Good morning, warm welcome to this strategic outlook Eurasia session at the 2022 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting here in Davos, Switzerland. I'm Eric Duchek, I'm with the forum. Those of you who have been with us for some time in person digitally, you would know that this is a bit of a tradition to have a moment to strategically think about the Eurasia region and doing so could not be more important this year. We are gathered here in person two years after we have not been able to meet in person because of a once in a century pandemic that has inflicted pain, loss of life and economic damage in every corner of this world. We're gathered here, it will be three months tomorrow since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing tragic war in Ukraine that is still ongoing. We are gathered here at a time when the global economy, when it was just about to take off or at least find some pathways to recovery, is hit with different uncertainties, particularly the geopolitical uncertainty and dealing with the cascading effects of this geopolitical uncertainty in terms of particularly the energy systems and the food systems, a global economy that is having inflationary pressures we haven't seen in decades. A global economy that is seeing a lot of economies, fiscal positions being stretched this morning, we heard from the IMF head that 60% of the low-income economies of the world have debt vulnerabilities, 60%. And we're also convened at a time when we have this big global fight against climate change. This is the decade we're supposed to deliver on the net zero transition or at least make sure that we accelerate cooperation there, but it is now happening in a more complex international system. So against this backdrop, of course, policymakers are affected and are reacting. Every corner of this world, every company, every country is affected, including the Eurasia region. And we're going to be talking both about the impact, but more importantly, we're going to be spending time about or on how we are reacting, what we can do not only now, but also where decision makers see this is all headed so that ultimately we can also find pathways to increase competitiveness and resilience in the future. So this is a very important conversation, and I have a very important panel to help us navigate this and unpack this a little bit. So let me introduce my panel. I'd like to welcome Madame Odile Francoise Rono Basso, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. One welcome. I'd like to welcome Mikhail Jabarov, Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan. Also a warm welcome to Kairat Kalimbetov, Governor of the Astana International Financial Center Authority in Kazakhstan. And last but not least, a warm welcome to Dr. Yuan Ding, Vice President and Dean of the China-Europe International Business School in Shanghai, China. So with this very complex landscape, I'd like to start with you, Madame Rono Basso. EBRD, an extremely important organization for Europe, Eurasia also, Middle East and North Africa.  I saw your recent report, I think it was in March or April, that you put out an update on the economic outlook in the context of the war in Ukraine. Could you tell us a little more about what is in the report? How do you see the impact on the economies of Eurasia in this current context? Thank you very much and thank you for the invitation and the opportunity to discuss about the region, the impact of the war, but also the opportunities. I think that always a way we should think about our action. So indeed, we've updated our economic outlook. And what is very clear, of course, the impact of the war on Ukraine is very important on Ukraine. It's very important on the neighboring countries, but it also has a huge effect more broadly. And countries, I mean, Eurasian countries are also deeply affected through different ways, in different ways, depending on, I mean, the specific features of the economy. And overall, our assessment is that we have revised downwards the gross perspective by reducing them by 1.4%. And I would tend to believe that overall, our scenario is quite still maybe on the positive side because it's based on an assumption that the war on Ukraine will stop. I mean, there will be a source of ceasefire in the coming months. So it's not, I mean, it's not forecast related to a long war. But so the assessment of the impact for the region is 1.4, which would bring a growth in 2022 of around 3.2% and 3.5% on average in 2023. But all this is very, as I was underlying, very uncertain. When we look at the different channel, how the economies are impacted, I think the first impact is through food, energy, metal price, which fuels inflation. On average, inflation has reached 12% in the region, which is the highest level since 2011, I believe. So it's already there, higher inflation pressure, post-COVID in the context of the recovery. But this increase of food, energy, and metal prices will have a significant effect on inflation. But the countries in the region are also affected by the very close link for some of them with Russia, with impact, for example, on remittances. A number of countries are very highly dependent. And it's the case of Uzbekistan. And the remittances represent quite a high level of GDP. But also all the trade flows, so direct export or trade flows through Russia to Europe. And sanctions on Russia has a huge impact on all this export capacity, but also all the infrastructure for transport and for export towards Europe.  Geopolitical uncertainty creates aversion to risk. And we see that in the region, but also elsewhere. So interest rates tend to increase. I think that there is a yield increase in cost. I mean, it has increased by more than 3% or 3.3%. And this has a particularly significant impact on some countries like Mongolia, Tajikistan, so most fragile countries. So the situation is, of course, very different. It's difficult to talk of the region country as a whole, because, for example, Kazakhstan or Azerbaijan may benefit from increasing, I mean, really benefit from increasing in prices and energy. But others will have more damaging impact. So this is what we see as an impact. Of course, this also creates, I mean, and there are some opportunities for investment and shifting the economy and so forth. And maybe we come to that at a little point. No, thank you so much. If I could move to Minister Jabarov. I saw the economy contracted minus 4% 2020, of course, COVID. Rebounded over 5%, I think 2021. I saw the report from EBRD. So for 2022, I think it was still about five, but of course, I think we need to watch that by a major, major economy in the region. So tell us, just again, for the lay of the land, how do you see the impact, particularly the economic impact of the different things that I've mentioned, the geopolitical uncertainty, but also, of course, COVID and the state of the global economy as it is right now? Thank you. Thank you very much. First of all, it is honor and pleasure to be at this distinguished audience and forum. I'd like to convey the best and foremost regards of permanent participant that speak of the forum is Excellency President Aleve, who, as we speak, is working with President Charles Michel, Prime Minister Pasciano, delivering long and lasting peace in the region, region torn by separatism for almost last three decades. And that is the reason why he has not been this year at Davos. Indeed, it is absolutely correct that entire region has been affected. It has been affected in different ways. And in case of Azerbaijan, I think the issues which Madam President has alluded to, namely energy, food security, connectivity are obviously the, and of course, the level of digitalization and preparedness of the economy to work under current circumstances have been the ones which have been defining the landscape and context. It is true that when you look at figures, economy of Azerbaijan is performing strongly, both in terms of fiscal, but also in terms of the economic output. But if we look a bit broader, I think the following landscape, the way how we see it is formed as follows. First of all, we see increased importance of regional cooperation with, for obvious reasons, changed connectivity landscape, so-called middle corridor becomes extremely important for all regional actors, but also for cargo flow from east to west, China to Europe, vice versa, and therefore investments that have been made in previous decades in transport infrastructure, clothes, and reliable cooperation with neighboring countries is really an asset that is yielding dividends today. Of course, energy. When we talk about energy, I think two main dilemmas are what would refer to as 525 and issue of what and how. When we talk about what and how everyone agrees that what needs to be done is speedy transition to green and renewable energy. I think the previous years, and especially this year, has shown all of us, especially here, consumers in Europe, that on matter of how there needs to be much more discussion and look, because very simply when region Azerbaijan specifically is being asked for more energy, which we have, which we are happy to supply to the market, but when you look at how, you suddenly realize that for the last few years, the sector has been severely under-invested, reflecting the changed policy of, obviously, financial institutions, policymakers relating to fossil fuels, including natural gas, and therefore that focus shift in terms of how to translate the needs of today, and to combine them with a necessity of being tomorrow, there is this five-year horizon, not 25, not 15 years horizon, but this five-year horizon, which is a second part of the dilemmas that we need to address at least the way it seems from us. And talking about food security, of course, on one hand, the obvious challenges and the rising prices, supported also by both rising inflation and shortened supply, would impact the same that would impact those economies, which are more vulnerable and unlike, again, in case of Azerbaijan, which has strong fiscal position, very low external debt-to-GDP level energy inflows. Many countries do not have that luxury. And again, when we're talking about a regional impact of it, yes, that is something on which we believe we need to put more focus working together, which we try to do through regional cooperation. And maybe to finish this part of intervention, we strongly believe that they need to combine the challenge of the day with the focus where we are moving together is something on