英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

2024/04/24 05:30
◎管淑平
The number of babies born in Japan fell for an eighth straight year to a fresh record low in 2023, preliminary government data showed on Tuesday, underscoring the daunting task the country faces in trying to stem depopulation.

2023年日本新生兒人數連續第8年下跌，達到新低紀錄，週二的政府初步數據顯示，凸顯該國在設法遏止人口減少上，面臨艱鉅任務。

The number of births fell 5.1% from a year earlier to 758,631, while the number of marriages slid 5.9% to 489,281 － the first time in 90 years the number fell below 500,000 － foreboding a further decline in the population as out-of-wedlock births are rare in Japan.

這項出生人數比前一年減少5.1％，減至75萬8631人，同時結婚人數下滑5.9％至48萬9281對，是90年來首次低於50萬對，由於日本非婚生子相當罕見，因此這預示人口將進一步減少。

2024/04/23 05:30
◎ 盧永山

Houston’s Yordan Alvarez might be the top left-handed hitter in Major League Baseball. Teammate Framber Valdez ranks among the best left-handed pitchers, too.

休士頓（太空人隊）的約爾丹‧阿瓦瑞茲，在美國職棒大聯盟中可能是頂尖的左打者，隊友弗蘭柏‧瓦德茲也躋身最好的左投手行列。

Other than that, those guys are all right. Literally — neither player considers himself left-handed at all.

除此之外，這兩個傢伙都是右撇子。事實上，這兩位選手都不認為自己是左撇子。

2024/04/22 05:30
◎陳成良

The world’s oldest man says the secret to his long life is luck, moderation — and fish and chips every Friday.

世界上最年長壽的男人說，他長壽的秘訣是運氣、節制，以及每週五的炸魚薯條。

Englishman John Alfred Tinniswood, 111, has been confirmed as the new holder of the title by Guinness World Records. It follows the death of the Venezuelan record-holder, Juan Vicente Pérez, this month at the age of 114.

2024/04/17 05:30
◎管淑平

New Zealand opened its first hospital exclusively treating kiwi birds, and vets have already nursed the first patient back to health － a chick nicknamed "Splash" that tumbled into a swimming pool.

紐西蘭開設該國第一家專門治療奇異鳥的醫院，而且獸醫已經照料首名患者恢復健康—一隻跌進游泳池、被暱稱為「嘩啦」的雛鳥。

Rising numbers of the once-threatened national bird have led to the construction of a purpose-built facility in Kerikeri, a three-hour drive north of Auckland.

2024/04/16 05:30
◎魏國金

A slew of Federal Reserve officials emphasized that there is no urgency to lower interest rates, pointing to still-elevated inflation and a robust labor market.

多名聯邦儲備（銀行）官員強調，沒有降息的急迫性，他們提及仍居高不下的通膨，以及穩健的勞動市場。

That included comments from both the Boston Fed’s Susan Collins as well as San Francisco’s Mary Daly. Atlanta’s Raphael Bostic repeated his view for one rate cut toward the end of the year, and Kansas City’s Jeffrey Schmid noted he prefers a “patient” approach to reductions.

2024/04/15 05:30
◎陳成良

New research suggests there’s less oxygen on the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa than thought — and that could affect what if any life might be lurking in the moon’s underground ocean.

新的研究顯示，木星衛星「歐羅巴」（木衛二）冰冷表面的氧氣比想像中要少，這可能會影響該衛星地下海洋中可能潛伏的任何生命。

The new study is based on data collected by NASA’s Juno spacecraft during a particularly close flyby of Europa in 2022 — a distance of just 219 miles (353 kilometers).

2024/04/10 05:30
◎管淑平

Poland’s defence minister said Friday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had "zero credibility" despite denying any intent to invade Poland amid Moscow’s two-year assault on neighbouring Ukraine.

