美国房地产走势情况，目前市场陷入困境

简介：本文节选自英国《经济学人》杂志，提供每天发生的世界时事热点新闻及经济、科技、军事、娱乐以及文体类报道。对于希望以外媒视角了解世界热点的人来说，可谓是不二之选。

后附的英文原文对于考研英语词汇、阅读、翻译、甚至完型都有巨大的提高作用，根据部分读者反馈，在掌握基础考研词汇的情况下，本文坚持阅读一个月，考研英语一50-60分很容易取得。长期坚持的话，再辅以背诵作文范文、新题型的练习，80分乃至更高亦非难事。

本文仅作为练习英语阅读的素材，不代表我们同意其观点。

世界时事热点简讯

以色列与伊朗支持的黎巴嫩民兵组织真主党之间的停火希望，在谈判者接近达成结束黎巴嫩战争协议的报道后有所上升。据报道，协议草案包括一个为期60天的阶段，在此期间以色列军队将从黎巴嫩撤出，而真主党将把武器撤离边境。据以色列媒体报道，以色列的战争内阁将于周二召开会议审议该协议。

负责起诉唐纳德·特朗普涉嫌干预2020年总统大选的特别顾问杰克·史密斯，请求主审法官驳回此案。他还放弃了对特朗普涉嫌囤积机密文件一案的重启尝试，该案此前已被法官驳回（政府仍在寻求起诉其他两名被告）。史密斯指出，有一项政策禁止司法部起诉在职总统。

在罗马尼亚总统选举的第一轮投票中，亲俄极右翼民族主义者卡林·乔治斯库意外获胜，获得23%的选票。中右翼候选人埃琳娜·拉斯科尼位居第二，获得19%的选票，仅略微领先于中左翼总理马尔塞尔·乔拉库。乔治斯库和拉斯科尼将于12月8日进行第二轮角逐。这一结果可能威胁到罗马尼亚支持乌克兰的立场。

在巴基斯坦首都伊斯兰堡郊区，抗议活动演变为暴力事件，造成至少一名警察死亡，数十人受伤。周日，被监禁的前总理伊姆兰·汗的支持者开始从全国各地向首都进发，警方随后封锁了通往该市的道路。抗议者认为，去年对汗的监禁是政治镇压行为。

印度议会因反对党要求就高塔姆·阿达尼涉嫌贿赂的指控进行辩论而暂停运作。阿达尼是印度大亨，也是印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪的支持者，上周被美国当局起诉。他否认所有指控。与此同时，法国石油巨头道达尔能源公司暂停了对阿达尼集团项目的投资，直至调查详情更加明确。

意大利第二大银行意大利联合信贷银行提出以101亿欧元（106亿美元）收购另一家大型意大利银行意大利裕信银行。此次合并将诞生按市值计算欧洲第三大的银行。意大利联合信贷银行首席执行官安德烈亚·奥塞尔是欧洲银行业整合的坚定支持者，欧洲银行业按国家划分呈碎片化状态。9月，意大利联合信贷银行宣布已收购德国商业银行的大笔股份。

梅西百货宣布一名员工在2021年至2024年期间隐瞒了超过1.3亿美元的费用后，推迟了原定于周二发布的收益报告。这家美国连锁百货公司表示，该员工已不在公司工作，并宣布展开调查。这起丑闻对这家境况不佳的零售商来说又是一次打击，其股价自年初以来已下跌18%。

今日数据：特朗普赢得美国大选后，监狱运营公司GEO集团的股价上涨了91%。

今日议程

乌克兰向北约求助

北约国家大使将于周二在布鲁塞尔会见乌克兰外交官。乌克兰是在俄罗斯周四向第聂伯罗市发射了一枚实验性中程弹道导弹后请求召开这次紧急会议的。这种导弹，尤其是配备有多个弹头的导弹，通常与核武器有关。俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京表示，他是在回应乌克兰最近在俄罗斯境内使用美国和英国导弹的行为。

乌克兰希望北约会议能取得“具体而有意义的结果”。这可能意味着承诺提供新武器或其他援助。乌克兰正在为俄罗斯在南部扎波罗热省开辟新战线做准备，去年乌克兰在那里发动了一次不成功的反攻。

俄罗斯和乌克兰都知道，特朗普在1月上任后热衷于启动和平谈判。双方都希望在外交开始之际让自己处于最有利的地位。

苏丹内战中的命运转折

苏丹官方军队继续在该国农业心脏地带夺回领土。周六，他们将快速支援部队（一个叛变的准军事组织，也是他们的主要对手）赶出了苏丹中部森纳尔州首府辛贾。快速支援部队在过去五个月的大部分时间里一直控制着辛贾，但自9月雨季结束以来，他们也在首都喀土穆失去了地盘。

问题是，这些变化是否有助于重启谈判以结束苏丹这场灾难性的内战。快速支援部队的一位高级官员在最近接受《经济学人》采访时表示，他们已准备好进行谈判。但军队的将军们几个月来一直坚持表示，他们绝不会与快速支援部队进行谈判，他们认为这只是一群乌合之众。他们可能希望在同意讨论条件之前夺取更多领土。和平仍然遥不可及。

美国房地产市场陷入困境

美联储在抑制通胀方面的努力仍部分受到房地产市场停滞的阻碍。许多房主被锁定在低抵押贷款利率中，不愿为了更高的借贷成本而升级房产。虽然30年期固定抵押贷款利率在9月跌至6.1%，但随后又回升至6.8%。（不包括新建房屋）的房屋销售量仍远低于疫情前水平。

