普京年提议年底前与日本签署和平条约
俄罗斯总统普京周三表示，他希望在年底前与日本签署正式的和平条约，无条件地结束第二次世界大战延伸下来的敌对状态。
二战结束73年后，这两个国家由于在北方四岛的归属问题上仍有分歧而在理论上仍然处于战争状态。
普京在符拉迪沃斯托克举行的经济会议上说：“让我们签署和平条约......之后在和平条约的基础上我们将作为朋友继续谈论所有分歧。”
日本首相安倍晋三似乎对和平条约的想法持开放态度，称七十年后仍未签署条约并非“正常”。
他说：“日本和俄罗斯 - 无论是普京总统还是我本人 - 都有同样的立场和决心来解决我们的领土争端。”
但日本政府发言人表示，日本的立场没有改变，在与俄罗斯签署任何条约之前，需要解决这些岛屿的主权归属问题。
前苏联在第二次世界大战的最后几天占领了北海道以北和萨哈林岛以东的四个岛屿。
俄罗斯称这些岛屿为南千岛群岛，而日本称其为北方四岛。俄罗斯对这些岛屿拥有主权。但日本希望这些岛屿回归。
这些岛屿富含矿物质和稀有金属，附近水域是绝佳的渔场。
普京和安倍已经就这一领土争议举行了20多次会谈。
安倍提议将这些岛屿列为一个联合经济区，这可能会带来两国达成和解。
Putin Proposes Peace Treaty With Japan Before Year's End
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that he wanted to sign a formal peace treaty with Japan ending hostilities from World War II by the end of the year without conditions.
Seventy-three years after the war concluded, the two countries remain technically at war because of a territorial dispute over four Pacific islands.
"Let us sign the peace treaty ... and later we will continue to talk about all of our disagreements as friends on the basis of a peace treaty," Putin said at an economic conference in Vladivostok.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared open to a treaty, saying it was "not normal" that one still hasn't been signed after seven decades.
"Japan and Russia — both President Putin and myself — share the same position and determination to solve our territorial disputes," he said.
But a Japanese government spokesman said Japan's position had not changed and that the issue of sovereignty over the islands needed to be resolved before signing any treaties with Russia.
The Soviet Union seized the four islands north of Hokkaido and east of Sakhalin in the closing days of World War II.
Russia calls the islands the Kurils, while Japan calls them the Northern Territories. Russia has sovereignty over the islands. Japan wants them back.
The islands are rich in minerals and rare metals, and its waters are excellent fishing grounds.
Putin and Abe have met more than 20 times to discuss the dispute.
Abe has proposed making the islands a joint economic zone, which could lead to a settlement.
飓风“佛罗伦萨”开始冲击北卡罗莱纳
飓风“佛罗伦萨”正慢慢向美国东岸靠近，飓风外围开始冲击北卡罗莱纳州海岸。预计风暴将持续一段时间，给受影响地区带来几厘米降雨，并给大面积地区造成破坏。
尽管佛罗伦萨已经减弱到风速为每小时175公里的二级风暴，但天气预报警告说，由于其体量以及风暴潮带来的洪水，预计可能发生山洪爆发和河流泛滥。
佛罗伦萨目前以每小时20公里的速度向西北方向移动。天气预报说，缓慢的移动将给南北卡罗莱纳州带来长时间暴雨。预报飓风将在整个星期五星期六沿着海岸缓慢移动。
预报称，高达4米的巨浪会淹没北卡罗来纳州的Cape Fear和Cape Lookout，从南卡罗来纳州的Edisto Beach一直向北延伸到北卡的沿岸，会出现从半米到3米不等的海浪。
飓风途经之地的各州政府过去一周来已经向居民发出警告，撤离最易受到风暴影响的地区。北卡、南卡、弗吉尼亚州和佐治亚州的州长宣布进入紧急情况，以帮助加快政府的援助工作。
特朗普总统周三表示，保护生命是他“绝对的最高优先事项”。
他说， “我们做好了充分准备，食物、医疗，你能想象到的一切，我们都准备好了。”
Hurricane Florence Begins Lashing N. Carolina
The outer bands of Hurricane Florence are beginning to lash the North Carolina coast as the storm edges closer to the eastern United States. The storm is expected to linger, dumping several centimeters of rain in affected areas and causing widespread destruction.
Even though Florence has weakened to a Category Two system with winds of 175 kilometers per hour, weather forecasters warn that its size, along with life-threatening storm surge flooding, catastrophic flash flooding and prolonged significant river flooding, can be expected.
Florence is currently moving to the northwest at 20 kilometers per hour. The forecasters say the slow speed will give Florence time to pound the Carolinas with bands of heavy rain. The forecast track has the storm moving slowly along the coast throughout Friday and into Saturday.
Forecasters say surges up to 4 meters could inundate Cape Fear, North Carolina to Cape Lookout, North Carolina, with smaller surges ranging from half a meter to 3 meters in coastal areas from Edisto Beach, South Carolina to coastal areas extending north into North Carolina.
Leaders of the states in the path of the storm have warned people all week to evacuate the most susceptible areas. The governors of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia declared emergencies to help speed up government aid efforts.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that protecting lives is his "absolute highest priority."
He said. "We're fully prepared. Food, medical, everything you can imagine, we are ready."
