READING 17 : "Australia to declare east coast floods national emergency"

Australia to declare east coast floods national emergency

Australia will declare devastating floods along its east coast a national emergency on Wednesday, local media reported, after weeks of rains left authorities struggling to rush food and essential supplies to the worst-hit areas. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, on a visit to the devastated town of Lismore in northern New South Wales state, will also pledge more financial support for people and businesses, reports said. Morrison's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

   The emergency declaration, which was set up after Australia's destructive 2019 bushfires, will give the federal government powers to cut red tape and deploy resources immediately, including more defence personnel. It comes as Morrison, trailing in polls ahead of a federal election before May, has faced criticism over the government's relief efforts in response to the floods, which have claimed 20 lives. Under Australia's federal system, individual states usually handle emergency responses to natural disasters.

   A second intense low-pressure system in as many weeks submerged large parts of Australia's east coast with southeast Queensland and New South Wales the worst hit. Most of the deaths have been in flooded homes or in cars attempting to cross flooded roads. Fast-rising floodwaters cut off entire communities and many people trapped in their homes were saved by local residents. Frustrated residents, with no access to food, power and internet for several days, have blamed authorities for the slow speed and scale of relief efforts. Meanwhile, thousands of residents in Sydney's northeast returned to their homes on Wednesday after rains eased, but major flooding continues in the city's western suburbs. "Thankfully, the rain has eased, and we'll see water levels continue to slowly recede in the coming days," Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Dean Narramore told reporters. Australia's east coast summer has been dominated by the La Nina weather phenomenon, typically associated with greater rainfall, with most rivers at near capacity even before the latest drenching.

   Sydney has received nearly 900 mm (35 inches) of rain so far in 2022, or about 80% of its annual rainfall, official data showed, the wettest start to a year since records began.
Source : The Jakarta Post (Wednesday, March 9, 2022)

NO	ENGLISH	INDONESIA
1.	Declare	Deklarasi
2.	Struggling	Berjuang
3.	Devastated	Dihancurkan
4.	Depleting	Menghabiskan
5.	Pledge	Sumpah
6.	Trailing in polls	Tertinggal dalam pemilihan
7.	Frustrated	Frustasi
8.	Suburbs	Pinggiran kota
9.	Drenching	Basah kuyup
10.	Annual	Tahunan

 

Read More

READING 16: "Plastic pollution: Green light for 'historic' treaty"

The world is set to get a global treaty to tackle plastic pollution.

Nearly 200 countries have agreed to start negotiations on an international agreement to take action on the "plastic crisis".

UN members are tasked with developing an over-arching framework for reducing plastic waste across the world.

There is growing concern that discarded plastic is destroying habitats, harming wildlife and contaminating the food chain.

Supporters describe the move as one of the world's most ambitious environmental actions since the 1989 Montreal Protocol, which phased out ozone-depleting substances.

They say just as climate change has the Paris Agreement, plastic should have its own binding treaty, which sets the world on course for reducing plastic waste.

Prof Steve Fletcher of the University of Portsmouth advises the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on plastics issues.

He said the plastics problem spans international borders and boundaries.

"One country can't deal with plastic pollution alone, no matter how good its policies are," he said.

"We need a global agreement to enable us to deal with the widespread challenges that plastic gives us as a society."

What does this mean?

UN member states have agreed to start international negotiations on drawing up a global plastics treaty that could set rules for production, use and disposal of plastics. The decision was made at a meeting of the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi.

Dr Jeanne d'Arc Mujawamariya, environment minister for Rwanda, which has been at the forefront of the proposals, said they were optimistic the negotiations would put in place a framework "to end plastic pollution".

Conservation charity WWF described the decision as one of the world's most ambitious environmental actions since the 1989 Montreal Protocol, which phased out ozone-depleting substances.

Addressing the full lifecycle of plastic products - production and use, as well as disposal - is key to turning off "the plastic tap", said senior policy advisor, Paula Chin.

"The next step is to make sure all signatories are ready to deliver on the promise of this ground-breaking agreement," she added.

What happens next?

World leaders have until 2024 to agree the plastic pollution treaty, including which elements will be legally binding and how the deal will be financed.

Environmental groups are calling for clear and strong global standards that incentivise nations to stick to common rules and regulations over plastics, while penalising harmful products and practices.

There will be pressure to help countries in the global south dealing with plastic problems created in the global north.

"There is debate about who pays and how do we make sure that countries in the global south have got the resources to deal with the plastic pollution crisis that they face," said Prof Fletcher.

The UK government, which supported the resolution, described the agreement as "truly historic".

"In the space of just one human lifetime, we have caused unimaginable damage to the global environment, choking every single part of the global ocean with plastic pollution," said Lord Zac Goldsmith, government minister for international environment.

"And although there is much to be done now to turn it into an ambitious and far-reaching treaty, we can now begin to close this ugly chapter”.

