Makiko Tanaka

 is a Japanese politician. She is the daughter of former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and his official wife Hana.
Early life.
Tanaka attended high school at Germantown Friends School in the United States and graduated from Waseda University. She spent most of her early adulthood working with her father's political machine Etsuzankai, and was first lady to her father since her mother, Hana, was absent due to long-standing illness. She was elected to the Lower House in 1993, shortly after her father's death.
Career.
Tanaka was the first female foreign minister of Japan, from April 2001 to January 2002, but was fired from the cabinet after making remarks critical of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Later that year, she was expelled from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and barred from party membership for two years.
In August 2002, Tanaka resigned from the Diet after allegations that she had embezzled her secretaries' civil service salaries. A Tokyo court cleared her in September, and she ran for the Diet again as an independent in November 2003.
Her husband Naoki Suzuki, whom she married in 1969 was adopted as an adult into her family, because she has no brothers to carry on the family name.
In August 2009, Tanaka and her husband joined the opposition Democratic Party of Japan. In September 2009 she became the Diet chairperson of the Committee on Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. In September 2011 she became the Diet chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. On October 1, 2012, she became Minister of Education, Culture, Science, Sports, and Technology, as part of a reshuffle of the Yoshihiko Noda Cabinet.
On November 2, 2012 she denied applications for three new universities, contradicting a report the previous day that had endorsed the establishment of the universities. It had been 30 years since a minister had contradicted the ministry in such a way. This sparked a large amount of criticism and after pressure from within the DPJ she reversed her decision and approved the applications.
She lost her seat in the December 16, 2012 general election. She left office on 26 December 2012.


Yuyuan Tourist Mart

Shanghai Yuyuan Tourist Mart Co., Ltd. is the largest retailing conglomerate in China.
The company has presence in a variety of business sectors such as department stores and entertainment shops in Yuyuan Garden, Shanghai, the sales of gold, jade and other jewelry, food and beverages, Chinese pharmaceutical products, souvenirs, antiques, arts and crafts, the provision of property development, property management, import and export trading.
As at 19 November 2016, Yuyuan Tourist Mart is a constituent of SSE 180 Index.
History.
Yuyuan Tourist Mart was formerly Yuyuan Shopping Mall, which was not a company but an administrative organization to manage the shops in Yuyuan Garden. In 1980s, some of the shops in there were integrated to form an enterprise. In 1987, Yuyuan Shopping Mall was approved to become the first commercial holding company in Shanghai. In 1988, its shares were listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and it was the first listed commercial holding company in China. In 1992, to unify the operations and management of the shopping mall, Shanghai Yuyuan Tourist Mart Co., Ltd. was established and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange to replace the old listed company.
Shareholders.
In 2002, a consortium of Fosun High Technology (90%) and its major shareholder Guangxin Technology ( for 10%), acquired 20% of shares of Yuyuan Tourist Mart and became the largest shareholder. Fosun High Technology's parent company became Fosun International some time later, as well as Fosun High Technology acquired the 10% stake from Guangxin Technology.


Havas

Havas SA is a French multinational advertising and public relations company, headquartered in Paris, France. It operates in more than 100 countries and is one of the largest global advertising and communications groups in the world. Havas consists of three main operational divisions:
The Group offers a broad range of communications services, including digital, advertising, direct marketing, media planning and buying, corporate communications, sales promotion, design, human resources, sports marketing, multimedia interactive communications, public relations and innovation consulting (Havas Blockchain).
History.
The original Havas was the first French news agency, created in 1835. The Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency comes from it. Havas was acquired by Vivendi in 1998, and renamed Vivendi Universal Publishing. VUP in turn merged with Lagardere to become Editis in 2004.
The company which today bears the name Havas is itself a former subsidiary of the company which acquired the rights to the name in 2002. It is a holding company headquartered in Puteaux, Paris.
French corporate raider Vincent Bolloré, through his holding company the Bolloré Group, is the main shareholder, controlling 32.84% of the share capital as of 7 May 2012. Bolloré himself took over the chairmanship of the Havas board ("Président du conseil d'administration"). In November 2017, Havas acquired Malaysia-based agency Immerse and rebranded to Havas Immerse.
Timeline.
Havas is the family name of Charles-Louis Havas. He created the first French press agency in 1835.
Havas Conseil – Havas Advertising.
By 1968, Havas had become a diversified group which had, "inter alia", media interests. These interests were incorporated into a "société anonyme", Havas Conseil S.A., which expanded its business rapidly.
In 1975, Havas Conseil became Eurocom, holding company of a Group of subsidiaries specializing in various communications activities.
Since the 1970s, the Group grew significantly in France and internationally, both in the communications and media buying sectors, by broadening the scope of services that it offers and expanding into new communications techniques and technologies.
Havas was first listed on the Paris Bourse (now the Euronext Paris) in 1982. The principal milestones in the Group's strategic development are the following:
In 1991, Eurocom acquired the French advertising group RSCG, leading to the creation of the Euro RSCG Worldwide advertising network. RSCG had been the lead advertising agency for Peugeot. In 1996, Eurocom changed its name to Havas Advertising and created four operating divisions, Euro RSCG, Campus, Diversified Agencies, and Médiapolis. American Bob Schmetterer is named chairman and CEO of the largest division Euro RSCG, whose headquarters are moved to New York in 1997.
In 1998, Compagnie Générale des Eaux, led by Jean-Marie Messier, changed its name to "Vivendi" and acquired control of Havas (and its subsidiary Havas Advertising); it acquired a third of Havas in February 1997, and the remainder in March 1998 in a deal that valued the company at €6 billion (£4.05 billion). Vivendi later considered its advertising and communications interests no longer strategic.
Between 1998 and 2001, late in the wave of consolidation within the advertising/communications sector, Havas Advertising adopted an aggressive acquisition strategy in order not to become a takeover target following its independence from Havas. In order to become a bigger and more global player, it acquired MPG and Snyder, as well as around one hundred specialized agencies in America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. This strategy was criticised by Maurice Levy as "reckless."
"Media Planning Group" was created in 1999 through the combination of Media Planning, S.A., a Spanish media planning and buying company controlled by Léopoldo Rodés Castañes and his family, with Médiapolis, the existing Havas media planning business. Havas initially acquired 45% of MPG, which was increased to 100% in May 2001.
Snyder Communications Inc..
On 4 April 2000, at the height of the M&A frenzy, Havas Advertising agreed to acquire Snyder Communications, Inc. (SNC) in an all-share transaction, where SNC was valued at US$2.1 billion.
SNC was a listed communications group controlled by Daniel Snyder, and their activities were mainly outsourced marketing services, such as direct marketing, database marketing, proprietary product sampling, sponsored information display in prime locations, call centres, field sales. Just prior to the takeover, the market capitalisation of SNC was just US$1.3 billion. As part of the SNC deal, Havas Advertising listed American Depositary Shares (ADSs) on the NASDAQ National Market System. The deal was completed on 25 September; the stake belonging to Vivendi was diluted to 40% following the acquisition. The sale provided Snyder with funds he used to acquire the Washington Redskins team and their stadium for $800 million in May 1999, in what was at the time a record price for a US sports franchise.
SNC's three divisions: Bounty SCA Worldwide, Arnold Communications and Brann Worldwide were respectively merged with Euro RSCG, Campus, and Diversified Agencies. Arnold Communications becomes Havas' second network, Arnold Worldwide Partners.
Havas S.A..
In 2000, Havas the parent company decided to rename itself Vivendi Universal Publishing and to divest itself of its remaining stake in the Havas Advertising business. The Havas Advertising board decided to acquire the Havas name from its parent, and the decision was approved by the annual shareholders meeting held on 23 May 2002.
In September 2003, the group reorganized itself, as agencies from the Diversified Agencies division were sold or absorbed into three core divisions:Euro RSCG Worldwide (integrated communications); MPG (Media planning and buying) and Arnold Worldwide Partners (advertising). In July 2004, after having completed its strategic reorganization, Bolloré Group started acquiring a stake in Havas. In October, the Company completed a €404 million capital increase which enabled it to reduce its overall debt levels.
By 2005, Bolloré had amassed a 22% stake, obtained 4 seats on the Havas board at the shareholders meeting, and took control of the company. Chairman and CEO Alain de Pouzilhac was deposed in a boardroom coup on 21 June 2005. Other board and management level changes followed. The board appointed independent non-executive director Richard Colker as interim CEO. On 12 July 2005, Havas named Vincent Bolloré as board chairman, and veteran banker Philippe Wahl as chief executive officer. In March 2006, Havas named Fernando Rodés Vilà, son of the founder of Media Planning S.A. Leopoldo Rodés Castañes, as its new CEO.
Havas remained listed on Euronext, but delisted from the NASDAQ stock exchange as of 28 July 2006.
In March 2015, the group’s main shareholder Bollore S.A sold a 22.5 percent stake in the firm for around €600 million, but announced it intended to remain a majority shareholder.
Services.
Havas is a media holding company, whose subsidiaries provide communication consulting services, through traditional advertising media (television, radio and print and display), to media buying, and various marketing services such as advertising management, direct marketing, sales promotion, corporate communications, blockchain and ICO marketing, healthcare communications, internal communications, Television sponsorship, design, human resources communications and interactive communications.
Attempting to be perceived by clients and potential clients as "more entrepreneurial and more agile", Havas adopted a new structure in late 2012. The agency network once known as Euro RSCG was rebranded 'Havas Worldwide', much like their compatriots Publicis and their network, named 'Publicis Worldwide'. Other advertising agencies owned by Havas, such as Arnold Worldwide are rebranded 'Havas Creative'; the media division remains as 'Havas Media'. Havas created an umbrella brand, Havas Digital Group, to operate across the Creative and Media divisions.
Case against former directors.
Holding 22.01% of the share capital of Havas, on 21 June 2005, Bolloré ousted CEO Alain de Pouzilhac. Havas then dismissed Hérail for gross negligence; vice-chairman Alain Cayzac and others close to de Pouzilhac were also relieved of their services. Alain de Pouzilhac took Havas to court to seek unblocking of payment for non-compete that Havas had been withholding; civil cases were also launched by both for severance pay – a total of ten cases (including appeals) involving de Pouzilhac, four involving Hérail. Payment for de Pouzilhac's non-compete clause was upheld. Hérail and former Havas executives Alain Cayzac and Agnès Audier won at the labour tribunal, where Hérail was granted damages of close to €5 million.
Since the boardroom coup, Bolloré had consolidated control by further increasing his stake, which stood at 37% as of November 2012. Havas seized the Nanterre criminal court on 15 May 2007, and again in August and November 2007 to initiate three cases against de Pouzilhac, Hérail and Cayzac, accusing them of "conspiracy, misappropriating from the company, and attempting to cover up". Havas alleged that the three directors had signed new employment contracts during the takeover that gave them generous golden parachutes in the likely event of their removal. Also, de Pouzilhac was accused of conspiring with Hérail to grant payment of €300,000 to fellow director Thierry Meyer. The preliminary inquiry into the charges under public prosecutor Philippe Courroye lasted three years, during which time the accused were given either sporadic or no access to evidence for their defence, contrary to the legal requirements.
"The Tribunal took the view that the criminal proceedings had not complied with proper procedures, nor with the European Convention on Human Rights. The Nanterre Court said that specifically, the provisions of this Convention relating in particular to access to the case file, the personal assistance of counsel during the investigation and the balance between the parties had not been met. In its decision, the Court considered that, given the weight and complexity of the case, which had 700 items - a preliminary investigation was not the most appropriate way of proceeding. Instead, the case should have been by instruction, which allows adversarial examination."
The criminal court of Nanterre dismissed the last of these cases in November 2012, citing "the lack of equity and violation of the rights of the defence". Olivier Metzner and Olivier Bluche, lawyers for Alain de Pouzilhac and Jacques Hérail, criticised Vincent Bolloré for exploiting his close connection with Philippe Courroye, public prosecutor for Nanterre, to launch the case.


