뉴스&스피킹(영자신문)
하루 10분이면 영어에 대한 두려움을 극복하고 누구나 유창하게 영어를 구사하실 수 있습니다.
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Rock Group Ends Live Concerts, Becomes Computerized Avatars Recently, members of the American rock band Kiss closed out their final performance. The group’s “The End of the Road” concert series ended in New York City’s famous Madison Square Garden.
But as it turns out, fans will still be able to enjoy Kiss performances for years to come.
The band formed in 1973. It is currently made up of founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, as well as Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. Towards the end of Saturday’s show, the band members left the stage and revealed computerized likenesses of themselves. The computerized avatars launched into a performance of the song “God Gave Rock and Roll to You.”
After 50 years of Kiss, the band now hopes to be remembered forever.
The avatars were created by George Lucas’ special-effects company Industrial Light & Magic. The company also worked with Pophouse Entertainment Group. Björn Ulvaeus, a member of the Swedish musical group ABBA, is its founder.
The two companies recently came together for the “ABBA Voyage” show in London. Fans there could enjoy a full concert by the Swedish band as performed by the computerized avatars.
Per Sundin is chief executive officer of Pophouse Entertainment. He said the new technology lets Kiss continue its history for “eternity.”
He said the band was not on stage during the computerized performance. He added, “Kiss could have a concert in three cities in the same night across three different continents. That’s what you could do with this.”
In order to create their computerized avatars, Kiss performed in equipment that followed their movement. This equipment is called motion capture suits.
Experimentation with this kind of technology has become increasingly common in the music industry. In October, K-pop star Mark Tuan partnered with Soul Machines to create a computerized version of himself called “Digital Mark.” The technology lets fans have one-on-one talks with Digital Mark. Tuan is the first famous person to attach their likeness to OpenAI’s GPT artificial intelligence technology.
Aespa is a K-pop girl group. The group often performs alongside their computerized avatars. In fact, the four-member band is meant to be seen as a group of eight.
Another girl group, Eternity, is made up entirely of computerized performers. No humans are necessary.
Kiss performer Paul Stanley told reporters that what they have done “… has been amazing, but it’s not enough. The band deserves to live on because the band is bigger than we are.”
“We can be forever young and forever iconic by taking us to places we’ve never dreamed of before,” Kiss performer Gene Simmons added. “The technology is going to make Paul jump higher than he’s ever done before.”
I’m Gregory Stachel.View -
Biden to US Congress: Ukraine Is 'Out of Money, Out of Time' The administration of American President Joe Biden warned lawmakers Monday against rejecting a military aid proposal for Ukraine.
Shalanda Young is the director of the United States Office of Management and Budget. She sent an open letter to the leaders of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Young said if the current budget measure is rejected, U.S. military aid to Ukraine would be gone by the end of the year.
The aid permits Ukraine to buy weapons for its defense against Russia.
Young noted that the U.S. also provides financial aid to the Ukrainian economy, and that money is already gone. She wrote: “If Ukraine’s economy collapses, they will not be able to keep fighting….”
With less than one month to go in 2023, she added: “We are out of money – and nearly out of time.”
Biden has asked Congress for more than $100 billion in aid that would go to Ukraine, Israel and others. Some lawmakers oppose the measure unless there are conditions attached. They say the Biden administration must find solutions to the migrant problem at the U.S. southern border.
The House of Representatives already approved a military assistance bill for Israel. The Senate has not.
The U.S. sent $111 billion to Ukraine in 2023. About $67 billion went to military needs. Another $27 billion went toward economic and civil assistance and $10 billion supported humanitarian aid.
Only three percent of the fund remains, Young wrote. She urged lawmakers to approve more money.
“This isn’t a next year problem. The time to help a democratic Ukraine fight against Russian aggression is right now. It is time for Congress to act,” the letter reads.
The letter followed a closed meeting on November 29 among U.S. congressional, military and national security officials. The security officials told the lawmakers that Ukraine aid needed to continue. Biden’s recent proposal includes $61 billion for Ukraine.
Chuck Schumer attended the meeting. He is the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate and a Democrat. He said the American military experts “were clear that Ukraine needs the aid soon.”
I’m Dan Friedell.View -
How Hanukkah Is Celebrated around the World Hanukkah (also written as Chanukah) is Judaism’s “festival of lights.” On eight straight nights, Jews come together with family and friends at the end of daylight to light one additional candle in the menorah.
A menorah is a lamp or candle holder used in Jewish religious ceremonies. It usually has eight branches, with a ninth place for the candle called shamash from which all the others are lit.
In Hebrew, Hanukkah means “dedication.”
The holiday marks the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem about 2500 years ago. That was the time a small group of Jewish fighters took it back from occupying foreign forces. The fighters found a very small supply of oil in the religious building, or temple, and used it to keep a menorah lit for eight days. Their practice of lighting a nightly candle and cooking foods like potato pancakes called latkes, serve to remember the event.
When is Hanukkah 2023?
The dates of the holiday are based on the Hebrew month of Kislev, which usually falls sometime in November or December in the Gregorian calendar.
This year, Hanukkah is being celebrated from December 7 through December 15.
Do Hanukkah celebrations differ?
There are different branches of Judaism, like Reform, Conservative and Orthodox. But they all celebrate the holiday by bringing light into the darkness and remembering that even a small and unlikely-to-succeed effort can make great change.
The Talmud is Judaism’s central religious book. Within it, there is a dispute over the order of lighting. But even with that dispute, most start with one candle and increase the lighting by one more candle each night while saying religious blessings.
