At elections for the European Parliament, a predicted surge by populists and nationalists failed to materialise, though such parties gained seats in Italy and Britain.
在欧洲议会选举中，民粹主义者和民族主义者预计的人数激增未能实现，尽管这些政党在意大利和英国获得了席位。
The new parliament will be much more fragmented than the old one, thanks to a strong showing by green and liberal parties.
由于绿党和自由党的强烈表现，新议会将比旧议会更加分散。
The traditional main groupings, the centre-right European People’s Party and the centreleft Socialists and Democrats, both lost ground, falling well below a combined majority of the chamber for the first time.
传统的主要团体，中间偏右的欧洲人民党，中间偏左的社会党和民主党，都失利了，第一次远远低于参众两院的联合多数。

Greece’s prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, said he would call a snap election after his leftwing Syriza party flopped in the Euro polls.
希腊总理阿列克西斯·齐普拉斯（AlexisTsipras）表示，在左翼叙利亚政党在欧元区投票中失败后，他将举行快速选举。
In Austria,Sebastian Kurz lost a vote of confidence thanks to the break-up of his coalition with the hard-right fpö, so a fresh election will be held there, too.
在奥地利，Sebastian Kurz由于与右派强硬派的联盟破裂而失去了信任票，因此新 的选举也将在那里举行。
In a state election in Bremen, Germany’s Social Democrats lost for the first time in 70 years.
在Bremen的一次州选举中，德国社民党70年来首次失利。

Romania’s ruling party did terribly in the European elections. The next day its leader, Liviu Dragnea, was jailed for corruption.
罗马尼亚执政党在欧洲选举中表现非常糟糕。第二天，它的领导人Liviu Dragnea因腐败而入狱。

Theresa May said she would resign as Britain’s prime minister, after repeatedly failing to deliver Brexit.
特蕾莎·梅表示，她将辞去英国首相一职，此前她多次未能实现脱欧
The 12-week-old Brexit Party won the most votes of any party at the European elections in Britain.
在英国举行的欧洲选举中，12周前成立的英国脱欧党赢得了最多的选票。
The anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats and Greens won more votes than the Brexit Party but fewer seats.
反对脱欧的自由民主党和绿党赢得的选票比脱欧党多，但席位少。
The traditional parties of government, the Conservatives and Labour, did miserably.
传统的政府党派，保守党和工党，以惨败告终。

Britain’s Labour Party expelled Alastair Campbell, a former adviser to Tony Blair, for backing the Liberal Democrats in the European elections.
英国工党开除了Tony Blair的前顾问 Alastair Campbell，因为他在欧洲选举中支持自由民主党。
Party members who make anti-Semitic comments have seldom been dumped so swiftly. Several other prominent Labourites also backed other parties, mostly over Brexit.
那些发表反犹主义言论的党员很少被如此迅速地抛弃。其他一些著名的工党也支持其他政党，主要是在脱欧问题上。

Back to the polls! 回到投票
The Israeli Knesset voted to hold a fresh election in September, five months after a poll in April, as talks led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, to put together a new coalition government failed.
以色列议会在4月的一次民意调查后5个月，9月投票举行了一次新的选举，当时由内塔尼亚胡总理领导的组建新联合政府的谈判失败。
The sticking point was an attempt to end the exemption from the military draft for ultra-Orthodox Jews, which their parties refused to countenance.
关键是试图结束对极端正统犹太人的军事草案的豁免，他们的政党拒绝支持。
Mr Netanyahu pushed for a new election rather than let another party try to form a government.
Netanyahu推动了新的选举，而不是让另一个政党组建政府。
It is the first time in Israel that a governing majority has not been formed after an election.
这是以色列第一次在选举后没有形成执政多数。
The Syrian regime of Basharal-Assad pounded Idlib province, the last rebel-held stronghold.
叙利亚巴 Basharal-Assad政权袭击了 Idlib省，这是最后一个反对派控制的据点。
Scores of civilians have died in the bombardment, which began last month.
上个月开始的轰炸造成数十名平民死亡。
Some 300,000 have fled. Donald Trump declared a national emergency over tensions with Iran in order to push through the sale of $8bn-worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, Iran’s regional rival.
大约30万人已经逃离。Donald Trump宣布，由于与伊朗的紧张关系，国家紧急状态下，伊朗将向其地区竞争对手沙特阿拉伯出售价值80亿美元的武器。
By declaring the emergency, Mr Trump was able to bypass Congress, which has criticised Saudi Arabia’s conduct of thewar in Yemen.
通过宣布紧急状态，特朗普能够绕过国会，国会批评沙特阿拉伯在也门的战争行为。
Mr Trump said he is not seeking regime change in Iran—unlike his national-security adviser, John Bolton.
特朗普说，他不像他的国家安全顾问John Bolton那样，在伊朗寻求政权更迭。
Cyril Ramaphosa named a new, smaller cabinet following his re-election as South Africa’s president.
Cyril Ramaphosa当选南非总统后，任命了一个新的、规模较小的内阁。
Half the appointments were women and the new intake was generally taken as a sign that Mr Ramaphosa is serious about cracking down on corruption.
半数的任命是女性，新的任命通常被认为是Ramaphosa先生认真打击腐败的一个标志。
They will all have to sign performance agreements.
他们都必须签署履约协议。

