2022.08.26 美国参议员玛莎-布莱克本抵达台湾

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Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said Europe narrowly avoided a “radiation disaster” after the Russia-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear plant was temporarily disconnected from the electricity grid. Back-up generators were able to ensure supply after Russian shelling had sparked a fire in a nearby power station, he said. A Russian official blamed Ukrainian forces for the fire. The UN’s nuclear watchdog said its officials were “very, very close” to being able to visit the nuclear plant and assess the situation.

A federal judge ruled that America’s Department of Justice must release a redacted copy of the affidavit that authorised the raid on Donald Trump’s Florida home earlier this month. The DoJ has until midday on Friday to publish the document, which explains why investigators believed a crime may have been committed. The FBI seized hundreds of classified records from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate during the search.

Ofgem, Britain’s energy watchdog, increased the country’s energy price cap by 80%, pushing up the typical household’s energy bill to £3,549 ($4,186) a year. Jonathan Brearley, the regulator’s chief executive, said there was “no choice” but to increase the cap to reflect the soaring price of energy. The new prices will kick in from October 1st.

​​Marsha Blackburn, an American senator, arrived in Taiwan where she will meet President Tsai Ing-wen. An earlier trip by Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, prompted China to stage its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan. On Thursday the Taiwanese government proposed to spend more than $19bn on defence next year, a 15% increase on the current budget.

A judge in America ordered Twitter to turn over data from an internal review of spam accounts to Elon Musk. The social-media platform analysed 9,000 accounts last year to see how many were run by humans; it must now share the results with Mr Musk, who is trying to walk away from an agreement to buy Twitter for $44bn. The judge rejected many of Mr Musk’s other demands for information, calling them “absurdly broad”.

Prayuth Chan-ocha, Thailand’s suspended prime minister, said he would continue to serve as the country’s defence minister. A constitutional court has ordered Mr Prayuth to step down as prime minister as it reviews his term limit. It is unclear when the court will deliver a verdict but a government spokesperson said the cabinet will continue to function as normal.

The Taliban said more than 180 people were killed and hundreds more injured by floods in Afghanistan this month in a global appeal for help. Heavy rains wrought widespread devastation in the country’s central and eastern provinces, leaving thousands homeless and worsening an already dire economic and humanitarian situation.

Fact of the day: $217.1bn, the amount that American state governments saved in 2021, exceeding the 2019 record by nearly $100bn. Read the full story.


Joe Biden’s long game in Ukraine

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America marked Ukraine’s independence day by announcing its largest package of military aid yet, worth about $3bn, to buy everything from artillery shells to air-defence systems. Unusually, the arms will not come from existing arsenals, but will instead be bought from industry. Some might not arrive for three years. The aid will do nothing to break the current stalemate after half a year of fighting. Instead, America is signalling a years-long commitment to Ukraine, thereby seeking to frustrate Russia’s hope of prevailing in a drawn-out conflict.

Fear of escalation explains America’s caution in not sending more potent weapons to Ukraine more quickly. But a long game carries other risks. European allies might break ranks when energy shortages begin to hurt this winter. America’s will to bankroll Ukraine may weaken, particularly if America-first devotees control Congress after the midterms in November. And a long war will prolong the agony of Ukraine.

Italy papers the town with posters

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Friday brings the beginning of Italy’s general election campaign: the day it becomes legal to smother towns and cities with election posters. Notwithstanding television and social media, fly-posting is an important part of Italian elections, as are mass rallies. Polls point to a dramatic outcome: the election, for the first time in post-war western Europe, of a government led by a party rooted in the traditions of a pre-war dictatorship.

The latest surveys give the Brothers of Italy, heirs to the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement, around 25% of the vote. Their allies in the hard-right Northern League and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party could together get a further 25%, enough for a commanding parliamentary majority. On Thursday the outgoing prime minister, Mario Draghi, warned his successors that distancing Italy from the EU would weaken its economy and international standing. But Italian voters seem ready to dismiss such fears.


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A pushback against impunity in Malaysia

PHOTO: REUTERS
Najib Razak has begun his 12-year sentence in prison for graft, but not everyone wants justice to take its course. The former prime minister’s loyalists within the ruling United Malays National Organisation seem unperturbed by his role in a mega-scandal in which $4.5bn was swiped from Malaysian state coffers—and are furious that the prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, stood idly by as Mr Najib was jailed. They are calling for a royal pardon, which would allow Mr Najib back into parliament. And they are telling Mr Ismail Sabri to call an early election or face a party mutiny.

It seems Mr Ismail Sabri has listened. On Friday he tabled an early budget for October 7th, a necessary measure to pave the way for a November election. That gives the faction behind Mr Najib the chance to wrest control of the party and the government. It would also give Malaysians their say on all the squabbling and sleaze.

Britain anticipates the chill of winter bills

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Britons face a bleak winter of steeper energy bills. On Friday they found out just how pricey energy will be, when Ofgem, the regulator, updated its cap on how much energy companies can charge most households for electricity and gas. The war in Ukraine has pushed wholesale gas prices to dizzying heights again (prices dropped earlier in the summer). The average household’s annual bill will rise to £3,549 ($4,180) from October, more than three times the level a year ago.

Labour, the main opposition party, says it would freeze annual bills for six months at £1,971 for the typical household, with the government paying the excess. The idea is popular, but expensive—the state would pay around £6bn towards the bills of the top 20% of earners. A better solution is giving rebates or cash bonuses to the poorest (though targeting help effectively is tricky). If done well, that would encourage people to conserve energy, but still insulate those most in need.

America’s abortions bans proliferate

PHOTO: REUTERS
Two months after America’s Supreme Court ditched the right to abortion, more states are banning the procedure. Thirteen had so-called trigger laws automatically outlawing abortion after Roe v Wade was overturned. On Thursday Tennessee banned abortion without exceptions for rape or incest. Texas also stiffened enforcement of a similar law: doctors now face minimum fines of $100,000 per termination and risk spending life in prison.

But some bans are being fiercely contested. On Wednesday a judge ruled that Idaho’s near-total prohibition, set to take effect this week, violated a federal law requiring hospitals to provide emergency medical care. Court battles have paused abortion bans in Utah, Wyoming and North Dakota, where one such law had been scheduled to take effect on Friday. Still, the list of states with existing or pending bans continues to lengthen: one in three American women of childbearing age now lives in such a place.

Daily quiz

Our baristas will serve you a new question each day this week. On Friday your challenge is to give us all five answers and, as important, tell us the connecting theme. Email your responses (and include mention of your home city and country) by 1700 BST on Friday to QuizEspresso@economist.com. We’ll pick randomly from those with the right answers and crown one winner per continent on Saturday.

Friday: What was the nickname of Tom Cruise’s unfortunate crewmate in the original Top Gun movie?

Thursday: Which 1877 novel by Anna Sewell is considered a classic of children’s literature?

​​​​​​​The winners of last week’s crossword

Thank you to everyone who took part in our new weekly crossword, published in the weekend edition of Espresso. The winners, chosen at random from each continent, were:

Asia: Xiaochen Su, Chiba, Japan

North America: Besty Geist, Seattle, United States

Central and South America: Jorge Ferrando, Santiago, Chile

Europe: Martha Baker, Überlingen, Germany

Africa: Hasit Raja, Nairobi, Kenya

Oceania: Kevin Fernandez, Melbourne, Australia

They all gave the correct answers of Raila Odinga, Russia, Obama and Alaska. Check back tomorrow for this week’s crossword.



