Vocabulary In the News : 24 September 2009 – The Guardian (London, England)

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- If you snub someone, you insult them by ignoring or being impolite to them. Apparently, British Prime Minister Brown was snubbed in New York by President Obama. It has been revealed that the prime minister was given the cold shoulder by Obama when the president spurned five requests for bilateral meetings. In other words, Obama refused to meet with Brown and turned away his requests.

One of the reasons for the snub began several weeks ago when the Scottish government released the Lockerbie bomber. The White House disapproved of how No 10 handled the situation.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/sep/23/barack-obama-gordon-brown-talks

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In response to this news, Prime Minister Brown has denied that President Obama snubbed him. Watch this video from Sky News.

Brown Denies Reports Of Obama Rift

Gordon Brown has been forced to deny reports of a rift (un désaccord)with Barack Obama. It had been claimed that the US President had rejected five approaches for a meeting with the Prime Minister. Mr Brown has been speaking to Sky's Andy Bell.

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On the BBC “Have Your Say” where the public can express their opinion, the following question was asked for discussion.

Is the US distancing itself from Britain?

Repeated requests from Britain for a formal meeting with President Barack Obama fell on deaf ears (tomber dans l’oreille d’un sourd) in the US. Is the "special relationship" cooling?

Requests from Downing Street for official talks were turned down with both camps denying it amounts to a snub. Instead the US president had private meetings with leaders from Russia, China and Japan.

Gordon Brown was able to have a wide-ranging (ample, étendu) discussion with the president. However, it has emerged this was a conversation in a kitchen after a meal at the United Nations.

Has the special relationship changed following the release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi? Should Obama be focusing on developing relations with other leaders? Do you think this is just a storm in a teacup (une tempête dans un verre d’eau) ?

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So what do you think? Leave your opinion to these questions (in English of course!!) by clicking on the comment button at the bottom of this post.