标题: 2022.08.26 美国参议员玛莎-布莱克本抵达台湾 [打印本页] 作者: shiyi18 时间: 2022-8-26 20:55 标题: 2022.08.26 美国参议员玛莎-布莱克本抵达台湾 Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said Europe narrowly avoided a “radiation disaster” after the Russia-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear plant was temporarily disconnected from the electricity grid. Back-up generators were able to ensure supply after Russian shelling had sparked a fire in a nearby power station, he said. A Russian official blamed Ukrainian forces for the fire. The UN’s nuclear watchdog said its officials were “very, very close” to being able to visit the nuclear plant and assess the situation.
A federal judge ruled that America’s Department of Justice must release a redacted copy of the affidavit that authorised the raid on Donald Trump’s Florida home earlier this month. The DoJ has until midday on Friday to publish the document, which explains why investigators believed a crime may have been committed. The FBI seized hundreds of classified records from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate during the search.
Ofgem, Britain’s energy watchdog, increased the country’s energy price cap by 80%, pushing up the typical household’s energy bill to £3,549 ($4,186) a year. Jonathan Brearley, the regulator’s chief executive, said there was “no choice” but to increase the cap to reflect the soaring price of energy. The new prices will kick in from October 1st.
Marsha Blackburn, an American senator, arrived in Taiwan where she will meet President Tsai Ing-wen. An earlier trip by Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, prompted China to stage its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan. On Thursday the Taiwanese government proposed to spend more than $19bn on defence next year, a 15% increase on the current budget.
A judge in America ordered Twitter to turn over data from an internal review of spam accounts to Elon Musk. The social-media platform analysed 9,000 accounts last year to see how many were run by humans; it must now share the results with Mr Musk, who is trying to walk away from an agreement to buy Twitter for $44bn. The judge rejected many of Mr Musk’s other demands for information, calling them “absurdly broad”.
Prayuth Chan-ocha, Thailand’s suspended prime minister, said he would continue to serve as the country’s defence minister. A constitutional court has ordered Mr Prayuth to step down as prime minister as it reviews his term limit. It is unclear when the court will deliver a verdict but a government spokesperson said the cabinet will continue to function as normal.
The Taliban said more than 180 people were killed and hundreds more injured by floods in Afghanistan this month in a global appeal for help. Heavy rains wrought widespread devastation in the country’s central and eastern provinces, leaving thousands homeless and worsening an already dire economic and humanitarian situation.
Fact of the day: $217.1bn, the amount that American state governments saved in 2021, exceeding the 2019 record by nearly $100bn. Read the full story.
Joe Biden’s long game in Ukraine
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
America marked Ukraine’s independence day by announcing its largest package of military aid yet, worth about $3bn, to buy everything from artillery shells to air-defence systems. Unusually, the arms will not come from existing arsenals, but will instead be bought from industry. Some might not arrive for three years. The aid will do nothing to break the current stalemate after half a year of fighting. Instead, America is signalling a years-long commitment to Ukraine, thereby seeking to frustrate Russia’s hope of prevailing in a drawn-out conflict.
Fear of escalation explains America’s caution in not sending more potent weapons to Ukraine more quickly. But a long game carries other risks. European allies might break ranks when energy shortages begin to hurt this winter. America’s will to bankroll Ukraine may weaken, particularly if America-first devotees control Congress after the midterms in November. And a long war will prolong the agony of Ukraine.
Italy papers the town with posters
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Friday brings the beginning of Italy’s general election campaign: the day it becomes legal to smother towns and cities with election posters. Notwithstanding television and social media, fly-posting is an important part of Italian elections, as are mass rallies. Polls point to a dramatic outcome: the election, for the first time in post-war western Europe, of a government led by a party rooted in the traditions of a pre-war dictatorship.
The latest surveys give the Brothers of Italy, heirs to the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement, around 25% of the vote. Their allies in the hard-right Northern League and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party could together get a further 25%, enough for a commanding parliamentary majority. On Thursday the outgoing prime minister, Mario Draghi, warned his successors that distancing Italy from the EU would weaken its economy and international standing. But Italian voters seem ready to dismiss such fears.
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A pushback against impunity in Malaysia
PHOTO: REUTERS
Najib Razak has begun his 12-year sentence in prison for graft, but not everyone wants justice to take its course. The former prime minister’s loyalists within the ruling United Malays National Organisation seem unperturbed by his role in a mega-scandal in which $4.5bn was swiped from Malaysian state coffers—and are furious that the prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, stood idly by as Mr Najib was jailed. They are calling for a royal pardon, which would allow Mr Najib back into parliament. And they are telling Mr Ismail Sabri to call an early election or face a party mutiny.
It seems Mr Ismail Sabri has listened. On Friday he tabled an early budget for October 7th, a necessary measure to pave the way for a November election. That gives the faction behind Mr Najib the chance to wrest control of the party and the government. It would also give Malaysians their say on all the squabbling and sleaze.
Britain anticipates the chill of winter bills
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Britons face a bleak winter of steeper energy bills. On Friday they found out just how pricey energy will be, when Ofgem, the regulator, updated its cap on how much energy companies can charge most households for electricity and gas. The war in Ukraine has pushed wholesale gas prices to dizzying heights again (prices dropped earlier in the summer). The average household’s annual bill will rise to £3,549 ($4,180) from October, more than three times the level a year ago.
Labour, the main opposition party, says it would freeze annual bills for six months at £1,971 for the typical household, with the government paying the excess. The idea is popular, but expensive—the state would pay around £6bn towards the bills of the top 20% of earners. A better solution is giving rebates or cash bonuses to the poorest (though targeting help effectively is tricky). If done well, that would encourage people to conserve energy, but still insulate those most in need.
America’s abortions bans proliferate
PHOTO: REUTERS
Two months after America’s Supreme Court ditched the right to abortion, more states are banning the procedure. Thirteen had so-called trigger laws automatically outlawing abortion after Roe v Wade was overturned. On Thursday Tennessee banned abortion without exceptions for rape or incest. Texas also stiffened enforcement of a similar law: doctors now face minimum fines of $100,000 per termination and risk spending life in prison.
But some bans are being fiercely contested. On Wednesday a judge ruled that Idaho’s near-total prohibition, set to take effect this week, violated a federal law requiring hospitals to provide emergency medical care. Court battles have paused abortion bans in Utah, Wyoming and North Dakota, where one such law had been scheduled to take effect on Friday. Still, the list of states with existing or pending bans continues to lengthen: one in three American women of childbearing age now lives in such a place.
Daily quiz
Our baristas will serve you a new question each day this week. On Friday your challenge is to give us all five answers and, as important, tell us the connecting theme. Email your responses (and include mention of your home city and country) by 1700 BST on Friday to QuizEspresso@economist.com. We’ll pick randomly from those with the right answers and crown one winner per continent on Saturday.
Friday: What was the nickname of Tom Cruise’s unfortunate crewmate in the original Top Gun movie?
Thursday: Which 1877 novel by Anna Sewell is considered a classic of children’s literature?
The winners of last week’s crossword
Thank you to everyone who took part in our new weekly crossword, published in the weekend edition of Espresso. The winners, chosen at random from each continent, were:
Asia: Xiaochen Su, Chiba, Japan
North America: Besty Geist, Seattle, United States
Central and South America: Jorge Ferrando, Santiago, Chile
Europe: Martha Baker, Überlingen, Germany
Africa: Hasit Raja, Nairobi, Kenya
Oceania: Kevin Fernandez, Melbourne, Australia
They all gave the correct answers of Raila Odinga, Russia, Obama and Alaska. Check back tomorrow for this week’s crossword.