which regional international institutions, regional institutions, not only on bilateral level, but that level of discussion is extremely useful and we are committed to continue to be safe, stable supplier when it comes to what we supply in terms of goods or services to the markets and at the same time, in terms of the policy dialogue participation and overall priority of macroeconomic and strong financial framework. Thank you. Minister, thank you so much. If you allow, I'll just have a follow-up question because you are very popular right now, I'm sure with the European decision makers in particular on the energy side. 2020 was the opening of the, is it the South Southern Gas Corridor? And 2021, 8.1 billion cubic meters float through that. The capacity, I think, is ultimately 20 based on the research we've done. So overall, how do you see the future, particularly of the Azerbaijan, European energy flow? If you could maybe give us a little more on where you see it with regard to this pipeline but there may be other things you're looking at. Thank you very much. First of all, if we look at the map, it is important to keep in mind that before contributing to energy supply and security in European Union or in Europe, similarly on the way Azerbaijan is a major supplier to Georgia, Turkey. And further on, it is Greece and Bulgaria, Italy, Albania. So volume is actually much bigger than that and the volume to which we refer is the volume which is reached as European market. Ah, okay. Second point, to put it very simply, is there more gas to be supplied? Yes, there is. Are we working on it? Yes, and we didn't start it today but this was a process which was started well before. Latest developments. And I think renew Europe document dated 18 May which has been just out, makes a very specific reference to prospects and necessity of expansion of supplies, so-called 1,000 gas corridor. We are working with our partners and by way of reminder from mid 90s, Azerbaijan carries out a policy of joint development of its natural energy resources. So we have major, in addition to our national, energy national oil company, we also have a major European partners with us. That effort, by the way, has been supported at time by UBRD as well. And the prospects of Azerbaijani and Caspian gas is very different. Now, there is a very important point which doesn't need to be underlooked and it is as follows. Azerbaijan in 2012 started the process and was basically a major risk taker for making sure that there is a significant investment in pipelines, there is a significant investment in exploration and development and production. So financial risk, in a way, was borne by a supplier. And whether or not and to what extent and what is the level of commercial risks that could have been taken now, additional risks by companies working in Azerbaijan, local or foreign, and how these risks need to be shared and managed, how we need to use the strength of international financial institutions, how necessity to make this transition smoothly and contribute to energy security. And that is exactly the focus of our discussion with colleagues, friends, and partners and we are committed and open to this. No, thank you so much. Very interesting, thank you. Thank you. I'd like to move to Mr. Kelimbetov. Kazakhstan, $170 billion economy. He also returned to growth in 2021. The biggest economy in Central Asia. You have the new Kazakhstan agenda. How could you tell us a little more about that? Because I think the president talks a lot about that and you've been rolling out certain things over the spring. And I think it is, of course, in this context of these global headwinds. So if you could just also assess a little bit the impact of the situation on Kazakhstan first. Thank you. Thank you very much for this great opportunity to be here. I think it's really interesting to discuss what's going on in our part of the world. As my colleagues from Azerbaijan mentioned, I think that we can divide countries in the region for the exporters and importers of commodities and we are in Kazakhstan in good situation. So just to remind you that Kazakhstan produces 1.8 million barrels per day. And the biggest trade partner of Kazakhstan is the European Union. So it means that when we start to diversify the trade, our economy, so it was 20 years ago, I think it was the right investment to the infrastructure. And nowadays we have reserves of fund for rainy days, which we call National Fund, and also reserves of central bank is more than 85 billion US dollars. So which is a good, I think, let's say reserves for whatever problems which we can have in the different circumstances. By the way, when it was like COVID time in 2020, 2021, I think Kazakhstan shows very good response to COVID. So we vaccinated the more than 70 percentage of the adult population. So I think the situation with, let's say, with this pandemic issues been resolved very well in Kazakhstan, which is allow us actually to get the, to reshape our economy. And we actually, through the V-shaped form, the economic recovery last year was about 4%. And this year we expect that it also would be more than 2%. So it's the most, let's say, pessimistic scenario is not less than 2%. I think it shows resilience of the Kazakhstan economy. In fact, in our CIS regions, I think that this year Kazakhstan would be the largest in terms of GDP per capita. So it's a good result from one side, the model of economic growth, focus on commodities, on diversifying our roots. So we do have from one side opportunities to export through, let's say, through Russia, but as my colleague from Azerbaijan mentioned, I think that now we countries in the region want to strengthen in the capacity so-called middle corridor, which is just remind you from the border of Kazakhstan with China to through Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Taktau and further Baku and Georgia and Turkey and Eastern Europe, let's say. So these I think is a great opportunities, but not only. So we're also thinking about opportunities to get access through China to East Asia or through Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan to South Asia. So it's a different opportunities. Now, I think the key lesson, which we should conclude from the current situation, no one wants to depend from just one country or one sources or one industry. So that's something which we have to diversify. And I think Kazakhstan is doing great job in terms of the, let's say, the export route, but also in terms of the FDI coming to Kazakhstan, so it's different countries. It's China, US, UK, and I think that we will focus on this. From the other side, I think we do understand that in the era of decarbonization, we should start to think about how to be diversified on the influence just from the oil and gas or any other commodities. So we should focus on the other sub sectors of our economy. So one of these is the key, is obvious, is the development of agri-industrial sector, agriculture. It's a huge opportunity, especially, we now see is a huge problem for the supply chain in terms of the, let's say, export of grain from our region. So we do understand there will be some problems due to the conflict in Ukraine. And I think that Kazakhstan being in top five exporter of grain also will play like a significant role in we can be reliable partner to the global community in terms of the, let's say, supplier of these very important products. So I think that having this kind of the fiscal prudence in Kazakhstan, we now focus on further reforms. And as you mentioned, the President Tokay focus on constitutional, political, and economic reforms. So in fact, in a couple of weeks, we will have a referendum in Kazakhstan, which is a political reforms towards democratization, towards decentralization, increasing the role of parliament. And I think this is also very much important in a, let's say, circumstance, which we do have usually the power to try to strengthen in, let's say, the leverage. But now I think we see that the Kazakhstan focus more inclusive model of economic growth when the people should not just get money from the redistribution of the oil wealth, but they should focus on creating job places, they should be part of this growth. So this is something which is President Tokay focusing on. And I think that these reforms, which we call new Kazakhstan, new economic policy, would be something which may Kazakhstan even more resilient. No, Governor, thank you. Obviously, there is a lot of, of course, people follow the reforms after also the January events. And so this is of extreme importance to your country and to the region overall. If I could just follow up on the energy side, I think for some time, Novorossiysk was, there were some closures and that's, I think, the main route for Kazakh energy to the world. You've mentioned a few projects. Are these projects that have been there before? Or, and is it more about accelerating work there? Or are you also thinking about in this immediate context, let's say over the past few months, are you also thinking about other new things to add to diversify the picture there? I think that what you mentioned is that 80% of Kazakh export is going through Russian territory to the sea port on Black Sea, which is called Novorossiysk. So I think it was like some technical problem in March, April, which will be fixed. Now we come back to the 100% of capacity and I don't see any kind of problems in the future because it's a Caspian pipeline consortium where we do have the interest of all companies which are working in Kazakhstan, including American and Russian companies as well. From the other side, we don't see also the any kind of the risk in terms of the sanctions because after the Crimea events, I think that we clarify that this is like a Kazakh oil going through the CPC. So we got the license from US Treasury and I think that everyone realized it. So this is very important to provide, let's say enough oil for the global markets and the Kazakh stun wants to be also reliable partners in this area. So this is like a for today story, but we do have a plan as well to increase the production of oil and gas in Kazakhstan significantly and we do have a significant investment previously and we do have a significant presence of the global oil and gas major companies, American, Chinese, Europeans. And I think that we have to increase the capacity for experts in Kazakhstan. So one of the already prepared great opportunities is again, so-called middle corridor. And I'm talking about that probably we have an idea to increase the capacity of seaports from the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea. So the Azerbaijan has a great capacity where we can, if we'll join us too, we can start to think about even this, let's say increasing the volume of Kazakh oil in Bakut-Belisi-Jihang oil pipeline or to do something more in this direction from one side, in the other direction, I think that we have oil and gas pipeline from the west of Kazakhstan to the west of China. And I think that we also can think about as well. So these are different ideas that we have this capacity. But from the other side, we are thinking that we should diversify our economy. So maybe we will develop more of the petrochemical industry. We will more focus on the gas-based station, let's say more from the coal-based station to the gas-based station. We do have a very ambitious plan of decarbonization to be carbon neutral up to the 2060, in fact, that even until now, EBRD is the biggest investor to Kazakhstan. So I think that we have a bigger plan for in terms of decarbonization with EBRD. So many plans, and I do believe that that can kind of create a real global energy hub in our part of the world when Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan will provide its oil and gas to the rest of the world. Thank you so much. I'd like to move to Professor Ding.  