Mohammad-Ali Molavi

Mohammad-Ali Molavi () was an Iranian economist who served as the governor of the Central Bank of Iran from 25 February to 5 November 1979, when he resigned from the office.
Before Iranian Revolution, he served as the delegate of Iran to the European Community.
Education.
In 1957, Molavi obtained a PhD in economics from University of Paris.
Political affiliation.
Although Molavi was a member of the National Front, he was never imprisoned. A 10 May 1979 United States diplomatic cable leaked by WikiLeaks, described Molavi as "beholden" to Abolhassan Banisadr and politically dependent on Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari, as well as "having no support" from Ruhollah Khomeini.
Economic policies.
He adopted a dual exchange rate.


Portable long service leave

Long service leave is type of leave unique to Australia and New Zealand, typically awarded to a staff member after completing a considerable tenure with a single company. However, within a limited number of industries, or within the public sector it is possible to transfer long service leave entitlements from one employer to another.
Industry-specific portable long-service leave.
Industry-specific portable long-service leave allows workers to transfer their accrued long service leave entitlements from employer to employer within an industry.
Portable Long Service Leave is legislated and available for workers in certain industries including:
The leave is typically funded by a central scheme that accepts payment from current employers, and pays the leave once enough service is accrued. Interest in maintaining and promoting the schemes is largely driven by Unions.
External links.
Construction Industry Long Service Leave schemes in Australia:


SDSU Research Foundation

Incorporated in 1943 in the State of California, the San Diego State University (SDSU) Research Foundation is a self-financed 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. It is a non-profit, auxiliary organization within the California State University (CSU) system, authorized by the Education Code of the State of California. The SDSU Research Foundation is chartered to provide and augment programs that are an integral part of the educational mission of San Diego State University (SDSU). With annual revenues approaching $200 million and over 5,800 staff, contract and grant employees, it is the largest auxiliary within the CSU system.
Mission.
The purpose of SDSU Research Foundation is to further the educational, research and community service mission of SDSU.
Management.
The SDSU Research Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors whose principal function is to establish policies and guide the corporation in achieving its objectives. The Chief Executive Officer of SDSU Research Foundation is responsible to the Board of Directors for the management of the organization, serving as liaison between the Board and a staff that implements and carries out all Board policies and procedures.


Alan Low

Sir Alan Roberts Low (11 January 1916 – 18 April 1999) was a New Zealand economist. He was the fifth governor of the Reserve Bank.
Early life.
Low was born in Blenheim in 1916, the son of Benjamin Low. His father became headmaster of Timaru Main School and Alan Low attended there before going to Timaru Boys' High School. He then attended the University of Canterbury (1934–1937) and graduated with a Master of Arts (honours) in economics.
Low served in WWII from 1942 to 1944, and belonged to the 24th Field Ambulance of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
Professional career.
Low joined the Reserve Bank in 1938. He became assistant economist in 1949, economic adviser in 1951, assistant governor in 1960, and deputy governor (under Gilbert Wilson) in 1962. Low was Governor of the Reserve Bank from 21 July 1967 to 11 February 1977. Low was a member of various New Zealand delegations to international conferences, including Havana (Cuba, 1947/48), Annecy (France, 1949), London (Great Britain, 1951), and Sydney (Australia, 1954). He published various articles in economic journals. He was a director of the National Bank of New Zealand.
Honours and awards.
In the 1977 Queen's Silver Jubilee and Birthday Honours, Low was appointed a Knight Bachelor. In the same year, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Canterbury (LL.D.).
Family.
On 19 December 1940, he married Kathleen Harrow, the daughter of E. J. Harrow. They had one son and two daughters. In 1978, the Lows lived in Lower Hutt. His hobbies included music, gardening, and reading. He died on 18 April 1999.


Governing Council of the European Central Bank

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank is the main decision-making body of the European Central Bank (ECB) and has "sole responsibility" for formulating monetary policy in the Eurozone. It comprises the members of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank and the governors of the national central banks (NCBs) of the Eurozone's 19 member states.
Responsibilities.
The Governing Council is responsible for formulating monetary policy for the Eurozone. Specifically:
Meetings.
In general, the Governing Council (GC) meets twice a month at the Eurotower in Frankfurt, Germany. The first meeting is the most important and is devoted to the assessment of economic and monetary developments, and every six weeks the ECB President conducts a press conference to explain monetary policy decisions. According to a 2014 study of the euro-dollar foreign exchange market on days when the GC announces interest rate decisions, there is "strong evidence" that these monetary policy announcements "contain significant news content" based on trading activity.
At the second meeting, the GC discusses issues concerning other tasks of the ECB and the Eurosystem. The ECB publishes the accounts of the GC's monetary policy meetings.
According to the Treaty of Rome, the President of the European Council may submit a motion for deliberation to the Governing Council of the ECB.
Composition.
The Governing Council consists of:


Czudec

Czudec is a town in Strzyżów County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Czudec. It lies in Lesser Poland, approximately north-east of Strzyżów and south-west of the regional capital Rzeszów. The village has a population of 2,900, and has a rail station on the secondary-importance line from Rzeszów to Jasło.
The history of Czudec dates back to the year 1185, when Mikołaj Bogoria from the town of Bogoria near Sandomierz granted a number of Lesser Poland’s villages to the newly established Koprzywnica Cistercian abbey. Among those villages was Czudec. In 1263 in Tarnów, Lesser Poland's prince Bolesław V the Chaste met with Daniel of Galicia, to establish a border between the two states. According to their agreement, Czudec was to remain within Lesser Poland, while nearby Rzeszów belonged to Red Ruthenia.
On September 11, 1427, King Władysław Jagiełło granted Magdeburg rights town charter to Czudec. The new town was permitted to have one fair a week, and to create several guilds. Until 1610, Czudec belonged to the Strzyżowski family. The town then passed into the hands of the Grabieński family (Pomian coat of arms), which owned it until 1840. Until 1772, Czudec belonged to Pilzno County of Sandomierz Voivodeship. After the Partitions of Poland, it was annexed by the Habsburg Empire, and from 1772 to 1918, belonged to the province of Galicia. In the 19th century the town declined, as its artisans could not compete with modern industry. Finally, in 1935, the government of the Second Polish Republic stripped Czudec of the town charter; it has remained a village ever since.
Points of interest:
References.
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Lawrence Williams (banker)

Lawrence Theodore Williams CCH, (c. 1955 – May 7, 2014) was a Guyanese banking official. He served as the Governor of the Bank of Guyana from June 8, 2005 until his death on May 7, 2014. Williams succeeded outgoing Governor Dolly Singh, who retired from the post.
In 2011, Williams was awarded the Cacique's Crown of Honour, Guyana's third highest honor.
Williams died from cancer at Dr. Balwant Singh Hospital in Georgetown, Guyana, on May 7, 2014, at the age of 59.


Tom Seddon

Thomas Edward Youd Seddon (2 July 1884 – 22 January 1972) was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party, and a lawyer in Greymouth. He was the son of New Zealand's longest-serving Prime Minister Richard Seddon, and succeeded his father as MP for Westland following his death in 1906.
Early life.
Seddon was born in Kumara in 1884. His parents were Richard and Louisa Jane Seddon (née Spotswood). He was educated at Kumara School, the Terrace School (Wellington), Wellington College, and Victoria University College. He graduated in law, and joined the practice of John Findlay and Frederick George Dalziell, and then became a barrister and solicitor in Greymouth.
He served in the New Zealand Army in World War I from 1915 to 1919. Because he received a leg injury in a rugby game "behind the trenches" he was not gassed like the rest of his unit. Later he was chairman of the War Pensions Board, from 1930 to 1963, and in World War II he was Captain of the Wadestown Home Guard.
He married Beatrice Ann Wood on 15 March 1922 at St Mary's Church in the Christchurch suburb of Merivale. Guests at the wedding included Robert Loughnan, Joseph Grimmond, George Fowlds, and Joseph Ward.
Political career.
He inherited the Westland electorate on the sudden death of his father Richard Seddon in the by-election after he had just turned 22. He held the electorate to 1922, when he was defeated by James O'Brien of the Labour Party. He won it back in , but lost it again in 1928 when he was again defeated by O'Brien.
He was chairman of the War Pensions Board from 1930 to 1963, having served in the New Zealand Army in World War I,
In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal. His son, Dick Seddon, was for several decades electorate secretary and organiser for the New Zealand National Party.
Bibliography.
His autobiography was published in 1968:


William Henry Purnell

William Henry Purnell (March 4, 1826 – March 30, 1902) was a Maryland lawyer who served as the Comptroller of Maryland (1856–1861), Union officer during the American Civil War and later as President of the reorganized University of Delaware and of Hood College.
Early and family life.
Born in Worcester County, Maryland to Moses Purnell and his wife, the former Maria Bowen in 1826. In 1846, Purnell received a degree from Delaware College (now the University of Delaware), which he would come to lead later in his career. After graduation, he moved to Snow Hill, Maryland to read law with Judge Franklin. On June 13, 1849, still in Snow Hill, he married Margaret Neill Martin. They would have ten children, including four daughters and a son before 1860.
Career.
Purnell was admitted to the Maryland bar and practiced law, eventually becoming associated with the Know-Nothing Party. In 1856 Maryland voters elected Purnell to statewide office as comptroller and he moved his family to Annapolis. Re-elected in 1860, Purnell would quit that office in 1861 as newly elected President Abraham Lincoln appointed him as post master of Baltimore, a key patronage appointment.
As the United States Civil War began and after the defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run made clear that the war would not end quickly, Purnell resigned his federal position and recruited troops from Baltimore, the northern Chesapeake Bay Counties and Maryland's Eastern shore at Pikesville, Maryland under the special direction of the Secretary of War. The unit was nicknamed "Purnell's Legion", and included nine companies of infantry, two companies of cavalry, and two batteries of light artillery, all assigned to Dix's Division. Its first assignment was on Maryland's Eastern Shore, to break up a potential Confederate encampment. Although the units would continue to serve for three years (and many til the war's end), Purnell resigned from the military, holding the rank of colonel, in February 1862 and resumed the position of post master of Baltimore. This resignation was endorsed by Major General John Adams Dix. The legion then became a regiment of infantry, two independent companies of cavalry and two independent artillery batteries. The infantry would then be assigned to Pope's Army of Virginia and later to the Army of the Potomac, and while held in reserve at the Second Battle of Bull Run, fight in the Maryland Campaign and Battle of Antietam, then the actions around Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia, before being amalgamated into the 1st Maryland Infantry at war's end. One of the cavalry units, dismounted, would earn distinction at the Battle of Gettysburg.
From 1864 to 1866, Purnell was chairman of the Union Party's Central Committee. President Andrew Johnson then appointed him assessor of internal revenue for Baltimore. He retired from politics in 1867 and resumed his legal practice in Baltimore.
In 1870, Purnell became the president of Delaware College, and moved to New Castle County, Delaware with his family. He was the institution's first president after its revival as a Land Grant College. Purnell was a strong supporter of co-education but after a fifteen-year trial, Delaware College stopped accepting female students by a vote of the board on June 24, 1885.
At the same meeting, the board accepted Purnells resignation as college president, but he continued as a trustee.
Purnell than accepted the presidency of Hood College, a female seminary in Frederick, Maryland, and later of New Windsor College in Carroll County, Maryland, only to return to his alma mater in 1897 as an instructor in oratory, which position he held until his death.
Death and legacy.
Purnell died in 1902 and was buried in the cemetery of historic St. Anne's Church close to Maryland's statehouse in Annapolis, Maryland. In addition to the historical markers erected on battlefields to honor Purnell's legion, in 1972, the University of Delaware dedicated a building in his honor, specifically recognizing his efforts to educate women.


James E. Birch (entrepreneur)

James E. Birch (November 30, 1827 – September 1857) was a stagecoach line entrepreneur, founder of the California Stage Company, the largest stage line in California in the 1850s; and in 1857 the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line, the first transcontinental mail route in the United States.
Early life.
James E. Birch was born in South Carolina, Birch moved as a young man to Providence, Rhode Island, where he worked at a livery stable as a stagecoach driver. After getting engaged, in 1848 he left for California to make his fortune.
California Stage Company.
In the spring of 1849, he arrived in Sacramento City, which was fast becoming the supply center for the mining region. It was the departure point for the thousands of prospectors heading for the gold fields, most by foot, some by horseback. Prices for land, goods and services were high and climbing daily. Instead of heading for the gold fields, Birch determined to start a stagecoach business to provide transportation to the various mining areas, as well as provide mail delivery to the prospectors. Previously, most mail for the miners had been held in San Francisco until they personally picked it up.
Birch first used an old ranch wagon which he drove himself, hauling passengers from Sacramento City to Coloma in the rugged foothills of the Sierra Nevada and to points between, including "Sutter's Fort," a resting/relay station near Coloma. For the 50-mile trip at a speed of , Birch charged 2 ounces of gold (about $32 in 1849) each way. Miners hurried to reach each new mining area as it opened up, in order to stake their claims before an area became saturated. Birch was very adept at forecasting where the next important area would be and at quickly providing service there. For the first several months, Birch had a partner, Charles F. Davenport, a close friend and former owner of a stage company in Rhode Island, who had traveled with him to California. By August 1849 Birch had bought out Davenport and become sole owner of the enterprise.
On August 18, 1849, Birch advertised the changes in his business in Sacramento's "Placer Times," announcing himself as the sole proprietor. By the spring of 1850, he hired drivers for his stages, and turned his full attention to managing the business. With the arrival of a fleet of top-of-the-line stagecoaches which he had ordered from the East, his firm became the envy of all others. Among those he hired as drivers was Charley Parkhurst, who became known as Six-Horse Charley, one of the top drivers and, only after his death in 1879, as a woman who had passed as a man. Although business was sometimes adversely affected by frequent stagecoach robberies, and periods of terrible weather, forcing temporary closure of some lines, Birch rapidly expanded. Before the end of 1851, Birch's company was providing service to all the northern and southern mining areas east of Stockton, California. Birch returned for a time to Swansea, Massachusetts, where he arranged for and oversaw the building of a mansion. On September 12, 1852, he and Julia Chace were married and began living on their new estate.
In March 1853, James Birch returned to California. He had frequently advertised in the two Sacramento newspapers and elsewhere, and, with his outgoing personality and obvious business acumen, he became a very popular figure of the time. He received many glowingly favorable editorial mentions in newspapers both in California and on the East Coast. He sold off stage lines to areas which were about to become played out, and used the profits to start new, more promising lines. In the face of increased competition, he lowered fares effectively. By the end of 1853, he was so successful that he and others formed the California Stage Company. Birch served as president, and his good friend Frank Shaw Stevens as vice-president. Incorporated with a value of $1 million at $1000 per share, the California Stage Company had about 80 per cent of the stage business in the state, and paid frequent dividends.
In March 1854 his business was going so well, that Birch took a brief trip back East. By the fall of 1854, the California Stage Company provided service to almost all northern and central California, including non-mining areas, as well as to Los Angeles in the south. In February 1855 Birch withdrew as president of the company, though remaining its largest stockholder. He returned to the East for a nearly two-year stay. In 1856 a son, Frank Stevens Birch, named after Birch's best friend, was born to the Birches.
San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line.
During this period, Birch divided his time between Swansea, where he and his wife entertained lavishly, and Washington, D.C.. In the capital, he lobbied certain legislators, such as his friend William M. Gwin, one of the first two U.S. Senators from California, trying to obtain the contract for coast-to-coast mail service. Although the largest contracts were given to a southern Democrat by the newly elected President James Buchanan, Birch gained the rights to the route from San Antonio, Texas to San Diego, California. Returning to California in the summer of 1857, Birch worked to consolidate his interests and set up the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line in partnership with George Henry Giddings, owner of the San Antonio-El Paso Mail. On June 13, 1857, Birch's California Stage Company became the first stage company to provide service across the rugged Sierra Nevada.
Death at sea.
On August 20, 1857, traveling to New York City to set up a national office, Birch sailed from San Francisco to Panama, took a train across the Isthmus, and sailed for New York on the paddle steamer "SS Central America." After a stop in Havana, the ship was caught in a hurricane. Damaged, it floundered for several days and sank on September 12, 1857. Many passengers reached lifeboats and were later rescued, but James Birch was not among them. Birch was one of a number of survivors who clung to a piece of the ship's wreckage, tossed in stormy seas for days. Most died of exposure or, like Birch, were swept away to their deaths. Three men survived, aided by Birch's having held on to a silver cup. It was a gift from his superintendent, John Andrews, for his son and was engraved with "John to Frank".
Birch gave the cup to George Dawson, a sailor who used it to collect rain water for drinking, and survived until rescue nine days later. After return to land, he gave the cup to Birch's widow, who gave him a reward. An inscribed monument to Birch was erected near the Stevens family tomb in the cemetery in Swansea Village. It reads:
Legacy.
Birch is the namesake to the now-extinct community of Birch, Nevada.


