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2011年11月3日星期四

World pays tribute to Steve Jobs

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6 October 2011 Last updated at 03:12 GMT Consumers paid tribute to ''a man of great perspective''

Apple's corporate statement announcing the death of 56-year old co-founder Steve Jobs was brief: "We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today.

"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."

Many technology experts, industry peers and other admirers have been quick to add their own tributes.

"Steve was among the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.

"By building one of the planet's most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity.

"By making computers personal and putting the internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun.

"The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented."

"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being.

"Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor.

"Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."

"For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honour. I will miss Steve immensely.

"Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives."

"All of us would be touched every day by products that he was the creative genius behind, so this is very sad news and my condolences go to his family and friends."

"Tonight, America lost a genius who will be remembered with Edison and Einstein, and whose ideas will shape the world for generations to come.

"Again and again over the last four decades, Steve Jobs saw the future and brought it to life long before most people could even see the horizon.

"In New York City's government, everyone from street construction inspectors to NYPD detectives have harnessed Apple's products to do their jobs more efficiently and intuitively."

Steve Jobs Steve Jobs is credited with revolutionising the way people listen to music

"Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.

"His legacy will extend far beyond the products he created or the businesses he built. It will be the millions of people he inspired, the lives he changed, and the culture he defined.

"Steve was such an 'original,' with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started."

"He always seemed to be able to say in very few words what you actually should have been thinking before you thought it."

"VISIONARIES are always called CRAZY in the beginning. A VISIONARY sees things that everybody else says is IMPOSSIBLE, sees a World that People can't invision (sic) - MAC, IPOD, IPAD, IPHONE, ITUNES and PIXAR. I have nothing but Love for Mr. Jobs and Apple, they have always given me and my films L-O-V-E."

"'Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose', as Steve Jobs said in 2005."

"Steve lived the California Dream every day of his life and he changed the world and inspired all of us."

"Thank you for revolutionising the way we listen to music. Your vision will not be forgotten."

Industry colleagues and rivals flocked to pay their compliments for and respect to Steve Jobs, including the founder of Twitter, Dick Costolo, AOL's founder, Steve Case, the chief executive of Time Warner, Jeff Bewkes, the chief executive of Dell, Michael Dell and the chairman of the New York Times, Arthur Sulzberger.

Other tributes (via Twitter) included praise for the way Steve Jobs changed the technological landscape:

"Thank you, Steve Jobs, for making technology a delight to use, instead of a necessary evil."

"The world pauses their iPods and rushes to their MacBooks and iPhones to confirm the news."

"3 Apples changed the World, 1st one seduced Eve, 2nd fell on Newton and the 3rd was offered to the World half bitten by Steve Jobs."

Apple fans were invited to share their thoughts, memories and condolences by sending messages to rememberingsteve@apple.com.

And social networking groups were calling for iPhone vigils in public parks across the United States.


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2011年10月19日星期三

The developed world ' stalling ' risk

Through travel agents to pay bribes in the form of cross-border tourism. Shopping bag full of banknotes in the parking lot. United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), just above year United States Asian government officials in many facilities for the IBM corporate bribery in two ways.

SEC settle in March, the multinational computer companies to $ 10 million fine, civil accusations against it. SEC complains, IBM attempted to China and Korea when its hardware products in government procurement, violated the foreign corrupt practices Act (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act).

IBM is not alone. Only 6 weeks ago, the United States Department of Justice, said California energy storage products manufacturer maikesiwei technology company (Maxwell technologies) to sell power to State-owned enterprises in China to the underlying device, bribed to exaggerate the contract price, the company paid nearly 15 million dollar fine to settle criminal and civil charges against themselves.

There are other examples of known companies, for example in 2009 France Alcatel-Lucent (Alcatel-Lucent), and United States regulators settle, which found that group Telecom was a group of Chinese officials visited the factory and training trip, most of the time spent in Disneyland (Disneyworld), Universal Studios (Universal Studios) or Las Vegas.

The United States authorities with unprecedented intensity, possible violations of the foreign corrupt practices Act investigations, attracted by reconciliation, publishing, and also fined is more and more, Weijia, New York law firm (Weil Gotshal & Manges), United States Department of Justice and the allegations of SEC brought a total of 74 last year, only 12 and 5 years ago. As part of the reason is that companies are increasingly in the Western world to indicate the countries whose economies are largely controlled by the Government. "It is part of globalisation," said a regulator. -When in the market of emerging countries, it is difficult to go from a compliance perspective. ”

But there is also another reason, namely surveys might be hard-pressed to provide federal financial matters also with regard to this pre-admits that harvest. WAI-Kay law firm (White & Case) study showed that within 3 years, target reconciliation brought revenue of us $ 3 billion to the Treasury. When the relevant bodies to get congressional approval when their larger budgets, this is a lot of "selling points". The global financial crisis and bonade · maduofu (Bernard Madoff), after the fraud, the supervisory authorities also felt the pressure to prove his ability to work. The foreign corrupt practices Act is a strong proof of the tool objectives.

