The world’s most important relationship is at breaking point

When I and some of my London colleagues travelled to Beijing last week, we arrived to find the atmosphere laced with intimidation and paranoia. The world’s most important relationship—that between China and America—has become more embittered and hostile than ever. In the halls of government Communist Party officials were denouncing what they see as America’s bullying. They told us that the United States is intent on beating China to death and that it will never accept that any country can be as powerful as itself, regardless of whether it is communist or a democracy. America, in their view, will tolerate China only if it is submissive—in the words of one Chinese academic, a “fat cat, not a tiger”.It is naive to think that diplomacy alone can mend a rift this big. The question of what else might keep the peace will be a feature of our journalism—including our China podcast, Drum Tower, co-hosted by our supremely well-connected Beijing bureau chief, David Rennie, and the cover package of this week’s issue. Zanny Minton Beddoes Editor-in-chief The Economist

How Britain can build a better relationship with Europe

One of our cover stories this week is about how China’s great reopening will shake the world. For nearly three years China has been closed: hardly anyone has entered or left it. From January 8th it will reopen its borders, thus scrapping the last remnant of Xi Jinping’s zero-covid policy. Because the government has failed to prepare properly by vaccinating the elderly, the coming months will see widespread infection and death within China. But eventually something resembling normality will return. The revival of commercial, intellectual and cultural contact with China should be welcomed. But its post-covid economic recovery will be hugely disruptive for the global economy, pushing up the price of oil, gas and other commodities, stoking inflation and forcing central banks to keep monetary policy tighter for longer. Our other cover calls for an end to magical thinking about Britain’s relationship with the European Union. Brexiteers have been high on their own pixie dust from the start, touting benefits of quitting that turned out to be illusory, while ignoring the real economic harm. Remainers, too, succumb to wishful thinking when they imagine the split can simply be undone. If we had a magic wand, we would gladly turn back the clock to 2016. Since we do not, we suggest instead three realistic ways to improve ties: normalise, build and reimagine. Zanny Minton Beddoes Editor-in-chief The Economist

Solar ultraviolet radiation and COVID-19: is there a relationship?

This question was answered by an Italian study, in press on the “Science of the Total Environment” (Link), supervised by Giancarlo Isaia, geriatrician of the Turin University and chairman of the Academy of Medicine, and by Henri Diémoz, researcher of the Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPA) of Aosta Valley. Moreover, other researchers from the University of Bologna, the Sapienza University of Rome, the Italian Agency for New Technologies, the Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), the Città della Salute e della Scienza of Turin and the Environmental Protection Agencies of South Tyrol, Veneto, Piedmont and Apulia contributed to this analysis. The study explored how some environmental factors contributed to the evolution of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic, in addition to the well-known transmission mechanisms. The researchers have therefore examined the spatial distribution of the outbreak in Italy during the first-wave period (February-May 2020), characterised by a greater impact in northern Italy. The investigation proved that the regional death rates and COVID-19 infections had a very significant correlation with the intensity of solar ultraviolet radiation (UV) at the Earth’s surface measured in each region by satellite and soil detection. Less significant correlations were also found with other environmental (air temperature), social (the number of residents in Nursing Home Residences) and clinical (cardiovascular and diabetes mortality) variables. The results of this statistical study are consistent with recently published findings, highlighting possible effects of the solar radiation on SARS-CoV-2 virus and its clinical manifestations: it is known that ultraviolet radiation can both directly inactivate the virus and increase the vitamin D levels. This latter effect could play an important role in the containment of the disease and in the lessening of its complications, thanks to the vitamin D immunomodulatory properties. Hence, the authors suggest further investigation on the topic by means of clinical studies and they highlight the importance of having a coordinated network of UV radiation measurements in Italy. The authors also suggest organizing campaigns to raise awareness of both the positive and the negative effects of the solar radiation. They also foster active measures to increase the vitamin D levels, either through the pharmacological supplementation, under medical supervision, or through the consumption of vitamin D rich food. Compensating vitamin D deficiency in countries like Italy, where hypovitaminosis D is widespread, could help containing the pandemic, especially in frail elderlies, as was already suggested (Link) by Giancarlo Isaia and Enzo Medico, on behalf of the University and the Academy of Medicine of Turin.