David Scholey

Sir David Gerald Scholey (born 28 June 1935) is a British merchant banker. He is the former chairman and chief executive of S. G. Warburg and was a director of the Bank of England from 1981 to 1998. He is a former governor of the BBC, and a former chairman of the board of trustees of the National Portrait Gallery.
Early life.
Scholey was born in Surrey, the son of Dudley Scholey and Lois Hammon. He was educated at Wellington College and Christ Church, Oxford.
Career.
Scholey is the former chairman and chief executive of S. G. Warburg. He was a director of the Bank of England from 1981 to 1998. He is a former governor of the BBC, and a former chairman of the board of trustees of the National Portrait Gallery (2001-05). He was non-executive deputy chairman of Anglo American from 1999 to 2001 and has been a director of Sainsbury's Bank.
Scholey was widely condemned as a "douchebag" after media reports confirmed that he paid a large amount of money to participate in a "canned trophy hunt" in which he shot and killed a lion in Africa. Animal rights activists described his actions as "selfish and sadistic."
Personal life.
Scholey married Alexandra Beatrix Drew, daughter of Hon. George Drew, and has a son, Christopher, and daughter, Fiorenza.


Charles Konan Banny

Charles Konan Banny (born 11 November 1940) was Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from 7 December 2005 until 4 April 2007.
Life and career.
Banny joined the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) in 1976, holding various positions in the Bank over the years. In 1988 he became Special Advisor to the Governor of BCEAO. After BCEAO Governor Alassane Ouattara became Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire, Banny was appointed Interim Governor on 4 December 1990. On 22 December 1993, he was appointed Governor, formally taking the position on 1 January 1994. He was reappointed for another six-year term as Governor on 17 June 1999, with the term beginning on 1 January 2000.
Banny's selection to replace Seydou Diarra as transitional Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire was announced on 5 December 2005. His term was expected to end in October 2006, when national elections were to be held; however, elections were not held by the deadline, and the term of President Laurent Gbagbo was extended for another year, with Banny's powers increased during that period.
Because of his selection as prime minister, Banny was barred from running for the office of President of Côte d'Ivoire. Following a peace deal in March 2007, New Forces leader Guillaume Soro was appointed as Prime Minister at the end of the month, and he took over from Banny on 4 April.
Banny also held the position of Minister of Economy and Finance from December 2005 to April 2007.


Peder Griffenfeld

Count Peder Griffenfeld (before ennoblement Peder Schumacher) (24 August 1635 – 12 March 1699) was a Danish statesman and royal favourite. He became the principal adviser to King Christian V of Denmark from 1670 and the "de facto" ruler of the dual kingdom of Denmark-Norway in the first half of the 1670s. In 1673 he was appointed as Chancellor of Denmark, elevated to count, the highest aristocratic rank in Denmark-Norway, and received the Order of the Elephant, the country's highest order. At the behest of his enemies at court, Griffenfeld was arrested in early 1676 and convicted of treason, a charge that historians agree was false. He was imprisoned for 22 years, mainly at Munkholmen in Norway.
Early years.
Born at Copenhagen into a wealthy trading family connected with the leading civic, clerical and learned circles in the Danish capital, he was prepared for university (at the age of ten) by
Jens Vorde. Vorde praises his extraordinary gifts, his mastery of the classical languages and his unnerving diligence. The brilliance he showed in his preliminary examination won him the friendship of the examiner, Bishop Jesper Brochmand, at whose palace he first met King Frederick III of Denmark. The king was struck with Schumacher; and Brokman, proud of his pupil, made him translate a chapter from a Hebrew Bible first into Latin and then into Danish, for the entertainment of the scholarly monarch.
In 1654 young Schumacher went abroad for eight years, to complete his education. From Germany he proceeded to the Netherlands, staying at Leiden, Utrecht and Amsterdam, and passing in 1657 to Queen's College, Oxford, where he spent three years. The epoch-making events that occurred in England while he was at Oxford profoundly interested him. Coinciding with the Revolution in Denmark, which threw open a career to the middle classes, it convinced him that his future was in politics. In the autumn of 1660 Schumacher visited Paris, shortly after Mazarin's death, when the young Louis XIV of France first seized the reins of power. Schumacher seems to have been profoundly impressed by the administrative superiority of a strong centralised monarchy in the hands of an energetic monarch who knew his own mind; and, in politics, as in manners, France ever afterwards was his model. The last year of his travels was spent in Spain, where he obtained a thorough knowledge of the Castilian language and literature. He is said to have brought home easy morals as well as exquisite manners.
Career.
On his return to Copenhagen, in 1662, Schumacher found the monarchy established on the ruins of the aristocracy, and eager to buy the services of every man of the middle classes who had superior talents to offer. The young adventurer contrived to secure the protection of Kristoffer Gabel, the king's confidant, and in 1663 was appointed the royal librarian. A romantic friendship with the king's bastard, Count Ulric Frederick Gyldenløve, consolidated his position. In 1665 Schumacher obtained his first political post as the king's secretary, and the same year composed the memorable King's Law (Lex Regia). He was now a personage at court, where he won many over by his amiability and gaiety; and in political matters also his influence was beginning to be felt. During these years, he had a notorious love affair with Mette Trolle
On the death of Frederick III (9 February 1670) Schumacher was the most trusted of all the royal counsellors. He alone was aware of the existence of the new throne of walrus ivory embellished with three silver life-size lions, and of the new regalia, both of which treasures he had, by the king's command, concealed in a vault beneath the royal castle. Frederick III had also confided to him a sealed packet containing the King's Law, which was to be delivered to his successor alone. Schumacher had been recommended to his son by Frederick III on his death-bed. "Make him a great man, but do it slowly," said Frederick, who thoroughly understood the characters of his son and of his minister. Christian V was, moreover, deeply impressed by the confidence which his father had ever shown to Schumacher. When, on 9 February 1670, Schumacher delivered the King's Law to Christian V, the king bade all those about him withdraw, and after being closeted a good hour with Schumacher appointed him his "Obergeheimesekreter".
His promotion was rapid. In May 1670 he received the titles of excellency and privy councillor; in July of the same year he was ennobled under the name of Griffenfeld, deriving his title from the gold griffin with outspread wings which surmounted his escutcheon; in November 1673 he was created a count, a knight of the Order of the Elephant and, finally, imperial chancellor in the course of the next few months he gathered into his hands every branch of the government: he had reached the "apogée" of his short-lived greatness.
He had captivated the accomplished Frederick III by his literary graces and ingenious speculations; he won over the obtuse and ignorant Christian V by saving him trouble, by acting and thinking for him, and whilst making him believe that he was thinking and acting for himself. Moreover, his commanding qualities were coupled with an organizing talent which made itself felt in every department of the state, and with a marvellous adaptability which made him a great diplomat.
On 25 May 1671 the dignities of count and baron were introduced into Denmark; a few months later the Order of the Dannebrog was instituted as a fresh means of winning adherents by marks of favour.
Griffenfeld was the originator of these new institutions. To him monarchy was the ideal form of government. But he had also a political object. The aristocracy of birth, despite its reverses, still remained the elite of society; and Griffenfeld, the son of a burgess, was its most determined enemy. The new baronies and countships, owing their existence entirely to the crown, introduced a strong solvent into aristocratic circles. Griffenfeld saw that, in future, the first at court would be the first everywhere. Much was also done to promote trade and industry, notably by the revival of the Kammer Kollegium, or board of trade, and the abolition of some of the most harmful monopolies. Both the higher and the provincial administrations were thoroughly reformed with the view of
making them more centralized and efficient; and the positions and duties of the various magistrates, who now also received fixed salaries, were for the first time exactly defined. But what Griffenfeld could create, Griffenfeld could dispense with, and it was not long before he began to encroach upon the jurisdiction of the new departments of state by private conferences with their chiefs. Nevertheless, it is indisputable that, under the single direction of this mastermind, the Danish state was now able, for a time, to utilize all its resources as it had never done before.
In the last three years of his administration, Griffenfeld gave himself entirely to the conduct of the foreign policy of Denmark. It is difficult to form a clear idea of this, first, because his influence was perpetually traversed by opposite tendencies; in the second place, because the force of circumstances compelled him, again and again, to shift his standpoint; and finally because personal considerations largely intermingled with his foreign policy, and made it more elusive and ambiguous than it need have been. Briefly, Griffenfeld aimed at restoring Denmark to the rank of a great power. He proposed to accomplish this by carefully nursing her resources, and in the meantime securing and enriching her by alliances, which would bring in large subsidies while imposing a minimum of obligations. Such a conditional and tentative policy, in a period of universal tension and turmoil, was most difficult; but Griffenfeld did not regard it as impossible.
The first demand of such a policy was peace, especially peace with Denmark's most dangerous neighbour, Sweden. The second postulate was a sound financial basis, which he expected the wealth of France to supply in the shape of subsidies to be spent on armaments. Above all things Denmark was to beware of making enemies of France and Sweden at the same time. An alliance, on fairly equal terms, between the three powers, would, in these circumstances, be the consummation of Griffenfeld's system; an alliance with France to the exclusion of Sweden would be the next best policy; but an alliance between France and Sweden, without the admission of Denmark, was to be avoided at all hazards. Had Griffenfeld's policy succeeded, Denmark might have recovered her ancient possessions to the south and east comparatively cheaply. But again and again he was overruled. Despite his open protests and subterraneous counter-mining, war was actually declared against Sweden in 1675, and his subsequent policy seemed so obscure and hazardous to those who did not possess the clue to the perhaps purposely tangled skein, that the numerous enemies whom his arrogance and superciliousness had raised up against him, resolved to destroy him.
Trial.
On 11 March 1676, while on his way to the royal apartments, Griffenfeld was arrested in the king's name and taken to the citadel, a prisoner of state. A minute scrutiny of his papers, lasting nearly six weeks, revealed nothing treasonable; but it provided the enemies of the fallen statesman with a deadly weapon against him in the shape of an entry in his private diary, in which he had imprudently noted that on one occasion Christian V in a conversation with a foreign ambassador had spoken like a child. On 3 May, Griffenfeld was tried not by the usual tribunal, in such cases the "Højesteret", or supreme court, but by an extraordinary tribunal of 10 dignitaries, none of whom was particularly well disposed towards the accused. Griffenfeld, who was charged with simony, bribery, oath-breaking, malversation and "lèse-majesté", conducted his own defence under every imaginable difficulty.
For forty-six days before his trial he had been closely confined in a dungeon, without lights, books or writing materials. Every legal assistance was illegally denied him. Nevertheless, he proved more than a match for the prosecution. Finally, he was condemned to degradation and decapitation; though one of the ten judges not only refused to sign the sentence, but remonstrated in private with the king against its injustice. The primary offence of the ex-chancellor was the taking of bribes, which no twisting of the law could convert into a capital offence, while the charge of treason had not been substantiated.
Griffenfeld was pardoned on the scaffold, at the very moment when the axe was about to descend. On hearing that the sentence was commuted to lifelong imprisonment, he declared that the pardon was harder than the punishment, and vainly petitioned for leave to serve his king for the rest of his life as a common soldier. For the next twenty-two years Denmark's greatest statesman was a lonely prisoner, first in the fortress of Copenhagen, and finally at Munkholmen on Trondhjem fjord, where he died. Griffenfeld had married Kitty Nansen, the granddaughter of the great Burgomaster Hans Nansen, who brought him half a million rixdollars. She died in 1672, after bearing him a daughter. Griffenfeld and his wife are both buried at Vær Kirke in Århus Diocese
Griffenfeldsgade, a street in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, as well as Griffenfeld Island in Southeast Greenland, were named after him.


