My Dear Friends,
 
Today (05Nov09) is my last day in HSBC. Since I joined the bank in Sep06, I received good training in this well-organized financial institution. I have been and will always be proud for having worked in HSBC. Instead of treating my leave as the end of a happy memory, I'd like to think of it as a Graduation from HSBC and I will commence a new career in the banking industry as an alumni of HSBC.

 

At the same time, it is really my honor to make the acquaintance of you and to have cheerful cooperation with you.
 
HSBC is a resilient bank with a large pool of talents, I sincerely wish the bank and you a brighter future in this post-crisis world, especially in fast-growing China.
 
Never overlook your health and your family; and in case something remind you of me later, please do drop me a message via following:
 
Email: ar**n.z***g@****.com
Mobile: 1381-***-4254
 
Last but not least, let me share with you one of my favorite piece of poetry:
 
滚滚长江东逝水，浪花淘尽英雄。是非成败转头空。青山依旧在，几度夕阳红。
白发渔樵江渚上，惯看秋月春风。一壶浊酒喜相逢。古今多少事，都付笑谈中。
                                                  ——（明）杨慎《临江仙》
With best wishes,

 

Armin M ZHANG   张    明

 

 

 

梁文道：汉字、国家与天下

【南方周末】本文网址：http://www.infzm.com/content/26985

 

朱大可：汉字革命和文化断裂
【南方周末】本文网址：http://www.infzm.com/content/26984

 

 

终将要回归繁体字？——专访《汉字五千年》总策划兼撰稿指导麦天枢
【南方周末】本文网址：http://www.infzm.com/content/26982

 

 

 

又到了一年的这一刻，又到了收获撼动的时候，这里是2008·爱枣报《撼动中国》颁奖典礼的现场，欢迎您的关注。

每当又有一段岁月流过，总会有一些新闻事件打下这一段时光的烙印，当一年的烙印深深刻进我们的心底，就让我们追溯岁月，重新寻找那些曾经撼动我们的人和事。你，已经多久未被撼动了？

下面就请我们共同进入本次典礼将要揭晓的第一个奖项——

【年度开诚布公奖】

获奖者：深圳海事局党组书记林嘉祥

获奖者感言：“你们这些人算个屁呀！”

颁奖词：林书记酒后真言，将我国各级领导待民之道以极为浓缩精练的语言表达了出来。他坦诚，他不像某些一本正经，张口群众闭口人民的假道学；他真实，他熟练运用权钱工具，实实在在的表达了我国领导干部们的生活常态；他供认不讳，直截了当，对得起围观群众，对得起全国网民。他带领全国人民认清形势，让大家都了解到自己的真实身份，解开了多少人心中的疑惑，打开了多少人郁闷的心结！顶了多少句苦口婆心的“思想工作”，为和谐社会做出了史无前例、不可多得的贡献！

【年度雷厉风行奖】

获奖者：公权驾驶员队伍。由长沙市街头某捷豹车车主、北京某郁姓女车主、北京某程姓女车主、深圳环保局郭副科长几位代表共同上台领奖。

获奖者感言：“我是人大代表，你要何解”、“我有亲戚是公安局的，撞你也没事”、“记住我是公务员”、“我是局长的秘书，有的是钱，1000万元就可以把这事情搞定”

颁奖词：公权驾驶员队伍合理使用权力、规避交通风险的精神，表现在他们对被撞者威风八面、对采访者牛气冲天、对围观者视而不见。他们清楚的认识到自己工作繁忙时间宝贵，不想为社会上的不足为奇的事情而影响工作。为了确保自己所肩负的兴国安邦重任尽快完成，他们有的祭起人大代表证，有的拨通了公安局亲戚的电话，有的直接亮明身份，有的甚至准备联系黑社会组织，在他们以迫切的心情教育了我们这些小民的同时，也让我们感受到了整个公务员队伍办事效率的提升，在这个寒冷的冬天里，让我们一起向几位公权驾驶员队伍的代表说一声，谢谢你们。

【年度嚣张扒户奖】

获奖者：衡阳市政协委员吴元科、重庆奉节羊市镇纪委雷书记

获奖者感言：“给我打，打死我负责！”、“我是书记，敢不给面子!”

