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The world this week
一周國際要聞
Business
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In a speech to a joint session of Congress, Joe Biden laid out his American Families Plan, the most ambitious attempt to expand social programmes since the 1960s. The plan includes universal child care for three- and four-year-olds, a family-leave initiative and tuition-free community college. The $1.8trn price tag will be paid in part by increasing the top rate of income tax to 39.6%. And for those earning over $1m, taxes on capital gains and dividends will soar.
在國會聯席會議的演講中，喬·拜登提出了他的《美國家庭計劃》，這是自上世紀60年代以來擴大社會項目的最雄心勃勃的嘗試。該計劃包括為三歲和四歲的兒童提供托管服務、一項家庭休假以及免除學費的社區大學。這項1.8萬億美元的支出計劃通過將最高所得稅率提高到39.6%來實現。對于那些收入超過100萬美元的人，資本利得和股息的稅收將會飆升。
Fortune tallying
財富統計
The family of Lee Kun-hee, Samsung’s late chairman, are to pay almost $11bn in taxes on his estate, one of the world’s biggest-ever inheritance-tax bills. His art collection, which includes works by Salvador Dali, Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso, will be donated to the National Museum of Korea and other institutions.
三星已故董事長李健熙的家族將為其遺產支付近110億美元的稅款，這是全球有史以來最大的遺產稅案之一。他的藝術收藏品包括薩爾瓦多·達利（SalvadorDali），莫奈（Claude Monet）和畢加索（Pablo Picasso）的作品，將捐贈給韓國國家博物館和其他機構。
The Ethiopian government’s auction of two licences to operate telecoms was deemed a failure, when only two bidders submitted offers. The sale of the licences was supposed to be the jewel in the privatisation drive under Abiy Ahmed, the reform-minded prime minister. Potential buyers were put off by some of the restrictions, such as excluding foreign telecoms from providing mobile-money services.
埃塞俄比亞政府拍賣兩張電信運營牌照的行動被認為是失敗的，因為只有兩家競標者提交了報價。在改革派總理阿比·艾哈邁德(Abiy Ahmed)的領導下，拍賣許可牌照被認為是私有化進程中的一顆明珠。一些限制措施令潛在買家望而卻步，比如禁止外國電信公司提供移動支付服務。
Total, a French oil and gas company, suspended work indefinitely on a $20bn liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique, Africa’s largest energy investment, because of attacks by jihadists. Total evacuated its staff from the town of Palma in March.
由于圣戰分子的襲擊，法國油氣公司道達爾(Total)無限期暫停了莫桑比克一個價值200億美元的液化天然氣項目。這是非洲最大的能源投資項目。今年3月，道達爾撤走了帕爾馬鎮的員工。
Apple had a bumper first quarter. Revenues soared to $89.6bn, as did net profit, to $23.6bn. That is more than Amazon’s profit for all of last year. The tech company recorded big increases in sales of iPhones, iPads and other devices, confounding the market narrative that it is increasingly reliant on services (apps, TV and the like) for growth.
蘋果公司第一季度業績斐然。營收飆升至896億美元，凈利潤高達236億美元。這超過了亞馬遜去年全年的收入。該科技公司的iphone、ipad和其他設備的銷量大幅增長，打破了市場關于其增長日益依賴服務(應用程序、電視等)的傳言。
Huawei’s revenues fell by 16.5% in the first quarter, year on year, the second consecutive quarter in which it has registered a hefty drop. The Chinese maker of telecoms equipment was banned from having access to some American technology under the Trump administration, which is putting its business under immense pressure.
華為第一季度營收同比下降了16.5％，這是連續第二個季度出現大幅下滑。在前總統特朗普政府的領導時期，這家中國電信設備制造商被禁止使用某些美國技術，這使其業務承受著巨大壓力。
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