【671-673】China Confirms Detaining Two Canadians
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【671】
AS IT IS
China Confirms Detaining Two Canadians
December 13, 2018
Michael Kovrig (left) and Michael Spavor are the two Canadians who were detained by China. Chinese officials say they are being investigated for acts that hurt state security.
China has confirmed that a second Canadian citizen has been detained since Canada’s arrest of a Chinese business official earlier this month.
Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang spoke to reporters in Beijing Thursday about the situation. Lu said that businessman Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig had been detained on Monday. Kovrig had been reported as missing earlier this week. Reports of Spavor’s disappearance began to show up on Wednesday.
Lu said the two Canadians’ are suspected of acts that harm state security and that their legal rights were being “safeguarded.”
He said Beijing security and state security officials in the city of Dandong, Liaoning Province had taken measures against Spavor and Kovrig.
Who are the Canadian businessmen?
Spavor is director of Paektu Cultural Exchange. It plans sports and educational exchanges with North Korea. He has met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Spavor also has been a translator for former National Basketball Association player Dennis Rodman during his visits to North Korea.
Before his detention, Spavor told Reuters news agency that he was working with North Korean officials and possible investors in Dandong.
Kovrig is the North East Asia senior advisor for the International Crisis Group. He served as a Canadian diplomat from 2003 to 2016.
The arrests of the two Canadians took place about one week after the arrest by Canada of a top official with Chinese technology company Huawei Technologies. Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver, Canada.
Canadian officials arrested Meng after the United States released a warrant for her arrest. She is accused of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran.
Huawei official under house arrest
On Tuesday, a Canadian judge released Meng from jail after a bail payment of $10 million. However, she is to appear in court at a later date and is under house arrest.
Meng is chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, a company created by her father. It is one of the world’s biggest telecommunications companies.
U.S. officials accuse Meng of lying to banks about Huawei’s control of a company based in Hong Kong that reportedly sold products to Iran. Iran is currently under strong U.S. sanctions.
If tried and found guilty in the United States, Meng could face up to 30 years in prison.
After her arrest, China called for Meng’s immediate release.
Officials say that China has not linked Kovrig’s detention to Meng’s arrest in Canada. However, Canadian diplomatic experts have said it is likely that the two cases are linked.
China called the U.S. ambassador to make a formal protest over the issue.
The arrest comes at a sensitive time when the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is negotiating with China over trade.
I’m Mario Ritter, Jr.
Mario Ritter Jr. adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on VOA, Reuters and AP news reports. Hai Do was the editor.
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Words in This Story
warrant –n. a document issued by a court that gives police permission to do something
sanctions –n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, by not allowing economic aid for that country
bail –n. an amount of money given to a court to permit a prisoner to leave jail and return later for trial
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【671】
AS IT IS
World Cup, Avicii, Mac Miller Top Google Searches of 2018
December 13, 2018
FILE - Hugo Lloris lifts the trophy as France celebrates after winning the World Cup July 15, 2018. (REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach)
The World Cup, the movie “Black Panther,” Meghan Markle and the deaths of several famous people are among the most popular Google searches of 2018.
The search engine company this week released its yearly ranking of search terms that had the highest growth in comparison to the year before.
The World Cup final between France and Croatia is at the top of Google’s list.
The second- and third-most popular search topics were for the young musicians Avicii and Mac Miller. Both died in 2018. Sweden’s Avicii started his music career at the age of 16. He retired after 10 years and killed himself in April at the age of 29. American singer Mac Miller died of a drug overdose in September. He was only 26 years old.
Stan Lee took the fourth spot on the list. He was the creator of famous comic book characters like Spider-Man, the Hulk and Black Panther. He died in November at the age of 95.
“Black Panther” was the fifth-most searched term. The superhero movie broke box office records around the world. It was also the most-tweeted-about movie ever.
The much-discussed May wedding of Britain’s Prince Harry and American actor Meghan Markle landed Markle in sixth place on Google’s 2018 list.
American cook and television personality Anthony Bourdain, musician XXXTentacion, scientist Stephen Hawking and fashion designer Kate Spade also were among the top 10 Google searches.
Bourdain and Spade both killed themselves in June -- within the same one-week period. Their suicides led to strong calls for more mental health treatment and suicide prevention efforts.
Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English. Ashley Thomson was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
overdose - n. an amount of drug that is too much and usually dangerous
topic - n. someone or something that people talk or write about
personality - n. a person who is famous
comic - adj. causing laughter or amusement
character - n. a person who appears in a story, book, movie ...
fashion - n. a business of creating and selling clothes
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AS IT IS
Virgin Galactic Completes Test of Spaceship to Carry Tourists
December 13, 2018
Virgin Galactic reaches space for the first time during its 4th powered flight from Mojave, Calif.
Virgin Galactic says its spacecraft designed to launch tourists into space completed an important test flight on Thursday.
The rocket ship, called SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity, climbed more than 82 kilometers during the flight above California’s Mojave Desert. Virgin Galactic said by reaching this height, the spacecraft had reached the boundary of space for the first time.
The 80-kilometer space boundary is used by the U.S. Air Force and other U.S. agencies. That differs from a long-held view that the boundary is reached at 100 kilometers. Virgin Galactic officials say recent research favors the lower number.
