Despite an escalating conflict in Syria and mounting civil unrest in Europe, the world became a more peaceful place in the last year, a study showed last year, highlighting particular improvement in Africa.
儘管敘利亞衝突及歐洲國家內部動盪情勢升高,在過去的一年裡,世界變得更加和平,尤其是非洲地區改善明顯,去年發表的一項報告顯示。
The Global Peace Index, produced by the Australia and US-based Institute for Economics and Peace, showed its first improvement in two years. For the first time, sub-Saharan Africa was no longer the world’s least peaceful region, losing that dubious distinction to the Middle East and North Africa in the aftermath of the Arab Spring.
總部位於澳洲和美國的「經濟與和平研究所」公布的「全球和平指數」兩年來首次上升。撒哈拉以南的非洲地區首次不再是世界最不安寧的地區,把這個不好的頭銜讓給「阿拉伯之春」席捲之後的中東和北非。
The survey studied 23 indicators across 158 countries, ranging from measures of civil unrest and crime to military spending, involvement in armed conflict and relations with neighbors. Aside from the deterioration in the Middle East, every other region in the world showed at least some form of improvement.
該調查研究了一百五十八個國家的二十三項指標,含括國內動亂、犯罪到軍費開支、武裝衝突和與鄰國的關係等。除了中東地區情況惡化,其他地區普遍或多或少有所改善。
Overall, survey founder Steve Killelea — an Australian entrepreneur who created the initial index six years ago — said there appeared to be several key drivers. Overall, global military spending looked to be beginning to fall — in part a consequence of the global financial crisis — while relations between countries were broadly improving, with leaders increasingly turning to diplomacy, not violence.
(Reuters)
六年前創立這項指數的澳洲創業家史提夫.基勒利亞說,整體來說,似乎有數個關鍵驅動因素。整體上,全球軍費支出看起來開始下降,部分是受到全球金融危機的影響;另一方面,國與國之間的關係普遍改善,領導人益發選擇外交手段而非訴諸暴力。
(路透/翻譯:自由時報國際新聞中心 陳成良)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)