颁奖词：在他们心里，权为重，民为轻，官位最重，民生最轻。心头火起，便可上打六旬汉，下揍一岁童。逼良为娼，他们是发起者和先行人，酒后乱性，他们把生理需求提升到日常工作的高度。他们是和平年代的恶霸，是拿着图章的流氓，是新时代土匪头子的典范。

【年度最佳外交奖】

获奖者：N589次列车、2220次列车上的工作人员

获奖事迹：今年1月份， 冰雪中被困24小时的N589次列车工作人员不闻不问饥寒交迫中的1500多名家奴，抢先将78名韩国乘客安排到卧铺车厢保证休息质量；今年8月份，晚点2小时的2220次列车工作人员经与机场、铁路调度紧急联系后，临时停车1分钟，并调动警车将7名日本旅客火速送往机场登机。

颁奖词：日本旅客回国后发回感谢信一封，上书：这在世界史上，任何一个国家都是做不到的。对此，铁道部发言人持信涕零：只要洋大人说声好，我们愿继续贯彻宁赠友邦，不予家奴的光荣外交传统，量中华之物力，结与国之欢心。

【年度刚正不阿奖】

获奖者：陕西凤翔县糜杆桥镇某领导、博鳌亚洲论坛秘书长龙永图、原西丰县委书记张志国

获奖者感言：“群众说的话你也相信？”、“对待刁民政府要硬气，不要被刁民挟持”、“对我的抹黑，就是对西丰的抹黑……请管好你的嘴！不要乱讲”

颁奖词：质疑问不垮、信访难不倒，坚强和他们对群众冰冷的心一起成长。百姓如何忍气吞声，他们不闻不问；“刁民”如何强制迁移，他们置若罔闻。遥知京城有记者诽谤，虽千万人，吾往矣！为官一方，绝望千万个冰冷的心灵，辞职后再次履新，用城际铁道画出最美的轨迹。

【年度佛法无边奖】

获奖者：江西省抚州市临川区人民法院职工芦涛

获奖者感言：“我是法院的，我代表国家罗汉，花100万弄死你这个农民。”

颁奖词：以暴力手段统治群众，以恐吓凶杀打压百姓，伴随着法院职工痛打群众的飒爽英姿和掷地有声的呼喝，威猛无匹的国家罗汉们再次惊动江湖，这一幕幕好似武打电影的场面告诉我们，国家罗汉的战斗力是其它所有社会阶层望尘莫及的。

【年度实事求是奖】

获奖者：做客CCTV的某专家

获奖者感言：“中国老百姓不缺钱！”

颁奖词：感谢这位专家的精彩点评，改革开放三十年的功绩被您画龙点睛，劳苦大众的生活水平被您一语中的，生活在这个社会保障健全、物质文明丰富、国家机器雄壮、人民生活安康、比历史上秦朝末年还要好的国度，我们一点都不缺钱，我们只缺陈胜和吴广。

【年度大爱无疆奖】

获奖者：著名文化学者余秋雨、山东省作协副主席王兆山

获奖者感言：“这些往生者全都成了菩萨……你们要做的是以主人的身份使这种动人的气氛保持下去”、“纵做鬼，也幸福……亲历死也足。只盼坟前有屏幕，看奥运，同欢呼”

颁奖词：感谢二位，在国家需要转移注意力的时候，你们站了出来。委屈自己，吸引公众视线。把恶心当成快乐，把幸福强加死者，你们往伤口撒了把盐。文风无耻，道德丧失，站着说话不腰疼，你们就是中国作家的领航灯！

【年度理论传承奖】

获奖者：全国人大代表、北京铁路局常务副局长罗金保

获奖者感言：“春运期间铁路一票难求的现象始终得不到缓解，根本原因在于铁路票价太低”

颁奖词：罗金保同志已经深得张维迎、王旭明二位老师的经济思想精髓，因为穷人上不起学是因为收费太低，所以没钱就别接受高等教育。那么自然而然，买不到火车票也一定是因为票价太低，所以提高票价必然会导致更多人视铁道为畏途，客运量自然会下降。这个点子逻辑清晰，观点明确，不仅理论水平高，而且有实际可操作性。

