Syria's use of chemical weapons in an attack that killed hundreds of people thrust the country's civil war to the top of the agenda in Western capitals. But the resolve by some governments to punish the Assad regime with an American-led missile strike crumbled after the British Parliament surprisingly rejected such action. Russia brokered a deal, backed by the UN and America, under which Syria is destroying its chemical stockpile. The war rumbles on. The UN estimates that three-quarters of Syria's population will need aid in 2014.
敘利亞內戰中政府軍使用了化學武器造成數百人身亡，也促成了西方各國政府的介入，但是由美國主導針對阿薩德政權的的懲罰性導彈攻擊卻由於英國議會的臨時抽手胎死腹中。由俄羅斯主導、並有聯合國及美國支持的銷毀化學武器行動則達成談判。內戰持續，聯合國估計到了2014年，敘利亞將有四分之三的人口需要援助。
Civil strife enveloped Egypt whenMuhammad Morsi, its Islamist president, was ousted by the army after days of street protests against his government that were bigger than the anti-Mubarak demonstrations in 2011. A crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood led to more bloodshed; most of its leaders were imprisoned.
抗議時任埃及總統穆罕默德摩西的聲浪大過了2011年反穆巴拉克的示威，他最後被軍方推翻。其後鎮壓摩西所屬黨派「穆斯林兄弟會」的行動則造成了大量流血，多數該黨領袖遭到逮捕。
Pakistan's election marked the country's first civilian transition of power at the end of a full five-year term. Nawaz Sharif returned as prime minister; he had last held the job in 1999. Bombings and mayhem continued unabated. At least 50 people were killed on the day that Mr Sharif held a press conference with David Cameron, Britain's prime minister, that discussed security issues.
巴基斯坦完成了第一次的民主政權轉移，Nawaz Sharif重回總理之位，他曾在1999年擔任此位。但炸彈與攻擊仍然持續，至少有50人在Sharif與英國首相卡麥隆共同舉行的安全議題記者會當天死亡。
Although less frequent than in previous years, American drone strikes against militants in Pakistan were bitterly condemned by its government. Drone technology was also more widely talked about elsewhere for other purposes, such as distributing aid to rural areas and delivering packages.
儘管比往年收斂，但美國在巴基斯坦進行的無人機攻擊行動仍遭該國政府譴責。無人機科技被廣泛的在許多領域應用上被討論，例如發放援救物資至鄉間地區，或是分送包裹。
Iraq had its worst year for sectarian violence since 2008, with over 8,000 people killed.
自2008年以來伊拉克度過了在宗派衝突上最糟的一年，至少超過8000人被殺。
A new governing coalition was formed in Italy, headed by Enrico Letta of the centre-left Democrats, after an election in which a quarter of Italians registered their discontent by opting for a new party led by a comedian. Mr Letta got on with the serious business of trying to reduce public debt. The fun ended for Silvio Berlusconi when he was booted out of the Senate, after having been definitively convicted of a crime for the first time.
義大利組成了跨黨派執政聯盟，由中間偏左民主黨的Enrico Letta為首，該場選舉有四分之一的義大利民眾將票投給一名喜劇演員組成的新政黨來表達他們的不滿。Letta努力的要進行縮減政府債務的改革，Silvio Berlusconi在首次實際被定罪後遭到參議院逐出。 （按：Berlusconi這人太精彩了不看一下他的維基百科你會後悔）
Cyprus became the fourth country in the euro zone to get a full bail-out, though only after an anxious week in which it had to resubmit a plan to restructure its banks. Ireland became the first country to exit its bail-out program me.
賽普勒斯成了歐元區第四個接受援助（bail-out）的國家，但要在一週內提出重整銀行的計畫。愛爾蘭則成了第一個結束援助計畫的國家。
Pope Benedict shook the Catholic church by stepping down, the first pope to retire in 600 years. His successor, Pope F rancis, an Argentine Jesuit, shook the church further by saying it should worry less about sexuality and by moving to reform the Vatican.
