On May 7, 1954, France lost the battle of Dien Bien Phu, in the northwest of what is now Vietnam. Winners, the communist Viet Minh led by Ho Chi Minh and General Giap thus ended a century of French occupation of Indochina and eight years of murderous war which, according to several estimates, killed around a million people..
Dien Bien Phu is as much the name of a battle that sounded the death knell for the French colonial empire as that of a military fiasco. A modern army, supported by its American ally, capitulated to an army of insurgent colonized people, without an air force or navy, but with an asset underestimated by French strategists: cannons offered by the Viet Minh’s ally, communist China. .
Why and how did France lose this strategic battle? Answer in maps and period archives in this new episode of our Flashback video series.
Among the sources of this video:
“The Battle of Dien Bien Phu, March 13 – May 7, 1954” – ECPAD, Images Défense collection (2024).
“Dien Bien Phu seen from opposite. Lyrics of bô dôi » – Nouveau Monde (2013).
“Words of Dien Bien Phu. The survivors testify”, Pierre Journoud, Hugues Tertrais. Tallandier, (2004).
“Dien Bien Phu: from the trenches to the courtroom: 1953-1958”, history thesis by Laure Cournil, University of Paris I Panthéon – Sorbonne.
Karim El Hadj et Elsa Longueville
A great OVERVIEW of the work of Slovak MEPs: Who was the most active? Some did not make much of a splash in Brussels
#great #OVERVIEW #work #Slovak #MEPs #active #splash #Brussels
(Source: TASR/Ján Krošlák, TASR/Pavel Neubauer, TASR/Ján Krošlák, collage: Topky)
BRATISLAVA – The elections to the European Parliament will soon be upon us, and the five-year mandates of the current members will thus end. This is the perfect time to summarize and evaluate their work. While some of our fourteen representatives were extremely active in Brussels, there are also those who have not stirred much water in five years.
How to evaluate the activity of fourteen Slovak members of the European Parliament during their five-year term? In addition to their activity in committees or political groups, the statistics of individual activities can give us such an overview.
Reports and opinions on proposals and directives
An important statistical indicator of activity is comprehensive reports on draft regulations and directives. In this case, the most active of the Slovaks was Eugen Jurzyca (Freedom and Solidarity), who together worked out up to 60 such messages. He is followed by Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová with 53 reports and opinions and Michal Wiezik (Progressive Slovakia) with 33. Milan Uhrík (Republika) and Miroslav Radačovský (Slovak PATRIOT) did not write a single one.
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Eugen Jurzyca (Source: TASR/Martin Baumann)
Amendments
Another of the statistical data are amending and supplementing bills. An MEP can submit an amendment alone or together with other MEPs, when this work is divided between them and the MEPs subsequently sign it. This data does not provide completely complete information about their operation or activity.
In this case, the statistics of Slovak MEPs are kept by Martin Hojsík (Progressive Slovakia), who participated in 4,625 proposals. He is followed by Michal Wiezik (3,708) and Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová (3,454). On the contrary, Milan Uhrík with 264 signatures, Jozef Mihál (141) and Miroslav Radačovský with only one amendment have the fewest signatures.
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Martin Hojsík (Source: Topky/Ramon Leško)
Speeches in the plenary session of the parliament
Miriam Lexmann (KDH) spoke most often in the plenary of the European Parliament, who spoke 155 times, Martin Hojsík had 150 speeches and Robert Hajšel 146. Jozef Mihál did not speak in the plenary even once. Monika Beňová (SMER-SD), who was one of the most active in this indicator in the past, delivered a speech 19 times during this election period, and Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová appeared before the deputies in 41 cases.
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Miriam Lexmann (Source: TASR – Jakub Kotian)
Written explanations of votes
Deputies have the opportunity to explain and justify in writing how and why they voted for or against draft laws. Eugen Jurzyca used this option most often, who justified 1,898 of his votes. Ivan Štefanec (KDH) commented on 1,661 of his votes, and Milan Uhrík did so in 1,640 cases. On the contrary, PS Michal Wiezik and Martin Hojsík MEPs hardly use this option at all.
Related News
Pope Francis pointed out that freedom of the press is essential to inform in a non-ideological way
Pope Francis pointed out this Friday that press freedom “is fundamental” to inform in a non-ideological way, in a message on the social network X on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day.
“Freedom of the press is essential to develop a prudent critical sense, distinguish truth from lies and learn to work in a non-ideological way for justice, peace and respect for Creation,” Francisco wrote on his old Twitter account. .
Governments around the world are putting increasing pressure on journalists, curtailing press freedom on a global scale, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned today, criticizing the international community for not having done enough to protect journalists in Gaza, where More than a hundred have already died.
According to its annual classification for 2024, which evaluates the situation in 180 countries, it is found that only 25% of the countries analyzed have a “satisfactory” or “good” situation, the majority being European (the first are, in this order, Norway, Denmark and Sweden, while Spain is in 30th place, after improving six).
“RSF observes a worrying deterioration in support and respect for the autonomy of the media and a worsening of the pressures exerted by States or other political actors,” denounces the report, which takes into account five rating criteria, including them the politician, which overall falls 7.6 points.
“Dropping out of school is a tragedy”
In another order, Francisco affirmed that “educational and training abandonment is a tragedy” and proposed “taking care of the training of young people who abandon studies” when receiving this Friday the National Confederation of Education and Vocational Training of Italy.
In his speech, Francisco lamented that many young people “intend to work, but have to settle for precarious and poorly paid contracts” and others “in this context of social fragility and exploitation, live dissatisfied and give up their jobs.”
Given this, the Pope asked to “promote legislation that favors the social recognition of young people” and added that even more important is “to build a generational replacement where the skills of those who leave are at the service of those who enter the labor market.”
According to Francisco, “valid vocational training is an antidote to school dropouts and a response to labor demand in various sectors of the economy.”
And for this, he indicated, it is necessary “a healthy and effective relationship with companies, willing to employ young people among their ranks” as well as that “training offers young people tools to discern between job offers and forms of exploitation.”
“Those who feel rejected (in the world of work) can end up in humanly degrading forms of social hardship” and this “we must not accept,” the pontiff warned. Source: Infobae
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#Pope #Francis #pointed #freedom #press #essential #inform #nonideological
2024-05-05 08:47:46
Pope Francis pointed out that freedom of the press is essential to inform in a non-ideological way
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