text:
Second Congo War

The Second Congo War, also known as Africa's World War, the Great War of Africa, or the Great African War, began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 2 August 1998, little more than a year after the First Congo War, and involved some of the same issues. It began when Congolese president Laurent-Désiré Kabila turned against his Rwandan and Ugandan allies who had helped him come to power.

Eventually involving belligerents from across the African continent, the war officially ended on 18 July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power. Although a peace agreement was signed in 2002, violence has continued in many regions of the country, especially in the east. Hostilities have continued since in the ongoing Lord's Resistance Army insurgency, and the Kivu and Ituri conflicts. Nine African countries and around twenty-five armed groups became involved in the war.

In 2008, the International Rescue Committee estimated that the war and its aftermath had caused 5.4 million deaths, principally through disease and malnutrition, making the Second Congo War the deadliest conflict worldwide since World War II, though this number has come under scrutiny, with some researchers saying that many of the deaths would have occurred without the conflict. Another 2 million were displaced from their homes or sought asylum in neighboring countries. Conflict minerals were a major source of funding for the war, and for subsequent fighting.

Kabila's march to Kinshasa
The First Congo War began in 1996 as Rwanda increasingly expressed concern that Hutu members of Rassemblement Démocratique pour le Rwanda (RDR) militias were carrying out cross-border raids from what was then Zaire, and planning an invasion of Rwanda. The militias, mostly Hutu, had entrenched themselves in refugee camps in eastern Zaire, where many had fled to escape the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

The Tutsi-dominated RPF government of Rwanda, which had gained power in July 1994, protested this violation of Rwandan territorial integrity, and began to arm the ethnically Tutsi Banyamulenge of eastern Zaire. The Mobutu regime of Zaire vigorously denounced this intervention, but possessed neither the military capability to halt it nor the political capital to attract international assistance.

With active support from Uganda, Rwanda and Angola, the Tutsi forces of Laurent-Désiré Kabila moved methodically down the Congo River, encountering only light resistance from the poorly trained, ill-disciplined forces of Mobutu's crumbling regime. The bulk of Kabila's fighters were Tutsis, and many were veterans of various conflicts in the Great Lakes region of Africa. Kabila himself had credibility as a long-time political opponent of Mobutu, and had been a follower of Patrice Lumumba (the first Prime Minister of the independent Congo), who was executed by a combination of internal and external forces in January 1961, and was ultimately replaced by Mobutu in 1965. Kabila had declared himself a Marxist and an admirer of Mao Zedong. He had been waging armed rebellion in eastern Zaire for more than three decades, though Che Guevara in his account of the early years of the conflict portrayed him as an uncommitted and uninspiring leader.

Kabila's army began a slow movement west in December 1996, near the end of the Great Lakes refugee crisis, taking control of border towns and mines and solidifying control. There were reports of massacres and of brutal repression by the rebel army. A UN human-rights investigator published statements from witnesses claiming that Kabila's Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (ADFLC) had committed massacres, and that the advancing army had killed as many as 60,000 civilians, a claim the ADFLC strenuously denied. Roberto Garreton stated that his investigation in the town of Goma turned up allegations of disappearances, torture and killings. He quoted, an aide to Mobutu, as saying that killings and disappearances should be expected in wartime.

Kabila's forces, with support of Rwanda, launched an offensive in earlier October 1996 in South Kivu, and demanded that the Kinshasa government surrender. The rebels took Kasenga on 27 March 1997. The government denied the rebels' success, starting a long pattern of false statements from the Defense Minister on the progress and conduct of the war. Negotiations were proposed in late March, and on 2 April a new Prime Minister of Zaire, Étienne Tshisekedi—a longtime rival of Mobutu—was installed. Kabila, by this point in control of roughly one-quarter of the country, dismissed this as irrelevant and warned Tshisekedi that he would have no part in a new government if he accepted the post.

The ADFLC made consistent progress in its advance from the east throughout April 1997, and by May its troops had reached the outskirts of Kinshasa. Mobutu fled Kinshasa on 16 May, and the "libérateurs" (liberators) entered the capital without serious resistance. Mobutu fled the country and died in exile in Morocco four months later. Kabila proclaimed himself president on 17 May 1997; he immediately ordered a violent crackdown to restore order, and began an attempt at reorganisation of the nation.

Unwelcome support from other African nations
When Kabila gained control of the capital in May 1997, he faced substantial obstacles to governing the country, which he renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from Zaïre. Beyond political jostling among various groups to gain power and an enormous external debt, his foreign backers proved unwilling to leave when asked. The conspicuous Rwandan presence in the capital rankled many Congolese, who began to see Kabila as a pawn of foreign powers.

Tensions reached new heights on 14 July 1998, when Kabila dismissed his Rwandan chief of staff James Kabarebe, and replaced him with a native Congolese, Célestin Kifwa. Although the move chilled what was already a troubled relationship with Rwanda, Kabila softened the blow by making Kabarebe the military adviser to his successor.

Two weeks later, Kabila chose to abandon his previous decision. He thanked Rwanda for its help, and ordered all Rwandan and Ugandan military forces to leave the country. Within 24 hours, Rwandan military advisers living in Kinshasa were unceremoniously flown out. The people most alarmed by this order were the Banyamulenge Tutsi of eastern Congo. Their tensions with neighboring ethnic groups had been a contributing factor in the genesis of the First Congo War and they were also used by Rwanda to affect events across the border in the DRC.

1998–1999

On 2 August 1998, the Banyamulenge in Goma erupted into rebellion. Rwanda offered them immediate assistance, and early in August a well-armed rebel group, the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD)—composed primarily of Banyamulenge and backed by Rwanda and Uganda—emerged. This group quickly came to dominate the resource-rich eastern provinces, and based its operations in Goma. The RCD quickly took control of the towns of Bukavu and Uvira in the Kivus. The Tutsi-led Rwandan government allied with Uganda, and Burundi also retaliated, occupying a portion of northeastern Congo. To help remove the occupying Rwandans, President Kabila enlisted the aid of refugee Hutus in eastern Congo and began to agitate public opinion against the Tutsis, resulting in several public lynchings in the streets of Kinshasa. On 12 August a loyalist army major broadcast a message urging resistance from a radio station in Bunia in eastern Congo: "People must bring a machete, a spear, an arrow, a hoe, spades, rakes, nails, truncheons, electric irons, barbed wire, stones, and the like, in order, dear listeners, to kill the Rwandan Tutsis."

The Rwandan government also challenged current borders by claiming a substantial part of eastern Congo as "historically Rwandan". The Rwandans alleged that Kabila was organising a genocide against their Tutsi brethren in the Kivu region. The degree to which Rwandan intervention was motivated by a desire to protect the Banyamulenge, as opposed to using them as a smokescreen for its regional aspirations after ousting Mobutu, is still being debated.

In a bold move, Rwandan soldiers under the command of James Kabarebe hijacked three planes and flew them to the government base of Kitona on the Atlantic coast. The planes landed in the middle of the Kitona base, but the motley collection of troops there (ex-FAZ, but also Angolan UNITA elements and former Pascal Lissouba militiamen from Brazzaville) were in poor condition and in no condition to fight unless given food and weapons. They were quickly won over to the Rwandan side. More towns in the east and around Kitona fell in rapid succession, as the combined RCD, Rwandan and rebel soldiers overwhelmed government forces amid a flurry of ineffectual diplomatic efforts by various African nations. By 13 August, less than two weeks after the revolt had begun, rebels held the Inga hydroelectric station that provided power to Kinshasa as well as the port of Matadi through which most of Kinshasa's food passed. The diamond center of Kisangani fell into rebel hands on 23 August and forces advancing from the east had begun to threaten Kinshasa by late August. Uganda, while retaining joint support of the RCD with Rwanda, also created a rebel group that it supported exclusively, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC).

Despite the movement of the front lines, fighting continued throughout the country. Even as rebel forces advanced on Kinshasa, government forces continued to battle for control of towns in the east of the country. The Hutu militants with whom Kabila was co-operating were also a significant force in the east. Nevertheless, the fall of the capital and of Kabila, who had spent the previous weeks desperately seeking support from various African nations and Cuba, seemed increasingly certain.

The rebel offensive was abruptly reversed as Kabila's diplomatic efforts bore fruit. The first African countries to respond to Kabila's request for help were fellow members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). While officially the SADC members are bound to a mutual defence treaty in the case of outside aggression, many member nations took a neutral stance to the conflict. However, the governments of Namibia, Zimbabwe and Angola supported the Kabila government after a meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, on 19 August. Several more nations joined the conflict for Kabila in the following weeks: Chad, Libya and Sudan.

A multisided war thus began. In September 1998, Zimbabwean forces flown into Kinshasa held off a rebel advance that reached the outskirts of the capital, while Angolan units attacked northward from its borders and eastward from the Angolan territory of Cabinda, against the besieging rebel forces. This intervention by various nations saved the Kabila government and pushed the rebel front lines away from the capital. However, it was unable to defeat the rebel forces, and the advance threatened to escalate into direct conflict with the national armies of Uganda and Rwanda. In November 1998 a new Ugandan-backed rebel group, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, was reported in the north of the country. On 6 November Rwandan President Paul Kagame admitted for the first time that Rwandan forces were assisting the RCD rebels for security reasons, apparently after a request by Nelson Mandela to advance peace talks. On 18 January 1999, Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe agreed on a ceasefire at a summit at Windhoek, Namibia but the RCD was not invited. Fighting thus continued.

Outside of Africa, most states remained neutral, but urged an end to the violence.

1999–2000
On 5 April 1999, tensions within the RCD about the dominance of the Banyamulenge reached a boiling point when RCD leader Ernest Wamba dia Wamba moved his base from Goma to Uganda-controlled Kisangani to head a breakaway faction known as RCD-Kisangani, which later became The Forces for Renewal. A further sign of a break occurred when President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Kabila signed a ceasefire accord on 18 April in Sirte, Libya, following the mediation of Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, but both the RCD and Rwanda refused to take part.

