Still Alice review – moving meditation on who we really are

This inexpressibly painful and sad film from Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer is about a woman who declines steeply into early-onset Alzheimer’s just after her 50th birthday, and somehow becomes a ghost haunting her own life.

It features a queenly, poignant and much-garlanded lead performance from Julianne Moore as linguistics professor Alice Howland. She begins the movie at the triumphant height of her career, enjoying a happy life with her husband John (Alec Baldwin), prosperous empty-nesters in a sumptuous New York home. They have three lovely grownup children: Tom (Hunter Parrish), Anna (Kate Bosworth) and Lydia (Kristen Stewart). The only problem in Alice’s life appears to be her strained relationship with Lydia, who has rejected college to be a struggling actor in Los Angeles.

 With a terrible, almost Nabokovian irony, Alice’s dementia begins with her inability to remember the word ‘lexicon’ while giving a lecture, although Westmoreland and Glatzer show how the condition has a kind of prehistorical moment at her birthday dinner the night before, when Alice overhears her son-in-law talk about “sisters” arguing and for some reason thinks he must be talking about her relationship with her own sister, who died in a car crash when they were teenagers. As her disease advances, Alice is lost in thought about this dead sister. The terrible diagnosis arrives, and I defy any audience in the world not to strain frantically to complete the memory test that a doctor gives Alice in one heartwrenching scene. There are, moreover, terrible genetic implications to her condition.

Still Alice is perhaps a relatively straightforward film on this subject, compared with, say, Sarah Polley’s Away From Her (2006) in which Julie Christie’s Alzheimer patient forms a relationship with another man in a care home, or Richard Eyre’s Iris (2001) in which Iris Murdoch, played by Judi Dench, descends into dementia in a kind of flashback parallel with the story of her younger self. There is admittedly something of the TV movie of the week in Still Alice, a little like Do You Remember Love, from 1985, starring Joanne Woodward.

Alice’s wealth admittedly makes palliative care an awful lot easier than for others less well off: the comfortable family set up, and Baldwin’s presence as the husband sometimes makes this film look weirdly like a very dark version of Nancy Meyers’s comfort-food relationship comedy It’s Complicated. Yet Moore’s heartfelt and self-possessed performance, as taut as a violin string, makes this a commanding film. It also boasts one truly sensational scene in which scared and bewildered Alice comes across a video message to herself: this is a flash of macabre ingenuity, as suspenseful as any thriller.

The crisis is all there in the title. Is she “still Alice”? Despite all the agony, the fear and the indignity of Alzheimer’s, is there some unbreachable core of identity that will remain? Or is Alice’s self utterly eroded, reduced to a set of symptoms?

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/05/still-alice-julianne-moore-oscar-alzheimers

1.      inexpressibly 說不出

2.     poignant 淒美

3.     sumptuous 豪華

4.     palliative 姑息

5.     taut 拉緊的

6.     bewildered 不知所措

105 2 week5 Hong Kong: Thousands rally over missing booksellers

Thousands in Hong Kong have rallied against the disappearance of five booksellers from a shop known for selling works critical of China.

All are suspected of being held in China, and the protesters fear the growing influence of Beijing.

Under the "one country, two systems" principle Hong Kong is supposed to enjoy high degrees of autonomy from China since it took over from Britain.

Hong Kong authorities said they were conducting a "thorough" investigation.

A government spokesman said they were awaiting a response from the mainland, but stressed the rule of law was the "cornerstone" of Hong Kong society.

Chanting "say no to political kidnapping", the protesters marched to the offices of Beijing's representative in Hong Kong.

"For Hong Kong, this is the first time there has been such a clear violation of Hong Kong's law, a clear violation of 'one country, two systems' principle, that has taken place in such an open manner," Albert Chan, a politician with the pro-democracy People Power Party, told the BBC.

"This is why so many people have come out."

Another pro-democracy politician, Lee Cheuk-yan, said the disappearances were a "milestone for suppression".

The latest to vanish has been Lee Bo, who disappeared late last year and was last seen in Hong Kong.

Pro-democracy politicians and activists believe he was kidnapped and taken to the mainland.

Mr Lee raised the alarm when four of his colleagues at the tiny Causeway Bay Bookstore and related publishing house, Mighty Current, went missing in October.

One of them, publisher Gui Minhai, was last seen in Thailand. The other three were last seen in mainland China.

There has been no official comment from the Chinese government on Mr Lee's case.

But an editorial in the state-controlled Global Times newspaper said some were trying to "hype" the incident "to create estrangement between Hong Kong and the mainland".

