BACKGROUND
A student accused of funding terrorism in Syria walked free from court yesterday after she was cleared of trying to smuggle cash out of the UK in her knickers. University student Nawal Msaad, 27, was caught with £16,000 in euros stuffed in her underwear at Heathrow as she attempted to board a flight to Istanbul. Police believed she was due to hand the cash over to a jihadi. But after a month-long trial, a jury decided that Miss Msaad was tricked into being a mule by an old school friend. Miss Msaad was caught when the cash dropped down into her knickers as she walked through Heathrow. Read more >>

THE CARTOON
The cartoon by Mac from the Daily Mail shows a woman who is going to board a plane for Istanbul at Heathrow airport. She is trailing banknotes behind her. A security officer tells his younger, more junior colleague, "I want you to be very brave, Hodgetts, and ask if you can have a tiny peek into her knickers."

COMMENTARY
The joke is that, unlike the so-called jihottie in the news story, the woman in the cartoon is unattractive, and does not look as if she would take kindly to any request to search her underwear! 

VOCABULARY
1. A peek is a quick look at something. • Emma had a quick peek inside the box.2. Knickers are a piece of underwear for a woman's lower body (see image). The American word is panties.

Source: http://www.englishblog.com/2014/08/cartoon--1.html#.U_N-m7x_vms

BACKGROUND
David Cameron has returned to Downing Street from his holiday in Portugal a day earlier than expected to assume direct command of the government's response to the Iraq crisis. The prime minister had been expected to return to Downing Street on Thursday. His decision to return home a day earlier than expected followed criticism from Tory MPs of the prime minister for allowing himself to be photographed on a Portuguese beach while RAF crews were flying dangerous missions to drop humanitarian supplies to Yazidirefugees trapped on Mount Sinjar. Backbench Tory critics were distributing a cartoon from Tuesday's Times that featured lines of dead refugees lying on the ground. The cartoon ended with a pot-bellied Cameron lying on a beach towel in relaxed pose. Read more >>

CARTOON
The cartoon by Morten Morland from The Times shows a red-faced Cameron returning from his holiday in Portugal. He's still wearing holiday clothes and is pulling a suitcase on wheels behind him. By portraying the PM in this way, the cartoonist is ridiculing him and the fact that his response to a major international crisis is to cut short his holiday by just one day. 

VOCABULARY
A plight is a a sad, serious, or difficult situation. • We must direct our efforts toward relieving the plight of children living in poverty.

source: http://www.englishblog.com/2014/08/cartoon-a-time-for-leadership.html#.U_N-obx_vms

Ad Finitum

BACKGROUND
The English Premier League starts today. The world's most popular football league is back after a three months hiatus. The new season promises more excitement, thrills, drama, upsets and surprises. Champions Manchester City will battle a resurgentManchester United as well as Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool to hold onto their Premier League crown. Read more >>

CARTOON
The cartoon by Bob from the Daily Telegraph comprises two panels. In the left-hand panel a man is sitting in front of the TV crying because the World Cup in Brazil has just finished ("It's over"). His wife, who seems unimpressed, hands him a tissue to dry his eyes. In the right-hand panel, the same man is staring excitedly at the screen because it's the first day of the Premier League ("It's started"). This time his wife, whose expression has not changed, is removing the box of tissues and handing him a can of beer.

COMMENTARY
The title of the cartoon 'Ad Infinitum' is Latin for 'to infinity'. If something happens ad infinitum, it never finishes, or happens again and again. • You cannot stay here ad infinitum without paying rent. The cartoonist is making a humorous comment on fact that as soon as one football competition ends, another one begins, and so on until the end of time (or so it seems).

source: the english blog

Cartoon: Hospital Parking Charges

BACKGROUND
Today the Daily Express is launching a crusade to help the sick, the elderly and their families by calling for an end to unfair hospital car park charges. As many as 74 hospitals made more than £500,000 from parking in the last financial year, with 46 taking more than £1million. The injustice of these fees has been exposed by Freedom of Information requests to health trusts which reveal 79 per cent are charging for parking, with some demanding as much as £500 a week for long-stayers. Full story >>

CARTOON
The cartoon by Paul Thomas from the Daily Express shows a man lying on the ground in a hospital car park. The emergency ambulance workers are preparing to give him oxygen. His wife, who is cradling her husband, tells them, "He fainted when he saw the parking charges!" The parking machine says that parking costs £5 per hour, with a £2000 fine (for non-payment, one assumes).

VOCABULARY
1. To faint is to suddenly become unconscious for a short time, and usually fall to the ground. • Many people in the crowd fainted in the heat.
2. A charge is an amount of money that you have to pay, especially when you visit a place or when someone does something for you. • There is a charge of £50 if you are over a week late with your payment.

Source:http://www.englishblog.com/2014/08/cartoon-hospital-parking-charges.html#.U_N-prx_vms

Group of rats