2022.08.27罗马天主教会的红衣主教们聚集在梵蒂冈
America’s S&P 500 stockmarket index fell by 3.4% on Friday after hawkish remarks by Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, at an annual gathering of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Tackling inflation, Mr Powell said, was “likely to require a sustained period of below-trend growth” but the Fed “must keep at it until the job is done”. In July the Fed announced its second consecutive 0.75-percentage-point rate rise.Gita Gopinath, the deputy head of the International Monetary Fund, warned that a consequence of the Fed’s tighter monetary policy—the strong dollar—will make it harder for poor countries to repay their debts. In an interview with Bloomberg TV she suggested that rich countries ought to improve programmes to help them, saying “A lot more speedy action is needed”.
The New York Times reported that the International Atomic Energy Agency had assembled a team of experts to visit the Zaporizhia nuclear power station in south-eastern Ukraine, possibly in the next few days. The Russian-occupied plant was hooked back up to Ukraine’s electricity grid on Friday, according to the national atomic-energy company, having been disconnected in a fire triggered by artillery shelling. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said Europe narrowly avoided a “radiation disaster”.
Moderna, an American pharmaceutical company, sued its rival, Pfizer, and its German collaborator BioNTech over alleged patent infringement while developing their covid-19 vaccine, the first in the world. Moderna said that the companies infringed on patents filed between 2010 and 2016 covering innovative mRNA technology; it clarified that it was not seeking to block the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from the market.
America and China reached an agreement that could avert the delisting of hundreds of Chinese companies from American stock exchanges. The deal will enable American regulators to examine audit documents, which Chinese authorities have resisted. Companies face delisting if they fail to show regulators their books for three years. In August five Chinese state-owned companies said they would delist.
America’s Department of Justice unsealed the affidavit that authorised the search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate earlier this month. The heavily redacted version, written by an FBI special agent, claimed there was “probable cause” to believe that the former president had not returned additional classified documents, and that “evidence of obstruction” would be found at his home.
Morocco recalled its ambassador to Tunisia “for consultations” after the Tunisian president, Kais Saied, welcomed Brahim Ghali, the head of a local separatist movement, at Tunis airport. Morocco’s foreign ministry denounced Tunisia’s “hostile and detrimental attitude” and pulled out of TICAD, a regional summit on African development. Last year it temporarily withdrew its ambassadors to Germany and Spain over the same issue.
Word of the week: Eskuara, the Basque language, which, against all odds, has seen an increase in speakers of 350,000 since the 1980s. Read the full story.
Heat and drought in China
PHOTO: PA IMAGES
The end of summer cannot come soon enough for tens of millions of residents in the megacities of Chengdu and Chongqing. For weeks Sichuan province in south-west China has experienced record-breaking heat. Temperatures are supposed to cool at the end of August—but much of the damage is already done.
The energy system has been strained by greater demand and weaker supply. A drought reduced hydroelectric output by about 50% year on year in the province. Industry has been hit hard. Provincial officials have been forced to tell thousands of manufacturers to cease production. That includes important multinationals such as Toyota, a Japanese carmaker, and Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics group that supplies Apple. The load-shedding ended on August 25th. But the power crunch, the second in as many years, has raised serious questions about China’s ability to cope with the effects of climate change.
The Church hands out its red hats
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
On Saturday the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church gather in the Vatican to welcome 20 new “princes of the church” selected by Pope Francis. As the first pontiff from Latin America, he has tilted the college of cardinals towards parts of the world long marginalised by the church—particularly Asia. Timor-Leste, a country of just 1.3m people which is almost 98% Catholic, will get its first cardinal. So will Mongolia, where there are only around 1,300 faithful. The share of European cardinals has fallen from 52% to 40% on Francis’s watch. But Africa, the engine of Catholicism’s growth, remains badly underrepresented.
Of the new cardinals, 16 are part of the smaller group which will pick Francis’s successor. Now aged 85, he has signalled that he may one day retire. He presides over a church finely balanced between reformers and conservatives. But he will at least influence who follows him: 83 of the 132 cardinal-electors are his choices.
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Farewell to the Mekong Review
PHOTO: EYEVINE
At a glance the Mekong Review, an English-language magazine, can be compared to many Western literary journals; its simple white cover might be easily mistaken for the Times Literary Supplement. But in its content, including reviews, reportage, poetry and fiction, all concerned with South-East Asia, it is unique. Despite only publishing a few thousand copies of each issue, it has attracted a devoted following. But this week, after seven years, the journal’s editors said they were putting down their pens.