Norodom Buppha Devi

Norodom Buppha Devi ( ; 8 January 1943 – 18 November 2019) was a Cambodian princess, dancer, director of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, senator, and Minister of Culture and Fine Arts. She was the daughter of Norodom Sihanouk and the late Neak Moneang Phat Kanhol, the elder sister of Prince Norodom Ranariddh, and a half-sibling of the current King of Cambodia, Norodom Sihamoni. Her official title was Her Royal Highness Samdech Reach Botrei Preah Ream Norodom Buppha Devi ().
Name.
Buppha Devi derives from Pali words "puppha" (បុប្ផា), meaning flower, and "devi" (ទេវី), meaning goddess. The name is also romanised as "Bopha Devi" or "Bophadevi".
Life and career.
Buppha Devi finished her high school education at Lycée Preah Norodom in Phnom Penh. As a young princess, her grandmother, Queen Sisowath Kossamak, chose her to become a dancer early in her life. At the age of 15, she became the premier dancer of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia. At the age of 18, she was granted the title of "prima ballerina".
She then toured the world as the principal dancer of the Royal Ballet with Queen Kossamak, performing in public. In the past the ballet had been performed only before royalty to commemorate their dynastic ancestors and to honour the gods. For her dancing ability, her father Norodom Sihanouk cast her in his first feature-length film "Apsara" in 1966.
Buppha Devi served as Deputy Minister of Culture and Fine Arts from 1991–1993, she was advisor to the Royal Government in charge of Culture and Fine Arts from 1993–1998, she was Vice President of the Cambodian Red Cross from 1993–1997, she was President of the Cambodian-Chinese Association in the year 2000, and served in Prime Minister Hun Sen's cabinet as the Minister of Culture and Fine Arts from 1998–2004.
Personal life.
Buppha Devi married her first husband in 1959 at the age of fifteen. Her four total marriages produced five children:
1) Norodom Norinractevong
2) Sisowath Monichivann
3) Bruno Jacques Forsinetti
4) Sisowath Chivanmonirak


Ahmed Ould Daddah

Ahmed Ould Daddah (, born 7 August 1942) is a Mauritanian economist, politician and civil servant. He is a half-brother of Moktar Ould Daddah, the first President of Mauritania, and belongs to the Marabout Ouled Birri tribe. He is currently the President of the Rally of Democratic Forces (RFD) and was designated as the official leader of the opposition following the 2007 presidential election, in which he placed second.
Early Life and education.
Daddah was born in Boutilimit, then part of French West Africa, on 7 August 1942. He is the younger brother to former Mauritanian President Moktar Ould Daddah. He attended primary school in Boutilimit, and then received his secondary education at the Lycée Van Vollenhoven in Dakar. After graduating he travelled to Paris to attend university, studying economics at the Faculté de Droit et Sciences Economiques de Paris of the University of Paris, and graduating in the mid-1960s.
Early career.
After graduating from university Daddah returned to Mauritania and worked as an economic and financial adviser to his brother, President Moktar Ould Daddah, from 1967 to 1968. He then served as executive secretary to the Organisation des Etats Riverains du Sénégal from August 1968 through March 1971, and during his tenure laid much of the groundwork for what later became the Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal.
Daddah began his career in 1971 as the Director-General of the National Import-Export Company of Mauritania. In 1973, he began a stint as the Governor of the Central Bank of Mauritania, ending in 1978. He then served briefly in the government as Minister of Finance and Commerce in 1978, until his brother was ousted in a military coup on 10 July 1978. Later, he was an economist for the World Bank from 1986 to 1991, advising the government of the Central African Republic.
Under Taya.
Returning to Mauritania in 1991, he ran for President against Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya in January 1992 and took second place with 32.73% of the vote, behind Taya. Also in 1992, he became Secretary-General of the Union of Democratic Forces-New Era (UFD-EN), an opposition party.
Daddah was arrested in January 1995, along with another opposition leader, Hamdi Ould Mouknass of the Union for Democracy and Progress, and a number of other activists, following the outbreak of riots regarding the price of bread. Their parties were accused of instigating the violence, but they denied this, saying that it happened spontaneously and that they were opposed to the rioting. Although placed under house arrest, they were not charged and in early February they were released.
In February 1997, the UFD-EN formed the Front of Opposition Parties (FPO) with four other parties. The FPO boycotted the December 1997 presidential election, which was easily won by Taya. On 16 December 1998, Daddah was arrested in the capital, Nouakchott, along with two other people associated with the UFD-EN, Mohameden Ould Babah and Mohameden Ould Ichiddou. This followed a meeting of the FPO, of which Daddah was president, where the government was accused of intending to allow nuclear waste from Israel to be dumped in Mauritania. They were held at Boumdeid under poor conditions until 17 January 1999, when they were released; they were subsequently acquitted of inciting intolerance and acts likely to breach public order in March 1999. In April 2000, Daddah was arrested and held for five days after calling for a mass meeting in the capital regarding the alleged weakness of the rule of law and the lack of investigation into the violence of the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was again held for three days in December 2000, but was not charged.
In October 2000, the UFD-EN was dissolved by the government for allegedly inciting violence and harming the country's interests. In its place a new opposition party was set up, the Rally of Democratic Forces (RFD), and Daddah was elected its president in January 2002.
Daddah ran again in the presidential election of 7 November 2003 and took third place with 6.89%, behind Taya and Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla. On 8 November, together with Haidalla and another opposition candidate, Messoud Ould Boulkheir, he alleged fraud and urged the people to reject the results.
On 3 November 2004, Daddah was arrested along with Haidalla and Cheikh Ould Horma; they were accused of involvement in coup plots and were put on trial. The prosecutor sought a five-year prison sentence for Daddah, but at the end of the trial, in which there were 195 defendants, he was acquitted on 3 February 2005.
Under military and civilian rule.
Taya was overthrown in a coup in August 2005, and a transitional military regime held new elections in late 2006 and early 2007. Daddah declared the RFD to be "the country's biggest political force" after the first round of the 2006 Mauritanian parliamentary election, held on 19 November. The RFD participated in this election as part of an eight party opposition alliance. In Kiffa on January 12, 2007, Daddah announced his candidacy in the March 2007 presidential election. In the first round, held on 11 March, he won 20.69% of the vote, in second place behind Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, who won 24.80%. In the second round of the election, held on 25 March, Daddah was defeated by Abdallahi, taking 47.15% of the vote against Abdallahi's 52.85%. Daddah won in three of the country's 13 regions: in Nouakchott, in Inchiri Region, and in Trarza Region, where he is from. Daddah accepted the results and congratulated Abdallahi on his victory.
On 30 May 2007, Daddah was designated as the official leader of the opposition by the Constitutional Court.
After the 2008 coup.
Daddah and the RFD supported the military coup d'état of 6 August 2008. Speaking to Al Jazeera on 12 August, Daddah described the coup as "a movement to rectify the democratic process" and alleged that the 2007 presidential election was "marked by fraud".
On 4 February 2009, while still expressing support for the coup and saying that Abdallahi should not be restored to the Presidency, Daddah proposed that the army give up power and that anyone who was serving in the military at the time of the coup should not be allowed to participate in the planned 2009 presidential election. He expressed concern that continued military rule would negatively affect Mauritania's relations with the rest of the world, potentially including economic sanctions. Daddah and the RFD chose to boycott the 2009 presidential election, decrying the junta's allegedly unilateral timetable.
After the junta and the opposition reached an agreement and the election was delayed to 18 July 2009, the RFD announced on 9 June 2009 that Daddah had been designated as the party's presidential candidate by a special party congress.