The end of Mueller’s time 穆勒时代的终结
Robert Mueller, who led the Department of Justice’s investigation into Russian meddling in the election of 2016, gave a rare public statement.
领导司法部调查俄罗斯干预2016年选举的Robert Mueller发表了一份罕见的公开声明。
He explained that because the department works for the president, indicting Donald Trump was “unconstitutional” and “not an option we could consider”.
他解释说，由于国防部是为总统工作的，起诉Donald Trump是“违宪的”，“我们不能考虑”。
He also suggested that he has nothing to say beyond what is already in his report.
他还建议说，除了报告中已有的内容，他没有什么可以说的。
America’s Supreme Court rejected a law in Indiana that would have banned abortions sought because of the fetus’s sex or di****lity.
美国最高法院驳回了印第安纳州的一项法律，该法律将禁止因胎儿性别或残疾而寻求堕胎。
However, it upheld Indiana’s requirement that aborted fetuses be buried or cremated.
然而，它支持印第安纳州的要求，即流产的胎儿被埋葬或火化。
Louisiana passed a bill banning abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected.
Louisiana州通过了一项法案，禁止在检测到胎儿心跳时堕胎。
The Democratic governor has said he will sign it.
这位民主党州长说他将签署这个协议。
Both pro-life and pro-choice activists expect a big battle over abortion during next year’s presidential campaign.
无论是赞成堕胎的人还是赞成堕胎的积极分子，都希望在明年的总统竞选中能有一场关于堕胎的大战。
America laid fresh charges against Julian Assange, this time for being “complicit with” Chelsea Manning in leaking hundreds of thousands of sensitive documents, starting in 2009.
美国对Julian Assange提出了新的指控，这次是因为他与Chelsea Manning“串通一气”，从2009年开始泄露了数十万份敏感文件。
Mr Assange, who is in a British prison for jumping bail and is too ill to attend court, has already been accused by the Americans of abetting the hacking of a government computer.
Assange因越狱而被英国监禁，病得无法出庭，他已经被美国人指控教唆窃取政府计算机。

WrestleMania it ain’t 摔跤手不是
On a state visit to Japan, Donald Trump met the new emperor and attended a sumowrestling tournament, where he presented a trophy.
在对日本进行国事访问时，Donald Trump会见了新皇帝，并参加了一次苏门答腊锦标赛，在那里他颁发了奖杯。
He startled his hosts by saying that North Korea’s recent missile tests did not bother him and didn’t violate UN resolutions.
他说朝鲜最近的导弹试验没有打扰他，也没有违反联合国的决议，这让东道主大为震惊。
Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, called the missile tests “extremely regrettable”.
日本首相安倍晋三（ShinzoAbe）称导弹试验“非常令人遗憾”。
John Bolton, Mr Trump’s national security adviser, enraged China by meeting his Taiwanese counterpart in Washington.
Trump的国家安全顾问约翰博尔顿（JohnBolton）在华盛顿会见台湾外长，激怒了中国。
It was the first meeting between the top national-security officials from both countries since 1979, when America ended formal relations.
这是自1979年美国结束正式关系以来两国最高国家安全官员之间的首次会晤。
China says Taiwan is part of its territory.
中国说台湾是其领土的一部分。
After weeks of political tumult, Peter O’Neill bowed to pressure and resigned as prime minister of Papua New Guinea.
经过数周的政治动荡，Peter O’Neill屈服于压力，辞去巴布亚新几内亚总理的职务。
He was replaced by James Marape, a former ally who recently stepped down as finance minister.
他被James Marape取代，他是前盟友，最近辞去了财政部长的职务。
Mr O’Neill had faced mounting opposition to energy deals with foreign companies, including Total and ExxonMobil. Many locals complained that they had been overlooked in the process.
O’Neill先生面临着越来越多的反对与包括道达尔和埃克森美孚在内的外国公司签订能源协议的呼声。许多当地人抱怨说他们在这个过程中被忽视了。

