Mohammad Sidique Khan

Mohammad Sidique Khan (20 October 1974 – 7 July 2005) was the oldest of the four Al Qaeda suicide bombers and believed to be the leader responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings, in which bombs were detonated on three London Underground trains and one bus in central London suicide attacks, killing 56 people including the attackers and injuring over 700. Khan bombed the Edgware Road train killing himself and six other people.
On 1 September 2005, a videotape emerged featuring Khan. The videotape, shown by Al Jazeera Television, also shows Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is the highest leader of al-Qaeda. The two men do not appear together, and the British government says that al-Qaeda was not connected with the bombing. The Home Office believes the tape was edited after the suicide attacks and dismisses it as evidence of al-Qaeda's involvement. In the film, Khan declares, "I and thousands like me have forsaken everything for what we believe" and refers to his expectation that the media would already have painted a picture of him in accordance with government "spin". He goes on to say, "Your democratically elected governments continually perpetrate atrocities against my people all over the world. Your support makes you directly responsible. We are at war and I am a soldier. Now you too will taste the reality of this situation."
Biography.
Born in St James's University Hospital, Leeds, Khan grew up in Beeston but moved to Lees Holm in Dewsbury, near Leeds in early 2005. His father, Tika Khan, a foundry worker, was born in Pakistan. His mother is Mamida Begum. He received his secondary education at South Leeds High School, formerly the Matthew Murray High School, which was also attended by Hasib Hussain, 7 July bus bomber. After completing his secondary education, he attended Leeds Metropolitan University to complete a degree in business. It was during this time that he met his wife Hasina Patel, and first became interested in extremist Islam. Khan had a daughter.
In 1999 he came under the influence of radical cleric Abdullah el-Faisal.
Khan worked at Hillside Primary School in Leeds as a "learning mentor" with the children of immigrant families who had just arrived in Britain. Khan's colleagues commented that he was a quiet individual who did not talk about his religious or political beliefs.
Khan was also involved in the community-run Hamara Healthy Living Centre in Beeston, and worked at its youth outreach project, the Hamara Youth Access Point (HYAP). Staff at the centre have confirmed that two of the London bombers, Shehzad Tanweer and Hasib Hussain, frequented the HYAP. Khan used the outreach project as a recruitment centre, according to a friend of his who spoke to "The Guardian".
His mother-in-law, Farida Patel, is also involved in education and works as a council liaison officer at a school in Dewsbury. In 1998 she was the first Asian woman to be invited to a Buckingham Palace garden party, meeting the Queen and other members of the royal family, in recognition for her work amongst the Muslim community in Dewsbury, and again in 2004. She was said to have been "devastated" by the actions of her son-in-law.
Mohammad Sidique Khan reportedly postponed the event from 6 July 2005 because he had to take his pregnant wife to the hospital.
London bombings.
On the morning of 7 July 2005, Khan travelled by car with his three accomplices to Luton in Bedfordshire, where the four men caught a train to London King's Cross railway station.
From there, Khan entered the London Underground and boarded a Circle Line train heading west, travelling four stops to Edgware Road. The bomb detonated at 8.50 a.m., just as the train was pulling out of Edgware Road station, killing six British victims. Personal documents of Khan's were found on the train.
Intelligence assessments.
Khan is alleged to have travelled regularly to Dubai to attend military training camps, and is also believed to have spent time in Israel.
In 2001 Khan was alleged to have learned bomb-making at the Malakand training camp.
He is also alleged to have trained with Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah and to be directly involved with the 2002 Bali bombing.
According to the Israeli newspaper "Maariv", Khan travelled to Israel on 19 February 2003, staying only one night and leaving the next day. "Maariv" reports that he was suspected of having helped to plan the 30 April 2003 suicide bombing of the Mike's Place bar in Tel Aviv which killed three Israelis, carried out by two British citizens of Pakistani descent. The Israeli government allegedly played down the report.
According to Ron Suskind's "The One Percent Doctrine", the NSA had been monitoring phone calls and emails between Khan and several Islamic radicals from the United States and England, including Ahmed Omar Abu Ali. Just prior to Khan's planned trip to the US, NSA intercepted email exchanges between him and some of his associates discussing a desire to "blow up synagogues on the East Coast". According to Suskind, the CIA wanted to let Khan into the US so that the FBI could put him under surveillance, but the FBI resisted on grounds that, as one FBI case agent stated, "We just can't take the risk ... he goes up and blows up a temple in Washington." US government officials put Khan on a no-fly list to prevent him from entering the country. Suskind was critical of the decision, which the author suggested tipped him off to the fact that he was known to US authorities and might have caused him to be more cautious with his communication to avoid further surveillance.
British intelligence sources and circumstantial evidence suggested that this theory may have resulted from a confusion between two different Mohammed Khans, although it seems that Suskind stood by his claim.
According to David Leppard in "The Sunday Times", Khan was assessed by MI5 in 2004, after his name appeared during an investigation into a plan to detonate a 600-lb truck bomb in London. MI5 concluded that Khan's link to the plotters was indirect, and he was not placed under surveillance. MI5 was later criticised for failing to follow up leads relating to Khan. The service responded to the criticisms. Channel 4 News published what it said were excerpts from the transcript of the tape.
US intelligence officials have said that Khan was known to Mohammed Junaid Babar, who has pleaded guilty in the US to providing material support to al-Qaeda. Babar, who told investigators that he worked on a plan to blow up pubs, railway stations, and restaurants in the UK, identified Khan as someone he had met in Pakistan.
On 18 July 2005, the Pakistani government released video footage of Khan arriving at Dubai airport on 19 November 2004 with Shehzad Tanweer, another of the London bombers. Khan and Tanweer stayed in Pakistan until 8 February 2005, then flew back to London together. A third member of the London group, 18-year-old Hasib Hussain, arrived in Karachi on 15 July 2004 from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on flight SV714.


Electoral history of Richard Lugar

Electoral history of Richard Lugar, United States Senator from Indiana (1977–2013), 44th Mayor of Indianapolis (1968–1976), Chairman of the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations (1985–1987, 2003–2007), Agriculture (1995–2001, 2001) and a candidate for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination.
While in the Senate, Lugar was the 5th most senior U.S. Senator and the longest-serving Republican in this body.
Indianapolis mayoral election, 1967:
Indianapolis mayoral election, 1971:
United States Senate election in Indiana, 1974:
Republican primary for the United States Senate from Indiana, 1976:
United States Senate election in Indiana, 1976:
United States Senate election in Indiana, 1982:
United States Senate election in Indiana, 1988:
Republican primary for the United States Senate from Indiana, 1994:
United States Senate election in Indiana, 1994:
Iowa Republican straw poll, 1995:
New Hampshire Republican vice presidential primary, 1996:
All candidates run as write-in
Washington Presidential primary for independent voters, 1996:
1996 Republican presidential primaries:
Republican primary for the United States Senate from Indiana, 2000:
United States Senate election in Indiana, 2000:
Republican primary for the United States Senate from Indiana, 2006:
United States Senate election in Indiana, 2006:
President pro tempore of the United States Senate, 2009:
Republican primary for the United States Senate from Indiana, 2012:


5th G7 summit

The 5th G7 Summit was held at Tokyo, Japan between June 28 and 29, 1979. The venue for the summit meetings was the State Guesthouse in Tokyo, Japan.
The Group of Seven (G7) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada (since 1976) and the President of the European Commission (starting officially in 1981). The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's President Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's Chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they conceived the first Group of Six (G6) summit in 1975.
Leaders at the summit.
The G7 is an unofficial annual forum for the leaders of Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The 5th G7 summit was the first summit for British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. It was also the first and only summit for Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark and Japanese Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira.
Participants.
These summit participants are the current "core members" of the international forum:
Issues.
The summit was intended as a venue for resolving differences among its members. As a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult economic decisions. Coming amidst the "second oil shock" cause by the Iranian Revolution, the summit became devoted to the problem of energy, according to historian Daniel Yergin. "It was also a very nasty one. Tempers were badly frayed." U.S. President Jimmy Carter stated that German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt "got personally abusive toward me ... He alleged that American interference in the Middle East trying to work for a peace treaty was what had cause the problems with oil all over the world."


Caribbean Revolutionary Alliance

The Caribbean Revolutionary Alliance (French: Alliance révolutionnaire caraïbe) was a militant autonomist organization active in the Caribbean-located overseas department of Guadeloupe in the 1980s. The group was outlawed by the French government following a series of bombings in 1984.
The group also carried out bombings in protest of the Route du Rhum sailing event in November 1986.