A Consideration of Its Relationship to Psychotherapy

The benefit and potential mechanisms of action of homeopathy have long been debated. Almost entirely neglected has been the study of individualized homeopathy (IH) as a form of psychotherapy, which incorporates factors that are common to most therapies while using processes that are specific to IH. Methods: Recent research into the therapeutic components of IH is reviewed; similarities and differences between IH and other forms of psychotherapy are also described. Results: IH includes elements found in humanistic therapy and narrative medicine and additionally incorporates idiographic material in treatment selection. It is structured in a manner that takes maximum advantage of the components of the placebo effect, which could further expand its effectiveness beyond those conditions thought usually amenable to psychotherapy. Conclusions: It is possible that IH entails specific psychotherapeutic processes in addition to possible therapeutic action of the homeopathic remedy, but the relative contributions of each remain to be determined. Suggestions are given for future research. (fonte: Omeopatia33)

Kodak Reaches Agreement to Form Strategic Relationship with HuaGuang

Eastman Kodak Company announced it has reached an agreement with Lucky HuaGuang Graphics Co. Ltd (“HuaGuang”) to establish a strategic relationship in the People’s Republic of China, including Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan (“China”). By partnering with one of the largest graphics players in a region that is seeing a growing demand for resource-efficient solutions, Kodak seeks to significantly increase the adoption of its SONORA plates in China.
The Kodak/HuaGuang relationship will be comprised of an agreement for Kodak to sell its offset printing plates facility in Xiamen, China to HuaGuang, a supply agreement for HuaGuang to help Kodak fulfill its existing customer demand, and an IP agreement under which Kodak licenses its technology to HuaGuang to expand the market in China.This relationship will leverage the combined strength of HuaGuang’s market leadership and world-class Kodak technology, which together are expected to accelerate the broad conversion to Kodak’s process free technologies in China.Kodak and HuaGuang have successfully collaborated in a variety of different business models and cooperative ventures spanning decades, building a history of mutual trust and respect that underpins the current deal.Customers in the region will experience no interruption in supply, and the companies will work together to ensure the delivery of new, innovative products moving forward.Kodak will maintain its current go-to-market structure in China, with expectations that SONORA volumes will continue to ramp up, alongside growing sales of the full portfolio of Kodak solutions.The relationship is expected to be formally established at a closing in the third quarter of 2019, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Longstanding Client Expands Relationship with CynergisTek to Amplify Vendor Security Management

CynergisTek, Inc. (NYSE AMERICAN: CTEK), a leader in healthcare cybersecurity, privacy, and compliance, today announced that one of its longest-standing customers has expanded its relationship with the company by adding the Vendor Security Management (VSM) program to its existing privacy and security services. The large healthcare system currently contracts with CynergisTek for its Compliance Assist Partner Program (CAPP) and Patient Privacy Monitoring Program, as well as partners with the company to provide security assessments for a variety of its other affiliated locations.The healthcare system has adopted services to identify vulnerabilities and analyze risk to meet HIPAA requirements and ensure security weaknesses do not go undetected with its many supply chain partners. The organization now has three ongoing managed service partnerships with CynergisTek, including the latest addition of the VSM program for managing third-party risk.Vendors working with healthcare organizations have accounted for more than 20% of the breaches reported in 2019, and the largest. With the cybersecurity workforce shortage continuing to grow, coupled with budget constraints, organizations are facing the challenge of maintaining an effective security plan. CynergisTek’s VSM program supports organizations’ risk awareness and allows for seamless assessments of third-party vendors. Specifically, this offering monitors and evaluates vendors’ level of risk and compliance and determines how organizations can manage that risk in order to keep third parties accountable and address vendor security gaps.Healthcare faces a daunting task in trying to keep pace with the many risks to information and systems. Additionally, third parties and their subcontractors can represent operational, reputational, financial, and compliance risks. Supply chain partners such as cloud providers, service providers, outsourcers, etc. form a critical component of most healthcare entities business strategy. Understanding and addressing the risk that these valuable business partners represent is critical to success. A proactive life cycle approach to vendor security enables protection of patient information and operations and supports positive supply chain partnerships.