The world this week Business
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles confirmed that it was seeking a merger with Renault, a combination that would create the world’s third-largest car company behind Volkswagen and Toyota.
Fiat Chrysler汽车公司证实，它正在寻求与雷诺的合并，这一合并将创造出仅次于大众和丰田的世界第三大汽车公司。
FCA and Renault hope the merger will save cash to bolster改善 investments in electric vehicles and self-driving cars.
FCA和雷诺希望这次合并能节省现金，以支持对电动汽车和自动驾驶汽车的投资。
But Renault is also in a close partnership with Japan’s Nissan and Mitsubishi.
但雷诺也与日本的日产和三菱密切合作。
That alliance has been strained since the arrest of Carlos Ghosn, its former boss, on charges of financial misconduct at Nissan (which he denies) and its future is now in question.
自从前日产老板卡洛斯•戈恩（Carlos Ghosn）因其在日产（Nissan）的财务不当行为（他否认这一点）而被捕以来，该联盟一直处于紧张状态，其未来也受到质疑。

The Huawei effect
Alibabawas reportedly considering a second listing of its shares, but in Hong Kong rather than New York, where
its $25bn stockmarket debut in 2014 remains the world’s biggest IPO.
据报道，阿里巴巴正在考虑对其股票进行第二次上市，但在香港，而不是纽约，2014的2500亿美元股票首次上市，仍是全球最大的IPO。
This time it is seeking to raise $20bn. Its decision to list in Hong Kong comes amid uncertainties over the future treatment of Chinese companies by the American authorities.
这一次，它正寻求筹集200亿美元。其决定在香港上市的原因是美国当局未来对中国企业的不确定性。
Alibaba is using its profits from e-commerce to invest in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other sensitive tech areas where America and China are competing aggressively.
阿里巴巴正利用电子商务的利润投资于人工智能、量子计算和其他美国和中国正在激烈竞争的敏感技术领域。

The latest skirmish in the trade war saw China threaten to limit supplies to America of rare earths, a group of 17 metals vital to fast-growing businesses such as electric cars but also widely used in the defence industry.
贸易战中最新的冲突使中国威胁要限制对美国的稀土供应，稀土是一组对电动汽车等快速增长的企业至关重要的17种金属，但也被广泛用于国防工业。
China accounts for the vast bulk of rare-earth production; for some of the metals it is the sole producer.
中国占稀土产量的绝大部分；对于某些金属，中国是唯一的生产国。
In 2010 it cut exports to Japan during a maritime dispute.
2010年，它在一场海事纠纷中削减了对日本的出口。

Maersk, the world’s biggest shipping company, gave a downbeat assessment of the effect of global-trade tensions on its industry. It estimates that container trade grew by 1.7% in the first quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. That is less than half the average for 2018.
世界最大的航运公司马士基对全球贸易紧张对其航运业的影响进行了悲观的评估。它估计第一季度集装箱贸易比去年同期增长1.7%。这还不到2018年平均水平的一半。

Boeing’s 737 max aircraft is unlikely to return to service until at least August, according to the International Air Transport Association. A recent meeting of global safety-regulators avoided putting a date on a return for the max, which has been grounded following two crashes. iata stressed that it will be regulators who make the final decision.
据国际航空运输协会（International Air Transport Association）称，波音737 MAX客机至少要到8月才能恢复使用。最近全球安全监管机构召开的一次会议避免了公布MAX回归的日期，毕竟发生了两次坠机事故。国际航空运输协会强调，最终决定将由监管机构做出。

The Food and Drug Administration approved a gene therapy developed by Novartis for treating spinal muscular atrophy in children. Priced at $2.1m, Zolgensma is the world’s most expensive drug, though it costs half the current treatment for sma over the first ten years of a child’s life.
美国食品药品监督管理局批准了诺华公司开发的一种基因疗法，用于治疗儿童脊髓肌萎缩。Zolgensma的价格为210万美元，是世界上最昂贵的药物，尽管在儿童生命的前十年，它的治疗费用是目前治疗SMA费用的一半。