Martial Herman

Martial Joseph Armand Herman (29 August 1759, Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise – 7 May 1795, Paris) (guillotined), was a lawyer and a chief judge during the Reign of Terror. His most famous cases were against Marie Antoinette and Georges Danton. As the commissioner of police he dealt with the , shortly before the Jacobin regime fell.
Life.
Martial was born in a family of lawyers. On 26 July 1783 he was admitted to the bar, and in 1786 he bought the post of substitute attorney general of the provincial Estates of Artois, which seated in Arras. In 1790 he founded the local club of Jacobins together with his younger brother. In 1791 he was elected criminal court judge in the Pas-de-Calais. In 1792 he married a lower class woman from Willerval, who could not read; the couple had one child. On 28 August 1793, on instigation of Robespierre he replaced Jacques-Bernard-Marie Montané as President of the Revolutionary Tribunal. He presided at the trial of Marie-Antoinette, and the Girondins in October, Philippe Égalité, Madame Roland, and Jean Sylvain Bailly in November, in March/April 1794 Jacques Hébert, Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins. On proposal of Lazare Carnot he set up twelve commissions created by the executive decree of 12 Germinal (1 April), to replace the six ministries and their offices, of which he chaired the first (general administration and courts). He was replaced by René-François Dumas when he was appointed commissioner of civil administration, police and courts, in succession to Jules-François Paré. Meanwhile Herman lived at 19, Place Vendôme.
Three days after 9 thermidor (30 July 1794), he was arrested and spend ten months in prison. In his first hours of captivity, Herman drafted a supporting memoir. He wrote he always helped the wives and children of the detainees, etc. On 6 May, receiving the verdict sentencing him to death - with a majority of one vote - he flung his hat out of the window in a moment of rage. It was Scellier who threw a pamphlet at the presiding judge Liger-Verdigny. He was guillotined on the Place de Grève, at about eleven o'clock in the morning, together with Fouquier-Tinville the public prosecutor; Scellier (Vice-Chairman of the Revolutionary Court), Lanne (judge) and Herman's assistant; Foucault (judge); Garnier-Launay (judge); Renaudin (juror); Leroy (juror), Vilate (juror); Prieur (juror), Chatelet (juror), Girard (juror); Boyaval; Trey; Verney, and Dupaumier. It was Danton's death they wanted to avenge.


List of generals of the Empire of Brazil

This is a list of all officers who achieved the rank of general-officer in the Empire of Brazil.


Puccio family

The Puccio family was an Argentine criminal family. Three of the Puccios were convicted of four kidnappings and three murders in the early 1980s.
Background.
The family, which comprised father Arquímedes Puccio, mother Epifanía Calvo, and five children (three sons and two daughters) – Alejandro, Silvia, Daniel, Guillermo, and Adriana Puccio - lived in a large house in San Isidro, a wealthy suburb of Buenos Aires. Arquímedes is suspected to have been involved in forced disappearances during the Dirty War. Alejandro was a star rugby player, and Silvia was an art teacher.
Punishment.
The family was arrested and taken to jail. While awaiting court sentencing, Alejandro tried to commit suicide by jumping from the fifth floor of the courthouse when he was being taken to testify. He survived, however, with serious health complications.
Arquímedes and his two older sons, Alejandro and Daniel, were convicted of the crimes, along with three other accomplices.
 Arquímedes and Alejandro each received a life sentence, while Daniel was jailed for a number of years.
The youngest son, Guillermo, who had escaped from the family long before they were arrested, avoided justice by leaving the country.
Epifanía Calvo, Silvia, and Adriana were never convicted of any involvement in the crimes.
Accomplices.
The Puccios had at least three adult male accomplices: Roberto Oscar Díaz, Guillermo Fernández Laborda and Rodolfo Victoriano Franco. Franco, a retired colonel, is simply referred to as "the Colonel" in the TV mini-series, "Historia de un clan" Another was Gustavo Contepomi.
In popular culture.
The family and their crimes are the subjects of several works:


