英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

◎陳維真

A Colorado man who was admitted to the hospital for a kidney stone received surprising news when the nurse came back with test results revealing he was actually a woman.

科羅拉多州一名男子因為腎結石而住院，卻在護士領回檢查報告時接到一個令人訝異的消息，原來他是女兒身。

Denver photographer Steve Crecelius said he’s felt a little different all his life."When I was about 6 years old, I started having these feminine feelings, but that was in the ’60s. Wearing my mom’s makeup, I thought I looked pretty."

丹佛攝影師史帝夫．克里塞勒斯說他這輩子一直覺得自己有點不同。「我6歲時開始有這些女性的感覺，但那是60年代。我塗上媽媽的化妝品，覺得自己好漂亮。」

So when he went to the emergency room five years ago, he wasn’t too shocked when the nurse told him she found traits of both genders in his ultrasound results. He was intersex, meaning he had both male genitalia and internal female sex organs.

所以5年前他進入急診室，護士向克里塞勒斯表示，她在超音波檢查結果中發現克里塞勒斯有雙性性徵時，他沒有太過訝異。克里塞勒斯是雙性人，他有男性生殖器，體內也有女性的性器官。

Steve, who now goes by "Stevie," said his wife and their six children accepted his new identity right away.

現在被叫做「史蒂薇」的史帝夫表示，他的妻子和6個小孩馬上就接受了他的新身分。

Every one of them said, "We don’t care one way or the other. We love you for who you are and you’re still my dad."

◎魏國金

More than 13,000 people have been killed in Syria since an anti-regime revolt broke out in March 2011, Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP on Sunday.

自2011年3月敘利亞爆發反阿塞德總統政權動亂以來，已有超過1萬3000人被殺害，敘利亞人權瞭望台的拉曼週日對法新社指出。

"In total, 13,004 people were killed," Abdel Rahman said, adding that 9,183 of them were civilians.

「總共有1萬3004人被殺。」拉曼說，他補充，當中9183人是平民。

Another 3,072 were regime troops and 749 were army defectors, he added, noting that civilians who had taken up arms during the increasingly militarised revolt were being counted under the category of "civilians."

他補充提到，另外3072人是當局部隊，749人是倒戈軍人。在武裝反叛日盛之際，拿起武器戰鬥的百姓被算在「平民」的範疇。

The violence has been relentless despite an April 12 ceasefire brokered by UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan.

儘管聯合國與阿拉伯聯盟和平特使安南促成4月12日的停火，然而暴力衝突卻不間斷。

"Since the ceasefire came into effect, 1,881 people have been killed," said Abdel Rahman, referring to clashes between rebels and regime troops, repression by government forces and bomb attacks.

◎國際新聞中心

Scientists say a gene variation could contribute up to 155g to a child’s birthweight.

科學家說，一種基因的變異可能會讓兒童出生體重增加多達155公克。

The gene studied is believed to act as a growth suppressor, reducing birthweight. But the UK-based researchers found a particular variant passed down from the mother can add 93g to the birthweight, or 155g if passed down from the maternal grandmother.

研究針對的這種基因據信扮演生長抑制者的角色，會降低出生體重。但英國研究人員發現一種從母親遺傳的特別基因變異，可能讓出生體重增加93公克，從外婆遺傳的基因變異，可能讓出生體重增加155公克。

Professor Gudrun Moore of University College London and colleagues looked at a gene called PHLDA2 in nearly 9,500 DNA samples taken from mothers and their babies, collected in three separate studies.

倫敦大學學院的摩爾教授與同僚，從取自母親與她們小孩的將近9500份DNA樣本中，研究一種稱為PHLDA2的基因。這些樣本取自於3份不同的研究。

They found a gene variant called RS1 appeared to change the way in which the gene functioned, leading to higher birthweights. "The gene is already known to have a profound effect on birthweight by acting as a growth suppressor," Prof Moore said.

摩爾教授說，他們發現一種稱為RS1的基因變異似乎會改變基因運作方式，導致出生體重增加，摩爾說：「這種基因已知會扮演生長抑制者的角色，對出生體重有深遠影響。」

The RS1 variation was found in around 13% of the individuals studied, with 87% possessing the RS2 variation. "We suggest that the more common RS2 gene variation, which is only found in humans, has evolved to produce a smaller baby as a protective effect to enhance the mother’s survival during childbirth," said Prof Moore.

◎張沛元

Lady Gaga wants to go shopping in Bangkok--for a fake Rolex.

女神卡卡要在曼谷血拼─買假勞力士錶。

The singer made the comment to her 24 million Twitter followers, sparking an online uproar Thursday in Thailand where some fans called it offensive, insulting and bad for the country’s image.

這位歌手在推特上向2400萬名追隨者發表此一評論，週四在泰國網路引發一陣騷動，某些粉絲指稱此言冒犯人、侮辱人，以及有損泰國形象。

"We are more civilized than you think," tweeted Thai DJ Surahit Siamwalla, who has a ticket to Friday’s show in Bangkok but said he plans to boycott.

「我們比你（卡卡）想的文明多了，」泰國DJ蘇拉西特．塞安姆瓦拉的推文寫道。塞安姆瓦拉有一張卡卡週五曼谷演唱會的票，但他說他打算抵制不去。

"She came to our home, but instead of admiring us she insulted us," said a commentator on popular Thai web board pantip.com.

「她（卡卡）來到我們的國家，不讚美我們兩句就算了，反而還侮辱人，」泰國頗受歡迎的網路佈告欄pantip.com的一名評論員說。

Lady Gaga posted her tweet shortly after her private jet arrived Wednesday night："I just landed in Bangkok baby! Ready for 50,000 screaming Thai monsters. I wanna get lost in a lady market and buy fake Rolex."

◎陳成良

Google Inc is planning to open an online store to sell tablet PCs directly to consumers, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

Google正打算開設一家線上商店，直接賣平板電腦給消費者，據華爾街日報週四報導。

The online store would offer tablets made by Samsung Electronics Co and Asustek Computer Inc based on Google’s Android software, according to the report, which cited anonymous sources and which Reuters was not able to confirm.

該線上商店將供應由三星電子及華碩電腦公司製造、以Google的Android軟體為基礎的平板電腦，該報導引述不具名消息人士說。路透無法證實這項消息。

Google briefly sold a specially-designed Android smartphone--the Nexus One--directly to consumers in 2010, but closed the store after four months saying it had not lived up to expectations.

Google曾在2010年直接向消費者出售特別設計過的Android智慧型手機Nexus One，但4個月後就關門大吉，指該店銷售情況未如預期。

Google now relies on retail and carrier partners to sell Android smartphones made by a variety of handset makers and Android has become the world’s No.1 smartphone operating system, ahead of iPhone-maker Apple Inc.

Google目前仰賴零售及電信營運商夥伴來銷售由各家手機廠生產的Android智慧型手機，而Android已經成為全球排名第一的智慧型手機作業系統，領先iPhone製造商蘋果公司。

Google may co-brand some of the tablets sold through the store and has considered subsidizing the cost of future tablets to make them more competitive with the Kindle Fire, according to the Journal report. It is unclear when Google plans to open the store.（Reuters）