教宗本篤十六世的下台震撼天主教廷，是600年來首名自願退休的教宗。繼任者是來自阿根廷的方濟各，表示教廷應該少談論有關性向問題並專注於改革梵蒂岡事務。
Tech companies dominated the year's business news. Twitter completed a successful IPO, with its share price up 73% on the first day of trading. Struggling BlackBerry called off a deal whereby its largest investor would have taken it private; it then sacked its chief executive. And Microsoft bought Nokia's mobile-device business.
科技公司佔據今年的商業版面。推特完成了成功的首次公開募股，交易第一天，股價便上升73%。一直掙扎中的黑莓則尤其最大股東收為私有，並開除了首席執行長。微軟則買下了Nokia的行動裝置部門。
Dell rebooted its business by agreeing to a $25 billion offer from its founder, Michael Dell, to take it private, but not before rebellious investors submitted a counterbid for the computer-maker. Dell's was the largest buy-out since the start of the financial crisis in 2007.
戴爾接受了其開創者Michael Dell的提案，以250億美金收為私有，前提是有異議的股東們也提出了他們的提案。自2007年金融危機以來，戴爾是最大的收購案。
Some of the world's big central banks gotnewgovernors, including Raghuram Rajan at the Reserve Bank of India, Haruhiko Kuroda at the Bank of Japan and Mark Carney at the Bank of England. Janet Yellen was picked to be chairwoman of America's Federal Reserve; Ben Bernanke steps down early next year. Investors spent most of the year anticipating the start of the Fed's 「tapering」 of its asset-buying program me.
數國的中央銀行都換了新頭子。Raghuram Rajan接掌印度儲備銀行、黑田東彥及Mark Carney分別接掌日本銀行與英格蘭銀行。Janet Yellen被選為下一任聯準會主席，Ben Bernanke將在明年初卸任，投資者花了幾乎整年的時間在預測聯準會何時要「放緩」其超寬鬆貨幣政策。
Most stockmarkets in Europe and America had a good year (those in emerging markets did not fare so well). The Dow Jones Industrial Average had broken a score of record highs by the beginning of December.
歐美諸國的股市再現榮景，但新興市場的則沒那麼好過。道瓊工業指數在十二月出破了歷史紀錄。
China's new leadership under Xi Jinping announced the boldest set of reforms for decades. These included more market pricing and a promise to abolish labour camps. China also further relaxed its one-child policy, in place since the 1970s, by allowing parents to have two children if one of the parents is an only child. In 2012 $2 billion-worth of fines were imposed on families that broke the one-child rule.
中國新領導人習近平宣布了數十年來最大膽的改革，包含了更廣泛的市場化以及承諾廢止勞教制度。中國同時也進一步放寬了其一胎化政策，允許夫婦其中一人是獨子的情況下可以生兩個孩子，在2012年光是違反一胎化政策的罰款，中國政府就獲得了20億元。
China tried to stamp its authority on its region by imposing an air defence zone over a swathe of the East China Sea that covers islands contested by Japan. Japan and America ignored China's demand that it should be notified about flight plans by sending aircraft into the zone without warning. In December China accused Japan of 「malicious slander」 for suggesting its zone was threatening stability.
中國企圖在東海海域透過劃定防空識別區樹立權威，該識別區包含了與日本的爭議領土，中國要求途經該區域的飛機必須主動向中國方面報備，美日兩國無視了此要求，派遣飛機飛過該識別區而不進行通知。日本認為此劃定識別區的行動威脅到了地區穩定性，中國控訴其主張為惡意毀謗。
In March North Korea startled the world when it said it was preparing for a 「state of war」 with South Korea. Kim Jong Un, the North's young dictator, closed the year by executing his uncle for forming 「factions」 against him.
三月北韓宣布其準備對南韓處於戰爭狀態，北韓的年輕獨裁者金正恩，覆蓋了「我要幹掉結黨營私的姑丈卡」結束了這一年。
Edward Snowden provoked a debate about government mass-surveillance programmes when he leaked classified documents about the activities of America's National Security Agency. The extent of the snooping angered many, though Mr Snowden was accused of putting the security of America and its allies at risk. Some of those allies, including Angela Merkel of Germany and Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, were furious that their personal communications had been monitored.
