Media Scan

Migliaia di persone sono scese in una piccola città del centro Sud Sudan per assistere all'ordinazione di Christian Carlassare a vescovo di Rumbek, una celebrazione conclusiva di quello che è stato un anno traumatico per il religioso italiano. Ha superato una sparatoria e successive operazioni da quando papa Francesco lo ha nominato un anno fa. A poche settimane dall'arrivo in Sud Sudan lo scorso aprile, il religioso 44enne è stato colpito a quattro colpi a una gamba da aggressori che hanno fatto irruzione nella sua casa di Rumbek. Sei persone, tra cui un membro anziano del clero cattolico, sono sotto processo in relazione alla sparatoria - in un caso i pubblici ministeri stanno indagando anche se la chiesa vuole che venga ritirato. La messa di venerdì a Rumbek è stata presieduta dal cardinale Gabriel Zubeir Wako, arcivescovo in pensione di Khartoum - e hanno partecipato anche molti altri sacerdoti e i genitori del nuovo vescovo. L'italiano è il primo europeo ad essere ordi...

Il primo ministro italiano Mario Draghi ha annunciato un importante accordo sul gas con l'Algeria, che promette di ridurre la forte dipendenza del suo Paese dalle importazioni russe.  In base all'accordo di questo autunno, l'aumento delle forniture di gas sarà inviato attraverso il gasdotto sottomarino Transmed, che collega l'Algeria all'Italia attraverso la Tunisia. L'Italia acquista la stragrande maggioranza del suo gas naturale dall'estero, con il 40% delle sue forniture provenienti dalla Russia. Durante una visita nella capitale algerina, Algeri, Draghi ha affermato che il suo governo ha firmato un accordo preliminare sulla cooperazione energetica con l'Algeria.  "Subito dopo l'invasione dell'Ucraina ho annunciato che l'Italia si sarebbe mossa con la massima rapidità per ridurre la dipendenza dal gas russo.  "Gli accordi di oggi sono una risposta significativa a questo obiettivo strategico. Altri seguiranno", ha affermato.

The invasion of Ukraine has lasted for over a month now. On March 2, the BBC reported on the ongoing battles for Kharkiv, Kherson and Kyiv: the chaos, the rubble, the dispair of peaceful Ukrainians in the bomb shelters, the tears of refugee families parting into exile...  This distressing report, which is introduced by Clive Myrie, an experienced BBC foreign correspondent and TV presenter, is suitable for B2 students and above.   You will come across interesting expressions like: " in broad daylight, to leave a trail of destruction, the aftermath of a deadly missile attack, the target [is] an airbase, in the rubble, to keep myself together, shooting, to have captured, sirens wail, [deserted streets] echo fear and dread, [the children made] pistols [to kill the enemy], as war closes in, to put on a brave face in, the national anthem, hit by sustained rocket fire, airborne troops, [planes] shot down, distressing images, [calm] in the wreckage [of people's homes], to hide in...

Russian Journalist Marina Ovsyannikova has been released after being interrogated for 14 hours without a lawyer, for two consecutive sleepless nights, and after paying a fine of €250.  She was detained for disrupting a major Russian TV news programme with a placard that read "Stop the war, don't believe the propaganda, they're lying to you", BBC News reports. Previously, she had recorded a video with a statement explaining her protest, which can be seen below, thanks to The Guardian . Some interesting words you can find in this story are: to be fined, to be released, a live TV news programme, the set, to plead not guilty, a charge, to call on [the Russian people] to protest, to be prosecuted, to ban, the court hearing, to be denied access [to a lawyer], to stress, to come up with an idea, the courthouse, her whereabouts, the placard, to be ashamed, the television screen, this inhumane regime, a blog run by former BBC journalist, to praise her for telling the truth, to...

BBC Culture  publishes the list of the 20 Best Movies of 2021 , which includes Almodovar's first film in English, "The Human Voice".  In this dense article, which is full of simple and composed adjectives and adverbs you will find interesting words and expressions for C1 students like: "[a] suspenseful, action-filled [film], wiliness, the film's themes [...] resonate profoundly with social justice movements today,  to feature, damsels in distress, [a] dreamlike film, a callow knight, to behead, to stroll, to gasp, bewildering, a smart-mouthed comic sidekick, swirl, stunningly shot, to blur the boundaries between fact and fiction, to reel back, to capture [the novel's] nuance, an entrancing work of art, over-the-top entertainment, giddy,  to mess up, a spellbinding drama, endless grievances and yearnings, grief, barrage, bone-crunching violence, grip, to boast, strait-laced, brooding, creepy, sprightly, chilling, a grief-racked, a pared-down drama, a s...

Novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first black African to win the prize for almost two decades.   He was born in Zanzibar (Tanzania) but he migrated as a teenager to the UK, escaping from ethnic persecution and eventually became a professor of Post-colonial Literatures at the University of Kent in Canterbury. His novels talk about the experience of colonialism, refugees, migration and individual dignity.  In this three minute interview NPR's culture reporter Neda Ulabyis talks about his life and works.  You will come across interesting words like: shortlisted, fate, to flee, civil unrest, scholarly work, to be batted around, to track, marquee names, overdue, sprawling, to reconcile cultural chasms with their dreams, a clip, linen, a chubby face, uprooted [people]. Below, you can also watch a 6 minute BBC interview to Mr. Gurnah himself after he learnt he had won the Nobel Prize, which can be heard with subtitles. Both reco...