Plot.

Five years after Freddy Krueger's apparent defeat, the Walshes have moved into the Thompsons' former home. Their teenage son, Jesse, has a nightmare about being stalked by a killer driving a school bus. He wakes up and attributes the dream to the unusual heat in the room. Jesse goes to school with his friend Lisa, whom he is interested in romantically, but is too shy to flirt with her. After getting into a fight with a boy named Grady during gym class, Coach Schneider has them stay after class and they become friends. Lisa comes to visit Jesse after school and they discover a diary from Nancy Thompson detailing her nightmares, which are strikingly similar to Jesse's. Small fires happen around the house, which culminates in the spontaneous combustion of their pet birds. Jesse's father accuses him of sabotage.  The following night, Jesse has a nightmare where he encounters Freddy, who tells him to kill for him. The dreams grow more intense and Jesse unsuccessfully attempts different measures to keep himself awake. He eventually begins wandering the streets at night. One night, while dreaming, he is caught by Schneider ordering a drink in a gay bar and is made to run laps at school as punishment. After sending Jesse to the showers, Schneider is attacked by an unseen force that drags him to the showers. Jesse vanishes into the steam and Freddy emerges, killing Schneider by slashing his back. Later, Jesse is horrified to see the glove on his hand. He is escorted home by police after being found wandering the streets naked, and his parents begin to suspect that Jesse may be on drugs or mentally disturbed. Lisa takes Jesse to an abandoned factory where Freddy Krueger worked, but they find nothing there.  The following night, Jesse goes to Lisa's pool party and kisses her in the cabana. Afterwards, his body begins to change and he leaves in a panic. He goes to Grady's house, confesses to killing Schneider, and instructs Grady to watch him as he sleeps and to stop him if he tries to leave. When Grady eventually falls asleep, Freddy emerges from Jesse's body and kills Grady. Freddy then changes back to Jesse, who finds himself looking at Freddy's laughing reflection in Grady's mirror. He flees before Grady's parents enter the room.  Returning to Lisa's house, Jesse tells her what is going on. Lisa realizes that Jesse's terror is giving Freddy his strength, but he cannot stop fearing him and transforms again. He locks her parents in their bedroom and attacks Lisa, but realizes he cannot harm her due to Jesse's influence. He goes outside where he begins to slaughter the partygoers. Lisa's father emerges with a shotgun, but Lisa stops him from shooting Freddy, who escapes in a ball of flame. She drives to the factory, facing sudden nightmares and having to control her fear before confronting Freddy. She pleads with Jesse to fight Freddy, but Freddy's hold is too strong. When Lisa confesses her love for Jesse and kisses Freddy, Jesse begins to fight back. Freddy combusts and turns to ash, from which Jesse emerges.  Later, as Jesse, Lisa, and Lisa's friend Kerry are taking the bus to school, Jesse begins to notice similarities to his original nightmare and panics. After Lisa calms Jesse down, Kerry says that it is all over just before Freddy's clawed arm bursts through her chest. Freddy laughs as the bus drives into the field, just as in Jesse's first nightmare.

Production.

Development.

Screenwriter Leslie Bohem pitched the producers with his idea of using pregnancy and possession as a plot device for the second film:  Though both films ended up using the spirit possession concept, the pregnancy idea would eventually be used in the sequel "", which Bohem would write the script for.  Robert Shaye offered Wes Craven the chance to direct again, but he turned down the offer since he had many problems with the script, such as the "possessed parakeet" that seemed very ridiculous to him, and of Freddy merging with the main character and manifesting in real life at the pool party to kill scores of teenagers of which many are bigger than him, which Craven thought would diminish Freddy's scare factor as Robert Englund is not very tall in stature.  The intro scene with Jesse's nightmare of Freddy driving the bus was carried over from the previous film; Craven was vehemently against Freddy appearing in person as the driver of the car in the epilogue scene, as he felt the storyline for Nancy, Tina, Rod and Glen should be self-contained in the first film. The compromise between him and Shaye was therefore to use the idea of Freddy driving the vehicle for the sequel, but not for any characters from Craven's film. The character of Lisa Webber was named Lisa Poletti in the script. On Wes Craven's suggestions, Chaskin put more emphasis on Lisa in the film than he originally intended; he explains that Craven "suggested that we shift the focus from Jesse the male lead. In the script the focus was on Jesse for 90% of the film, then suddenly it shifted to Lisa, his girlfriend. I pretty much added some focus on Lisa, and now it's like 50-50."

