Miao Boying

Miao Boying () was a Chinese teacher, writer and revolutionary who became the first woman to join the Communist Party of China. She was a founding member of China's Woman's Rights League and was later became secretary of the Hunan Communist Women's Committee.
Life.
Miao was born in 1899 in Changsha, Hunan Province. She went to First Girls' Normal School, passing an entrance exam allowing her to attend Beijing Normal Women's College (now known as Beijing Normal University). While here she met her future husband and Hunan native He Mengxiong who was studying at the nearby Peking University. After suspending her studies she became involved with the Work-Study Mutual Aid Corp which was set up by future communist party founders Deng Zhongxia and Li Dazhao to promote Marxist ideas.
In November 1920 she formally joined the newly establish Communist Youth League of China headed by Yu Xiusong and started publishing articles about the roles women play in the family. Later that month a split within the party saw some member who supported anarchism leave, to strengthen the party Miao who was the first woman to join the group, recruited five members from other CYL chapters. At the age of 21, Miao left the Communist Youth League and joined the Chinese Communist Party, again becoming its first female member.
A few years later she founded the Women's Right League and traveled across China with her husband He Mengxiong to promote the organisation. In 1924 she was sent back to Hunan by party leaders to become secretary of the Hunan Communist Women's Committee. In 1929 Miao died at Paulun Hospital in Shanghai of typhoid fever.


International rankings of Zimbabwe

These are the international rankings of Zimbabwe


Union of Chinese Nationalists

The Union of Chinese Nationalists (), sometimes referred to in English as the Chinese Pan-Blue Alliance, or China Pan-Blue Alliance, abbreviated as "UOCN", is an unregistered political group in the People's Republic of China that supports the goals of the Kuomintang and the ideals of the Pan-Blue Coalition in the Republic of China on Taiwan. According to the website, it values liberal democracy and the Three Principles of the People, and opposes communism and Taiwan independence. It originated in an internet forum in August 2004.
UOCN is not officially recognized by the PRC government. The actual membership size and level of support for the organization is difficult to gauge because it is actively suppressed in the PRC.
In a news conference held in 2007, Yang Yi, spokesman of PRC's Taiwan Affairs Office, declared the organization to be "unregistered and illegal", and "not being related to the Nationalist Party of China [Kuomintang] in Taiwan".


Military Ordinariate of Uganda

The Military Ordinariate of Uganda is a military ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church. Immediately subject to the Holy See, it provides pastoral care to Roman Catholics serving in Uganda People's Defence Force and their families.
History.
It was created as a military vicariate on 20 January 1964, and elevated to a military ordinariate on 21 July 1986.


William H. Woodall

William H. Woodall was a civilian employee of the Union Army during the American Civil War and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of Namozine Church. He is one of only a handful of civilians to have received the medal.
Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, Woodall was living in Winchester, Virginia, when he was hired by the U.S. Army. He served as the Chief Civilian Scout for Major General Philip Sheridan's Cavalry Corps and rode with the Jessie Scouts, an irregular group of spies which infiltrated Southern territory by dressing in Confederate uniforms. During the Battle of Namozine Church, Virginia, on April 3, 1865, he was among a group of Jessie Scouts that captured Confederate Brigadier General Rufus Barringer. Woodall himself seized the general's headquarters flag, for which he was formally presented with the Medal of Honor a month later, on May 3, 1865, in Washington, D.C.
Woodall's official Medal of Honor citation reads:
Captured flag of Brigadier General Rufus Barringer's headquarters brigade.
A 1916 review of all Medals of Honor awarded by the Army resulted in the revocation of 900 medals, including Woodall's. He and four other civilian scouts had their awards rescinded due to their civilian status. In June 1989, the U.S. Army Board of Correction of Records restored the medal to all five of these men.
The flag which Woodall captured is now held by the North Carolina Museum of History.


Charles Harvard Gibbs-Smith

Charles Harvard Gibbs-Smith (22 March 1909 – 3 December 1981) was a British polymath historian of aeronautics and aviation. His obituary in "The Times" described him as "the recognised authority on the early development of flying in Europe and America" Richard P. Hallion called him "The greatest of all historians of early aviation".
Biography.
Charles Gibbs-Smith was born in Teddington, Greater London in 1909 to a medical family which included in its line John Harvard, the founder of Harvard College. Gibbs-Smith attended King's College School, Cambridge, and Westminster School in central London before earning a Master of Arts degree at Harvard University in 1932. The same year, he gained employment as an assistant keeper at the Victoria and Albert Museum. In 1939 he organised the Exhibition of Early Photographs to Commemorate the Centenary of Photography, 1839–1939. He was seconded to the Ministry of Information in the Second World War and conducted training in aircraft recognition for the Royal Observer Corps—this experience catalysed a deep interest in aviation history. He authored the government's manual on aircraft recognition in 1944 as well as being a contributor to the training journal "Aircraft Recognition", then became the ministry's Director of the Photographic Division in 1945.
Between 1947 and 1971 he was Keeper of the Department of Public Relations at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The department, the first public relations department of any English museum, was initially called the Museum Extension Services. In this role he arranged museum exhibitions, conducted scholarly research, and wrote on a variety of topics, including a study of the Bayeux Tapestry and a centenary collection of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Starting in 1976 he had a Research Fellowship at the Science Museum in London. Upon retirement, he was chosen as the first Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History at the National Air and Space Museum in 1978, for which he spent a year in the United States studying the papers of the Wright brothers.
Research and writings.
In "The Invention of the Aeroplane 1799–1909", Gibbs-Smith wrote a concise account of aeronautical developments which led slowly to functional fixed-wing aircraft.
Gibbs-Smith investigated the disputed subject of inventor Clément Ader's 1897 aeronautical experiments. Gibbs-Smith's 1968 book on Ader thoroughly described the documented evidence that Ader did not make a controlled flight in 1897, and only claimed to have done so in 1906, after others had already flown.
In his 1960's "definitive" work "The Aeroplane: An Historical Survey Of Its Origins And Development", Gibbs-Smith wrote for the Science Museum about the controversy over Henri Coandă's early aircraft—the Coandă-1910—which Coandă said was the first jet aircraft. Gibbs-Smith wrote a rebuttal to Coandă, describing how the aircraft had no injection or combustion of fuel in the air stream. Gibbs-Smith said that it would have been suicidal to the pilot to attain combustion of the turbine-compressed air as the open cockpit would be subjected to the heat of the exhaust.
Gibbs-Smith also investigated reports of the paranormal, including ghosts, flying saucers and parapsychology. He defended his studies among more sceptical colleagues.


Sunday Dinner for a Soldier

Sunday Dinner for a Soldier is a 1944 film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Anne Baxter and John Hodiak. It is based on a novelette by Martha Cheavens.
Plot.
A poor family in Florida saves all the money they can in order to plan a Sunday dinner for a soldier at a local Army airbase. They don't realize that their request to invite the soldier never got mailed. On the day of the scheduled dinner, another soldier is brought to their home and love soon blossoms between him (Hodiak) and Tessa (Baxter), the young woman who runs the home.
Radio adaptation.
On February 19, 1945, Baxter, Hodiak, and Winninger appeared in a radio adaptation of the film on "Lux Radio Theatre".


Zimbabwe Independent

Zimbabwe Independent is a private weekly newspaper published from Harare, Zimbabwe, by Alpha Media Holdings. The company also publishes "The Standard" and "NewsDay".


