The English Blog

Cartoon: Driverless Cars

BACKGROUND
Driverless cars will take to the road in the UK from next year, the Government has announced. Guided by a system of sensors and cameras, the motors will take to the public highway in January for a series of trials set to last up to 36 months. UK cities can now bid for a share of a £10 million competition to host the trials, with up to three cities being selected. Read more >>

CARTOON
The cartoon by Paul Thomas from the Daily Express shows the Queen and Prince Philip in a driverless royal limousine going past the gates of Buckingham Palace. The crowd are waving Union Jack flags. The Queen remarks to her husband, "Think how much we're saving the public purse with no chauffeurs!"

EXPLANATION
The public purse is money from or controlled by the government and raised by taxation or other means. • People should provide for their own retirement and not expect to be supported by the public purse. The Sovereign Grant (the annual cost to the taxpayer of supporting the Queen) was set at £36.1m for 2013/14. The money is used to fund a number of official royal duties, pay staff and maintain palaces. Read more >>

VOCABULARY
1. A chauffeur is someone whose job is to drive a rich and important person around in their car, usually wearing a special uniform. A driver is anyone who drives a car, although the term can also be used to refer to someone who does it as their job, as in taxi driver.
2. Note the use of the suffix -less to denote the absence of something. Other examples include childless (a childless couple), shoeless (not wearing shoes), and pilotless (a pilotless drone). See Word Hippo for a list.

ALSO SEE
• Mac cartoon (Daily Mail)

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Imagine reading the paper, doing a crossword puzzle or even taking a nap while your car drove you to work by itself. For U.K. citizens, that may soon be a reality. The government says it is going to allow driverless cars on public roads. Currently, these vehicles are just allowed on private roads. The cars will be introduced to just a few cities next year in a sort of test run. Full transcript >>

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Words in the News: Baggage

Holidaymakers face flying without their luggage on one of the busiest weekends of the year as baggage handlers suffer a critical shortage of staff, airlines have warned. Travellers flying from Gatwick this weekend can expect chaotic scenes because Swissport, the baggage handling firm, does not have enough workers to load and unload planes. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
Baggage is an uncountable noun used for the suitcases, bags etc in which you carry your possessions when you travel. The usual British word is luggage although the people who work at airports are always referred to as baggage handlers and not luggage handlers.

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Cartoon: Five-a-Day

BACKGROUND
New research backs the five-a-day target for fruit and vegetables, but suggests eating more may have no added benefits. An analysis of 16 worldwide studies suggested that for every portion of fruit and vegetables consumed, there was a lower risk of premature death. But after five portions a day, there was no further impact, researchers report in The BMJ. There have been calls to up the quota to seven-a-day, to prolong lives. Current NHS guidance is to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Most people manage about four. Read more >>

CARTOON
The cartoon by Paul Thomas from the Daily Express links the five-a-day story with the heatwave that is currently hitting many parts of the UK. A man has just bought five ice-creams from an ice-cream van. He tells his wife (?), "In this weather these are my five a day."

NOTE
The brown thing sticking out the ice creams is a stick of chocolate, or a Cadbury's Flake to be exact. The product was first developed in 1920 by a Cadbury employee. When the excess from the moulds was drained off, it fell off in a stream and created folded chocolate with flaking properties. Since 1922 in Britain, Australia, and Ireland ice cream vendors have served the "99 Flake" (aka ninety-nine) which is vanilla soft serve ice cream in a wafer cone into which a half size Flake bar is inserted. The origin of the name is uncertain, but there are several theories.

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Newsy Video: Surgeon General Issues 'Call To Action' Against Tanning

The nation's top medical official says a generation of bad tanning habits has led to a surge in the deadliest form of skin cancer. For the first time, acting U.S. Surgeon General Boris Lushniak released a "call to action" report Tuesday labeling skin cancer a "major health problem that requires immediate action." The report said overexposure to ultraviolet rays — whether outdoors or in a tanning salon — has lead to a 200 percent spike in melanoma-related deaths since 1973. The report also points out that every year in the U.S. nearly 5 million people are treated for some form of skin cancer — at a cost of around $8.1 billion — and of those cancers, melanoma causes the most deaths at 9,000 per year. Full transcript >>

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Words in the News: Ebola

Deadly foreign diseases like Ebola are a 'potential major threat’ to Britain, the government’s chief scientist has warned, as public health officials urged doctors to watch for signs that the virus has spread to the UK. The disease, which can be fatal for up to 90 per cent of infected victims, has now killed more than 670 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
Ebola is a serious disease that causes you to lose blood from all parts of your body and usually results in death. • The growing Ebola outbreak in West Africa serves as a grim reminder that deadly viruses are only a plane ride away from the USA.

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Cartoon: Reaching Agreement ...

BACKGROUND
The Israeli military says it has carried out three airstrikes on Gaza, ending a brief lull in fighting at the start of a major Muslim holiday. Fighter jets reportedly hit two missile launchers and a rocket factory, in what a defence spokesman said was a response to earlier Hamas rockets fired into Israel. It came as the UN Security Council called for "an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire" in Gaza following an emergency session in New York. The council adopted a presidential statement - one step below a legally-binding resolution - urging Israel and Hamas "to accept and fully implement the humanitarian ceasefire". Read more >>

CARTOON
The first panel of the cartoon by Peter Brookes from The Times shows UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling for an 'unconditional ceasefire'. The title of the cartoon is, of course, ironic, as is Moon's comment 'Well, it's a start ...' The only thing the Israelis and Hamas agree on is their rejection of the ceasefire and the continuation of the fighting.

