World and Press February 2
February 2 2023 • No 4 • 75th Year of Publication • Original Pressetexte aus britischen und US-amerikanischen Medien € 3,00 [d] Sprachtraining • Landeskunde • Vokabelhilfen • Übungsmaterial IN FOCUS B2–C2 • Opinion: The less you do, the less you do. • House-sitters: Escaping the cost-of-living crisis Pages 2/3 USA • Democrats: Looking to the future as Pelosi finally bows out • Orchestra: Women of the New York Philharmonic now outnumber the men Pages 4/5 | Photo: Getty Images Since 1802, the Rosetta Stone has been on display at the British Museum. Now thousands of Egyptians are demanding that the museum return the stone. Read more on page 8 For 60 years, Australians have gathered in the Outback town of Alice Springs to cheer on a dry river race called the Henley-on-Todd Regatta. Die Nr.1 unter den Vokabeltrainern. Read more on page 14 After 220 years, the fate of the Parthenon Marbles rests in secret talks | Photo: Washington Post BRITAIN • Spaceflight: The first disabled astronaut • Language: Manx language, once almost silenced, is now talk of the town Pages 6/7 OTHER TOPICS • Climate change: Canada turns to Indigenous people to save its forests • Urban farming: Tech manager from 9 to 5 and urban farmer the rest of his day • Cars: The electric dream has arrived for Rolls-Royce • Science: Eight glasses of water a day excessive for most people Pages 9/10/11/12 Get the vocabulary trainer! www.phase6.de/wp/0423 Sculptures on display at the British Museum, part of its Elgin Marbles collection. | Photo: Daniel Leal/Getty Images ARTIFACTS The British Museum and Greece’s prime minister are getting closer to a deal on returning the so-called Elgin Marbles to Athens. By Alex Marshall 1 WHEN Lord Elgin, a British aristocrat, sailed home from Greece in the early 1800s, he also shipped to England some of the greatest treasures of antiquity: a collection that included statues of Greek gods and carved frieze panels depicting battling centaurs that once decorated the Parthenon in Athens. 2 Torn in some cases from the temple walls, ostensibly with the permission of the Ottomans who then ruled Greece, the so-called Elgin Marbles were later sold to the British government and became some of the most storied artifacts in the collection of the British Museum. But they also became, almost from the very day they were removed, the subject of perhaps the world’s most notorious cultural dispute. 3 Since the days of Lord Byron, the romantic poet who was an early critic of their removal, the fate of the marbles has been bitterly contested. The British say the marbles were legally acquired and are best shown alongside other artifacts in a universal museum, while the Greeks view them as looted treasures that are a foundation of their national heritage. 4 The debate has only deepened in recent years as the actions of old empires have come under new scrutiny, and restitution battles have come to challenge the foundations of Western museums. The pressure to return the marbles has grown as museums have given back high-profile items including Benin Bronzes, Italian antiquities, and other fragments from the Parthenon that were relinquished just last month by the Vatican. 5 Now there are hopeful signals that perhaps a resolution between the British Museum and Greece could be in sight, as officials on both sides have acknowledged that secret talks have taken place. But even as those disclosures have flowered into optimism that real progress will soon be made, both sides have made it clear that no deal is yet imminent. Indeed, they remain far apart on some key questions. 6 The talks have been ongoing in London since November 2021, between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece and George Osborne, a former finance minister of Britain who is now the chair of the British Museum. In the seclusion of plush hotels and at the Greek ambassador’s town house, the parties have been trying to reach a deal on the marbles’ future, according to two people with knowledge of the negotiations who were granted anonymity to discuss confidential talks. Continued on page 12 Die Nr.1 unter den Vokabeltrainern. €3,50 [a] CHF5,40 [ch] 0 – 2 MARBLESh.: Marmorskulpturen und -fragmente — treasures Schätze — antiquity Antike; s.w.u. antiquities Altertümer — to carve meißeln — frieze panel Metope — to depict darstellen — to battle kämpfen — ostensibly angeblich — storied oft erwähnt — notorious allgemein bekannt 3 – 5 removal Entfernen — contested umstritten — to loot rauben; plündern — foundation Fundament — heritage Kulturerbe — to come under scrutiny kritisch geprüft werden — restitution battle Streit um die Rückgabe von Kunstgegenständen — to relinquish aufgeben; zurückgeben — resolution Lösung — to acknowledge bestätigen — disclosure Enthüllung — imminent unmittelbar bevorstehend 6 chair (of the board of trustees) Vorsit - zende(r) des Kuratoriums — seclusion Abgeschiedenheit — plush luxuriös — negotiations Verhandlungen; s.w.u. to negotiate — confidential vertraulich
