In February 1942, he led his fleet against a much stronger Japanese fleet in the Java Sea. This battle became a disaster for the Allies. Doorman became a hero in the Netherlands, partly of his last words to the fleet: "Ik val aan, volg mij!" (I am attacking, follow me).
Karel Doorman died when his ship "De Ruyter" (named after the famous Dutch Admiral Michiel de Ruyter) was hit by a torpedo and sank. There was enough time to escape, but Doorman rather went under with his ship, according to old tradition.
The Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. Francis Scott Key wrote the words to it in 1814 after seeing British ships attacking Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland during the War of 1812.
The words are set to the music of a British drinking song called "To Anacreon in Heaven". The song has 4 stanzas but only the first one is usually sung.
Abdou Diouf
Abdou Diouf (born September 7, 1935) was president of Senegal from 1981 to 2000. He was the second president since the country became independent.
Diouf has been the Secretary General of "La Francophonie" since 2003.
Needle
A needle is a small tool used to push or pull a thread through a small hole.
It is most often used to make clothing and footwear.
The needle consists of a short stick with a sharp point and hole for the thread. Needles are now mostly made of steel, but in ancient or Stone Age times they would have been made of small bones or twigs.
Once the thread is put through the hole in the needle and "doubled-back" so that it cannot fall out, then the whole needle and its thread can be put through the material.
The term needle may also be used to refer to other sharp objects used for different purposes, such as the needles doctors use to give a shot.
February 3
Province
A province is a subdivision of a country. It is a kind of local government.
Some countries are divided into provinces. The word "province" comes from the Latin word "provincia".
South Africa, Canada, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Spain, and Denmark are examples of countries that are divided into provinces.
In some countries, provinces have different names:
Departements usually have less power than provinces. States, Bundesländer and autonomous communities have more power than provinces.
Small countries like Singapore or Monaco are not divided.
Jade
Jade is a kind of stone. We use the name "jade" for two different sorts of mineral. The first sort is nephrite. This is a form of actinolite (asbestos is a sort of actinolite, too). The second sort is the mineral jadeite, and it is a pyroxene. The first sort (nephrite) is harder than the second sort (jadeite). The first sort (jadeite) has more colors that the second sort (nephrite).
Nephrite is Ca(Mg, Fe)SiO(OH).
Jadeite is NaAlSiO.
The two sorts of jade look nearly the same. People only found that they were two different sorts in 1863. The nephrite form of jade is very hard. In the past, Chinese people and the Maori used it to make knives and weapons. Later, when people could use metals, they liked jade because it looked nice and they thought it had special powers. Today people also use jade for jewelry.
Jade was found about 7000 years ago. The Chinese later made jewelry out of it. Only the rich could have jade because it was so rare and expensive. It was said that jade had healing powers and it was regarded as very lucky.
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko () (born February 23, 1954) is a previous President of Ukraine. On November 26, 2004, he lost the Ukrainian presidential election. However, he and his followers argued that the election had been corrupted. They argued that the election results had been falsified by the Ukrainian government, in support of the opposing candidate Victor Yanukovych. They organized political demonstrations in the autumn and winter of 2004 that gathered millions of people all over the country. They called the demonstrations "The Orange Revolution". The Constitutional Court ordered a second round of elections, which Yuschenko won.
Yushchenko claimed to have been poisoned by political enemies. Certainly, he was hospitalized and his appearance shows signs of a grave illness.
Yulia Tymoshenko and Yushchenko were once strong allies (during the Orange Revolution). Today there is a lot of political misunderstanding between Tymoshenko and Yushchenko.
In February 2010 Yushchenko lost the presidential election to Viktor Yanukovych.
From December 1999 till May 2001 Yushchenko was the Ukrainian prime minister and from January 1993 till December 1999 head of the national bank of Ukraine.
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (; born July 9, 1950, Yenakiieve, Stalin Region, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian politician who was the 4th President of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014; found guilty of treason. On January 12, 2015, he was declared wanted by Interpol
He was Prime Minister of Ukraine from November 2002 until December 2004 (he was forced to resign (leave office early) on 31 December 2004). He again was Prime Minister of Ukraine from 4 August 2006 until 18 December 2007. He is the former leader of the Party of Regions the biggest political party of Ukraine. The party was formerly part of the Ukrainian government.
In November 2004, he won the presidential election. Viktor Yushchenko, his opponent, said the result was false. Large daily demonstrations supporting Viktor Yushchenko followed. They were named "The Orange Revolution". Ukrainian Judges decided that there would be new elections in December 2004. Victor Yuschenko won those elections and became president of Ukraine.
Yanukovych was supported by Vladimir Putin of Russia and by the former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma.
Yushchenko claimed to have been poisoned in a bid to silence his "orange power" base. Certainly, he was hospitalized and his appearance showed signs of a grave illness.
In February 2010, he won the presidential election; Yulia Tymoshenko, who lost the election with a 3.48% difference, said he won because of fraud.
Yanukovych was a victim of poverty in his childhood and was twice put in prison for violent crimes in his youth.
After mass protest in Ukraine during February 2014, Yanukovych was forced-out of office on 22 February 2014. Oleksandr Turchynov became acting president.
On December 15, 1967, at the age of 17, Viktor Yanukovych was first sentenced to 3 years in prison for participating in a robbery.
For the second time, Viktor Yanukovych was prosecuted for inflicting moderate bodily injuries under Art. 102 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR and sentenced on June 8, 1970 to 2 years of imprisonment.
In connection with the events of Euromaidan, the phrase "Golden Toilet" became a symbol and synonym of the Yanukovych regime. In many informal speeches, the phrase is used as a euphemism for the rule of Viktor Fedorovich and his political entourage.
During the two months of Yanukovych's presidency and the existence of the pro-presidential majority and the government in Ukraine, the pressure on the media and the curtailment of freedom of speech intensified. In particular, independent experts noted the politicization of the First National TV Channel. The facts of censorship on commercial TV channels have become more frequent: journalists of "1 + 1" and "STB" have stated the facts of censorship by their management, and journalists of STB state the existence of facts of censorship since 2008.
Viktor Yanukovych, along with Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko, became the biggest enemies of the Ukrainian press in 2012-2013, according to an annual survey by the Institute of Mass Media and the Independent Media Trade Union.
As of May 15, 2014, 6 criminal cases of abuse of power were being investigated against Yanukovych. The cases are included in the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations.
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