On 16 May Wamba was ousted as head of the RCD in favour of a pro-Rwanda figure, Dr. Emile Ilunga. Seven days later the various factions of the RCD clashed over control of Kisangani. On 8 June rebel factions met to try to create a common front against Kabila. Despite these efforts, the occupying armed forces of Uganda recreated the province of Ituri, based off of the province of Kibali-Ituri which previously existed from 1962 to 1966 in the Republic of the Congo. Perceived favoritism to the ethnic Hema by the Ugandan forces sparked the ethnic clash of the Ituri conflict, sometimes referred to as a "war within a war".

Nevertheless, diplomatic circumstances contributed to the first ceasefire of the war. In July 1999 the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement was signed by the six warring countries (Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Uganda) and, on 1 August, the MLC (the RCD refused to sign until 31 August). Under the terms of the agreement, forces from all sides, under a Joint Military Commission, would co-operate in tracking, disarming and documenting all armed groups in the Congo, especially those forces identified with the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Few provisions, however, were made to actually disarm the militias. The United Nations Security Council deployed about 90 liaison personnel in August 1999 to support the ceasefire. However, in the following months all sides accused the others of repeatedly breaking the cease-fire, and it became clear that small incidents could trigger attacks.

Tensions between Uganda and Rwanda escalated as units of the Uganda People's Defense Force and the Rwandan Patriotic Army clashed in Kisangani on the morning of 7 August. Fighting broke out again between the two armies on the evening of 14 August; fighting occurred throughout much of Kisangani, including in the airport and on major roads. The conflict lasted until 17 August, when a ceasefire was called that day. Both sides used heavy weapons during these clashes. As reported by the International Crisis Group, the fighting was a result of differences over the objectives and strategies used during the war. B

In November government-controlled television in Kinshasa claimed that Kabila's army had been rebuilt and was now prepared to fulfil its "mission to liberate" the country. Rwandan-supported rebel forces launched a major offensive and approached Kinshasa but were eventually repelled.

By 24 February 2000, the UN authorised a force of 5,537 troops, the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (known by the French acronym, MONUC), to monitor the cease-fire. However, fighting continued between rebels and government forces and between Rwandan and Ugandan forces. Numerous clashes and offensives occurred throughout the country, most notably heavy fighting between Uganda and Rwanda in Kisangani in May and June 2000.

On 9 August 2000 a government offensive in Equateur Province along the Ubangi River was repulsed near Libenge by MLC forces. Military operations and diplomatic efforts made by the UN, African Union and Southern African Development Community failed to make any headway.

Assassination of Laurent-Désiré Kabila

On 16 January 2001, Laurent-Désiré Kabila was shot and killed at the Palais de Marbre in Kinshasa. The government initially stated that Kabila was wounded but still alive when he was flown to Zimbabwe for intensive care. The circumstances of his assassination are unclear, and have been the subject of considerable rumours and disagreements. The consensus is that Kabila was shot by one of his bodyguards, the 18-year-old Rashidi Mizele, a kadogo (child soldier). Mizele had previously been misidentified as Rashidi Kasereka.

Two days later the government announced on state television that the desperate attempt by Zimbabwean medical personnel to save Kabila had failed and that Kabila had died from his injuries. His remains were returned for a state funeral on 26 January 2001.

Shortly after the assassination, the French newspaper Le Monde published a story in which self-identified assassination plotters revealed documents and details of the plot to murder Kabila. The plotters were mainly kadogos who had been under Kabila's command since 1996, and were aggrieved over their poor treatment. The catalyst for the assassination appeared to be the execution of 47 kadogos accused of plotting against Kabila. The execution, witnessed by Kabila, took place the day before his assassination.

While the role of the disgruntled kadogos is relatively well-established, there have been some attempts to argue that they were under the influence of external actors who sought to overthrow Kabila. Some Congolese officials attempted to implicate their principal enemies by alleging that the Rwandans masterminded the operation. Some observers have lent credibility to these allegations, including Al-Jazeera's documentary, "Murder in Kinshasa", which alleges that a Lebanese diamond dealer allegedly organised the logistics of the organisation. Others have speculated that the Angolans (due to Kabila's complicity in helping the Angolan rebel group UNITA channel funds through the DRC) or even the Americans were involved in the assassination. There is, as yet, no proof that Mizele or the kadogos were acting under orders from an external source.

Joseph Kabila becomes president
By unanimous vote of the Congolese parliament, his son, Joseph Kabila, was sworn in as president to replace him. That he won the election was largely due to Robert Mugabe's backing, and the fact that most parliamentarians had been handpicked by the elder Kabila. In February, the new president met Rwandan President Paul Kagame in the United States. Rwanda, Uganda, and the rebels agreed to a UN pullout plan. Uganda and Rwanda began pulling troops back from the front line. Joseph Kabila has been described as "a more adept political leader than his father". As Chris Talbot notes, an article in The Washington Post "favourably contrasted Joseph Kabila – Western-educated and English-speaking – with his father." The author of the Washington Post article writes that Joseph Kabila gave diplomats "hope that things have changed", in contrast to Laurent-Désiré Kabila, who "stood as the major impediment to a peaceful settlement of the war launched in August 1998 to unseat him." A peace accord Laurent signed in the summer of 1999, the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, "remained unfulfilled largely because he kept staging new offensives while blocking deployment of U.N. peacekeepers in government-held territory." To compare, according to an analyst from the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit, "The only obstruction had been Kabila because the [Lusaka] accord called for the government's democratic transition and that was a threat to his power."

UN investigates illegal exploitation of minerals
In April 2001, a UN panel of experts investigated the illegal exploitation of diamonds, cobalt, coltan, gold and other lucrative resources in the Congo. The report accused Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe of systematically exploiting Congolese resources and recommended the Security Council impose sanctions.

2002
In 2002, Rwanda's situation in the war began to worsen. Many members of the RCD either gave up fighting or decided to join Kabila's government. Moreover, the Banyamulenge, the backbone of Rwanda's militia forces, became increasingly tired of control from Kigali and the unending conflict. A number of them mutinied, leading to violent clashes between them and Rwandan forces.

At the same time, the western Congo was becoming increasingly secure under the younger Kabila. International aid was resumed as inflation was brought under control.

In March, the RCD-Goma faction captured Moliro, a town located on the coast of Lake Tanganyika, from government forces. According to said faction, the town was shelled by government gunboats the following day in response. The capture was seen as a violation of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement.

Peace agreements (April–December 2002)
Under the leadership of South Africa, peace talks held in that country between April and December 2002 led to the signing of a "comprehensive peace agreement." The Sun City Agreement was formalised on 19 April 2002. It was a framework for providing the Congo with a unified, multiparty government and democratic elections. However, critics noted that there were no stipulations regarding the unification of the army, which weakened the effectiveness of the agreement. There were several reported breaches of the Sun City agreement, but it has seen a reduction in the fighting. On 30 July 2002, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a peace deal known as the Pretoria Accord after five days of talks in Pretoria, South Africa. The talks centered on two issues. One was the withdrawal of the estimated 20,000 Rwandan soldiers in the Congo. The other was the rounding up of the ex-Rwandan soldiers and the dismantling of the Hutu militia known as Interahamwe, which took part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide and continues to operate out of eastern Congo. Rwanda had previously refused to withdraw until the Hutu militias were dealt with.

Signed on 6 September, the Luanda Agreement formalised peace between Congo and Uganda. The treaty aimed to get Uganda to withdraw its troops from Bunia and to improve the relationship between the two countries, but implementation proved troublesome. Eleven days later, the first Rwandan soldiers were withdrawn from the eastern DRC. On 5 October Rwanda announced the completion of its withdrawal; MONUC confirmed the departure of over 20,000 Rwandan soldiers.

On 21 October, the UN published its expert panel's report on the pillage of natural resources by armed groups. Both Rwanda and Uganda rejected accusations that senior political and military figures were involved in illicit trafficking of plundered resources. Zimbabwe Defense Minister Sydney Sekeramayi says the Zimbabwean military withdrew from the DRC in October 2002, but in June 2006 reporters said a 50-man force had stayed in the DRC to protect Kabila.

On 17 December 2002, the Congolese parties of the Inter Congolese Dialogue (the national government, the MLC, the RCD, the RCD-ML, the RCD-N, the domestic political opposition, representatives of civil society and the Mai Mai) signed the Global and All-Inclusive Agreement. The agreement described a plan for transitional governance that would have result in legislative and presidential election within two years of its signing and marked the formal end of the Second Congo War.

Pygmy genocide (2002–2003)
At the end of 2002 through January 2003, around 60,000 Pygmy civilians and 10,000 combatants were killed in an extermination campaign known as "Effacer le tableau" by the Movement for the Liberation of Congo. Human rights activists have made demands for the massacre to be recognized as a genocide.

2003 onwards: Transitional Government
On 18 July 2003, the Transitional Government came into being as specified in the Global and All-Inclusive Agreement out of the warring parties. The agreement obliges the parties to carry out a plan to reunify the country, disarm and integrate the warring parties and hold elections. There were numerous problems, resulting in continued instability in much of the country and a delay in the scheduled national elections from June 2005 to July 2006.

The main cause for the continued weakness of the Transitional Government is the refusal by the former warring parties to give up power to a centralised and neutral national administration. Some belligerents maintained administrative and military command-and-control structures separate from that of the Transitional Government, but as the International Crisis Group has reported, these have gradually been reduced. A high level of official corruption siphoning money away from civil servants, soldiers and infrastructure projects causes further instability.

On 30 July 2006 the first elections were held in the DRC after the populace approved a new constitution. A second round was held on 30 October.

