[22-7-11 Mon] cast their ballots (= went to the polls)

1. South Korea's new Covid cases stayed above 20,000 for the second straight day on Sunday / amid growing concerns about a resurgence in infections nationwide.

전국적으로 감염 재확산 우려가 커지는 가운데, 어제, 국내 코로나 확진자 수가 이틀 연속 2만 명을 넘어섰습니다.

• (for the) second straight(consecutive) day = 이틀 연속(으로)
• resurgence = 재기, 부활

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2. Voters in Japan cast their ballots in an Upper House election on Sunday, while still reeling from the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and exit polls / show the ruling coalition is projected to keep its majority.

아베 신조 전 일본 총리 암살의 충격 속에 어제 치러진 일본 참의원 선거에서, 출구조사 결과 연립 여당이 전체 의석의 과반을 유지할 것으로 예측됐습니다.

• (voters) cast their ballots
  (= went to the polls)  (polls ‘투표’) 유권자들이 투표했다, 선거가 치러졌다 
• exit polls = 출구조사 (polls ‘조사 결과’) 
• reeling from ~ = ~에 대한 충격으로 휘청거리다
• ruling coalition = 연립 여당

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3. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi / have described their latest talks in Bali / as constructive, following a five-hour long meeting / covering the Ukraine war and trade.

토니 블링컨 미국 국무장관과 왕이 중국 외교부장은, 인도네시아 발리에서 우크라이나 전쟁과 무역에 관해 5시간 동안 논의한 최근 회담이 건설적이었다고 평가했습니다.

• constructive = 건설적인, 적극적인 (↔ destructive)
• covering = (주제를) 다룬

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4. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has announced he will resign / after protesters stormed his official residence / and set the prime minister's house on fire.

스리랑카에서 시위대가 대통령 관저를 습격하고 총리 자택에 불을 지르는 사건이 발생한 후, 고타바야 라자팍사 대통령이 사임을 발표했습니다.

• storm (= broke into) 기습하다, 급습하다
• set ~ on fire = ~에 불을 지르다

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5. Elon Musk has decided to terminate his 44-billion-dollar deal / to buy Twitter, alleging multiple breaches of the agreement, while Twitter says it plans to pursue legal action.

일론 머스크는 다수 조항의 계약 위반을 주장하며 440억 달러 규모의 트위터 인수 계약을 해지하기로 결정했습니다. 이에 대해 트위터는 소송을 제기하겠다고 밝혔습니다.

• alleging ~를 주장하며
• - allege [uh·lej] : 혐의를 제기하다, 주장하다
• pursue [pr·soo]
• (pursue) legal action = 법적 조치(를 취하다), 소송(을 걸다)
• *take legal action / file a lawsuit

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 Assassination Shocks a Nearly Gun-Free Japan

Daisuke Wakabayashi, Ben Dooley and Hikari Hida c.2022 The New York Times Company

The assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a campaign rally (유세장, 유세 집회) in western Japan was especially hard to fathom (헤아리다, 가늠하다, 파악하다) because it involved a gun — a type of crime that is extremely rare in a country with some of the most stringent (엄격한)  laws on buying and owning firearms.

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Japan’s firearms law states that, in principle, guns are not permitted in the country. There are exceptions for guns used in hunting, but the process of getting a license is time-consuming and expensive, so very few people go through the hassle ((그런) 번거로움을 감수하다).

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A person must pass 12 steps before purchasing a firearm, starting with a gun-safety class and then passing a written exam administered three times a year. A doctor must sign off (서명을 하여 ~를 승인하다) on the gun buyer’s physical and mental health. Other steps include an extensive background check and a police inspection of the gun safe (총기 금고) and ammunition (총알, 탄약 [a·myoo·ni·shn] ) locker required for storing firearms and bullets.

