Germany women's great Jones ready for a 'wonderful football festival'

Jones brings expertise and knowledge to the job

Former Germany women's football great Steffi Jones knows the highs of winning a World Cup and three European Championships. At this year's World Cup, she says, Germany will be pushing for the title of world champs again.

 

With the women's World Cup kicking off in Germany, retired great Steffi Jones says she is on a high. The 38-year-old former Germany defender now heads the organizing committee for the upcoming tournament, and says she does not regard herself purely as a representative for the event - "a smiling Steffi who tours the country," as she puts it. On her global welcome tour, Jones has proven that she has a wealth of knowledge and professional expertise to offer.

Jones traveled 120,000 kilometers, visiting all 16 nations that have qualified for the World Cup, similar to Franz Beckenbauer's tour for the men's 2006 World Cup. Now, she is looking ahead to the three-week tournament's opening game, which opens to 75,000 spectators at Berlin's Olympic Stadium with titleholder Germany playing Canada on June 26.

"It’s not going to be a copy of the 2006 [men's] World Cup; it's a women's World Cup and it will be somewhat smaller," Jones declared. "But we want it to be just as wonderful a festival. We want to write our own history."

More than just a 'smiling Steffi'

Jones played primarily as a defender at national and club level

Jones, the daughter of a US soldier and a German mother, grew up in a tough neighborhood in Frankfurt. She played 111 international matches with the national team, held the world championship in 2003 - even if a cruciate ligament rupture forced her to watch the final game from the sidelines - won three consecutive European Championships with Germany and twice won Olympic bronze. Her strength, she says, is "simply being authentic."

"I don't want to bend over backwards to be someone I am not. I know what I am capable of and I try to fulfill my job 100 percent," Jones says, adding that she is a very good-natured and cooperative person who strives for harmony, but that as organizing committee chief, it is impossible to always please everybody.

Sustainability the goal 

On million tickets were on offer for the women's World Cup

The five-time German champion with 1. FFC Frankfurt says she hopes to help advance and advertize women's football worldwide. "Sustainability is our goal. We would like to see every girl who wants to play soccer given the chance to join a team," Jones says, adding that she has never regretted taking on the position at the head of the World Cup organizing committee, even if it takes up most of her time: "My unique job makes up for everything else I am missing at the moment."

Jones' job as committee chief ends on July 17 in her hometown Frankfurt - the day of the final match. "I wish time would move more slowly," she says. "Once the World Cup is over, I have to go back to my normal everyday life."

Well, that has to do with football, too. Beginning in September, Jones takes on the position of director of women's football at the German Football Association (DFB). She says she can even imagine moving up a notch and stepping into the shoes of DFB president Theo Zwanziger. But until then, she hopes Germany "can crown all the good work everyone is doing with a World Cup title."

Author: Arnulf Boettcher / db
Editor: Darren Mara

100 year of IBM

                                                        

The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, the precursor to IBM, was founded on June 16, 1911. At its beginning, it was a merger of three manufacturing businesses, a product of the times orchestrated by the financier, Charles Flint. From these humble beginnings sprang the company that Thomas Watson Sr. would mold into a global force in technology, management and culture.

In 1911, bi-planes dotted the air and Ford Model Ts appeared in the streets. Forward-thinking people wired their homes for electricity and installed their first telephones. In a Belfast shipyard, workers were finishing the hull of the biggest passenger ship ever, the Titanic. The booming US economy was creating a new hunger for information. There was a need to keep track, to understand and to inform.

Into that milieu stepped financier Charles Ranlett Flint. He worked out of an office on Broad Street, just off New York’s Wall Street, and invested in shipbuilding, munitions, rubber, starch and the production of caramel. By the early 1900s, Flint had become friends with Theodore Roosevelt, William McKinley, Orville Wright, Andrew Carnegie and other giants of politics and business.

Starting in 1900, Flint attempted to build a number of trusts by merging several small companies to create one dominant player.

One of these trusts was in time clocks—the kind factory workers would punch on the way in and out of work. The clocks helped employers keep track of hours worked and hourly wages. Flint took a number of companies that made recording time clocks, including the time recording business of Bundy Manufacturing in Binghamton, NY, rolled all the companies into one and called it International Time Recording Co. (ITR).

Morocco's king pledges to give up some of his power

Moroccan King Mohammed VI pledged Friday to build a constitutional monarchy with a democratic parliament. In a televised address, the king detailed a new constitutional that would devolve some of his power to the prime minister and parliament.

He said voters would be able to vote for the changes in a July referendum.

The proposals come on the heels of nationwide demonstrations that started in February, inspired by popular uprisings that toppled the autocratic rulers of Tunisia and Egypt.

The 47-year-old monarch, who took the reins of the Arab world's longest-serving dynasty in 1999, holds essentially all power in the north African country, where he also serves as the top religious authority - a position he won't relinquish.

New rules

The final draft of the reformed constitution would mean a "government emerging through direct universal suffrage," King Mohammed said Friday.

Demonstrators have denounced corruption, demanded better civil rights anda new constitution

The draft explicitly grants the government executive powers, although the king would retain control over the military and select the prime minister from the party that wins the polls.

The prime minister would be rechristened "president of the government" and given the "power to dissolve parliament," which was previously the king's prerogative. 

The prime minister would also be allowed to fire ministers and nominate ambassadors or directors of public companies for the king's approval.

