CNA Correspondent Podcast: Why are some of China's senior politicians disappearing? - CNA

First, they disappeared from public life, then from China's Cabinet lineup. Qin Gang was dropped as the country’s top diplomat and shortly after, Li Shangfu removed as defence minister. Theories abound as to why they fell out of favour.

Beijing correspondent Olivia Siong sits down with Teresa Tang in this episode.

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2023-10-31 23:40:00Z
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Commentary: What I learnt from taking the Chinese O-Level exam at age 30 - CNA

ACCEPTING FEELINGS OF INADEQUACY

The most immediate discomfort to re-learning my mother tongue came from the absurdly high frequency of basic mistakes I made.

It felt as though as I lost the ability to communicate. My thoughts were sluggish and my speech slurred. Reactions to my poor choice of words or sentence construction were tempting invitations to switch back to my dominant language, English.

Feelings of inadequacy like these would paralyse even the most motivated learners. We can try to quell it by force, to study relentlessly to the point where we feel capable. But with languages being so rich and complex, it is humility rather than prowess that would sustain our learning journey.

Such wisdom was bestowed to me by one of my many mentors, who include family, friends and strangers I met online. While coming from all walks of life, a common trait among these “teachers” was their patience in allowing me to make mistakes as I tried my best to communicate with them in Mandarin.

Whenever I practised Mandarin with them, they waited for me to stutter through my attempts, correcting me only when I finished speaking. I felt like my efforts were acknowledged, which encouraged me to keep engaging in the language despite the steep learning curve.

There is sound reasoning behind this. In his commentary, Daniel Chan, Assistant Dean of NUS Centre for Language Studies, explained that the theory of aggregate marginal gains, in which making a 1 per cent daily improvement would mathematically lead to a 38-fold improvement after a year, can be applied to learning languages.

I can attest this theory holds true. Through consistent self-study, I went from not knowing the Chinese character for “chicken” to writing a 900-word composition for my O-Level exam.

My former CLB teacher, Mr Wen, said it best: “The key to sustaining your learning is that you are neither afraid of mistakes nor in a rush to see results.”

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2023-10-31 22:03:30Z
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Israel attacks Hamas militants inside Gaza's tunnels - The Straits Times

GAZA/JERUSALEM - Israel said its forces fought Hamas gunmen inside the militants’ vast tunnel network beneath Gaza as a hospital director said more than 50 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a refugee camp in the besieged enclave.

The director of Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital told Al Jazeera that more than 50 Palestinians were killed and 150 wounded in Israeli air strikes on a densely populated area of the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The tunnels under the cramped enclave are a prime objective for Israel as it expands a four-day-old ground offensive after three weeks of aerial bombardment into Gaza.

Israel is aiming to dismantle Hamas, following the militant group’s attack on the south of the country on Oct 7.

Israeli officials say about 1,400 people were killed and more than 200 taken hostage.

Israel has been bombarding the Gaza Strip in retaliation and has killed more than 8,500 people there, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.

United Nations officials say more than 1.4 million of Gaza’s civilian population of about 2.3 million have been made homeless.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday dismissed calls for a halt to fighting to ease the Palestinian enclave’s humanitarian crisis.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement: “Over the last day, combined IDF combat forces struck approximately 300 targets, including anti-tank missile and rocket launch posts below shafts, as well as military compounds inside underground tunnels belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation.”

The militants responded with anti-tank missiles and machine-gun fire, it added.

“The soldiers killed terrorists and directed air forces to real-time strikes on targets and terror infrastructure,” the IDF said. Israeli armed forces also bombed Gaza overnight in air, sea and ground attacks.

They targeted north-western areas of the Palestinian enclave where Israeli troops were operating on the ground, witnesses said on Tuesday.

The United States and Arab countries have urged Israel to delay any ground operation that would multiply the number of civilian casualties and might ignite a wider conflict.

Witnesses said Israeli forces targeted Gaza’s main north-south road on Monday and attacked Gaza City from two directions. Israel said its troops freed a soldier from Hamas captivity.

Hamas, an armed group that governs Gaza, has so far released four civilians from the 239 hostages that Israel says were captured on Oct 7. Many of the hostages are believed to be held in the tunnels.

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2023-10-31 15:31:57Z
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Israel says it attacked Hamas gunmen inside Gaza tunnels - CNA

The militant group has so far released four civilians from the 240 hostages Israel says were captured in the Oct 7 attacks in which about 1,400 people were killed. Many of the hostages are believed to be held in the tunnels.

Gaza health authorities say that 8,306 people, including 3,457 minors, have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct 7. UN officials say more than 1.4 million of Gaza's civilian population of about 2.3 million have been made homeless.

Reuters has been unable to independently verify casualty counts.

The al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, said militants clashed early on Tuesday with Israeli forces invading southern Gaza. Four vehicles were targeted with al-Yassin 105 missiles, it said, referring to locally produced anti-tank missiles.

