Episode #2 - News Review from December 22 to 28, 2019

This Week's News

• The Netherlands condemned for climate inaction [spp-timestamp time=”00:00:53″]
• Benjamin Netanyahu wins his party's primary in Israel [spp-timestamp time=”00:01:42″]
• Clashes in Hong Kong between pro-democracy activists and police [spp-timestamp time=”00:02:21″]
• A baby kidnapped in 1964 has just been found in the USA [spp-timestamp time=”00:03:08″]
• In Belgium, a wolf devours a kangaroo for Christmas [spp-timestamp time=”00:03:46″]
• Vocabulary of the week explained [spp-timestamp time=”00:04:19″]

Every Saturday, HelloFrench publishes a podcast that immerses you in the week's news. Each news review comes with a transcription, a vocabulary list, and a quiz, to help you improve your French and test yourself.

All our episodes are available on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, and even in all Teslas!

Transcription

Hello,

Welcome to the Hello French news review, the podcast that immerses you in the week's news to help you improve your French.

Headlines for this week of December 22 to 28, 2019

1. The Netherlands condemned by the courts for climate inaction. A first worldwide success for environmental [tooltips keyword=”militants” content=”activists”].
2. Elections in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wins his party's primary with 72.5% of the [tooltips keyword=”suffrages” content=”votes”]. He will represent Likud in March.
3. Hong Kong. Violent [tooltips keyword=”affrontements” content=”clashes”] between pro-democracy activists and police took place in [tooltips keyword=”centres commerciaux” content=”malls”] on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
4. In the United States, a baby kidnapped in 1964 has just been found thanks to an online [tooltips keyword=”ADN” content=”DNA”] analysis website.
5. Unusual Christmas Eve in Belgium. A [tooltips keyword=” loup” content=”wolf”] suspected of having devoured [tooltips keyword=”un kangourou” content=”a kangaroo”] [tooltips keyword=”domestique” content=”domesticated”].

To make their demands heard, more and more environmental associations are now turning to the courts. These associations achieved their first victory worldwide this week. This Friday, December 20, the Dutch Supreme Court indeed condemned the state for climate inaction. The court ordered the Netherlands to reduce its [tooltips keyword=”émissions de gaz à effet de serre” content=”greenhouse gas emissions”] by 25% by 2020, compared to 1990 levels. To deliver this verdict, the judges relied on the European Convention on Human Rights. The court determined that [tooltips keyword=”réchauffement climatique” content=”global”] warming endangers the right to life, and a state must protect its citizens. For environmental activists around the world, this decision represents the hope that the courts will also [tooltips keyword=”condamne” content=”sentences”] their country and [tooltips keyword=”contraigne” content=”compels”] it to act against global warming.

In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu did not even wait for the official results to announce his victory on Twitter. He wins his party's primary with 72.5% of the votes. His [tooltips keyword=”adversaire” content=”opponent”], Gideon Saar, had little chance of winning against the current prime minister and party leader. 57,000 members of the Israeli right-wing party voted in this primary, slightly less than 50% of [tooltips keyword=”adhérents” content=”adherent”]. Netanyahu, indicted a month ago for [tooltips keyword=”corruption” content=”bribery”], will therefore represent Likud in the March elections. The country, in a political [tooltips keyword=”impasse” content=”deadlock”], is holding elections for the third time in less than a year.

[tooltips keyword=”heurts” content=”clashes”] broke out in Hong Kong on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day between pro-democracy activists and riot police. The pro-China authorities accused the [tooltips keyword=”émeutiers” content=”rioters”] of having ruined the holiday spirit in this region where many [tooltips keyword=”chrétiens” content=”Christians”] live. While the situation has been very tense since June in the former British [tooltips keyword=”colonie” content=”colony”], the violence had calmed down over the past month. However, calls to launch [tooltips keyword=”des opérations coups de poing” content=”The lightning raids”] during the holiday period had been made by activists, particularly via the internet. The movement had been launched six months ago against a [tooltips keyword=”projet de loi” content=”bill”] that would authorize extraditions to mainland China. While the government has since backed down, the [tooltips keyword=”opposants” content=”dissidents”] have expanded their [tooltips keyword=”revendications” content=”claims”] to demand more democracy and independence from China.

