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Richard Blystone correspondent at AP later CNN dies at 81

2018-07-08T05:06:49Z

FranciscoTribble:

Richard M. Blystone, a longtime Associated Press correspondent who covered the Vietnam War and went on to become one of the first journalists at the [http://www.Answers.com/topic/CNN%20network CNN network] even before it went on air, died Tuesday in London. He was 81. His sister, Louise Reilly, said her brother died in a hospital of cardiac failure, following a stroke. Blystone began his career with AP in Atlanta in 1965, covering the civil rights struggle, and later worked at the news cooperative's New York headquarters before moving to the AP's Saigon bureau in 1970 at the height of the Vietnam War. He covered major combat action and, in 1973, became AP's Chief of Bureau in Bangkok, Thailand. In this Feb. [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm], 1979, photo, Associated Press foreign correspondent Richard Blystone poses for a photo in the AP's London bureau. Blystone, a veteran AP correspondent who reported from Vietnam and was [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] one of the first journalists at CNN, has died in London at 81. His sister, Louise Reilly, said her brother died Tuesday, April 17, 2018, of cardiac failure after a stroke. (AP Photo/Peter Kemp) Michael Putzel, a former Saigon colleague of Blystone, recalls that "his dry humor and running cartoon strip about AP life kept the Saigon bureau entertained." While in Bangkok, Blystone uncovered and reported the story of 54 barefoot, ragged children held as slave laborers in a garment factory. A police raid followed, freeing the children. Blystone remained involved in coverage of strife in Indochina, and in a story from Phnom Penh before the takeover by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, he described how the wives and children of Cambodian soldiers missing in action "live in squalor and desperation . high in Phnom Penh's sports stadium." After the fall of Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge, he flew in a small chartered plane to the bomb-cratered Phnom Penh airport to pluck a Cambodian AP newsman - Chaay-Born Lay - and his wife and two children to safety. They were pulled into the aircraft as it rolled along the runway for takeoff. AP's Chief U.N. Correspondent Edith M. Lederer called him "one of the smartest, sharpest war correspondents I met and worked with at AP in Vietnam - a veteran who knew the U.S. military." "He had a wonderful irreverent streak and didn't suffer fools, but he cared deeply about the victims of war and telling their stories to the world. He was a stickler for accuracy, a master wordsmith, a wonderful friend and an original member of the Chinese Eating Club I started when we both lived in London," Lederer added. In 1977 and 1978, he was an Edward R. Murrow Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and then moved to the AP's London bureau until he joined CNN in June 1980, three weeks before the then-fledgling news network went on the air. He went on to cover many wars and conflicts for CNN from its earliest day and became a senior correspondent for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. At CNN, Blystone covered some of the world's biggest hotspots. He reported on the Iran-Iraq war, civil war in Lebanon, the collapse of communism in the former Soviet Union and its satellite nations, famine in Africa, U.S. interventions in Somalia and Haiti, the Gulf conflict, Northern Ireland and NATO's bombing of Kosovo. But as a change of pace from politics, war, violence and famine, Blystone also produced wry and droll reports on quirky events such as the traditional gathering of the Royal Swans near London. His 1999 CNN series "An Iron Curtain Odyssey", chronicling a 3,000-mile (4,800-kilometer) trip down the political fault line that once divided the world, followed a decade after his first report of the same title was filmed as the Iron Curtain was coming down. Journalist Steve Hurst, who worked with Blystone at both AP and CNN, said "Blystone was the best writer I ever worked with. He was an even better man, and I and all who knew him have suffered a great loss." Blystone retired from CNN in 2001, returning briefly for assignments in Kuwait and Iraq in 2003. In retirement he freelanced, produced documentaries and taught journalism for a semester in Botswana. He lived part of the year in London and part in Maine. A native of Elmira, New York, Blystone was a graduate of Amherst College who served a stint in the U.S. Navy as an officer assigned to an anti-submarine patrol squadron flying out of Brunswick, Maine. He began his journalism career with brief stints at the Elmira Star-Gazette and the Scandinavian Times, in Copenhagen. He was the son of the late Eugene Blystone and the former Bernice Mary Robinson. Besides his sister, he is survived by his wife of 54 years, the former Helle Pechter, three children and one grandchild. ___ Claude Erbsen, a former AP vice president and director of world services, reported from New York. In this undated photo, Richard Blystone, Associated Press foreign correspondent in [http://Www.wonderhowto.com/search/Vietnam/ Vietnam] and later Bangkok, talks on the phone in AP's Saigon bureau in Saigon, later renamed to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Blystone, a veteran AP correspondent who reported from Vietnam and was one of the first journalists at CNN, has died in London at 81. His sister, Louise Reilly, said her brother died Tuesday, April 17, 2018, of cardiac failure after a stroke. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich) Advertisement