 

Source: bbc.com (Wednesday, 2022 March 3)

NO	ENGLISH	INDONESIA
1.	Harming	Merugikan
2.	Binding	Mengikat
3.	Forefront	Garis Terdepan
4.	Depleting	Menghabiskan
5.	Treaty	Perjanjian
6.	Penalising	Menghukum
7.	Agreement	Persetujuan
8.	Choking	Tersedak
9.	Ambitious	Ambisius
10.	Ugly	Buruk rupa

 

 

 

 

Read More

Reading 15: "Russia-Ukraine negotiations are over, says source"

 

GOMEL REGION /Belarus/, February 28. /TASS/. The Russian-Ukrainian negotiations are over and the meeting lasted five hours, a source taking part in the talks told TASS on Monday.

"They have been concluded," the source said.

The participants in the meeting are expected to give comments for the media on the results of the negotiations.

Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky is leading the Russian delegation. It also includes Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin and Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov is leading the Ukrainian delegation along with Advisor to the Ukrainian Presidential Office Mikhail Podolyak, Head of the faction "Servant of the People" David Arakhamiya, First Deputy Head of the Ukrainian delegation in the Contact Group on settling the situation in Donbass Andrey Kostin, Ukrainian legislator Rustem Umerov and Deputy Foreign Minister Nikolay Tochitsky.

Medinsky said earlier that the Russian delegation was willing to negotiate with the Ukrainian side for as long as it takes to clinch agreements. He also said that the meeting was postponed several times last night, its venue was re-arranged, and as a result, the original option was selected - the Gomel Region near the Ukrainian border.

Source: TASS  (Tuesday, 1 March 2022)

LIST OF VOCABULARY

NO	ENGLISH	INDONESIA
1.	Negotiations	Negoisasi
2.	Expected	Diharapkan
3.	Postponed	Penundaan
4.	Border	Perbatasan
5.	Settling	Penyelesaian

 

 

Read More

READING 014: "Biggest-ever cache of mummification tools unearthed in Egypt"

Deep inside a shaft in the cemetery of Abusir, near Cairo, a team of Egyptian and Czech Egyptologists has found a significant cache of equipment used more than 2,500 years ago to embalm mummies.

The set includes 370 pottery storage jars and several smaller vessels, making it the largest of its kind ever found, according to the Czech Institute of Egyptology of Prague's Charles University, which has been exploring the necropolis site for more than three decades. The discovery occurred during routine excavations of the area, which includes several large known tombs and potentially more that have yet to be unearthed.

Some of the vessels contained residues of various materials used during the mummification process, as well as tools. The archaeologists also found canopic jars, which were used by Egyptians to store the embalmed viscera of the deceased and typically left next to their owner. These particular ones, however, were empty and unused.

"We are still looking for a definitive explanation on why that is the case," said Jiří Janák, faculty member of the Czech Institute of Egyptology, in an email. "Maybe they were only symbolic Canopic jars, used for ritual protection of the embalming workshop. We still cannot be sure, at least until the burial structure will be completely excavated."

The vessels may be empty, but they have inscriptions on them, indicating they belonged to one Wahibre-mery-Neith, son of the Lady Irturu, a revelation that left the team puzzled, because a number of dignitaries of that name are known from this period, but none of them can be identified as the definitive owner of these canopic jars.

"Judging from the size of the embalming deposit and, mainly, from the dimensions and arrangement of the nearby tomb, the owner of the tomb (and of the deposit) must have belonged to the highest dignitaries of his time, together with his closest neighbours in the cemetery -- the famous admiral Udjahorresnet and general Menekhibnekau," he added.

An embalming deposit belonging to general Menekhibnekau was discovered in his tomb by the same Czech Egyptological team back in 2006. It contained several vessels inscribed with captions specifying when a particular substance -- such as oils, balsams, myrrh or textiles -- should have been used during the embalming process. Researchers hope that the new find could help understand the process further.

"A discovery like this represents a great source of valuable information on burial customs used by Egyptian social elite of the Late Period and on the mummification process itself," Janák added.

"Luckily, embalming deposits hardly attracted thieves and tomb robbers. For them, the amount of hard work needed to excavate the shaft was not worth it. But for scientists, the very opposite is true. We are very happy to have found this deposit complete and intact."

Now, archaeologists plan to conduct a more detailed scientific analysis of the vessels and their contents, and further excavate the site, to possibly reveal the tomb of Whaibre-mery-Neith, the deposit's owner.

Source: CNN (Friday, 25 February 2022)

LIST OF VOCABULARY

NO	ENGLISH	INDONESIA
1.	Cemetery	Kuburan
2.	Pottery	Tembikar
3.	Viscera	Jeroan
4.	Burial	Pemakaman
5.	Revelation	Wahyu
6.	Dignitaries	Pejabat tinggi
7.	Tomb	Makam
8.	Inscribed	Tertulis
9.	Canopic  jars	Toples kanopi
10.	Cache	Kumpulan

 

 

Read More