AmerisourceBergen Announces Long-Term Strategic Relationship with OneOncology

AmerisourceBergen, a global healthcare solutions leader, today announced that it has entered a long-term strategic relationship with OneOncology, the national partnership of community oncologists driving the future of cancer care in the U.S. OneOncology has selected ION Solutions and Oncology Supply to provide a suite of services and solutions to community oncology practices across the nation. ION Solutions has been selected for GPO contracting and Oncology Supply for the distribution of chemotherapy and supportive care products to OneOncology members.OneOncology partners with the nation’s top community oncology practices and their physicians to support delivery of comprehensive cancer care to patients, close to home. Since its public launch in September 2018, the organization is now comprised of four large practices across the U.S., representing nearly 250 physicians practicing at more than 70 sites of care.
OneOncology partners will have dedicated account teams that act as an extension of the practice and actively consult on inventory and creating operational efficiencies. OneOncology members will have access to Oncology Supply’s robust inventory of specialty and full-line oral, infusible and injectable products. AmerisourceBergen will provide OneOncology practices with tools and resources, practice management technologies, analytics and reports for better insight and education, and consultants, business coaches, and advisors who will assist with maximizing operating efficiencies.
To support the shift to value-based care, ION Solutions’ network members can leverage technology, analytics and informatics solutions to drive higher-quality and lower-cost care in every community. Tools like InfoDive®, a web-based business intelligence solution, allows practices to quickly and easily analyze internal and comparative data in the areas of coding, productivity, marketing, revenue collection and more. ION is supporting the standardization of treatment protocols. For example, network members have full access to a centralized library of precision medicine testing recommendations and resources through the Precision Medicine Center.Through the power of the ION GPO and AmerisourceBergen’s relationships with pharmaceutical manufacturers, members have access to the newest therapies entering the market. ION also advocates for community practices and their access to new research opportunities. Through solutions like AdvanceIQ®, ION Solutions can help match independent community oncology practices with national clinical trials and research opportunities.OneOncology partners will also have access to ION’s ongoing educational conference series. ION hosts nine annual conferences for its members; these events are designed to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and networking and strengthen the community of independent oncologists. Each conference features expert speakers, clinical reviews and best practices for business operations.

Palantir Launches Strategic Relationship With United Airlines

Palantir Technologies announced a long-term relationship with United Airlines to deploy Palantir Foundry to accelerate enterprise-wide data initiatives across a range of critical business units as their central platform.United and Palantir have been working on a wide range of projects for the past year to bring together United’s data sources in an integrated platform. United is the first major US airline to deploy Foundry across its enterprise as part of its broader digital transformation effort.“By utilizing Foundry, we are making the most of our data and providing actionable insights that help us to continue our efforts to improve the overall travel experience for our customers,” said Praveen Sharma, vice president of digital products and analytics at United Airlines.“We try to ensure our software is helping transform the world’s most important institutions. We’re excited that United is the first airline in the US to deploy the Foundry platform enterprise wide and to be working with such innovative partners that are eager to leverage data to transform the travel experience.” – Josh Harris, EVP, Palantir.

