2 . People who cross the street while looking at their phones may be fined in the city of Xiamen, Fujian province, as traffic police officers are enforcing (施行) a local regulation that was put into effect on August 1st.

A pedestrian who was crossing the street on Tuesday while looking at their phone was given a warning, becoming the city’s first to receive a reprimand (训斥) for the behavior.

The Traffic Safety Regulation on Zebra Lines in Xiamen Special Economic Zone, made into a law on Tuesday, states pedestrians should not browse their electronic devices or engage in other activities that may end anger traffic safety while using crossing lanes. Those who violate this rule and delay or stop the progress of the normal passage of vehicles are supposed to be given a warning or a fine of 50 yuan($7).

The regulation was made in response to motions by legislators (立法委员) to the Xiamen people’s congress. “Through putting uncivilized behavior right via legal means, we hope to create a better environment for drivers and pedestrians to better understand and interact with each other,” said Wu Tao, an official at the local congress.

Su Guoqiang, a deputy to the congress among those who raised the motion, said more than 20 percent of traffic accidents in Xiamen happened on crosswalks. “We hope to use the punishment of the ‘small’ act of browsing phones as something to prevent people from doing such a thing,” he told China Central Television.

Peng Chong, a traffic police officer in Xiamen, told CCTV for the time being they will mostly educate and warn violators and make everyone involved in traffic aware of the rules.

3 . Dogs are welcome in the outdoor areas of restaurants in New York, US. In the past, health and safety laws made it illegal (违法的) to bring dogs to any restaurant in New York. But last May state lawmakers voted (表决) to let people bring dogs to restaurants that have tables outdoors: Not one lawmaker voted no. The law was soon passed. Several special rules are included in this law. The dogs must be kept on a leash (皮带). Dogs must not share water bowls. Also, restaurants can choose to let people bring dogs or not.

New York joins California, Florida and Maryland in the list of states with similar laws. In many European countries, bringing dogs to restaurants is common. Paris in France has allowed dogs to go with their owners in restaurants for a long time.

Governor Andrew Cuomo believes that this new law will help businesses grow. But not all New Yorkers are happy about this new law. Christopher Miller is the spokesman for the New York City Department of Health. He told the New York Daily News that letting dogs in restaurants could cause problems. “The Health Department loves all dogs, but just not at restaurants where they can create a risk to the health and safety of diners, restaurant workers and other dogs,” Miller said.

New York City is often the center of the new ideas in the US. A law asking some restaurants in the city to show the amount of calories (卡路里数量) in the food they served was passed in 2009. The city leader tried unsuccessfully to stop the sale of large amounts of soft drinks in 2012. Smoking was made illegal in restaurants in 1993.

4 . Yang Le Ge Yang, a game on WeChat’s mini program platform, has spread widely on Chinese social media, with a related topic lopping the trending charts (排行榜) on Weibo.

The game is characterized by comic-like art design and background music and its brief introduction that less than 0.1% of players can complete all the levels.

In order to pass the level efficiently, a huge crowd, especially the teenagers, focus their energy and pocket money on seeking the strategy, with little knowledge of the potential risk of being cheated.

Hanging over the situation, China’s top legislature (立法机关) took an effective measure against telecom and online fraud (诈骗) on September 2 by adopting widely expected law that will smooth out these crimes (犯罪) which have long disturbed the public and led to people’s financial losses after receiving spam messages (垃圾短信) and calls.

The law on telecom and online fraud, which has 50 articles, was passed after being reviewed three times by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. China’s top legislative body, aiming to offer strong protection of people’s rights and punish cheaters.

As some people, particularly teenagers, were defrauded by being tricked into buying online game equipment, the Cyberspace Administration of China has worked with the Ministry of Public Security in the fight against cheaters since the beginning of this year. So far, they have dealt with more than 12,000 such cases and asked internet operators to improve the public’s channels to provide fraud-related information.

7 . Germany’s top court has ruled that parts of the country’s 2019 climate (气候) action law must be changed because they don’t do a good job of protecting young people. The result is a big victory for the nine young people who started the law suing (诉讼).

The court suing stresses an important part of the climate change: The change will impact greatly on young people far more than the adults. That’s because the effects of earth warming will become more serious over time. As young people become adults, they’ll be left to deal with many problems that today’s adults have ignored. The government’s failure to plan carefully was putting their future lives in danger.

In 2019, Germany passed a new law, promising that the country would be carbon neutral (碳中和) by 2050. The law made a detailed plan of action until 2030. But the law didn’t have any specific rules or plans for climate actions that would be taken between 2031 and 2050.

Last Thursday, the judges of Germany’s highest court agreed with the young people. They said that not taking climate action made the basic rights of young people to a good future in danger.

The young people had challenged the government’s law in four specific areas. The judges didn’t agree with all of the challenges. But having the court support even a part of their case is seen as a big victory. Neubauer is one of the young people who sued. She works with the climate action group Fridays For Future. Ms. Neubauer said, “Climate protection is our basic right. This is a huge win for the climate movement. It changes a lot.”

The court has given the German government until the end of 2022 to fix the law. The climate law will now need to have a much more detailed plan for the actions that will be taken after 2030 to cut Germany’s pollution, allowing it to become carbon neutral by 2050. Germany’s government has said that it will quickly begin working to make the needed changes.

The advance of technology in our lives has been stopped somewhat in New York City. Lawmakers have passed a bill to ban cashless business. With many parts of the world in a seemingly rapid     1     (tend)to replace cash with digital payment, New York City officials have decided cash still plays    2       important role in our lives. The officials have passed a law     3     keeps stores, restaurants and supermarkets     4     refusing to accept cash. They attempt    5     (protect) the rights of people who prefer to pay through     6     (tradition) means. Shops could face big fines of up to $1, 500 for not     7       (follow) the law. Actually, the bill     8     (approve) by many people. Some people say cashless business discriminates against the poor sections of society, many of whom do not have bank accounts or credit cards. One citizen said, “I think it’s     9     (obvious) unfair not to accept cash because some people don’t have a credit card.”A person    10     (name) Brown said, “We are leading ourselves to business that we don’t have the right to do.”