🔴Wednesday January 20th 2021
🔵2021年1月20日星期三
1️⃣Investment banking: may want to thank Covid-19?
投行事業：因新冠病毒而樂開懷？
Goldman Sachs reported record revenues in the last three months of 2020 and net income of $4.5bn, up by 135% year-on-year. The bank’s trading and investment banking divisions thrived despite the pandemic. Although Bank of America reported net income down by 22%, its equities and investment-banking revenues rose by double-digits. It reduced its reserves for bad loans by $828m amid signs of economic recovery.
高盛銀行 (Goldman Sachs) 的報告稱該行在 2020年的最後三個月之收入創歷史新高，淨收入為 45億美元，同比增長了 135％。儘管新冠疫情大流行，該行的買賣以及投行部門仍然蓬勃發展。雖然美國銀行 (Bank of America) 報告其淨利潤下跌了 22％，但其資產/股權以及投行業務之收入卻呈現兩位數的成長。鑒於經濟有復甦的跡象，美國銀行將其貸款壞/呆帳之準備金減少了 8.28億美元。
2️⃣Thailand: the King is the God, period!
泰國：泰王就是神，不容質疑！
A Thai woman was sentenced to 43 years and six months in prison for 29 violations of a law against insulting the monarchy. Originally arrested in 2015 for reposting audio clips critical of the king to social media, she was detained until November 2018 before being released on bail and tried. Her initial 87-year sentence was halved because she pleaded guilty.
一名泰國婦女因 29次違反「冒犯君主法」而被判處 43年六個月的刑期。她最初於 2015年因將批評泰王的音頻 (重新/再次) 發佈到社群媒體而被逮捕。她一直被拘禁至 2018年11月，隨後被保釋並受審。因為她認罪，因此最初的 87年監禁 (刑期) 得以減半。
3️⃣All quiet on the western front: Biden’s inauguration
西線無戰事：拜登的就職典禮
Ordinarily, American presidents take the oath of office before a crowd that stretches from the steps of the bunting-draped west front of the Capitol building to the Washington Monument, around a mile and half to the west. These are no ordinary times. In Washington, DC, streets are empty and militarised, with over 20,000 National Guard troops deployed. Covid-19 and security threats will keep attendance at the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris today to around 1,000 people, mostly members of Congress and their guests. No tickets have been made available to the public. Nor will the capital’s great and good don black tie to attend inaugural balls—the evening’s festivities will be virtual. Breaking with tradition, Donald Trump will not attend, having previously inspired an insurrection aimed at preventing Mr Biden from taking office. The president-elect called Mr Trump’s no-show “one of the few things that he and I have ever agreed on.”
按照慣例，美國總統的就職宣誓會在眾目睽睽下完成。如此的人潮會一路從國會山莊掛滿布幔的西側階梯向西延伸到 1.5英里 (約合 2.4公里) 以外的華盛頓紀念碑 (Washington Monument)。但今年的儀式將無法照舊。(美國首都) 華盛頓特區的街道早已淨空並部署了超過兩萬名的國民兵加以戒備。新冠疫情與維安威脅將使今天出席拜登 (Joe Biden) 與賀錦麗 (Kamala Harris) 就職典禮的人數被控制在一千人左右，且大多數為國會議員以及他們的賓客。這次的就職典禮並沒有對外公開的入場券。首都圈 (華府特區) 的大咖們也不會繫上黑色領帶參加晚間改為線上舉行的總統就職慶祝舞會。至於川普 (Donald Trump) 先前曾為了阻擋拜登上任而煽動暴亂，川普這次還將打破傳統，不出席拜登的就職典禮。拜登指出，川普的缺席是「少數他和我一起有的共識之一」。
