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Police have been banned from arresting foul-mouthed yobs who abuse them with the most offensive swear words in the language. Full story >>
VOCABULARY
You can say someone is abused if extremely rude and insulting things are said to them. • After issuing the ticket the traffic warden was followed by the driver who then verbally abused him and then drove off at speed but crashed into a nearby parked car.
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This cartoon by Steve Breen from the San Diego Union-Tribune relates to Saudi Arabia's ban on women driving, which has been in the news recently following a series of protests against the ban.
The cartoon shows a Saudi couple who have just finished watching the movie Thelma and Louise on TV. The man complains that the film was only 8 minutes long. His wife replies that it's because "they edited out all scenes of women driving".
EXPLANATION
Thelma and Louise is a road movie in which the eponymous heroines spend a lot of screen time driving in Louise's 1966 Thunderbird convertible, mostly on the run from the police after Louise shoots a man who tried to rape her. The joke is that the Saudi censors have removed all those scenes.
SPOILER ALERT
At the end of the film, rather than be captured by the police and spend the rest of their lives in jail, Thelma drives the car over a cliff in a suicide pact. We can only hope that Saudi women will not be driven to such extremes.
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Analysts fear this might lead to paranoia among white people and result in a backlash against minorities. Transcript & sources >>
Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com
ALSO SEE
• Census estimates show minority babies now outnumber white babies, part of sweeping race change (Washington Post)
• US minorities becoming the majority, census suggests (The Guardian)
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The Daily Express warns readers of a heatwave predicted this weekend. Full story >>
VOCABULARY
A heatwave is a period of time during which the weather is much hotter than usual. • Experts say we may be facing a summer-long repeat of the infamous heatwave, or canicule, of several years ago which killed hundreds.
NOTE
90°F is spoken as "ninety degrees Fahrenheit". The equivalent in degrees Celsius (or Centigrade) is 32.2°. See here for a temperature conversion chart.
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BACKGROUND
Barack Obama has begun the long retreat from Afghanistan in a televised statement to the US, declaring success against al-Qaida and the Taliban and the withdrawal of about a third of US forces next year. Obama said 33,000 US troops would be withdrawn by the summer of 2012 or by September at the latest. Read more >>
COMMENTARY
In this cartoon from The Independent, Dave Brown questions the motives behind President Obama's Afghan exit strategy. Obama is portrayed as a helicopter airlifting US troops from the top of a building. Obama's exhortation ('Get a move on guys ... Some of us have got an election to fight!') suggests that the retreat from Afghanistan is a political move designed to give him a boost in next year's presidential election.
The words 'after Hugh Van Es' appear on the right hand side of the cartoon. Hugh Van Es was a Dutch photojournalist who covered the Vietnam War and recorded the most famous image of the fall of Saigon in 1975—a group of CIA personnel scaling a ladder to board an American helicopter on a rooftop. The cartoonist is drawing a clear parallel between America's defeat in Vietnam and the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
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President Obama tried to steer clear of extremes when outlining his Afghanistan drawback plan- making him a target for both sides. Transcript & sources >>
Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com
ALSO SEE
• Afghanistan: Obama orders withdrawal of 33,000 troops (BBC News)
• Afghanistan withdrawal: Barack Obama says 33,000 troops will leave next year (The Guardian)
• Obama's Afghanistan exit strategy brings conflict to the domestic frontline (The Guardian)
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A father and son are being questioned on suspicion of murder after a suspected burglar who tried to break into their home was stabbed to death. Full story >>
VOCABULARY
A householder is a person who is the legal owner or tenant of a house. • Householders and shopkeepers are to be given the right to defend themselves properly against burglars and robbers.
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This cartoon by Adams from The Daily Telegraph relates to the news that an Essex teenager has been arrested on suspicion of launching cyber attacks against international organizations. Read more >>
The first panel of the cartoon shows someone sitting in an egg chair. We can't see the person, only the back of the chair and a pair of legs. In the second panel, the chair is slightly turned, and we can see that the unknown person is stroking a white cat. In the third panel, that person is revealed to be a geeky teenager with a laptop. His mother calls, 'Come down Gareth, your tea's ready'.
EXPLANATION
To fully understand this cartoon, you have to be familiar with the arch-villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld from the James Bond movies. Blofeld sat in a similar chair, stroking a white Persian cat (see pic), and has become the archetype of the 'evil mastermind' plotting to destroy the world. The character was parodied as Dr Evil in the Austin Powers movies. The reference to the teen hacker as an 'evil mastermind' is, of course, ironic.
