« June 2011 | Main | August 2011 »
Dominique Strauss-Kahn's accuser granted exclusive interviews to ABC and Newsweek. Transcript & sources >>
Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com
ALSO SEE
• Maid goes public with her sex allegations against Strauss-Kahn (The Independent)
• Maid's interview a dramatic turn in Strauss-Kahn case (BBC News)
• The Evidence That Could Doom DSK (The Daily Beast)
| | | |
| | |
An arrogant smile on his lips, mass murderer Anders Breivik shows not a shred of remorse as he leaves court. Full story >>
VOCABULARY
A smirk is a smile evoking insolence, scorn, or offensive smugness. • You should see the smirk on her face when she tells me that her uncle is going to buy her the doll or some other toy that she desires, which I had refused.
| | | |
| | |
This cartoon by Martin Rowson from The Guardian is a comment on the Norway attacks.
A lone Islamic terrorist is at his computer. Looking over his shoulder, getting ready to grab him is a whole army of police and intelligence forces. Meanwhile, behind their backs, a giant gun-toting monster is howling into a scene from hell.
COMMENT
The cartoonist seems to be making the point that our obsession with Islamic terrorism leads us to neglect other terrorist threats. Other interpretations are possible.
ALSO SEE
• Norway attacks: the unanswered questions (The Guardian)
| | | |
| | |
The recent rise in gasoline prices have U.S. economists wondering how it will impact the economy. Transcript & sources >>
Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com
COMMENT
Here in France, petrol costs around 1.50 euros a litre. There are 3.8 litres in a US gallon (the British gallon is 4.5 litres!), so that makes about 5.7 euros or 8.2 dollars a gallon, compared with 3.7 dollars in the US. Conclusion: petrol in the US costs less than half what it does in France, so I don't think we should feel too sorry for the American motorist!
| | | |
| | |
The Daily Mail asks if the mass killer Anders Behring Breivik plotted his rampage in London. Full story >>
VOCABULARY
A rampage is a course of violent, frenzied behavior or action. • Charlie Gilmour, the son of the Pink Floyd guitarist Dave Gilmour, has been jailed for 16 months for going on a drink and drug-fuelled rampage during a student fees protest in London.
| | | |
| | |
This cartoon by Schrank from The Independent on Sunday shows German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy relaxing on a pier in the shape of Europe, while Barack Obama surfs towards them on a giant wave marked 'U.S. Debt Crisis'.
COMMENTARY
Merkel and Sarkozy might have thought that they had earned a holiday after coming up with a second Greek rescue package (the newspaper headline reads "Greece bailed out again"), but the European pier (i.e., economy) looks decidedly rickety and risks being engulfed by the looming U.S. debt crisis. An American default would have disastrous consequences not only for the U.S. but the world economy, possibly starting a new recession.
| | | |
| | |
Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse has been found dead in her London apartment at the age of 27. Transcript & sources >>
Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com
ALSO SEE
• Amy Winehouse found dead aged 27 in London home (The Guardian)
• Razor sharp, Winehouse changed the music scene for ever (The Independent)
• Tragic Amy Winehouse 'heartbroken' over split from Reg Traviss as she dies aged 27 (MailOnline)
| | | |
| | |
The Observer says the man suspected of carrying out the Norway attacks claimed he had links to the far right in the UK. Full story >>
VOCABULARY
If someone boasts about something that they have done or that they own, they talk about it very proudly, in a way that other people may find irritating or offensive. • Men will boast of having watched Tendulkar play, just as they once might have boasted of seeing Hobbs or Bradman, Woolley or Sobers.
| | | |
| | |
This cartoon by Mac from The Daily Mail relates to the latest rescue plan for the Greek economy. The UK's direct contribution to any Greek bailout is limited to its participation as an IMF member. The Daily Mirror puts the figure at over one billion pounds.
The scene is a Greek taverna. A British couple have just finished their meal. The owner is on the phone to Brussels, the capital of the European Union. He sarcastically informs them that a Brit has helped save the Greek economy by giving him a half-euro tip.
VOCABULARY
If you give a tip to someone such as a waiter in a restaurant, you give them some money to thank them for their services.
| | | |
| | |
At least two people are dead and more than a dozen others are injured after two explosions rocked government buildings in Oslo, Norway. Transcript & sources >>
Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com
UPDATE
The latest death toll is 87, including 80 who were shot dead at an island youth camp. A 32-year-old Norwegian man has been arrested.
ALSO SEE
• Norway: dozens killed in terror attacks (The Telegraph)
• 'Eighty dead' in Norway shooting (BBC News)
• Norway attack: at least 80 die in Utøya shooting, seven in Oslo bombing (The Guardian)
• Terror suspect named: Man held for youth summer camp massacre and Oslo car bombing that killed over 80 is a Norwegian national (MailOnline)
• Norway attacks - in pictures (The Guardian)
| | | |
| | |
The Scotsman leads on the attacks in the Norwegian capital Oslo. Full story >>
VOCABULARY
Carnage is the violent killing of large numbers of people, especially in war. • South African President Jacob Zuma has called on NATO and its allies to end the carnage in Libya.
| | | |
| | |
This cartoon by Dave Brown from The Independent shows German chancellor Angela Merkel nailing an obviously dead parrot with a euro sign on its chest to its perch.
BACKGROUND
Eurozone leaders finally capitulated to the inevitable last night and agreed to restructure Greece's unsustainable €350bn national debt in return for a second bailout package for the country. Read more >>
COMMENTARY
To understand the cartoon, you need to be familiar with Monty Python's classic Dead Parrot sketch in which a pet shop owner tries to convince a customer that a 'Norwegian blue' parrot he sold him is not dead, just 'resting' and 'pining for the fjords'. The cartoonist compares the euro with the dead parrot, and seems to be saying that despite the Eurozone leaders' attempts to keep the euro alive through the EU's sovereign debt crisis, it is effectively dead.
ALSO SEE
• DER SPIEGEL: The Euro is Dead – Obituary (Keep Talking Greece)
• Is the Euro Dead? No, But It's Pining for the Fjords . . . (The Atlantic)
• Dead Parrot sketch (Wikipedia)
• Dead Parrot sketch script (MontyPython.net)
| | | |
| | |
A blogger discovers a fully-functioning, fake Apple store in Kunmig, China. Transcript & sources >>
Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com
VOCABULARY
A knockoff is a cheap copy of a well-known product.
ALSO SEE
• Fake Apple stores found in Kunming city, China (BBC News)
• Are you listening, Steve Jobs? (BirdAbroad)
| | | |
| | |
Claims James Murdoch was "mistaken" when telling a parliamentary committee he had not been made aware of an email related to the phone-hacking scandal make the front page of The Guardian.
VOCABULARY
If you say that someone has misled you, you mean that they have made you believe something which is not true, either by telling you a lie or by giving you a wrong idea or impression. • Ranin Oy cannot use the word “cognac” and its Finnish translation, “konjakki,” on its spirits because that would mislead consumers.
| | | |
| | |
Excellent parody of Rebecca Black's Friday, as sung by Rebekah Brooks.
For those looking for another musical treatment of the scandal, there's also "Hacking on the Telephone", which is sung to the tune of Blondie's "Hanging on the Telephone". It's nowhere near as good as the Rebekah Brooks one though.
| | | |
| | |
