1
00:00:13,809 --> 00:00:18,279
Thank you for 10 to join CNN TEN for 10 minutes
of international news.
2
00:00:18,279 --> 00:00:21,320
And just so we're on the same page, Fridays
are awesome!
3
00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:26,9
I'm Carl Azuz. We're happy to have you watching.
We're starting in the Asian country of China,
4
00:00:26,9 --> 00:00:31,39
the world's most populated nation and some
parts of it have seen two red alerts already
5
00:00:31,39 --> 00:00:34,740
this year.
What is a red alert? It's China's strongest
6
00:00:34,740 --> 00:00:40,420
warning about air quality. One of the recent
red alerts was for smog. In more than 20 Chinese
7
00:00:40,420 --> 00:00:45,809
cities, schools were closed earlier this week.
Factories were shut down. Vehicles that gave
8
00:00:45,809 --> 00:00:48,849
off a lot of pollution were banned from the
roads.
9
00:00:48,850 --> 00:00:53,489
And then, yesterday, China's northern and
eastern regions received their first ever
10
00:00:53,489 --> 00:00:59,530
red alert for fog. Visibility was severely
limited in some areas. Pilots and sailors
11
00:00:59,530 --> 00:01:03,449
were told to be careful. Drivers were told
to slow down.
12
00:01:03,449 --> 00:01:08,908
Air pollution is an ongoing problem in many
parts of China and it's usually worse in winter.
13
00:01:08,909 --> 00:01:14,280
Cold air inversions in the atmosphere can
trap smog close to the ground, and more coal
14
00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,70
is burned in cold weather to keep heaters
running.
15
00:01:17,70 --> 00:01:23,249
A congressional hearing yesterday in Washington,
D.C. focused on global cyber threat and almost
16
00:01:23,249 --> 00:01:28,649
all of it centered on Russia, which the Obama
administration accuses of hacking into American
17
00:01:28,649 --> 00:01:32,359
computer systems and interfering in last year's
U.S. election.
18
00:01:32,359 --> 00:01:37,899
A Republican senator said, quote, "Every American
should be alarmed by Russia's attacks on our
19
00:01:37,899 --> 00:01:44,609
nation." A Russian spokesman said his country
was sick and tired of people, quote, "irresponsibly
20
00:01:44,609 --> 00:01:48,600
blaming everything on Russia."
Taking a look at Russian President Vladimir
21
00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,720
Putin -- what makes him tick?
Some have believed (ph) Vladimir Putin could
22
00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:57,280
be the most powerful man in the world. Not
everyone sees him that way. But Putin has
23
00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:02,570
powerful levers, he's often willing to use
-- including cyber power, military might and
24
00:02:02,570 --> 00:02:07,928
a cult of personality. Together, they form
an often effective web of influence.
25
00:02:07,929 --> 00:02:11,700
While Moscow denies highly skilled hackers
tried to influence the U.S. election, they've
26
00:02:11,700 --> 00:02:16,410
also been accused of spying and causing big
disruptions in other countries, like Estonia
27
00:02:16,410 --> 00:02:21,939
and Ukraine -- claims Russia also rejects.
Russia's enormous hacking power, state and
28
00:02:21,939 --> 00:02:26,720
criminal, isn't a new. It traces back to the
USSR when its universities were designed to
29
00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:31,790
produce world class engineers.
Putin's power is also hugely enhanced by his
30
00:02:31,790 --> 00:02:37,48
very personal control of Russia's vast military,
much of it including the nukes, is also a
31
00:02:37,49 --> 00:02:42,60
Soviet legacy. So, Putin is pumping extraordinary
amounts of money to modernization, but most
32
00:02:42,60 --> 00:02:47,260
analyst agree Russia's conventional forces
are still only mighty enough to project power
33
00:02:47,260 --> 00:02:51,929
close to its borders.
Russia also used limited air power to successful
34
00:02:51,930 --> 00:02:56,290
prop up the Syrian regime. But critics say
that works because of Putin's willingness
35
00:02:56,290 --> 00:03:00,540
to indiscriminately bombard civilian areas,
something Moscow denies.
