1
Twitter CTO replaced Jack Dorsey as CEO
推特CTO接替杰克·多西任CEO
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has stepped down as chief of the social media company. Parag Agrawal, Twitter’s former chief technology officer, took over the helm①. Dorsey, 45, was serving as both the CEO of Twitter and Square, his digital payments company. Dorsey will remain a member of the board until his term expires at the 2022 meeting of stockholders. Agrawal, 37, will have to meet Twitter’s aggressive internal goals. The company said earlier this year it aims to have 315 million monetizable② daily active users by the end of 2023 and to at least double its annual revenue in that year. Agrawal, who’s served as CTO since 2017, has been with Twitter for more than a decade. He had been in charge of strategy involving artificial intelligence and machine learning and he led projects to make tweets in users’ timelines more relevant to them. (CNBC)
杰克·多西离任社交媒体公司推特的首席执行官之位。前首席技术官帕拉格·阿格拉瓦尔接任。多西，年45岁，此前一直兼任推特和移动支付公司Square的首席执行官。后者是多西名下的数字支付公司。他将继续担任推特董事会成员，任期至2022年股东会议结束。阿格拉瓦尔，年37岁，将不得不完成推特内部颇有野心的目标。今年早些时候，该公司称，要在2023年底前，使可货币化日活用户达到3.15亿，并在当年实现年营收至少翻一番。阿格拉瓦尔在推特工作已逾十年，2017年起任首席技术官，曾负责与人工智能、机器学习有关的战略，还负责了令用户时间线中推文更符合用户要求的项目。
【注释】
① take (over) the helm: to take charge of an organization, project, etc. 担任领导人
② monetizable: [ˈmʌnɪtaɪzəbl] adj. able to be converted into cash 可货币化的
Parag Agrawal, the new CEO
(Credit: Ellian Raffoul / AP)
2
First data points to Omicron re-infection risk
第一批数据显示奥密克戎的再次感染风险
The first real world data① showing the coronavirus variant② Omicron may evade some of our immunity③ has been reported by scientists in South Africa. Scientists have detected a surge in the number of people catching Covid multiple times. Omicron has more than twice the mutations④ seen in previous variants, with the majority of these occurring in the spike protein where they may increase the ability of the virus to bind to human cells and initiate an infection. Some of these mutations have been seen in previous variants and are known to increase transmissibility and facilitate immune evasion. However, Omicron has many mutations that we have never seen before and it is unclear how these will change the behaviour of the virus or if they have contributed to the exponential⑤ rise in cases in South Africa. (BBC)
南非科学家报告了第一批真实世界数据。数据显示，新冠变异株奥密克戎可能具有一些免疫逃逸力。科学家监测到反复感染新冠人数的激增。奥密克戎的突变量是此前变异株的两倍还要多，且大部分出现在刺突蛋白。这些突变可能会增加病毒与人体细胞结合、引发感染的能力。这些突变中，有一些也出现在此前的变异株，被认为可增加传染性、加快免疫逃逸。然而，奥密克戎有许多突变前所未见。它们将如何改变病毒行为、是否导致了南非病例激增，都尚不清楚。
【注释】
① real world data: data relating to patient health status and/or the delivery of health care routinely collected from a variety of sources 真实世界数据（指来源于日常收集的与患者健康状况和／或诊疗保健有关的数据）
② variant: [ˈveəriənt] n. a thing that is a slightly different form or type of something else 变种；变体；变形
③ immunity: [ɪˈmjuːnəti] n. the body’s ability to avoid or not be affected by infection and disease 免疫力
④ mutation: [mjuːˈteɪʃn] n. a process in which the genetic material of a person, a plant or an animal changes in structure when it is passed on to children, etc., causing different physical characteristics to develop; a change of this kind 突变，变异
⑤ exponential: [ˌekspəˈnenʃl] adj. (of a rate of increase) becoming faster and faster 越来越快的
The key mutations that shape Omicron
(Credit: FT)
3
Canada Goose faces a fresh backlash① in China
加拿大鹅在中国再次面临*制抵**
Canada Goose is on the hotseat② in China — again. Customers and consumer advocacy③ groups in China claim that the pricey parka④ maker’s return policy in the country is discriminatory. The furor started when a customer in Shanghai told local media that the company refused her effort to return a damaged $1,800 jacket she’d purchased in October. She claimed the embroidered⑤ logo was defective⑥, according to local media reports. Her account went viral⑦ and attracted the ire⑧ of the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission — just three months after the Canadian company was fined about $70,000 by Chinese government regulators for what it said was misleading advertising about its goose down⑨. ( The New York Post )
加拿大鹅在中国又一次陷入困境。中国消费者和消费者权益保护组织称，该高端派克大衣品牌在中国的退换货政策中存在歧视。此次爆发抗议，起因是一名上海消费者告诉当地媒体，她在10月购买了一件价值1800美元有质量问题的夹克，而该公司拒绝为其退换。据当地媒体报道，该女士称刺绣商标有瑕疵。她的账号被广泛传播，引来上海消费者权益保护委员会介入。而就在此前3个月，中国政府监管部门认定，这家加拿大公司在鹅羽绒的宣传中存在误导，处之以约7万美元的罚金。
【注释】
① backlash: [ˈbæklæʃ] n. a strong negative reaction by a large number of people, for example to something that has recently changed in society 强烈反对
② hotseat: [ˈhɒtsiːt] n. a position of responsibility, esp. one in which difficulties are faced and towards which public attention is directed 困境