Casting.

New Line Cinema originally thought to save money by simply using an unnamed extra in a rubber mask to play Freddy - as had been the case for masked, mute, impersonal killers like Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers - but reconsidered when they realized that the man had the gait and posture of "a dimestore monster" or "Frankenstein's monster" as opposed to Robert Englund's classically trained physical acting. The extra as Freddy still remained in one scene left in the film, during coach Schneider's death scene in the shower, though obscured by excessive water steam. Realizing their mistake, the producers quickly brought back Englund for the rest of the film and series.

Filming.

The film's special effects were headed by Kevin Yagher, who handled Freddy's design, and Mark Shostrom, who was responsible for the transformation effects wherein Freddy comes out of Jesse's body. David B. Miller, who created the makeup for the original film, was busy working on "Cocoon" and "My Science Project". In a later interview, Yagher expressed disappointment and confusion regarding the ending of the film.

Release.

Box office.

The film opened on 522 screens in the New York, Washington D.C., Detroit and Texas areas. Varying figures have been reported for its opening weekend. "Daily Variety" reported it opening with $3,865,475 placing it second for the weekend behind "Death Wish 3". An advert in the following day's "Weekly Variety" claimed it had grossed $3,220,348 placing it third behind "To Live and Die in L.A." and contemporary websites such as Box Office Mojo report it grossing exactly $1 million less than the initial "Daily Variety" figure, with only $2.9 million, coming in fourth place. Whichever figure is used, the per screen total was higher than the other films in the top 10. The following weekend, it grossed $1,819,203 for a 10-day total of $5,569,334 (which New Line also reported in an advertisement), which indicates that the initial figure reported by "Daily Variety" was overstated. In the US, the film eventually made $30 million on a budget of $3 million.

Reception.

Critical reception.

Critical reaction of the film was mixed upon release, with some criticism in comparison to its predecessor. Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" praised the film, saying that it has "clever special effects, a good leading performance and a villain so chatty he practically makes this a human-interest story". The review also gave the lead performances positive reviews, noting, "Mr. Patton and Miss Myers make likable teen-age heroes, and Mr. Englund actually turns Freddy into a welcome presence. Clu Gulager and Hope Lange have some good moments as Jesse's parents, and Marshall Bell scowls ferociously as the coach who calls his charges "dirtballs" and who is eventually attacked by a demonic towel." "Variety" gave the film a positive review saying, "Episodic treatment is punched up by an imaginative series of special effects. The standout is a grisly chest-burster setpiece." In a negative review, "People" called the film a "tedious, humorless mess".  The film currently holds a 43% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 28 reviews. The site's consensus is: "An intriguing subtext of repressed sexuality gives "Freddy's Revenge" some texture, but the "Nightmare" loses its edge in a sequel that lacks convincing performances or memorable scares."

Homoerotic subtext.

