 |
| Photograph: Jayanta Shaw/Reuters/Corbis |
Indian village bans unmarried women from using mobiles.
(Story - Guardian newspaper. Click here.)
Council of elders feared women would use phones to arrange forbidden marriages
A Kolkata slum dweller talks on a mobile in India, where the phones have become more affordable.
An Indian village has banned unmarried women from using mobile phones for fear they will arrange forbidden marriages that are often punished by death, a local official said today.
The Lank village council decided unmarried boys could use mobile phones, but only under parental supervision, said one council member, Satish Tyagi. Local women's rights group criticised the measure as backward and unfair.
Marriages between members of the same clan are forbidden under Hindu custom in some parts of northern India, where unions are traditionally arranged by families. In conservative rural areas, families sometimes mete out extreme punishments, including "honour killings", for those who violate marriage taboos. In some cases, village councils themselves have ordered the punishments, though police often intervene to stop them.
The Lank village council feared young men and women were secretly calling one another to arrange to elope.
Last month, 34 couples eloped in Muzaffarnagar district, where Lank is located, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, police said. Among the couples who did so, eight "honour killings" have been reported in the past month, police said.
"Three girls were beheaded by the male members of their family after they eloped," said the police assistant director general, Brij Lal, in the state capital of Lucknow.
Rulings by village councils – called panchayats and comprising village elders selected by the community – are not legally binding in India but are seen as the will of the local community, and those who flout them risk being ostracised. In Uttar Pradesh, panchayats are particularly powerful and have declared that boys and girls of the same clan are essentially siblings.
The mobile phone ban for unmarried women is part of a wider, regional effort to curb intra-clan marriage among the 3 million people of western Uttar Pradesh, Tyagi said. The Lank council ruling, which applies to around 50,000 people, is being considered by councils in nearby villages.
"The village council members feel that cell phones helped in the elopement of young couples," he said by mobile from Muzaffarnagar.
Most marriages in the region are still arranged by the parents, sometimes without the couple meeting before the wedding. But young people are mingling more, with more women in schools and offices and increased access to the internet. They are also watching more western TV shows that focus on independence and individuality, sociologists say.
Mobile phones, meanwhile, have become so common and affordable that even city slum dwellers, rural day labourers and children have them. Across the nation of 1.2 billion people, there were more than 670m mobile phone connections as of August, with the number growing by nearly 20m a month, according to government figures.
The local women's rights group, Disha, said the ban demonstrated the councils' archaic mindset, and warned that it could put girls at a disadvantage in other areas of life.
"These help in easy communication, which in turn helps these youths to get jobs. One cannot discriminate in the use of these contraptions on the basis of sex," said the Disha president, KN Tiwari.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vocabulary
bans = prohibit, (fr: a interdit)
elder = senior person, leader. (fr:ainés)
forbidden = prohibit, ban, not allow (fr: interdit/prohibé)
slum dweller = somebody who lives on the outskirts of a large city in extreme poverty (fr:un habitant d'un bidonville)
affordable = able to/ can buy, have the money/means to buy (fr:abordable)
punished = corrective action taken by authority when you have done something wrong/against the law (fr: puni)
rights = my 'freedom' (fr:droits)
backward measures = actions which are draconian, under developed, stupid (fr: sous developé)
unfair = not equal (fr:injuste)
clan = family, group, tribe (tribu, clan)
custom = tradition
rural = in the countryside (fr=)
mete out = to give a punishment for a crime
honour killings = to kill for the honour /reputation of the family
intervene = to stop (intervenir)
one another = John loves Mary. Mary loves John = They love eachother/one another
elope = to escape with somebody you love without permission of your parents (s'enfuir pour se marier)
among = (fr=parmi)
beheaded = to cut somebody's head off/ decapitate
rulings = decrees/rules/decisions made by an official group (fr:décisions)
council = (fr:conseil)
comprising = consist of
legally binding = unofficial, not legal in court. (fr:juridiquement contraignant)
will = the conviction, heart's desire (fr:volunté)
flout = go against, break, ignore (fr:bafouent)
ostracise = abandoned (fr: ostracisé)
siblings = brothers or sisters
curb = stop (fr: lutter contre)
wedding = marriage
mingling = mix, meet each other (fr: mêlé)
labourers = manual workers.