“The Relationship of Coffee Consumption with mortality”

E’ nato, come scrivono gli autori, fra cui la ricercatrice madrilena Esther Lopez-Garcia, con il preciso obiettivo di ottenere elementi validi sulle possibili cause di decesso legate al consumo di caffè (elementi che, fino ad oggi, erano sparsi nella letteratura scientifica). Lo studio analizza i dati di due famose coorti americane, uno sulle donne (Nurses’ Health Study) e l’altro sugli uomini (Health Professionals follow-up Study) e valuta quanto il consumo della bevanda più popolare al mondo, dopo il tè, possa essere messo in relazione con i decessi per malattie cardiovascolari. Lo studio su oltre 86.000 donne, intervistate ogni 2 anni, a partire dal 1980 (per un totale di 24 anni), e quasi 42.000 uomini, intervistati ogni 4 anni a partire dal 1986 (per un totale di 18 anni), ha messo in rilievo che esiste una associazione inversa fra consumo di caffè e rischio di decesso per malattia cardiovascolare. Tale associazione sembra non dipendere dalla caffeina, ma da altre sostanze presenti non solo nel caffè ma anche di quello decaffeinato.
Inoltre il consumo di caffè non è stato associato al rischio di decesso per tumore. “I dati sono molto rassicuranti – lo ha commentato anni fa il Prof. Carlo La Vecchia, docente presso la Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia dell’università di Milano e Capo del Laboratorio di Epidemiologia Generale dell’Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri – perché confermano che il consumo di caffè non è associato a rischio di cancro.” Essi inoltre suggeriscono un effetto favorevole sulla mortalità cardiovascolare. “Se non dovuta a differenze di base, tra bevitori e non di caffè, tale protezione può essere spiegata con un ruolo favorevole del caffè sull’infiammazione e sul diabete, due noti fattori di rischio per la patologia cardiovascolare”. Lo studio ha preso in esame i parametri confondenti come età, abitudine al fumo e altri noti o potenziali fattori di rischio per le malattie cardiovascolari e i tumori associati anche al consumo di caffè. “Infatti – rileva la Dr.ssa Alessandra Tavani, Capo del Laboratorio di Epidemiologia delle Malattie Croniche dell’Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche “Mario Negri” – uno dei motivi per cui il caffè è stato associato, in passato, ad aumenti di rischio di malattia cardiovascolare e di tumore, è che i forti bevitori di caffè sono spesso anche dei fumatori e hanno quindi un rischio aumentato di queste malattie a causa del fumo”. E prosegue: “Quando si tiene conto di questo nell’analizzare uno studio, come nel caso presente, e si elimina la parte del rischio dovuta al fumo, il caffè non solo non risulta far male, ma può addirittura ridurre il rischio di alcune malattie.” “Del resto il caffè contiene molte sostanze che possono produrre effetti benefici sulla salute”. Pur con i limiti di ogni studio osservazionale, Esther Lopez-Garcia e colleghi convengono che i dati sul caffè sono piuttosto incoraggianti e che permettono di escludere un aumento di mortalità associato al consumo della bevanda, mentre suggeriscono che occorrono altri studi per confermare la protezione evidenziata sulla malattia cardiovascolare.
Una cosa è certa, il consumo moderato di 3-4 tazzine al giorno, pari a circa 300 mg di caffeina totale, non dà fastidio a nessuno e risulta addirittura benefico associandosi ad un ridotto tasso di mortalità per numerose patologie”. (Redazione Fidest)

Life360 and Allstate Form Strategic Relationship to Transform Car Insurance and Personal Transportation

