English Time with Yves

  Residents of the European Union (EU) are becoming increasingly better at languages. Almost 50 percent of the EU population reckon they can speak at least one foreign language very well, with that figure rising to nearly 80 percent for students. To celebrate its linguistic diversity and bilingual, trilingual or multilingual capabilities, a special day is set aside in the EU. September 26 is the European Day of Languages. The day’s website cites a Slovak proverb that says: “The number of languages you speak is the number of times you are human”. This aims to encourage all Europeans to brush up on and advance their language skills. The website predicts that Europe’s young generation “will fully contribute to enriching Europe’s multilingual society”. The results of the “Eurobarometer” survey put Luxembourgers at the top of the language ability list. A staggering 99 percent of the Luxembourgish population is at least bilingual. Those with the poorest language skills are the Hungarians...

Mafia violence spilled into the streets in Germany on Wednesday as six Italians were shot in the head and killed after a family birthday party at a pizzeria. The killings happened after the 18th birthday celebrations of one of the victims. The motive for the bloodbath is not yet known. It seems likely they are tit-for-tat shootings, part of a long-running feud between two of Italy’s largest organized crime gangs. It is the first time a crime syndicate from the south of Italy has killed abroad. Police believe the assassins are based in Italy's Calabria region. They are thought to have links to criminal groups around the world and control a large part of the European drug market. Many experts consider them even more dangerous than the Sicilian Mafia. The victims were aged between 16 and 39. They had just left the Da Bruno restaurant near Duisburg's main train station when they came under fire, a police spokesman said. A passerby told police she heard loud bangs, followed by a noi...

  Large swathes of Europe are experiencing droughts and water shortages. One region is experiencing its worst drought for 70 years. The area, in northern Italy, has had hardly any rainfall in the past four months. This year's snowfall was 70 per cent lower. This has caused the River Po, Italy's largest, to be three metres lower than average. A lot of the riverbed has dried up and people can walk across the mud. In one part, the declining water level has fully exposed a World War II shipwreck. Authorities are concerned that if it doesn't rain soon, there'll be a serious water shortage. This means water will be rationed for drinking. Farmers will also have problems finding water to irrigate their crops. A spokesperson from Italy's Po Basin Authority said the water shortages are unprecedented. The river gets much of its water from Lake Maggiore in the Italian Alps. The lake is seeing its lowest water level since 1946. Problems are being exacerbated by higher-than-ave...

Parents of a Tokyo elementary school are up in arms at being asked to pay $730 for their child's school uniform. A public elementary school in Tokyo's upmarket Ginza district has decided to adopt new school uniforms designed by the luxury Italian designer Armani. The bespoke uniforms, which include a hat and bag, are priced at over ¥80,000 ($730) each. Parents are angry at the school's decision and are protesting at what they view as the exorbitant price for a uniform of an eight-year-old child. The school said it wanted a designer uniform that represented the rich area of Ginza. School officials visited top department stores and decided to ask the fashion brand Armani to design the uniform. The expensive uniform has created such a fuss that it has been discussed in Japan's parliament. One lawmaker said that since the school is public and not private, "a certain price range needs to be considered". Finance Minister Taro Aso said: "Clearly it's exp...