Pride_film

This year's British feel good film!

Captain Zaida Cantera, a Woman of Courage

Spanish Captain Zaida Cantera has fought sexual abuse and defied machismo in the Spanish army. She is a contemporary freedom fighter of Spain's young democracy and has set an example of dignity and integrity for generations to come. 

Cashback_short film

In the short film Cashback, Ben is an art college student in London, whose imagination runs wild as he works the late-night shift at the local supermarket. What do he and his colleagues do to pass the long, endless hours of the night? Written and directed by Sean Ellis (UK, 2006). (With Spanish subtitles.) 18 min.

Sobre los diccionarios

Gabriel García Márquez

Tenía cinco años cuando mi abuelo el coronel me llevó a conocer los animales de un circo que estaba de paso en Aracataca. El que más me llamó la atención fue una especie de caballo maltrecho y desolado con una expresión de madre espantosa. "Es un camello," me dijo el abuelo. Alguien que estaba cerca le salió al paso. "Perdón, coronel," le dijo. "Es un dromedario." Puedo imaginarme ahora cómo debió sentirse el abuelo de que alguien lo hubiera corregido en presencia del nieto, pero lo superó con un pregunta digna:

–¿Cuál es la diferencia?

–No la sé –le dijo el otro–, pero éste es un dromedario.

El abuelo no era un hombre culto, ni pretendía serlo, pues a los catorce años se había escapado de la clase para irse a tirar tiros en una de las incontables guerras civiles del Caribe, y nunca volvió a la escuela. Pero toda su vida fue consciente de sus vacíos, y tenía una avidez de conocimientos inmediatos que compensaban de sobra sus defectos.

Aquella tarde del circo volvió abatido a la casa y me llevó a su sobria oficina con un escritorio de cortina, un ventilador y un librero con un solo libro enorme. Lo consultó con una atención infantil, asimiló las informaciones y comparó los dibujos, y entonces supo él y supe yo para siempre la diferencia entre un dromedario y un camello. Al final me puso el mamotreto en el regazo y me dijo:

–Este libro no sólo lo sabe todo, sino que es el único que nunca se equivoca.

Era el diccionario de la lengua, sabe Dios cuál y de cuándo, muy viejo y ya a punto de desencuadernarse. Tenía en el lomo un Atlas colosal, en cuyos hombros se asentaba la bóveda del universo. "Esto quiere decir –dijo mi abuelo– que los diccionarios tienen que sostener el mundo." Yo no sabía leer ni escribir, pero podía imaginarme cuánta razón tenía el coronel si eran casi dos mil páginas grandes, abigarradas y con dibujos preciosos. En la iglesia me había asombrado el tamaño del misal, pero el diccionario era más grande. Fue como asomarse al mundo entero por primera vez.

–¿Cuántas palabras habrá? –pregunté.

–Todas –dijo el abuelo.

La verdad es que en ese momento yo no necesitaba de las palabras, porque lograba expresar con dibujos todo lo que me impresionaba. A los cuatro años dibujé al mago Richardine, que le cortaba la cabeza a su mujer y se la volvía a pegar, como lo habíamos visto la noche anterior en el teatro. Una secuencia gráfica que empezaba con la decapitación a serrucho, seguía con la exhibición triunfal de la cabeza ensangrentada, y terminaba con la mujer, que agradecía los aplausos con la cabeza otra vez en su puesto. Las historietas gráficas estaban ya inventadas pero las conocí más tarde en el suplemento en colores de los periódicos dominicales. Entonces empecé a inventar historias dibujadas sin diálogos, porque aún no sabía escribir. Sin embargo, la noche en que conocí el diccionario se me despertó tal curiosidad por las palabras, que aprendí a leer más pronto de lo previsto. Así fue mi primer contacto con el que había de ser el libro fundamental en mi destino de escritor.