Health in Zimbabwe

`Zimbabwe is a country that has been fighting against many diseases and their healthcare system has improved. They have been able to fight against strong epidemic diseases.
Health status.
Life expectancy.
Zimbabwe had an average life expectancy of 55.68 years according to the 2014 CIA estimate.
Malaria.
Malaria is a major health problem in Zimbabwe with about half the population at risk. Malaria epidemiology varies across the country ranging from year-round transmission in lowland areas to epidemic-prone areas in highland areas. Transmission is seasonal, occurring primarily between November and April, correlating closely with rainfall. According to Zimbabwe's District Health Information System-2, approximately 82 percent of malaria cases in 2016 originated from three eastern provinces (Manicaland, Mashonaland East, and Mashonaland Central), with 39 percent of all cases and 31 percent of all deaths coming from Manicaland. The concentrated trend of malaria cases and deaths in three provinces has remained consistent since 2013.
Reported cases decreased from 1.8 million in 2006 to 281,000 in 2016 (20.5 per 1,000 population per year). New cases mostly occur along the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border, including Manicaland, where "Anopheles funestus" (mosquito vector) resistance to pyrethroid class insecticides was identified in 2013. It is difficult to quantify if the case burden in this area is also due to migration across the border, strengthened surveillance systems, or ineffective malaria control interventions.
Cholera.
A 2008 cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe began in August 2008, swept across the country and spread to Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia. By 10 January 2010 there had been 98,741 reported cases and 4,293 deaths making it the deadliest African cholera outbreak since 1993. The Government of Zimbabwe declared the outbreak a national emergency and requested international aid.
There was also a 2018-2019 cholera outbreak with a total of 10,421 cases, including 69 deaths.
Following Cyclones Idai and Kenneth, 490,000 people were vaccinated in Chimanimani and Chipinge districts in Manicaland Province with the goal of preempting a possible cholera outbreak. There were no cholera cases following the cyclones in Zimbabwe, but there were cases in neighboring Mozambique.
HIV/AIDS.
Zimbabwe was and still is one of the countries that have been strongly afflicted by HIV/AIDS. Many of the males were affected, hence leaving many widowed females. This happened to bring on a sense of independence and the role of the breadwinner for the females – changing the roles of the sex. The immensity of this health issue can be clearly determined through this particular statistic: one in every five children are orphaned due to the HIV/AIDS crisis – making an overall number of approximately 1 million orphans due to AIDS in 2011.
The use of a four-question survey administered to large numbers of children may reduce the number of children put through the invasive medical test for HIV, and therefore save money.
In 2011 the number of people living with HIV/AIDS reached approximately 1.2 million, when Zimbabwe had a population of approximately 12.75 million at that time. People infected with HIV/AIDS made up 9.41% of the population.
Tuberculosis, a.
Zimbabwe is ranked among the 22 countries, where tuberculosis occurs frequently. In 2000, the incidence rate of tuberculosis reached 726 incidents per 100,000 people, whereas in 2011 the number decreased to 603 incidents per 100,000 people. In 2011, the number of incidences of tuberculosis in Zimbabwe was 80 thousand, and the number of deaths from this disease was 3.4 thousand. Africa is the top continent where tuberculosis occurs frequently, as it reached an estimated value of 2.3 million for incidences in 2010 by the World Health Organization.
Maternal and child health.
According to the UNDP, Zimbabwe has eight Millennium Development Goals, the fourth is Child Health. Zimbabwe's infant mortality rates have been decreasing. In 2000, the infant mortality rate was 63 deaths per 1000 people, whereas in 2010 the infant mortality rate was 45 deaths per 1000 people. This is an optimistic result from the goals that the Zimbabwean government – the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare – has set up, in order to decrease the infant/child mortality rates. Some of the most common diseases that these young children are facing are hunger: iron deficiency anaemia, vitamin A deficiency, and mentally impaired (iodine deficiency), and childhood diseases: acute respiratory infections, diarrhoeal disease, and malaria. Among these, the most common disease is 35,000 children suffering with mental impairment disabilities due to iodine deficiency.
Many of the commonly occurring diseases which often to lead to death are regarding hunger – nutritional deficiencies are causes of much infant mortality in Zimbabwe. HIV/AIDS is also an immense conflict in Zimbabwe – it also affects their infant mortality. HIV/AIDS is transmitted many ways, one of which is through the process of giving birth – passing through the birth canal and breast feeding. As the number of mothers infected with HIV/AIDS increases, the amount of infant mortality due to HIV/AIDS will also increase. HIV/AIDS is also one of the eight Millennium Development Goals that is wished to be achieved by Zimbabwe.
Ranking 14th as the country with the highest rate of maternal mortality, Zimbabwe had 570 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2010. It has decreased significantly from 2000, when the maternal mortality rate was 640 deaths per 100,000 live births. According to the UNDP, maternal death mainly occurs due to AIDS-related diseases, hemorrhaging, and hypertension. In many cases, the pregnant women and mothers lack in iron, causing iron deficiency anaemia; some women also deal with neural tube birth defects – all of these which may be passed onto their children.
Contraception.
Zimbabwe has been the central focus of promoting contraceptives and their methods of use to countries within Africa. It began a new industry where they produce wooden penises to be exported to other parts of Africa, for demonstration purposes. The use of contraceptives in Zimbabwe has definitely changed the size of its population and the growth rate – steadily declining. There are many civil servants who work for the government to promote and inform families in the rural areas of contraceptives and its uses.
Female condoms are used in Zimbabwe as a source of contraception. Their use is approximately 94-97% more effective in decreasing the risk of becoming infected with HIV, as compared to male condoms.It has been tested in Kenya, Thailand and the United States of America that female condoms are more efficient in terms of protecting the genital areas from becoming infected with STDs and STIs as compared to male condoms. Female condoms became accessible for the Zimbabwean women after they signed petitions and presented them to the government to allow access to this source of contraception during the mid 1990s.
Recently, the use of contraceptives has been greatly demanded by the Zimbabwean youth.
A large number of the youth have proclaimed that they are embarrassed to go into pharmacies and clinics to obtain contraceptives, because the workers think that they are too young to be involved in sexual intercourse or sometimes it is frowned upon by the workers and the society due to the "no sex before marriage" belief. Due to this unfriendly service by the workers and the shame the society puts on these young adults, the youth demanded easier, faster access to the contraceptives from the Zimbabwean government. This indicates that the use of contraception is occurring in many parts of Zimbabwe – hence explaining its falling population growth rate. It also shows how truly Zimbabwe fulfills its duties as the country to promote contraception to other parts of Africa.
Environmental conditions/factors affecting health.
Water pollution.
The state of water and its cleanliness in Zimbabwe is at its lowest. The nature of water and its function as the crucial element of life is known as the opposite for the people of Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe, water contains not life but life-threatening diseases due to contamination from industrial works. One of the major origins of water pollution is Zimbabwe's small industry of mining. By mining for gold, platinum, and other precious, expensive metal alloys, mining makes up for one third of the earnings from Zimbabwe's exports.
Although the mining industry is a profitable method of income for Zimbabwe, it is responsible for the many causes of water pollution. As they mine for precious metals, the miners are successful in finding them but also unfriendly guests of zinc, iron, nickel, copper and cobalt metals.
An excessive amount of these metals in water deteriorates the health of humans but also the lives of animals and plants – hence it is dangerous for any type of organisms to consume. For example, intakes of excessive zinc may cause internal organ damage and reduce the immune system's function. Although zinc is a major nutrient supplied with food, an excessive amount of it is harmful.
Other diseases that occur in Zimbabwe due to water pollution are cholera, typhoid, infectious hepatitis, "Giardia", "Salmonella", and "Cryptosporidium". However, despite all this, because water is needed and the people of Zimbabwe are becoming more vulnerable and desperate, they consume this greatly contaminated water – hence, contamination-related health issues and epidemics arises.
Air pollution.
Air pollution is also a growing problem in Zimbabwe, due to industries, poor waste management and transportation. The World Health Organization has set up a limit for the emission of sulfur dioxide to 20 μg/m3 24-hour mean. In Harare, Zimbabwe, that limit has been exceeded to 200 mg/m3. This is only the beginning of the reality of the air pollution in Zimbabwe, especially in its capital, Harare. The release of sulfur dioxide is harmful to the life of humans and other organisms. The inhaling of sulfur dioxide leads to lung diseases, breathing difficulties, formation of sulfurous acid along with the moisture of the mucous membranes causing a strong irritation and prevents the respiratory system's role in defending the body against foreign particles and bacteria. Hence, it can be concluded that the inhaling of sulfur dioxide is tremendously detrimental to the life of organisms. Not to mention, as sulfur dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere, it forms into acid precipitation as it reacts with water, nitrogen oxides and other sulfur oxides.
This is an ecological consequence that arises from the burning of fossil fuels, which is performed in many countries and many industries for the formation of energy, power plants, and automobiles. Acid precipitation can lead to asthma, bronchitis, lung inflammation, emphysema, and other lung and heart diseases. In 2007, the number of cars per 1000 person was 114, as compared to 17 cars per 1000 person in its neighbor, Zambia. Zimbabwe has a decently great number of cars, mostly all of which are low second-handed. These low second-handed cars do not meet the standard emission rates of Zimbabwe, hence being a greatly environment-polluting factor, becoming hazardous to the lives of Zimbabwe citizens.
Poor waste management also disrupts the harmony of health and the lifestyle of Zimbabwe. As mentioned above in water pollution, clean water is difficult to obtain. Hence, those who can afford bottled water are forced to buy them in order to provide themselves with drinking water. However, once they are done with using the bottles, the bottles are often thrown away or burned. The burning of plastic releases toxic and carcinogenic fumes, which if inhaled causes great damage on the body. Some of the chemicals released in this process are benzo(a)pyrene and other polyaromatic hydrocarbons. These fumes pollute the atmosphere, causing a greater long-term damage which will eventually work against the health and lifestyle of Zimbabwe.


Pavo Urban

Pavo Urban (1 August 1968 – 6 December 1991) was a Croatian photographer, killed during the Croatian War of Independence.
Biography.
He attended the Dubrovnik Maritime College. He started doing photographs in the high school, and was accepted in the photography department of the Academy of Dramatic Art of the University of Zagreb.
However, instead of attending the Academy he briefly joined the Croatian War of Independence as a volunteer fighting in Župa dubrovačka, and then he started photographing the Siege of Dubrovnik for the "Dubrovacki Vjesnik", the "Slobodna Dalmacija" and the Croatian Ministry of Information, documenting the shelling and its consequences.
In the morning of 6 December 1991 he was deadly hit by a shell fragment while he was taking his last photographs.
The last photo of Pavo Urban, December 6th, 1991. A moment later he was shot dead by shrapnels from Serbian and Montenegrin shelling. He was alone at that time of the bombing.
Heritage.
Part of his work, including a series of 12 photos he took just before he was killed, his now part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in Dubrovnik. His photographs has been shown in several exhibitions.


List of Palestinian civilian casualties in the Second Intifada


Tatuagem (film)

Tatuagem ("Tattoo") is a 2013 Brazilian drama film, the feature film directorial debut of Hilton Lacerda. It was awarded as the Best Picture at the 2013 Festival de Gramado.
Plot.
The film is set in Recife in the 70's, and follows the story of Clécio Wanderley, the leader of the theatrical troupe Chão de Estrelas, which performs concerts full of debauchery and nudity. One of the main stars of the team is Paulete, with whom Clécio maintains a friendship. One day, Paulete receives a visit from his brother-in-law, the young Fininha, who is in the army. Enchanted by the universe created by the Chão de Estrelas, he is soon seduced by Clécio. It doesn't take long for them to engage in a romantic relationship, which puts him in a dubious situation: while increasing the bounds with the troupe members, he needs to deal with the existing repression of the army during the dictatorship.
Production.
Several stories and real people inspired the plot of "Tatuagem". The leader of the theatrical group Chão de Estrelas is based on the Argentine playwright Túlio Carella, who lived in Recife during the 60s. The theater company itself represents the actual experience of anarchic experiential troupe "Vivencial", which existed in the second half of the 70s.
After six weeks of preparation of cast, filming took place in the cities of Recife and Olinda in 2011.


