Weekly 7 'Terrorist' murdered soldier 'in cold blood,' Canada's Prime Minister says

The two shootings in Ottawa Wednesday left lawmakers barricaded inside offices and parts of the city on lockdown for hours as police searched for suspects.

Ottawa Police lifted the lockdown Wednesday night and said there was no longer a danger to the public.

But many questions remain about the shootings: Who was the gunman? Why did he open fire? And was he acting alone?

liament

"It appears there was just one shooter, and that shooter is dead," Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "But it has been a traumatic experience, obviously, for not only our city but the country."

Investigators haven't provided any possible motives for the shooting. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper didn't provide details about the investigation in a televised address to the nation Wednesday night.

"In the days to come, we will learn more about the terrorist and any accomplices he may have had, but this week's events are a grim reminder that Canada is not immune to the types of terrorist attacks we have seen elsewhere in the world," Harper said. "Let there be no misunderstanding: We will not be intimidated. Canada will never be intimidated."

It is unclear whether additional suspects were tied to the shootings or whether additional arrests have been made. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said more information would be provided in a press conference Thursday.

As authorities continued to investigate, details began to emerge about the man they suspect was behind the shooting.

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was identified by Canadian officials to their American counterparts as the suspected gunman, multiple U.S. officials told CNN.

Bibeau, who was born in 1982, was a convert to Islam and had a history of drug use before he converted, two sources said.

His passport had been confiscated by Canadian authorities when they learned he planned to go fight overseas, a U.S. law enforcement official told CNN's Susan Candiotti. The official said it was not clear when that happened.

barricaded路障，街壘

accomplices共犯，同謀，幫兇

grim無情的；嚴厲的；殘忍的

immune免除的；免於……的

intimidated威嚇；脅迫

WHO: Ottawa Mayor AND The Royal Canadian Mounted Police

WHERE: Canadian Parliament

HOW: They investigated the result of the event

WHAT: It was not clear to be explained in this report.

WHEN: Wednesday night

WHY: Terrorist murdered soldier in cold blood

source: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/22/world/americas/canada-ottawa-shooting/

Weekly6 Syria Iraq: The Islamic State militant group

Under its former name Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis), it was formed in April 2013, growing out of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).

It has since been disavowed by al-Qaeda, but has become one of the main jihadist groups fighting government forces in Syria and Iraq.

Its precise size is unclear but it is thought to include thousands of fighters, including many foreign jihadists.

The organisation is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Little is known about him, but it is believed he was born in Samarra, north of Baghdad, in 1971 and joined the insurgency that erupted in Iraq soon after the 2003 US-led invasion.

This rare image of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was released by the Iraqi interior ministry

In 2010 he emerged as the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, one of the groups that later became Isis.

Baghdadi is regarded as a battlefield commander and tactician, which analysts say makes his group more attractive to young jihadists than al-Qaeda, which is led by Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Islamic theologian.

Prof Peter Neumann of King's College London estimates that about 80% of Western fighters in Syria have joined the group.

IS claims to have fighters from the UK, France, Germany and other European countries, as well as the US, the Arab world and the Caucasus.

Unlike other rebel groups in Syria, IS is seen to be working towards an Islamic emirate that straddles Syria and Iraq.

The group has seen considerable military success. In March 2013, it took over the Syrian city of Raqqa - the first provincial capital to fall under rebel control.

In January 2014, it capitalised on growing tension between Iraq's Sunni minority and Shia-led government by taking control of the predominantly Sunni city of Fallujah, in the western province of Anbar.

It also seized large sections of the provincial capital, Ramadi, and has a presence in a number of towns near the Turkish and Syrian borders.

The group has gained a reputation for brutal rule in the areas that it controls.

However, it was its conquest of Mosul in June that sent shockwaves around the world.

Iraqi security forces fled as IS advanced into the city of Mosul

The US said the fall of Iraq's second city posed a threat to the entire region. It may also have made ISIS the most cash-rich militant group in the world.

