Greek debts threaten the euro 希臘債務危及歐盟
European leaders at a summit in Brussels have been discussing the Greek economy and have agreed to help the country with its financial crisis. The aim is to protect the economies of countries using the euro.
歐盟領袖在布魯瑟爾招開高峰會議，討論希臘經濟問題，一致同意聯手幫助解決其債務帶來的金融危機。這項決議主要在保護歐元區其他國家經濟。
This summit was supposed to be a chance for Europe's prime ministers and presidents to discuss ways to promote growth and jobs, but with the euro single currency facing its worst ever crisis, the original agenda has long since been scrapped. Instead, all the focus will be on how to shore up Greece's precarious finances. Though the Greek economy is relatively small, its membership of the euro zone means its fate is wedded to that of the stronger currencies in the single currency.
這次高峰會的最初計畫是讓歐盟各國總理及總統討論如何提高產值和工作機會，可是因為歐盟國家使用單一貨幣的政策，而歐元面臨前所未見的危機，原始的振興議案遭到取消，改為討論如何幫助頻臨破產的希臘。雖然希臘經濟體和其他歐盟國家相比較下規模不算大，但是因為它是歐元區的成員，這就代表它和歐元區使用其它強勢貨幣的會員其實是生命共同體。
For years Greek governments have spent more than they earned in taxes and borrowed to make up the shortfall. That public debt now threatens to engulf the economy. Greece's new socialist government has introduced some drastic austerity measures, such as a public sector pay freeze and fuel price increases to try to reduce the deficit, but the prospect of a default has prompted huge falls on the Greek stock market. The uncertainty has spread to other big euro debtors like Spain and Portugal. It's this contagion that most worries euro zone leaders as it risks destroying confidence in the euro as a whole.
多年來，希臘政府一直寅吃卯糧，支出大於稅收，再以借貸來彌補差額，造成今日公債之高已危及國家總體經濟。希臘剛由社會主義者執政，開始引進節流政策，政府不但凍結工務人員薪資，並且調高油價，希望減低財政赤字，然而擔心政府無法支付債務，希臘股票市場還是應聲倒地。
So what to do? By underwriting the Greeks' debts they hope to stop the financial turbulence spreading and protect themselves in the process. But such largesse is not without risk. If they do end up having to pay Greece's debts, the leaders meeting here know it will be both expensive and unpopular with the voters back home.
PIGS: 葡萄牙(Portugal)、義大利(Italy)、希臘(Greece)、西班牙(Spain)
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Premier League 英格蘭足球超級聯賽
A leading English football club plying its trade in the world's richest league has moved a step closer to financial ruin, in a case which highlights the dire economic climate the "beautiful game" finds itself in.
英國知名足球球隊努力在世界最富有的足球聯盟尋求交易，如今正一步步頻臨破產邊緣。這個案例凸顯出素有「美麗的比賽」之稱的足球賽事正面臨經濟風暴。
Portsmouth, currently languishing at the bottom of the Premier League, faces an even greater battle off the pitch as it attempts to block a move by British tax authorities to have it placed in administration due to unpaid taxes.
目前名列英格蘭足球超級聯賽墊底，奄奄一息的樸次茅斯球隊有一場更硬的仗要打 -- 得阻止因未繳稅而被英國稅捐處判決政府收管。
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US Announces Taiwan Arms Sale, Braces for Chinese Reaction
美國宣布對台出售武器 對中國反應防備
The Pentagon has informed Congress it will sell more than $6 billion worth of military equipment to Taiwan, a move expected to anger China and possibly result in retaliation.
美國五角大廈已正式通知國會將販售價值六十億美金的軍事設備予台灣，預料此舉將激怒中國並可能引發報復行動。
The Pentagon's official notification was long expected. It says the United States will sell helicopters, advanced defensive missiles, anti-mine ships, radar, communications equipment and related items to Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province. The planned sale does not include advanced F-16 fighter jets, which Taiwan had wanted.
