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☆ France's last surviving D-Day commando joins beach landing anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Gautier, 100, presented a student marine commando with his green beret at a passing out parade at Colleville-Montgomery, near where a 17-year-old Gautier had landed on Sword Beach in a hail of enemy fire. Gautier was one of 177 French green berets under the command of Captain Philippe Kieffer who took part in the Normandy landings. In 2019, Gautier recounted on the occasion of the 75th D-Day anniversary how French troops had been the first to wade chest-deep onto Sword Beach. "Your honour," Gautier recalled British Colonel Robert Dawson telling the French green berets. Reporting by Noemie Olive; Writing by Richard Lough, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Commando Kieffer Leon Gautier, Read, Leon Gautier, Emmanuel Macron, Gautier, Captain Philippe Kieffer, " Gautier, Robert Dawson, Noemie Olive, Richard Lough, Ed Osmond Organizations: Commando, Fusiliers, Tuesday, Thomson Locations: Normandy, MONTGOMERY, France, Gautier, Colleville, Montgomery, Nazi Germany

☆ The 4 most dangerous missions American troops carried out 79 years ago on D-Day
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Katie Sanders | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The D-Day invasion was the largest seaborne invasion in history and a turning point in World War II. By the end of the Normandy campaign, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians had been killed or wounded. The greatest risks were borne by American troops who arrived in the first wave, seized clifftop artillery, and set up balloons to defend against aerial attacks. The invasion, codenamed Operation Neptune and remembered as D-Day, sent roughly 156,000 British, Canadian, and American troops to the Nazi-occupied French coast by air and sea, beginning the multi-month Battle of Normandy and the liberation of Western Europe from Hitler's Wehrmacht. Citino described the most perilous jobs American troops performed to help make the D-Day landings a World War II turning point.

Persons: —, Dwight D, Read, Rob Citino, Citino Organizations: Service, Hitler's Wehrmacht, National WWII Museum Locations: Normandy, France, Nazi, Western Europe

☆ D-Day’s Historic Beaches Face a New Onslaught: Rising Seas
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Catherine Porter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

POINTE DU HOC, France — Even filled with grass and wildflowers, the craters remain so deep and wide that you can still sense the blasts of bombs that carved them 79 years ago. Peering over the 100-foot-cliff to the ocean below, you see clearly how exposed the young American men were as they climbed up grappling ropes early that morning of June 6, 1944. Of all the D-Day sites, none quite conveys the horror and heroism of that pivotal moment during World War II as the Pointe du Hoc. The Nazi defense and lookout point between two landing beaches in Normandy, which American Rangers conquered, suffered another three landslides this spring. Inspections revealed that waves had chewed a cavity more than two and half yards deep into their base.

Organizations: POINTE DU, Nazi, American Rangers Locations: France, Pointe, Hoc, Normandy

☆ D-Day by the numbers: Here's what it took 79 years ago to pull off the biggest amphibious invasion in history
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The scale of the Allied invasion on June 6, 1944 was unlike anything seen before. By that summer, the Allies had slowed the forward march of the powerful German war machine and were ready to drive its army back. The scale of the assault was unlike anything the world had seen before or will most likely ever see again. By that summer, the Allies had managed to slow the forward march of the powerful German war machine. By the numbers, here's what it took to pull this off.

Persons: — Organizations: Service, Allies Locations: Normandy, France

☆ Mark Milley: Exclusive: Top US general says Ukraine is 'well prepared' for counteroffensive in war that has 'greater meaning' for the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Haley Britzky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Watch CNN’s full interview with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley on “The Lead with Jake Tapper” today at 4 p.m. Milley, who is retiring this year, is in Normandy to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the 1944 D-Day invasion — a massive World War II operation that he called the “greatest amphibious invasion in human history” — as the war continues to rage in Ukraine. For months now, the US and its allies have been helping arm Ukraine for the counteroffensive, which was expected to start in the spring. Most recently, the US said it would support a joint effort by other nations to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. The war has also begun creeping into Russia, as suspected Ukrainian drone strikes hit inside Moscow and a shelling attack was carried out in Belgorod.

Persons: Staff Mark Milley, Jake Tapper ”, Oren Liebermann, Milley Organizations: Joint Chiefs, Staff, CNN Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Europe, United States, Normandy, France, Donetsk, Ukrainian, Moscow, Belgorod

☆ A US Navy battleship all but sunk at Pearl Harbor was brought back to life to battle the Germans on D-Day. The military later blasted it with a nuclear bomb.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The USS Nevada saw the world and multiple combat operations during its three decades of service. It was severely damaged at Pearl Harbor but later restored to hit German positions during D-Day. After returning to duty, the Nevada spent the next 11 years operating around the Pacific, and as tensions increased with Japan, the Nevada spent much of 1941 carrying out training exercises in the region. The USS Nevada burns following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese military. Damaged and radioactive, the Nevada survived the tests and returned to Pearl Harbor to be decommissioned later in August.