Khalid al-Mihdhar

Khalid Muhammad Abdallah al-Mihdhar (, ; also transliterated as Almihdhar) (May 16, 1975 – September 11, 2001) was a Saudi Arabian hijacker. He was one of the five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, which was flown into the Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks.
al-Mihdhar was born in Saudi Arabia and fought with the Bosnian mujahideen during the Bosnian War of the 1990s. In early 1999, he traveled to Afghanistan where, as an experienced and respected jihadist, he was selected by Osama bin Laden to participate in the attacks. Al-Mihdhar arrived in California with fellow hijacker Nawaf al-Hazmi in January 2000, after traveling to Malaysia for the Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit. At this point, the CIA was aware of al-Mihdhar, and he was photographed in Malaysia with another al-Qaeda member who was involved in the USS "Cole" bombing. The CIA did not inform the FBI when it learned that al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi had entered the United States, and al-Mihdhar was not placed on any watchlists until late August 2001.
Upon arriving in San Diego County, California, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi were to train as pilots, but spoke English poorly and did not do well with flight lessons. In June 2000, al-Mihdhar left the United States for Yemen, leaving al-Hazmi behind in San Diego. Al-Mihdhar spent some time in Afghanistan in early 2001 and returned to the United States in early July 2001. He stayed in New Jersey in July and August, before arriving in the Washington, D.C. area at the beginning of September.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, al-Mihdhar boarded American Airlines Flight 77, which was hijacked approximately 30 minutes after takeoff. The plane was deliberately crashed into the Pentagon, killing all 64 people aboard the flight, along with 125 on the ground.
Background.
Al-Mihdhar was born on May 16, 1975, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia to a prominent family, related to the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. Little is known about his life before the age of 20, when he and childhood friend Nawaf al-Hazmi went to Bosnia and Herzegovina to fight with the mujahideen in the Bosnian War. After the war, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi went to Afghanistan where they fought alongside the Taliban against the Northern Alliance, and al-Qaeda would later dub al-Hazmi his "second in command". In 1997, al-Mihdhar told his family that he was leaving to fight in Chechnya, though it is not certain that he actually went to Chechnya. The same year, both men attracted the attention of Saudi Intelligence, who believed they were involved in arms smuggling, and the following year they were eyed as possible collaborators in the 1998 United States embassy bombings in East Africa after it emerged that Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali had given the FBI the phone number of al-Mihdhar's father-in-law; 967-1-200578, which turned out to be a key communications hub for al-Qaeda militants, and eventually tipped off the Americans about the upcoming Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit.
In the late 1990s, al-Mihdhar married Hoda al-Hada, who was the sister of a comrade from Yemen, and they had two daughters. Through marriage, al-Mihdhar was related to a number of individuals involved with al-Qaeda in some way. Al-Mihdhar's father-in-law, Ahmad Mohammad Ali al-Hada, helped facilitate al-Qaeda communications in Yemen, and in late 2001, al-Mihdhar's brother-in-law, Ahmed al-Darbi, was captured in Azerbaijan and sent to Guantanamo Bay on charges of supporting a plot to bomb ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Selection for the attacks.
In Spring 1999, al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden committed to support the 9/11 attacks plot, which was largely organized by prominent al-Qaeda member Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi were among the first group of participants selected for the operation, along with Tawfiq bin Attash and Abu Bara al Yemeni, al-Qaeda members from Yemen. Al-Mihdhar, who had spent time in al-Qaeda camps in the 1990s, was known and highly regarded by Bin Laden. Al-Mihdhar was so eager to participate in jihad operations in the United States that he had already obtained a one-year B-1/B-2 (tourist/business) multiple-entry visa from the consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on April 7, 1999, one day after obtaining a new passport. Al-Mihdhar listed the Los Angeles Sheraton as his intended destination.
Once selected, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi were sent to the Mes Aynak training camp in Afghanistan. In late 1999, al-Hazmi, bin Attash and al Yemeni went to Karachi, Pakistan to see Mohammed, who instructed them on Western culture and travel; however, al-Mihdhar did not go to Karachi, instead returning to Yemen. He was known as "Sinaan" during the preparations.
2000.
Malaysia summit.
The CIA was aware of al-Mihdhar and ak-Hazmi's involvement with al-Qaeda, having been informed by Saudi intelligence during a 1999 meeting in Riyadh. Based on information uncovered by the FBI in the 1998 United States embassy bombings case, the National Security Agency (NSA) began tracking the communications of Hada, al-Mihdhar's father-in-law. In late 1999, the NSA informed the CIA of an upcoming meeting in Malaysia, which Hada mentioned would involve "Khalid", "Nawaf", and "Salem", who was al-Hazmi's younger brother, Salem al-Hazmi.
On January 4, 2000, al-Mihdhar left Yemen and flew to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he spent the night. The CIA broke into his hotel room and photocopied his passport, which gave them his full name, birth information and passport number for the first time, and alerted them that he held an entry visa to the United States. The photocopy was sent to the CIA's Alec Station, which was tracking al-Qaeda.
On January 5, 2000, al-Mihdhar traveled to Kuala Lumpur, where he joined al-Hazmi, bin Attash and al-Yemeni, who were all arriving from Pakistan. Hamburg cell member Ramzi bin al-Shibh was also at the summit, and Mohammed possibly attended. The group was in Malaysia to meet with Hambali, the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, an Asian al-Qaeda affiliate. During the Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit, many key details of the 9/11 attacks may have been arranged. At the time, the attacks plot had an additional component involving hijacking aircraft in Asia, as well as in the United States. Bin Attash and al-Yemeni were slated for this part of the plot. However, it was later canceled by bin Laden for being too difficult to coordinate with United States operations.
In Malaysia, the group stayed with Yazid Sufaat, a local Jemaah Islamiyah member, who provided accommodation at Hambali's request. Both al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi were secretly photographed at the meeting by Malaysian authorities, whom the CIA had asked to provide surveillance. The Malaysians reported that al-Mihdhar spoke at length with bin Attash, and he met with Fahd al-Quso and others who were later involved in the USS "Cole" bombing. After the meeting, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi traveled to Bangkok, Thailand, on January 8 and left a week later on January 15 for the United States.
United States entry.
On January 15, 2000, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi arrived at Los Angeles International Airport from Bangkok and were admitted as tourists for a period of six months. Immediately after entering the country, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi met Omar al-Bayoumi in an airport restaurant. Al-Bayoumi claimed he was merely being charitable in assisting the two seemingly out-of-place Muslims with moving to San Diego, where he helped them find an apartment near his own, co-signed their lease, and gave them $1,500 to help pay their rent. Mohammed later claimed that he suggested San Diego as their destination, based on information gleaned from a San Diego phone book that listed language and flight schools. Mohammed also recommended that the two seek assistance from the local Muslim community, since neither spoke English nor had experience with Western culture.
While in San Diego, witnesses told the FBI he and al-Hazmi had a close relationship with Anwar Al Awlaki, an imam who served as their spiritual advisor. Authorities say the two regularly attended the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque al-Awlaki led in San Diego, and al-Awlaki had many closed-door meetings with them, which led investigators to believe al-Awlaki knew about the 9/11 attacks in advance.
In early February 2000, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi rented an apartment at the Parkwood Apartments complex in the Clairemont Mesa area of San Diego, and al-Mihdhar purchased a used 1988 Toyota Corolla. Neighbors thought that al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi were odd because months passed without the men getting any furniture, and they slept on mattresses on the floor, yet they carried briefcases, were frequently on their mobile phones, and were occasionally picked up by a limousine. Those who met al-Mihdhar in San Diego described him as "dark and brooding, with a disdain for American culture". Neighbors also said that the pair constantly played flight simulator games.
Al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi took flight lessons on May 5, 2000, at the Sorbi Flying Club in San Diego, with al-Mihdhar flying an aircraft for 42 minutes. They took additional lessons on May 10; however, with poor English skills, they did not do well with flight lessons. Al-Mihdhar and Al-Hazmi raised some suspicion when they offered extra money to their flight instructor, Richard Garza, if he would train them to fly jets. Garza refused the offer but did not report them to authorities. After the 9/11 attacks, Garza described the two men as "impatient students" who "wanted to learn to fly jets, specifically Boeings".
Return to Yemen.
Al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi moved out of the Parkwood Apartments at the end of May 2000, and al-Mihdhar transferred registration for the Toyota Corolla to al-Hazmi. On June 10, 2000,al-Mihdhar left the United States and returned to Yemen to visit his wife, against the wishes of Mohammed who wanted him to remain in the United States to help al-Hazmi adapt. Mohammed was so angered by this that he decided to remove al-Mihdhar from the 9/11 plot, but he was overruled by bin Laden. Al-Mihdhar remained part of the plot as a muscle hijacker, who would help take over the aircraft. On October 12, 2000, the USS "Cole" was bombed by a small boat loaden with explosives. After the bombing, Yemeni Prime Minister Abdul Karim al-Iryani reported that al-Mihdhar had been one of the key planners of the attack and had been in the country at the time of the attacks. In late 2000, al-Mihdhar was back in Saudi Arabia, staying with a cousin in Mecca.
2001.
In February 2001, al-Mihdhar returned to Afghanistan for several months, possibly entering across the Iranian border after a flight from Syria. FBI director Robert Mueller later stated his belief that al-Mihdhar served as the coordinator and organizer for the muscle hijackers. He was the last of the muscle hijackers to return to the United States. On June 10, he returned to Saudi Arabia for a month, where he applied to re-enter the United States through the Visa Express program, indicating that he intended to stay at a Marriott hotel in New York City. On his visa application, al-Mihdhar falsely stated that he had never previously traveled to the United States.
On July 4, al-Mihdhar returned to the United States, arriving at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, using a new passport obtained the previous month. A digital copy of one of al-Mihdhar's passports was later recovered during a search of an al-Qaeda safe house in Afghanistan, which held indicators, such as fake or altered passport stamps, that al-Mihdhar was a member of a known terrorist group. At the time when al-Mihdhar was admitted to the United States, immigration inspectors had not been trained to look for such indicators. Upon arriving, al-Mihdhar did not check into the Marriott but instead spent a night at another hotel in the city.
Al-Mihdhar bought a fake ID on July 10 from All Services Plus in Passaic County, New Jersey, which was in the business of selling counterfeit documents, including another ID to Flight 11 hijacker Abdulaziz al-Omari. On August 1, al-Mihdhar and fellow Flight 77 hijacker Hani Hanjour drove to Virginia in order to obtain driver's licenses. Once they arrived, they scouted out a 7-Eleven convenience store and a dollar store in Falls Church, and found two Salvadoran immigrants who, for $50 each, were willing to vouch for al-Mihdhar and Hanjour as being Virginian residents. With notarized residency forms, al-Mihdhar and Hanjour were able to obtain driver's licenses at a Virginian motor vehicle office. Flight 77 hijackers Salem al-Hazmi and Majed Moqed, and United Airlines Flight 93 hijacker Ziad Jarrah used the same addresses obtained from the Salvadorans to obtain Virginian driver's licenses.
In August 2001, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi made several visits to the library at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey, where they used computers to look up travel information and book flights. On August 22, al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi tried to purchase flight tickets from the American Airlines online ticket-merchant, but had technical difficulties and gave up. Al-Mihdhar and Moqed were able to make flight reservations for Flight 77 on August 25, using Moqed's credit card; however, the transaction did not fully go through because the billing address and the shipment address for the tickets did not match.
On August 31, al-Mihdhar closed an account at Hudson United Bank in New Jersey, having opened the account when he arrived in July, and was with Hanjour when he made a withdrawal from an ATM in Paterson on September 1. The next day, al-Mihdhar, Moqed and Hanjour traveled to Maryland, where they stayed at budget motels in Laurel. Al-Mihdhar was among the muscle hijackers who worked out at a Gold's Gym in Greenbelt in early September. On September 5, al-Mihdhar and Moqed went to the American Airlines ticket counter at Baltimore-Washington International Airport to pick up their tickets for Flight 77, paying $2,300 in cash.
Intelligence leads.
Al-Mihdhar was placed on a CIA watchlist on August 21, 2001, and a note was sent on August 23 to the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) suggesting that al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi be added to their watchlists. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was not notified about the two men. On August 23, the CIA informed the FBI that al-Mihdhar had obtained a U.S. visa in Jeddah. The FBI headquarters received a copy of the Visa Express application from the Jeddah embassy on August 24, showing the New York Marriott as al-Mihdhar's destination.
On August 28, the FBI New York field office requested that a criminal case be opened to determine whether al-Mihdhar was still in the United States, but the request was refused. The FBI ended up treating al-Mihdhar as an intelligence case, which meant that the FBI's criminal investigators could not work on the case, due to the barrier separating intelligence and criminal case operations. An agent in the New York office sent an e-mail to FBI headquarters saying, "Whatever has happened to this, someday someone will die, and the public will not understand why we were not more effective and throwing every resource we had at certain 'problems.'" The reply from headquarters was, "we [at headquarters] are all frustrated with this issue ... [t]hese are the rules. NSLU does not make them up."
The FBI contacted Marriott on August 30, requesting that they check guest records, and on September 5, they reported that no Marriott hotels had any record of al-Mihdhar checking in. The day before the attacks, Robert Fuller of the New York office requested that the Los Angeles FBI office check all local Sheraton Hotels, as well as Lufthansa and United Airlines bookings, because those were the two airlines al-Mihdhar had used to enter the country. Neither the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network nor the FBI's Financial Review Group, which have access to credit card and other private financial records, were notified about al-Mihdhar prior to September 11.
Regarding the CIA's refusal to inform the FBI about al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi, author Lawrence Wright suggests the CIA wanted to protect its turf and was concerned about giving sensitive intelligence to FBI Agent John P. O'Neill, who Alec Station chief Michael Scheuer described as duplicitous. Wright also speculates that the CIA may have been protecting intelligence operations overseas, and might have been eying al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi as recruitment targets to obtain intelligence on al-Qaeda, although the CIA was not authorized to operate in the United States and might have been leaving them for Saudi intelligence to recruit.
September 11 attacks.
On September 10, 2001, al-Mihdhar and the other hijackers checked into the Marriott Residence Inn in Herndon, Virginia, near Washington Dulles International Airport. Saleh Ibn Abdul Rahman Hussayen, a prominent Saudi Arabian government official, was staying at the same hotel that night, although there is no evidence that they met or knew of each other's presence.
At 6:22 a.m. on September 11, 2001, the group checked out of the hotel and headed to Dulles airport. At 7:15 a.m., al-Mihdhar and Moqed checked in at the American Airlines ticket counter and arrived at the passenger security checkpoint at 7:20 a.m. Both men set off the metal detector and were put through secondary screening. Security video footage later released shows that Moqed was wanded, but the screener did not identify what set off the alarm, and both Moqed and al-Mihdhar were able to proceed without further hindrance. Al-Mihdhar was also selected by the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS), which involved extra screening of his luggage; however, because al-Mihdhar did not check any luggage, this had no effect. By 7:50 a.m., al-Mihdhar and the other hijackers, carrying knives and box cutters, had made it through the airport security checkpoint and boarded Flight 77 to Los Angeles. Al-Mihdhar was seated in seat 12B, next to Moqed.
The flight was scheduled to depart from Gate D26 at 8:10 a.m. but was delayed by 10 minutes. The last routine radio communication from the plane to air traffic control occurred at 8:50:51 a.m. At 8:54 a.m., Flight 77 deviated from its assigned flight path and began to turn south, at which point the hijackers set the flight's autopilot setting for Washington, D.C. Passenger Barbara Olson called her husband, United States Solicitor General Ted Olson (whose 61st birthday was on that day), and reported that the plane had been hijacked. At 9:37:45 a.m, Flight 77 crashed into the west facade of the Pentagon, killing all 64 people aboard, along with 125 in the Pentagon. In the recovery process, remains of the five hijackers were identified through a process of elimination, since their DNA did not match any from the victims, and put into the custody of the FBI.
Aftermath.
After the attacks, the identification of al-Mihdhar was one of the first links suggesting that bin Laden had played a role in their organization, since al-Mihdhar had been seen at the Malaysian conference speaking to bin Laden's associates. The FBI interrogated Quso, who was arrested following the USS "Cole" bombing and in custody in Yemen. Quso was able to identify al-Mihdhar, al-Hazmi and bin Attash in photos provided by the FBI, and he also knew Marwan al-Shehhi, a hijacker aboard United Airlines Flight 175. From Quso, the FBI was able to establish an al-Qaeda link to the attacks.
On September 12, 2001, the Toyota Corolla purchased by al-Mihdhar was found in Dulles International Airport's hourly parking lot. Inside the vehicle, authorities found a letter written by Mohamed Atta, a hijacker aboard American Airlines Flight 11; maps of Washington, D.C. and New York City; a cashier's check made out to a Phoenix, Arizona flight school; four drawings of a Boeing 757 cockpit; a box cutter; and a page with notes and phone numbers, which contained evidence that led investigators to San Diego.
On September 19, 2001, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) distributed a special alert that listed al-Mihdhar as still alive, and other reports began suggesting that a number of the alleged hijackers were likewise still alive. For instance, on September 23, 2001, the BBC published an article that suggested al-Mihdhar and others named as hijackers were still at large. The German magazine "Der Spiegel" later investigated the BBC's claims of "living" hijackers and reported they were cases of mistaken identities. In 2002, Saudi Arabian officials stated that the names of the hijackers were correct and that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi Arabian. In 2006, in response to 9/11 conspiracy theories surrounding its original news story, the BBC said that confusion had arisen with the common Arabic names, and that its later reports on the hijackers superseded its original story.
In 2005, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and Congressman Curt Weldon alleged that the Defense Department data mining project Able Danger identified al-Mihdhar, al-Hazmi, al-Shehri, and Atta as members of a Brooklyn-based al-Qaeda cell in early 2000. Shaffer largely based his allegations on the recollections of Navy Captain Scott Phillpott, who later recanted his recollection, telling investigators that he was "convinced that Atta was not on the chart that we had". Phillpott said that Shaffer was "relying on my recollection 100 percent", and the Defense Department Inspector General's report indicated that Philpott strongly supported the social network analysis techniques used in Able Danger, and might have exaggerated claims of identifying the hijackers.