World Customs Organization

The World Customs Organization (WCO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The WCO is noted for its work in areas covering the development of international conventions, instruments, and tools on topics such as commodity classification, valuation, rules of origin, collection of customs revenue, supply chain security, international trade facilitation, customs enforcement activities, combating counterfeiting in support of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), drugs enforcement, illegal weapons trading, integrity promotion, and delivering sustainable capacity building to assist with customs reforms and modernization. The WCO maintains the international Harmonized System (HS) goods nomenclature, and administers the technical aspects of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements on Customs Valuation and Rules of Origin.
History.
On August 23, 1947, the Committee for European Economic Cooperation created a European Customs Union Study Group (ECUSG) to examine economic and technical issues of inter-European Customs Union concerning the rules of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In total, six ECUSG meetings were held in four years from November 1947 to June 1950. This work of ECUSG led to the adoption in 1950 of the Convention establishing the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC), which was signed in Brussels. On January 26, 1953, the CCC’s inaugural session took place with the participation of 17 founding members. CCC membership subsequently expanded to cover all regions of the globe. In 1994, the organization adopted its current name, the World Customs Organization. Today, WCO members are responsible for customs controls in 183 countries representing more than 98 percent of all international trade.
Vision and objectives.
The WCO is internationally acknowledged as the global centre of customs expertise and plays a leading role in the discussion, development, promotion and implementation of modern customs systems and procedures. It is responsive to the needs of its members and its strategic environment, and its instruments and best-practice approaches are recognized as the basis for sound customs administration throughout the world.
The WCO’s primary objective is to enhance the efficiency effectiveness other members customs administrations, thereby assisting them to contribute successfully to national development goals, particularly revenue collection, national security, trade facilitation, community protection, and collection of trade statistics.
Instruments.
In order to achieve its objectives, the WCO has adopted a number of customs instruments, including but not limited to the following:
1) The International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS Convention) was adopted in 1983 and came into force in 1988.
The HS multipurpose goods nomenclature is used as the basis for customs tariffs and for the compilation of international trade statistics. It comprises about 5,000 commodity groups, each identified by a six digit code arranged in a legal and logical structure with well-defined rules to achieve uniform classification. The HS is also used for many other purposes involving trade policy, rules of origin, monitoring of controlled goods, internal taxes, freight tariffs, transport statistics, quota controls, price monitoring, compilation of national accounts, and economic research and analysis.
2) The International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs procedures (revised Kyoto Convention or RKC) was originally adopted in 1974 and was subsequently revised in 1999; the revised Kyoto Convention came into force in 2006. The RKC comprises several key governing principles: transparency and predictability of customs controls; standardization and simplification of the goods declaration and supporting documents; simplified procedures for authorized persons; maximum use of information technology; minimum necessary customs control to ensure compliance with regulations; use of risk management and audit based controls; coordinated interventions with other border agencies; and a partnership with the trade. It promotes trade facilitation and effective controls through its legal provisions that detail the application of simple yet efficient procedures and also contains new and obligatory rules for its application. The WCO revised Kyoto Convention is sometimes confused with the Kyoto Protocol, which is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC).
3) ATA Convention and the Convention on Temporary Admission (Istanbul Convention).
Both the ATA Convention and the Istanbul Convention are WCO instruments governing temporary admission of goods. The ATA system, which is integral to both Conventions, allows the free movement of goods across frontiers and their temporary admission into a customs territory with relief from duties and taxes. The goods are covered by a single document known as the ATA carnet that is secured by an international guarantee system.
4) The Arusha Declaration on Customs Integrity was adopted in 1993 and revised in 2003.
The Arusha Declaration is a non-binding instrument which provides a number of basic principles to promote integrity and combat corruption within customs administrations.
5) The SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade was adopted in 2005.
The SAFE Framework is a non-binding instrument that contains supply chain security and facilitation standards for goods being traded internationally, enables integrated supply chain management for all modes of transport, strengthens networking arrangements between customs administrations to improve their capability to detect high-risk consignments, promotes cooperation between customs and the business community through the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) concept, and champions the seamless movement of goods through secure international trade supply chains.
6) The Columbus Program is a customs capacity building program works to promote customs modernization and implementation of their standards to secure and facilitate world trade. In 2005, the WCO adopted the "Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade," an international customs instrument containing 17 standards that promotes security and facilitation of the international supply chain. Because of its complexity, the WCO launched a capacity building program called the "Columbus Programme" which focuses on needs assessments for WCO Members using the WCO Diagnostic Framework tool. The WCO defines capacity building as "activities which strengthen the knowledge, abilities, skills and behaviour of individuals and improve institutional structures and processes such that the organization can efficiently meet its mission and goals in a sustainable way."
Online tools.
The World Customs Organization (WCO) released a new online platform: WCO Trade Tools that encompasses the Harmonized System, preferential Rules of Origin and Valuation. It includes the 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017 editions of the HS, around 300 Free Trade Agreements with their preferential Rules of Origin/ and Product Specific rules, and the set list of Valuation texts, including those of the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation.
The WCO also has an online Bookshop, where it is possible to purchase WCO’s publications and online subscriptions.
Administration.
The WCO Secretariat is headed by a Secretary General, who is elected by the WCO membership to a five-year term. The current WCO Secretary General is Kunio Mikuriya from Japan, who took office on 1 January 2009.
The WCO is governed by the Council, which brings together all Members of the Organization once a year, in a meeting chaired by an elected Chairperson. Additional strategic and management guidance is provided by the Policy Commission and the Finance Committee.
Several WCO committees, such as the Harmonized System Committee, the Permanent Technical Committee, the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation, Technical Committee on Rules of Origin, the Capacity Building Committee, and the SAFE Working Group, provide a platform for developing instruments and best practices on customs competencies.


William, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld

William of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1 April 1692 – 13 May 1761) was a member of the House of Hesse and was Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld from 1721 to 1761.
Life.
William was a younger son of Landgrave Philip of Hesse-Philippsthal from his marriage to Catherine Amalie (1654–1736), daughter of Count Karl Otto of Solms-Laubach.
Wilhelm founded the non-sovereign line Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld of the House of Hesse in 1721, after the death of his father, who had left him Barchfeld and Herleshausen in his will. Between 1690 and 1732 he built the baroque Wilhelmsburg Castle with three wings, which was named after him, in Barchfeld.
He served in the Hessian army and later in the Dutch army. In 1732, he was appointed governor of Ypres. In 1733, he was promoted to lieutenant general of the cavalry. In 1743, he led the Dutch troops in the War of the Austrian Succession. In 1744, he had to surrender Ypres to the French. He fought in the Battle of Fontenoy and defended Bergen op Zoom and Mons. In 1747 he was promoted General of the Cavalry
He died in 1761, as governor of Breda.
Marriage and issue.
William married on 31 October 1724 in Hoym with Princess Charlotte Wilhelmine (1704–1766), daughter of Prince Lebrecht of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, with whom he had the following children:


Stagecoach Bluebird

Stagecoach Bluebird (also known by its legal operating name Bluebird Buses Ltd, and formerly Northern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd) is a Scottish bus operating company which covers the areas of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray.
It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, after their purchase of the company from the Scottish Bus Group in 1991. The company holds a Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II for bus and coach services, granted in 1996.
Operation.
From its head office on Guild Street, Aberdeen, Stagecoach Bluebird covers an operating range stretching over Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray.
It is the largest operator in the north east of Scotland and is responsible for urban, rural and interurban services in the towns of Alford, Ballater, Braemar, Buckie, Elgin, Forres, Fraserburgh, Fyvie, Macduff, Mintlaw, Peterhead and Stonehaven as well as city services in Aberdeen. Depots are also located in these towns.
Bluebird also provide coaches for Scottish Citylink services, mainly from Aberdeen to Perth, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
History.
The company was formed as Northern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd in June 1985 from the northern operations of W. Alexander & Sons (Northern) Ltd. The southern operations in Arbroath, Montrose, Forfar and Dundee were ceded to a new company, Strathtay Scottish, now Stagecoach Strathtay.
From its creation the company retained the traditional yellow and cream livery from its predecessor.
On the approach to deregulation of the British bus industry in 1986, Northern had a working relationship with Aberdeen city operator Grampian Regional Transport, and operated some services together under the Grampian Scottish name. However, the co-operation would be short lived, and upon deregulation Northern Scottish launched a network of services throughout Aberdeen under the CityBus brand and adopting dual-door double deckers, non-standard for Northern but common with Grampian. A more striking livery was adopted for the operation incorporating large areas of blue. In response, Grampian would extend its operations outwith Aberdeen and into Northern's rural operating base.
Outside Aberdeen, Northern saw little to no competition, thanks in part to its largely rural and remote territory.
Toward privatisation the company resurrected the classic bluebird logo that was once used by Walter Alexander for its coaching operations. Midland Scottish, itself a fellow SBG subsidiary and once also part of the Alexander's company, had continued to use the same logo, and as it rebranded itself as Midland Bluebird, Northern Scottish began trading as Bluebird Northern. Some vehicles operated in the Elgin area were, however, branded as Moray Bluebird, whilst those operating in the Peterhead and Fraserburgh areas were branded Buchan Bluebird.
Though its operations remained largely the same since its formation in 1985 (and earlier) and with little competition, Northern Scottish was not one of the most profitable of the Scottish Bus Group subsidiaries, largely due to the sparse population in its large operating area. However, the company was successfully privatised, being bought by Perth-based transport group Stagecoach for £5.7m in March 1991.
The yellow and cream livery was replaced with the Stagecoach corporate white with red, orange and blue stripes, and shortly after privatisation the legal company name was changed to Bluebird Buses Ltd.
Fleet.
Stagecoach Bluebird operate the following fleet: Mercedes Sprinter City, Optare Solo, ADL Enviro 200, ADL Enviro 300, ADL Enviro 400, Volvo B7TL, Volvo B9TL, Dennis Trident, Plaxton Profile, Plaxton Panther, Plaxton Elite & Plaxton Elite Interdeck.


Spike Island (film)

Spike Island is a 2012 British comedy film, directed by Mat Whitecross and written by Chris Coghill. It was distributed by Universal Pictures and Vertigo Films and produced by Revolver Entertainment. The film is based on The Stone Roses' seminal gig on Spike Island in Widnes, Cheshire, England, and follows the story of a group of friends who idolize the band and try to get into the gig, but are faced with problems because they do not have a ticket or a way to get there. "Spike Island" was premiered on 11 October 2012 at the BFI London Film Festival and was released on DVD on 21 June 2013.
Plot.
Set in May 1990, the film follows the exploits of five lads: Gary 'Tits' Titchfield, Darren 'Dodge' Hodge, Chris 'Zippy' Weeks, 'Little Gaz' Gareth Barrett and 'Penfold' Andrew Peach. They are fans of The Stone Roses and members of wannabe band Shadowcaster. It starts 60 hours prior to The Stone Roses' legendary gig at Spike Island, Widnes, Cheshire. The group get an idea to give The Stone Roses their cassette tape via Sally, a girl whom both Tits and Dodge show interest in, although Dodge has never spoken to her. They hatch a plan to get tickets to the gig and kick-start their career. Tits' brother 'Ibiza' Steve gets the boys on the guest-list for the gig. But when Tits' dad gets increasingly ill during the 60 hours, he fails to turn up and on the morning of the gig his dad worsens but his dad tells Tits to go to the gig. Penfold's dad burns his top in an effort to stop him from going and when he goes to hit him Penfold stands up to his dad after his dad has been abusing him and heads to the gig. They lure 'Uncle Hairy' out of his van and steal it but when they run out of fuel they have to stop but Penfold convinces them to walk to the M6. They hide in the baggage hold of the bus until they arrive at Spike Island. Once arrived they jump out of their hiding place and are chased by police and the bus driver but lose them in the crowd. They lose Penfold and are unable to find him, so they carry on to the entry zone. But are turned away because they do not have tickets and are not on the guest-list. The remaining four make their way to the outside of the venue. They meet Sally who has lost her friends in the crowd and doesn't want to go in alone and gives Dodge her ticket. Dodge heads for the gig without the cassette tape because he was afraid "to fuck it up". On his way back to the boys, he sees Sally and Tits hooking up. Tits and Dodge later argue but when Tits' dad eventually dies they make up. Meanwhile, Zippy visits the nearby Catalyst Science Discovery Centre (at that point still called The Museum of the Chemical Industry). At the end of the movie it is shown that Tits and Sally are together and all the boys have moved on as school has finished. The ending scene shows Tits looking at Dodge from his window while Dodge walks down the lane with his guitar and bags.
Reception.
Critical response.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 48% based on 25 reviews; the average rating is 4.9/10. The 'Critics Consensus' on its Rotten Tomatoes page says: "Spike Island has energy and visual style to spare; unfortunately, they're lost within the movie's clichéd story and choppy direction."


Nicholas II of Niemodlin

Nicholas II of Niemodlin (; – 27 June 1497), was a Duke of Opole-Brzeg-Strzelce-Niemodlin in 1476 (as co-ruler of his father) and sole Duke of Niemodlin from 1476 until his death.
He was the third son of Duke Nicholas I of Opole by his wife Agnes, daughter of Duke Louis II of Brzeg.
Life.
After his father's death in 1476, Nicholas II inherited Opole, Brzeg, Strzelce and Niemodlin together with his older brothers Louis and Jan II the Good as co-rulers. However, soon Louis died and Nicholas II maintained the co-government with Jan II. It is unknown the exact date of the division of the duchy between the surviving brothers, and even if this division really existed; however indirect sources inferred that Nicholas II became in the independent ruler of Niemodlin shortly after Louis's death, maybe only as a formal rule. In any case, most of the inheritance (included Opole) was retained by Jan II. The now Duke of Niemodlin supported his brother in his politics: in 1477 the brothers bought Prudnik to Duke Konrad X of Oleśnica, in 1494 they acquired Gliwice and in 1495 Toszek. The only territorial loss was in 1481, when Duke Frederick I of Legnica purchased Brzeg (pledged by his father in 1450) by the amounts of 8,500 fines and 1,500 ducats.
In foreign politics, Nicholas II sought to strike a balance between the powerful King of Hungary Matthias Corvinus and competitor and eventual co-ruler in the Bohemian Kingdom, Władysław II Jagiellon. Ultimately, however, aggressive politics towards the Hungarian ruler in favor of the Polish candidate resulted in his imprisonment in 1487 in Koźle. Nicholas II regained his freedom only after the payment of 15,000 Hungarian złoty as a ransom. Despite the participation of the Dukes of Opole in the Sejm reunited in Nuremberg later in that year, the relations with the Hungarian Kingdom remained tense until the death of Matthias Corvinus in 1490.
Death.
In June 1497, in order to end the disputes between the Duchies of Opole and Cieszyn, a meeting was arranged in Nysa. The issue of the Turkish threat to Hungary was also to be discussed. The gathering was attended by Nicholas II, Duke Casimir II of Cieszyn, Wiktoryn of Poděbrady and his brother Henry I, Duke of Ziębice and the Bishop of Wrocław, Jan IV Roth, among others.
On 26 June, Nicholas II tried to stab both Duke Casimir II and Bishop Jan IV Roth. The reason for his act is unknown, although some sources believed that Nicholas feared of the growing importance of Duke Casimir II. With the help of servants and nobles, the attack was defeated. Nicholas II tried to avoid the responsibility of the Town Hall and found refuge in the nearby church of St. Jakob, where he asked for sanctuary. He was nevertheless taken by force from the altar and put in a dungeon.
The nobles reunited (who included the victims of the Duke of Niemodlin) and long wondered what to do with the prisoner. Eventually, they decided to apply the common law of Nysa, despite of the fact that the Duke of Niemodlin was a royal prince. His attempts to obtain his freedom (which included an offer to pay the huge sum of 100,000 Hungarian złoty) produced no results, thanks to the clear opposition of the Duke of Cieszyn (at that time also Starost General of Silesia). Rather, the Duke successfully sought a death sentence for Nicholas. The trial was performed entirely in the German language, which Nicholas II apparently did not understand (there is some evidence that he and his brother Jan II only knew the Polish and Czech languages).
The Duke of Niemodlin was only allowed to write a letter to his brother, in which he left him all his domains. The court ruled that the sentence would take place almost immediately, in order to avoid a negative reaction from the Opole citizens and the Duke's brother. Nicholas II was beheaded by sword in the Nysa market on 27 June 1497. According to the tradition, his last words were: "Nysa! Nysa! You punish me because my ancestors had given you to the Church, and now you force me to pay the price?".
Legacy.
Nicholas II never married nor did he have children. According to his last wish, he was buried in the Franciscan church in Opole. On his tombstone was written the epitaph, "Here lies who fell for his true principles and give courageously his neck under the sword".
At the news of the execution of his brother, Jan II started to gather an army and prepared for a brutal retaliatory expedition against the Duchy of Cieszyn; however, the war ultimately did not occur as a result of the diplomatic moves of King Władysław II Jagiellon, saving Silesia from the civil war.


Yoo Chang-soon

Yoo Chang-soon (6 August 1918 – 2 June 2010) was the Prime Minister of South Korea from 4 January 1982 to 24 June 1982.
 Yoo was born in Anju, South Pyongan, a city located in present-day North Korea, and attended the Pyongyang Commercial School (평양상업학교). He went on to tertiary education at Hastings College in Nebraska, graduating in 1950. The following year, he entered the service of the South Korean government, working at the Bank of Korea's Tokyo branch. He was governor of the Bank of Korea from 1961 to 1962.


