0:00Hello and welcome to the
0:02Hello French press review ! The podcast that immerses you in the news
0:06of the week to help you improve your French.
0:12On the front page for this week, from January 12 to 18, 2020.
0:16Pension reform in France. Protests continue in Russia.
0:21A referendum proposed by Putin could
0:23give parliament a little more power.
0:26An announcement that led to the resignation of the Prime Minister.
0:29The first French jihadist sentenced
0:31has just been released after five years of imprisonment. Pope Francis?
0:35No, for the first time, a woman in a very high level position in the Vatican.
0:39The Bay, in which rapper Tupac
0:42was assassinated, has just been auctioned for 1.5 million euros.
0:46Forty-fourth days of mobilization
0:49in France against the pension reform project.
0:52A few days ago, Edouard Philippe, French
0:55Prime Minister, proposed a compromise. He proposed to maintain a
1:01points-based retirement system, but to keep under certain
1:04conditions, the retirement age at 62 years.
1:08According to the first version of the reform,
1:11the retirement age was to be raised to 64 years.
1:15The unions decided to refuse the compromise.
1:18And the protests have picked up again this week.
1:21Thousands of demonstrators marched in Paris to assert their discontent.
1:26For them, no compromise is possible.
1:29They want the reform to be completely abandoned.
1:31The unions are calling for massive strike action in all
1:34professions and throughout France on January 22 and 23.
1:38Russian President Vladimir Putin
1:40proposes to hold a referendum on constitutional reforms.
1:45He announced this week in his annual speech to members of parliament
1:49and politicians whether the regime would remain presidential.
1:53These reforms would aim to strengthen the powers of Parliament.
1:58The choice of the Prime Minister would henceforth fall to Parliament,
2:02whereas until now, he was appointed by the President himself.
2:06No date has yet been specified. A few hours after this announcement,
2:11Prime Minister Medvedev announced the resignation of his government.
2:15He is now replaced by the boss of the Russian tax authorities, Flavien Moreau.
2:20The first French jihadist sentenced
2:22on his return from Syria has just been released from Condé-sur-Sarthe prison.
2:27Converted to Islam, then radicalized, he had been spotted by the
2:32anti-terrorism services after a first stay in Syria.
2:36He was arrested in January 2013 in France,
2:39while planning to return to Syria. Now 33,
2:43he was sentenced in November 2014 to seven years in prison.
2:47His release comes with various obligations lasting a little less than a year:
2:52to find a job, to reside in a specific place,
2:56to receive care and, above all, not to leave the territory.
3:00The former detainee must also report
3:01every morning to the gendarmerie in his sector.
3:04This is a first in the history of the Vatican.
3:07A woman has just been appointed under-
3:09secretary of the Section for Relations with States.
3:13Or the equivalent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
3:16A very important diplomatic post for the Catholic State.
3:20Francesca Giovanni has been
3:23working in relations with states for 27 years.
3:26The 66-year-old new Minister of Foreign Affairs specializes
3:31in international law and human rights.
3:34This is the first time that a woman has held
3:36a managerial position in the Secretariat of State.
3:39Francesca Giovanni believes that the Pope has taken an innovative decision.
3:43She explained that beyond her
3:46personal promotion, this decision represents a positive sign towards all women.
3:50Today, only six women hold positions of responsibility in the Vatican.
3:55The car was already sold for 1.3 million euros in 2017. Released.
4:01This is the car rapper Tupac was murdered in.
4:06This time, it is auctioned
4:08for the modest sum of 1.5 million euros, or $1.75 million.
4:14Completely restored, the car displays 121,000 kilometers on the odometer.
4:20The famous American rapper was
4:22assassinated during a shooting in Las Vegas while leaving a boxing match.
4:27It was September 13, 1996 and Tupac was barely 25 years old.
4:33Thanks for listening to this podcast. We hope you liked it.
4:37I will now explain the key words, the important words of the week
4:41in the news on pension reform in France.
4:44We talked about demonstrations. A demonstration is a gathering
4:50of people who want to express their opinions together.
4:54A demonstration usually takes place in the street. We have also...
5:00Mobilization.
5:01Mobilization is when people come together to show their opinions.
5:06They are mobilizing against or for something.
5:10For example, we can mobilize for the legalization of abortion
5:15or, conversely, mobilize against a new reform of the State.