World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates

The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates was initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1990s, as a forum in which the Nobel Peace Laureates and the Peace Laureate Organizations could come together to address global issues with a view to encourage and support peace and human well being in the world. Its Permanent Secretariat is an independent, non-profit, ECOSOC non-governmental organization, based in Rome, operating on a permanent basis. A permanent staff, mainly composed of volunteers, promotes the work of the Nobel Peace Prize Winners and organizes the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates on a yearly basis. To date, the Permanent Secretariat has organized 16 Summits, the most recent having been held in February 2017 in the city of Bogota, Colombia. This was the first time that the summit took place in Latin America.
Peace Summit Award.
Every year, during the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the Nobel laureates honour with the Peace Summit Award the men or women of peace chosen from personalities from the world of culture and entertainment who have stood up for human rights and for the spread of the principles of Peace and Solidarity in the world and have made an outstanding contribution to international social justice and peace. Before 2006, it was known as the Man of Peace Award.
Youth Program.
With the objective of fostering a culture of peace for future generations in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Secretariat is seeking to develop an educational campaign entitled “Peace is Possible”. Characteristics are as follows:
Flagship campaign: “La Paz es Posible”
Scope: Youth (15–24 years old) of Latin America and the Caribbean
Main Objective: To educate youth about the legacy of the Nobel Peace Laureates and Peace laureate organizations and to foster leadership for peace among youth.
Approach: Inspirational and knowledge sharing – By bringing to life the struggles and stories of each of the laureates, the campaign seeks to inspire youth with the examples of courage and non-violence set by the laureates with a message of hope and possibility. Also, by introducing the work of the laureate organizations and the backgrounds of each of the laureates, the campaign will share knowledge about institutional mandates, and the geo-political contexts in which peace has thrived.


Quintus Servilius Priscus Fidenas

Quintus Servilius Priscus Fidenas (prior to 463 BC390 BC) was a political figure and military leader in the Roman Republic who served as dictator in 435 BC and in 418 BC.
Family.
Servilius belonged to the large and influential Servilia gens and through his filiation he was the son of Publius Servilius Priscus, consul in 463 BC and possibly grandson of Spurius Servilius Structus, consul in 476 BC. He is most likely the father of Quintus Servilius Fidenas who was elected six times as consular tribune.
Career.
Augur/Pontifex.
Servilius was appointed to replace Spurius Postumius Albus Regillensis in his religious functions, when the later died in 439 BC. As the only two sources mentioning this event are in disagreement if the office was that of an Augur or that of a Pontifex maximus it remains unclear which religious office Servilius held.
First Dictatorship.
Although he had never held the consulship Servilius was appointed as dictator in 435 BC. The year had seen the escalation of the war with the Fidenates and a dictator was deemed necessary to finish the war. He selected the former consul Postumus Aebutius Helva Cornicen as his "magister equitum," or vice-dictator, and successfully defeated and captured Fidenae.
Commission of 428 BC.
Servilius career would remain closely attached to Fidenae and when the Fidenates were suspected of having supported the Veientane in raids against Rome in 428 BC, Servilius were appointed by the senate to be part of a special commission sent to investigate the matter. He was joined in this commission by former consul Lucius Sergius Fidenas and another former dictator, Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus.
Second Dictatorship.
In 418 BC Servilius would be appointed to his second dictatorship. The appointment came after his former commission colleague, Lucius Sergius Fidenas, had been defeated by the combined forced of the Aequi and Labicani. Servilius appointed a relative and consular tribune of this year, Gaius Servilius Axilla, as his "magister equitum". This dictatorship, like his first, was a great success and Servilius went on to defeat the Aequi and capture Labici.
Death.
He is listed as having died in 390 BC and that he was succeeded by Marcus Furius Fusus in his religious office as augur or pontifex. Considering that 390 BC was in the close aftermath of the semi-legendary Battle of Allia, it is possible that Servilius was killed in the conflict or the following sack/siege of Rome, or that he simply died of unrelated causes in the same year as the events.
References.
Sources.
Livy, "Ab Urbe Condita", Book IV
Dessau, Hermann, "Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae", 9338
"Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum", 6.37161
"Fasti Capitolini"


2nd G7 summit

The 2nd G7 Summit was held at Dorado, Puerto Rico, between June 27 and 28, 1976. The venue for the summit meetings was the Dorado Beach Resort, which is near San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Group of Six (G6) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; and the Group of Seven (G7), meeting for the first time this year, is formed with the addition of Canada. This summit, and the others which would follow, were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a kind of frustrated rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was an element in the genesis of cooperation between France's President and West Germany's Chancellor as they conceived the first summit of the G6.
Leaders at the summit.
The G7 is an unofficial annual forum for the leaders of Canada, France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The 2nd G7 summit was the first summit for British Prime Minister James Callaghan and, as it was formed with the addition of Canada, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. It was also the last summit for Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro, Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Miki and U.S. President Gerald Ford.
Participants.
These summit participants are the current "core members" of the international forum: Trudeau of Canada had been invited because he had eight years experience.
Issues.
The summit was intended as a venue for resolving differences among its members. As a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult economic decisions.