You know Europe and China very well. You could argue that the competitiveness of Eurasia or Central Asia is really dependent also on healthy volumes or increasing volumes of trade between Europe and China and of course also connectivity in Central Asia and South Caucasus as well. But so given the global context now, Professor, how do you see this working? Are you pessimistic or do you remain somewhat optimistic that we can make this work going forward? Yeah, so thank you for your question. I think we need to take a more historical and holistic view about this important issue. So the discussion in Davos or in other spheres talking about this Eurasia integration is related to several very important elements which happened during the past two or three decades. One, of course, it was the open up of China then China became a powerhouse, a great trade nation and with a huge support and engagement from Europe to take China into the international community with US and in Europe of course the big driver was Germany. And on the other side we also saw the end of the Soviet Union and the independence of various countries from Eastern Europe to the Central Asia. And when we saw more and more economic integration between China and Europe, then it came the idea about this whole continent level regional integration. And of course it was strengthened by the initiative taken by China called one by one law initiative from 2013. We were a little bit in a rosy time and the billions of dollars were invested into this initiative from China, from different cities of China building so-called the Continental Bridge. So with the railway and we also saw along the road in different Central Asian countries, Eastern European countries, we started to smooth up this kind of connectivity to Germany even to London. So there's also the connection directly to UK. But the but is that we are now in a very different geopolitical and economic landscape. On one side we saw there's more and more reluctance about from especially from Europe to accept fully China as a partner. And there is a rephrased before the pandemic talking China on some issues about a competitor which is legitimate. So and also more recently we saw there more and more resistance from the German government and the German corporates to taking China as the privileged partner continuously supporting the trade investment relationship between these two countries. So if there is a decline or a slow down of the integration between EU and China and which was illustrated last year by the suspension of the comprehensive agreement on investment, the validation. So which shows that we are in a not ideal situation. And another big problem my colleagues just mentioned about the difficulty of this war in Ukraine and the disruption on the supply chain designed between these two ends between China and Europe. So what I see in the future is that it will be extremely difficult to go back to the old setting which means a promotion on common prosperity along the road around the Silk Road to get all the country involved. However, for these countries in the middle like Central Asia, even the Eastern European countries it not necessary to be a bad time. In the sense that all the bigger powers including of course China, EU and US were focusing more from their own geopolitical importance the engagement with these countries which means there is some economic political support for more engagement with these countries and also there are a lot of concrete economic benefit. We talk about substitution of this grain and oil from Russian or Ukraine by these countries. And of course that will be a huge incentive for your European countries. We see from my colleagues talk and also from China because you all know that there is a risk of secondary sanction against Chinese companies of course mainly SOEs about their involvement with Russia. So it is also Chinese interest to diversify their supply especially with Kazakhstan which is the neighbor and they already start some very solid connections for the gas and oil facilities. And also a country we touch upon a little bit Uzbekstar which is now fully accepted by the international community for the trade. They had some labor issues in the past which can be a huge hub in the international tech tech-style business as you know they are the the major cotton producer. So if you combine all that I think we can see a rosy future for this country independent. Not necessarily playing the role for the huge volume of trade through their land like a corridor but mainly as a major economic partner. Of course since you have more great power talking to you and you have a better leverage also to get a better term for your national development. So I just stop here thank you. Thank you professor. We have 10 minutes left so I'll do another round. We will move from the risks to the opportunities. Madame Renault Basso you work on many axes in the region but I'll be particularly interested on I know you work a lot on the green agenda and also on connectivity but if you can just give us your insights there. No thank you listening a lot have been said already and listening to co-panelists. I was thinking that from our perspective as a building and we are indeed big investors in the region I think in both of countries we are the first one in terms of investment from MDB. I would say there are four areas of I mean where we focus investment and we think we should do more. First one is infrastructure and there were some mentioned on the middle corridor but I think there is a lot of that can be done to strengthen the port capacity at Akto, Baku, road, railway, pipelines possibly. I think that the southern corridor there is as it was mentioned capacity to upgrade to increase the capacity and I guess this would should be part of and there are some studies being on the production side and consumer side to be sure that this fits but I think that's there is a lot of opportunity there but also private sector investment for example for manufacturing containers. There are needs in order to rebuild all this trading flows and infrastructure. Second opportunity is the region can be helpful and can play a very positive role in dealing with food crisis. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are net exporter of food and anything that and we will focus on anything that we can do to step up production, export and so forth to deal with the current challenge. Third area and the one you mentioned is the green agenda. I think the region is because countries are the huge I mean important natural resources in fossil fuel and so forth. They start from a level of green energy relatively low so there is a lot of capacity to step up and we are working very closely with Azerbaijan, with Uzbekistan, with Kazakhstan. What is the strategy? How to move from the current situation to increase renewable to develop long-term strategies to develop framework for example we are working with Azerbaijan an auction framework being implemented now to get private sector investment to develop renewable. I think this is important for the, because of the importance of the green agenda and also for the diversification of the countries moving forward so we are in a very specific time where energy security now is at the core of the concern but developing renewable and developing for example the grid that is needed to be able to have more renewable are also very important for the long-term energy security agenda. So I think this is something we are working with all the countries in which we intervene. Our objective for the bank is to have 50% of our financing in the green sector. We reached that objective last year so to do that we need to really tilt all our investment in that sector. That doesn't mean for example we were big financers of the southern corridor tap, tap, tap. This doesn't mean that this is excluded but we need to show if we were to invest now in this kind of project, increasing the capacity that is consistent with the Paris Agreement, the objective of the Paris Agreement. So because this is now a key enabling condition for us everything we do has to be consistent with the Paris Agreement. And last point which is also very important is that this country can be very, I mean can play a very important role in the ongoing reorganization of the supply chain.  