Английский язык. Перевод, межкультурная коммуникация и интерпретация языка СМИ. Учебное пособие

личаются от «среднего» и т. д. Это относится и к Интернетконференции президента.

Но самое интересное во всей этой Интернет-истории совсем другое. Ведь широко известными стали всего несколько «прикольных» вопросов. А в общей сложности было вопросов аж 157 тысяч. Их-то практически никто не анализирует.

Как можно было задать вопрос президенту? Помимо собственно поисковой системы «Яндекс», около 1000 сайтов и блогов предлагали такую возможность. В итоге, россиянами было задано примерно 157 тыс. абсолютно самостоятельных вопросов.

Необходимо понять, что 18 тыс. голосов, поданных за «мальчика Никиту» или 27 тыс. – за «человекоподобных роботов», не означают, что 18 и 27 тыс. человек, независимо друг от друга, сформулировали эти вопросы. Можно было просто проголосовать за те, которые уже были заданы.

Согласно подсчетам сотрудников «Яндекса», в среднем один человек голосовал за 4 вопроса. Таких голосований было миллион с четвертью (то есть голосовали чаще, чем придумывали что-то новое). Каждый желающий внести свою лепту видел рейтинги – то есть эффект «присоединения к большинству» тоже нужно учитывать.

Более чем 70% пожелавших обратиться к президенту – люди, которым не исполнилось еще и 35 лет. Такова обычная аудитория «всемирной паутины», и мы не должны слишком уж удивляться ее легкомысленному настрою.

Отсутствие интереса к политике у широкой публики известно. Молодежи это еще более свойственно. Поэтому даже такие актуальные, казалось бы, вопросы, как сохранение призыва в армию или ипотека для молодых семей, набрали не так уж много голосов (около 5–6 тыс.) – столько же, сколько и вопрос про первый секс президента. Это в три раза меньше, чем мальчик Никита, загадочное божество Ктулху, и в пять раз меньше, чем человекоподобные роботы. Все вопросы, относящиеся к государственному управлению, внешней политике, выборам и прочим сюжетам, были намного менее популярны.

ЧТОБЫ ПРЕЗИДЕНТ ЗНАЛ Но отвлечемся от рейтингов. Тем более рейтингов «прико-

лов». Посмотрим на сами вопросы. Картина выглядит уже совершенно иначе.

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7

Политика (Politics)

7.1. Международные отношения

(International relations)

FINNS MAY SHUT BORDER

MOSCOW (Bloomberg) – Finnish Customs proposed temporarily closing border crossings with Russia for traffic entering Finland as queues of trucks going to Russia hit a seasonal high on Wednesday, the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported.

Queues at the southern border crossing in Vaalimaa were 56 kilometers long, with long lines also forming in Nuijamaa and Imatra, Hel- sinki-based Helsingin Sanomat said Thursday. Queues form due to delays at Russian customs.

Closing the border would be a last resort, Helsingin Sanomat reported, citing Tommi Kivilaakso from the Eastern Customs District. The closure would mean truck queues form in Russia, forcing them to deal with the problem. Closing the crossings would require a political decision, the paper added.

Queues at the border have been a problem for several years. Records were set in December 2006, when the queues exceeded 65 kilometres.

St Petersburg Times, 28.09.2007

FRANCE MAY PROPOSE UN ACTION IF IRAN SAYS NO

Reuters

TEHRAN, Iran – The Iranian president said on Thursday Iran would not abandon its right to nuclear technology in a defiant statement after Tehran’s case was referred back to the UN Security Council in its atomic dispute with the West.

Five permanent Security Council members, the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China, plus Germany have backed a nuclear

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package aimed at ending the standoff but on Wednesday asked the council to intervene after Tehran failed to reply.

«Our answer to the P5+1 package is clear, the Iranian nation abides by international laws and regulations but will not abandon its obvious right to obtain nuclear technology», President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by state TV.

He repeated that Iran would give its final response to the package by August 22, despite pressure for a swifter response.

