Show notes
政治: 蘇丹內戰 美國政府債務吃緊以及非法入境會激增; 烏俄戰爭最新情況
商業: 保險公司被網路攻擊 美國又要升息美國編劇工會 (Writers Guild of America) 發動 15年來的首次罷工
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Politics
The UN warned that 800,000 people could flee fighting in Sudan between the national army and a rival paramilitary force. More than 500 civilians have died in the conflict, which has seen heavy combat in the capital, Khartoum. The UN also sought assurances from the warring factions that humanitarian aid would be delivered unhindered, after six lorries carrying supplies to Darfur, a region in the west of Sudan, were looted.
聯合國 (UN) 警告：蘇丹 (Sudan) 國軍和敵對的準軍事部隊之間的戰鬥可能導致八十萬人逃離。超過五百名平民在衝突中喪生，而該國首都喀土穆 (Khartoum) 發生了激烈的戰鬥。在向蘇丹西部地區 Darfur 運送物資的六輛卡車遭到洗劫後，聯合國還尋求交戰各方保證人道主義援助能不受阻礙地運送。
Joe Biden summoned the leaders of Congress to the White House for a meeting on May 9th to discuss raising the limit on the federal debt. The Treasury is now warning that it may be unable to pay the government’s bills by as early as June 1st unless the debt ceiling is raised.
(美國總統) 拜登於 (今年) 5月9日召集國會領導人們到白宮開會，討論提高聯邦政府之債務上限。美國財政部警告：除非提高債務上限，否則最早可能無法在 (今年) 6月1日之前支付政府帳單。
The Pentagon said that 1,500 troops would be sent to the border with Mexico in anticipation of a surge in illegal crossings when Title 42 ends on May 11th. Title 42 is a pandemic-era measure that allows for the swift removal of migrants. The troops will not take part in border-enforcement activities but will help secure entry points and holding facilities.
五角大廈 (The Pentagon，即美國國防部) 表示由於 Title 42 於 (今年) 5月11日結束時預計非法入境會激增，因此將派遣 1,500名士兵前往美墨邊境。Title 42 是一項新冠疫情大流行時期的措施，並允許迅速驅逐非法移民。這些部隊不會參與邊境的執法動作，但會協助守衛入境點和拘留設施之維安。
The Biden administration estimated that Russia’s armed forces have suffered 100,000 casualties in Ukraine over the past five months, including 20,000 deaths. Around half were mercenaries fighting with the Wagner Group, many of whom were convicts who had been released from prison and sent to the front. Russia had made some small gains in Bakhmut, it said, but overall the winter offensive had failed.
(美國) 拜登 (Biden) 政府估計俄國在過去五個月的烏俄戰爭中，俄方武裝部隊已有十萬人次的傷亡，其中兩萬人死亡。這當中約一半是瓦格納集團 (Wagner Group，西方對俄國私人軍事服務網絡之代號) 的傭兵，而其中許多人都是被釋放出獄並被派往前線的罪犯。俄國表示在 Bakhmut (烏克蘭東部城市) 地區取得了一些小規模的進展。但整體而言這場冬季攻勢以失敗告終。
Business
A court in New Jersey held that insurers must cover the losses from a cyber-attack that hit Merck, a drugs company, in 2017. America blamed the cyber-attack on Russia. The insurers argued that this made it an act of war, and thus excluded it from recompenses for damages. Not so, said the court: to count as war the incident would have to involve military action. Insurance firms have seen their costs soar in recent years from having to fork out for such attacks.
