Vente de la Louisiane

Vente de la Louisiane

The Louisiana Purchase (French: Vente de la Louisiane "Louisiana Sale") was the acquisition by the United States of America of 828,000 square miles (2,140,000 km2) of the French territory Louisiane in 1803. The cost was 60 million francs ($11,250,000) plus cancellation of debts worth 18 million francs ($3,750,000). Including interest, the U.S. finally paid $23,213,568 for the Louisiana territory.[1]

The Louisiana Purchase area in bold outline

The Louisiana Purchase encompassed portions of 15 current U.S. states and 2 Canadian Provinces. The land purchased contained all of present-day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa,Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, parts of Minnesota that were south of the Mississippi River, most of North Dakota, nearly all of South Dakota, northeastern New Mexico, northernTexas, the portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide, andLouisiana west of the Mississippi River, including the city of New Orleans. (The Oklahoma Panhandle, and southwestern portions of Kansas and Louisiana were still claimed by Spain at the time of the Purchase.) In addition, the Purchase contained small portions of land that would eventually become part of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The land included in the purchase comprises around 23% of the territory of the United States today.[1]

The purchase was a pivotal moment in the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. At the time, it faced domestic opposition as being possibly unconstitutional. Although he felt that the US Constitution did not contain any provisions for acquiring territory, Jefferson decided to purchase Louisiana because he felt uneasy about France and Spain having the power to block American trade access to the port of New Orleans.

Napoleon Bonaparte, upon completion of the agreement, stated, "This accession of territory affirms forever the power of the United States, and I have given England a maritime rival who sooner or later will humble her pride."[2]

 

A dar cinco libras a aquele camelo, e o gajo ate vai ate shupar e agradecer... Mean, I know you Brussels and Strasburg very, very, very well.

 

1). Explosão danifica 31 casas e faz dois feridos graves em São Miguel

publicado a 2008-09-30 às 11:01

Uma explosão numa moradia da ilha de São Miguel causou estragos em 31 casas e provocou 22 desalojados. Duas mulheres sofreram ferimentos graves e serão transferidas para um hospital de Portugal continental.

António Cunha, presidente da Protecção Civil dos Açores, adiantou à Agência Lusa que, na sequência da explosão, 25 casas sofreram danos ligeiros, enquanto que as restantes ficaram "sem condições de habitabilidade".

Três famílias foram realojadas em casas propriedade da região, outra numa moradia da Santa Casa da Misericórdia e outra ficou em casa de familiares.

A explosão causou ferimentos em três mulheres, duas das quais vão ser transferidas à tarde para o Continente, devido à gravidade das queimaduras que sofreram, que atingiram as vias respiratórias, explicou António Cunha. A terceira vítima deve receber alta do hospital de Ponta Delgada durante o dia.

A explosão ocorreu no centro da Vila Franca do Campo, costa Sul da ilha de São Miguel, pelas 18:50 de segunda-feira (19:50 de Lisboa), provavelmente devido a uma fuga de gás.

2). Santander takes over B&B's savings arm

29/ 9/2008
SANTANDER, the Spanish bank which owns Abbey and has agreed to buy Alliance & Leicester, is to take over Bradford & Bingley's savings and branch business - which has £20bn in deposits and 2.7m customers - for £612m. 
 The struggling mortgage lender is to be nationalised, the government confirmed today.
 The break-up marks a dramatic end to a business which can trace its roots back more than 150 years.
 The Financial Services Authority decided on Saturday morning that B&B was not strong enough to continue as a deposit-taking business after financial turmoil undermined confidence in the bank.
 "The government, on the advice of the FSA and the Bank of England, acted immediately to maintain financial stability and protect depositors, while minimising the exposure to taxpayers," the Treasury said.
 The combined business of Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and B&B will have 1,286 branches across the UK, giving Santander a 10 per cent share of the retail savings market.
 The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has paid out £14bn - as a loan funded by the Bank of England - to allow B&B's retail deposits to be transferred to Abbey, with a further £4bn to be paid by the Treasury to cover deposits not protected by the scheme. B&B's shares have been cancelled, with compensation to be paid in `due course', the government said.
 Chancellor Alistair Darling sai today: "We had to stabilise the situation in order to protect the banking system as a whole."
 B&B has been squeezed by the credit crunch and the housing market slowdown casting doubt over its main buy-to-let business. It also taken an £18m hit from organised fraudsters hitting the buy-to-let sector by gaining bigger mortgages than properties are worth.
 Banking shares were among stocks under pressure in London early today, as the Footsie returned below the 5000 mark.
 Royal Bank of Scotland was the biggest faller, after three European governments agreed a £8.9bn bail-out package for financial giant Fortis. The cash injection included a demand that Fortis resell the share of ABN Amro it bought with RBS a year ago. 
 Fortis, the UK's third largest private care insurer, paid £19bn for its holding. 

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