2019年经济学人 一周要闻 美政府停摆继续 特朗普提名巴尔任总检察长 吉利布兰德角逐2020年美大选

 

Protests against official corruption¹ gathered strength in Mongolia. Perhaps 20,000 people gathered in Ulaanbaatar, the capital, despite the winter freeze to denounce the conduct of the country's two biggest political parties. More demonstrations² are planned.

蒙古反对官员腐败的抗议活动愈演愈烈。大约2万民众顶着严寒天气聚集在首都乌兰巴托，谴责该国两个最大政党的行为。他们计划举行更多的示威活动。

The latest eruption³ of Mount Merapi, a volcano in central Java, intensified⁴, sending lava⁵ down its slopes. The Indonesian authorities have not yet issued an evacuation order, but are rushing to repair damaged roads in case of an exodus⁶.

位于爪哇岛中部的默拉皮火山最近一次喷发加剧，岩浆顺着山坡往下流。印尼当局还没有发布疏散令，但正在紧急修复受损道路，方便人员撤离。

No safe place to hide

无处藏身

Members of al-Shabab, a jihadist group with ties to al-Qaeda, attacked a hotel and office complex in a normally secure neighbourhood of Nairobi, Kenya's capital. At least 21 people were killed, including several foreigners. The assailants were armed with grenades and guns; one attacker was a suicide-bomber.

青年党成员是一个与基地组织有联系的圣战组织，他们袭击了肯尼亚首都内罗毕一处通常安全的社区内的一家酒店和办公楼。造成至少21人死亡，其中包括几名外国人。袭击者携带手榴弹和枪支；其中一名袭击者为自杀式炸弹袭击者。

The government of Zimbabwe launched a crackdown on protesters after widespread unrest linked to a rise in fuel prices. Access to the internet was blocked, as soldiers patrolled the streets of big cities, arresting and beating young men. At least eight people were killed and hundreds injured. NGOs reported human-rights violations⁷ across the country. The government blamed the unrest on the opposition⁸.

津巴布韦政府电视台在燃油价格上涨引发大规模骚乱后对抗议者进行了镇压。由于警察在大城市的街道上巡逻，逮捕并殴打年轻人，互联网被政府封锁。这次镇压造成至少8人死亡，数百人受伤。非政府组织报道了该国各地的侵犯人权事件。津巴布韦政府将骚乱归咎于反对派。

The International Criminal Court at The Hague took another knock when its judges acquitted⁹ Laurent Gbagbo, a former president of the Ivory Coast, who had been charged with crimes against humanity. Last year a Congolese former vice-president, Jean-Pierre Bemba, was also acquitted, and a case against Kenya's current president, Uhuru Kenyatta, had been dropped four years earlier. The court's authority is increasingly questioned, especially in Africa.

海牙国际刑事法庭的法官宣布科特迪瓦前总统洛朗·巴博无罪，他被控犯有反人类罪。去年，刚果前副总统让-皮埃尔·本巴(Jean-Pierre Bemba)也被判无罪，而针对肯尼亚现任总统乌呼鲁·肯雅塔(Uhuru Kenyatta)的一桩案件也于四年前被撤销。法院的权威日渐受到质疑，尤其是在非洲国家。

A suicide-bomb attack in northern Syria killed at least 15 people, including four American servicemen and civilians¹⁰. The attack was claimed by Islamic State, just weeks after Donald Trump¹¹ said the jihadist group was defeated and that he would begin withdrawing American troops from Syria.

叙利亚北部发生自杀式炸弹袭击，造成至少15人死亡，其中包括4名美国士兵和平民。而在几周前，特朗普刚刚宣布击败“伊斯兰国”组织，并将开始从叙利亚撤军。

Meanwhile, Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said his troops would create a 32km-deep “safe zone” in northern Syria to protect civilians. The announcement came after Mr Erdogan held a phone conversation with Mr Trump, who had threatened to “devastate Turkey economically” if it attacked America's Kurdish allies, whom Turkey considers to be terrorists.

与此同时，土耳其总统埃尔多安表示，他的军队将在叙利亚北部建立一个32公里长的“安全区”，以保护平民。此前，埃尔多安与特朗普进行了电话交谈。特朗普曾威胁称，若土耳其攻击美国的库尔德盟友（土耳其称其为恐怖分子），那么他将摧毁“土耳其的经济”。

Shutdown meltdown

政府停摆继续

The impasse¹² over funding for a wall on the Mexican border, which has led to the suspension of some public services in America, entered its fourth week, becoming the longest-ever government shutdown. The Council of Economic Advisers¹³ said the shutdown was having a worse effect on the economy than it had expected. Opinion polls showed that voters blame the president for the shambles¹⁴.

修建美墨边境隔离墙的资金问题陷入僵局，这导致美国一些公共服务部门停摆。目前这一僵局已进入第四周，成为美国政府有史以来政府关门时间最久的一次。美国经济顾问委员会表示，政府关门对经济的影响比预期的更糟。民意调查显示，选民将这场混乱归咎于总统。

The Senate held a hearing on whether to confirm Donald Trump's choice of William Barr as attorney-general. Although he has argued in favour of expansive powers for presidents, Mr Barr promised to allow Robert Mueller's investigation¹⁵ into Russian provocateurs to proceed unhindered. He also said that Mr Trump had not sought any “assurances, promises or commitments from me of any kind, either express or implied.”

参议院就是否确认总统特朗普提名威廉·巴尔(William Barr)担任总检察长举行了听证会。尽管巴尔支持扩大总统权力，但他承诺，将允许罗伯特·米勒不受阻碍地进行对俄罗斯挑衅者的调查。他还表示，特朗普“没有明示或暗示我做出任何形式的保证和承诺”。

Kirsten Gillibrand, a senator from New York, became the second heavy-hitter to enter the race for the Democratic presidential nomination¹⁶.

来自纽约的参议员柯尔斯滕·吉利布兰德(Kirsten Gillibrand)成为第二位进入民主党总统候选人名单的重量级人物。

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

4 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。

6 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

7 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

10 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

11 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

12 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

13 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

14 shambles   

n.混乱之处；废墟

参考例句：

• My room is a shambles.我房间里乱七八糟。
• The fighting reduced the city to a shambles.这场战斗使这座城市成了一片废墟。

15 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

16 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。