Zimbabwe

Robert Mugabe's administration dispatched elements of the Zimbabwe National Army to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1998. Mugabe, perhaps the most ardent supporter of intervention on Kabila's behalf, was the only major player involved in the conflict able to marshal a reasonably modern and experienced air force. Zimbabwe's military was also regarded as being one of the more well-equipped and professional of the region; being the decisive factor in the outcome of the war and exhibiting outstanding tactical proficiency.

Zimbabwean strategy revolved around defending the person of Laurent Kabila only with allied forces, as Congolese forces were thought to be unreliable, then retake important settlements, and expel the rebels from the Kinshasa region. Mugabe's initial buildup in Kinshasa consisted of special forces along with some paratroops, reportedly numbering between 600 and 1,000. By August 1998, two more battalions had been dispatched. They were accompanied by some Soviet-manufactured T-54/55 tanks, Crocodile armoured personnel carriers, and EE-9 Cascavel scout cars flown into the capital on Angolan Air Force planes. The contingent grew to 3,800 around November, and peaked at 12,000 in January 2001. The Zimbabweans began leaving in 2002 and had completely withdrawn by the end of the year. Prior to this deployment, Zimbabwe had built up an apparently potent brigade-sized, combined arms, reaction force with efficient air support and professional competence; however the prolonged operations in the Congo are said to have damaged its credibility.

The Air Force of Zimbabwe made particularly effective use of its air power, hitting rebel and Rwandan offensives on Mbuji-Mayi with repeated strikes by BAE Hawks and Hawker Hunters. It also sustained heavy losses during the conflict, including three of its six Mil Mi-24 Hind helicopters, a transport aircraft, and an unidentified interceptor, probably a Chinese Chengdu J-7. Despite the effectiveness of its highly mobile, big-gunned Eland-90 and Cascavel armoured cars, Zimbabwean ground forces also lost a significant number, either captured or destroyed by the rebel coalition.

Namibia
Under the direction of President Sam Nujoma, Namibia became involved in the Congo on behalf of its commitment to the Southern African Development Community. Nujoma, a longtime ally of Kabila, claimed he could not refuse the requests for military assistance from Zimbabwe and Angola. Windhoek's ruling SWAPO party had interests in Kinshasa similar to those claimed by Mugabe, including lucrative fish exports and a valuable stake in the Societé Minière de Bakwanga. In February 1999, Namibian Defence Force personnel in the Congo numbered barely 1,000: likely a single infantry battalion group with staff, artillery, logistics support and a flight of Allouette Helicopters and Y-12 transport aircraft from the Namibian Air Force. Between 2000 and 2001, this figure may have fluctuated between 1,600 and 2,000, though Namibian troops remained of little importance to the conflict. They were withdrawn by 2002, by which point 30 servicemen had been killed in action and the war effort was costing Namibia $150,000 a day.

The Namibian intervention was greeted with intense criticism by opposition parties, as well as neighboring South Africa and several Western donors. The European Union expressed concern that Nujoma was misusing his country's development funds for the Congo expedition, and individual member states—including Finland—cut off financial aid. A furious diplomatic row also ensued with South African authorities after they suspended all outgoing military exports to the NDF.

Angola
The Angolan government had fought against Mobutu Sésé Seko in the First Congo War because of his support for rebel UNITA in the Angolan Civil War. The Angolan government wanted to eliminate UNITA operations in southern Congo, which exchanged diamonds extracted from rebel-held Angola for foreign weapons. Angola had no confidence that a new president would be more effective than Kabila and feared that continued fighting would lead to a power vacuum that could only help UNITA. The intervention of the experienced Angolan forces was essential in deciding the outcome of both wars.

Chad
Kabila had originally discounted the possibility of support from Françafrique (Francophone Africa) but after a summit meeting in Libreville, Gabon, on 24 September, Chad agreed to send 2,000 troops. France had encouraged Chad to join as a means of regaining influence in a region where the French had retreated after the 1994 genocide committed against Tutsi in Rwanda. Nevertheless, Chadian intervention resulted in a fiasco. Its forces were accused of serious human rights violations and looting, virtually from their arrival in the country. They withdrew very quickly under international and national pressure and opprobrium.

Sudan
Unconfirmed reports in September 1999 indicated that forces of the government of Sudan were fighting rebels in Orientale Province, close to the Sudanese and Ugandan borders. However, Sudan did not establish a significant military presence inside the DRC, though it continued to offer extensive support to three Ugandan rebel groups—the Lord's Resistance Army, the Uganda National Rescue Front II and the Allied Democratic Forces—in retaliation for Ugandan support for the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

Areas of continuing conflict
The fragility of the state has allowed continued violence and human rights abuses in the east. There are three significant centres of conflict:
 * North and South Kivu, where a weakened FDLR continues to threaten the Rwandan border and the Banyamulenge, where Rwanda supports RCD-Goma rebels against Kinshasa (see Kivu conflict), and where local conflicts continue to fuel violence;
 * Ituri, where MONUC / MONUSCO has proved unable to contain the numerous militia and groups driving the Ituri conflict;
 * Northern Katanga, where Mai-Mai Militias slipped out of the control of Kinshasa (see Katanga insurgency).

The ethnic violence between Hutu- and Tutsi-aligned forces has been a driving impetus for much of the conflict, with people on both sides fearing their annihilation. The Kinshasa- and Hutu-aligned forces enjoyed close relations as their interests in expelling the armies and proxy forces of Uganda and Rwanda dovetail.

While the Uganda- and Rwanda-aligned forces worked closely together to gain territory at the expense of Kinshasa, competition over access to resources created a fissure in their relationship. There were reports that Uganda permitted Kinshasa to send arms to the Hutu FDLR via territory held by Uganda-backed rebels as Uganda, Kinshasa and the Hutus are all seeking, in varying degrees, to check the influence of Rwanda and its affiliates.

Rwanda and Ugandan backing of rebels
Rwanda backed rebels due to fears of Hutu rebels on its border. The Kinshasa government was suspicious of Kigali's influence over the region, as Rwanda has occupied the area numerous times and some witnesses confirm that Rwanda has profited from the looting of Congolese minerals. Consequently, Rwanda allegedly supported the continuing rebellion of General Nkunda in Congo. Nkunda was, however, arrested by Rwandan police in 2009. The DRC sought assurance that Kigali aligned forces have no conflict-mineral or territorial interests in eastern Congo.

On 19 December 2005 the United Nations International Court of Justice ruled that the DRC's sovereignty had been violated by Uganda, and that DRC had lost billions of dollars worth of resources. The DRC government has asked for $10 billion in compensation. Though the ICJ has taken many steps to ensure that war crimes and crimes against humanity will be prosecuted, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank rewarded both Uganda and Rwanda with debt relief packages for improving their economic health during a time when much of their increased revenue was partially a direct result of illegally importing conflicted minerals from the DRC. In this case, international institutions such as the IMF and WB are allegedly at odds with international laws and charters. Both the IMF and WB have been accused of helping to facilitate the conflict in the DRC by rewarding combatants.

Economic impact
The deteriorated infrastructure and constant threat of attacks made overland travel impossible, causing internal trade in Congo to come to a standstill. On the Congo River, the most important remaining transport route, there was no ship traffic between the different power regions for years. Isolated villages were cut off from urban markets, while cities suffered from food shortages. In Kinshasa, food prices quadrupled within a year. International aid arrived only sparingly. Initially, it was mainly limited to Kinshasa and it was not until 2001 that it reached the actual war zones in the east.

The impoverishment of the population worsened further. A 2006 study by the Congolese government, three years after the end of the war, revealed that 76% of the population could not send their children to school, 79% were malnourished, 81% did not have adequate housing, and 82% had no access to medical care. Overall, 71% of the population lived in absolute poverty, 85% in the poorest province of Équateur. According to aid organizations, in 2000, 31% of Kinshasa's residents were chronically malnourished and only 10% could afford three meals a day. In 2003, the average food intake of the population was 1300 kilocalories per day. The health system was largely destroyed and, reportedly, 500,000 people died of malaria each year, more than a third of them children under five years old.

Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean involvement in the war had a significant negative impact on the country's economy. As hardware losses multiplied, Western donors—including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank—placed their aid programmes to Harare under review, denying Mugabe the foreign currency he needed to buy spare parts valued at $600 million for fighting vehicles then employed in the Congo. Between January to June 2000, the Financial Times reported (via a leaked memo from Minister of Finance Herbert Murerwa) that Zimbabwe spent $166 million on its military ventures there. These factors contributed to the country's severe economic instability during the 2000s, culminating in a period of hyperinflation between 2007 and 2009.

Environmental impact
The war has caused substantial environmental damage. The forests of Congo are a major biodiversity hot spot, housing The Congo Basin which is widely known as the second greatest tropical rain forest in the world and the largest forest in Africa.

Animals and bushmeat trade
On account of the war the Democratic Republic of Congo saw their elephant population halve in size, their hippo population go from 22,000 to 900 and their great ape population decrease by 77%–93% between 1998 and 2015.

With up to 3.4 million people being displaced in Congo as a result of the civil war, many moved into Congo's forests, where they hunted bonobos, gorillas, elephants and more as bushmeat for survival and cleared forest land that were significant habitats for these many animals. Many of these individuals were either from the city where the hunting of certain animals was not a taboo or locals who had their tradition slowly broken down because of their need to survive. One such example had been the Bongando people in which a 2009 study by Kyoto University had observed a disintegration of their cultural interdiction of eating bonobos as influenced by the civil war. During the conflict many of the front lines were located within bonobos reserves, further contributing to the decline in their population.

Government instability and the lack of government enforcement allowed new illegal militia mining camps to form which located themselves deep within Congo's forest. There, bushmeat became the main source of food. On top of that, the mass number of people entering the forests in conjunction with the mines’ unsanitary conditions introduced an increased risk of disease for animals such as gorillas. The government instability and the dangers of war also ceased much of the conservation and protection efforts occurring in Congo at the time, enabling the numerous rampant rebel groups present in Congo to openly partake in poaching.

