D-Day: Francois Hollande's plea to fight threats to peace --- French President Francois Hollande has called for the "same vision, the same courage" to combat global threats to peace as those who fought on D-Day. -- Almost 2,000 veterans joined world leaders at a ceremony in Normandy, France, marking the 70th anniversary of the momentous World War Two mission. -- Mr Hollande said today's threats included terrorism, global warming and mass unemployment. -- Earlier, the Queen laid a wreath at a military cemetery in Bayeux. -- The main commemoration event took place at Sword Beach, one of five landing points for the Allies, where scenes from the 1944 invasion were re-enacted. -- The landings - involving 156,000 troops - were the first stage of the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. -- By the end of D-Day on 6 June 1944, the Allies had established a foothold in France - an event that would eventually help bring the war to an end. -- More than 4,000 British, American and Canadian troops lost their lives on that first day of the battle. --- These events have drawn hundreds of thousands of people to the Normandy beaches, all outwardly here for the same reason but actually taking away very different things. -- The leaders flew in to draw political lessons, seeking to define D-Day in their own ideological terms. -- President Obama, speaking at a war cemetery that is the last resting place for nearly 10,000 fallen soldiers, spoke of a sacrifice in the service of "our commitment to liberty, to equality, to freedom, to the inherent dignity of every human being". -- There are historical re-enactors from all corners of Europe. They pose for photos, add to the atmosphere, but undoubtedly come for their own enjoyment. - More, BBC, http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27741554