5:21We used the word... A compromise is when you try to come to
5:26an agreement with someone who has a different idea than ours.
5:30So we try to choose an opinion in the middle that could suit everyone.
5:37We talked about the pension. Pension is synonymous with retirement.
5:43This is the period of life when we stop our professional activity.
5:49We have talked about unions. Trade unions are associations
5:53that defend common rights and interests.
5:57Here we were talking about unions defending workers' rights.
6:02We talked about discontent.
6:06It's when you're not happy with a situation or something.
6:10We talked about massive actions that were going to be put in place.
6:14These are important actions that will make noise.
6:18We do things to make ourselves heard, to make our discontent heard.
6:23We then talked about the professions.
6:26A profession is a synonym for a job. We can also speak of a profession
6:31to speak of a group of people who do the same job.
6:35For example, the profession of lawyers.
6:39We decided that the protests would start again.
6:43To start again with a vengeance means to intensify,
6:46to continue, but with more force. In the news on Russia,
6:51we have talked about a referendum. It's a vote.
6:54We ask for the opinion of the population, the opinion of citizens.
6:58We want to know if she is for or against a change.
7:01We talked about a speech. It's when we speak in front of people.
7:05You can give a political speech, but also a speech at a wedding,
7:10a birthday or as part of a work meeting.
7:15We talked about the resignation
7:17of the government. Resigning is when you leave your post, you quit your job.
7:22We talked about the tax authorities.
7:24The tax department is the tax service, it is the French tax administration.
7:29In the news on the first French
7:31jihadist sentenced, we said that he has been released.
7:35To be released is to get out of a situation where you are locked up.
7:40So one can be released from prison or after a kidnapping.
7:44So we are talking here about physical imprisonment,
7:48but we can also free ourselves
7:49from situations of moral or social imprisonment.
7:54For example, if you do a very heavy job and quit,
7:59you could say: I'm released. We talked about incarceration.
8:05Incarceration is when you are in prison, when you are imprisoned.
8:11We used the word converted to mean that the jihadist was converted.
8:17So this word we usually use to say that we are convinced of
8:21something, that someone has convinced us of something.
8:24In this case, we are talking about converts to talk about someone who did not
8:28believe before in a religion and who now believes in it.
8:31So, we can say converted to Islam,
8:34converted to the Catholic religion or even converted to Judaism.
8:37We said he was radicalized. When we say that someone has radicalized,
8:43this means that he believes more strongly than before in his opinions.
8:46He is much harsher on his ideas than others.
8:52Here, when we talk about radicalized,
8:55we can say that this person, in the name of a religious ideology,
8:59but it could also be a
9:01political ideology, will resort to violence to make its ideology heard.
9:08We used the word an inmate.
9:11An inmate is the name of the person who is in prison.
9:15We talked about the gendarmerie. It's almost like the police,
9:19except that the gendarmerie in France will depend on the army.
9:24In the news on the Vatican, we talked about the Pope.
9:28The Pope is the leader of Catholics.
9:30He therefore heads the Vatican State.
9:34We talked about diplomacy to talk about an important diplomatic post.
9:40Diplomacy and relations with other countries of the world.
9:46In the news, especially Easter, we have said that he was murdered.
9:50It means he was killed by someone. So he's dead.
9:55We said the car was put up for auction. When I was... at auction,
10:01this means that a good is going to be sold in a system where people can say
10:06the price at which they want to buy the good, and it is the person who offers
10:11the highest amount who is going to be able to buy that good.
10:15We also used the expression "for the modest sum of".
10:19When we say that something has
10:21a low value, it means that it is really not expensive.
10:25It is below its value, that it is worth almost nothing.
10:28Here, we used the expression in an ironic way to precisely underline the fact
10:33that the price is disproportionate, very, very high.
10:37We said the car has been restored. When something is restored,
10:42it means that it has been restored to its original state, that it has been repaired.
10:47This word is often used when talking
10:49about works of art, heritage or cultural goods.
10:55The car has been said to have over 100,000 km on the clock.
10:59When we say that a car has kilometers on the clock,
11:03we are actually talking about the kilometers it has already driven.
11:07Finally, we talked about a shooting.
11:10A shootout is an exchange of fire. So everyone shoots each other.