Minh Bui Jones, the Australian founder, has found it increasingly difficult to publish in a region dominated by authoritarian governments. In 2020 authorities in Hong Kong forbade the printing of an issue featuring a profile of Joshua Wong, a pro-democracy activist. The following issue, which covered protests in Thailand, was rejected by printers in Bangkok. Logistical difficulties caused by covid-19 lockdowns only made matters worse. That the Mekong Review survived for as long as it did is a triumph.
The wonders of Elvis up for auction
PHOTO: REUTERS
Few musicians left a legacy like Elvis. America’s King of Rock ’n’ Roll sold some 500m records in his lifetime, with fan clubs as far off as South Africa and the Philippines. On Saturday his admirers will get a chance to take part of his legacy home when close to 200 of the King’s jewellery pieces, including cufflinks, rings and chains, will be auctioned off. The collection, given by Elvis to his manager Tom Parker, had been long considered lost. This will be the first chance for Elvis aficionados to see, and bid on, the assembled trinkets.
Decades after his death, Elvis continues to rake in millions. The Presley estate is valued at $1bn; a recent biopic directed by Baz Luhrman brought in over $270m at the box office. A single ring in this collection comes with a minimum bid of $130,000. “Your kiss to me is worth a fortune,” the crooner once sang. For deep-pocketed fans, so is his bling.
Weekend profile: Michael Heizer, the artist behind “City”
PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND TRIPL
Richard Nixon was still America’s president when Michael Heizer, one of the country’s foremost land artists, began his mysterious sculpture project in 1972, in the high Nevada desert north of Las Vegas. Few people were allowed to see the work in progress; many thought it would never get done. As the years passed, it took on a mythical quality in the art world.
Naysayers notwithstanding, half a century on, Mr Heizer’s “City” is complete. On September 2nd, it will open to the public—even if, to maintain its atmosphere of splendid isolation, at first only six people a day will be allowed to visit.
As an artist, Mr Heizer is almost completely self-taught. Fascinated by drawing from an early age, as a teenager in the late 1950s he helped his father, a famous anthropological archaeologist, who was excavating an ancient Olmec site on the Yucatán peninsula. Then he spent a year in Paris, mostly in its museums. “I saw it all first-hand,” he says. “You can’t go to school and learn about art by looking at a bunch of slides projected on a wall.”
The artist started work on “City”, with a huge piece at one end called “Section One”, a rectangular slope surrounded by concrete struts. “I worked entirely intuitively,” he says, “with no ongoing thought or consecutive way of planning.” The finished work is more than a mile and a half long and half a mile wide (2.4km x 800 metres), making it one of the biggest contemporary sculptures ever made. Walking through it feels as much like being in a garden—albeit one with no flowers—as in a city. There are mounds and walkways, as well as discrete spaces that could be neighbourhoods. It is both intimate and epic, forbidding and yet inviting; a work that is utterly itself.
At 77, Mr Heizer has made his last visit to the site. He lives far away, at sea level, for the sake of his damaged lungs. But his stubbornness is undimmed; he refuses to explain the significance of the work. “It’s the visitor who does the interpretation,” he says. “I don’t give a damn.”
The winners of this week’s quiz
Thank you to everyone who took part in this week’s quiz. The winners, chosen at random from each continent, were:
Asia: Gyu-young Ju, Wonju, South Korea
North America: Michael Slater, Naperville, United States
Central and South America: Martin Whittle, São Paulo, Brazil
Europe: Glenn W. Most, Florence, Italy
Africa: Paul Leigh, Pretoria, South Africa
Oceania: Jennifer Bladon-Clark, Melbourne, Australia
They all submitted the correct answers of Elder, Big Blue, Jack Straw, Black Beauty, Goose. The theme is berries: elderberry, blueberry, strawberry, blackberry and gooseberry.
Weekly crossword
Our crossword is designed for experienced cruciverbalists and newcomers alike. Both sets of clues give the same answers, all of which feature in articles in this week’s edition of The Economist:
Cryptic clues
1 down Green hype at uncertain new treatments (4,7)
1 across A great writer? The ego! (6)
2 across At first, horrors aren’t very easily noticed: it’s a safe place (5)
3 across Scream “That hurts”, cowardy custard! (6)
Factual clues
1 down Its first trial got under way in 1990 (4,7)
1 across Who, aged 75, took up archery (6)
2 across The Cayman Islands or Jersey, for example (5)
3 across The colour of sulphur (6)
If you don’t hurry up and let life know what you want, life will damned soon show you what you’ll get.