French Foreign Legion soldiers were the toughest in the world

2018-07-04T23:22:18Z

FranciscoTribble:

BOOK OF THE WEEK AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD by Jean-Vincent Blanchard (Bloomsbury �20) As a boy, I�d always more than half-wondered if the French Foreign Legion was an invention of Hollywood. Cary Grant and Gary Cooper capered about in the desert wearing those distinctive hats with the white hankies dangling down the backs of their necks. Laurel and Hardy ran away to join the Foreign Legion, as did Jim Dale in Carry On . . . Follow That Camel, which was filmed in exotic Camber Sands. Marty Feldman directed, co-wrote and starred in The Last Remake Of Beau Geste, with Peter Ustinov as the sadistic sergeant. A new book by Jean-Vincent Blanchard examines the legendary, vicious (and racist) French Foreign Legion, whose soldiers marched in 50C heat till their boots filled with blood Edith Piaf had a famous song about a night of hectic passion with a [http://Www.Google.com/search?q=tattooed&btnI=lucky tattooed] recruit, which she compared to (and I translate) �a thunderstorm through the sky�. And it is her image of the moody and uncompromising Legionnaire, attracted by the promise of �blood, bullets, bayonets and women in an Arab land�, that gets closest to the historical and psychological truth, as laid before us in this gripping, disturbing and controversial account of the Legion�s first century. For the all-volunteer corps of the French Army, founded in 1831, was neither comical, [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] nor an excuse for high-spirited larks. It was brutal and often monstrous. Created to participate in France�s colonial expansion to Algeria, Morocco, Madagascar, Indochina and Mexico, �we scare people, we inspire fear and perhaps admiration, which is a little too thin a reward sometimes; but love, never�. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Sex, soldiers and a very special relationship: Pals were... He was a doctor to royalty and collector supreme who created... Share this article Share Even the unique right to hire men regardless of their nationality was a cynical move. Since Napoleon and his casualties were still a living memory, the French government wanted an army �that could face danger and human losses without drawing the political backlash that French-born victims would elicit�. Out of this came the Legion�s legendary appeal to ne�er-do-wells, broken-hearted lovers, criminals, political refugees and �scions of aristocratic families leaving behind gambling debts�. Anyone physically fit was accepted, especially if they had teeth strong enough to bite the biscuit rations. No questions were asked at the headquarters in Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria. The band of outcasts were fearless and had 'no families, no ideals' and 'no loves� �You can choose a new name if you like,� recruits were told. �We don�t ask for documents.� As mercenaries, the men fought for the Legion itself, united against everyone else. �Legio Patria Nostra,� ran the motto - the Legion is our country. �We don�t give a damn what we fight for. It�s our job. We�ve nothing else in life. No families, no ideals, no loves.� By 1900, there were 11,500 men in this band of scary outcasts. Blanchard calculates that between 1831 and 1962, when Algeria was grudgingly granted independence and the French left North Africa, approximately 600,000 people had joined up. It is chilling to discover that Jean-Marie Le Pen spent a formative three years in the Legion, and that recently a retired commander was arrested for making anti-Islam protests at Calais �The substantial majority of them were Germans or Northern Europeans,� we are informed. The rest were Belgians, Spaniards and Britons. There was one Turk, one New Zealander and lots of Americans during the Great Depression of the Thirties. Exhausting route-marches in Saharan temperatures of 50c with heavy backpacks, where �acid sweat burned your skin� and �you march with your shoes full of blood�, would not be my cup of tea. But, according to Blanchard, the typical Legionnaire was a man who found �redemption and an existential purpose through camaraderie and abnegation�. �Excessive revelry� was condoned by the generals, who believed �one did not build empires with virgins� A Legionnaire who was shot in the stomach and lying on the ground with his intestines escaping was heard to murmur to his captain: �Are you happy with me?� This is the kind of stoicism that was expected. �Excessive revelry� was [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] condoned by the generals, who believed �one did not build empires with virgins�. Sex with prostitutes was encouraged, despite the risk of venereal disease, as were heavy drinking and brawling. How hilarious it must have been to terrorise the natives - the Legionnaires �can hardly keep beating, so hard they laugh�, ran a report. The French government maintained that this imperial experiment was to bring �reason, progress, science, culture and freedom� to backward jungle regions and wildernesses' The French government maintained that this imperial experiment was to bring �reason, progress, science, culture and freedom� to backward jungle regions and wildernesses. The Legionnaires were expected to fight �in the professed name of civilisation and� - here comes the catch - �in the name of racial superiority�. While we can applaud their achievements as engineers - digging and building roads, constructing forts and laying telephone lines - the fact remains that, for these mercenaries, �the gift of French civilisation� in practice meant the opportunity for the savage conquest of African tribes and, in Indochina, the Vietnamese patriotic resistance. Legionnaires went about �civilising the barbarians of this world with cannonballs�. Villages were pillaged and burned, the women raped, the men decapitated. �We were allowed to kill and plunder everything,� recalled a soldier. �We went to the villages and surprised the people in bed.� One Legionnaire received no censure when he made a tobacco pouch from cured human skin. Nevertheless, killing civilians must have taken its toll - indeed, Legionnaires were among the most screwed-up soldiers in history. In a group of 350 men, 11 deaths were put down to suicide, but there may have been many more, disguised in the record as death from disease. The belief was: �It is better to be dead than go through hell.� The Legionnaires were expected to fight �in the professed name of civilisation and� - here comes the catch - �in the name of racial superiority� There was alcoholism and much illness - typhoid, tropical fever, dysentery, malaria. In Legionnaires� hospitals, a coffin, slathered with quicklime, was placed in readiness under a patient�s bed. It was said of a soldier about to die that he was off to �eat bananas by the roots� - i.e. be buried in soft soil. The deliberate hardship was not unlike that of a religious order, with its renunciation of worldly comforts - though entertainment involved lots of drag shows. Legionnaires made �splendid female impersonators�. Homosexual activity was commonplace, as you�d expect with �[http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm],000 young solid males, boiling with vigour and vitality� at a loose end in the fort. When Kaiser Wilhelm tried to discourage Germans from joining up by publishing articles warning against sexual abuse in the desert, men with Heidelberg duelling scars raced to enlist. As 43 per cent of the corps was German, perhaps it is no surprise the Foreign Legion didn�t rescue France when the country was occupied by Nazis during World War II. The French government maintained that this imperial experiment was to bring �reason, progress, science, culture and freedom� to backward jungle regions and wildernesses Blanchard�s story concludes with the centenary of the corps in 1931, the parades and so forth. I am keen to read a further volume about post-colonial activities, particularly because, since 1962 when Sidi Bel Abbes was abandoned for a new HQ in Marseille, 50,000 men have felt the need to run away and join the Legion. It is chilling to discover that Jean-Marie Le Pen spent a formative three years in the Legion, and that recently a retired commander was arrested for making anti-Islam protests at Calais. Advertisement