At the start of the flight, a special plane carrying the VSS Unity climbed to nearly 13,700 meters before releasing the spaceship. The VSS Unity then fired up its rocket engine and quickly traveled up and out of sight from a group of watchers on the ground.
The spacecraft was piloted by Mark Stucky and former NASA astronaut Frederick “CJ” Sturckow. During the flight, the two men were able to experience weightlessness and see the curvature of the planet, the company said.
The spaceship reentered the atmosphere at 2.5 times the speed of sound and landed safely a few minutes later. In addition to the pilots, the spaceship carried four NASA research payloads and a mannequin named Annie.
Virgin Galactic’s chief, British billionaire Richard Branson, watched the flight from the ground. “Today we have shown Virgin Galactic can open space to the world,” he said. Branson met the pilots after the flight and declared “Space is Virgin territory!”
Virgin Galactic’s latest success comes four years after another spacecraft crashed during a test flight that killed the co-pilot and seriously injured the pilot. The crash led to major delays in the company’s progress in taking tourists to space.
Branson said after Thursday’s test he aims to launch the company’s first space flight with passengers - including himself - by March 2019.
More than 600 people have paid for or put down deposits to fly aboard Virgin’s suborbital flight. Famous people including actor Leonardo DiCaprio and music star Justin Bieber are among them. A 90-minute flight costs $250,000.
Richard Branson is not alone in the space tourism business. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos launched Blue Origin, which also plans to take space tourists on suborbital trips. Blue Origin will use the more traditional method of spacecraft attached to a rocket launched from the ground. Also, SpaceX founder Elon Musk recently announced plans to take a wealthy Japanese businessman and his friends on a trip around the moon.
I’m Jonathan Evans.
Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from the Associated Press, Reuters and Virgin Galactic. Hai Do was the editor.
We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
boundary – n. the edge or limit of something
curvature – n. something taking the shape of a round line
mannequin – n. artificial model made in the form of a human
deposit – n. money that you give someone when you agree to buy something
suborbital – adj. relating to or denoting a trajectory that does not complete a full orbit of the earth
【673】
AS IT IS
Report: Iran Hackers Targeted US Officials, Nuclear Experts
December 13, 2018
Certfa researchers Nariman Gharib (L) and Amin Sabeti look at a computer at a cafe in London on Dec. 7, 2018.
Iranian government-supported hackers have reportedly tried to break into the personal emails of American officials and international nuclear experts.
The Associated Press, or AP, reported on the attempted attacks Thursday. The AP’s report was based on information collected during an investigation by the internet security company Certfa, which is based in London.
AP said the group, known as Charming Kitten, is believed to have tried to break into the private emails of more than 12 U.S. Treasury officials. The attempts took place over the past month. Other targets included well-known defenders, opponents and enforcers of an international nuclear deal signed in 2015 with Iran.
In addition, the hackers sought to break into the emails of some Arab nuclear scientists and Iranian civil society members. Employees of major American research groups, known as think tanks, were also targeted.
One target was Frederick Kagan, who works for the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank based in Washington. Kagan has repeatedly written about Iranian cyberespionage efforts.
“Presumably, some of this is about figuring out what is going on with sanctions,” Kagan told the AP. He was speaking about economic sanctions the U.S. has placed on Iran. The latest sanctions, on Iran’s oil and financial industry, were announced last month.
Those restrictions officially cut off trade ties the U.S. permitted Iran after a nuclear agreement was completed in 2015. The U.S., Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany signed that agreement, along with Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced last May that the U.S. would withdraw from the agreement. Trump said the deal permitted Iran to continue secretly developing nuclear weapons and provided it money to support violence across the Middle East.
Kagan said he was concerned about the latest reported hacking attempts. “This is a little more worrisome than I would have expected,” he said. He added that the information in Certfa’s report had all the signs of a state-supported operation.
Certfa said its investigation found the hackers used Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, to make it look like they were operating from France and the Netherlands. But the group said it uncovered strong evidence to prove that the hackers were operating from inside Iran.
Certfa researcher Nariman Gharib said it is not clear how many personal emails the hackers were able to successfully break into.
Iran has previously denied responsibility for hacking operations.
Charming Kitten’s targets suggest that they are of interest to Iran’s government. One was a scientist working on a civilian nuclear project for Pakistan’s Ministry of Defense. Another worked as an operator at the Research and Training Reactor in the Jordanian city of Ramtha. A third was a high-ranking researcher at the Atomic Energy Commission of Syria.
The AP said the three targeted individuals suggested a general interest in nuclear technology and administration.
I’m Bryan Lynn.
Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from the Associated Press and Certfa. Mario Ritter Jr. was the editor.
We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.
_____________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
hacker – n. person who uses technology illegally to get control of a computer to read information or spread a computer virus
think tank – n. an organization that consists of a group of people who think of new ideas on a particular subject or who give advice about what should be done
cyberespionage – n. the use of computer networks to conduct spying operations against a government or organization
presumably – adv. used to say what you think is the likely situation
sanction – n. measure put in place to cause a country to obey international law, usually by limiting or banning trade
Virtual Private Network – n. private computer network used to connect users in other places to a company’s private, internal network
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