Banks get ready for Greek failure to pay debt

At meetings here in Washington, the group of twenty leading nations have been working on plans to deal with the potential damage from a Greek default.

A lot of their efforts have been focused on the banking system. If Greece were allowed to go bust, the bonds that banks hold would become worthless.

German and French banks are most at risk. So there's been lots of talk here in Washington on how to inject more capital to shore them up.

The other big worry is that if Greece defaulted, the financial markets would start turning on other countries. If Italy or Spain were to come under pressure, those here say there isn't enough cash available to help them.

That's why finance ministers are working on building a firewall around Greece to stop the situation from getting that far.

Michelle Fleury, BBC News

default failure  - to pay back debts

to go bust  - to go bankrupt, to have no money to pay debts

bonds -  certificates of debt issued by a government or corporation

worthless -  of no value

at risk  - exposed to the possibility of losing money

to inject -  to introduce, to put into

to shore them up - to support them

turning on -  attacking or criticizing suddenly and unexpectedly

to come under pressure -  to be affected by the crisis

a firewall - a barrier to prevent the spread

Indonesian track treatment

People suffering from various ailments in Indonesia's capital Jakarta have been using an unusual and potentially deadly therapy.

They claim lying on train tracks allows an electric current to pass through their bodies curing a variety of illnesses.

The trains are in fact powered by overhead lines.

Despite this, and the obvious dangers, some people believe it is the best and most affordable remedy.

Exercise

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences.
Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.
ailments / therapy / claim / curing / remedy

1 They _________ to be a variety of different nationalities and speak English with a foreign accent.

2 New European Union rules have come into force banning hundreds of traditional herbal _______________.
The EU law aims to protect consumers from possible damaging side-effects of over-the-counter herbal medicines.

3It also showed that many chose the wrong drugs to tackle common _________.

4Music __________ can be used to improve treatment of depression, at least in the short term, say researchers in Finland.

5Church-appointed doctors agreed that there was no medical explanation for the _______ of the nun.

(answers: next post)

Vocabulary
ailments:illnesses, usually not very serious
therapy:treatment for a medical problem
claim:say that something is true although it has not been proved and many people don't believe it
curing:making better, healing. The related noun is 'a cure'.
remedy:'a remedy' is something which helps a non-serious medical problem get better. It can also used to refer to a solution to a problem or difficult situation.

Delays cloud Brazil's 2014 World Cup preparations

No one doubts that the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the country of football and the nation of partying, will be memorable. But there are doubts over how well organised it will be.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reacted angrily to concerns voiced by officials from football's governing body Fifa, after the end of this year's World Cup, that Brazil was still far from ready to host the tournament in four years' time.

"There are already people asking where are Brazil's airports, buses, railways and stadiums? They talk as if we were a bunch of idiots who don't know what we have to do nor how to define priorities", said President Lula at the launch of a high-speed train set to link Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
But the fact is that Brazil does not have much to show more than 30 months after it learned it would host the 2014 World Cup.

There have been severe delays in all 12 cities chosen to stage matches, particularly in the construction of stadiums and upgrading of airports. Brazil is experiencing one of its best economic periods in decades, so there are resources to carry out the necessary works.

However, there is a lot of red tape to cut through, as well as politics, as most of the investment will be made with public money.

Expensive delay

"I am not so worried about the arenas because you can build a stadium in 30 months after you have an engineering project ready, and we have 47 months to the World Cup," says Jose Roberto Bernasconi, president of the National Association of Engineering and Architecture Companies.
"But airports are a more complicated matter and I think that is our main problem nowadays," he said.

Brazil has won the World Cup five times (including in 1970, above)

 

"The problem is all airports are state run. We should have established long ago public-private partnerships to invest in the airports."
Mr Bernasconi points out that the longer the delay, the more expensive the construction will be.
"The PanAmerican Games in Rio de Janeiro (in 2007) had an initial budget of some $270m but ended up at least three times as expensive because things were left to the last moment."
In Brazil most people believe that the county will be able to organise the World Cup but there are concerns about how well the money will be used.
"We always hear so much about corruption in politics, in Brazilian football. And there is so much money involved in a World Cup that it will tempt many people," says student Daniela Mendes.
"But if South Africa managed to do it, why wouldn't we?"

By Paulo Cabral

Brazil 2014 World Cup

The 2014 World Cup is heading to Brazil. In less than 4 years, the greatest football spectacle of them all will be heading to the country that introduced the notion of the beautiful game. For the first time in 64 years, football’s biggest event will grace Brazil’s shores and a feast of football is sure to be served up in front of passionate crowds. True, there is the small matter of the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 to contend with first, but football fans across Brazil and indeed the world are rubbing their hands in anticipation of the 2014 Brazil World Cup.
Who will be there? Who will be defending champions? These are questions we have no answers to. Yet. Follow the route to the Brazil World Cup in 2014 with us as we will keep you up to date with all the ups and downs right up until the trophy is lifted at the end of the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

World Cup Facts and Figures

World Cup Facts: At just 17 years and 41 days, Norman Whiteside became the youngest player ever to play in a finals match when he faced Yugoslavia for Northern Ireland in 1982.
Ronaldo of Brazil is the all time leading goalscorer in World Cup finals with 15 goals, yet France’s Just Fontaine holds the record for the most goals in a single tournament with 13 in 1958.

