Women are hit in Peru
A shocking video from Peru emerged. It shows an attack on a nightclub which was carried out by a vigilante group.
Nearly 50 women who work at the night club were lashed by masked vigilantes. The women were confused and scared. Some of them hid in corners, and others ran away. Male employees were forced to do push-ups outside.
The group said that it organises this kind of operation to eradicate prostitution and crime.
Difficult words: vigilante (someone who illegally punishes criminals), lash (strike with a whip), operation (activity), eradicate (destroy completely).
60 hours in water
A Taiwanese man was fishing on Friday when he was swept away by a large wave.
His wife knew that something was wrong when her husband didn’t come home at 5 o’clock, as he usually does. She called for help.
Her 42-year-old husband, who cannot swim, was holding onto a piece of wood for nearly 60 hours. When he saw some lights on the shore, he began to tread water in that direction and he made it there safely.
The man was taken to a local hospital for treatment, but he had to be treated only for dehydration.
Difficult words: sweep (move with a lot of force), tread (move legs in the water), dehydration (not having enough water in the body).
Big wave in Portugal
A crowd of people in Portugal gathered on the seafront to watch waves. Suddenly, a large and powerful wave crashed over the seawall.
The people saw what was happening and started to run away. After the wave hit the shore, roads were left flooded and water flowed down the streets.
It is thought that the stormy weather in the Atlantic Ocean stirred up these waves of up to 60 feet (18 metres). A giant wave in Spain swept three family members away. One person is dead and the other two are missing.
Some residents in Northern Spain said that their windows were broken by the force of the waves, and boats and docks were badly damaged.
Difficult words: seafront (area above the beach), seawall (a high wall that protects the land from the ocean waves), shore (area where sea meets the land), stir up (make move), sweep (move with a lot of force).
Naked shoppers in France
Around 100 participants stripped to their undies and ran 100 metres to win free clothes in Paris.
After the race in cold weather, the shoppers were given one hour to browse the shop and choose two items. People seemed to enjoy themselves and they were happy to get some clothes for free.
The event was organised by a Spanish clothing brand. Events like this have taken place in other big cities as well. In France, winter sales are controlled by the government. There are official start dates and end dates.
Difficult words: participant (person who takes part in an activity or event), stripped (remove clothing), undies (underwear), browse (look).
Whale with two heads
A pair of conjoined young whales has been found dead in a Mexican lagoon. Scientists said that they had never seen anything like it.
The whales were probably twins who weren’t separated during the embryonic phase. They weighed about half a ton and measured four meters. They were linked at the midsection.
The scientists said that the creature was female. They don’t know whether the twins shared internal organs yet. Samples of the dead body were taken and will be studied more. The body was buried at the beach close to the lagoon where it was found. When there is nothing but bones left, the experts will study the skeleton.
Difficult words: conjoined (attached together), embryonic (relating to an embryo which is a little animal which is still in the mother’s belly), phase (time), midsection (middle of the body), whether (if), sample (small part of something which can tell more about the whole).
Chocolate in Australia
In Melbourne, Australia, it’s hot! Forty-two degrees centigrade, to be exact. It’s never been that warm in the UK!
To show the high temperature, a man melted a chocolate ball on the ground in three minutes. He made a time-lapse video of the process.
Difficult words: centigrade (another term for Celsius), melt (become liquid), time-lapse video (video made of many pictures taken over a period of time).
Ukrainian protests continue
Protests in Ukraine continue. Thousand of people came together in Kiev to protest against new laws which restrict public protests.
Some people threw Molotov cocktails and police responded by firing rubber bullets.
Riot police tried to scare people with stun grenades. People wanted to have something to scare the police, too, so they built a catapult. The catapult threw bottles of water at the riot police.
Around 60 police officers and 100 civilians were hurt in the protests.
Difficult words: restrict (limit or control), riot police (police who stops riots/protests), stun grenade (grenade which doesn’t kill people but only shocks them).
Statue needs repair
The Christ the Redeemer statue, which is 125 feet high (38 metres) and overlooks the city of Rio de Janeiro, has been struck by lightning.
The lightning strike damaged the statue’s right thumb and its head. People started repairing the statue. To stop this from happening again, people are going to extend the lightning rods.
Tourists are visiting the statue during the repairs, which are going to be completed as soon as possible. It is said that the statue is struck around six times a year.
Difficult words: overlook (have a view of something from above), extend (make longer), lighting rod (metal which sends lightning to the ground).
Bubble football
The routine winter training of a group of English cricket players features a new form of exercise one day a week. The exercise is a bit unusual, but it makes the training more fun.
The players play football in special bubble suits. The bubbles make the players clumsy. They often fall or hit each other on purpose.
Bubble football is a crazy new sport which has become popular in Europe recently, especially with stag parties and now sports clubs.
Difficult words: clumsy (move not well), on purpose (when you do something intentionally), stag party (celebration for men held before a man’s wedding).
Small monkey in Brazil
A mother monkey rejected its small male baby when he was only a week old. This news is from a Brazilian zoo.
The little monkey had nothing to eat. Zookeepers had to find a substitute for the mother’s milk. Human milk is similar to monkey’s milk, so they decided to use it. The zoo asked the public for help and one breastfeeding woman responded. She said that she was happy to help.
The little monkey has been surviving for almost a week on human breast milk.
Difficult words: reject (stop caring for), substitute (something which is used instead of something because it’s similar), breastfeed (a mother who feeds her baby with milk from her breasts.