Un gran maestro de música ha dicho que no es humano imponer a nadie el castigo diario de los ejercicios de piano, sino que éste debe tenerse en la casa para que los niños jueguen con él. Es lo que me sucedió con el diccionario de la lengua. Nunca lo vi como un libro de estudio, gordo y sabio, sino como un juguete para toda la vida. Sobre todo desde que se me ocurrió buscar la palabra amarillo, que estaba descrita de este modo simple: del color del limón. Quedé en las tinieblas, pues en las Américas el limón es de color verde. El desconcierto aumentó cuando leí en el Romancero Gitano de Federico García Lorca estos versos inolvidables: En la mitad del camino cortó limones redondos y los fue tirando al agua hasta que la puso de oro. Con los años, el diccionario de la Real Academia –aunque mantuvo la referencia del limón– hizo el remiendo correspondiente: del color del oro. Sólo a los veintitantos años, cuando fui a Europa, descubrí que allí, en efecto, los limones son amarillos. Pero entonces había hecho ya un fascinante rastreo del tercer color del espectro solar a través de otros diccionarios del presente y del pasado. El Larousse y el Vox –como el de la Academia de 1780– se sirvieron también de las referencias del limón y del oro, pero sólo María Moliner hizo en 1976 la precisión implícita de que le color amarillo no es el de todo el limón sino sólo el de su cáscara. Pero también ella había sacrificado la poesía del diccionario de autoridades, que fue el primero de la Academia en 1726, y que describió el amarillo con un candor lírico: Color que imita el del oro cuando es subido y a la flor de la retama cuando el bajo y amortiguado. Todos los diccionarios juntos, por supuesto, no le daban a los tobillos al más antiguo, compuesto por don Sebastián de Covarrubias, que había ido más lejos que ninguno en propiedad e inspiración para identificar el amarillo: Entre las colores se tiene por la mas infelice, por ser la de la muerte y de la larga y peligrosa enfermedad, y la color de los enamorados.

Estos escrutinios indiscretos me llevaron a comprender que los diccionarios rupestres intentaban atrapar una dimensión de las palabras que era esencial para el buen escritor: su significado subjetivo. Nadie lo sabe tanto como los niños hasta los cinco años y los escritores hasta los cien. Los sabores, los sonidos y los olores son los ejemplos más fáciles. Hace muchos años me despertó a media noche la voz de un cordero amarrado en el patio, que balaba en un tono metálico de una regularidad inclemente. Uno de mis hermanos menores, deslumbrado por la simetría del lamento, dijo en la oscuridad: "Parece un faro." Una tisana hecha con hierbas viejas tenía el sabor inconfundible de una procesión de Viernes Santo. Cuando al Che Guevara le dieron a probar la primera gaseosa que se hizo en Cuba para sustituir el refresco del Cuba Libre, dijo sin vacilar ante las cámaras de televisión: "Sabe a cucaracha." Más tarde, en privado, fue más explícito: "Sabe a mierda." ¿Cuántas veces hemos tomado un café que sabe a ventana, un pan que sabe a baúl, un arroz que sabe a solapa y una sopa que sabe a máquina de coser? Un amigo probó en un restaurante unos espléndidos riñones al jerez, y dijo, suspirando, "¡Sabe a mujer!." En un ardiente verano de Roma tomé un helado que no me dejó la menor duda: sabía a Mozart.

Creo que este género de asociaciones tiene mucho que ver con las diferencias entre un buen novelista y otro que no lo es. En cada palabra, en cada frase, en el simple énfasis de una réplica puede haber una segunda intención secreta que sólo el autor conoce. Su validez tendrá que ser distinta de acuerdo con quien la lea y según su tiempo y su lugar. Cada escritor escribe como puede, pues lo más difícil de este oficio azaroso no es sólo el buen manejo de sus instrumentos, sino la cantidad de corazón que se entregue en el único método inventado hasta ahora para escribir, que es poner una letra después de la otra.

