英皇家學會創會350年線上回顧科學史

創會350年 英皇家學會線上回顧科學史
20091130 14:27:37
（中央社倫敦30日綜合外電報導）英國「倫敦皇家學會」（Royal Society）今天表示，將首度於線上展出珍藏的歷史手稿，部分手稿出自牛頓（Sir Isaac Newton）、富蘭克林（Benjamin Franklin）及其他具開創性發現的科學家之手。 「倫敦皇家學會」是世界上歷史最悠久的科學機構，它將於網站上展出數世紀以來刊載於旗下刊物「英國皇家學會會報」（Philosophical Transactions）的著名文獻，作為350週年慶祝活動之一。 這些文獻包括1666年人類進行首次輸血的血腥紀錄，以及一份1770年代資料，證明莫札特（WolfgangAmadeus Mozart）的確是音樂神童，近期文獻則包括英國科學家霍金（Stephen Hawking）黑洞理論的早期著作。 這個互動性網站名為「開拓」（Trailblazing），將從皇家學會期刊中的6萬篇文章中，選出60則刊載。 皇家學會會長芮斯（Lord Martin Rees）表示：「網站上刊登的科學文獻，代表了科學家數世紀來持續不懈的探索，其中許多人也是皇家學會會員，他們測試並建立人類對自身及宇宙方面的認知。」 「他們個個都代表著科學使我們瞭解更深、看得更遠，令我們為之振奮的時刻。」 牛頓於17世紀發表的光學與色彩原理文獻將被公開，這些理論為後世的理論物理學奠定了研究基礎。美國開國元勳之一富蘭克林1752年的研究報告也是展品之一，他於暴風雨中放風箏實驗，證明閃電是電力，而非超自然現象。 史東（Edward Stone）於1763年發現柳樹皮對發燒的治療功效，紀錄了水楊酸的發現，並促成目前世界最常使用的藥物─阿斯匹林的誕生。 會報中還紀錄了庫克船長（Captain James Cook）在1776年，遠早於營養學發展的年代，如何以酸菜、檸檬和麥芽治療水手的壞血病。 科學家巴林頓（Danies Barrington）同時也是名懷疑主義者，他在莫札特造訪倫敦時，想測試當時8歲的莫札特是否如傳聞般是位天才。巴林頓的紀錄顯示，這名音樂家雖然像普通男孩一樣愛玩、心思不集中，不過也同時展現了過人的天賦。 他寫道：「幾乎是總譜放上桌面的同時，他就能以最熟練的技巧開始演奏交響樂。」 其他文獻還包括最早的種牛痘紀錄。史隆（HansSloane）紀錄了接種過程：「在手臂皮膚製造非常小的切口」置入「紗布，上面滴有成熟無害的天花病毒」。 芮斯表示，皇家學會計畫在未來一年舉辦更多週年慶祝活動，以「激發科學家、家庭、年輕人及感興趣的社會大眾進一步探究科學的面貌。」 皇家學會的正式建立日期，為1660年11月28日。（譯者：中央社戴雅真）981130

Alton Towers/ London Eye

Wikipedia article "Alton Towers".

【大公網訊】迪拜近日爆發的債務危機引發了全球金融市場的恐慌，英國自然也不例外。一項新的調查統計數據顯示，在迪拜總計達600億美元的債務中，英國所持有的債權總額就占到了一半。

據了解，蘇格蘭皇家銀行集團是迪拜世界最大的債權人。市場投資者目前普感恐慌，他們認為一旦該債務無法收回，納稅人將會面臨嚴重的損失。早前，為了挽救蘇格蘭皇家銀行，英國財政部共計向其註入了將近455億英鎊的救助資金。

摩根大通今天引述Dealogic的數據在一份報告中表示，作為英國最大的政府控制的銀行，蘇格蘭皇家銀行自2007年1月起安排了23億美元，或17%迪拜世界的貸款。

不 僅如此，市場還擔心，隨著迪拜債務危機的蔓延，那些由迪拜控制的企業里數千名英國員工將面臨著十分殘酷的現實。英國最大的主題公園奧爾頓塔(Alton Towers)、倫敦眼(London Eye)、英國鐵行(P&O)、Travelodge連鎖旅館以及倫敦證券交易所集團公司（London Stock Exchange Group PLC，簡稱倫敦證交所）里都是迪拜投資的對象。

