Se ela soubesse que o vulcão estava em erupção não teria ido...

Fonte: scientific american

Vocabulario:

1.  I just fetched my Mount St. Helens 
2. for sorting out what I'll need 
3. I'm working on
4. flipping through the photos
5. it's just overwhelming

Texto:

How I Wish I'd Known It Was Erupting At the Time...

Of course, if I'd know Mount St. Helens was actually erupting at the time, I'd probably have never gone. Volcano phobia, doncha know. I did haz one. But I thought all the eruptions were over, so I went up the mountain with my old friend Victoria, and didn't realize until long afterward that we'd been there during an eruption. Sometimes, they're that quiet!

I bring it up now because I just fetched (=busquei) my Mount St. Helens photos off the external hard drive in preparation for sorting out (=resolvi) what I'll need for the book I'm working on (note the preposition is not in). I couldn't resist flipping through (=folhear) the photos from that May 13, 2007 trip, and ran across the one Victoria took of me with my favorite volcano in the background. Alas, we only had my horrible old digital camera, so the pictures aren't spectacular, but this one turned out well enough for me to crop to a nicety.

That was such a great trip! The first time you visit Mount St. Helens, it's just overwhelming (=impressionante). You're passing through this beautiful, lush, verdant forest, and suddenly, boom - no forest. It's just gone. And there's this huge mountain with a ginormous gap in it right in your face. I don't think there's an actual way to prepare yourself to see that.

And if you were there in May of 2007, you'd have parked in the parking lot, stepped out, and seen this:

The parking lot was completely covered in burns. It was about then we began questioning the wisdom of bringing the cloth-top convertible. But hey, it was the fastest car we owned, and when you're both visiting an active volcano for the first time, even if you aren't aware that it's actually right-that-moment erupting, you bring the fast car just in case you need to flee. Well, that, and convertibles are cool.

So yes, you're looking into that serene, snow-covered crater and thinking I've lost a few of the more critical marbles. That doesn't look anything like an erupting volcano, right? But, my darlings, it was! Check it out:

In July 2007, the volume of the new dome was 93 million cubic meters (121 million cubic yards). This is slightly larger than the volume of the 1980–1986 dome. The new dome grew a small additional amount from August 2007 to January 2008, but a thick winter snowpack in the crater this winter prevents us from measuring that value accurately.

Dome growth during 2004-2008 lasted half as long (3 years) as the 1980-1986 eruption (6 years) while adding approximately the same amount of lava to the crater. The combined volume of the 1980-86 and 2004-08 lava domes is about 7 percent of the volume that was removed by the landslide on May 18, 1980, and 11 percent of the volume of the present horseshoe-shaped crater. The most obvious difference between the two periods is that dome growth during 1980–1986 was episodic, with growth spurts that lasted from a few days to nearly a year, interspersed with periods of no growth that lasted from several weeks to almost a year. In contrast, dome growth during 2004–2008 was continuous from October 2004 to January 2008. [emphasis added]

So while we were doing our glamor shots there, and having ecstatic fits over how cool everything was (and I was celebrating all the dry dirt - I mean, you have no idea how happy dry dirt makes you when you've just come from Arizona to Western Washington and thought you'd never see any actual dry dirt ever again), Mount St. Helens was quietly building her dome. Yes, snow could accumulate on parts of it. Yes, all looked serene. But Victoria and I noticed wisps of steam here and there - though, sadly, it's hard to tell what's steam and what's blowing snow with that crappy camera - and there were those scorch marks. So we knew something was up!

I don't know if it was hot enough then for infrared to show it well, but here's a spiffy image from 2004 showing you that you can have your fire and your ice, you betcha!

Totally looks like a campfire up there, doesn't it just?

Alas, the volcano is not busy dome-building today, so I have no eruption photos with my nice current camera. Perhaps soon. You see, she's definitely not done. Just resting.

Now, a lot of you lately have been not-so-subtly nudging at me to get a book out about Mount St. Helens. So I have created a not-so-subtle meme for you. You can download it, print it, and hang it up in a prominent place.

The book on the eruption will take some time to complete, but it's in progress. I'm also working on a west-side guide which I hope to have out by the end of summer. So, y'know. Be ready for that. I'm off to work on it now, actually. Bye-ee!

Explicitação da dívida do avanço da Grécia

Fonte: bbcnews

Vocabulary:

1. has spelled out the terms
2. and wages towards business
3. dozens of riot police
4. Talks have been in deadlock
5. savers withdrew more than €4bn in recent days.
6. of a possible breakthrough

Text:
Greece's economy minister has spelled out (=explicou claramente) the terms of new proposals to end deadlock on its debt crisis, amid hopes a deal can now be struck this week.