Edward Snowden在洩漏了美國國安局有關竊聽的的秘密文件後，掀起了有關於政府大規模監視活動的爭議。監聽的範圍之廣惹怒了許多人，而Snowden也被指控危及美國及其盟國的國家安全。但其盟友、包括德國的梅克爾以及巴西的Dilma Rousseff都對她們的個人通訊遭到竊聽感到憤怒。
Typhoon Haiyan unleashed some of the strongest winds ever recorded at up to 315kph (195mph), leaving at least 6,000 people dead in the Philippines.
海燕颱風以時速315公里的風速打破了紀錄，並造成菲律賓6000名以上人民死亡。
Israel's general election returned Binyamin Netanyahu to power. After two months of tortuous negotiations he formed a broad coalition government and appointed Tzipi Livni, who leads the Hatunah party, as chief negotiator with the Palestinians.
以色列的大選讓Binyamin Netanyahu重回大位，在兩個月之後終於組成了執政聯盟，並指派Hatunah黨的領袖Tzipi Livni擔任與巴勒斯坦的主要談判人。
Among other big elections, Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats won a third term in Germany and formed a grand coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats. She is the only leader in the euro zone to have been re-elected since the start of its debt crisis. Australia went through three prime ministers over the course of the year; the centre-right Liberals, led by Tony Abbott, won an election. Michelle Bachelet became Chile's president again; her first term ended in 2010. Malaysia's ruling Barisan Nasional coalition had its worst election showing since 1969; it still formed a government. And Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the victor in a presidential election in Kenya. His trial at the International Criminal Court on charges of orchestrating the ethnic violence that followed Kenya's 2007 election begins in February.
梅克爾的基督教民主聯盟第三次贏得了大選，並與中間偏左的社會民主黨組成了大聯合政府。從歐債危機以來，她是第一個成功連任的歐元區領袖。澳洲在今年就換了三名總理，而中間偏右的自由黨Tony Abbott贏得了大選。Michelle Bachelet在2010年卸任後今年又再次當選智利總統。Uhuru Kenyatta在肯亞的總統大選中勝選，他在二月於國際刑事法庭被指控策劃2007年大選後的種族間暴力行為。
Problems with battery systems led to the temporary grounding of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner around the world. It was the first time America's Federal Aviation Administration had grounded a type of aircraft since 1979.
由於電池問題，世界各地的波音787客機被迫暫時降落。這是美國聯邦飛行管制局在1979年後首次停飛一個機種的所有飛機。
In Bangladesh the collapse of a building that housed clothing factories killed 1,100 workers. They had been ordered to return to work despite warnings about cracks in the structure. It was South Asia's worst industrial disaster in 30 years.
孟加拉的成衣工廠崩塌造成1100名工人死亡，他們在被警告建築有危險後仍被逼回去工作。這是南亞30年來最嚴重的工安災害。
America's government was temporarily shut down for the first time in 17 years, after a bickering Congress failed to pass a spending bill. The Republicans frustrated the White House with their blocking tactics, causing the Democrats to introduce a curb on filibustering in the Senate. Barack Obama's approval ratings headed to the emergency room after the botched roll-out of his health-care reforms.
美國政府17年來首次停擺，肇因於國會鬥爭而無法完成支出法案。共和黨以各種阻撓方法讓白宮難以施展拳腳，逼迫民主黨於參議院通過限制議事阻撓（或冗長辯論filibuster）的規定。歐巴馬的支持率在他搞砸了健保改革上線第一步之後直奔急診室。
In Turkey a protest against developing a park in Istanbul snowballed into nationwide demonstrations against the authoritarian tone of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. Elsewhere, an increase in fares on São Paulo's buses was the catalyst for bringing millions of disaffected Brazilians out onto the streets in 100 cities. There was a sense of déjà vu about protests in Thailand (against a government run by a member of the Shinawatra family), Ukraine (against an unreconstructed pro-Russian president) and Greece (against just about everything).