Geoff Miller (diplomat)

Walter Geoffrey Thomas Miller is a former senior Australian public servant and diplomat, best known for heading the Office of National Assessments between 1989 and 1995.
Life and career.
Miller was the Tasmanian Rhodes scholar in 1956, and went on to graduate from the University of Oxford.
In 1989 Miller was appointed head of the Australian Government's intelligence assessment agency, the Office of National Assessments. His tenure at the office, between 1989 and 1995, coincided with the first Gulf War, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars; and he oversaw intelligence assessment analysts working on developments in these regions as well developments relating to Australia's commitment to United Nations peacekeeping.
In 1995, Miller was appointed Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand, to commence in January 1996.
Miller retired from his diplomatic and Australian Public Service career in 2000.
Awards.
In January 1993, Miller was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for public service and service to international relations.


Ira Davenport (politician)

Ira Davenport (June 28, 1841 – October 6, 1904) was an American businessman, politician and philanthropist. He was most notable for his service in the New York State Senate (1878-1881), as New York State Comptroller (1882-1883), and a member of Congress from New York's 29th congressional district (1885-1889).
Early life.
Davenport was born in Hornellsville, New York, the son of Ira Davenport (1795-1868) and Lydia Cameron (1800-1842). His family moved to Bath in 1847, and Davenport attended Bath's Haverling Academy and the Russell Collegiate School in New Haven, Connecticut.
Davenport's father owned and operated a large estate and was active in numerous business ventures including stores, farms, lumber, freight transportation, and real estate speculation. After his father's death, Davenport took over management of these enterprises.
Political career.
He was a member of the New York State Senate (27th D.) from 1878 to 1881, sitting in the 101st, 102nd, 103rd and 104th New York State Legislatures. He was New York State Comptroller from 1882 to 1883, elected in 1881, but defeated for re-election in 1883 by Democrat Alfred C. Chapin.
Davenport was a member of the 49th and 50th United States Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1885 to March 3, 1889. He was the Republican candidate for Governor of New York in the 1885 election, and was defeated by Democrat David B. Hill.
Death and burial.
Davenport died in Bath on October 6, 1904. He was buried at the Davenport Family Cemetery in Bath.
Family.
On April 27, 1887 in Kingston, New York, Davenport married Katherine Lawrence Sharpe (1860-1945), the daughter of George H. Sharpe. She was the granddaughter of Abraham Bruyn Hasbrouck, great-granddaughter of Abraham J. Hasbrouck and a descendant of Louis DuBois. They had no children.
Legacy.
The Davenport family's charitable donations included founding a home for orphaned girls, which was financed by the senior Ira Davenport and his brother Charles, and supported by Ira Davenport Jr. Once closed after 94 years of operation, the orphanage's assets endowed Bath's Ira Davenport Memorial Hospital, which was named after the senior Ira Davenport. The younger Ira Davenport was a founder of the Bath Soldiers' and Sailors' Home and the town's public library. From 1906 to 1999 (when a new facility opened), the library was named for Ira Junior. The Davenports also made substantial contributions to fund Bath's monumental First Presbyterian Church, with its Tiffany sanctuary. A small Davenport Park in Bath is named for the family, and a squash court at Amherst College is named for Ira Junior's brother John.


Customs House, Sydney

Customs House, Sydney is a heritage-listed museum space, visitor attraction, commercial building and performance space located in the Circular Quay area at 45 Alfred Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The building served as a customs house prior to Federation and then as the head office of New South Wales operations of the Government of Australia agency Department of Trade and Customs (and its successors) until 1988. The customs function relocated to a new site in 1990. The initial designs were by Mortimer Lewis and it was built during 1845 by under the administration of Governor Sir George Gipps. It is also known as Customs House (former) and Site of former Customs House. The site was added to the Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004; and to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
Ownership was transferred to the City of Sydney Council in 1994, when it became a venue for exhibitions and private functions. After being refurbished in 2003, it has also become the new home of the City of Sydney Library. The ground floor of the building houses a scale model of Sydney's city centre viewed through a glass floor. The model was built by Modelcraft in 1998 and weighs one tonne. Images of the various versions of the building across its history are also displayed on the ground floor.
History.
People of the Eora tribe are said to have witnessed from the site, in 1788, the landing of the First Fleet. Convict David O'Connor was hanged on the site in 1790 and it is said that his ghost haunts the Customs House to this day, offering people rum.
The first Customs house in Sydney was built in 1800. Its location is presumed to be at or near the spot of the landing and official flagraising on the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. This event marked the foundation of the colony of New South Wales. The site has been occupied by buildings ever since.
The driving force behind the construction of the later sandstone edifice on Circular Quay was Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes, the Collector of Customs for New South Wales for a record term of 25 years from 1834 to 1859. Colonel Gibbes persuaded the Governor of New South Wales, Sir George Gipps, to begin construction of the Customs House in 1844 in response to Sydney's growing volume of maritime trade. The building project also doubled as an unemployment relief measure for stonemasons and laborers during an economic depression which was afflicting the colony at the time.
The site at Circular Quay was chosen in 1843 to house the Customs Service for the rapidly growing colony. They were responsible for all imports and exports, excise on locally manufactured goods, immigration control, control of narcotic substances and morally corrupt goods such as books and films. During the war years this included items of enemy origin, or having socialistic or communistic tendencies. Accordingly, areas for storage, administration and public business were included in the original design of the building. As trade increased, so did pressures on space within the Customs House and two new wings were constructed between 1883 and 1889. These wings provided accommodation for the Shipping Office and Maritime Board. The Customs House opened for business in 1845 and replaced cramped premises at The Rocks. It was partially dismantled and expanded to three levels under the supervision of the then Colonial Architect, James Barnet, in 1887. Various additions were made over the next century, particularly during the period of World War I, but some significant vestiges of the original Gibbes-Lewis building remain.
These demands increased again with the approach of Federation. Custom's roles of immigration control and administration of tariffs were major reasons for Federation. They became, at this time, the major revenue raiser for the Commonwealth Government. Extensions were timed to coincide with the change in government. More floors were added to cope with new and expanding duties brought about by the massive political change. More revisions were made between 1915 and 1917 to further accommodate these changes and pressures brought about by the war.
Few major structural changes have occurred between 1917 and 1995. This reflects the movement of international shipping away from Circular Quay to other areas of the City and the State.
From 15 June 1990 operations of the Customs Service were relocated to a new site. Ownership was then transferred from the Australian Government to the City of Sydney Council in 1994. The building underwent several rounds of refurbishment. It was refurbished in 1996-7 to become a venue for exhibitions and private functions. A further round of refurbishment was completed in 1999, converting the building into the "tourism gateway" to Sydney ahead of the 2000 Summer Olympics. The building contained galleries, a museum, bars, cafes and a restaurant, as well as performance and exhibition space. The City of Sydney's planning scale model of the City was also moved here from the Town Hall offices. After the Olympics, the building was further refurbished in 2003 to house the main City of Sydney Library, moved here from Town Hall. The site was refurbished and reopened in June 1997 as a combined commercial, performance, tourism and museum space.
Description.
The two-storey Georgian structure was designed by Mortimer Lewis and featured thirteen large and expensive windows in the facade to afford a clear view of shipping activity in Sydney Cove. Colonel Gibbes, who dwelt opposite Circular Quay on Kirribilli Point, was able to watch progress on the Customs House's construction from the verandah of his private residence, Wotonga House (now Admiralty House).
The building is a composite load-bearing and framed structure. The external masonry walls range from thick, with internal walls approximately . Internal beams vary in fabric from wood to steel. The load-bearing masonry on the perimeter of the building and the steel-framed structure in the core are fairly readily separable in the upper reaches of the building, though the edges of concrete floors do bear on the earlier masonry at the perimeter of the framed structure of the core. The panel walls contained in the 1917 frame are of brick. Floors in the perimeter building are generally suspended timber, joisted with added steel beams, while the framed core has reinforced concrete two-way slabs. Lift shafts exist on the central axis of the building.
The roof is a pitched roof on king-post trusses finished with Marseilles tiles of Australian make. Extensive box-gutters run around the perimeter of the 1903 roofs.
Internal walls are finished with lime plaster, repaired with cement render. Some areas have significant plaster mouldings. Ceiling types are mixed. Window joinery, doors and architraves are generally french polished or varnished. Windows are timber, of french door and vertical sliding sash types, where overlooking the street.
Condition.
Recent conservation measures have returned the building to excellent physical condition. The archaeological potential is medium.
Heritage listing.
On 22 June 2004, the building was added to the Commonwealth Heritage List.
The Sydney Customs House occupies a unique symbolic and physical position on the site of the First Fleet Landing. Its location is a physical reminder of the importance of Circular Quay as the original maritime centre for the colony. The Customs House contains parts of the oldest surviving building of its type in Australia, used continuously for 145 years. It is a physical record of the history of the Customs Service and its importance in the history of Australia. The Customs House embodies the work of three successive and individually distinguished government architects: Mortimer Lewis, James Barnet and Walter Liberty Vernon.
Because of the scarcity of documentary evidence about the early stages of construction, the surviving building fabric from these stages constitutes the principal source of additional evidence about the early history of the building and its occupants.
Customs House, Sydney was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.
The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales.
The Sydney Customs House occupies a unique symbolic and physical position on the site of the First Fleet landing. This historical event has enormous significance to the history of Australia. Its location is a physical reminder of the importance of Circular Quay as the original maritime centre for the colony and is a significant symbol of British imperial sovereignty and colonial commercial expansion. The Customs Service was the only revenue collector in an outpost of Empire struggling for economic survival. It later became a watchdog over ideas, people and goods coming into the country. The internal and external growth and change of the building reflect these changes in use.
The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.
The Custom's House embodies the work of three successive and individually distinguished official architects of New South Wales. Although Walter Liberty Vernon and James Barnet greatly altered the work of Mortimer Lewis, they did so using similar external materials and proportions so as to generate an overall unity of construction.
The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in New South Wales for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.
The site has significance as the initial point of European invasion of the lands of Aboriginal people.
The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.
Because of the scarcity of documentary evidence about the early stages of construction, the surviving building fabric from these stages constitutes the principal source of additional evidence about the early history of the building and its occupants.
The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.
This site has been ranked as extremely significant in its unique reflection of the commercial expansion of the colony and the nationally significant role of the Customs Service. This is especially true for the early phases of the building's evolution.