Film commentators have often remarked on the film's perceived homoerotic theme, claiming its subtext suggests Jesse is a repressed homosexual (never clarified in the movie). They note, in particular, the scenes where he encounters his gym teacher at a gay bar, and his flight to a male friend's house after he attempts to make out with his girlfriend at her pool party. Further, actor Mark Patton, who plays Jesse, played a role so often written as female in the subgenre (such as in the first film) that it has become known as the "final girl". At the time of its release, one publication referred to it as "the gayest horror film ever". In the 21st century, it has become a cult film for gay audiences. On "", David Chaskin refers to a 2009 list on Cracked.com which lists "The 5 Most Unintentionally Gay Horror Movies", with "Freddy's Revenge" as number one, and states that "There is nothing logical that can explain the level of homoeroticism in this movie".  The book "Welcome to Our Nightmares: Behind the Scene with Today's Horror Actors" elaborates on the film's homoerotic subtext, stating that:  Mark Patton has claimed the film's gay subtext was increasingly emphasised through script rewrites as production progressed. "It just became undeniable" he told "BuzzFeed" in 2016. "I'm lying in bed and I'm a pietà and the candles are dripping and they're bending like phalluses and white wax is dripping all over. It's like I'm the center of a [...] "bukkake" video." He has felt betrayed since he knew the filmmakers were aware he was gay, but closeted. They had considerable leverage over him in having him perform a role that, combined with his performance as a gay teen in "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean" the year before, led to him being typecast as gay. The role called attention to what he was trying to avoid discussing and would have forestalled him getting any significant roles in 1980s Hollywood.  In particular, Patton blames Chaskin, who he says claimed the subtext arose from how Patton played the part. "I love when [he] uses the word'subtext,'" he complained. "Did you actually go to a freshman English course in high school? This is not subtext." In 2016 he said Chaskin "sabotage[d]" him. "Nobody ever affected my confidence—the boys that threw rocks at me, nobody—but this man did." Chaskin denied for years that there was a gay subtext in his screenplay. Instead, at one point, he told a reporter that Patton had simply played the part "too gay". The emotional stress of the film led Patton to leave acting shortly afterwards for a career in interior decorating.  While Chaskin has tried to reach out and apologize to Patton over the years, with limited success, he maintains that Patton's "interpretations of Jesse were choices that he made... I have to believe that he 'got it' and that was how he decided to play it." In 2010, Chaskin finally admitted it was a deliberate choice on his part. "Homophobia was skyrocketing and I began to think about our core audience—adolescent boys—and how all of this stuff might be trickling down into their psyches," he explained. "My thought was that tapping into that angst would give an extra edge to the horror."  One scene that would have made the gay subtext more apparent, however, was toned down. Englund was actually prepared to insert one of his hand's knife blades into Jessie's mouth instead of merely caressing his lips with it as he does in the finished film, but Patton did not feel comfortable with it. The film's makeup artist suggested to Patton that he not do the scene that way to protect his image.  In a February 2010 interview with "Attitude" magazine, Englund said "... the second "Nightmare on Elm Street" is obviously intended as a bisexual themed film. It was early '80s, pre-AIDS paranoia. Jesse's wrestling with whether to come out or not and his own sexual desires was manifested by Freddy. His friend is the object of his affection. That's all there in that film. We did it subtly but the casting of Mark Patton was intentional too, because Mark was out and had done "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean"."  In an article written by Brent Hartinger for "AfterElton.com", he notes that a "frequent debate in gay pop culture circles is this: Just how 'gay' was 1985's "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge" (the first "Elm Street" sequel)? The imagery in the movie makes it seem unmistakably gay — but the filmmakers have all along denied that that was their intention." During his interview segment for the 2010 documentary film "", David Chaskin admitted that the gay themes were intentional, something he had denied until that point.  The rest of the cast and crew have said that they were unaware of any such themes at the time they made the film, but that a series of creative decisions on the part of director Jack Sholder unintentionally brought Chaskin's themes to the forefront. In an interview Sholder said, "I simply didn't have the self-awareness to realize that any of this might be interpreted as gay". Now-out Mark Patton said, "I don't think that [the character] Jesse was originally written as a gay character. I think it's something that happened along the line by serendipity". Patton also wrote "Jesse's Lost Journal" about Jesse's life after the film and dealing with his homosexuality.  In 2019, Patton released the documentary film "Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street", addressing all of the above.

Soundtrack.

The film's score was composed by Christopher Young. The song "Have You Ever Seen a Dream Walking" performed by Bing Crosby plays over the film's end credits. The songs "Touch Me (All Night Long)" by Fonda Rae, "Whisper to a Scream" by Bobby Orlando, "On the Air Tonight" by Willy Finlayson, "Moving in the Night" by Skagerack, and "Terror in My Heart" by the Reds are also featured in the film.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (stylized onscreen as A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge) is a 1985 American slasher film directed by Jack Sholder and written by David Chaskin. It stars Mark Patton, Kim Myers, Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, and Robert Rusler. It is the second installment in the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" film series. The film follows Jesse Walsh, a teenager who begins having recurring nightmares about Freddy Krueger after moving into the former home of Nancy Thompson from the first film.