Field Cathedral of the Polish Army

The Field Cathedral of the Polish Army (, also known as the Church of Our Lady Queen of the Polish Crown) is the main garrison church of Warsaw and the representative cathedral of the entire Polish Army. In the past the church served a variety of communities and roles: it used to be the church of the Collegium Nobilium and in the 19th century was also turned into a Russian Orthodox church. Currently all major military religious feasts in Warsaw are held there.
It is located on Długa Street 13/15, opposite the Heroes of the Warsaw Uprising Monument and Krasiński Square, close to Warsaw's Old Town.
History.
In the 17th century the Piarist friars were given a royal privilege to obtain a large parcel to the west of Warsaw's Old Town. The area, located along the newly paved Miodowa Street, was close to the contemporary city centre, but at the same time offered much more space than in densely populated town. The monks founded the Collegium Nobilium, one of the most notable schools of the epoch and a predecessor to the Warsaw University. In 1660 they also started the construction of a new church that would serve both the students and their teachers, designed most probably by Constantino Tencalla, an Italian architect active in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth at the time.
The church, financed largely by King John Casimir of Poland, was to occupy the place of a former wooden church of Saint Prym and Felicjan, destroyed by the Swedes during the Deluge. However, following the wars with Sweden, Muscovy and the Cossacks, Poland's economy was in ruins and the king's abdication marked an end of the ambitious construction. Because of that, the construction lasted until 1682. The internal works lasted two additional decades and it was not until 1701 that the church was finally consecrated by the bishop of Poznań Mikołaj Święcicki.
The church continued the traditions of the earlier church of Saint Prym and Felicjan, but also received a new patron saint, the Holy Mary of Victories. A painting of Holy Mary the Gracious was imported from Faenza and relics of two Catholic saints were brought from Rome, donated by Pope Urban VIII. Due to its long period of construction, the church's design became outdated almost instantly after its completion, as late baroque was being replaced with classicism in European architecture. In 1730 the church was reconstructed according to the plans of Józef Fontana.
Following the failed November Uprising against the Russian Empire, in 1834 the church was confiscated by the Russian authorities and turned into an Orthodox church of the Holy Trinity. Between 1835 and 1837 it was yet again reconstructed in a style reminiscent of Rastrelli's baroque churches. Its authors were Antonio Corazzi and Andrzej Gołuński. During the reconstruction much of the internal design was destroyed and replaced with Orthodox frescoes as well as with a large iconostasis. In addition, large, onion domes were added to both towers. Simultaneously, the surrounding buildings of the former Piarist monastery and Humański's Palace were also reconstructed to suit the Russian style.
After the Russians left Warsaw in 1915, the church was used by the German army stationed in Warsaw as a depot. After Poland regained her independence in 1918, the decision was made to reconstruct the church back to its former look. Between 1923 and 1927 the church was yet again reconstructed, this time by Oskar Sosnowski, who based his design on 17th century drawings. After the refurbishment the shrine was yet again consecrated as a Catholic church, but it was not returned to the Piarists. Instead, it rose to the dignity of a cathedral, as it became the seat of the field bishop of the Polish Army.
During the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 the cathedral was one of the churches frequently targeted by the Luftwaffe. Heavy fights were also fought for the ruins, as the preserved western tower was used as an observation post. At the same time the cellars of the monastery and the crypts beneath the church were used as a provisional field hospital. The remnants of the church, along with the hospital, were destroyed by German aerial bombardment on August 20, 1944.
After the war, between 1946 and 1960 the church was restored to its former glory by a team of architects led by Leon Marek Suzin. The church remained the seat of the bishop of the army, though that post was almost purely titular as in Communist-led Poland religion had no place in the army. The official institution of the Field Bishop of the Polish Army (along with similar posts for other denominations) was restored after Poland regained sovereignty following the 1989 Autumn of Nations. The church consequently regained the status of a cathedral becoming the seat of the Military Ordinariate of Poland, one of three cathedrals in Warsaw currently.
Notable features.
The cathedral is currently the central church of the Polish Army and all major religious feasts related to the Polish armed forces are held there. The front façade is marked by a large tympanum pointed by a sculpture depicting the Holy Mary and sided by two low towers. On both sides of the main entrance there are a number of stone tablets commemorating notable Polish military units of the past, as well as an anchor and a propeller symbolizing two branches of the Polish armed forces. The church's lobby is marked by a number of symbolic paintings depicting some of the most prominent Polish battles and Uprisings. Additional battles are depicted on a bronze gate.
The main altar contains a sculpture of the patron saint of the church, Our Lady Queen of the Polish Crown. Beneath the sculpture there is a steel grating with hundreds of military decorations and votive plaques donated by the soldiers. To the left there is a small "Chapel of the Polish Soldier - a Mausoleum of the Defenders of the Motherland". Among the battles featured on stone slabs there are the battle of Cedynia, battle of Grunwald, battle of Vienna, battle of Westerplatte, defence of Warsaw, Warsaw Uprising and the battle of Berlin, as well as other battles of World War II. A chapel to the right of the altar is devoted to the victims of the Katyn massacre. Approximately 15,000 small tablets mark the names of the Polish officers mass murdered by the NKVD in 1940, while additional 7000 wait for the names of those, whose bodies are yet to be found. Some of the pre-war paintings that were destroyed by the Germans in 1944 were replaced with paintings by Michael Willmann, brought to Warsaw from Silesia after the war.


Society of Red Tape Cutters

The Society of Red Tape Cutters was a series of small articles published by newspapers during World War II to give recognition to military and political figures for keeping bureaucracy from hindering the war effort. Each announcement included a boilerplate "certificate" illustrated by Dr. Seuss and a synopsis of the inductee's actions.


First encirclement campaign against the Honghu Soviet

The first encirclement campaign against the Honghu Soviet was an encirclement campaign launched by the Chinese Nationalist Government that was intended to destroy the communist Honghu Soviet and its Chinese Red Army in the local region. It was responded by the Communists' first counter-encirclement campaign at Honghu Soviet (), also called by the communists as the first counter-encirclement campaign at Honghu Revolutionary Base (), in which the local Chinese Red Army successfully defended their soviet republic in the southern Hubei and northern Hunan provinces against the Nationalist attacks from early December 1930 to the end of January 1931.


Wang Hanbin

Wang Hanbin (born 1925) is a retired Chinese Communist Party politician.
Wang was born in Hui'an, Fujian Province in 1925. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1941. He graduated from the Southwest Union University in 1946.
After the People's Republic of China was formed in 1949, he served as secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee until 1958 when he became the deputy secretary general of the Municipal Committee. He became the director of the Policy Research Office of the Chinese Academy of Sciences from 1977 to 1979. He was a member of the 12th, 13th, and 14th CPC Central Committees from 1982 to 1997 and an alternate member of 14th Politburo of the Communist Party of China of the CPC between 1992 and 1997. He was also the Secretary-General of the 6th National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) and became the vice-chairman of the 7th and 8th NPCSC.
During the draftings of the Hong Kong Basic Law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, he was selected vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee.


Military Vicariate of Peru


Robert Vane Russell

Robert Vane Russell (8 August 1873 – 30 December 1915) was a British civil servant, known for his role as Superintendent of Ethnography for what was then the Central Provinces of British India, coordinating the production of publications detailing the peoples of the region. Russell served as Superintendent of Census Operations for the 1901 Census of India.
Russell's father, Charles Robert Tilden Russell, was an officer in the Royal Navy. He was educated at Winchester College before attending Trinity College, Cambridge and then, in 1893, joining the Indian Civil Service.
Together with an amateur archaeologist, Rai Bahadur Hira Lal, Russell compiled "The Castes and Tribes of the Central Provinces", published in 1916. This work was a product of the Ethnographic Survey of India that had been established in 1901, although it differed somewhat from earlier publications of similar origin because it relied more on Vedic literature than on the anthropometric methods and theories of Herbert Hope Risley and his sympathisers as a mechanism for investigation of the racial origins of caste. According to Crispin Bates, this "highly anecdotal book" was influenced by Émile Senart's "Les Castes dans L'Inde" and
Russell died when the "SS Persia" was torpedoed and sank off the coast of Crete on 30 December 1915.