The package offers Iran economic and diplomatic incentives if it suspends uranium enrichment, a process the West believes Iran is using to develop an atomic bomb. Iran has refused to halt the work, saying it has the right to carry it out.

France said world powers would propose a UN resolution over Iran’s nuclear activities that could include sanctions if Iran does not give them a positive response by mid-August.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said this would be part of a two-stage process.

«The first is a (UN) resolution as soon as possible, in a few days, to demand the suspension of all sensitive nuclear activity by Iran», he told Europe 1 radio.

«If Iran responds with a ‘no’ in mid-August, we will propose a resolution under Chapter VII of the United Nations charter notably article 41, which proposes a set of negative measures, including economic ones», he said.

Article 41 allows for economic sanctions but does not endorse military action.

Ahmadinejad said Iran was ready for talks but he also repeated threats to review cooperation with the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and review adherence to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

St Petersburg Times, 14.07.06

GAZPROM: DO NOT «POLITICIZE» ENERGY

Agence France Presse

MOSCOW – The Russian state-run gas giant Gazprom has warned the European Union not to «politicize» terms for Russian gas supplies, implicitly threatening to sell its product elsewhere if the EU seeks to impose too many conditions on the company.

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In a statement posted on its website, the company said Gazprom chief Alexei Miller held a meeting with EU ambassadors Tuesday in Moscow where a «frank and objective» conversation took place regarding Russian energy supplies to Europe.

«Gazprom was and is the main supplier of natural gas to Europe. We understand our responsibility and henceforth will remain the guarantor of energy security for European consumers», the company said, adding there are «no doubts» that Russia has the supply and can deliver it unfailingly.

«Nevertheless, one cannot forget that we are actively developing new markets such as North America and China. Competition for energy resources is increasing.

«It needs to be noted that attempts to limit Gazprom’s activity in the European market and to politicize gas issues, which are in fact solely economic, will not produce good results», the statement on the Internet said.

A Gazprom source said the company was particularly opposed to talk in Brussels about applying EU anti-monopoly regulations to the Russian company.

«We do not think that anti-monopoly legislation in the EU can be applied to Gazprom», said the source, who asked not to he named.

Gazprom briefly cut gas deliveries to Ukraine at the start of this year when Ukraine balked at signing a new contract scrapping Sovietera subsidies and raising the price it pays for Russian gas shipments to the market rates paid by other European countries.

The two sides finally agreed to a price that was about half of what Gazprom had demanded, but the cutoff of supplies to Ukraine had a knock-on effect that disrupted gas supplies to a number of European countries further along the pipeline.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Durao Barroso raised the possibility of EU anti-monopoly measures against Gazprom when he met Russian President Vladimir Putin here earlier this year.

St Petersburg Times, 14.04.06

KOREA TALKS FALL APART

Reuters

PUSAN, South Korea – Efforts to bring North Korea back to disarmament talks were in tatters on Thursday as Pyongyang stormed out

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of a meeting with the South and a senior U.S. diplomat left the region after a week of shuttle diplomacy.

The deadlock threw the spotlight back on wrangling over a UN resolution censuring North Korea for its July 5 missile tests, which has pitted Japan against China and Russia.

Kyodo news agency reported that Japan was now prepared to work on an alternative Security Council resolution sponsored by Moscow and Beijing that urges North Korea to suspend its nuclear programs but avoids the mandatory sanctions Tokyo has sought.

«What is important is to adopt a binding resolution», the agency quoted an official as saying on condition of anonymity.

Tension between the two Koreas erupted at bilateral ministerial talks in the South Korean city of Pusan, where the Pyongyang’s delegation parried complaints about the missile tests and focused instead on economic cooperation and requests for aid.

«The South side will pay a price before the nation for causing the collapse of the ministerial talks and bringing a collapse of North-South relations that is unforeseeable now», the North Koreans said in a statement before leaving for the airport, a day before the meeting was due to end.

The North Koreans demanded that the South stop joint military drills with the United States due next year, saying it was ready to protect South Korea with its 1.2-million-strong armed forces.

