(1). People in Macedonia voted in a referendum to rename their country Northern Macedonia. Although more than 90% of those voting approved the change, the turnout was well under the required 50%. A deal with Greece that would allow Macedonia to join NATO and the EU in return for the name-change is now in danger.
马其顿人民举行公投,决定更改国名为“北马其顿共和国”。虽然有超过90%的投票赞成改名,但投票率远远低于宪法要求的50%。马其顿与希腊达成了一项协议,以改名为条件让马其顿加入北约和欧盟,如今这项协议出现危机。
(2). Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist and government critic, vanished after visiting a Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Mr Khashoggi had been living in exile in Washington, DC. “We don’t know if he is being detained, questioned or when he will be released,” said the Washington Post, for which he wrote.
贾迈勒·哈苏吉(Jamal Khashoggi)是一位著名的沙特记者和政府评论员,他在访问沙特驻伊斯坦布尔的领事馆后失踪。哈苏吉一直在华盛顿特区流亡。“我们不知道他是否被拘留、审问,也不知道他何时能被释放,”《华盛顿邮报》说道。
(3). Iraq’s parliament elected a new president, Barham Salih. Mr Salih quickly named Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a Shia politician, as prime minister-designate, ending a period of deadlock following an election in May. Mr Abdul-Mahdi was backed by the two largest blocs in parliament, averting a potential dispute between Shia politicians.
伊拉克议会选举了一位新总统——巴勒姆·萨利赫。萨利赫很快任命什叶派政治家阿德尔·阿卜杜勒·马赫迪为总理候选人,五月份选举后的僵局就此告一段落。阿卜杜勒·马赫迪得到议会中最大的两大联盟的支持,避免了什叶派政客之间的潜在争端。
(4). The World Bank raised concerns over a new law in Tanzania that would allow the government to jail people who question official statistics for up to three years. The law is the latest attempt by the government to suppress criticism of its policies, which have slowed economic growth.
世界银行(World Bank)对坦桑尼亚的一项新法律表示担忧,该法律允许该国政府将质疑官方统计数据者处以最高三年的刑期。该法律是坦桑尼亚政府打压批评其政策者的最新尝试(其政策拖累了经济增长)。
(5). The central bank of Liberia denied earlier claims by the government that it had lost more than $100m-worth of cash, the equivalent of 5% of its GDP. The bank said it had found the notes in its vaults.
利比里亚中央银行否认了政府早些时候声称的超过1亿美元现金失踪(相当于其GDP的5%)的说法。该银行表示,在其金库中发现了这笔资金。
(6). After NAFTA
《北美自由贸易协定》后续
(7). Canada agreed to join America and Mexico in a deal to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement. Under its new name, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Canada will give American farmers a bit more access to its dairy market but the much larger car trade will become less free. America agreed to keep NAFTA’s dispute-settlement mechanism.
加拿大同意与美国和墨西哥签订协议,修订《北美自由贸易协定》。在新命名“美墨加三国协议”下,加拿大将为美国农民提供更多进入其乳制品市场的机会,但规模更大的汽车贸易自由将会受限。美国同意保留《北美自由贸易协定》的解决贸易争端的机制。
(8). The International Court of Justice in The Hague rejected Bolivia’s claim that Chile has an “obligation to negotiate sovereign access to the sea” for Bolivia. Bolivia lost its coastline to Chile in a war in 1884. The court did say that a settlement of the dispute was a “matter of mutual interest”.
海牙国际法院驳回了玻利维亚的主张,即智利“有义务为玻利维亚太平洋的主权准入进行谈判”。在1884年的一场战争中,玻利维亚的海岸线被智利占领。法院指出,这场争端是一个“共同利益的问题”。
(9). Peru’s supreme court overturned the pardon given to Alberto Fujimori, a former president who had been jailed for the killing of 25 people by a government-backed death squad in the early 1990s. He was pardoned on health grounds in December 2017 by Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, the then-president.
秘鲁最高法院推翻了对前总统藤森(Alberto Fujimori)的赦免,藤森因在上世纪90年代初由政府支持的行刑队杀害25人而入狱。2017年12月,时任总统佩德罗·巴勃罗·库琴斯基以健康问题为由赦免了他。
(10). Coalition Avenir Quebec, a centre-right party, won an election in Canada’s French-speaking province, defeating the Liberal Party. It is the first time that a party other than the Liberals or the separatist Parti Quebecois will govern Quebec in nearly 50 years.
加拿大中右翼政党——魁北克未来联盟击败了自由党,赢得了加拿大法语省的选举。这将是近50年来首个除自由党和主张独立的魁人党以外的政党执掌魁北克省。
(11). The Republican leadership in the Senate pressed to bring a vote to the floor on the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. The FBI was tasked with investigating claims of sexual misconduct made against Mr Kavanaugh.
美国参议院的共和党领导层施压,要求就布雷特·卡瓦诺(Brett Kavanaugh)被任命为最高法院大法官一事进行表决。美国联邦调查局(FBI)负责调查针对卡瓦诺的不当性行为指控。
(12). Tax officials in New York state opened an inquiry into allegations that millions of dollars were transferred to Donald Trump in the 1990s from his father’s property business in questionable ways.
纽约州税务官员对上世纪90年代唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)从其父亲的房地产业务中以可疑的方式转移数百万美元的指控展开调查。
(13). Congress passed a bipartisan bill to combat opioid abuse. The measures include more funding for the treatment of addicts and a crackdown on the use of fentanyl. An estimated 49,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses last year.
美国国会通过了一项两党联署的法案,以打击鸦片类药物滥用。这些措施包括为治疗吸毒者提供更多资金,并限制芬太尼的使用。据估计,去年有4.9万名美国人死于阿片类药物过量。