【年度排忧解难奖】

获奖者：吉林省副省长陈晓光、广州市卫生局副局长曾其毅

获奖者感言：“中国不存在‘上学难、上学贵’问题”、“所谓看病难看病贵，我走遍全世界，看病最不难是中国，看病最不贵是中国”

颁奖词：在这个“四万亿”投资只向科教文卫拨款百分之一的国度里，还是人大和政协的领导解决实际问题，教育和医疗这两个关切民生的问题被您二位轻松解决。对此，汕头市9岁儿童小海以实际行动回应——因为家人交不起看病的钱，只好用红领巾上吊自杀。

【年度食品安全奖】

获奖者：中国疾病控制中心营养与食品安全所研究员李宁、中国工程院院士陈君石

获奖者感言：“三聚氰胺不是一个毒性很高的物质，家长们不用过于担心”、“我们对食品的监管力度，绝对是全世界的第一”

颁奖词：国际友人听闻此事后大为欣喜，曼德尔森，新任英国商务大臣，十天前还是欧盟贸易专员的他为了支持中国牛奶，带头喝了一杯，于是在任职商务大臣的第一天，因为肾结石住院。这是什么精神？明天出版的真理报将发表特约评论员文章《纪念曼德尔森》

【年度体制建设奖】

获奖者：新泰县信访局工作人员、经济学家张五常

获奖者感言：“公安机关依法打击一批，精神司法鉴定治疗一批，集中办班培训管教一批”、“平生没有见过这么好的制度”

颁奖词：每当撕心裂肺的叫声穿过精神病院高墙的时候，医院里的铁门、镣铐、钢筋、破坏神经的针药，都会想念那些不断被送进来的上访者和莫须有的鉴定。而就是这个把正常人变成神经病的城市被评为“平安山东建设先进市”、“全国信访工作先进单位”。在这个最好的制度里，只要进入国家机关，就可以不用交养老保险，在经济危机的时候还可以涨工资，如果做官做到一定级别，名字还可以自动变成不良词语。

【年度科研进步奖】

获奖者：中科院院士蒋有绪以及其为代表的中科院研究员群体

获奖事迹：“可以考虑让市民每个月买20块钱的生态基金”、全球国家责任指数中国居首美国垫底

颁奖词：谁，能让全世界五分之一的口鼻，随着他的提议不敢随便呼吸？谁，能从前所未有的角度，帮助税务部门开发新的税源？蒋院士帮助大家解放思想，突破前人观念。自古未闻喘气税，而今另有放屁捐！感谢中科院的研究员们一次又一次高屋建瓴地科学分析，为我们指明方向，全球经济大潮，风景这边独好。下一步，确保经济又好又快增长的同时，要加强防范美国佬偷渡到我们国家！

【年度行为艺术奖】

获奖者：群体性事件参与者

获奖事迹：贵州瓮安事件 云南孟连事件 甘肃陇南事件 出租车罢运事件 藏疆事件 北京示威事件等

颁奖词：国务院新闻办主任说：中国人权状况正处于历史上最好时期。我想，他说的一定是真的，要不怎么今年会有这么多普通人走上街头表达自己的观点。在这个政府财政支出的30%接近9000亿元都被吃喝挪用出国购车消化掉的国家里，你们的一小步，就是全民族的一大步。明年，就是六月并不存在的那一天过去20周年了，希望2009年的行为艺术，风起云涌。

【年度料事如神奖】

获奖者：阿坝州防震减灾局、上海地震局、内蒙古地震局、成都市政府

获奖事迹：

1.阿坝州防震减灾局于5月3日成功平息“地震误传”事件，此时离汶州大地震只有9天。

2. 5月12日，上海徐家汇、静安区等多处中心区域高楼发生摇晃，白领通过逃生通道，走出高楼，不少人头晕恶心。同时上海地震局监测处工作人员表示，没有监测到地震。

3. 5月13日，内蒙地震局：“近日内蒙古将发生地震”是谣言。6月10日，内蒙古鄂伦春自治旗发生5.2级地震。

4.5月19日晚10点左右，成都广电媒体纷纷播放市政府紧急通告，说今晚至明天可能有6～7级强余震，请广大市民做好防震准备。致使全市千万成都市民夺命大逃亡，露宿街头。5月20晚，电视上再次播发市政府公告，说成都市区很安全，不必恐慌。