Nidirect

nidirect () is the official Government website for Northern Ireland residents, providing a single point of access to public sector information and services. The content is developed by representatives from the many government departments that contribute to the site, working with a central Editorial team.
History.
nidirect had a soft launch in April 2009 and was officially launched by the then Finance Minister, Nigel Dodds on 7 May 2009.


Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia

Ludwig I or Louis I (died January 12, 1140) was ruler of Thuringia from 1123 to 1140.
Biography.
The son of Count Louis the Springer ("the jumper") and his wife Adelheid, he was appointed Landgrave of Thuringia by the Emperor Lothair III in 1131.
According to the succession in his line he should have been called Louis III, but he won Thuringia for his family and, in case of territorial expansion, it was customary to start counting from one.
Thanks to his marriage with Hedwig of Gudensberg he obtained the rule over an extensive heritage, after the death of his father-in-law, Count Giso IV, which led to the union of Thuringia and Hesse. In 1137 Louis became Landgrave of Hesse-Gudensberg as well.
His close relationship to the King Lothair III favoured his rise into the rank of a prince. After the death of Lothair, in 1137, Louis decided to support the Hohenstaufen in their struggle for power in the Reich against the Welf party. The Landgrave died on January 12, 1140 and was buried inside the abbey of Reinhardsbrunn.
Louis had a daughter, Judith of Thuringia, who married king Vladislaus II of Bohemia.


Helaba

Helaba, short for Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen, is a commercial bank with core regions in Hesse and Thuringia, Germany offering financial services to companies, banks, institutional investors and the public sector, both within Germany and internationally. At the same time, it is the central clearing institution and service provider for 40 percent of German savings banks. Helaba is an institution incorporated under public law. With approximately 6,300 employees and two headquarters in Frankfurt and Erfurt, the bank maintains branches in Düsseldorf and Kassel as well as offices in Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich and Muenster. On an international level, Helaba acts through branches and representative offices in Paris, London, New York, Madrid, Moscow, Shanghai, and Singapore. Frankfurter Sparkasse, the leading retail bank in the Rhine-Main region, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Helaba. The Helaba Group also comprises the online bank 1822direkt, LBS Hessen-Thüringen and WIBank. The latter implements development programmes of the State of Hesse. Further Helaba subsidiaries are Helaba Invest Kapitalanlagegesellschaft, Frankfurter Bankgesellschaft and the OFB Group (Real estate development).
Business activities.
The business field “Wholesale customer business” comprises financial services for enterprises, banks and institutional investors. In the business field of “private customers and small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs)”, through its S-Group Bank, Helaba provides services for the S-Group savings banks in Hesse, Thuringia, North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg. the framework of “public development and infrastructure business”, Helaba serves the development support programmes of the regional state of Hesse and participates in the development institutions and agencies in Hesse and Thuringia. Also GWH, one of Hesse’s biggest housing corporations, belongs to Helaba.
History.
On June 1, 1953, Hessische Landesbank Girozentrale arose from the merger of Hessische Landesbank Darmstadt Girozentrale (founded in 1940), Nassauische Landesbank Wiesbaden (founded in 1940) and Landeskreditkasse zu Kassel (founded in 1832). In the 1970s, a financial scandal in relation to Tibor Rosenbaum brought Hessische Landesbank into serious difficulties. On July 1, 1992, a state treaty between Hesse and Thuringia on uniting the savings banks organizations of the two federal states brought about the creation of a joint Landesbank. As a result, it was the first Landesbank to operate outside a single federal state’s boundary. In the year 2005, Helaba acquired Frankfurter Sparkasse and thereby entered further into private customer business, which it had already conducted through its Darmstadt Branch and at its Kassel location through Landeskreditkasse zu Kassel.
In 2007, Jürgen Rüttgers and Roland Koch, the minister-presidents of North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, tentatively agreed on approving a merger of their respective state-owned banks, Helaba and WestLB; however, WestLB was eventually broken up in 2012 after years of losses and controversy. During his time in office, CEO Hans-Dieter Brenner later advocated a merger of Helaba with DekaBank, the fund manager for the country's savings banks.
In 2014, Helaba entered a joint venture with U.S. banking group BNY Mellon and the country's 25 largest savings banks to help corporate customers to expand foreign trade with Asia. In late 2018, it acquired Dexia Kommunalbank Deutschland, the German unit of Franco-Belgian bank Dexia, for 352 million euros ($398 million).
In July 2011 it was reported that Helaba would pull out of the EU's bank stress tests to avoid public failure.
Governance.
Legal form and owners.
Helaba has legal capacity as an institution incorporated under public law.
Owners and guarantors of Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen are the Sparkassen- und Giroverband Hessen-Thüringen (85%) (Savings Banks and Giro Association of Hesse-Thuringia), the Federal State of Hesse (10%) and the Free State of Thuringia (5%). The governing bodies of the bank are the Owners’ Assembly, the Supervisory Board and the Board of Managing Directors. CEO of Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen is Hans-Dieter Brenner.
Helaba’s head office in Frankfurt.
The foundation stone of the Main Tower was laid in October 1996. Three years later, the bank moved into the building. With a height of 200 metres, it is the fourth-highest skyscraper in Frankfurt. Earlier, the bank was headquartered in the adjacent building, now called Garden Towers.


James Wolcott Wadsworth

James Wolcott Wadsworth (October 12, 1846 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – December 24, 1926 in Washington, D.C.) was an American farmer, soldier and statesman.
Early life.
He was the son of Civil War General James Samuel Wadsworth (1807–1864) and Mary Craig (née Wharton) Wadsworth (1814–1874). His brothers were Charles Frederick Wadsworth and Craig Wharton Wadsworth, the father of Craig Wharton Wadsworth, Jr. His elder sister, Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie Adair became prominent as matriarch of Glenveagh Castle in County Donegal, Ireland, and the large JA Ranch in the Texas Panhandle. His younger sister, Elizabeth S. Wadsworth, married firstly Arthur Post in 1875, and secondly in 1889, as a widow, Arthur Smith-Barry, 1st Baron Barrymore, becoming Lady Barrymore.
His paternal grandfather, James Wadsworth, and his grandfather's brother, William Wadsworth, moved from Durham, Connecticut and were the original settlers of Geneseo.
He was educated at the Hopkins School in New Haven, Connecticut, preparing to attend Yale, however, he did not attend, instead joining the Army in 1864.
Career.
In 1864, Wadsworth joined the Union army and served during the Civil War. On January 24, 1865, he was awarded a brevet major for "gallant and meritorious service at the Battle of Five Forks, Va." He honorably mustered out June 25, 1865.
Political career.
He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Livingston Co.) in 1878 and 1879. He served as the New York State Comptroller from January 1, 1880, to December 31, 1881, elected at the New York state election, 1879.
He was elected to the 47th United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Elbridge G. Lapham, and re-elected to the 48th United States Congresses, serving from December 5, 1881 to March 3, 1885. In 1885, he ran again for State Comptroller but was defeated by Democrat Alfred C. Chapin.
He ran again in 1890 and was elected the 52nd, 53rd, 54th, 55th, 56th, 57th, 58th and 59th United States Congresses, serving from March 4, 1891 to March 3, 1907. He was talked about as a candidate for Governor of New York, but did not run. In 1906, he was defeated for re-election by Peter A. Porter.
He was a delegate to the 1884 and 1904 Republican National Conventions. He was a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1915.
Personal life.
On September 14, 1876, he was married to Louise Travers (1848–1931), the daughter of wealthy New York lawyer, William R. Travers, and granddaughter of U.S. Senator and U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom Reverdy Johnson. Together, they were the parents of:
Wadsworth died on December 24, 1926, in Washington, D.C. He was buried at the Temple Hill Cemetery in Geneseo, New York. His widows died in 1931.
Descendants.
His grandson, James Jeremiah Wadsworth (1905–1984), served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations. His granddaughter, Evelyn Wadsworth (1903–1972), married William Stuart Symington, Jr. (1901–1988), the first Secretary of the Air Force and a Democratic U.S. Senator from Missouri, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960. His great-grandson, James Wadsworth Symington (b. 1927) served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri as a Democrat and his great-great grandson, William Stuart Symington IV (b. 1952), is currently serving as the United States Ambassador to Nigeria and was the former U.S. Special Representative for the Central African Republic.
Legacy and honors.
He received an honorary A.M. degree from Yale University in 1898.
The Wadsworth Hospital, Theatre and Chapel at the Sawtelle Veterans Home in Los Angeles, California, are named in his honor.