Japan s tiny refugee community urges Tokyo to open doors wider

2018-07-03T13:30:33Z

FranciscoTribble:

By Kiyoshi Takenaka YOKOHAMA, Japan, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Hitoshi Kino, a bespectacled clerical employee at a university near Tokyo, doesn't stand out. Only a slight Vietnamese accent betrays his past, as he speaks in Japanese about being stranded on a rickety boat in waters off his war-torn homeland in 1980, starving with 32 others and left by pirates with nothing but his underpants. Kino, who was then Ky Tu Duong, is one of more than 11,000 refugees that Japan took in over the three decades to 2005 in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, under a little-remembered open-door policy which has never been repeated on such a scale. Now, Kino and other "boat people" who have resettled in Japan believe Tokyo should again open its doors and let in some of today's asylum seekers, including those from Syria, not just for those in distress but for Japan's sake as well "Japan should open up a little to them to align itself with the international community," Kino, who became a Japanese citizen in mid-1980s, said over Chinese dumplings and stir-fry at a restaurant near his home west of Tokyo. "It could be just 100, or 50. But it would be better than doing nothing." Japan took just 11 of 5,000 asylum-seekers last year, or 0.2 percent, the lowest acceptance rate in the club of rich nations, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. In contrast, France took 22 percent and Germany 42 percent. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has offered nearly $2 billion to help other nations manage the flood of refugees from Syria's civil war, but his government has virtually shut the door on those fleeing Europe's worst migrant crisis since World War Two. This month's attacks in Paris, in which 130 people were killed in mass shootings and suicide bombings blamed on Islamic State, [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] could make any public discussion of accepting refugees into Japan even more difficult. The government's reluctance to accept refugees shows that opening up to immigration is still [http://Data.Gov.uk/data/search?q=politically politically] unpalatable, despite an alarming shrinkage in the country's population. After the 2011 nuclear disaster caused by earthquake and tsunami, "foreigners scrambled to leave Japan. But few of us former refugees fled", Kino said. "Japan helped us and took care of us. We would not desert such a country." Indochina [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] refugees speak not only of gratitude toward their adopted country but also of difficulties they have faced trying to fit into society, which prides itself on its homogeneous culture. Foreigners make up only 2 percent of the population. On the job, some Japanese "assume we don't understand things easily and we are not smart", said Hoai Takahashi, another refugee from Vietnam who changed his name from Hoang Drong Hoai. "They even say things like 'This job should not be left to these people,' in our very presence." Banri Kawai, formerly Nguyen Van Ry, works at a facility in eastern Japan that houses five former Vietnamese refugees with mental illness. He said they had been bullied by their Japanese seniors at work. "They lost sleep and developed mental conditions," he said after attending Sunday service with Takahashi at a Catholic church north of Tokyo. Chrisna Ito, who arrived in Japan at the age of 15, says she was rebuked at a factory dorm for using the communal bath before others had finished. She assumed they thought she was dirty because her skin was darker than that of a typical Japanese. Ito, a 43-year-old nursery school worker who was Cheth Chan Chrisna before fleeing Cambodia, had to start working at the rubber factory to support her family after six months of language and other adjustment training. It was only after she married and had [http://wideinfo.org/?s=children%20- children -] now in high school and college - that she fulfilled her aspiration to go to junior high [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] and high school. Asked how she feels about the government support she received, Ito reflected for a moment. "I am grateful. But at the same time, I cannot help wondering if Japan could have done a little better." (Additional reporting by Thomas Wilson; Editing by William Mallard and Mark Bendeich) Advertisement

