英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

國法院支持同性伴侶稅務優惠，令梅克爾受挫

◎俞智敏

Germany’s top court said recently that gay couples are entitled to the same tax benefits as married heterosexuals in a ruling which threatens to deepen rifts within Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives just three months before an election.

德國法院最近裁決，同性伴侶有權跟異性戀夫妻享有同樣的稅務優惠，這項裁定可能使總理梅克爾所領導的保守派陣營在大選前3個月陷入分裂。

The verdict requires a change in the law and is a red rag to some in Merkel’s Christian Democrats （CDU） and its traditionally Catholic Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union （CSU）, who worry that conservative values are being diluted.

◎管淑平

The Pentagon is concerned that Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked the US government’s secret surveillance programs, will compromise top-secret electronic intelligence programs targeted against China, according to a defense official.

根據一名國防官員說法，五角大廈擔心洩漏美國政府秘密監聽計畫文件的前國家安全局雇員愛德華．史諾頓，將危害極機密的對中國電子情報計畫。

It’s unclear whether officials in Hong Kong or in Russia obtained any of the classified material. But the official said it is possible Snowden may have made contact with MSS officials in Hong Kong and bartered with Chinese authorities using his access to top-secret intelligence data to avoid being sent back to the United States.

目前還不清楚香港或俄羅斯官員是否已取得這些機密。但該名官員說，史諾頓可能已和中國國家安全部在港人員接觸，或許已利用他取得的最高機密情資，與中國當局交換避免被遣返美國。

The MSS, China’s top intelligence agency, is believed to have hundreds or even thousands of operatives working in Hong Kong.

國安部是中國最高情報單位，據信有數百或甚至數千幹員在香港活動。

A spokesman for the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, which has been assisting the former National Security Agency contractor, strenuously denied reports that foreign governments had made copies of the documents.

一直協助該名前國安局雇員的反機密組織「維基解密」，一名發言人極力否認外國政府已取得這些文件複本的報導。

A Chinese official, meanwhile, was quoted by a Hong Kong newspaper as saying the U.S. government did not request Chinese assistance in locating and repatriating Snowden.

Mali to give France new camel after first one is Eaten 馬利在第一隻駱駝被吃掉後要送法國一隻新的

◎張沛元

Malian authorities will give French President Francois Hollande another camel after the one they gave him in thanks for helping repel Islamist rebels was killed and eaten by the family he left it with in Timbuktu, an official in Mali said.

馬利一名官員表示，馬利當局在他們為感謝法國協助擊退伊斯蘭叛軍，致贈法國總統歐蘭德的駱駝被歐蘭德委託照顧的廷巴克圖家庭宰殺吃掉後，決定再送給歐蘭德另一隻駱駝。

"As soon as we heard of this, we quickly replaced it with a bigger and better-looking camel," said the official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

UN says： why not eat more insects? 聯合國：為何不多吃昆蟲？

◎陳成良

The U.N. has new weapons to fight hunger, boost nutrition and reduce pollution, and they might be crawling or flying near you right now： edible insects.

聯合國有新武器對抗飢餓、增進營養及減少污染，而且牠們現在可能就在你身邊爬行或飛翔：可食用的昆蟲。

The Food and Agriculture Organization on Monday hailed the likes of grasshoppers, ants and other members of the insect world as an underutilized food for people, livestock and pets.

Superman’s 75th puts spotlight on Cleveland roots 超人75週年生日，克里夫蘭根源受矚目

◎俞智敏

The tough, blue-collar roots of Superman’s creators are getting a fresh look on the superhero’s 75th anniversary.

隨著超人75歲生日到來，超人創造者的堅韌藍領根源也獲得全新的關注。

Creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster lived just a few blocks apart in the Cleveland neighborhood that shaped their teenage lives, their dreams and the imagery of the Man of Steel.