• 그밖에 sign off는 ‘끝내다’는 뜻으로도 많이 쓰임 – 편지를 끝맺거나, 방송을 끝낼 때 등(to end a letter, email, etc. / to end a broadcast by saying goodbye or playing a piece of music).

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Political assassinations were a regular feature (정기적으로 나타나는 특징 = 자주 일어나던 일) of Japan’s turbulent (격동의, 사나운) politics in the years leading up to World War II. But since then, only a handful of politicians have been murdered — and most without the use of guns.

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Gerald Curtis, a professor emeritus (명예교수 [uh·meh·ruh·tuhs]) of political science and expert in Japanese politics at Columbia University, said that the deadly attack on Abe would reverberate (반향을 일으키다, 울려퍼지다) through Japan’s politics.

“It no doubt will shake up the Japanese terribly and will reinforce the view that Japan is no longer the safe, peaceful country it has been since the end of World War II and has to change to deal with the new frightening realities it faces,” he said in an email. “The question is how Japan’s political leaders respond.”

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 What Are Spam Bots and Why They’re an Issue in Elon Musk’s Twitter Deal

 Sheera Frenkel c.2022 The New York Times Company

  On Friday, tech billionaire Elon Musk announced that he was terminating a $44 billion (57조) deal to buy Twitter. The reason, he said, was an ongoing disagreement / over the number of spam bot accounts on the platform. Now, the issue of what constitutes a spam bot account, and how many exist on Twitter, is likely to be at the heart of the legal battles between (~와 ~사이에 벌어질 법정 싸움의 핵심이 될 것으로 보인다) Musk and Twitter / over the fraught deal (지난한 거래).

• fraught [fraat] 어려움이 많은, 위험한, 긴장한
• bot: 컴퓨터 상에서 특정 작업을 반복 수행하도록 하는 자동 처리 프로그램. 어원은 robot.

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What are spam bots? While sometimes called “bots,” “spam” or “fake accounts,” all refer to (~을 말합니다. 가리킵니다) inauthentic accounts (가짜 계정) that imitate how people use Twitter. Some spam accounts are automated (일부 스팸 계정은 자동화되어있다(자동으로 운영된다)), but others are operated by people, making it complicated to detect them.

Bots can tweet at people, share tweets, follow and be followed by other people, among other things.

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Musk has been voicing concern over( ~에 대한 우려를 계속 말해왔다) spam bots on Twitter for years. In 2020, he appeared at an event for Twitter employees, and encouraged the company to do more / to prevent and remove spam bots.

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In a six-paragraph letter June 6, Musk’s lawyers demanded more information from Twitter, stating that the company was “refusing Mr. Musk’s data requests” to disclose the number of fake accounts on its platform. That amounted to (그것은 ~에 해당했다) a “clear material breach (중대한 위반) ” of the deal, the lawyers continued, saying it gave Musk the right to break off the agreement(갑자기 ~를 중단하다, 파기하다). The next day, Twitter agreed to allow Musk direct access / to its “fire hose,” the daily stream of millions of tweets that flow through the company’s network.

• material: 중요한, 중대한 결과를 가져오는

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The company does, however, allow spam bot accounts, which it prefers to call automated bots, that perform a service. Twitter encourages many of these accounts to  label themselves as bots for transparency (투명성을 위해 스스로를 ‘봇’ 계정이라 표시하도록). The company argues that many of those accounts perform a useful service.

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But other spam bots are used by governments, corporations or bad actors (말썽꾼, 악당, 상습범) for a number of nefarious (범죄의, 사악한) purposes. During the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, Russia used spam bot accounts to impersonate Americans / and try to sow divisions among U.S. voters(미국인을 사칭하여 미국 유권자들 사이에 분열을 심으려 하다(조장하다)).

Spam bots that engage in scams are frequently found on Twitter trying to persuade people to send cryptocurrency, or digital currency, to online wallets for prizes that don’t exist. Sometimes spam bots are also used to attack celebrities or politicians and to create a hostile environment for them online.