🔴Thursday January 14th 2021
🔵2021年1月14日星期四
1️⃣Trump’s second impeachment: never happened before
川普的第二次彈劾案：前無古人
America’s House of Representatives made Donald Trump the first president to be impeached twice, this time for inciting an attack on the Capitol. Ten Republicans joined all 222 Democrats in the vote. To be removed from office Mr Trump would need to be convicted by the Senate, which is adjourned until January 19th, the day before Joe Biden succeeds him. National Guardsmen were bivouacked within the Capitol to defend it during the impeachment hearing; another 20,000 will be deployed for the inauguration.
美國眾議院使川普成為第一位被彈劾兩次的總統，而這次的彈劾原因是 (指控川普) 煽動國會突襲一案。10名共和黨人加入了 (全體) 222名民主黨人一起投票。要使此彈劾案過關，參議院也需要投下同意票，而如今休會的參議院直至 1月19日才會復會，即候任的拜登就職之時。在彈劾案的聽證會上，國民兵會扎營在國會山莊外戒備。另外還會有兩千名國民兵被部署在 (拜登的) 就職典禮上。
2️⃣Vaccines’ effectiveness: seems to work?
疫苗效用：撥雲見日？
Data from Israel showed that a single dose of the covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech cuts infection rates by at least a third within ten to 12 days. Infections fell by 60% after 14 days, other data showed. More than 20% of Israelis have received at least one jab. Meanwhile, early-trial results suggested that Johnson & Johnson’s experimental single-dose vaccine produced an immune response in almost all its volunteers. It could apply for regulatory approval within weeks.
以色列的數據顯示，由輝瑞 (Pfizer) 和 BioNTech 共同開發的新冠疫苗可在 10-12天內將感染率降低至少三分之一，而其他數據顯示，(疫苗之接種能在) 14天後的感染率則下降了 60％。超過兩成的以色列人至少接種了第一劑疫苗。與此同時，早期的試驗結果顯示嬌生公司 (Johnson & Johnson，美國一醫療保健產品、醫療器材以及藥廠的製造商) 的實驗性單劑量疫苗在幾乎所有的受測者中均產生了免疫反應。嬌生公司在幾週內便可向監管機構/單位申請其疫苗之批准。
3️⃣An economic miracle: Germany’s GDP
經濟奇蹟：德國的 GDP
Today Destatis, Germany’s federal statistics office, is expected to report that the country’s economy contracted by 5.1% last year because of measures taken to contain the covid-19 pandemic. The slump in GDP is painful, but not as bad as the 9% plunge forecast for France and the 11.2% that Spain is expected to lose. Germany’s position is less dire because its stronger fiscal position meant it could afford more generous help for companies, families and freelancers. The country’s focus on high-quality manufacturing helped too. Most German factories stayed open during the two lockdowns in 2020, which limited the fall in output. Because the latest lockdown will probably continue into February, economists expect another contraction in the first quarter of this year. But then, they say, Germans can look forward to a strong rebound, once the weather becomes milder and more of them are vaccinated against the coronavirus.
德國聯邦統計局 (Destatis) 預估將於今日公佈該國去年度由於防疫措施而導致經濟衰退了 5.1%。雖然 GDP (Gross Domestic Product，國內生產總值) 如此萎縮很痛苦，但卻不及法國所預期地暴跌 9％以及西班牙所預估的 11.2％損失那樣嚴重。德國的處境沒那麼慘烈是因為該國強健的財務狀況使得它負擔得起對企業行號、家家戶戶以及自由業者的慷慨解囊。除此之外，德國專攻於高品質製造業的優勢也是因素之一。大多數的德國工廠仍在 2020年保持運作，因此對出口衰退所造成的影響有限。由於最新一輪的封鎖措施將可能持續到二月，經濟學家們預估今年第一季仍會有另一波的經濟衰退。不過他們也指出，屆時天氣轉暖再加上更多民眾接種了疫苗後呢，德國可望期待一波強勁的經濟反彈。