La Revanche de Freddy ou Les Griffes de La Nuit 2 : La Revanche de Freddy au Québec ("A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge") est un film d'horreur américain réalisé par Jack Sholder, sorti en 1985.


Accounts.

Traditional accounts.

The variants of the long-standing story of the Children's Crusade have similar themes. A boy begins to preach in either France or Germany; claims that he had been visited by Jesus, who instructed him to lead a Crusade in order to peacefully convert Muslims to Christianity. Through a series of portents and miracles, he gains a following of up to 30,000 children. He leads his followers south towards the Mediterranean Sea, in the belief that the sea would part on their arrival, which would allow him and his followers to walk to Jerusalem. This does not happen. The children are sold to two merchants (Hugh the Iron and William of Posqueres), who give free passage on boats to as many of the children as are willing. The pilgrims are then either taken to Tunisia, where they are sold into slavery by the merchants or else die in a shipwreck on San Pietro Island off Sardinia during a gale.

Modern accounts.

According to more recent researchers, there seem to have actually been two movements of people (of all ages) in 1212 in Germany and France. The similarities of the two allowed later chroniclers to combine and embellish the tales.

Nicholas of Cologne in Germany.

In the first movement, Nicholas, a shepherd from the Rhineland in Germany, tried to lead a group across the Alps and into Italy in the early spring of 1212. Nicholas said that the sea would dry up before them and allow his followers to cross into the Holy Land. Rather than intending to fight the Saracens, he said that the Muslim kingdoms would be defeated when their citizens converted to Catholicism. His disciples went off to preach the call for the "Crusade" across the German lands, and they massed in Cologne after a few weeks. Splitting into two groups, the crowds took different roads through Switzerland. Two out of every three people on the journey died, while many others returned to their homes. About 7,000 arrived in Genoa in late August. They immediately marched to the harbor, expecting the sea to divide before them; when it did not many became bitterly disappointed. A few accused Nicholas of betraying them, while others settled down to wait for God to change his mind, since they believed that it was unthinkable he would not eventually do so. The Genovese authorities were impressed by the little band, and they offered citizenship to those who wished to settle in their city. Most of the would-be Crusaders took up this opportunity. Nicholas refused to say he was defeated and traveled to Pisa, his movement continuing to break up along the way. In Pisa two ships directed to Palestine agreed to embark several of the children who, perhaps, managed to reach the Holy Land. Nicholas and a few loyal followers, instead, continued to the Papal States, where they met Pope Innocent III. The remaining ones departed for Germany after the Pontiff exhorted them to be good and to return home to their families. Nicholas did not survive the second attempt across the Alps; back home his father was arrested and hanged under pressure from angry families whose relatives had perished while following the child.  Some of the most dedicated members of this Crusade were later reported to have wandered to Ancona and Brindisi; none is known to have reached the Holy Land.

Stephen of Cloyes in France.

The second movement was led by a twelve-year-old French shepherd boy named Stephen of Cloyes, who said in June that he bore a letter for the king of France from Jesus. Large gangs of youth around his age were drawn to him, most of whom claimed to possess special gifts of God and thought themselves miracle workers. Attracting a following of over 30,000 adults and children, he went to Saint-Denis, where he was reported to cause miracles. On the orders of Philip II, advised by the University of Paris, the people were implored to return home. Philip himself did not appear impressed, especially since his unexpected visitors were led by a mere child, and refused to take them seriously. Stephen, however, was not dissuaded and began preaching at a nearby abbey. From Saint-Denis, Stephen traveled around France, spreading his messages as he went, promising to lead charges of Christ to Jerusalem. Although the Church was skeptical, many adults were impressed by his teaching. A few of those who initially joined him possessed his activeness; it is estimated that there were less than half the initial 30,000 remaining, a figure that was shrinking rapidly, rather than growing as perhaps anticipated.  At the end of June 1212, Stephen led his largely juvenile Crusaders from Vendôme to Marseilles. They survived by begging for food, while the vast majority seem to have been disheartened by the hardship of this journey and returned to their families.