Robertson Davies
在美联储主席杰罗姆-鲍威尔(Jerome Powell)在怀俄明州杰克逊霍尔(Jackson Hole)举行的中央银行家年度聚会上发表鹰派言论后,美国标普500股市指数周五下跌3.4%。鲍威尔先生说,解决通胀问题 "可能需要一个持续的低于趋势的增长期",但美联储 "必须坚持下去,直到完成任务"。7月,美联储宣布连续第二次加息0.75个百分点。
国际货币基金组织副主席吉塔-戈皮纳特警告说,美联储收紧货币政策的一个后果--强势美元--将使穷国更难偿还其债务。在接受彭博电视采访时,她建议富国应该改善帮助他们的计划,并说 "需要采取更迅速的行动"。
纽约时报》报道说,国际原子能机构已经组建了一个专家小组,可能在未来几天访问乌克兰东南部的扎波罗热核电站。据国家原子能公司称,这座被俄罗斯占领的核电站于周五重新连接到乌克兰的电网上,之前因炮击引发的火灾而被切断。乌克兰总统Volodymyr Zelensky说,欧洲勉强避免了一场 "辐射灾难"。
美国制药公司Moderna起诉其竞争对手辉瑞公司及其德国合作者BioNTech,指控他们在开发世界上第一个covid-19疫苗时侵犯了专利。Moderna表示,这些公司侵犯了2010年至2016年期间提交的涉及创新mRNA技术的专利;它澄清说,它并不寻求阻止辉瑞和BioNTech的疫苗进入市场。
美国和中国达成一项协议,可以避免数百家中国公司从美国证券交易所退市。该协议将使美国监管机构能够审查审计文件,而中国当局一直抵制这种做法。如果公司在三年内未能向监管机构展示其账目,就会面临退市。8月,五家中国国有企业表示它们将退市。
美国司法部本月早些时候公布了授权搜查唐纳德-特朗普的马拉戈庄园的宣誓书。由一名联邦调查局特工撰写的经过严格编辑的版本声称,有 "可能的理由 "相信前总统没有归还更多的机密文件,并且将在他的家中发现 "阻挠的证据"。
在突尼斯总统凯斯-赛义德在突尼斯机场欢迎当地分离主义运动领导人布拉希姆-加利之后,摩洛哥召回了其驻突尼斯大使 "进行磋商"。摩洛哥外交部谴责突尼斯的 "敌对和有害的态度",并退出了非洲发展问题区域峰会TICAD。去年,摩洛哥因同一问题暂时撤回了其驻德国和西班牙的大使。
本周要闻。Eskuara,巴斯克语,自20世纪80年代以来,该语言的使用者增加了35万人,这是不可能的。阅读完整的故事。
中国的高温和干旱
照片。PA IMAGES
对于成都和重庆这两个大城市的数千万居民来说,夏天的结束来的不够快。几周以来,中国西南部的四川省经历了破纪录的高温。温度应该在8月底降下来,但是大部分的损害已经造成了。
能源系统已经因更大的需求和更弱的供应而变得紧张。一场旱灾使该省的水力发电量同比减少了约50%。工业受到了严重打击。省级官员已被迫通知数以千计的制造商停止生产。这包括重要的跨国公司,如日本汽车制造商丰田,以及为苹果供货的台湾电子集团富士康。减载行动于8月25日结束。但是这次电力紧缩是多年来的第二次,引起了对中国应对气候变化影响的能力的严重质疑。
教会派发红帽子
照片。GETTY IMAGES
周六,罗马天主教会的红衣主教们聚集在梵蒂冈,欢迎教皇弗朗西斯挑选的20位新的 "教会王子"。作为第一位来自拉丁美洲的教皇,他将红衣主教团向世界上长期被教会边缘化的地区倾斜,特别是亚洲。东帝汶是一个只有130万人口的国家,几乎98%的人信奉天主教,它将得到它的第一位红衣主教。蒙古也是如此,那里只有大约1300名信徒。在方济各的领导下,欧洲红衣主教的比例已经从52%下降到40%。但作为天主教增长引擎的非洲,其代表人数仍然严重不足。
在新的红衣主教中,有16人属于将挑选方济各继任者的小团体。现年85岁的方济各已表示他可能有一天会退休。他主持的教会在改革派和保守派之间取得了微妙的平衡。但他至少会影响到跟随他的人:132名红衣主教候选人中有83人是他的选择。
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告别《湄公河评论》
照片。EYEVINE
乍一看,《湄公河评论》这本英文杂志可以与许多西方文学期刊相提并论;其简单的白色封面可能很容易被误认为是《泰晤士报》文学增刊。但就其内容而言,包括评论、报告文学、诗歌和小说,都与东南亚有关,它是独一无二的。尽管每期只出版几千份,但它却吸引了一批忠实的读者。但是本周,在七年之后,该杂志的编辑们说他们要放下他们的笔了。