Life360, the world’s largest family driving network, today announced a new relationship with Allstate and its affiliate companies Arity and Answer Financial. Together the companies will provide Life360’s millions of users insights into their driving habits and connect them with personalized insurance offers. Both capabilities can help parents keep their families safer on the road while providing these drivers potential financial savings.Combining Life360 and Arity’s deep experience in driving data and analytics to power the Life360 app will provide Life360 users an enhanced experience and benefits with features including:Driving behavior insights: Life360’s rich sensor data with Arity’s advanced driver behavior models will provide families with insights to understand how each member is doing behind the wheel, giving parents the tools to help coach their loved ones to be better, safer drivers.
More competitive, personalized priced auto insurance offers: Arity empowers Life360 users — via Answer Marketplace — to earn more competitive and personalized auto insurance offers from their safe driving habits.
“We believe that the key to making personal transportation safer is giving drivers accurate and meaningful information they can use in real time,” said Gary Hallgren, president, Arity. “Working with Life360 expands our platform’s reach by connecting us to millions of more drivers to empower them with a better understanding of how they drive and the opportunity to benefit from their safe driving habits, putting us one step closer to our goal of making transportation better for everyone.” As part of the relationship, Allstate is investing in Life360, whose platform produces over five billion miles a month of family driving data, outpacing usage-based insurance offerings from all other major insurers combined. The investment follows Life360 delivering on its strongest fiscal year to date in 2017 as the company continues to grow its subscriber base for premium products like Driver Protect, which offers crash detection and emergency response. “Life360 wants to be at the center of keeping families engaged and connected. Our relationship with Allstate gives us the ability to use Arity’s technology to accelerate this vision,” said Chris Hulls, co-founder and CEO of Life360. “Together we can better understand the driving habits of families across the country and bring them money saving offerings, creating a new kind of driving experience for the modern family.”

Catella expands its relationship with Moor Park Capital Partners

Catella Asset Management (former Amplion) continues to expand its relationship with Moor Park Capital Partners and certain overseas investors in administering real estate entities in Finland. Moor Park, acting on behalf of American investors, recently acquired four long-leased assets at Helsinki-Vantaa airport. All assets are fully leased by Finnair and the portfolio consists of a total area of approximately 60,000 sqm.
This is the second investment in Finland by Moor Park, following the acquisition of Tokmanni Oy’s 74,400 sqm headquarter and logistic property in 2014. Catella Asset Management co-operates with Moor Park on managing both investments.
Catella is a financial advisor and asset manager with in-depth knowledge of property, fixed income and equities. Catella is a leader in the property sector, with a strong local presence in Europe, and employs some 500 professionals in 12 countries. Catella is listed on First North Premier on Nasdaq Stockholm.

Relationship between tourism and the media

Image via Wikipedia

Conference on Tourism and the Media (12-13 September, Zagreb, Croatia). Under the title ‘Tourism in the Headlines’ and in partnership with the Government of Croatia and the World Federation of Travel Journalists and Writers (FIJET), the conference aimed to to analyze the relationship between tourism and the media and address why, despite being one of the world’s largest economic sectors, tourism is not sufficiently featured in the political, business or financial news. Opening the conference, Croatian Prime Minister, Jadranka Kosor, stressed the relevance of tourism as “an engine of economic growth and one of the most effective creators of new jobs,” pointing to the need to reflect this message in the media. This was further echoed by the Minister of Tourism of Croatia, Mr. Damir Bajs, who underlined the main aim of the conference: “to join forces and to try and find ways to give more media importance to such an significant global sector as tourism”. Members of the print, digital and television media, including from CNN – the media partner of the conference – Time Magazine and Newsweek International, spoke on how to make tourism newsworthy. “The economic importance of tourism is very clear,” said CNN correspondent, Frederik Pleitgen, delivering the keynote presentation. “But in today’s 24-hours news cycle, if tourism wants to grab attention, it needs to move from the numbers to the people as it is the people (behind the numbers) that make a story”.
The event was also an opportunity to hone the communication skills of tourism stakeholders, with presentations and debate on the communication strategies and practical tools available for getting their messages across to the media. Communications experts encouraged destinations to be open and honest with journalists in order to get their story out in an accurate and credible way.
The over 400 participants attending issued the Zagreb Declaration on Positioning Tourism in the Media, calling for a strong working partnership between tourism stakeholders and the media. Concrete recommendations include establishing an active dialogue between tourism administrations, the private sector and the media on global tourism development; improving access to quality information; and adopting the tools and technologies of the 21st century to communication in tourism. During the conference, Ms. Kosor became the latest head of government to join the Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign, intended to rally support for tourism among world leaders. “Recognition among world leaders of tourism’s contribution to jobs, economic development and social empowerment is growing,” said Mr. Rifai. “We believe now is the time to do the same with the media, and this conference represents an important first step”.