As a result, for those companies that do business abroad--whether it is the largest transnational corporations, including the smallest investment institutions--the problem is becoming increasingly difficult. Also operate problem, organizing travel for customers or vendors, may also incur unsecured.

United States businesses complained about strict rules which constitute unfair barriers and United States complain businesses than United States regulators for cross-border jurisdiction. When under beike · maijian advokatbyr? (Baker & McKenzie), in fact, six cases in which foreign corrupt practices act in the largest settlement, 5 has its headquarters in the United States outside the company. Siemens AG (Siemens) to pay fines and up to ever profit recovery in the United States and Germany paid a total of 1.6 billion dollars, since companies in Argentina, Bangladesh, Iraq and other places undue payment of money to government officials to obtain contracts.

Other Governments would follow the United States. United Kingdom anti-bribery law entered into force on 1 July. The OECD (OECD) has several anti-bribery initiative, but transparency International (Ti) noted in 2011 survey, OECD member countries, only 7 countries to actively implement these initiatives, 21 countries which have failed to take action, or a very small, the other 9 countries had taken appropriate measures.


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2011年10月18日星期二

Qatar gears up for 2022 World Cup

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6 October 2011 Last updated at 23:01 GMT By Bill Wilson Business reporter, BBC News Qatar delegates celebrate after being awarded the 2022 World Cup hosting rights Qatar now has 11 years to prepare for the 2022 World Cup To say the football world was shocked when Qatar was given the right to host the 2022 football World Cup would be an understatement.

Critics, and many still remain, wondered how such a massive event could be held in a country with a total population less than Greater Manchester's, and where the summer temperature can reach 50C.

However, the man at the helm of organising the tournament insists criticism is misplaced and that the Middle Eastern Emirate will be able to stage a memorable tournament 11 years from now.

Hassan al-Thawadi, the secretary-general of the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, is looking to provide a World Cup memorable for all the right reasons.

Mr al-Thawadi said that two billion people were within a four-hour flight of Qatar, and that the World Cup would "build bridges of understanding between the Middle East and rest of the world".

And some bridges need to be built.

He said that since Fifa had awarded it the tournament, the emirate had faced an "avalanche of accusations and allegations" relating to claims it had bribed its way to securing the World Cup.

Mr al-Thawadi said Qatar had in fact conducted its bid campaign "to the highest ethical and moral standards".

'Promises'

Now he wants to focus on leaving a "bold legacy" from hosting a World Cup which some analysts estimate could cost as much as £138bn to bring about.

Qatar hopes to leave a legacy in the areas of football development, air-cooling technology, building modular stadiums (which can be downsized after the event), and fan experience.

The Khalifa stadium will be expanded from 50,000 seats to 68,030 New stadiums will be built and existing ones will have their capacity extended

"We can deliver... and fulfil the promises we made to the world," Mr al-Thawadi told delegates at the Leaders in Football conference in London.

He said Qatar has been drawing inspiration about how to host a successful event from a number of sources, including London 2012.

The small nation, population 1.7 million, is now looking to appoint a project management company by the end of the year - "a crucial appointment which we must get right".

It is also looking to draw up a "master schedule" for stadiums and infrastructure, in order to resolve any potential pitfalls on the road to 2022 as soon as possible.

There will be 12 stadiums in use at the World Cup, and it is hoped the first new one with air-cooling technology with will be in place by 2015.

Cooling

In addition, Mr al-Thawadi said the 2022 World Cup would benefit from a "state-of-the-art transport infrastructure" which needed to be largely constructed from scratch.

The official said that the small size of the emirate meant fans would be able to stay in the same hotel for the duration of the tournament, and also to travel easily and take in two games in one day at different venues.

One on the thorny question of temperature, the country says it is also developing air-cooling techniques.

"Technology is already being trialled in open spaces in Qatar," says Mr Al al-Thawadi.

There has been talk of moving the World Cup to the winter, but this notion has been scotched my many, including the German football federation.

