Hunt for missing father-of-two who disappeared during a night out on holiday in Turkey

This piece of news was written by Darren Boyle for the Daily Mail online newspaper on the 7th May of 2016.

The news is about the disappearance of Troy Ross, a British 28-year-old father-of-two from Leeds, West Yorkshire. He and his partner, Deanna Willumsen, had flown to Turkey on a holiday for five days. They were staying in the Jiva Beach Resort. On the 28th April, on Saturday, she left the room around 8:30 pm to visit a friend of hers that was also staying at the hotel. When she came back, the room was empty. After checking the CCTV, Troy was seen kicking at the door of the empty room because he had got himself locked out. Later, around 9:30 pm, he was last seen leaving the hotel on his own. 

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After two days, Deanna had to fly back home to take care of their three-months-old son. She still hoped that Troy would be there, thinking that he might have flown back to Leeds sooner than expected in fear of the consequences for breaking the hotel room's door. However, he didn't turn up. Deanna pleads that if he reads the news she only wants to know if he's alright.

Reports say that Troy had left the hotel room without his passport and without his mobile phone. He had taken some cash and her partner's credit cart with him, but authorities haven't found any clue of him using it or of him being attended in any hospital of the area.

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Personally, I think that this is a strange case. First of all, why break the door if he could just go to reception to ask for someone to help him? Then he left with no identification and took money with him. Now that doesn't necessarily have to be suspicious, but i think that there must be more evidences that could be found thanks to the CCTV recordings. Anyways, I hope they find him and that he's well.

VOCABULARY

scaffold: a raised platform for workers and materials.

kick down: to strike with the foot or feet.

lie low: to keep quiet and not be noticed, to avoid being conspicuous.

Monster Canadian fire threatens to DOUBLE in size while more than 80,000 devastated residents are forced to evacuate

This piece of news was written by Associated Press and Clemence Michallon for the Daily Mail online newspaper on the 7th May of 2016.

The news is about the terrible fire that still goes rages on in the area of Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada. The fire started on Friday and its still spreading. More than 80,000 evacuees had to flee their homes because of it and more than 249,571 acres of land have been burnt. It is predicted that the fire will double its size and even grow bigger for the next few weeks. Officers inform of a blaze that has already torched 1,600 homes and buildings and that can only be stopped by rain at this time.

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More than 5,500 people were got to safety by the authorities on Friday, while more than 8,000 left Fort McMurray, with a registration of more than 1,200 vehicles past Wandering River. Some of the evacuees left by plane. The smoke is making some of the evacuation services a bit difficult.

Apparently, the size of the fire is because of Fort McMurray is an area of the oil industry, which has been terribly damaged by the fire, with a quarter of Canada's oil out. It is said that this has already started to be prejudicial for the country's economy.

Many evacuees arrived by plane in Edmonton International Airport (more than 45 flights), feeling lucky after what they had seen. Scott Burrel, an evacuee from a scalfolding plant called Fort Hills, told the journalists how some of the evacuated workers offered food and shelter to the families that arrived from the evacuation.

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Chad Morrison, Alberta's manager of wildfire prevention, said that, despite of the firefighters' job, only rain will be able to stop this blaze. The forecast, however, predict a hot weather with wind on Saturday, which is bad, and a 40 percent of probability for rain on Sunday. so it's not very favourable.

Reports inform that more than 25,000 people fled north, while 80,000 fled south, were authorities have said that they can get better support services. The government has ensured a payement for each evacuee to cover basic needs with a cost of $77 million.

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The cause of the fire that started on Tuesday hasn't been discovered yet, but it could be by lightning. Canada has lost a lot of oil sands land and the fire has already burnt a big part of Alberta's territory.

Personally, I think that this is really sad. The destruction of wildlife and of people's homes is always terrible, and fire is one of the things that can damage the most. It's a pity that the fire is so big that they can't stop it if it doesn't rain. It makes me wonder if more help from firefighter services, even if they were from another province, department or from volunteering could help more to extinguish it sooner before it burns a lot more land.

Link to the video: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3576805/Canadian-convoy-waits-dawn-hoping-flee-wildfire-zone.html#v-1420596104547382803

VOCABULARY

wildfire: a large fire that spreads rapidly and is hard to put out.
blaze: a bright flame or fire.
ensuing: to follow in order.

China: Detained Activist, Journalist Denied Needed Health Care

This piece of news was published in Human Rights Watch on the 6th May of 2016. 