Para resolver estos problemas de la poesía, por supuesto, no existen diccionarios, pero deberían existir. Creo que doña María Moliner, la inolvidable, lo tuvo muy en cuenta cuando se hizo una promesa con muy pocos precedentes: escribir sola, en su casa, con su propia mano, el diccionario de uso del español. Lo escribió en las horas que le dejaba su empleo de bibliotecaria y el que ella consideraba su verdadero oficio: remendar calcetines. Lo que quería en el fondo era agarrar al vuelo todas las palabras desde que nacían. "Sobre todo las que encuentro en los periódicos –según dijo en una entrevista–, porque allí viene el idioma vivo, el que se está usando, las palabras que tienen que inventarse al momento." En realidad, lo que esa mujer de fábula había emprendido era una carrera de velocidad y resistencia contra la vida. Es decir: una empresa infinita, porque las palabras no las hacen los académicos en las academias, sino la gente en la calle. Los autores de los diccionarios las capturan casi siempre demasiado tarde, las embalsaman por orden alfabético, y en muchos casos cuando ya no significan lo que pensaron sus inventores.

En realidad, todo diccionario de la lengua empieza a desactualizarse desde antes de ser publicado, y por muchos esfuerzos que hagan sus autores no logran alcanzar las palabras en su carrera hacia el olvido. Pero María Moliner demostró al menos que la empresa era menos frustrante con los diccionarios de uso. O sea, los que no esperan que las palabras les lleguen a la oficina, sino que salen a buscarlas, como es el caso de este diccionario nuevo que me ha llegado a las manos todavía oloroso a madera de pino y tinta fresca.

Y cuyo destino podría ser menos efímero que el de tantos otros, si se descubre a tiempo que no hay nada más útil y noble que los diccionarios para que jueguen los niños desde los cinco años. Y también, con un poco de suerte, los buenos escritores hasta los cien.

(Prólogo al diccionario Clave, publicado por la Editorial SM en 2000)

B2 Word Order of Adjectives

When more than one adjective is used in front of a noun, the usual order is as follows: qualitative adjective + colour adjective + classifying adjective:

a little white wooden house
rapid technological advance
a large circular pool of water
a necklace of blue Venetian beads

However, non-gradable adjectives indicating shape, such as "circular" and "rectangular", often come in front of colour adjectives, even though they are classifying adjectives:

the rectangular grey stones
the circular yellow patch on the lawn

ORDER OF QUALITATIVE ADJECTIVES
The order of qualitative adjectives is normally as follows:
opinions - size - quality - age - shape

We shall have a nice big garden with two apple trees.
It had a beautiful thick fur.
I saw big, shiny beetles.
He had long curly hair.
She put on her dirty old fur coat.

ORDER OF CLASSIFYING ADJECTIVES
If there is more than one classifying adjective in front of the noun, the normal order is: 
age - shape - nationality - material

a medieval French village
a rectangular plastic box
an Italian silk jacket

Other types of classifying adjectives usually come after a nationality adjective:

the Chinese artistic tradition
the American political system

In short, we usually put the more precise adjective nearest the noun that follows it but it is not always easy to decide which is more precise. Use the following table as a guide for reference on adjective order.

1. both, all, half
2. the
3. Ordinal number: first, last
4. Cardinal number: one, three
5. Opinions or general judgement: good, bad, nice, ugly
6. Size or measurement: big, tall, short
7. Physical characteristics: beautiful, slim, little
8. Mental characteristics: intelligent, stupid, smart
9. Age or temperature: old, young, hot
10. Shape: round, square, rectangular
11. Colour: red
12. Verb participle form: carved, boiling, drunk
13. Material: wooden, plastic, silk
14. Nationality or origin: French, Mediterranean, Southern
15. Nouns used as adjectives: steel, cigarette, village

You are not likely to want to use many of these adjectives together, but here are some examples to show how this table works:

All the first three runners received a prize. (1,2,3,4)
The beautiful, intelligent girl fell in love with the nice tall young man. (7,8/5,6,9)
There was a round red mark on the carved wooden cupboard. (10,11/12,13)
He bought him a lovely Italian silk tie. (5,14,15)

London's planned SkyCycle

Plans to build a network of cycle paths high above the streets of London are being put forward for consultation. SkyCycle is a 136-mile (219 km) route, with the first phase, proposed from east London to Liverpool Street Station, costing more than £200m. If approved, the 10 routes would be built above existing rail lines and would take about 20 years to complete. 