36
00:03:00,540 --> 00:03:05,939
One of the biggest sources of Putin's power
is his own extraordinary popularity at home.
37
00:03:05,939 --> 00:03:10,400
The more other world leaders criticized him,
the more Russians celebrate their president.
38
00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:14,239
His approval figure soared with Ukraine and
spiked again with Syria.
39
00:03:14,239 --> 00:03:18,380
The reason many Russians really care about
their country's ability to influence world
40
00:03:18,380 --> 00:03:22,510
events, even if it comes to sanctions and
a hit to their own quality of life. They're
41
00:03:22,510 --> 00:03:28,950
proud of it. Putin also benefits from a political
system and the media landscape with zero tolerance
42
00:03:28,950 --> 00:03:32,689
for criticism.
So, no doubt, Vladimir Putin is powerful and
43
00:03:32,689 --> 00:03:37,79
unpredictable, but he's also limited by some
pretty big problems. The Russian economy isn't
44
00:03:37,80 --> 00:03:41,920
going anywhere. That's why there is another
popular theory about Putin and his web of
45
00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:52,488
influence, as someone who plays a weak hand
very well.
46
00:03:52,489 --> 00:03:58,250
Ten-second trivia: What do all drone bees
have in common? Are they all males, females,
47
00:03:58,250 --> 00:04:07,310
worker bees, or carpenter bees?
Well, the queen and worker bees are all females,
48
00:04:07,310 --> 00:04:17,530
it's the drones who are all males.
But bees are disappearing worldwide. Scientists'
49
00:04:17,529 --> 00:04:24,150
theories as to why include a might that attacks
fees, pesticides that kill the insects, habitat
50
00:04:24,150 --> 00:04:29,679
loss, and even bad nutrition for bees. And
the cause for concern goes well beyond the
51
00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:35,520
collapse of honey bee colonies. Bees help
pollinate 35 percent of the world's food.
52
00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:41,000
The Franklin's bumblebee alone would help
pollinate cranberries, blueberries and melons.
53
00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:48,120
But that type of bee may already be extinct.
The vacuum on one hand and net in the other,
54
00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:53,190
Robbin Thorp (ph) is on a quest.
So, we're coming into an area where we last
55
00:04:53,190 --> 00:04:55,530
saw Franklin's.
He's searching the mountains of Oregon for
56
00:04:55,530 --> 00:05:00,320
Franklin's bumblebee. It's a species he's
believed to be the last person on earth to
57
00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:04,500
have seen alive, and he's got the sample of
the bee in the back of his truck. It's from
58
00:05:04,500 --> 00:05:10,750
the 1950s.
And this is Franklin's. And you can see, she
59
00:05:10,750 --> 00:05:15,229
has a black face, little touch of whitish
hair there. Pretty subtle.
60
00:05:15,229 --> 00:05:17,950
This is a bee that could be extinct in the
wild.
61
00:05:17,950 --> 00:05:24,240
Could be. I'm not willing to give on it, but
I'm hoping it's still out there under the
62
00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:26,990
radar.
The last time he saw it was 2006, exactly
63
00:05:26,990 --> 00:05:32,460
ten years before he invited me to join him.
Thorp is 83 now, a retired professor from
64
00:05:32,460 --> 00:05:37,539
UC-Davis, and mostly, he works alone, day
after day, year after year.
65
00:05:37,539 --> 00:05:42,880
I spent two days looking for Franklin's bumblebee
with Thorp. I found the work absolutely maddening.
66
00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:47,969
The ones that do here fly by your ear. I always
think, well, that must have been a Franklin's.
67
00:05:47,970 --> 00:05:53,70
I don't think you can put an economic value
on the species. They're all priceless really.
68
00:05:53,70 --> 00:05:58,979
But Franklin's is one that I've got a lot
of personal investment in. And, yes, I feel
69
00:05:58,979 --> 00:06:03,270
an attachment in terms of doing it.