It includes new taxes on businesses and the wealthy, Giorgios Stathakis told the BBC in an exclusive interview.

Eurozone finance ministers have welcomed the plan, saying there could be a deal "within days".
Greece will default if it does not repay a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) IMF loan by the end of the month.

If that happens, it risks crashing out of the single currency and possibly the EU.

Eurozone leaders are currently discussing Greece's proposals at an emergency summit in Brussels.

Mr Stathakis told the BBC's Robert Peston he was confident the new proposals to balance the government's books had broken the deadlock with its creditors.

"We [will] try to remove the tax burden from pensions and wages (=salários) towards business and the wealthy," he said.
He said the proposals also included an increase in the VAT rate for some selected items.

Greece's economy minister Giorgios Stathakis told me that his Syriza government, led by Alexis Tsipras, had avoided crossing its red lines with the new proposals.

So, he said, there would be no further reductions in pensions or public-sector wages. And there would be no increase in VAT on electricity.

He also said that the government had agreed with the IMF and eurozone governments that the targeted budget surplus would be 1% of GDP or national income this year, 2% next year and 3% the year after.

There will be no agreement with creditors to cut Greece's massive burden of debt, despite Syriza's earlier insistence on this. But Mr Stathakis told me he expects eurozone government heads to issue a communique later saying that debt relief will be on the agenda for negotiation in coming months.
Read more from Robert

minister-greece-economy

Meanwhile, dozens of riot (=choque) police have been deployed to prevent clashes between anti-austerity and pro-euro protesters gathered outside the Greek parliament building.

Speaking ahead of Monday's summit, European Council President Donald Tusk said the latest Greek proposals were the "first real proposals in many weeks".
"This evening I want all cards on the table. That doesn't mean I want to negotiate technical details, but it means I want to end this political gambling," he said.

French President Francois Hollande, also attending the meeting, said he saw improvements with the proposals but warned "not everything has been resolved".

Talks have been in deadlock (=impasse) for five months. The European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank (ECB) are unwilling to unlock the final €7.2bn tranche of bailout funds until Greece agrees to economic reforms.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has again increased its emergency funding for Greek banks after anxious savers withdrew (=retiraram) more than €4bn in recent days.

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, who has ruled out pension cuts, higher power rates, and an excessive budget surplus, said he hoped Greece would "return to growth within the eurozone".

He met the heads of Greece's three international creditors in Brussels, ahead of his talks with the leaders of 18 other eurozone nations later on Monday.

'Broad and comprehensive'
But eurozone finance ministers said they were not given enough time to study them for a proper assessment, amid confusion over different versions of the Greek proposals submitted.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Dijsselbloem described the proposals as "broad and comprehensive", but said work was needed to check they added up "in fiscal terms".
One of the key power-brokers, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, told reporters his goal was to find an agreement "by the end of the week".

Earlier, Germany's Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters he had not seen anything new from Greece so far and "without anything new, there is nothing for the ministers to prepare for their leaders". The Irish and Finnish finance ministers echoed the sentiment.

News of a possible breakthrough (=avanço) gave a boost to European stock markets, with Greece's main stock exchange jumping 9% by the end of trading on Monday.
The deadline for Greece to pay back a slice of its loan is 30 June, but a last-minute deal would make it difficult to arrange the logistics of transferring the money.
A separate European Council summit is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, and its agenda is packed.

Greek debt talks: Main sticking points
Greece will not accept cuts to pension payments or public sector wages, saying two-thirds of pensioners are either below or near the poverty line
International creditors want pension spending cut by 1% of GDP - it accounts for 16% of Greek GDP. They say they want to target early retirement, not lower-income pensioners
EU officials say Greece has agreed to budget surplus targets of 1% of GDP this year, followed by 2% in 2016 and 3.5% by 2018; Greece says nothing is agreed until everything is agreed
Creditors also want a wider VAT base; Greece says it will not allow extra VAT on medicines or electricity bills
Greece complains creditors focus on increasing taxes instead of cracking down on tax evasion; IMF is concerned Athens is not offering credible reforms

Garoto de 21 anos mata 9 pessoas na igreja

Fonte: bbcnews

Vocabulary:

1. to reckon with the fact
2. trickle of people arrive
3. surveillance cameras showing
4. prompted angry protests

A 21-year-old man suspected of killing nine people at a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, has been arrested.

21-year-killer-church

Police said Dylann Roof, of Lexington, South Carolina, was detained during a traffic stop in Shelby, North Carolina.