據悉，迪拜在英國市場上的投資至 少在59億英鎊以上。而英國在迪拜市場上的投資有將近46億英鎊。就連英國著名廚師戈登拉姆塞(Gordon Ramsay)以及加里·羅德斯（Gary Rhodes）都在此次迪拜債務危機中損失慘重，而英國著名足球明星大衛貝克漢姆也在迪拜擁有房產。為了緩解因迪拜危機而引發英國市場上對明年出現雙底經 濟衰退(double-dip recession)的恐懼，英國首相布朗也立即在27日發表講話，以期穩定市場信心。布朗表示：「如果這局域性的問題，那麽事件很快就會平息，而我堅 信，此次迪拜的債務危機就是這種性質。」

受到迪拜世界債務重組的影響，世界各地的股票近兩天已經大幅下跌。市場擔心，如果繼續持有這類銀行個股，可能會遭受更大的虧損。因此市場上拋售情緒漸甚。作為此次債務危機最大的的受害者，英國的銀行業股票在兩天時間里資產蒸發了140億英鎊。

雖 然有投資者擔心迪拜政府無力還債有可能會引發多米諾骨牌效應，拖累尚未站穩復蘇腳步的全球經濟。但也有分析師認為，同為阿聯酋聯邦成員的阿布達比不會見死 不救，讓迪拜鬧出自2001年阿根廷違約以來，全球最大主權基金違約事件。不過這種不確定性仍上市場上的投資者慌亂不已，近兩日全球股市完全籠罩在恐慌的 陰影中。

分析師認為，英國是此次危機中受害最嚴重的國家，國際結算銀行(Bank for International Settlements)的數據顯示，英國銀行阿聯酋的貸款總額達到了300億英鎊，其中絕大部分都投資於迪拜。相對而言，美國以及法國的銀行對其債權低 於70億英鎊。摩根大通的數據顯示，蘇格蘭皇家銀行集團是迪拜世界最大的債權人，而匯豐控股（ HSBC Holdings Plc ）擁有在阿拉伯聯合酋長國（United Arab Emirates）的最大的債權風險。福克斯銀行分析師戴維·威廉姆斯（David Williams）表示：「市場對暴露於迪拜危機所帶來的風險敞口是非常緊張的，蘇格蘭皇家銀行的名字已經與此關聯成為迪拜的債權人和帳簿管理人，人們擔 心它會產生新一輪的損失，迪拜是推動目前一切的市場催化劑。」

來源：騰訊財經

Banks 'must reveal £1m earners'

Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Shit?: The Encyclopedia of Modern Life

Banks 'must reveal £1m earners'

Banks 'should disclose number of workers earning £1m'

The Walker Review was commissioned in February

The UK's banks should be forced to publicly disclose the number of their employees who earn more than £1m per year, a report has concluded.

That is one of the main findings of the government-commissioned Walker Review into the corporate governance of banks.

Sir David Walker, who led the report, also said non-executive directors needed more power to monitor banks' risk taking and pay deals.

The government said it would now move to implement Sir David's proposals.

Specifically, it is to include his call for banks to have to disclose how many staff earn more than £1m in its Financial Services Bill.

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This Bill is also planning to give the City watchdog - the Financial Services Authority (FSA) - the power to curb any pay deals in the banking sector that it finds to be excessive.

And under new FSA rules coming into force on 1 January, banks will have to limit the minimum bonus deals of senior staff to just one year.

These new guidelines will also call on banks to claw back a person's bonuses in the result of poor performance.

In addition the new FSA guidelines say senior executives should have between 40% and 60% of their bonus payments deferred over three years, with at least 50% paid in shares.

'Blocking powers'

The Walker Review was commissioned by the government in February following the crisis in the UK and global banking sector, much of which was blamed on excessive risk taking and bonus payments.

The fundamental change needed is to make the boardroom a more challenging environment than it has often been in the past Sir David Walker

The review also calls for:

• A bank's remuneration committee should have direct responsibility for the pay of all high-paid employees

• Board-level risk committees chaired by a non-executive. (Non-executive directors are appointed from outside a company to sit on its board and scrutinise its performance)

• Risk committees to have power to scrutinise and if necessary block big transactions

• Chairman of remuneration committee to face re-election if annual report gets less than 75% approval

• Non-executive directors to spend up to 50% more time on the job

• Chairman of the board to face annual re-election

• Institutional investors to be more active in monitoring the banks.

David Cumming, head of UK equities at Standard Life Investments - which controls £150bn worth of investments - said he accepted the criticism that shareholders may not have exerted enough control in corporate governance.

