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| Words in the News
Wednesday 03 October 2001
Vocabulary from the news. Listen to and read the report then find explanations of difficult words below.
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Berlusconi apologises
Summary: Italy's Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has met ambassadors from Muslim countries at his office in Rome to try to calm relations after they had protested strongly over his controversial remarks last week claiming that western civilisation is superior to Islamic culture. This report from David Willey.
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| | The News | |
| | | Last week the Italian Prime Minister apologised to parliament in Rome for his alleged remarks about the superiority of western culture over that of Islam, claiming his words had been taken out of context. On Tuesday night he faced an even more hostile and critical audience - a delegation of ambassadors from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Pakistan, Indonesia and the Palestinian Authority. The three-hour meeting ended with a statement in which the Italian Prime Minister expressed his profound respect for the Islamic religion, which he said preaches tolerance and respect for human rights. For their part, the ambassadors expressed appreciation for the Italian Prime Minister's efforts to make it clear that terrorism is absolutely separate from Islam. Sources who attended the unusually long three-hour meeting said that Mr Berlusconi claimed he had been misquoted by the left-wing press. The incident now appears to be closed but it has left a sour taste among senior Italian diplomats responsible for relations with the Arab world.
DAVID WILLEY, BBC NEWS, ROME
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| | The Words
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| | | alleged remarks
comments were were apparently made
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| | | taken out of context
interpreted incorrectly
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| | | a delegation
a group of people representing an organisation
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| | | expressed
spoke of
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| | | profound
deep, sincere
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| | | for their part
their point of view or opinion
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| | | absolutely
totally
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| | | appears to be closed
seems to have come to an end
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| | | a sour taste
an unpleasant feeling
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