Ted: Hey there! You’re listening to Babbel News – English Only, where you can keep up with current events while improving your English with the help of news clips sourced directly from Reuters.

I’m Ted, language expert here at Babbel, here to introduce you to today’s news item and to explain some of the most important words and phrases in the story. Before we begin, remember that you can find a transcript for the episode by following the link in the episode description.

The story you’ll hear today brings us to Hong Kong, where some important developments in LGBTQ rights are taking place. Ready? Then off we go!

Let’s start by going over some important vocabulary and phrases that will help you get the most out of today’s story. We’ll start with “landmark ruling”, a court decision which significantly changes the way a law is applied. Next, we have “to pave the way”, which literally means to work on a road or path so that it is smoother and easier to travel on. As an idiom, “to pave the way” for something means to create a situation that makes progress possible in the future. The next word, “sweeping”, is an adjective that means to have an effect on a lot of people. And then we have “to stop short of something”, or to come close to doing something but then not actually doing it all the way. Up next, “a hub” is the center of a lot of activity. Meanwhile, “to be jailed” means to be put in prison. And when you “grant” someone something, you agree to give them what they ask for. Moving on, “potentially” is an adverb that means the same thing as “possibly”. And the last word for today is “drawcard”, something that attracts people to a particular place or event. Now, let’s listen to the story!

Reuters: In a landmark ruling, Hong Kong’s top court has paved the way for sweeping legal protections for gay couples, though it stopped short of full recognition of same-sex marriages. It's the first time the court has directly addressed the issue in the Asian financial hub and could have implications beyond Hong Kong.

The ruling ends a five-year legal battle by jailed pro-democracy activist Jimmy Sham to get the government to recognize his marriage to a man in New York in 2013. While the five judges did not grant Sham's appeal that he had a constitutional right to a same-sex marriage in Hong Kong, they have demanded the government create new legal protections for same-sex couples in their daily lives.

Lawyers and activists say that's significant, as it forges a path for the creation of a legal protection in a whole range of areas, potentially from health care and insurance to inheritance and taxation issues. Hong Kong’s government now has two years to make changes. The Hong Kong government has yet to comment.

The ruling is being closely watched across Asia, a largely socially conservative region where only Taiwan and Nepal allow same-sex unions. Some activists believe it could influence Asian financial hubs from Tokyo to Singapore to draft more inclusive laws as a drawcard for international talent and global corporations.

But it remains unclear if the ruling will have any impact in mainland China, where homosexuality was decriminalized in 1997, and in 2001, removed from its list of mental illnesses. Same-sex marriage is not recognized there – and no official legal protections exist.

Ted: We’ve reached the end of another episode! Remember that there are a lot of ways that you can engage with this content. The most important thing is that you find the way that works best for you and your learning style.

For example, the reason I often recommend reading the transcript is because, for some people, it’s easier to remember new words when they can see how they are written. Or, you might prefer listening without reading first to see how much you can understand, before replaying the episode and filling in any gaps with the help of the transcript. Or maybe you want to try listening to the episode at a slower speed? It’s totally up to you!

Right, that’s all for now. We’ll be back next week with another episode of Babbel News – English Only. See you then!