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Saudi Arabia Officially Announced as The 2034 World Cup Host, Human Rights Groups Warn of "Unimaginable Human Cost"; Big Grocery Store Deal Goes Bust; Fast Moving Wildfires Affecting Thousands of People in Southern California.

COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello, sunshine. Let`s get our energy up. It is Thursday, December 12th. Happy Friday Eve. I`m Coy Wire. We are CNN10.

And we start with a big announcement in the sporting world, as Saudi Arabia is set to host the 2034 Men`s World Cup. This announcement was no surprise.

Going into FIFA`s meeting this week, that`s soccer`s global governing body, Saudi Arabia was the only country bidding to host for that year.

There was also only one bid for the 2030 Games, with Spain, Portugal, and Morocco together getting their chance to host in six years.

Saudi Arabia for years has been investing in sports as part of a project called Saudi Vision 2030, spending billions on changing the landscape of

sports like golf, boxing, esports, and Formula One in recent years. Even buying the famous English Premier League team, Newcastle United.

The project has been spearheaded by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and it aims to diversify the nation`s economy to make Saudi Arabia one of
 

spearhead [ˋspɪr͵hɛd] v. 当……的先锋；带头

the world`s leading countries. But the decision comes as a number of human rights groups warn of issues in the Gulf nation, including the abuse of

migrant workers, freedom of speech, and the rights of minority groups like the LGBTQ plus community.

CNN`s Amanda Davies gives us more background on what went into FIFA`s decision and shows us what challenges may lie ahead of the 2034 Games.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- to FIFA, to host the 2034 World Cup, Saudi Arabia --

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR (voice-over): Saudi Arabia and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman have made no secret of their desire to become

the world`s sporting destination of choice. Now, it`s set to host the biggest prize of them all, the FIFA World Cup.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Qatar.

(CROWD CHEERING)

DAVIES (voice-over): It`s the most controversial awarding of the tournament since that infamous day in December 2010 that saw Russia and Qatar given

the nod for 2018 and 2022 amidst corruption scandals and human rights concerns.
 

nod [nɑd] n.（点头表示）同意

DAVIES: Do you think FIFA learned any lessons, Steve, good or bad, from the Qatar experience?

STEVE COCKBURN, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL`S HEAD OF LABOUR RIGHTS AND SPORT: My fear is that the lesson they`ve learned from Qatar is that they can ride out the criticism.

ride out 安全度过(大风、风暴等)；经受得起

DAVIES (voice-over): In Qatar, there was unprecedented levels of construction of stadiums and infrastructure. Migrant workers died in the process.

Saudi Arabia meanwhile has pledged to build 11 new purpose-built venues. It was seen as a landmark moment in 2017 when FIFA became the first global

sports body to write human rights commitments into the bidding process for its major events. But nearly eight years on, actions are speaking louder than words.

actions speak louder than words 事实胜于雄辩

LINA AL-HATHLOUL, SAUDI HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I think no organization -- human rights organization has been consulted. And I will even add on that

Saudi Arabia has been forbidding human rights organizations from entering the country since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman came to power.

DAVIES (voice-over): Lina al-Hathloul is a Saudi human rights activist. Hers is one of 11 organizations that recently raised concerns about FIFA`s

approach to Saudi`s World Cup bid.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Ten-second trivia.

Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of what food sticking to the roof of your mouth?
 

arachibutyrophobia [əˌrækəbutərəˋfobɪə] n. 花生酱恐惧症：厌恶黏牙感

Cheese, peanut butter, bread or caramel?
 

caramel [ˋkærəm!] n.（供食物着色用的）焦糖

Answer is peanut butter. The word coming from the Greek word for Iraqi, for ground nut. And butcher, meaning butter. And, of course, phobia for fear.
 

ground [graʊnd] adj. 磨碎的

Now to a major shake-up in the business world as grocery chain Albertsons calls off its $25 billion merger with Kroger. This comes one day after a
 

shake-up 重新改组

call off 取消，停止，中止（尤指体育赛事）

federal court in Oregon all but halted the mega-merger, ruling that the deal would limit competition and harm consumers.

Kroger`s proposed deal with Albertsons was announced in 2022. If approved, it would have been the largest merger in U.S. supermarket history,

combining two of the largest chains in the country. This would include dozens of other chains that the companies own, like Safeway, Vons, Harris Teeter

and Fred Meyer.

Most of the workforce at Kroger and Albertsons are unionized, so a goal of the merger was to be more competitive against non-union giants like
 

unionized [ˋjunjən͵aɪzd] adj. 加入到工会组织的

Walmart, Amazon and Costco. But high grocery prices played a big role here, and the judge ruled that the merger would eliminate the competition between

Albertsons and Kroger that kept prices down, potentially raising prices for consumers.