颁奖词：上联：八级地震毫无预报延误几万同胞性命，下联：六级余震信口开河折腾千万市民睡觉。横批：就他妈没搞准过。

【年度自力更生奖】

获奖者：湖南祁东县人付达信、北京顺义农民李大伟、河南确山人张伟

获奖事迹：付达信老人已经69岁了，生活在社会主义大家庭的他已经两年没有吃过肉了。为了不给国家添累赘，他主动持刀上街抢劫，自发进入看守所养老。年近古稀的他在狱中生活3个月，胖了10斤。顺义农民李大伟患有再生障碍性贫血，尽管专家一再表示中国不存在“看病贵”的问题，但已经加入农村合作医疗的李大伟还是治不起自己的病。于是在摸索中，他为中国贫困阶层的医保问题开创出一条新路：持械抢劫被判18年进入监狱享受免费医疗。河南人张伟更是装疯卖傻申请入狱，目的很单纯——让政府出钱给他看病。

颁奖词：还是让他们自己说吧——

付达信：我很知足，希望这样的日子能够长一些。但判得太轻了，希望法官能再好好审审。

李大伟：自己不需要监外执行，服刑对我来说就是救命。

张伟：你说什么就是什么，我都认，我想坐牢，我没钱，我不想死。

【年度团队建设银奖】

获奖者：中国城管队伍

获奖事迹：中国城管是我国秘密发展的准军事化组织，平时管理城市，锻炼游击战术，战时可编入正规军。是一支可冲锋，可侦察，可游击，能吃苦，能忍耐，能奋战的优秀后备军。五角大楼秘密报告称：中国城管队伍是一支具有强大潜力，能单靠一辆破面包车或皮卡就能全天候作战的可怕准军事组织，我国庄严承诺对外不首先使用城管。

颁奖词：从天门到天安门，从心脏病到跳河身亡。2008深入基层与群众打成一片的战斗生涯，充分体现了我国城管队伍“横扫街道其疾如风、办证罚款其徐如林、打人没收侵略如火、媒体批评不动如山”的精神风貌和战术素养！

【年度团队建设金奖】

获奖者：中国国家男子足球队、中国足协

获奖事迹：

1.公关到位：亚足联主席哈曼称中国足协为亚洲最佳足协之一。

2.甘于奉献：中国男足给了柬埔寨、马尔代夫、阿曼等传统强队继续玩下去的勇气和信心。

3.对外宣传：梅西说，中国球迷对阿根廷的热情助威，使他学会了用中文说阿根廷加油，记者让他用中文说说“阿根廷加油”，他腼腆一笑，口齿清晰的说了句“谢亚龙下课”。

4.鞠躬尽瘁：队员的检讨中写道：有人说我们国足队员，在不该射的时候射，在该射的时候不射。我感到这是一种不负责任的言论，对于我和我的队友们造成了极大的伤害。就我个人而言，在第一、第二场比赛中，就分别射了两次和一次。虽然没能射进去，但是这反映了我的精神面貌，我们尽力了。

5.顽强拼搏：谢亚龙主席展望中国对巴西一战时，发出了这样的动员令：“我们应该上去就踢，要有一种强烈的自信，要做到让对手怕我们。”

6.技艺高超：郑智在场上的作用是把对方踢成郑智化，谭望嵩精准飞踹比成龙功夫更为过瘾。

7.鼓舞人心：对于国人来说，2008年充满了困难。有的同志在困难面前表现得信心不足，甚至有“2008年是不是灾年”的糊涂疑问。在这种关键时刻，中国男足表现得非常好，极大地鼓舞了全国人民，他们向全世界表明了——在2008年，最起码，中国男足还是正常的。

