＊第二季＊【EP. 33】#295 經濟學人新聞評論【英國疫情、病毒變異株、美國疫情、援助計畫、美聯儲、民主指數、選舉程序與多樣性、政府運作、政治參與度、政治文化、公民自由】

🔴Monday December 21st 2020 🔵2020年12月21日星期一 1️⃣Britain on Sunday reported an increase in covid-19 cases of 35,928, the highest daily rise since the start of the pandemic. London and south-east England went into lockdown as the government tried to curb the spread of a mutant strain of the virus, which is up to 70% more transmissible than the original… 英國 (上) 週日回報新冠病毒的確診病例增加了 35,928件，為疫情開始以來的最高單日增幅。倫敦以及英格蘭東南部進入了封鎖狀態，因為政府試圖遏制病毒變異株的傳播，而此變異株的傳播性比原來的病毒高出 70%… 2️⃣Legislators in America cleared the way to pass a $900bn coronavirus aid package after senators reached a last-minute compromise. The plan includes $600 in direct payments to individuals and $300 per week in unemployment benefits… 美國的立法機關在最後一刻掃除了障礙並達成最後妥協：美國的參議員通過了 9,000億美元的新冠疫情援助計畫。該計畫包括直接向個人支付 600美元以及每週 300美元的失業救濟金… 3️⃣Democracy is in retreat, according to the latest Democracy Index, from our sister company, the Economist Intelligence Unit. The annual survey assesses the health of democracy in 167 countries and territories according to five measures—electoral processes and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political culture and civil liberties. The sharpest decline in freedoms occurred in China—because of discrimination against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs, in the north-western region of Xinjiang, and infringements of civil liberties, such as digital surveillance… 根據經濟學人資訊社 (Economist Intelligence Unit，EIU，與經濟學人週報屬同一集團) 所公佈的最新一期「民主指數 (Democracy Index)」指出，民主 (制度) 正在退潮。這項年度的調查依照五個指標：選舉程序與多樣性、政府運作、政治參與度、政治文化和公民自由，用以衡量全球 167個國家以及地區的民主程度。由於對佔新疆地區大多數人口的維吾爾族穆斯林所採行的歧視政策以及如同數位監控等對公民自由的侵犯，中國是種種自由程度下降最為劇烈的國家… -- Hosting provided by SoundOn