"Most institutions didn't do enough to intervene, particularly in terms of the banks, but I think one of the assumptions here is that we're going to get it right as well," he said.

"If you go back to 2006-2007, a lot of shareholders were pushing financial institutions and other companies to take on a lot of debt and go for it, so I think engagement is a good thing but we can't assume that it will solve everything."

'Tough questions'

In his report, Sir David said: "The fundamental change needed is to make the boardroom a more challenging environment than it has often been in the past.

"This requires non-executives able to devote sufficient time to the role in order to assess risk and ask tough questions about strategy."

Chancellor Alistair Darling said Sir David's proposals were "the blueprint for how banks must be run in the future".

CBI director general Richard Lambert said he welcomed the report's recommendations.

"Sir David Walker has set out a sensible package of proposals that can strengthen the role of boards in identifying and managing risk," he said.

"In particular, we welcome the emphasis on ensuring balanced boards which are also equipped with the right skills, and on ensuring investors are active and engaged in scrutinising business strategy."

City law firm CMS Cameron McKenna said it was likely that many of the Walker Review's recommendations would be added to the FSA's rules.

Muscular Christianity

另外一種說法 是由 Dr. Arnold所強調

Muscular Christianity is a term for a movement during the Victorian era which stressed the need for energetic Christian activism in combination with an ideal of vigorous masculinity. It was most associated with the English writers Charles Kingsley and Thomas Hughes, though the name was bestowed by others.

Kingsley and Hughes promoted physical strength and health (at least for men) as well as an active pursuit of Christian ideals in personal life and politics.

The term has also been applied to later movements that combine physical and Christian spiritual development.

Contents

[hide]

• 1 Origins
• 2 Influence
• 3 References
• 4 External links

Cash crisis LMU criticised

Welcome to London Metropolitan University - Homepage

Cash crisis university criticised

There have been a series of protests outside the university

A financial mismanagement report on a London university has found board members were aware unfair funding claims were made for the institution.

London Metropolitan University (LMU) was ordered to repay £36.5m after issuing false data on student numbers.

A draft report into the crisis, seen by the Press Association, finds the board knew it was using a wrong definition to calculate student levels.

LMU said it would learn "important lessons" from the report.

The problem arose because the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE ) only provides universities with money for a student who sits all their exams at the end of the year.

I fail to see how the board of governors can remain in post after such a damning report Sally Hunt, University and College Union

LMU admitted it counted students as having completed the period if they moved into the next year, regardless of whether they had sat all exams.

Under the LMU's definition, just 3% of students failed to complete the year. Under the real definition the non-completion rate was 30%.

The payback order threw London's biggest university - with 34,000 students - into financial crisis.

Lecturers worried about redundancy during the fallout have staged several strikes.

Now the inquiry, led by Sir David Melville, lays blame for the fiasco squarely at the door of former vice-chancellor Brian Roper and his board.

"The unique level of the LMU clawback is attributable to a combination of ignoring the HEFCE definition and a failure to address very high levels of incomplete modules and student drop-out," the report said.

'Renewed focus'

"It must be the case that the board of governors and the audit committee should take their share of corporate responsibility for a failure of this magnitude."

An LMU spokesman said: "We are confident the appointment of a new vice-chancellor, subsequent action taken by the board and the university's new strategic plan will allow London Met to renew our focus on students and their education."

University and College Union general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: "I fail to see how the board of governors can remain in post after such a damning report.

"Sir David Melville's report completely vindicates everything the union has been saying yet, whilst it might be nice to be right, it is no comfort in these extraordinary circumstances."

倫敦城市大學 騙4.6億資助

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http://paper.wenweipo.com [2009-11-24]

　英國倫敦城市大學(LMU)被揭發虛報資料，騙取3,600萬英鎊(約4.6億港元)的資助，負責資助英國大學的組織「英格蘭高等教育資助委員會」(Hefce)指該大學濫用公帑，採取史無前例的措施，呼籲該大學的董事集體辭職。

　Hefce致函倫敦城市大學董事長，呼籲董事會的高級成員在6天內「考慮他們的職位」，並下令該大學歸還3,600萬英鎊的資助。預期此舉將導致該大學陷入財政危機，可能造成幾百名大學職員失業。

