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The U.S. Cancels an Upcoming Summit with North Korea; A Sports Controversy Centers on the U.S. National Anthem; "Water Taxis" are Given Test Rides in Paris

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Resuming our daily coverage of world events, this is CNN 10. I`m Carl Azuz and Fridays are awesome!

Geopolitics are at play in our first story. We talked a lot about a planned summit between the leaders of the United States and North Korea.
 

geopolitics [͵dʒioˋpɑlɪtɪks] n.（用作单）地缘政治学

Today, we`re explaining why it`s not going to happen, at least not on June 12, when it was scheduled to take place in Singapore.

Yesterday, the White House released a letter that U.S. President Donald Trump had sent to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The American president

said that though he was looking forward to their meeting, he felt it was inappropriate at this time to have it, based on the tremendous anger and

open hostility in a recent statement by North Korea.

A government official from the communist country said whether the U.S. would meet North Korea in a meeting or encounter it in a nuclear to nuclear showdown was entirely dependent on the behavior of the U.S.
 

encounter [ɪnˋkaʊntɚ] v. 遭遇（敌人）

showdown [ˋʃo͵daʊn] n. 摊牌；最后的一决雌雄

And President Trump`s letter said that for the good of both parties but to the detriment of the world, the summit in Singapore would not take place.
 

detriment [ˋdɛtrəmənt] n. 危害，损害; disadvantage or damage; harm; loss

This latest back and forth between North Korea and the U.S. was one of several obstacles that have popped up as the summit was being planned. The

U.S. military says it`s on guard against any, quote, foolish and reckless action by North Korea. But President Trump still left the door open for a
 

on guard 警戒着

reckless [ˋrɛklɪs] adj. 鲁莽的，不顾后果的

possible meeting sometime between the two countries` leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If and when Kim Jong-un chooses to engage in constructive dialogue and actions, I am waiting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: What happens next is anyone`s guess. Several experts and some White House officials have said there was doubt to begin with about whether the

summit would actually take place. North Korea has appeared willing to talk to the U.S. several times before in recent decades, but the Asian country

has then repeatedly backed away from it. Some analysts say it was going to do that again.

The U.S. says it will continue to apply maximum pressure to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:

Which U.S. sports league was known as the APFA when it was founded in 1920?

NFL, MLB, NBA or MLS?

Two years after it was founded, the American Professional Football Association was renamed the National Football League.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: And 98 years later, that league is making a change to its rules concerning the U.S. national anthem. It`s requiring players and other

employees to stand for the "Star Spangled Banner" or face fines. But if NFL employees don`t want to do this, they can stay in the locker room until
 

Star Spangled Banner 美国国旗（星条旗）

the anthem is over. And that`s a change to a rule that used to require all players to be on the filed for the anthem.

This became an issue for the league back in 2016 when Colin Kaepernick, who was then a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, refused to stand for

the anthem. At first, he sat on the bench, then he kneeled. And he said he did it because he didn`t want to honor a song or, quote, show pride in a

flag for a country that oppresses black people or people of color.

Some NFL players and athletes in other leagues joined Kaepernick in kneeling during the anthem. Most continued to stand. Those who supported

Kaepernick`s actions said kneeling was a respectful way of protesting racial injustice. Those who opposed it said kneeling was disrespectful to

the country, the flag, and the military.

And like the act of kneeling itself, the NFL`s new rules are controversial. The league`s commissioner says team owners unanimously voted for the
 

commissioner [kəˋmɪʃənɚ] n.（委员会的）委员

changes, though at least one of them said he abstained from the vote.
 

abstain [əbˋsten] v. 弃权

The NFL says it wants people to be respectful of the anthem and treat the moment in a respectful fashion. The players association, a union, says it

wasn`t consulted about the rule changes but that players were showing their patriotism through their protests.
 

consult [kənˋsʌlt] v. 与……商量

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUBTITLE: The Kilauea volcano eruption began three weeks ago in Hawaii.

It has wreaked havoc on homes in the Puna district on the east side of Hawaii`s big island.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here`s Christine who helped me today. We`ve been here since 1991. We`re raising kids here.

So, here we are in my other neighbor`s backyard. They have a massive crack system and the house is literally falling into that crack system here.

SUBTITLE: The eruption has caused nearly 2,000 people to evacuate their homes.

This week, some residents returned briefly to check on their homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s here the side of the house. It`s had damage. Here`s the massive crack.

SUBTITLE: They found their homes nearly falling into several large cracks created by the volcanic eruptions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this goes all the way to the road where it swallowed that van. Here are my silly friends about to follow the crack.

SUBTITLE: Tam Hunt took the images of his neighbor`s home and says the cracks are now in his backyard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This house will not be lived again ever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Like many world capitals, Paris has problems with traffic and pollution. But unlike many capitals, Paris has a river that runs through

it.

And one company`s solution to the problems utilizes Paris` waterways. The SeaBubble which you`re about to see is a lightweight vehicle whose two

electric engines are solar-powered. Each vehicle is estimated to cost around $33,000 and if they get off the ground or water, they could change

how Parisians and tourists get around.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it`s a SeaBubble and it just landed in Paris.

Its designers hoped it will be the taxi of the future not only in its French homeland, but in as many as 250 cities worldwide that might choose

to use their waterways as a new echo friendly urban pathway.

ANDERS BRINGDAL, FOUNDER & PRESIDENT, SEABUBBLES: Well, it`s a boat, but it`s a eco-friendly transport system that we have designed. It`s to try to

help live in a situation that everybody is in traffic jam in the cities and they`re polluted city and they try to get through them, to live on that.

You leave no waste, there`s no sound. And there`s no pollution.

BELL: They call it a flying water car and the idea is only two and a half years old. It was dreamt up by the team behind the catamaran that had been
 

catamaran [͵kætəməˋræn] n. 双体船

breaking sailing records, thanks to its elevation out of the water.

BRINGDAL: We`re coming from dream into reality. We`re a startup company. So, when you start a startup company and then, hey, I had a great idea,

like this is how it`s going to work. And everybody goes cool. How?

And then once you actually them, show it to them, then this is the next step right now where we have to take this into how we can now deliver

thousands of these boats around the world.

BELL: As you can see, the SeaBubble gives a fairly smooth ride, and there`s still so many obstacles for the people trying to get these out onto

the rivers of the world, things like the regulations that exist on the main waterways inside big cities, things like fighting operators to make them
 

operator [ˋɑpə͵retɚ] n. （企业）经营者

available commercially to a vast number of people. But the team believed that it can be done and that this will soon provide with a smooth ride from

the Eiffel Tower that we`ve just left, taking you east down the Seine in a matter of minutes, plus avoiding the gridlock of Paris` streets, in favor of the fluidity of its river.
 

gridlock [ˋgrɪd͵lɑk] n. 极端严重的交通壅塞（无车能动）；僵局

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Quote, everybody around here calls it the castle, but we just call it home. The words of the owner of this home in rural Alabama, it`s a

castle, or at least it looks like one from the outside, with two and a half bedrooms, three bathrooms and 2,300 square feet of space, it`s actually a

little smaller than the average American home. And it`s up for sale because the owner`s daughter is headed to college and he`s downsizing to a

tiny home.

Why? Just becastle. Maybe he`s tired of the towering upkeep. Maybe it was just time to bailing (ph) out. Maybe he wanted a new moat of

habitation. Anyone who builds his own castle is truly a renaissance man, but if you don`t spend wisely, you`ll totally wind up baroque.

CNN 10 will be off Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. Please join us again next Tuesday and have a great weekend ahead.

END