This, I mean, development also in China they need to diversify and so forth and it was when the capacity for example for Uzbekistan to develop textile but a lot of, I mean there is a lot of potential. For that, what is very important and I'm very happy of what was said about the reform agenda in Kazakhstan and so forth is to have, to continue with the reforms, be attractive for private sector, rule of law, transparency and so forth. This is an important agenda for all countries in the region. They are implementing it but I think continuing reform is will be important to get out of the situation and have a strong rebound and take the opportunities that are there despite the overall headwinds. Thank you so much, Madam President. We have about two minutes each for the remainder. So Minister Jabarov, on the opportunities, if you could, I know you have big plans on renewables. We're quite interesting to hear. Also digital, we work with you on the fourth industrial revolution and I'm also just interested because you mentioned the talks in Brussels and of course then if there is then peace what that means for connectivity of Azerbaijan all in two minutes, if you can. Renewables, Madam President already talked about it just to give two highlights. One, renewable energy of Azerbaijan including Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea in terms of energy production exceeds the fossil fuel energy production in Azerbaijan mainly made up of the wind power. As we speak, number of the projects have started for implementation. EBRD is financing two of them. We are very thankful but they suggest a small piece of the second element of the renewables is that we are very well aware that in the longer term fossil fuel demand and going out of the market would be very clearly linked to the quote-unquote greenness of the fossil fuel produced. So with that in mind, we see very bright future both for renewables but also for traditional fossil fuel energy. Digitalization, we actually hold in very high regard the level of cooperation we have with the forum once again. Likewise. I think it's extremely important not only from the point of view of what is happening today in terms of the sectoral and policy development but first and most importantly from the impact that it has on a human capital development which is definitely a most sustainable way of investing into the future. You asked about connectivity and impact of peace treaty and implementation of Zengizur Corridor project to link Azerbaijan via Armenia to Nakhchivan further on to Turkey. In a nutshell, this means several things. First is further increase of reliability of what we call a middle corridor. Second, mutually beneficial regional cooperation between countries of South Caucasus and restoring of the peace stability and neighborhood. And that's why Azerbaijan has been vocal on peace treaty being signed as soon as it is practically possible. And that is it. Last point which was not in your questions but 15 seconds is priority for us continued reforms of SOE, state-owned enterprises. And quietly without any further allowed the further development of the private sector which is already is accounting for more than 80, 80% of tax revenues in Azerbaijan which in effect is a derivative of the reform policies that have been carried out in the economy. Thank you very much. Thank you so much minister. Governor, if I could go to you. I looked it up. You had at your authority 50 companies when you started in 2018. Now you have almost 1300. So great growth there. What are you doing to then grow that number even further again looking? I know you've been working with green bonds but we also work together on the fourth industrial revolution. So again in two minutes if you can give us some of you. Just to remind that Astana International Financial Center is the first and yet only the common law jurisdiction in the former Soviet Union area. So this is what created for the better investment climate. So first is dispute resolution authorities where we invited retired British judges and it's good for the global investors to Kazakhstan to get the resolving of any issues between each other with the government from one side. From the other side is also the continued processes of privatization in Kazakhstan. So in our stock exchange we are jointly with our partners preparing to be listing of the national oil and gas company. Gas company previously was a national uranium company which Kazakhstan and you do understand that the role of Kazakhstan uranium, raw material uranium is now huge in terms of the plan of decarbonization and nuclear power among temporary green let's say. And I do believe till 2045 the Kazakhstan will play significant role. I think the most important for us is like not just like exponential growth of the companies which is straight but really achieve financial connectivity. So here we I think we're very well connected to the Western community but from the other side we now build the very good preach with the Chinese financial institutions such as Shanghai stock exchange such as China Development Bank, People's Bank of China maybe to open the offshore clearing center to maybe to work in this currency in the region. So these are some great opportunities to increase the investment to the region. From the other side we will continue to work with our let's say global stakeholders, Citibank, NASDAQ, Goldman Sachs or with IDEA also to bring as more investors as possible and I think that we have seen the resilience during this few months, this year, during the COVID time so last 30 years. So I do believe we will continue this relationship and cooperation. Great, thank you Governor. Last but not least Professor Ding, you know Eurasia very well. So also just on the opportunity you already were talking about the opportunities but if you can just be a little maybe concrete where do you see it on the connectivity or on the green and particularly also the governor mentioned now some of the plans with China. What do you think are these opportunities for China on the connectivity front or a green front in Eurasia? So as the leading business school in China but also in Asia, we are very willing to be part of this regional development. So from our side we see clearly we can help and contribute a lot to that development on the first front. I think Minister mentioned about the human capital and we will be extremely happy to work with different countries, authority and company in the region to bring you some world-class management trainings and short programs or long programs. We'll be very happy to be partner on that and we have 100 full-time faculties based in Shanghai Beijing so it's very easy to come to the region. On the other side, since we are mainly working on executive education, so we have under our arm the largest group of Chinese alumni more than 26,000. So many of them actually working are the business decision makers owners of this green energy textile energy business and finance industry. So we were really fine to create some business exchange opportunities and bring some of these people into your place or bring your people to Shanghai, to Shenzhen and really to discuss all these business opportunities. I'm sure that it's important that the government or government organization set the stage, actually the actors, they must be the business people and we are very confident that we'll be able to help you to create this kind of networking sphere on these particular topics and industry. Thank you very much. Thank you so much Professor, thank you so much. All of you, it's clear that Eurasia is at a pivotal time, the world is at a pivotal time and I think this was extremely useful not only to the people here but also as you know this was a live stream session so there are people watching this digitally just to help them understand what's happening and make the right decisions around Eurasia going forward. So thanks so much, all the best. Thank you. Thank you for your consideration.


Welcome back to PLOS Politics. The Federal Capital Territory, FCT High Court in Apo, Abuja, has sentenced a former federal lawmaker Farouk Lawan to seven years' imprisonment for taking bribes of $500,000 from businessman Femio Tedela, a billionaire oil magnate, while serving as the chairman of the defunct House of Representatives Adhok Committee investigating the fraud around the fall subsidy regime in 2012. Angela Otaluka, the trial judge, found the former legislator guilty of all three counts of bribery. Our subject of conversation is not really on the jailed lawmaker, but how long the trial process took, nine years. The court has dismissed Lawan's preliminary objection gains, a trial that spanned a whole of nine years. Joining us to discuss this is Mr. Samuel Apologon and Emeka Opara, both legal practitioners. Thank you very much for joining us, gentlemen. Thank you very much. All right, I'm going to start with Mr. Opara. Nine years to get a seven-year conviction. Tell us what you think about this. Is this, well, eventually justice was served and so it shouldn't be a problem? Well, I think we have a problem about that in Nigeria. It's something we really have to work on. It has even improved slightly from what it was before. Before, well, because of the nature of the case and the personality involved, we could be thinking of maybe about 14 years or thereabouts that the trial could have taken place. And within that period, the prosecution could have got tired and the case could have been frustrated. There has been an improvement in the last few years because many judges have started putting their feet down. But we need to do more. I believe in the course of this conversation, we should be able to compare solutions. We should be able to talk about what are the causes of such long-drawn trials? What causes it in our system? But to answer your question directly, I think it is a problem. It is not a good thing and it doesn't speak well of us. It doesn't ensure justice in Nigeria. Okay, so you can go ahead, before I move to Mr Apulogun, go ahead and share with us what do you think are the major causes of situations like this that a case, a trial can last for nine years in our system? Yeah, I think it has to do. Number one, the prosecution, the lawyers in Nigeria and the courts, the judges, each has learned to share from this second of scenario. Now, you find out that many prosecutions are done shortly. Before you come to the levels of the prosecution, there is the investigation and that is where the problem starts. In fact, if the judges, the courts, you play exactly by the rules, I think most criminals, about 90% of criminals, about 90% of defendants, that's what we call them now, no longer accused, about 90% of them will go free, despite the fact that they actually committed the offenses charged because the police and the other investigation agencies do not do their jobs well. They compromise, they do jobs shoddily and you see the attitude of Nigerians to public office, it's not my father's work, so you don't do it properly and all that. That is one. Now, when we move to the prosecution, the prosecution, in many instances, they are compromised. There is enormous pressure from defendants, especially high caliber defendants, to compromise every case that they are involved in. And it starts from the investigation, they get to the prosecution and you see a prosecution lawyer coming to ask for