【758-760】梵蒂冈卫兵获得新的3D打印头盔&中美贸易谈判因华为指控而复杂化&美国情报部门反驳特朗普关于朝鲜、伊朗的威胁
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81 Bob Dylan--Like a rolling stone
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AS IT IS
Vatican Guards Get New 3D Printed Helmets
January 29, 2019
Swiss Guard recruits stands at attention during the swearing-in ceremony at the Vatican, Sunday, May 6, 2018.
The guards in charge of protecting Pope Francis and the Vatican grounds have received new high-tech helmets. The new helmets are made of plastic material created through 3-D printing technology. Previously, guard members wore handmade helmets made of metal.
The helmets were given to the Vatican’s Swiss Guard on January 22, the group’s 513thbirthday. They are the colorfully dressed security force that helps protect the pope.
The force numbers about 110 people. Members are required to be male, Catholic, unmarried and have Swiss citizenship, the Catholic website Crux reports. They must be between the ages of 19 and 30, at least 1.7 meters tall, and be willing to serve in the guard for at least two years.
The helmets are part of the Swiss Guard’s ceremonial clothing. These official uniforms include yellow, red and blue stripes on the parts covering the arms and legs. Guard members dress this way for official religious services by the pope or for Vatican visits by heads of state.
The new helmets look almost exactly like the old ones, with a round design and colorful bird feathers on top. One major change was added to the new helmets –an image with the coat of arms symbol for Pope Julius II. Pope Julius II first used the security force for his personal protection in 1506.
Urs Breitenmoser is a spokesman for the Swiss Guard. He told Reuters one the biggest improvements of the new helmets is that they will not heat up as much as the metal ones. This means the guards will sweat less, he said.
The new, lighter helmets should also provide relief for guard members wearing the helmets for long periods of time. Swiss news site Swissinfo.ch said the old helmets – which were made in Austria - weighed two kilograms. The new ones - made in Switzerland - weigh just 570 grams.
I’m Bryan Lynn.
Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from Reuters and online sources. Kelly Jean Kelly 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
helmet – n. a hard hat worn to protect the head
uniform – n. special set of clothes that worn by people to do a particular job or students attending school
symbol – n. a sign or object used to represent something
sweat – v. produce liquid through the skin when a person becomes hot or nervous
AS IT IS
US Intelligence Contradicts Trump on N. Korea, Iran, IS Threats
January 29, 2019
From left, FBI Director Christopher Wray, CIA Director Gina Haspel and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testify before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing January 29, 2019. (REUTERS/Joshua Roberts)
America’s national intelligence chief says North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear weapons. The statement contradicts President Donald Trump’s claim of progress on denuclearization.
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats spoke to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday.
He said “we currently assess that North Korea will seek to retain its WMD (weapons of mass destruction) capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capability because its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival.”
Trump and Kim met in Singapore last June. The two promised to work toward the complete denuclearization of the divided Korean Peninsula. But progress has been limited.
The U.S. has demanded full information from North Korea about its nuclear and missile sites. North Korea is seeking an end to economic restrictions against it. The government also wants a peace treaty to officially end the Korean War.
Trump is planning a second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in February. Trump met with North Korea’s nuclear issues negotiator Kim Yong Chol on January 18. He said afterwards that the two sides had made “a lot of progress” on denuclearization.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with the delegation that had visited the United States, in Pyongyang, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency, Jan. 23, 2019. Iran and Islamic State
Coats met with the Senate to present the yearly Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Committee. U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel, and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray were also there.
Coats told the committee that Iran “is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities.” Iran had agreed to give up its nuclear activities in exchange for trade and investment from the West.
Last year, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal negotiated earlier under President Barack Obama. Trump called it “the worst deal ever.” And Iran is threatening to build up its nuclear activities if the country does not gain from the promised trade and investment.
The report also said the Islamic State group “remains a terrorist and insurgent threat” inside Iraq. The terrorist group also operated in Syria where Trump has ordered a full withdrawal of American troops.