Bai Lang Rebellion

The Bai Lang Rebellion was a Chinese "bandit" rebellion lasting from mid 1913 to late 1914. Launched against the Republican government of Yuan Shikai, the rebellion was led by Bai Lang (whose name pronounces similar to "White Wolf" in Chinese). His rebel army was an eclectic mix of anti-Yuan Shikai troops and rebels, bandit groups and Gelaohui (secret society) members. As a unit, they were allied to southern Guangdong based revolutionaries.
Bai Lang: The individual.
Bai Yung-chang or Bai Langzai, more commonly known by his pseudonym Bai Lang, was born in 1873, in Baofeng, Henan, to a wealthy family. As a youth, Bai took a variety of "hands-on" jobs including employment as a government salt transporter and service as an anti-bandit militiaman. Nevertheless, his life changed in 1897 when he was arrested for getting into a fight with a man named Wang Zhen who died during the altercation. After getting out of jail, Bai Lang was only dissuaded from becoming a bandit by his family, instead, turning his martial interests towards a legal outlet (namely, military service).
During the last years of Manchu rule, Bai was trained in tactics and weaponry in Japan, known at the time as much for its Chinese revolutionary activity as for its competence in modern military warfare. Upon his return, Bai was appointed to serve in Imperial China's Beiyang Army and, at the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution at the Wuchang Uprising in 1911, was assigned to the Beiyang 6th Division at Shijiazhuang as an adjutant to Gen. Wu Lu-chen (Wu Luzhen), Commander of the Sixth Division. Soon thereafter, the pro-revolutionary Gen. Wu was assassinated by Manchu or Beiyang Army troops loyal to Yuan Shikai and Bai was forced to return home for fear of his life. Wu's assassination, thought to have been at the order of Yuan Shikai, allegedly took place because Yuan could not trust Wu whose presence at Shijiazhuang controlled the vital rail link from Wuhan to Beijing. These events strengthened Bai's resolve against Yuan and those who came to support him. After a series of storms ravaged the region's crops in late 1911, Bai and other local people fell in with the bandit Du Qibin.
The rebellion.
Bai Lang and his forces allied themselves with the Kuomintang during the so-called "Second Revolution", an attempt by the latter party to resist President Yuan Shikai's increasingly authoritarian regime. The bandit leader managed to amass an army of 1,000 to 4,000 fighters, and started to target in the area between Wuhan and Beijing, attacking the railway lines. Yuan responded by sending the Beiyang Army under the personal command of Duan Qirui to destroy Bai Lang and his bandits. Despite being hunted by thousands of regular soldiers, Bai managed to remain active even after the Second Revolution's defeat. Waging a guerrilla war, he evaded the government and ravaged no less than 50 cities in central China. Strategically, his purported intent was to use guerilla warfare to disrupt the rail line to Beijing. By doing so, it was thought he could disrupt the flow of freight and revenue between North and South China. If successful, the foreign powers could view Yuan's China as unstable and unwilling to loan Yuan the money he needed to sustain his regime. Bai Lang's "march" into Anhui Province towards Shanghai was seen by some as a bold effort to link up with Revolutionary interests now holed up in Shanghai and to provoke a possible "Third Revolution" against Yuan.
Bai's actions caused mixed outpourings of mass support and popular outrage, with his army variously called by itself and supporters "The Citizen's Punitive Army", "Citizen's Army to Exterminate Bandits" and "The Army to Punish Yuan Shikai", among others. As his fame grew, deserters, bandits and revolutionaries bolstered his divisions and he swiftly moved through Henan, Anhui, Hubei, Shaanxi and Gansu, disrupting swaths of Northern China. In Henan, the city of Yuxian, famed for its vital pharmaceutical industry, was ransacked of everything from medicine to guns and the military governor, Chang Chen-fang, was dismissed for his failure to suppress the uprising. Support from peasants grew due to Bai's anti-gentry and anti-tax stance (slogans like "take from the rich and give to the poor" increased rural support, as did the murder of magistrates and the distribution of grain stores). Only after ten divisions of the Beiyang Army, at least 12,000 troops, had been deployed against them, the bandits were forced to retreat westward. Under tremendous military pressure from the government and allied warlords, including some of the earliest use of aircraft in warfare, Bai's "army" crossed the Tongguan Pass into Shaanxi Province, possibly with an eye toward sympathetic linkage there. Instead, his group was forced even further west into Gansu. Upon entering Gansu, the rebellion encountered strong civil and military resistance.
Here, the traditionalist and Confucianist Muslim generals Ma Anliang and Ma Qi backed President Yuan. Bai Lang faced opposition from nearly everyone, from the Tibetans serving under the Gansu-allied Yang Jiqing, the Gansu and Sichuan provincial armies, ethnic Hui and Han militias and Yuan Shikai's own National Beiyang Army. Muslim Gen. Ma Qi was instructed to incite the Muslims against Bai Lang in order to get Hui and Han to join together and fight him. Muslim imams preached anti-Bai announcements, claiming that Shaxide (Shahid or martyrdom) awaited those who died to fight him off. Unlike the rural areas in central and eastern China, where peasants had helped Bai's armies hide and strike out, Muslim families actively refused to support Bai's troops, even going so far as to burn themselves to death rather than deal with them. However, the Imams themselves took off and ran away after they told the Muslims to kill themselves, rather than die with them. by a mix of ethnic Han and Hui militia commanded by Ma Qi and Ma Anliang. Ma Qixi's Muslim Xidaotang humiliated and defeated Bai's bandit forces, who looted the city. The Muslim Generals were reported to be reactionary.
Protracted warfare and this lack of public support led to a reversal in the rebels' treatment of the population; there was an increase in acts of looting and pillage, as well as strikingly brutal massacres.
Eventually, Gen. Ma Anliang's passive defence, rather than chasing the far more agile rebel army, succeeded in wearing down Bai. The Tibetans attacked and drove Bai's army into retreat, with Ma Qixi's troops chasing them out of the Province. According to Gansu legend, Bai Lang died at Daliuzhuang, he was decapitated and his head put on display. However, official Chinese documents say he vanished in Shanxi and his body was never found. Yuan Shikai ordered Bai Lang's family tombs destroyed, and had the corpses cut to pieces. Bai's headless body was left to rot.
The remnants of Bai's forces were dispersed in Hunan late 1914, with his last forces being destroyed by Yan Xishan.
Atrocities done by Bai Lang's bandit gangs.
Bai Lang's forces raped, killed and pillaged. His troops became notoriously anti-Muslim, with some Shaanxi men in his army holding vendettas with Muslims that dated back to the Dungan revolt. Henan and Shaanxi troops were notable for anti-Manchu and anti-Muslim sentiment, massacring thousands of Muslims at Taozhou. Mass rape, looting, and killing also took place in Minzhou.
Support from southern revolutionaries.
Staunchly against Yuan Shikai's government, Bai developed an alliance with Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. Huang Xing, a friend of Sun, sent letters to Bai as well as weapons and ammunition. Sun hoped for further bandit uprisings in Shaanxi, calling on the population to "return to glory" like Bai Lang's gangs. Yuan Shikai's Beiyang regime knew of Bai Lang's connections with Sun Yat-Sen, but refused to make public of them for fear it would cause greater support for the rebellion.
Though Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing promised to make him Governor of Gansu, outside of arms and supplies, Sun's influence on Bai Lang's bandit troops was minimal. Mostly uneducated, his troops could be divided between Robin Hood "freedom fighters" who believed they were taking on a corrupt regime and brigands who lived for plunder and survival.
However, when Sun Yatsen turned to the Soviets for support, and resurrected the Kuomintang in the 1920s he sharply turned against the western-style, federalist democracy he preached during this time when he was aligned with Bai Lang. He then turned to the Soviet-style single-party model, and organized the Northern Expedition without the help of bandit gangs like Bai Lang. This nationalist Kuomintang later included the Muslim warlords who Bai Lang fought against.
Aftermath.
The campaign, especially the government forces' inability to crush a smaller force of bandits, greatly damaged the reputation of the Beiyang Army. This gave President Yuan who had already started to distrust the army's commanders of disloyalty, the opportunity to reorganize the Chinese military. He disempowered and then replaced Duan Qirui as head of the Beiyang Army, while raising a new army which was loyal only to him and his family. Though he managed to reduce the power of other military leaders in the short term, these policies alienated parts of the Beiyang Army from his regime, weakening it in the long run.


Chinese Cultural Renaissance

The Chinese Cultural Renaissance or the Chinese Cultural Renaissance Movement () was a movement promoted in Taiwan in opposition to the cultural destructions caused by the Communist Party of China during the Cultural Revolution.
Movement.
Chiang Kai-shek, the then President of the Republic of China who launched the movement on November 1966 - on the 100th anniversary of Sun Yat-sen's birthday - by publicly announcing the official start of the renaissance movement. It was the Kuomintang's first structured plan for cultural development on Taiwan. Chiang himself was the head of the movement promotion council. Future president Lee Teng-hui was also involved in the movement and served as the president for the cultural renaissance.
Chiang announced ten goals:


Stephen A. Metcalf

Stephen Arnold Metcalf (23 October 1927 - 7 June 2014) was a British Protestant missionary to Japan, the son of George Edgar Metcalf and Elizabeth Mary (Donnelly) Metcalf, China Inland Mission missionaries to the Eastern Lisu/Lipo minority of Yunnan Province. He was born in Kunming, China.
China.
Metcalf was educated at Chefoo School, the China Inland Mission school in Yantai, Shandong Province. On 5 November 1942 the school was closed by the Japanese occupying army and the staff and pupils interned in an American Presbyterian mission compound on Temple Hill, Yantai. Metcalf was amongst those interned and had no contact with his parents and his elder sister, Ruth (b. 24 June 1924, d. 18 January 2010), until his release in 1945. While in this POW camp, Metcalf made a Christian commitment.
In September 1943 the Temple Hill civilian internment camp was closed and the internees moved to another camp at Weihsien (Weifang), Shandong Province. At Weihsien, Metcalf was befriended by Eric Liddell, the Olympic medallist, and greatly influenced by Liddell's attitude to the Japanese to pray for his captors. Just prior to his death Liddell gave Metcalf, a keen runner, his running shoes. Metcalf was a coffin bearer at Liddell's funeral in the camp in February 1945 and at the ceremony committed himself to serve as a missionary in Japan. The Weihsien civilian internment camp was liberated on 17 August 1945.
Australia.
In 1945 Metcalf relocated to Australia in November 1945 and trained at Melbourne Bible College. He was accepted by OMF International as a missionary to Japan in 1952. His sister, Ruth, was also accepted as a missionary by OMF International and served in Thailand from 1952 to 1965.
Japan.
Metcalf arrived in Japan in November 1952 and entered the OMF International language school at Karuizawa, Honshu. In 1953 he was designated to work in Aomori Prefecture, planting new churches. On 3 July 1957 he married Evelyn Robinson, an OMF International missionary from Northern Ireland. They have five children, four boys and one girl. They were responsible for the successful establishing and consolidation of new churches in several towns of Aomori Prefecture, in Otaru (Hokkaido), Hachinohe (Honshu), Sendai (Honshu) and Urayasu city, Tokyo.
UK.
The Metcalfs retired from missionary service in Japan in August 1990, with over seventy years of service between them. In retirement Metcalf served in ministry with the Japan Christian Fellowship, London, for a further fifteen years. In 2005 he delivered the Eric Liddell Memorial Speech at the sixtieth anniversary of liberation of the Weishien civilian internment camp. He has been the subject of two biographies – "Take the Torch Shining in the Dark", published 2005 in Japanese, and "In Japan the Crickets Cry", published 2010 – and has featured in TV programmes and documentaries about Eric Liddell.


Louis Carpenter (judge)

Louis Carpenter (1829, New York – 1863, Kansas) was a Judge in Douglas County, Kansas and was the highest ranking civic member of the town of Lawrence to be murdered by Quantrill's raiders during the Lawrence Massacre.
Douglas County Kansas.
Louis Carpenter was a lawyer, and was a Deputy Clerk of Douglas County, Kansas by June 14, 1859. In late 1860 or early 1861, he became Probate Judge of Douglas County, the first case bearing his name as judge being recorded on February 26, 1861, and on September 29, 1862, he was chosen by the Union Party as their candidate for the office of Attorney General of Kansas. He was enumerated in the 1860 federal census of the Kansas Territory as age 29, born in the state of New York.
Lawrence Massacre.
Judge Carpenter was one of the 185-200 men and boys killed in the Lawrence Massacre on August 21, 1863. He was murdered in his home at 943 New Hampshire Street in Lawrence by members of Quantrill’s Raiders. A detailed account of Judge Carpenter's life and murder in Kansas, and a photograph of him, are posted at the Douglas County Law Library website.
Personal.
Louis Carpenter was born December 14, 1829 in New York state. His parentage is currently unknown as well as most of his life before coming to Kansas.
Louis married on October 10, 1862 at the home of his bride’s sister and brother-in-law Abigail (Barber) and Grosvenor C. Morse at Emporia, Kansas to Mary E. Barber, who was born ca. 1838 in Massachusetts according to census records. In 1870, his widow was enumerated at Topeka, Kansas; she married second on January 5, 1871 at Emporia, Kansas to John C. Rankin, and was enumerated in Osage County, Kansas in 1900 and 1910. She was a sister of Harriet A. Barber, who never married, and Abigail Barber, who married Grosvenor C. Morse.
Further reading.
Definitive biography and photograph of Judge Louis Carpenter by Kerry Altenbernd:http://www.douglascolawlibrary.org/Louis_Carpenter.html.