Kenny Dalglish and Emma Thompson lead honours list as Mark Carne´s...

2018-07-03T02:01:29Z

FranciscoTribble:

Liverpool football great Kenny Dalglish has been knighted and Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson made a dame in the Queen�s Birthday Honours - while Network Rail boss Mark Carne has attracted criticism for his recognition. Mr Carne received a CBE against a backdrop of huge disruption for train passengers in recent weeks, with politicians and rail groups describing the award as a �slap in the face� for commuters. Labour MP Lisa Nandy called for his honour to be withdrawn, saying there was �absolutely no way that the Government should press ahead with this award�. (PA Graphics) She told The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4 that the decision was �just another kick in the teeth� for rail travellers. �It�s the most astonishing thing to have happened in a week when commuters have been suffering from rail chaos�, she added. Former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the award �brought the honours system into disrepute�. He told BBC�s Newsnight: �We have the most dysfunctional rail system in the western world, I would argue, certainly when it comes to local and commuter trains, so anybody amongst the rail industry leadership - whether it be Network Rail or the Department for Transport - to be given an honour of this kind�is an insult, a slap in the face to millions of travellers up and down the country who are suffering because of the failure of that leadership.� The Department for Transport admitted the timing of the announcement of the outgoing chief executive�s award for services to the rail industry following timetabling issues was �unfortunate� but added that recent problems should not detract from his overall service. Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy also defended his �tremendous contribution to our railways�. He added: �It is right he is honoured just before he retires from one of the biggest and most challenging jobs in UK industry.� My comment on Mark Carne receiving a CBE in the Queen�s Birthday Honours pic.twitter.com/wXMjiAQ2mT - Sir Peter Hendy (@SirPeterHendy) June 8, 2018 But one union boss likened the timing of the honour to �rewarding the captain of the Titanic for jumping ship�. Manuel Cortes, general secretary [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm từ Hà Nội] said: �Frustrated passengers will see no honour in that at all.� Network Rail launches digital rail strategy And Emily Yates, of the Association of British Commuters, said: �It is a sign that the rail industry is badly out of touch with the real pain and suffering that people are going through - it is a pantomime.� Meanwhile, also among the honours list in this 100th anniversary year of women�s suffrage are remarkable females including a nun fighting modern slavery and a businesswoman who made her fortune in fake tan - although men outnumber women on the list. As the NHS celebrates 70 years since its foundation, medics are recognised for their dedication, with health sector workers making up 12% of the 1,057 people honoured. Helen Bamber Foundation funding Dame Emma, 59, who is described in the official citation of the honours committee as one of the UK�s most versatile and celebrated actresses, receives her honour for services to drama. The Remains Of The Day and Nanny McPhee star is joined on the list by fellow actor Tom Hardy, who is also recognised for services to drama, receiving a CBE, while Keira Knightley is made an OBE for services to drama and charity. Sir Kenny, who managed Liverpool at the time of the Hillsborough disaster and remained a steadfast support of the families in their lengthy quest for justice, said he was �hugely proud to have accepted the accolade� for services to football, charity and the City of Liverpool. The 67-year-old Glaswegian and his wife Marina have also helped raise millions of pounds for cancer treatment through the Marina Dalglish Appeal after she successfully battled breast cancer. `The Justice Collective: He Ain�t Heavy...� launch - Liverpool Joking that he thought the letter informing him of the knighthood had been from the taxman, he added of the achievement: �We only set out to do the best we possibly could, even through all the other stuff - the charity or Hillsborough, it was to help people because somebody helped us.� Following a wave of terror attacks which struck the UK in 2017, former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Mark Rowley, who led the national response, is honoured with a knighthood. On his retirement in March after 31 years in policing, Sir Mark was praised by Prime Minister Theresa May for his �dedication to protecting public safety and tackling the evils of terrorism�. Salisbury incident While there are no honours for local heroes involved in the response to the Grenfell Tower fire, the Cabinet has said it expects �acts of bravery and extraordinary community spirit� which emerged from the tragedy to [http://www.travelpod.com/s/feature feature] on future lists, adding that its approach will be �time-appropriate�. The brother of aid worker David Haines, who was murdered by Islamic State extremists, is