That provoked an unusually biting reply from South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok that echoed the rhetoric of the years before Seoul’s determined policy of rapprochement.

«Who in the South asked you to protect our safety?» Lee told Kwon on Tuesday, according to a South Korean official. «It would help our safety for the North not to fire missiles or develop a nuclear program».

The South said the North could also forget about any more aid until it returns to separate talks on its nuclear weapons.

China and the United States have also urged the reclusive communist state to return to six-country talks with South Korea, Japan and Russia on winding up its nuclear arms program.

The negotiations stalled last November because Pyongyang objected to U.S. financial sanctions based on accusations North Korea counterfeited U.S. currency and trafficked drugs.

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U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said a «friendship delegation» sent to Pyongyang by Beijing, the closest North Korea has to an ally, had failed to achieve a breakthrough.

«So far they don’t seem to be interested in listening, much less doing anything», he told reporters before leaving Beijing for Washington. «I think the Chinese are as baffled as we are».

Hill said he was confident the United Nations would send a «very strong, very clear message» to Pyongyang over the barrage of missiles it test-fired last week.

However, Tokyo said it was still seeking a Security Council vote on a resolution that would impose sanctions for the North Korean missiles, which splashed into the sea off its west coast.

«We can’t be twisted around by any attempts to buy time to water down the strong resolve of the international community over the firing of the missiles», Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said.

St Petersburg Times, 14.07.06

NATO NIXES GEORGIA, UKRAINE MEMBERSHIP

By Paul Almes, The Associated Press

BUCHAREST, Romania – NATO decided Thursday not to put Georgia and Ukraine on track to join the alliance after vehement Russian opposition, but the alliance pledged that the strategically important Black Sea nations will become members one day. Senior American officials also said that NATO leaders agreed to fully endorse U.S. missile defense plans for Europe and urge Russia to drop its objections to the system.

French and German concern over Russia’s reaction dashed the two former Soviet republics’ hopes of being granted a «membership action plan» that would bring them into the alliance within the next five to 10 years.

But alliance Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said NATO welcomes the countries’ aspirations to join. «We agree today that these countries will become members of NATO», he said.

Greek opposition also meant that Macedonia was excluded, though NATO did agree to invite the Balkan nations of Albania and Croatia. NATO foreign ministers will review Ukraine and Georgia’s applications again in December, de Hoop Scheffer said.

Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were concerned about provoking Moscow, which has warned of a new East-West crisis

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if NATO takes in the two republics. Both are on Russia’s southwestern border, across key east-west oil and gas routes.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko insisted that «Ukraine will be in NATO» one day.

Pro-Western governments in both republics had earlier warned that a failure to launch the membership process in Bucharest would be a bitter blow and a boost for pro-Russian forces in their countries.

«A ‘no’ for Georgia will show those people in the Kremlin who think that by a policy of blackmail, by arrogance and aggression they can influence NATO’s decisions», Georgia’s Foreign Minister David Bakradze said. «A ‘NO’ will be seen by those people as a victory».

The NATO summit also gave a broad endorsement to US plans to base elements of its missile defenses in Europe, despite Russia’s objections.

De Hoop Scheffer said a summit communiqué would recognize the protection the system will give to Europe from long-range ballistic missile threats, particularly from the Middle East. Russia fiercely opposes the plan.

The allies will also move ahead with a complementary system of short-range missile defenses to cover parts of Turkey, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria that would outside the US shield.

The St Petersburg Times, 04.04.08

NEW EU PRESIDENT PROMOTES RUSSIAN LINKS

Russia has an opportunity to significantly boost its relations with Europe after Finland assumed the six-months EU presidency July 1, according to the Finnish prime minister Matti Vanhanen, who was speaking at a press briefing in St. Petersburg last week.

One of the strategic goals for Finland during its EU presidency is to bring the EU and Russia to a more productive interaction.

«Russia is our most important neighboring country. Russian economy needs European Union’s markets and our investors need the Russian market. We could get the best results by cooperating», Vanhanen said.