(美國) 紐澤西州 (New Jersey) 的一間法院判決，保險公司必須賠償 2017年影響製藥公司默克 (Merck) 的一起網路攻擊所造成之損失。美國將此次網路攻擊歸咎於俄國；保險公司則主張這是一次戰爭行為，因此不在賠償損失的範圍之內。但法院不這麼認為：法院表示要被視為戰爭，這次事件必須涉及軍事行動。近年來，保險公司因不斷被迫賠償網路攻擊所造成的損失而使其成本急劇上升。
In an attempt to stave off more banking turmoil, regulators in California took control of First Republic Bank, a regional lender based in San Francisco, and placed it into federal receivership. Much of the bank was then sold to JPMorgan Chase following a bidding auction. It is America’s second-biggest banking failure ever. The rescue didn’t do much to placate fears about the health of other midsized regional banks. The share price of Pacific Western Bank slumped after the lender was reported to be exploring its strategic options.
為了避免更多的銀行陷入動蕩，(美國) 加州 (California) 監管單位接管了總部位於舊金山的地區性貸款銀行第一共和銀行 (First Republic Bank)，並使其受聯邦政府管控。隨之在競標後，該銀行的大部分股份被出售給了摩根大通 (JPMorgan Chase)。這是美國歷史上第二大的銀行破產事件。然而，政府這次出手相救對於其他中型地區性銀行的穩健狀況仍然沒有太多安撫作用。當有報導指出太平洋西部銀行 (Pacific Western Bank) 正在尋求其他策略選項時，其股價下跌。
The Fed lifted its benchmark interest rate by another quarter of a percentage point, to a range of between 5% and 5.25%. It was the tenth consecutive increase, though markets interpreted a slight change in the central bank’s guidance to think it may be the last in this particular cycle.
美聯準再升息 0.25個百分點 (即一碼)，達 5% 至 5.25% 區間。這是連續第十次上調利率，但市場解讀認為美聯準之指引略有變化，且可能是此特定週期的最後一次升息。
The disruptive potential of generative artificial intelligence came into sharp focus when Chegg, a provider of online study aids, said that the use of ChatGPT by students was starting to affect revenues. Although the chief executive tried to assure investors that this “is not a sky-is-falling thing” and the effects are “just on the margin”, Chegg’s share price swooned, dragging down the stock of other online education companies.
線上學習輔助供應商切格 (Chegg，美商) 表示學生們使用 ChatGPT 後，其收益開始受影響，且具顛覆性潛力的生成式人工智慧備受關注。儘管切格執行長試著向投資人們保證這“不是一件天要塌下來的事”，其影響“只是邊際效應”，但切格的股價還是大幅下跌，且拖累了其他線上教育公司的股價。
️Geoffrey Hinton, one of the pioneers of AI, resigned from Google in order to speak his mind about the technology. Mr Hinton, 75, said AI was developing too rapidly and the idea that it would outsmart people was no longer “30 to 50 years” away. Humans are “biological systems and these are digital systems”, he warned, as he called for more safety protocols for AI.
人工智慧先驅之一的 Geoffrey Hinton 從谷歌 (Google) 請辭，以表達他對該項技術的看法。75歲的 Geoffrey Hinton 表示人工智慧的發展太快了，且它超越人類的想法不再是“30-50年”之後的事。Geoffrey Hinton 警示人類是“生物系統，而人工智慧是數字系統”，並同時呼籲為人工智慧制訂更多的安全準則。
️The Writers Guild of America called its first strike for 15 years, in a dispute over pay with studios such as Apple, Disney and Netflix. The television and film writers say the studios are creating “a gig economy” in the industry, for example by moving to “day rates” in comedy variety. It also wants to restrict the use of AI in creating scripts. The last stoppage by Hollywood’s script writers lasted 100 days.
美國編劇工會 (Writers Guild of America) 發動 15年來的首次罷工，因為其與蘋果 (Apple)、迪士尼 (Disney) 及網飛 (Netflix) 等製片商們的薪資談判破局。電視及電影編劇們表示製片商們使該產業淪為“零工經濟 (gig economy)”，如喜劇綜藝節目改成支付“日薪”。工會還希望限制在創建腳本時使用人工智慧。好萊塢 (Hollywood) 編劇們的最後一次停工持續了一百天。
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