adjournment, to delay. But I can say something that the EFTC, they have been making more efforts in that direction, better than the police, better than some other agencies. Now, when you come to the defense, the defense lawyers, that's where the major problem is. Now, if you go overseas in many jurisdictions, you can see a lawyer handling more than two or three cases in one month or in two months. You come to meet a lawyer and he says my diary is full for the next six months. I have two, three cases. There are two, three trials I'm going to conduct. I won't be able to conduct this case properly if I take it from you. And you have to go to meet another lawyer. But here you find out that the lawyers, all the lawyers, a lawyer could have 30 trials or 20 trials in one month, in one month, and have more than 60 cases, 30 cases in one month with a lot of complex applications and all that that he has to go and do research on. And the result is that he will not do them properly. He will not do them properly. Now, if you go to the root of it, it's because legal services are not properly remunerated. And so the lawyers, what they do is that they get as many as possible to be able to break it. That is one of the causes of the problems we have. When they are properly remunerated, you will find out that many lawyers will start dropping some of the extra baggage. All right. Hold on, Mr. O'Para. All right, hold on. I want to bring in Samer Lakbo-Logung. He's also a legal practitioner. I'm sure that you've also experienced situations like this before. Maybe also have been a part of trials that have lasted a lot longer than they should. There is the administration of a criminal justice act that was expected to at least fix some of all these issues. Where would you say that attention needs to be put immediately in order for us to have trials last maximum of one year and it's concluded? Thank you very much. I'm very glad to be here. And then I'm grateful for that question. In fact, that was what I was going to speak to, who's sitting from the premise that was raised by my linear colleague. Firstly, this issue of delay in prosecution has been the bane of administration of criminal justice in Nigeria. It is one of the reasons why the laws seem to overlook or many criminals tend to escape the dragnet of the court of the law. And then some innocent persons suffer. So this is the reason why the ACJA, the administration of criminal justice act was promulgated. The administration of criminal justice act actually was a copy, so to speak, and the development on the Lagos State administration of criminal justice law. And you will notice that the administration of criminal justice law of Lagos State do came out in 2011, initial 2007 and thereafter was updated in 2011. But the ACJA came into force in 2015. And you will notice that this Lawan Farooq case started in 2012, if I'm not mistaken. And so as of then, as of when the Lawan Farooq case was commenced, the law that was in charge of administration of criminal justice in Nigeria was the, especially in Abuja and the northern part of Nigeria was the criminal procedural act. And so that was, and there were lacunas in those laws. And those were the things that defense lawyers would want to explore. Of course, if your case is bad, as it depends, counsel, one of the first thing you want to do is to buy time for your client. It is natural with human beings to do what they can do to either, to either avoid the doomsday or to postpone the doomsday. And that is what many trial lawyers have done and what many trial lawyers have tried to do. And that actually is why the criminal justice, the administrative criminal justice act was committed in 2015. And the major purpose for the commutation or for the enactment of the administrative criminal justice act, one of the main purposes, I mean to say, is to deliver speedy administration of criminal justice and also to ensure that the rights of individuals are not breached in the process of the administration of criminal justice. Now, there are many things, there are many innovative provisions of the ACJA. Now, this underscores the, the innovative provisions of the ACJA. There are many of them which would have further increased the speed of the conduct of these particular case if they judge, I mean the court and for that matter, the stakeholders have put those things into consideration. For example, if you notice that in 2000 and I think in 2017 or there about the Farouk Council, I think that was Chief Dr. Maya Kosekome, appealed over a procedural matter. He raised what you call a no case submission and then the judge dismissed each, then appealed to the court of appeal and that lasted for another, more than a year before the court of appeal directed at the case we brought back that Farouk Lawal had something to answer, had the case to answer, then the case was directed back to the high court. And I mean if the prosecution council was among, this is mine on what is the provision of the ACJA. One of the provision is that there would not be state of prosecution while an appeal, especially a procedural appeal has been entered in a criminal trial. That is to say, even if you are appealing to the court of appeal, we will continue with our case in the high court. So, in summary, Ms. Akbologo, I think in summary you are basically saying that it's a failure to implement the administration of criminal justice act on both sides. The argument that lawyers would bring is that laws don't operate in little space, but procedural laws operate in little space. Once the law of criminal justice law came into being, he said it had a procedure and these provisions should have been applied in as much as the procedure is for the honorable court. Okay, in 30 seconds, Meka Oparai, I want to have you wrap up. We're in 2021. We have seen these things play out over and over and over. You've said that it has actually improved. Is there a way to enforce the administration of criminal justice act? And that is from the CJN to the Minister of Justice to the Nigerian Bar Association and every player involved. Is there a way that the administration of criminal justice act can be enforced to ensure that we have shorter trials? Well, I think that the courts are making efforts now to enforce, but like I said, the major part of the problem we have in the enforcement is still the issue of our attitude on our problems, our attitude to things, our appearances, how the defense can, so when they come and for cleansing reasons, they ask for adjournment. Sometimes, most times, they are not ready. They explored every avenue to delay the matter. So this, and although the matter I mentioned about lawyers having too many matters on their plate, I'm not able to therefore conduct matters properly and efficiently. So this is where the NBA has to come in. The NBA has to, over the years, the NBA has lost, I would say, a lot of its relevance to making sure that lawyers do the right thing and that lawyers are properly re-generated. All right, Mr. Alparo. So the NBA has to do something about that seriously, to get out with the bench, the courts and so there has to be a review, a review. And actually some of the offenses that we see now, for example, this one now, a lot of people will say that seven years is very little for this kind of offense. It is the maximum that is in the book. So all those things ought to be reviewed. All right, Mr. Alparo, thank you very much. Thank you for the procedure. Okay. Obviously, there's a lot of people, or a lot of factors that need to come into play in order to have a better criminal justice system and, of course, a criminal justice process, generally for Nigeria. But it's a continued conversation. You've already spoken about the role the NBA needs to play and we hope that they are listening. We hope that Olumide Agpata also understands his relevance and relevance of his body at a time like this. Thank you very much, Emeka Oparo, for joining us and for sharing your time with us. And Mr. Samel Apologun, thank you also for, of course, the brief conversation that we had. I truly appreciate it. Okay. Mr. Apologun, I think you want to quickly say something? Quickly say something. Actually, the law, the Criminal Justice Act has also made provisions for the implementation of itself. Session 469 to Session 476 of the ACGA provides for what you call the ACGMC, that is the Admission of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee. So there is a committee for monitoring the implementation of the provisions of the Admission of Criminal Justice Act. And I think if the government would strengthen the committee, make provisions, and they make them not just say pay for a tiger or two, but actually give power to the implementation of the same. I believe they can sit up. And really actually courts are already sitting up. I meant court sitting for the information for your time and I noticed that there have been increase in adherence to the Admission of Criminal Justice Act. However, I think the ACGMC should be strengthening to do its work. If the ACGMC was allowed to do its work, money of these things will be done in time. Okay. And of course, we hope that we also get to see more convictions and a smoother process. Thank you once again. Mr. Apologun, forward joining us. Looking forward to speaking with you again. All right. And thank you for staying with us. We'll take a short break and when we return, I'll be giving my take. There is a popular saying that justice delayed is justice denied. The years that go by in the wait for justice cost mostly by the slow grinding gears of the Nigerian criminal justice system, the lack of full implementation, like we just mentioned, of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act and other clogs in the wheel of justice from striking judiciary workers to avoidable adjoinments and to also poor investigation. Some may say a seven-year prison sentence after nine years of a trial is still better than nothing. But can you imagine how many victims of a corrupt system will not get to see perpetrators punished if we have to wait for nine years each time for a conviction? It is important that all these factors and numerous others are corrected if Nigeria is truly serious about fighting corruption and punishing corrupt government officials for their crimes. For too long, we have allowed these lapses to almost seem like a reward for corrupt practices, and the war against corruption cannot be won this way. Thank you very much for joining us on Plus Politics This Evening. I am Osao Gie of Bawan.