　調查報告此前指出，倫敦城市大學虛報資助幾千名學生，又未能為學生留下記錄，以確保他們在學年結束 前參與考試，但卻繼續根據人為的低離校率申請政府資助，騙取高於實際學生人數的所需的資助。報告指，該大學似乎沒有考慮Hefce的統計數字和發現，又沒 有正視Hefce的詳細報告結論。

　倫敦城市大學承認，不管學生是否參與所有考試，只要學生升讀下一個學年，就代表他們完成了該學 期，根據該大學這個標準，只有3%學生未能完成一個學年，但如果根據實際的情況，則有高達30%學生未能完成一個學年。該大學表示會汲取教訓，當 Hefce的報告有定案後，董事會將於下月開會研究。

去年向達賴頒博士學位

　倫敦城市大學有3.4萬名學生，提供近500個課程，並聘用了2,400名教學和非教學職員。該校曾在去年向達賴喇嘛頒發榮譽博士學位，原來期間一直詐騙政府4.6億港元津助。

　負責撰寫報告的梅爾維爾爵士指責倫敦城市大學的高級管理人員，包括大學秘書長、財政主管和助理副校長等，指他們沒有處理好學生完成學業的比例，在沒有考慮實際情況、批評和諮詢下作出決定。

　Hefce的執行總長朗蘭斯在信中表示，委員會很難對倫敦城市大學的管理有信心，根據該大學以往的經驗，該大學未能保障公帑適當運用，因此董事會成員和高級職員要考慮他們的職位，並撤換管理層，才可望恢復對該大學的信心。　■《獨立報》/《泰晤士報》/英國廣播公司

Charles Dickens

Historic Figures (BBC)

Charles Dickens (1812 - 1870)

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Illustration of Charles Dickens © Charles Dickens is much loved for his great contribution to classic English literature. He was the quintessential Victorian author. His epic stories, vivid characters and exhaustive depiction of contemporary life are unforgettable.

His own story is one of rags to riches. He was born in Portsmouth on 7 February 1812, to John and Elizabeth Dickens. The good fortune of being sent to school at the age of nine was short-lived because his father, inspiration for the character of Mr Micawber in 'David Copperfield', was imprisoned for bad debt. The entire family, apart from Charles, were sent to Marshalsea along with their patriarch. Charles was sent to work in Warren's blacking factory and endured appalling conditions as well as loneliness and despair. After three years he was returned to school, but the experience was never forgotten and became fictionalised in two of his better-known novels 'David Copperfield' and 'Great Expectations'.

Like many others, he began his literary career as a journalist. His own father became a reporter and Charles began with the journals 'The Mirror of Parliament' and 'The True Sun'. Then in 1833 he became parliamentary journalist for The Morning Chronicle. With new contacts in the press he was able to publish a series of sketches under the pseudonym 'Boz'. In April 1836, he married Catherine Hogarth, daughter of George Hogarth who edited 'Sketches by Boz'. Within the same month came the publication of the highly successful 'Pickwick Papers', and from that point on there was no looking back for Dickens.

As well as a huge list of novels he published autobiography, edited weekly periodicals including 'Household Words' and 'All Year Round', wrote travel books and administered charitable organisations. He was also a theatre enthusiast, wrote plays and performed before Queen Victoria in 1851. His energy was inexhaustible and he spent much time abroad - for example lecturing against slavery in the United States and touring Italy with companions Augustus Egg and Wilkie Collins, a contemporary writer who inspired Dickens' final unfinished novel 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood'.

He was estranged from his wife in 1858 after the birth of their ten children, but maintained relations with his mistress, the actress Ellen Ternan. He died of a stroke in 1870. He is buried at Westminster Abbey.

after flooding

Twenty-five soldiers, from 39 Regiment the Royal Artillery, had been sent to flood-hit areas to assist the emergency services, a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said.

According to Chief Constable Craig Mackey, of Cumbria Police, it could take years for Cumbria to recover from the damage.

He said: "We will be working with our communities for weeks, months, and in some cases years to come.

"The particular issue which made this so different is the damage to infrastructures.

"It is highly unusual to see that level of damage to infrastructures and clearly means that this next phase that we are moving into as a county is going to take a considerable amount of time."

'Very frightened'

Jill Stannard, the chief executive of Cumbria County Council - who only took up her post last Thursday - said the damage from the floods had run into "tens of millions of pounds" after more then 1,300 homes were flooded by record daily rainfall last Thursday and Friday.

She said she had been in talks with central government departments over the weekend to seek financial support to deal with the aftermath.

