Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for October 13, 2012
Newsline: US man convicted of punching ambassador of Gabon at embassy during demonstration
Federal prosecutors say a North Carolina man has been convicted of punching the ambassador of Gabon at a demonstration at that country’s embassy in Washington. Forty-five-year-old Leon Obame of Raleigh was convicted of assault on a foreign official. He faces a maximum of three years in prison. Prosecutors say the assault occurred on Dec. 9 at the embassy’s temporary location on Connecticut Avenue N.W. Authorities say Obame punched Ambassador Michael Moussa-Adamo, knocking him to the ground.
Newsline: UK diplomats told to learn ‘Hinglish’
The hybrid language ‘Hinglish’, which is a mix of both Hindi and English, is spreading so fast in India that British diplomats posted to the country have now been told they will need to learn the language to ensure they remain in the loop in maintaining business relationships. Hinglish is made up by the “free mixing” of Hindi and English words and sentence structures or even within a single sentence. “The Foreign Office is placing increasing importance on the ability to transact business in foreign languages,” the Daily Mail quoted a British high commission spokesman, as saying. According to the paper, while this mixing has occurred since colonial times, it is now maturing and spreading across India, meaning a foreigner or diplomat without some understanding of the Hindi words could be left out of the loop.
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