Good morning everyone. So I think that conversation was not eight years ago, but something like 2003 Not to date you or anything, but it's been a while and You did this Linux thing I just learned mm-hmm. Okay good. So my name is Dirk Hordel This is my hometown. It's it's very rare to actually wake up in my own bed and then be able to go to a conference I really appreciate that we need to do more conferences in Portland. Who hears from Portland? It's actually fewer people than I thought wow. Okay, never mind My hometown as well these days for the last 13 years I have to say having a conference in Portland in February. I At least it keeps the people inside is what I say But Well, we were in in Tahoe last week and Jim's joke was that there would be mudslides as drinks at the evening reception did not go over well with all the mudslides blocking people from going there, but Okay, so normally when Linus and I go to a conference one of the things that we do Traditionally is we go somewhere really exciting to go scuba diving and then go to a conference This time there wasn't an easy Stop on the way to go scuba diving from our homes to here But I think we're going up to hoodsport in a couple of weeks where the water temperature is going to be a very Bami 42 degrees and it's going to be awesome. I'm very much looking forward to this. Yeah This is the second year in a row that we're at ELC Yeah, I don't know why I avoided ELC for many years and now we're doing it two years in a row How did that happen? I will not take any responsibility So let's start with some actual content For what 4.2 you released it on Sunday for 10 4.10. Did I say something else? Oh, I read it binary Sorry 4.10 you released it You released it on Sunday highlights lowlights anything interesting 4 to 10 was fairly calm 4.9 was our big release because Greg had made the mistake of telling everybody that 4.9 would be a Long-term release which always means that now several companies decide. Oh, we really need to hit this So 4.9 was bigger than usual and I expected 4.10 to be calmer It wasn't it was very average These days it means that we change a lot of things but there were no like Big things that you need to like bring up we had tons of new drivers We had tons of updates to the core I always find it surprising that even now like 25 plus years after we still have Updates to really core like including low-level assembly files for x86 that have been around forever But there's The whole process has been so smooth and normal for the last 10 years that that we seldom have these huge peaks We have a lot of working on all over, but 4.10 did not have anything that Specifically I'd like to shout out for so you said that Greg made a mistake Pre-announcing that 4.9 would be a long-term supportive panel. Why do you think that's a mistake? Isn't it good to give people advanced warning? This is the one you want to aim for so Greg has actually been trying it both ways and I'm not sure mistake is necessarily the wrong Like the right thing to call it I'm actually happier with having releases that are purely time-based and are just regular and then the we pick and Greg has done it that way several times too that he just picks it then based on timing and often after the fact and That just means that you don't have this situation where you have developers who feel pushed into hitting a particular release And I think that's healthier it just means that we We merge code when it's ready and we don't have any other pressures and and and it's being a very successful model for us and pre-announcing LTS releases is Kind of fights that it's not so bad. I mean realistically It was bigger than usual, but we didn't have any huge issues I just like how our process has literally been about Doing steady releases all the time and then you have the stable trees after that And then you pick one of the stable trees to be a long-term support release and and it's been we've been doing this for 10 plus years and it works really well So I want to poke at this a little bit because there are a lot of of groups not just Commercial companies but a lot of groups who actually like the idea of knowing which stable which kernel will be the long-term stable one So and and I remember that it was maybe a couple years ago There was a lot of frustration that the feeling was that the people were tricked to thinking it was a different one And there were some hard feelings So do we have any evidence in for dot nine that things got merged too too early? So more patches after the fact or or more stability issues after the release It's too early to tell yet. I don't think I think four point nine is a fine release And I don't think it actually caused problems. I I think our Regular release schedule is so predictable now that people don't actually worry too much and And there are people who care deeply about the long-term support releases, but at the same time those people also tend to have a Longer-term Look on these releases in the first place So they seldom have a lot of things that they want to get into this particular release So you did there was definitely some pressure and four point nine ended up being the biggest release we've ever done But but at the same time, I don't think we I'm not saying four point nine is bad I just say that I prefer the the model where where we don't have to worry about particular features at all And we just merged what's right. So you announced this crazy idea 12 and a half years ago. Is it that long July? 2004 I actually did my homework So literally half the history of our Colonel it has been this 10 week roughly Revolving the war of a new release and I mean when we started this I think we all in the room told you that you were bad shit crazy. Yeah, I think that was concept That may have been the exact words. Yes. Yes, they were Yeah, we've had it's interesting the Colonel is a big project and we've actually done a lot of things that that Tried a lot of different approaches Over the years and every time we do something it ends up pushing other projects to do the same thing Which I find interesting we used to do the even odd thing which was a huge mistake, but it worked for Several years where where we would have even releases are stable releases and odd releases are the development releases And we do that for like each release would Effectively take we were aiming for one year, but it would effectively take two to three years Which was very painful, but it became Inside the open source groups a lot of other projects ended up Trying the same thing and in fact when we switched over ten years ago to the new model where we do every Releases every ten weeks it took years before people realized that okay 3.11 is not actually a development release And 3.10 is not actually a stable release. They're all stable so we've We've tried a lot of different models obviously also in source control management with good and and the last ten years have been really pleasant for me because The process really has worked and we have not hit any pain real pain points yet and I say that because when you hit pain points in in your release model in your code flow That ends up being really painful. I mean those those have been the times when I have gone. This is not fun anymore, right? and and I like to say our Current release schedule is almost boring, which is exactly what you want You do not want your flow to be where where people start Trying exciting new things because that's really painful. It was interesting We were both in in Tahoe last week and before our but before my presentation The Kubernetes guys were on stage and they described their release model which sounded very familiar They have two weeks where you can commit features to this feature Repository after that gets frozen and then for ten weeks they develop on this I've heard that model before, you know, it really has been a very successful model at least At least as far as I can tell I think so I'm Definitely in charge of the development side So I have very little connection to Companies and productization because after the development kernel we have the stable kernel then we have Long-term releases then we have the companies themselves doing their own Releases on top of the long term so I'm often at least two or three trees away from productization, but from what I can tell even the product side really likes just this regular cadence of Releases and knowing that whenever they do start something they they always have something that is not too old And so it works both from a development standpoint and it does seem to work very well from a Productization standpoint to and now somebody can stand up and scream. No, you're wrong. This is horrible. Oh, that would be awesome anybody So But but you seem to indicate that this is all working well, so are people really still disciplined are people really? Following the rules Merch window and then after the merch window. It's only Fixes now how we can we're following the rules way better than we used to I mean the first five years It really took five years for people to really understand that there were rules at all Open source development is sometimes a bit Fussy people people do their own thing and people have very strong opinions of how things should be done So it's a changing the whole model of development. It took a long time before people really got it We're doing fairly well One of the metrics people use to check how well we're Actually following the the merge window rules is is looking after each release How much of the release was actually? Ready and in the so-called random next tree Before before the merge window open and we're usually 90% So 85 to 95% it depends a bit on release and that's actually a fairly I mean that's Clearly the bulk of it, but then there is that roughly 10% and a lot of that is bugs Getting fixed and that just happens Obviously after things have been merged, but there have been I mean there are some Systems that I just say Guys, I will not pull you can't follow the rules Go away, right come back in two months when the merge window is open again And then do this right because this you you can't send me stuff in the late RC release that I have never seen before and that is not a fix and and it still happens and Sometimes I'm public about these outbursts and sometimes actually most of the time I'm not and as I tell people in private guys.   