Politics this week (2020.04.25) Part.01

Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, who has dismissed covid-19 as “sniffles", spoke outside the army’s headquarters at a rally against lockdowns. Some of the protesters called for a shutdown of Congress and the Supreme Court and urged the army to take control of the pandemic response. Mr Bolsonaro has said: “Really, I am the constitution.” He also sacked a health minister who supported lockdowns and replaced him with one who favours a return to business-as-usual “as quickly as possible”.

• dismiss
  • to decide that sb/sth is not important and not worth thinking or talking about 不予考虑,对……不屑一提
• sniffle
  • （尤指因哭泣或患感冒）抽鼻子
• rally
  • 公众集会，群众大会（尤指支持某信念或政党的）
• business-as-usual
  • （尽管处境困难）一切照常，不受干扰

Sporadic protests broke out in several American state capitals against lockdown measures. Some states took steps to reopen businesses. Georgia’s governor went as far as allowing cinemas and restaurants to resume service from April 27th, subject to social-distancing rules. President Donald Trump said he disagreed with this “totally egregious” decision.

• sporadic
  • happening only occasionally or at intervals that are not regular 偶尔发生的，间或出现的
• subject
  • under the authority of sth/sb 受……支配；服从于
• egregious
  • (formal) extremely bad 极糟的，极坏的

Spain followed France and Britain in extending its lockdown, the toughest in Europe, until at least May 9th. However, it slightly relaxed the rules, so that people can leave home for brief exercise.

A man dressed as a royal Canadian mounted policeman murdered at least 22 people in a shooting spree in Nova Scotia. The killer was a denture-maker said to be obsessed with the federal police. A member of that force eventually killed him. It was the worst mass shooting in Canada’s history.

• royal Canadian mounted policeman
  • 皇家加拿大骑警
  • mounted
    • （人，尤指士兵或警察）骑马的
• spree
  • （常用于报纸）一阵，一通犯罪活动
• denture
  • (usually plural) dentures 假牙
• obsessed
  • [usually passive] 使痴迷，使迷恋，使着迷
• federal
  • （在美国、加拿大等联邦制下）联邦政府的
    • a federal law 联邦法

Argentina’s government asked creditors to accept big losses in the value of the bonds they hold. It proposed that those who hold $65bn-worth of paper, nearly 40% of foreign-currency debt, accept sharply lower interest payments and wait three years to receive them. The plan was rejected.

• propose
  • (formal) to suggest a plan, an idea, etc. for people to think about and decide on 提议；建议

China tightened controls on movement in the north-eastern city of Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, to keep covid-19 in check. Heilongjiang borders Russia, where the disease appears far more rampant than in China.

• hold/keep sth in check
  • to keep sth under control so that it does not spread or get worse 控制，制止
• border
  • （国家或地区）和……毗邻，与……接壤
• rampant
  • (of sth bad) existing or spreading everywhere in a way that cannot be controlled （坏事）泛滥的，猖獗的

China announced the establishment of two districts within a municipality that it says has jurisdiction over the South China Sea. The districts are called Xisha and Nansha, the Chinese words for the Paracel and the Spratly islands. Vietnam, which also claims the Paracels, expressed outrage.

• district
  • 区，管区，行政区
    • a school district 学区
• municipality
  • 自治市，自治区；市（或区）政当局
• jurisdiction
  • 管辖区域，管辖范围
• outrage
  • a strong feeling of shock and anger 愤怒，义愤，愤慨

Police in Hong Kong arrested 15 well-known pro-democracy activists. China blew a hole in Hong Kong’s Basic Law, a mini-constitution that protects Hong Kongers’ freedoms. Its Liaison Office in Hong Kong said it was not bound by a provision that bars the mainland’s government departments from interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs.

• pro-democracy
  • 泛民主派，是香港的政治派系之一，广义上指支持香港全面推行普遍选举的政治人物与组织。
• blow
  • 炸开
  • （被风等）吹动
• liaison officer
  • a person who liaises between groups or units 联络人
• bound
  • 受（法律、义务或情况）约束（必须做某事），有义务（做某事）
• provision
  • （法律文件的）规定，条款
• affair
  • affairs [pl.] 公共事务，政治事务

Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s dictator, missed an annual ceremony to commemorate the birthday of his grandfather, who was North Korea’s first president, prompting speculation that he is ill.

• commemorate
  • 纪念，作为……的纪念
• prompt
  • 促使，导致，激起
• speculation
  • 推测，猜测，推断

Data on burials suggested that there have been many more deaths from covid-19 in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, than have been officially recorded. The Indonesian government reversed itself and banned migrant workers from returning ot their home villages to celebrate the end of Ramadan in May. It fears the massive annual migration would accelerate the spread of the disease across the archipelago.

• burial
  • 葬礼，埋葬
• reverse
  • to admit you were wrong or to stop having a particular position in an argument 放弃（立场）；承认错误
• Ramadan
  • 斋戒月
• archipelago
  • a group of islands and the sea surrounding them 群岛；群岛和周围的海