8.训练科学：谢主席感同身受的新理论对世界体育运动的大踏步发展，特别是对广大中国球迷和足球运动员而言，无疑是拨云见日般的福祉。保守估计，叉腰肌这一理论的提出将至少加快中国足球发展50年。

综上所述，中国网民已将“电视看国足”列为2008四大傻之首。

颁奖词：百度一下。抱歉，没有找到比中国男足更傻B的球队。

【年度流行语】

获奖语录：

三个俯卧撑（贵州公安厅新闻发言人提供）、打酱油（广州市民提供）、很黄很暴力（张殊凡同学提供）、很傻很天真（阿娇提供）、一定要用套！不用不做！（某娱乐城小姐提供）、当我们看到这幕救人的大戏时（央视某白姓主持人提供）、不听谣、不信谣、不传谣（某官员提供）、什么，两三天就能吃到一顿米饭？（失踪童工的母亲提供）、先救我，我是张书记（北川县政法委书记张同凯在废墟下提供）、占领天涯，轰动全国（西电宣传部长提供）、智窗（CCTV急中生痔提供）、谁死鹿手（三鹿集团提供）、囧槑雷山寨（网民提供）……

【年度汉字】

灾

【年度喜感人物】

获奖者：陈冠希

获奖事迹：全裸无码人体艺术写实系列摄影作品

颁奖词：香港特别行政区著名摄影艺术家陈冠希同志，在这个经济寒潮的年头里硬是用一部普通的拍照手机拍出了几千张震撼人心，惊动全球的佳作。以全新的视角解读人体，以零距离的姿态诠释明星。俗话说“好吃不过饺子，好玩不过嫂子”，陈老师工作之余不忘专门为嫂子设计一套制服系列艺术照，让我们这些普通人也能把张柏芝了解到和谢霆锋一样的程度。陈老师的作品深入浅出、雅俗共赏，在这个灾年中给我们带来了不可多得的快乐。

【年度难忘人物】

获奖者：饭岛爱

获奖事迹：老一辈亚洲热血中青年的精神领袖、伟大的性教育家、AV业的卓越代表人

颁奖词：李宗盛曾经梦到和你一起晚餐，梁文道也曾从录像带中窥得你的素颜，在亚洲少男们无知躁动的青涩时光，是你古铜色的胴体安慰了他们空虚的身心，是你专业的演技填补了他们教育的空白。如今，你要走了，只留下三十五载青春的身影长存在广大淫民的硬盘中。抚今追昔，你的名字早已跨越国界，成为时代汉语的符号。正所谓：西北望，人仓皇，饭逝应有继，春风吹又生。

【年度危情人物】

获奖者：你

获奖事迹：富含三聚氰胺的免检奶制品、长了蛆的柑橘、甲醛泡制的水产品、二氧化硫熏出的木耳、自来水和矿粉勾兑的矿泉水、甜蜜素和糖精浸泡的红枣、没有钢筋的电线杆和没有钢筋的教学楼、山西襄汾的尾矿库坝、河南登封的瓦斯、黑龙江鹤岗的大火、杭州的地铁、陕西宝鸡的输水管道、胶济铁路的火车……三分天灾，七分人祸，2008把中国人锻炼得身体似铁，神经如钢。

颁奖词：乌鲁木齐拾荒老太9年还清5.4万债务感动中国、而91％的亿万富翁却是高干子女。在这个和谐到杨佳的母亲被改名的国度里，既得利益者独占特权从不动摇、领导干部勤捞致富绝不懈怠、受冤小民诉冤无门不得不折腾，你不给我一个说法，我就给你一个说法。

又一次的泪水，又一次的笑容，又一次的撼动。如果撼动仅仅转化为一段时间的感慨，撼动的力量还不足。如果撼动能够促进我们每个人的行动，那就最好不过了。愿我们《撼动中国》，今天，在这个冬天，给每个人的心里种下一颗种子。就让我们一起相约，明天开始共同走在行动的道路上，2008·爱枣报《撼动中国》颁奖典礼到此结束。咱们明年再见。

———— 颁奖典礼组委会名单 ————

文案润色：IGF
预告漫画：乖乖
广告策划：呼呼
责任编辑：黎简
校对录入：伯通
出品总监：彭毅

 

 

The world this year

Dec 18th 2008
From The Economist print edition

The credit crunch turned into a full-blown global financial crisis in September when Lehman Brothers, one of Wall Street’s big investment banks, declared bankruptcy and American officials seized control of American International Group to prevent the giant insurer’s collapse. As panic spread, governments engineered the rescue of distressed banks or took them over directly. By the end of the month the remaining big Wall Street houses had either been absorbed by others or become bank holding companies.