Military assistance having been obstructed by surrounding African countries, Congo was pushed into entering numerous lumber leases with German, Chinese and Malaysian corporations to uphold their military activities. The roads emerging to support the new logging efforts opened nearby villages to receive easier means of transportation and access to deeper parts of Congo's wildlife reserves. The result was a significant increase in bushmeat sales in villages near these logging sites.

The potential threat of rebel forces during the war caused many military officers controlling urban trade to leave their post. This created an open access market in the bushmeat and pet trade that was then undertaken by exploitative lower ranked soldiers looking for profit. The result was an observed quintuple increase of protected animal sales in urban markets in north-eastern parts of Congo around Garamba National Park. Meanwhile, in other northern parts of Congo, researchers in other studies have found a 23% increase in protected animal sales with the overall pattern being a significant increase in protected animal sales.

Deforestation
The war resulted in a loss of 1.31% of Congo's forests, a size comparable to Belgium.

The millions of displaced individuals led to large-scale logging and deforestation to create arable land. These activities had an outsized effect due to the edge effect as a result of the forest fragmentation.

The Virunga National Park, Africa's oldest national park, became the first endangered UN World Heritage Site. Its flora was cleared during both the first and second Congo war to make way for both the Rwandan and Congolese army.

Dispute over death toll
The Human Security Report Project (HSRP) of Simon Fraser University has challenged the toll of 5.4 million war-related deaths between 1998 and 2008. It states that of the IRC's five periodic estimates, two that cover a period from 1998 to 2001 are flawed, and the reported 2.6 million deaths therein should not be included in the total death toll. The other three periodic IRC estimates cover a period from May 2001 – April 2007, and in which 2.83 million of the total 5.4 million deaths were reported. The HSRP argued that the estimates were built on a general death rate that was far too low for Congo, and that most of those people would have most likely died anyway. Thus, the IRC figure should be revised to 860,000 total war-related excess deaths.

In response to the criticism from HSRP, one of the authors of the IRC report argued the following: Although there may have been small statistical discrepancies in the original study, the IRC report had been widely peer-reviewed and was judged to be an accurate estimate of the war-related excess deaths.

title: Second Congo War


text:
Mishima, Fukushima

Mishima (三島町) is a town located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 1,590 in 755 households, and a population density of 18 /km2. The total area of the town was 90.81 sqkm. In 2017, Mishima was selected as one of The Most Beautiful Villages in Japan.

Geography
Mishima is located in the western portion of the Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture. Most of the town is covered with forests. Traffic is concentrated along the Tadami River in the northern part of the town, and the main functions of the town such as government offices and hospitals are located in the Miyashita area. Miyashita Dam is located slightly upstream, and there is a hydroelectric power plant using the dam. The town has a number of hot springs.

 * Mountains: Mount Takamori
 * Rivers: Tadami River
 * Lakes: Miyashita Dam

Neighboring municipalities
Fukushima Prefecture
 * Kaneyama
 * Shōwa
 * Yanaizu

Climate
Mishima has a humid continental climate/oceanic climate (Köppen Dfb/Cfb) characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Mishima is 11.5 C. The average annual rainfall is 1477 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.2 C, and lowest in January, at around -1.1 C.

Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Mishima has declined steadily over the past 70 years.

History
The area of present-day Mishima was part of ancient Mutsu Province and formed part of the holdings of Aizu Domain during the Edo period. After the Meiji Restoration, it was organized as part of Ōnuma District in Fukushima Prefecture. Mishima village was founded on July 1, 1955 through a merger of the villages of Miyashita and Nishikata. It was raised to town status on April 1, 1961.

Economy
Hydroelectric power generation from numerous dams on the Tadami River is the primary source of revenue for the town, along with forestry and wood products.

Education
Mishima has one public elementary school and one public junior high school operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school.
 * Mishima Town Mishima Middle School
 * Mishima Town Mishima Elementary School

Railway
JR East – Tadami Line
 * Aizu-Hinohara - Aizu-Nishikata - Aizu-Miyashita - Hayato

Local attractions
Mishima Sai-no-kami Festival, a National Intangible Cultural Property

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Mishima, Fukushima


text:
José Bautista

José Antonio Bautista Santos (born October 19, 1980), nicknamed "Joey Bats", is a Dominican former professional baseball right fielder and third baseman who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Toronto Blue Jays. Bautista also played for Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and Philadelphia Phillies.

The Pirates selected Bautista in the 20th round of the 2000 MLB draft. He played for four different clubs before joining the Blue Jays in 2008. In 2010, he became the 26th member of the 50 home run club, while leading MLB in home runs for the first of two consecutive seasons. From 2010–2015, Bautista hit more home runs than any player in the major leagues. An MLB All-Star selection six consecutive times, he won three Silver Slugger Awards and two Hank Aaron Awards. In addition, he received the American League (AL) Player of the Month Award five times, and the AL Player of the Week four times. Before being traded to the Blue Jays, Bautista primarily played third base.

Although major league scouts initially took note of Bautista while he was in junior college for his batting skills – including power hitting potential and a strong throwing arm – his career would take many detours, until Bautista finally realized his potential, in 2010. He made his MLB debut with the Baltimore Orioles in 2004, and, that year, became the first player ever to appear on five MLB rosters in one season. The last of those clubs was the Pirates, where he would spend four-plus seasons, seeing time as a utility player, while playing at six different positions, including designated hitter (DH).

Bautista was then traded to the Blue Jays, in August 2008. After making adjustments to his swing, he broke through with ten home runs in September 2009. Bautista was voted in the top ten in the AL Most Valuable Player Award four times, and is a leader or among the top ten in numerous offensive single-season and career categories in Blue Jays' franchise history.

From 2010 to 2017, Bautista hit at least 20 home runs each year, and in four of those seasons, hit at least 35 home runs, both scored and drove in at least 100 runs, and drew at least 100 bases on balls, including twice leading the AL. In 2015, while playing in the playoffs for the first time, his bat flip in the American League Division Series (ALDS) caused a sensation that became a symbol of Toronto's first playoff appearance in 22 years. In 2011, Bautista set up a program that assists athletes from the Dominican Republic to attend universities in the United States.

Early life
Coming from a middle-class family in the Dominican Republic that placed great importance on education, Bautista began studying English at age eight. His mother was an accountant and financial planner, and his father, who had earned a master's degree in agricultural engineering in Hungary, ran poultry farms. Bautista attended a private high school, De La Salle High School, in Santo Domingo. He was aided by the Latin Athletes Education Fund, designed for players from Spanish-speaking countries aspiring to play college baseball in the United States. Although he invested much time in pursuing professional baseball, Bautista studied business at Mother and Teacher Pontifical Catholic University in the event a career in baseball did not materialize.

After working out with various Major League Baseball (MLB) clubs, he turned down offers of $5,000 from the New York Yankees and $42,000 from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cincinnati Reds offered him $300,000, which Bautista accepted; however, before the contract could become official, the team changed ownership and subsequently rescinded the offer. Bautista then created a highlight tape of himself using a camcorder and sent it to various colleges in the United States. There was no response until he received a call from Oscar Pérez, whom he had known from the Quique Cruz League in the Dominican Republic. Pérez informed him of the Latin Athletes Education Fund, designed for players from Spanish-speaking countries aspiring to play college baseball in the United States. He connected Bautista with Don Odermann, a businessman in the San Francisco Bay Area. Odermann, who assisted baseball players from Latin America desiring to play baseball in the US, knew that Chipola College, a junior college in Marianna, Florida, was seeking an everyday player. There, Bautista played for two years until being drafted.

Early career
The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Bautista in the 20th round (599th overall) of the 2000 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Pirates for a $500,000 signing bonus. Bautista played for the Williamsport Crosscutters of the Class A-Short Season New York-Penn League in 2001 and the Hickory Crawdads of the Class A South Atlantic League in 2002. In 2003, he played for the Lynchburg Hillcats of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League.

After the 2003 season, the Baltimore Orioles selected Bautista in the Rule 5 draft and carried him on their Opening Day roster. He made his MLB debut with Baltimore on April 4, 2004. After playing 16 games with the Orioles, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays claimed him off waivers on June 3. Twenty-five days later, the Kansas City Royals purchased him from Tampa Bay after a 12-game stint with the Devil Rays. He played 13 games for the Royals before they traded him to the New York Mets on July 30 for Justin Huber, who then traded him minutes later to Pittsburgh with Ty Wigginton and minor leaguer Matt Peterson for Kris Benson and Jeff Keppinger. This series of transactions made him the first player to appear on five different Major League Baseball rosters in one season, only since matched by Oliver Drake in 2018. (Drake, however, actually played for all five teams, while Bautista only played for four; he never actually suited up or played for the Mets.)

Bautista played in 11 games for the Pirates in 2005. In 2006, his first full season in the major leagues, Bautista hit .235 with 16 home runs (HR) and 51 runs batted in (RBI). The following season in 2007, he posted similar numbers in 142 games, finishing the season with a batting average of .254, 15 home runs and 63 RBI. That same year, he became the starting third baseman for the Pirates. He took over for reigning National League batting champion Freddy Sanchez, who moved to second base.

Bautista was to be the Pirates' starting third baseman and backup outfielder in 2008. From June 14 to 24, he hit five home runs in a span of nine games against interleague opponents Baltimore, Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and the New York Yankees. However, he struggled offensively for most of the year, and after the 2008 trade deadline Bautista lost his starting job to the newly acquired Andy LaRoche. Bautista was optioned to the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians on August 13.

2008
On August 21, 2008, the Pirates traded Bautista to the Blue Jays for a player to be named later, who eventually was Robinzon Díaz. The Blue Jays needed a third baseman due to an injury to Scott Rolen. Bautista batted .214 with three home runs and 10 RBI in 21 games for Toronto after the trade.

