09 May 2009
South Africa's President Jacob Zuma takes oath during inauguration in Pretoria, 09 May 2009
Jacob Zuma, the controversial leader of the African National Congress, has been sworn in as the fourth post-apartheid president of South Africa.
Jacob Zuma was sworn in twenty minutes later than scheduled at 11:20 AM local time, by Chief Justice Pius Langa, promising to faithfully execute the duties of high office and uphold the law.
"I Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma swear that I will be faithful to the Republic of South Africa, and will obey, observe and uphold and maintain the constitution and all other law of the republic," he said.
Mr. Zuma was then proclaimed president by Justice Langa to the approval of his official praise singer and the applause of the five thousand invited guests.
Thousands of South Africans watched the inauguration from the lawns of Union Buildings in Pretoria. Among the invited guests were former presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, two kings, twenty seven other heads of state and government.
Mr. Zuma comes from a humble background, the son of a domestic worker who did not have the benefit of a formal education.
His road to the high office has been marked by controversy, notably a string of corruption, fraud and racketeering charges dropped on technical grounds two weeks before his election.
Mr. Zuma was fired in 2005 by then President Mbeki following the conviction of his financial advisor on corruption charges in which Mr. Zuma was implicated by the court. He subsequently fought a dogged battle to win control of the ANC and ultimately the country.
As expected, Mr. Zuma linked his presidency to that of Mr. Mandela. He reached back to Mr. Mandela's inaugural address to renew Mr Mandela's promise to build a society free of discrimination, exploitation, want and disease.
"We gather here determined that the struggles and sacrifices of our people over many decades shall not be in vain. Instead, they shall inspire us to complete the task for which so much blood was shed, and so much hardship endured. This is a moment of renewal," he said.
Further casting his leadership in the mold of Mr Mandela, Mr. Zuma stressed the importance of reconciling South Africans and reached out to the man he knows as Zizi - his one-time close friend who is now widely seen as his adversary - former President Thabo Mbeki.
"He made a remarkable contribution towards strengthening our democracy, and laid a firm foundation for economic growth and development. He made our country an integral part of the continent and worked tirelessly for an African rebirth. Through his leadership, South Africa's stature grew in the continent and globally," he said.
Mr. Zuma promised he and his government will work unremittingly to address all the issues of greatest concerns to South Africans.
"For as long as there are South Africans who die from preventable disease; workers who struggle to feed their families; communities without clean water, decent shelter or proper sanitation; rural dwellers unable to make a decent living from the land on which they live; women who are subjected to discrimination, exploitation or abuse; children who do not have the means nor the opportunity to receive a decent education; people who are unable to find work, we shall not rest, and we dare not falter," he said.
Like his campaign speeches these promises are likely to contribute to already very high expectations among South Africans, particularly the 40 percent of the population who survive on less than $2 a day.
Mr. Zuma, and the members of his Cabinet whom he will name on Sunday, will very quickly have to tell South Africans how they plan to meet those promises; and how they, in the current global economic climate, intend to pay for them.
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comment:
Jacob Zuma,he is the fourth president of South Africa after post-apartheid.
He is the controversial leader of the African National Congress and was a financial advisor.
The Republic of South Africa is known for its diversity in cultures, languages, and religious beliefsis and a famouse policy-Apartheid. Apartheid was established by law in 1948, and additional legislation, such as the Immorality Act outlawing relations among people of different racial groups, hardened the legal boundaries. In 1994 South Africa held its first democratic election. Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) came to power, and the country rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations.
This time,Mr. Zuma linked his presidency to that of Mr. Mandela. He reached back to Mr. Mandela's inaugural address to renew Mr Mandela's promise to build a society free of discrimination, exploitation, want and disease. I think,because he comes from a humble background, the son of a domestic worker who did not have the benefit of a formal education,he could won the election. And through his speech he got very high expectations among South Africans. It's also a key point in this election.
2009年5月11日 星期一
2009年4月27日 星期一
Asia, Pacific Take Measures to Prevent Spread of Swine Flu
Countries throughout Asia and the Pacific are taking steps to prevent a strain of swine flu infecting humans from spreading to the region after more than 100 deaths were reported in Mexico and at least 20 cases in the United States and six in Canada. Recent outbreaks of disease have made Asia better prepared for potential pandemics.
