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Chatter: What we're hearing
Wednesday, March 21st, 2012
Need to know:
French police are in the middle of a standoff with the man they believe is responsible for a spate of deadly shootings in southern France.
The suspect has been identified as Mohammed Merah, 24, a French citizen of Algerian origin who claims to be a member of Al Qaeda, and who was apparently known to the French intelligence service. According to him, the murders of French soldiers, a rabbi and three Jewish children were revenge for the deaths of Palestinians and French military intervention overseas.
Police have Merah surrounded at his home and are trying to persuade him to surrender.
Meanwhile, the bodies of the four Jewish victims have been flown to Israel, where a huge funeral was held in Jerusalem.
More From GlobalPost:
French police have surrounded the man suspected of killing seven people, including four at a nearby Jewish school, at his apartment in Toulouse.
The French city of Toulouse was in "lockdown" this morning after three children and a teacher were shot dead outside a Jewish high school.
Want to know:
Mitt Romney managed a decisive win in the Illinois primary last night, racking up 47 percent of the ballot to Rick Santorum's 35 percent.
It was a tough result to swallow for Santorum. His failure to defeat Romney in what was essentially a head-to-head contest could argue against his viability as a candidate. Romney certainly seemed to decide the inter-party scrambles were over when he used his victory speech to go after the bigger scalp, President Barack Obama.
Did he misjudge his audience? Illinois usually votes Democrat, and even the state's Republicans don't really like the candidates they've got to choose from: more than four in ten voters had reservations about the candidate they chose, according to one poll, while another ten percent chose their candidate simply out of dislike for the others.
More From GlobalPost:
A small slice of disenchanted Republican voters went decisively for former Massachusetts governor.
Fully four in ten voters have reservations about their own choice and another ten percent are only choosing their candidate out of dislike for the others.
Dull but important:
When China announced that it had recorded a $31.5 billion trade deficit in February, many speculated that the world's second-biggest economy was losing steam.
Exports form a large part of China’s gross domestic product, the theory goes, so once it drops, the country is in for trouble.
But are the negative trade balance and the likely export slowdown as troubling as they might seem? Not necessarily: one monthly trade deficit doesn't necessarily mean another is on the way. And even if exports slow down for a spell, that doesn't directly indicate anything about growth, or the lack thereof.
More From GlobalPost:
Analysts say dramatic trade-deficit figures don't necessarily mean bad news for the world's second-biggest economy.
Just because:
On Tuesday in Iran began Nowruz, a two-week holiday celebrating the Persian New Year. It's traditionally a time reserved for vacation, when tour companies make big money sending Iranians all over the world.
But this year? Not so much.
Many Iranians, under financial pressure from international economic sanctions and a rapidly devaluing currency, simply can't afford it anymore, bringing a sudden end to what had been a meteoric rise in the country's outbound tourism industry over the last decade.
More From GlobalPost:
It's holiday season in Iran. But economic sanctions mean no one can afford to go anywhere.
Bombs in Iraq? In the past. Violence in Darfur? Try the peanuts. For tourism "not-spots," promoters get creative.
Strange but True:
Anyone who's ever watched a movie translated into Russian will have wondered at the lone male dubber's ability seemingly to strip all emotion and interest from the dialogue he solemnly and monotonously intones.
Don't be fooled. That deadpan voiceover may be disguising some cutting creativity – as was the case with the enterprising translator who created an unofficial version of acclaimed Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady, in which Meryl Streep, playing the former British prime minister, declares her intent to "crush the working class, crush the scum, the yobs."
At least one Russian film critic gave the pirated version a hearty thumbs-up.
— Chatter by Jessica Phelan
More From GlobalPost:
A man took significant liberties with the dubbing of 'Iron Lady': In one scene, Thatcher, played by Streep, claims she would like to "crush the working class, crush the scum, the yobs."
A new film starring Meryl Streep captures the drama of Britain's most powerful leader since Churchill. Or does it?
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