypt, is taking shape. Most Palestinians will be heartened by the news. Most Israelis are likely to be dismayed.

The two Palestinian factions, bitter rivals for years, have made various desultory efforts to settle their differences. After Hamas won an election in 2006, the groups engaged in ceaseless clashes until, a year later, they formed a unity government that rancorously collapsed after a few months. Since then, Hamas has run the Gaza Strip on its own, more or less under siege by Israel, while Fatah’s leader, Mahmoud Abbas, as president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), has run the West Bank, more or less in cahoots with Israel.

(Adopted from The Economist, Apr 28th 2011)

    Vocabulary

dramatic	surprising; exciting
a game-changer	an event that completely changes the way a situation develops
stalled	stopped; delayed
dynamic	a force that produces change; driving force
taking shape	developing
heartened	inspired; gladdened
dismayed	disappointed or annoyed
desultory	without any particular plan; haphazard
engaged	involved; entered into conflict
rancorously	showing deep-seated resentment
run	been in charge of
on its own	alone; without anyone else
siege	blockade; a situation in which an army or the police surround a place
in cahoots	in collusion; acting together; working secretly

China tells US: Stop preaching on human rights

US officials expressed particular concern over the recent arrest of the artist Ai Weiwei, an outspoken critic of the government. He has not been seen since he was stopped trying to board a Hong Kong-bound plane. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also highlighted reports of other intellectuals and activists being “arbitrarily detained” in recent weeks. “We advise the US side to reflect on its own human rights issues and not to position itself as a preacher of human rights,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.

Adapted from BBC

Vocabulary

artist	practitioner of any of the arts, esp. painting
outspoken	frank; blunt; saying openly what one thinks
critic	person who criticizes; fault-finder; detractor
board	get on (a plane)
bound	ready to travel
highlighted	emphasized; drew attention to
activists	campaigners; persons who work to achieve political or social change
arbitrarily	illogically; without reason
reflect on	think about
position	place; put