Massi Kessi

Massi Kessi () is a town near (and almost a suburb of) Mutare in the Manicaland province in Zimbabwe, near the border with Mozambique, on the road and railway to Beira.
Geography.
Massi Kessi is located at an altitude of 600m. It is surrounded by the gold fields of Manica.
History.
Massi Kessi was the headquarters of the Portuguese in Manica, who are considered the first Europeans to settle this area of the world (starting in 1520). In the 1880s, as the British are eyeing on Portuguese territories in East Africa, the Kingdom sent the artillery captain Joaquim Carlos Paiva de Andrada to restore the Portuguese outposts scattered in the region. He obtained the authorization to extract and sell minerals, and created the Companhia de Moçambique in December 1888. The company reconstructed a fort in Massi Kessi where it established its headquarters.
A conflict took place in Massi Kessi on November 5th 1890 and again on May 11 1891 between the Portuguese and the British South Africa Company, which led to the capture of the fort Massi Kessi that had been abandoned by the Portuguese.
As a result, the British government pushed through the Manika Treaty on June 11, 1891, that ensured ownership of Manica by the British South Africa Company; until then, the Portuguese colonial area had extended to the Mazoetal river, almost to Harare, Shamv and Mount Darwin.


Dingtao Campaign

Dingtao Campaign (定陶战役) was a series of battles fought between the nationalists and the communists during Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era, and resulted in the communist victory.
Prelude.
After the defeat of Longhai Campaign, the original nationalist plan of completely annihilating Li Xiannian's communist force in the North China Plain pocket was disrupted and the scheduled completion had to be postponed due to the need to redeploy nationalist forces to eradicate communist forces under the command of Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping in southwestern Shandong. The nationalists concluded that the overwhelming numerical and technical superiorities over Li Xiannian's communist force in the North China Plain pocket was sufficient enough to withstand a troop reduction, so three army-sized reorganized divisions originally deployed in southern Shaanxi and western Henan were redeployed to the region where Dingtao Campaign was about to take place. Additionally, two army-sized divisions from Xuzhou and another army from Huainan were also redeployed to the region. The eight army-sized nationalist reorganized divisions already stationed here in the regions of Zhengzhou, Xinxiang, and Shangqiu were reinforced by these additional six units, totaling more than three hundred thousand troops, and the nationalists were confident that the enemy would be annihilated quickly and their bases overran.
Order of battle.
Although the total strength of the nationalist in the region exceeded over three hundred thousand, only half of the total force was deployed for the Dingtao Campaign, the nationalist commanders obviously felt that this was enough since it was already twice the size of the troops enemy could field, not mentioning the technical superiority the nationalists enjoyed. This miscalculation provided the numerical and technical inferior enemy an opportunity to concentrate its forces locally, achieving local superiority over the nationalists in the area where the campaign was fought, thus achieving the final victory.
Nationalist order of battle.
The nationalist units deployed for Dingtao Campaign included seven armies:
Communist order of battle.
Communist forces deployed for the campaign included fifty thousand troops from the four columns of the communist field army, and another twenty thousand local garrisons.
Strategies.
The strategies of both sides had changed as the campaign progressed, with the original nationalist plan being at least adequate if not flawless, and even their enemy had concurred for that the plan had posed a serious threat to them. However, the deviation of the original plan by the nationalists due to overconfidence caused the enemy to exploit the weakness of the change and thus lead to the eventual nationalist defeat.
Nationalist strategy.
The nationalist plan was simple and direct. They planned to use their numerical and technical superiority to annihilate the Communist forces under the command of Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping in the regions of Dingtao (定陶) and Cao (曹) County, to the north of Lanzhou – Lianyungang Railway, and after the total annihilation of the enemy, the enemy base in southwestern Shandong would be overrun, and the nationalists would restore the vital transportation and communication line of Beijing–Hankou Railway. To achieve this goal, the defense minister Bai Chongxi and the chief of the general staff Chen Cheng were sent to Kaifeng to oversee the operation, and Liu Zhi was named as the frontline commander-in-chief, and was sent to the Kaocheng (考城) – Minquan (民权) frontline to command.
Zhengzhou front:
Xuzhou front:
Other forces deployed:
The main thrust would be that of Zhengzhou front.
Communist strategy.
Troops of communist 3rd, 6th and 7th Columns under the command of Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping was resting, re-supplying and regrouping in the southwestern Shandong after the communist victory of Longhai Campaign at the time. Due to the overwhelming nationalist numerical and technical superiorities, the communist central military committee, the communist high command, radioed the local communists to instruct them to concentrate their force in each battle to achieve at least 3:1 superiority, and 4:1 was even better when fighting the nationalist regular forces. After destroying a portion of the nationalist force, then targeting the next and so on, accumulate many smaller victories into an eventual large one. Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping analyzed their positions and concluded that a communist victory could be secured due to the following reasons. Despite the absolute numerical and technical superiority, the nationalists only had fifteen brigades devoted to the actual attacks on the frontline, and this strength would be further reduced if the nationalists advance further. Although two armies out of the top five crack nationalist units were deployed in the nationalist thrust from Xuzhou, it actually was not the main thrust. Instead, the nationalist thrust from Zhengzhou was the true thrust against the communist bases, but among the nationalist forces deployed for this thrust, only the nationalist Reorganized 3rd and 47th Divisions were truly capable. If one of these reorganized division (possibly two) were annihilated, the nationalist thrust from Zhengzhou would be effectively neutralized. With the main thrust gone, the other nationalist thrust from Xuzhou against the communists would not last long either, and the nationalist offensive would be crushed.
Therefore, communists decided to reinforce their local strength by redeploying the communist 2nd Column to the local Dingtao (定陶) region from northern Henan. A total of four communist columns and additional local garrisons totaling around fifty thousand troops would achieve numerical superiority four times over planned targets, the Reorganized 3rd and 20th Brigades of the nationalist Reorganized 3rd Division. After the two nationalist reorganized brigades had been annihilated in the region of Han's Village (Hanji, 韩集), its remaining brigade and the nationalist Reorganized 47th Division would then be attack and annihilated when the situation allowed. The communist commanders consequently made their following plan:
1st Stage.
On 2 September 1946, after suffering over fifteen hundred casualties, the nationalist Reorganized 3rd Division succeeded in taking Qinzhai (秦砦) and Peach Garden (Taoyuan 桃园) regions after driving out the two regiments of the communist 6th Column stationed there. Meanwhile, the nationalist Reorganized 47th Division advanced to the regions of Luzhai (吕砦) and Yellow Water Mouth (Huangshuikou, 黄水口). The relatively rapid advance caused the nationalist commanders to become overconfident, and Liu Zhi, the nationalist frontline commander-in-chief altered the original plan of taking Dingtao (定陶) by a joint attack by the nationalist Reorganized 3rd and 47th Divisions. Liu split his force by ordering the nationalist Reorganized 3rd Division to take Heze and the nationalist Reorganized 47th Division to take Dingtao (定陶) by itself. As a result, the gap between the two divisions was increased to 10 to 12.5 km from the original 7.5 to 10 km. The rest of nationalist units was 40 to 100 km away from the two divisions, and they were respectively blocked by the enemy in the regions to the southeast of Dongming (东明), south of Cao (曹) County, east of Dan (单) County and Chengwu (城武).
Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping immediately decided to adjust their plans accordingly to the change of the nationalist plan. The communists reasoned that the nationalist thrusts from Zhengzhou and Xuzhou had not linked up yet, but the gaps between the nationalist Reorganized 3rd and 47th Divisions was increasing, it would be wise to allow the nationalist Reorganized 3rd Division to advance further, thus isolating itself from the rest of nationalist units, hence becoming a good target for annihilation. The planned site of ambush was moved westward to Greater Poplar Lake (Dayanghu, 大杨湖) region from the original Han's Village (Hanji, 韩集), and once the nationalist division, it would be attacked from both the left and the right. The bulk of the communist group on the right would thrust southward, and the remaining portion would thrust to the eastward from the west. The communist group on the left would first thrust into the gap between the nationalist Reorganized 3rd and 47th Divisions, and then with the bulk of its force attacking northward from the south to coordinate the attack with their comrades in the north, while the remaining force of the communist right group would check the advance of the nationalist Reorganized 47th Division to prevent it from reinforcing the nationalist Reorganized 3rd Division.
In the afternoon of 3 September 1946, the nationalist Reorganized 47th Division had advanced to the region to the south of Three Hills Hotel (Sanqiudian, 三丘店) and Usual Road Village (Changluji, 常路集). Meanwhile, the 3rd Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 3rd Division advanced to the Rheum officinale Market (Dahuangji, 大黄集) region, the headquarters brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 3rd Division advanced to the Celestial Grandpa Temple (Tianyemiao, 天爷庙) region, and the 20th Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 3rd Division advanced to the Greater Poplar Lake (Dayanghu, 大杨湖) region. At 11:30 PM, the two communist groups on the left and on the right suddenly simultaneously attacked, concentrated on the 20th Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 3rd Division, but the nationalists put up a gallant fight, and with the help of armor and air support, the initial communist attack was successfully thrown back by the next day, with communists only able to destroy three battalions of the besieged nationalist division.
2nd Stage.
Zhao Xitian (赵锡田), the commander of the nationalist Reorganized 3rd Division realized that his division was surrounded by the enemy and radioed for help, and Liu Zhi ordered all units to immediately push toward the besieged division for the rescue. From September 4 thru 5 September 1946, nationalist Reorganized 47th Division attempted to reinforce their besieged comrades-in-arms from the south, but their advance was firmly checked by the communist 3rd Column in the region of Peach Garden (Taoyuan 桃园). Other nationalist divisions were also stopped by the stubborn enemy resistance and thus could not reach the besieged nationalist Reorganized 3rd Division.
On 5 September 1946, the communists launched their general assault on the besieged nationalist Reorganized 3rd Division. By the morning of 6 September 1946, the nationalist Reorganized 20th Brigade was completely annihilated in the region of Greater Poplar Lake (Dayanghu, 大杨湖), while the nationalist Reorganized 3rd Brigade was badly mauled in the region of Greater Poplar Lake (Xiaoyanghu, 小杨湖). By noon, the remnant of the nationalist Reorganized 3rd Brigade finally linked up with the surviving headquarters brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 3rd Division, and the surviving nationalists attempted to breakout southward. However, the survivors of the nationalist Reorganized 3rd Division were completely annihilated by the waiting communists in the Qinzhai (秦砦) region, and their commander Zhao Xitian (赵锡田) was captured alive by the enemy.
After the nationalist Reorganized 3rd Division was completely annihilated, other overstretched and tired nationalist forces which was short on supply immediately retreated toward Kaocheng (考城) and Lanfeng (兰封). Seizing the opportunity, the communists gave chase and the nationalist Reorganized 47th Division which was closest to the enemy became the first victim, with its flank being attacked from the rear. After a fierce battle that lasted an entire day, two brigades (division-sized) were lost. At the same time, the retreating nationalist Reorganized 41st, 55th, and 68th Divisions were also chased by the enemy, each losing a battalion respectively when the campaign concluded in the morning of 8 September 1946. Although nationalists attempted to send more troops from Xuzhou to reinforce their comrades-in-arms in Zhengzhou, they advance were firmed checked by the stubborn enemy in Chengwu (城武) region for the entire duration of the campaign.
Outcome.
The nationalists suffered over seventeen thousand losses, including five thousand fatalities and another twelve thousand being captured by the enemy. In addition, communists also captured six tanks and large amount of supplies from the nationalists. Another benefit for the communists brought by their victory of the campaign was that it relieved the pressure of communists elsewhere as the campaign had forced the nationalist to withdraw some of their units deployed in the Campaign of the North China Plain Pocket originally planned to encircle communists force under the command of Li Xiannian, who eventually led his force to escape successfully from the nationalists.
The reason for the nationalist defeat was due to their overconfidence for that they enjoyed both the numerical and technical advantages. However, as the nationalists pushed deep inside the enemy territory, their force were split and thus they no longer enjoyed local numerical superiority despite having overall absolute superiority in the entire front. This opportunity was exploited by the enemy who concentrated their force to achieve local numerical superiority and successfully annihilated the attacking nationalist division that was relatively isolated for venturing too far away from other nationalist units. According to Chinese communists, along with the Campaign of the North China Plain Pocket and the Central Jiangsu Campaign, Dingtao Campaign was one of these three critical campaigns that helped to stabilize the southern front for the communist in the initial stage of the Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era.