Roseville Tunnel

Roseville Tunnel is a two-track railroad tunnel on the Lackawanna Cut-Off in Byram Township, Sussex County, New Jersey. The tunnel is on a straight section of railroad between mileposts 51.6 and 51.8 (83 km), about west of Port Morris Junction. Operated from 1911 to 1979, it is undergoing work intended to return it to service no earlier in 2026.
The tunnel was built between 1908 and 1911 by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W) as part of the Lackawanna Cut-Off, an immense, spare-no-expense project intended to create the straightest, flattest route practicable for its main line through the mountains of northwestern New Jersey. The contractor was David W. Flickwir of Roanoke, Virginia. Originally, the DL&W had planned to have a cut, not a tunnel, at this location. At deep, it would have been the deepest on the Cut-Off. But in October 1909, anticlinal rock was encountered, described as "bastard granite", which contractors said was "so brittle and soft that you could scoop it up by the handful. It was white in color and looked much like Roquefort cheese." The fear was that this decayed rock could not be relied upon to provide sufficiently rigid support for a cut. As a result, Assistant Chief Engineer Wheaton recommended to President Truesdale that a tunnel be drilled instead, and Truesdale concurred, with work to bore a tunnel starting in December 1909. Ultimately, some 35,000 cubic yards of material were removed to create the bore.
Roseville Tunnel opened on December 24, 1911, and permitted a 70 mph (113 km/hr) speed limit. In 1958, the DL&W single-tracked the line in anticipation of a merger with the Erie Railroad. Its successor, the Erie Lackawanna Railway (EL), shifted the remaining track in the tunnel several feet north to boost clearance for high-and-wide railroad cars. Conrail assumed operations of the EL in 1976, but ended service on the Cut-Off in January 1979. A protracted effort to prevent the rail from being removed, Conrail pulled up the tracks during the summer of 1984 and subsequently sold the right-of-way to two land developers.
The State of New Jersey acquired the right-of-way in 2001; ten years later, NJ Transit began to rebuild the line as part of the Lackawanna Cut-Off Restoration Project.
Rockslides.
New Jersey geology makes rockslides, which can derail trains, a constant threat in deep cuts. After the Cut-Off was closed for a month by a 1941 slide in Armstrong Cut just west of Johnsonburg, DL&W brought in heavy equipment to lessen the slope on the cut's northern side, making it nearly impossible for another rockslide to occur there.
But Roseville proved to be a different matter. Unless the Lackawanna was willing to close the line for a prolonged period, there was no way to safely scale back the tall, steep rockwalls through Colby Cut, the tunnel's western approach. Instead, after the Armstrong Cut Slide, the DL&W paid a shantyman to watch for fallen rocks at Roseville. A hand-thrown switch had already been installed in 1913 to allow trains to shift tracks if one were blocked by fallen rocks, indicating that the railroad was acutely aware of the potential threat from almost the very beginning. In later years (probably around 1950), electronic detectors were installed that could automatically set trackside signals to red if rocks broke through the detector fencing. In the 1970s, a concrete lining was applied to the westernmost 133 feet (41 m) of the tunnel to prevent rockfalls inside. This work did not prevent chunks of rock from dislodging later on, after the abandonment of the Cut-Off.
Rehabilitation for Andover service.
In 2011, New Jersey Transit received approval to re-lay 7.3 miles (11.8 km) of track from Port Morris Junction through the tunnel in order to open commuter rail service westward to Andover, New Jersey.
The tunnel work, as stated in the invitation to bidders, will include: "removal of loose rock, rock bolting to secure unstable rock blocks, repair of the existing concrete tunnel liner, installation of a membrane liner that will provide a continuous tunnel waterproofing system, installation of CCTV (closed-circuit television) cameras at both portals, and installation of a lighted pedestrian path inside the tunnel that extends a minimum of 50 feet (15 m) beyond both portals. A radio system must also be installed that provides radio signal and coverage inside the tunnel. The requirements will also include rock excavation from the west tunnel portal, effectively reducing the overall tunnel length by a minimum of 15 feet (4.6 m). The work also includes railroad track bed excavation, initial ballast placement, and rock excavation and slope protection and stabilization of loose and potentially loose rock on both the west and east rock cut approaches to the tunnel. This slope protection shall address rockfall hazard protection including construction of adequate catchment areas, the installation of cable mesh and/or netting, vegetation and tree removal, removal of loose rock and rock bolting to secure unstable blocks. The protection shall extend approximately 1,700 feet (520 m) from the west portal and 200 feet (61 m) from the east portal. The work also includes a section of track roadbed restoration beyond the west portal, including cutting, clearing, and disposal of all brush, trees, and vegetative matter, and its drainage system, approximately 8,000 feet (2460 m) long."
This work is to be completed within 730 days (two years) starting in 2021. In all, the Roseville Tunnel part of the reactivation project will cost $24 million. The re-opening of the line to Andover is projected to occur no earlier than 2026.


Lesetja Kganyago

Lesetja Kganyago (born 7 October 1965) is a South African economist and central banker. He is the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). He was appointed to that post on 6 October 2014, by Jacob Zuma, the former President of the Republic of South Africa (RSA). He assumed the Governorship of the South African Reserve Bank on 9 November 2014, following the expiry of the term of his predecessor Gill Marcus, on 8 November 2014.
Background and education.
Kganyago was born in Boyne, Limpopo on 7 October 1965. He moved to Johannesburg with his mother, at the age of 18. For several semesters, he attended University of the Witwatersrand, but left before graduating. He completed his studies at the University of South Africa, in 1991, earning the degree of Bachelor of Commerce (BCom). He also holds the degree of Master of Science in Development Economics, from SOAS, University of London, obtained in 1994.
 He also holds numerous certificates, and diplomas in management, economics and finance from Internationally recognized institutions, including the Wits Business School and Harvard University.
Career.
Beginning in 1996 until 1998, Kganyago served as the Director of the South African National Treasury. From 1998 until January 2004, he served as the Chief Director: Liability of the National Treasury. From January 2005 until May 2011, he was the Director-General of the National Treasury of South Africa.
In 2011, Kganyago was appointed Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, serving in that capacity from May 2011 until November 2014. Two other individuals served concurrently with him, at Deputy Governor level. On 9 November 2014, he became Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, replacing the former Governor.
From 2018 until 2020, Kganyago chaired the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the policy advisory committee of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa re-appointed Kganyago for another five-year term.
Recognition.
Kganyago received the 2018 Governor of the Year award at the 5th annual Central Banking Awards ceremony.


Xavier March


Student interpreter

Student interpreter was, historically, an entry-level position in the British and American diplomatic and consular service, principally in China, Japan, Siam and, in the case of the United States, Turkey. It is no longer used as a title. A number of former student interpreters rose to senior diplomatic positions.
Britain.
The British Foreign Office appointed student interpreters after the opening of China and Japan in the mid-19th Century to learn the language of either country with the goal of developing a consular corps fluent in the local languages. Consular officers were expected to remain in their chosen country for the rest of their career.
Notable former British student interpreters include:
United States.
The United States Department of State made provision for 10 student interpreters in Peking, 6 in Tokyo and 10 in Turkey. They were required to study the language of the country with view to becoming interpreters to American diplomats and consular officials. Only unmarried male United States citizens between the ages of 19 and 26 were eligible to apply. Those who passed the exam were required to serve at least 5 years and were eligible for appointment to diplomatic and consular roles.
Notable former America student interpreters include:


Christofle

Christofle is a goldsmith and tableware company, founded in Paris in 1830 by Charles Christofle.
The company is known for having introduced electrolytic gilding and silver plating in France in 1842. The company was bought in 2012 by one of its shareholders, to Chalhoub family.


Dato Arroyo

Diosdado Ignacio Jose Maria "Dato" Macapagal Arroyo (born September 4, 1974) is a Filipino politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2016. He represented Camarines Sur's 1st district from 2007 to 2010, and the 2nd district from 2010 to 2016. Born into the Macapagal family, his mother, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, served as the 14th president of the Philippines, while his grandfather and namesake, Diosdado Macapagal, was the 9th president.
Early life.
Diosdado Arroyo was born on September 4, 1974 in Manila, and comes from a family of public servants. His father, Atty. Jose Miguel Arroyo, is a descendant of the late former Senator Jose Ma. Arroyo of Iloilo and Gen. Aniceto Lacson who led the province of Negros in the revolt against Spain. His mother, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is the daughter of the late former President Diosdado Macapagal whose name and ancestry can be traced to Lakandula.
Education.
Arroyo took his elementary and high school education at the Ateneo de Manila graduating in 1992. He finished his college education at the Ateneo de Naga University in October 1997 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Major in Legal Management.
Career.
Arroyo worked as one of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's speechwriters, and also served as an intern with the Ateneo Human Rights Center. He proudly considers himself a Bicolano by choice, and has been actively supporting programs for the Bicol Region since graduating from college, particularly in areas concerning the provision of basic needs, Bicol tourism and sports. Recognizing his efforts, he was officially made an Adopted Son of Camarines Sur in November 2004, Lived somewhere in Barangay Dayangdang and soon moved to Libmanan.
In 2005, Arroyo set up the Amigo Foundation, with the objective of helping out of those with less in life. The foundation has pushed for and promoted various livelihood, health, education, youth and sports programs not only within the Bicol Region, but around the country as well.
Aside from the founding the Amigo Foundation, Arroyo was also the president of the Metro Manila Chapter of the Ateneo de Naga Alumni Association, and the Chairman of the Bicol Regional Tourism Summit.
Political life.
Promoting his platform of TKO, or "Tubig, Kalye, Oportunidad" in the 2007 elections, Arroyo ran and won as Representative of the First District of Camarines Sur, winning in over 80% of the barangays and leading by more than 30,000 votes over his nearest rival. In Congress, Dato is active as a member of 12 committees. He serves as Vice-Chairman in the Committees of Agriculture and Food, Youth and Sports Development, and Bicol Recovery and Development, making him the only first-term congressman with three vice-chairmanships. Aside from having a perfect attendance record in sessions, he has already filed numerous pro-poor bills and resolutions, including those on cheaper medicines, tax exemptions for minimum wage earners, and the use of agrarian land as collateral. He has consistently been chosen as one of the Most Outstanding Congressmen by various organizations and publications.
Personal life.
Arroyo married banker Ma. Victoria "Kakai" Manotok on May 16, 2003. Their wedding sponsors included: actress-singer Sharon Cuneta, businessman Jaime Zobel de Ayala, and the House Speaker's wife, Gina de Venecia. Former presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos were among the guests.