Ted: Hey! We took a little break, but we’re back with another episode of Babbel News – English Only. I’m Ted, language expert at Babbel. As usual, we’ve got a couple more news stories in English, sourced from Reuters. Let’s take a quick look at our topics for today.

In the first story, you’ll hear about activists with the group “Don’t Gas Africa” protesting outside the European Gas Conference in Vienna, and then you’ll hear about a historic strike in Germany.

Remember, you can pause, go back, or slow down the playback speed at any time. And of course, to find the transcript for the episode, follow the link in the episode description. 
 OK. Let’s begin.

Here are some words and phrases to listen for during the first story. We’ll start with the verb “to plunder”, or to steal things from a place using force. After that comes “to make landfall”, when someone or something arrives on land after being at sea. Then, there’s “to fuel”, which in the context of this story means to make a situation stronger, or more intense. And the last word from this story is “to address”, to think about a problem and decide what to do about it. Now, let’s head to Vienna!

Reuters: "We’re here to stand and be the voices for Africa because Africa does not want gas."

Activists from Zimbabwe were among protesters taking the climate change fight to fossil fuel companies on Monday. They were camped outside a hotel in the Austrian capital Vienna that is hosting the European Gas Conference.

Lorraine Chiponda is from campaign group "Don't Gas Africa."
"We have a colonial history with fossil companies who have continuously plundered African resources and extracted massive, obscene profits. So I’m here to resist this agenda."
 
Earlier this month southern Africa was hit for a second time by Tropical Cyclone Freddy. It killed more than 500 people since first making landfall in February. One of the continent's strongest and deadliest storms on record was fueled by warmer oceans as a result of climate change.

“We are facing floods, we’re facing storms."
 
Dean Beihkumuzi, also from "Don't Gas Africa," says the continent wants renewable energy and a sustainable future. "We’re here to say once again that we refuse to be Europe's gas station."
 
More than 250 delegates are attending the European Gas Conference, including senior representatives from Norway-based Equinor, France's Total, and Germany's RWE. According to the conference organizers, the event will address the "long-term role of natural gas in Europe and its position in the transition to help reach net-zero targets."

Ted: And here’s your vocabulary from the second story. The first word is “to disrupt”, to interrupt or stop something from continuing in the normal way. Up next is “industrial action”, when workers stop working, or work less because they want more money or better conditions. Then, there’s “to dent”, to slightly damage something, or to make a situation a little bit worse. We also have the verb “to suspend”, to officially stop something for a period of time. After that, we have “to call on”, to ask or demand that somebody does something. Following that is “a wage dispute”, or a disagreement between employees and their employer about how much money, or what wage, they should earn. And the last phrase for today is “a matter of survival”, a situation in which people’s lives, or their way of life, is in danger. With that, let’s hear the second story.

Reuters: Airports, train stations, and bus stations across Germany were at a standstill on Monday. Millions of commuters and travelers were disrupted during one of the country’s largest strikes in decades.

The 24-hour walkout was organized by the Verdi trade union and railway and transport union EVG. The labor organizations represent more than 2.7 million employees collectively.

It all marks the latest in months of industrial action throughout major European economies, as higher food and energy prices dent living standards. Two of the country's largest airports, Munich and Frankfurt, suspended flights. And long-distance rail services were canceled by German rail operator Deutsche Bahn.

Achim Stauss is a spokesperson for the rail company: “We called on the EVG union to quickly return to the negotiating table. Today’s strike is very irritating and so is the fact that they are willing to negotiate with us only in five weeks. A solution to this wage dispute can only be achieved at the negotiating table.”

According to newspaper Bild am Sonntag, the head of Verdi said the action was a matter of survival for millions of workers amid high inflation.

Ted: So, you made it through another episode! Way to go! If you missed anything on the first listen, feel free to go back and give it another try. And if you run across any unknown words that I didn’t explain, look them up in a dictionary so you can go back and practice them later. Thanks again for listening to the show, and see you next week. Bye!