Paris sewers

The sewers of the French capital Paris date back to the year 1370 when the first underground system was constructed under Rue Montmartre. Consecutive French governments enlarged the system to cover the city's population, including expansions under Louis XIV and Napoleon III, and modernisation programs in the 1990s under Mayor Jacques Chirac. The system has featured in popular culture through its existence, including Victor Hugo's 1862 novel, "Les Misérables", and H. L. Humes' 1958 novel "The Underground City".
History.
Until the Middle Ages, the drinking water in Paris was taken from the River Seine. The wastewater was poured onto fields or unpaved streets, and finally filtered back into the Seine. Around 1200, Phillipe Auguste had the Parisian streets paved, incorporating a drain for wastewater in their middle. In 1370 Hugues Aubriot, a Parisian provost had a vaulted, stone-walled sewer built in the "rue Montmartre". This sewer collected the wastewater and took it to the "Menilmontant brook". However, the wastewater was still drained in the open air.
Under the reign of Louis XIV, a large ring sewer was built on the right bank, and the Bièvre River was used as a sewer for the left bank of the Seine. On at least two occasions in the late 1700s, Paris refused to build an updated water system that scientists had studied. Women were actually carrying water from the river Seine to their residences in buckets. Voltaire wrote about it, saying that they "will not begrudge money for a Comic Opera, but will complain about building aqueducts worthy of Augustus". Louis Pasteur himself lost three children to typhoid. Under Napoleon I, the first Parisian vaulted sewer network was built. It was 30 km long.
In 1855, as a part of his plan to improve the sanitation and traffic circulation in Paris, Napoleon III ordered the construction of new boulevards, aqueducts and sewers. His prefect for the Seine, Baron Haussmann, and the engineer Eugène Belgrand, designed the present Parisian sewer and water supply networks. Thus was built, more than a century ago, a double water supply network (one for drinking water and one for non drinking water) and a sewer network that was 600 km long in 1878. From 1880 to 1913, efforts were taken to connect Parisian buildings to the sewers (they were most at the time "connected to the city's clean water network and the rest had access to free neighborhood taps ("fontaines")"). By 1914, 68% of all buildings in Paris had direct connections to the sewer. Research shows that this contributed to a decline in mortality.
From Belgrand to the present.
Belgrand's successors went on extending the Parisian network: from 1914 to 1977, more than 1000 km of new sewers were built.
At the end of World War I, the 50 km² of sewage fields were no longer sufficient to protect the Seine. A general sewage treatment programme, designed to meet the needs for 50 years, was drawn up and became state-approved in 1935: this was the beginning of industrial sewage treatment.
The aim was to carry all the Parisian wastewater to the Achères treatment plant using a network of effluent channels. Since then, the Achères plant has continued to grow. At the end of 1970, it was one of the biggest sewage treatment plants in Europe. Its actual capacity is more than 2 million cubic metres per day.
This programme has been gradually upgraded: modernization of the Achères and Noisy-le-Grand (a small station farther upstream) facilities, construction of a new plant at Valenton, and expansion of the Colombes experimental station.
Modernization now and in the future.
The aims of the modernization programme launched by the Mayor of Paris in 1991 were: to protect the Seine from storm overflow pollution by reducing the amount of untreated water discharged directly into the Seine, to reinforce the existing sewers, to enable the network to function better.
This project, which is costing an estimated 152 million euros over the first 5 years, will include:
The sewer in fiction.
The sewer system is described in Victor Hugo's 1862 novel, "Les Misérables" (Part 5, "Jean Valjean"; Book II, "The Intestine of the Leviathan", ch.1, "The Land Impoverished by the Sea"): "...Paris has another Paris under herself; a Paris of sewers; which has its streets, its crossings, its squares, its blind alleys, its arteries, and its circulation, which is slime, minus the human form", and also appears in a scene near the end of the musical based on the novel.
The sewer system plays a key part in H. L. Humes' 1958 novel, "The Underground City". Humes, an American novelist, was a cofounder of the "Paris Review".
The sewer features in a section of Max Brook's "World War Z". Many people fled to the sewers to escape the dead, but were followed, leaving one of the most dangerous campaigns of the "war".
In the American television show "The Honeymooners" episode "The Man from Space", broadcast 31 December 1955, sewer worker Ed Norton comes in dressed as an 18th-century fop, and announces that he will win the Raccoon lodge costume ball because he is dressed as "Pierre Francois Brioschi, designer of the Paris sewers." Norton later corrected himself and said he found out that Brioschi was the man who "condemned the Paris sewers."
Museum.
The Paris Sewer Museum (), is dedicated to the sewer system of Paris. Tours of the sewage system have been popular since the 1800s and are currently conducted at the sewers. Visitors are able to walk upon raised walkways directly above the sewage itself. The entrance is near the Pont de l'Alma.


Toubab Dialaw

Toubab Dialo (or Toubab Dialaw) is a village in Senegal, located on the Petite Côte, south of Dakar, between Bargny, Senegal and Popenguine. It is part of the rural community of Yenne, the department of Rufisque and the region of Dakar.
Geography.
The nearest towns are Gorée, Yene Tode, Lela, Khobi, Kelle, Tiabla, Thilaw and Tilene.
History.
According to legend - told by tourist guides - El Hadj Omar Tall (Omar Saidou Tall), founded the Toucouleurs Empire. He came to this village and caused a source of fresh water to spring up on the beach which was seen as miraculous.
Economy.
A fishing village leaning against the cliff, Toubab Dialo is now turning to tourism, thanks to a peaceful environment conducive to swimming and walking.
Abdoul Rahim Ba is the founder of Biodialaw network in Toubab Dialaw. It is an "ecological oasis" that trains young people, women and communities in ecological organic farming techniques.
Culture.
The village is home to the École des Sables, an international center for traditional and contemporary African dances created in 1998 and run by Senegalese choreographer Germaine Acogny. The school is a center for education, modern dance, traditional and contemporary African dances. Ben Beye a Senegalese director filmed parts of the film "Latricia's Dream" in Touba Dialaw at the École des Sables.
The K'you is an art gallery with a guesthouse in Toubab Dialaw.
Gerard Chenet is an architect, writer, and the founder and designer of Espace Sobo Bade. It is a place for cultural exchange. He was born in Haiti and came to Senegal in 1964. He founded Sobo Bade in 1970. Space Sobo Bade is a cultural centre, artists community, and a guesthouse.
Population.
The village had 2,210 inhabitants in 20034. In 2013, there were 2,915 people.
They are mainly Lebous, but Serer also live there.


Army Strong


Butterfield Overland Mail in New Mexico Territory

The Butterfield Overland Mail was a transport and mail delivery system that employed stagecoaches that traveled on a specific route between St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California and which passed through the New Mexico Territory. It was created by the United States Congress on March 3, 1857, and operated until March 30, 1861. The route that was operated extended from where the ferry across the Colorado River to Fort Yuma Station, California was located, through New Mexico Territory via, Tucson to the Rio Grande and Mesilla, New Mexico then south to Franklin, Texas, midpoint on the route. The New Mexico Territory mail route was divided into two divisions each under a superintendent. Tucson was the headquarters of the 3rd Division of the Butterfield Overland Mail Company. Franklin Station in the town of Franklin, (now El Paso, Texas), was headquarters of the 4th Division.
Stations.
List of stations within two divisions:
5th Division.
5th Division Stations in New Mexico Territory. These were located on Captain Pope's New Road to Franklin (1st route used, until August 1, 1859 when route was moved to the Lower Road.)


Mikhail Vaschenko-Zakharchenko

Mikhail Yegorovich Vaschenko-Zakharchenko (, ) (October 31 (old style) (November 12) 1825 in Malievka, Zolotonosha uyezd, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire – August 14 (old style) (August 27) 1912 in Kiev, Russian Empire, (present-day Kyiv, Ukraine)) was a Russian mathematician, member of Moscow Mathematical Society from 1866 and Privy Councillor of Russia from 1908. His major areas of research included the history of geometry in antiquity and Lobachevskian geometry.
Mikhail Vaschenko-Zakharchenko was married on Vera Nikolayevna Vaschenko-Zakharchenko (née Mel'nickaya), the founder of the First Private Kiev Gymnasium for women.
Biography.
Vaschenko-Zakharchenko was born in noble family of Ukrainian descent. He studied in Zolotonosha uyezd college and the 2nd Kiev Gymnasium. His mathematical education he received partially in the Kiev University, partially in Paris.
Since 1867 — a professor of the Kiev University. From the start of 1870s Vaschenko-Zakharchenko began to read the course of the projection geometry, and from 1878 — the course of non-Euclidean geometry (basics of the Lobachevsky geometry). In 1880 he published the translation of "Beginnings" of Euclid with a big introduction where were viewed the main principles of the hyperbolic geometry.
In 1871, Mikhail Vaschenko-Zakharchenko married Vera Nikolayevna Mel'nickaya (1840—1895) from Tver noble family. Vera Vaschenko-Zakharchenko has founded in Kiev the first private Gymnasium for women.
Scientific works.
In 1862, for the first time systematically gave a lecture on the operational calculation and applied it to solve the differential equations.
In 1866, he defended his doctor dissertation "Riemann's theory of compound variable functions". That was one of the first works in the Imperial Russia in that field.
Vaschenko-Zakharchenko is also known for working in the history of mathematics.
He is an author of more than dozen textbooks on the analytical geometry, projection geometry, algebra, calculus of variations, and including an important work on the history of mathematics in which he discussed the history of mathematics up to the 15th century.
He worked on the theories of linear differential equations, probability and non-Euclidean geometry.


William Christoph, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg

William Christoph of Hesse-Homburg (13 November 1625, Ober-Rosbach – 27 August 1681, then in Bingenheim, now in Echzell) was the second Landgraf of Hesse-Homburg (then known as "Landgraf of Bingenheim") during 1648–1669.
He was the third (second surviving) of five sons of Frederick I, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, and succeeded his brother Ludwig I as Landgrave in 1643, but his mother was regent until 1648.
Life.
In 1669, he sold Homburg to his younger brother George Christian, but retained Bingenheim (Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg-Bingenheim). George Christian died without heirs, and their youngest brother succeeded as Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg.
In Darmstadt on 21 April 1650 William Christoph married firstly Princess Sophia Eleonore, daughter of George II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. George II was his first cousin, as both were grandsons of George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. They had 12 children, but only three survived infancy:
In Lübeck on 2 April 1665 William Christoph married secondly Princess Anna Elisabeth of Saxe-Lauenburg, a daughter of Duke Augustus of Saxe-Lauenburg. In 1672 they were divorced and Anna Elisabeth retired to and later died in Philippseck Castle in today's Butzbach.