made an OBE for his work against terrorism. Mike Haines dedicated the honour, for voluntary service to tolerance and education in the UK and abroad, to his younger sibling, who was beheaded by Islamic State extremists in 2014 after being taken hostage in Syria. Billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, the boss of chemical company Ineos who this year topped the Sunday Times rich list with �21.05 billion, receives a [http://Www.Techandtrends.com/?s=knighthood knighthood] for services to business and investment. Projekt Grenadier Sporting stars are well represented among the recipients, with Premier League and England striker Jermain Defoe describing himself as �blessed and humbled� to be recognised with an OBE for his services to the charitable foundation set up in his name. The honour comes almost a year after the death of six-year-old football mascot Bradley Lowery, with whom the player struck up a strong friendship as the little boy battled a rare childhood cancer. Defoe said it was the �proudest moment of my life� and added: �But it isn�t for me or about me. It�s for Bradley and those he loved.� The proudest moment of my life to be awarded an OBE. I�m blessed to have received the honour, but it isn�t for me or about me. It�s for Bradley and those he loved. I�d trade it all for him to be back in our lives, forget the goals and awards, it�s the memories I�ll cherish...💙 pic.twitter.com/Dcxua0t7bC - Jermain Defoe (@IAmJermainDefoe) June 8, 2018 World heavyweight champion boxer Anthony Joshua is made an OBE for services to sport, while 20-year-old alpine skier Menna Fitzpatrick, Britain�s most successful winter Paralympian, is the youngest on this year�s list, picking up an MBE for services to Paralympic sport. In the musical world, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite is honoured with an MBE, under her real name Niomi McLean-Daley, for services to music, while Mobo Awards founder Kanya King receives a CBE for services to music and culture. Japan-born Nobel prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro, knighted for his services to literature, said he was �deeply touched to receive this honour from the nation that welcomed me as a small foreign boy�. British Nobel Prize for Literature winner Former Second World War nurse Rosemary Powell, who at 103 is the oldest on the list, is made an MBE for voluntary service to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal, having spent 97 years collecting for the charity. Renowned war correspondent Kate Adie is made a CBE for services to media, while Stacey Dooley, known for her BBC Three investigative series covering topics ranging from the fight against Isis to the abortion debate, receives an MBE for services to broadcasting. Among the politicians honoured are Conservative MPs Eleanor Laing and Bernard Jenkin, awarded a damehood and a knighthood respectively for their political and public service, while Labour�s Louise Ellman has also been made a dame for parliamentary and political services. Holocaust survivor Ber Helfgott, also known as Ben, is knighted for services to Holocaust remembrance and education, one of nearly three-quarters of those on the honours list deemed to have undertaken outstanding work in or for their local community. Stacey Dooley Investigates: Young Sex for Sale in Japan In healthcare, Chief Scientific Officer for NHS England Professor Susan Hill is made a dame for services to the 100,000 Genome Project and to NHS Genomic Medicine, while surgeon Nadine Hachach-Haram is awarded a BEM for services to surgery and innovation, having co-founded a company pioneering virtual access to surgery for people in remote areas. Veronica Donovan, a consultant midwife at Birmingham Women and Children�s NHS Foundation Trust, is made an OBE for services to midwifery, while palliative cancer care specialist Debra Smith receives a BEM for services to nursing. In the business sphere, Judy Naake, who made millions selling St Tropez self-tanning products, initially from the back of her car, receives an MBE for services to entrepreneurship, the community and philanthropy. Women: Inspiration & Enterprise Jo Malone, creator of the self-titled luxury perfumery brand who has since started the fragrance-centred Jo Loves business, is awarded a CBE for services to the British economy and the [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] GREAT Britain campaign, which encourages people to visit and invest in the UK. Sister Imelda Poole, president of European anti-trafficking network Renate, receives an MBE for services to combating modern slavery. Howard Tucker is awarded a CBE for services to international justice for his past work as a member of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. A former policeman in South Wales, he went to work in Bosnia to help bring people to trial for war crimes committed during the conflicts there in the 1990s. Of the total number recognised in the Queen�s Birthday Honours list this year, 210 have been made an OBE, 392 an MBE, and 318 awarded a BEM. Forty-nine percent of the honourees are women, while 10% of all those on the list are from black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. Advertisement