The news is about the negligence of political prisoners' health in China. Guo Feixiong and Gao Yu's are feared to be sick and with really poor medical conditions. Authorities know about this but still they let them unattended, even when China is a party in the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Sophie Richardson, China's director, informs against the cruelty and the human right's violation that prisoners are suffering in Chinese prisons, reporting that they let them get sick and some of them even die in without appropiate health care.

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Guo Feixiong (whose real name is Yang Maodong) was accused for gathering crowds against social order, as the article reads, because he took part in more than one demonstration standing up for freedom of speech. He is serving a six-year penalty and when his sister Yang Maoping, a doctor herself, went to visit him, he noticed he was sick. Even if both Guo and her sister asked the officers for a medical check for Guo, they refused.

Guo Feixiong

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On the other hand, Gao Yu is a 72-year-old woman who's a journalist and has been imprisoned more than once for leaking risky documents that compromised the government and, specially, the Chinese Communist Party. Gao suffers from many illneses and has had a turbulent medical health that has only been aggravated by the restrictive control of the Chinese authorities, even if she's in medical parole in her house.

Gao Yu

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The news also reports another case, Cao Shunli's, a grass roots activist that died of a coma after telling her lawyer that officers wouldn't grant her medical treatment even when it was possible that she had tuberculosis and liver disease.

Also, monk Tenzin Delek Rinpoche died in prison in 2015 after being there for 13 years with reported bad health conditions and torture.

China has been criticized in the Convention Against Torture because of this matter. Letting prisoners die of medical negligence violates the rule 24 of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, so their actions are against human rights.

Personally, I think that it's awful that Chinese authorities send anyone who speaks against them to prison, but what is worse is that they purposely let them die in prison. I find it such a lack of humanity to have signed in favor of the defense of human rights while still allowing a torture like this. It's really disappointing and we shouldn't let this happen, anywhere in the world.

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VOCABULARY

parole: the release of a person from prison before the end of the sentence imposed, with a promise or condition that no more crimes will be commited.

grass roots: the common or ordinary people, as constrasted with the leadership or elite of a political party, social organization, etc.

lymph: a clear, yellowish fluid in the blood that contains special blood cells that fight infection.

Russian Man May Face Prison For Saying 'There Is No God'

This piece of news was written by Alexandra Ma for the Huffington Post online newspaper on the 3rd March of 2016.

The news is about Viktor Krasnov, a Russian man who is facing a trial that may result in one year of prison, or a 300,000 rubles fine, for saying that "There is No God" on a social network called VKontakte. He also said that the Bible was a bunch of Jewish fairytales and mispelled "God". Article 148 from 2013 (according to the article, it "criminalizes acts that insult people's religious feelings and beliefs") is the law that condemns Viktor's actions.

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He is not the first one to be criminalized by this law. Two members of the band Pussy Riot faced two years of prison for making a song where Virgin Mary told Putin to go away. The trial caused a worldwide outrage.

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The online discussion was between Viktor Krasnov, Dmitry Buryashev and Alexander Kravtsov. Krasnov used his comments to stand up for sexist comments from the other two. Burnyashev and Kravtsov reported him to the police. Krasnov and his family started to receive threats from Orthodox Christians (his mother almost lost her job), but the police didn't want to do anything about it. Although the discussion is still active on VKontakte, Krasnov's comments have been deleted.

According to the article, though there's is no official religion in Russia, around 70 per cent of the population is Orthodox Christian.

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In my opinion, this is very deplorable. Not Krasnov's actions, but the Russian court's. Nowadays, people are free to speak their minds online, and there is nothing that can change so much from one person to another than religious feelings. You can be an extreme Orthodox Christian, a jew, an atheist... It doesn't matter. Your feelings are yours, no one's taking that away from you. But to harm others and condemn them claiming to "defend" your religion? That is not how it works. And what is even more shameful is that the Russian "justice" is criminalizing this. What about the sexist comments from Burnyashev and Kravtsov? Do those not matter? Are those not punishable? Well, in this case, they should take a closer look at that as well.

VOCABULARY

prosecuted: to begin or conduct legal proceedings against (a person), as with a criminal charge in a court of law.

fine: money imposed as a penalty for an offense.

amid: in the middle of.

Joy as twin boys joined at the stomach are successfully separated by surgeons using a 3D PRINTER

This piece of news was written by Kate Pickles for Mailonline, from the Daily Mail online newspaper, on the 7th March of 2016.