Of Love and Shadows

Of Love and Shadows, also known as De amor y de sombra, is a 1994 Chilean-Argentine-American drama film written and directed by Betty Kaplan and starring Antonio Banderas, Jennifer Connelly, Stefania Sandrelli and Patricio Contreras. It is based on the 1984 novel of the same name by Isabel Allende.
Plot.
Irene is a magazine editor living under the shadow of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile. Francisco is a handsome photographer and he comes to Irene for a job. As a sympathizer with the underground resistance movement, Francisco opens her eyes and her heart to the atrocities being committed by the state.


Zimbabwe Tribune

Zimbabwe Tribune is an internet based newspaper published in Zimbabwe and the UK. It has a specialised focus on current events in Zimbabwe's political developments. The newspaper was launched in January 2009.
The "Zimbabwe Tribune" provides Internet-only aggregated political news and opinion articles focused on Zimbabwe politics.
History.
"Zimbabwe Tribune" was launched in January 2009 by 3MG Media which also publishes the "Zimbabwe Daily News" (ZimDaily), "Zimbabwe Telegraph" and "Harare Tribune".
Circulation.
"Zimbabwe Tribune" is currently only an online edition. Its website is updated daily and accessible for free.


Donald Cragen

Donald Cragen is a fictional character played by Dann Florek in the American crime drama television series "Law & Order" and its spinoff, "", on NBC. Cragen is a homicide captain with the New York Police Department who later becomes captain of the department's Special Victims Unit. A recovering alcoholic, Cragen is a tough police veteran who is loyal to his officers. He appeared in the first three seasons of "Law & Order" and in the first 15 seasons of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit". Having credited appearances in 400 episodes in the "Law & Order" franchise, Cragen has appeared in the third-most episodes of any character in the franchise; this mark is surpassed only by Olivia Benson and Fin Tutuola, main characters on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit".
Background.
Cragen comes from an Irish Catholic background, and graduated from a Catholic university in New York City, although different episodes have given conflicting information about exactly which school; he calls St. Raymond's University his alma mater in the episode "Sophomore Jinx", but says it is St. John's in the episode "Justice". Cragen served as a Green Beret in the U.S. Army Special Forces in the Vietnam War before joining the New York Police Department, where he was a homicide detective partnered with Max Greevey (George Dzundza). Cragen had been married to a flight attendant named Marge (Ellen Tobie) and the two had no children, although, in a continuity error, an early "Law & Order" episode indicated they had a teenage child.
The episode "Prescription for Death" establishes that Cragen is a recovering alcoholic. He says that his drinking problem had become so severe in his early career that Greevey insisted he would no longer partner with him unless he joined Alcoholics Anonymous. Cragen finally hit rock bottom when he pulled his service revolver on a taxi driver while in a drunken rage; horrified, he quit drinking, joined AA, and has been sober ever since. Nevertheless, he admits that he feels a daily temptation to drink due to the horrors he witnesses in his job.
While on "Law & Order", Cragen was depicted as easily irritated when under stress; when answering the telephone, his customary greeting was, ""What?!". By the time of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit", however, he has become more unflappable. He is jaded by city politics and no longer votes. He is a fan of the New York Mets, and keeps an autographed baseball in a case on his desk.
Cragen's primary weapon in "Law & Order" is a Smith & Wesson Model 36, which he continues to carry in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit". His primary weapon throughout "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit", however, is a Glock 19 9mm semiautomatic pistol.
Storyline.
Florek portrayed the character from 1990 to 1993 in the original "Law & Order". Six years later, he reprised his role again in "" from its premiere in 1999 to 2014.
In "Law & Order".
In the 1991 episode "The Blue Wall", Cragen is investigated by internal affairs for possible corruption after evidence tampering within the department leads to the acquittal of three Wall Street bankers in a money laundering case. As Greevey and detective Mike Logan (Chris Noth) investigate the case in an attempt to clear Cragen’s name, they discover that Cragen's mentor Pete O'Farrell (Robert Lansing) accepted bribes and arranged the evidence tampering. Cragen is reluctant to cooperate in the investigation against O'Farrell, but when District Attorney Adam Schiff (Steven Hill) and EADA Ben Stone apply pressure by calling for his indictment, Cragen agrees to wear a wire during conversations with O'Farrell, ultimately leading to O'Farrell's arrest. Despite clearing his own name in the process, Cragen feels guilty for bringing down his former mentor and friend.
When Greevey is murdered in the episode "Confession", Cragen is a pall-bearer at his funeral.
The Cragen character was removed from the series after the third season, making his last appearance in the season finale episode "Benevolence". Although his departure is not immediately explained, it is established in the fifth season episode "Bad Faith" that he has transferred to head of the Anti-Corruption Task Force. He is succeeded in the homicide precinct by Lieutenant Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson).
Outside "Law & Order".
After leaving the 27th Precinct, Cragen spends six years as the head of the Anti-Corruption Task Force.
Cragen encounters Logan again in the 1995 episode "Bad Faith" during an Anti-Corruption Task Force investigation into crooked narcotics detectives. Logan is investigating the suspicious death of a friend and fellow detective, Bill Marino, and is questioned by Cragen and task force detectives due to Marino's ties to the narcotics detectives. Logan's investigation into Marino's death leads to the arrest of Joseph Krolinsky (Bill Raymond), a former Catholic priest who had molested several boys, including Logan and Marino, and who had manipulated Marino into supplying him with victims. When Logan feels conflicted about whether to testify about his knowledge of Marino's complicity in those crimes, he turns to Cragen for advice. Cragen comforts Logan and ultimately helps convince him not to commit perjury by lying about Marino.
As portrayed in the 1998 TV movie "", Cragen next interacts with the 27th Precinct while attempting to arrest Mafia boss Don Giancarlo Uzielli (Tony Musante) for the murders of 15 people. During that investigation, Cragen discovers that there is not only a cop in the 27th Precinct on Uzielli's payroll, but that Logan is interfering with the investigation of the don by investigating a murder of his own. With Logan's help, Cragen discovers the identity of the corrupt officer: his former detective, and trusted friend, Tony Profaci (John Fiore).
It is said in a Season 1 episode of SVU, that Cragen took control of the unit in 1995, but in the Law & Order Movie, it appears he is apart of the Organized Crime Task Force (via tape recording he shows Logan).
At some point before the events of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit", Cragen's wife Marge, a flight attendant, is killed in a plane crash. Florek said upon reprising the role on "SVU" that he and the show's producers crafted a back story in which Marge's death led Cragen to start drinking again, and that, in his loneliness, he solicited prostitutes. In that back story, Cragen becomes captain of the sex crimes unit to escape that downward spiral. Most of that story, however, is not explicitly discussed in any episodes of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit".
In "SVU".
In 1999, the character appeared in the spinoff "", in which he heads a bureau dedicated to solving sex crimes. Several of Cragen's first episodes on the series reunite him with another one of his former detectives from the 27th Precinct, Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach); one of these reunions involves re-opening a serial murder case that Briscoe and Logan had failed to solve six years earlier (as portrayed in the "Law & Order" episode "Mayhem").
In "Stalked", a first-season episode, Cragen participates in a sting operation in which one of his detectives, Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), serves as bait for Richard White (Bruce Kirkpatrick), a serial rapist who had been stalking her. When White attempts to attack her, Cragen physically incapacitates him and allows for his arrest.
In a 2001 episode, Cragen finds a kidnapped boy he and Greevey had been assigned to find in 1991 while investigating a corrupt adoption agency. Cragen and his detectives later determined that the wife of the boy's biological father killed his mother and gave the baby to the adoption agency, where he was given a home. In the end, the boy's biological father wins custody of him.
In the episode "Criminal", a homicide investigation leads to a suspect named Javier Vega (James McDaniel), a man Cragen arrested for murder in the 1970s who has since reformed and become a criminology professor. Convinced of Vega's guilt, Cragen becomes personally involved in the investigation, which results in Vega's arrest and conviction. When evidence surfaces proving Vega's innocence, a guilt-stricken Cragen arranges for his immediate release. Vega later kidnaps the actual killer and threatens him at gunpoint, but Cragen talks him down, then saves Vega when the killer grabs Vega's gun and tries to shoot him.
At the start of the , Cragen is briefly relieved of duty for failure to supervise due to the actions of several of his detectives, such as Benson aiding her fugitive half-brother Simon Marsden (Michael Weston) and her partner, Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), covering up his daughter's DUI. Cragen is forced to transfer to the office of Chief of Detectives and cede control of his precinct to the newly promoted Sergeant John Munch (Richard Belzer). The transfer is short-lived, however, as Cragen's command is restored after Munch allows a suspect (Cynthia Nixon) faking dissociative identity disorder to be released into her sister's care, only for her to kill her parents. In season 11, he is again suspended for 10 days, and is told that any further trouble concerning his unit will cost him his job. In "Ace", he uses deadly force against a baby trafficker who is about to kill a rape victim.
Throughout Season 13, Cragen takes a more personalized role in SVU cases. In the episode "Russian Brides", Cragen takes on an undercover assignment to lure out a killer of young mail order brides, posing as the head of a children's rights organization. During a conversation with his "date", he mentions that he and his late wife had always wanted a child, but to no success. After his wife suffered a miscarriage, he says they attempted to adopt a child, but could not find the time to go through with it. It is left ambiguous whether Cragen is speaking of his own life, or merely improvising as part of his undercover role. The season 13 finale, "Rhodium Nights", closes with Cragen awakening in bed to find the body of a young female escort beside him, her throat cut, and his hands covered in blood. He is suspended while the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau investigates him for murder. In the Season 14 premiere, Bureau Chief ADA of the Public Integrity Unit, Paula Foster (Paget Brewster), investigates Cragen in the murder of the escort. He is arrested and held at Rikers Island. The SVU detectives work the case as well, trying to prove that he was framed. It is discovered that Cragen did hire a few escorts for "company". After it is proven that the girl was murdered by her pimp, Delia Wilson (Brooke Smith), Foster drops the murder charge, but announces that she is charging him with several other crimes, prompting Benson and the SVU detectives to dig into Foster's motives. Benson discovers that Foster is on Wilson's payroll. The SVU detectives arrest Foster, which allows the charges against Cragen to be dropped.
In the Season 15 episode "Internal Affairs", Cragen asks Benson to take the Sergeant's Exam and remarks that he is approaching the mandatory retirement age, numbering the days he has left with SVU. Cragen officially announces his retirement in the episode "Amaro's One-Eighty". He explains that he is leaving to join his girlfriend, Eileen Switzer (Mel Harris), on a six-month cruise around the world, which would take him to his mandatory retirement date. He tells the squad room it was his privilege to work with each one of them, and announces that Benson would be taking over as their new interim supervisor.
In Season 16, Cragen returns for the episode "", in which he helps Sergeant Benson and Defense Attorney Bayard Ellis (Andre Braugher) look into a decades-old rape. Cragen uses his connections from the 27th precinct to help SVU get information they could never have accessed otherwise.
Awards and decorations.
The following are the medals and service awards worn by Captain Cragen.
Development.
Creation and casting.
Dann Florek was first cast as Donald Cragen in "Everybody's Favorite Bagman", the pilot episode of what would later become "Law & Order". The pilot was filmed and produced in 1988 and it would take two more years before NBC ordered the full series. While main cast members Noth, Dzundza, Michael Moriarty and Richard Brooks had each signed option contracts that allowed them to be hired for the full series, Florek had signed no such contract. However, since he did not have any other acting roles at the time that the show went into production, he was available to join the show's cast. Florek was living in Venice, Los Angeles at the time he was cast and had to be flown into New York City for the filming of each episode.
Florek said during the formative seasons of "Law & Order", the cast and crew had a great deal of integrity and were dedicated to making something different, and that filming could be unpredictable as a result. However, Florek was frustrated with his lack of scenes, claiming he felt the character was not well developed and under-appreciated, and he disliked commuting so far for such little material. He also believed the producers and crew were not giving him enough direction and guidance in forming the character, pointing out that he did not learn Cragen was an alcoholic until several weeks into filming. As a result, Florek came up with much of the character by himself, and improvised many personality traits and characteristics as he went.
Florek repeatedly tried to quit the role during the first season, claiming that he was not given enough screen time. Series creator Dick Wolf persuaded him to stay, particularly due to concerns about the stability of the cast after Dzundza left the series and was replaced by Paul Sorvino as Sergeant Phil Cerreta.
Departure from "Law & Order".
Florek was ultimately terminated from the series after the third season upon orders from Don Ohlmeyer, NBC's West Coast president, to add more female cast members to the show. Wolf objected to the decision, but agreed to it in the face of possible cancellation if he did not. He was one of two actors dismissed from the series along with Richard Brooks, who played Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette. Wolf described notifying Florek and Brooks about the decisions as "literally the two worst phone calls I ever had to make in a business context". Florek said he did not approve of the "hushed and hidden" way his firing was handled.
After Florek's departure from the show, Wolf stayed in touch with the actor and often said he wished to work with him again. Their continued correspondence led to Florek directing several episodes of "Law & Order", as well as Florek reprising his role as Cragen in "Exiled: A Law & Order Movie". When Wolf invited him to join the permanent cast of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit", the television comedy series "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer", in which Florek played Abraham Lincoln, had just been cancelled. Florek had originally expected to star in another comedy, but production was delayed, freeing the actor's schedule up. Florek had reservations about accepting the role because, he said, "I didn't want to wind up doing the same thing; the crusty yet benign captain." He ultimately agreed to join the cast, in part because Ohlmeyer no longer worked for NBC. In accepting the role, Florek asked for more freedom in shaping the direction of the character. He said, "I wanted him to have grown and changed, and to be much more actively involved."
Reception.
When "Law & Order: SVU" first aired, Dave Mason, television editor for "Ventura County Star", said Cragen was "played brilliantly" by Florek, and called the relationship between Cragen and Stabler the strongest aspect of the series. Alan Sepinwall, television columnist for "The Star-Ledger", said the Cragen character "showed off more personality" in the film "Exiled" and on "Special Victims Unit" than the character exhibited in the original "Law & Order".