乌克兰总统Volodymyr Zelensky说，在俄罗斯占领的扎波罗热核电站暂时与电网断开后，欧洲勉强避免了一场 "辐射灾难"。他说，在俄罗斯的炮击引发了附近电站的火灾后，备用发电机能够确保供应。一位俄罗斯官员指责乌克兰军队引发了火灾。联合国核监督机构说，其官员 "非常、非常接近 "能够访问该核电站并评估情况。

一名联邦法官裁定，美国司法部必须公布本月早些时候授权搜查唐纳德-特朗普佛罗里达州住宅的宣誓书的编辑本。司法部必须在周五中午之前公布这份文件，其中解释了调查人员为什么认为可能已经犯下了罪行。联邦调查局在搜查过程中从这位前总统的Mar-a-Lago庄园查获了数百份机密记录。

英国的能源监督机构Ofgem将该国的能源价格上限提高了80%，将典型家庭的能源账单推高到每年3549英镑（4186美元）。监管机构的首席执行官Jonathan Brearley说，"别无选择"，只能提高上限以反映能源价格的飙升。新的价格将从10月1日开始实施。

美国参议员玛莎-布莱克本抵达台湾，她将在那里会见蔡英文总统。众议院议长南希-佩洛西早些时候的访问，促使中国在台湾周围举行有史以来最大规模的军事演习。周四，台湾政府提议明年的国防开支超过190亿美元，比目前的预算增加15%。

美国的一名法官命令推特公司向埃隆-马斯克交出对垃圾邮件账户的内部审查数据。这个社交媒体平台去年分析了9000个账户，以了解有多少账户是由人类经营的；它现在必须与马斯克先生分享结果，后者正试图摆脱以440亿美元收购Twitter的协议。法官拒绝了马斯克先生的许多其他信息要求，称这些要求 "荒谬地广泛"。

被停职的泰国总理巴育-陈奥查(Prayuth Chan-ocha)表示，他将继续担任该国的国防部长。一个宪法法院已经命令巴育先生卸任总理，因为它正在审查其任期限制。目前还不清楚法院何时会做出判决，但政府发言人表示，内阁将继续正常运作。

塔利班说，本月阿富汗的洪水造成180多人死亡，数百人受伤，并向全球发出了援助呼吁。大雨在该国的中部和东部省份造成了广泛的破坏，使数千人无家可归，并使本已严峻的经济和人道主义状况更加恶化。

今日要闻：2171亿美元，这是美国各州政府在2021年节省的金额，比2019年的记录多出近1000亿美元。阅读完整的故事。


乔-拜登在乌克兰的漫长游戏

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美国为纪念乌克兰独立日，宣布了迄今为止最大的一揽子军事援助计划，价值约30亿美元，用于购买从炮弹到防空系统的一切。与众不同的是，这些武器不会来自现有的武器库，而是从工业界购买。有些武器可能在三年内都不会到达。经过半年的战斗，这些援助对打破目前的僵局毫无作用。相反，美国正在向乌克兰发出一个长达数年的承诺，从而寻求挫败俄罗斯在漫长的冲突中获胜的希望。

由于担心冲突升级，美国在不更快地向乌克兰运送更强大的武器方面十分谨慎。但是，一场漫长的游戏还有其他风险。当今年冬天开始出现能源短缺时，欧洲盟友可能会脱离队伍。美国为乌克兰提供资金的意愿可能会减弱，特别是如果11月中期选举后美国优先的拥护者控制了国会。而一场漫长的战争将延长乌克兰的痛苦。

意大利用海报为小镇贴纸

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周五是意大利大选活动的开始：在这一天，用选举海报熏染城镇和城市是合法的。尽管有电视和社交媒体，张贴海报是意大利选举的一个重要组成部分，大规模集会也是如此。民意调查显示了一个戏剧性的结果：在战后的西欧，第一次选出了一个由根植于战前独裁传统的政党领导的政府。

最新的调查显示，新法西斯主义的意大利社会运动的继承人--意大利兄弟党获得了大约25%的选票。他们的盟友--强硬的北方联盟和西尔维奥-贝卢斯科尼的意大利力量党可以再获得25%的选票，这足以让他们在议会中获得绝对的多数。周四，即将离任的总理马里奥-德拉吉(Mario Draghi)警告他的继任者，让意大利与欧盟保持距离会削弱其经济和国际地位。但意大利选民似乎已经准备好驳回这种担忧。


