News of the week from January 25 to February 1, 2020
- Kobe Bryant, American basketball star, dies in a helicopter crash
- Brexit: the United Kingdom officially left Europe on January 31, 2020
- 223 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by the humanitarian ship "Ocean Viking"
- In France, the National Assembly rejects the extension of bereavement leave for the death of a child
- End of a 50-year saga in Belgium, the former king acknowledges his illegitimate daughter
- Vocabulary of the week explained
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Transcription
Hello,
Welcome to the HelloFrench news review, the podcast that immerses you in the week's news to help you improve your French.
Headlines for the week of January 25 to February 1, 2020
- Kobe Bryant, American basketball star, décède in a helicopter accident
- Brexit: the United Kingdom officially left Europe on January 31, 2020
- 223 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by the humanitarian navire "Ocean Viking"
- In France, the National Assembly rejects the extension of congé in case of décès of a child
- End of a 50-year saga in Belgium, the former king acknowledges his illegitimate daughter.
The basketball world is in mourning. Kobe Bryant, the American basketball superstar, passed away last Sunday in a helicopter crash. On board the aircraft were his daughter Gianna, aged 13, and seven other people. None survived the helicopter crash. The NBA legend had pris l'habitude, nearly 15 years ago, of déplacer traveling by helicopter in Los Angeles to avoid embouteillages and spend more time with his family. Kobe Bryant is one of only 7 players in the world to have scored more than 30,000 points in his carrière.
On January 29, the European Parliament ratified by a very large majority the agreement on the United Kingdom's departure. It was the final step to validate the country's official exit from the European Union. Three and a half years after the referendum held in Great Britain on its departure from Europe, the British have indeed left the ship on Friday, January 31 at midnight.
In the Mediterranean Sea, 223 migrants were saved by the humanitarian ship "Ocean Viking" last weekend. Among them were femmes enceintes and children. The Ocean Viking, sent by SOS Méditerranée and Médecins Sans Frontières, was able to secourir these migrants through several operations au large off the coast of Libya. They are now awaiting a safe port where they can disembark. In 2019, the International Organization for Migration estimated at least 1,283 migrant deaths in the Mediterranean. Over the past 5 years, the figures rise to 19,164 people who died during traversées.
In France, the National Assembly rejects the extension of bereavement leave for the death of a child. It is a proposal from the centrists that the president's party, En Marche, refused to consider. The centrist party proposed extending the deuil bereavement leave, in the case of a child's death, from 5 to 12 days. The proposal was narrowly rejected de justesse by 38 votes to 40. To apaiser les tensions around this issue, the majority party proposes that the bereaved employee's colleagues could offrir donate their own leave days. Their vote against this proposal fait polémique sparked controversy within public opinion and the National Assembly, which speak of a "lack of humanity." Every year, 4,500 children lose their lives in France.
This is a saga that has lasted nearly 50 years in Belgium. King Albert II, former King of the Belgians who abdicated in 2012 en faveur in favor of his eldest son, finally acknowledges his illegitimate daughter. The court had compelled him to take a DNA test in May, after many years of legal proceedings. Delphine Boël, a Belgian artist now aged 51, was indeed born from a 10-year affair between her mother and Albert, still a prince à l'époque at the time. Until now, he had always denied this paternity. The test results, which had remained confidential until now, were revealed on Monday and the king acknowledged being Delphine Boël's biological father. Upon the sovereign's death, she could claim the same inheritance rights as her two half-brothers and her half-sister: a quarter of his fortune.
Vocabulary of the week
Expand your French vocabulary - download our list of key words from the week of January 25 to February 1, 2020.
💥L'accident (accident): an unforeseen event that causes material damage or harm to people. An accident can be more or less serious.
🚁L'hélicoptère (helicopter): a type of small aircraft that takes off using propellers on top of its roof.
■ Le migrant (migrant): a person who leaves their country for another. Generally, this word is used to talk about someone who leaves their country because of war, for political reasons, or because they are very poor.