③ consumer advocacy: movement or policies aimed at regulating the products, services, methods, and standards of manufacturers, sellers, and advertisers in the interests of the buyer 消费者权益保护运动／政策
④ parka: [ˈpɑːkə] n. a very warm jacket or coat with a hood that often has fur inside 派克大衣，风雪大衣
⑤ embroidered: [ɪmˈbrɔɪdəd] adj. adorned with figures of needlework 刺绣的
⑥ defective: [dɪˈfektɪv] adj. having a fault or faults; not perfect or complete 有缺点的
⑦ go viral: to (be) spread widely and rapidly（被）广泛传播
⑧ ire: [ˈaɪə(r)] n. anger 怒火
⑨ down: [daʊn] n. fine soft hair 羽绒
(Credit: Getty Images)
4
The EU launches a €300bn global infrastructure spend①
欧盟推出3000亿欧元全球基建投资计划
The European Commission unveiled last Wednesday a plan to invest 300 billion euros ($340 billion) globally by 2027 in infrastructure, digital and climate projects. The scheme, called Global Gateway, is to strengthen Europe’s supply chains, boost EU trade and help fight climate change. The EU plan will focus on physical infrastructure, like fibre optic cables, clean transport corridors and clean power transmission lines to strengthen digital, transport and energy networks, the Commission said. It said that by helping other countries the EU would also promote its own interests and strengthen its supply chains, the vulnerability of which became apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reuters)
12月1日，欧盟委员会推出计划，于2027年前在全球基础建设、数字和气候项目上投资3000亿欧元（3400亿美元）。该计划名为“全球门户”，旨在加强欧洲的供应链，扩大欧盟贸易，协助对抗气候变化。欧盟委员会表示，该计划将聚焦物理基建，如光纤电缆、清洁运输走廊和清洁电力传输线路，以加强数字、运输和能源网络。欧盟委员会还表示，通过帮助其他国家，欧盟也将增进自身利益，加强供应链。在新冠大流行期间，供应链的脆弱变得显而易见。
【注释】
① spend: [spend] n. the amount of money spent for a particular purpose or over a particular length of time 消费额
(Credit: the European Commission)
5
Russia will act if Nato countries cross Ukraine ‘ red lines① ’
若北约诸国越过乌克兰“红线”，俄罗斯将采取行动
Vladimir Putin has warned Nato countries that deploying weapons or soldiers to Ukraine would cross a “red line” for Russia and trigger a strong response, including a potential deployment of Russian missiles targeting Europe. Nato countries have warned Putin against further aggression against Ukraine as foreign ministers gathered in Latvia to discuss the military alliance’s contingencies② for a potential Russian invasion. Tensions have soared following a buildup③ of nearly 100,000 Russian troops, as well as tanks, artillery, and even short-range ballistic missiles, within striking distance of Ukraine’s borders. ( The Guardian )
弗拉基米尔·普京警告北约诸国，向乌克兰部署*器武**或派兵，将越过俄罗斯的“红线”，引起俄方强烈反应，例如俄方可能会部署针对欧洲的导弹。北约警告普京，不要对乌克兰采取进一步军事行动。与此同时，北约各国外长在拉脱维亚聚首，讨论该军事联盟对俄方潜在入侵的应急措施。此前，俄方集结了近十万大军，还有坦克、大炮，甚至短程弹道导弹，乌克兰边境就在其打击范围之内。紧张局势自此大幅升级。
【注释】
① red line: a limit or point beyond which specified actions will not be tolerated, or concessions will not be made 红线
② contingency: [kənˈtɪndʒənsi] n. a provision for a possible future event or condition or an unforeseen occurrence that may necessitate special measures 应急措施；应急储备
③ buildup: [ˈbɪldʌp] n. an increase in the amount of something over a period of time 逐步的增长
(Credit: nato.int)
6
NetEase’s Cloud Village shares slip① in its Hong Kong debut②
网易云香港上市首日破发
Shares in Cloud Village Inc (9899.HK), the music streaming business owned by NetEase Inc’s (9999.HK), fell 1% on their first day of trade. The stock’s performance is being closely watched as a barometer③ of investor appetite④ for Chinese tech related deals. Cloud Village raised $421 million in its initial public offering, with its shares priced at HK$205 each in one of Hong Kong’s first major tech listings⑤ since mid-year. NetEase sold 16 million shares in the IPO but the final price was set only at the mid point of the range, indicating the deal was not swamped⑥ by demand. (Reuters)
网易（9999.HK）旗下音乐流播公司云音乐（9899.HK）交易首日股价下跌1%。该股的表现被视为投资者对中国科技相关交易热情的晴雨表，受到紧密关注。云音乐的首次公开募股（IPO）募得资金4.21亿美元，每股定价205元港币，是香港年中以来首批上市的大型科技企业之一。网易在IPO中发售了1600万股。然而，最终定价位于推介区间中点，说明交易需求并不旺盛。
【注释】
① slip: [slɪp] vi. to fall to a lower level 下降
② debut: [ˈdeɪbjuː] n. the first public appearance of a performer or sports player 首次亮相
③ barometer: [bəˈrɒmɪtə(r)] n. something that shows the changes that are happening in an economic, social or political situation（显示经济、社会、政治变化的）晴雨表
④ appetite: [ˈæpɪtaɪt] n. a strong desire for something 强烈欲望
⑤ listing: [ˈlɪstɪŋ] n. a position or an item on a list（表册上的）位置，项目
⑥ swamp: [swɒmp] vt. to make (somebody) have more of something than they can deal with 使不堪承受；使应接不暇
(Credit: NetEas)
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