week4- American Sniper. Chris Kyle

American Sniper: 10 burning questions

Alice Vincent

19 February 2015 • 8:08am

Was Mustafa really an Olympian? Did The Butcher use a drill? How good a shot was Chris Kyle? Your American Sniper questions answered

1. Was Chris Kyle really called ‘Legend’?

Yes. As the film shows, Kyle earned the nickname after killing a number of people as a sniper. But in his memoir, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in US Military History, Kyle explains that there was a particular incident which earned him the moniker: when he shot down the beachballs insurgents were clinging to to help them swim across a river in Fallujah.

2. Did he really kill 250 people?

Kyle earned his title of America’s most deadly sniper because of a recorded 160 confirmed kills from 255 probable kills. But there’s a slight discrepancy over who was keeping track of these kills anyway. A spokesman for the American Army, Wayne V Hall, told NBC news that they don’t “keep any official, or unofficial, record of confirmed kills.” This was corroborated by Ken McGraw, a spokesman for the US Special Operations Command, who said: “If anything, we shy away from reporting numbers like that. It's so difficult to prove. And what does it mean?”

But Kyle’s co-author, Jim DeFelice, counters that he had to report each kill to his commanders. Furthermore, Kyle told Time magazine that the snipers had to “fill out an assessment of what happened throughout the day. The time, the place, the caliber used, the distance he was, what exactly he was doin', where he was standin', what he was wearin'. It's all in the detail.” Plus he “personally kept track.”

As for the difference between 160 confirmed kills and 255 probable kills, the former are those which a witness has verified is dead.

3. Was a $180,000 bounty really placed on Kyle’s head?

Not quite. When Kyle was interviewed on American chat show Conan he explains that a bounty starts at about $20,000 and can reach as high as $80,000, so one worth $180,000 is rather unlikely. Furthermore, the insurgents put a bounty on any American sniper’s head, not just his. Interestingly, though, he was given a nickname by the insurgents that doesn’t crop up in the film: al-Shaitan Ramadi - which translates as ‘the Devil of Ramadi’’

4. Did Kyle kill Mustafa?

No. This was one of the most fictionalised parts of the film. Mustafa, or the rather ruder Kaiser F—in' Söze in American Sniper, was the name given to an enemy sniper who had reportedly competed in the Olympics as a marksman for Syria. The standoff between Mustafa and Kyle is one of the major events in the film, which results in the death of Kyle’s comrade Ryan ‘Biggles’ Job (Jake McDormand) and Marc Lee (Luke Grimes). However, in the book, Kyle doesn’t even encounter Mustafa, let alone kill him. There’s simply one reference: “an Olympics marksman who was using his skills against Americans and Iraqi police and soldier.” Lee was hit by enemy fire and died, as shown in the film, but Job survived his reconstruction operation after being blinded by Mustafa’s shot. He did die from surgery, but not until years later.

Furthermore, it looks like Mustafa was never an Olympic athlete - not the Syrian one, anyway. According to Quora user Nicholas Wolaver, only one of Syria’s few Olympic shooters from the past 30 years was a target rifle shooter and he was too old to fight. The screenwriter, Jason Hall, admitted to Time Magazine that the connection was made for dramatic effect.

5. Did The Butcher really use a drill to kill and torture his victims?

Depressingly, yes. The Butcher, the nickname given to Abu Deraa, an Iraqi Shia warlord who was known for his gory methods. A Telegraph story from November 2006 reads: “Deraa's trademark method of killing is a drill through the skull rather than a sword to the neck, but his work rate is just as prolific as the former al-Qaeda leader's and shows the same diabolical artistry.”

6. Did Kyle kill a child?

No. The film adaptation of his memoirs appears to have combined two separate incidents. In the book, Kyle’s first kill - the only time he killed someone who wasn’t a male combatant - was a woman who came out of a house with her child, but approaches the convoy alone to set off a grenade. On a separate occasion, Kyle encountered a child who was sent to pick up a rocket launcher in the street. However, he didn’t fire. He writes in the book: “ I wasn't going to kill a kid, innocent or not. I'd have to wait until the savage who put him up to it showed himself on the street.” In the film, not only is the child killed, but the woman leaves him for dead to throw a grenade.