I'm not sure whether he'll find it. But maybe
70
00:06:03,270 --> 00:06:07,530
that's beside the point. The truth is that
for anyone to know a species like Franklin's
71
00:06:07,530 --> 00:06:11,859
bumblebee had vanished, someone like Thorp
has to be looking.
72
00:06:11,860 --> 00:06:17,240
In Atlanta, Georgia, there's a giant peach
that drops on New Year's Eve. It's one of
73
00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:22,370
many annual traditions nationwide. In Wisconsin,
there's a giant cheese drop.
74
00:06:22,370 --> 00:06:27,620
In North Carolina, a possum drop, or at least
a possum lowering. It's in a box. It's not
75
00:06:27,620 --> 00:06:31,360
hurt.
But the famous drop is probably at New York's
76
00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:37,420
Times Square. What exactly got this ball rolling?
Before we had time zones, each city kept their
77
00:06:37,420 --> 00:06:43,910
own time based on the sun. This was a problem
for sailors, whose time pieces often got de-calibrated
78
00:06:43,910 --> 00:06:48,80
at sea.
In the early 1800s, an official in the Royal
79
00:06:48,80 --> 00:06:54,820
Navy suggested using a visual on shore. So,
they put a ball on top of the flag pole, and
80
00:06:54,821 --> 00:07:00,379
raised up a second ball a few minutes before
12:00, when light passed between the two,
81
00:07:00,379 --> 00:07:05,330
sailors set their clocks to noon.
Eventually, self winding clocks and other
82
00:07:05,330 --> 00:07:11,680
new tech made these time balls unnecessary.
Fast forward a few years, "The New York Times"
83
00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:17,159
relocates to what is now Times Square. To
celebrate, they decided to throw a party on
84
00:07:17,159 --> 00:07:22,780
New Year's Eve. Before then, New Yorkers gathered
at Trinity Church where people would throw
85
00:07:22,780 --> 00:07:29,919
bricks in the air like confetti. So, "The
Times" opted for fireworks instead.
86
00:07:29,919 --> 00:07:34,770
But a couple of years later, the city banned
the display. Tasked with finding an even safer
87
00:07:34,770 --> 00:07:39,639
celebration, the newspaper found inspiration
in those old naval time balls.
88
00:07:39,639 --> 00:07:45,880
In 1907, a 700-pound ball of wood and iron,
outfitted with 125-watt light bulbs is lowered
89
00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:53,520
to ring in the New Year. A tradition was born.
Since then, we've only gone without the ball
90
00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:59,969
twice. That was in 1942, and 1943, when the
government was worried the bright lights could
91
00:07:59,970 --> 00:08:06,349
be a target during World War II. So, chimes
were used instead.
92
00:08:06,349 --> 00:08:18,759
We're "10 out of 10", it's too bad basketball
shots can't be worth more than three points,
93
00:08:18,759 --> 00:08:23,919
because while the Golden State Warriors regularly
sink three pointers at Oracle Arena in Oakland,
94
00:08:23,919 --> 00:08:28,580
California, a member of the Harlem Globetrotters
recently trotted to the roof of the arena
95
00:08:28,580 --> 00:08:34,789
itself and took a shot from 100 feet up and
100 feet away. Swish!
96
00:08:34,789 --> 00:08:40,679
Now, it'd be a bad idea to jump up to celebrate
and he didn't do that. But if your job is
97
00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:46,620
trotting the globe, banking on an athlete
or a zone to layup a world of hop dream possibilities,
98
00:08:46,620 --> 00:08:50,620
fans will raise the roof when you raise up
to the roof and sink a shot that's kind of
99
00:08:50,620 --> 00:08:54,200
an air ball and a free throw and a slam dunk
all at once.
100
00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:58,570
For that, you get 10 points, and we hope you'll
make it a point to join us again Monday when
101
00:08:58,570 --> 00:09:02,110
CNN TEN returns. I'm Carl Azuz. Have a great
weekend, everyone.
CNN Student News - Januay 6, 2017 - English Sub
Views:
Category:
CNN Student News,
English Listening
0 comments:
Post a Comment