Shegufta Bakht Chaudhuri

Shegufta Bakht Chaudhuri (known as S B Chaudhuri; 1931 – 11 November 2020) was a Bangladeshi economist who served as the fourth governor of Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of Bangladesh during 1987–1992, and was also the advisor of the first caretaker government of Bangladesh in 1996.
Background.
Shegufta's father was Dewan Mamun Chaudhuri and his paternal grandfather was Khan Bahadur Wasil Chaudhuri. His mother was Syeda Zebunessa Khatun, daughter of Khan Bahadur Syed Sikandar Ali. Writers Syed Mujtaba Ali and Syed Murtaza Ali were Shegufta's maternal uncles. He traced his maternal descent from Shah Ahmed Mutawakkil, a local holy man and a Syed of Taraf, though apparently unrelated to Taraf's ruling Syed dynasty.
Shegufta was brought up in his home village of Bongaon, Nabiganj Upazila of Habiganj District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. He was the eldest of five siblings, having had one younger brother and four sisters.
Education.
He received a BA (Hons) in Economics from the University of Dhaka in the early 1950s. His Masters in International Relations at the same university was not completed due to illness. He later received a MPA (Master of Public Administration) from John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1967.
Career.
He was initially a journalist at the "Morning News" newspaper in the early 1950s before joining the Pakistan Taxation Service in 1955 after completing the CSS examinations. He served in different branches of the Pakistan Government service as a section officer and then as a deputy secretary before he went to attend the Harvard School of Government. He was subsequently employed in a number of roles in the Pakistan and later Bangladesh governments. These include:
After he retired from Bangladesh Bank, he started a column with the "Daily Star" titled "Along My Way". He served as an Adviser (the equivalent of a cabinet minister) for three months in the caretaker government of 1996, which ran the country and supervised the parliamentary elections. He was also the Adviser to City Bank, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from to 1998.
Death.
Shegufta Bakht Chaudhuri died on 11 November 2020 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He was survived by his wife, son and daughter as well as several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.


Gruffydd ap Rhydderch

Gruffydd ap Rhydderch (d. AD 1055) was a king of Gwent and part of the kingdom of Morgannwg in south Wales and later king of Deheubarth.
Gruffydd was the son of Rhydderch ab Iestyn who had been able to take over the kingdom of Deheubarth from 1023 to 1033. He received the lordship of Caerleon in 1031 and strengthened its fortifications. Already king of part of Morgannwg, Gruffydd became involved with Deheubarth when that kingdom was taken over from Hywel ab Edwin by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, already king of Gwynedd, in 1044. Gruffydd ap Rhydderch was however able to expel him in 1045 and became king of Deheubarth himself. He was said to be a powerful king who stoutly resisted raids by the Danes and attacks by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. In 1055 however Gruffydd ap Llywelyn killed him in battle and recaptured Deheubarth.
In 1049 he is reported raiding up the River Severn in alliance with an Irish Viking Fleet.
His son Caradog ap Gruffydd (who received Caerleon in 1057) also attempted to emulate his father and grandfather by gaining control of Deheubarth but was killed at the Battle of Mynydd Carn.


Massachusetts Central Railroad

The Massachusetts Central Railroad is a short line railroad in western Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1975 to provide railroad transportation services on portions of the Boston & Maine Wheelwright Branch in and around their trackage in Bondsville (a village of Palmer) and Ware, and later between Palmer and South Barre on the old Right of Way (ROW) of the Ware River Railroad.
The old Ware River Railroad was an independent line that ran from Palmer to the Cheshire Railroad in Winchendon and was built in 1868. The first section, from Palmer to Gilbertville, opened in 1870, and the rest three years later.
Until 1873 it was leased to and operated by the New London Northern Railroad, it was eventually taken over by the Boston and Albany Railroad and run as its Winchendon Branch.
The B&A wanted to run the Ware River Line in conjunction with the Monadnock Railroad in order to gain access to the resort areas of Peterborough, NH. When the B&A failed to gain control of the Monadnock, the Ware River Line was not very profitable.
By 1968, the line came under the control of the Penn Central and tracks were abandoned between South Barre and Waterville, splitting the line in two. The Boston and Maine Railroad took over the line from Waterville to Winchendon and operated it until it was abandoned in 1984.
The Penn Central continued to operate the line south of Barre, but in 1975 all service between Gilbertville and South Barre were discontinued. Conrail operated the line between Palmer and Ware and applied for abandonment of the remainder of the line. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts acquired most of the line, excepting a few miles in Palmer to the Palmer Depot and the B&A main line. The State contracted out the continued service to the newly formed Consolidated Rail Corp. (Conrail). By 1975, the MCER, or as it later became known—the MassCentral. It was formed by three individuals from Western Massachusetts, and started limited operations on a few miles of the Boston & Maine trackage in and around the Ware Yard. After a year of Conrail operations on the State-owned line, the contract was awarded to the MassCentral. The train rarely ran north of Ware until 1999 when a new rail customer, a "reload", justified restored freight service to South Barre. Service to half a dozen customers from Palmer Village up to the Reload at South Barre continues to the present, five days a week from its interchange with CSX. From the former Intermodal Yard around mile post one next to the ex Central Vermont Railroad main line (1 customer), with other customers located at the Gibbs Crossing Transload Yard (2); in and around Ware Yard (4); and at the "Wildwood Reload" at South Barre (1), where numerous customers are provided rail to truck services, including warehousing and transloading by the reload.


Stuart v. Laird

Stuart v. Laird, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 299 (1803), was a case decided by United States Supreme Court notably a week after its famous decision in "Marbury v. Madison".
"Stuart" dealt with a judgment of a circuit judge whose position had been abolished by the repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801. Stuart's lawyer was Charles Lee, who also represented William Marbury. John Laird asked the Supreme Court to uphold the judge's ruling. Stuart's team argued that only the court rendering a judgment could enforce it and that the Judiciary Act of 1802 had been unconstitutional, to which Stuart lost on both accounts. The Court reviewed and upheld the Judiciary Act of 1802 and averted a dangerous showdown between the legislative and the judicial branches of the United States government.
Background.
The case involved the Judiciary Act of 1801, which created a number of federal judgeships, who were called "midnight judges" since the Act had been passed by the lame-duck members of the Federalist Party during its final days in office. The Act established new circuit court judges to hear intermediate appeals.
As a result, Supreme Court justices would no longer have to "ride circuit," which entailed substantial and often-dangerous travel, to sit with district (trial) court judges to hear appeals throughout the nation. Soon after its passage, the Act was replaced by the Repeal Act of March 8, 1802. According to law professor William Nelson, in passing the Judiciary Act of 1802 Congress "also postponed the next term of the Supreme Court until 1803", which prevented the court from ruling on its constitutionality until after the act went into effect. Federalists attacked the Democratic-Republican Party's new legislation by arguing that federal judges were appointed for life and so could not be constitutionally removed by the Repeal Act. The Judiciary Act of 1802 reinstated circuit courts but also resurrected the practice of circuit riding. Many thought the 1802 Act to be unconstitutional. One of them was newly-appointed Chief Justice John Marshall, who argued that justices should not have to preside over circuit courts unless they were commissioned as circuit court judges. He wrote of the other justices, "I am not of opinion that we can under our present appointments hold circuit courts, but I presume a contrary opinion is held by the Court and, if so, I shall conform to it."
Justice Samuel Chase agreed with Marshall, but the other justices disagreed.
Decision.
With Marshall not participating but very active behind the scenes, Justice William Paterson held for a unanimous Court that Congress had the authority under the Constitution both to establish and to abolish lower federal courts.
Aftermath.
Although the Court sustained the Judiciary Act of 1802, the issue of circuit riding was substantially lessened because the Act effectively made circuit riding optional by requiring only one federal judge for a quorum on any circuit court. As a result, Supreme Court justices could rely on district court judges to hear intermediate appeals. That flexibility proved crucial to the demise of circuit riding. By the 1840s, the justices had all but stopped holding circuit courts.
Scholars such as Bruce Ackerman have pointed to the decision as part of the opposition Federalist Court's accommodation of the new political regime.


