After the bill which is meant to start the legal procedures of the UK‘s exit from the EU passed the House of Commons unamended, the second chamber of the British Parliament, the House of Lords, adopted a clause which guarantees that EU citizens residing in the UK will continue to benefit from their full rights to live and work there. The proposal, which passed with 358 votes in favour and 256 against, is widely regarded as a defiant action against Prime Minister Theresa May, who had repeatedly urged members of Parliament not to amend the bill. This amendment had also caused dissent within the Prime Minister’s party, as 30 Tories openly declared that they would support and vote for the adoption of the aforementioned clause.

Although Prime Minister May admits that the issue under question is a priority, she claims that no measures should be taken until the same benefits are offered to UK citizens living in the EU. The matter will now return to the House of Commons, which the government hopes will reverse the result of the vote.

©Getty Images

meant (ment) to do sth = etw tun sollen

unamended (ʌnˈəˈmendɪd) = unverbessert

chamber (ˈtʃeɪm.bər) = Kammer

to reside (rɪˈzaɪd) = ansässig sein

proposal (prəˈpəʊ.zəl) = Antrag

widely (ˈwaɪd.li) = weitgehend

to regard (rɪˈɡɑːd) as = betrachten als

defiant (dɪˈfaɪənt) = trotzig

to urge (ɜːdʒ) = drängen

to amend (əˈmend) = ändern

dissent (dɪˈsent) = Meinungsverschiedenheit

Tory (ˈtɔːri) = Konservativer (Mitglied der Konservativen Partei)

issue (ˈɪʃuː) = Thema

to claim (kleɪm) = behaupten

to reverse (rɪˈvɜːs) = aufheben

 

A more comprehensive report on this latest Brexit-related event can be found at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-latest-eu-nationals-right-to-live-uk-house-of-lords-theresa-may-mps-a7606641.html

©Marlene Gawrisch/dpa

After being detained on 14th February, Deniz Yücel, a German correspondent of Turkish origin from the newspaper Die Welt, was arrested in Turkey on charges of “propaganda in support of a terrorist organization” and “inciting the public to violence“.  These actions against Yücel, a dual citizen of Germany and Turkey, were a result of his reporting on a number of leaked, compromising e-mails of Berat Albayrak, the Turkish Minister of Energy and son-in-law of President Erdoğan. Yücel’s criticism of the state leaders in Ankara has made him a target of the Turkish authorities also following his articles on the Kurdish Workers‘ Party (PKK) and on the coup attempt of 15th July, which, among others, led to a significant crackdown on the media.

Yücel’s arrest has caused an uproar in Germany, where both political figures and citizens have been expressing their condemnation of the action taken by the Turkish authorities. Chancellor Angela Merkel described the decision as “disproportionate”, “bitter and disappointing”, and stated that the German Government would continue to insist on a fair trial for the journalist. In Germany, the recent events have also led to protests asking for the release of Deniz Yücel and supporting the freedom of the press.

to detain (dɪˈteɪn) = festhalten

to arrest (əˈrest) = verhaften

on charges of = wegen

to incite (ɪnˈsaɪt) = zu etw aufhetzen

dual citizen (ˈdjuːəl ˈsɪtɪzn) = Doppelstaatsbürger

leaked (liːkt) = durchgesickert

compromising (kɒmprəmaɪzɪŋ) = bloßstellend

target (ˈtɑːɡɪt) = Ziel

coup attempt (kuː) = Putschversuch

crackdown (ˈkrækdaʊn) = Durchgreifen

uproar (ˈʌprɔː(r)) = Aufregung

condemnation (ˌkɒndemˈneɪʃn)  = Ablehnung

disproportionate (ˌdɪsprəˈpɔːʃənət) = unangemessen

trial (ˈtraɪəl) = Prozess

 

Read more on this topic at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/27/journalist-for-german-newspaper-arrested-in-turkey

Wednesday was a historic day for many American shares which reached unprecedented levels following US President Donald Trump’s first address to Congress the previous night. The Dow Jones Industrial Average passed the 21,000 mark, while several other indices also registered significant rises.  Among the shares that benefited the most were financial companies, with increases of more than 2.3%.