2009
Starting the 2009 season on the bench, manager Cito Gaston assigned Bautista to back up Rolen and outfielders Alex Ríos and Adam Lind. Bautista started the season with a .317 batting average, .404 on-base percentage (OBP) and .463 slugging percentage (SLG) in 49 plate appearances in April. However, his numbers fell off, as he batted between .167 and .231 each month from May through August with two total home runs. At times he showed marked plate discipline; in the month of May, he walked 14 times for a .403 OBP despite batting just .231. Eventually, the Chicago White Sox claimed Rios off waivers, the Blue Jays assigned Lind to the role of designated hitter, and an injury to Marco Scutaro led to an increase in Bautista's playing time and making him the leadoff hitter.

As the season drew to a close, the Blue Jays made changes to their coaching staff. One was to move first base coach Dwayne Murphy to replace the retiring Gene Tenace as hitting coach. Formerly a Blue Jays' minor league roving hitting instructor and hitting coach, Murphy had already spent nearly one year working with Bautista, teaching him to leverage his pull power by starting his swing with his now-familiar high leg kick. In September and October, he finally broke through, hitting 10 home runs with 21 RBI, a .257 batting average and a .606 slugging percentage (SLG). He hit 13 total home runs in 2009 with 40 RBI, a batting average of .235, and 79 hits in 113 games. Originally considered to be a non-tender candidate, he re-signed with the Blue Jays on a one-year, $2.4 million US contract for the 2010 season.

2010
Bautista began the 2010 campaign as the starting right fielder and leadoff hitter. On May 17, he was named AL Player of the Week after hitting .444 (8-for-18) with 20 total bases, four home runs, eight RBI, eight runs scored, a .565 OBP, and an MLB-best 1.111 SLG. Bautista hit his 20th home run as part of a two-home run night against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 22, setting a new career high for a single season in just two months.

Bautista was selected as a reserve for the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Bautista entered the game as a pinch runner for Josh Hamilton and finished the game 0-for-1.

For the month of July, Bautista batted .347, with 11 home runs, 29 RBI, and an AL-leading .765 slugging percentage, sharing American League Player of the Month honors with Twins outfielder Delmon Young. Bautista was also named Blue Jays' Player of the Month, which is selected through voting by the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. With his 12 home runs in May and 11 in July, Bautista became only the third Blue Jay player in franchise history to have two months with at least 10 home runs.

Bautista was named co-winner of the American League Player of the Week award for the period ending August 1. Bautista hit .545 with five homers and 13 RBI during that span. On August 26, Bautista hit his 100th career home run against the Detroit Tigers. Bautista was again named player of the week for the week ending August 29; in seven games that week, Bautista led the American League with a .500 batting average (10-for-20) and hit four home runs. Bautista became the only Blue Jays player to ever win the award three times in one season. Bautista won AL Player of the Month for the month of August, in which he hit he led the AL in home runs (12), RBI (24), slugging percentage (.724) and total bases (72), while tying for the lead in extra-base hits (18). He finished tied for second with 23 runs and was third with 23 walks. He also won the Honda Player of the Month Award, his second such award in as many months.

On September 17, Bautista set the new Blue Jays single-season home run record with his 48th home run, breaking the record set by George Bell. On September 23, Bautista became the 26th player in Major League Baseball history to reach the 50 home run club in one season, and the first Blue Jays player to do so. His 52nd home run set a new MLB record for the largest single-season increase in home runs, eclipsing Davey Johnson's 38 home run increase from 1972 to 1973. Bautista finished the 2010 season with an MLB-leading 54 home runs, the highest total since Alex Rodriguez hit 54 in 2007. Bautista won the AL Hank Aaron Award and a Silver Slugger Award, awards for his offensive performance, and finished fourth in the AL Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) voting, behind Hamilton, Miguel Cabrera and Robinson Canó. The Toronto chapter of the BBWAA named Bautista the Blue Jays' Most Valuable Player, the Blue Jays' Most Improved Player, and presented him the John Cerutti Award for displaying "goodwill, cooperation and character".

2011
Bautista agreed to a five-year contract extension worth US$64 million before the 2011 season. He began the season as the starting right fielder for the Blue Jays, with Edwin Encarnación playing third base. Bautista walked 28 times in the month of April, breaking a club record that was set when Carlos Delgado collected 26 bases on balls in April 2001. Bautista was unanimously selected for the Blue Jays' Player of the Month award, and was also named the AL Player of the Month for the month of April (his third such award in four months, dating back to the 2010 season).

On May 15, Bautista hit three home runs against the Minnesota Twins, the first three-home run game of his career. On May 28, in a home game against the Chicago White Sox, Bautista hit his 20th home run, a three-run shot to left field, becoming the first player to reach 20 home runs in 2011 as well as the fastest player to reach 20 home runs (44 games) in Blue Jays franchise history. Bautista won the AL Player of the Month award for May, his fourth such award in five months. He also became the first player to have the highest number of home runs in a single month for five consecutive months since Jimmie Foxx did so from June 1933 to April 1934. Bautista also won the Blue Jays' Player of the Month award for the second consecutive month. On June 23, the Blue Jays shifted Bautista to third base and recalled Eric Thames to play the outfield.

Bautista was selected for the 2011 MLB All-Star Game, receiving a record 7,454,753 votes. At the time of his selection, he led MLB in home runs (26), walks (70), OBP (.471), slugging percentage (.679), OPS (1.150), times on base (160) and was also in second place for runs scored (64), total bases (182) and extra base hits (41). He became the first Blue Jay in history to lead the league in All-Star voting. He was also the first Blue Jay to be voted into the All-Star game as a starter since Carlos Delgado in 2003. Bautista participated in the Home Run Derby; he hit four home runs and was eliminated in the first round.

On August 5, with the debut of prospect Brett Lawrie to play third base, Bautista returned to right field. In a game against the Oakland Athletics on August 20, Bautista walked three times, which brought his season total to 102 walks in 113 games, the fastest a player reached 100 walks since Barry Bonds in 2007. During a game against the New York Yankees on September 5, Bautista hit his 40th home run of the season, a solo homer off reliever Rafael Soriano. He became the second player in franchise history with back-to-back 40 home run seasons. Two games later on September 7, against the Boston Red Sox, Bautista stole home plate on a double steal in which Lawrie took second base, becoming the first 40 home run hitter to steal home plate since Adam Dunn in 2004.

After leading the major leagues in home runs for the second consecutive season with 43, Bautista became the first player to do so since Mark McGwire in 1998 and 1999. Baustista also led the majors in slugging percentage (.608), OPS (1.056) and walks (132) and the AL in intentional walks (24). He placed second in OBP (.447) behind Cabrera. He batted .302 and also placed in the top ten in the league in runs scored (105), total bases (312) and times on base (293). Defensively, he led AL right fielders with five double plays turned and placed fourth in assists with 13 and fifth with six errors. His walk total was the highest in the league since Jason Giambi collected 137 in 2000, while setting a new Blue Jays franchise record, which Delgado previously held with 123, also in 2000. He also set new Blue Jays' single-season records with 8.1 total Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and 8.3 offensive WAR according to Baseball-Reference.com, edging John Olerud's 7.7 total in 1993, and Delgado's 8.1 offensive WAR in 2000. Bautista held the record for total WAR until Josh Donaldson rated at 8.8 in 2015; however, as of 2015, Bautista still holds the record for offensive WAR. He was the American League winner of the Hank Aaron Award for the second consecutive season, becoming just the third player in the award's history, after Rodriguez and Barry Bonds, to win the award in back-to-back years. Bautista also received his second consecutive Silver Slugger Award.

2012
On January 30, Bautista was announced as the cover athlete for the Canadian edition of MLB 12: The Show. In an interleague game against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 19, 2012, Bautista hit the second of three straight solo home runs by the Blue Jays, between Colby Rasmus and Edwin Encarnación, the first time since 2005 that the Jays went back-to-back-to-back with home runs. Bautista also took over the MLB lead in home runs for 2012, hitting his 25th on June 27 against the Boston Red Sox, which broke the Blue Jays club record for home runs in a month, with 13. He went on to finish the month with 14 home runs, one short of the American League record for June.

Bautista was voted an American League starter in the All-Star Game for the second consecutive year and his third overall All-Star selection. Hamilton surpassed Bautista's record vote total of the prior year. On July 2, Bautista was named American League Player of the Month for June. It was his fifth time receiving the honor in his career. He batted .274 with 14 home runs and 30 RBI in the month of June. His 14 home runs in June set a new Blue Jays franchise record for home runs in a month. Bautista competed in the Home Run Derby. At the time of his selection, he led all major league players with 26 home runs. Bautista finished second to Prince Fielder.

Bautista was placed on the 15-day disabled list on July 17 with inflammation in his wrist. He had started in all previous 90 games, and the Blue Jays called up prospect Anthony Gose to take his place after the game. Bautista was activated on August 24, but returned to the disabled list on August 26 after he re-aggravated the injury to his left wrist. On August 28, the Jays announced that he would undergo season-ending surgery on the wrist. In 2012, Bautista batted .241 with 27 home runs and 65 RBI in 92 games.

2013
On January 21, 2013, it was announced that Bautista would once again be the cover athlete of the Canadian edition of MLB 13: The Show. Bautista hit his 200th career home run in a game against the Boston Red Sox on June 29. On July 6, he was elected to his fourth consecutive All-Star Game, and his third as the starting right fielder for the American League. At the time of his selection, he batted .264 with 20 home runs and 52 RBI. In the All-Star Game, he recorded the game-winning RBI on a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning as the American League won 3–0.

Playing against the Oakland Athletics on July 30, Bautista hit his 25th home run of the season. In doing so, he became the fourth player in Blue Jays franchise history to hit at least 25 home runs in four consecutive seasons, joining Bell (1984–1987), Carter (1991–1996), and Delgado (1996–2004). His season ended prematurely for the second consecutive time on September 4, when it was announced that he would be shut down with a left hip bone bruise. Bautista finished 2013 with a .259 batting average, 28 home runs, and 73 RBI.