Historiography.

Sources.

According to Peter Raedts, professor in Medieval History at the Radboud University Nijmegen, there are about 50 sources from the period that talk about the crusade, ranging from a few sentences to half a page. Raedts categorizes the sources into three types depending on when they were written:  Raedts does not consider the sources after 1250 to be authoritative, and of those before 1250, he considers only about 20 to be authoritative. It is only in the later non-authoritative narratives that a "children's crusade" is implied by such authors as Vincent of Beauvais, Roger Bacon, Thomas of Cantimpré, Matthew Paris and many others.

Historical studies.

Prior to Raedts's study of 1977, there had only been a few historical publications researching the Children's Crusade. The earliest were by the Frenchman G. de Janssens (1891) and the German Reinhold Röhricht (1876). They analyzed the sources but did not analyze the story. American medievalist Dana Carleton Munro (1913–14), according to Raedts, provided the best analysis of the sources to date and was the first to significantly provide a convincingly sober account of the Crusade stripped of legends. Later, J. E. Hansbery (1938–9) published a correction of Munro's work, but it has since been discredited as based on an unreliable source. German psychiatrist Justus Hecker (1865) did give an original interpretation of the crusade, but it was a polemic about "diseased religious emotionalism" that has since been discredited.  P. Alphandery (1916) first published his ideas about the crusade in 1916 in an article which was later published in book form in 1959. He considered the story of the crusade to be an expression of the medieval cult of the Innocents, as a sort of sacrificial rite in which the Innocents gave themselves up for the good of Christendom; however, he based his ideas on some of the most untrustworthy sources.  Adolf Waas (1956) saw the Children's Crusade as a manifestation of chivalric piety and as a protest against the glorification of the holy war. H. E. Mayer (1960) further developed Alphandery's ideas of the Innocents, saying children were the chosen people of God because they were the poorest; recognizing the cult of poverty, he said that "the Children's Crusade marked both the triumph and the failure of the idea of poverty." Giovanni Miccoli (1961) was the first to note that the contemporary sources did not portray the participants as children. It was this recognition that undermined all other interpretations, except perhaps that of Norman Cohn (1957) who saw it as a chiliastic movement in which the poor tried to escape the misery of their everyday lives. In his book "Children's Crusade: Medieval History, Modern Mythistory" (2007), Gary Dickson discusses the growing number of "impossiblist" movements across Western Europe at the time. Infamous for their shunning of any form of wealth and refusing to join a monastery, they would travel in groups and rely upon small donations or meals from those who listened to their sermons to survive. Excommunicated by the Pope, they were forced to wander and likely made up a large portion of what is called the "Children's Crusade". After the crusade failed, the Pope stated that the devotees of Nicholas and Stephen had shamed all of the Christian leaders.  Historians have put the crusade in the context of the role of teenage boys in medieval warfare. Literary scholars have explored its role in the evolution of the tale of the Pied Piper.

Popular accounts.

Beyond the scientific studies there are many popular versions and theories about the Children's Crusades. Norman Zacour in the survey "A History of the Crusades" (1962) generally follows Munro's conclusions, and adds that there was a psychological instability of the age, concluding the Children's Crusade "remains one of a series of social explosions, through which medieval men and women—and children too—found release".  Steven Runciman gives an account of the Children's Crusade in his "A History of the Crusades". Raedts notes that "Although he cites Munro's article in his notes, his narrative is so wild that even the unsophisticated reader might wonder if he had really understood it." Donald Spoto, in a 2002 book about Saint Francis of Assisi, said monks were motivated to call them children, and not wandering poor, because being poor was considered pious and the Church was embarrassed by its wealth in contrast to the poor. This, according to Spoto, began a literary tradition from which the popular legend of children originated. This idea closely follows H. E. Mayer and Peter Raedts.

Revisionism.

