The controversy regarding the political status of Taiwan, sometimes referred to as the Taiwan Issue or Taiwan Strait Issue, or from a Taiwanese perspective as the Mainland Issue, is a result of the Chinese Civil War and the subsequent split of China into the two present-day self-governing entities of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China. The issue hinges on whether the islands of Taiwan, Penghu and Matsu should remain the territory of the ROC as an separate self-governing entity; this controversy concerns whether the existence and legal status as a sovereign state of both the ROC and the PRC is legitimate as a matter of international law. Taiwan, Kinmen and some other minor islands make up the jurisdiction of the state with the official name of the Republic of China but known as "Taiwan"; the ROC, which took control of Taiwan in 1945, ruled mainland China and claimed sovereignty over Outer Mongolia and Tannu Uriankhai before losing the Chinese Civil War to the Communist Party of China and relocating its government and capital city from Nanjing to Taipei as temporary capital in December 1949.

The CPC established new government on the mainland as People's Republic of China in October 1949. Since the ROC lost its United Nations seat as "China" in 1971, most sovereign states have switched their diplomatic recognition to the PRC, recognizing the PRC as the representative of all China, though the majority of countries avoid clarifying what territories are meant by "China" in order to associate with both the PRC and ROC; as of 20 September 2019, the ROC maintains official diplomatic relations with 14 UN member states and the Holy See, although informal relations are maintained with nearly all others. Agencies of foreign governments such as the American Institute in Taiwan operate as de facto embassies of their home countries in Taiwan, Taiwan operates similar de facto embassies and consulates in most countries under such names as "Taipei Representative Office" or "Taipei Economic and Cultural Office". In certain contexts, Taiwan is referred to as Chinese Taipei; the ROC government has in the past pursued the claim as the sole legitimate government over mainland China and Taiwan.

This position began to change in the early 1990s as democracy was introduced and new Taiwanese leaders were elected, changing to one that does not challenge the legitimacy of PRC rule over mainland China. Both the PRC and the ROC carry out Cross-Strait relations through specialized agencies, rather than through foreign ministries. Different groups have different concepts of what the current formal political situation of Taiwan is. In addition, the situation can be confusing because of the different parties and the effort by many groups to deal with the controversy through a policy of deliberate ambiguity; the political solution, accepted by many of the current groups is the perspective of the status quo: to unofficially treat Taiwan as a state and at a minimum, to declare no support for the government of this state making a formal declaration of independence. What a formal declaration of independence would consist of is not clear and can be confusing given the fact that the People's Republic of China has never controlled Taiwan and the Republic of China still exists, albeit on a decreased scale.

The status quo is accepted in large part because it does not define the legal or future status of Taiwan, leaving each group to interpret the situation in a way, politically acceptable to its members. At the same time, a policy of status quo has been criticized as being dangerous because different sides have different interpretations of what the status quo is, leading to the possibility of war through brinkmanship or miscalculation; the People's Republic Of China seeks to end Taiwan's de facto independence through the process of reunification. If Taiwan refuses this process, The People's Republic of China is prepared to use force through military means, in order to achieve unification. Taiwan was first populated by Austronesian people and was colonized by the Dutch, who had arrived in 1623; the Kingdom of Tungning, lasting from 1661 to 1683, was the first Han Chinese government to rule Taiwan. From 1683, the Qing Dynasty ruled Taiwan as a prefecture and in 1875 divided the island into two prefectures.

In 1885 the island was made into a separate Chinese province to speed up development in this region. In the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War and Penghu were ceded by the Qing Dynasty to Japan in 1895. Japanese troops in Taiwan surrendered to the Republic of China at end of World War II, putting Taiwan under a Chinese government again after 50 years of Japanese rule; the ROC would claim sovereignty on the basis of the Qing dynasty's administration, Cairo Declaration, Potsdam Declaration, Japanese Instrument of Surrender, but this became contested by pro-independence groups in subsequent years due to different perceptions of the said documents' legality. Upon losing the Chinese civil war in 1949, the ROC government retreated to Taipei, kept control over a few islands along the coast of mainland China and in the South Ch