波蘭國防部長週五說，在莫斯科對鄰國烏克蘭攻擊持續2年之際，儘管俄羅斯領導人弗拉迪米爾‧普廷否認有任何入侵波蘭的意圖，但是他的「可信度零」。

Tensions have long been strained between Poland and Russia but deteriorated further after Warsaw threw its weight behind Kyiv in its efforts to fight off Russia’s invasion.

2024/04/09 05:30
◎盧永山
They prowl through palace gardens stalking pigeons and make cameos on televised press briefings. Some greet tourists at the doors, while others take a sneaky lick of ice cream from staff.

牠們在總統府花園裡潛行，跟蹤鴿子，並在電視轉播的記者會上客串演出，有些會在門口迎接遊客，而有些則偷偷地舔了工作人員的冰淇淋。

Nineteen feral cats have free rein of Mexico’s National Palace, roaming the lush gardens and historic colonial halls of the most iconic buildings in the country.

19隻野貓在墨西哥總統府自由活動，在該國最具代表性建築的蒼翠花園和歷史悠久殖民時期的大廳中漫步。

2024/04/08 05:30
◎陳成良

President Joe Biden is facing criticism from Donald Trump’s campaign and religious conservatives for proclaiming March 31 — which corresponds with Easter Sunday this year — as “Transgender Day of Visibility.”

總統拜登因宣布3月31日（今年與復活節週日同一天）為「跨性別者現身日」，面臨川普競選團隊和宗教保守派的批評。

The Democratic president issued the proclamation on Friday, calling on “all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination based on gender identity.”

2024/04/03 05:30
◎管淑平

A bounty of 10 African penguin chicks has hatched in just over a year at a San Francisco science museum.

舊金山一家科學博物館在僅僅1年多內，就孵育出多達10隻非洲企鵝幼雛。

The penguins began hatching in November 2022, ending a four year period without any new chicks, and continued through January of this year, the California Academy of Sciences announced Wednesday.

2024/04/02 05:30
◎魏國金

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for stealing billions of dollars from customers, marking the final chapter in a case that has upended the crypto industry.

FTX共同創辦人班克曼—弗里德因竊取客戶數十億美元，被判處25年徒刑，標誌著這樁顛覆加密貨幣產業的訴訟寫下最終章。

US District Judge Lewis Kaplan delivered the sentence in federal court in Manhattan moments after Bankman-Fried said he was “sorry about what happened at every stage.” He faced as long as 110 years behind bars after being convicted last year of seven offenses, including fraud and conspiracy.

2024/04/01 05:30
◎陳成良

Mice accidentally introduced to a remote island near Antarctica 200 years ago are breeding out of control because of climate change, and they are eating seabirds and causing major harm in a special nature reserve with “unique biodiversity.”

200年前意外引入南極洲附近一個偏遠島嶼的老鼠，由於氣候變遷化而失控繁殖，牠們正在吃海鳥，並在具有「獨特生物多樣性」的特殊自然保護區造成重大傷害。

Now conservationists are planning a mass extermination using helicopters and hundreds of tons of rodent poison, which needs to be dropped over every part of Marion Island’s 115 square miles (297 square kilometers) to ensure success.

2024/03/28 05:30
◎孫宇青

A kangaroo that escaped its handlers during transport to a new home was captured in the east of Toronto after a weekend in the wild, but not before delivering a punch in the face to one of the police officers who brought her run to an end.

一隻袋鼠在被運送到新家的過程中從飼養員手中逃脫，牠在野外度過一個週末後，於多倫多東部被捕獲，但在此之前，牠還朝一名阻止牠逃跑的警察揮了一拳。

The female kangaroo hopped over her handlers during a rest stop at the Oshawa Zoo and Fun Farm in Ontario.

這隻雌性袋鼠是在安大略省歐夏瓦動物園及趣味農場的休息站，從牠的飼養員身邊跳脫成功。

2024/03/26 05:30
◎盧永山

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has ordered a ban on musical horns, after videos posted on social media showed people dancing on roads and roadsides as passing trucks blasted rhythmic little tunes.