Minimum Wage Fairness Act

The Minimum Wage Fairness Act () is a bill that would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to increase the federal minimum wage for employees to $10.10 per hour over the course of a two-year period. The bill was strongly supported by President Barack Obama and many of the Democratic Senators, but strongly opposed by Republicans in the Senate and House.
The bill was introduced into the United States Senate during the 113th United States Congress.
Background.
In the United States workers generally must be paid no less than the statutory minimum wage. As of July 2009, the federal government mandates a nationwide minimum wage level of $7.25 per hour, while some states and municipalities have set minimum wage levels higher than the federal level, with the highest state minimum wage being $9.47 per hour in Washington as of January 1, 2015. Among those paid by the hour in 2013, 1.5 million were reported as earning exactly the prevailing federal minimum wage. About 1.8 million were reported as earning wages below the minimum. Together, these 3.3 million workers with wages at or below the minimum represent, respectively: 1.0% of the population, 1.6% of the labor force, 2.5% of all workers, and 4.3% of hourly workers. Many states already have a state minimum wage higher than the existing federal minimum wage.
The major economic schools of thought - Classical economics, Keynesian economics, and the Austrian School - disagree about the importance and the effects of the minimum wage. According to a paper written in 2000 by Fuller and Geide-Stevenson, 73.5% (27.9% of which agreed with provisos) of American economists agreed that a minimum wage increases unemployment among unskilled and young workers, while 26.5% disagreed with this statement. Some economic research has shown that restaurant prices rise in response to minimum wage increases. Overall, there is no consensus between economists about the effects of minimum wages on youth employment, although empirical evidence suggests that this group is most vulnerable to high minimum wages. However, new evidence for workers that were bound by the minimum wage suggests a distinct negative impact on employment and income growth.
Provisions of the bill.
"This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the Congressional Research Service, a public domain source."
The Minimum Wage Fairness Act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to increase the federal minimum wage for employees to: (1) $8.20 an hour beginning on the first day of the sixth month after the enactment of this Act, (2) $9.15 an hour beginning one year after the date of such initial increase, (3) $10.10 an hour beginning two years after such date, and (4) the amount determined by the United States Secretary of Labor (based on increases in the Consumer Price Index) beginning three years after such date and annually thereafter.
The bill would increase the federal minimum wage for tipped employees to $3.00 an hour for one year beginning on the first day of the sixth month after the enactment of this Act. The bill would provide a formula for subsequent annual adjustments of the minimum wage for tipped employees until it equals 70% of the wage in effect under FLSA for other employees.
The bill would direct the Secretary of Labor, 60 days before any increase in the minimum wage, to publish it in the Federal Register and on the United States Department of Labor's website.
The bill would amend the Internal Revenue Code to extend through taxable years beginning before 2017: (1) the increase to $500,000 of the expensing allowance for business assets, including computer software; and (2) the treatment of qualified real property (i.e., leasehold improvement property, restaurant property, and retail improvement property) as depreciable business property.
Congressional Budget Office report.
"This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the Congressional Budget Office, as introduced in the Senate on November 19, 2013. This is a public domain source."
S. 1737 would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to increase the federal minimum wage in three steps from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour, and to adjust the wage annually thereafter to account for inflation. In addition, the bill would increase the federal minimum cash wage for workers who receive tips by gradually raising that wage until it equals 70 percent of the federal minimum wage for other workers. Finally, S. 1737 would amend the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2016 an increased limitation on the amount of investment that firms can immediately deduct from their taxable income—a limitation that mostly affects small- to medium-sized businesses.
Procedural history.
The Minimum Wage Fairness Act was introduced into the United States Senate on November 19, 2013 by Sen. Tom Harkin (D, IA). On April 8, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the Senate would not vote on the bill until three weeks later after a two-week April recess.
Debate and discussion.
The delay of the Senate vote on the bill was attributed to Reid's inability to get all members of the Democratic party in the Senate to agree to vote in favor of the bill. Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) opposed the bill. Pryor was up for election in 2014 and was considered "the Senate's most vulnerable incumbent." Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) preferred legislation that would have a greater chance of becoming law, such as an increase to only $9 an hour. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) expressed a willingness to negotiate with Republicans about some of the provisions of the bill, such as the timeline for the phase-in. Warner said that any increase needs to be done "in a responsible way."
Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) wanted additional debate on the timeline and the raise for tipped workers. Landrieu said that "I do not believe that $10.10 an hour is too high to aspire to, but how quickly we get there and what increments, the tipped wage, how that should be handled, who should get paid the tipped wage, and who shouldn't. There are a lot of questions about that, and some of those discussions are going on."
President Barack Obama strongly supported increasing the minimum wage, giving speeches about it urging Congress to take action. Obama argued that "if you pay people well, there's more money in everybody's pockets, and everybody does better."
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a report that an "estimate half a million jobs would be lost if lawmakers passed the president's proposal" to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Spokesman Brendan Buck for Speaker of the House John Boehner said in reaction that "the president's plan would increase costs for consumers and eliminate jobs for those who need them the most" so the House would "continue focusing on our plan to protect workers' hours and create jobs, not the president's plan to destroy them."
The National Retail Federation (NRF) opposed the bill, saying that "raising the standard of living for low-skill, low-wage workers is a valid goal," but that "there is clear evidence that mandate wage hikes undermine the job prospects for less skilled and part-time workers." The trade group also argued that this was the "least opportune moment" to increase the minimum wage because employers were still dealing the fallout of changes they needed to make because of the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare").
Senate Republican Susan Collins (R-ME) tried to negotiate a compromise that centrist Republicans could agree to, but was unable to do so. Several Republicans, such as Senators Dean Heller (R-NV) and Rob Portman (R-OH), noted that their states already have minimum wages higher than the federally-mandated level and thought that the minimum wage should be left up to the states. Heller said "I think there is a difference between North and South, East and West on what those minimum wages ought to be." Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) said he would not vote for the bill or a compromise. Collins' tried to argue that the Congressional Budget Office report predicting 500,000 jobs lost if the minimum wage was increased to $10.10 also said that an increase to $9.00 would only lead to 100,000 jobs lost, but the argument did not seem to persuade her fellow centrists. Collins said "I'm confident that the votes are not there to pass a minimum wage increase up to $10.10, therefore, it seems to me to make sense for senators on both sides of the aisle to get together and see if we can come up with a package that would help low-income families without causing the kind of job loss that the Congressional Budget Office has warned against."


Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (), better known by its initialism BBVA, is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Bilbao, Spain. It is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, and is present mainly in Spain, South America, North America, Turkey, and Romania.
The bank was founded as Banco de Bilbao, on May 28, 1857, in Bilbao. BBVA's operational headquarters are located in Madrid, in the "Ciudad BBVA" complex. It is Spain's second largest bank after Banco Santander. It is listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange and on the Mexican Stock Exchange. It is also a part of the IBEX 35 as well as the Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50.
As of December 31, 2018, BBVA's assets amounted to around €676 billion, making it the second Spanish financial institution by volume of assets. In that same date, it had 7,963 offices, 125,627 employees and 74.5 million customers, and was present in more than 30 countries. At April 2, 2018, it was ranked the 42nd largest bank in the world by total assets.
History in Spain.
Banco de Bilbao and Banco de Vizcaya.
The history of BBVA began in 1857 in Bilbao, a city located in northern Spain, when the Board of Trade promoted the creation of Banco de Bilbao as an issuing and discount bank.
Banco de Vizcaya was founded in 1901 and carried out its first operations in Bilbao. Little by little, it spread throughout the country.
In 1988, the merger agreement between Banco de Bilbao and Banco de Vizcaya was signed. And in 1989, the BBV brand was adopted.
Merger of BBV and Argentaria: Creation of BBVA.
In 1991, the Spanish government of Felipe González created the public bank Argentaria, grouping in it the Spanish public banks. Subsequently, between 1993 and 1998 the process of privatization of the entity was carried out. BBV and Argentaria announced their merger project on October 19, 1999, with the aim of continuing to create value. The new bank (BBVA) was born with a significant size, a strong financial solvency and a large financial structure, an adequate geographical diversification of business and risks and, as a consequence of all this, a greater potential for profit growth.
Acquisitions of Unnim Banc and Catalunya Banc.
After several years dedicated to external growth, BBVA takes advantage of the restructuring of the financial system in Spain to grow especially in Catalonia, one of the regions where it had the lowest market share. To this end, it acquired between 2012 and 2014 the two financial groups nationalized by the Government of Spain (Unnim Banc and Catalunya Banc), which grouped 6 Catalan savings banks.
Digital transformation.
In 2007, the firm started an initiative to digitally transform the bank. Following implementation, it saw a 19% year-on-year increase in new customers. As of 2015, the total number of these clients stood at 14.8 million.
In 2019, BBVA decides to unify its brand worldwide and introduces a new logo. This meant the disappearance of local names in Argentina (Francés), Mexico (Bancomer), Peru (Continental), and the United States (Compass). Garanti Bank, the Group’s franchise in Turkey, changed its name to Garanti BBVA.
In January 2021, BBVA said that it was looking for plans to lower the costs, then in February 2021, it was reported that BBVA is planning to cut around 3000 jobs in Spain after a fall of 48% of its net profit in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Credit ratings.
As of April 2021, BBVA had the following debt ratings with the four major rating agencies:
International expansion.
The international presence of BBVA began in 1902, when the Banco de Bilbao opened a branch in Paris and in 1918 another in London, thus becoming the first Spanish bank with a presence abroad. In the 1970s, Banco de Bilbao, Banco de Vizcaya and Banco Exterior were configured as international groups, with the installation of operational and representative offices in the financial capitals of Europe, America and Asia. Likewise, the bank initiated a policy of expansion in America through the purchase of local banks in various countries of the continent.
In 2019 the Bank changed its name to BBVA, dropping local brand names in Argentina (Francés), Mexico (Bancomer), Peru (Continental), and the United States (Compass). In addition to the rebranding, Garanti in Turkey was renamed to Garanti BBVA.
Latin America.
The Banco de Vizcaya acquired the Commercial Bank of Mayagüez in Puerto Rico in 1979, a bank founded in 1967 by a group of merchants and industrialists. When it became BBVA Puerto Rico, in 1992 it began a growth stage through acquisitions, which gave rise to BBVA Puerto Rico.
In 1995, the group entered Peru, with the privatization and subsequent acquisition of Banco Continental, and in Mexico, with the purchase of Probursa, which later merged with BBVA Bancomer to form the financial group BBVA Bancomer that operates in the banking and insurance sector.
In 1996, it entered Colombia, with the acquisition of Banco Ganadero and in Argentina, with the acquisition of BBVA Francés. It also makes new acquisitions in Mexico, buying Banca Cremí and Banco de Oriente.
In 1997, BBVA entered Venezuela by acquiring the Provincial Bank, which had been founded in 1953. He also expanded his presence in Argentina with the acquisition of Banco de Credito Argentino. It also enters into the pension funds business in Bolivia, founding BBVA Previsión AFP.
In 1998, the bank installed in Chile after buying Banco BHIF, and AFP Provida one year later. It also enters Brazil with the purchase of Banco Excel-Econômico, and in Argentina he buys the insurer Consolidar, created in 1994.
In 2000, the merger of BBV Probursa with Bancomer occurred in Mexico to create BBVA Bancomer, the first bank in the country by volume of assets. At the beginning of 2004, the Group announced the takeover bid for 100% of the shares of Bancomer that did not yet belong to BBVA, buying all the shares of the Mexican bank. In 2004 it acquires 100% of Hipotecaria Nacional, a private entity specialized in the mortgage business.
In 2001, the implementation of the unified platform for all businesses and all countries was completed, and the BBVA brand was installed in the Group's entities in Latin America.
In 2004, the banks of Chile (BHIF) and Colombia (Banco Ganadero) changed their commercial denomination and were simply called BBVA.
In 2006, through a public auction, it acquired the old savings and housing corporation, Banco Granahorrar de Colombia, whose shares belonged to the Grancolombian group, and with the financial and economic crisis of the late 90s it passed into the hands of the state through Fogafin. Later he merged with BBVA Colombia, creating one of the largest banking groups in the country.
In 2017 BBVA acquires the Mexican company Openpay, startup fintech specializing in online payments.
As of July 6, 2018 Scotiabank Chile takes control of BBVA Chile, with which the legal trademark will be renamed as Scotiabank Azul until its full integration with Scotiabank. The total change was made in October 2018.
United States.
In 2004, the Group began another line of international expansion with entry into the US market, with acquisitions of entities in the south of the country (Sunbelt region), taking advantage of the strength of its Mexican subsidiary BBVA Bancomer.
In the second quarter of the year, the Group announced the purchase of Valley Bank in California through BBVA Bancomer.
In 2005, it bought the Banco Laredo (located in Texas), and in 2006 the Texas Regional Bancshares (Texas State Bank).
In 2007, BBVA acquired Alabama Compass Bank in the US, strengthening its franchise in that country. Later, BBVA unified its corporate image in the country by reorganizing its entire portfolio of brands under the name "BBVA Compass".
In 2009, it acquired the Guaranty Bank in Texas, following the collapse of this entity.
In 2014, BBVA acquired the US digital banking company Simple for 117 million dollars. In its push towards a digital future in 2015 acquired the California company Spring Studio, specializing in user experience and digital design.
, BBVA USA is one of the 30 largest banks in the US.
In 2020, BBVA USA was sold to PNC Financial Services for 11.6 Billion dollars.
Turkey.
In 2010, the Group acquired 24.9% of the capital of Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS, the second largest bank in Turkey, and reached an agreement with the Dogus Group - the reference shareholder of Garanti - to manage the entity jointly. Subsequently, this participation increased to 25.01%. In November 2014, BBVA acquired an additional 14.89% of the Garanti bank from Dogus Holdings for 1,988 million euros, bringing its share to 39.9% of the entity.
In February 2017, it reached a new purchase agreement with Dogus to acquire 9.95% more from the Garanti bank for 859 million euros. Increasing its participation to 49.85% .
Presence on stock market indexes.
IBEX 35.
BBVA is included in the IBEX 35, the official index of the Spanish Continuous Market composed of the 35 most liquid stocks traded on continuous market. The BBVA has a market capitalization of 15,816 million euros (09-30-20) with a share value between 5 and 8 euros.
Eurostoxx 50.
BBVA bank lists in Eurostoxx 50 along with other banks like Santander Bank and Deutsche Bank.
U.S. sports market presence.
On 13 September 2010 BBVA became an official sponsor of the NBA. From 2011 to 2014, BBVA sponsored the Birmingham Bowl, a postseason college football game played in Birmingham, Alabama, during which time the game was known as the BBVA Compass Bowl. For the first three editions under the sponsorship contract, the game featured teams from the Big East Conference and Southeastern Conference. Following the 2013 split of the Big East along football lines, the former Big East berth was inherited by that conference's football-sponsoring offshoot, the American Athletic Conference. On 12 May 2012, BBVA Compass Stadium opened in downtown Houston, Texas. It was built as the home for the Houston Dynamo soccer team, and from its opening has also hosted the Texas Southern University football team. Since 2014, the stadium has also hosted home games of the Houston Dash, a team in the National Women's Soccer League that is owned and operated by the Dynamo.
Emerging and growth-leading economies (EAGLEs).
Emerging and growth-leading economies (EAGLEs) are a grouping of key emerging markets developed by BBVA Research. The EAGLE economies are expected to lead global growth in the next 10 years, and to provide important opportunities for investors.


Because I Am a Girl

Because I Am a Girl is an international movement by the aid organization Plan. The campaign is made to address the issue of gender discrimination around the world. The goal of the campaign is to promote the rights of girls and bring millions of girls out of poverty around the world. It is part of the organization's broader international development work. The campaign focuses on lack of equality faced by girls in developing countries and promotes projects to improve opportunities for girls in education, medical care, family planning, legal rights, and other areas.
Campaign goals.
Plan International states that the campaign has several current goals, which in 2012 included:
Plan has targeted 4 million girls through direct programs and projects, and has the goal of reaching 40 million girls and boys indirectly through gender programs. Plan has a further goal of positively impacting 400 million girls through lobbying for governmental policy changes.
Origins.
The campaign began shortly after Plan International published its first annual report on the state of the world's girls in May 2007, titled "Because I am a Girl". The widely cited report, principally written by Nikki Van der Gaag, compiled and analyzed research into the extent of discrimination against girls worldwide and in the developing world in particular. Violence against girls, forced child marriage, endemic poverty, and many other topics were examined. Plan International developed the Because I am a Girl campaign as an ongoing initiative to launch projects aimed at remedying the challenges faced by girls.
Annual reports.
Each year, a "Because I Am a Girl" report is released by Plan as an update on the state of the world's girls. The report has been produced annually since 2007. Researchers for the report visit girls throughout the world and summarize their findings in the report.
Reports released since 2007:
International activity.
Plan International has raised awareness of its campaign through innovative marketing, including a highly visible bus stop poster campaign. Plan International also initiated the International Day of the Girl Child, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly as an annual observance day. The inaugural International Day of the Girl Child was October 11, 2012.
Plan International reached 1.1 million kids in the late '90s and as of 2018 it has reached greatly increased to 56.5 million children in more than 50 countries. Plan International's goal is to sponsor kids in impoverished countries so that they have a better chance in life.
Plan International USA seeks to make sure that women and girls can manage their menstruation. There is a lot of stigma and one of the main goals is to provide more knowledge about menstruation to both females and males. Plan also works towards providing more access to sanitary products. #GirlsTakeover is a call for action on International Day of the Girl. In the U.S executive directors of UNICEF, UNWomen, and UNFPA were a part of the takeover and advocated for the equality of girls. More than a thousand takeovers were held in 60 different countries all over the world.
Canada.
Plan Canada's "Because I Am a Girl" initiative created a petition to the Canadian government for a National Day of the Girl. This petition was designed to lobby the United Nations for an International Day of the Girl, initially to be observed on September 22. The stated goal was to bring international attention and awareness on the issue of gender inequality and allow for girls to obtain their rights. Canada sponsored a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly to observe the International Day of the Girl Child each October 11, a resolution that the UN voted to adopt.
United Kingdom.
In a 2009 campaign, celebrity women donated pictures from their childhood, discussed women who inspired them, and gave their thoughts on human rights.
In 2014, a school girl wrote a poem about forced marriage after discovering the Because I Am a Girl campaign. Her poem was published online by Plan UK.
United States.
In 2015, Mo'ne Davis teamed up with the brand M4D3 (Make A Difference Everyday) to design a line of sneakers for girls, with some of the proceeds going toward the Plan International's Because I Am a Girl campaign.


Ramon Magsaysay Jr.