Bad news for Australian economy

It's contributed to a 1.2 % fall in GDP, the biggest contraction in the Australian economy in twenty years.

With rail lines buckled by flood waters and digging brought to a halt at many mines, coal exports from Queensland were particularly severely hit.

The Australian economy has also been badly affected by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Japan is the country's second biggest trading partner.

On top of all that, the Australian dollar has been at its highest levels against the US dollar since first being floated in the 1980s, which has also hit exporters.

Australia managed to avoid recession after the global financial crisis, earning it the nickname 'the wonder from down under'. And most economists think this figure is a one-off blip.
Asian demand for Australian resources, like iron ore and coal, should help the economy rebound, and the prediction is for a resumption of strong growth by the end of the year.


Vocabulary

resources-rich

an area which contains a large amount of valuable minerals and crops

bottom line

the final calculated amount of money that is profit or loss

contributed to

been partly responsible for

buckled

bent and twisted

brought to a halt

stopped

On top of all that

As well as all those other negative things

down under

an expression that means Australia

a one-off blip

a single bad result which won't be repeated

rebound

return to its previous healthy condition

a resumption of

a restarting o

Phrasal Verbs com 'take'

TAKE APART  - desmontarIn order to fix the machine you have to take it apart. [Para consertar a máquina, você tem que desmontá-la.]

TAKE AWAY  - tirar
Take it away from here. [Tira isso daqui.]

TAKE BACK  - devolver
You should take back your purchase if you are not satisfied. [Você deve devolver a mercadoria, se não estiver satisfeito com ela.]

TAKE OFF  - tirar [geralmente usado com roupas e acessórios de vestimenta]
Hang up your coat in the closet after you take it off. [Pendure seu casaco no armário, depois de tirá-lo.]

TAKE OVER  - assumir [uma pessoa assumir a posição de outra]
Our teacher is leaving and a new one is taking over next week. [Nossa professora vai embora e uma nova assumirá semana que vem.]

TAKE UP - começar [um curso, um emprego, etc]
 I'm planning to take up English next semester. [Estou planejando começar a estudar inglês no próximo semestre.]

É isto ai pessoal. Lembrem-se, porém, que há vários phrasal verbs com take e alguns dos phrasal verbs acima possuem outros significados. Os que ai estão são apenas uma forma de ajudar você a melhorar o seu vocabulário.

Algumas Curiosidades sobre a Irlanda

Você já pensou em ir para a Irlanda? Já se perguntou um pouco sobre este país que de uns tempos para cá começou a receber cada vez mais atenção em termos de intercâmbio e turismo? No post de hoje quero apenas contar para vocês algumas curiosidades interessantes. Espero que gostem!

Para começar saiba que a Irlanda é a terceira maior ilha da Europa. Também conhecida como Ilha Esmeralda. Isto se deve ao fato de ela ser muito verde por causa das chuvas. Ela é também famosa por seus lindos campos, belos chalés e paisagens perfeitas. Enfim, uma ilha extremamente linda!

Em se tratando de língua, é bom saber que a Irlanda tem duas línguas oficiais: o inglês e o gaélico (também chamado de “Irish”). Poucas pessoas falam gaélico corretamente, mas todos são obrigados a estudar esta língua na escola.

Na Irlanda, os motoristas também dirigem do lado direito do veículo e do lado esquerdo da rua. Ou seja, o mesmo padrão que na Inglaterra. E totalmente ao contrário para nós!

 Se você um dia for à Irlanda não se assuste se for ao supermercado e não tiver uma pessoa no caixa para atendê-lo. Em alguns supermercados as máquinas substituíram as pessoas. Portanto, é comum encontrar caixas self-service, nos quais o cliente mesmo passa as compras, coloca o dinheiro, pega a nota fiscal e o troco, empacota tudo e vai embora.

A próxima curiosidade parece mentira, mas não é! Juro que é verdade! Você sabia que na Irlanda não tem cobras? É sério! Você jamais vai encontrar esse réptil por lá. Diz a lenda que Saint Patrick, padroeiro do país, expulsou todas as cobras da ilha e elas nunca mais voltaram.
A Irlanda possui um monte de gente famosa internacionalmente. Alguns destes são: Pierce Brosnan, Colin Farrell, Enya, Damien Rice, U2, The Cranberries, The Corrs, Westlife, Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde e ainda outros.

Uma coisa legal de saber é que por lá não existe conta de água para residências. Isto significa que você vai tomar banho e não vai pagar pela água. Mas não é por isso que deve desperdiçar esse bem precioso. Na Irlanda, somente as empresas pagam pelo fornecimento do recurso.

No café da manhã os irlandeses costumam comer um tipo de feijão que vem enlatado com molho de tomate e tem gosto levemente adocicado.

Vale lembrar que as diferenças culturais são uma grande riqueza e conhecer mais sobre elas traz sempre algo positivo. Em breve, conto para vocês um pouco sobre o inglês falado na Irlanda. Tem curiosidades bem interessantes também no jeito como eles usam a língua por lá. Bye bye! Take care!