Persons: —, Pearl Harbor's Organizations: Service, US, USS, Getty, Army, Marshall Locations: Nevada, Massachusetts, Caribbean, USS Oklahoma, Ireland, USS Utah, Atlantic, Pacific, Americas, Japan, Island, USS, Attu, Alaska, Normandy's, Iwo Jima, Okinawa

☆ Yogi Berra: ‘It Ain’t Over’ documentary reassesses baseball great’s remarkable career and life
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Don Riddell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —Yogi Berra famously said “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” but one of the greatest careers in baseball history might have been over before it had even begun. He was injured during the attack, he pulled bodies out of the water, and he learned that in comparison to war, baseball would be easy. In a file photo -- September 28, 1955 -- Jackie Robinson (R) is safe under an attempted out by Yankee catcher Yogi Berra, on a steal home from third. I don’t think anything that anyone said or wrote took any of that joy away from him. I don’t think Grandpa meant to be a civil rights activist,” explained Lindsay, “He just did the right thing.

Persons: Yogi Berra, Berra, ”, Lindsay, “, Bob Costas, Granny Hamner, Don Larsen, Billy Crystal, Yogi, ” Berra, Joe Di Maggio, Mickey Mantle –, Jackie Robinson, Frank Kellert, Larry Berra, Barack Obama, Alex Wong, ” Lindsay, ’, ‘ we’re, ’ ”, “ There’s, grandpa, ESPN’s, he’d, Grandpa, you’ve, Jon Matlack, Robinson, “ Grandpa, Jackie, Kathy Willens Organizations: CNN, Yankee, Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, AP, Life Magazine, Bettmann, American, Observers, Dodgers, Getty, White, Mets, ” New York Yankees Hall of Fame, Toronto Blue Jays, Steinbrenner, “ Locations: Normandy, American, New York, Washington , DC, Europe, ”, Tampa , Fla, Maryland

☆ Why Should Charles III Be King?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Tanya Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

King Charles(Francis Xavier,Professor X) III Prof. King Charles III, a telepath and the leader of the X-Men, is powerfully gifted, like the real Charles III (a noted gardener and watercolorist). King Charlize (Theron) III Charlize III is a gifted actor, which all good monarchs need to be, and an extraordinarily beautiful woman. King Charles III, theMadame Tussauds waxwork Wax Charles III lives in Madame Tussauds on Baker Street, and more people met him in 2022 — 2.5 million — than the real king will meet during his whole reign. King Charlie (Sheen) III Another actor, who has the advantage of already being from a famous dynasty: his father played Jed Bartlet, the philosopher king from “The West Wing.” King Charlie (Sheen) III would be handsome but not as handsome as King Charlize (Theron). King Charles (Dickens) III could not function in a country with failing public services and a system that taxes earnings, not wealth.

☆ Is Annie Ernaux the Most Brutally Honest Writer Alive?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Rachel Cusk | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

I listened on the radio to an astronaut reading passages aloud from Marguerite Duras from his space station to his earthbound audience below. Then, last October, the writer Annie Ernaux won the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first Frenchwoman ever to do so. We had been in France for nearly two years, and amid the alternating sensations of regeneration and disarray that this upheaval had inevitably incurred, Annie Ernaux had come to represent for me a troubling point of constancy. Despite the differences — of nationality, generation, social class, familial situation — between my own life and that of Annie Ernaux, I found myself plunged as I read into a more and more profound state of recognition. She believed in writing as some people believe in religion, as a sphere where the self, the soul, is entitled to find refuge.

☆ Some travel is 'off the charts' expensive, experts say. Here are 3 ways to cut some costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

D3sign | Moment | Getty ImagesInternational travel costs have hit record highsThe Eiffel Tower and Seine River at sunrise in Paris. The so-called "revenge travel" dynamic has helped to push up prices, perhaps most acutely for travel abroad. These are record-high prices, Berg said. People should be prepared not just for a busy travel season, but an expensive travel season. Sally French travel expert at NerdWalletThis summer is expected to be the busiest on record for international travel, the U.S. State Department said in March.

☆ Trump accuses France's Macron of pandering to China
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS/File PhotoWASHINGTON, April 12 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump accused Emmanuel Macron of pandering to China leader Xi Jinping during the French president's recent closely watched visit to Beijing. "You got this crazy world is blowing up and the United States has absolutely no say. And Macron, who's a friend of mine, is over with China kissing his ass," Trump said in an interview with Fox News late on Tuesday. As president, Trump upended some tenets of America’s post-World War Two foreign policy by questioning the NATO alliance, alienating European partners and indulging autocrats. Trump himself was accused of pandering to world leaders, autocrats in particular, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong-Un.