Ms Stannard told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme the authorities were trying to establish the whereabouts of "less than 50" people who remain unaccounted for, although she stressed that many of these may have gone to stay with relatives and friends outside the area.

She acknowledged that many local people were "very frightened" about access to healthcare, but urged them to listen to official advice transmitted by the media rather than giving credence to rumours about the situation.

Anyone calling their GP will be able to get through, and the authorities are able to deliver prescriptions to everyone in Cumbria, she said.

"We are confident we can reach everyone," she said. "We have been reaching people over the weekend. People get very frightened - totally understandably because this is very traumatic.

"It is important that people listen to advice through the media and don't listen to rumour and gossip."

Henry V, English hero

This page lists all recordings of A.M.D.G. (Ad majorem Dei gloriam, 'To the greater glory of God'), by Benjamin Britten (1913-77) on CD. Generally, more recent CDs are listed first, but with priority given to items that are in stock.

Henry V, English hero

Ad majorem Dei gloriam

Nov 19th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Illustration by Daniel Pudles

1415: Henry V’s Year of Glory. By Ian Mortimer. Bodley Head; 640 pages; £20. Buy from Amazon.co.uk

WHAT Shakespeare does for a monarch, it is very hard to undo. Richard III, though softened and cleaned up by assiduous researchers, still limps murderously through the public imagination. And Henry V, even soberly revisited, never quite loses that stirring flap of standards, or the thwack of the Dauphin’s tennis balls deep into the hazard.

Ian Mortimer, who has galloped with panache through the English monarchs from Edward II onwards, promises a different Henry: a king set “on the path to his own self-destruction and the negation of his humanity”. He thinks 1415 marks the crucial moment on that path: the year when Henry, pretending to want peace with France, in fact slowly mobilised the whole of England for war. His last letter to the king of France, on July 28th, just before the invasion, threatened “a deluge of human blood”. He delivered.

This was also a year when rebels were stirring in the kingdom and when religious dissidents, from the Lollards at home to Jan Hus abroad, claimed their own way to salvation. Absolutism and divine right were under attack. The king, who exemplified both, leapt to their defence. Mr Mortimer’s Henry—rigid, unsmiling, religious and obsessive as the year begins—ends it as “a militant Catholic fundamentalist”.

The device of putting just one year under the microscope is a bold one in the medieval context. Medieval sources are scanty. Virtually no royal accounts survive for 1415, and almost no private letters. Mr Mortimer nonetheless luxuriates in what he has: grants to chantries and hospitals, rewards for service, reports from ambassadors, requests for provisioning (all those thousands of longbows, arrows, barrels of beer, sides of beef) and the ceaseless pawning of a large part of Henry’s treasure to pay for his whim of a war. Day by day, the reader is in the thick of things.

The effect of this is new and unexpected, in several ways. The drama of the year is heightened, as the drumbeat of the days rolls towards Agincourt. The religiosity of the age is emphasised, as the saints’ days and the natural rituals of the year gain new prominence in the narrative. Medieval bureaucracy, with its constant duplicating, petitioning and delaying, sometimes threatens to bury the reader. The personalities emerge sharper, firmer and more duplicitous.

And what of Henry? Shakespeare’s image of the king has certainly been altered—but to workaholic, rather than villain. Here was a man who saw personally to everything, whether a petition from a gunner, or the proper painting of antelopes on his flagship, the Trinity Royal, or the ordering of horseshoe nails. He thought of nothing but ruling England, for God. The three most memorable images in this book, among many, are of the king asleep, in his grand bed, chastely alone; sitting on his cushion in his great chamber, listening to his subjects’ problems; and scribbling, at the end of his will, the plea of a man who has taken on far too much: “Jesu Mercy and Gremercy Ladie Marie help.”

divorce party

離婚趴

A divorce party 離婚趴 is a ceremony that celebrates the end of a marriage or civil union. Types of divorce parties vary greatly, and can involve either one or both members of the separating couple. Divorce parties have been called the final frontier in the wedding industry complex, and often involve a toast that emphasizes the couple beginning new chapters in their lives.