"We submitted a bid that looks towards hosting a summer World Cup - we are moving towards that," says the 2022 supremo.

He said it was up to the global football community to come to any unanimous decision if that situation was ever to be changed.

Meanwhile, nine of the stadiums being used will be modular, and Qatar will donate 170,000 seats to developing countries after the World Cup, when stadiums are slimmed down.

That he said, meant the country would not be lumbered with any large "white elephant" rarely full stadiums after 2022.

Alcohol

For potential visiting fans, Mr al-Thawadi wanted to quell fears that there would be nothing for them to do after matches.

Continue reading the main story
We are confident and excited that this will leave a legacy of understanding, and that people can unite through a shared love of football”

End Quote Hassan al-Thawadi Qatar 2022 "There is significant investment in tourism in Qatar, museums and entertainment sites, and a service industry dedicated towards fans," he says.

"We have always said alcohol would be available. It might not be as available as it is in London, but any fan that wants to enjoy a drink can do so."

He said the Qatar public would also be prepared for the influx of fans and, for example, their different dress sense.

In addition, he said Qatar was host to many different communities, including English people, and was "used to being hospitable".

He added: "We have hosted major events over the years" - including the 2006 Asian Games.

Catalyst

The country has also applied to host the 2017 World Athletics Championship - in competition with London - and also the 2020 Olympics.

"The Olympic Games bid is not a distraction to 2022, and may be an opportunity for some synergies with the World Cup."

Qatar's Mohammed el-Sayed (white kit) fights for the ball with Bahrain's Mohammed Hussain It is hoped the 2022 World Cup will help improve football quality in Qatar

Hosting these large sporting events could, he said, be used as "an economic tool".

"The World Cup can be a catalyst of economic change," he believes, not only for Qatar but for the whole Middle East region.

He said a number of yet-to-be-revealed initiatives were in the pipeline to involve other Middle East countries' participation in the World Cup.

Finally, on the playing field, it is hoped that 2022 will provide the same boost to football in West Asia that the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan did for East Asia, particularly the two host countries.

"We want people to come and explore, and learn about us," he says.

"We are confident and excited that this will leave a legacy of understanding, and that people can unite through a shared love of football."


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2011年8月2日星期二

'Africa can feed the world' | Mark Tran

MDG : International Fund for Agricultural Development president Kanayo NwanzeKanayo Nwanze in a visit to China last week. At the Conference of FAO in Rome, said that Africa could repeat the success of farmers in China, which also suffered frequent droughts. Photography: Park Ji-Hwan/AFP/Getty Images

Africa can feed not only himself, but the world is a bold statement to make at a time when famine looming over part of the continent.

But this is precisely the demand made by Kanayo Nwanze, President of the International Fund for agricultural development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations. Nwanze gave a forceful intervention in emergency meeting on Monday in Rome to discuss the crisis in East Africa, where, according to the UN, some 11.6 million people need humanitarian assistance in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti.

Nwanze drew a sharp contrast between Gansu province in Northwestern China and parts of Africa who can not feed. He said as many parts of the world, Gansu suffers from frequent droughts, limited water for irrigation and severe erosion. Even though the climate and the harsh environment, the programme area of Gansu farmers are feeding and increase their income.

"I met a farmer whose incomes have risen only 2 (£ 1.20) per day in 2006 to $35 a day last year", he exclaimed.

So when asked why this could be done in China but not in Africa, Nwanze said the vital difference political era of the Government.

"What I saw in Gansu was the result of the policy of the Government to invest in rural areas and reduce the gap between the rural and the urban and curb the migration," said in a telephone interview. "You have a very hard environment, it has only 300 millimeters of rain a year, compared to the Sahel to get 400-600 mm, but the Government has invested in roads and electricity." We are a community ready to transform their lives for rainwater harvesting, using biogas, slopes terraces in the mountains. "There are cultures, earned, are vegetables, wheat and maize cultivation and income generation that allow you to build resistance."

While Somalia is a worse, still Nwanze, Ethiopia and Djibouti has been a lack of investment in the long term which makes them vulnerable to climate change. "Not enough to wait for disaster to act crisis." The rains will fail again, but Governments have not invested in the capacity of populations to resist drought.

Nwanze argues that Africa is facing the consequences of decades of neglecting agriculture, a fault found with aid donors and African Governments.

"There was a change in the paradigm of the agriculture industrialization," he said. "Is good, but not to the extent that neglect food and now face the consequences." Even where farming practices has been seen as the occupation of a poor man. "It is not as an attractive profession."