2014
Bautista opened the 2014 season with a streak of 37 games in which he reached base safely. His streak, the longest to open a season in Blue Jays franchise history, came to an end on May 11, when he went 0–4. On June 18, he recorded his 1,000 career hit in a game against the New York Yankees. Bautista was named as the American League Captain for the 2014 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby on June 23. On July 6, it was announced that not only was he elected to his fifth consecutive All-Star Game, but, for the second time, received the highest number of votes in the Majors, with 5,859,019.

On August 10, Bautista ended the longest game in franchise history by hitting an opposite field single to drive in Munenori Kawasaki in the 19th inning, and gave the Jays the 6–5 win over the Detroit Tigers. On August 26, Bautista hit his 25th home run of the season, and in doing so, joined Carter and Delgado as the only Blue Jays players in franchise history to hit at least 25 in five or more consecutive seasons. Four days later, Bautista hit his 100th career home run at Rogers Centre, a two-run shot off Yankees starter Michael Pineda, and his fourth straight game with a home run which tied a career-high. He would go on to hit a home run on August 31, extending his home run streak to five games and establishing a new career-high.

In a home game against the Chicago Cubs on September 8, Bautista hit his 200th home run as a Blue Jay, joining Bell, Delgado, Carter, and Vernon Wells as the only players with 200 or more home runs in franchise history. Bautista finished 2014 with a .286 batting average, 35 home runs, and 103 RBI. He won his third Silver Slugger Award for his efforts.

2015
In early 2015, Bautista earned 10-and-5 rights by having at least 10 years of service time in the big-leagues, with the last 5 being on the same team. These rights give Bautista the ability to veto any trade he would be involved in. In a home game against the Orioles on April 21, Bautista hit his 250th career home run. He injured his right shoulder during that game, attempting to throw out Delmon Young at first base. He was held out of the lineup for several days before returning, exclusively as the designated hitter. Bautista received a cortisone shot on May 24 and returned to the outfield on June 2, against the Washington Nationals. On July 6, Bautista was named to his sixth-consecutive All-Star team, as a reserve outfielder in Cincinnati. However, on July 11, it was announced that he would sit out the game due to a shoulder injury. Bautista tied Vernon Wells for second place on the Blue Jays' all-time home run list on July 21, when he hit his 223rd home run for Toronto in a 7–1 win over the Athletics. He surpassed Wells on July 24 in a 5–2 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

On September 30, Bautista surpassed the 40 home run mark for the third time in his career, hitting a solo shot in the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles to extend the Blue Jays lead to 11–1. The Blue Jays would win the game, 15–2, and clinch the American League East.

Bautista finished the 2015 regular season with a .250 batting average, 40 home runs, and 114 RBI. He also walked more than he struck out for the second consecutive year, totaling 110 walks to 106 strikeouts. For the season, he had the lowest line drive percentage of all major league hitters (13.9%). From 2010 to 2015, he batted .268 with 153 doubles, 227 home runs, 582 RBI, 574 walks, 576 strikeouts, .390 OBP, .555 SLG, .945 OPS, and 156 OPS+. In that span, he hit more home runs than any other major leaguer – 28 ahead of second-place Miguel Cabrera – was second in slugging percentage and walks, third in OPS and OPS+ and fifth in OBP.

On October 8, 2015, with just over 1,400 career games played, Bautista made his postseason debut against the Texas Rangers in the American League Division Series (ALDS). In the fifth and final game of the series on October 14, Bautista hit a three-run home run off Sam Dyson that gave the Jays a 6–3 lead that they would not relinquish, sending Toronto to the American League Championship Series (ALCS). Bautista watched the home run and flipped his bat high into the air before running the bases, a celebratory gesture that was applauded by Jays fans and media outlets, while drawing the ire of Rangers players as unsportsmanlike, in the midst of a 53-minute seventh inning laden with controversy. A vital symbol of Toronto's first postseason appearance since 1993, the bat flip was voted Esurance's MLB Award for Best Play on Offense for 2015. In the five games of the ALDS, Bautista batted .273 with two home runs and five RBI.

In Game 3 of the ALCS against the Kansas City Royals, Bautista had one hit and two walks, joining Keith Hernandez as the only players in MLB postseason history to reach base three times on their birthday. The Blue Jays would win the game, 11–8. In Game 6, Bautista hit two home runs, including a two-run game-tying homer at the top of the eighth inning to tie the game at 3–3; however Kansas City would win 4–3 to take the pennant.

On November 3, 2015, Toronto exercised Bautista's $14 million option for 2016.

2016
During his final regular season plate appearance against the Texas Rangers on May 15, 2016, Bautista was hit by a pitch from Matt Bush, which many believed to be retaliation by the Rangers organization for Bautista's bat flip in the 2015 ALDS. Two batters later, Bautista, intending to break-up a double play, made a hard, but no longer legal (as of that season), slide into second basemen Rougned Odor. Although the slide did not make any contact, Odor pushed Bautista, who shoved back, followed by Odor punching Bautista in the jaw. This ignited a bench-clearing brawl. Bautista was handed a one-game suspension by the league for his part in the melee, which he appealed. On May 27, MLB announced that they had upheld the suspension. During the day of his suspension, Bautista served as the public address announcer at Rogers Centre. On June 17, 2016, he was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to an injury to his left big toe. He returned from the disabled list near the end of July. On August 2, Bautista hit his 300th career home run, a solo shot off Houston Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. He would finish the season batting .234 with 22 home runs and 69 RBI in 116 games, helping the Blue Jays to a second consecutive appearance in the ALCS.

On November 7, the Blue Jays extended a $17.2 million qualifying offer to Bautista, which he declined on November 14.

2017
On January 18, 2017, Bautista signed a one-year, $18 million contract with the Blue Jays. The contract included a $17 million mutual option for the 2018 season, as well as a $20 million vesting option for 2019. On August 11, Bautista reached the 20 home run mark for the eighth consecutive season.

Bautista ended the year batting .203 with 23 home runs and 65 RBI in 157 games. His .203 batting average was the lowest of all qualified major league batters. The Blue Jays declined Bautista's option for 2018 on November 4, 2017 marking the end of his tenure as a Blue Jay.

Atlanta Braves
On April 18, 2018, Bautista signed a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves. After playing a few games for the Gwinnett Stripers, the Braves promoted Bautista to start at third base for the first of a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants on May 4. On May 12, 2018, Bautista hit his first home run with the Braves. Bautista batted .143 with two home runs and five RBIs in 35 at bats over 12 games played before being released by the Braves on May 20.

New York Mets
On May 22, 2018, Bautista signed a one-year deal with the New York Mets. Bautista hit a double in his first at bat with the Mets. He later scored on a sacrifice fly. On June 22, 2018, Bautista hit his first home run as a member of the Mets against the Dodgers, making it his third of the season (his previous two being with the Braves). On July 6, Bautista hit a walk off grand slam against the Rays, the first walk off home run of his career. He batted .204 with nine home runs, 37 RBI and a .351 OBP in 83 games with the Mets.

Philadelphia Phillies
The Mets traded Bautista to the Philadelphia Phillies for a player to be named later or cash on August 28, 2018. He batted .244 with two home runs and 6 RBI in 27 games with the Phillies, and posted a .404 OBP and .870 OPS. He was the ninth-oldest player in the National League. Bautista elected free agency on October 29.

Post–2018
In November 2019, Bautista expressed desire to continue his career after taking the 2019 season off.

In March 2020, reports surfaced he was hoping to return as a two-way player. He had joined former Blue Jays teammate Marcus Stroman - a starting pitcher - to workout with during the off-season. Bautista began following Stroman's training regime and which eventually led to a few social media videos - posted by Stroman - showing Bautista pitching and Stroman sharing the opinion that he could "easily" pitch out of a Major League bullpen. Several reports followed suggesting he was eying a return to Major League Baseball as a pitcher - who could also provide at bats from another position or as a DH - but Bautista quashed the rumour quickly. "Just to kind of clear the record, I've never stated that it was my plan or desire to make it to the big leagues as a big-league pitcher," he told MLB Network Radio. He did, however, leave the door open to an opportunity to pitch should it arise.

Retirement
In March 2023, the Blue Jays announced that Bautista would be inducted onto their Level of Excellence on August 12, 2023, in ceremony prior to their game versus the Chicago Cubs. The day before the ceremony, Bautista signed a one-day contract with the team and formally announced that he will retire as a Toronto Blue Jay.

Post-playing career
On May 12, 2022, Bautista was named a special advisor to the general manager for the Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Professional Baseball League.

International career
Bautista represented the Dominican Republic national baseball team at the 2009 World Baseball Classic and 2017 World Baseball Classic.

On February 7, 2017, he was selected to play at the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

On March 12, 2020, he was selected to play for the Dominican Republic at the 2020 Summer Olympics Americas Qualifying, but on the same day, qualifying was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Americas qualifier was later rescheduled to be held from May 31 through June 5 in Port St. Lucie and West Palm Beach, Florida, with Bautista as the team's starting first baseman.

The Dominican Republic placed second in the Olympics Americas Qualifying, and advanced to the Final Qualifying Tournament, which they won, giving them and Bautista a spot in the 2020 Summer Olympics, where they won a bronze medal.