How to Lose Unwanted Weight Quickly

2018-06-30T01:32:27Z

FranciscoTribble:

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Thursday April 21

2018-06-29T18:08:46Z

FranciscoTribble:

Today is Thursday, April 21, the 112th day of 2014. There are 255 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date: 1526 - Babur, an Uzbek prince, defeats Sultan Ibrahim Lodi at the Battle of Panipat north of Delhi, leading to Mughal rule over India. 1572 - Britain and France sign defensive treaty. 1649 - The Maryland assembly passes the Maryland Toleration Act, which provides for freedom of worship for all Christians. 1789 - John Adams is sworn in as the first U.S. vice president. 1856 - Australia adopts [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] eight-hour working day. 1898 - United States recognizes independence of Cuba. 1918 - German air ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen, known as the Red Baron, is shot down and killed over the Western Front during a dogfight with Capt. Arthur Roy Brown of Canada. 1928 - France's Aristide Briand submits his draft treaty for outlawing war. It is later signed as the Kellogg-Briand Pact by most of the world's countries. 1947 - Crown Prince Frederik is acclaimed King Frederik IX of Denmark by thousands of Danes on parliament square. 1954 - United States flies French battalion to Indochina to defend Dien Bien Phu, which is overrun by Vietnamese forces three weeks later. 1956 - Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen sign military alliance at Jedda. 1960 - Brazil moves its capital from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia, a modern city built from scratch on the central high plains. 1967 - Army officers led by Col. Georgios Papadopoulos seize power in Greece. The junta rules the country for seven years. 1972 - Two U.S. Apollo 16 astronauts spend seven hours exploring highlands of the Moon. 1975 - South Vietnam's President Nguyen van Thieu resigns, denounces United States as untrustworthy, and names successor to seek negotiations with Communist forces sweeping across country. 1977 - Pakistan's Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto assumes emergency powers and imposes martial law on three major cities in crackdown on opponents trying to force his resignation; the musical "Annie" opens on Broadway. 1980 - Rosie Ruiz is the first woman to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon, but she is disqualified when officials discover she jumped into the race about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the finish. 1986 - Soldiers attack rebel camp in Philippines, and 41 people are killed; a vault in Chicago's Lexington Hotel linked to Al Capone is opened during a live TV special hosted by Geraldo Rivera. Except for a few bottles and a sign, the vault is empty. 1987 - Suspected Tamil Tiger separatists explode powerful bomb at height of rush hour near main bus station in Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing as many as 150 people. 1989 - Thousands of students, shouting for democracy and human rights, march from campuses to converge on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. 1990 - Moscow expands its energy embargo of Lithuania to include shipments of food, metal and industrial parts, in effort to get the republic to revoke declaration of independence. 1991 - Soviet hard-liners launch a petition drive for a Parliament session to impose a national state of emergency and take President Mikhail Gorbachev to task over worsening ethnic and economic troubles. 1993 - The Supreme Court in La Paz, Bolivia, sentences former dictator Luis Garcia Meza to 30 years in jail without parole for murder, theft, fraud and violating the constitution. 1994 - Bosnian Serb artillery bombards the Muslim enclave of Gorazde in the heaviest assault of a three-week offensive. 1995 - Iran lines up with Egypt and Syria to try to link the future of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to a dismantling of Israel's reported nuclear arsenal. 1996 - Rebels in a military complex in Monrovia, Liberia, release more foreigners while African peacekeeping troops fan out in the capital to police a truce. 1997 - The first Chinese Army soldiers march into Hong Kong [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] in preparation for the handover of the British colony to China on July 1. 1998 - South Korea drops efforts to get compensation from Japan for women held as sex slaves during World War II, and says it will pay surviving women. 2001 - Leaders at the 34-nation Americas summit debate whether to criticize Haitian elections that restored President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power last year and mired the hemisphere's poorest and most unstable nation in another political morass. 2002 - Bombings in the southern Philippines, where Muslim rebel groups are fighting for a separate homeland, kill 14 people and wound 55 others. 2005 - A blast kills at least 51 people as it rips through an explosives manufacturing plant at a mine in the heart of Zambia's copper belt. 2006 - Haitians vote in a legislative election billed as the final step in the often-delayed process to bring back democracy to the poorest nation in the Americas. 2007 - Thousands of Bhutanese practice for democracy in mock elections, lining up at polling stations to select dummy political parties in the latest step toward shedding nearly 100 years of absolute monarchy in the secluded Himalayan country. 2008 - Pakistan orders the release of pro-Taliban leader Sufi Muhammad from six years in custody in return for an agreement from his group to renounce violence. Muhammad had sent thousands to battle the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. 2009 - European researchers say they not only found the smallest planet ever, Gliese 5810 e, but also realize that a neighboring planet discovered earlier, Gliese 581 d, was in the prime habital zone for potential life. 2010 - An explosion rocks a BP offshore oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and eventually leading to the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. 2011 - Japan seals off a wide area around a radiation-spewing nuclear power plant to prevent tens of thousands of residents from sneaking back to the homes they quickly evacuated, some with little more than a credit card and the [http://Www.cbsnews.com/search/?q=clothes clothes] on their backs. 2012 - An infusion of hundreds of billions of dollars will give the International Monetary Fund a badly needed boost to tackle Europe's prolonged debt crisis. But global finance officials send a strong message that struggling governments must speed reforms. 2013 - Serbia's ruling parties pledge to support a landmark agreement to normalize relations with former province Kosovo that could end years of tensions and put both [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] states on a path to European Union membership. Today's Birthdays: Charlotte Bronte, English novelist (1816-1855); Anthony Quinn, Mexican-born actor (1915-2001); Queen Elizabeth II of England (1926--); Elaine May, U.S. entertainer-writer (1932--); Omotoso Kole, Nigerian writer (1943--); Iggy Pop, English punk singer (1947--); Patti LuPone, U.S. actress/singer (1949--); James McAvoy, actor (1979--); Michael Franti, U.S. singer/rapper (1966--). Thought For Today: I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it - Stephen Leacock, Canadian economist and humorist (1869-1944). Advertisement