2020 Labour Party leadership election (UK)

The 2020 Labour Party leadership election was triggered after Jeremy Corbyn announced his intention to resign as the leader of the Labour Party following the party's defeat at the 2019 general election. It was won by Keir Starmer who received 56.2 per cent of the vote on the first round. It was held alongside the 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election.
To qualify for the ballot, candidates needed nominations from 10 per cent (22) of the party's Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of European Parliament (MEPs), followed by support from either 5 per cent (33) of Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs), or from at least three affiliated groups, including two trade unions and representing at least 5 per cent of affiliated members. Five candidates (Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lisa Nandy, Jess Phillips, Keir Starmer and Emily Thornberry) received sufficient nominations to proceed to the second round of nominations. Starmer had the most nominations from MPs and MEPs at 88, followed by Long-Bailey and Nandy with 33 and 31 nominations respectively. Phillips and Thornberry each received 23 nominations, one above the minimum threshold to proceed.
Three candidates, Long-Bailey, Nandy and Starmer, received sufficient combined support from affiliates and constituency parties to proceed to the final ballot. Starmer received the most nominations from both CLPs and affiliates having received nominations from 374 CLPs and 15 affiliates, followed by Long-Bailey with 164 CLPs and seven affiliates, and finally Nandy with 72 CLPs and four affiliates. The results were announced on 4 April 2020, with Starmer winning the election in the first round with 56.2 per cent of the vote, beating Long-Bailey and Nandy and taking over from Corbyn.
Background.
Jeremy Corbyn was elected Labour Party leader in a 2015 leadership election and re-elected leader in 2016 after a challenge from Owen Smith. While Labour gained 30 seats in the 2017 general election, it lost 60 seats in the 2019 election, resulting in the party having its lowest number of seats in the House of Commons since 1935. Corbyn subsequently announced that he would resign as Labour Party leader after a "process of reflection."
Procedure.
The election was conducted under a pure one member, one vote (OMOV) system, using the instant-runoff voting electoral system with preferential balloting to calculate the result. Votes were cast using postal ballots and online voting forms. Candidates were elected by members and registered and affiliated supporters, who all received a maximum of one vote, and all votes were weighted equally. This meant that, for example, members of Labour-affiliated trades unions needed to register as affiliated Labour supporters to vote. Members who joined before 20 January were eligible to vote.
To stand, candidates needed to be nominated by at least 10 per cent of the combined membership of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) and European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP), meaning 22 MPs and MEPs at the time. As a result, a maximum of nine candidates can stand. They also needed to be nominated by at least 5 per cent of Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs), meaning at least 33 CLPs, or at least three party affiliates that consist of at least 5 per cent of affiliate members including at least two trades unions. Affiliates consist of affiliated trades unions and socialist societies.
The timetable for the election was set by the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) on 6 January 2020.
Nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party and European Parliamentary Labour Party opened on 7 January and closed on 13 January. Between 15 January and 15 February, constituency parties and affiliate organisations could nominate their preferred candidate. Applications to become a registered supporter opened on 14 January and closed on 16 January. Voting in the membership ballot opened on 24 February and closed at midday on 2 April. The result of the leadership election was announced on 4 April. The special conference planned for the announcement of the election result was "scaled-back" on 12 March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Campaign.
Announcements.
Immediately following the 2019 general election, Keir Starmer, the Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, was considered favourite to win the leadership election by the online gambling company Betfair. Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, was considered another front runner. Various other figures were considered as possible leadership candidates, including Lisa Nandy, the MP for Wigan, who said on 15 December 2019 that she was "seriously thinking" about standing for the leadership. On 29 December, Long-Bailey wrote an article for "The Guardian" declaring her interest in standing and laying out her strategy for a "progressive patriotism".
Some party figures, including the former MP Caroline Flint and the MP Wes Streeting, argued for a "clean break" from the previous leadership. However, Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite the Union, said that the next leader should "carry on the tradition", describing Long-Bailey and Angela Rayner as his preferred candidates. Party figures affiliated with Long-Bailey and MPs such as Corbyn, as well as centrist figures like Alastair Campbell, encouraged supporters of their preferred candidates to join the party to vote in the leadership election. Roy Hattersley, a former deputy leader of the party, wrote on 21 December that MPs should refuse to accept Long-Bailey if she were elected leader.
The shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, was the first to announce, on 18 December, that she was standing for the leadership. She laid out her pitch in an article for "The Guardian". She said that her first priority would be to deal with antisemitism in the party by implementing recommendations from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Labour Movement and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. She criticised Corbyn's senior advisers for overruling her as the shadow foreign secretary and for their strategic decisions in the 2019 general election.
Clive Lewis, the shadow minister for sustainable economics, announced on 19 December that he would stand. He said that as leader, he would give more democratic power in the party to its members. He argued that the party should work more with other political parties on the left, and proposed constitutional reforms including supporting proportional representation and reform of the House of Lords. In January 2020, he proposed a referendum about the future of the British royal family. He was criticised for his response to claims against him of sexual harassment, for which he had been cleared by a disciplinary body within Labour, which "seemed unapologetic".
Jess Phillips announced her candidacy in Grimsby on 3 January 2020. She criticised the party's approach to Brexit and Scottish independence, saying that she was opposed to a second referendum on Scottish independence. She said that she would be open to arguing for the UK to rejoin the European Union. Criticising the party's manifesto at the 2019 general election, Phillips said that she would support nationalising railways but would not prioritise further nationalisation.
Nandy announced that she would stand in a letter to the "Wigan Post" on the same day as Phillips. She argued that the party needed a "bridge" to join areas in northern England where the party was losing seats and metropolitan areas where the party was gaining support.
Starmer, who a poll had indicated was the most popular potential candidate heading into the leadership election, announced his candidacy with a video posted to social media on 4 January followed by a launch in Stevenage.
Long-Bailey announced that she would stand in an article for "Tribune" magazine on 6 January. Long-Bailey was seen by many observers and party colleagues as the continuity candidate, who would have continued to take the party in the same direction as Corbyn. While she disputed the description, her campaign stressed ideological continuity with Corbyn. She attracted attention for rating Corbyn "ten out of ten" as a politician, and called for constitutional reform to spread power more evenly across the country, including abolishing the House of Lords.
Nominations stage.
Candidates first needed to receive nominations from at least 5 per cent of the party's MPs and MEPs to progress to the second round of nominations. Starmer won the support of enough MPs and MEPs to progress to the next round of nominations on 8 January, when he was also endorsed by the trade union Unison. The following day, Long-Bailey, Nandy and Phillips got enough MP and MEP nominations to progress.
The deadline for PLP and EPLP nominations was 2.30 pm on 13 January. Lewis, with only five nominations including himself, withdrew from the contest shortly before the deadline. Thornberry was also short of the required nominations at the beginning of the day, but managed to obtain enough to qualify less than ten minutes before the deadline, helped by MPs who had formerly nominated Lewis. After the close of nominations, the party announced that Long-Bailey, Nandy, Phillips, Starmer and Thornberry would proceed to the next stage of the election. Starmer received 88 nominations, more than any other candidate, followed by Long-Bailey with 33 and Nandy with 31. Phillips and Thornberry were each nominated by 23 MPs and MEPs, one more than the minimum requirement of 22. Shortly after these nominations were published, Starmer was heavily favoured in the betting odds.
Corbyn-supporting group Momentum balloted its members on a proposal that the group endorse Long-Bailey (alongside Angela Rayner for deputy). Of the 7,395 respondents 70 per cent backed Long-Bailey, but the organisation was criticised by commentators and by some Momentum members for not giving the option to endorse other candidates.
Starmer became the first candidate to qualify for the ballot on 20 January with his third affiliate nomination, from the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers; by that point, he was also leading in nominations from Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs). Phillips withdrew from the election on 21 January, saying that she was unable to unite the party. Nandy became the second candidate to quality for the ballot on 22 January, having received backing from the GMB and National Union of Mineworkers unions and the Chinese for Labour socialist society. Long-Bailey was the third candidate to qualify, following further trade union support.
However, Thornberry failed to achieve enough nominations, falling just short of the required number of constituency party nominations and being eliminated on 15 February 2020.
The Labour Party reported two members of Starmer's campaign to the Information Commissioner's Office on 6 February of hacking into the party's membership database. The campaign described the complaint as "utter nonsense". The campaign chair, Jenny Chapman, suggested that the allegations were a result of the Starmer team alerting party officials the week before to a possible data breach by Long-Bailey's campaign, though there is no evidence that this occurred.
Membership ballot.
The first public hustings to feature the final three candidates was held in Glasgow, Scotland on 15 February.
Candidates.
Nominated.
The following individuals were nominated by the necessary number of Labour MPs and MEPs as well as receiving backing from the required number of constituency parties or affiliated organisations to proceed to the final ballot before members.
Eliminated.
Emily Thornberry failed to receive backing from the required number of constituency parties and affiliated organisations.
Withdrawn.
The following candidates withdrew either during the process to receive nominations from MPs and MEPs or during the process to receive nominations from constituency parties or affiliated organisations.
Declined.
The following individuals were discussed in the media as potential leadership candidates, but chose not to stand:
Nominations.
Candidates first needed to be nominated by at least 10 per cent (22) of current Labour MPs and MEPs, who comprise the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) and the European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP). Candidates who passed this threshold then need nominations from at least 5 per cent (33) Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs), or at least three affiliates including at least two trades unions that together represent at least 5 per cent of affiliated members.
The table below shows the number of nominations achieved by each candidate. A green background indicates that the candidate met the nomination requirements. A pink background indicates that the candidate withdrew from the contest.
Results.
The result of the election as well as the corresponding contest for deputy leader was announced at 10:45am (BST) on 4 April 2020. The announcement was originally due to take place at a special conference in London, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was cancelled in favour of a "scaled-back event".
Keir Starmer won the Labour leadership election in the first round of voting.
Turnout was 62.6 per cent. There were 490,731 returned ballots, from a total of 784,181 eligible voters. 136 ballot papers were spoiled.
Campaign platforms.
Long-Bailey.
Long-Bailey created a four-point plan titled "Aspirational socialism"; empower the movement and raise trade union membership; a "Democratic Revolution" and; a "Green Industrial Revolution". Long-Bailey promised that she would continue to develop the "Green New Deal" policies that she had introduced to the party's 2019 election manifesto. On democratic reform, Long-Bailey called for constitutional reform to spread power more evenly across the country, including abolishing the House of Lords.
Long-Bailey stated that if she were to win the leadership election the Labour Party would maintain its commitment to bring energy, water, rail and mail back into public ownership. She has also supported open selection as a process of selection for Labour MPs.
Long-Bailey and her platform were described by the media as "continuity Corbyn" because of her closeness to Corbyn, Momentum and the left of the Labour party, although she rejected the label.
In response to the release of U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Long-Bailey criticised the proposals, stating that they would "only perpetuate conflict" and "undermine rights of the Palestinian people".
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Long-Bailey made several recommendations to the government. She advocated the government look at a universal basic income for all people in the United Kingdom regardless of wealth, and to eliminate the five-week waiting time before claimants can receive Universal Credit. Later in March, she advocated a National Food Service, where workers from Royal Mail deliver basic goods like food, medicine and toiletries to households to reduce pressure on supermarkets. In an article, Long-Bailey advocated that the government should buy shares in key industries and put these shares into a "social wealth fund". She stated that: "This crisis should make us realise that we’re all connected – that the chief executive relies on the refuse worker, the corporate lawyer on the supermarket worker, and the politician on the nurse. And this realisation should power how we rebuild our economy when the crisis is over."
Long-Bailey was the first candidate to publish a list of donors to her campaign, with primary funding coming from trade unions Unite (£215,000) and the Communication Workers Union (£52,000), plus small individual donations solicited from members of left-wing organisation Momentum (£120,000).
Nandy.
In January, Nandy accused the Blair and Brown governments of continuing the "consensus that Thatcher built". She criticised New Labour for being "as tight as the Tories". She called for "a modern, empowering welfare state for the 21st century". She praised Corbyn for shifting party policy towards a position that opposes austerity and stated her intention to abolish Universal Credit.
During the party hustings held in Bristol, Nandy argued that the honours system should have references to the British Empire removed, and instead replaced with 'Excellence'.
Nandy defended free movement within the European Union, while also arguing that concerns about its flaws should not be simply dismissed as "racist anti-immigrant rhetoric".
Nandy is opposed to Scottish independence and argued that Labour should "look to Catalonia and Quebec" as examples for dealing with "divisive nationalism", later clarifying that the party can learn from the Socialist Party in Spain that has show how "the cause of social justice has beaten divisive nationalism". She has said she wants Scottish Labour to be represented in the shadow cabinet and has also pledged not to interfere in devolved policymaking, allowing Scottish Labour to decide their own approach to independence. She also stated that British federalism would not resolve the political division between England and Scotland.
In February, deputy leadership candidate Richard Burgon proposed a "Peace Pledge" to ensure that the party would not support future military action unless its members vote in favour of such a policy. Nandy voiced her strong disapproval of the pledge. She argued that civilians in war zones could not afford to wait for such a ballot to pass and it was irresponsible to share such classified information.
In an interview with "The Jewish Chronicle", Nandy acknowledged that the party had lost the trust of the British Jewish community as a result of its "failure of leadership" and poor handling of antisemitism in the Party. She also said that she believed that the word 'Zionism' had become "horribly distorted and weaponised" by some in the party; Nandy denounced those who questioned Israel's right to exist and reiterated her view that advocating the rights of Palestinians does not contradict support for Israel. She has chaired Labour Friends of Palestine since 2018.
When she spoke to the "Evening Standard" in January, Nandy called on party general secretary Jennie Formby to publish the evidence that had been submitted to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, as part of the commission's investigation into institutional antisemitism in the party. She added that openness and transparency would necessary to rebuild trust with the British Jewish community.
Nandy said that she would conduct a "fair recruitment process" for parliamentary candidates and end the practice of "parachuting" those favoured by the leadership. She criticised the centralised approach taken during the 2019 general election, in which a number of candidates were "imposed" by Corbyn and his allies. Nandy has also stated that she would end the practice of nominating peers to the House of Lords. This announcement came after the Labour Party controversially nominated John Bercow, former Commons Speaker, and Karie Murphy, Corbyn's former chief of staff.
During a speech in Bassetlaw, one of the "red wall" constituencies gained by the Conservatives in 2019, Nandy announced that a future shadow cabinet led by her would involve the representation of local Labour councillors, giving a seat to the elected Leader of the Local Government Association Labour Group. She also pledged that she would give councillors the right to nominate candidates in future leadership elections, just as MPs and MEPs had during the previous month.
Nandy expressed opposition to open selection and in favour of the current method for selection of Labour MPs.
Nandy released a list of donors to her leadership campaign, which was principally supported by the GMB trade union and featured four private donations of over £10,000 from individuals including her husband Andrew Collis, businessmen Jason Stockwood and Tom Shutes, and Hope Not Hate chair Simon Tuttle.
Starmer.
Starmer has positioned himself in opposition to austerity, stating that Corbyn was "right" to position Labour as the "party of anti-austerity". Starmer has indicated he will continue with the Labour policy of scrapping tuition fees. He has also pledged to renationalise the railways, Royal Mail, water companies and the energy companies. Starmer has called for ending outsourcing in the NHS, local government and justice system.
In February 2020, Starmer announced that he would continue the policy introduced under shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, to raise taxes on the top five per cent of earners with incomes of more than £80,000.
Starmer has argued that the party should propose the reintroduction of free movement within the European Union.
In response to the release of Trump's peace plan to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Starmer described the proposals as "inconsistent with international law and human rights protections".
Starmer has said he is "not against the principle" of open selection but has not indicated clear support or opposition to it.
Starmer's leadership campaign gained funding from trade union Unison, and donations from several individuals, including £100,000 and £5,000 respectively from barristers Robert Latham and Richard Hermer, as well as hotel bills totalling £2,500 from a company linked to Labour donor Farah Sassoon.
Hustings and debates.
Public hustings.
Several hustings events took place throughout the campaign, for both leadership and deputy leadership candidates. Labour-organised hustings took place on weekends throughout January and February 2020, at 11 locations in Great Britain. No hustings were held in Northern Ireland.
The locations sparked criticism from some candidates because of lack of geographic spread. After the backlash, two new events in Leeds and Brighton were later added by Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC), although the one in Leeds was subsequently cancelled after Starmer dropped out due to his mother-in-law being critically ill. "The Guardian" also announced that it would host a hustings in Manchester on 22 February, chaired by journalist Anushka Asthana. Starmer's mother-in-law passed away on 9 February, resulting in the postponement of the Dudley hustings scheduled for that day, which later took place on 8 March 2020 as the final hustings.
Televised debates.
On 12 February, a debate took place on "Newsnight", moderated by presenter Katie Razzall and broadcast on BBC Two. A second debate was held the following day, moderated by Victoria Derbyshire on her programme, followed by a third one chaired by Krishnan Guru-Murthy on "Channel 4 News".
Endorsements.
Candidates and potential candidates received the support of organisations, publications, and of notable individuals. This list does not include official parliamentary, constituency or affiliate nominations.
Withdrawn candidates.
Clive Lewis was endorsed by the journalist and broadcaster Paul Mason before he withdrew. Before she withdrew, Jess Phillips was endorsed by the journalist and former "Spectator" editor Matthew d'Ancona, Labour MP Margaret Hodge, the Labour peer Philip Hunt and Melanie Onn, the former MP for Great Grimsby.
Opinion polls.
Voting intention for Labour under each candidate.
A poll was also conducted to garner the prospective voting intentions of the public for the Labour Party under each leadership candidate in a general election.