Iran Sanctions Solution

London. World-Check today announced the launch of its Iran Economic Interest (IEI) solution following a raft of new international legislation including the U.S. Government’s Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act (CISADA) of July 2010, U.N. Security Council Resolution 1929 (UNSCR 1929), and new Iran sanctions laws passed by the European Union (EU), Canada, Australia, Japan and many more. The first new product, World-Check’s IEI Database, empowers businesses to automatically screen every client, relationship and transaction for individuals and entities believed to have a relationship with Iran. World-Check’s second product, the IEI IntegraScreen Report, empowers businesses to quickly and cost-effectively commission a bespoke enhanced due diligence report on any entity or relationship with heightened Iran-related exposure. The global Iran sanctions regimes mandate businesses to institute robust and wide ranging ‘Know Your Customer’ processes so that they can understand their Iran-related exposure and manage them accordingly.  The ‘knowingly’ definition specifically introduced in CISADA raises the risk for potential criminal and civil liability by expanding the definition from “actual knowledge” to include what “should have been known.”  Once significant and/or relevant information is freely available in the public domain, there is an expectation that such information is knowable.
To help clients meet the knowingly test, World-Check collects and analyses public domain information in more than 62 languages, including Farsi, across 5 continents with over 450 researchers, to identify tens of thousands of organisations believed to have business interests with Iran. Existing World-Check customers can have the new IEI dataset added to their current download so that they can immediately begin screening new and existing relationships and transactions against this updated-daily list. Similarly, World-Check’s unrivalled research operation can turn around a custom due diligence report targeting Iran exposure on any entity at a set price in just a few days. http://www.world-check.info/iransanctions.html

Johnnie Shand Kydd: Siren City

London until 12/9/2010 39a Canonbury Square Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art Johnnie Shand Kydd is an acclaimed documentary photographer perhaps best known for his portraits of artist friends such as Tracy Emin and Damien Hirst. In 2000 he embarked on a longterm project to capture the dramatic and chaotic world of Naples. Having never visited the city before, he soon developed a relationship with it that he described as ‘akin to a drug habit’, returning again and again over the next eight years.  Naples is known as the ‘Siren City’ because of the legend of Parthenope who, having failed to seduce Ulysses with the beauty of her song, threw herself into the sea and was washed ashore at the place that was to become Naples. Documenting the city’s streets, culture, traditions and people, Shand Kydd was seduced by its contradictory and complex nature – sinister yet humorous, sacred yet profane, theatrical yet real. He observed a darker side to Naples, related not only to its infamous corruption and criminality but also to the city’s inherent pagan character. Whilst seeing Naples as a tough, noisy and anarchic city he also finds beauty and a particular light-heartedness which, he argues, can be ‘discovered in the detail rather than the overview.’ (Johnnie)

The battle for Iraq’s security

Source: Aljazeera.net US troops started to withdraw from Iraq’s cities at the end of June -leaving security in the hands of the Iraqi army and police. The pullback marks the first step towards a US exit strategy from Iraq. Barack Obama, the US president, has vowed to withdraw most US troops from Iraq by August next year. But plenty of armed forces and militias are still active in Iraq. Following the US troop withdrawal, how might they respond to the new balance of forces on the ground? What is the future of the militias in Iraq now that the US has withdrawn from the urban areas? Does the fight continue until the last American soldier leaves? We ask: Who are these groups and what is their relationship with Iraqi government forces?