Chasing leaks is a road to hell in Washington. See: Nixon.

2018-06-29T03:57:20Z

FranciscoTribble:

By Tim Weiner Feb 28 (Reuters) - (Editor�s note: Language in paragraph 17 may be offensive to some readers.) The Trump White House has moved at warp speed toward historic achievements. Sadly, these may include violations of the spirit and letter of the Constitution and the laws of the United States. Trump tweeted this on Friday: "The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security `leakers� that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even find the leakers within the FBI itself.... FIND NOW." When Trump hits Caps Lock, take heed. Informed citizens know well that the FBI is conducting a counterintelligence investigation into links between Russian cyber-saboteurs and the 2016 Trump campaign. They�ve read first-rate reporting by the nation�s leading news organizations on the case. The president evidently suspects that somewhere in a dark parking garage in the District of Columbia, the feds are ratting him out as reporters in fedoras furtively scribble shorthand notes. Maybe they�re using a state-of-the-art encrypted app instead, but more on that in a minute. Trump wants this case to vanish - and who can blame him? The tweeter-in-chief calls it "A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT." But if there�s a trail of evidence connecting the gilded chambers of Trump Tower and the chandeliered suites of the Kremlin, the FBI will follow it. The president appears to be seeking to strong-arm the Bureau, scare White House staffers, silence Congress, stanch the leaks, and stop the press. Trump keeps attacking reporters as the "enemy of the people" - a pithy phrase last in vogue when Vladimir Lenin ran the Russian revolution a hundred years ago. Trump�s chief of staff, Reince Priebus, talked to FBI director James Comey the other day. They weren�t reviewing security for the next Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn. The subject at hand was the reporting on Vladimir Putin�s spies and Trump�s campaign - and the president�s rage against it. Comey responded correctly, with stony silence. He certainly didn�t say Priebus had been "extremely careless," though come to think of it, he could have. The last time a White House chief of staff set out to impede an FBI investigation that threatened a president was a few days after the Watergate break-in in June 1972. H.R. Haldeman was acting on orders of Richard Nixon, caught on a reel-to-reel recording. They called it the smoking [https://www.gov.uk/search?q=gun%20tape gun tape]. Haldeman went to prison. Nixon went into exile. I�m not a special prosecutor, and I can�t say it�s an obstruction of justice to pressure Comey and Congress on the gravest counterintelligence case of the 21st century (the federal statute on obstruction of justice covers "endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede" a federal investigation). When a president picks a fight against the FBI and compares the CIA to Nazis, it�s in a way worse than a crime. It�s a [http://www.Europeana.eu/portal/search.html?query=blunder blunder]. This White House can�t keep making [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] such mistakes. And as for escalating his battle against the press? Bad idea. "I consider the media to be indispensable to democracy," former President George W. Bush said Monday on NBC�s "Today" show. "Power can be very addictive and it can be corrosive, and it's important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power." I know - I had to read it twice too. The White House is attacking the media - and its sources inside the government - on many fronts. Last week, the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, put his staff on notice that their calls will be monitored. He specifically warned them against using encrypted communications apps like Signal and Confide. Now Trump is eyeball-to-eyeball with his chief lawmen. The last thing this White House wants to do is drive itself crazy chasing down leaks - especially when they involve a scintilla of evidence suggesting the abuse of power by a president. That is the road to hell in Washington. And we have travelled that road before. Fifty-five days into his presidency, Nixon started sending great waves of B-52 bombers over Cambodia. The United States was not at war with Cambodia and the attacks were supposed [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] to be a secret. They did not stay secret. Nixon summoned his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, into the Oval Office on April 25, 1969, and he ordered Kissinger to take responsibility for the leaks. Kissinger followed orders. With help from J. Edgar Hoover, he starting wiretapping members of his own National Security Council staff. The targets of the taps grew to include 13 United States government officials at the NSC, the Pentagon, and the State Department, along with four newspaper reporters. They were not foreign spies. They were American citizens. The White House received the wiretap transcripts - and they were useless, Nixon later said: nothing but "gossip and bullshitting." The National Security Agency had its own watch list in those days, which grew to include two United States senators. One was Frank Church, an Idaho Democrat who sponsored the first bipartisan legislation against the war in Indochina. The other was Howard Baker, a Tennessee Republican, who famously asked at the 1973 Watergate hearings: "What did the president know, and when did he know it?" All this - and the Watergate burglary team, known as the Plumbers, because they were created to stop leaks - was in part a presidential war against the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, and of the press. Back then, the pen proved mightier than the presidential sword. Today? Well, we�ll see, won�t we? Trump doesn�t take a lot of [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm từ Hà Nội] free advice. But the president should be counseled on this point. He should not interpose the power of his office between reporters and their sources in the executive and legislative branches of the government. He cannot go on the warpath against the FBI, Congress, and the press corps over leaks. Those three forces are in constant opposition. But a free press can work in concert with federal investigators. If they align against the White House, a critical mass of shared information will gather. That information could someday take the shape of a subpoena seeking the traces of a smoking gun. And an FBI agent can serve that subpoena at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It happened in 1973. It could happen again. (By Tim Weiner) Advertisement

