February 25, 2006

Muted optimism among Asian quartet


South Korea National Soccer Coach Advocaat Speaks To Media After The Draw For The 2006 Fifa World Cup Finals In Leipzig

FIFA World Cup™ fever swept across Asia in 2002 and another outbreak accompanied the Final Draw for Germany 2006.
The main symptoms this time were red eyes and sleepy heads after a long night for football fans across the continent. "Over 1,000 supporters, mostly teenagers and youngsters in their 20s, stayed up all night in a big gymnasium in eastern Seoul to watch the draw live on a big screen," reported Yonhap, the Korean news agency, capturing the excitement generated by events some 5,000 miles away in Leipzig.
At Asia's first FIFA World Cup finals, the South Koreans swept past some famous names to become their continent's first semi-finalists, while Japan reached the last 16. Now the target for the four qualified Asian teams – Iran, Japan, Korea Republic and Saudi Arabia – is to show they can make an impact on European soil but getting beyond the group stage is not guaranteed, as the media reaction to Friday's draw underlines.

European threat to South Koreans
For commentators in Korea Republic, the key to getting out of Group G will be the matches against Togo and Switzerland. Speaking to the Sports Seoul newspaper, the South Koreans' Dutch coach, Dick Advocaat, stressed the significance of the opening game against African first-timers Togo, saying: "Togo appear to be outsiders to me. The first match against Togo is important. Only a good performance and result in the opening game will prepare the team for the second game against France."
The third and final group match against Switzerland, meanwhile, is one that the South Koreans can win according to the Korean Times, which said: "The Swiss, ranked 38th in the FIFA/ Coca-Cola world ranking, are regarded as the weakest of the European representatives." However, the Joong Ang Ilbo newspaper warned: "France are a clear cut above all others and Switzerland are also a team to respect. They drew with France twice and eliminated Turkey in the qualifying campaign. We have to be careful as nothing is guaranteed."

'Not such a bad group' for Japan
Across the Sea of Japan, they were pondering the prospect of facing world champions Brazil in Group F. "Japan have never beaten Brazil in seven meetings, and the hopes of that changing at next year's finals in Germany appear grim," said the Daily Yomiuri, adding that "the Brazilians, unlike in 2002, are the early favourites to win their record sixth World Cup".
However, with Australia and Croatia the other opponents for Zico's team, there was cautious optimism in the Japan Times, where Japan Football Association president Saburo Kawabuchi was quoted as saying: "It was not such a bad group. (I,Andy,don't think so!!!!)We didn't want to be in Group C with the Netherlands and Argentina. Brazil will be the last match in the group and we had better qualify for the second round in the first two matches."

Mixed reaction in Iran
While Japan have to face Brazil, Iran's seeded opponents in Group D are Mexico and the Messina-based national team defender Rahman Rezaei told the Iran Students News Agency that the Iranians had nothing to fear from a section that also includes Angola and Portugal. "Considering the fact that nations such as Germany, England, Brazil or Argentina were among the seeded teams, I can say that we got a good draw." In the article he went on to say the Mexicans "lack speed", while Portugal have "not had good results lately".
The Iran Pas News Agency carried a rather different message in its interview with former Iran goalkeeper Nasser Hejazi, who said: "We could have had a better draw. We will have big problems against Mexico and Portugal and little-known Angola will also pose a big threat." Hejazi warned both players and supporters "not to fool ourselves" as "realistically speaking we have a minimum chance of finishing first or second in Group D".

Saudi optimism
Saudi Arabia did not send their coach Gabriel Calderon to the draw and the media response was comparatively muted - due in part to the headline-grabbing exploits of club side Al Ittihad at the FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup 2005. Still, with Spain, Ukraine and Tunisia providing the opposition in Group H, there is hope in at least some quarters that they can fare better than during their disastrous campaign in Korea/Japan.
"I'm optimistic after we were drawn in this group," Prince Sultan bin Fahed, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation President, told the Al Riyadh Daily. The paper said the prince was looking to the team to "erase our disappointing display in 2002".

WC SOCCER Group G: South Koreans, Swiss stalk French favourites


Four years ago, everyone would have had Les Bleus down as favourites to take Group G. However, their traumatic experiences at Korea/Japan 2002 have left their mark and France's encounter with Togo - who, like Senegal in 2002, are making their first appearance at a FIFA World Cup™ finals (debutant) - is far from a foregone conclusion. For their part, Switzerland proved to be more than a handful for France during the qualifiers, while Korea Republic's performance in Asia has earned them everyone's respect. Everything therefore points to this group being more open than it would first appear.

FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking
France 5th
Korea Republic 29th
Switzerland 36th
Togo 56th

Matches
-A date for the diary: Stuttgart, 13 June, France v Switzerland
This derby between the 'Alpine neighbours' is one of the classic confrontations. The sides played out two hard-fought draws (0-0 and 1-1) in Group 4 of their qualifying campaign, although France got the upper hand with a 2-0 victory at UEFA EURO 2004.
-David v Goliath: Cologne, 23 June, Togo v France
On paper, this would appear to be an extremely one-sided contest between the world champions and a Togo side making their first appearance on world football's greatest stage. However, one need only think back to Senegal...
-History repeats itself: Leipzig, 18 June, France v Korea Republic
The two sides met in a friendly on 26 May 2002, a few days before the finals in Korea/Japan kicked off, with France managing to snatch a hard-earned 3-2 victory.

Analysis

France, winners of the competition in 1998, and Korea Republic, semi-finalists on home soil in 2002, will start as slight favourites in this group. However, there is very little to choose between them and Switzerland, who were unbeaten in finishing second in their qualifying group. Still smarting from their ignominious first-round exit four years ago, France will be adopting a highly cautious approach this time round. Raymond Domenech's men topped Group 4 ahead of Switzerland, inspired largely by the return from retirement of the 'old guard', Zinedine Zidane, Lilian Thuram and Claude Makelele.
Alexander Frei and Johann Vogel, both of whom play in Ligue 1 in France, know their French opponents inside and out. Frei, who finished as the leading marksman in France last season, will be out to prove his worth following a disappointing end to Switzerland's qualifying campaign where he was below his best, particularly against the Republic of Ireland.
Before coming up against the French again in what could prove to be one of the key clashes in the group, Korea Republic should get a good work-out against Togo in their first match. The Hawks will be looking to cause an upset in their first appearance at a FIFA World Cup finals and they are capable of doing so with players of the calibre of Emmanuel Adebayor, the top scorer in the qualifiers with 11, among their ranks.

Did you know?
Zinedine Zidane suffered a damaged thigh muscle in a friendly against Korea Republic three days before the 2002 FIFA World Cup™ kicked off, an injury which kept him out of France's first two matches of the competition.

February 22, 2006

Targeted Iraqi interim prime(old article)


1) Insurgents tried to blow up the party headquarters of the Iraqi interim prime minister on Monday. When policemen tried to stop the vehicle, the car exploded.

2) Prime Minister Iyad Allawi was not inside the building, but the blast killed three people and wounded more than two dozen others.

3) A week ago Monday, a suicide car bomb targeted another powerful political figure. The explosion killed and wounded scores of people, but Mr. Hakim was not injured.

4) In the past several weeks, insurgents have mostly targeted politicians and Iraq's security forces, because they fear losing power to the majority Shiites at the polls on January 30th.

5) Government and Shiite leaders including Mr. Hakim say they are just as determined to hold elections on time as insurgents are in trying to derail them.

S. Korea's exports of cosmetics to Asia rose sharply last year

SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korean cosmetics exports to Asia, especially to Chinese-speaking nations, soared last year amid the growing popularity of South Korea's pop culture in the region, a government office said Wednesday.

South Korea exported US$222.2 million worth of cosmetics last year, up 35.6 percent from a year earlier, the Korea Customs Office said. Such products did not include perfumes and bath goods.

The largest importer of the nation's cosmetics was China with $62.73 million in imports, up 32.8 percent from the previous year, the office said.

Taiwan's imports of cosmetics from South Korea surged 157.4 percent from a year earlier to $33.45 million.

Japan's imports of South Korean cosmetics totaled $29.79 million, up 32.8 percent from the previous year, the office said.

Hong Kong's imports gained 69.6 percent to $25.42 million last year, while Singapore's imports soared 73.8 percent to $7.63 million.

South Korea exported $6.69 million worth of products to Vietnam, up 4.5 percent year-on-year, the office said.

"Local companies are aggressively penetrating Asian markets to take advantage of the growing popularity of South Korea's pop culture in such countries," an industry source said.

In areas unaffected by South Korean pop culture, however, the nation's cosmetics did not gain bigger market shares.

South Korea's exports of cosmetics to the United States fell 16.3 percent to $26.09 million.

The nation's imports of such products came to $418.39 million, up 10.6 percent from the previous year, the office said.