growing = increasing (en croissance)
figures = numbers, statistics (fr:chiffres)
archaic mindset = old fashioned and under developed mentality
warned = to advise people strongly not do something ( fr:avertir)
youths = young people
________________________________________________________
John Crace, writer for the guardian newspaper suggests this is what he should have written...
Quitting drinking was the toughest decision I've ever made. Those closest to me were begging me to carry on. "Think what you're doing, George," they cried. "If you do get sober, you'll go on to be president and wreck the lives of countless people. Do us all a favour and keep getting legless." I'm happy to say the only legless people these days are the US servicemen returning from Afghanistan.
I was extremely proud when my father installed me as governor of Texas. During my time in office I managed to build a new ball park for the Texas Rangers and execute record numbers of mentally ill prisoners. I had no aspirations to higher office until God told me I had a duty to serve my country.
"But Daddy," I said, "I haven't a clue what I'm doing." "That's precisely why you're the right man. Keep your mouth shut and appoint my friends to key jobs and you'll be fine." "And what if we lose the election?" "Your brother Jeb can fix things in Florida."
I have a great sense of humour, but even I struggled to crack a joke on 11 September 2001. As the twin towers collapsed, I was certain we were being attacked. I just didn't know by whom. I was experiencing the fog of war. "It's al-Qaida,' said Condi. "Any relation to Al Gore?" I asked. Condi shook her head. I'd never heard of the Islamic turrurists with a penchant for blowing things up before, but I damn sure haven't forgotten them since. "Turrurism against our nation will not stand," I announced on television. "And for those who aren't too sure what that means, let me put it another way. We're going to kick raghead asses."
The first person to telephone me was Prime Minister Tony Blears. "I want you to know Britain is with you all the way, George. By the way, I just love your macho jeans and cowboy boots." I appreciated that kind of no-nonsense support and over the years Terry Blair has gone on to be one of America's most faithful lapdogs and people should stop being so beastly to him.
It was soon clear going into Afghanistan and installing a corrupt government was not going to be enough in the war on turrur. We would need to invade Iraqistan. People have criticised me for allowing the CIA to sanction waterboarding. Well, let me say here and now that the intelligence gained prevented numerous atrocities, though unfortunately not the invasion of Iraqistan itself. It remains a matter of some regret to me that our intelligence on WMD was entirely incorrect.
On reflection, I also regret shouting "mission accomplished" as Iraqistan descended into chaos and anarchy, but I am proud to have brought democracy and Christian values to that part of the world and if mistakes were made they were definitely someone else's. And let me make it quite clear I also gave serious thought to extending the Freedom Crusade to Iranistan, Syria and France. Make no mistake, God is not a Mozzer.
The most hurtful moment of my presidency was being called a racist for abandoning the black folk to their fate after Hurricane Katrina. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reason I did next to nothing was because they were poor and had voted Democrat. I was also just as shocked as everyone else by the greed of the financial sector that brought the US economy to its knees. I can honestly say Daddy's friends never told me that a total lack of financial regulation and a programme of tax breaks for the rich would be so disastrous.
Oh dear. I seem to have run out of space to include my contribution to global warming, but as I left the White House for the last time, my little dog Barney shat on the lawn. I knelt down to clean it up, but thought, "Sod it. We'll leave this mess for someone else."
To improve your English why not subscribe to an English newspaper like the guardian!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vocabulary.