King Mohammed VI also pledged an independent judiciary and said the proposals would "consolidate the pillars of a constitutional monarchy."

Is it enough?

Many hailed the promised reforms as ushering in democratic change.

Driss Lachgar, the minister in charge of relations with parliament, called the draft "a real revolution and laid the foundations for a parliamentary monarchy."       

However, not everyone is satisfied with the proposed changes.

Activist Najib Chawki said the reform "does not respond to the essence of our demands which is establishing a parliamentary monarchy. We are basically moving from a de facto absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy."

Her group, the February 20 Movement, has called for the creation in Morocco of a parliamentary monarchy, an end to the influence of the king's inner circle, the dismissal of the government, and for trials of officials and businessmen it has accused of corruption.

The movement said it will press ahead with protests it has planned for Sunday.   

Author: Sarah Harman ( dpa, AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Kyle James

Today Forex Rates

FOREX RATES Pakistan Open Market Forex Rates Updated at : 17/6/2011 10:30 PM (PST) Currency Buying Selling  Australian Dollar 90.3 91.3  Canadian Dollar 87.1 88.1  China Yuan 13.1 13.5  Euro 121.7 123.5  Japanese Yen 1.063 1.073  Saudi Riyal 22.9 23.1  U.A.E Dirham 23.4 23.6  UK Pound Sterling 138.5 140.7  US Dollar 86.15 86.45

Want to Buy A Home? Good Chance Arrives!

I think it affects developers most, because currently sales volume has slowed down. A lot of them are facing cash flow problems. For banks, I think the impact is a bit less because they're not likely to see big problems or big defaults from home purchases although they might see some problems from developers'loans."
Standard & Poor's ratings agency recently lowered the outlook of China's hot real estate property market to negative from stable on Wednesday.
"We're likely to see more negative rating actions among Chinese developers in the next six to 12 months because of tightened onshore credit conditions and increasingly restrictive government policies that deepened the market downturn," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Bei Fu.
The analyst added, "Any meaningful slip in sales will significantly weaken the developers' cash flow protection measures amid higher leverage and stiff competition."
Meanwhile, Bei Fu said in a report that property prices are estimated to fall 10 percent in the next year.
Gu Wei, Reuters Breakingviews columnist, agreed with the prediction, adding that it is due to the harsh policies on home purchases.
"Current policies are harsh, and the mortgage percentages are tough measures. We see people holding out and property developers are holding out as well. But volumes are thin so I suppose developers may slash prices to get people buying," said the columnist.
China has launched a series of tightening measures since last year, including halting regulatory approvals on developers' fund-raising plans and limiting home purchases via bans on third and subsequent homes in some cities.
If housing prices fall sufficiently to ease social concerns over affordability levels, developers would suffer worse than banks which might face limited impact, said Gu Wei.
"I think it affects developers most, because currently sales volumes have slowed down. A lot of them are facing cash flow problems. For banks, I think the impact is a bit less because they're not likely to see big problems or big defaults from home purchases although they might see some problems from developers' loans."
A Reuters report on Wednesday says China Vanke, the country's largest property developer, fell 0.86 percent in terms of sales.
Except for real estate developers, the columnist thinks some local governments are unwilling to see weak property sales.
"It could have a big impact on local government revenue because housing and land revenues are the biggest revenue source for local governments."
However, for those who worry about their inability to buy a home without earning enough money, it's really good news.

China Launches Official Website on CPC History

China launched an official website Wednesday providing research and other information on the history of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The website, sponsored by the Party History Research Center (PHRC) of the CPC Central Committee, includes files about recent research achievements regarding CPC history, memoirs of important people in the CPC history, a brief introduction of major CPC history research institutions as well as news reports about the CPC's 90th anniversary.

The website also hosts important books -- in electronic form -- of the CPC history.

The website will serve as a platform for the exchanges of Party history research information, a showcase of the CPC history research results and a classroom for CPC history learning and education, said a statement from the PHRC Wednesday.

"The launching of the website is part of the PHRC's efforts to use modern technology to promote the CPC's glorious history and fine tradition among the Party history researchers and the public," the PHRC director Ouyang Song said at the website's launching ceremony.

The CPC will celebrate its 90th anniversary of founding on July 1 of this year.

Global Media Forum 2011

The world has become a global marketplace for goods, ideas and news. Under inhumane conditions, women in Asia produce cheap shirts for department stores in the West. Billions of people are without clean water and sufficient food. More and more people in the Southern Hemisphere want to migrate to the USA or Western Europe. Chinese investors are securing jobs in the USA. IT workers in India are solving software problems for European companies. Fishers in Bangladesh call for market prices via mobile phone. Opponents of the Iranian government organize protests using text messages.

The curse and blessing of globalization represent two sides of the same coin. Globalization offers great opportunities to generate more universal observance of human rights, but it also poses serious dangers to the fundamental rights of the individual. National and international organizations are demanding more and more that people, their needs and their rights be placed at the center of the discussion – as it is postulated by the Human Rights Convention of the United Nations.

The world has become more complex – even experts are finding it hard to comprehend how everything interacts. This is where the media has an important role: to explain and create transparency and public awareness. At the same time, journalists, publishers, broadcasters and Internet providers are themselves major players in globalization, subject to economic, political and cultural imperatives.