For over 50 years, the United States has been wondering what happened to Paul Fronczak. The [tooltips keyword=”dénouement” content=”finish”] of this case was just revealed this week. The baby had been kidnapped the day after his birth by a woman [tooltips keyword=”déguisée” content=”disguised”] as a nurse in a Chicago hospital. Several years ago, the DNA of one of the child's relatives had been uploaded to various American genealogy websites. The family hoped that Paul or one of his children would also submit their DNA... A hope turned into reality, as the DNA [tooltips keyword=”correspond” content=”matches”] that of a 55-year-old man living in Michigan. A victory for his mother, now 80 years old, and the genealogist who followed the case.

[tooltips keyword=”Réveillon de Noël” content=”Chrismast Eve “] ruined for these residents of northern Belgium. While their domestic kangaroos were in their garden, they were probably attacked by a wolf. One of the kangaroos, reported missing, certainly served as a holiday meal for the [tooltips keyword=”sauvage” content=”wild”] wolf. For their second kangaroo, it was more of a scare than anything. Bitten on the ear, it is doing very well. While wolf footprints were found near the property, the police have not released any other information.

Vocabulary of the Week

Enrich your French vocabulary - download our list of key words for the week of December 22 to 28, 2019.

🔥Réchauffement climatique (global warming): the phenomenon of rising temperatures in the atmosphere and oceans.

💭Les émissions de gaz à effet de serre (greenhouse gas emissions): gases present in the atmosphere. Global warming is partly due to the increase of these gases. For example, cars emit CO2 and CO2 is a greenhouse gas.

👮Condamner (verb) (to condemn/sentence): to punish through the justice system.

👮Contraindre (verb) (to compel): to oblige, to force.

✊Le militant (the activist): a person who fights for a cause they believe is just.

🤼‍♂️L'adversaire, l'opposant (the opponent): a person to whom one is opposed, usually in a fight.

✒️Les suffrages (the votes): the votes cast in an election.

👊L'adhérent (the member): a person who is a member of an organization. You can, for example, be a member of a party, a sports club, or an association.

💰La corruption (corruption/bribery): when one uses their power abusively in exchange for money or other advantages.

⛔️L'impasse (the deadlock): literally, a dead-end street. This word is also used to describe a situation with no way out, from which it is difficult to escape.

🥊 Les heurts, les affrontements (clashes): violent confrontations, fights.

🛍Le centre commercial (the shopping mall): a building where many shops are grouped together for shopping.

🤼‍♂️Les émeutes (riots): an uprising of the people, generally spontaneous and unorganized. People who riot are called les émeutiers (rioters).

📜Les revendications (demands/claims): things that are claimed or demanded.

🎄Les chrétiens (Christians): people who follow the Christian religion, the religion of Jesus Christ.

🏝La colonie (the colony): a territory occupied by another nation that is not independent.

🤜Une opération coup de poing (a lightning raid): a sudden and unexpected operation meant to make an impact.

🔚Le dénouement (the conclusion): the end of a story, what concludes it.

👗Être déguisé (to be disguised): to wear a costume or clothes to change one's identity.

💉L'ADN (DNA): a molecule that identifies each person. Every human being has one.

✔︎Correspondre à (to correspond to): to be equivalent to, to be equal to the same thing.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👧La généalogie (genealogy): the science of establishing family ties, tracing ancestors, and listing the members of the same family.

🐺Le loup (the wolf): a wild animal that resembles a large dog.

🐲Sauvage (adj) (wild): not tamed, free. It is the opposite of domestique (domestic).

🎅Réveillon de Noël (Christmas Eve): December 24, the evening before Christmas.

Le kangourou (the kangaroo): an animal from Australia with highly developed hind legs that allow it to jump very high.