The candles are added from right to left, but lit from left to right on the menorah, thus always starting with the newest light.
The tradition calls for candles with a real flame. But some also use electric ones in public areas, such as in hospitals, for safety reasons.
How is Hanukkah celebrated?
A menorah is lit in each household and traditionally is placed where it can be seen from the outside, such as a doorway or near a window. It represents the spreading of God’s light to all nations.
The lighting of menorahs in city streets and public areas, like parks or areas of interest, has become more common in recent years in countries around the world.
In addition to menorah lightings, giving money to those in need and social works are also part of the celebration for many. This comes out of the belief that the Jewish people are called by God to help make the world better for all.
I’m Caty Weaver.View -
Walmart Shifts to India, Cuts China Imports Walmart, the world’s largest store, is importing more goods to the United States from India and reducing its dependence on China.
Between January and August this year, Walmart shipped 25 percent of its U.S. imports from India. That compares to just 2 percent in 2018. Import Yeti, a data company, shared the information with Reuters.
The same data shows that only 60 percent of Walmart’s imports came from China during the same period, down from 80 percent in 2018. China is still Walmart’s biggest country for importing goods.
The shift shows how the rising cost of importing from China and increased tension between China and the U.S. are leading American companies to import from other countries. Those countries include India, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Andrea Alright is Walmart’s executive vice president of sourcing. She said, “We want the best prices.” She added that Walmart has to deal with natural disasters to shortages in materials and cannot be dependent on any one supplier or area for products.
Walmart said the import information did not mean that it was reducing dependence on any of its markets. "We're a growth business and are working to source more manufacturing capacity," the company said in a statement. And Albright added that India has become an important part of Walmart’s efforts to build that manufacturing capacity.
Walmart has been increasing growth in India since 2018. It bought 77 percent of shares in the online company Flipkart. Two years later, it promised to import $10 billion worth of goods from India each year by 2027. That is a target it is on the way to meet, Albright said. It is currently importing around $3 billion worth of goods from India each year.
India’s workforce and technology
Walmart is importing goods including toys, electronics, sporting equipment, and medications from India. Foods like packaged food, dry grains, and pasta are also popular imports from India, Albright told Reuters.
India, whose stock market has risen to record highs this year, is viewed as the country best equipped to outperform China in low-cost and large amounts of manufacturing.
The South Asian country also has a growing workforce and increasing technological developments. China, however, recently reported its first population decrease in sixty years.
Walmart started its sourcing operations in the Indian city of Bangalore in 2002. Now, the company employs more than 100,000 people, including temporary workers, around the country.
Rising costs from China
The rising cost of shopping goods from China has also added to the shift to India, supply chain experts say.
Chris Rogers is a researcher at S&P Global Market Intelligence’s supply chain research group Panjiva. He said, “Sourcing from mainland China has become less competitive because of rising labor costs versus other manufacturing centers.”
China's minimum wage ranges between $198.52 to $376.08 monthly. Meanwhile, average wages for unskilled and semi-skilled workers in India are between $108.04 and $180.06.
The COVID-19 pandemic showed weaknesses in worldwide supply chains, showing U.S. importers were over-dependent on a small number of markets.
Albright said planning for an event like the pandemic is like planning for a natural disaster. She said, “What I can control is where my product is coming from and how do I make sure that Christmas still happens if something happens in our supply chain.”
I’m Caty Weaver.View -
System Tested in US Can Charge Electric Vehicles as they Drive Officials in the American city of Detroit, Michigan, have equipped a piece of road with technology designed to charge electric vehicles (EVs) on the path.
The roadway is meant to serve as a demonstration project for the technology, which could be expanded to larger road systems. Leaders of the project say it is believed to be the country’s first public wireless charging roadway built for EVs.
The system uses a series of copper wires placed underneath the road. These wires have the ability to send electricity through a magnetic field to charge an EV’s battery. Charging can happen while the car is driving or sitting above the equipment.
The technology was created by an Israeli company called Electreon, a developer of wireless charging solutions for EVs. The company currently has contracts to build similar roadways in Israel, Sweden, Italy and Germany.
Stefan Tongur is Electreon’s vice president of business development. He told The Associated Press EVs require special equipment to receive the wireless signal. “The technology is smart," Tongur said, and “knows who you are…”
The system was recently demonstrated to the public at a technology development center in Detroit. The center seeks solutions to transportation issues facing cities. The effort, which includes several development projects, is where Ford Motor Company is building a factory to develop self-driving vehicles.
The electrified road stretches about one half-kilometer. It will be used to test and improve the technology in preparation for wider releases, said Michigan’s Department of Transportation (DOT).
Tongur said the project aims to “demonstrate how wireless charging unlocks widespread EV adoption, addressing limited range, grid limitations, and battery size and costs.”
He looks forward to a future in which, in his words, “EVs are the norm, not the exception.”
Electreon says the electric road system is safe for people and animals walking over it and does not harm drivers.
Michigan’s DOT signed a five-year agreement with Electreon to develop the roadway charging system. Officials have said they plan to build another electrified stretch of road in another part of the city.
American President Joe Biden is seeking to build a nationwide network of EV charging stations in the United States. His administration plans to establish at least a half-million sites along highways in the United States by 2030.
Michigan transportation officials say the wireless-charging roadway project has helped position the state and city of Detroit as national leaders in EV technology. “In Michigan, we want to stay ahead of the curve,” Michigan DOT Director Bradley C. Wieferich told the AP. He added, “We want to lead the curve.”
I’m Bryan Lynn.View