H1N1疑變種　英國出現抗藥性人傳人首例 【10:37】

〔本報訊〕媒體報導，英國疑似出現H1N1的變種病毒，日前英國醫院發現可能是全球首度出現的「抗藥性人傳人」H1N1的病源，與目前已知的病毒型有差異，可能是變種新病毒，引起全世界密切關注。

媒體報導，英國威爾斯衛生當局指出，當地一家醫院發現5名對克流感有抗藥性的H1N1病患，其中3人似乎是在醫院內感染，目前全球關於抗克流感病例的通報 將近60例，但沒有人傳人的文件紀錄，目前英國當局正在積極調查這起可能是全球首度出現的「抗藥性人傳人」N1N1病源，以確認是否出現新的變種病毒。

英國政府也積極呼籲民眾要多注意衛生習慣，病毒感染力極強，民眾若有不舒服應立刻戴口罩並且就醫。


Page last updated at 17:14 GMT, Friday, 20 November 2009

Tamiflu-resistant swine flu spreads 'between patients'

By Fergus Walsh Health correspondent, BBC News Tamiflu is used to treat swine flu Health officials say a Tamiflu-resistant strain of swine flu has spread between hospital patients. Five patients on a unit treating people with severe underlying health conditions at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, were infected. Three appear to have acquired the infection in hospital. They are thought to be the first confirmed cases of person-to-person transmission of a Tamiflu-resistant strain in the world. There have been several dozen reports around the world of people developing resistance to Tamiflu while taking the drug - but they have not passed on the strain to others. Just one possible cases of person-to-person transmission of a resistant strain has been recorded - between two people at a US summer camp - and this has never been confirmed. Two of the University Hospital Wales patients have recovered and have been discharged from hospital, one is in critical care and two are being treated on the ward. The health officials stressed there was no risk to anyone else. They said tests were being carried out to confirm exactly what happened. The UK has bought enough doses of Tamiflu, which can shorten the duration of swine flu and reduce the risk of complications, for half the population. Serious concern So any spread of a Tamiflu-resistant strain of the illness is a serious public health concern. The H1N1 virus has been remarkably stable since it emerged in April, but virologists had been half expecting new resistant strains to emerge. Dr Roland Salmon, director of the National Public Health Service for Wale's Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, said: "The emergence of influenza A viruses that are resistant to Tamiflu is not unexpected in patients with serious underlying conditions and suppressed immune systems, who still test positive for the virus despite treatment. "In this case, the resistant strain of swine flu does not appear to be any more severe than the swine flu virus that has been circulating since April." Dr Tony Jewell, Chief Medical Officer for Wales, said: "We know that people with suppressed immune systems are more susceptible to the swine flu virus, which is why they are a priority group under the first phase of the vaccination programme in Wales which is progressing at pace. "We have stringent processes in place for monitoring for antiviral resistance in the UK so that we can spot resistance early and the causes can be investigated and the cases managed. "Identifying these cases shows that our systems are working so patients should be reassured. "Treatment with Tamiflu is still appropriate for swine flu and people should continue to take Tamiflu when they are prescribed it. "It's also important that good hygiene practices are followed to further prevent the spread of the virus." Professor Peter Openshaw, a respiratory physician at Imperial College London, said of the spread: "It's not surprising that this has happened, indeed it has always been anticipated". Dr Ronald Cutler, deputy director of biomedical science at Queen Mary, University of London, said: "Shortening the time taken to produce new vaccines and improving the methods to control and treat the disease while vaccines are being made would be a way forward". On Thursday it was announced that more than three million healthy children under five across the UK will be offered the swine flu jab. Figures released on Thursday showed an estimated 53,000 new cases of swine flu in England in the last week, down from 64,000 in the week before. In Scotland, the figure was 21,200, down from about 21,500 in the previous seven days. The rate of flu-like illnesses diagnosed by GPs in Wales dropped to 36 cases for every 100,000 people from 65.8 the previous week.

Boots

Boots Plans a Beautiful Future

Italian entrepreneur Stefano Pessina wants to transform British pharmacy chain Boots into a global health-and-beauty behemoth with two tools: big acquisitions and a small, white bottle of anti-wrinkle cream.

Peter Mandelson

The EU is selecting a new president: So why not let the voters decide?
As the leaders of the member states of the European Union attempt to decide who should be the first permanent president of Europe after the Lisbon treaty was ratified, some British Euro-sceptics might say Peter Mandelson was absolutely right in 1988.

