【872-875】 巴西学校枪击案10亡20多伤&雪橇狗赛新冠军&澳天主教徒因性虐案离开教会&美国停飞所有波音737MAX飞机
School Shooting in Brazil Leaves 10 Dead, Over 20 Injured
A student cries outside the Raul Brasil State School in Suzano, the greater Sao Paulo area, Brazil, Wednesday, March 13, 2019. The state government of Sao Paulo said two teenagers, entered the school and began shooting at students. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
At least 10 people are dead after two young men attacked a public school in southern Brazil on Wednesday. More than 20 other people were reported injured.
The attackers targeted the Professor Raul Brasil state school in Suzano, near the city of Sao Paulo.
Reports say the shooting started at around 9:30 in the morning. One witness told the Globo Group that the gunmen acted during a break between classes, when many students were eating.
Globo said there was no information immediately available about the shooters’ connection to the school or a reason for the attack.
Official records show that the school has 358 students in grades 6 through 9 and 693 students in grades 10 through 12.
By midday Wednesday, officials confirmed 10 people were killed. Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria said the dead included six students and two teachers. The gunmen took their own lives, officials said.
Inside the school, police officials found a handgun and bottles that appeared to be Molotov cocktails, known as bottle bombs. Globo reported that a witness said he saw one of the attackers with a gun and the other with a knife.
Brazil, the biggest nation in Latin America, has the largest number of homicidedeaths in the world each year. But school shootings are rare.
The attack comes after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced that the country’s gun ownership controls would be eased.
I’m Jonathan Evans.
Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English from Associated Press and Globo news reports. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
homicide – n. the act of killing another person
New Champion in Sled Dog Race
Pete Kaiser of of Bethel, Alaska embraces fans from his hometown after winning the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race after crossing the finish line in Nome, Alaska, U.S. March 13, 2019. (REUTERS/Diana Haecker/Nome Nugget)
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has a new champion. Peter Kaiser won the 1,600-kilometer race early Wednesday. He is from the U.S. state of Alaska.
Kaiser is the first person of Yup’ik descent to win an Iditarod race, notes a statementon the race's website. Yup'ik refers to a group of native people.
Kaiser's team crossed the finish line in Nome, Alaska, with a time of 9 days, 12 hours, 39 minutes and 6 seconds, said a statement on the Iditarod website. Kaiser won the race by about 40 minutes and beat the defending champion, Norwegian Joar Leifseth Ulsom.
Kaiser has competed in the race several times before. He has won other famous dogsled races, including the Kuskokwim 300.
What is the Iditarod?
The Iditarod is the self-proclaimed "Last Great Race on Earth."
Competitors, called mushers, ride sleds dragged by teams of dogs. The sled teams go over difficult ground and combat freezing temperatures and strong winds.
Mushers have different plans for the race. Some lead their teams at night, while others prefer to lead their teams in the day.
Mushers have unique training routines for their dogs and feed them special diets.
The race's official website notes that the Iditarod is "a tribute to Alaska’s history and the role the sled dog played."
A notable race
This year's race was notable not only for Kaiser's victory, but also for the shocking loss of Nicolas Petit. Petit is a native of France living in Alaska. He had a five-hour lead -- until his dog team stopped running between two checkpoints.
Petit said one dog was bullying another dog during a rest break. “I yelled at Joe and everybody heard Daddy yelling, which doesn’t happen," Petit told reporters from the Anchorage Daily News. After that, the entire team would not run. Petit had to drop out of the race.
This year's race came during a difficult two-year period for the Iditarod. Dog drugging scandals, the loss of national sponsors, and protests by animal rights activists have hurt the race's image.
I'm Jonathan Evans.
Mark Theissen reported on this story for AP News. John Russell adapted it for Learning English, with the use of additional sources. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.
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Words in This Story
descent – n. the people in your family who lived before you were born : your ancestors
competitor – n. someone who is trying to win or do better than all others especially in business or sports : someone who is competing
sled – n. a small vehicle that has a flat bottom or long, narrow strips of metal or wood on the bottom and that is used for moving over snow or ice
bully – v. to frighten, hurt, or threaten (a smaller or weaker person) : to act like a bully toward (someone)
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Australian Catholics Leave the Church As Sexual Abuse Cases Increase
Protesters gather outside the County Court during the sentencing of Cardinal George Pell in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, March.13, 2019. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)
Australian Cardinal George Pell was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison.
Pell is a former treasurer at the Vatican. He was found guilty of molesting two boys who belonged to a cathedral choir in the 1990s.
The judge said the crime showed “staggering arrogance” – in other words, a strong sense of power and a shocking lack of feeling for others.
Pell and his lawyers say he is innocent and are asking for another trial.
