{"id":62777,"date":"2021-03-21T17:29:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-21T17:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fluency.io\/br\/blog\/fluency-news-06\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T10:58:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T13:58:25","slug":"fluency-news-06","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homolog.fluency.io\/br\/blog\/fluency-news-06\/","title":{"rendered":"Fluency News #06"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello, everyone!<\/em><\/p>\n

Sejam bem-vindos e bem-vindas a mais um epis\u00f3dio da nossa nova s\u00e9rie de podcasts, o Fluency News<\/strong>! Aqui, voc\u00ea vai treinar a sua escuta e ficar por dentro do que est\u00e1 acontecendo no mundo, sempre com as tr\u00eas principais not\u00edcias da semana, tudo em ingl\u00eas! Ao longo do epis\u00f3dio, n\u00f3s tamb\u00e9m adicionamos explica\u00e7\u00f5es em portugu\u00eas das coisas que achamos que precisam de mais aten\u00e7\u00e3o, assim voc\u00ea n\u00e3o perde nenhum detalhe!<\/p>\n

Nesta semana, temos um update na hist\u00f3ria sobre a Bielorr\u00fassia, que cobrimos alguns epis\u00f3dios atr\u00e1s, e falamos sobre as medidas que o Vale do Sil\u00edcio est\u00e1 tomando para impedir not\u00edcias falsas a respeito das elei\u00e7\u00f5es nos Estados Unidos. E tamb\u00e9m temos uma recomenda\u00e7\u00e3o de filme e de uma ferramenta para te ajudar com o ingl\u00eas! Al\u00e9m disso, falamos sobre a iniciativa do Jap\u00e3o para impulsionar o turismo, as 13 m\u00famias descobertas no Egito, e as fam\u00edlias que compraram mais de 90 acres de terra para construir uma cidade segura para afro-americanos.<\/p>\n

Como aproveitar este podcast<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Iniciantes<\/strong>: Leia a transcri\u00e7\u00e3o antes de ouvir e anote palavras desconhecidas.<\/li>\n
  • Intermedi\u00e1rios<\/strong>: Ou\u00e7a o podcast acompanhando a transcri\u00e7\u00e3o.<\/li>\n
  • Avan\u00e7ados<\/strong>: Ou\u00e7a sem a transcri\u00e7\u00e3o e tente compreender o m\u00e1ximo poss\u00edvel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Toda semana temos um novo epis\u00f3dio do Fluency News, n\u00e3o deixe de conferir! See you!<\/p>\n

    Transcri\u00e7\u00e3o do epis\u00f3dio<\/h2>\n

    What is up, guys! I\u2019m Scott Lowe and welcome back to Fluency Academy\u2019s all English news podcast<\/strong>! I mean, almost all English. Como eu sou americano, mas brasileiro tamb\u00e9m, eu vou aproveitar pra dar algumas explica\u00e7\u00f5es em portugu\u00eas pra voc\u00ea aproveitar ao m\u00e1ximo esse tempo comigo.
    \n<\/em><\/p>\n

    This podcast is made for you to train your English and make you an informed citizen of the world! Thank you so much for joining me here today.
    \n\u200d
    \nBefore we officially get started, let me remind you that you can and should visit Fluencytv.com for the sources to this episode, as well as extra material to accompany today\u2019s podcast. Our free content portal already has more than 500 free classes in five different languages, so do check it out. Go to fluency.io to enjoy all that goodness \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

    If this is your first time here, let me give you a quick rundown of what this shows all about. We\u2019ll present to you three of the week’s biggest news stories, 100% in English, for you to train your listening and comprehension. After each story, we\u2019ll explore points of interest in Portuguese, so you\u2019ll always learn something new.<\/p>\n

    Our first story of the day is actually a follow up on a story we covered a couple of episodes ago<\/strong>. At least 100,000 Belarus protesters flooded the streets this Sunday in one of the biggest demonstrations yet against President Alexander Lukashenko.<\/p>\n

    (Be prepared for the mispronunciation of some names here. Just a warning.)<\/em><\/p>\n