Peter Mandelson政治歷程

2009/10/08-李佳翰

英國商務大臣Peter Mandelson在1990年代，是和布萊爾(Tony Blair)、布朗(Gordon Brown)同批少壯派新工黨核心成員。Mandelson過去與布朗交情很好，然而1994年卻選擇布萊爾為追隨對象，也因此被布朗視為背叛之舉。

1997年布萊爾上任後，Mandelson成為貿易與工業大臣，但不久因被媒體揭發向另1位內閣成員貸款買房而辭職。風波平息後，布萊爾於1999年讓Mandelson重回內閣，擔任北愛事務大臣，然隨後又因為捲入協助印度富豪申請英國護照案而在2004年再度辭職。

布萊爾曾第3度希望Mandelson進入內閣，不過在未能說服其他內閣成員後，轉而委任Mandelson為歐盟貿易專員。

直 到布朗接任英國首相後，雖與Mandelson間有背叛嫌隙，但一來因Mandelson曾擔任過工貿大臣和歐盟貿易專員可提供商務貿易方面的實戰經驗， 是布朗內閣所需的人才；再者又可以顯示布朗果斷、不計前嫌等領導人特質，為此，布朗仍決定招攬Mandelson入閣。

據說，布朗與Mandelson的復合，也得到布萊爾的支持。

UK children 'trafficked for sex'

By Paul Deal BBC News

Girls are often threatened with violence by men who had befriended them

Children as young as 10 are being moved around the UK to be sexually exploited at parties organised by paedophiles, a charity says.

Barnado's says that thousands of girls and boys are at risk of organised trafficking, and accuses council officials of failing the victims.

The organisation says the vast majority of local authorities do not provide expert help for such children.

It urges councils to commission research and to act on the results.

In its report, Whose Child Now?, the charity says that, although there are more than 200 local authorities across the UK, only 40 are known to provide specialist services for the victims of sexual exploitation.

Barnardo's runs just over half of those services. In those 21 areas, it works with more than 1,000 children who were sexually exploited in the past year.

Often threatened

Lisa Stacey, who wrote the report, told BBC News: "Wherever we have been asked by a council to carry out research we have come across young people who have been exploited.

"This is organised sexual abuse and it can often involve the victim being moved from one place to another. More than half the victims regularly go missing."

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Wendy Shepherd from Barnardo's: “All local authorities must take a look”

She says the victims may return after several days to their family or to their care home and say things like "I've been staying with friends". They are often threatened while away and so do not ask for help when they return," she says.

The children are "basically brainwashed," says Ms Stacey: "Some will even believe that the man who is grooming them is their boyfriend... It can take some of them a year of counselling to realise that they've been abused.

"We're talking about gangs of men, perhaps with a legitimate front.

Dress up

"In Scotland, we discovered children being brought from outlying areas into cities. We know of children being moved from north-east England to London, or from Yorkshire to London or Manchester."

I felt looked after, wanted, loved even. He gave me everything I wanted Imogen

The charity has released the stories of two victims.

Imogen was taken into care shortly after her 12th birthday. She told the charity that she tagged along with older girls who regularly ran away to boyfriends' flats and houses.

She said: "One man started to take a special interest in me. He was much older; he was protective.

"I felt looked after, wanted, loved even. He gave me everything I wanted and, when I was 13, he handed over the keys to a flat and said 'It's yours; use it when you need it'."

So guilty

But one night she was asked to "dress up" because they were going to a party. She was taken miles from her home to London and told to have sex with different men.

She said: "I didn't have any choice. I felt so guilty. He'd take me all over the country: Leeds, Bradford, Manchester, London. He'd take me to hotels, sometimes for two or three nights.

"I wanted to escape, but he just controlled me. It was a mental thing. I was terrified."

Barnardo's said Imogen's abuser was eventually arrested and her life was slowly turned around. She went back to school and then on to university.

Susan was 13 when her mother died. She didn't get on with her father and so she moved out and began drinking.

He got what he wanted and he wanted to use me. I drank more and more to block it out Susan

She was introduced to the father of a friend, who was 43: "He paid for all my drink. I suppose he did it to keep me quiet. Soon I didn't care about anything. He got what he wanted and he wanted to use me.

"I drank more and more to block it out."

One day she was taken to a flat and ordered to sleep with other men. When she refused she was beaten until she gave in.

Barnardo's said her abuser was arrested and Susan was put in touch with the charity. She now has a flat and is planning to go to college.

Wendy Shepherd is the charity's programme manager in north-east England.

She told BBC News: "If you looked back 10 years, you might come across children on the street who were being exploited.

"Now it's hidden. Networks are involved and they are moving the children around. The abusers use mobile phones and the internet. They groom the children online and then offline.