Now Albertsons is suing Kroger for breach of its contract agreement, saying that Kroger failed to make its best efforts to secure regulatory approval
 

breach [britʃ] n.（对法律等的）破坏，违反

of the merger. We will let you know what Kroger has to say if they comment on termination of the deal or the suit.

Now to Southern California, where a fast-moving fire gave thousands of people little time to evacuate as it barreled towards nearby neighborhoods.
 

barrel [ˋbærəl] v.【美】【俚】高速行进

The Franklin Fire caught residents by surprise earlier this week.

The fire`s scorching growth was so explosive at one point it tripled in size in just one hour. The Los Angeles County Fire Department issued
 

scorching [ˋskɔrtʃɪŋ] adj. 灼热的, 激烈的

evacuation orders or warnings for more than 8,000 homes and businesses, with several shelters open for displaced residents. All Malibu schools were

closed earlier this week due to the fire threat.

CNN`s Veronica Miracle gives us the latest, and then we`ll turn to meteorologist Chad Myers to explain the role the Santa Ana winds play when

a wildfire is raging.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Malibu`s scenic hills ablaze after a fast-moving wildfire exploded overnight.
 

ablaze [əˋblez] adj. burning very strongly; 着火，起火

LINDA MICHEL, HOMEOWNER: From 1 to 10, it was like a 15, like scary.

MIRACLE (voice-over): The Franklin Fire tripling in size in just one hour, at one point scorching the equivalent of five football fields every minute

since it ignited late Monday evening, prompting evacuation orders.

MICHEL: Everything, all these mountains were covered in flames, just covered. Like you took a crayon and just colored everything.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Linda Michel is a caretaker who lives on a property with horses in the evacuation zone. She says she awoke to a wall of flames

surrounding the area and had to scramble to save the animals.
 

scramble [ˋskræmb!] v. 仓促行动

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see the wind down there.

MIRACLE (voice-over): The inferno fueled by dry conditions and Southern California`s infamous Santa Ana winds creating what fire officials call a,
 

inferno [ɪnˋfɝno] n.【义】地狱；炼狱

quote, "particularly dangerous situation."

Some wind gusts reaching 40 to 60 miles per hour. The flames destroying some homes and threatening businesses, even the iconic Malibu Pier.
 

pier [pɪr] n.（凸式）码头，直码头

GABRIELLE SALGADO, STUDENT, PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: It has definitely been a stressful and very tiring night.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Hundreds at nearby Pepperdine University had to shelter in place for hours in the campus library. Classes were canceled on

Tuesday.

SALGADO: I called my friends, found whatever friends I had in the same residential hall as me, and I just packed a bag. You look out the window

and, you know, the sky is red.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: There`s a lot of talk out there about Santa Ana winds, and what they are, where they come from, and how they are

formed. Well, really, the word Santa Ana wind has turned into a generic term, just meaning a gusty wind in Southern California. But there truly is
 

generic [dʒɪˋnɛrɪk] adj. 一般的，总称的

a basis to this term.

If you get a west wind, you have wind coming from the west. If you have a north wind, you have wind coming from the north. If you have a Santa Ana

wind, you have wind that`s rolling down through the canyon, the Santa Ana Canyon, which is between, really, the Chino Hills, Santa Ana Mountains. It

rolls down from the high desert and rolls right through and heats up and speeds up all the way to the ocean.

The term Santa Ana winds is used for any real gusty wind, typically warming, going downhill, and many times associated with wildfires.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Today`s story getting a 10 out of 10, a $28 million pair of shoes? An anonymous bidder spent the $28 million on these ruby slippers from the
 

anonymous [əˋnɑnəməs] adj. 匿名的；姓氏不明的

legendary movie, "The Wizard of Oz."

These iconic kicks were worn by the one and only Judy Garland. The price kept going up and up, but the bidder was like, I`ll get you, my pretties.
 

kicks: shoes, especially fashionable sports shoes

The bid set a new record for the most money ever spent at auction on a piece of movie memorabilia.
 

memorabilia [ˋmɛmərəˋbɪlɪə] n. （复数）纪念品

The dazzling slippers are one of only four surviving pairs, and these were actually stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota in 2005 before

they finally found their way back in 2018.

All right, let`s click some heels together and bring this show home. But before I give today`s shout out, I have to show some love to a group that

doniferously contributed to yesterday`s show.

For your word Wednesday. See, Mrs. Lisa`s class at Ashfield Academy in Lehighton in Pennsylvania, they too submitted the word doniferous, which

means carrying or bearing gifts. So they deserve credit for that.

Mrs. Lisa let me know on Instagram and I told her we would make it right. So right on.

All right. Today`s shout out goes to Mrs. Sweeney`s advisory class in Annapolis Middle School in Annapolis, Maryland. We see you dragons.

Rise up, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. See you right back here tomorrow so we can finish this week strong.

I`m Coy Wire. We are CNN 10.

END