Sand mining illegal sand mining in Tamil Nadu state is done on river beds and beaches, It has been on an increase, since the beginning of the 1990s following a boom in the construction industry. Palar River basin, Vaigai River basin and Thamirabarani River basin are the major victims. Illegal quarrying is happening in these areas in broad daylight. Though as per Tamil Nadu Public Works Department, 5,500-6,000 truck loads of 200 cubic ft. of sand is mined each day, in reality the figure are estimated around 55,000 truckloads of 400 cubic ft. of sand per day. In 2013, illegal sand mining in the state was estimated to be worth ₹15,000 crore; this results in the state exchequer losing over ₹19,800 crore in revenue. Since river sand is a natural aquifer, its depletion means recharging of groundwater wells, fall. In January 2014, Union minister of state for Commerce and Industry, stated that due to sand mining in river beds, groundwater level or water table has dropped at an alarming rate, as a result some 18 lakh wells in the southern region have gone dry and water for agriculture purposes has become scarce.

In Madurai, as per S Rethinavelu, senior president of CII, "Water table, at 50 ft or so, fell to 600 ft. To curtail the rampant mining, in November 2013, Government of Tamil Nadu banned mining in 71 of the 90 sand quarries. In January 2014, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests issued guidelines, according to which quarries with lease area of five to 25 hectares can only allow manual mining; however illegal sand mining is rampant according to observation. Illegal mining in India

Owen Salusbury Brereton, born Owen Brereton, was an English antiquary. Brereton was born in London in 1715, the son of Thomas Brereton, M. P. for Liverpool, by his first wife, Miss Trelawney. His father had inherited Shotwick Park and other property through his second marriage with Catherine, daughter of Mr. Salusbury Lloyd, the M. P. for Flint Boroughs, had changed his surname to Salusbury. Owen Brereton succeeded in 1756 to Shotwick and other estates in the counties of Chester and Flint on his father's death and took Salusbury as surname, he was admitted a scholar of Westminster School in 1729, entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1734. He was called to the bar from Lincoln's Inn in 1738, in that year held the post of a lottery commissioner. In September 1742 Brereton was appointed Recorder of Liverpool, an office he retained till his death, a period of fifty-six years; when he proposed to resign in 1796, he was requested by the corporation to retain the situation, they appointed a deputy to relieve him of the pressure of its duties.

He became a member of the Society of Arts in 1762, was vice-president from 1765 to 1798, in which capacity he rendered great service to the society. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Society of Antiquaries, a bencher of Lincoln's Inn, treasurer of that body, keeper of the Black Book, he was Member of Parliament for Ilchester in Somerset from 1775 to 1780, Constable of Flint Castle from 1775. He died at his residence at Windsor, on 8 September 1798, in his eighty-fourth year, was buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, on 22 September, he contributed an account of a storm at Eastbourne to the Philosophical Transactions of 1781, sent several papers to the Archæologia:'Round Towers in Ireland,' ii. 80.'Observations in a Tour through North Wales, Shropshire, &c.' iii. 111.'Extracts from a MS. relating to the Household of Henry VIII,' iii. 145.'Particulars of a Discovery of Gold Coins at Fenwick Castle,' v. 166.'Description of third unpublished Seal of Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry IV of France,' v. 280.'Brereton Church Window,' ix. 368.'Silver Coin of Philip of France,' x.

465. In vols. viii. x. xi. and xii. of the same work are particulars of various objects of antiquity exhibited by him. The paper on Brereton Church contains several unaccountable inaccuracies, which have been commented upon by George Ormerod in his History of Cheshire. Attribution This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Sutton, Charles William. "Brereton, Owen Salusbury". In Stephen, Leslie. Dictionary of National Biography. 6. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 268, 269

Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores Inc. was an American retail company that sold home appliances and garden equipment, mattresses, sporting goods, tools. The company had four subsidiary store formats: Sears Hometown, Sears Outlet, Sears Hardware and Appliance, Sears Home Appliance Showrooms. Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores is based in Illinois. Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores was founded in April 2012; the company was a spun off from Sears Holdings in 2012. By May 2019, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores and its independent dealers and independent franchisees operated a total of 639 stores across 49 states as well as in Puerto Rico and Bermuda. On June 3, 2019, it was announced that Transform Holdco LLC would acquire Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores; as per deal, they might need to divest its Sears Outlet division to gain approval. The company ceased to exist on October 23, 2019, when Franchise Group acquired the Sears Outlet division and Transform Holdco acquired the rest of the company. Sears Holdings spun off Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores in 2012 to attempt to restore profitability and raise shareholder confidence.