Sir Norman Foster, the architect who designed London's Gherkin tower, has been working with Exterior Architecture and Space Syntax on the concept since 2012. He said cycling was one of his great passions, particularly with friends. "I believe that cities where you can walk or cycle rather than drive are more congenial places in which to live," he said.

"SkyCycle is a lateral approach to finding space in a congested city. By using the corridors above the suburban railways, we could create a world-class network of safe, car free cycle routes that are ideally located for commuters." He said early studies of a SkyCycle system indicated that it provided capacity at a much lower cost than building new roads and tunnels.

Almost six million people live within the catchment area of the proposed network. Almost three million people live and work within 10 minutes of a proposed SkyCycle entrance. Each route can accommodate 12,000 cyclists per hour. SkyCycle is expected to improve cycling journey times by up to 29 minutes. Between 2006 and 2011 the number of cycling casualties on the roads rose by half.

Luciano Rosso_lip-dubbing

Argentinian artist and dancer Luciano Rosso offers his awesome, lip-dubbing rendition of Freddie Mercury's timeless classic "Somebody to Love". Unmissable!

Look Up!_video

Look Up! is a spoken word film for an online generation, a lesson taught to us through a love story, in a world where we continue to find ways to make it easier for us to connect with one another, but always results in us spending more time alone. So, look up from your phone, shut the display, take in the surroundings and make the most of the day! Written, performed and directed by Gary Turk. Subtitled in Spanish. © Gary Turk, 2014
Related article: ¡Suelta el móvil, mamá!, by Cecilia Jan

Muslim Democrats of the World, Unite!

Since the end of the nineteenth century, the movement for a critical reflection on the foundations and interpretations of Islam has lost momentum, impeded by the predominance of a sclerotic, Arabo-centric Islam based on an obsolete worldview and often dismissive of non-Arab Muslims.

Today, we solemnly call on Muslim leaders committed to democracy, whether political and religious authorities or intellectuals/theologians, to convene in France in early 2016 to define the contours of a progressive interpretation of Islam firmly grounded in the 21st century.

Following in the steps of such scholars as Malik Bennabi, we need to start questioning the romanticized, nostalgic historical doxa predominant in Muslim-majority societies. It is imperative we examine carefully our civilizational failures, from the precolonial era to that of globalization and the reason why regular calls for an Islamic Renaissance in the past were left largely unanswered.

It is also essential that we (finally!) relaunch the reformist work of ijtihâd(interpretation) undertaken by Muhammad Abduh, Abd al-Raḥman al-Kawakibi and Muhammad Iqbal at the turn of the 20th century: an uncompromising critical analysis of the Quran and the prophetic traditions.

It is time we stop projecting cultural parochialisms onto religious dogma: Muslims around the world should be able to understand much more clearly where Islam ends and where indigenous cultural practice begins.

It is time we question the legitimacy and overbearing influence of certain politically and socially backward countries in deciding what is Islamic and what is not, who is a good Muslim and who is not. And just as importantly, it is time we give far more weight in the latter matter to Asian Muslims, in no small measure more appeased, democratic and legitimate, by virtue of sheer demography, in the twenty-first century.

The Muslims of Asia, those of Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas are not second-class Muslims. Too often, the opposition between Western and certain Arab governments has been masqueraded as one between Western and Muslim people. Whatever the nationality and religious creed, humans must be free to approach their citizenship and relation to religion as they see fit. In 2015, to stress this is not more western than it is oriental, Judeo-Christian more than it is Islamic.