The Dutch historian Peter Raedts, in a study published in 1977, was the first to cast doubt on the traditional narrative of these events. Many historians came to believe that they were not (or not primarily) children, but multiple bands of "wandering poor" in Germany and France. This comes in large part from the words "parvuli" or "infantes" found in two accounts of the event from William of Andres and Alberic of Troisfontaines. No other accounts from the time period suggest an age at all, but the connotation with the two words give an entirely separate meaning. Medieval writers often split up a life into four major parts with a variety of age ranges associated to them. The Church then co-opted this classification to a societal coding, with the expression referring to wage workers or labourers who were young and had no inheritance. The "Chronica regia Coloniensis", written in 1213 (a year after the crusade was said to have taken place), refers to crusaders having “left the plows or carts which they were driving, [and] the flocks which they were pasturing”, adding to the idea of it being not "puerti" the age, but "puerti" the societal moniker. Another spelling, "pueri", translates precisely into children, but indirectly means "the powerless". A number of them tried to reach the Holy Land but others never intended to do so. Early accounts of events, of which there are many variations told over the centuries, are, according to this theory, largely apocryphal.

In the arts.

Many works of art reference the Children's Crusade; this list is focused on works that are set in Middle Ages and focus primarily on a re-telling of the events. For other uses see "Children's Crusade (disambiguation)".

The Children's Crusade was a failed popular crusade by European Christians to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims, said to have taken place in 1212. The crusaders left areas of Northern France, led by Stephen of Cloyes, and Germany, led by Nicholas. The traditional narrative is likely conflated from some factual and mythical events which include the visions by a French boy and a German boy, an intention to peacefully convert Muslims in the Holy Land to Christianity, bands of children marching to Italy, and children being sold into slavery. Many children were tricked by merchants and sailed over to what they thought were the holy lands but, in reality, were slave markets.

La Croisade des enfants est une expédition des croisades populaires menée par des gens du peuple voulant partir en Terre sainte pour délivrer Jérusalem, à l'image des croisades de chevaliers. Elle se situe en 1212 entre la quatrième et la cinquième croisade et se compose de deux cortèges qui partent simultanément d’Allemagne et de France.


Location.

The complex is northwest of the town of Sinaia, which is from Braşov and from Bucharest. In the southeastern Carpathian Mountains, the complex is composed of three monuments: Peleș Castle, Pelișor Castle, and the Foișor Hunting Lodge.

History.