Explore Ha Long Bay with Indochina Sails cruise ship

2018-06-27T16:02:59Z

FranciscoTribble:

Ha Long bay is very picturesque with many magnificent landscapes and seascapes. Nowadays it sparkles even more with the appearance of big sea sails printed with the letters Indochina Sails. � In the immense atmosphere permeated with sunlight and wind, one suddenly feels lonely. In the distance, ranges of mountains emerge from the sea. � The Indochina Sails cruise ship moves gently towards Bai Tu Long Bay. � In the luxurious dining room, every one looks out through the big windows. The European and Asian dishes are delicious, prepared by outstanding chefs and served up by a professional staff. The cruise ship moves out towards the centre of the bay. Hon Trong Mai (Male and Female Chicken island) appears before us. This island attracts a great number of visitors and is the pre-eminent symbol of Vietnamese tourism. � Vung Vieng fishing village is more beautiful in the weak sunlight of dusk. The Indochina Sails cruise ship drops anchor so that tourists can visit the village. The sunlight gleaming on the sea looks like an oil painting, but is formed entirely by the hand of nature. � Staying overnight on the Indochina Sails cruise ship is a memorable experience. This is not only because one floats in one of the most remarkable natural wonders of the world. It is also due to the cozy and luxurious cabins on Indochina Sails cruises. Though the buffet has finished, everyone wants to stay on deck and enjoy the stunning scenery. The melodious [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] light music, played in the traditional style, creates an unforgettable atmosphere. � *Further information: - Indochina Sails are the newly built wooden junks designed in the contemporary traditional Vietnamese style - The cruise ship has spacious cabins and suites with large private bathrooms, a big sun deck, elegant dining room (32 seats), bar, beauty spa, massage, kayaking and entertainment. This luxury is enhanced by the professional manner of the friendly and enthusiastic management and staff. - At the present time 3 Junks are operating in Halong Bay, namely Indochina Sails I with 14 cabins, Indochina Sails II with 15 cabins and Valentine with 5 cabins. By the end of October 2008 an addition to the fleet is expected, namely Indochina Sails III with 15 luxury cabins. � *Services: - Excellent local cuisine - Vietnamese and International buffets - International Wine and Drinks List - Daily light [http://www.techandtrends.com/?s=Music%20Performances Music Performances] - Cruise Itinerary and Program - In-house English speaking [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] Guide - Kayaking and Snorkeling - Movie nights, Board Games and night fishing �Summer Promotion from 1st to August 30th, 2008:For US$180/person/twin shared, you can stay in a luxurious cabin of Indochina Sails on Halong bay. The package includes shuttle bus return from Hanoi to Halong bay, kayaking on Halong bay, entrance and sight seeing fees, Vietnamese buffet lunch and dinner, International breakfast buffet, you can also enjoy BBQ seafood dinner and the International wine tasting with a wide selection of wine from Spain, Chile, US and Italy

User:FranciscoTribble

2018-06-25T03:13:48Z

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