IQBAL - User contributions [en]

Sunday March 6

2018-06-21T14:03:37Z

ReedMcVilly7:

Today is Sunday, March 6, the 66th day of 2016. There are 300 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date: 1834 - The city of York in Upper Canada is incorporated as Toronto. 1836 - Alamo mission in San Antonio, Texas, falls to Mexican army after 13-day siege in which Davy Crockett and 186 other defenders die. 1853 - Verdi's opera "La Traviata" premieres in Venice, Italy 1857 - In its Dred Scott decision, the U.S. Supreme Court holds that Scott, a slave, could not sue for his freedom in a federal court. 1922 - United States prohibits export of arms to China. 1936 - The British Supermarine Spitfire MKI takes to the air. 1945 - German city of Cologne falls to U.S. First Army in World War II. 1946 - France recognizes Vietnam as free state within Indochina Federation. 1953 - G.M. Malenkov succeeds the late Joseph Stalin as Premier of Soviet Union. 1957 - Two former British colonies of Gold Coast and Togoland form independent West African nation of Ghana; Israeli troops hand over Gaza Strip to U.N. force. 1962 - United States pledges to defend Thailand against direct Communist aggression without waiting for action by Southeast Asia Treaty Organization. 1965 - U.S. Defense Department announces that 3,500 Marines are being sent to South Vietnam - the first U.S. ground combat troops committed to fighting against Communist guerrillas. 1970 - Alexander Dubcek, former Czech Communist Party boss, is suspended [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] from party. 1975 - Arab terrorist raid on a Tel Aviv hotel leaves 14 dead. 1988 - Thousands of Tibetans demanding independence set fires throughout their capital city of Lhasa. 1991 - Iraqi troops appear to have crushed a rebellion in Basra and are reported to be moving on other southern cities in revolt. 1994 - Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid rejects a peace agreement reached by 12 other faction leaders in Cairo. 1995 - The dollar plummets to 92.70 yen, its lowest level against the yen anywhere in the world since modern exchange rates were established in the late 1940s. 1999 - Ta Mok, the last leader of the murderous Khmer Rouge, is captured by the Cambodian army and flown to the capital for trial. 2003 - An Algerian passenger jet crashes in the Sahara Desert shortly after takeoff, killing 116 people. 2006 - Several cats test positive for the deadly strain of bird flu in Austria and Poland reports its first outbreak of the disease, as the World Health Organization calls bird flu a greater global challenge than any previous infectious disease. 2008 - Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announces that he is breaking relations with Colombia because of his opposition to the Colombian raid on a guerrilla base in Ecuador. 2010 - Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls the official version of the Sept. 11, 2011 attacks a "big lie" used by the U.S. as an excuse for battling terror. 2011 - The two opposition parties that triumphed in Ireland's election, conservative Fine Gael and left-wing Labour, agree to form the country's next coalition government after [http://imgur.com/hot?q=compromising compromising] on repair of the debt-battered economy. 2012 - The United States, Europe [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] and other world powers announce that bargaining will begin again with Iran over its fiercely disputed nuclear efforts. 2013 - Syria's accelerating humanitarian crisis hits a grim milestone: the number of U.N.-registered refugees tops 1 million, half of them children. 2014 - U.S. President Barack Obama orders the West's first sanctions in response to Russia's military takeover of Crimea, EU more cautious. 2015 - An investigation into what prosecutors call the biggest corruption scandal ever uncovered in Brazil wins Supreme Court approval to expand to dozens of top politicians for alleged ties to a kickback scheme at the state-run energy company, Petrobras. Today's Birthdays: Michelangelo, Italian renaissance artist (1475-1564); Cyrano de Bergerac, French author-duellist (1620-1655); Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet (1806-1861); Ed McMahon, U.S. host/announcer (1923--2009); Lorin Maazel, French-born conductor of the NY Philharmonic (1930--2014); Rob Reiner, U.S. director/actor (1947--); Shaquille O'Neal, U.S. basketball player (1972--); Gabriel [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] Garcia Marquez, Colombian novelist (1927--). Thought For Today: Le sens commun n'est pas si commun (Common sense is not so common.) - Voltaire, French author and philosopher (1694-1778). Advertisement