France was the largest exporter to South Korea, followed by the U.S. and Japan.

Chinese yuan to surge vs. dollar before April: report

SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Yonhap) -- China's currency is likely to rise drastically against the U.S. dollar before April, causing the South Korean won to strengthen against the greenback in tandem, a report said Wednesday.

"Pressured by the United States, China's currency authorities could sharply raise the value of the yuan against the dollar or expand its daily fluctuation band," said the report by the Korea Center for International Finance.

The end of Sudan's civil war.<-Click for Audio



1) Officials from around the world are expected to attend the ceremony on Sunday in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, that will officially mark the end of Sudan's 21-year civil war.

2) It was a conflict that claimed nearly two million lives through warfare, starvation and disease. It has displaced an estimated four million people.

3) The peace agreement came about through intense pressure by the international community and African leaders over the past two years.

4) The war erupted in 1983 when the SPLA took up arms against the government to demand greater autonomy and access to resources.

5) Both the government and the SPLA have agreed to split the country's wealth, particularly oil revenues from wells mostly found in the south.

Economy (Employment) September 7, 1999


Economy (Employment)

Clearly the report on jobs sparked today's extraordinary rally. It is the last comprehensive snapshot of the labor market that investors will get to see before the Fed's next meeting on interest rates. But while the headlines are reassuring, some of the details are not. Louise Schiavone reports from Washington.

The U.S. economy cranked out far fewer new jobs in August than economists anticipated. Even so, the jobless rate returned to a 29-year low of 4.2 percent, dipping one tenth of a percent from July. Overall job growth slowed, with business generating only 124,000 new non-farm payroll jobs, less than half the 338,000 jobs created in July. Average hourly earnings rose just two cents to $13.30, considerably less than the 10-cent hourly increase seen earlier in the summer. Although automobile manufacturing jobs were up significantly, there were job losses in other areas, such as aircraft, and apparel manufacturing and construction. But analysts don't expect any long-term downturn in manufacturing employment. The service sector, such as health care, computer services and finance, added 132,000 jobs. The August numbers have eased inflation fears for now. But some economists caution the slowdown may be just a seasonal quirk, leaving open the possibility of another rate hike.

spark v.t. <사람, 활동 등에> 활기를 불어넣다, 자극하다
rally n. (경기, 주가 등의) 회복, 반등
comprehensive adj. 범위가 넓은, 광범한; 포괄적인
snapshot 일시 적인 견해, 영향(influence), 효과
reassure v.t. <남을> 기운 나게 하다, (…에 관하여) 안심시키다
detail n. 세부, 세목, 항목
crank out 시끄럽게 (소리를) 내지르다. 기계적으로) 자꾸[척척] 만들어내다
anticipate v.t. …을 예상하다; …을 걱정 [기대] 하며 기다리다, 기대하다
jobless rate 실업률
dip v.i. 조금 [일시적으로] 감소하다
con·sid·er·a·bly〔〕 ad. 상당히, 꽤, 적지 않게
It’s considerably warmer this morning.
오늘 아침은 꽤 덥다. 《★ 동사를 수식하는 외에는 비교급을 수식함》
downturn n. (경기의) 하강, 침체
ease v.t. ...을 완화하다, 가볍게 하다; 남을 안심시키다
slowdown n. 속력을 늦춤, 감속, 침체
quirk n. 급한 커브 [꼬임]
hike n. (물가, 봉급 등의) 인상

February 21, 2006

Crazy English (September 6th, 1999)






They scream with a zeal reserved for cheerleaders at a pep rally. But they're not cheering for any particular team. They're learning to speak English. Meet Li Yang, inventor of a new method he calls "crazy English." He's taken learning English out of the classrooms. And on the road to auditoriums, to the doors of Beijing's forbidden city. And even to the Great Wall. "Many people cannot learn English well, even though they have spent a lot of time and energy studying many different textbooks, because they don't realize that English study is a sort of skill training." The skill is then developed by shouting out English words and phrases. Li claims his technique was born out of his low sense of self-esteem. He realized the only way to break through his shyness was to shout, a method that also succeeded in helping him remember the material he was studying. Li says his crazy teaching style has made English speakers out of about 14 million people across China. It's also made the 30-year-old entrepreneur a very rich man. But Li doesn't plan to stop there. He says he's now working on plans to teach Chinese, the crazy English way.

