美国人慈善捐赠突破4000亿美元
强劲的股市和健康的经济让美国人做出更慷慨的慈善捐赠。
美国施惠基金会星期二公布的报告说，来自个人、资产托管会、基金会和公司2017年的慈善捐赠总额首次突破4000亿美元，比2016年的约3896亿美元增长了5.2%。
各种基金会2017年得到的捐赠增幅最大，涨幅为15.5%，其中主要来自各慈善家向自己基金会的捐赠，例如，戴尔公司首席执行官麦克·戴尔和他的妻子苏珊捐赠了10亿美元，脸书首席执行官扎克伯格和他妻子普莉希拉·陈捐赠了20亿美元。
涨幅第二大的是向艺术、文化和人文领域的捐赠。唯一境况不佳的是国际事务领域，收到的捐赠比2016年减少了4.4%。
美国各地筹集慈善捐款的人士担心，发生贸易战的前景和美国税法修改会导致未来的捐款减少。
US Charitable Contributions Top $400 Billion
A robust stock market and a healthy economy has allowed Americans to donate more generously than ever before.
The Giving USA report, released Tuesday, said donations from individuals, estates, foundations and corporations topped the $400 billion mark for the first time in 2017, up 5.2 percent from the estimate of $389.64 billion for 2016.
Gifts to foundations saw the biggest gain in 2017, rising 15.5 percent, driven by large gifts from philanthropists to their own foundations, like the $1 billion gift from Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell and his wife, Susan, and $2 billion from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan.
The second-largest increase was an 8.7 percent increase to arts, culture and humanities. The only sector that did not fare well was international affairs, which saw a decrease of 4.4 percent.
Fundraisers across the U.S. fear the possibility of looming trade wars and changes in U.S. tax laws could negatively affect future donations.
美国起诉五名俄罗斯商人和三名叙利亚商人
5名俄罗斯商人和3名叙利亚商人星期二在华盛顿联邦法庭被起诉，罪名是洗钱和利用在克里米亚的船运公司向叙利亚运送喷气机燃料。
这8人除被起诉外还面临高额罚款。
美国助理司法部长德默斯（John Demers）说：“美国对叙利亚和克里米亚的制裁是为了阻断叙利亚支持恐怖主义和谋求和使用大规模杀伤性武器，同时制裁那些谋求破坏乌克兰民主进程和领土完整的人。”
这8人被指控设立门面公司，使用假造的文件和船运记录绕过美国的制裁。美国禁止把美元电汇到叙利亚或与叙利亚进行任何使用美元的交易。
这些嫌疑人据称使用俄罗斯公司拥有的油轮非法把喷气机燃料和其它物品运到叙利亚。
这些被告尚未表示是否认罪，但是如果所有罪名成立的话，他们将面临长达25年的监禁。
5 Russian, 3 Syrian Businessmen Charged in US
Five Russian and three Syrian businessmen were indicted in federal court in Washington Tuesday for alleged money laundering and using a Crimean-based shipping company to send jet fuel to Syria.
Along with the charges, the eight also face large fines.
"The U.S. sanctions on Syria and Crimea thwart Syria's support of terrorism and its pursuit and use of weapons of mass destruction as well as the actions of those who seek to undermine Ukraine's democratic processes and territorial integrity," Assistant Attorney General John Demers said.
The eight are accused of setting up front companies and using phony documents and shipping records to circumvent sanctions against U.S. dollar wires to Syria or any transactions with Syria involving U.S. dollars.
The suspects allegedly used tankers owned by a Russian-based company to illegally ship jet fuel and other materials to Syria.
The defendants have not yet entered a plea, but they face as much as 25 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