一場針對在伊斯坦堡的公園建設抗議，演變成全國性對於高壓式領袖Recep Tayyip Erdogan的示威活動。而巴西聖保羅對於公車漲價的抗議行動則使百萬名巴西的不滿民眾聚集於100多個城市的街頭。而既視感（déjà vu）則充斥在世界各地, 泰國又是一次抗議Shinawatra家人所組成的政府，烏克蘭又在抗議學不乖的親俄總統，而希臘人又在什麼都看不爽。
Diplomats hailed an apparent breakthrough on Iran's nuclear programme that gives it six months to curtail its activities, though in December Iranian negotiators walked out of a meeting to discuss implementing the deal. Earlier, Hassan Rohani, Iran's new president, was given a cautious welcome by the West. The American and Iranian presidents talked for the first time since 1979.
針對伊朗的核子武器終於有了突破性的外交進展，得到了六個月的時間來限制其活動。伊朗的新總統Hassan Rohani受到了西方國家的歡迎，美國和伊朗的代表在1979年後首次進行對話。
Although he faced mounting criticism at home, President François Hollande of France was praised abroad for sending French troops to Mali to help fight Islamist separatists. A peace deal was signed in the summer. France also sent troops to the Central African Republic to join a peacekeeping force, led by the African Union, to try to prevent the rebels who had taken over the country from wreaking havoc.
法國總統歐蘭得雖然在國內招致了許多批評，但他派遣軍隊至馬里打擊伊斯蘭分離主義份子的行動則受到了國際的讚揚，在夏天也完成了條約的簽署。法國也派遣軍隊至中非共和國協助非洲聯盟的維安軍力，以避免取得政權的叛軍進行破壞。
A group affiliated to al-Qaeda and purportedly demanding an end to French operations in Mali seized a gas plant in Algeria and held 800 people hostage. Algerian security forces stormed the complex, but 39 foreign workers were killed during the operation.
與蓋達組織有關聯的集團挾持了一座瓦斯廠以及800多名人質，抗議阿爾及利亞政府讓法國通過以打擊馬里伊斯蘭分離主義份子。政府軍成功突襲了瓦斯廠，但依然有39名外國工作者死亡。
In some of the year's other audacious terrorist attacks, Islamist Somalis attacked a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, resulting in scores of deaths during a four-day siege; two brothers, motivated by Islamist beliefs, bombed the Boston marathon, killing three people; and two British Islamists of Nigerian descent shocked Londoners when they ran down an off-duty soldier and tried to decapitate him.
恐怖攻擊橫行。伊斯蘭索馬利亞的團體攻擊了在肯亞首都奈洛比的一處購物商場，在四天的圍城中造成了傷亡。一對受到伊斯蘭信仰影響的兄弟在波士頓馬拉松中引爆炸彈，造成三人死亡。而兩名奈及利亞後裔則攻擊一名放假中的士兵甚至還嘗試要將其斬首。
Britain's Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition produced ever more spending cuts. But the government declared that austerity was bearing fruit after several international forecasts of British growth were revised upwards.
英國的保守自由執政聯盟實行了更多的支出撙節，而政府認為這些年的撙節行動已經在數個國際組織對英國的成長願景評估中看到效果。
After Hugo Chávez's death from cancer, power was transferred in Venezuela to Nicolás Maduro, who won a presidential election. Mr Maduro carried on where his predecessor left off, accusing the opposition of economic sabotage, expelling American diplomats and forcing through price controls.
在查維茲死於癌症後，委內瑞拉的權力交到了Nicolás Maduro手上，他則繼續執行查維茲所留下的工作，指責反對黨進行經濟上的破壞，驅逐美國大使並加強商品的價格管制。
Bitcoin, an online currency run on cryptographic software and favoured by drug dealers, gained some respectability this year, with even Ben Bernanke saying it 「may hold long-term promise」. But its price is volatile, soaring from $15 in January to above $1,200 in early December and crashing to under $600 a week later.
受到毒品交易歡迎的比特幣終於得到了一些尊重，Ben Bernanke也表示其「可能有長期的潛力」。但其價格波動相當劇烈，一月時兌15美元，到了十二月初則是1200美元，但在月底則又掉到了600美元。
Small food companies in Europe faced an unbridled disaster when it emerged that a few suppliers to British supermarkets were using horsemeat instead of beef in frozen meals. 在歐洲，一些小型的食物供應商用馬肉偽裝牛肉，於數個英國超市的冷凍肉品貴上販售。
