New York Timesの朝一の電子版による記事を使って、日本では殆ど報道されない世界の動きを紹介したい。
１．南アフリカの国会議事堂の火災
国会と隣接する旧議会ビルも大きな被害を被った模様。人の被害が無かったのは不幸中の幸い。５０代の男が逮捕されたが詳細は不祥。ツツ司教の死去（2021.12.26)が政情の不安定要因になっているおそれ。
The blaze broke out a day after South Africa bid farewell to the archbishop with a simple funeral. Tutu’s death has reignited a conversation about the country’s reconciliation process and its democracy.
２．韓国と北朝鮮間の非武装地帯をめぐる違反
韓国軍は１月２日に不明者が韓国から非武装地帯を越え北朝鮮へ入国を図ったと発表。北と南は平和条約は結んでおらず休戦状態。
The two Koreas have technically been at war for decades — the Korean War halted in 1953 with a truce〈（休戦）, not a peace treaty. Some 33,800 North Koreans have defected to the South since famine struck the North in the 1990s.
金正恩は北のトップになってすでに１０年たった。難しい舵取り。
Kim Jong-un has begun his second decade as North Korea’s leader with a vow（誓い） to alleviate the country’s chronic food shortages, a problem that he inherited from his father 10 years ago.
３．中国は女性の権利を改善するとアピール
最近の女性の権利に関する法律の改善は大きな勝利と中国政府が喧伝。
But many women are skeptical that real progress will follow.
The government has sought to control China’s fledgling (未成熟の）#MeToo movement.
習近平は旧時代的で女性の地位向上に後ろ向き。Peng Shuaiの事件のごとく臭い物には蓋。
Peng Shuai（彭帅）, a star tennis player, was censored within minutes after she said on social media that a top Chinese leader had pressured her into sex.
Women have been increasingly pushed out of the workplace and into traditional roles since China’s leader, Xi Jinping, assumed power.
(2022.1.3)