It is crucial also that we not let autocrats once again tarnish our reputation as Muslims by hijacking our cause as reformers and turning into a mockery one of the paramount aspirations of Muslims worldwide in the twenty-first century: to live in a just and democratic society. While we must stand up as Muslims to publicly voice our attachment to secular politics, let us never forget that on a global scale, Muslims themselves are the first victims of both the often brutal dogmatic literalists who claim to represent Islam and of the secular autocrats who claim they are the only resort to contain the former. Dictators like Bachar al Assad and Abd al Fattah Al Sissi of Egypt, to name only them, can call for a reform of Islam as much as they please, let there be no ambiguity: they do not roll on our team, nor do we on theirs.

We must take ISIS's and Boko Haram's claims to be practicing a rigorous Islam seriously -- suggesting that terrorist acts committed in the name of Islam have nothing to do with Islam is like suggesting that the crusades had nothing to do with Christianity. The accusations brought against the 'silent majority' of Muslims as a result of the actions of these terrorist groups may be unjust, but they must be addressed. Once and for all, we must let the barbarous murderers who justify their crimes in the name of Islam know: When they attack anyone, they are attacking us Muslims, our faith and values, first and foremost.

Muslim opinion leaders must be aware of their crucial responsibility in this area. If we do not want Islam to be permanently hijacked, it is our duty to constantly advocate moderation and a reformist approach to issues of religious education, governance, the rule of law, freedom of expression and the protection of fundamental liberties while taking a clear stand on the interpretation of scriptural sources.

Those who want to divide humanity use uneducated shortcuts to associate Islam and barbarism and imply that there is an intrinsic violence in our religion, a natural solidarity between Muslims and terrorists. They imply that Islam is intrinsically incompatible with democracy.

In reality, the vast majority of Muslims reject violence. And when freedom and democracy suffer, they suffer too, just as Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus, Christians or Jews do. The enemy is not our neighbor who goes to the synagogue, the church, or the temple. The danger is not our neighbor who covers her hair with a scarf or chooses not to. The real peril lies elsewhere: it is in the withdrawal, the ignorance, and the stigmatization of the other; it is in the prejudices that drive us apart when we should be joining together as humans.

The time has come to turn the tables on the hijackers and set a new course for Islam in the 21st century. Our future, as peace-loving Muslim democrats, is at stake.

__________

Ghaleb Bencheikh, President of the World Conference for Religions for Peace.Anwar Ibrahim, former vice Prime Minister of Malaysia, head of the national opposition and chairman of the World Forum for Muslim Democrats. Felix Marquardt, founder of the Abd al-Raḥman al-Kawakibi Foundation and of the Khlass (Enough with) the silence! movement. Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Islamic Studies, Oxford University.  THE HUFFINGTON POST, February 10th 2015

The Theory of Everything_film

1. In the 1960s, Cambridge University student and future physicist Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) falls in love with fellow collegian Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones). At 21, Hawking learns that he has motor neuron disease. Despite this -- and with Jane at his side -- he begins an ambitious study of time, of which he has very little left, according to his doctor. He and Jane defy terrible odds and break new ground in the fields of medicine and science, achieving more than either could hope to imagine. A must-see film!

A Minute of Language

Twenty four hours after the barbaric killings of the cartoonists and journalists from Charlie Hebdo by religious terrorists in Paris, I had my first class of the year with my students of English. I told them that, instead of observing a minute of silence as a tribute to the victims, I would teach them a few expressions that the fanatic yihadists would not have wanted me to teach them nor them to learn. I took a piece of red chalk and wrote in capitals on the blackboard:

8th January 2015

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

FREEDOM OF FAITH

I pointed out to them that, although they were not strictly A2 or B1 language items, they would always need to know such terms, as they summarize some of the values our democracies stand on. I asked them to write them down on their notebooks in red and in capitals, which they did with great solemnity. It was a very emotional moment in my teaching career.

The great Voltaire said: "I don't agree with what you are saying, but I will die for your right to say it." 

L'AMOUR EST PLUS FORT QUE LA HAINE.

NOUS SOMMES TOUS CHARLIE HEBDO. 

Vive la Republique! Vive la Liberté!

El yihadismo es fascismo. 
¡ NO PASARÁN !

Love is stronger than hatred.

