1.政治篇: 德國大麻合法化 ; 俄國是烏俄戰爭的受害者之一嗎?

2.經濟: 中國經濟疲軟

3.小撇步: AI分享會的心得- 光明頂創育智庫營運長秦亭亭: 語言障礙已經沒有了 SEMLESS translation by Meta

4.訪問: Jacky 針對中國經濟的看法 有獨特的見解

(感謝以下內容由每日一經濟學人提供)

政治
1.Germany’s cabinet approved a plan to legalise the personal use and growing of cannabis. If the bill passes parliament, it will be one of the most liberal regimes in Europe. Adults would be allowed to possess 25 grams. The original plan was to let stores sell the drug, but distribution was scaled back to non-profit social clubs.
德國內閣批准了一項大麻自用及種植合法化的計畫。如果國會通過該法案，德國將成為歐洲大麻最開放的國家之一。成年人將得以持有 25克大麻。最初的計畫是讓商店得以販賣該藥物，但後來將使用取得途徑限縮至非營利社團。
2. A federal appeals court in New Orleans upheld restrictions on access to mifepristone, an abortion pill. It stopped short of banning the drug, as a lower court in Texas did in April. Before the order goes into effect it will probably return to the Supreme Court.
(美國) 紐奧良州一聯邦上訴法院維持了對米非司酮 (墮胎藥) 之限制。該上訴法院沒有像 (美國) 德州下級法院在 (今年) 四月份禁止了米非司酮。在該法院限制命令生效之前，此案件可能會來到 (上級機關) 最高法院。
3.The death toll from Hawaii’s wildfires passed 100, making them America’s deadliest in more than a century, and over 1,000 people remain missing. Thousands are homeless. The blaze was probably sparked by a knocked-down power line which remained live; residents sued Hawaiian Electric, the island’s main utility.
(美國) 夏威夷州的野火造成之死亡人數已超過百人，成為了美國一個世紀以來最嚴重的火災，而目前仍有一千多人失踪、數千人無家可歸。該野火可能是由一根被撞倒但仍通電的電線所引發。當地居民向島上的主要公營事業夏威夷電力公司提出告訴。
4. The BRICS group of countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) invited six new nations to join them, including Iran and Saudi Arabia. Vladimir Putin did not attend the group’s meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial capital, as he risked being arrested there under a warrant of the International Criminal Court. But he sent a message saying Russia was ready to pick up the slack from Ukraine as a global supplier of grain.
金磚國家 (BRICS：巴西、俄羅斯、印度、中國和南非) 邀請了六個新國家加入它們，其中包括伊朗和沙烏地阿拉伯。(俄國總統) 普丁未參加該集團在南非商業首府約翰尼斯堡 (Johannesburg) 所舉行的會議，因為他可能會冒著在國際刑事法院 (International Criminal Court) 之逮捕令下被捕的風險。但普丁對外表示，俄國正準備接替烏克蘭成為全球的穀物供應商。
5. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, fired all heads of regional recruitment centres in a crackdown on corruption. More than 30 officials face criminal charges for accepting bribes and smuggling people out of the country to avoid conscription.
烏克蘭總統澤倫斯基解雇了該國地區 (士兵/軍人) 招聘中心的所有負責人以打擊貪腐。三十多名官員們因收受賄賂和偷渡出境以避免徵兵而面臨刑事指控。

6. Around half a million Russian and Ukrainian troops are now thought to have been killed or injured since the war in Ukraine began in February last year, according to American officials cited in the American press. The numbers have soared since last November, when America estimated that each side had suffered 100,000 dead or wounded. Now 120,000 Russian soldiers are believed to have died as well as 70,000 Ukrainian ones.
據美國媒體援引美國官員們所述，自去年二月烏克蘭戰爭爆發以來，據信約有五十萬烏俄雙方的軍隊傷亡。自去年 11月以來，此數字一直在飆升，而當時美國估計雙方都有十萬人死傷。目前據信已有 12萬名俄國士兵和 7萬名烏克蘭士兵死亡。
7. The prime minister of Japan, Kishida Fumio, and the president of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, joined Joe Biden for a summit at Camp David. The three allies agreed to strengthen their security ties, such as by holding military exercises once a year. In a statement they condemned China’s “dangerous and aggressive behaviour” in the South China Sea.
日本首相岸田文雄和南韓總統尹錫悅與 (美國總統) 拜登一起參加了在「大衛營」所舉行的峰會。這三個盟友同意加強安全關係，例如每年舉行一次軍事演習。他們三人在一份聲明中譴責中國在南海的“危險和侵略行徑”
8.The new rapprochement between Japan and South Korea is being tested by Japan’s decision to release treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea. Japan’s closest neighbours think it will harm fish, though the UN nuclear watchdog says it is safe. China has banned all Japanese seafood.
日本決定將受損之福島核電站所處理過的放射性水排入大海，而這正在考驗日本和南韓之間的新友誼。日本周邊的鄰國認為這會傷害魚類，儘管聯合國核監督機構表示是安全的。中國已禁止進口所有日本海鮮。
9.The Republican presidential candidates held their first primary debate. Eight candidates took part, but not Donald Trump, who says he won’t attend any of the party’s debates because the “public knows who I am”. Mr Trump may also have been too busy preparing to surrender to the authorities in Atlanta on charges that he tried to overturn the presidential-election result in Georgia in 2020.
(美國) 共和黨總統候選人們舉行了首場初選辯論。有八名候選人參加，但不包含 (前美國總統) 川普，而他說他不會參加任何黨內辯論，因為“大家知道我是誰”。但川普也可能正忙於準備向亞特蘭大 (Atlanta) 當局自首，因他被指控試圖推翻 2020年喬治亞州 (Georgia) 的總統選舉結果。