zeal n. 열심, 열의, 열정, 열중
reserve vt. 운명지어져 있다, <사람이> (…으로) 운명지어져 있다 (for…)
pep rally n. 기세를 올리기 위한 집회, 궐기대회
inventor n. 발명가, 창안 [고안] 자 auditorium n. 강당
Forbidden City n. (the ~) 자금성 (紫禁城) the Great Wall n. 만리 장성
claim v.t. ...을 주장하다 self-esteem n. 자존; 자부심, 자만
break through …을 깨뜨리다, 타파하다, <수줍음, 조심성 등을> 없애다, 잊게 하다
material n. 자료, 소재 entrepreneur n. 기업가; 사업주

Gypsies







GYPSIES [Gypsies] or Gipsies [from Egypt, because of an inaccurate idea that Gypsies came from a so-called Little Egypt], a traditionally nomadic people with particular folkways and a unique language, found on every continent; they often refer to themselves as Roma. Their language, called Romany , belongs to the Indo-Iranian family and is closely related to the languages of NW India. Their blood groupings have been found to coincide with those of S Himalayan tribes, and genetic mutations they possess are otherwise found only among Indians and Pakistanis. Gypsies worldwide are estimated to number between 10 and 12 million.

In the course of their wanderings, Gypsies have occasionally mixed with non-Gypsy neighbors and have sometimes settled down, but they have clung tenaciously to their identity and customs. Their physical type has remained largely unaltered; most Gypsies are dark-complexioned, short, and lightly built. Their bands are still ruled by elders. Gypsies have usually adopted the religion of their country of residence; probably the greater number are Roman Catholic or Orthodox Eastern Christian. Each year in May they gather in S France from all over the world for a pilgrimage to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. Gypsies usually travel in small caravans and make their living as metalworkers, singers, dancers, musicians, horse dealers, and auto mechanics. Gypsy women are famous as fortunetellers.

It is believed that they came originally from NW India, which they left for Persia in the 1st millennium AD Probably during their sojourn in Persia, they became divided into three main tribal divisions: the Gitanos, the Kalderash, and the Manush. Later they moved northward and westward, and are recorded as first appearing in Western Europe in the 15th cent. Alternately welcomed and persecuted by civil and religious authorities, they moved from country to country until they had spread to every part of Europe by the beginning of the 16th cent. They arrived in North America in the late 1800s.

In modern times, and especially since the beginning of the 20th cent., various nations have attempted to end their nomadic lifestyle by requiring them to register and to go to school and learn trades. Some 500,000 perished in gas chambers and concentration camps during World War II. In 1956 the Soviet Union decreed that the last wandering Gypsy bands in that country be gradually settled in places of their choice. The countries of E Europe, where the great majority of Gypsies live, adopted similar measures under Communist rule, and most Gypsies eventually found economic and social protection, if not full acceptance. However, following the fall of Communism in the early 1990s, persecution of the Gypsies arose once more in E Europe, and by the early 21st cent. most faced increased discrimination and lived in poverty. In 2005 eight E European countries and the World Bank backed a ten-year program intended to improve the Gypsies' socioeconomic status.

Bibliography: See G. Borrow, The Romany Rye (1857, new ed. 1949, repr. 1959); I. H. Brown, Gypsy Fires in America (1924); Gipsy Petulengro's autobiography, A Romany Life (1935); J. Yoors, The Gypsies (1967); D. Kenrick and G. Puxon, The Destiny of Europe's Gypsies (1972); D. Mayall, Gypsie-Travellers in Nineteenth Century Society (1988); I. Fonseca, Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey (1995).

Author not available, GYPSIES., The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2005

Hackers' Attack



Hackers' Attack

If you send or receive e-mail using Microsoft's free Hotmail service, hackers may have been reading your messages today. CNN interactive discovered a security breach that allowed anybody to gain access to accounts and that send messages under the user's name. It's not clear how long the breach was active. 40 million computer users subscribe to hotmail.

New Software

Microsoft is expected to offer new software that could make it easier to read text on computer screens. "The Wall Street Journal" says the software called Microsoft reader makes digital text appear almost as clear as it does in Sprint. The software's benefits are said to be most noticeable on portable computers which can use liquid crystal displays.

Law (Melissa Virus)



2. Law (Melissa Virus)

Papers filed in a New Jersey Superior Court reveal the man charged with creating the "Melissa" computer virus has admitted creating the bug. The prosecution claims that David Smith launched the virus onto the Internet in March, beginning a worldwide outbreak. The bug quickly swamped and damaged e-mail systems around the world.
Smith is charged with interruption of public communications,conspiracy and theft of computer service. He could face 40 years in prison.