"What we need is for local authorities and the police to have an expert who can advise on sexual exploitation."

Digital Cloud/ 勞斯萊斯

伦敦未来最具创意的新地标

数字云建在120米高的铁塔之上，铁塔通过日本高层建筑使用的防震技术固定。

伦敦的标志性建筑不少，如今，一些顶级的建筑师和艺术家正在考虑兴建一个超现代的建筑“数字云”。

这个最初被列为伦敦奥运村的中心建筑包括高达120米的铁架，顶端安装一系列相互连接的塑料泡状圆球，并可以显示各种图像和数据。

远远望去，就好像一团云彩矗立在铁塔之上，加之这些“云彩”能展示数字化图文信息，因此被称作“数字云”（Digital Cloud）。

这一设计被伦敦市长约翰逊选中，作为伦敦奥运公园建筑的备选方案，其它还有几个建筑也在考虑之中，最终的结果尚未揭晓。

不过，“数字云”得到了不少人的青睐，有关方面甚至推出网站，面向普通民众筹集捐款，希望将这一设计变为现实。

设计者之一的卡洛·拉蒂（Carlo Ratti）说：“我们建造这个“云”的费用可以是500万英镑、也可以是5000万，由于建筑结构灵活多变，这样我们可以根据筹集到的资金来决定到底修建多大的云。”

通过楼梯、电梯或斜坡可以登顶“数字云”，游客可以鸟瞰城貌，或在里面休闲。

“云”的表面使用的建筑材料是类似于北京奥运会“水立方”的膜状结构物，为了让又细又高的支撑铁架更稳固，设计者借用日本高楼建筑的防震技术，使其能经得住风雨。

负责提供图文数据的是最大搜索引擎谷歌公司，负责人说：“我们可以提供在伦敦奥运会期间大家最关心的搜索信息，然后将其投放到数字云上，让人们了解到此时此刻人们感兴趣的是什么。”

除了设计独特外，“数字云”还融入最先进的环保技术，确保这是一个“零排放的云”。

此外，“数字云”也是游客观光和休闲的好去处，通过电梯、楼梯或者斜坡登顶，就可以鸟瞰伦敦全貌。

英國勞斯萊斯獲得中國巨額訂單

勞斯萊斯的新訂單非常重要

英國引擎生產巨頭勞斯萊斯宣佈，從中國國際航空公司獲得一筆價值高達15億美元的巨額訂單。

勞斯萊斯公司在正在迪拜舉行的國際航空展的第一天宣佈了這一消息。

萊斯萊斯公司說，中國國航此次訂購的是Trent 700引擎，該產品將用於國航旗下的20架A330型空中客車。

根據計劃，勞斯萊斯將從2011年起向中方交貨。

同時，勞斯萊斯還與埃塞俄比亞航空公司簽署了價值4.8億美元的供貨合同。

埃塞俄比亞訂購的是A350型空中客車的Trent XWB引擎。

在最近一波的國際經濟衰退中，航空業受到了巨大打擊。能夠拿到這樣的巨額訂單，對勞斯萊斯來說非常重要。

勞斯萊斯的員工主要集中在英國本土。

去年年底，勞斯萊斯宣佈，受航空業低迷的影響以及新款空中客車A380、寬體波音客機787研發項目的推遲，他們計劃在2009年裁員，裁員人數最多可能高達2000。

Barbican Centre

參觀巴比肯中心（ Barbican Centre）

the barbican

The Barbican is Europe's largest multi-arts and conference venue presenting a diverse range of art, music, theatre, dance, film and education events. It is also home to the London Symphony Orchestra

Barbican Centre

旅遊最合算處

旅遊最合算處 (hk 最抵玩)
冰島 泰國 倫敦
****
倫敦市政府斥資五百萬英鎊，將繁忙的牛津購物區大型十字路口（Oxford Circus），仿照東京的澀谷區，設置對角線的行人路及車輛兩用道路，於周一起正式使用，令到這個著名的牛津購物區外貌煥然一新。牛津街的十字路口大圓環是全球著名的旅遊景點，每年約有二億人次造訪。 ...

*****法新社倫敦2日電：全球金融危機後，接受英國政府援助紓困的蘇格蘭皇家銀行（RBS）今天表示，將裁減英國國內負責零售業的業務部門3700名員工。 會有這項聲明是因英國政府決定明天要提出計劃，停止援助蘇格蘭皇家銀行以及駿懋銀行集團（Lloyds Banking