五角大廈這份正式通知函可說早在預期之內。函中指出美國將販售直升機、高級防禦飛彈、防水雷艦艇、雷達、通訊設備與其他相關軍備給予台灣。台灣在中國眼中一直是叛變的一個省份。這項軍售計畫並不包括台灣一直想要的先進型F-16戰鬪機。
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South Korean family planning 南韓家庭計畫
staring into the abyss of a rapidly ageing society, falling levels of manpower and spiralling health care costs.
和所有國家相比，南韓已列入生育率最低國家之一，甚至低於鄰國日本。眼看高齡社會迅速到臨，人力資源節節衰退，健保費用步步提高，提倡生育不得不成為政府的首要任務，
The Ministry of Health, now sometimes jokingly referred to as the 'Ministry of Matchmaking', is in charge of spearheading that drive and it clearly believes its staff should lead by example. Generous gift vouchers are on offer for officials who have more than one child and the department organises social gatherings in the hope of fostering love amongst its bureaucrats. But critics say what is really needed is wide-scale reform to tackle the burdensome cost of childcare and education that puts many young people off from starting a family.
衛生署，現在常被戲稱為「婚姻介紹所」，目前負責提倡這股風潮，它相信旗下員工應該以身作則。家中有超過一位兒童的員工常會收到優渥的禮卷，部門並常安排社交聚會，希望能媒合更多同事成為佳偶。不過社評表示，照顧下一代需要龐大的養育與教育費用，要鼓勵生育就必須有大規模的改革來對抗這些問題，而這些也正是使年輕一代卻步，不願走進家庭的主要因素。
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Taiwan Confirms More than 650 Dead and Missing After Typhoon 台灣證實颱風造成 650 多人喪生及失蹤
Taiwanese authorities confirmed Tuesday that 461 people were killed and 192 others are missing in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot. Separately, about a hundred residents of a village in southern Pintung county had to be hospitalized after developing fever. The patients were first suspected of having swine flu, but health officials later said they are more likely to have been sickened by polluted water. Prime Minister Liu Chao-shian has ordered health officials to increase efforts to prevent a large outbreak of swine flu, especially in the flood-affected area where many people live in temporary shelters. He has asked servicemen and volunteers working in the disaster areas to wear face masks at all times. The typhoon that hit Taiwan two weeks ago triggered landslides and widespread flooding.
台灣當局星期二證實，颱風莫拉克已經造成 461 人死亡， 192 人失蹤。與此同時，南台灣的屏東縣的一個村落裏，有約 100 人因為發燒而入院。這些人起初被懷疑感染了甲型 H1N1 流感，但衛生官員隨後表示，這些人很有可能是因為飲用被污染的水而導致發燒。台灣行政院長劉兆玄命令衛生官員要加強警惕，防止甲型 H1N1 型流感的大規模爆發，在有居民住在簡易房的受災地區要特別注意。他還要求在災區服務的工作人員和志工全天都需要戴上口罩。台灣兩個星期前遭受颱風襲擊，出現泥石流和廣泛洪災。
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China Arrests Activists in Tainted Milk Scandal 中國逮捕為毒奶粉受害者尋求賠償的活動人士
The wife of a Chinese activist who ran the Kidney Stone Babies website, which sought compensation for families victimized in a tainted milk scandal, said Tuesday that he has been formally arrested. Liu Xuemei said police arrested her husband Zhao Lianhai on December 17 and charged him with "provoking trouble." The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. She said Zhao was taken into police custody more than a month earlier on November 14. The couple's baby was sickened after drinking milk tainted with the industrial chemical melamine during the scandal that rocked China last year. Six children died and as many as 300,000 others became ill after drinking the adulterated milk.
中國一名活動人士的妻子星期二說，他丈夫已被正式逮捕；活動人士趙連海創辦了“結石寶寶之家”網站，為中國毒奶粉醜聞事件中的受害者家屬尋求賠償。 劉雪梅說，警方 12 月 17 日逮捕她丈夫趙連海，指控他“尋釁滋事”。這項罪名最高將被判處 5 年有期徒刑。她說，趙連海於一個多月前的 11 月 14 日被警方拘留。中國去年發生震驚全國的毒奶粉事件，他們的孩子在飲用添加化學工業原料三聚氰胺的奶粉後生病。 6 名兒童在飲用攙假奶粉後死亡，多達 30 萬兒童生病。
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