Awards

 * 5× American League Player of the Month (Jul. 2010, Aug. 2010, Apr. 2011, May 2011, Jun. 2012)
 * 4× American League Player of the Week (May 16, 2010; August 1, 2010; August 29, 2010; July 3, 2011)
 * Esurance's MLB Award for Best Play, Offense (2015)
 * 2× Hank Aaron Award (2010, 2011)
 * John Cerutti Award (2010)
 * 6× Major League Baseball All-Star (2010–15)
 * 2× Neil MacCarl Award (2010, 2011)
 * 3× Silver Slugger Award at outfield (2010, 2011, 2014)
 * Toronto Blue Jays Most Improved Player (2010)
 * Olympic Bronze medalist: 2020 Summer Olympics
 * Added to the Blue Jays Level of Excellence on August 12, 2023

Accomplishments

 * 2× American League bases on balls leader (2011, 2015)
 * 2× Major League Baseball home run leader (2010, 2011)
 * Major League Baseball on-base plus slugging percentage leader (2011)
 * Major League Baseball slugging percentage leader (2011)
 * Toronto Blue Jays top-ten in career on-base percentage, slugging percentage, on-base plus slugging percentage, runs scored, total bases, home runs, runs batted in, bases on balls and adjusted on-base plus slugging percentage (through 2015)

Records

 * Major League Baseball record for largest single-season home run increase (39 from 2009 to 2010)
 * Toronto Blue Jays single-season most bases on balls (132 in 2011)
 * Toronto Blue Jays single-season most home runs (54 in 2010)
 * Toronto Blue Jays single-season most offensive WAR (8.3 in 2011)

Personal life
Bautista's father is Spanish.

Bautista and his then-girlfriend, Neisha Croyle, had their first daughter together, born April 2011. His second daughter was born in November 2012. In 2011, Bautista set up a program to aid athletes to have the same opportunity he had to attend American universities. Initially focused on the Dominican Republic, it has expanded to Canada. Bautista and Neisha Croyle were married November 2017.

Bautista's younger brother, Luis, played college baseball at Florida International University. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 32nd round of the 2007 Major League Baseball draft and played in their minor league system through 2008.

A species of weevil, Sicoderus bautistai, was named for Bautista in 2018.

In January 2024, Bautista acquired primary ownership of USL Championship soccer club Las Vegas Lights FC.

title: José Bautista


text:
SHACAL

SHACAL-1 (originally simply SHACAL) is a 160-bit block cipher based on SHA-1, and supports keys from 128-bit to 512-bit. SHACAL-2 is a 256-bit block cipher based upon the larger hash function SHA-256.

Both SHACAL-1 and SHACAL-2 were selected for the second phase of the NESSIE project. However, in 2003, SHACAL-1 was not recommended for the NESSIE portfolio because of concerns about its key schedule, while SHACAL-2 was finally selected as one of the 17 NESSIE finalists.

Design
SHACAL-1 is based on the following observation of SHA-1:

The hash function SHA-1 is designed around a compression function. This function takes as input a 160-bit state and a 512-bit data word and outputs a new 160-bit state after 80 rounds. The hash function works by repeatedly calling this compression function with successive 512-bit data blocks and each time updating the state accordingly. This compression function is easily invertible if the data block is known, i.e. given the data block on which it acted and the output of the compression function, one can compute that state that went in.

SHACAL-1 turns the SHA-1 compression function into a block cipher by using the state input as the data block and using the data input as the key input. In other words, SHACAL-1 views the SHA-1 compression function as an 80-round, 160-bit block cipher with a 512-bit key. Keys shorter than 512 bits are supported by padding them with zeros. SHACAL-1 is not intended to be used with keys shorter than 128 bits.

Security of SHACAL-1
In the paper "Related-key rectangle attack on the full SHACAL-1", 2006, Orr Dunkelman, Nathan Keller and Jongsung Kim presented a related-key rectangle attack on the full 80 rounds of SHACAL-1.

In the paper "Differential and Rectangle Attacks on Reduced-Round SHACAL-1", Jiqiang Lu, Jongsung Kim, Nathan Keller and Orr Dunkelman presented rectangle attacks on the first 51 rounds and a series of 52 inner rounds of SHACAL-1 and presented differential attacks on the first 49 rounds and a series of 55 inner rounds of SHACAL-1. These are the best currently known cryptanalytic results on SHACAL-1 in a single key attack scenario.

Security of SHACAL-2
In the paper "Related-Key Rectangle Attack on 42-Round SHACAL-2", Jiqiang Lu, Jongsung Kim, Nathan Keller, Orr Dunkelman presented a related-key rectangle attack on 42-round SHACAL-2.

In 2008 Lu and Kim presented a related-key rectangle attack on 44-round SHACAL-2. This is the best currently known cryptanalytic result on SHACAL-2.

title: SHACAL


text: Category:Moroccan athletes

title: Category:Moroccan athletes


text:
Kaneyama, Fukushima

Kaneyama (金山町) is a town located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 1972, in 1037 households and a population density of 6.7 persons per km2. The total area is 293.92 sqkm. Kaneyama is noted for its spectacular scenery.

Geography
Kaneyama is located in mountainous northwest of the Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture, bordered Niigata Prefecture to the west. Kaneyama has no town center, but is an artificial construct made up of a number of small villages scattered alongside the Tadami River. Kaneyama has many hot springs.

 * Mountains : Mount Mikagura (1386.5 m), Mount Takamori
 * Rivers : Tadami River
 * Lakes: Lake Numazawa

Climate
Kaneyama has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Kaneyama is 9.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1615 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 23.5 °C, and lowest in January, at around -2.6 °C.

Neighboring municipalities

 * Fukushima Prefecture
 * Mishima
 * Shōwa
 * Tadami
 * Nishiaizu
 * Yanaizu
 * Niigata Prefecture
 * Aga

Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Kaneyama peaked in the 1950s and has declined steadily over the past 60 years. It is now roughly a quarter of what it was a century ago.

History
The area of present-day Kaneyama was part of ancient Mutsu Province and formed part of the holdings of Aizu Domain during the Edo period. After the Meiji Restoration, it was organized as part of Ōnuma District in Fukushima Prefecture. After the Meiji restoration, the villages of Yokota, Kawaguchi, Numazawa and Honna were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. These villages merged on July 1, 1955, to form the village of Kaneyama, which was raised to town status on March 31, 1958.

One of the hamlets in the town, Mifuke, on the banks of the Tadami River, was abandoned after being struck by a landslide in April 1964, and is now a ghost town only visited occasionally by tourists and former residents. The displaced people were integrated into the village of Amenuma across the river.

Economy
Hydroelectric power generation from numerous dams on the Tadami River is the primary source of revenue for the town.

Education
Kaneyama has two public elementary schools and one public junior high school operated by the town government. The town has one public high school operated by the Fukushima Prefectural Board of Education.
 * Fukushima Prefectural Kawaguchi High School

Railway
JR East – Tadami Line
 * Aizu-Mizunuma - Aizu-Nakagawa - Aizu-Kawaguchi - Honna - Aizu-Kosugawa - Aizu-Yokota - Aizu-Ōshio

Local attractions

 * Lake Numazawa
 * Numazawa Onsen
 * Oshio Onsen

title: Kaneyama, Fukushima


text: Category:Polish athletes

title: Category:Polish athletes


text:
Shōwa, Fukushima

Shōwa (昭和村) is a village located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 1,236 in 658 households, and a population density of 5.9 persons per km2. The total area of the village was 209.46 sqkm.

Geography
Shōwa is located in the western portion of the Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture, and consists of scattered hamlets along the Nojiri River.

 * Mountains:
 * Rivers: Nojiri River

Neighboring municipalities

 * Fukushima Prefecture
 * Kaneyama
 * Mishima
 * Aizumisato
 * Yanaizu
 * Shimogō
 * Minamiaizu
 * Tadami

Climate
Shōwa has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Shōwa is 9.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1615 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 22.4 °C, and lowest in January, at around -3.3 °C.

Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Shōwa has declined steadily over the past 60 years.

History
The area of present-day Shōwa was part of ancient Mutsu Province and formed part of the holdings of Aizu Domain during the Edo period. After the Meiji Restoration, it was organized as part of Ōnuma District within Fukushima Prefecture. The villages of Nojiri and Oashi were created with the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The two villages merged on November 23, 1927, to form the village of Shōwa.

Economy
The economy is dominated by agriculture, with the cultivation of Ramie being a notable product.

Education
Shōwa has one public elementary school and one public junior high school operated by the village government. The village does not have a high school.
 * Shōwa Middle School
 * Shōwa Elementary School

Railway
The village does not have any passenger rail services.

Local attractions

 * Komado wetlands

title: Shōwa, Fukushima


text:
Ōnuma District

Ōnuma (大沼郡) is a district of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.

As of 2008, the district has an estimated population of 29,787 and a density of 34.2 persons per km2. Its total area is 870.51 km2.

It contains one village (Shōwa) and three towns: Aizumisato, Kaneyama, and Mishima.

title: Ōnuma District


text: Category:Tanzanian athletes

title: Category:Tanzanian athletes


text:
Nishigō, Fukushima

Nishigō (西郷村) is a village located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 20,351 in 7618 households and a population density of 110 persons per km2. The total area of the village was 192.06 km2..

Geography
Nishigō is located in the upper reaches of the Abukuma River valley in south-central Fukushima prefecture, bordered by Tochigi Prefecture to the south. It is about 185 km north of Tokyo.

 * Mountains: Sanbonyaridake (1916.9m)
 * Rivers: Abukuma River
 * Lakes: Nishigō Dam, Akasaka Dam

Neighboring municipalities

 * Fukushima Prefecture
 * Shirakawa
 * Ten'ei
 * Shimogō
 * Tochigi Prefecture
 * Nasushiobara
 * Nasu

Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Nishigō has increased over the past 50 years.

Climate
Nishigō has a humid climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The average annual temperature in Nishigō is 10.0 C. The average annual rainfall is 1438 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.4 C, and lowest in January, at around 0.9 C.

History
The area of present-day Nishigō was part of ancient Mutsu Province. The area was part of the holdings of Shirakawa Domain during the Edo period. After the Meiji Restoration, it was organized as part of Nishishirakawa District in the Nakadōri region of Iwaki Province. Nishigō Village was formed on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system.

Economy
Nishigō has a mixed economy of agriculture and light/precision manufacturing, and is also a bedroom community with many people using the Tohoku Shinkansen to Tokyo, which is 90 minutes away.