Initially, the group relied on donations from wealthy individuals in Gulf Arab states, particularly Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, who supported its fight against President Bashar al-Assad.

Today, IS is said to earn significant amounts from the oil fields it controls in eastern Syria, reportedly selling some of the supply back to the Syrian government. It is also believed to have been selling looted antiquities from historical sites.

Prof Neumann believes that before the capture of Mosul in June 2014, IS had cash and assets worth about $900m (£500m). Afterwards, this rose to around $2bn (£1.18bn).

The group reportedly took hundreds of millions of dollars from Mosul's branch of Iraq's central bank. And its financial windfall looked set to continue if it maintains control of oil fields in northern Iraq.

disavowed否認

insurgency暴動

invasion入侵，侵略

battlefield戰場，戰地

theologian神學家，神學研究者

emirate埃米爾的職位

straddles對……持觀望態度

predominantly佔主導地位地

presence 出席，在場；存在

looted（總稱）戰利品；掠奪物；贓物

assets財產，資產

WHY: ISIS wants to get the administration of Iraq to possess the oil fields of it.

HOW: brutal military invasion

WHERE: Syria and Iraq.

WHAT: , the group relied on donations from wealthy individuals in Gulf Arab states, particularly Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, who supported its fight against President Bashar al-Assad.

WHO: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

WHEN: January 2014

source:http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-24179084

Weekly5 Boko Haram Seizes Nigerian Town where Schoolgirls Were Abducted

ABUJA, NIGERIA—

The Nigerian army says it has pushed Boko Haram militants out of the northeastern town of Chibok, the home of more than 200 schoolgirls the group kidnapped earlier this year.

Army officials say the military had recaptured the town, in an operation late Saturday, just two days after it was seized by Boko Haram.

Locals say the army was aided in the operation by a local vigilante force.

There was no information about casualties from Saturday's battle.

Boko Haram has taken a number of towns in the northeastern states of Borno and Adamawa this year for a "caliphate" proclaimed by the group's leader, Abubakar Shekau.

Nigerian security forces and vigilante groups have succeeded in retaking some areas, including the Adamawa town of Mubi, freed during a battle on Thursday.

Fighting has continued despite a cease-fire announced by the Nigerian government on October 17.  Shekau said in a subsequent video that no cease-fire existed and that the kidnapped schoolgirls had been converted to Islam and married off.

The kidnapping from a Chibok secondary school April 14 made headlines and drew outrage from around the world.  The Nigerian government has been unable to rescue the schoolgirls despite surveillance and intelligence help provided by the United States, Britain and other allies.

Hundreds of fighters on motorcycles and trucks poured into the town of Chibok late afternoon Friday, overrunning the military forces and vigilante groups to take control.

“The local vigilantes did put up a fight with the contingent of the military that’s in Chibok, but they were outgunned,” said Pogo Bitrus, chairman of the Chibok elders’ forum.

Who: The Nigerian army  and Boko Haram 

Why: Army officials say the military had recaptured the town, in an operation late Saturday, just two days after it was seized by Boko Haram.

What: The Nigerian army says it has pushed Boko Haram militants out of the northeastern town of Chibok, the home of more than 200 schoolgirls the group kidnapped earlier this year.

Where: chairman of the Chibok elders’ forum.

When: not given

How: “The local vigilantes did put up a fight with the contingent of the military that’s in Chibok, but they were outgunned

recapture奪回，收復

vigilante【英】治安維持會成員；自發組織的維持治安者

subsequent後來的，其後的，隨後的[B]

surveillance看守；監視

alliy同盟國；同盟者

contingent分遣隊；代表團；（大組中的）一組[G]

outgun火力壓過；武器多於；力量超過，比……有優勢

forum討論會

source: http://www.voanews.com/content/nigerias-boko-haram-seizes-chibok-home-of-kidnapped-girls/2520472.html