Show notes
1. Israel launched more air strikes on Lebanon, killing at least 31 people, including two Hizbullahcommanders in southern Beirut. One of those killed was Ibrahim Aqil, a member of the Shia militia’s leadership who was wanted by America for carrying out an attack on the American embassy in Beirut in 1983. In recent days Israel has been ramping up its attacks on Hizbullah, which has been launching rockets at northern Israel since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
以色列再次對黎巴嫩發動空襲，造成至少31人喪生，其中包括兩名位於貝魯特南部的真主黨指揮官。遇難者之一是易卜拉欣·阿基勒（Ibrahim Aqil），他是什葉派民兵組織領導層的一員，因1983年對美國駐貝魯特大使館發動襲擊而被美國通緝。近來，以色列加大了對真主黨的攻擊力度，真主黨自加沙戰爭爆發以來，持續向以色列北部發射火箭彈。
2. Donald Trump said that it was “too late” for a second televised debate, even though Kamala Harris earlier accepted an invitation from CNN, a broadcaster. Ms Harris’s campaign said that voters “deserve another opportunity” to see the pair face off again on October 23rd. In a fiery first meeting on September 10th Ms Harris made Mr Trump look out of his depth.
唐納·川普表示，即便電視台CNN已邀請賀錦麗參加第二場電視辯論，但現在「已經太晚了」。賀錦麗的競選團隊則表示，選民「應該有另一個機會」在10月23日再次見證兩人對決。在9月10日的首次激烈交鋒中，賀錦麗讓川普顯得措手不及、力不從心。
3. Travis King, an American soldier who ran across the border from South to North Korea in July 2023, pled guilty to charges including desertion. Mr King was sentenced to one year of** confinement** and was dishonourably discharged from America’s army. According to his lawyers, Mr King walked free from court, having already served almost a year in pre-trial confinement.
美國士兵特拉維斯·金（Travis King）於2023年7月越過韓朝邊界，逃往北韓，並對包括逃兵罪在內的指控認罪。金先生被判處一年監禁，並被美國軍隊不名譽退伍。據其律師表示，由於他在審前已被拘禁將近一年，金先生現已從法庭獲釋。
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4. A pilot from New Zealand was released 19 months after his abduction in the Papua region of Indonesia. Phillip Mehrtens was working for an Indonesian company, Susi Air, when he was taken hostage by a separatist group at an outlying airport. Papua joined Indonesia after a **sham referendum **in 1969. Rebels have long demanded secession, and used Mr Mehrtens’s capture to draw attention to their cause.
一名來自紐西蘭的機師在被綁架19個月後於印尼巴布亞地區獲釋。菲利普·梅爾滕斯（Phillip Mehrtens）當時為印尼公司Susi Air工作，並在一個偏遠機場被一個分裂組織挾持為人質。巴布亞於1969年經過一場虛假的公投後加入印尼。叛軍長期以來一直要求脫離印尼，並利用梅爾滕斯的綁架事件來引起外界對他們訴求的關注。
5. The son of the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, announced that he would not stand in the leadership election of 2026, clearing the way for Mr Museveni to claim a seventh term. Contrary to previous indications, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the head of Uganda’s army, endorsed his father’s remaining in power, even though the 80-year-old Mr Museveni has yet to confirm officially if he wants to continue. Mr Museveni has run Uganda since 1986.
烏干達總統尤韋里·穆塞韋尼（Yoweri Museveni）的兒子宣布，他將不會參加2026年的領導人選舉，為穆塞韋尼競逐第七個任期掃清了障礙。儘管此前曾有跡象顯示不同意見，但烏干達軍隊總司令穆霍齊·凱納魯加巴（Muhoozi Kainerugaba）表示支持其父繼續掌權，儘管80歲的穆塞韋尼尚未正式確認是否有意繼續擔任總統。穆塞韋尼自1986年以來一直統治著烏干達。
6. Thousands of beer fans started slurping **contentedly **after the mayor of Munich, Dieter Reiter, got Oktoberfest under way. The folk festival, which traces its origins to a royal wedding of the early 19th century, lasts until October 6th. Attracting millions of visitors, many of them lederhosen- or dirndl-clad, it only serves beer from Munich’s six big breweries
數千名啤酒愛好者在慕尼黑市長迪特·賴特（Dieter Reiter）啟動慕尼黑啤酒節後滿足地開始品嚐啤酒。這個民俗節日的起源可追溯至19世紀初的一場皇室婚禮，活動將持續至10月6日。慕尼黑啤酒節吸引了數百萬名遊客，許多人身穿傳統皮褲（lederhosen）或女裝緊身裙（dirndl）。該節日只提供來自慕尼黑六大釀酒廠的啤酒。
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**Extra Reading **
Why China banned international adoptions
Much has changed since the programme was started
Summary
1) China announced a ban on foreign adoptions on September 5th, except for stepchildren and blood relatives.
2) Over 160,000 Chinese children were adopted abroad since the 1990s, with most going to America.
3) China's shift to pro-natalist policies follows improved social services and a declining population.
4) Nationalists criticized foreign adoptions, citing concerns about identity and potential abuses.
5) The sudden policy change has left adopting families heartbroken and confused.
**Made in China, staying in China **Photograph: Getty Images
Sep 12th 2024|BEIJING
The announcement came at a routine press briefing on September 5th. Mao Ning, a foreign-ministry spokesperson, said China was grateful for the “desire and love” of the foreign families who wanted to adopt Chinese children. But, she added, China would no longer allow the practice. Exceptions would be made for foreigners adopting stepchildren and children of blood relatives in China. For everyone else the new policy would take effect immediately, meaning even adoptions already in progress would be halted.
China had long been a top country of origin for international adoptions. More than 160,000 Chinese children have been placed in homes overseas since the early 1990s, when China first allowed the practice. (Just over half of those went to America.) For much of that time, Chinese orphanages were full as a result of the state’s population-control measures. Under the one-child policy, in place from 1980 to 2016, most families were limited to a single baby. Parents preferred boys, who would carry on the family name. Girls and sick or disabled children were more likely to be given up.
International adoptions seemed a good way to relieve the stress on orphanages and spare children from having to grow up in a grim state-run facility. Those taken in by foreigners include three being raised by the prime minister of Sweden and two by the prime minister of the Netherlands.
But today China faces a different demographic challenge. With its population declining, the government has turned to pro-natalist policies. Meanwhile, living standards have risen dramatically, along with the quality of social services. As a result, fewer children are being given up. International adoptions peaked in the mid-2000s and the number of orphans has declined, from 549,000 in 2013 to 144,000 last year. China is now better able to support them.
The international-adoption programme had always rubbed nationalists the wrong way. That China had to rely on foreigners to raise its children was a source of humiliation. Conspiracy-minded commentators accused adoptive families of dark motives, such as a desire to conduct research on Chinese children or cultivate spies.
That is all nonsense. But experts have found that international adoption comes with real difficulties. Corruption and abuse taint some programmes. And life can be hard for those adopted, even if raised in good homes, as they wrestle with questions of ethnicity and identity.
China’s ban, then, is not without justification. But for the families in the process of adopting children from China, the abrupt nature of the decision has caused heartbreak and confusion. ■
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