The news is about two conjoined twins from China that have been successfully separated thanks to a 3D printer. Their names are Yu Ce Yuan and Yu Ce Xiang, and their abdomens were conjoined at birth. After sending in accurate data from the babies medical and physical conditions to a 3d printing company, they could create replacements for the conjoined parts of the twins' bodies and, in that way, they ensured their survival.

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This, however, was possible after a 12-hour operation at Children's Hospital of Fudan University (Shanghai). The hospital had only faced nine cases of conjoined twins and, according to Dr. Zhen Shang, this was by far the most difficult one. Nevertheless, life would've been imposible or a nightmare for these children if they hadn't gone through the operation. The operation consisted in separating their liver and pelvic bone after reconstructing the cavities with the 3d printed pieces. Even though both babies are doing fine, doctors say they'll need futher operations.

The parents received help from donations from around the world thanks to Love Without Boundaries (a charity), that paid for the medical taxes and for the operation fee.

Yu Ce Yuan and Yu Ce Xiang before the operation

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After the operation

In my opinion this is great news. The applications of 3D printers amaze me. This is not the only medical advance that has been posible thanks to this kind of technology, but also many more. Also, I've seen some work in architecture using 3D printers! Although I think they should be a little bit controlled (can you create a gun that works? Better be careful with that), I believe that this invention is, and will keep being, something that will help us in a lot of different areas. Also, once again, this demonstrates that technology can make a better world, if we know how to use it.

VOCABULARY

conjoined twins: two babies born joined together at some point, such as the hips. Some have lived for many years without being surgically separated.

bladder: a hollow organ in the body that is shaped like a bag and may hold gases or liquids, esp. urine.

discharge: to release or send away.

How you can erase painful memories just by moving your eyes

This piece of news was written by Alice Smellie for the Daily Mail online newspaper on the 6th March of 2016.

The news is about Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), a successful therapy that has proven to be effective in cases of anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, stress and more. The method consists in moving your right hand back and forth in front of the patient's eyes between 25 and 30 times in intervals in long sessions (up to one hour in some therapies). EMDR is used to eliminate bad memories that we have and, by doing so, increase our wellbeing. It was first developed by psychologist Francine Saphiro.

According to Dr. Robin Logie (EMDR Association in UK and Ireland), the reason why we remember bad memories more than anything else is that our brains can't process them. Memories go through a mental process that allows us to assimilate them and gain experience and knowleadge from them. It doesn't work the same with bad memories: the brain is unable to assimilate. In addition, the sensorial part of the brain (sounds, smell, vision...) is the active one instead of the rational part when we recall this kind of memories, so the sensation we get is more vivid and not objective at all. This can make us feel really bad, both physically and emotionally. In the article, Saphiro even stated that there are between 10 and 20 memories stored in our brains that cause most of the pain in our lives.

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The method has proven to be successful in many cases and it's training is now compulsory for the Ministry of Defence mental health personnel. However, Dr. Logie warns that you should put yourself in the hands of a specialist.

The method doesn't erase the memory completely. What it does is that it diminishes the emotional charge it has so the brain can reprocess it and, as the article says, "put it in the right place". In this way the memory is still there, but it doesn't cause us any bad emotions.

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There are two theories on why this works. The first one says that it's like the REM fase of our sleep, in which we aren't able to focus on emotions because of our eye movement and can only process situations. The other says that our brains are less focused on emotions when distracted with something to do, with a work to do.

In my opinion this is a very interesting method. I think that a bad memory can haunt you forever, and for you to be able to calm yourself down and get rid off that bad feelings it causes you is a great thing and definetly an improving in wellbeing. I hadn't heard about this therapy before, but it seems like a helpful method that can be used in a lot of areas, such as PTSD. I'm very glad to know that such therapies (that don't involve pills or anything like that) are helping so much in nowadays society to make our lives a little bit easier.

Here's the news' video!



VOCABULARY

desensitize: to lessen the sensitivity of something.

pathway: a path, course, route or way.

ludicrous: causing or deserving laughter because of being absurd; ridiculous; laughable.

Cars of the future will watch as you drive to make sure you are not falling asleep or checking your phone for messages

This piece of news was written by Joseph Curtis for the Daily Mail online newspaper on the 13rd December of 2015.

The news is about a new device installed in cars that can control when a motorist is weary, falling asleep or not paying attention to the road and give warning to other motorists while setting off an alarm. The Britain's Transport Research Laboratory stated that this would help decrease the number of accidents with vehicles and that this might be the greatest advance in automobiles' safety since the air bag (around 1990). Many accidents are caused by tireness and, in the recent years, by using the phone while driving.