Je suis CHARLIE HEBDO

Por MARIO VARGAS LLOSA

Creo que lo que ha ocurrido en París en estos días es no sólo un hecho horrible que pone los pelos de punta por su crueldad y salvajismo sino también una escalada en lo que es el terror. Hasta ahora mataban personas, destruían instituciones, pero el asesinato de casi toda la redacción de Charlie Hebdo significa todavía algo más grave: querer que la cultura occidental, cuna de la libertad, de la democracia, de los derechos humanos, renuncie a ejercitar esos valores, que empiece a ejercitar la censura, poner límites a la libertad de expresión, establecer temas prohibidos, es decir, renunciar a uno de los principios más fundamentales de la cultura de la libertad: el derecho de crítica.

Lo que pretenden con este asesinato colectivo de periodistas y caricaturistas es que Francia, Europa occidental, el mundo libre, renuncie a uno de los valores que son el fundamento de la civilización. No poder ejercer esa libertad de expresión que significa usar el humor de una manera irreverente y crítica significaría pura y simplemente la desaparición de la libertad de expresión, es decir, de uno de los pilares de lo que es la cultura de la libertad. Creo que Occidente, Europa, el mundo libre deben tomar nota de que hay una guerra que tiene lugar en su propio territorio y que esa guerra debemos ganarla si no queremos que la barbarie reeemplace a la civilización.

Hay que actuar con firmeza, sin complejos de inferioridad frente a los que representan el fanatismo, pero también respetando rigurosamente la legalidad que es tan importante como la libertad. Uno de los riesgos más graves de este horrible ataque terrorista es que va a estimular la xenofobia a los partidos extremistas que son tan peligrosos para la democracia como los fanáticos islamistas.

Este asesinato colectivo va a ganarles adherentes a organizaciones como el Frente Nacional y a todos los grupos y grupúsculos que quisieran destruir a Europa y retroceder a los países europeos a la época de los nacionalismos intolerantes y xenófobos. Hay que hacer un esfuerzo para impedir que esto ocurra y que Europa sea destruida tanto por sus enemigos como por quienes pretenden defenderla a través de otras formas de intolerancia y fanatismo.

Francia es un país que fue uno de los fundadores de la cultura de la libertad con la declaración de los derechos humanos que estableció constitucionalmente una libertad de expresión que sus ciudadanos, sus intelectuales y sus políticos han ejercitado de una manera ejemplar a lo largo de toda su historia. Por eso la tragedia que vive Francia en estos días es una tragedia que nos afecta a todas las mujeres y a todos los hombres libres de este mundo quienes debemos repetir como lo están haciendo millones de franceses todos los días: "Je suis Charlie Hebdo". El País, 11 de enero de 2015

Mario Vargas Llosa es premio Nobel de Literatura.

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS! Vive La Liberté!

A2 Reading: Clothes

WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?

The world of clothes and fashion is changing. In the 1950s, men wore a suit for work and women never went out without a hat and gloves. Today, people can wear jeans and a T-shirt in the office and young men only wear a suit for interviews or weddings. Colours are also different today. People wear blue, green, yellow, and red as well as more formal colours like black, grey, and brown. My boyfriend works in an office and today he’s wearing jeans and a pink shirt!

Sports clothes are very popular today. I’m wearing jogging trousers, a T-shirt, and trainers today, but I don’t go jogging! I wear them because they are fashionable and comfortable. People sometimes wear ski jackets and walking boots or trainers when they go to the pub!
Children are also very interested in fashion. In the past, parents chose and bought clothes for children and teenagers. Now, children choose their own clothes and often like to have designer labels. My sister’s children are wearing Paul Smith jeans, Donna Karan T-shirts and Nike trainers at the moment. I think she spends more money on clothes for them than I spend on my clothes!
I like today’s fashion because it is more informal and men and women can wear the same things. I often borrow my boyfriend’s trousers, shirts, and T-shirts −but he doesn’t borrow mine!