    A wave of protests has swept Belarus since the Aug. 9 presidential election, which demonstrators say was actually won by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Key opposition figures have since either been jailed or fled the country, with Tsikhanouskaya now in Lithuania. Lukashenko denies the election was rigged and has said foreign powers are behind the protests.<\/p>\n

    As public anger continued to build against Lukashenko, who has ruled the former Soviet nation for 26 years, Moscow offered him support by saying it would send paratroopers to Belarus for \u201cSlavic Brotherhood\u201d joint drills. A vast column of protesters marched through the capital Minsk towards a government district on Sunday, chanting \u201cLong live Belarus\u201d and \u201cYou\u2019re a rat,\u201d a taunt that has frequently been used against Lukashenko during demonstrations.<\/p>\n

    They came to a halt and chanted \u201cfascists\u201d as hundreds of riot police with shields blocked off the road. Meanwhile in the city of Brest, police used water cannons on protesters, according to the Nexta Live channel. The atmosphere was tense, with a large police presence in parts of the capital, and some central areas sealed off with barbed wire, including Oktyabrskaya Square and Independence Square – common focus points of anti-government rallies .<\/p>\n

    Os manifestantes de Minsk est\u00e3o fazendo hist\u00f3ria com os protestos. H\u00e1 pouco, eu usei a palavra \u201ctaunt\u201d para dizer o que esses manifestantes estavam gritando nas ruas. Voc\u00ea sabe o que isso significa? Essa palavra pode significar \u201cprovoca\u00e7\u00e3o\u201d, ou \u201cprovocar\u201d. Essa provoca\u00e7\u00e3o pode ser amig\u00e1vel, ou, no caso da nossa not\u00edcia, hostil.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Now we can get to a brand new story<\/strong>, as Silicon Valley is preparing for false election win results.<\/p>\n

    Silicon Valley is bracing for the possibility that US President Donald Trump or another candidate will declare victory on social media before the election results are called.
    \nTwitter announced it would label or even remove tweets by candidates declaring victory before the November 3 (local time) election results are certified.<\/p>\n

    Google says it will prioritise election results from the Associated Press and Democracy Works, a nonpartisan nonprofit organisation that provides information on how to vote, according to company executives. Searches won’t show news reports that prematurely declare victory for a certain candidate, and if any misinformation does slip through, Google says it will be ready to take it down.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe do have a plan,\u201d Google’s vice president of engineering, Cathy Edwards, said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

    Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said if any campaign tries to declare victory before they should, the company will add a label directing people to \u201cthe official results\u201d. He said the platform is partnering with Reuters and the National Election Pool to provide authoritative information.<\/p>\n

    Many Americans will be voting by mail because of the coronavirus pandemic, and experts are predicting the final results will not be in on November 3 as states continue to count ballots. That could create a highly volatile and politically charged environment ripe for disinformation on social media. But tech companies have long failed to actually enforce the policies they preach \u2013 especially when it comes to accounts belonging to politicians. Experts and consumer advocates have raised doubts about the platforms’ ability to tackle election-related disinformation, even after they made massive investments to thwart such activity following a major Russian effort to sow chaos through American social media in 2016.<\/p>\n

    Trump, especially, is a major concern given the president’s track record of spreading falsehoods about the possibility of election fraud, often on Twitter. Trump has spread false claims or threats about voting by mail more than 100 times this year, according to a Washington Post fact check. Hawkfish, a Democratic digital firm founded by former presidential contender Mike Bloomberg, predicted Trump may appear to win on election night \u2013 even if he ultimately loses when all votes are counted. That’s because more Democrats are expected to vote by mail than Republicans because of coronavirus fears, and it will take longer to tally those votes.<\/p>\n

    Josh Mendelsohn, Hawkfish’s chief executive, is calling that scenario a \u201cred mirage\u201d.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe are sounding an alarm and saying that this is a very real possibility, that the data is going to show on election night an incredible victory for Donald Trump,\u201d Mendelsohn said in a recent \u201cAxios on HBO\u201d interview.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWhen every legitimate vote is tallied and we get to that final day, which will be some day after Election Day, it will in fact show that what happened on election night was exactly that, a mirage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