Australian Catholics lose their faith
But some Roman Catholics in Australia are not waiting until another ruling to form an opinion. The sentencing of Pell marks the end of their religious faith.
Jonathan Barrett, a reporter for the Reuters news agency, visited an historically Catholic area in the Australian state of Victoria.
The city of Ballarat is home to about 100,000 people. Many settlers from Ireland went to Australia in the 1800s to search for gold. They brought their Catholic faith with them.
For generations, children there were baptized as members of the Catholic Church, attended Catholic schools, and raised their own families to be Catholic.
But Census records from 2016 showed the number of people in Ballarat who say they do not belong to any religion rose sharply. Today, fewer than one in four people who live there say they are Catholic.
And even some who said they are Catholic rarely attend church services, Reuters learned. But they still thought of themselves as Catholic – until last month, when Australia’s top Catholic official was publicly identified as a sex offender.
“That’ll do me – I’m out,” said one man while he passed the local church. He did not give his name.
Another Ballarat resident, Allen Stephens, spoke more about the issue. He said Pell’s case showed the Catholic Church is broken.
Stephens, who is 76 years old, was baptized Catholic but is no longer an active member. He says the abuse has been part of what has made him and others lose interest in being Catholic.
Catholics across Australia are losing their faith
Loss of faith in the Catholic Church is not limited to Ballarat. Catholics across Australia are losing their faith.
Census records show that, in the early 1990s, more than 27 percent of the Australian population said they were Catholic. Now, about 22 percent say they are Catholic.
A Catholic group called the Pastoral Research Office adds that, over the years, fewer people have been going to church services. Young people especially have stopped going.
However, the U.S.-based Pew Research Center notes that Christianity is increasing in strength in some areas, including parts of Africa and South America.
A Catholic clergyman in Ballarat suggests that Catholicism is changing. Father Justin Driscoll is an office administrator with Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. He said strong, centralized religion used to be very powerful in Western countries. Now, he says, church-goers have more of a voice.
Driscoll says he is trying to follow Pope Francis in this way. The pope has said that high-ranking religious officials should offer generous and humble service – and not act as elites who exercise power.
Kelly Jean Kelly adapted this story for Learning English. Her story was based on reports from Reuters and the Associated Press. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
molest – v. to harm (someone) through sexual contact
choir – n. a group of singers especially in a church
faith - n. strong religious feelings or beliefs
baptize - v. to officially make someone a member of a specified Christian church through the ceremony of baptism
resident – n. someone who lives in a particular place
generous - adj. freely giving or sharing money and other valuable things
humble - adj. not proud : not thinking of yourself as better than other people
US Grounds All Boeing 737 Max Planes
An American Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8, on a flight from Miami to New York City, comes in for landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York, U.S., March 12, 2019. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)
American President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the United States would ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 planes “effective immediately.”
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (or FAA) said in a statement that it “made the decision as a result of the data gathering process and new evidence collected at the site and analyzed today.”
The agency added, “This evidence, together with newly refined satellite data available to FAA this morning, led to this decision.”
The emergency order came after two crashes involving Boeing 737 Max 8 jets in recent months. The latest happened on Sunday, when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed in clear weather six minutes after takeoff from Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. All 157 people on board died.
Last October, Indonesia’s Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the ocean 13 minutes after taking off from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. All 189 people on board died.
By Wednesday, nearly 40 countries had already barred Boeing 737 Max planes from flying in their airspace. The FAA had faced criticism for permitting the jets to continue flying in the United States.
Trump said that “new information” had been found during the ongoing investigation into Sunday’s accident. He said the decision to ground the aircraft “didn’t have to be made, but we thought it was the right decision.”
Trump added that the decision was made with the help of U.S. air carriers, aircraft manufacturer Boeing and Canadian aviation officials. Canada announced it was grounding the Boeing 737 Max planes earlier in the day.
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In a statement, the U.S.-based Boeing Company said it “continues to have full confidence in the safety of the 737 Max.” The company said it decided to recommend to the FAA the temporary suspension of operations of all Boeing 737 Max planes “out of an abundance of caution.”
The FAA says there are 74 such planes registered in the U.S. and 387 around the world.
The U.S.- based Southwest Airlines operates 34 Boeing 737 Max planes. The airline said as a result of the order, it has removed those planes from service.
I'm Ashley Thompson.
Ashley Thompson wrote this story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.
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Words in This Story
analyze - v. to study (something) closely and carefully : to learn the nature and relationship of the parts of (something) by a close and careful examination
aircraft - n. a machine (such as an airplane or a helicopter) that flies through the air
refined - adj. improved to be more precise or exact
confidence - n. a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something
abundance - n. a large amount of something