After reading the text aloud for pronunciation practice, answer these questions:
1. How is today’s fashion different from the one in the 1950s?
2. What clothes and colours can people wear for work?
3. Does the writer wear sports clothes to go jogging?
4. Do parents choose clothes for today’s teenagers?
5. Why are children’s clothes expensive?
6. Why does the writer like today’s fashion?

Write questions for your partner:
1. How often/go shopping for clothes?
2. like/today’s fashion?
3. What/favourite clothes shop?
4. buy clothes/on the Internet?
5. How much/spend on clothes?
6. buy/designer labels?
7. What/wear for work/school/university?
8. What/wear/now?
9. What/favourite colours?
10. borrow/other people’s clothes?

Gay couple thrown out of Uber cab for kissing

1. ITV REPORT
 
2. 5 January 2015 at 9:01pm

Gay couple 'thrown out of Uber cab for kissing and cuddling'

 The couple were allegedly asked to leave the cab after kissing on the backseat. Credit: Corey Watts

By Jamie Roberton: ITV News

A gay couple have claimed they were thrown out of an Uber cab in London for kissing and cuddling.

Corey Watts and Jordan Sloan were travelling from Covent Garden at around 8pm on New Year's Day when the cab driver ordered them out of the vehicle.

"We were kissing and cuddled next to each other when a minute or two after picking us up he pulled over and told us to get out," Mr Sloan told ITV News.

When the couple asked why they were being evicted from the cab, the driver allegedly replied: "I take gays but they don't normally do this."

The driver has been suspended by Uber while the incident is investigated.

Watts, a 23-year-old hair stylist from Cardiff, said he was a bit "hot-headed" when he heard what the driver had said, accusing him of "disgusting homophobia".

Sloan, from Toronto, Canada, said: "I've never had any homophobic stuff happen to me so I was caught off guard. You don't expect it to happen in one of the world's biggest cities."

"I wanted to understand what he was thinking so I asked the driver: 'Would you do the same thing if it was a guy and a girl?'"

Sloan said the driver then drove away.

The couple were charged for the brief journey but later refunded.

Watts said he is "adamant" that he will never use an Uber cab again.

Asked whether the incident had put them both off moving to London in February, Sloan said: "No, London is a gorgeous city."

An Uber spokesperson told ITV News: “Uber does not tolerate any form of discrimination either by our partner drivers or towards our partner drivers.

"We opened an investigation from the moment we learned of this unacceptable incident and have been in contact with the rider to extended our sincere apologies and get further information.

"The driver concerned has been suspended from the Uber platform.”

Isabel Allende on How to Live Passionately

Happy New Year from London

Watch the awesome New Year London Fireworks in HD on full screen. HAPPY NEW YEAR

Recommended Films in English

Here is a list of 21 memorable films I recommend for learners of English (with the names of actors and actresses whose voices you will enjoy hearing). I advise you to try and watch these films on DVD with English subtitles on first.

The Bridges of Madison County (with Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep)

American Beauty (Kevin Spacey + Annette Bening)

Love Actually (Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, etc)

Match Point (Scarlett Johansson + Johnathan Rhys Meyers)

Babel (Cate Blanchet + Brad Pitt)

Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood)

Crash (Matt Dillon)

The English Patient (Ralph Fiennes)

Dogville (Nicole Kidman)

About a Boy (Hugh Grant)

Billy Elliot (Julie Walters + Jamie Bell)

The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Vigo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, etc)

The Godfather trilogy (Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, etc)

Blade Runner (Harrison Ford)

The Day After Tomorrow (Dennis Quaid + Jake Gyllenhaal)

A House at the End of the World (Colin Farrel)

The Truman Show (Jim Carrey + Laura Linney)

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Suspected paedophile Granada priests acted like a sinister sect

The Catholic priests in Granada who are being investigated for sexual abuse after a letter sent to Pope Francis allegedly drew young boys into church activities before ruthlessly convincing them to engage in sexual activities, investigators have learned

Quoting sources from the criminal investigation underway, Spanish national daily El País has reported that the Granada Catholic circle — the group of priests in Granada accused of sexually abusing at last one child — behaved like a sinister sect, trapping young boys within their circle and grooming them for sex.