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The device consists in a camera on the car's dashboard that is focused on the face of the driver (the eyes, specially), and can detect when the motorist is not paying attention.

The comission thinks that it could be installed in every new car in five years, though it has to be approved by the Parliament first. This is not the only comission working for this kind of safety. Companies like Volvo, Mercedes Benz or Ford are also making their own measures to check on the motorists' attention to the road. Mercedes Benz, for example, is developing a system for its Eclass models that will be able to detect the position of the vehicle in the lane, so if it changes position in a bad way, the vehicle will be able to correct the mistake by itself. Also, it's been considered to include a "hands-free" system that will give the car autonomy.

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This is what happens when you fall asleep

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Personally, I think this is a good advance for vehicles, and not only that, but it's also something necessary for our own safety. Making sure that a driver is paying attention to the road could save a lot of lives, I'm sure of it. This is yet another example of how much technology can help society, rather than corrupting it, and make the world a better place.

Here's a video on the news!

VOCABULARY

motorist: one who drives or travels in a privately owned automobile.

hazard: something causing danger, peril, risk or difficulty.

casualty: one who is injured or killed in an accident.

NEWS: Forget Fitbit, track your fitness using a TATTOO: Flexible circuits worn on the skin monitor heart rate, stress levels and more

This piece of news was written by Gian Volpicelli for the Daily Mail online newspaper on the 27th November of 2015.

The news is about Tech Tats, a new technology developed by a Texan company callled Chaotic Moon. This wearables' function is to track heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, stress levels... They can do this with their biometrical sensors that are connected to the skin through the tattoo. Tech Tats are made with electrically conductive paint with LED lights and also include the biometrical sensors and a controller. One of its advantages in front of fitness trackers such as FitBit is that they can be worn in any part of the body, as they blend with the skin perfectly. The Tech Tats last for a year.

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Chaotic Moon has also said that these device could also be used as a location tracking system for children, for military operations or to keep ID and bank account information (this would allow us to pay for things with our Tech Tat). More over, they can connect via Bluetooth with a smartphone.

Personally, I think that this device can be a little bit problematic, specially with the bank account and tracking system functions it has (would it only be used by parents to track their children?). The good thing about them is that they can warn you when something is wrong with your vital signs and, for example, send a notification to your smartphone if it's connected with it. That way we'd know when something is wrong. The other plus it has is that they are temporary, so if you want to make them disappear you can. Regardless of my personal opinion, I think that it's quite a step forward in technology. 

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VOCABULARY

unwieldy: used, handled, or managed with difficulty because of size, shape, weight, or complexity.

to keep tab(s) on something: to keep a watch over something.

track: to follow the course of something.

NEWS: Silicon Valley professionals are taking microdoses of LSD at work to increase productivity

This piece of news was written for the Daily Mail online newspaper on the 27th November. However, the article doesn't include the name of the reporter.

The news is about how some workers at Silicon Valley are taking microdoses (between 10g and 15g) of LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) to give a boost to their creativity. The amount of the drug consumed every morning allows them to feel more awake and concentrated on their activities. People like John Andrew said that they felt a lot of clarity and that their work was a lot better after a few months of taking LSD or realted drugs. James Fadiman, author of The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide informed that the number of people taking these kind of drugs to improve their efficiency has increased a lot since 2011, specially amongst workers in their twenties.

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On the other hand, Matt Johnson, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, says that taking microdoses could have a bad effect on a long-term consuming routine. The article also talks about the death of Arthur Cave, a teenager who died falling off a cliff after taking LSD.

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Personally, I think that this could become dangerous. As Matt Johnson said, consuming these drugs on a regular basis could lead to unhelthy effects later on, which would be bad and unproductive. Also, I think that we should consider working on our own, without having to take any drugs, because maybe there would come a day where we would actually need these drugs because we wouldn't be able to work without them. If everyone started to consume drugs for their work then what's the point on even putting some effort? Isn't that the reason why drugs in sports are banned? We should all try to trust our own capacities before jumping to something like this.

VOCABULARY

uber: the ultimate, above all, the best, top, something that nothing is better than.

assess: to determine the amount of something.

dose: an amount of medicine to be taken at one time.

NEWS: Li-Fi: 100 times faster than Wi-Fi, tests prove

This piece of news was written by Adam Boult for the Telegraph online newspaper on the 25th November of 2015.

Thw news is about Li-Fi, a new alternative to Wi-fi that can send data information throught the air at 1GBPs of speed, which is 100 times faster that Wi-fi. It was invented in 2011 by Professor Harald Haas of the University of Edinburgh.