7. Did Kyle’s father invent the ‘sheep, sheepdogs and wolves’ speech?

No. The motivational dinner table chat in which Kyle’s father tells him “there are three types of people in the world: wolves, sheep and sheepdogs” has a far longer history - although not in Kyle’s memoir. As Slate point out, Hall made up the scene, but the analogy comes from Lieutenant Colonel David Grossman’s 2004 book On Combat. Grossman claims he borrowed it from an “old war veteran”, and uses the phrase in relation to the 9/11 attacks and the Iraq war. It’s since been picked up by gun rights groups, military and police circles.

8. Was Kyle angered by his comrade Mark Lee’s disillusionment over war?

No. In the film, Kyle claims his best friend and fellow sniper Mark Lee caused his own death after he hears Lee express his disillusionment with war in a letter he sent his mother before he died. It causes an argument between Kyle and his wife Tyra. But this is a complete fabrication: Kyle actually speaks highly of Lee’s letter in his book.

9. Was Kyle really as big as Bradley Cooper?

Certainly. In Cooper’s words, the 16.5 stone sniper was “wasn’t ripped. He wasn’t sinewy. He was just a bear.” The quadruple-Oscar nominated actor told the Navy Times he was consuming 6,000 calories and working out for five hours a day to pack on two stone of pure muscle. It wasn’t, his trainer Jason Walsh told Men’s Health, always easy: “We had to force-feed him. His body just absorbed everything I threw at it.”

10. Why is that Metallica flag there?

Eagle-eyed cinemagoers may have noticed that a Metallica flag made its way over to Iraq too. This is because Kyle was a massive fan of the rock band.

He was so much of a fan, in fact, that he included them on his workout playlist, which Cooper listened to for motivation during his own training for the film.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/american-sniper/facts/

Structure of the Lead :

WHO-Chris Kyle

WHEN-not given

WHAT-10 questions

WHY- not given

WHERE- not given

HOW- not given

Keywords :

1.memoir : 回憶錄.自傳

2. moniker : 綽號

3. discrepancy : 差異

4. caliber : 口徑.直徑

5. verify : 證實

6. standoff : 僵持

7. gory : 殘酷的

8. diabolical : 殘忍的

9. convoy : 護衛

10. grenade : 手榴彈

11. veteran : 老兵

12.disillusionment : 醒悟

13. fabrication : 虛構

14. sinewy : 肌肉發達的

Week3 - uber, taxi, crime

Taxis jam Brussels in protest over possible Uber arrival

BY PHILIP BLENKINSOP

BRUSSELS Tue Mar 3, 2015 10:13am EST

(Reuters) - Hundreds of taxis jammed central Brussels on Tuesday in a protest against the city's planned reform of the industry that could lead to the legalization of online ride-sharing services such as Uber.

Brussels' Transport Minister Pascal Smet outlined plans last week for taxi reform in the Belgian capital from the start of 2016, including conditions under which the fast-growing U.S. company Uber could operate.

Taxis drove slowly through central Brussels, bearing banners such as "No to Uber" and blocking major intersections. Unions said 1,200 taxis took part, including about 100 from France. Police said there were about 600.

Taxi drivers across Europe, many of whom benefit from highly regulated markets, say Uber breaks local taxi rules and violates licensing, insurance and safety regulations.

Facing legal action in Germany, France and the Netherlands, Uber, which helps users find rides via their smartphones, has promised to create 50,000 jobs this year in European cities that are willing to let them take root.

Smet has said he is aware that Uber and rivals risk creating poorly paid jobs and said Uber would only be allowed to operate according to set criteria -- notably keeping a register of all drivers, vehicles and journeys made and paying tax in full.

Drivers signed up to Uber would have to be at least 21 and could only do the activity as a side job, with regular taxi drivers also able to sign up. Vehicles would have to be no older than seven years and subject to an annual check-up.