America and Europe reacted to the unfolding crisis by unveiling broad bail-out packages for the financial system. After a battle in Congress America extended $700 billion in funding. With credit markets frozen, central banks took emergency steps to boost liquidity. America’s Federal Reserve made unprecedented market interventions, such as buying large amounts of short-term debt issued to companies to enable day-to-day financing.

Most central banks slashed interest rates. The Fed reduced its rates to near zero, lower than they have ever been.

The global stockmarket gains of recent years were wiped out. Hopes that emerging markets would remain buoyant during a downturn in the West were dashed when markets plummeted in China, India, Russia and elsewhere.

With job losses mounting, governments pondered measures to stave off a deep economic slump. Japan and the euro area fell into recession (using the definition of two quarters of negative growth) and America was officially declared to have been in recession since December 2007. The IMF, World Bank and OECD snipped their projections for economic growth next year.

A change is gonna come

Events in the markets helped propel Barack Obama to a big win in America’s presidential election. John McCain, Mr Obama’s Republican rival, was widely judged to have fumbled his response to the crisis.

Earlier, Mr Obama fought an epic battle with Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries. Mrs Clinton was given the job of secretary of state in the Obama administration, which starts work on January 20th. One of the new president’s top priorities will be to implement a stimulus package, the passage of which should be made easier by increased Democratic majorities in Congress.

Britain’s Gordon Brown won plaudits for his handling of the financial crisis. It had looked as though 2008 would be a dismal year for the prime minister. His Labour Party trailed David Cameron’s Conservatives by some 30 points in the polls, but rebounded when the Tories failed to explain how they would have handled the crisis differently.

Yasuo Fukuda resigned as Japan’s prime minister in frustration at his inability to implement policy. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party put Taro Aso into the job, but his future is in doubt as the country’s economy contracts.

Kenya was ravaged by violence following a disputed presidential election, leading to the formation of a fragile government of national unity in April. Two judges oversaw separate reports on the trouble that criticised politicians, police and the electoral commission.

Pakistan’s general election was a humiliation for the embattled presidency of Pervez Musharraf. His allies won just 16% of the seats, well behind the Pakistan People’s Party led by Asif Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister assassinated last year. Mr Musharraf eventually resigned when parliament threatened to impeach him; Mr Zardari won an indirect ballot to replace him.

The comandante’s last move

Fidel Castro stepped down as Cuba’s president, handing over the job to his younger brother, Raúl, whose plans to reform the island’s communist economy were slowed by two devastating hurricanes.

A resurgent Russia invaded Georgia in August after Georgian forces entered the breakaway region of South Ossetia. It was Russia’s first big military incursion beyond its borders since it invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Moscow pulled its troops back, eventually, but recognised the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Dmitry Medvedev won Russia’s presidential election in March, though real power remained with Vladimir Putin, who became Mr Medvedev’s prime minister.

Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb wartime leader, was arrested in Belgrade, 13 years after being indicted for crimes against humanity. He was sent to the war-crimes tribunal in The Hague to stand trial.

India endured another year of frequent terrorist incidents, including a spate of bombings in one day in Jaipur. But even the experts were taken by surprise at the audacity of a co-ordinated attack by gunmen on Mumbai. Security forces fought the assailants over several days and at least 190 people were killed.

The violence was less severe in Iraq than in previous years; American forces handed responsibility back to Iraqi troops for Anbar province, the bloodiest zone in the first years of the insurgency. Iraq’s parliament endorsed an agreement that requires American troops to withdraw from Iraq altogether by the end of 2011.

Conversely, it was the deadliest year for coalition forces in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion. In a chilling development, a 13-year-old boy was deployed as a suicide-bomber by the Taliban, killing three British marines.