I used to have to really talk to people and by talking I mean shouting About how their git trees were rebased how they had more Merge commits than they had actual work because they were just merging from me every day during the middle of the merge window Taking random stuff that may or may not work. Don't do that. And I told people over and over and over again And I don't think I need to anymore I think people kind of a understand git meant much better than they used to but be also the whole thing where Where the process has been working so well for so long that that people kind of have learned what works and what does not work So I take this to mean the process is gonna stay around for a while longer I hope so I hope so it really I mean we've had we've had serious Disruptions in the process and they've been very painful and they've been good I mean don't get me wrong. They've been good looking back But at the time we've had so many very painful situations where where people really hated each other's guts and and people walked away And and there was a huge amount of stress Even if our process right now is not perfect. I'm not gonna say it's perfect, but it's it's working What it what having a stable process that people know how it works means that you don't have to worry about Okay What will happen? Will I have to change the way I work? There's a lot of us that Okay, I'm not gonna say we're autistic because we're not but people end up being very Set in their ways like you have you have You may be great at coding, but it's very annoying when Things change around you and you have to jump through hoops and you have to learn new things to do and We do have a lot of people who are I'm borderline OCD and and and really Having a process that works makes everybody so much happier. I Think I'll change topics here So one of the things that I always find interesting especially when we are in embedded events security and the Linux kernel and Specifically the insane size of the attack surface that Linux offers and Of course, I mean Chips are getting getting bigger and bigger. So the size isn't as critical anymore in the does it fit But I think it still is very critical in the attack surface Do you think that Linux really is the right kernel for IOT? I Think it depends on what you're doing. I mean if you're doing a Small sensor thing at the end point Linux may not be the right thing I'm almost sure that if you're doing these small sensors that our battery operated and they're they're doing one thing They're sensing temperature humidity, whatever and and they're just phoning back to a local Box that then gateway that then actually does the real work. I Understand that you maybe you want to use Linux even in the sensor for other reasons But but that's where where Linux is certainly questionable But then once you get the to the gateway or anything that actually talks to the internet Once you hit networking Things get much more complicated and at that point you probably do want a real operating system And I obviously think that Linux is the real operating system to speak. I Had a great conversation with with a an expert in the area of secure and reliable operating systems and he was convinced that we should start from scratch using rust and C++ for the outer layers and create a secure design. I know what a huge C++ fan you are I I Believe I maintain the only open-source project to which Linus has sent C++ changes Commits written in C++. I'm very proud of that, but What do you what are you I don't think so what what do you think of of the idea of creating something in a Domain specific language designed around security to create a more robust Colonel for the edge for the for the network facing devices I think the main specific languages and having something that is Clearly more designed towards security than C is a great thing I don't think those languages tend to be all that great at system programming It's doable in small niches, but and that's not where Linux is going So if you want to do a niche thing Go wild the whole point of Linux is to be general purpose that you can use it across a very wide variety of devices and and use models and And and there is clearly a certain dichotomy between Generic and security you're always going to be more secure by making your device or Service More specific and less capable. There's no question about that and Linux is not interested in more specific and less capable At the same time We've certainly seen more specific and less capable also be a complete disaster from a security standpoint I think in the end even a secure language will not help you when you have people who are rushing to get some random Small consumer device out the door and then you'll just make the security mistakes on a higher levels in your protocols and in your lack of encryption and in your Updating models and and all these details. So I Think you do have a huge advantage in Linux in the fact that you have a lot of different people You know a lot of different areas that do actually care about security. I Don't think security is an absolute and if you care about security and you clearly should in this environment You want to have multiple levels and layers of security and the kernel will never be Perfect, don't get me wrong. The kernel is big. It's complicated In in the embedded world you can limit that by compiling away as much of it as you can But even then you'll never be perfect Do a security shell around it do a security shell around that make sure that you don't accept any random connections And then the embedded people still put their own back doors because they want to debug things. So I'm sure you've seen the same stories as I have right.  They're morons. Don't don't even bother the people you want to talk to are the people who mitigate security issues and and admit up front that nothing is ever perfect and In this kind of crowd one of the mitigations need to be able to to do upgrades secure updates over the network don't depend on consumers doing them for you because they won't and Don't make your upgrade process an attack surface, which is The other common mistake, but make sure they can happen at every single layer Level and then you'll still end up having security issues with the hardware not being secure And somebody comes up with a really clever scheme to actually attack the hardware itself and at that point You just admit, okay, there is no perfect security next generation will do better Yeah, and you you need to make sure that you're resilient to some extent and have multiple layers of different Let's let's go back a little bit more to Linux today. We have 32 main Platforms in the kernel tree and if you know, no, no, no, we may have 32 architectures I would not call them main platforms because some of them are very very random My next question was gonna be Are they all maintained tested working useful? Realistically, I think all of them are useful to somebody there are people who enjoy tinkering and But yeah, now a lot of them are are really just toys and and are Testament to how portable the kernel is that you can actually create a new architecture in support in not very much code if you have a GCC port to your architecture You can literally do a Linux port to it in like a couple of thousand lines of code. It won't be maybe a completely full Capable system, but it will work But the end result of that is we do of the 30 plus architectures we support four or five are actually Real and meaningful and something you should actually think of using in a in a Production settings. Oh now I'll get you in trouble. So which four or five are those Just from a maintenance angle, I'd say x86 arm power PC and s390 seem to be the ones that get Reliable mean I might have missed something. I mean if I forgot one or two Don't don't think that that your architecture is not worthy But but on the whole those four are the ones that that I call out as being Both actively maintained and and in good shape And by arm, I mean both 32 and 64 bit. I don't Same for x86 the rest tend to be sporadic so in those four architectures are there Interesting innovations are the new things that you're excited about I mean this morning I read about AMD's Ryzen platform that will revolutionize the world which I come about but Are the innovations where you say oh, I can't wait for this to be available in public or is this all? Realistically most architectures are pretty much the same. I mean the Isis differ, but they all do the same things There are a few things coming up I'm very happy about for example power PC seems to be finally getting rid of the hashed page tables that I always hated with a passion and they have a radix tree so That's somebody can we close the door And that's a very welcome thing just because their memory management Will be so much better It's it's still early days for that, but I enjoy seeing those kinds of improvements on x86 We're actually it's funny We used to I mean so the kernel obviously used to be x86 only and on the original paging model for x86 was the two-level page tree that Tables that that the original 386 had and We expanded that from two to three because alpha had had a bigger virtual outer space Then we expanded it from three to four and now we're on the cusp of expanding it from 45 and The previous ones were fairly painful going from 45. It looks like it will be it might even happen 4.11 probably 4.12. It's 20 patches and they're not even that big and I'm impressed by how we can now I mean partly because we've done this several times before we can now just add a new level of paging and It doesn't even look like a big deal anymore So we we do have core functionality coming to core architectures At the same time One of the issues we have is is we still support Processors from 20 years ago, we finally did drop support for the 386 and Because realistically you cannot make a safe Operating system on a 386 because the page faults don't work right on that But but we still support ships that are 20 years old and and that don't have certain features So we still support chips that do not have the don't execute bit Which is coming back to the security issue. That's a security issue if you don't have no execute bit You are going to be open to a lot of attacks that ship modern ships aren't even open to So so some of the issues we always have are about compatibility and supporting chips that are Not as good as what you can get today and what you can get tomorrow So as someone who follows your active social media life I've noticed quite a few posts on Models that you're building whether it's RC cars or little dragons or whatnot Are we seeing a shift from Lina's the software developer to Lina's the hardware tinkerer? no, no, I've done hardware and They always end up not working that well now I grew up doing plastic models and One of the effects of the current roughly 10 week release window is that right now I'm in my really busy time and I sit in front of the computer 12 hours a day in five weeks, I'm expecting and hoping to be in the situation where I I'm mostly just waiting around for bug reports and fixes, right? So I can do most of most of my time. I do end up Checking email, but I need to check email once an hour and most of those hours not a lot of has happened So I started building models while I'm waiting for that to happen. Some people like watching TV that Doesn't do it for me. I think are with these tiny models instead and that that was good for last release And here I hope that you would announce the big project number for the Lina's maker kit No, no, no, okay, then I guess our time is up. Thank you very much Linus. Thank you


I do think Brandon Jacobs should make a comeback. He's a monster. You played with him, you said? Played against him multiple times. Yeah, have fun tackling that, dude. I got a chance to play against him one time as he was on the Niners.  Can he tackle the quarterback?  I wanted him to get a shot if he wants one. I don't think he'll get one though. What is he, 38? He going to a complete different side of the ball.  If Brandon Jacobs thinks he can do it, I think he can do it too.