Sears Holdings spun off more than 1,100 Hometown and 122 outlet stores. Hometown stores are small appliance stores operated by independent retailers. Outlet stores sell Sears merchandise at discount. Outlet stores are 18,000 square feet and equipped with items such as home appliances and garden equipment, mattresses, sporting goods and tools. Outlet stores sell discontinued, cosmetically blemished or reconditioned merchandise with new parts. Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores partnered with the National Volunteer Fire Council in November 2013 to raise money for local fire departments; the objective of the campaign was to provide firehouses with funds to improve resources for training and financial support. When former parent Sears Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on October 15, 2018, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores was not affected due to having been spun off from Sears since 2012. In April 2019, it was announced that Transform Holdco LLC would acquire the company as a result of its subsidiary Sears opening up 3 Sears Home & Life stores by May 2019.

However it was reported a few days that Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores acquisition offer was rejected, as a result, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores might face liquidation, having a similar fate to Sears Holdings but which got acquired by ESL Investments a few months ago, but its biggest shareholder Eddie Lampert is trying to save the company from liquidation and continue the acquisition process. In June 2019, it was announced that Transform Holdco LLC will acquire the remaining shares in the company; as per deal, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores might need to divest its Sears Outlet division to gain approval. At the time announcement, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores had 491 Hometown stores and 126 Outlet stores in 49 states, Puerto Rico and Bermuda. In August 2019, Franchise Group, Inc. the parent of Liberty Tax, announced plans to acquire Sears Outlet division from Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores to help fulfill Transform Holdco LLC's requirement in Transform Holdco LLC's acquisition of Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores.

On October 23, 2019, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores completed its sale of Sears Outlet and Buddy's Home Furnishing businesses to Franchise Group. Transform Holdco completed the acquisition of the remainder of Sears Hometown at the end of the same business day. Sears Hometown stores are independently owned stores. In 2013, 70–80% of Hometown stores were independently owned. Sears Dealer Stores, they are a chain of smaller stores that operate as a store where the proprietor owns or leases the real estate while Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores handles the marketing and owns the inventory, there are no franchising fees levied against the store proprietor; these stores are located in smaller markets that do not support full-sized Sears. They are signed as Sears and are free-standing or located in strip malls, they concentrate on hardware and lawn-and-garden supplies. Most of Hometown Stores carry Sears brand products, such as Kenmore and DieHard, as well as a wide assortment of other national brands.

Independently owned and averaging 8,500 square feet, Hometown Stores are designed to serve customers within their local communities. As of August 2019, 393 Hometown Stores are in operation. An outlet version of Sears department stores located in various retail locations across the U. S. as well as online. The stores sell appliances, mattresses, sporting goods and lawn and garden equipment. Sears Outlet provides in-store and online access to new, one-of-a-kind, out-of-carton, obsolete, reconditioned and scratch-and-dented merchandise at a discounted price Each store, on average, is larger than 18,000 square feet in size. In 1968, Sears opened a surplus store in Kansas City. In 1994, the surplus stores were renamed to Sears Outlet. In 1995, Sears Outlet restructured in order to manage repairs and product distribution from a centralized location. To do this, they established a series of facilities known as Outlet Distribution Centers. In 2015, there were 22 of these centers in operation. In 2008, apparel was introduced to Sears Outlet stores and served as a liquidation outlet for Lands' End.

In 2009, SearsOutlet.com was launched as an e-commerce platform allowing customers to purchase items online and in 2011, nationwide delivery was offered. In 2012, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores was spun off from Sears Holdings. At the time of the separation, there were 122 Sears Ou

Limbach is a municipality in western Slovakia in Pezinok District in the Bratislava Region, under the Little Carpathians. It is well known for its production of wine; the town was established around 1350, when Béla IV of Hungary invited German settlers to inhabit lands. However, it is first time mentioned in 1390; the village remained predominantly German until 1945, when most of them were expelled from Slovakia to Germany and were replaced by settlers from the regions around Myjava, Stará Turá, Bošáca. After World War II, when the Slovaks renamed towns and villages with German names, Limbach was known as Hlinik, but the German name has remained and is now again the official name of the town. Today, Limbach is a popular location for secondary residences for rich residents of Bratislava; the expresident of Slovakia Ivan Gašparovič has a residence there. Media related to Limbach at Wikimedia Commons Official website https://web.archive.org/web/20070513023228/http://www.statistics.sk/mosmis/eng/run.html Unofficial website