    Trump has tweeted out falsehoods while elections were too close to call previously, such as in Florida in 2018, as the New York Times has reported. Republicans had a narrow lead in still-contested races on election night, but their Democratic opponents began closing in as mailed-in votes were tallied. Trump demanded the races be called in favour of the Republicans and falsely suggested on Twitter that ballots were coming from \u201cnowhere\u201d.<\/p>\n

    \u201cAn honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected,\u201d he tweeted. \u201cMust go with Election Night!\u201d Yet there was no fraud, and Democrats lost.<\/p>\n

    Twitter yesterday expanded its rules on election misinformation. As Elizabeth Dwoskin reports, the company will ban or label confusing content about ballot tampering, election rigging and results. The new rules are expected to escalate tensions with Trump, who has been sharing misleading information about voting on the service.
    \nIn recent months, Twitter has been more aggressive in moderating the president’s tweets after long taking a hands-off approach.<\/p>\n

    Google separately announced it would scrutinise auto-complete suggestions for those searching about election information to prevent voters from being misinformed.
    \nThe company said it would remove suggested wording about voting methods, so predictions such as \u201cyou can vote by phone\u201d won’t appear in an auto-complete result.<\/p>\n

    And Facebook last week announced it would prohibit new political ads in the seven days before the election, and expand efforts to remove content that could suppress voting.<\/p>\n

    China and Iran are also attempting to hack the Microsoft email accounts of people affiliated with the Joe Biden and Trump campaigns, The Washington Post’s Ellen Nakashima and Josh Dawsey report. Microsoft said attacks by both nations have been unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

    The Republican National Committee also was unsuccessfully targeted, a person familiar with the matter told Nakashima and Dawsey. It is unclear which country launched the attack.<\/p>\n

    Russia remains the biggest hacking threat, intelligence officials and industry analysts say. Russian hackers have targeted more than 200 organisations, including political campaigns and consultants since September 2019, Microsoft said in a blog post. Russian hackers also unsuccessfully tried to compromise the email accounts of staff at SKDKnickerbocker, a firm that consults with Biden and other prominent Democrats, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe think Russian military intelligence poses the greatest foreign threat to the elections,\u201d said John Hultquist, director of intelligence analysis for the cybersecurity firm FireEye.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt’s concerning to find them targeting organisations associated with campaigns again.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Com todas essas not\u00edcias sobre a pol\u00edtica nos Estados Unidos, voc\u00ea deve ter visto o uso da palavra \u201cballot\u201d. Como a vota\u00e7\u00e3o americana n\u00e3o \u00e9 feita por meio de urnas eletr\u00f4nicas, os votos s\u00e3o feitos por c\u00e9dulas. Essas c\u00e9dulas, onde os votos s\u00e3o marcados, s\u00e3o o que n\u00f3s chamamos de \u201cballots\u201d. Al\u00e9m disso, eu tamb\u00e9m falei sobre \u201chands-off approach\u201d. Se traduzida literalmente, essa express\u00e3o significa \u201cabordagem sem m\u00e3os\u201d. E at\u00e9 que faz um pouco de sentido, porque significa \u201cuma abordagem sem interven\u00e7\u00f5es\u201d, ou seja, deixar acontecer de forma natural, sem intervir.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Before we move on to our next story, we\u2019d like to make a recommendation!<\/strong> The Social Dilemma, a documentary-drama hybrid explores the dangerous human impact of social networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations is out on Netflix now! And, with their language learning tool, it\u2019s the perfect opportunity for you to learn and have fun, like we do here. Language Learning with Netflix, or LLN, is a learning tool embedded in your Netflix, allowing you to watch foreign movies with two subtitles, one in the original language and the other one in your chosen language.<\/p>\n

    That means you can watch our recommended movie with subtitles both in Portuguese and in English! Make sure to check it out and share your experience with us on our social media.<\/p>\n

    We\u2019ll include the links to everything in the description.
    \n
    \nNext, we talk about how Japan plans to release travel coupons to boost tourism.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The Japanese government will issue coupons for use at restaurants, tourist facilities and other locations starting next month, as part of its Go To Travel campaign to support the tourism industry.<\/p>\n

    Travellers departing on or after October 1 will be able to receive up to 15 per cent of their travel expenses as coupons. The Go To Travel campaign started in July with discounts of up to 35 per cent on travel expenses, but the release of the coupons was delayed by more than two months.<\/p>\n