Mikhail Tereshchenko

Mikhail Ivanovich Tereshchenko (; ; 18 March 1886 – 1 April 1956) was the foreign minister of Russia from 18 May 1917 to 7 November 1917 . He was also a major Ukrainian landowner, the proprietor of several sugar factories, and a financier.
Biography.
Born to a rich Tereshchenko family of a sugar factory owners, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and art patrons of Ivan Nikolaevich (1854–1903) and Elizabeth Mikhailovna. Mikhail had a younger brother Mykola (1894–?). His uncle Aleksandr Tereshchenko (1856–1911) worked in Saint-Petersburg. Mikhail Tereshchenko graduated from Kiev University and Leipzig University. In 1910, he joined the Freemasonry and became one of the five prominent Masons in Russia (the other four being Aleksandr Konovalov, Alexander Kerensky, Nikolai Nekrasov, and Ivan Yefremov). Mikhail Tereshchenko was a member of the Fourth State Duma (he shared the views of the Russian Progressive Party). In 1912–1914, Tereshchenko was the owner of a private publishing house "Sirin" in St Petersburg, which published Andrey Bely's pioneering novel Petersburg in three installments in 1913–1914. During World War I, he took part in organizing the Red Cross hospitals. In 1915–1917, Mikhail Tereshchenko was the chairman of the Military Industry Committee of the Kiev district and deputy chairman of the All-Russian Military Industry Committee.
After the February Revolution of 1917, Mikhail Tereshchenko was appointed Minister of Finance of the Provisional Kerensky Government. In April 1917, Tereshchenko (together with Kerensky and Nekrasov) was actively seeking to create a governmental interparty coalition with the Socialists. On 5 May 1917, he was appointed minister of foreign affairs after the resignation of Pavel Milyukov. Tereshchenko continued his foreign policy course, which led to his conflict with Minister of War Alexander Verkhovsky, who had considered Russia to be unable to continue the war. He was a member of the Directorate in September 1917. Tereshchenko was known to support the Ukrainian government that led to the establishment and recognition of the General Secretariat in Ukraine 1917.
On the night of 26 October, Mikhail Tereshchenko was arrested in the Winter Palace with other ministers of the Provisional Government and placed into the Peter and Paul Fortress while his office was temporarily held by Anatoly Neratov. In the spring of 1918, Tereshchenko escaped from prison and fled to Norway with the Tereshchenko blue diamond, sold in 1984 for $4.6 million, by Christie's later on, to Robert Mouawad, a famous Lebanese jeweller. Tereshchenko was one of the supporters of allied intervention in Soviet Russia. In 1920s and 1930s, he was engaged in financial activities in France and Madagascar.
Personal life.
Tereshenko was an active member of the irregular freemasonic lodge, the Grand Orient of Russia’s Peoples. Along with Kerensky, Alexander Galpern, Yefremov, Kolyubakin and Nekrasov, he was a member of the lodge "La Petite Ourse" (Ursa Minor), which was founded in 1910 in St. Petersburg. This lodge was considered the coordinating lodge of the entire Grand Orient of Russia's Peoples.


Blair Babe

Blair Babes or Blair's Babes is a term sometimes used to refer to the 101 female Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Labour Party elected to the British House of Commons in Labour's landslide general election victory in 1997, after images of the new Prime Minister Tony Blair with 96 of them on the steps of Church House in Westminster were widely publicised. According to "The Times", Margaret Moran, MP for Luton South, described the "perception that the 1997 intake of female Labour MPs are all robotic clones" as "complete tosh". Moran said that she herself was not a Blair Babe, but a "Blair Witch". The columnist Polly Toynbee condemned the term as a "casual, misogynist tag."
The 1997 general election saw more women elected to the House of Commons than ever – 120, exactly double the 60 elected at the 1992 general election. Aside from the 101 Labour MPs, there were also 13 Conservatives, three Liberal Democrats, and three from other parties (including Speaker Betty Boothroyd, previously a Labour politician). However, many of the new female MPs grew disillusioned, and nine either chose not to stand or lost their seats in the 2001 general election. Despite two female MPs winning by-elections between 1997 and 2001, and other women being elected, the total number of female MPs fell to 118 at the 2001 general election. A further 22 stood down or lost their seats at the 2005 general election, although the number of female MPs increased again to a new record of 127.
The sociological implications of the term and the experiences of Labour's women MPs were extensively analysed by Sarah Childs in her 2004 book "New Labour's Women MPs: Women Representing Women". Tony Blair's wife Cherie Blair did not like the term.
As of the 2019 general election, there are only 10 Blair Babes left in the House of Commons, out of a total of 219 women MPs.