Should have written = he didn't write this but he needed to = fr. aurait du écrit
During = in (time) = fr.pendant
ghost / ghost writer= a writer who writes for you.
proper = correct
retell = tell again.
europhic= happy
recall = remember =se souvenir
quitting= stopping
toughest = hardest, most difficult
closest = nearest
begging = ask somebody to please do something for you, fr= supplier
carry on= continue
sober = not drunk, not drinking alcohol.
wreck= destroy, ruin = fr détruire, ruiner
countess = inumerable, not being able to count.
to get legless = to become drunk
proud = fr. Fier
manage to = to be successful in =fr réussir à
ball park = baseball pitch/field/stadium
duty = responsability
I haven't a clue = I have no idea
shut = close = fr fermer
appoint = put in place = fr. nommer
fix = repair
struggle = to have difficulty
to crack a joke = to make a joke (fr. blague)
penchant = a habit of, inclination (fr. penchant)
to blow up = explode
to kick arse = to fight (slang/ Rude!)
no-nonsense - serious
lapdog = small dog, a person not strong enough to resist somebody else
beastly = horrible
sanction = permit, allow
waterboarding = a form of touture used in the Iraq war.
prevent = empecher
WDM = weapons (arms) of mass destruction
entirely = completely
crusade = movement (fr. croisade)
Mozzer = Moslem (follower of Islam) Slang.
hurtful = injuring, painful
folk = people (colloq)
lack of = no enough
run out of = 'not have' = manquer
global warming = the world becoming hotter because of man-made influences = fr. réchauffement de la planete
shat = past of shit (Rude!) faire = fr.excriment
Sod it = I don't care!(colloq) = fr. Je m'en fou!
mess = disorder, chaos = fr. pagaille, bordel
__________________________________________________
Alesia set to become a major tourist attraction in Burgundy! Are you ready to be surprised?
_B._Tschumi_Architectes_-_Infographie_Lecarpentier_6.jpg)
If we peer up at the mighty statue of Vercingétorix at Alise-Sainte-Reine it's clear to see that even though he may have lost to Caesar it's clear he won the battle for hearts and minds! In most people's mind it was Vercingétorix who came out on top!
The romantic hero we associate with Vercingétorix is largely an invention of the 3rd Republic under Napoleon the Third. What better symbol could there be to unify the French people and to bolster the patriotic spirit of a nation humiliated after the defeat in 1870 at the hands of the Germans. You need only to look carefully at the statue for clues as to who Vercingétorix really symbolises: Of course, Napoleon himself! The resemblance is striking! Another look at the Asterix-and-Oberlix-like features, clothes and carefully chosen anachronistic accessories reveals more about the Belle Epoque than pre-Christian times.
_PhM_-_SEM_Alesia.jpg)
Of course, as we know, Alesia is about to enter a new Belle Epoque of its own. A new interactive and state-of-the-art interpretation centre due to open next year will transform the site into a world class attraction with 3d cinema-features, interactive multimedia points, guided tours, reconstructions, history trails and much more.
To get a feeling of what is going on at Alesia why not pop along to the 2010 Gastronomic Fair in Dijon (30/10/2010 - 11/11/200) and visit the Alesia stand. Feel free to speak in English if you like! Having a broad and ambitious scope, the site is truly ready for an international clientèle!
Go along! You'll be surprised! You might discover you have a little of Vercingétorix in you!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vocabulary
is set to = about to/ on the verge of / is almost/ on the point of (becoming)
siege = Where an army blocks food and provisions from entering a town/place forcing the inhabitants to surrender/give up.
outcome = what comes from something/consequence
what you might expect = what you probably waiting to hear/thinking
however = but, despite this
won = (past of) win, conquer
peer up at = look up at
mighty = strong-looking/imposing/dominant (Do you remember Mighty Mouse?)
even though = despite/in spite of losing, although he lost
to unify = to bring together, join
bolster = boost/ increase
humiliated = feeling ashamed/not proud
defeat = losing a battle/opposite of victory
clues = evidence, things that help us guess.
striking = amazing/shocking
anachronistic = objects which are from the wrong period of time. (In a film about Napoleon Bonapart you don't expect to see the Eiffel Tower! That would be an anachronism)
reveals = shows
Belle Epoque = French historical period approx 1879-1914.
state of the art = something very very modern/ The latest in technology
What's going on? = What's happening?