Mr Lee is a UK passport holder and the British government said it is "deeply concerned" about his whereabouts. It says it has asked for information from the Chinese authorities.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35275309

1.      rally 反彈

2.      autonomy 自治

3.      conduct 展開

4.      cornerstone 基石

5.      pro-democracy 民運

6.      hype 炒作

7.      estrangement 隔閡

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- booksellers

WHEN-last December

WHAT- kidnap

WHY- no mention

WHERE- Hong Kong

HOW- no mention

105 2 week4:Japan and South Korea agree WW2 'comfort women' deal

Japan and South Korea have agreed to settle the issue of "comfort women" forced to work in Japanese brothels during World War Two, in their first such deal since 1965.

Japan has apologised and will pay 1bn yen ($8.3m, £5.6m) - the amount South Korea asked for - to fund victims.

The issue has been the key cause for strained ties. South Korea has demanded stronger apologies and compensation.

Only 46 former "comfort women" are still alive in South Korea.

The announcement came after Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met his counterpart Yun Byung-se in Seoul, following moves to speed up talks.

Later Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe phoned South Korean President Park Geun-hye to repeat an apology already offered by Mr Kishida.

"Japan and South Korea are now entering a new era," Mr Abe told reporters afterwards. "We should not drag this problem into the next generation."

Ms Park issued a separate statement, saying a deal had been urgently needed - given the advanced age of most of the victims.

"Nine died this year alone," she said. "I hope the mental pains of the elderly comfort women will be eased."

It is estimated that up to 200,000 women were forced to be sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during WW2, many of them Korean. Other women came from China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan.

Japan-South Korea's 'comfort women' deal

§                       Japan will give 1bn yen to a fund for the elderly comfort women, which the South Korean government will administer

§                       The money also comes with an apology by Japan's prime minister and the acceptance of "deep responsibility" for the issue

§                       South Korea says it will consider the matter resolved "finally and irreversibly" if Japan fulfils its promises

§                       South Korea will also look into removing a statue symbolising comfort women, which activists erected outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul in 2011

§                       Both sides have agreed to refrain from criticising each other on this issue in the international community

After the meeting in Seoul, Mr Kishida called the agreement "epoch-making".

"Prime Minister Abe expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women," Mr Kishida told reporters.

The wording of the deal does not explicitly state that the "comfort women" will receive direct compensation, but states that the fund will provide "support" and bankroll "projects for recovering the honour and dignity and healing the psychological wounds".

Some former "comfort women", such as Lee Yong-soo, have taken issue with this.

The 88-year-old told the BBC: "I wonder whether the talks took place with the victims really in mind. We're not after the money. If the Japanese committed their sins, they should offer direct official government compensation."

Another former "comfort woman", 88-year-old Yoo Hee-nam, said: "If I look back, we've lived a life deprived of our basic rights as human beings. So I can't be fully satisfied.

"But we've been waiting all this time for the South Korean government to resolve the issue legally. As the government worked hard to settle deal before the turn of the year, I'd like to follow the government's lead."

In Japan journalist Nobuo Ikeda reflected the view of many on Twitter that the country had lost out, although others thought the deal could have been worse for Mr Abe.

"Japan pays 1 billion yen and our PM apologises but South Korea will 'consult about the girl's statue' - that's not a diplomatic negotiation," Mr Ikeda tweeted.

With only days left until the end of the year, the timing of the talks was highly symbolic and the expectations for results were high.

Earlier in the year, the South Korean president called for a resolution to the "comfort women" dispute by the year's end, marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

However, few believed that a quick breakthrough could be reached on a thorny issue that has strained the region for decades and some critics say the talks have been rushed to preserve the symbolism.

It's unclear if Japan's admission of responsibility was legal or just humanitarian, and Tokyo's offer of 1bn yen has been described as a measure to help the women, not as direct government compensation.

The dozens of surviving women have asked for a formal apology specifically addressed to themselves and direct compensation. They say past expressions of regret have been only halfway and insincere.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35188135

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- comfort women

WHEN-

WHAT- agreement

WHY- comfort women

WHERE- soul

HOW- apologize, compensation

1.      brothels 妓院

2.      statement 聲明

3.      irreversibly 不可逆

4.      remorse 悔恨

5.      explicitly 明確的

6.      dignity 尊嚴

7.      deprived 被剝奪

8.      dispute 爭議

105 2 week3 COP21 climate change summit reaches deal in Paris

A deal to attempt to limit the rise in global temperatures to less than 2C has been agreed at the climate change summit in Paris after two weeks of intense negotiations.

The pact is the first to commit all countries to cut carbon emissions.

The agreement is partly legally binding and partly voluntary.

Earlier, key blocs, including the G77 group of developing countries, and nations such as China and India said they supported the proposals.