"I am paying taxes, I am paying my dues, I pay double insurance for my cab. Is Uber paying all that?" asked taxi driver Haydar Dogan.

Sandra Langenus, regional secretary of transport union FGTB-UBT, also condemned any move to let in Uber. "It's simply about undercutting the price. We would just be entering a downward spiral in terms of pay and conditions," she said.

The taxi plan, which would be subject to a vote in the regional parliament, envisages new fixed fares for short journeys or those to the airport and a smartphone application that would allow consumers to hail a taxi online.

Taxi drivers who have worked for three years without complaints would earn certificates of excellence and a regional annual tax of 575 euros ($642) would be scrapped.

Brussels, a city of about 1 million people, has 1,300 licensed taxis and some 3,000 drivers.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/03/us-uber-belgium-idUSKBN0LZ1O220150303

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Hundreds of taxi drivers
WHEN- Tuesday, Mar 3, 2015
WHAT- in a protest against the city's planned reform of the industry
WHY- in a protest against Uber
WHERE- central Brussels
HOW- jammed central Brussels

Keywords：

1.          block : 阻塞

2.          criteria : 標準

3.          notably : 尤其.特別

4.          condemn : 責備

5.          parliament : 議會

6.          envisage : 想像

7.          hail : 招呼(計程車)

8.          scrap : 廢棄

week2 - Sydney café. Hostage

Sydney siege: Hostages held in Lindt café

A gunman is holding staff and customers hostage at a cafe in Sydney, Australia.

The Lindt cafe in the city centre is surrounded by armed police. Officers have made contact with the gunman.

Five people have been seen running from the building. It is not clear how many remain inside. A black Islamic flag has been displayed at the window.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said it was "profoundly shocking" that people were being "held hostage by an armed person claiming political motivation".

He was speaking after chairing a meeting of the national security committee in Canberra.

Earlier Mr Abbott said: "Australia is a peaceful, open and generous society - nothing should ever change that and that's why I would urge all Australians today to go about their business as usual."

Senior police officers say they are on a footing "consistent with a terrorist event".

The incident began as people were arriving for work in Martin Place on Monday. Witnesses saw a man with a bag and gun walk into the Lindt chocolate shop and cafe.

Lindt said about 10 employees and 30 customers were thought to be inside at the time. Nearby offices were evacuated and police asked people to remain indoors and away from open windows.

The BBC's Jon Donnison in Sydney says an enormous police operation is in place, on a scale few Sydney residents will have seen.

About six hours into the siege, three people were seen running from the building housing the cafe. Two more people followed about an hour later. It is not clear whether they escaped or were released.

New South Wales Police deputy commissioner Catherine Burn said: "Those people are now being assessed to make sure their health is okay and then police will talk to them."

"Our approach is to resolve this peacefully. It might take a bit of time but that is our priority," she added.

Police have identified the gunman and he is well known to them, Australian media report.

News organisations also say the suspect has contacted them to issue demands, which police have urged media not to report.

Channel 7, a broadcaster with offices facing the cafe, said lights inside the premises were turned out as night fell.

At the scene: Wendy Frew, BBC News, Sydney

The atmosphere in Martin Place itself was surreal. Office workers who had been evacuated from their buildings, construction workers from building sites and tourists packed the pedestrian plaza one block away from the Lindt coffee shop.

Rosemary D'Urso Healion had just come out of the Martin Place subway station and was walking to her office when she saw that it was blocked by police. Then she saw the police close down the subway station.

"I work in that building [where the siege is taking place] and I was just about to go in," she told the BBC, adding that she had been in contact with some of her colleagues who were in the building but not being held hostage.

She remained at Martin Place anxiously watching a police operation that appeared to be aimed at getting some of her colleagues out via a ladder erected on a window ledge on the first floor.

An armed man wearing a backpack and a bandana could be seeing walking around inside the cafe.

TV footage showed at least three people, thought to be employees and who were visibly distressed, holding up to the window a black flag bearing the declaration of Islamic faith, which reads: "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger."

The flag is similar to those used by jihadist groups, but is different from the one used by Islamic State militants in the Middle East.