The militants also fired at two Israeli tanks and bulldozers in northwest Gaza, al-Qassam said. In Beit Hanoun, in the northeast, they "liquidated" an Israeli unit which was ambushed as it entered a building.

Reuters was unable to confirm the reports of fighting. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the Hamas accounts.

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2023-10-31 12:54:29Z
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Police open fire at Paris train station on woman making 'threats' - CNA

PARIS: French police on Tuesday (Oct 31) shot and seriously wounded an unarmed woman who was making threats at a train station in Paris during morning rush hour, police and prosecutors told AFP.

According to witnesses, the woman, who was completely veiled, shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest) and "made threats", a police source said, adding that "police fired because they feared for their safety".

After passengers on a suburban train alerted police, agents managed to "isolate" the woman at the Bibliotheque Francois Mitterrand station on the capital's south bank which was evacuated, the source said.

She "refused to follow police orders" and threatened "to blow herself up", the Paris prosecutor's office said.

A police officer then fired a single shot, inflicting a life-threatening injury to her abdomen, it said.

No explosives or other arms were found on the woman, the police source said.

Police have launched two investigations, prosecutors said. One will probe the woman's actions, while another will elucidate whether the police's use of a firearm was justified.

France has been under "attack alert" since Oct 13, when a teacher in the northern city of Arras was stabbed to death by a former pupil. The killer later claimed the attack for the Islamic State extremist group.

Many in France, which has large Muslim and Jewish populations, also fear repercussions from the Oct 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and the Israeli retaliation in Gaza.

Bomb alerts have led to the evacuation of dozens of airports, train stations and tourist sites in recent weeks.

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2023-10-31 12:18:39Z
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Student in China strangles teacher repeatedly for taking away phone, shocking netizens - AsiaOne

A student in China went out of control after his phone was confiscated by a teacher during class. 

The incident took place on Oct 9 at a higher vocational college in Guangdong, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. 

The student was reportedly playing with his phone during class, according to Chinese media. 

Upon realising that the student was not paying attention to his lesson, the male teacher clad in a green shirt, decided to confiscate the student's phone. 

"Give it to me," the teacher said, adding: "You are playing video games in the class."

The video of the incident, which has since gone viral, showed the teacher forcefully taking the phone out of the student's hand after the student refused to give up his device.

As the teacher continued his lesson while holding on to the phone, the furious student followed the teacher from behind, hoping to get his device back.

Choked the teacher twice 

When he couldn't, the student grabbed the teacher and tried to choke him twice.

Students in the class gasped in horror, with some stepping in to help pull the student away from the teacher who was seemingly unfazed by the attack. 

Several students also circled the aggressive student to prevent him from assaulting the teacher again. 

In response to the incident, the school said that the student involved has been dealt with, although no specific details of the punishment has been mentioned, SCMP reported. 

'Must be expelled'

The viral video sparked public outrage among netizens, with many slamming the student for his unruly behaviour towards the teacher.

A user commented: "How can a student be angry enough to choke other people? It's scary."

"Teachers who spank children must be punished and expelled. The child must also be expelled for this behaviour," another user added. 

Many online also praised the teacher for his calm demeanour amidst the student assaulting him. 

A user wrote: "What a responsible teacher. He restrained himself from hurting the student during the violence."

One user even said: "It is too difficult to be a responsible teacher in the current educational environment."

ALSO READ: 'I will end your life right now': Secondary school student taunts and threatens teacher in class

ashwini.balan@asiaone.com

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2023-10-31 04:03:12Z
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UN pushes to open Israel crossing to deliver aid to Gaza - CNA

More than one border crossing was needed to deliver aid to the besieged Gaza Strip and Kerem Shalom controlled by Israel is the only one equipped to take enough trucks, the United Nations said on Monday (Oct 30).

Aid trucks have been trickling into Gaza from Egypt over the past week via Rafah, the main crossing that does not border Israel. It has become the main point of aid delivery since Israel imposed a "total siege" of the enclave in retaliation for an attack by Palestinian Hamas militants from Gaza on Oct 7.

UN officials have repeatedly said this was insufficient for the scale of needs of Gaza's civilian population of about 2.3 million, more than one million of whom have been made homeless by Israel's bombardment.

"More than one entry point into Gaza is indispensable if we are to make a difference - Kerem Shalom, between Israel and Gaza, is the only crossing equipped to rapidly process a sufficiently large number of trucks," senior UN aid official Lisa Doughten told the UN Security Council.

Doughten was speaking on behalf of UN aid chief Martin Griffiths, who is in Israel working to increase deliveries.

The United States is leading negotiations with Israel, Egypt and the UN to try and create a sustained delivery mechanism for aid to Gaza. They are wrangling over procedures for inspecting aid and bombardments on the Gaza side of the border.

Each truck has to offload its cargo at a checkpoint for inspection for possible arms and ammunition, then they are reloaded when the check is complete, UN World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain said last week.

US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the number of trucks entering Gaza "must be scaled up urgently". The United States has been trying to balance staunch support for its ally Israel with growing global concern about the humanitarian crisis.

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2023-10-30 22:57:00Z
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