澳大利亚的创始人Minh Bui Jones发现,在一个由专制政府主导的地区出版越来越困难。2020年,香港当局禁止印刷一期介绍民主活动家王祖贤的文章。接下来的一期报道了泰国的抗议活动,被曼谷的印刷商拒绝。19日的封锁造成的后勤困难使事情变得更糟。湄公河评论》能够存活这么久,是一个胜利。
埃尔维斯的奇迹被拍卖
照片。REUTERS
很少有音乐家像猫王那样留下了遗产。美国的摇滚之王在他的一生中卖出了大约5亿张唱片,其歌迷俱乐部远在南非和菲律宾。本周六,他的崇拜者将有机会把他的部分遗产带回家,届时将拍卖近200件国王的珠宝,包括袖扣、戒指和链条。这些收藏品是猫王送给他的经理人汤姆-帕克的,长期以来被认为已经丢失。这将是猫王迷们第一次有机会看到并竞拍这些集合的饰品。
在他去世几十年后,猫王继续赚取数百万美元。普雷斯利的遗产价值10亿美元;最近由巴兹-鲁尔曼导演的传记片带来了超过2.7亿美元的票房收入。该系列中的一枚戒指的最低出价为13万美元。"你的吻对我来说价值连城,"这位歌星曾经唱道。对于财力雄厚的歌迷来说,他的金饰也是如此。
周末简介。迈克尔-海泽,"城市 "背后的艺术家
照片。由艺术家和Tripl提供
1972年,当美国最重要的土地艺术家之一迈克尔-海泽尔在拉斯维加斯北部的内华达高原沙漠开始他的神秘雕塑项目时,理查德-尼克松还是美国总统。很少有人被允许看到这项工作的进展;许多人认为它永远不会完成。随着时间的推移,它在艺术界有了一种神话般的品质。
尽管有反对者,但半个世纪过去了,海泽尔先生的 "城市 "已经完成。9月2日,它将向公众开放--即使为了保持其辉煌的隔离气氛,起初每天只允许6人参观。
作为一名艺术家,海泽尔先生几乎完全是自学成才。他从小就对绘画着迷,在20世纪50年代末,作为一个少年,他帮助他的父亲,一位著名的人类学考古学家,在尤卡坦半岛上挖掘一个古老的奥尔梅克遗址。然后他在巴黎呆了一年,主要是在巴黎的博物馆。"他说:"我看到了这一切的第一手资料。"你不能去学校通过看一堆投射在墙上的幻灯片来学习艺术"。
艺术家开始了 "城市 "的工作,在一端有一个巨大的作品,叫做 "第一节",一个被混凝土支柱包围的长方形斜坡。"我完全凭直觉工作,"他说,"没有持续的思考或连续的计划方式"。完成的作品超过一英里半长,半英里宽(2.4公里x800米),使其成为有史以来最大的当代雕塑之一。走在其中,感觉就像在一个花园里--尽管是一个没有花的花园--就像在一个城市里。这里有小丘和人行道,也有可能是社区的独立空间。它既是亲密的,又是史诗般的,是禁忌的,但又是诱人的;是完全属于自己的作品。
77岁的海泽尔先生最后一次访问了这个地方。他住得很远,在海平面上,因为他的肺部受损。但他的固执不减;他拒绝解释作品的意义。他说:"是游客在做解释,"他说。"我根本不在乎。
本周测验的获胜者
感谢所有参加本周测验的人。从各大洲随机选出的获奖者是。
亚洲。韩国原州的Gyu-young Ju
北美洲。迈克尔-斯莱特,美国内珀维尔
中美洲和南美洲。马丁-惠特尔,巴西,圣保罗
欧洲。Glenn W. Most, 意大利,佛罗伦萨
非洲。Paul Leigh,南非比勒陀利亚
大洋洲。珍妮弗-布拉顿-克拉克,澳大利亚墨尔本
他们都提交了正确的答案:接骨木、大蓝、杰克草、黑美人、鹅。主题是浆果:接骨木、蓝莓、草莓、黑莓和鹅莓。
每周填字游戏
我们的填字游戏是为有经验的十字架爱好者和新来者设计的。两组线索都给出了相同的答案,所有这些答案都在本周的《经济学人》杂志的文章中出现。
隐性线索
1下 绿色炒作不确定的新疗法(4,7)
1横 一个伟大的作家?自我! (6)
2横 乍一看,恐怖不很容易被发现:这是一个安全的地方 (5)
3 across 尖叫 "那很疼",胆小的奶油蛋糕!(6) (6)
事实线索
1下 它的第一次试验在1990年开始进行(4,7)
1横是谁,在75岁时开始学习射箭 (6)
2跨 开曼群岛或泽西岛,例如 (5)
3横 硫磺的颜色 (6)
如果你不抓紧时间让生活知道你想要什么,生活很快就会让你看到你会得到什么。
Robertson Davies
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