Outbreak of Hostilities

Outbreak of Hostilities is a 1981 Australian film set prior to the beginning of World War II.


Andrea Parhamovich

Andrea Suzanne Parhamovich (June 16, 1978 – January 17, 2007) was a National Democratic Institute employee killed in Baghdad, Iraq, when her convoy was ambushed as she was returning from teaching a class on democracy.
Career.
Parhamovich was born in Perry, Ohio, and graduated from Marietta College. She pursued a career in political communication with the office of the governor of Massachusetts and the International Republican Institute in Iraq before joining the staff of NDI in 2006.
After her death in Baghdad, she was the subject of the book "I Lost My Love in Baghdad: A Modern War Story", written by her fiancé, "Newsweek" reporter Michael Hastings.
Commemoration.
The Vermont General Assembly passed a resolution commemorating Parhamovich's actions in Iraq. Magdy Martinez, executive head of the United Nations Democracy Fund, honored Parhamovich's legacy in a message of condolence.
The Andi Foundation was established in her honor to fund college scholarships and access to internship opportunities in politics and media. The Foundation operates the Andi Leadership Institute, which provides annual leadership training for women in conflict zones.


Cliff Spink

Air Marshal Clifford Rodney Spink, (born 17 May 1946) is a retired senior Royal Air Force officer, who is now a Spitfire display pilot on the national air display circuit. The first Spitfire he ever flew belonged to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, during his tenure as Station Commander of RAF Coningsby. He also served as the 23rd Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps, the last but one officer to hold the post.
Royal Air Force career.
Spink joined the Royal Air Force in the spring of 1963 with the 104th entry of the Aircraft Apprentice Scheme at No. 1 School of Technical Training, RAF Halton. On passing out of Halton, in the spring of 1966, in the rank of Sgt Aircraft Apprentice, he was granted a flying commission at the RAF College Cranwell, and initially learned to fly on the Jet Provost. Later training took place on the Gnat and the Hunter, before Spink was posted to his first productive tour on No. 111 Squadron flying the Lightning. Spink was later posted to No. 56 Squadron in Cyprus before returning to No. 111 Squadron.
Spink served as the Commanding Officer of No. 74 Squadron before being posted to the South Atlantic in 1989 as the Officer Commanding RAF Mount Pleasant on the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. In 1990 Spink underwent conversion training to the Tornado before becoming Station Commander at RAF Coningsby. In 1991 Spink served as the RAF's Tornado Detachment Commander during the first Gulf War. After attending the Royal College of Defence Studies, he became Senior Air Staff Officer of No. 11 Group in March 1993, Chief of Staff of No. 18 Group in 1995 and Air Officer Commanding No. 11/18 Group in 1996.
Spink also served as the last but one Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps, from 1993 until 1995. Spink remains the honorary President of the Royal Observer Corps Association. He is a Vice-Patron of the Royal Air Force Halton Apprentices Association Old Haltonians.
Since the RAF.
Spink currently flies a restored Spitfire XVIe TD248. This is a former "gate guardian" from RAF Sealand which was rebuilt by Historic Flying Limited about 15 years ago. It initially appeared in a postwar No. 41 Squadron colour scheme but it has recently been repainted in wartime colours with the personal markings 'CR-S'. Since retiring from the RAF he has formed his own Company, "Spitfire Limited", dealing in a range of aviation interests.


Once There Was a War

Once There Was a War, published in 1958, is a collection of articles written by John Steinbeck while he was a special war correspondent for the "New York Herald Tribune" from June to December 1943.
Steinbeck's articles include descriptions of life on a troop transporter, an account of the liberation of a small Sicilian town, a description of how homesick US soldiers tried to grow their native vegetables in the English gardens where they billeted, and an account of how a detachment of US paratroopers tricked the German garrison at Ventotene into surrendering.
Steinbeck did not report 'straight news', as he put it: he did not cover battles, or interview national or military leaders. As befitted the author of "The Grapes of Wrath", Steinbeck wrote about the experiences of the ordinary people, those who were doing the actual fighting, and those who did the vast number of unglamorous but vital support jobs which kept the armed forces operating.
In his Introduction, Steinbeck confesses that he felt 'a visitor' to the war, and was uncomfortable knowing that he could go home at any time, while the serving personnel could not. For this reason, he said, 'I never admitted to seeing anything myself, but always put my story in the mouth of another.' How much of his reporting is therefore of the 'eyewitness' class cannot be determined. For example, his descriptions of American and British torpedo boats in action against German forces seem like first-hand accounts, yet he nowhere refers to himself as present, despite his inclusion of convincing dialogue and detail. However, in his "Travels with Charley", Steinbeck mentions wearing a naval officer's cap, 'Given me by a British torpedo boat captain, a very gentle gentleman and a murderer,' which phrase suggests that Steinbeck may well have observed action at first hand.


Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is the central bank of Zimbabwe headquartered in the capital city of Zimbabwe, Harare.
History.
The bank traces its history to the Reserve Bank of Rhodesia, founded on 22 May 1964, but which succeeded the Bank of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1956-1963) which had been liquidated at the collapse of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1963. Prior to 1956, there was a Central African Currency Board from 1953, but which had been established as the Southern Rhodesia Currency Board in 1938 to provide Rhodesian currency, fully backed and bound to the British pound sterling at par face value. The local currency which this Board was mandated to supply to Southern Rhodesia (colonial Zimbabwe), Northern Rhodesia (colonial Zambia) and Nyasaland (colonial Malawi) had been established through the Southern Rhodesia Coinage and Currency Act of 1932. The Reserve Bank of Rhodesia (which became the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe at independence in 1980) has continued to function, and has grown in operations and staff, through a variety of changes in sovereignty and governmental structure in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe. For over 4 decades the RBZ operated from the Reserve Bank Building along Samora Machel Avenue (formerly Jameson Avenue) adjacent to First Street. In the late 1980s a competition was conducted to design the new building and the winning design was by Clinton & Evans and Architects, the engineer was Marjem Chatterton; they went on to design the Reserve Bank of Malawi Building as well. Construction of the new RBZ building began in 1993 and was fully completed in 1997 but was officially opened by President Robert Mugabe on May 31, 1996. The building is the tallest in Zimbabwe standing at a height of 394 feet with 28 floors above ground.
Governors of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
The Governor is appointed by the President of Zimbabwe for renewable five-year-terms.
Structure.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act provides for a board of directors and a governor. The governor, assisted by three deputy governors, is responsible for the day-to-day administration and operations of the bank. The current governor is John Panonetsa Mangudya. The governor and his three deputies are appointed by the president for five-year terms that may be renewed. The governor also serves as chairman of the board. The board's membership includes the three deputies and a maximum of seven other non-executive directors, intended to represent key sectors of the economy.
Operations.
The Reserve Bank's most important role is to create and enact monetary policies. According to the bank's website, as the only producer of Zimbabwe's bank notes and coins, it regulates the amount of money in circulation. However, since a range of foreign currencies is currently in use for domestic transactions, the bank's ability to control money supply is limited. The Reserve Bank also looks after the country's gold, as well as purchase and refine precious minerals like diamonds, gold and silver through its subsidiary Fidelity Printers and Refinery. The bank serves as an advisor to the government, providing the government with daily banking services. It is also active in promoting financial inclusion policy and is a member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion.
Relevancy.
Due to the unstable economic conditions and failure to control inflation (2008), economists have suggested that the Reserve Bank be abolished. Some economists have suggested that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe be reformed. Legislation in 2008 was debated in the lower house of the Zimbabwean parliament with a view to limiting the so-called quasi-fiscal activities of the Reserve Bank.Alliance for Financial Inclusion.


Athens News

Athens News was an English-language newspaper published in Greece. The paper had regular sections covering aspects of Greek news such as politics, social issues, business, arts & entertainment and sports, as well as international news. Features included analysis of domestic and foreign affairs by leading academics and experts, humour columns and reader contributions. During the dictatorship, "Athens News" was a leading voice against the junta, and its publisher Yannis Horn was jailed and threatened by the dictators.
History.
"Athens News" was founded by Yannis Horn, brother of Dimitris Horn, and first appeared on 29 January 1952. It closed down permanently in March 2013, after a long period of economic problems, making it a victim of the Greek crisis.
In 1993, "Athens News" was redesigned and revamped when it was acquired by the Lambrakis Foundation, a non-profit research centre specialising in education. As such, it formed part of the Lambrakis Press Group.
It was the first Greek newspaper to be published on the internet - an online edition appeared in 1995.
In 2001, after 49 years as a daily, the "Athens News" became a weekly, appearing on Fridays.
In October 2008, the paper was acquired by Myenpi Publishing.
History against the dictatorship.
In October 1971, Athens News publisher Yannis Horn was arrested and jailed for writing an article against the junta after a visit to Athens by US vice-president Spiro Agnew. The title of the article was "Βόμβες και επιστρατευμένοι μαθητές υποδέχονται τον Άγκνιου" (Bombs and recruited students greet Agnew).
In 1973, Horn published an article under the title "Η πολιτική κατάσταση στην Ελλάδα σήμερα" (The political situation in Greece today). The article was written in Chinese. Horn did not speak Chinese, but he copied a random article from a Chinese newspaper that he had seen that day, and he changed his Greek name "Yannis Horn" to its pseudo-Chinese version "Ya – nih orn". He was arrested for the publication of the article, and was told by a junta official that if he were ever to be caught again [by the junta official] he would be converted to soap. Yannis Horn did not know the meaning of the Chinese text that he put on the front cover of his newspaper, so he went to a Chinese restaurant in Athens and asked the owner to translate it for him. The owner, however, was a Chinese-American and told Horn that he did not understand Chinese. It was later that Horn found out that the text was not from mainland China, but from a nationalist newspaper published in Taiwan.
In April 1973, "Athens News", along with "Bradini", and "Thessaloniki", were the only newspapers in Greece to publish comments by Konstantinos Karamanlis criticising the dictatoship. The editions of all three newspapers were confiscated by the dictators.
Reception.
"Athens News" has been described as "The main English-language newspaper, available in most resorts, is the Athens News (weekly every Friday, online at ®www.athensnews .gr; €2.50), in colour with good features and Balkan news, plus entertainment and arts listings.". "Athens News" has been described as a "historic newspaper", and as "having written its own history [in the annals] of the Greek Press".
Rough Guides writes: "The online edition of the Athens News, Greece's longest-running, quality English-language newspaper with the city's top shows." and "By far the best of the English language newspapers is the four-colour Athens news (daily except Monday online at athensnews.gr).
It has been described as "The main English-language newspaper, available in most resorts, is the Athens News (weekly every Friday, online at ®www.athensnews .gr; €2.50), in colour with good features and Balkan news, plus entertainment and arts listings.".
Rough guides to Europe describes it as a " Useful and literate English-language daily". while in the book "Transitions" it is mentioned that: "Greece and the Mediterranean English-language newspapers such as The Athens News (www.athensnews.gr) and The Portugal News (www.tlie-news.net) may be helpful sources of job vacancies." "Athens News" is also cited in academic publications and books.
Journalists and articles.
Articles and the journalists who wrote them for "Athens News" include:
Cessation of print and websites.
Since November 2012, Athens News has ceased operating, both the print edition and the website.
The blog for Athens News was declared defunct on December 26, 2010, but had evidently been defunct since some time in 2009. As of April, 2013, the website still existed, but simply displayed a logo for the newspaper (and was apparently otherwise defunct, but not vacant).


Anglican Diocese of Harare

The Anglican Diocese of Harare is a diocese of the Church of the Province of Central Africa. The Anglican Diocese of Mashonaland was formed in 1891 and its first bishop was George Knight-Bruce. He was succeeded by William Gaul (1895–1907), formerly Rector of St Cyprian's Church in Kimberley, Northern Cape. Small in stature, Gaul styled himself “the smallest bishop with the largest Diocese in Christendom.” In 1915 the diocese became the Diocese of Southern Rhodesia until 1952 when it reverted to the Diocese of Mashonaland. The diocese was known as the Diocese of Harare and Mashonaland, until changing his name to Diocese of Harare. It has experienced great turbulence in recent times.
The bishop's seat is at the Cathedral of St Mary and All Saints, Harare.


Yunnan Province, Republic of China

Yunnan () refers to the former province of the Republic of China controlling Yunnan. It was one of the 22 provinces set up during the Qing Dynasty. As one of the 6 provinces in South China, the territory it administers was slightly larger than the present-day Yunnan Province.
Administration.
The province inherited the borders of the Qing-Dynasty province, bordering Sikang, Szechwan, Kweichow, Kwanghsi, and the countries Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and India. The claimed boundaries of the province included all of today's Yunnan and parts of Panzhihua, Sichuan and Myanmar. The province had an area of 420,465 km2.
History.
Following the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, Yunnan came under the control of local warlords, who had more than the usual degree of autonomy due to Yunnan's remoteness. They financed their regime through opium harvesting and traffic.
Cai E is regarded as the founder of the Yunnan clique when at the request of Liang Qichao in 1915, he declared Yunnan's opposition to Yuan Shikai's monarchy. Cai died from natural causes shortly after the successful National Protection War. His chief lieutenant, Tang Jiyao, took over Yunnan and demanded that the National Assembly be restored. When this was accomplished, Yunnan officially reunified with the national government but kept its provincial army separate due to the Beiyang Army's grip in Beijing politics. In 1927, Long Yun seized control of the clique; Tang died shortly after. Long then re-aligned Yunnan under the Nationalist government in Nanjing but stringently guarded the province's autonomy.
In Second Sino-Japanese War, Yunnan served as, among other things, a home base for the Flying Tigers. The Burma Road was constructed, along which supplies travelled into the province and then into the heart of China. In 1942 the Chinese Expeditionary Force entered Burma to fight with the British against the Japanese invasion, eventually fighting to a standstill across the Nu River for 2 years. The province was also a refuge for people, especially university faculty and students, from the east. These had originally retreated to Changsha, but as the Japanese forces were gaining more territory they eventually bombed Changsha in February 1938. The 800 staff faculty and students who were left had to flee and made the 1,000 mile journey to Kunming. It was here that the National Southwest Associated University (commonly known as Lianda) was established. In these extraordinary wartime circumstances for eight years, staff, professors and students had to survive and operate in makeshift quarters that were subject to sporadic bombing campaigns by Japan. There were dire shortages of food, equipment, books, clothing and other essential needs, but they did manage to conduct the running of a modern university. Over those eight years of war (1937-1945), Lianda became famous nationwide for having and producing many, if not most, of China's most prominent academics, scholars, scientists and intellectuals. Both of China's only Nobel laureates in physics studied at Lianda.
After the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Long was removed from office. During the Chinese Civil War, Nationalist forces retreated to the southwest provinces of Szechwan, Sikang, and Yunnan. In 9 December 1949, Chairperson of the Provincial Government Lu Han defected to the Communists and most of the Nationalist troops were defeated in the province. Remnants of the Nationalist forces, led by Li Mi and using Mong Hsat as a base, engaged in guerrilla warfare against the Communists, briefly capturing parts of Yunnan territory. In 1951 the provincial government in exile was dissolved and in 1954, Li Mi's remaining troops retreated to Taiwan.