Paul Douglas was a British CBS News journalist and TV camera operator, along with soundman James Brolan, was killed from an explosion of a car bomb in the Karrada district, Iraq. He was best known for his video images from war zones and areas of conflict that he had been assigned to since the early 1990s. Paul Douglas was a based in London with CBS News had worked with the network since the early 1990s, about 17 years. Prior to working for CBS, he worked for ITV, he first worked as a sound man and became a camera operator. His career as a news camera operator took him to other wars and conflicts besides Iraq, he was in Sarajevo, Bosnia from at least 1993–1994 covering the Siege of Sarajevo, Rwanda and Pakistan. Douglas had been assigned with Dan Rather when the CBS anchor reported from Afghanistan and Iraq. Assigned to cover the Iraq war by CBS, correspondent Kimberly Dozier, Brolan were embedded with the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division; the CBS crew was assigned to cover a story about what US troops were doing on "Memorial Day" for a holiday TV news report, but the team was diverted to the Karrada peninsula location where the 500-pound bomb was detonated as the team examined a checkpoint, bombed on the previous day.

Paul Douglas and Brolan were outside of their vehicle with protective gear when the car bomb exploded and killed them both along with Captain James "Alex" Funkhouser and a translator named "Sam". Dozier, walking behind the four killed, was critically injured in the attack. Six soldiers were injured in the attack. Douglas' death was listed in the UK as an "unlawful killing" by a British coroner. In addition, according to a US military report, the event was not coordinated with secure communication devices; the patrol made a surprise inspection of a checkpoint at the time of the blast. At the time, CBS President Sean McManus said Iraq was "the most dangerous place on Earth right now."The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, an international press freedom organisation, said in reaction, "The security situation is becoming more and more alarming for the press in Iraq. Although better protected, embedded journalists are not isolated from the dangers. A total of 96 journalists and media assistants have been killed since the start of the war.

Only six of them were embedded with the US-led coalition forces."The New York-based NGO Committee to Protect Journalists, reiterated their Parisian counterpart, "The news profession has lost nearly 100 people in this devastating war – 71 journalists and 26 support staffers. Dozens more have been injured or kidnapped in one of the most dangerous conflicts that journalists have covered."Reporters Without Borders noted that the Iraq War had resulted in the largest numbers of killed journalists since World War II. Koïchiro Matsuura, director-general of UNESCO, issued a statement, "The death toll among media personnel, both national and international, in Iraq has reached alarming levels. Once again, I wish to express my sincere admiration for the courage of journalists and media workers who brave intolerable levels of danger to continue informing the world about events in Iraq, they are carrying out work, essential for the reconstruction and consolidation of democracy in Iraq.... I urge all authorities concerned, to spare no effort in seeking to improve the conditions of safety of journalists, media workers and support staff committed to the fundamental human right of freedom of expression in Iraq."

Paul Douglas' father lives in Grenada and condemned the US presence in Iraq and the circumstances under which his son was killed. Paul and his wife of 30 years, Linda Douglas, had two daughters and Joanne, three grandchildren. Douglas, 48 years old at the time of his death, was laid to rest in Bedford, England, UK. A 2011 cricket match was organised in honour of the Douglas and his colleague Brolan by the Rory Peck Trust, a charitable organisation for fallen journalists. Dozier published her book "Breathing the Fire" in 2008 after her recovery, which deals with her colleagues and the attack. While recovering, she asked about her crew. In an interview with BBC News, she said. On World Press Freedom Day 2007, held annually on third day of May, the city of Bayeux, France dedicated a memorial for journalists who have been killed while reporting; the number of names of journalists on the memorial numbered 1,889, killed since 1944, according to Reporters Without Borders. Bayeux was selected because its symbolic for its 7 June 1944 liberation by Allies during World War II due to its proximity to the invasion of Normandy.

Tribute on CBS Eye to Eye with Katie Couric on YouTube Remembering Douglas And Brolan Kimberly Dozier "Breathing the Fire" on YouTube