The reason for these new highs reached by US shares is the optimism generated by the new President’s promises to adopt deregulation measures. In fact, indices have been generally rising ever since Donald Trump won the presidential election in November last year

©Richard Drew

share (ʃeə(r)) = Aktie

address (əˈdres) = Ansprache

mark (mɑːk) = Grenze

to benefit sb/sth (ˈbenɪfɪt) = jdn/etw  fördern

high (haɪ) = Höhepunkt

generate (ˈdʒenəreɪt) = hervorrufen

deregulation (ˌdiːˌreɡjuˈleɪʃn) = Deregulierung

 

Find out more about the rises in American shares at http://www.bbc.com/news/business-39126024

©SpaceX

In the last few years, the private company SpaceX has become a major player in the spaceflight industry, having developed its own rockets which are now used to bring supplies to the International Space Station and having accomplished the feat of landing their first stages on precise targets. This time, the company run by Elon Musk has set an even more ambitious goal: sending two tourists around the Moon, which it plans to achieve by the end of next year. The big announcement was made on Monday, during a telephone press conference. Musk stated that the project started as a result of a demand made by two private individuals, who would spend about a week on their cruise which would orbit the Moon for a yet undetermined number of times before returning to the Earth. The mission would be completely automated, but the crew would receive training for emergency procedures.

SpaceX currently has the spacecraft needed for the bold plan, however, critics are skeptical whether the 2018 deadline is realistic. In any case, this would become the first manned flight to venture so far out into space since the last mission of NASA’s Apollo programme flew in 1972.

major player (ˈmeɪdʒə(r) ˈpleɪə(r)) = wichtiger Akteur

spaceflight (speɪsflaɪt) = Raumfahrt

supplies (səˈplɑɪz) = Nachschub

to accomplish a feat (əˈkʌmplɪʃ ə fiːt)  = ein Kunststück vollbringen

stage (steɪdʒ) = (hier) (Raketen)stufe

target (ˈtɑːɡɪt) = Ziel

to set a goal (set ə ɡəʊl) = sich ein Ziel setzen

to achieve (əˈtʃiːv) = erreichen

to state (steɪt) = erklären

to make a demand (dɪˈmɑːnd) = eine Forderung stellen

cruise (kruːz) = Kreuzfahrt

to orbit (ˈɔːbɪt) = umkreisen

undetermined (ʌnˈdɪˈtɜːmɪnd) = unbestimmt

crew (kruː) = Besatzung

bold (bəʊld) = ˈventʃə(r)

manned (mænd) = bemannt

to venture (ˈventʃə(r)) = sich hinauswagen

 

More details of this ambitious mission can be found in the following New York Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/27/science/spacex-moon-tourists.html?_r=0

Every year since 2002, the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles fills with glamour at the festivities of the prestigious Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars. As expected, the musical/drama La La Land, which had obtained a record fourteen nominations, was the most successful film of the night, with six awards. The favourite of the edition almost got a seventh Oscar, when the presenters mistakenly announced it as the winner of the Best Picture category. However, the joy did not last long, as the drama Moonlight was revealed as the real victor soon after. The Oscar for the best actor in a leading role was won by Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea, while the equivalent award for the best actress went to Emma Stone of La La Land.

©dpa

to fill with glamour (ˈɡlæmə(r)) = mit Glanz füllen

festivity (feˈstɪvəti) = Feierlichkeit

prestigious (preˈstɪdʒəs)= angesehen

mistakenly (mɪˈsteɪkənli) = fälschlicherweise

to reveal (rɪˈviːl) = bekanntgeben

victor (ˈvɪktə(r)) = Sieger

soon after = wenig später

 

See the full list with the 2017 Oscar winners at http://oscar.go.com/winners