When asked for her assessment, CIA Director Gina Haspel said “They’re still dangerous.” She added that they still command “thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria.”
A Syrian woman and child walk past the shuttered doors of a restaurant which was the site of a suicide attack targeting US-led coalition forces in the northern Syrian city of Manbij which killed four US servicemen the previous day on Jan. 17, 2019. Russia and China
Coats also spoke of Russia and China seeking to expand their reach around the world. He said, “Moscow’s relationship with Beijing is closer than it’s been in many decades.”
The intelligence report warned about Russia. U.S. intelligence agencies found last year that Russia had interfered in the 2016 presidential election to help Trump.
Coats told the committee that Russia and perhaps other countries will likely use social media and other means to influence the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English with news reports from Reuters and the Associated Press. Caty Weaver was the editor.
_____________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
contradict - v. to say the opposite
assess - v. to make a judgement about something
retain - v. to continue to hold or use
regime - n. a form of government
key - n. something that is necessary
decade - n. a period of 10 years
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AS IT IS
US–China Trade Talks Complicated by Huawei Charges
January 29, 2019
Leaders from the United States and China will meet in Washington, DC this week to try to decrease trade tensions between the two countries. But the talks are complicated by a dispute about the Chinese technology company Huawei.
On Monday, the government of U.S. President Donald Trump announced criminal charges against Huawei. American government lawyers say the company has violated U.S. restrictions against sales to Iran.
In addition, they say Huawei stole trade secrets from the American company, T-Mobile. They say Huawei engineers secretly took photos of a robot made by T-Mobile and tried to take part of it from T-Mobile’s lab.
Huawei says it settled the dispute with T-Mobile in 2017.
American government lawyers have also charged Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou. Meng is being held in Canada, where she was arrested in December.
Even with these conflicts, observers say the trade talks would likely continue. However, they warn the Huawei issue may mean the sides may not reach any serious agreement.
If they do not come to any official understanding before March 1, the U.S. will sharply increase taxes on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.
China answers
The Chinese foreign ministry has called on the U.S. to end its campaign against Huawei and other Chinese companies, calling the actions “unreasonable.”
Huawei also rejects the U.S. charges. The company is one of the world’s biggest providers of phone and Internet equipment; half of its sales come from outside China. For the past 10 years, the company has denied U.S. accusations that its equipment could permit it to spy for China. It says the U.S. has no evidence to support the accusations.
U.S. concerns
On the U.S. side, the Huawei charges show some officials’ and business leaders’ main objections to Chinese actions. They argue that Chinese industries require U.S. and other foreign companies to share technology in exchange for access to Chinese buyers. They also say that Chinese industry insiders sometimes steal information.
Robert Lighthizer is the U.S. trade representative and the lead negotiator in this week’s talks. He wants China to strengthen its protections of intellectual property. He also wants it to stop unfairly supporting state-owned businesses.
But in earlier talks, Chinese officials have not shown any interest in accepting U.S. demands. Chinese officials deny the claim that they force U.S. companies to share technology. And they say supporting their state-owned companies and gaining new technology is critical to China’s economic development.
What about trade?
U.S. officials say the dispute over Huawei and other Chinese businesses is separate from the trade issues to be discussed this week.
Chinese officials have already offered to buy more from the U.S. and open more industries to U.S. companies. In return, they may ask the U.S. to remove the taxes that Trump place on some Chinese products last year.
Derek Scissors, a China expert at the American Enterprise Institute, commented on the idea. He said China would likely accept such a deal, if it were offered.
“If they think they can get the deal that they want, they won’t cancel the talks over Huawei,” he said.
I’m Caty Weaver.
Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story for Learning English based on reports from AP and Reuters. Caty Weaver was the editor.
_______________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
complicate - v. to make something more difficult
access - n. permission or the right to enter, get near, or make use of something
intellectual property [rights] - n. the rights of a person who has thought of or invented something that other people want to use or profit from
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