    This will complete the originally planned system, in which half of a person’s travel expenses are covered through the combination of the travel expense subsidy and the coupons.<\/p>\n

    Coupons will be distributed for up to 15 percent of a person’s travel expenses per day, or 6000 yen, which is about 300 reais, and can only be used during the period of the trip. Places where they can be used, including restaurants, tourist facilities and local transportation facilities, will be indicated by stickers or posters.<\/p>\n

    Unlike travel expense discounts, which cover accommodation and transportation costs, the coupons can be used at a wide range of places at travel destinations. They can also be used in prefectures that neighbour those where travellers are staying. For example, if a traveller stays in Aomori Prefecture, their coupons also can be used in Iwate and Akita prefectures, and in Hokkaido.<\/p>\n

    There are two types of coupons, paper and electronic. They come in units of \u00a51000, and no change is given. Travellers can get coupons at places including a travel agency’s shop, or at an accommodation facility they have booked online.<\/p>\n

    The tourism industry has been hit hard by the spread of the novel coronavirus. Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Kazuyoshi Akaba told a news conference on Tuesday that the purpose of the coupons is “to boost consumption related to the tourism industry” in various regions.<\/p>\n

    “I hope the number of visitors during the autumn tourist season will increase [due to the coupons],” said a staffer at a souvenir shop in Nara, where sales dropped more than 90 per cent from a year earlier after the virus spread.<\/p>\n

    The government’s budget for the Go To Travel campaign amounts to 1.3 trillion yen. The government had originally planned to start offering discounts and coupons in early August, but it moved up part of the schedule, offering discounts of up to 35 per cent on travel expenses from July 22, due to what it said was strong demand from the tourism industry.<\/p>\n

    The launch of the coupons was postponed because time was needed to print hundreds of millions of them, and to inform stores that will accept coupons.<\/p>\n

    Between July 27 and Sept. 3, about 7.81 million people used the travel expenses discount system. This figure is much lower than the total number of domestic travellers who took overnight trips in August last year, which was 53.74 million, mainly because trips to and from Tokyo are excluded from the campaign.<\/p>\n

    Ps: Did you know Brazil has the largest Japanese community outside of Japan?<\/p>\n

    Voc\u00ea sabe qual \u00e9 a diferen\u00e7a entre \u201ctravel\u201d e \u201ctrip\u201d? Travel \u00e9 o \u00fanico verbo que voc\u00ea vai usar para dizer \u201cviajar\u201d. Trip, como verbo, significa trope\u00e7ar.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Mas como substantivo, travel se refere ao \u201cato de viajar\u201d de forma geral. Trip significa uma viagem, mas normalmente implica retorno, como uma viagem de neg\u00f3cios, business trip, ou round-trip, que seria uma viagem bate e volta.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Our next story comes all the way from Egypt!<\/strong> We took a trip around the world on this episode, right?<\/p>\n

    Egypt has uncovered a mysterious collection of coffins thought to contain human mummies that have been sealed inside for more than 2,500 years.<\/p>\n

    The 13 unopened coffins, which were found piled on top of each other in a well nearly 40 feet (12 meters) deep are so well preserved that the original detailed designs and colors are clearly visible, according to Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.<\/p>\n

    Archeologists who made the discovery at Saqqara, an ancient site that lies about 20 miles south of Egypt’s capital and is also home to landmarks including the Step Pyramid, believed to be the world’s oldest, are expected to make more discoveries at the site in coming days.<\/p>\n

    In a Twitter post, Khaled El-Enany, Egypt’s minister of tourism and antiques, said it was “an indescribable feeling when you witness a new archeological discovery.”<\/p>\n

    The discovery comes just a week after the country reopened its archaeological sites and museums to visitors following closures in March due to the global coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

    Tourism is vital to the economy in Egypt, which welcomed more than 13.6 million visitors in 2019. More than one million people work in the sector.<\/p>\n

    The latest ancient find follows the unearthing of other coffins at Saqqara earlier this year. In April, archaeologists unearthed four caskets containing mummies, along with five limestone sarcophagi in a burial shaft.<\/p>\n