Quarantine officer monitors travelers with thermographic device at arrival gate in Narita International Airport, Japan, 27 Apr 2009
Asian and Pacific countries are taking temperature scans of passengers arriving from North America and quarantining those with flu-like symptoms.
The World Health Organization is warning the outbreak of swine flu has pandemic potential and is urging nations to take precautions.
Peter Cordingley is the spokesman for the WHO's Western Pacific office, based in Manila. He says although the virus has not appeared in Asia it has great potential to spread internationally.
"Our advice to governments is to do their best to make sure they're aware of incoming travelers that might have come from infected regions," Cordingley said. "To advise all their physicians to report any unusual symptoms of influenza."
No restrictions
The WHO is not recommending any travel or trade restrictions.
Nonetheless, many Asian nations are warning against travel to Mexico, where the swine flu has hit hardest and is believed to have originated.
At least one Asian nation, China, has banned pork from Mexico and parts of the United States, despite the lack of evidence the virus is being spread directly to humans by pork or pigs.
Asia prepared for disease outbreaks
Cordingley says, since the SARS virus spread from Asia in 2003, killing hundreds worldwide, Asian countries have become better prepared for outbreaks of disease.
"Public health systems learnt a lesson form SARS. They're much stronger," he noted. "Governments have stockpiles of Tamiflu. Infection-control measures have been stepped up. Many, many hospitals now have isolation wards. So, Asia is better prepared. But, we don't know what this virus is going to do and we don't know whether it will overwhelm health systems."
Strains of swine flu that affect pigs are common in Asia, but cases that spread to humans are rare.
Cordingley says the strain of swine flu affecting people in North America has spread quickly.
There are suspected cases being tested as far away as New Zealand with many health officials concerned the virus could mutate, making it more difficult to control.
------------------------------------------------
comment:
There was a new swine flu outbroke in Mexico and United State. And The World Health Organization has declared swine flu is "a public health emergency of international concern". Therefore,Asian and Pacific countries are taking some steps such as temperature scans of passengers arriving from infected regions to prevent a strain of swine flu infecting humans.
But we can understand that the public health systems of Asia countries are much stronger because they learn a lesson form SARS. Many hospitals now have isolation wards. So, Asia is better prepared.
By the way,the good thing is that the international community is far better equipped today than in previous years to combat infectious disease in a coordinated way.
Quarantine officer monitors travelers with thermographic device at arrival gate in Narita International Airport, Japan, 27 Apr 2009
Asian and Pacific countries are taking temperature scans of passengers arriving from North America and quarantining those with flu-like symptoms.
The World Health Organization is warning the outbreak of swine flu has pandemic potential and is urging nations to take precautions.
Peter Cordingley is the spokesman for the WHO's Western Pacific office, based in Manila. He says although the virus has not appeared in Asia it has great potential to spread internationally.
"Our advice to governments is to do their best to make sure they're aware of incoming travelers that might have come from infected regions," Cordingley said. "To advise all their physicians to report any unusual symptoms of influenza."
No restrictions
The WHO is not recommending any travel or trade restrictions.
Nonetheless, many Asian nations are warning against travel to Mexico, where the swine flu has hit hardest and is believed to have originated.
At least one Asian nation, China, has banned pork from Mexico and parts of the United States, despite the lack of evidence the virus is being spread directly to humans by pork or pigs.
Asia prepared for disease outbreaks
Cordingley says, since the SARS virus spread from Asia in 2003, killing hundreds worldwide, Asian countries have become better prepared for outbreaks of disease.
"Public health systems learnt a lesson form SARS. They're much stronger," he noted. "Governments have stockpiles of Tamiflu. Infection-control measures have been stepped up. Many, many hospitals now have isolation wards. So, Asia is better prepared. But, we don't know what this virus is going to do and we don't know whether it will overwhelm health systems."
Strains of swine flu that affect pigs are common in Asia, but cases that spread to humans are rare.
Cordingley says the strain of swine flu affecting people in North America has spread quickly.
There are suspected cases being tested as far away as New Zealand with many health officials concerned the virus could mutate, making it more difficult to control.