PUNCTUATION
The three dots as used in the title and in the cartoon itself are called an ellipsis. Ellipses have various uses such as to indicate the omission of words, but here they are used to draw attention to the irony the cartoonist is using.

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Newsy Video: Apple Acquires 'Pandora of Books' Service BookLamp

When you think of Apple, books probably aren't one of the things that come to mind. Looks like the company might want to change that. Apple has acquired BookLamp, an analytics and recommendation engine most are calling "the Pandora of books." BookLamp offers up recommendations based on books you've read. Full transcript >>

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Words in the News: Crooked

Bank of England governor Mark Carney has said Lloyds staff involved in an astonishing scam to defraud taxpayers could be guilty of ‘criminal conduct’. Lloyds was yesterday discovered to have ripped off the Treasury at the height of the financial crisis by lying about its creditworthiness. This allowed the state-backed bank to gain access to tens of billions from a Government ‘lifeline’ scheme at favourable rates – but left taxpayers out of pocket. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
Someone who is crooked is dishonest and likely to do illegal things, especially in order to get money. • Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has blamed the Ukrainian crisis on crooked politicians who disrupted the nation's unity.

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Cartoon: Ceasefire

BACKGROUND
A 24-hour ceasefire announced by Hamas in Gaza appears to be stalling, with both Palestinian militants and Israel continuing their offensives. Hamas fired more rockets into Israel, accusing it of failing to abide by the ceasefire. Israel rejected the truce, PM Benjamin Netanyahu saying: "Israel will do what it must do to defend its people". More than 1,030 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 43 Israeli soldiers and two Israeli civilians have been killed. Read more >>

CARTOON
The left-hand panel of this cartoon by Gary Barker from The Times shows the word 'CEASEFIRE' being attacked by rockets. In the right-hand panel, only the word 'FIRE' is left.

VOCABULARY 
A ceasefire is an agreement to stop fighting for a period of time, especially in order to discuss permanent peace. • The rebels agreed to a ceasefire while the peace talks were underway.

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Newsy Video: Nibali Wins Tour De France As Injuries Plague Opponents

Vincenzo Nibali became the first Italian to win the Tour de France in 16 years Saturday. Nibali won four stages of the race, which no winner has done since Lance Armstrong won five stages 10 years ago. Still, The New York Times writes that Nibali owes his victory, at least in part, to the misfortune of others. Such as three-time champion Alberto Contador, who hit a sinkhole and broke his leg earlier in the tour. And last year's winner Chris Fromme, who withdrew from the tour during stage five due to a wrist injury. Full transcript >>

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Words in the News: Cowboys

‘Cowboy’ parking squads hired by High Street firms are hitting hundreds of thousands of drivers with £100 ‘fines’ and using threats to make them pay up. The companies – employed by fast food chains, retailers and railway operators – issue what appear to be official penalty notices, similar to those used by council traffic wardens. They then extract huge sums from drivers who are sometimes just a few minutes late in returning to their cars. However, the tickets do not have the same legal standing as official fines. Many are being issued unfairly and – in some cases – without proper legal authority. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
A cowboy is someone in business who provides goods or services that are of very bad quality. • Up and down the country, cowboy builders are causing devastation and dismay.

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Cartoon: The Summer Cabin

This cartoon by Dave Granlund casts an ironic eye on a great American summer tradition: the family holiday in the summer cabin, where life is not always as relaxing as one might imagine!

VOCABULARY
How many of the activities and tools can you name? Fixing or mending the roof with a hammer while standing on a ladder, sweeping the porch with a broom, mowing the lawn with a lawnmover, raking the grass with a rake, shaking out the mat or rug, fixing a grill on the window.

Newsy Video: Russia Has Major Beef With McDonald's

There are few things more American than a meal at McDonald's — which might be bad news for the restaurant's 418 Russian locations. A Russian consumer protection agency has, in fact, filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s in Russia, believe it or not. The lawsuit alleges its food violates health codes and has too many calories. If successful, McDonald's could have to remove cheeseburgers, milkshakes and the Filet-o-Fish from its menu. But as tensions between the US and Russia escalate, the targeting of a premier American brand is raising eyebrows. NBC said McDonald's "could be the next victim of a proxy war​" between the two powers. Full transcript >>

IDIOM AND WORDPLAY
Beef is meat from a cow, but it's also an informal word for a complaint. If you have a beef with someone, you’re not sharing a steak, you have a gripe.

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Words in the News: Sue

Vladimir Putin is facing a multi-million-pound legal action for his alleged role in the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet over eastern Ukraine, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose. British lawyers are preparing a class action against the Russian president through the American courts. Senior Russian military commanders and politicians close to Mr Putin are also likely to become embroiled in the legal claim. The case would further damage relations between Mr Putin and the West, but politicians would be powerless to prevent it. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
If you sue someone you make a legal claim against them, usually to get money from them because they have done something bad to you. • If we go public with these allegations, do you think they will sue us?

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