The way Li-Fi works is with VLC, which stands for visible light communication. The data information travels trough light with no need of wires and through the air. In the article, the author makes a comparison with the well known fibre optic networks. The great difference between these two kinds of connections is that fibre optic networks need optic fibre wiring while Li-Fi is wireless.

Professor Harald Haas

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There are a lot of projects to test this kind of connection regulated by Velmenni, mostly in industries who are looking for a faster and safer way to transmit information. An example of these industries are airlines, to improve on in-flight connectivity and others. It is also being studied for personal internet connection.

Personally, I think that this is a great progress for technology. It would change our internet connections a lot if the information we send and receive was travelling 100 faster than it is now. Not only that, but also the fact that the wiring connections would disappear after some time, because they wouldn't be needed anymore. And also, if this system works with light (like light bulbs) i wonder if we could produce the energy needed with renewable energies. On the whole, I think this is a great thing that we should all keep an eye on.

VOCABULARY

beam: to transmit (a signal) in a particular direction.

pilot: serving as an experiment before full-scale operation.

flickering: quality of something that appears quickly and briefly.

Here's Professor Harald Haas talking about Li-Fi in a conference:

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NEWS: This 7-Year-Old Blind Girl Was Banned From Using Her Cane At School

This piece of news was written by Taylor Ortega for the Elite Daily online newspaper on the 18th of November of 2015.

It is about a seven-year-old  blind girl named Lily-Grace Hooper whose walking stick was banished from school, the Hambrook Primary School, for health and safety. The reasons why this was done were that the teachers and students could trip over it while walking around the school. The mother was infuriated by this and told the Bristol Post that her daughter needed her cane to guide herself and that the measure was discrimitation. Even though Geoff Cox, head of the Health and Safety executive public sector team, agreed with Lily-Grace's mother that the little girl needed the walking stick, the school suggested getting an all day adult assistance for her. This was totally refused by the mother, who held that she wanted her daughter to grow as an independent girl. Finally, the school said that the banishment of the cane would be temporary until they could speak to Lily-Grace's mother to talk about it.

Lily-Grace Hooper with her mother

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Personally, I think that what the school did to Lily-Grace Hooper is awful. The walking stick is a measure that helps her walk around and it's something used by a lot of blind people. I don't see how it is a danger for teachers and students that she uses it. The school said that someone could trip over the cane and that it was a safety problem. Well, I say that you can trip over a lot of things at school. Why don't they ban pencils or scissors or football balls, for example? Those can cause harm too. I agree with Lily-Grace's mother, it really is a ridiculous and unnecessary measure. I hope that this little girl was finnaly allowed to bring in her cane because it's an important tool that helps her deal with her disability.

VOCABULARY

round-the-clock: lasting or continuing throughout the entire 24 hours of the day; continuous.

ban: to prhibit, forbid or bar; interdict.

cane: a short staff used to assist one on walking.

NEWS: New blood alcohol sensors could make cars shut down if they sense drivers are over the legal drinking limit

This piece of news was written for the online version of the Daily Mail in 6th June. It doesn't say who wrote it. It talks about a new system for the car industry that makes it posible to shut down the car when it detects a high level of alcohol in the driver's blood.

The DADSS (Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety) programme started in 2008 and now the first mock-ups are showing up. The device has been created by the collaboration of the National Highway Safety Administration, for the blood alcohol detectors, and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety.

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The invention is based in two detectors of blood alcohol. The first one is the breath-based system, which measures the levels of alcohol molecules in the driver's breath. The second one is the touch-based system, which makes a near-infrared tissue spectroscopy to detect alcohol molecules in the driver's blood by the transpiration of his or her touch. This mode works with the use of light intensity to detect the alcohol molecules, as alcohol only absorbs certain wavelenghts. These two methods cause the car to shut down if the alcohol levels are at 0.08% (the legal limit) or higher.

Some of the mock-ups were presented in the Congress with representatives at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

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Personally, I think this is a great device for vehicle industry. It is amazing that we can improve safety so much with it. The cause of many vehicle crashes accidents is that one of the drivers was drunk. As a consequence of the introduction of the DADSS to the industry, there will be less accidents. The best thing we can do in this sector of technology is not to improve in faster and fancy vehicles, but to improve in safer vehicles.

Here you have the video of the news!