Santiago Carrillo

Santiago José Carrillo Solares (18 January 1915 – 18 September 2012) was a Spanish politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) from 1960 to 1982. His role in the Paracuellos massacres during the Civil War was particularly controversial. He was exiled during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, becoming a leader of the democratic opposition to the regime. His role as leader of the PCE would later make him a key figure in the transition to democracy. He later embraced Eurocommunism and democratic socialism, and was a member of the Congress of Deputies from 1977 to 1986.
Childhood and early youth.
Born in Gijón, Asturias province, into the House of Carrillo, Santiago Carrillo was the son of Socialist leader Wenceslao Carrillo and María Rosalía Solares Martínez. When he was six years old, his family moved to Madrid. After attending school, he began to work in "El Socialista", the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) newspaper at the age of 13. At the same time, he joined the Socialist Union, the Workers' General Union and the Socialist Youth.
Second Republic and Civil War.
In 1932, Carrillo joined the Executive Commission of the Socialist Youth and became editor of its newspaper, "Renovación". Carrillo belonged to the left wing of the organisation. In 1933, as the Socialist Youth was becoming more radical, Carrillo was elected as General Secretary. From October 1934 to February 1936 he was jailed, due to his participation in the failed 1934 leftist coup (Carrillo was a member of the National Revolutionary Committee).
After his release, in March 1936, Carrillo and the executive of the Socialist Youth travelled to Moscow to meet the leaders of the Young Communist International and prepare the unification of Socialist and Communist youth leagues.
He was accompanied on the visit to Moscow by Leandro Carro and Juan Astigarrabía.
The result was the creation of the Unified Socialist Youth ("Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas").
After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Carrillo joined the Communist Party and did so on the day the government left Madrid in November. During the war, he was intensely pro-Soviet. On 7 November 1936 Carrillo was elected Councillor for Public Order in the Defence Council of Madrid, which was given supreme power in besieged Madrid, after the government left the city.
During his term, several thousand military and civilian prisoners, including many women and children, were killed by communist groups in the Paracuellos massacres at Paracuellos del Jarama and Torrejón de Ardoz (the biggest mass killings by the Republican side during the Civil War). The dead were buried in common graves. Carrillo denied any knowledge of the massacres in his memoirs but some historians like César Vidal or Pío Moa maintain that Carrillo was involved. In an interview with the historian Ian Gibson, Carrillo set out his version of events concerning the massacre.
In March 1939 Madrid surrendered after Casado's coup against the Negrín administration and its close ally, the Communist Party, which sought to continue the resistance until the expected outbreak of the World War. Carrillo's father, Wenceslao, a member of the PSOE, was among those who led the coup and was a member of Casado's Junta. Some weeks before, Carrillo's mother had died. Carrillo then wrote an open letter to his father describing the coup as counter-revolutionary and as a betrayal, reproaching him for his anti-communism, and renouncing any further communication with him. In his memoirs, Carrillo states that the letter was written on 7 March. However, journalist and historian Carlos Fernández published the letter in 1983, as it had been published in "Correspondance International"; it was dated 15 May.
After the military collapse of the Republican Government, Carrillo fled to Paris and worked to reorganise the party. Carrillo spent 38 years in exile, most of the time in France, but also in the USSR and other countries.
Exile.
In 1944 Carrillo led the retreat of the communist guerrillas from the Aran Valley.
According to the historian Ricardo de la Cierva, in 1945 Carrillo ordered the execution of fellow communist party member Gabriel León Trilla and helped the Francoist forces to detain his fellow communist Jesús Monzón. According to Enrique Líster and de la Cierva, Carrillo also ordered the 1949 execution of fellow communist Joan Comorera, who was saved by the precautions he took. In 2005 Carrillo said "yo he tenido que eliminar a alguna persona" (I have had to eliminate someone).
In August 1948, Carrillo met Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
Carrillo became the General Secretary of the PCE in 1960, replacing Dolores Ibárruri ("La Pasionaria"), who was given the honorary post of Party Chairman. Carrillo's policies were aimed at strengthening the party's position among the working class and intellectual groups , and survived opposition from Marxist-Leninist, Stalinist and social democratic factions. In 1968, when the Soviets and Warsaw Pact countries invaded Czechoslovakia, Carrillo distanced the party from Moscow.
Spanish transition and Eurocommunism.
Carrillo returned secretly to Spain in 1976 after the death of long-time Spanish "caudillo" Francisco Franco. Arrested by the police, he was released within days. Together with communist party leaders Georges Marchais of France and Enrico Berlinguer of Italy, he launched the Eurocommunist movement in a meeting held in Madrid on March 2, 1977.
In the first democratic elections in 1977, shortly after the legalization of the PCE (9 April 1977) by the government of Adolfo Suárez, Carrillo was elected to the Spanish Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados), the lower house of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales to represent the Madrid district. Throughout the transition period, Carrillo's authority and leadership were decisive in securing peaceful evolution towards a democratic system, a constructive approach based on dialogue with opponents, and a healing of the wounds from the Civil War (the "Reconciliation" policy). It is widely acknowledged that this policy played a key role in making possible a peaceful transition to democracy.
Carrillo was re-elected in 1979, but the failed right-wing coup d'état attempt on 23 February 1981 reduced support for the PCE, as Spanish society was still recovering from the trauma of the Civil War and subsequent repression and dictatorship. This was despite Carrillo's celebrated and highly public defiance of the coup plotters in the chamber of deputies - he was one of the few members who refused to obey their instructions and did not duck when they shot into the air - and his equally famous claim to be a royalist after the King faced down the plotters.
Fear of another military uprising increased support for moderate left-wing forces in the 1982 elections, in which Carrillo held his parliamentary seat. He was forced to leave his post as party leader on 6 November 1982, owing to the party's poor electoral performance. The new General Secretary, the much younger Gerardo Iglesias, a member of the "renovators" wing, had been at odds with him from the beginning of his tenure.
Leaving the Spanish Communist Party.
On 15 April 1985, Carrillo and his followers were expelled from the PCE, and in 1986 they formed their own political group, the Workers Party of Spain-Communist Unity (PTE-UC). This tiny party was unable to attract enough voters, so on 27 October 1991, Carrillo announced that it would be disbanded. Subsequently, the PTE-UC merged into the ruling PSOE, but Carrillo declined PSOE membership considering his many years as a communist member.
Retirement and death.
On 20 October 2005, Carrillo was granted an honorary doctorate by the Autonomous University of Madrid. The action of the university was strongly criticized by right-wing commentators. Carrillo had retired from public life at the time of his death at his home in Madrid at the age of 97 on 18 September 2012. He was cremated in Madrid on 20 September.


The Helicopter Song

"Up and Away (The Helicopter Song)" was a number one single in the Republic of Ireland for the Irish traditional folk band the Wolfe Tones.
Background.
Originally written by Sean McGinley from Castlefin, County Donegal, the song tells the story of the 1973 escape of three Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoners from Dublin's Mountjoy Prison. On Hallowe'en, an IRA member hijacked a helicopter and forced the pilot to fly to Mountjoy where the three prisoners, JB O'Hagan, Seamus Twomey and Kevin Mallon, were lifted by helicopter from the exercise yard of Mountjoy Jail's D Wing at 3.40pm. The incident was a major embarrassment for the government.
Lyrics and style.
As with some other Wolfe Tones songs, the lyrics use a certain comical tone to show sympathy with the Irish republican cause and narrate events linked to the Troubles in Ireland without using aggressive or sectarian language, an attribute which contributed to its popularity.
Chart success.
The song was immediately prohibited from being played on RTÉ stations or was severely restricted, sources vary. Despite that, the song sold 12,000 single records in the first week of release, taking it to the number one position in the Irish Singles Chart on November 22, 1973, and held that position for four weeks, until it was replaced by Slade's "Merry Christmas Everybody".