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马来西亚对有罪不罚现象的反击

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纳吉布-拉扎克已经开始了他因贪污而被关押的12年刑期，但并非所有人都希望正义得到伸张。这位前总理在执政的马来民族联合组织中的忠实支持者似乎对他在从马来西亚国库中掠夺45亿美元的巨大丑闻中所扮演的角色不以为然，并对总理伊斯梅尔-萨布里-亚科布在纳吉布先生入狱时袖手旁观感到愤怒。他们要求获得皇家赦免，这将使纳吉布先生重新进入议会。他们还要求伊斯梅尔-萨布里先生提前举行选举，否则将面临党内哗变。

伊斯梅尔-萨布里先生似乎已经听进去了。周五，他提交了一份10月7日的早期预算，这是一项为11月选举铺平道路的必要措施。这让纳吉布先生背后的派别有机会夺取对党和政府的控制权。这也会让马来西亚人对所有的争吵和欺骗有发言权。

英国期待着冬季账单的寒意

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英国人面临着一个能源账单陡增的凄凉冬天。周五，监管机构Ofgem更新了能源公司向大多数家庭收取的电费和煤气费的上限，他们发现了能源的价格会有多高。乌克兰战争将天然气批发价格再次推高到令人眩晕的高度（夏季早些时候价格下降）。从10月份开始，普通家庭的年度账单将上升到3549英镑（4180美元），是一年前的三倍多。

主要反对党工党表示，它将把典型家庭的年度账单冻结在1,971英镑，为期6个月，由政府支付超出部分。这个想法很受欢迎，但也很昂贵--国家将为收入最高的20%的人支付约60亿英镑的账单。一个更好的解决方案是向最贫困的人提供退税或现金奖励（尽管有效地确定帮助对象是很困难的）。如果做得好，这将鼓励人们节约能源，但仍能为最需要的人提供保温。

美国的堕胎禁令层出不穷

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在美国最高法院放弃堕胎权的两个月后，更多的州正在禁止这一程序。在罗伊诉韦德案被推翻后，有13个州制定了所谓的触发法，自动将堕胎定为非法。星期四，田纳西州禁止堕胎，对强奸或乱伦没有例外。德克萨斯州也加强了对类似法律的执行力度：现在医生每次终止妊娠都会面临最低10万美元的罚款，并有可能在监狱中度过一生。

但一些禁令正受到激烈的争议。周三，一名法官裁定，爱达荷州的几乎完全禁止堕胎的规定将于本周生效，这违反了要求医院提供紧急医疗服务的联邦法律。犹他州、怀俄明州和北达科他州的堕胎禁令因法院的争论而暂停，那里的一项法律原定于周五生效。尽管如此，现有的或待定的禁止堕胎的州的名单仍在继续扩大：现在每三个美国育龄妇女中就有一个生活在这样的地方。

每日小测验

本周，我们的咖啡师将每天为您提供一个新问题。在星期五，你的挑战是给我们所有的五个答案，同样重要的是，告诉我们连接的主题。在北京时间周五17点前，将你的回答（包括提及你的家乡和国家）发到 QuizEspresso@economist.com。我们将从那些有正确答案的人中随机挑选，并在周六为每个大洲选出一名获胜者。

周五。在最初的《壮志凌云》电影中，汤姆-克鲁斯那个不幸的船员的绰号是什么？

星期四。安娜-苏威尔在1877年创作的哪部小说被认为是儿童文学的经典？

上周填字游戏的获胜者

感谢所有参加我们新的每周填字游戏的人，该游戏发表在周末的《Espresso》上。从各大洲随机选出的获奖者是。

亚洲。苏晓晨，日本千叶县

北美洲。美国西雅图的贝斯蒂-盖斯特

中美洲和南美洲：Jorge Ferrando，智利圣地亚哥。Jorge Ferrando, 智利，圣地亚哥

欧洲。玛莎-贝克，德国尤伯林根

非洲：Hasit Raja，肯尼亚，内罗毕

大洋洲：Kevin Fernandez，澳大利亚墨尔本

他们都给出了正确答案：拉伊拉-奥廷加、俄罗斯、奥巴马和阿拉斯加。明天再来看看本周的填字游戏。