------------------------------------------------
comment:
There was a new swine flu outbroke in Mexico and United State. And The World Health Organization has declared swine flu is "a public health emergency of international concern". Therefore,Asian and Pacific countries are taking some steps such as temperature scans of passengers arriving from infected regions to prevent a strain of swine flu infecting humans.
But we can understand that the public health systems of Asia countries are much stronger because they learn a lesson form SARS. Many hospitals now have isolation wards. So, Asia is better prepared.
By the way,the good thing is that the international community is far better equipped today than in previous years to combat infectious disease in a coordinated way.
Quate of the week
"The imperium will bring the person many luxurious ， but can hardly bring a pair of clean hands" by Robert Harris -A novel of ancient Rome.
2009年4月6日 星期一
2009年4月5日 星期日
Obama Hails Result of NATO Summit
US Pres. Obama gestures during a media conference at the NATO summit in Strasbourg, 04 Apr 2009
U.S. President Barack Obama has hailed the results of the just ended NATO summit on the French-German border. Both the president and his proposals for Afghanistan received a warm welcome from the alliance.
President Obama says he is pleased his new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan received solid support from the NATO allies.
"You had NATO putting its stamp of approval on what I believe is a well thought out and hard-headed strategy and approach to Afghanistan, but also the need to deal with the interaction between Afghanistan and Pakistan," he said.
NATO agreed to commit more manpower and money. It will get heavily involved in training the Afghan military and police. More troops will be sent in to help with security in the run up to Afghanistan's national elections in August. And there will be increased funding and personnel for development.
"We will need more resources and a sustained effort to achieve our ultimate goals. But these commitments of troops, trainers and civilians represent a strong downpayment on the future of our mission in Afghanistan and on the future of NATO," he said.
Participants attend North Atlantic Council Summit meeting during second day of the NATO summit in Strasbourg, 04 Apr 2009
The president was asked if participants in the summit sought some kind of linkage between their help and the repeal of a new Afghan law that human rights groups say restricts the rights of women in the Shi'ite community.
Mr. Obama said concerns were raised during the summit. And he stressed that he personally finds the law abhorrent.
"Certainly the views of the administration have been and will be communicated to the Karzai government. And we think that it is very important for us to be sensitive to local culture but we also think there are certain basic principles that all nations should uphold," he said.
But the president also emphasized the importance of the mission to destroy al-Qaida, and prevent terrorists from establishing safe havens in the region.
"We want to do everything we can to encourage and promote rule of law, human rights, the education of women and girls in Afghanistan, economic development, infrastructure development. But I also want people to understand the first reason we are there is to root out al-Qaida so that they cannot attack members of the alliance," he said.
This was Mr. Obama's first NATO summit, and he made clear he was heartened by the reception he received from the other leaders at the table. Mr. Obama said he was constantly reminded that what the allies have in common vastly exceeds any differences they might have.
From:VOA news,04 April 2009
-------------------------------------------
(comment)
NATO Leaders gathered along the French-German border Saturday for the summit to mark the alliance's 60th anniversary and discussed Afghanistan's problem and NATO's future.They supported Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
As we know,NATO constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.
From the beginning,it's an military operation to against a prospective Soviet invasion. Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, NATO has attempted to refocus itself to new challenges and has deployed troops to Afghanistan as well as trainers to Iraq.
So,NATO agreed to commit more manpower and money to root out al-Qaida to protect members of the alliance. By the way,this was Mr. Obama's first trip to Europe. I think,this summit is a good beginning for America-Europe relationship.
U.S. President Barack Obama has hailed the results of the just ended NATO summit on the French-German border. Both the president and his proposals for Afghanistan received a warm welcome from the alliance.
President Obama says he is pleased his new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan received solid support from the NATO allies.
"You had NATO putting its stamp of approval on what I believe is a well thought out and hard-headed strategy and approach to Afghanistan, but also the need to deal with the interaction between Afghanistan and Pakistan," he said.
NATO agreed to commit more manpower and money. It will get heavily involved in training the Afghan military and police. More troops will be sent in to help with security in the run up to Afghanistan's national elections in August. And there will be increased funding and personnel for development.
"We will need more resources and a sustained effort to achieve our ultimate goals. But these commitments of troops, trainers and civilians represent a strong downpayment on the future of our mission in Afghanistan and on the future of NATO," he said.
