World and Press June 1
June 1 2023 • No 11 • 75th Year of Publication • Original Pressetexte aus britischen und US-amerikanischen Medien € 3,00 [d] Sprachtraining • Landeskunde • Vokabelhilfen • Übungsmaterial IN FOCUS B2–C2 • Opinion: A plan for levelling up the north of England? • Cities: Awash in asphalt, cities rethink their parking needs Pages 2–3 USA • Society: Single women take an outsize role in the workforce – and the economy • Gen Z: Young people don’t care that much about driver’s licenses Pages 4–5 BRITAIN • Listed buildings: After demolition, developers must rebuild pub from the rubble • Westminster Abbey: The Cosmati Pavement Page 6 OTHER TOPICS • Switzerland: The merger of two banking titans • Australia: Authorities reinstate alcohol ban for Aboriginals • Business: Reba McEntire is helping to revive her hometown Pages 8/9/11 Gibt’s auch digital! www.sprachzeitungen.de | Photo: Picture Alliance A college in Wales is offering a degree course designed to provide students with the innovative skills and ideas required to tackle the climate crisis. Read more on pag e 7 Millions call NYC’s helpline each year for advice on everything from broken appliances to hungry raccoons and overfriendly neighbours. Read more on pag e 14 A coronation and an election leave a restless U.K. ‘in a waiting room’ BRITAIN Beneath the gilded continuity of the coronation celebrations, there were signs that both Britain and its royal family are preparing for a new era. By Mark Landler King Charles III after his coronation on May 6, 2023. | Photo: Andrew Testa/The New York Times 1 AS MILESTONESin British life go, the two could hardly have had less in common: Saturday’s coronation of King Charles III, the grandest of all royal spectacles, and two days earlier, grassroots elections for the mayors and other officials who are responsible for fixing potholes and picking up the trash. Yet each, in its own way, confirmed a Britain on the cusp of change. 2 The stinging defeat of the Conservatives in elections Thursday suggested that Britain’s governing party could very well be swept from power in the general election that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak must call by January 2025. The crowning of Charles definitively turned the page from the 70-year reign of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and thrust the monarchy into an uncertain future. 3 Three years after Britain left the European Union, and nine months after Britons grieved the death of the queen amid political and economic upheaval, the country is still groping for a post- Brexit identity. But even if its ultimate shape is not clear, Britain seems poised for a new era, both in politics and the monarchy. 4 “The country is in a waiting room,” said Simon Schama, a British historian and author of ‘A History of Britain.’ “People are saying, ‘Let’s give our peculiar new king a chance,’ while the prospect of an election pacifies a lot of the frustration and rage that people would otherwise feel.” 5 Change is not assured, of course. Charles, as a 74-yearold monarch, could prove to be a more cautious figure than his biographers expect. The coronation, with its medieval rituals – the king was anointed with holy oil from a silver spoon dating to 1349 – was nothing if not an exercise in continuity. 6 Likewise, the Conservatives, depleted as they are after the loss of more than 1,000 municipal seats, could yet cling to power. Their leaders pointed to polling estimates, extrapolated from the results of the local elections, that would still leave the opposition Labour Party relying on the support of smaller rivals to govern. But political scientists prefer to focus on longer-term trends, | Photo: Unsplash and those are running strongly against the Conservatives. The elections laid bare anger and impatience with a party that its critics say has left the country scandal-scarred, divided, and facing lingering economic costs from Brexit after 13 years in power. 7 Similar pressures are building on the monarchy, which has reigned over Britain a lot longer than that. Recent polls show that many Britons, particularly younger ones, view the royal family as irrelevant and question the need for it. Continued on page 12 €3,50 [a] CHF5,40 [ch] 0 – 1 CORONATION; s.w.u. crowning Krönung — restless rastlos — gilded prächtig — milestone Meilenstein — grassroots an der Basis; h.: Kommunal- — official Amtsträger(in) — pothole Schlagloch — trash Müll — on the cusp of an der Schwelle zu 2 – 4 stinging h.: verheerend — general election Parlamentswahl — reign Regentschaft; s.w.u. to reign herrschen — to thrust drängen; stoßen — to grieve betrauern — amid vor dem Hintergrund — upheaval Turbulenzen — to grope for s.th. nach etw. suchen — to be poised for s.th. vor etw. stehen — to pacify beschwichtigen 5 – 7 assured sicher — to anoint salben — depleted dezimiert — municipal seat Sitz im Gemeinderat — to cling s. klammern — to point to verweisen auf — polling estimate Stimmenschätzung — to extrapolate hochrechnen — to lay bare offenlegen — impatience Ungeduld — scarred (fig) gezeichnet — lingering economic costs wirtschaftl. Langzeitfolgen