Yang Yichen (Sui dynasty)

Yang Yichen (; died 617?), né Yuchi Yichen (尉遲義臣), was a general of the Chinese dynasty Sui Dynasty. During the late reign of Emperor Yang, Yang Yichen was one of the few Sui generals having success against agrarian rebels, but in 616, Emperor Yang, unhappy about Yang Yichen's mounting influences, removed him from his military position, and thereafter the agrarian rebels went unchecked. Yang Yichen died soon afterwards.
Background.
Yang Yichen's father Yuchi Chong (尉遲崇) was ethnically Xianbei and a distant relative of the general Yuchi Jiong. Yuchi Chong was a general during Northern Zhou and had his defense post at Mount Heng. At that time, the general Yang Jian was the commandant at nearby Ding Province (定州, roughly near Baoding, Hebei), and Yuchi Chong, believing Yang Jian to have great ambitions, befriended Yang Jian. After Yang Jian seized power as regent in 580, Yuchi Jiong, suspicious of Yang Jian's intentions, rebelled at Xiang Province (相州, roughly modern Handan, Hebei). When Yuchi Chong heard this, as he was a relative of Yuchi Jiong's, he threw himself into jail and begged Yang Jian for forgiveness. Yang Jian pardoned him and ordered him to report to the capital Chang'an to serve as one of Yang Jian's assistants. After Yang Jian seized the throne from Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou in 581, ending Northern Zhou and establishing Sui Dynasty as its Emperor Wen, he created Yuchi Chong the Duke of Qinxing. In 582, Yuchi Chong served under Daxi Zhangru (達奚長儒) in a campaign against Tujue's Shabolüe Khan Ashina Shetu, and while Daxi achieved victory, Yuchi died in the battle.
At the time that Yuchi Chong died, his son Yuchi Yichen was said to be still young. Emperor Wen took Yuchi Yichen into the palace and raised him there, allowing him to inherit his father's titles. After he became a teenager, he served in the palace guard corps, and when Emperor Wen saw him, he was reminded of Yuchi Chong's contributions. He therefore issued an edict giving Yuchi Yichen a moderate amount of wealth, while bestowing the imperial clan surname of Yang on him and conferring him the status of the emperor's grandnephew. Soon afterwards, Emperor Wen made him the governor of Shan Province (陝州, roughly modern Sanmenxia, Henan).
Service during Emperor Wen's reign.
Yang Yichen was considered to be honest and careful, with military leadership qualities, and Emperor Wen respected him. In 599, when Tujue's Bujia Khan Ashina Dianjue attacked, Yang Yichen was sent to face Tujue forces, and he repelled them. In 600, in conjunction with Shi Wansui (史萬歲) the Duke of Taiping, he dealt Ashina Dianjue a major defeat. However, later that year, Shi was executed after false accusations by Yang Su, and Yang Yichen was not rewarded for his contributions. Sometime during Emperor Wen's late reign -- the "Renshou" era (601-604), Yang Yichen was promoted to be the commandant at Shuo Province (朔州, roughly modern Shuozhou, Shanxi).
During Emperor Yang's reign.
In 604, Emperor Wen died—a death that traditional historians, while admitting a lack of direct evidence, generally believe to be a murder ordered by his son, Yang Guang the Crown Prince. Yang Guang took the throne as Emperor Yang. Soon afterwards, Emperor Yang's younger brother Yang Liang the Prince of Han rose in rebellion at Bing Province (并州, roughly modern Taiyuan, Shanxi). Yang Liang's general Qiao Zhongkui (喬鍾葵) afterwards put Li Jing (李景), the commandant of Dai Province (代州, roughly modern Xinzhou, Shanxi), who remained loyal to Emperor Yang, under siege. Emperor Yang ordered Yang Yichen to try to lift the siege against Li, and Yang Yichen was successful in defeating Qiao. After Yang Liang was defeated and forced to surrender to Yang Su, Yang Yichen was given material rewards and made the governor of Xiang Province. In 607, Emperor Yang recalled him to be the director of imperial clan affairs, and later the director of husbandry affairs.
In 609, Yang Yichen served as a general in the largely successful campaign against Tuyuhun. In 612, he also served in Emperor Yang's first campaign against Goguryeo, commanding part of the force under Yuwen Shu the Duke of Xu that aimed to penetrate deep into Goguryeo territory, against its capital Pyongyang. While Yang Yichen was personally successful, the campaign was itself a major failure, and as a result, Yang Yichen was removed from his post. However, Emperor Yang soon restored him, and in 613, when Emperor Yang launched a second campaign against Tuyuhun, Yang Yichen again served under Yuwen in an attempt to attack Pyongyang, but when news arrived that Yang Su's son Yang Xuangan had rebelled near the eastern capital Luoyang the campaign was abandoned. Afterwards, with much of Sui territory engulfed in agrarian rebellions, Yang Yichen was sent against the rebel leader Xiang Haiming (向海明), who had claimed imperial title near Chang'an, and Yang Yichen defeated Xiang.
In 616, Emperor Yang sent Yang Yichen against another major rebel leader, Zhang Jincheng (張金稱), and Yang, after lulling Zhang into a sense of security, defeated him and forced him to flee, allowing another Sui general, Yang Shanhui (楊善會), to capture and execute Zhang. Yang Yichen then engaged another major rebel leader, Gao Shida (高士達), who had claimed the title of Duke of Donghai. Around the new year 617, Gao, going against the advice of his subordinate Dou Jiande, engaged Yang Yichen, and Yang Yichen defeated and killed Gao and nearly captured Dou. However, believing that Dou to not pose a further threat, he did not pursue Dou further.
Meanwhile, Emperor Yang and the prime minister Yu Shiji had become suspicious of Yang Yichen after his victories. Emperor Yang summoned Yang Yichen to his then-location at Jiangdu (江都, in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) and, ostensibly promoting him, made him the minister of ceremonies, while disbanding his troops. Yang Yichen died soon afterwards.


United States withdrawal from the United Nations

United States withdrawal from the United Nations refers to various proposals for the United States to terminate its membership in the United Nations, where it is one of the founding members and one of the five Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
Alabama congressman Mike Rogers has called to leave the UN. Utah state representative Don Bush, has claimed that many programs by the supranational entity have violated the US Constitution, such as the implementation of the International Court of Justice and the Law of the Sea Treaty, both of which the United States does not currently endorse.
Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. withdrew from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in October 2017 and June 2018 respectively. The United States also announced its intention to withdraw from the World Health Organization on July 6, 2020, effective one year later. However, this was later rescinded by Trump's successor as president Joe Biden.
History.
Opposition to the United Nations and its predecessor, the League of Nations, has existed from the time of formation. The John Birch Society, an anti-communist group founded in 1958, was opposed to US involvement from the society's beginning. From an early date they had bumper stickers with the slogan "Get the U.S. out of the U.N. and the U.N. out of the U.S.!" Another withdrawal advocate at the time was the "National Review", which once editorialized that the UN should be "liquidated".
Public opinion.
According to the polling organization Rasmussen Reports, in the year 2004 a minority of 44% of United States Citizens had a favorable view of the United Nations. This number continued to decline steadily, and two years later in 2006 that number had fallen to 31%. As of 2006, 26% of Americans say "the U.S. should not be involved" with the United Nations, with a moderate majority of 57% supporting remaining a member. The 2006 poll surveyed 1000 adults. A 2008 poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs shows that 39% find it "very important" and 21% "not important" to strengthen the U.N. In 2013, a Media and Public Opinion Research Group poll found that 38% of Americans would like less involvement with the UN. Some ranking leaders of the United Nations have suggested that the United States government has been projecting a negative image of the UN, although this allegation is denied by the US.
Few observers expect the "U.S. out of U.N." movement to result in the US actually withdrawing for the foreseeable future.
Despite criticisms, the majority of Americans (88%) support active engagement in the United Nations, as evidenced by a non-partisan poll conducted after the 2016 election.
Some controversy occurred in 1992 when U.S. Army medic Michael New protested the United Nations by refusing to wear the U.N. insignia on his uniform during a peacekeeping mission to Macedonia. Michael New faced a court martial and was subsequently discharged for his disobedience to his commanding officer; to this day he still has the belief that he was correct to refuse service under the United Nations.
Legislation.
In 1997 legislation H.R.1146 was introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Congressman Ron Paul of Texas under the label "American Sovereignty Restoration Act". In addition to withdrawal, the bill also proposed expelling the United Nations Headquarters from its territory within the City of New York and no longer providing the large plurality of funds which the US contributes to the UN annually.
The bill was met with minimal support. Further legislation has been suggested, although none has been organized in the form of a comprehensive bill. H.R.1146 was reintroduced in every Congressional Session by Rep. Paul from 1997 through 2011. Ron Paul retired from the House of Representatives at the start of the 2013-2014 session. At that time, the reintroduction of H.R.1146 was taken up by other representatives: in 2013 by Rep. Paul Broun of Georgia, under the designation H.R.75, and in 2015 by Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, under the designation H.R.1205. In each of these cases, the bill was met with minimal support, and referred to committee with no further action taken. Most recently, in 2017 a similar piece of legislation was introduced by Rep. Rogers, under the designation H.R.193.
Sporadic and ineffectual efforts of a similar nature have been attempted in some state legislatures around the country. For instance, on January 19, 1995 a piece of legislation was introduced by Utah state representative Don Bush titled "The National Security Revitalization Act" which called on the US Congress to restrict participation in UN peacekeeping operations.
It was similar in form to bill H.R. 1146, although it had far more provisions such as a reaffirmation of the US support for NATO, and was therefore not exclusively a withdrawal bill. State representative Bush claimed "I had about 25 legislators that signed up for it and there was a lot of other support. The leadership in the House kept it from coming out on the floor." The bill garnered so little support that it was never brought to a vote, despite an overwhelming partisan advantage for State representative Bush's Republican Party in the Utah state legislature.
Unilateralism.
Unilateralism has had a long history in the United States. In his famous and influential Farewell Address, George Washington, the first President of the United States, warned that the United States should "steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world". Many years later, this approach was labeled as isolationism, but some historians of American diplomacy have long argued that "isolationism" is a misnomer, and that American foreign policy, beginning with Washington, has traditionally been driven by unilateralism. Recent works that have made this argument include Walter A. McDougall's "Promised Land", "Crusader State" (1997) and John Lewis Gaddis's "Surprise, Security, and the American Experience" (2004). Advocates of American unilateralism argue that other countries should not have "veto power" over matters of U.S. national security. Presidential Candidate John Kerry received heavy political heat after saying, during a presidential debate, that American national security actions must pass a "global test". This was interpreted by Kerry opponents as a proposal to submit American foreign policy to approval by other countries. Proponents of American unilateralism generally believe that a multilateral institution, such as the United Nations, is morally suspect because, they argue, it treats non-democratic, and even despotic, regimes as being as legitimate as democratic countries, and withdrawing from the United Nations would be a symbolic move at further distancing the United States from foreign control.