Pop along = go to (informal) = go along
stand = a place for a company to show itself at a fair/trade show/exhibition
broad = wide/large
scope = 'vision' / target audience.
Photos courtesy of SEM Alesia/ Text English Point (www.englishpoint.fr)
________________________________________________________________
More than half the world's richest self-made women are Chinese, thanks in large part to Mao and cheap childcare, according to the Hurun Report, which compiles information on the wealthiest Chinese.
The world's three richest women are Chinese - as are 11 of the top 20 - according to the Hurun List of Self-Made Women Billionaires, published on Tuesday.
Zhang Yin, 53, the Chinese head of a recycled paper company, Nine Dragons Paper, ranks as the wealthiest self-made woman on earth with an estimated personal fortune of $5.6bn. Wu Yajun, 46, of Longfor Property, comes in second with $4.1bn and Chen Lihua, 69, of Fuhua International, a Hong Kong conglomerate, ranks third with $4bn.
The richest non-Chinese is Spaniard Rosalia Mera of Zara, the fashion house, with $3.5bn, and two others who made their fortunes in fashion: Doris Fisher for Gap is eighth and Giuliana Benetton of Benetton is 11th.
Oprah Winfrey, the US television show host, ranks ninth with $2.3bn.
Nandani Lynton, of the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai, identified political and social factors for making a scrap paper lady from China richer than the doyennes of Zara, Gap, Benetton and Ebay.
"Mao made an incredible difference when he said women hold up half the sky, since then it has been assumed that all women in China will work," Ms Lynton said.Chinese women are also among the most ambitious on earth, according to a study from the Centre for Work-Life Policy in New York, which found 76 per cent of women in China aspired to top jobs, compared with 52 per cent in the US.
Working mothers in China and other Bric countries "are able to aim high, in part because they have more shoulders to lean on than their American and European peers when it comes to childcare", the centre noted. With an average work week of 71 hours for Chinese women, cheap childcare is essential, and in China is often provided by grandparents -- four for every only child.
Nandani Lynton noted that it was not just the availability of cheap or free childcare but also the absence of any stigma attached to using it that helped Chinese women dominate the global rich lists.
Still, compared to Chinese men, women still lag behind. According to Hurun, only 11 per cent of the richest people in China are women and the average wealth of China's top 50 richest women is only a third that of the top 50 richest men.
Original Story CNN. Click here to read.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vocabulary
according to = as reported by, as stated by, as 'said' by
compiles = collects, gathers
wealthiest = richest
billionaire = a person who has 1000 million (dollars, pounds)
rank = put in order of size
scrap = used, waste
doyenne = matriarch, elder, respected (older) figure
aspire to = aim to, hope to
aim = to target, direct at a goal
more shoulders to lean on = more people to support (them)
peers = an equal
absense = a lack of, not having
stigma = shame, black mark
still = however, but, yet
lag behind = fall back/behind, move slowly
average = the average of 1+2+3 = 2
a third = 1/3
____________________________________________________________
Nobel peace prize goes to Liu Xiaobo
China's best-known dissident today won the prestigious Nobel peace prize from the prison cell where he is serving 11 years for incitement to subvert state power.The Norwegian Nobel committee praised Liu Xiaobo for his "long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China. The ... committee has long believed that there is a close connection between human rights and peace."
Liu was detained at his Beijing home in December 2008
As the news was announced, transmission of both BBC news and CNN television channels was interrupted in China after co-authoring Charter 08, a call for democratic reforms in China.
The decision will infuriate the Chinese government. A foreign ministry spokeswoman said last week that awarding Liu the prize would contradict the aims of the award. The director of Norway's Nobel institute said a senior Chinese official had warned that Sino-Norwegian relations would be damaged if Liu won.
