Macedonia
After a 27 year discussion over the name of Greece’s northern neighbor which has called itself Macedonia since the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, Greece has finally reached a deal.
After decades of talks and protests, they have settled on the name Republic of North Macedonia, or Severna Makedonija in Macedonian.
The name Macedonia belongs to the northern region of Greece where the city Thessaloniki is located, therefore the country is worried about possible territorial claims in the northern region.
Under the new deal, the country known at the United Nations as Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Fyrom) will be named Severna Makedonija, or Republic of North Macedonia.
The new name will now need to be approved by the Macedonian people and the Greek parliament, the new name will then be recognized internationally, therefore even the 140+ countries who already recognize the name Macedonia will have to adopt its new given name as North Macedonia.
discussion (dɪˈskʌʃən) – das Gespräch
break-up (breɪk-ʌp) – der Zerfall
former (ˈfɔrmər) – ehemalig
deal (dil) – das Geschäft, Abmachung
settled (ˈsɛtəld) – erledigt, abgeschlossen
region (ˈriʤən) – der Bezirk
territorial claims (ˌtɛrɪˈtɔriəl kleɪmz) – die Gebietsansprüche
parliament (ˈpɑrləmənt) – das Parlament
recognized (ˈrɛkəgˌnaɪzd) – anerkannt
adopt (əˈdɑpt) – etw. annehmen, übernehmen
Raccoon Climbs up Skyscraper
Earlier this week a raccoon was seen climbing a 23 story building in St. Paul Minnesota, for almost an entire day.
The incident went viral on the internet with people live tweeting and recording the events from the scene, crowds gathered around the building and local media streamed his climb to the world.
The raccoon was named MPRraccoon after the radio station on the opposite side of the building. The raccoon climbed the building for hours before finally reaching the roof at 3 am where cat food inside a trap awaited it.
Two journalists with the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) stated that they initially saw a lump of brown fur which they first though was a cat on top of the ground floor, they then attempted to create a ladder to rescue it, which ended up scaring the raccoon upwards.
The MPRraccoon spent most of the day climbing up and down the building and occasionally taking naps on ledges before finally reaching the top.
The raccoon has become a social media hero for many, people have created fan art and a twitter account for the animal already. James Gunn, the director of the film Guardians of the Galaxy, which features a hero raccoon, at some point offered to donate $1,000 to charity in the name of anyone who was able to save the #MPRraccoon.
Raccoon (rəˈkuːn) – der Waschbär
Climbing (ˈklaɪmɪŋ) – klettern
Story (ˈstɔːri) – hier: die Etage
Incident (ˈɪnsɪdənt) – das Ereignis
events (ɪˈvɛnts) – die Vorkommnisse
scene (siːn) – der Schauplatz
radio station (ˈreɪdɪəʊ ˈsteɪʃən) – die Rundfunkanstalt
roof (ruːf) – das Dach
trap (træp) – die Falle
lump (lʌmp) – das Stück, das Bündel
fur (fɜː) – das Fell
ground floor (graʊnd flɔː) – das Erdgeschoss
ladder (ˈlædə) – die Leiter
to rescue (ˈrɛskjuː) – retten
scaring (ˈskeərɪŋ) – abschreckend
occasionally (əˈkeɪʒnəli) – gelegentlich, ab und zu
hero (ˈhɪərəʊ) – der Held
director (dɪˈrɛktə) – der Regisseur
donate (dəʊˈneɪt) – spenden
charity (ˈʧærɪti) – die Stiftung, die Wohltätigkeitsorganisation
Spanish Trainer Sacked before World Cup
Julen Lopetegui, Spain’s manager, was sacked only two days prior to the team’s opening World Cup game against Portugal in Sochi, with the director of football, Fernando Hierro, named as his replacement.
The Spanish coach has apparently negotiated with Real Madrid behind the federation’s back, leaving the president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales no choice but to terminate Lopetegui’s contract as a matter of principle.
The action was taken in response to the news released on Tuesday which states that Lopetegui had agreed to take over at Real Madrid after the World Cup ends.
Neither the players nor Hierro nor the president knew of the decision until moments before it was made public. The federation’s president said he received a phone call from Real Madrid only 5 minutes before the news broke out, he then had to leave Moscow to Krasnodar where the team’s headquarters is located to find a solution for the matter.
Just after 1pm on Wednesday afternoon, after discussions with the players, Rubiales announced the decision to sack the coach, describing it as an “obligation” on a “sad day”.
Many players including Sergio Ramos argued for the coach to continue, but Rubiales being the Federation’s president for less than a month was obliged to make his first tough decision in the name of ethics.
sacked (sækt) – entlassen
prior (ˈpraɪər) – vorherig
director (dəˈrɛktər) – der Leiter
negotiated (nəˈgoʊʃiˌeɪtəd) – ausgehandelt, vereinbart
federation (ˌfɛdəˈreɪʃən) – die Föderation
to terminate (ˈtɜrməˌneɪt) – kündigen, beenden
principle (ˈprɪnsəpəl) – das Prinzip
take over (teɪk ˈoʊvər) – etw. übernehmen
broke out (broʊk aʊt) – ausbrechen
headquarters (ˈhɛdˌkwɔrtərz) – der Hauptsitz
obligation (ˌɑbləˈgeɪʃən) – die Verpflichtung
tough (tʌf) – hart
ethics (ˈɛθɪks) – die Ethik