From rehab to royal honour: Tom Hardy is made a CBE

2018-06-20T18:27:26Z

ReedMcVilly7:

Tom Hardy, who receives a CBE for services to drama, made his name on the big screen with a series of hard man roles. The 40-year-old actor is known for Inception, Mad Max: Fury Road, Bronson and The Revenant. But he also made an unlikely face on CBeebies, reading a bedtime story on the pre-school channel, where he was a hit with mothers. Tom Hardy on CBeebies (BBC) The privately-educated star has spoken about how he went off the rails and suffered from alcohol addiction in his youth. Hardy checked himself into rehab in 2003 and has been clean ever since. �I went in thinking I�d do it for a little bit until I can go out and drink and people forgive me. But [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] I did my 28 days, and after listening to people who had been through similar circumstances I realised I did have [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] a problem,� he previously told the Daily Mirror. Charlotte Riley and Tom Hardy arrive for the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle (Chris Jackson/PA) Hardy, an [http://www.travelpod.com/s/ambassador ambassador] for The Prince�s Trust, said: �I love what I do, but it�s driven by a fear of not being able to do it.� Hardy and actress Charlotte Riley are thought to have tied the knot in 2014 [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] and the couple have a child together. The actor also has a son from a previous relationship. Hardy and Riley starred together in Peaky Blinders and met on the set of an adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Last year, Hardy penned an emotional tribute to his �best friend� and dog Woody, following the pet�s death aged six. The actor is made a CBE in the Queen�s Birthday Honours. Advertisement

Myanmar restricts used car imports

2018-06-19T13:58:07Z

ReedMcVilly7:

Myanmar has restricted imports of [http://Rt.com/search/everywhere/term/right-hand%20drive/ right-hand drive] used cars in a bid to boost local production, draw foreign investment -- and phase out notoriously chaotic driving habits. Almost all of the cars on Myanmar's road are second-hand, 90 percent of them from Japan, even though the two nations drive on different sides of the road. Used car imports surged after the government liberalised restrictions in 2012, the year after breaking from half a century of isolationist military rule. Almost all of the cars on Myanmar's road are second-hand, 90 percent of them from Japan, even though the two nations drive on different sides of the road �Soe Than WIN (AFP/File) But until recently Western trade sanctions blocked imports of left-hand drive cars from Europe and the US, forcing motorists to turn to Japanese vehicles. As a result horn-beeping drivers routinely veer into the centre of the road to guage whether it is safe to overtake and buses unload passengers into the middle of busy streets. But that is set to change after the government banned imports of right-hand drive cars from this month. The move aims to boost local manufacturing and attract much-needed foreign investment, top priorities for Myanmar's newly elected government. Foreign automakers are now eyeing the largely untapped market [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] of some 55 million consumers as a potential bright spot at a time of lacklustre [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] sales in Southeast Asia. Only seven out of 1,000 people own cars in Myanmar, compared to 200 in neighbouring Thailand, said [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/search/?queryText=Nissan%20regional Nissan regional] senior vice president Yutaka Sanada. "Out of the ASEAN countries, Myanmar, in terms of the opportunity, is bigger than our neighbours," he told AFP on Wednesday at the launch of the Japanese giant's first locally manufactured car. Ang Bon Beng, senior regional director of Indochina at Nissan's partner Tan Chong Group, predicted annual sales would grow 5-10 percent in the next few years. "If you look at the current market of Myanmar, 95 percent are used cars," he said. "But this country has decided it wants to liberalise" Myanmar has been the top market for Japanese second-hand car exports for the past three years, according to the Japan External Trade Organisation. Safety campaigners say the ban on imports of used right-hand drive cars will save lives and mean rickety old bangers are taken off the streets. Others hope it will ease the daily gridlock that chokes the streets of the commercial capital Yangon, home to most of the country's cars. But many locals complain the ban has simply driven up the cost of second-hand cars and they cannot afford to buy new. Prices have risen 20-30 percent since it was announced in November and U Soe Tun, chair of industry body MAMDA, said they could double this year. "If I'm buying a car, I want to buy a car imported form Japan like Toyota and Nissan," said rice shop owner Soe Nyut Aung. "I have a limited budget and second-hand cars are cheap." Advertisement

