뉴스&스피킹(영자신문)
하루 10분이면 영어에 대한 두려움을 극복하고 누구나 유창하게 영어를 구사하실 수 있습니다.
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Britain’s May to Resign without Brexit Deal British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday she will resign after several failed attempts to take the country out of the European Union.
Standing in front of the prime minister’s official home on Friday, May said, “I will shortly leave the job that has been the honor of my life to hold.”
She added, “It is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit.”
May became prime minister after Britain voted in 2016 to leave the European Union (EU) in what became known as Brexit. For nearly three years, she was not able to get parliament to approve a Brexit deal. Britain now has until October 31 to secure an agreement to leave the EU.
May will resign as Conservative Party leader on June 7. Her resignation will lead to a party leadership election. A number of people have expressed an interest in leading the Conservatives. High-level party leaders are to meet the following week.
Who will be the next prime minister?
Some conservative lawmakers have looked at May as a barrier to Brexit. However, her replacement will face the same parliament, which remains deeply divided over whether to leave the EU.
Boris Johnson, a supporter of Brexit, is the leading candidate to succeed May as party leader and prime minister. Johnson resigned last year as May’s foreign secretary after disagreement over the terms of Brexit.
Johnson wrote on Twitter, “Thank you for your stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party. It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit.”
Another possible successor is Andrea Leadsom. Her recent resignation as the leader of the House of Commons led to May’s latest political crisis. Leadsom praised May’s commitment to country and duty. Leadsom added, “She did her utmost, and I wish her all the very best.”
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called May “a woman of courage” for whom he has great respect.
Also on Friday, the spokeswoman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel noted that the EU will continue to work closely with Britain’s next leader for “an orderly exit.”
I'm Anne Ball.View -
After Election Victory, Modi Needs to Deal with Indian Economy, Pakistan Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party declared victory Thursday in parliamentary elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, says it won over 300 of the 542 seats in India’s lower house of parliament.
If confirmed for a second term as prime minister, Modi will face a number of challenges in the weeks to come. The economy is slowing. There is a job shortage in the country. And relations with Pakistan, India’s longtime enemy, are tense.
BJP’s election victory was based, in part, on national security issues. The party appeared to gain strength after Modi sent warplanes into Pakistan to hit a suspected militant camp. That raid was meant to answer a bombing in Kashmir. The attack led to the deaths of 40 Indian police officers.
Investors seemed hopeful about Modi winning a second term as prime minister. They think the size of his party’s victory will enable the government to push through reforms. Indian stock prices rose more than 5 percent this week, with some stocks hitting record highs.
But the wave of happiness did not last long. Stock prices and the value of the rupee, India’s money, ended weaker as investors turned their attention to an economy that is slowing.
Modi will need to immediately push for economic growth, which fell to a yearly rate of 6.6% between October and December. That is the slowest growth for five quarters. There is also a money crisis in India’s private finance industry.
Other economic measures are equally problematic: industrial production and manufacturing growth have weakened in recent months. Automobile sales, and other economic indicators fell in April.
“We are seeing very strong signs that the economy is under pressure,” said Aishvarya Dadheech. He is with the financial company Ambit Asset Management.
“When things are so bad, you don’t need an unstable government on top of it.”
Tight finances
Even if Modi wants to increase federal spending to support growth, his hands are tied. Lower tax collections and populist measures meant to appeal to voters will stop his new administration from spending.
When Modi became prime minister, oil prices around the world were falling. That left India with some money to spend. But now oil prices are rising and will push the current account deficit higher. Finance Ministry officials told Reuters this month there was no possibility of economic stimulus money.
Concern has been growing about a liquidity problem in the private finance industry. India has more than 10,000 such businesses. They are worth about $304 billion.
Last year, the government took control of one large financial company after it was unable to make its debt payments on time. Another private financial company recently said it would not permit early withdrawals.
Rajesh Cheruvu is the chief investment officer at Mumbai-based WGC Wealth. He said the government had to “restore confidence.”
Modi will also need to deal with growing concerns over the lack of jobs. Unemployment rose to 7.6% in April, up from 6.71% in March. Those numbers come from the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy.
While dealing with economic problems at home, Modi will also need to watch Pakistan. Tension remains high after the two countries came close to war following the militant attack three months ago.
Earlier this week, Pakistan expressed a willingness to open talks with India. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmud Qureshi said that “we want to live like good neighbors and settle our outstanding issues.”
But on Thursday, just as Modi’s victory appeared guaranteed, Pakistan appeared to speak louder. It tested a surface-to-surface ballistic missile – one that had the ability to carry nuclear weapons.
I’m Susan Shand.View -
Sri Lanka Tourism Suffers After Deadly Bombings The deadly bombings that struck Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday have led many foreign visitors to stay away from the island nation.
The Lonely Planet travel guide named Sri Lanka as its top nation for travelers in 2019. The country is known for its beautiful beaches, ancient ruins, wildlife and parks.
But on April 21, more than 250 people were killed in several bomb attacks at hotels and churches. Among the dead were 45 foreigners, including visitors from China, India, the United States and Britain. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the blasts.
Since the attacks, foreign tourism has dropped sharply.
Sri Lankan travel officials say many foreigners who were planning to visit the country over the next few months have canceled their plans. Officials reported that, overall, visitor arrivals to Sri Lanka have dropped about 80 percent since the bombings.
The tourism industry makes up about 4.9 percent of Sri Lanka’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2018, 2.3 million tourists visited the island, bringing in about $4.4 billion. That was an increase of nearly 12 percent from 2017.
Industry experts say hotel occupancy rates across the island have fallen by at least 85 percent. Most beaches, eateries and stores in popular tourist areas are now empty.
Many foreign travelers usually visit Hikkaduwa, on the southwest coast. The area is known for its good surfing conditions and clear waters for snorkeling. The Associated Press reported that on a recent day, only a few of the area’s 27 hotels were even open. Most eateries that sit along the six-kilometer beach were closed.
The Hikkaduwa Beach Hotel was one of the few places still open. On the day of the bombings, all 50 of its guest rooms were full. Now, few people are staying there.
“It’s a real disaster. We don’t know what to do right now,” said Sanjeewani Yogarajah, who works at the hotel. She said the attack has so far cost the business $31,000. The loss in earnings has forced the hotel to send half of its workers home.
Lankesha Ponnamperuma, who runs the hotel company Hikka Tranz, is one of the luckier ones. He says that while foreign visitors are mainly staying away, his business is surviving because many local people are using the hotels. On some days, up to two-thirds of the company’s hotels are filled, he said.
The president of Sri Lanka’s Hotels Association, Sanath Ukwatta, said many hotels have been advertising rates 30 to 50 percent lower in an effort to get Sri Lankans to come. While he admits such offers will not fully solve the economic problems, they can still “help at least to keep the hotels going.”
One visitor to Hikkaduwa beach who spoke to the AP does not seem to mind the lack of other foreign visitors in the area. Alexi Konchayenko, a sports trainer from Ukraine, drank fresh coconut water and enjoyed the sunny beach.
Bomb blasts can happen “anywhere, anytime,” Konchayenko said. He added that he was not afraid to be there and would probably come back. “Sri Lanka is an amazing country. This is my first visit and I will tell my friends also to come.”
Hotel worker Sanjeewani Yogarajah says one of the biggest concerns for industry officials is a travel ban issued for Sri Lanka by several countries after the attacks.
“The ban is our main worry. Until it is removed or softened, we can’t start our marketing to attract tourists,” he said. “If it is lifted soon, we are hopeful we can bounce back this year, or otherwise definitely next year.”
I’m Bryan Lynn.View -
Cave Wall Markings Show Stickball is More Than Just a Sport On April 30, 1828, a group of Cherokee men met inside a cave near the present-day city of Fort Payne, Alabama. The men went there to take part in a ceremony before they played a game of stickball. To record the event, team leaders wrote words and expressions on the cave’s stone walls. They used a writing system for Cherokee that Sequoyah, a member of the tribe, invented.
Cherokee and non-Native researchers have now studied the wall inscriptions and explained the importance of the game. They wrote about it in a report appearing in the British publication, Antiquity.
Beau Duke Carroll belongs to the Eastern Band of Cherokee in North Carolina. He also wrote part of the report.
"The early Cherokee were really smart," he said.
Carroll is an archaeologist with the tribe's Historic Preservation Office. He explained why people have called stickball "the little brother to war."
"They would recognize that if somebody was killed in war, whatever skills he had, whatever service he was to tribe and family, wouldn't be provided anymore," he said. "They realized they would rather find another way to solve conflicts over land or other disputes—and I'm sure opposing tribes and communities felt the same way."
That 'other way' was stickball, one of the most violent sports on the planet.
How to play the game of stickball
The rules sometimes differ from one game to the next, but follow these general lines: Team members used to wear only loincloths but today they wear shorts. Each player carries two long wooden sticks with woven cups at one end. They use a stick to gain control of and move a small ball toward goals at either end of the playing field.
In one version of the game, played by the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, players get points by striking the wooden image of a fish which tops a 7 and a half meter high pole at the center of the field.