    Voc\u00ea sabia que as palavras \u201cunearth\u201d e \u201cunbury\u201d s\u00e3o sin\u00f4nimas? As duas significam \u201cdesenterrar\u201d, \u201ctirar do ch\u00e3o\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

    And finally, we get to our last story of the day<\/strong>, which is always a good one! Nearly 20 families buy over 90 acres of land to build a city safe for black people.<\/p>\n

    In Toomsboro, Georgia, a group of 19 black families banded together to create what has the potential to be the next Black Wall Street.<\/p>\n

    According to reports, Georgia realtor Ashley Scott said she recently reached a breaking point following the murder of Black man Ahmaud Arbery. Scott said at this point \u2013 following nearly weekly attacks against Black people \u2013 she decided to do something more than peaceful protesting.<\/p>\n

    In an interview to \u201cBecause Of Them We Can\u201d, the story was told. Scott and her good friend Renee Walters spearheaded The Freedom Georgia Initiative, which recently purchased 96.71 acres of land in Toomsboro, Georgia, to establish a self-sustaining Black community. After attending local zoning and city council meetings, Scott said she realized creating a new city would create change and build \u201creal Black power.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe figured we could try to fix a broken system, or we could start fresh. Start a city that could be a shining example of being the change you want to see. We wanted to be more involved in creating the lives we really want for our Black families,\u201d she continued. \u201cAnd maybe, just maybe, create some generational wealth for ourselves by investing in the land. Investing in creating a community that is built around our core values and beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Scott is determined to make Toomsboro, Georgia a real-life safe haven for African Americans. The goal is to create a community protected from injustice, inequality and the fear of being attacked.<\/p>\n

    Eu disse ali que Scott e a amiga \u201cspearheaded\u201d a iniciativa. Novamente, temos uma palavra que se traduzida literalmente, n\u00e3o faz sentido em muitos contextos. Spear significa lan\u00e7a, e headed significa direcionado. Em muitos lugares, voc\u00ea encontraria a tradu\u00e7\u00e3o \u201ccom ponta de lan\u00e7a\u201d. Mas o que isso realmente significa, Scott? Significa que elas lideraram, criaram, essa iniciativa.
    \n\u200d<\/em><\/p>\n

    With that story, we are done for today! As always, you can find the sources to all our stories in the description of this episode. Be sure to check out fluency.io for more free content, tune back in to hear the main stories around the world, and get some snippets of explanations to expand your knowledge and practice your listening skills. There\u2019s a new episode of Fluency News every week and I\u2019ll see you next episode. Peace out.<\/p>\n

    Gostou do epis\u00f3dio? Continue sua jornada no idioma e confira nosso <\/span>curso de ingl\u00eas<\/span><\/a> completo para se aprofundar ainda mais! \ud83d\udcda<\/span><\/p>\n

    Bye bye!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Sources<\/em><\/p>\n

    Belarus protests: https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/uk-belarus-election-protests-idUKKBN2640HQ
    \nSilicon Valley\u2019s measures to only share the official 2020 election results: https:\/\/www.stuff.co.nz\/world\/americas\/300106535\/silicon-valley-is-preparing-for-candidates-to-falsely-declare-victory-on-election-night
    \nNetflix\u2019s The Social Dilemma: https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81254224?s=i&trkid=13747225&t=wha
    \nLanguage Learning with Netflix: https:\/\/languagelearningwithnetflix.com\/
    \nJapan\u2019s Travel Coupons to Boost tourism: https:\/\/www.stuff.co.nz\/travel\/destinations\/asia\/300104638\/coronavirus-japan-travel-coupons-to-be-released-to-boost-tourism
    \n13 mysterious mummies discovered in Egyptian well: https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/travel\/article\/13-coffins-mummies-discovered-saqqara-egypt-scli-intl\/index.html
    \nNearly 20 Families Buy Over 90 Acres Of Land To Build Real-Life Wakanda: https:\/\/www.sohh.com\/nearly-20-families-buy-over-90-acres-of-land-to-build-real-life-wakanda\/<\/p>\n

    19 Families Purchased Over 90 Acres of Land In GA To Create A City Safe For Black People<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n