8,594 research outputs found
Palladium and nitrogen-donor ligands: a good combination for the synthesis of CO/aromatic olefins polyketones
No full textPenisola coreana 2014: ombre all'interno e luci all'esterno
No full textIn 2014, in South Korea, the year under review turned into a negative watershed for Park Geun-hye’s presidency. In part, this was not only the consequence of national disasters, but also of deep-rooted bad practices of South Korean political leadership, such as corruption, collusion between public and private officials and the failure of control mechanisms. In North Korea, one of the key events was represented by the elections of the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA), the first since Kim Jong-un’s ascent to power. The elections were useful in evaluating the new power structures of the North Korean regime. Furthermore, considering their peculiar characteristics, with only one name in each ballot, they became a sort of political ‘census’ of the population, useful to test the level of loyalty to the regime.
Regarding inter-Korean relations, these followed a pattern which, by now, has become usual: after a partial thaw marked by family reunions at the beginning of the year, they suddenly worsened.
As for international relations, in the South a trend of very active diplomacy, already started in the first year of Park Geun-hye’s administration, was consolidating, and partly compensated for the difficulties on the domestic front. Among the various official visits made by the South Korean president − all of which had mainly economic goals – the one carried out in Central Asia was of particular relevance, helping to strengthen the ‘Eurasian initiative’ proposal, presented for the first time in October 2013, during the international conference on Global Cooperation in the Era of Eurasia. Meanwhile, Seoul continued to strengthen its cooperation with Beijing, marked in 2014 by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ‘historic’ visit, which, although successful, also highlighted some limitations in the China–South Korea partnership. Relations with Japan continued to be very tense, even if the year under review registered a few positive signs, to the relief of Washington.
On December 29, an important agreement for the exchange of military information was signed by the United States and its two main Asian allies: Japan and South Korea. Interestingly, 2014 also witnessed North Korea’s unusual diplomatic activism, thanks especially to the newly appointed Foreign Minister, Ri Su-yong. There were basically two reasons behind this charm offensive or peace offensive, as some observers named it. First, Pyongyang needed to breach the international isolation which affected the country, especially after it was accused by the international community of serious human rights violations because of a report published in February by a UN investigation committee. Second, the new activism aimed at strengthening old alliances and building up new ones, to counterbalance the continuing deterioration of Pyongyang’s relations with Beijing.
On the economic front, the year registered no major significant changes. The anticipated growth rate of South Korea’s GDP, fixed by the Bank of Korea at 3.8%, was fully respected, confirming the country’s place among the strongest Asian economies. As for North Korea, the positive trend of recent years continued, although the continuing deterioration in the country’s relations with Beijing puts in doubt whether, and for how long, Pyongyang will be able to sustain this positive trend
Pd-catalyzed oligo- and polymerization reactions: how subtle changes in the ligand properties can induce large effects
No full textBarbara James
No full textDate:1943Barbara was born in Holdredge, Nebraska in the United States of America in 1943. In 1960 she arrived in Darwin working in a variety of occupations such as a journalist, historian, author, activist, advocate and editor. Barbara wrote 13 books including "No Man's Land" which explored the contributions of women in the Northern Territory. She also received a number of awards including 2001 NT Heritage Award, the 2000 NT Literary Essay Awards and the Chief Minister's Women's Achievement Award in 1999.JournalistHistorianAuthorActivistEditorAmerica
Ligand symmetry and polymer tacticity in Pd-catalyzed stereocontrolled polyketones synthesis
No full textControl of productivity, molecular weight and atereochemistry in Pd-catalysed synthesis of polyketones
No full textNew atropoisomeric bidentate nitrogen-donor ligands as potential stereocontrollers in the CO/olefins copolymerization catalysed by Pd(II) salts
No full textKorean peninsula 2015: one step forward and two steps back
No full textIn 2015, in South Korea, President Park Geun-hye’s decline in popularity, which had begun in the previous year, further accelerated. In particular, the outbreak of the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) crisis between May and June contributed, once again, to show the government’s inability to act quickly and effectively. The already difficult situation worsened in Autumn, following the vehement protests organized by different sectors of the South Korean civil society against the school history textbooks reform and the new labour legislation. North of the 38th parallel, President Kim Jong Un moved quickly to definitively strengthen his power. A new series of purges hit the members of the political and military leadership. At the same time, there was the consolidation of the new Kim-inspired political line. Part of it can be considered the announcement that the Seventh Plenary Congress of the Party was to be held for the first time after 36 years in 2016. In May and June, a severe drought affected North Korea. However, the limited 2013 agricultural reforms, avoided the outbreak of a real famine. A major crisis in inter-Korean relations was triggered by the explosion, in August, of two landmines in the southern side of the de-militarized zone. However, the two parts reached an agreement that, besides solving the landmines issue, paved the way for a new round of family reunions and a new series of high-level inter-governmental talks. 2015 saw the consolidation of the excellent relationship between Seoul and Beijing, highlighted both by the participation of South Korean President Park Geun-hye – the only US ally – in the military parade that took place in early September in Tiananmen square, and by the signature, in December, of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement. Also the relations between South Korea and Japan improved significantly after almost three years of diplomatic freeze. The rapprochement materialized with a bilateral summit between the leaders of the two governments, in November, and with a historic agreement on the vexed issue of the «comfort women», signed on 28 December. This was welcomed by the US, which had made significant efforts to favour this result. There were also positive repercussions on the relations among the three Northeast Asia powers. 2015 was the year of North Korea President Kim Jong Un «missed debut» on the international scene. Although Kim was expected to take part in several important international events, this did not happen. Nonetheless Pyongyang further deepened the already positive relations with Russia. On the contrary, the difficult Sino-North Korean relations, after a moment in which they seemed headed for an improvement, remained strained. Regarding the relations with Japan, the deadlock on the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean secret agents in the 1970s and 1980s put an end to a timid improvement in the Tokyo-Pyongyang relations
- …
