Republicans weighing Donald Trump’s cabinet nominations and proposed budget cuts face the threat of retaliation from Elon Musk if they vote down parts of the incoming administration’s agenda.

正在权衡唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)内阁提名和拟议预算削减的共和党人，如果投票否决即将上任的政府的部分议程，将面临埃隆•马斯克(Elon Musk)的报复威胁。

The multi-billionaire, who spent more than $250mn on Trump’s campaign and has been at the president-elect’s side in Mar-a-Lago since his election win, has suggested those who frustrate the administration’s plans should face a primary challenge. 

这位亿万富翁在特朗普的竞选活动中花费了超过2.5亿美元，自从特朗普赢得大选以来，他一直陪伴在当选总统身边的海湖庄园。他建议那些阻挠政府计划的人应该面临初选挑战。

He has also said elected officials who do not agree to slash the US’s national debt “need to be fired next election cycle”.

他还表示，不同意削减美国国债的民选官员“需要在下一个选举周期被撤职”。

——本文2024年12月9日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 Republicans who oppose Donald Trump face risk of retaliation from Elon Musk

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country after a stunning offensive by rebels who seized the capital city of Damascus and toppled the dynasty that had ruled for 50 years.

叙利亚总统巴沙尔•阿萨德(Bashar al-Assad)已经逃离该国，此前反对派武装发动了令人震惊的攻势，占领首都大马士革，推翻了统治50年的王朝。

Amid scenes of jubilation on Sunday, the rebels proclaimed “the city of Damascus is free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad” and “Assad has fled” after various factions encircled the capital.

上周日，在一片欢庆声中，反对派武装宣布“大马士革市已从暴君巴沙尔•阿萨德手中解放”，在各派包围首都后“阿萨德已经逃走”。

Russia, a longtime backer of the Assad regime, said the Syrian president had resigned, left the country and ordered a peaceful transition of power. Russian state newswire Tass later said he and his family had arrived in Moscow where they had been offered asylum.

长期支持阿萨德政权的俄罗斯称，叙利亚总统已经辞职，离开该国并下令和平移交权力。俄罗斯国家通讯社塔斯社随后称，阿萨德及其家人已抵达莫斯科，俄罗斯为其提供了庇护。

——本文2024年12月9日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 Assad flees Syria for Moscow as rebels seize Damascus

Job interviews are laden with opportunities for humiliation. Who wants to describe their greatest weakness to a panel of peers? Or be made to feel like a quiz show contestant with brainteasers like “how many golf balls can you fit in a Boeing 747?”. Unfortunately for job seekers, the rigmarole is getting increasingly out of hand. 

求职面试中多的是让你丢脸的机会。谁愿意对着一帮可能成为工作伙伴的面试官描述自己最大的缺点？或者被迫像参加机智问答竞赛的选手一样，回答诸如“一架波音747飞机可以装下多少个高尔夫球？”这样的脑筋急转弯问题。不幸的是，对求职者来说，这套本来就让人不胜其烦的复杂流程现在越来越让人无所适从了。

Demands from hiring committees in the tech sector are piling up. That means more interviews but also more technical tests. Alongside coding evaluations come requests for essays, lengthy take-home assignments and even days spent working with existing teams. One friend in the Bay Area made it through multiple interview rounds only to be presented with a final challenge to “entertain” the company’s leadership. There were no other instructions. She didn’t get the job. 

在科技行业，招聘委员会的要求是越来越多了。这意味着求职者要经历更多轮面试、通过更多种技术测试。除了评估编程水平，还要求提交求职信，在家里完成耗时的任务，甚至花几天时间和现有团队一起工作。一位湾区的朋友在通过几轮面试后，来到了最后一关：“娱乐”公司领导。没有其他任何说明。她没有得到那份工作。

Recruiters will say that this is not being done to make life difficult for job seekers but because it is growing harder to find the right candidates. The blame, they say, lies with job seekers themselves. Online postings make speculative applications easy to fire off. In the UK, the Institute of Student Employers reported receiving a record 1.2mn applications for 17,000 graduate vacancies this year. Human resources software maker Workday reports that the number of global job applications is growing four times faster than job openings. 

招聘人员会说，要求做这些并不是为了刁难求职者，而是因为找到合适的人选变得越来越困难。他们说，这要怪求职者自己。在网上发布的招聘广告让求职者很容易发出带有投机色彩的申请，试图碰一碰运气。英国学生雇主协会(Institute of Student Employers)公布，今年面向大学毕业生的空缺职位有1.7万个，而收到的求职申请有120万份，创历史最高纪录。人力资源软件公司Workday称，全球求职申请数量的增幅是空缺职位增幅的四倍。

——本文2024年12月8日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 Blame AI for your gruelling job interview

The leader of the German Greens has advanced the idea of a coalition with the centre-right after next year’s election, arguing the gulf between the two is big but not “insurmountable”.

德国绿党领导人提出了在明年大选后与中右翼联盟的想法，认为两者之间的差距很大，但并非“不可逾越”。

“Democrats should always be able to overcome their differences — for the good of the country,” Franziska Brantner said in an interview.

弗兰齐斯卡•布兰特纳(Franziska Brantner)在接受采访时说：“为了国家的利益，民主党派人士应该始终能够克服分歧。”

A “black-green” alliance between the centre-right Christian Democratic Union and the Greens, which already govern together in some regions, is one potential outcome of February’s federal poll. Yet senior CDU figures are continuing to rule out a tie-up with the environmental party, whom they blame for Germany’s economic stagnation. 

中右翼的基民盟和绿党已经在一些地区共同执政，2月份的联邦投票可能会产生一个“黑绿”联盟。但基民盟高层人士继续排除与绿党结盟的可能性，他们将德国经济停滞归咎绿党。

——本文2024年12月9日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 German Greens leader cosies up to conservatives