President of the UN climate conference of parties (COP) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said: "I now invite the COP to adopt the decision entitled Paris Agreement outlined in the document.

"Looking out to the room I see that the reaction is positive, I see no objections. The Paris agreement is adopted."

COP21: In summary

As he struck the gavel to signal the adoption of the deal, delegates rose to their feet cheering and applauding.

US President Barack Obama has hailed the agreement as "ambitious" and "historic", but also warned against complacency.

"Together, we've shown what's possible when the world stands as one," he said.

And although admitting that the deal was not "perfect", he said it was "the best chance to save the one planet we have".

China's chief negotiator Xie Zhenhua said the deal was not perfect. But he added that "this does not prevent us from marching historical steps forward".

Nearly 200 countries took part in the negotiations to strike the first climate deal to commit all countries to cut emissions, which would come into being in 2020.

The chairman of the group representing some of the world's poorest countries called the deal historic, adding: "We are living in unprecedented times, which call for unprecedented measures.

"It is the best outcome we could have hoped for, not just for the Least Developed Countries, but for all citizens of the world."

Key points

The measures in the agreement included:

• To peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and achieve a balance between sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century

• To keep global temperature increase "well below" 2C (3.6F) and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C

• To review progress every five years

• $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2020, with a commitment to further finance in the future.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35084374

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- negotiators

WHEN-  December 2015

WHAT- COP21 climate change summit

WHY- to limit the rise in global temperatures to less than 2C

WHERE- Paris

HOW- no mention

1.      negotiations 談判

2.      blocs 集團

3.      gavel 木槌

4.      delegates 與會代表

5.      complacency 自滿

6.      unprecedented 史無前例的

105 2 Week2 Volkswagen: The scandal explained

What is Volkswagen accused of?

It's been dubbed the "diesel dupe". In September, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that many VW cars being sold in America had a "defeat device" - or software - in diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested, changing the performance accordingly to improve results. The German car giant has since admitted cheating emissions tests in the US.

VW has had a major push to sell diesel cars in the US, backed by a huge marketing campaign trumpeting its cars' low emissions. The EPA's findings cover 482,000 cars in the US only, including the VW-manufactured Audi A3, and the VW models Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat. But VW has admitted that about 11 million cars worldwide, including eight million in Europe, are fitted with the so-called "defeat device".

The company has also been accused by the EPA of modifying software on the 3 litre diesel engines fitted to some Porsche and Audi as well as VW models. VW has denied the claims, which affect at least 10,000 vehicles.

In November, VW said it had found "irregularities" in tests to measure carbon dioxide emissions levels that could affect about 800,000 cars in Europe - including petrol vehicles. However, in December it said that following investigations, it had established that this only affected about 36,000 of the cars it produces each year.

---

This 'defeat device' sounds like a sophisticated piece of kit.

Full details of how it worked are sketchy, although the EPA has said that the engines had computer software that could sense test scenarios by monitoring speed, engine operation, air pressure and even the position of the steering wheel.

When the cars were operating under controlled laboratory conditions - which typically involve putting them on a stationary test rig - the device appears to have put the vehicle into a sort of safety mode in which the engine ran below normal power and performance. Once on the road, the engines switched out of this test mode.

The result? The engines emitted nitrogen oxide pollutants up to 40 times above what is allowed in the US.

---

hat has been VW's response?

"We've totally screwed up," said VW America boss Michael Horn, while the group's chief executive at the time, Martin Winterkorn, said his company had "broken the trust of our customers and the public". Mr Winterkorn resigned as a direct result of the scandal and was replaced by Matthias Mueller, the former boss of Porsche.

"My most urgent task is to win back trust for the Volkswagen Group - by leaving no stone unturned," Mr Mueller said on taking up his new post.

VW has also launched an internal inquiry.

With VW recalling millions of cars worldwide from early next year, it has set aside €6.7bn (£4.8bn) to cover costs. That resulted in the company posting its first quarterly loss for 15 years of €2.5bn in late October.

But that's unlikely to be the end of the financial impact. The EPA has the power to fine a company up to $37,500 for each vehicle that breaches standards - a maximum fine of about $18bn.

The costs of possible legal action by car owners and shareholders "cannot be estimated at the current time", VW added. 

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772

Structure of the Lead：

 WHO- Volkswagen

WHEN- November

WHAT- defeat device

WHY- to improve results on the test

WHERE- US

HOW-install a defeat device

1.      Diesel 柴油機

2.     emissions 排放

3.     stationary 靜止的

4.     emitted 發射

5.     nitrogen 氮

6.     executive 行政人員

7.     urgent 急切的

Week6 Europe split over refugee deal as Germany leads breakaway coalition

Months of European efforts to come up with common policies on mass immigration unravelled on Sunday when Germany led a “coalition of the willing” of nine EU countries taking in most refugees from the Middle East, splitting the union formally on the issues of mandatory refugee-sharing and funding.