社群媒體上發布的影片顯示，當過往的卡車播放有節奏的短曲時，人們在馬路和路邊跳舞，柬埔寨總理韓馬內下令禁止使用音樂喇叭。

Hun Manet called on the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation and police across the country to immediately take action against any vehicle whose normal horn has been replaced by a tune-playing one by ripping it out and restoring the standard honking type.

2024/03/25 05:30
◎陳成良

Microsoft said Friday it’s still trying to evict the elite Russian government hackers who broke into the email accounts of senior company executives in November and who it said have been trying to breach customer networks with stolen access data.

微軟週五表示，他們仍在努力驅逐那些在11月入侵公司高級主管電郵帳號戶的俄羅斯政府精英駭客，這些駭客據稱一直試圖利用竊取的存取數據，入侵客戶網路。

The hackers from Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service used data obtained in the intrusion, which it disclosed in mid-January, to compromise some source-code repositories and internal systems, the software giant said in a blog and a regulatory filing.

2024/03/21 05:30
◎孫宇青

Kyrgyzstan’s parliament voted to tweak the design of the national flag after critics, including President Sadyr Japarov, said its central element looked like a sunflower which in the local culture symbolizes fickleness and servility.

吉爾吉斯國會表決通過調整國旗設計，此前包含總統薩德爾‧賈帕洛夫在內的批評者表示，國旗的中心元素看起來像向日葵，在當地文化中象徵善變和奴性。

The Central Asian nation’s flag, adopted in 1992 after it gained independence from the Soviet Union, depicts a yellow sun, with 40 rays on a red background.

這個中亞國家在1992年脫離蘇聯獨立後所採用的國旗，描繪出一個紅色背景上的黃色太陽，並散發40道光芒。

2024/03/20 05:30
◎ 管淑平

China’s embassy in Seoul has warned citizens against the dangers of having plastic surgery done in South Korea.

中國駐首爾大使館警告其公民，在南韓做整形手術的危險。

South Korea is one of the world’s most popular destinations for medical tourism, canvassing foreign patients in the past decade, the bulk of whom come from China and the United States, data provider Statista says.

數據提供網站Statista指出，南韓是全球最熱門醫療旅遊目的地之一，過去10年吸引外國患者，其中大部分來自中國和美國。

2024/03/19 05:30
◎ 魏國金

Sam Bankman-Fried should spend between 40 and 50 years in prison after being convicted for stealing $8 billion from customers of his now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, prosecutors said.

檢察官說，山姆‧班克曼—弗里德在被判竊取如今已破產的FTX加密貨幣交易所客戶80億美元有罪後，應入獄服刑40至50年。

In November, a jury found Bankman-Fried, 32, guilty on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said "thousands of everyday people" including residents of war-torn and unstable countries had entrusted their nest eggs to FTX.

2024/03/13 05:30
◎管淑平

Argentina is preparing to offer larger denomination peso bills in an attempt to simplify daily transactions that require some in the country to carry backpacks stuffed with cash.

阿根廷正準備提供較大面額披索紙幣，以圖簡化日常交易；有些民眾得背著塞了現金的背包，來進行這些日常交易。

The central bank said it approved the production of 10,000-peso and 20,000-peso notes and would make them available by June.

中央銀行說該署已經批准印製面額1萬披索和2萬披索的紙鈔，會在6月發行流通。

2024/03/12 05:30
◎盧永山

Crime scene tape surrounds the Skowhegan Indian sculpture, a local landmark in Maine, after an assault by Mother Nature.

在遭到大自然的襲擊後，緬因州當地地標斯科希根印第安人雕像被犯罪現場膠帶圈起來。

The towering wooden sculpture is missing part of its face and arm, as well as a spear. The damage is believed to have been caused by wild weather and a windstorm.

這座高聳的木雕失去部分臉部和手臂，以及1支長矛。據信，損壞是由惡劣天氣和風暴造成的。