☆ France pension reform protests turn violent following national day of action
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Aurore Laborie Dalal Mawad Oliver Briscoe Allegra Goodwin Pierre Bairin Helen Regan | Aurore Laborie | Dalal Mawad | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Paris CNN —More than a million people took to the streets across France on Thursday with protests turning violent in some areas as demonstrators voiced their fury at proposed pension reforms. At least 80 people were arrested and 123 police officers injured in France on Thursday during the nationwide protests, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. The gate of the Bordeaux city hall after it was set on fire during a demonstration on a national day of action, on March 23 in Bordeaux, southwestern France. French riot police apprehend a protester amid clashes during a demonstration against pension reform in Paris on March 23, 2023. It rammed the legislation through the French National Assembly last week using a constitutional clause that allows the government to bypass a vote.

☆ French strikes continue to block refinery shipments and LNG terminals
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Forrest Crellin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Eric GaillardPARIS, March 20 (Reuters) - Shipments of refined products from French refinery and depots were blocked on Monday by a 13th day of strike action, though some refineries operated with a reduced flow. The cost of keeping LR2 vessels floating outside ports is leading many traders to avoid shipments into France, traders said. Strikes also continued through the weekend and into Monday at ExxonMobil (XOM.N) subsidiary Esso's Fos refinery, blocking deliveries, CGT union representative Germinal Lancelin said. At French liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, the strike was extended until March 27 at the three terminals operated by Engie (ENGIE.PA) subsidiary Elengy, a union representative said. Another vote will be held later this week, possibly on Wednesday, on whether to take further strike action, the representative added.

A successful no-confidence vote would fell the government and kill the legislation, which is set to raise the retirement age by two years to 64. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Sunday called the votes "a moment of truth" for the government. Senior officials from the conservative Les Republicains (LR) party have said they will not get behind the no-confidence motions. Le Monde calculated that at least 26 LR lawmakers would need to back the motion for it to succeed. Even if the motions flop, Macron's failure to find enough support in parliament to put his pension system overhaul to a vote has undermined his reformist agenda and weakened his leadership, observers say.

The outages have in recent days led to growing concern that French and regional supplies of fuels, in particular diesel, could tighten in the coming weeks. Reuters GraphicsThe profit margin for refining crude oil into diesel has jumped by nearly 40% over the past month. The Ekofisk North Sea crude grade, produced at a field in Norway where TotalEnergies has equity, relies on France for two-thirds of its export stream, Rauball said. Meanwhile, prices for crude grades from Nigeria, one of France's top suppliers, have dropped by around $1/bbl in the past two weeks, traders said. "It's a buyer's market, with WTI and Azeri crude offered way down to sell," a trader of West African crude said.

☆ How an often overlooked World War II-era shipbuilder designed the boat that Eisenhower said 'won the war for us'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Katie Sanders | Mara Storey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The Higgins boat is one of the iconic vessels of World War II. Andrew Higgins, center, developed several kinds of landing craft that were invaluable during World War II. His landing craft were used in every major amphibious assault of World War II, from the shores of Europe to the Pacific islands. National World War II MuseumBorn in Nebraska in 1886, Higgins ran newspaper routes and started a lawn-mowing company as a child. In one instance, Navy officials expressed interest in seeing a design for a new 56-foot tank landing craft three days before a scheduled visit to see another type of landing craft.

☆ Protests resume in France amid anger at Macron's pension age reform
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Dominique Vidalon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Gonzalo FuentesPARIS, March 18 (Reuters) - Refinery strikes persisted on Saturday in France and more demonstrations were taking place throughout the country amid anger at the government pushing through a rise in the state pension age without a parliamentary vote. A further rally was planned in Paris later on Saturday while BFM television showed images of demonstrations already taking place in cities such as Compiegne in the north, Nantes in the west and Saint-Etienne in central France. A broad alliance of France's main unions has said it would continue to mobilise to try to force a U-turn on the changes. Macron's overhaul raises the pension age by two years to 64, which the government says is essential to ensure the system does not go bust. Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by David HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ French protests: 37% of operational staff at TotalEnergies' refineries on strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, March 18 (Reuters) - Some 37% of operational staff at TotalEnergies' (TTEF.PA) refineries and depots were on strike on Saturday amid persisting protests in France against the government's move to raise the retirement age by two years to 64. French fuel supplies could be put at risk again next week following union calls to extend 10 days of strike action at refineries. The Donges refinery in the west has been offline due to a technical problem with an electricity transformer, he said. At the company's Normandy site in the north, operations and production at a large number of units were normal. At oil major ExxonMobil's (XOM.N) Esso-branded Port Jerome-Gravenchon refinery in Normandy, fuel deliveries were halted for at least 24 hours, a representative of the hardline CGT labour union said.

