A huge gilded statue of a dog has been unveiled on a busy traffic circle in the capital of Turkmenistan by the country’s longtime leader, who has also written an ode to the local breed and gifted one to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

一座巨大的鍍金狗雕塑在土庫曼首都一處交通繁忙的圓環由該國長年領導者揭幕，他曾為這個當地品種寫頌歌，並送了一頭給俄羅斯總統佛拉迪米爾．普廷。

The statue, with a screen showing Turkmenistan’s beloved Alabai dogs in action wrapped around the pedestal, joins another on a different major junction, also coated in gold, of President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov himself, seated on a horse.

這座雕像的底座上包覆著螢幕，顯示土庫曼熱愛的阿拉拜犬的活動，加入另一處重要路口一樣是鍍金的另一座雕塑陣容，後者是總統庫爾班古力．別爾德穆哈梅多夫本人坐在一匹馬上。

Dogs and horses are sources of national pride in the isolated desert nation, where they are widely used by the many traditional herders among the population of six million.

狗和馬是這個與世隔絕的沙漠國家的民族自豪感來源，牠們被600萬人口中許多傳統牧民廣泛使用。

The large, stocky breed is known as wolf crusher for its prowess in guarding sheep and goats and is also used to guard homes and for dog fights, a popular entertainment in Turkmenistan.

這種體型龐大、結實的犬種因牠保衛綿羊和山羊的高超本領，被稱為碎狼機，也被用在保護住家及土庫曼流行的鬥犬娛樂中。

Kazakhstan abolishes death penalty 哈薩克廢除死刑

Kazakhstan abolished the death penalty, making permanent a nearly two-decade freeze on capital punishment in the authoritarian Central Asian country, a notice on the presidential website said Saturday.

週六在哈薩克總統府網站的一份公告說，該國廢除了死刑，使得在這個中亞專制國家被凍結執行將近20年的極刑正式告終。

The notice said President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had signed off on parliamentary ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights － a document that commits signatories to the abolition of capital punishment.

公告說，總統托卡耶夫已經簽署國會認可的「公民權利及政治權利國際公約第二任擇議定書」，這是讓締約國承諾廢除死刑的文件。

Executions were paused in Kazakhstan from 2003 but courts continued to sentence convicts to death in exceptional circumstances, including for crimes deemed acts of terror.

哈薩克自2003年起暫停執行死刑，但是法院仍繼續對特殊案例做出死刑判決，包括犯下恐怖主義罪行。

Ruslan Kulekbayev was among the convicts set to be executed if the moratorium were lifted. Kulekbayev will now serve a life sentence in jail instead.

若暫停死刑令解除，將被處決的受刑人中包括庫勒巴耶夫。現在，庫勒巴耶夫將改服終身監禁。

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1414082 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1429590

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