Martin Place is home to the state premier's office and the headquarters of major banks.

In September Australia - which has sent fighter jets to join the US-led coalition conducting air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq - carried out a big anti-terror raid.

One man was charged with plotting to behead a member of the public in Martin Place.

In October, new anti-terrorism laws, including a provision designed to stop Australians fighting in overseas conflicts, were approved by the Australian parliament.

The black flag

·                                 A black flag bearing the white Arabic text of the "shahada", the basic statement of the Islamic faith, is used by jihadist groups worldwide

·                                 The statement says: "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger"

·                                 A black flag was the battle flag of the Prophet Muhammad and was carried into battle by many of his companions

·                                 Today, it is used as a symbol of engagement in jihad, in the sense of holy war, by militant groups including al-Qaeda and Islamic State

·                                 Islamic State's banner - unlike the flag raised in the window of the coffee shop - bears the first part of the shahada and the seal of the Prophet below it.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-30473983

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- a gunman
WHEN- not given
WHAT- Hostages held in Lindt café
WHY- not given
WHERE- at a cafe in Sydney, Australia
HOW- not given

Keywords：

1.      siege : 圍攻

2.      profoundly : 深深地

3.      evacuate : 撤離

4.      scale : 刻度

5.      deputy : 代表

6.      premise : 假定

7.      surreal : 超現實的

8.      erect : 直立的

9.      declaration : 宣布

10.  provision : 供應

week1- Air Asia. 8501. crash/ wreckage

Divers battle weather to reach AirAsia wreckage

Katharine Lackey, USA TODAY 6:23 a.m. EST January 4, 2015

Search teams hunting for AirAsia Flight 8501, which had been carrying 162 people, find four large plane parts on the seabed but haven't been able to take images of the suspected wreck yet. Mana Rabiee reports.

Rain and rolling waves delayed divers from reaching the wreckage of AirAsia Flight 8501 after four large objects were detected on the ocean floor Saturday, which Indonesian officials appeared confident were from the jet that crashed with 162 people aboard.

"We've found four big parts from the plane we're looking for," search-and-rescue agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo told reporters in Jakarta on Saturday, Reuters reported.

The largest piece — measuring 59 feet long and 18 feet wide — is believed to be part of the jet's body, Soelistyo said. Other debris in the area measured up to 39 feet long. The objects were found Friday and Saturday using sonar equipment.

Divers were unable to enter the water to get a visual due to strong currents and high surf. Poor visibility hampered efforts to take photos of the objects with underwater remote operating vehicles, Reuters reported.

After a nearly week-long search, just 31 bodies have been pulled from the water. Officials said they expect to find many of the 162 passengers and crew still strapped to their seats inside the plane.

"Many of the passengers are believed to be still trapped inside the plane's fuselage and could be discovered soon," said rescue official Supriyadi, who like many Indonesians uses only one name. "God willing, we will complete this operation next week."

The Airbus A320-200 crashed Sunday on a two-hour flight from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore.

The discovery of the massive objects came as Indonesian authorities grounded AirAsia flights from Surabaya to Singapore, saying the airline did not have a license for the route for Sunday flights. However, Singapore's Civil Aviation Authority said the airline had been approved to fly the route daily.

No definitive cause for the crash had been determined, but weather could have played a role. The jet's last communication indicated pilots were worried about bad weather. They sought permission to climb above threatening clouds but were denied because of heavy air traffic. Four minutes later, the airliner disappeared from radar without issuing a distress signal.

"Flight 8501 appears to have been trapped in bad weather that would have been difficult to avoid," according to a 14-page report released by Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.

The jet's all-important black boxes — which have yet to be located — will likely shed light on the plane's final moments and should contain the pilots' dialogue, along with hundreds of streams of information about how the plane was behaving.