The gunman is reported to have sat in on a bible study meeting for a full hour before opening fire on the group.

Six women and three men, including the church pastor, were killed. A hate crimes investigation has been launched.

Who is shooting suspect Dylann Roof?
US President Barack Obama said he and his wife had known several members of the Emanuel AME Church, including the pastor, Clementa Pinckney.

He called the church a "sacred place" in the history of Charleston and spoke of his confidence that the congregation and the community would "rise again".
He also raised the issue of gun ownership, saying "communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times".
"At some point," he said, "we as a country have to reckon (=contar) with the fact that this type of massacre does not happen in other advanced countries".

The streets close to the church are deserted, save for a few uniformed police officers. A trickle (=m pouco) of people arrive to lay flowers for the victims.

"Peace for the church, the family and their loved ones," reads one handwritten note, tucked into a bouquet of bright flowers. A short drive away mourners have arrived for a vigil in memory of the deceased.

Rev Vanessa Johnson is from a nearby church but knew one of the reported victims, the Reverend Clementa Pinckney.
"All of us are in shock... We are at a loss for words," she says. The Emmanuel church holds a special place in this city's hearts, she adds, making the events of Wednesday night so difficult to digest.

The weekly bible study meeting was under way in the church on Calhoun Street when the shooting unfolded at about 21:00 local time (01:00 GMT Thursday).
Charleston police chief Gregory Mullen said that when police arrived at the scene eight people were already dead in the church and one other person died later in hospital. There were three survivors, he added.

Police released images from surveillance (=segurança) cameras showing a suspect they described as white and clean shaven with a slender build, entering the building an hour before the shooting.
He was later seen driving away in a black four-door saloon car.
Police and officials were quick to call it a hate crime, and the US Department of Justice said it would open a federal hate crimes investigation.
Speaking after the arrest, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said they would be "looking at all of the facts, all of the motivations" to determine the best way to prosecute any case.

The killings have sent shockwaves through a community that has already experienced heightened racial tension in recent months.
The shooting two months ago of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man by a white police officer in North Charleston, prompted (=levaram) angry protests. The officer has since been charged with murder.
Clementa Pinckney, the 42-year-old pastor of the church, was also a Democratic state senator in South Carolina.
He had recently sponsored a bill to make body cameras mandatory for all police officers in South Carolina in response to the death of Walter Scott.

Rússia aumenta 40 mísseis em seu arsenal nuclear

Source: bbcworld

New vocabulary:

1. able to overcome 
2. Amidst the rising tensions
3. have been withdrawn
4. arsenal has been shrinking

President Vladimir Putin says Russia will update its nuclear arsenal with more than 40 intercontinental ballistic missiles in 2015.

Speaking at an arms fair, Mr Putin said the weapons would be able to overcome (=superar) even the most technically advanced anti-missile defence systems.
It comes after the US proposed increasing its military presence in Nato states in Eastern Europe.

Tensions are high over Russia's role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Nato and Western leaders accuse Russia of sending soldiers and heavy weapons, including tanks and missiles, to the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly denied this, insisting that any Russians fighting there are "volunteers".

'Arms race'
The 40 nuclear missiles that Mr Putin referred to on Tuesday are not additional missiles, but replacements for old ones, says the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Moscow.
The new ones are more high-tech and capable of penetrating anti-missiles defences, our correspondent adds.
Russian officials have warned that Moscow will respond if the US carries out its plan to store heavy military equipment in Eastern Europe, including in the Baltic states that were once part of the Soviet Union.

"The feeling is that our colleagues from Nato countries are pushing us into an arms race," RIA news agency quoted Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov as saying on the sidelines of the arms fair outside Moscow

Analysis - Jonathan Marcus, BBC News defence and diplomatic correspondent

Amidst (=em meio) the rising tensions with the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin has placed a renewed emphasis upon his country's nuclear arsenal.
This is in part a reflection of Russia's continuing conventional military weakness. Moscow is in the midst of a significant modernisation of its strategic nuclear weapons with new ballistic missiles being deployed, more modern bombers, and new submarines being launched.

Over recent years, older, obsolete weapons have been withdrawn (=retirados) from service, so the size of Russia's overall arsenal has been shrinking (=encolhendo).
However, this decline could soon come to an end, raising all sorts of questions for other nuclear powers.

What most alarms the West is the renewed emphasis in Russian rhetoric on nuclear rather than conventional forces.
Threats to deploy short-range nuclear weapons in Crimea have been accompanied by veiled warnings of nuclear targeting against Nato members who might host ballistic missile defences.