与此同时，过去一年的房价上涨了4.2%。标普凯斯-席勒周二发布的最新全国指数可能会显示，11月的房价继续上涨。但这一趋势最终可能会逆转。在供应方面，有更多的房产正在上市。持续走高的利率可能会说服更多潜在的卖家（他们一直在等待时机），他们不能永远等下去。美国的房地产市场可能不会长期陷入困境。

每日名言

THE WORLD IN BRIEF

Hopes of a ceasefire between Israel and Hizbullah, an Iran-backed Lebanese militia, rose after reports that negotiators were nearing an agreement to end the war in Lebanon. The draft of the deal reportedly involves a 60-day period in which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and Hizbullah would move its weapons away from the border. Israel’s war cabinet will meet on Tuesday to consider the deal, according to Israeli media.

Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting Donald Trump for allegedly interfering in the 2020 presidential election, asked the presiding judge to dismiss the case. He also dropped an attempt to revive a case against Mr Trump for allegedly hoarding classified documents, which a judge earlier dismissed (the government is still seeking to prosecute two other defendants). Mr Smith pointed to a policy barring the justice department from trying sitting presidents.

Calin Georgescu, a hard-right, Russia-friendly nationalist, won a shock victory in the first round of Romania’s presidential election, taking 23% of the vote. Elena Lasconi, a centre-right candidate, came second, with 19%, narrowly ahead of Marcel Ciolacu, the centre-left prime minister. Mr Georgescu and Ms Lasconi will compete in a second round on December 8th. The result could threaten Romania’s pro-Ukraine stance.

Protests turned violent on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, killing at least one police officer and wounding dozens of others. Police barricaded roads into the city after supporters of Imran Khan, a jailed former prime minister, began marching from across the country towards the capital on Sunday. The protesters see Mr Khan’s imprisonment last year as an act of political repression.

India’s parliament was suspended after the opposition demanded a debate over allegations of bribery by Gautam Adani. Mr Adani, an Indian tycoon and supporter of Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, was indicted by American authorities last week. He denies all charges. Meanwhile TotalEnergies, a French oil firm, paused its investments in projects with the Adani Group until more details of the investigation became clear.

UniCredit, Italy’s second-biggest bank, offered €10.1bn ($10.6bn) to buy Banco BPM, another big Italian lender. The merger would create Europe’s third-biggest bank by market capitalisation. Andrea Orcel, UniCredit’s boss, is a strong advocate of consolidation in Europe’s banking sector, which is fragmented along national lines. In September UniCredit said it had acquired a big stake in Commerzbank, a German lender.

Macy’s delayed an earnings report scheduled for Tuesday after announcing that an employee had hidden more than $130m-worth of expenses between 2021 and 2024. The American chain of department stores said the employee was no longer working at the firm and announced an investigation. The scandal is a fresh blow to the ailing retailer, whose shares have dropped by 18% since the start of the year.

Figure of the day: 91%, the increase in the price of shares in GEO Group, a firm that owns and operates prisons, after Donald Trump won America’s election.

TODAY’S AGENDA

Ukraine’s plea to NATO

Ambassadors from NATO countries will meet Ukrainian diplomats in Brussels on Tuesday. Ukraine requested the emergency meeting after Russia fired an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile at the city of Dnipro on Thursday. Such missiles, especially those equipped with multiple warheads, are typically associated with nuclear weapons. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, said he was responding to Ukraine’s recent use of American and British missiles inside Russia.

Ukraine wants “concrete and meaningful outcomes” from the NATO meeting. That could mean commitments to new weapons or other aid. It is bracing for Russia to open a new front in the southern province of Zaporizhia, where Ukraine mounted an unsuccessful counter-offensive last year.

Russia and Ukraine both know that Donald Trump is keen to start peace talks when he takes office in January. Each is keen to put itself in the strongest position for the moment when diplomacy begins.

Shifting fortunes in Sudan’s civil war

The official Sudanese army continues to retake territory in the country’s agricultural heartlands. On Saturday it pushed the Rapid Support Forces, a mutinous paramilitary group that is its chief adversary, out of Sinja, the capital of Sennar state in central Sudan. The RSF, which had controlled Sinja for most of the past five months, has also been losing ground in Khartoum, the national capital, since the end of the rainy season in September.

The question is whether these shifts will help restart negotiations to bring an end to Sudan’s catastrophic civil war. In a recent interview with The Economist a top official of the RSF said that it was ready to talk. But the army’s generals have for months insisted that they will never negotiate with the RSF, which they consider a jumped-up militia. They will probably want to capture more territory before agreeing to discuss terms. Peace remains a long way off.

America’s sticky housing market 

The Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool inflation remain hampered, in part, by the stagnant housing market. Many homeowners, locked into low mortgage rates, are reluctant to trade up for significantly higher borrowing costs. Though the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate dipped to 6.1% in September, it has since rebounded to 6.8%. Home sales (excluding new builds) remain far below their pre-pandemic levels.

Home prices, meanwhile, are up 4.2% over the past year. The latest nationwide index from S&P Case-Shiller, published on Tuesday, is likely to show that prices continued to climb in November. But this trend could eventually reverse. On the supply side, more properties are coming on the market. Persistently higher interest rates may convince more would-be sellers, until now biding their time, that they can’t wait forever. America’s housing market may not be stuck for long.

Truth is powerful and it prevails.

Sojourner Truth