What could the EU lose from worse business ties?

Russia is now a big market for high-performance German cars

Some EU countries will feel the impact more than others. Russia has become a booming market for Western consumer goods in the past decade.

Germany has appeared especially reluctant to ratchet up sanctions. That is not surprising, as German exports to Russia totalled 38bn euros (£30bn; $51bn) in 2013 - the highest in the EU.

More importantly, Germany gets more than 30% of its oil and gas from Russia. Italy is also highly dependent on Russian energy and some of Russia's former Soviet bloc neighbours rely 100% on its gas deliveries.

The EU's trade with Russia - worth nearly 270bn euros in 2012 - dwarfs US-Russia trade.

Food exporters are already facing losses after Russia announced an immediate embargo on a wide range of food imported from the EU, US, Norway, Canada and Australia. It was announced as a response to the Western sanctions.

Fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy produce and various other foods are affected by the Russian ban, which will last at least a year.

ratchet up ‑ расширять; углублять

senior official ‑ высокопоставленный чиновник

scope ‑ объём и содержание, задача

energy sector ‑ сектор энергетики

raise (а) loan ‑ делать заём, привлечь займ

dual-use ‑ двойного назначения

(Товарами двойного назначения (двойного применения) называются товары, которые используются в мирных целях, но могут быть применены при создании оружия массового уничтожения и ракетных средств его доставки.)

arms deal - соглашение о поставках оружия, продажа оружия

oil industry ‑ нефтедобывающая промышленность

Dozens of ‑ десяток

subject to ‑ подпадать под действие, в отношении которого устанавливаются

asset freeze ‑ замораживание активов

lead ‑ руководство; инициатива

follow lead ‑ следовать примеру

housing community ‑ жилой посёлок

lucrative contract ‑ выгодный договор, выгодный контракт

top aide ‑ главный помощник

KGB officer – сотрудник КГБ

deputy chief of staff ‑ заместитель начальника штаба

bank shares ‑ банковская акция

commodity trading ‑ операции на товарно-сырьевых рынках, операции на товарной бирже

stakes ‑ участие в капитале акционерной компании

pariah [рə′raiə], [ ] ‑ изгой

conglomerate [ ]

defence company ‑ оборонное предприятие

deep-water exploration ‑ глубоководная разведка, исследования на глубоководной площади

self-styled - самопровозглашённый

close associate ‑ соратник

buoyed [ ] ‑ плавучий; поддерживаемый на поверхности, вдохновлённый

capital flight ‑ отток капитала, утечка капитала

haemorrhage [ ] ‑ сокращение, терять в больших количествах, отток, кровоизлияние

high-performance ‑ с высокими эксплуатационными характеристиками

dwarf ‑ мешать росту; останавливать развитие

12:28 PM EST JAN 7, 2015

By Jason Chow

The Paris offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were attacked on Wednesday by armed gunmen, who killed 12. The magazine, part of a French tradition of biting satire, has been the source of constant controversy throughout its history. A primer on the magazine and its past.

· What is Charlie Hebdo?

Charlie Hebdo is a satirical magazine, published every Wednesday, that was founded in 1969, though it stopped publishing between 1981 and 1992. Known best for its illustrations and provocative imagery, the magazine aims to mock all forms of authority, from politicians to religion to the military. Its ideological roots are left-wing and atheist—with religion in all its forms a target. In its Dec. 20 edition, the newspaper published a cartoon of the Virgin Mary giving birth to a pig-faced Jesus.

· What has Charlie Hebdo done to anger Muslims?

In 2006, the paper reprinted images of the Prophet Muhammad that had appeared in a Danish magazine a year before. The next year, it published a picture of Muhammad crying, with the tagline “It’s hard to be loved by idiots.” Many Muslims view visual depictions of Muhammad as provocative or even blasphemous. The Grand Mosque of Paris and the Union of Islamic Organizations of France, among other similar religious bodies, filed slander charges at the time. A French court cleared the paper.

· How was the magazine targeted in the past?

The magazine’s offices were set on fire by a Molotov cocktail in 2011 after it published a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad saying “100 lashes of the whip if you don’t die laughing.” The firebomb forced the publication to relocate to their current offices in the 11^th arrondissement of Paris. Editorial staff were often threatened: The magazine’s director, Stephane Charbonnier (better known to readers under his illustration pen name of Charb), had a bodyguard. A French man was arrested in 2012 after he called on a jihadist site to have Mr. Charbonnier decapitated. Mr. Charbonnier was among those killed Wednesday.

· What has the magazine published recently that might have provoked the attack?

It’s unclear, though the magazine hasn’t relented on its critiques of radical Islam. In the last edition, Charb drew a foreboding cartoon. Under a headline “Still no attacks in France,” he depicted a jihadist soldier carrying an AK-47 rifle saying, “Wait! We’ve got until the end of January to present our wishes.”

biting satire - острая сатира

′controversy - разногласие

′imagery - образы, художественный образ

atheist [′eiӨiist]

tagline - подзаголовок, рекламный слоган

blasphemous - богохульный; кощунственный

slander [sla:ndə] - клевета; злословие, оскорбление, богохульство

at the time - в то время

firebomb - бутылка с зажигательной смесью

arrondissement [,ærən′di:smənt] - административное подразделение департамента во франции; район; муниципальное подразделение; городской район

pen name - литературный псевдоним, авторский псевдоним

decapitated – обезглавливать