Players may not use their hands to catch the ball, but they may use them to block and take down opponents. Because players wear no shoes or protective equipment, small injuries are common.
"Stickball isn't just a game," Beau Carroll says, "it's a ceremony itself."
A ceremony comes before the game
Before a game, a religious leader leads the players in prayer. They pray to weaken their opponents and ensure victory.
Carroll only describes part of the ceremony in the published report because the tribe thinks of other parts as spiritual. They do not want to talk about those parts in detail.
"Basically, they performed the same rituals as they would before going to war," he said. Part of the ceremony, called "going to water," involved cleaning the body and mind by water before, during and after the game.
"It's a ritual that's part of everyday life--even today," he said.
The video above shows the Wolftown team of Eastern Band Cherokee at Baggataway At the Mounds, part of Angel Mounds' Native American Days, September 28, 2013
Oppression meant ceremonies must be secret
By 1828, when the players wrote on the cave’s walls, the Cherokee were being pressured to give up traditional beliefs and ceremonies. The pressure came from the U.S. government, Christian religious workers and Christianized tribe members.
There was punishment for people who performed ceremonies. "If they decided that you weren't being Christian enough, then they'd pull their support and your whole family would starve," said Carroll.
Alabama’s Manitou Cave was the ideal place to perform banned ceremonies. It was far away from big cities; it had spiritual meaning to the tribe’s members, and they thought of it as a doorway to the underworld. The underworld was a place where it was thought the spirits of the ancestors and other supernatural beings lived.
The writing on the cave is done in burnt wood or cut into a dark surface. One set tells the date of the game. Another tells about the players. It says some of them are "those that have blood come out of their nose and mouth," suggesting the team was playing poorly. This set of writings is signed in English, by the team leader, "Richard Guess," who was probably Sequoyah's son.
Importance of native understanding
The inscriptions in Manitou Cave are important, say the writers of the report, because they offer a window into a time when Cherokee culture was trying to survive. They are also important because, while it was non-Native researchers who first discovered the inscriptions, it was Cherokee researchers who could really understand and explain them.
Two years after the game, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. In 1838, government agents forced thousands of Cherokee living east of the Mississippi River westward to what is today Oklahoma. Several thousand people died along the way, which is now known as the "Trail of Tears."
Carroll’s family was part of a small group who were able to stay in North Carolina. Today, they are known as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
The Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians are the only other Cherokee tribes that the federal government recognizes. Both are based in Oklahoma—and both play stickball today.
Europeans learned how to play the game, which has changed into the modern sport of lacrosse. Today’s lacrosse team members wear heavy protective gear.
"They had to change it," said Carroll, "to better suit people who couldn't stand getting hurt."
I’m Jill Robbins.View -
Huawei Says US Controls Have Little Effect The founder of Chinese technology company Huawei said the United States’ restriction on sales will have little effect on the company. He added that Huawei is discussing “emergency relief” from Google for possible loss of services for its smartphone business.
Ren Zhengfei told Chinese state broadcaster CGTV, “The U.S. government’s actions at the moment underestimate our capabilities.” He said Huawei has “supply backups” if it cannot buy American parts.
Last week, the U.S. ordered the ban, and said Huawei was a security risk. American officials claimed Huawei would give information it collects to the Chinese government. Huawei has denied the accusation.
Huawei is the world’s second-largest maker of smartphones behind Korea’s Samsung. It has developed its own chips for some smartphones and other products. But it depends on Google’s Android operating system and American suppliers for more advanced parts for its products.
Loss of Google services
Google said it would continue to support existing Huawei smartphones but that future devices would not have some apps and services, including maps, Gmail and search.
Ren admitted that the loss of Google’s services “will be very big.” He added, “We are discussing emergency relief measures.”
On Monday, U.S. officials gave Huawei a permit to buy U.S. goods until August 19. The move is meant to give American businesses that use Huawei products some more time to make other plans.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman accused the United States of misusing “state power” to hurt foreign companies and interfere with the marketplace.
In 2012, Huawei’s U.S. sales collapsed after a congressional panel told businesses to avoid its products and those from another Chinese company, ZTE.
However, Huawei’s sales around the world rose quickly. Its smartphone shipments rose 50 percent compared to a year earlier in the first three months of 2019. At the same time, shipments from both Samsung and third-ranked Apple have fallen.
The U.S. order could hurt Huawei’s business by limiting access to parts and services everywhere -- not just in the U.S. market.
The U.S. has also tried to urge its allies to avoid Huawei as a supplier of fifth-generation (5G) technology. Australia and Taiwan have set limits on Huawei technology, but Germany, France and Britain still do business with the company.
I'm Ashley Thompson.View