Education
Nishigō has five public elementary schools and three public middle schools operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school; however, the Fukushima Prefectural Board of Education does operate one special education school.
 * Nishigō First Middle School
 * Nishigō Second Middle School
 * Kawatani Middle School
 * Odakura Elementary School
 * Kumakura Elementary School
 * Yone Elementary School,
 * Habuto Elementary School
 * Kawatani Elementary School

Railway
JR East – Tōhoku Shinkansen JR East – Tōhoku Main Line
 * Shin-Shirakawa
 * Shin-Shirakawa

Highway

 * – Shirakawa Interchange

Notable people from Nishigō

 * Fumihiro Suzuki, professional baseball player
 * Toshiyuki Yanuki, professional baseball player

title: Nishigō, Fukushima


text: Category:Tanzanian sportspeople

title: Category:Tanzanian sportspeople


text:
User talk:82.99.146.34

Hi. Thanks for your articles on indonesian monarchies. Could you spend some more time and give the articles a nice formatting? Currently, they are very messy to read. Thanks -- Chris 73 | Talk 14:44, 4 Aug 2004 (UTC)

"Pô departmént" listed at Redirects for discussion
A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Pô departmént. The discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2021 November 29 until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. Extraordinary Writ (talk) 00:47, 29 November 2021 (UTC)

Nomination of List of rulers of Shan states for deletion
A discussion is taking place as to whether the article List of rulers of Shan states is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Articles for deletion/List of rulers of Shan states until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article until the discussion has finished.  // Timothy :: talk  13:00, 13 April 2024 (UTC)

title: User talk:82.99.146.34


text:
Omotegō, Fukushima

Omotegō (表郷村) was a village located in Nishishirakawa District, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.

On November 7, 2005, Omotegō, along with the villages of Higashi and Taishin (all from Nishishirakawa District) was merged into the expanded city of Shirakawa.

As of 2003, the village had an estimated population of 7,322 and a density of 110.14 persons per km2. The total area was 66.48 km2.

title: Omotegō, Fukushima


text:
Higashi, Fukushima

Higashi (東村) was a village located in Nishishirakawa District, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.

On November 7, 2005, Higashi, along with the villages of Omotegō and Taishin (all from Nishishirakawa District) was merged into the expanded city of Shirakawa.

As of 2003, the village had an estimated population of 6,021 and a density of 149.11 persons per km2. The total area was 40.38 km2.

title: Higashi, Fukushima


text:
User talk:Olivier Debre

Happy Dashain!
 Namaste, Olivier Debre, and Happy Dashain! WikiProject Nepal wishes you a wonderful Dashain filled with joy, love, and happiness. Thanks for all of your contributions to Wikipedia, and have a great Dashain! Cheers. Message sent by on behalf of WikiProject Nepal. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:07, 7 October 2019 (UTC)

You have been pruned from the WikiProject Nepal/Members list.
Hi Olivier Debre! You're receiving this notification because you were previously listed at WikiProject Nepal/Members, but you haven't made any edits to the English Wikipedia in over 1 year.

Because of your inactivity, you have been removed from the list. If you would like to resubscribe, you can do so at any time by visiting WikiProject Nepal/Members.

Thank you! Message delivered to you with love by Yapperbot :) | Is this wrong? Contact my bot operator. | Sent at 18:00, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

title: User talk:Olivier Debre


text: Category:Grape varieties

title: Category:Grape varieties


text: Category:Dutch athletes

title: Category:Dutch athletes


text:
Izumizaki, Fukushima

Izumizaki (泉崎村) is a village located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 6,265 in 2179 households, and a population density of 180 persons per km². The total area of the village was 35.43 km2.

Geography
Izumizaki is located in the flatlands of south-central Fukushima prefecture.

Neighboring municipalities

 * Fukushima Prefecture
 * Shirakawa
 * Nakajima
 * Yabuki

Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Izumizaki has remained relatively stable over the past 80 years.

Climate
Izumizaki has a humid climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The average annual temperature in Izumizaki is 11.6 C. The average annual rainfall is 1333 mm with September as the wettest month.
 * Rivers: Abukuma River, Izumi River

History
The area of present-day Izumizaki was part of ancient Mutsu Province and the area has many burial mounds from the Kofun period. The area was divided between part of the holdings of Shirakawa Domain, Kasama Domain and tenryō territory held directly by the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period. After the Meiji Restoration, it was organized as part of Nishishirakawa District in the Nakadōri region of Iwaki Province. The villages of Izumizaki and Sekihira were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. The two villages merged in 1954.

Economy
The economy of Izumizaki is primarily agricultural.

Education
Izumizaki has two public elementary schools and one public junior high school operated by the village government. The village does not have a high school.
 * Izumizaki Middle School
 * Izumizaki First Elementary School
 * Izumizaki Second Elementary School

Railway
JR East – Tōhoku Main Line
 * Izumizaki

Local attractions

 * Izumizaki Cave Tomb (National Historic Site)
 * Shirakawa Kanga ruins (National Historic Site)
 * Izumisaki International Cycling Stadium

Noted people from Izumizaki

 * Tamanoshima Arata, sumo wrestler

title: Izumizaki, Fukushima


text: Category:Islands of Alaska

title: Category:Islands of Alaska


text:
Category:Ukrainian athletes

This category is for Ukrainian athletes. See also Category:Soviet athletes for those who competed before 1991.

title: Category:Ukrainian athletes


text:
Talk:Octavianus

True or false: this name is derived from octa-, the Greek numerical prefix for the number 8. (A detailed definition of "false" as the answer is that it happens to be spelled like the prefix but isn't really identical; an example of such a word is center. It appears to contain cent-, the Latin numerical prefix for 100, but it doesn't; it's just something that happens to be identical.) 66.245.10.239 14:55, 4 Aug 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Octavianus


text:
Nakajima, Fukushima

Nakajima (中島村) is a village located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 5,031 in 1696 households, and a population density of 270 persons per km². The total area of the village was 18.92 km2.

Geography
Nakajima is located in the flatlands of south-central Fukushima prefecture.
 * Rivers: Abukuma River

Neighboring municipalities

 * Fukushima Prefecture
 * Shirakawa
 * Izumizaki
 * Yabuki
 * Ishikawa

Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Nakajima has remained relatively stable over the past 50 years.

Climate
Nakajima has a humid climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The average annual temperature in Nakajima is 11.7 C. The average annual rainfall is 1341 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.1 C, and lowest in January, at around 0.3 C.

History
The area of present-day Nakajima was part of ancient Mutsu Province. The area was mostly tenryō territory under the direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period, except for a portion which was an exclave of Takada Domain of Echigo Province. After the Meiji Restoration, it was organized as part of Nishishirakawa District in the Nakadōri region of Iwaki Province. The villages of Nametsu and Yoshikogawa. were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. Nakajima Village was formed on January 1, 1955 through the merger of the two villages.

Economy
The economy of Nakajima is primarily agricultural.

Education
Nakajima has two public elementary schools and one public junior high school operated by the village government. The village does not have a high school.
 * Nakajima Middle School

Railway

 * Nakajma does have any passenger railway service

Highway

 * Nakajima is not served by any national highway

title: Nakajima, Fukushima


text: Category:Wine regions

title: Category:Wine regions


text: File:KingOfAtlantisEJ.jpg

title: File:KingOfAtlantisEJ.jpg


text:
Yabuki, Fukushima

Yabuki (矢吹町) is a town located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 16,955 in 6051 households, and a population density of 280 persons per km². The total area of the town was 60.4 km2.

Geography
Yabuki is located in the flatlands of south-central Fukushima prefecture, approximately 212 kilometers north of Tokyo.
 * Rivers: Abukuma River

Neighboring municipalities

 * Fukushima Prefecture
 * Shirakawa
 * Kagamiishi
 * Ishikawa
 * Nakajima
 * Izumizaki
 * Ten-ei
 * Tamakawa

Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Yabuki has remained relatively stable over the past 40 years.

Climate
Yabuki has a humid climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The average annual temperature in Yabuki is 11.7 C. The average annual rainfall is 1312 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.2 C, and lowest in January, at around 0.32 C.

History
The area of present-day Yabuki was part of ancient Mutsu Province and the area has many burial mounds from the Kofun period. The area formed part of the holdings of Shirakawa Domain during the Edo period, and had a number of post stations on the Mito Kaidō and the Ōshū Kaidō. After the Meiji Restoration, it was organized as part of Nishishirakawa District in the Nakadōri region of Iwaki Province.

Yabuki Village was formed on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was elevated to town status on December 1, 1903. The Imperial Japanese Army established an airfield in Yabuki in 1928, which became a major pilot training base in 1937. It was bombed by American forces in August 1945 during World War II.

During the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, over 1800 structures were severely damaged or destroyed, corresponding to approximately 30 percent of the town, the largest percentage of any municipality not affected by a tsunami.

Economy
The economy of Yabuki is primarily agricultural.

Education
Yabuki has four public elementary schools and one public junior high school operated by the town government. There is one public high school operated by the Fukushima Prefectural Board of Education.
 * Yabuki Middle School
 * Fukushima Prefectural Konan-Minami High School

Railway
JR East – Tōhoku Main Line
 * Yabuki

Local attractions

 * Ayuri Hot Springs

Noted people from Yabuki

 * Kiyoshi Nakahata, baseball player
 * Asami Chiba, runner

title: Yabuki, Fukushima


text:
Taishin, Fukushima

Taishin (大信村) was a village located in Nishishirakawa District, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.

On November 7, 2005, Taishin, along with the villages of Higashi and Omotegō (all from Nishishirakawa District) was merged into the expanded city of Shirakawa.

As of 2003, the village had an estimated population of 4,790 and a density of 59.30 persons per km2. The total area was 80.77 km2.

title: Taishin, Fukushima