Ramon "Jun" Banzon Magsaysay Jr. (born June 5, 1938) is a Filipino politician and businessman. He is the son of former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay.
Early life and career.
Magsaysay Jr. was born in Manila to Ramon Magsaysay and Luz Banzon. He was 15 when his father was elected president and was 18 when his father died in a plane crash in Cebu. He graduated in De La Salle College in Manila where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. He pursued post-graduate studies in 1962 at Harvard School of Business Administration in Boston, Massachusetts, and spent another year in New York University Graduate School of Business Administration. In 1960, he worked as an engineer trainee at Procter and Gamble Philippines. From 1961 to 1962, he was a supervising engineer for operations for Caltex Philippines.
Business career.
After a productive four-year in Congress representing the lone district of Zambales, he returned to work in the private sector where he ventured into various industries including garment manufacturing and export, semi-conductor, and travel and tourism. Armed with his business education and engineering skills, Jun pioneered the cable television business in the country. Today, with over 550 cable operators nationwide, the cable TV industry business has turned into a multi-billion broadband industry. In recognition of setting the blueprint for the sector, Magsaysay is known as "The Father of Cable Television."
Political career.
House of Representatives (1965–1969).
In 1965, he was elected as a congressman for the lone district of Zambales. He was the youngest Congressman to be elected to the Lower House at the age of 27. He went back to the private sector soon after.
1992 Vice-Presidential bid.
In the 1992 elections, he was offered by Agrarian Reform secretary Miriam Defensor Santiago to be her vice presidential candidate under the People's Reform Party. He accepted the offer and run for the elections, hoping to follow his father's footsteps, but the voters favored actor and Senator Joseph Estrada. He went back to the private sector soon after.
Senator of the Philippines (1995–2007).
In the 1995 elections, President Fidel Ramos invited Magsaysay to join the senatorial slate of the Lakas-Laban Coalition. He won the election and received the third highest vote among the twelve elected senators. In 1996, he was commissioned by the Senate to look for a suitable place to relocate the Senate offices. The building would be renovated as the National Museum would be expanding in time for the Philippine Centennial celebrations in 1998. The Senate session hall and offices found its new home at the GSIS Building in the Financial Center in Pasay.
On January 13, 2001, Magsaysay was one who voted in favor of opening the bank envelope containing evidence in the impeachment case of President Joseph Estrada. The request was overturned by a negative vote that led to the second EDSA People Power Revolution. In the 2001 elections, he was reelected to the senate under the Lakas-NUCD-UMDP party and was affiliated with the People Power Coalition. In the electoral crisis involving President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Magsaysay distanced himself from the ruling party Lakas and joined the Liberal Party (LP) then led by Senate President Franklin Drilon.
As a legislator, he has co-authored several laws including:
Senate comeback attempt.
In 2013, Magsaysay ran for senator under Team PNoy, the administration coalition. He also received an endorsement from Makabayan on May 5, 2013. However, he was unsuccessful, placing 16th, thus outside the Magic 12.
Personal life.
Jun, as many people call him, is married to Marie Louise (Marilou) Kahn, and they have no children. However, he had two children from his first marriage with Isabel Delgado (m. October 1964), Margarita and Francisco (Paco), an entrepreneur.


Theodor Wegelius

 Theodor Wegelius (7 March 1850, Helsinki - 16 June 1932) was a Finnish politician. He was a member of the Senate of Finland.


Guatay, California

Guatay is an unincorporated community in the Cuyamaca Mountains, in the Mountain Empire area of southeastern San Diego County, California.
The name stems from the Hispanicized name of a historical Kumeyaay village of "Meelqsh G'tay", which was Milguaytay in Spanish.
Geography.
The town's elevation is 3,999 feet (1,219 m). Although Guatay is unincorporated, it does not have a post office. The ZIP code is 91931.
It was the location of a 19th-century stagecoach station on the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line.
Nearby Guatay Mountain, a peak of the Cuyamaca Mountains, is home to a grove of the rare endemic Tecate Cypress ("Cupressus forbesii").


William I, Landgrave of Lower Hesse

William I of Hesse () (4 July 1466 – 8 February 1515) was the Landgrave of Hesse (Lower Hesse) from 1471 to 1493.
His parents were Louis the Frank (1438–1471) and Mechthild, daughter of Count Louis I of Württemberg. On 17 February 1488 in Münden, he married Anna of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel c. 1460 - Worms 16 May 1520], daughter of William II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Elisabeth, Countess of Stolberg, with whom he had five daughters:
After a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1491 where he was dubbed a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, he probably contracted syphilis. He abdicated in favor of his brother William II on 3 June 1493, and spent the rest of his life in Spangenberg.


Tomita Tetsunosuke

 was a Japanese businessman, 2nd Governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), and Governor of Tokyo.
Biography.
Tomita was born in Sendai Domain (modern Miyagi Prefecture), as the fourth son of a samurai retainer to the Date clan. In 1856, he was sent by the domain to Edo, to study western artillery science, and soon after his return, was sent back to Edo again to study naval science under Katsu Kaishū. In 1867, he was chosen to accompany Katsu Kaishū’s son to the United States for studies. He studied economics at the Whitney Business College in Newark, New Jersey under William C Whitney (who was subsequently hired by Mori Arinori as a foreign advisor to teach the Double-entry bookkeeping system in Japan).
With the Boshin War, and the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Tomita returned briefly to Japan, but was urged back to the United States by Katsu Kaishū. His position was recognized by the new Meiji government was thus able to help organize the visit of the Iwakura Mission to the United States in 1872. Ito Hirobumi and Okubo Toshimichi confirmed his position as the first Japanese Vice-Consul to New York during the course of the Iwakura Mission. He finally returned to Japan in 1874, and soon became a member of the "Meirokusha." Through the introduction of Fukuzawa Yukichi, he married the daughter of Sugiyama Gen, and drew up the first recorded formal marriage contract in Japan. Afterwards, he was appointed Japanese consul-general to Shanghai. Subsequently, Tomita served as Secretary to the Japanese legation in London.
On Tomita’s return to Japan in 1881, he was recruited by the Ministry of Finance for his wide-ranging knowledge of world economics, and was appointed the first Vice-Governor of the new Bank of Japan in 1882. After the sudden death of Yoshihara Shigetoshi, the 1st Governor of the Bank of Japan in 1887, Tomita was promoted on February 21, 1888 to take his position. During his tenure, he attempted to establish a central discount rate and stabilize foreign exchange, which he saw as core roles of a central bank. However, in these actions he was opposed by the Yokohama Specie Bank and by Finance Minister Matsukata Masayoshi. Resisting orders by Matsukata to change BOJ policies, he was relieved of his position on September 3, 1889 after 19 months as head of the bank.
The following year, Tomita was appointed to a seat in the House of Peers of the Diet of Japan, and from July 21, 1891 to October 26, 1893 was Governor of Tokyo. During his tenure, the three Tama Districts were transferred from Kanagawa Prefecture to Tokyo, thus greatly expanding its hinterland.1891年7月21日 - 1893年10月26日
In 1893, he retired from politics and entered the business world, founding the Kangyo Bank (one of the predecessors of modern Mizuho Corporate Bank), the Yokohama Fire Insurance Company, later known as Yokohama Fire, Marine, Transit & Fidelity Insurance, and Fujibo Holdings. He was also a director on the board of the Nippon Railway. Tomita also founded the Kyoritsu Women's University.


Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States

The Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States is a judicial organ which was formed in order to provide exercising of its economic commitments by the participating states. The Court is empowered to consider the disputes in the fulfillment of economic commitments in accordance with international treaties within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Court considers other disputes under the agreement of the participating states. It is also empowered to interpret international treaties and the acts of the CIS bodies. The location of the Economic Court is the city of Minsk, Republic of Belarus.
History.
For the first time the idea of creation of judicial body within the CIS was proposed and then mentioned in the Agreement on cooperation of economic and arbitration courts of Belarus, Russian Federation and the Ukraine dated 21 December 1991, on the day when Alma-Ata Declaration was signed. In the article 12 of this Agreement, national courts of the CIS confirmed the necessity of formation, as part of Commonwealth structure, of special arbitration organ (Economic Court). On interstate level, when the Agreement on measures of providing improvement of payments between economic organizations of the CIS participating states dated 15 May 1992 was being signed, it was made a decision on creation of the CIS judicial organ (named the Commercial Court of the Commonwealth). The main purpose of the Commercial Court of the Commonwealth was settlement of interstate economic disputes that cannot be referred to the competence of higher economic (arbitration) national courts of Commonwealth states (article 5 of the Agreement).
On 6 July 1992 the Agreement on the status of the Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States was signed, and its inherent part was the Provision on the Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States. This Provision is a legal basis of the Court's activity.
In the Statute of the Commonwealth of Independent States approved by the Council of Heads of States of the CIS on 22 January 1993, Part IV, Economic Court was mentioned as one of the CIS bodies.
In the article 3 of the Agreement on the status of the Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States, it is said that the location of the Court shall be Minsk, Republic of Belarus. The Treaty between the Republic of Belarus and the Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States about the terms of residence of the Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States on the territory of Belarus was signed on 22 November 1996.
State-parties to the Agreement on the status of the Economic Court.
The Agreement on the status of the Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States came into force in 1992 for Belarus, Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, in 1993 – for Armenia, in 1994 – for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, in 1995 – for Moldova. In 2006 Armenia quit the Agreement. Moldova quit the Agreement in 2010.
In 1997 Azerbaijan tried to join the Agreement on the status of the Economic Court with some stipulations, but state-parties were against such joinder as stipulations seemed unacceptable.
Competence.
The competence of the Economic Court is determined by the rules of the CIS Charter and the Provision on the Economic Court, approved by the Agreement on the status of the Economic Court. According to the article 32 of the CIS Charter, the Court is empowered to settle disputes which can appear in the fulfillment of economic commitments within the framework of the CIS, to interpret provisions of international agreements and the CIS acts related to the economic issues, to settle other disputes related to its jurisdiction by the CIS participating states. In accordance with the article 3 of the Provision on the Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Court settles interstate economic disputes: which appear in the fulfillment of economic commitments, provided by the CIS international agreements, decisions made by the Council of the Heads of States, the CIS Council of the Heads of Governments and its other institutions; on the correspondence of statutory and other acts of participating states, passed on economic issues, international agreements and other acts of the CIS. Other disputes, connected with the fulfillment of international agreements and other CIS acts passed on its basis (today there are 36 such international agreements).
In accordance with the article 5 of the Provision on the Economic Court, the Court is also empowered to interpret: international agreements, another CIS acts and its institutions; acts of legislation of the former SSR for the period of its mutually agreed enforcement, including those about permissibility of enforcement of such acts, as the acts which do not contradict international agreements and passed on its basis another CIS acts. Such interpretation is carried out in taking decisions on particular cases, and also special requests.
The right of access to the Economic Court.
In accordance with the Provision on the Economic Court, states concerned represented by its competent organs, and also CIS institutions have the right to go to the Court for consideration of disputes.
The highest agencies of power and government of participating states, CIS institutions, superior economic and arbitration courts and other superior organs that are empowered to settle economic disputes, which can appear on the territory of participating states, can appeal to the Economic Court with requests for interpretation of the CIS international agreements and other acts.
The Economic Court is not empowered to consider disputes or requests for interpretation, introduced by economic agents or natural persons. At the same time in the Court's practice were considered such kind of requests, which were taken to the Court indirectly, through the competent organs of states and CIS institutions.
Status of the Court’s decisions.
According to the Provision on the Economic Court subsequent to the results of consideration of disputes the Economic Court makes decision, where the fact of law infringement, by participating state, of international agreement or CIS act or act of the CIS, its institution, is ascertained. Then some measures, which are recommended for such state in order to eliminate the infringement and its consequences, are defined. When the Economic Court of the CIS makes a decision, the state, concerning the decision being made, provides its execution. Thus, the legal force is not determined straight by constituent documents of the Court. In the literature, there is an opinion that the Court's decisions have binding character with regard to legal qualification of aspects of the case and the character of recommendation with regard to the measures on elimination the infringement and its consequences undertaken by the state.
The decisions of the Economic Court and the enactments of the Plenum are to be published in the CIS publications and mass media of the participating states.
The fulfillment of the functions of the EurAsEC Court.
From 2004 to 2011 the Economic Court was performing functions of the Court of the Eurasian Economic Community in accordance with the Agreement between the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Eurasian Economic Community on fulfillment by the Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States the functions of the EurAsEC Court dated 3 March 2004 (with changes, submitted by the Protocol dated 17 January 2011). This agreement was denounced on 1 January 2012. Within the framework of fulfillment of the functions of the EurAsEC Court the jurisdiction of the Economic Court was extended on interstate disputes of economic character, which can appear on application of international EurAsEC agreements, decisions of EurAsEC organs, fulfillment of commitments, following from such acts, other disputes, provided by the EurAsEC agreements, and also on interpretation of the provisions of international agreements and decisions of EurAsEC organs.
Judges.
The Judge panel of the Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States is formed from equal number of judges from each state-party of the agreement on the status of the Economic Court. In accordance with the article 2 of the agreement, the quota number of judges from each state-party is two people. By the decision of the Council of the Heads of States of the CIS about measures on further enhancement of efficiency of the CIS organs and optimization of its structure dated 2 October 2002, the number of judges was reduced to 1 judge from each state.
In accordance with the article 7 of the Provision on the Economic Court of the CIS all judges are elected (appointed) by state-parties in the way, which is determined in those states, for election (appointment) of judges of higher economic, arbitration courts for a 10-year period, strictly on the professional ground, among judges of economic, arbitration courts and other persons, who must be specialists of high proficiency in the field of economic legal relations, also they must have higher juridical education. The Economic Court President and his Deputy are elected by the judges of the Court by majority vote and approved by the Council of the Heads of States for a 5-year period.
Now 2 judges perform their duties at the Economic Court: from Belarus – Ludmila Kamenkova (appointed in 2008); from Russian Federation – Evelina Nagornaya (appointed in 2013).
On 15 December 2011 the President of the Economic Court became Ludmila Kamenkova.
Structure of the Court.
The Economic Court discharges its duties as a full panel of Economic Court, but it also may form the Economic Court collegiums and convoke the Plenum of the Economic Court.
Full panel of the Economic Court is composed of all judges from the Court and is convoked for consideration the cases on requests for interpretation. Full panel of the Court is eligible to make decision, if on its session are present not less than two thirds of all elected and proceeded to execute its duties judges of the Economic Court. When making a decision, each judge has one vote and has no right to abstain from voting. Decisions are made by simple majority vote from the number of judges who are present. When there is equality of votes, the decision the chairman of full staff had voted for is supposed to be made. The Decisions are made by the full staff of the Court are final and there will be no appeals.
The Economic Court collegiums are formed by full staff of the Court in number of 3 or 5 persons among the judges for consideration the disputes related to the competence of appropriate collegiums. The decision of collegium is made by majority vote of collegium's members. When there is equality of votes, the decision the chairman of collegiums had voted for is supposed to be made. The Decision of collegiums can be appealed to the Plenum of the Economic Court by case parties or third persons.
Plenum of the Economic Court is supposed to be the higher collegiate organ of the Court and composed of the chairman of the Court, his deputies and judges of the Court, and also of chairmen of higher economic, arbitration courts and other higher state organs of participating states, settling economic disputes.
Court Practice.
From February 1994, when formation of material and technical foundation was accomplished and the Court's staff was formed, to 17 June 2016 the Economic Court considered 124 cases and 133 acts were accepted.
Interstate economic disputes.
Economic disputes between the CIS participating states compose moderate part of the cases that are considered by the Economic Court: for the first 20 years of the Court's functioning were considered 13 disputes. In some cases the Court made a decision on denial of case production or dismissal of a case.
The decisions on the cases about disputes may be classified according to the following categories: about improper fulfillment of economic commitments; about recognition of proprietorship, on collision between national legal norms and provisions of the CIS law.
Cases on interpretation.
Cases about interpretation compose main part of the cases that are considered by the Economic Court. By 17 June 2016 the Court had considered 111 cases on interpretation.
Among all cases considered by the Economic court it is possible to single out the following categories:
Notable decisions.
The Decision by the CIS Economic Court dated September 23, 2014 No. 01−1/1−14 on interpretation of the article 11 of the CIS Convention on protection of investors rights dated March 23, 1997 was nominated by "Global Arbitration Review" as one of the most important published decision of 2014 for jurisprudential or other reasons. It was commented as "preventing a potential flood of claims at so-called “pocket” arbitration courts".
The practice of execution of decisions of the Economic Court.
Conclusions and directions appearing in decisions of the Economic Court related to the cases about interpretation of provisions of international agreements, signed within the framework of the CIS, are used by competent organs of the participating states in practical activity, in preparation of the acts of the national legal system and development of international legal basis, are taken into consideration by experts when developing and coordinating agreements and decisions taken within the framework of the CIS.
Decisions of the Economic Court on cases about interpretation are used in practice of national judicial organs of Belarus and Russian Federation.
Reforming of the Court.
During a period of the Economic Court functioning, an opinion of improvement of its constituent documents was spoken up continually. So, the analysis of the Court's practice on consideration of interstate economic disputes – the main category of disputes in accordance with the constituent documents – shows that the Court's potential is not effectively employed.
In this regard the Conception of further development of the CIS, approved by the CIS Council of the Heads of States on 5 October 2007, and the Plan of main activities on its realization provides for modernization of the Economic Court of the CIS.
Within the framework of activities on modernization of the Economic Court, in 2012 special group of government experts had prepared the draft text of a new Agreement on the status of the Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which however has not been put to the signature yet.


Jennifer Polyxeni Bloomfield

Jennifer "Jenny" Polyxeni Bloomfield is the Australian Representative to Taiwan since February 1, 2021, succeeding Gary Cowan. and was the Australian Ambassador to Greece from 2011 until 2014 with non-resident accreditation to Albania and Bulgaria. She is both the first woman and the first person of Greek descent to hold that position.
Bloomfield earned a Master of Arts in Foreign Affairs and Trade from Monash University, a Bachelor of Letters in Political Science and French and a Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Arts in Modern Greek from the University of Melbourne.