3. Egypt’s Economy Is Near Paralysis

Egypt's economy approached paralysis on Monday as foreign commerce, tourism and banking all but halted, placing acute pressure on President Hosni Mubarak to find a way out of the weeklong chaos. International companies closed plants and sent workers home or out of the country; food staples went undelivered to stores; and banks remained closed during a week when many Egyptians, who are routinely paid monthly, would receive their paychecks. A major ratings agency cut the country’s bond rating, while shortages led to rising prices. 
In my opionon, I think this event concern the the new president of Egypt---Hosni Mubarak, he reshuffled his government on Monday, this gesture that the opposition has already dismissed as inadequate. Therefore, Egypt's people is dissatisfied, Egypt's people want to removal Hosni Mubarak Hosni Mubarak also started to use force to against Egypt's people. According to this event, that is why Egypt's economy is approaching to paralysis. " 'The protests’ crippling effects could give Mr. Mubarak and his new cabinet perhaps only a few weeks to re-establish order before shortages, rising unemployment and a deep crisis set in." economists said.










http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/world/middleeast/01economy.html?_r=1&hp

2. Orange Customers of Everything Everywhere Get Mobile Payments

Paying for a sandwich will soon be possible via a mobile phone as operator Orange rolls out what it claims is the UK's first mobile payments service. The service, due for launch in summer 2011, sees the phone operator partnering with payments firm Barclaycard. More services are expected to roll out in the run up to the 2012 Olympics. By the time of the Olympics it is expected that transactions, transport and tickets will all be available via contactless technology.

If this technology will be normal stuff in our real life. It will offer a lot of convenience to us. Imagine if "Mobile Wallet" this kind of technology is coming true. We just only take a mobile then everything is done. Such as shopping, subway, taxi and etc. I hope this technology is coming soon, that I do just need to bring my mobile when I go outside. The London games is seen as an epicentre for contactless payments, with sponsors such as Visa and Transport for London heavily involved in so-called Near Field Communication (NFC), the short range wireless technology that underpins many wireless payment systems. Many phones already contain NFC technology, including Google's recently released Nexus S. Firms such as Nokia and Blackberry are also beginning to work with the technology. It is rumoured that Apple will also incorporate NFC in its next iPhone.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12287009 

1.Shark nations falling on conservation pledges

The wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic and the Pew Environment Group say most of the main shark fishing nations do not manage fisheries well. 10 years ago, governments agreed a global plan to conserve sharks. An estimated 100 million sharks are killed each year, with nearly a third of species at risk of extinction.Many fisheries target the fins for use in shark fin soup; and a number of countries, including the US, have recently passed measures aimed at regulating the trade. 

Because as we know  many sharks are top predators; and there is an abundance of biological evidence to show their removal can have major impacts on the rest of the ecosystem. Because of this, if amount of sharks is reducing, others amount of race of fishes will going up by very quickly speed. Therefore, marine environment has been infected by these fisheries. this will Of the top 20 shark-catching nations, which collectively account for 80% of the global catch, only 13 have national plans in place. According to this message, we can see many countries catches sharks in illegal way. 

Many fisheries target the fins for use in shark fin soup; and a number of countries, including the US, have recently passed measures aimed at regulating the trade.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12297191