On Oct 3^rd, 2008, the 16^th Willem C Vis Competition of Simulated Arbitration Court for International Commercial Arbitration publicized the competition topics which SCC rules are applicable for.
　　 (Source: http://www.cisg.law.pace.edu/vis.html).

　　 On Oct 14^th, 2008, American Arbitration Association internally implemented a party-oriented adjustment strategy, aiming to provide more professional arbitration services for the sectors it serves. According to the sectors served by AAA, the party-oriented adjustment strategy is divided into five sectors, which are respectively: Commerce, construction, international, labor/employment/election and substitutional resolution mechanism with national insurance. The service contents and organizational structure of AAA are not altered due to this classification, and it will preserve its original 30 representative offices distributed worldwide, including 4 case administration centers within US.
(Source: http://www.china-arbitration.com/readArticle.do?id=ff8081811c3b2870011d05f28be301aa).

　　 On Oct 22^nd 2008, when rejecting the appeal from the respondent Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), London Court of Cassation, with some reserved opinions, determined, according to 1996 British Arbitration Law, the verdict in the New York Convention can be partially executed, even if this verdict is applied to be cancelled in the court in Lagos, Capital of Nigeria. By quoting Articles 100 to 103 in the 1996 arbitration and Articles 3, 5 and 6 in New York Convention, the judge determined that the relatively important point in whether the verdict under New York Convention can be partially executed is that there is no verdict sample in this aspect. If, from the arbitration verdict literally, the parts to be executed can be determined and there are also some same contents as the arbitration verdict in the court verdict, then, in principle, he does not believe there is any reason to veto to execute some of the arbitration verdict. The purposes of Convention are reflected in the text of 1996 Arbitration Law., “Verdict” in 1996 Arbitration Law should be interpreted as a verdict or part of a verdict. The judge, therefore, has the power to order to execute part of the verdict.
　　 (Source: http://www.lawreports.co.uk/WLRD/2008/CACiv/oct0.9.htm)

　　 At the evening of Oct 21^st, 2008, ICC officially celebrated the opening of Paris Hearing Center for the purposes of arbitration session and other resolutions for commercial disputes, which is the first center in Paris. The hearing center has the area for 800 m2 in total, including 10 rooms with good sound-insulation performance and great facilities and equipments, and it can be used for inquiry or reservation.
(Source: http://www.iccwbo.org/iccceiha/index.html)

　　 On Oct 23^rd, 2008, Arbitration Court of Stockholm Chamber of Commerce held an international arbitration meeting for Arabian parties in Stockholm, and afterwards, on Oct 29th, 2008, it released the Arabian-language version of arbitration rules and demonstrative clauses, and for more details, please visit:
http://www.sccinstitute.com/_upload/shared_files/regler/2007_skiljedomsregler_arabiska.pdf
http://www.sccinstitute.com/_upload/shared_files/klausuler/model_arbitration_clause_arabic.pdf.

　　 On Oct 24^th, 2008, the 50^th anniversary of New York Convention in UN Trade Law Committee was held in Cairo, and for more details, please visit:
http://www.globalarbitrationreview.com/news/article/4873/cairo-hosts-event-new-york-convention/

　　 On Oct 31^st, 2008, ICC appointed 12 attorneys to be responsible for Young Arbitrators Forum. ICC Young Arbitrators Forum was initiated in Barcelona in June 2007, and ICC invited young arbitrators to join its local regional arbitration committees, and committees are responsible for development of the forum worldwide. Under the leadership of regional leaders of ICC Arbitration Court, young arbitrators will work with Global Coordination Committee based in ICC Headquarters in Paris to organize various kinds of events, and strengthen the connections between the young attorneys interested in international commercial arbitration and legal advisors for corporations. The membership of the forum will be opened to all the young practitioners for free (Including attorneys, legal advisors for corporation, graduate students, scholars and judges).
　　 (Source: http://www.iccwbo.org/yaf/icccejei/index.html).

(Kong Yuan)