An unprecedented full EU summit with Turkey agreed a fragile pact aimed at stemming the flow of migrants to Europe via Turkey.

But the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, frustrated by the resistance in Europe to her policies, also convened a separate mini-summit with seven other leaders to push a fast-track deal with the Turks and to press ahead with a new policy of taking in and sharing hundreds of thousands of refugees a year directly from Turkey.

The surprise mini-summit suggested that Merkel has given up on trying to persuade her opponents, mostly in eastern Europe, to join a mandatory refugee-sharing scheme across the EU, although she is also expected to use the pro-quotas coalition to pressure the naysayers into joining later.

Merkel’s ally on the new policy, Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European commission, said of the mini-summit: “This is a meeting of those states which are prepared to take in large numbers of refugees from Turkey legally.”

But he added later that any such agreement would be voluntary and not binding, while the Dutch rejected German-led calls to resettle large numbers directly from Turkey.

The frictions triggered by the split were instantly apparent. Donald Tusk, the president of the European council who chaired the full summit with Turkey, contradicted the mainly west European emphasis on seeing Ankara as the best hope of slowing the mass migration to Europe.

“Let us not be naive. Turkey is not the only key to solving the migration crisis,” said Tusk. “The most important one is our responsibility and duty to protect our external borders. We cannot outsource this obligation to any third country. I will repeat this again: without control on our external borders, Schengen will become history.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/29/germanys-plan-to-strike-eu-wide-refugee-sharing-deal-stalls

Structure of the Lead：

 WHO- Immigration

WHEN- Sunday

WHAT- European efforts come up

WHY- mandatory refugee-sharing and funding

WHERE- Middle East

HOW- splitting the union formally

1.      immigration 移民

2.      Unprecedented 空前的

3.      Mandatory 強制性

4.      Naysayers 反對者

5.      Contradicted 矛盾

6.      Obligation 義務

Week4 Cecil the lion: US dentist Walter Palmer who killed Zimbabwean lion returns to work amid protests

The Minnesota dentist who killed Zimbabwean lion Cecil, sparking a global outcry from animal lovers, has returned to work at his suburban Minneapolis office amid chants from protesters of "murderer" and "leave town".

Walter Palmer, 55, did not speak to reporters as he entered his Bloomington, Minnesota, dental practice.

He shut the practice in late July amid a firestorm of protests after he was publicly identified as the hunter who killed the rare black-maned lion weeks before.

The River Bluff Dental practice reopened in mid-August without Mr Palmer, who said on Sunday in a joint interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Associated Press that he needed to resume his duties.

In the interview, Mr Palmer reiterated a statement he had made in July: that the hunt was legal and no one in the hunting party realised the targeted trophy kill was the well-known 13-year-old lion.

No charges have been filed against Mr Palmer.

Mr Palmer said in the interview he wounded the lion with a bow and arrow, tracked it and then delivered a final blow with another arrow over the course of far less than the 40 hours that has been widely reported by media.

The killing of Cecil triggered a storm of protests and threats on social media.

Vandals spray-painted "lion killer" at Mr Palmer's Florida vacation home and demonstrators built a small memorial of stuffed animals at the door of his practice and demanded he be charged and extradited.

Veronique Lamb, a 49-year-old tourist from Brussels, was among the protesters waiting for Mr Palmer on Tuesday, and said that she was there to protest the dentist returning to work "like nothing happened".

Cathy Pierce, 63, of East Bethel, Minnesota, said she would like to see Palmer lose his business.

"Maybe that would send a message that this kind of hunting is not accepted anymore," Ms Pierce said.

Zimbabwe said in July it had requested Mr Palmer's extradition as a "foreign poacher", but Mr Palmer would have to be charged in Zimbabwe before he could be extradited.

The US justice department has said it does not comment on extradition requests.

Regulated big-game hunting is permitted in Zimbabwe and a string of other African countries.

Bloomington Police were at Mr Palmer's office on Tuesday and have a security camera in the parking lot, deputy chief Mike Hartley said.

The department has not received any reports of threats to Mr Palmer's life, he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-09/dentist-walter-palmer-who-killed-zimbabwe-lion-cecil-return-work/6760184

Structure of the Lead：

 WHO- Minnesota dentist

WHEN- Not mention

WHAT- killing Zimbabwean lion Cecil

WHY-Not mention

WHERE- Zimbabwean

HOW-Not mention

1.      reiterated 重申

2.      trophy 杯

3.      delivered 交付

4.      demonstrators 示威者

5.      poacher 偷獵者