The figures backup you. In the mid 1990s, ODA for global development to agriculture reached $20 billion before decline to $endowed in a early 2000. It is slow upward again, reaching $9bn in 2009. In a recent report, one advocacy group, gave two reasons for the decline: complacency for food production in the world after the dramatic improvement in the production of food in Asia and Latin America and the doctrine of development stressed developing countries dismantle State and State enterprises including agricultural research during the 1960s and 1970s.

But after decades of neglect, agriculture is fashionable again in development circles. Posts by the increase in food prices worldwide in 2009, the g-8 group of rich countries and other donors committed to provide $22bn of funds for agriculture and food security. Donors have some ground to fulfill those promises in the agreed deadline of three years, but agriculture is firmly on the international agenda. In June, Ministers of Agriculture of the G20 agreed to a plan of action in Paris, which reiterated their commitment to the promise of 2009 L'Aquila and cited the importance of small farmers.

Nwanze, who welcomed the plan of Action considers that small farmers as the great hope of Africa. Agriculture, mainly on a small scale, represents approximately 30% of the GDP and at least 40% of the value of exports from sub-Saharan Africa. In a number of small countries in Africa, agriculture plays a more important role, representing 80 per cent or more of export earnings.

The President of IFAD said that Africa could easily increase the use of fertiliser without impact on the environment, because the current usage is so low. And cited the possibility of increasing irrigation: only 7% of the land in Africa is irrigated, compared with more than 30% of the land in Asia and the possibilities of farmers using improved seed varieties which would considerably increase the productivity.

If this sounds circular in the sky, Nwanze cites a number of countries that are experiencing success focusing on agriculture, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ghana - whose Governments, assisted by the private sector, have made a great commitment to agriculture. "The potential is enormous, said Nwanze.""With a small investment, Africa can feed and has the potential to feed the world".


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2011年7月31日星期日

The crisis in the Horn of Africa is a warning to the world | Jeffrey Sachs

MDG Displaced People At Dadaab Refugee Camp KenyaNewcomers tail of Somali refugees in tents by the charity of the Lutheran World Federation on the side of the Dagahaley in Dadaab, in Kenya refugee camp. Photography: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

The crisis in the Horn of Africa is a profound human disaster in the making and a warning to the world. More than 11 million Africans, primarily pastoralists in dry land of Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and neighbouring countries, are at risk of dying of starvation after two seasons of rain has failed. They need urgent help to survive, and the Governments and non-governmental organizations are in place to deliver that aid if the necessary funding is confirmed immediately. An estimated $mil is urgently necessary, equal to $1 for each person in the world of high income.

The warning is clear. The Horn of Africa is the region's most vulnerable worldwide, beset by poverty, hunger and global climate change, in particular a drying and warming of the climate during the last quarter of a century. These scourges are leading to the spread of violence and war, and war is contributing to global instability. If fail to meet the challenges of the Horn of Africa in its causes: poverty and the vulnerability of pastoralists and nomadic populations of the agro - we will face increasing violence in the Horn of Africa, Yemen and beyond. The world could be severely endangered and trillions of dollars that would eventually be spent on military responses would be useless to prevent unrest. Hunger cannot be overcome by violence.

West has contributed to the crisis in the region through global climate change to sexual life and livelihood of the population of the region. It is high time that we act to help strengthen the economies of the pastors of these environmental threats to the region. We must not only provide emergency relief but go beyond, to help these poor regions out of extreme poverty and to be more resilient to climate change. Support the sustainable development of pasture in the Horn of Africa is not only save lives but help to put an end to the war and the spread of global instability.

"Traditional donors", including the United States and the European Union, have fallen much promises made at the Summit of the G8 in L'Aquila, Italy, in 2009 to help small farmers, including pastoralists. United States and the EU are in a deep political and financial crisis, meaning or is likely to step forward with the scale of emergency and long-term aid to the Horn of Africa that normally expected to comply with.

In this situation, it is encouraging that the Gulf countries, including members of the GCC, have demonstrated willingness to intensify its assistance to the Horn of Africa, across the Red Sea. These countries are experiencing an impressive increase in income from exports this year, giving them the opportunity to expand its regional and global leadership as well. The Islamic Bank of development, the leaders of the 57 countries of the Organization for cooperation on Islamic (OIC), the financial institution has also shown impressive and inspiring dynamism, as well as a commitment of countries in crisis in the Horn of Africa.

New donors, in the end, step forward to help meet the urgent needs of the Horn of Africa. The time is very short and the needs are great. Generosity and speed are of the essence.


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