Today, committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said China should expect to be put under greater scrutiny as it becomes more powerful: "We have to speak when others cannot speak. As China is rising, we should have the right to criticise ... We want to advance those forces that want China to become more democratic."
Czech playwright and former president Václav Havel and Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu were among those who had supported Liu for his "unflinching and peaceful advocacy for reform".
Liu was first jailed for his role in the Tiananmen Square student reform movement. He also served three years in a labour camp in the 90s.
"There was never a question for him of abandoning the struggle, although he was very critical about the [1989 student] movement," said Jean-Philippe Béja, of the Paris-based Centre for International Studies and Research, who first met Liu in the early 90s.
"He is a person who wants to live in truth."
It is highly unlikely that the 54-year-old author and former academic knows he has won. His lawyer told him his name had been put forward, but it is thought he knows little about the nomination because he is not to talk about current affairs with visitors to his prison in Jinzhou, Liaoning province. He is allowed to see his relatives for an hour each month. His wife, Liu Xia, had said she believed he was unlikely to win the prize, but that she thought the attention he gained had won him better conditions in prison.
Several Chinese dissidents took the bold step of signing a letter supporting his nomination.
In an article backing him for the prize, the philosopher Xu Youyu wrote: "His activities in 1989 and his works are characterised by an unwavering bravery and refusal to back down in the face of danger and suppression, by the pursuit and defence of human rights, humanism, peace and other universal values and, finally, adherence to the practice of rational dialogue, compromise and non-violence."
Orginal story The Guardian (Click here to read)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vocabulary
dissident = somebody who belives something different, non-conformist, rebel, agitator
prestigious = respected, celebrated, famous...
cell= room in prison
serve (time in prison) = to do (time) to pass (time)
incitement to subvert (state power) = causing, being the originator of (incitement) corrupting/breaking (subverting) the government
praise = congratulated, acclaimed, gave approval, pay homage to, to say that something is very good.
human rights = the freedoms that every man should have. (speak freely, move...)
detained= arrested, stopped
interrupted = stopped in the middle
to co-author = to write a book with another / other people. (co=with/together)
infuriate = anger, annoy very much.
to award a prize = to give somebody a prize.
contradict = to be in opposition/ to be against
the aims = the objectives/the goals
warn = to inform somebody of something seriously/ alert / threaten
Sino- norwegian = Chinese-Norwegian
scutiny = investigation
rise = go up
criticize = to say that somebody is doing something badly/wrong
unflinching= continuing bravely
advocacy = support
jail = to go to prison
to abandon = stop/give up/surrender
the struggle = the fight
the early 90's = 1990/1991/1992
highly unlikely = very improbable/ not probable
to put somebody forward ( for a prize) = nominate/ suggest as a potential winner
current affairs = the news now/at the moment
allowed = permitted
gained = got/received
backing = supporting
unwavering = see 'unflinching'
bravery = couragiousness
refusal = to say no
to back down = to surrender/give in/withdraw
adherence = sticking to / playing by the rules / following the rule of
_______________________________________________________________
Workers are powerless against the contractors used by multinationals who relocate to wherever production is cheapest.
(Photo MSNBC Read story: click here.)
The re-emergence of slavery on ships off West Africa is profoundly shocking but it is not a surprise. Last week, slavery in its modern form came to light in cases of forced labour uncovered on trawlers fishing for the European market. In a haunting echo of the 18th century slave trade, west African workers were found off the coast of Sierra Leone on board boats where they lived and worked in ships' holds with less than a metre of head height, sometimes for 18 hours a day for no pay, packed like sardines to sleep in spaces too small to stand up, with their documents taken from them and no means of escape.
In a globalised world, many corporations have relocated to wherever labour and resources are cheapest. And then in order to compete, companies in the developed world have reimported the labour conditions of the least developed countries with the fewest protections back to Europe and the US. So even in rural England there are examples of debt-bonded South African workers. Mexican farm workers suffering extreme exploitation in California have been facing a similar fate for decades.