VOCABULARY

wavelength: the distance, measured in the direction of a wave, between two successive points in the wave that are characterized by the same phase of oscillation.

pinpoint: to locate or describe exactly or precisely.

mock-up: a model, often full-size, for study, testing, or teaching.

NEWS: British tourists face travel chaos as strikes by Spanish air traffic controllers threaten to disrupt holidays

This piece of news was written by Neil Sears and Gerard Couzens for the Daily Mail in the 7th June. It is about the several walkouts that Spanish air traffic controllers are planning and how it affects British tourists.

On Monday, thousands of British tourists started to get worried about their holidays in Spain because Spanish air traffic controllers started a series of two-hours-long walkouts planned for the week. Holidaymakers are hurrying up to book rooms for them because they'll have to deal with delays or cancellations of their flights.

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The eight walkouts planned will be two hours long. The first two were performed on Monday, but there are more planned for Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The Spanish law says that there has to be at least 70% of the air controllers' staff during walkouts but many will say that they're sick so they can stay home. The reason of these strikes, organised by USCA (the Spanish air controllers' association) is to protest against the sanction given to 61 air controllers that made a walkout facing Aena back in 2010 (the military force's procedure was needed then). They were initially planned for May but were put off because of the Germanwings plane crash.

Many tourists will lose their money because the services that they've hired can't change their dates (hotels, trips, flights...). Air controllers' say that it's their only alternative to do a walkout despite the economic damage for their country and tourists. Some airlines have the intention to maintain all their flights, althought they might be delayed.

Personally I think that air controllers shouldn't stop air traffic for several days like that. I don't mean that they can't do a walkout. If they want to, it's their right. But I think that it is quite exaggerated to stop working for several days, leaving all the tourists without their dreamt (and paid) holidays.

Here you have the video of the news!


VOCABULARY

strike: work stoppage. Walkout also means the same.

holidaymaker: somebody on vacation, tourist.

stranded: unable to leave.

spokesman (spokesperson): speaker for a group.

NEWS: Germanwings crash: co-pilot 'treated for depression'

On the 27th of March there was a terrible plane crash in the Alpes. This piece of news talks about the cause of the accident.

Police have recently found evidence that Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of the Lufthansa crashed plane (A320), suffered from severe depression back in 2009 and that he probably caused the plane crash deliberately, killing 150 people.

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Andreas Lubitz started the pilot training in 2008 but gave it up for several months in 2009 after he continued with it. Althought he passed all the tests and was considered completely re-established from his depression, police have find clues of mental illness in Lubitz's flat and, for that reason, they've taken away the co-pilot's belongings to examine them. They have found an important clue. Althought thay won't say what it is they have assured that it is not a suicide note.

The plane's Black box has revealed crucial information about the tragedy. The pilot left the cockpit to go to the toilet. When he came back, the door was barred and Lubitz didn't open it. The pilot tried to break the door with an axe without results. In the recording, Lubitz seems to want to crash the plane.

For this reason, most airlines have announced a rule that establishes that there can never be just one crew member or person in the cockpit.

Alexander Lubitz

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His parents are really hurt about this tragedy. They have a huge trauma, not only because their son has died, but also because he is responsible of the plane crash and the death of so many people.

Personally, I don't understand how someone could do such a terrible thing. He must have had a very serious illness to do that so cinically.

VOCABULARY

cockpit: the compartment in a small aircraft in which the pilot, crew, and sometimes the passengers sit

black box: an electronic device, such as a flight recorder, that can be removed from an aircraft as a single package.

axe: a hand tool with one side of its head forged and sharpened to a cutting edge, used for felling trees, splitting timber, etc

NEWS: Is this Britain's most painful job?

This piece of news was written by Claire Carter on 5 of March for the Daily Mail Online newspaper.

The news is about Jordan Wills, a 19-year-old young man who works as a paintball target and wins 16,000 a year approximately. Despite how painful this job may seem, he's okay with it and UK Paintball, his employers, actually received a lot of applications for the job.

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Jordan was chosen for this job after the company interviewed eighteen candidates, mainly because he was athletic (he's a rower at Kingston University), had a high threshold for pain and already knew a lot about paintball.

His friends think that he is crazy, but he says he loves his job. He works two days a week and one shift is around 1 or 2 hours. Professional shooters use him as a target at a short distance to test the manufacturers' enterprises products (the "bullets"). Jordan only wears protection in his eyes and wears just a T-shirt. He says that the pain is bareable and that it only lasts for a few seconds. Sometimes it takes longer for the marks to disappear, between three or four days, but he rarely gets hurt. The company makes sure that Jordan doesn't get hurt and if he did they'd stop his shift. The student makes a report on the bullets' effect so the companies know what to improve on.