Item number, SCP-410, Object Class, SAFE. Special Containment Procedures. SCP-410 is currently held at Site-23, Entomology Lab 14-Zeta, and maintained in a 1x1x1 meter transparent acrylic glass container. The top of the container is perforated with 33 1mm holes to allow for ventilation, and features a small hinged lockable hatch in its center, measuring 5x5 cm. The hatch utilizes a simple cylinder lock, which is to be re-keyed every three months. The hatch is to remain locked unless SCP-410 is actively being fed, or constituent members of SCP-410 are being removed for or returned from, research applications. Every 24 hours, a visual inspection and inventory of SCP-410 and its constituent members is to be performed and logged according to level 4 archival standards by designated observational staff. Any increase or decrease in the number of constituent members of SCP-410 should be reported to the senior researcher on duty immediately. Every 12 hours, a document containing no fewer than 5,000 words in any language, but possessing a minimum syntactical, orthographical, and or grammatical error ratio of 1%. 50 errors per 5,000 words is to be placed inside the container. The document should be removed after one hour, reviewed by a staff linguist with a specialty in the language the document was composed in, and subsequently filed in the SCP-410 feeding archive. Food documents should be composed specifically for the purpose of sustaining the SCP-410 colony. No existing archival materials or official SCP records should be given to the entire SCP-410 colony under any circumstances. A single individual from the 14-member colony that comprises SCP-410 may be removed for research and functional application for a single 2-hour activity period daily with approval from the senior researcher on duty. No more than four members of the colony are to be removed at any given time. Transport of a single SCP-410 colony members should be facilitated by no fewer than two Class II entomology staff, using only an approved SCP-410 transport module to do so. The current SCP-410 transport modules are 20x20x20 cm transparent acrylic glass containers perforated with 12mm ventilation holes, and each featuring a hinged lid equipped with a simple latch. Description SCP-410 is a colony of 14 individual beetles, designated Scarabias Scripter by staff co-leopterist Dr. Langstrom, each measuring approximately 5 cm, and possessing a carapace color variation from light blue to deep emerald green. A visual examination reveals nothing distinctive from other members of the genus Scarabias, with regards to their appearance, number of legs, wings, eyes, etc. Dissection of a single member of the colony by a trained co-leopterist showed no discernible anomalies in internal morphology, with the exception of a small additional organ designated the Scripter organ by Dr. Langstrom, capable of producing a variety of fluids both caustic and inert. It is worth noting that following the death and dissection of this member of the colony, a replacement beetle larva was seen 14 days later, in brutal maturity within one month. Members of SCP-410 appear to subsist entirely on inscribed language, more specifically on syntactical, orthographical, and grammatical errors found in any form of writing physically inscribed on any surface by any currently available method. SCP-410 has no effect on electronic displays or digitized data. Consumed writing disappears from the surface of whatever material it has been inscribed upon. Between 18 and 22 minutes following a feeding, SCP-410 will excrete corrected writing, inscribing it by unknown means back upon the surface from which the errors were consumed. To date, all corrections made by SCP-410 have been evaluated as 100% accurate by both staff and independent orthographers and linguists. Individually, members of SCP-410 each seem to be able to consume and correct an approximate maximum of 25,000 characters worth of errors daily, and appear healthy and active with as few as five. Lack of sustenance for a period in excess of one day results in increasing lethargy, until SCP-410 becomes completely inert, entering an apparent state of hibernation. SCP-410 can be roused from this state with a minimum of 50 errors placed within its proximity. In groups of three or more, SCP-410 will not only correct grammatical and orthographic errors, but begin to alter the style of the original text slightly, often using a somewhat expanded vocabulary and incorporating more complex narrative methods. When the entire colony is applied to a single document, all linguistic errors are corrected and the document is perfected in clarity, style, word choice, and rhetorical technique to such an extent that the original author's voice is nearly non-existent. Although the central thesis of a document always remains, the arguments supporting it may be vastly more complex or compelling in the case of research writing. In the case of basic lists of short statements or simple observational reports, enhanced correction may be in the form of layout alterations to provide greater clarity. There appear to be few limitations on the languages or materials that SCP-410 can interpret and harvest sustenance from. Hieroglyphs from the 31st century BCE armor palette were successfully corrected by SCP-410 just as easily as errors created in the modern constructed language Esperanto. Excreted corrections match the original colors, method and medium of the errors with near-perfect accuracy. Graphites, inks, engravings, acid etchings, and high-energy laser inscriptions have all been successfully replicated in appearance by SCP-410's corrections. The only anomaly found within excreted corrections appears to be an inability to replicate aged materials. Errors inscribed in ink on a 14th century CE illuminated manuscript were ingested by SCP-410, and while corrections were excreted in a matching color, they possessed the vibrant intensity of new ink. Staff experts were easily able to spot the corrections in the manuscript visually, and spectrographic analysis confirmed the excreted inks were modern, while the surrounding text dated from the time of the original manuscript. SCP-410 has successfully harvested error sustenance from and excreted corrections onto the following materials. Paper, cardboard, wood, ice, human skin, granite, limestone, marble, steel, aluminum, titanium, beta carbon nitride, proposed testing of SCP-410 with anomalous texts, including texts containing SCP-423 is currently pending review. Experiment 410-7.9. One heavily tattooed class D exposed to one constituent member of SCP-410. Class D staff member, hereafter, subject D, possessed a prison-created tattoo with the words, forever yours, baby, on her left forearm. 15 seconds. Subject D secured an emotion-restricting harness and fitted with a pulse rate monitor. One constituent member of SCP-410 removed from transport unit and placed on subject D's left arm. 49 seconds. SCP-410 begins circling the perimeter of the tattoo. 122 seconds. SCP-410 begins consuming the tattoo's error, beginning with the first extraneous E in forever. Subject D indicates an 8 on the NRS-11 pain scale. Pulse rate reaches 106. 149 seconds. SCP-410 finishes consuming the first extraneous E. It no longer appears on the subject, revealing a bare patch of slightly reddened skin. Subject D reports pain has ceased. Describes the pain, quote, like putting my goddamn arm in a blender, end quote. Pulse rate 94. 224 seconds. SCP-410 finishes consuming errors in the tattoo, appears to fall asleep. Tattoo now reads, forever your bab. Subject D experiences pulse rate fluctuations between 102 and 144. Reports pain ranging between 6 and 10 on the NRS-11. Subject D requests pain killers. Request denied. 1226 seconds. SCP-410 rouses, begins excretion slash correction process. Subject D's pulse rate 113. Reports NRS-11 rating 3 to 4. Describes it as roughly analogous to being tattooed. 1494 seconds. SCP-410 completes excretion correction process. Tattoo reads, forever yours, baby. With corrected lettering's colors significantly more vibrant than unedited counterparts. Lesson complete. If you missed the previous orientation, go watch SCP-409, Contagious Crystal, right now. Or for the complete course, watch this playlist.


We can calculate the gradient by using the methods described in the lesson. Let's pick a point in Pennsylvania about here and then we'll calculate the gradient for that point. We will first look at the gradient in the x direction, which goes along in this parallel with the north and south boundaries of Pennsylvania. And we'll use the method of center differences that's described. So we'll look at this contour here, this isotherm, and this one over here on the other side. And we note that this distance here is very, very similar to the distance of Pennsylvania between the parallel borders, which is 135 nautical miles. And so each one of these contours is 4 degrees Fahrenheit, so we have two of them. So 8 divided by 135 nautical miles gives us a gradient in the x direction of 0.059 degrees Fahrenheit per nautical mile. Now we can do the y direction, so we pick two points here, one here and one about here to be on the gradients. And we note that this is a little bit more than half the height of Pennsylvania, it's actually about 80 nautical miles. But also note that as y goes more positive, the temperature becomes more negative. And therefore we have to use minus 8 over 80 and we get, for the gradients in the y direction, minus 0.1 degrees Fahrenheit per nautical mile. When we put these in to get the magnitude, it's the square root of the squares, we see that we end up with 0.12 degrees Fahrenheit per nautical mile with a magnitude of the gradient. To find the direction of the gradient, we see that mu, the angle with respect to the x-axis, so this is a math angle, is equal to the arc tangent of the gradient in y divided by the gradient in x. And so that would be the arc tangent of minus 0.1 over 0.059, which is minus 59 degrees. And that is of course measured from the x-axis here, so that is measured from this direction here like this. And so that's minus of 59, and it's the same as if we went all the way around and we would get 301 for alpha if we're looking at the math angle. Now we can look and get an idea about gradients in other places really quickly. So let's just take this point in central Oregon. So now x is going like this over here, and so we see that the gradient in the east-west direction, or x direction, is, there's a, to go to another contour you have to go very, very far. And so that would be 8 degrees, and so it's so far that really the gradient is essentially 0. Whereas if we go in the north-south direction, that is in the wide direction here, we see that there's quite a substantial distance here. And so since this is 8 degrees, just like this is 8 degrees over here, then what that means is the gradient is going to be quite a bit smaller in this direction than it is in Pennsylvania here, where the isotherms are much, much closer together. So we would expect a gradient that's a fourth or a fifth of the gradient that we got for Pennsylvania. And so it'll be very weak. So this, it'll point toward the hotter air, and it'll look something like this.