At least eight navy ships from Singapore, Russia, Malaysia and the U.S. have been involved in the search for the black boxes and the wreckage.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/01/03/air-asia-flight-8501-crash/21224643/

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Search teams
WHEN- not given
WHAT- find four large plane parts on the seabed
WHY- not given
WHERE- not given
HOW- hunting for AirAsia Flight 8501

Keywords：

1.          debris : 殘骸

2.          sonar : 聲納

3.          hamper : 妨礙

4.          strap : 用皮帶捆住

5.          fuselage : 機身

6.          definitive : 決定性的.最後的

7.          sought : (seek的過去式)尋找

week7- Chang Guann. gutter oil(tainted tard oil)

Chang Guann ‘sorry’ for tainted lard oil

Fri, Sep 05, 2014

By Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

GUTTER INGREDIENTS: The Greater Kaohsiung company said it was recalling all of its Chuan Tung ‘fragrant lard oil’ that have an expiry date prior to March 1 next year

Chang Guann Co (強冠企業), a food oil manufacturer in Greater Kaohsiung, yesterday apologized to the public after one of its lard products was allegedly found to be tainted with “gutter oil” illegally recycled by an unlicensed factory in Pingtung County.

Gutter oil, also known as drainage oil, is recycled oil collected from various sources such as kitchen fryers, restaurant drains and grease traps. It is mainly used in the production of soap.

“We only began purchasing lard from the Pingtung factory on Feb. 25 this year. As of last month, a total of 243 tonnes of lard had been bought from the factory, 216 tonnes of which have been used as a base oil in the manufacturing of 780 tonnes of edible lard oil,” the company based in Daliao District (大寮) said in a press release.

There was an immediate trickle-down effect after Chang Guann Co’s apology. Wei Chuan Foods Corp (味全食品工業) said it had immediately pulled 12 pork floss and meat paste products from stores.

Wei Chuan has purchased oil products that have been found to have questionable ingredients from Chang Guann Co and used them in the 12 products, so it decided to temporarily stop sales for the products and accept returns from consumers, Wei Chuan said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

The company said it had informed Taipei’s Public Health Bureau and would fully cooperate with the government regarding inspection on these products.

Wei Chuan said it will consider seeking reimbursement from Chang Guann to protect its rights and interests if the oil products purchased from Chang Guann are confirmed to have included the suspect ingredients.

Chang Guann said the 780 tonnes of processed lard oil were divided into 51,700 cartons and marketed as “fragrant lard oil” (香豬油) under its cooking oil brand, Chuan Tung (全統), and that 48,500 cartons had been sold.

“We are also a victim in this case. Although not all of our fragrant lard oil products contain the alleged gutter oil, to safeguard consumers’ interest, on Tuesday we ordered the recall of all products with an expiration date before March 1 next year,” the company said.

The statement was issued just hours after Chang Guann deputy general manager Tai Chi-chuan (戴啟川) was summoned for questioning by the Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office, following a raid carried out by the Criminal Investigation Bureau’s southern crime combat center on the unlicensed factory in Pingtung.

The factory’s owner, Kuo Lieh-cheng, (郭烈成) and an employee surnamed Shih (施) were also questioned yesterday, along with Kuo Chun-yeh (郭春葉), the owner of animal feed manufacturer Ching Wei Co (進威) — which allegedly bought gutter oil from the same factory for use in its pig feed products — Kuo’s wife and an employee surnamed Su (蘇), Pingtung Chief District Prosecutor Yang Wan-li (楊婉莉) said.

“The office joined hands with the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] and the health departments of Pingtung and Greater Kaohsiung to investigate whether the factory sold gutter oil disguised as lard, and where and to whom such products were sold,” Yang said.

FDA Southern Center Deputy Director Liu Fang-ming (劉芳銘) said a preliminary investigation showed that Chang Guann’s fragrant lard oil products manufactured between March 1 and Aug. 29 could have been mixed with the alleged gutter oil.

“Since the potentially contaminated products were packaged in 15kg and 16kg cartons, they were likely to have been sold to small restaurants or eateries rather than consumers,” Liu said.

If Chang Guann bought the suspect lard without knowing what it really was, the company’s owners might only be subject to a fine ranging from NT$60,000 (US$2,000) to NT$50 million, as stipulated in Article 15 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), Liu said.