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Jordan is a fan of paintball and has played for many years. He had a wide knowleadge about the subject and that's what allowed him to get the job. Many people applied to it, but it was necessary a high threshold for pain, which Jordan has.

Personally, I am surprised to see that someone does this kind of job. I thought that the companies used sponge figures to test their products, not people. But if Jordan is cool with it and likes his job then I don't see any reason why it should be wrong.

VOCABULARY

Threshold: the point at which something begins to take effect.

Salary: a fixed amount of money payed regularly to a person for work.

Wage: money payed or received for services.

Aim: to point (a firearm, ball, etc.) so that the thing discharged or thrown will hit a target.

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NEWS: A picture worth dying for?

This piece of news was written by Callum Paton on 5 of March for the Daily Mail Online newspaper.

Jack Fox, a 14-year-old boy, fell of a mountain's cliff when he was taking a picture of the Alps' landscape while in a school trip. He survived and so did the phone with the picture that nearly cost his life.

Jack's picture

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The boy survived without severe injuries, just iceburns in his arms, after falling 2,500ft. He later explained that he slipped when he was stepping back so he could get a wider range for the picture. He asked for help, and his classmates were horrified when they saw him falling down the mountain. He was airlifted off and taken to the Alder Hey Children's Hospital.

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Amanda, his mom, says that Jack hoped that he would get a new phone, an Iphone 6 more specifically, but sadly for him, his Iphone 4S had survived the fall without any crack. The best part was that the picture was in it.

Jack and his mom say that he was lucky to be wearing his helmet, as many people at the top of the mountain weren't wearing it. After the fall it was destroyed and it had protected Jack. Nobody know what could had happen if he hadn't worn it.

Personally, I think that he is very lucky. He could've got a lot more hurt and he could've even died. People should be more careful when taking pictures. They just look at the phone screen and worry about anything else but a good angle. What I think is a bit stupid is that getting a new phone was the only thing that Jack was worried about. He was alive and he just thought he wanted and Iphone 6, unbelivable.

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VOCABULARY

airlift: the act, process or system for transporting persons or cargo by aircraft, especially in an emergency.

helmet: a usually strong and hard covering worn on the head for protection.

to be after something: to want something and have the objective of getting it.

ice burns: wounds caused by friction with snow that causes a burn.

NEWS: "Who killed Farah the kitten?"

This piece of news was written by Jennifer Smith on 5 of March for the Daily Mail Online newspaper.

Neil Tregarthen has hired the services of private detectives to investigate the death of Farah, his daughter's kitten, because the police is not competent enough to find who was it's murderer.

Neil Tregarthen

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It all started around the end of September, when Farah, the little kitten of Aylish, Tregarthen's daughter, returned home badly wounded. The animal had been playing in the garden when someone supposedly shot it with an air rifle. The vets couldn't do anything for her and she died.

Neil went to the police and asked for a full investigation to find the murderer. Even when he gave them a potential suspect (with a witness supporting the accusation), the police of Exeter couldn't get to the bottom of it. That's why Tregarthen went to Focus Investigation, an office of private detectives. He payed them £10,000. Neil also put papers all around the city offering a reward of £1,000 to anyone who gave reliable information about the murder. 

Tregarthen's reward papers

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Focus Investigations made a report six weeks later, with the witness' declaration and other evidences. The police of Devon and Cornwall defended itself saying that they did do everything that was in their hands to discover the murderer (they even went to the RSPCA), but they couldn't do anything. When they told Aylish she understood.

Farah

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Aylish, however, said that she was angry at the police because they weren't investigating Farah's case. She thinks that police should condemn actions like this because they're illegal and some other day something worse could happen.

Personally, I think that is very cruel to shoot an animal with an air rifle. I mean, what reason could someone possibly have to do that? They should find whoever did it to punish him or her. Althought I find Tregarthen's reaction as a bit exaggerated, I understand it. An animal can become really important for someone.

VOCABULARY

kitten: a young cat.

to move on from something: to accept something and carry on with your life.

report: a detailed account of an event, situation, etc., usually based on what one has observed or asked questions about and written or said formally.

NEWS: "Black Friday: Wal-Mart workers revolt"

This piece of news was written by Kim Gittleson on 28 of November for the BBC News.

The article talks about how Wal-Mart workers protested in the streets for their rights on Black Friday, one of the biggest sales of the year. Wal-Mart is a big chain of department stores of the retails sector.