Establishing free trade between Russia and EU is essential if Russia is to successfully compete in the international arena, Vanhanen said.

«Finland does not have its own energy sources – only bioenergy. Even so, we have managed quite well in world competition because we have concentrated on technology and some other important areas and because we have opened our markets. It is maybe the main issue», Vanhanen added.

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«Our own markets are too small… But even if you have a large population you could achieve much more by opening markets», Vanhanen added.

Finland’s position on Russia has already started to attract interest from the EU members, foreign experts say.

«There are already signs that relations with Russia are a key topic under the Finnish EU-presidency. Many countries, as well as members of the European Parliament, have already asked if Finland could be more active with Russia», Antti Kokkonen, political editor for the biggest Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat, said in an email statement on Friday.

Despite some opinions within Russia that the EU will now try and use the Russia’s neighbor for settling hostile to Russia deals, foreign community believes this fear is unfounded.

«I consider Russians fear how EU will rob Russian energy resources are exaggerated. Europe needs energy and Russia has it. Arab countries and Norway became rich selling oil, Russia can become rich selling gas», Kokkonen of Helsingin Sanomat said.

«To promote both parties’ interests, deeper co-operation is needed», Kokkonen added.

Rose Gottemoeller, director of the Moscow-based political thinktank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said Monday that she wouldn’t expect Finland to favor the other EU countries over Russia, promoting the EU countries’ agenda to Russia’s detriment.

«The EU President, no matter what country is serving in that role, has to act as a something of an honest broker in dealing with all the countries involved», she said. She also added that «any multilateral activity is an exercise in lobbying one’s own interests; it’s up to the other countries to defend their own».

Evgenia Ivanova, staff writer. St Petersburg Times, 18.07.06

RUSSIA SAYS WTO DEAL REACHED, US DISAGREES

By Douglas Busvine, Reuters

Moscow – Russia said on Thursday it had achieved a breakthrough in talks with the United States on joining the World Trade Organization, but the U.S. side said no final deal had yet been reached.

Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin

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should sign a WTO protocol in St. Petersburg on Friday or Saturday, when the annual Group of Eight summit begins.

«I hope that a protocol will be signed before the G8, tomorrow or the day after», Kudrin was quoted by Interfax as saying.

Kudrin said a deal had been reached on financial services, but talks were continuing on other areas. U.S. officials said no comprehensive WTO entry agreement had yet been struck.

«No deal has been reached at this point», said one official traveling with Bush on a pre-G8 visit to Germany.

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab has held two days of talks in Moscow in a bid to seal Russia’s decade-old bid to join the 149-nation trade club.

«We are continuing to meet and are committed to a commercially strong agreement», Schwab’s spokesman, Scan Spicer, said in an email statement. «Both sides still have important unresolved issues».

One source familiar with the talks said earlier that the problem areas of access to Russia’s farm produce market for U.S. exporters and its protection of intellectual property rights were still not settled.

Russia is the biggest economy outside the world trade body. An accord with the United States would eliminate one of the last remaining obstacles to Russia’s WTO membership and set a positive tone for the G8 summit.

Kudrin said the U. S. side had dropped a demand that foreign banks be allowed to open branches in Russia instead of being required as they are now to open subsidiaries – an arrangement that gives Russia greater supervisory powers.

«We agreed that foreign insurance companies would be allowed to open branches, but we insisted that foreign banks will not open branches in Russia», Kudrin said, according to RIA Novosti.

Kudrin later said that talks were continuing and progressing on other areas.

«Agriculture remains an unresolved question. On the question of intellectual property we have almost reached agreement», he said. «I hope that within a day or two we will succeed», Kudrin said.

Senate Democrats urged Bush on Wednesday not to rush into a deal, questioning Russia’s reliability as a trading partner.

«Numerous actions by Russia have created significant doubts about whether the government of Russia has the political will to comply with its obligations», Senate Minority leader Harry Reid and 19 other Senate Democrats said in a letter to Bush.

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