The Bombardier: partners Temoinsa and Tejofran

Bombardier’s share of the contract is valued at approximately 238 million reals ($120 million US, 87 million euros). The Bombardier con sortium includes two Brazilian partners: Temoinsa and Tejofran. “This contract is important for Sao Paulo as it will provide the city with improved rail equipment and support CMSP’s efforts to deliver enhanced service to public transit users,” said Carlos Levy, President and Chief Country Representative, Bombardier Transportation Brazil. “We are very pleased to be continuing our successful relationship with CMSP and our consortium partners.” Laurent Troger, President, Bombardier Transportation, Services, said: “This is a complete vehicle modernization project that will extend the useful life of CMSP’s rolling stock well beyond 30 years. It will employ the latest technologies on a fast track delivery schedule to improve vehicle reliability and maintainability. In the end, these refurbished cars will help our customer operate transit service with increased efficiency and cost effectiveness.” The modernization project includes upgrades to door system s and bogies, as well as installation of new interiors, propulsion systems, communication and air conditioning systems, windows and a range of other improvements. The cars will be modernized at Bombardier’s rail services center in Hortolandia, Brazil outside of Sao Paulo. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in August 2010. Bombardier is the leading provider of modernization services for rail equipment in the Brazilian market. It also provides signalling systems, propulsion systems and other equipment for rail projects in Brazil.
About Bombardier Transportation As the global leader in rail technology, Bombardier Transportation offers the broadest portfolio in the rail industry and delivers innovative products and services that set new standards in sustainable mobility. Bombardier’s ECO4 technologies – built on the four cornerstones of energy, efficiency, economy and ecology – conserve energy, protect the environment and help to improve total train pe rformance. Bombardier Transportation is headquartered in Berlin, Germany and has a presence in over 60 countries. It has an installed base of over 100,000 vehicles worldwide.
About Bombardier. A world-leading manufacturer of innovative transportation solutions, from commercial aircraft and business jets to rail transportation equipment, systems and services, Bombardier Inc. is a global corporation headquartered in Canada. Its revenues for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2009, were $19.7 billion US, and its shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD). Bombardier is listed as an index component to the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America indexes. News and information are available at http://www.bombardier.com.

Light installation by Nicola Evangelisti

Milano from April 22nd to April 26th Galleria d’Arte Moderna Villa Reale will exhibit Light Blade, a light installation designed by the young artist Nicola Evangelisti, during British Design Embassy, an event promoted by the British Consulate. The event, curated by Gisella Gellini and Olivia Spatola, will take place  at Villa Reale arcade in Via Palestro in Milan. The installation, displayed in the occasion of Salone del Mobile – Italian furniture exhibition – and Euroluce – italian lighting exhibition -, is carried out under the patronage of the Municipality of Milan and the British Consulate that organized British Embassy event. Light Blade, a light installation consisting of two parts, is perceived as kind of light blade that pierces a column of Villa Reale. It is a work conceived to create a dialogue among the past and the future, thus creating a relationship between two opposite entities and finding the values of the dialogue within the dichotomy. The artist links the museum spaces through a physical idealization that synthesizes, within a unique time slice, real as well as imaginary site, in an ideal prosecution between the internal and external space. Light Blade is cut, gash, tear, blade of light, that parts and separates – in a slash of space – multi thousands conceptions and ultra-dimensional connections: it is bridge fusion, synthesis, free concord of dynamical mental associations, performed within the time, for the time and trough a frozen time, outside and above the concrete human experience, where past and present are nothing more than accidents of a sole crystallized instant. The installation has been made possible thanks to the support of Brescia PaciArte Contemporary gallery, and to the technical contribution of Neon Stile from Bologna.

Visit by His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan to Washington

President Obama will meet with His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan at the White House on Tuesday, April 21.  Jordan is a close ally and partner of the United States and the President looks forward to discussing ways in which the two countries can strengthen cooperation on regional affairs, military and security issues, and reform efforts.  The President looks forward to consulting with King Abdullah on the pursuit of a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, including moving forward with the Arab Peace Initiative, and on ways to deepen cooperation on other issues in the bilateral relationship.

