分类：国际

the coming days
未来几日
The week ahead
本周展望
May 25th 2008
From Economist.com
《经济学人》网站

One more test for the junta in Myanmar, and other news of the coming week
缅甸军政府再次面临考验，及未来一周其它新闻

AP/美联社

• IF THE military leaders of Myanmar dare to take it, an opportunity arises on Tuesday May 27th to nudge their wretched country in a slightly less desperate direction. By that date the junta is supposed to announce whether the detained opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, will be released from house arrest. The Nobel laureate has been in detention for a dozen of the past 18 years. But in the aftermath of the cyclone, which has claimed perhaps 130,000 lives—partly as a result of the government’s decision to delay foreign aid—it seems more likely that her detention will be extended for another year.
For background see article
人们认为，缅甸军政府会在5月27日周二，宣布是否释放被囚禁的反对派领导人昂山素姬。如果缅甸军政府领导人有勇气抓住这一机会，他们不幸的国家就会走 上一个不那么令人绝望的方向。在过去的18年中，诺贝尔和平奖获得者昂山素姬被囚禁了12年。但由于缅甸遭遇风暴袭击，她很可能会被再关押一年。此次风暴夺走了约13万人的生命，缅甸军政府迟迟不肯接受外国援助是导致这一惨剧的部分原因。　　背景知识详见文章
继续阅读“[2008.05.25] The week ahead 未来一周展望”

Politics this week
本周政治要览

May 22nd 2008
2008年5月22日
From The Economist print edition
摘自《经济学人》印刷版

China observed three days of national mourning for those killed by the recent earthquake in the province of Sichuan. The number of dead or missing climbed above 70,000, and 5m people were reported to be homeless.
为表达对四川地震遇难者的深切哀悼，中国举行了为期三天的全国哀悼日。目前，死亡人数和失踪人数已达7万之多。另据报道，当前有500万人无家可归。详见文章

Three days of national mourning were also declared in Myanmar, where the estimate of casualties from the cyclone on May 2nd was raised to 78,000 dead and 56,000 missing. An agreement reached by South-East Asian foreign ministers should help the inflow of aid. But the risk of a secondary catastrophe, of disease and starvation, remained high.
缅甸也宣布举行为期3天的全国哀悼日。据估计，自5月2日遭受强热带风暴袭击以来，缅甸国内的死亡人数已上升到7.8万人和失踪人数已达5.6万人。东南亚各国外长达成协议以帮助援助物资顺利进入缅甸。不过，缅甸再次面临疾病和饥饿等灾害的风险依然很高。详见文章 　　 继续阅读“[2008.05.22] Politics this week 本周政治要览”

The UN and humanitarian intervention
联合国和人道主义干预
To protect sovereignty, or to protect lives?
保护主权，还是拯救生命？

May 15th 2008
From The Economist print edition

The new notion of global responsibility to alleviate suffering has struggled to win acceptance—and Myanmar will not be the place where it comes of age
减轻灾难痛苦是全球责任这一新理念正在努力获得世人的认可，但缅甸显然不是让这一理念付诸实践的地方

Illustration by David Simonds
漫画：大卫西蒙

“IT WOULD only take half an hour for the French boats and French helicopters to reach the disaster area.” Those were the wistful words uttered by Bernard Kouchner, France’s foreign minister, as his country’s diplomats at the United Nations vainly argued that aid might have to be “imposed” on Myanmar if the military regime refused to co-operate.
“只需半个小时，法国船只和直升机就可以到达灾难区域。”法国外长库什内在表达提供帮助的希望时如是说。法国在联合国的外交官们徒劳的呼吁如果缅甸的军人政权拒绝合作，就应强制“缅甸”接受援助。
继续阅读“[2008.05.17] To protect sovereignty, or to protect lives? 保护主权，还是拯救生命？”

by yizhongren

Smoking
吸烟

How to save a billion lives
如何挽救10亿生命

Feb 7th 2008 | NEW YORK
From The Economist print edition
A war against the weed spreads and escalates, though the odds are unequal
反烟斗争：扩散升级，胜算不一。

（图片来源：Panos）

EVEN more than tempting liquors like tequila, tobacco is a pleasure that the Old World wishes it had never taken from the New. In 1492, when Christopher Columbus was met by tribesmen with “fruit, wooden spears and certain dried leaves which gave off a distinct fragrance”, he threw the last gift away. But his shipmates brought home the custom of sucking in the smoke, and the taste spread so rapidly that in 1604 King James I of England was prompted to issue a denunciation of the “manifold abuses of this vile custome”.
烟草，比烈性龙舌兰酒更诱人，但是东半球多么希望它从来没有从美洲引入这一享受。1492年，克里斯托弗·哥伦布 (Christopher Columbus）登上新大陆，当地部落族人把散发独特香味的果子、木剑和干叶子”赠予他，他把那些干叶子统统扔掉了。但他的船员们把吸烟的习惯带回了家，这一风气流传得非常迅速促使1604年英王詹姆士一世（King James I ）对“各种形式的放纵这种恶习”发表谴责。

继续阅读“[2007.02.07] How to save a billion lives 如何挽救10亿生命”