The sugar trade of the 17th and 18th centuries unlocked the power of mass consumption in England. Slaves on the plantations of the Caribbean laboured to produce it, creating wealth that mostly returned to Britain, and for others to accumulate capital. They paid with their lives. But it was also the sugar trade that threw up one of the earliest examples of ethical shopping.
An early 19th century sugar bowl in London's Museum of Docklands is inscribed with the message: "East India Sugar not made by Slaves. By Six Families using East India instead of West India sugar, one less slave is required." Like so much ethical shopping it exposes its own limitations. Abolishing slavery in the 19th century required reform of a whole political and economic system.
How should we respond to news of slavery re-emerging today? Stamping it out needs as big an overhaul of prevailing power structures as previously. And yet, it was small steps that built a political movement against slavery. It's time we made our revulsion clear again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vocabulary
powerless = without power/control
contractors = an external person/ company used to do work for you/your company.
relocate = move to
remergence = the appearance again/seen again
slavery = being a slave= a person (usually) made to work for no money + can not leave/has no freedom. (See picture)
profundly shocking = deeply moving/makes you feel very sad.
came to light = emerged, started to be seen.
uncovered = reveal/shown to the world
trawlers = fishing boats
haunting echo = ghostly reminder/terrible past 'rememberance'/memory
holds = main storage area in a boat (where fish is put.)
packed like sardines = crowded/ no room ( sardines are a type of fish that comes in small tins where a lot are packaged together.)
means = ways
in order to compete = so they can sell their products at a good market price
the least = opposite of 'the most' (John, Mary and Bill are ambitious. Bill is less ambitious than Mary. Mary is less ambitious than John. Therefore, Bill is the leat ambitious.)
debt-bonded = can't leave/trapped because they 'owe' their bosses money.
unlocked = helped start.
wealth = the richness/ patrimony/money
accumulate capital = save/make money/ become rich.
threw up = gave rise to/created
required = needed.
exposes = shows
Abolishing = stopping /making illegal
reform = re-designing/remaking
stamping out = eradicating, stopping
overhaul = restructuring/reconstruction
prevailing = existing
revulsion = disgust/hatred/dislike.
________________________________________________________________________________
Mum Saved Daughter As Son Drowned
A pregnant mother in the United Kingdom has spoken of the heartbreaking moment she was forced to choose between saving her teenage son or young daughter from drowning.
Rachel Edwards had seconds to decide after the car, in which she was driving two-year-old Isabella and Jack Brennan, 16, plunged into a river and began sinking.
Mrs Edwards was able to pull Isabella out but could not rescue Jack without letting go of her daughter.
The 39-year-old - who was six months pregnant at the time of the accident - told the Derby Telegraph: "I pulled her out and I knew she was still alive. I tried to go back for Jack but I couldn't let go of Isabella."
Two of Jack's friends, who were also in the car, managed to escape and run for help.
A police officer pulled the teenager from the Citroen Xsara estate but he was confirmed dead in hospital.
Mrs Edwards said she had told Jack to shut his window shortly before the car hit a pothole and veered off the road in Midville, near Boston, Lincolnshire, in August.
"I told him to close it before we went into the river because Isabella was sitting behind him in her car seat and she was asleep," she said.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com (Story + pictures)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vocabulary
Drown = to die in water when you can't breath
Pregnant = expecting a baby, with a baby coming
heartbreaking = very sad
saving = rescue, stop from dying,
plunging = to fall quickly, to plummet, to dive
sink = when there is a hole in a boat (car) it goes down and fills with water.
was able to = could can (past)
letting go = to release, to stop holding somebody, to drop
alive = living, not dead
managed to escape = succeeded in escaping, able to do something even if difficult. (I managed to get a job = it was difficult but I was able to get a job)
estate (car) = a long car with front seats, back seats and space in the back for a dog, suitcases (station wagon in US English)
shortly = just, a little time,
pothole = a hole in the road
veered off = to turn suddenly without control
No comments:
Post a Comment