VOCABULARY
The mastermind is the person who is responsible for planning or organizing a difficult or complicated activity. The term is often used of criminals who plan big robberies or other illegal activities. • Wall Street bad boy Ross Mandell was the mastermind behind a decade-long scheme to pump unwitting investors for money.
READ MORE
• LulzSec hacker attacks 'deeply worrying', says police chief (The Guardian)
• Hermit 'hacker' in suicide threat (MailOnline)
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Just weeks from turning 115, Maria Gomes Valentim passed away in Brazil. Transcript & sources >>
Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com
COMMENTS
1.'Pass away' is a euphemism for 'die'.
2. Note that Americans say 'one hundred fourteen'. In British English, that would be 'one hundred and fourteen'.
3. The (American) presenter says 'was born July nine'. In British English, that would be 'was born on the ninth of July' (or 'on July the ninth').
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The Guardian says Barack Obama is taking a gamble on his Afghan retreat as he announces plans to more than 30,000 troops out by September 2012. Full story >>
VOCABULARY
A retreat is a withdrawal of troops from confrontation with enemy forces. • Libyan rebels have been forced into further retreat under attack from Colonel Gaddafi's forces.
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In this cartoon from The Daily Express Paul Thomas uses a medical metaphor to comment on the crisis facing the European Single Currency, aka, the euro. The ailing euro is shown in a hospital's intensive care unit. A sign at the end of the bed reads, "Do Not Resuscitate".
COMMENTARY
Politicians and journalists often use medical metaphors to comment on the eurozone crisis. On Monday former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said, "Since the euro in its current form is going to collapse, is it not better that that happens quickly rather than it dying a slow death?". Leader of the UK Independence Party Nigel Farage warned, "A fresh bailout for Greece should not involve the UK. Repeated transfusions will not resuscitate a corpse and the euro is dead." And this from The Economist, "If Greece were to turn its back on its current arrangements with the EU, the IMF and the euro-zone, and yank out the life support tubes that connect its banking sector to the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, where would Greece get the money, tomorrow or next week, to pay the salaries of policemen, firemen or teachers, or pay pensions?"
VOCABULARY
If you resuscitate (pronounced 're-suss-i-tate') someone who has stopped breathing, you cause them to start breathing again.
ALSO SEE
• Beware Eurosceptics bearing gifts (The Economist)
• Timeline: Greece's journey to the edge of euro disaster (The Guardian)
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The FDA will implement graphic warning labels in 2012. Transcript & sources >>
Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com
ALSO SEE
• Could states block new FDA cigarette warnings? (Salon)
• Cigarette warning labels: Will the new graphics deter smokers? (LA Times)
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The Independent says the European Parliament will back down and order the release of a secret report detailing the widespread abuse of expenses by MEPs. Full story >>
VOCABULARY
1. MEP is an abbreviation for 'Member of the European Parliament'. The letters are said individually (em-ee-pee) rather than as a word (like NATO, for example).
2. If you brace yourself, you prepare yourself for something unpleasant. • Doctors treating the poor in the US are braced for significant reductions to their services.
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Voice of America Learning English is a news and information service used by English learners and teachers worldwide. Reports are written in VOA Special English, which is read one-third slower than regular English.
VOA Special English has its own YouTube channel, where you can find over 500 videos. This recent report about using the internet and social media to find a job gives a good idea of what to expect.
COMMENT
The subtitles are very useful, but I'm not really sure about the slower delivery. Shouldn't learners be getting used to hearing English spoken at normal speed? What do you think?
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This cartoon by Dave Brown from The Independent is based on an old music hall joke: "What's a Greek urn (i.e., earn)?" "About 30 shillings a week" (or some other sum of money). Music hall jokes traditionally begin with one half of a double act asking a question beginning with "I say, I say, I say", and the other half delivering the punchline.
The joke depends on the fact that 'urn' and 'earn' are homophones, and "What's" could be a contraction of "What is" or "What does". So the question is understood as "What does a Greek earn?" rather than "What is a Greek urn?" (an urn is decorated vase).
The cartoon shows French President Nicolas Sarkozy asking the question, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (portrayed as a merciless and treacherous Sphinx) replying "Even less than now if they want any help from us!"
EXPLANATION
The cartoon relates to the Greek debt crisis. Angela Merkel has reluctantly agreed to another bail-out of the debt-laden Greek economy, but in return she will be expecting the Greeks to tighten their belts even further.
ALSO SEE
• "What’s a Grecian urn?" (The Big Apple)
• Germany retreats from battle over Greek bailout (The Guardian)
• Greece must exit the eurozone (The Guardian)
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