After being dogged by corruption allegations, Ehud Olmert decided to step down as Israel’s prime minister. He remains in office until February’s general election, which Binyamin Netanyahu is currently favoured to win.

When no means wait and see

The European Union was thrown into a tizzy when Irish voters rejected the Lisbon treaty, which Eurosceptics see as an effort to impose the old draft constitution by the back door. EU leaders pressed Ireland to hold another vote.

The ideological divide in Latin America widened. Venezuela nationalised the cement and steel industries, Argentina’s government took over its private pension system and Ecuador defaulted on its foreign debt. But most governments in the region maintained their trust in free markets and inflation targeting.

Rest ye merry gentlemen

Merger activity dwindled compared with 2007. Several large takeover bids failed, such as Microsoft’s offer for Yahoo! and BHP Billiton’s pursuit of Rio Tinto. Hewlett-Packard did buy EDS, and Anheuser-Busch, which makes Budweiser beer, was taken over by Belgium’s InBev. At $52 billion, it was one of the biggest ever foreign acquisitions of an American company.

China’s big year as host of the summer Olympics didn’t go quite according to plan. The games were a spectacular success, but China’s suppression of the worst outbreak of violence in Tibet in decades led to protests in cities around the world that took part in a relay of the Olympic torch en route to Beijing.

Three months before the Olympics China suffered its worst natural disaster in 30 years when a massive earthquake rocked the province of Sichuan, killing some 70,000 people and leaving 5m homeless. China launched an all-out rescue effort that was widely praised.

In contrast, Myanmar’s ruling junta was roundly condemned for its response to a cyclone that left large swathes of the Irrawaddy delta submerged, causing at least 145,000 deaths. The furtive regime was eventually persuaded to allow a trickle of foreign aid into the deluged region.

Most carmakers had a rotten year, no more so than in America. Detroit’s Big Three went caps-in-hand to Congress for public assistance.

The price of oil breached $100 a barrel for the first time in January. Oil prices spiked at more than $147 in July, but fell by more than two-thirds as the world economy drooped.

The end of the commodity boom was especially welcomed in countries that had witnessed riots over high food prices earlier in the year.

Thaksin times

Thailand saw prime ministers come and go with alarming frequency amid a political crisis caused by a stand-off between allies of Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister toppled in 2006, and pro-monarchy supporters. The latter staged a sit-in at Bangkok’s international airport for a week that left thousands of passengers stranded.

Canada’s Stephen Harper failed to win a parliamentary majority for his Conservative government; two months after the election the prime minister had to suspend Parliament to avoid being ousted by the opposition.

Robert Mugabe won a presidential run-off election in Zimbabwe after his opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, who won the first round, pulled out because of intimidation. A power-sharing deal gave the prime minister’s job to Mr Tsvangirai. Conditions remained miserable for most Zimbabweans; inflation (officially) ran at hundreds of millions per cent and cholera swept the country.

Thabo Mbeki was ejected by the African National Congress from his post as South Africa’s president. Jacob Zuma, the ANC’s party leader, seems likely to win the job in 2009, provided that continuing court cases do not ensnare him. A breakaway party, the Congress of the People, may dent the ANC’s authority in a general election in mid-2009, though probably without ousting the ruling party.

Bernard Madoff, a Wall Street veteran, was arrested in possibly the biggest fraud in history; his Ponzi scheme may have lost investors $50 billion.

It was a bad year for Colombia’s FARC guerrillas. Two of their leaders were killed, one of them in a bombing raid by Colombia’s army on a camp just across the border in Ecuador, which prompted a break in diplomatic relations. The army also rescued Ingrid Betancourt, the FARC’s most famous hostage.

A “farewell kiss”

Pundits began writing George Bush’s political obituary as his approval ratings sank to new lows. At a press conference in Baghdad a disgruntled Iraqi journalist threw his shoes (size ten) at the American president, an Arab insult.

The first protons were circulated around the Large Hadron Collider. Designed to help physicists explain the existence of mass, some feared the experiment would create a gigantic black hole. Wall Street’s collapse just a few days after the LHC was switched on was deemed a coincidence.