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Barbara Gertz, who is working in a Walmart in Aurora, Colorado, explains that many workers have joined OUR Wal-Mart (Organization United for Respect at Wal-Mart) to demand higher wages to the company. She disapproves that some people in Wal-Mart management say that they are open to receive concerns and questions from workers. She has sent her concerns to the company for years and has received no response.

She talks about the OUR Wal-Mart, that has united as well with other organizations like the organization of people who work in fast food chains. All this people has found a new way to protest that is an advantatge for them because they're not seen as an "official" organization. They're "alt-labor" groups and protest for workers' rights. They make strikes in the most important days, like Black Friday, so the companies will be forced to listen to them. This practice has increased because retail companies are getting more and more competitive. The companies force the workers to have bad schedules (they do more hours of work), specially on those specific days.

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I personally think that big companies like Wal-Mart should care more about their workers. They're so obsessed with offering the best deals and sales to gain money that they forget some of the workers' rights. They have to do more hours to prepare those special days and they don't have a fair wage. I think that they're doing a great job with their protests. The system that they've found of protesting on "big days" is going to be successful in the end.

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 VOCABULARY

retail: the sale of goods individually or in small quantities to consumers.

"alt-labour": unions of workers that agitate and protest for workers' rights in non-unionised sectors.

wage: the amount of money that a worker receives every month.

Black Friday: it's the Friday after Thanksgiving and is the official start of the holiday shopping season.

NEWS: Sharks can be 'social or solitary'

BBC News - source

A study by british scientists made at the Marine Biological Association of the UK, in Plymoith, says that catsharks have personalities. According to different situations, some of them tend to be more antisocial and some more social.

catshark

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The scientists made ten groups of ten sharks. Each group was in a tank and their behaviour was observed. The tanks were divided so they formed different situations: from a very simple enviroment to a very complex one. The scientist realized that, no matter in what situations they found themselves in, some sharks always joined other sharks in a group, while other individuals camouflaged with the environment or stayed with very small groups. They also analyzed the relationships between the sharks. The conclusion of the scientists, like Prof. Hughes and Dr. Jacoby, is that sharks have a personality.

This is not the first study on animal behaviour. Other species have also shown personality traits. Mr. Finger is a student that is doing the same experiment with lemon sharks in the wild, and scientists are looking forward to compare results.

Dr. David Jacoby, behavioural ecologist working in the

Institute of Zoology in London.

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For me, this is a very interesting piece of news. I do think that animals have personality because, after all, we're animals as well. I always thought that sharks were solitary animals by nature, so it surprised me to know that some of them like to have social relationships with others. I think that there should be more animal behaviour studies because they help us to understand our own world. Maybe we could even understand what animals think or want to do by knowing their personality.

lemon shark

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Here's a video related with the study:

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VOCABULARY

behaviour: manner of behaving or conducting oneself.

gravel: small stones and pebbles or a mixture of these with sand.

environment: the external factors and forces surrounding and affecting an organism, person or population.

NEWS: Birmingham mother left children home alone to fly to Australia

The news is about a woman of Birmingham (her name isn't said for legal reasons) who flew to Australia leaving her six children at home without telling them nor anyone.

The mother left to Australia to meet her boyfriend, a man that he had met online. She told her fourteen-year-old son that she was going to the supermarket and, after four hours, the boy called his grandparents to alert of his mother's sudden disappearance. The police and the local services were alerted and later they found out about the woman's location. She didn't want to come back so the authorities arrested her six weeks later when she returned. Her lawyer said that it was a unique circumstance and that the children weren't affected. Judge Creed has given her a suspended jail sentence because, besides what she's done, she's been a good mother, being a single parent. The children are living now with their grandparents.

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I think that this is a crazy story. The mother should have thought about her kids first, instead of running away to meet her boyfriend. As a mother, she has responsabilities and she shouldn't have left them all alone at home without telling them were she was really going. She could've got someone to look after them while she was away, but the thing is that, by not telling anyone, she worried her grandparents and her children. I understand that being a single mother must be really stressing, specially having six kids, but what she did was wrong. If the woman's wish was to meet her boyfriend and spend six weeks with him in Australia, she just had to buy a ticket and take her children to her grandparents or a friends' house. It's common sense.



VOCABULARY

"mother-of-six": expression used to say that the mother has six children.

sentence: judgement or punishment determined by a judge for someone who has commited a crime.

court: place where legal justice is administered or group of people, such as judges, lawyers, and a jury, authorized to hear and decide legal cases.