Participants attend North Atlantic Council Summit meeting during second day of the NATO summit in Strasbourg, 04 Apr 2009
The president was asked if participants in the summit sought some kind of linkage between their help and the repeal of a new Afghan law that human rights groups say restricts the rights of women in the Shi'ite community.
Mr. Obama said concerns were raised during the summit. And he stressed that he personally finds the law abhorrent.
"Certainly the views of the administration have been and will be communicated to the Karzai government. And we think that it is very important for us to be sensitive to local culture but we also think there are certain basic principles that all nations should uphold," he said.
But the president also emphasized the importance of the mission to destroy al-Qaida, and prevent terrorists from establishing safe havens in the region.
"We want to do everything we can to encourage and promote rule of law, human rights, the education of women and girls in Afghanistan, economic development, infrastructure development. But I also want people to understand the first reason we are there is to root out al-Qaida so that they cannot attack members of the alliance," he said.
This was Mr. Obama's first NATO summit, and he made clear he was heartened by the reception he received from the other leaders at the table. Mr. Obama said he was constantly reminded that what the allies have in common vastly exceeds any differences they might have.
From:VOA news,04 April 2009
-------------------------------------------
(comment)
NATO Leaders gathered along the French-German border Saturday for the summit to mark the alliance's 60th anniversary and discussed Afghanistan's problem and NATO's future.They supported Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
As we know,NATO constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.
From the beginning,it's an military operation to against a prospective Soviet invasion. Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, NATO has attempted to refocus itself to new challenges and has deployed troops to Afghanistan as well as trainers to Iraq.
So,NATO agreed to commit more manpower and money to root out al-Qaida to protect members of the alliance. By the way,this was Mr. Obama's first trip to Europe. I think,this summit is a good beginning for America-Europe relationship.
2009年3月9日 星期一
Quate of the week
Q:What money is hardest to earn?
Ans:The money that looks easiest to earn, as usually there is no way you will get it.
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New scam technique,bets on ring toss.
There's an infinite variety of scams. Recently a new scam technique has appeared in Nantou. By using a ring toss booth, the suspects first pretended that they had no technique and made monetary bets with onlookers for 2 to 3 thousand NTD. The suspect actually got more than NT$200,000 in Nantou's night markets and traditional markets before being busted recently by the police.
The criminal first sets up a ring toss booth by the roadside near a night market or traditional market to attract people into playing the ring toss game. Then the booth owner will start to pretend that he has little technique and cannot make the tosses. His counterparts on the side will encourage onlookers to bet against the owner on whether or not he will be able to make the toss. In actuality, the owner is very familiar with the techniques required for the ring toss, so it is no wonder that any member of the public that bets loses repeatedly.
The scammers took advantage of people's unwillingness to admit defeat to continually scam them. Sources say that a woman lost a grand total of NT$120,000 this way. This even resulted in a victim's family member being so angry and resentful of being scammed that they got sick and had to be hospitalized. After learning of this, the police saw through the scam, latched onto the criminals' trails, and caught them. Hopefully no one will be scammed in this way in the future
Ans:The money that looks easiest to earn, as usually there is no way you will get it.
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New scam technique,bets on ring toss.
There's an infinite variety of scams. Recently a new scam technique has appeared in Nantou. By using a ring toss booth, the suspects first pretended that they had no technique and made monetary bets with onlookers for 2 to 3 thousand NTD. The suspect actually got more than NT$200,000 in Nantou's night markets and traditional markets before being busted recently by the police.
The criminal first sets up a ring toss booth by the roadside near a night market or traditional market to attract people into playing the ring toss game. Then the booth owner will start to pretend that he has little technique and cannot make the tosses. His counterparts on the side will encourage onlookers to bet against the owner on whether or not he will be able to make the toss. In actuality, the owner is very familiar with the techniques required for the ring toss, so it is no wonder that any member of the public that bets loses repeatedly.
The scammers took advantage of people's unwillingness to admit defeat to continually scam them. Sources say that a woman lost a grand total of NT$120,000 this way. This even resulted in a victim's family member being so angry and resentful of being scammed that they got sick and had to be hospitalized. After learning of this, the police saw through the scam, latched onto the criminals' trails, and caught them. Hopefully no one will be scammed in this way in the future
2009年3月8日 星期日
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