Of the 10 priests and two laypersons who have been accused by one alleged victim, with the possibility that more witnesses may come forward, the group is said to have had a leader, specifically one of the three priests suspended from their duties on Monday in light of the court investigation.

Investigators are focusing on a parish church in the Granada district of Zaidín, where, the newspaper explains, the group leader worked and boys were allegedly drawn into the paedophiles’ sphere of influence by being taken on as altar boys or assistants.    

According to the court sources, the priests would try to brainwash these children in secret meetings, at which sexual matters were discussed and the boys encouraged to perform sexual acts with the adults, who assured them that there was no sin in such encounters. The case notes also describe how the adult members of the group also engaged in sexual activity among themselves.

The religious group, known locally as Los Romanones, a reference to the name of their alleged leader, would transport the minors to luxury flats and a house in Granada, as well as several coastal properties, to carry out their alleged crimes. So far, three priests and a teacher of religion have been arrested: Román Martínez V, Francisco José C M, Manuel M M, and Sergio Q M.

The alleged victim who has reported the offenses is today a 24-year-old teacher who has conserved his religious beliefs. According to sources who have had access to his testimony, the victim says he was abused between the ages of 13 and 17.

The victim received several telephone calls from Pope Francis, who offered his support and asked for forgiveness for these crimes in the name of the Catholic faith. The pope has encouraged Catholic authorities around the world to take stronger action against the sexual abuse of children within the Church. In this case, the alleged victim wrote to Pope Francis to report his ordeal after the Granada church hierarchy had ignored his complaints.

Pope Francis is reported to consider the suspension of only three priests as an insufficient reaction and has called the archbishop of Granada, Francisco Javier Martínez, to Rome in order to discuss the scandal. The role of the seven priests who remain in their posts is said by investigation sources to have been lesser in terms of the sex abuse, but they could be guilty of covering up the crimes and helping the three paedophiles to procure their victims.   

According to the alleged victim’s testimony, at least one other boy suffered similar abuse, while he also mentions the use of a girl by the circle, possibly as bait to draw in male victims. 

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British Artists and the Spanish Civil War

The bloody battle between the elected Spanish republic and a rebel group of Nationalists was one of the most important conflicts of the 20th century. The Nationalist-commanded bombing of civilians in Guernica – immortalised in Picasso's iconic work – was one of the first campaigns by Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe and reactions to it revealed the divisions between right- and left-wing groups in Europe. These ideological clashes were responsible for the outbreak of the Second World War just a few years later.

Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the battle's end, the exhibition Conscience and Conflict: British Artists and the Spanish Civil War draws on works by Henry Moore, Edward Burra, Wyndham Lewis and Roland Penrose in order to explore how visual artists in Britain responded to events in the Mediterranean. United in the fight against fascism, artists from across disciplines and practices became engaged with the conflict; either fighting in the war themselves, providing work for fundraising campaigns or creating independent pieces that made fiercely critical statements. On display are 80 such examples from this period, including painting, printmaking, design, textiles, sculpture, photography and film. Many have not been shown in public for several decades.

The exhibition also sheds light on the role female artists played in the conflict. Paintings of refugees Ursula McCannell – now 91 – produced when she was just 13 are displayed alongside her source photographs. Meanwhile a series of drawings by artist Felicia Browne, who was the first British volunteer to die in the war, capture Republican soldiers and Spanish peasants affected by the conflict.

Thanks in large part to the Surrealist artist Roland Penrose, Picasso's Guernica travelled to the UK in 1938 and toured to venues around the country. The display explores the impact its exhibition had on the British perceptions of the war, as well as its influence on artists depicting associated subject matter.

An undoubted highlight of the show is Picasso’s Weeping Woman. The artist made several subsidiary paintings based on figures in the Guernica mural, this one – focused on the weeping woman holding her dead child – is the last and most elaborate of the series.

Pallant House Gallery9 North Pallant, Chichester West Sussex PO19 1TJ01243 774557 www.pallant.org.uk