“However, if the firm was aware of the lard’s real contents and still used it to manufacture cooking oil, its owners could face a maximum prison term of seven years,” he said.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/09/05/2003599041/1

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- The Greater Kaohsiung company
WHEN- an expiry date prior to March 1 next year
WHAT- not fiven
WHY- not fiven
WHERE- not fiven
HOW- not given

Keywords：

1.          tainted :污染的

2.          lard :豬油

3.          gutter : 排水溝

4.          allegedly : 據宣傳

5.          drainage :排水.放水

6.          inspection : 檢查

7.          reimbursement : 退款

8.          surname :姓

9.          preliminary : 預備的.初步的

10.      contaminate :污染

11.      stipulate : 規定

week6 - Scottish independence referendum

Scottish referendum poll tracker

On 18 September 2014 millions of Scots will vote on whether they want their country to become independent or remain part of the United Kingdom. But what do opinion polls suggest about which way the decision will go?

Analysis

David Cowling, Editor, BBC Political Research Unit

Over recent weeks the gap between "No" and "Yes" has narrowed in the opinion polls and this has created its own excitement as the two campaign groups redouble their efforts to convince voters to support them.

As each side tries to create momentum, the polls are used to batter their opponents. But where does that warfare leave individual electors as they seek to discover possible outcomes?

Traditionally, we describe polls as temperature readings valid at the time they are taken.

Individual polls are important, but we should also be looking at any trend over time: is the direction of travel benefiting one side or the other?

However, it is also important to look beyond the headline poll figures for "Yes" or "No".

Most polls will ask respondents how certain they are to vote - are the supporters of one side more enthusiastic about voting than those of the other. Pollsters will often adjust their referendum voting figures to take account of any such differences.

The issues of what currency an independent Scotland would use, as well as the economic consequences of any independence have played a significant role in the campaign.

The campaign polls have also revealed significant differences between various groups: older voters are much more likely to oppose independence than younger voters; women are much less supportive of independence than men; and people living in Scotland but born outside it are less favourable towards an independent Scotland than native-born Scots.

Will the final polls show that these divisions remain, or will they become less stark?

The polls certainly suggest that the real battleground in this campaign is among Labour voters. Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are overwhelmingly opposed to independence but there is evidence that a significant minority of Labour voters support it and, I suspect, they will be the focus of the two campaigns right up to 18 September.

And this campaign will be a real test for the polling companies themselves.

You would think, given the choice is simply "Yes" or "No", that the challenge to produce accurate figures would be relatively simple. But predicting the same "Yes" or "No" choice in the 2011 UK referendum on the Alternative Vote system caused some pollsters serious grief.

The September referendum has no precedent for the pollsters to measure their 2014 poll results against. This issue cuts across gender, families, friendships and parties and that makes the work of the pollsters more difficult than simply measuring either "Yes" or "No" would suggest.

http://www.bbc.com/news/events/scotland-decides/poll-tracker

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Scots
WHEN- 18 September 2014
WHAT- vote on whether they want their country to become independent or remain part of the United Kingdom
WHY- not fiven
WHERE- Scottland
HOW- not given

Keywords：

1.          referendum : 公民投票

2.          poll : 投票選舉

3.          redouble : 使加倍.加強

4.          momentum : 動力

5.          batter : 向上遞傾

6.          favourable : 贊同的

7.          precedent : 先例

week5 - ebola (virus). west Africa

WHO says Ebola outbreak continues to spread in West Africa

7:55 a.m. EDT October 24, 2014

Ebola is racing ahead of efforts to contain its spread, according to the World Health Organization. There are now nearly 10,000 reported cases – a tally that clearly underestimates that true scope.

Ebola is racing ahead of efforts to contain its spread, according to the World Health Organization.

There are nearly 10,000 reported cases -- a tally that underestimates the true scope of the epidemic as overwhelmed health workers fall behind in their record-keeping, the WHO says. About half of Ebola patients have died.

Ebola has now reached every district in Sierra Leone and all but one district in Liberia, with "intense transmission" in these countries' capital cities, according to the WHO.

