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Thought you had a big vocabulary? Think again
By Mick Krever, CNN
If you thought you had a big vocabulary, think again.
The average English-speaker knows between 25,000 and 40,000 words, Oxford English Dictionary Chief Editor Michael Proffitt told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday.
His organization – which bills itself as the “definitive record of the English language” – has recorded 800,000 words and counting, he said.
“Even people who are doing 40,000, at the highest end, it’s about five percent of what we’ve got in the OED,” he said. “And that’s not all the words in the language.”
Proffitt has just taken over the helm of the OED, the first succession in 20 years, and he faces a unique challenge.
How will the revered dictionary stay relevant in a 21st century world of Tweets and text messages?
‘Civilized future’ of Ukraine at stake, says acclaimed Ukrainian writer
By Mick Krever, CNN
After months of protests, the very “civilized” future of Ukraine is at stake, acclaimed Ukrainian writer Andrey Kurkov told CNN’s Hala Gorani, sitting in for Christiane Amanpour, on Wednesday.
“There are lots of things at stake,” he said from Kiev. “The European, or the civilized, future of Ukraine; but most of all, actually, is the question of rule of law.”
“For 23 years there was no rule of law in the country, nobody was respecting the laws, and actually the laws were used to punish the enemies.”
President Yanukovych, in power since 2010, is using those same tactics to punish his enemies, Kurkov said.
There is no sign that protestors, hunkered down since November in far-below-freezing temperatures, are ready to quit.
Obama promises action on inequality, but proposals are ‘modest’ says John Cassidy
By Mick Krever, CNN
In his most important scheduled speech of the year, U.S. President Barack Obama called for a “year of action” – with or without Congress.
At the center of his agenda was not the deficit, or the national debt, but inequality.
According to two UC Berkeley economists, 95% of income growth during the economic recovery went to the top 1% richest Americans.
But Obama’s actual proposals, said John Cassidy, economics writer for The New Yorker, were “very modest if you looked at it closely.”
Among those “modest” proposals – enacted without Congress – are raising the minimum wage for new federal contractors.
There appears to be popular support for taxing the super rich more heavily, he said, but that has not translated into government action.
Inequality “has produced some anger,” he told CNN’s Hala Gorani, sitting in for Christiane Amanpour, “but for whatever reason the political system doesn’t seem to be able to respond to it.”
Click above to watch Gorani’s full conversation with Cassidy.
In bloody Central African Republic, top imam and archbishop urge peace
By Mick Krever, CNN
The top Muslim imam and Catholic archbishop in war-ravaged Central African Republic are coming together to advocate for peace and urge their communities to stop their brutal fighting.
“We are together to first prove to international opinion that the crisis is not religious,” Oumar Kobine Layama, president of the C.A.R. Islamic Community, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an interview that aired Tuesday.
“Religious temperament has been used for some people in order to reach their objectives, which is power,” he said.
Chaos struck the Central African Republic last year after a coalition of rebels dubbed Seleka, a predominantly Muslim coalition, ousted President Francois Bozize – the latest in a series of coups since its independence.
Christian groups, called anti-Balaka, sprung up in response.
They have continued their vicious vigilante fighting despite thousands of French and African peacekeeping troops, and the election last week of a transitional president.
Egypt government suppressing ‘any voice of dissent,’ says targeted academic
What is going on in Egypt?
What is going on in Egypt? Christiane Amanpour explains, and speaks with NPR Cairo Bureau Chief Leila Fadel.
By Mick Krever, CNN
Three years to the week since Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak was forced from power, the country seems to have come full circle.
As the country’s first democratically elected leader, Mohamed Morsy, faced a Cairo courtroom months after he was forced from power, Egypt’s generals gave their blessing for Field Marshall Abdul Fatah el-Sisi to run for president.
Mubarak’s military-backed rule may, three years later, become el-Sisi’s military rule.
“In order to implement its [roadmap] they are suppressing any voice of dissent, mine included,” Egyptian academic Emad Shahin told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday.
Shahin himself is an exemplary case of the state of Egypt today.
He was accused two weeks ago of espionage and conspiracy to undermine national security, but says he has not seen any concrete charges.
Mexico's position as an emerging market
CNN's Christiane Amanpour speaks to Mexican Finance Minister Luis Vildegaray about why Mexico's economy looks promising.
Ukraine under siege
As protests continue in Ukraine, CNN's Christiane Amanpour speaks to opposition MP Lesya Orobets about negotiations with the government.
Ballet legend Carlos Acosta winds down classical dance career
At the top of the dance world sits Britain's Royal Ballet; and at the top of that sits Principal Dancer Carlos Acosta, from Cuba – the first Cuban to ascend such heights.
Amanpour first met him when he joined back in 1999, and he has since gone on to take his sensational athleticism and classical moves to every major ballet company in the world.
But for how much longer?
Acosta tells Amanpour that the time has come for him to hang up those ballet slippers; he may only perform one more season.
After a career that started in the slums of Havana, where his father enrolled him in dance school when he was nine just to keep him out of trouble, he's a family man now with an infant daughter and soon-to-be-wife.
And he has just written his first novel "Pig’s Foot,” about a dysfunctional dynasty in Cuba which debuted to great reviews.
Click above to watch their full interview.
Turkey to Assad: Transition out or face the ICC
Turkey: Indict Assad over Syria photos
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says alleged Syria torture, killing photos represent "a crime against humanity"
The transcript of Christiane Amanpour's full interview with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu can be found here.
By Mick Krever, CNN
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should take peace talks seriously and transition out of power, or face the International Criminal Court, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday.
Responding to photos that allegedly prove systematic torture and killing by the Syrian regime, Davutoglu, said “those photos are clear evidences … this is a crime against humanity.”
Davutoglu spoke with Amanpour from Montreux, Switzerland, where world powers are trying to broker an improbable peace in Syria.
Amanpour was the first to report, with the Guardian on Monday, on an investigation alleging that the Syrian regime is murdering prisoners on a mass scale. The investigation was authored by a team of international legal and forensic experts and based on thousands of photographs provided by a Syrian defector.
“All of those who committed this crime must be accountable,” Davutoglu said. “We should not be doing the same mistake like what happened in Srebrenica.”
“In Srebrenica some people tried to turn their eye and some tried to ignore Srebrenica for some time. But Srebrenica has happened and it was a shame for international community.”
FULL TRANSCRIPT: Ahmet Davutoglu
The following is a full transcript of Christiane Amanpour's interview with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST: Foreign Minister Davutoglu, thank you so much for joining me from Davos [Montreux]. Welcome to the program.
AHMET DAVUTOGLU, TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER: Thank you. Thank you.
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