Railway to ruin: Hanoi train factory fades from glory

2018-06-14T12:02:35Z

ReedMcVilly7:

The Gia Lam train factory in Hanoi was the first in the then-French territory [http://Www.Estateguideblog.com/?s=established established] to bolster the expanding rail network of the time Built by the French to fix trains for their fast-developing Vietnamese colony, the Gia Lam factory later churned out weapons to fuel the country's independence fight, and then survived the onslaught of American bombers during the war. But the storied Hanoi plant is now in decline, a victim of the rising consumer power of Vietnam's middle classes as passengers turn from trains to planes. The storied Hanoi plant is now in decline, a victim of the rising consumer power of Vietnam's middle classes as passengers turn from trains to planes "In the past, I was proud to work here because this factory was the biggest in Indochina," repairman Au Duy Hien told AFP. Opened in 1905, Gia Lam was the first train factory in the then-French territory, which spanned modern-day Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mechanics used the base to first fix and then assemble the engines and carriages that served [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] the region's rapid push toward industrialisation. The factory was taken over by the Vietnamese in the 1940s, expanding production to make [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] bazookas and grenades for revolutionaries fighting the colonial rulers who were finally thrown out in 1954 The factory was taken over by the Vietnamese in the 1940s, expanding production to make bazookas and grenades for revolutionaries fighting the colonial rulers who were finally thrown out in 1954. And then it continued to make weapons during the Vietnam War -- even as it was bombed by US planes targeting Communist-backed revolutionaries in northern Vietnam. - Running out of steam - Output at the factory is down more than 90 percent since its 1990s heyday and it is now mostly used to repair old trains, with little demand for new carriages on the country's vast but outdated rail network But today, output is down more than 90 percent since its 1990s heyday. It is now mostly used to repair old trains, with little demand for new carriages on the country's vast but outdated rail network. The industry is struggling to keep pace with the lure of low-cost air travel. For many, the choice between a clanging, slow-moving train or a quick -- and cheap -- plane is a no-brainer. In 2015, 31 million people travelled by air, more than double the number in 2010, according to official statistics. Train use remained steady at 11 million for the year. Today, some companies are seeking to revive the colonial romance of rail travel, offering first-class trips, wood-lined cabins with restaurant car. The air travel industry in Vietnam has taken off in recent years, aided by the launch of low-cost airlines offering cheap tickets. In 2015, 31 million Vietnamese took to the skies, more than double the number who flew in 2010 "If rail transportation isn't developed, then the railway industry cannot be revived," union boss Nguyen Anh Tuan told AFP. Some lawmakers recently called for private investment into the state-controlled sector, and the country's parliament is currently considering revising the law. But unless the industry sees a major upturn in fortunes, Gia Lam employees fear it will soon run out of steam. Advertisement

User:ReedMcVilly7

2018-06-14T12:02:29Z

ReedMcVilly7: Created page with "I’m Reed from Schiltigheim doing my final year engineering in History. I did my schooling, secured 86% and hope to find someone with same interests in Nordic skating. <br..."

I’m Reed from Schiltigheim doing my final year engineering in History. I did my schooling, secured 86% and hope to find someone with same interests in Nordic skating. My web blog - [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội]