agenda
ATTENTION
- REFILES removing Dubai item ///
Nicosia,
Dec 28, 2016 (AFP) - Duty Editor: Stephen Myles
Tel:
+357-22-391-420
AFP
Middle East & North Africa news focus for Thursday:
+ Kerry
says Israeli settlements imperil peace
--
TOP STORY --
WASHINGTON:
US Secretary of State John Kerry warns that Israel's settlement building in the
West Bank threatens both hopes for peace with the Palestinians and its own
future as a democ ...
·
Thursday, 29 December 2016
Next Day
NEWS
SOUTH
KOREA / TRIAL
Asia
Seoul: Trial resumes in case against Choi
Soon-sil, the jailed confidante of South Korean President Park Geun-hye who is
at the centre of the political scandal that led to Park's impeachment.
AP covering.
MIDDLE
EAST EXTRA
SYRIA
/ NEW YEAR
New Year preps in war torn Syria.
YEMEN
/ WOMEN PHOTOGRAPHERS
Female photographers challenge taboos in
Yemen.
PAKISTAN
/ BOMB DISPOSAL
Pakistan gets its first female bomb
disposal expert.
·
December 29
·
December 29, 1170 - Thomas Becket,
Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered by four knights acting on orders from
England's King Henry II.
·
December 29, 1890 - Members of the
U.S. 7th Cavalry massacred more than 200 Native American (Sioux) men, women and
children at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota.
·
December 29-30, 1916 - In the waning
days of the Romanov dynasty, Russian 'monk' Rasputin (Grigory Yefimovich
Novykh) was assassinated. A group of conspirators had lured him to a private
home then poisoned and shot him, although he did not die. They then tied him up
and threw him into the Neva River, in which he drowned. Rasputin had gained
enormous influence with Russian Emperor Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra,
claiming Divine inspiration and the ability to perform miracles, especially in
helping young Nicky, the Czar's son who was a hemophiliac. He also urged severe
measures in dealing with the peasant masses and for a time had virtually
dictated government policy.
·
December 29, 1940 - During the
Blitz, German aircraft dropped thousands of incendiary bombs on the center of
London, causing the worst fire damage since the great fire of 1666. St. Paul's
Cathedral survived but eight other Wren churches along with the Guildhall and
Old Bailey were badly damaged.
·
December 29, 1965 - During the
Vietnam War, North Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh rejected unconditional
peace talks offered by the U.S.
·
December 29, 1989 - Playwright and
human rights activist Vaclav Havel was sworn in as president of Czechoslovakia.
He had formerly been denounced by Czech Communists as an enemy of the state and
had spent five years in jail for his beliefs.
·
Birthday - Andrew Johnson
(1808-1875) the 17th U.S. President was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was
Abraham Lincoln's vice president and became President upon Lincoln's
assassination in 1865. He went on to become the first President impeached by
the House of Representatives. He was acquitted in the Senate by a single vote.
He later served briefly as a Senator from Tennessee until his death on July 31,
1875.
·
Birthday - Cellist Pablo Casals
(1876-1973) was born in Venrdell, Spain. He was one of the most influential
musicians of the 20th Century whose superb ability in playing the cello set new
performance standards.
1503 Battle of Garigliano:
Spanish army under General Cordoba defeats French forces
1539 St Jacob's Church burns
after being hit by lightning
1541 Isabella of Poland &
King Ferdinand of Austria sign Treaty of Gyalu
Event of Interest
1558 Charles V, King of Spain and Holy
Roman Emperor, buried in El Escorial, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain
King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V
1705 Prosper Jolyot's
"Idomenée," premieres in Paris
1708 Great Alliance occupies
Gent
1778 British troops occupy
Savannah, Georgia
1782 1st nautical almanac in
US published by Samuel Stearns, Boston
1786 French Revolution: The
Assembly of Notables is convoked
1812 The USS Constitution
under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures the HMS Java off the
coast of Brazil after a three hour battle.
1813 British burn Buffalo, NY
during War of 1812
1835 The Treaty of New Echota
is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River
to the United States
1837 Canadian militia destroy
Caroline, a US steamboat docked at Buffalo
1837 Steam-powered threshing
machine patented, Winthrop, Maine
1841 King/grand duke Willem
II installs Order of Eikenkroon
1845 Texas admitted as 28th
state of the Union
1848 Gas lights 1st installed
at White House (Polk's administration)
1851 1st American Young Men's
Christian Association (YMCA) chapter opened in Boston Massachusetts.
1852 Emma Snodgrass arrested
in Boston for wearing pants
Event of Interest
1857 Franz Liszt's "Die
Hunnenschlacht" premieres in Weimar
Composer/Pianist
Franz Liszt