Operations were normal at the company's Normandy site in the north, while the Feyzin refinery in the southeast was operating almost normally, the person added. A union official said earlier that the Normandy refinery would be stopped this weekend. At oil major ExxonMobil's (XOM.N) Esso-branded Port Jerome refinery in Normandy, workers have been called to strike from Saturday at 2 p.m. (1300 GMT), a CGT union official said. It was unclear whether Esso's Fos-sur-Mer refinery in the south would be similarly affected. Reporting by Benjamin Mallet, Forrest Crellin and America Hernandez; Editing by Jan Harvey and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The US Navy's newest supercarrier is underway with all its available airpower for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Navy's newest supercarrier, USS Gerland R. Ford, is underway with all its airpower. Johnson said the Ford's carrier strike group includes staff from Carrier Strike Group 12, Carrier Air Wing 8, and Destroyer Squadron 2. "Now, the strike group is initiating its final step in fully certifying as a combat-deployable warship. COMPTUEX will further demonstrate that our carrier strike group is a combat-ready naval force capable of conducting a full spectrum of integrated maritime, joint, and combined operations," he added. The Ford Carrier Strike Group is expected to deploy on its first full-length deployment sometime later this year.

☆ 'Let's bring France to a halt': Oil refineries blocked and trains halted by pension reform protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Christophe Archambault | Afp | Getty ImagesStrike action over plans to raise the pension age in France caused widespread disruption on Tuesday, as trains came to a near-standstill, many schools were shut and fuel deliveries were blocked from refineries. Lou Benoist | Afp | Getty ImagesEric Sellini, a representative from the CGT union at TotalEnergies, told Reuters that a strike blocking the Gonfreville refinery in Normandy would run until Thursday. Another at the Donges refinery in western France is set to run until Friday, he added. Sameer Al-doumy | Afp | Getty ImagesThe strikes come as French workers grapple with red-hot inflation, which accelerated unexpectedly in February to hit 6.2% year-on-year. Around two thirds of the public support protests against the pension reforms, according to an Elabe survey.

☆ Grand but Comfortable: A California Home Inspired by French Chateaus
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Kathryn O Shea-Evans | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

SUMMERY PALACE Interior designer Kevin Klein’s light-filled take on monarchical style, in his Los Angeles home. A CENTURIES-OLD French château dazzles the eye. But is it a tempting place to unwind, chomp a BLT and stream “Top Gun: Maverick”? For the décor of his own 1927 French Normandy-style home in Los Angeles, local designer Kevin Klein took inspiration from the Château de Digoine, in Burgundy, but he knew he needed a friendlier take on castle aesthetics. “I figured if I could replicate just 1% of Digoine in a contemporary way, I’d be happy.”

☆ France seeks strategy as nuclear waste site risks saturation point
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Benjamin Mallet | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] Used nuclear fuel is seen in a storage pool at the Orano nuclear waste reprocessing plant in La Hague, near Cherbourg, France, January 17, 2023. "We can't have a responsible nuclear policy without taking into account the handling of used fuel and waste. La Hague is the country's sole site able to process and partially recycle used nuclear fuel. Meanwhile, France's national agency for managing nuclear waste last month requested approval for a project to store permanently high-level radioactive waste. The facility at La Hague, with its 1980s-era buildings and Star Wars-style control rooms, has its limitations.

☆ His Grandmother’s Ford Thunderbird Took 40 Years to Restore
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( A.J. Baime | Photographs Matt Martian For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Rick Steiner , 65, a retired engineer living in Tucson, Ariz., on his 1955 Ford Thunderbird, as told to A.J. My grandmother was a World War II Gold Star wife. What that means is, she was the wife of a soldier killed while serving his country. My grandmother raised four children and put them all through college, through engineering school, law school, dental school and nursing school. When she finally got her last child through school, she bought this 1955 Thunderbird, which was a shock to everybody.

[1/6] French energy workers on strike gather with dockers near tyres set on fire as they protest against French government's pension reform plan, in the port of Saint-Nazaire, France, January 26, 2023. An Elabe poll for BFM showed 72% of the French are against the pension reform. "Oil workers are against this (pension) reform but they don't want to be on the front line," said a CGT union representative for Exxonmobil. A spokesperson for Esso, whose two French refinery sites are run by ExxonMobil (XOM.N), said only truck loading operations were suspended at Fos, with everything else operating normally. A union representative added that production at the Port Jerome site was slightly impacted.

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