🌊La Méditerranée (Mediterranean): the sea between Europe and Africa.
🛥Le navire (ship): a boat, used to travel by sea.
■ Humanitaire (humanitarian - adjective): when we talk about humanitarian, we refer to an action or something that aims to do good, to improve the condition of human beings.
■ L'Assemblée nationale (National Assembly): a part of the parliament in France. It brings together deputies who were elected by the people to represent them.
■ L'allongement (extension): increasing the duration of something.
■ Le congé (leave): when you take a break from work for a few days or weeks. It is permission to be absent. For example, you can say: "Je pose quelques jours de congés pour partir en vacances" (I'm taking a few days off to go on vacation).
⚰Le décès (death): the death of a person.
■ La saga (saga): a story, usually in several episodes, spanning several generations.
■ Illégitime (illegitimate - adjective): an illegitimate child is a child born outside of marriage who has not been acknowledged by their father.
■ Prendre l'habitude (to get into the habit): something you do often, that you do without even thinking about it. For example: "J'ai pris l'habitude de manger une banane tous les matins" (I got into the habit of eating a banana every morning).
■ Se déplacer (to get around): to move from one point to another.
🚗🚗🚗Les embouteillages (traffic jams): when there is traffic, many vehicles on the roads and it is difficult to move forward.
■ La carrière (career): professional life, someone's professional path.
■ Bel et bien (indeed - expression): really. This expression is used to say that something has finally happened.
■ Quitter le navire (to jump ship - verb/expression): to abandon a project or people.
■ Sauver (to save - verb), secourir (to rescue - verb): to prevent danger for people, to help them avoid a dangerous situation.
🤰🏽La femme enceinte (pregnant woman): this is what we call a mother-to-be, someone who is expecting a baby.
■ Le port (port/harbor): the place, the shelter where boats gather. It is in ports that cargo is loaded and unloaded from ships.
■ Au large de (off the coast of): when we say a boat is "au large de" a sea, we mean it is in the open sea.
■ La traversée (crossing): the action of crossing a sea or ocean, going from one side to the other.
■ Ne pas vouloir entendre parler de (to refuse to hear about - verb/expression): to reject something or someone, to the point of not being able to stand hearing about it.
■ De justesse (barely/narrowly): by very little, by a tiny margin. "It almost didn't make it / It just barely made it." For example, you can say: "Je rentre de justesse dans ma robe de mariée, il ne faut pas que je prenne un seul kilo" (I barely fit into my wedding dress, I must not gain a single kilo).
■ Apaiser les tensions (to ease tensions): to reduce the anger around a subject, to try to make people less upset.
■ Le collègue (colleague): a person you work with in your company.
⚰Le deuil (mourning/grief): the pain when you lose someone close to you.
🎁Offrir (to give/to offer): to give, to make a gift.
■ Faire polémique (to cause controversy): to create debate, discontent.
■ L'opinion publique (public opinion): the population, what society thinks, the judgment of citizens.
👑Abdiquer (to abdicate - verb): to renounce something.
👨👦Fils aîné/ fille aînée (eldest son/eldest daughter): the oldest child, the first child.
■ En faveur de (in favor of): for something or someone.
■ Contraindre / être contraint (to compel / to be compelled): to force someone to do something, to not give them a choice.
■ À l'époque (at the time): at that moment, at the time when events took place. We also often speak of "l'époque" to refer to a distant period.
■ La paternité (paternity): the fact of being a father, of being a child's dad.
■ Confidentiel (confidential - adjective): it's secret, no one knows about it.
■ Une liaison (an affair): a romantic relationship between two people, often kept somewhat secret.
■ Le demi-frère, la demi-soeur (half-brother, half-sister): a brother or sister with whom you share only one parent. You share a mother or a father.
💰L'héritage (inheritance): the money and assets someone leaves behind when they pass away.
💰La fortune (fortune/wealth): wealth, riches.