Meeting with president Zapatero of Spain

President Obama: I just want to say that I’ve very much enjoyed working with Mr. Zapatero over the last several days. He is somebody who clearly understands not only Spain’s extraordinary influence in the world, but also takes those responsibilities very seriously. And I think that we’re going to be able to establish what is already a strong relationship between the two countries — I think we can make it even stronger. So I’m glad to call him a friend and I welcome our opportunities to cooperate on a whole host of issues in the years to come.

Joint press with Obama and Brown

(abstract) Prime Minister Brown: The whole of the United Kingdom welcomes President Obama and the First Lady on your first official visit to our country. President Obama, you have given renewed hope not only to the citizens of the United States of America, but to all citizens in all part of the world. And I want to thank you for your leadership, your vision and your courage, which you’ve already shown in your presidency, and congratulate you on the dynamism, the energy and, indeed, the achievements that you have been responsible for.  Your first 70 days in office have changed America, and you’ve changed America’s relationship with the world. So I thank you for coming to our country and I hope you will enjoy your visit with us. There are really five tests for the G20 summit, five tests for the world — tests that if met, will create a new consensus for the world. The speed and scale of global economic change has overwhelmed the national system of rules and regulations. So our first test is to agree tougher and more transparent supervision of banks, hedge funds, and what is known as the global shadow banking system. We are both agreed there will be no sustainable recovery until the banks are cleaned up and a new regulatory system is put in place. President Obama: Thank you so much, Gordon. I am very pleased to be in London, especially with weather of the sort we’re seeing today. And I want to thank Prime Minister Brown for hosting us, for his wife taking Michelle on a tour of some wonderful projects around the city, for his leadership throughout this challenge. I have to say it’s not just Gordon and Sarah that have been very hospitable — I had a chance to see their two sons and we talked about dinosaurs a little bit — (laughter) — in between discussions of Afghanistan and Iran. So we’ve had a wonderful time.  Prime Minister Brown and I had a productive discussion this morning. Both of us greatly value the special relationship between our nations. The United States and the United Kingdom have stood together through thick and thin, through war and peace, through hard times and prosperity — and we’ve always emerged stronger by standing together. So I’m pleased that my first meeting overseas as President is with Gordon Brown, just as I was pleased to host him in Washington shortly after taking office. And I know that we both believe that the relationship between our two countries is more than just an alliance of interests; it’s a kinship of ideals and it must be constantly renewed. The United States is committed, working alongside the United Kingdom, to doing whatever it takes to stimulate growth and demand, and to ensure that a crisis like this never happens again. At home, we’re moving forward aggressively on both recovery and reform. We’ve taken unprecedented action to create jobs and restore the flow of credit. And we’ve proposed a clear set of tough, new 21st-century rules of the road for all of our financial institutions. We are lifting ourselves out of this crisis and putting an end to the abuses that got us here. The Prime Minister and I also covered several other areas of challenge that are fundamental to our common security and prosperity. As he mentioned, we discussed my administration’s review of strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a review that benefitted greatly from the consultations with our allies.  The city of London, like the United States, was attacked by the al Qaeda terrorists who are still plotting in Pakistan, and we are committed to a focused effort to defeat them. And I want to repeat something that I said during our last visit together — I want to honor the British troops and their families who are serving alongside our own on behalf of our common security. We also discussed the progress that was made yesterday at The Hague, where more than 70 nations gathered to discuss our mutual responsibilities to partner with the Afghan people so that we can deny al Qaeda a safe haven. And in the days ahead we’ll consult further with our NATO allies about training Afghan security forces, increasing our civilian support, and a regional approach that recognizes the connection between the future of Afghanistan and Pakistan.