經濟
1. The superlatives came thick and fast when Nvidia released quarterly earnings. Revenue more than doubled at the maker of chips for AI, year on year, to $13.5bn. Perhaps that is no surprise, given that just one of Nvidia’s H100 chips can cost upwards of $40,000. It is delighting investors by buying back $25bn-worth of stock.
輝達 (Nvidia) 公佈其季度營收令市場嘖嘖稱奇。該人工智慧 (AI) 晶片製造商的收入較去年 (2022年) 成長超過一倍，達到 135億美元。也許這不足為奇，因為輝達一顆 H100 晶片的價格可能就高達四萬美元。該公司的投資人們正高興地回購價值 250億美元的股票。
2. Meta rolled out a web version of its Threads social-media platform. Threads was launched as an alternative to Twitter (now X) last month. Over 100m people signed up to the app in the first few days, but since that initial hullabaloo the number of active daily users has reportedly plummeted, to below 10m. It is still not available in the EU, probably because of the region’s tough regulations on data privacy.
Meta 推出了其 Threads 社群媒體平台的網頁版。Threads 於上個月 (2023年7月) 作為推特 (Twitter，現在改稱為 X) 的競爭對手上市。開放註冊的幾天內，超過一億人註冊了該應用程式，但據報導，在剛開始的熱潮退去後，Threads 每日活躍用戶的數量急劇下降至不到一千萬人。Threads 在歐盟 (EU) 仍然無法使用，可能是因為歐盟對數據隱私的規定較嚴格。
3. China’s economic woes are in part the result of an increasingly unstable property industry. Now Evergrande, a big developer which rattled markets two years ago when it defaulted on its debt, has filed for bankruptcy protection in New York to protect it from creditors in America. The company has over $300bn in liabilities, a fraction of which is held by foreign investors. The news comes as fears mount that Country Garden, another huge developer, is heading towards a default.
中國面臨之經濟困境部分起因於日益不穩定的房地產行業。目前，恒大集團 (Evergrande) 是一間在兩年前債務違約時震撼市場的大型房地產開發商，並已在紐約申請了破產保護，以避免受美國債權人的追債。該公司的債務超過三千億美元，而其中一部分由外國投資人持有。與此同時，令人擔心的是，另一間巨型地產開發商碧桂園 (Country Garden) 也可能面臨 (債務) 違約的局面。
4. China’s central bank unexpectedly cut interest rates as new data shed light on the country’s flagging economy. Industrial production and retail sales during July both fell short of predictions. Nationwide unemployment increased to 5.3% and authorities suspended reporting of figures on youth unemployment, which stood at 21.3% in June.
隨著新數據顯示了中國經濟走疲，該國央行意外降息。(2023年) 七月 (中國) 工業生產和零售銷售均不如預期。全國失業率上升至 5.3%，且當局暫停公佈青年失業率的統計數據，而該數據在 (2023年) 六月達到了 21.3%。
5. VinFast, a Vietnamese electric-vehicle manufacturer, made its stockmarket debut on the Nasdaq. Shares in the lossmaking firm surged in a debut reminiscent of headier times for American equity markets. VinFast listed by merging with a special-purpose acquisition company and counts Pham Nhat Vuong, Vietnam’s richest man, as its controlling shareholder.
越南電動車製造商 VinFast 首次在納斯達克 (Nasdaq，美國之全球指標型證券交易所) 上市。這家虧損企業的股價飆升，讓人們聯想到美國股市的繁榮時期。VinFast 透過與一間特殊目的收購公司合併上市，而越南的首富范日旺 (Pham Nhat Vuong) 為其控股股東。
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