West Africa today is nowhere near goals set by the United Nations to get the outbreak under control, according to the WHO.

Even with the modest goal of meeting 70% of the region's needs by Dec. 1, affected countries would need at least 16 more labs to help medical staff quickly diagnose patients, 230 more "dead body management teams" to bury or cremate bodies in ways that don't spread Ebola, ​; 4,388 more hospital beds; and 20,000 contract tracers to find and isolate potential cases.

Today, Liberia has enough beds for only 23% of patients, according to the WHO. That means 77% of Ebola patients are languishing and dying at home or, worse, in the street.

Infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm said he's concerned that Ebola is poised to spill over the borders to other African countries, such as Ivory Coast. Of the eight districts in Guinea and Liberia that border Ivory Coast, all but one have reported Ebola cases, the WHO said.

In August, Ivory Coast closed its borders with Ebola-affected countries and temporarily suspended flights.

Two of the four areas of Guinea with new Ebola cases this week are near the border with Ivory Coast, a country of 20 million people, according to the WHO. With a metro area population of more than 7 million, Ivory Coast's economic capital, Abidjan, is the second largest city in West Africa, behind Lagos, Nigeria.

"There is no magic boundary at the border," said Osterholdm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "We shouldn't be surprised if we see cases."

Osterholm notes that farmers often leave home in the fall, as they finish harvesting their crops, and migrate to other countries looking for work. He fears that those seasonal migrations could help spread Ebola across Africa.

Flights between Ivory Coast and the three Ebola-affected countries -- which were suspended this summer over Ebola fears -- resumed this week.

Osterholm said migrant workers often bypass official border checkpoints because they travel on foot through the countryside.

Like Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia -- three countries hit hardest by Ebola – Ivory Coast has weathered years of political instability and civil war, said William Moss, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

The WHO has blamed Ebola's spread through West Africa on poverty, lack of education and crumbling public health systems, which were battered during years of conflict. Although the first Ebola case apparently occurred in Guinea in December, local health officials didn't realize they were dealing with an Ebola outbreak until March, when there were already nearly 50 cases.

At a press conference Thursday, WHO officials addressed rumors that Ebola had been detected in other West African countries.

"At WHO, we hear about many rumors of cases in different countries. Most of these turn out to be negative," Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's assistant director-general for health security and environment, said following a meeting on Ebola.

"Ebola is one of these things that is really hard to cover up," Fukuda said. "There is reasonable confidence that we are not seeing widespread transmission into neighboring countries. ... .We think it would be very difficult to miss."

The WHO is working to prepare Ivory Cost and 14 other countries with borders or strong travel ties to the Ebola-affected nations. The WHO will stage simulation drills, for example, and provide other types of technical assistance.

Beginning with trips to Ivory Coast and Mali, "WHO teams will build on previous work with each country to help identify any gaps in their capacity to identify and respond" to Ebola, according to a WHO report issued Wednesday.

Even Doctors Without Borders, which has been fighting Ebola since March, has had to suspend routine care of women and children at one of its hospitals in Sierra Leone, which once admitted more than 10,000 people per year. The organization's overwhelmed staff can no longer maintain "flawless infection control" in that hospital, putting staff lives at risk.

"It is our intention to resume our activities ... as soon as possible, but for that we need to first put all of our energy in fighting Ebola," said Brice de le Vingne, director of operations at Doctors Without Borders. "We really hope that in a few months, we'll be able to focus once again on treating mothers and children."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/23/who-ebola-update/17767789/

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- not given
WHEN-not given
WHAT-Ebola
WHY- Ebola is racing ahead of efforts to contain its spread
WHERE- not given
HOW- not given

Keywords：

1.          tally : 計數單位

2.          underestimate : 低估

3.          district : 行政區

4.          cremate : 火葬

5.          languishing : 衰弱

6.          infectious : 傳染的

7.          suspend : 使中止

8.          boundary : 邊界

9.          migrate : 遷移

10.      instability : 不穩定性

11.      transmission : 傳送