2019年经济学人 一周要闻 波兰退出中欧4国峰会 印巴冲突升级 南非砸50亿美元救国企

 

The world this week

本周要闻

Politics

政治

Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, warned India not to attack his country in retaliation¹ for a suicide-bombing in Kashmir that killed 40 Indian security personnel, the worst attack on security forces in the region in 30 years of conflict. A militant³ group based in Pakistan said it was responsible. As tensions mounted between the two arch-rivals, a gun battle between police and suspected militants⁴ killed nine people in a village in Kashmir.

巴基斯坦总理伊姆兰汗(Imran Khan)警告印度不要发动任何袭击，以报复克什米尔发生的一起自杀式炸弹袭击。那次袭击造成40名印度警察死亡，是该地区冲突30年来安全部队遭遇的最严重袭击。巴基斯坦的一个激进组织声称对此次袭击负责。随着这两个宿敌之间的紧张局势升级，警方和嫌疑武装分子之间的枪战导致克什米尔某村庄9人死亡。

Amid the hostilities⁵ Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto leader, Muhammad bin² Salman, visited Pakistan and India, where he promised large investment deals. The Saudi foreign minister offered to help ease tensions between the two neighbours, underscoring the Saudis’ new-found confidence on the world stage.

印巴正值敌对状态，沙特阿拉伯王储、事实上的领导人穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼访问了巴基斯坦和印度，承诺在这两个国家进行大规模投资交易。沙特外长表示，愿意帮助缓解两个邻国之间的紧张局势，彰显沙特在国际舞台上重新树立的信心。

A fire broke out in the Chawkbazar district of Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, killing⁶ scores of people. Poor safety regulations have led to hundreds of people being killed in building fires in recent years.

孟加拉国首都达卡丘巴扎尔区发生火灾，造成数十人死亡。近年来，糟糕的安全法规导致数百人在建筑火灾中丧生。

Polling errors

投票错误

Nigeria delayed its presidential election by a week after officials said they had not managed to distribute ballot⁷ papers and other voting materials in time for the scheduled date of February 16th. The delay is expected to reduce voter turnout, as many people had to travel to their home districts in order to cast their ballots⁸.

尼日利亚将总统选举推迟了一周，起因是官员们指出，他们未能在原定于2月16日举行的选举中及时分发选票和其他选举材料。推迟投票预计会降低投票率，因为很多人不得不回到自己的选区去投票。

South Africa’s government pledged 69bn rand ($4.9bn) to prop⁹ up Eskom, a state-owned power utility that is close to bankruptcy¹⁰. Power cuts caused by poor maintenance have slowed economic growth.

南非政府承诺提供690亿兰特(合49亿美元)，支持濒临破产的国有电力公司Eskom。该公司因维护不善导致的电力中断减缓了南非的经济增长。

Hundreds of civilians¹¹ were evacuated¹² from the last enclave held by Islamic State in eastern Syria. Kurdish-led forces backed by America have pushed the jihadists to the brink¹³ of defeat. A Kurdish commander urged Donald Trump¹⁴ to halt his plans to pull American soldiers out of Syria and called for up to 1,500 international troops to remain.

数百名平民从“伊斯兰国”在叙利亚东部占领的最后一块飞地撤离。在美国的支持下，库尔德人领导的军队将圣战分子击退到失败的边缘。一名库尔德指挥官敦促特朗普停止从叙利亚撤军的计划，并呼吁保留多达1500支国际部队。

Poland withdrew from a central European summit in Jerusalem after a dispute with Israel over how to characterise Poland’s treatment of its Jewish community during the second world war. Israel’s acting¹⁵ foreign minister said Poles “suckle anti-Semitism with their mother’s milk”.

波兰退出在耶路撒冷举行的中欧峰会，此前波兰与以色列就如何描述二战期间波兰对待犹太人的方式发生争执。以色列代理外长表示，波兰人“用他们母亲的乳汁吮吸反犹太主义”。

1 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

8 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

10 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

11 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。

12 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

13 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

14 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。

15 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。