When King Carol I of Romania (1839–1914), under whose reign the country gained its independence, first visited the site of the future castle in 1866, he fell in love with the magnificent mountain scenery. In 1872, the Crown purchased of land near the Piatra Arsă River. The estate was named the Royal Estate of Sinaia. The King commissioned the construction of a royal hunting preserve and summer retreat on the property, and the foundation was laid for Peleș Castle on 22 August 1873. Several auxiliary buildings were built simultaneously with the castle: the guards' chambers, the Economat Building, the Foișor hunting lodge, the royal stables, and a power plant. Peleș became the world's first castle fully powered by locally produced electricity.  The first three design plans submitted for Peleș were copies of other palaces in Western Europe, and King Carol I rejected them all as lacking originality and being too costly. German architect Johannes Schultz won the project by presenting a more original plan, something that appealed to the King's taste: a grand palatial alpine castle combining different features of classic European styles, mostly following Italian elegance and German aesthetics along Renaissance lines. Works were also led by architect Carol Benesch. Later additions were made between 1893 and 1914 by the Czech architect Karel Liman, who designed the towers, including the main central tower, which is in height. The Sipot Building, which served as Liman's headquarters during the construction, was built later on. Liman would supervise the building of the nearby Pelișor Castle (1889–1903, the future residence of King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie of Romania), as well as of King Ferdinand's villa in the Royal Sheepfold Meadow.  The cost of the work on the castle undertaken between 1875 and 1914 was estimated to be 16,000,000 Romanian lei in gold (approx. US$ 120 million today). Between three and four hundred men worked on the construction. Queen Elisabeth of the Romanians, during the construction phase, wrote in her journal:  Construction saw a slight slowdown during the Romanian War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire in 1877–78, but soon afterwards the plans grew in size and construction was quite rapid. Peleș Castle had its official Royal Ball of Inauguration on 7 October 1883. King Carol I and Queen Elizabeth lived in Foişor Villa during construction, as did King Ferdinand and Queen Marie during the construction of Pelișor Castle. King Carol II was born at the castle in 1893, giving meaning to the phrase "cradle of the dynasty, cradle of the nation" that Carol I bestowed upon Peleș Castle. Carol II lived in Foișor Villa for periods during his reign.  After King Michael I's forced abdication in 1947, the Communist regime seized all royal property, including the Peleș Estate. The castle was opened as a tourist attraction for a short time. It also served as a recreation and resting place for Romanian cultural personalities. The castle was declared a museum in 1953. Nicolae Ceaușescu closed the entire estate between 1975 and 1990, during the last years of the Communist regime. The area was declared a "State Protocol Interest Area", and the only persons permitted on the property were maintenance and military personnel.  Ceauşescu did not like the castle very much and rarely visited. In the 1980s, some of the timber was infested with "Serpula lacrymans". After the December 1989 Revolution, Peleş and Pelişor Castle were re-established as heritage sites and opened to the public. Today, Foişor Castle serves as a presidential residence. The Economat Building and the Guard's Chambers Building are now hotels and restaurants. Some of the other buildings on the Peleș Estate were converted to tourist villas and some are now "state protocol buildings". In 2006, the Romanian government announced the restitution of the castle to former monarch Michael I. Negotiations soon began between the former king and the government of Romania, and were concluded in 2007. The castle is on lease from the royal family to the Romanian state. Peleș Castle receives between a quarter and almost a half million visitors annually.  Throughout its history, the castle hosted some important personalities, from royalty and politicians to artists. One of the most memorable visits was that of Kaiser Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary on 2 October 1896, who later wrote in a letter:  Artists like George Enescu, Sarah Bernhardt, Jacques Thibaud and Vasile Alecsandri visited often as guests of Queen Elizabeth of Romania (herself a writer also known under the pen name of Carmen Sylva). In more recent times, many foreign dignitaries such as Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Muammar al-Gaddafi, and Yasser Arafat were welcomed at the castle.  The castle was featured in the 2009 film "The Brothers Bloom". The exterior of the castle is used to represent a large estate in New Jersey, the home of an eccentric billionaire played by Rachel Weisz.  The castle was featured in the Netflix original film "A Christmas Prince" and its two sequels, "" and "". It was also featured in the 2011 Hallmark Channel movie "A Princess for Christmas" and 2018's "Royal Matchmaker".

Description.

By form and function, Peleş is a palace, but it is consistently called a castle. Its architectural style is a romantically inspired blend Neo-Renaissance and Gothic Revival similar to Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. A Saxon influence can be observed in the interior courtyard facades, which have allegorical hand-painted murals and ornate fachwerk similar to that seen in northern European alpine architecture. Interior decoration is mostly Baroque influenced, with heavy carved woods and exquisite fabrics. Peleş Castle has a floor plan with over 170 rooms, many with dedicated themes from world cultures (in a similar fashion as other Romanian palaces, such as Cotroceni Palace). Themes vary by function (offices, libraries, armouries, art galleries) or by style (Florentine, Turkish, Moorish, French, Imperial); all the rooms are lavishly furnished and decorated to the slightest detail. There are 30 bathrooms. The establishment has collections of statues, paintings, furniture, arms and armor, gold, silver, stained glass, ivory, porcelain, tapestries and rugs. The collection of arms and armour has over 4,000 pieces, divided between Eastern and Western war pieces and ceremonial or hunting pieces, spreading over four centuries of history. Oriental rugs come from many sources: Bukhara, Mosul, Isparta, Saruk and Smirna. The porcelain is from Sèvres and Meissen; the leather is from Córdoba. The hand-painted stained glass vitralios, which are mostly Swiss.  A towering statue of King Carol I by Raffaello Romanelli overlooks the main entrance. Many other statues are present on the seven Italian neo-Renaissance terrace gardens, mostly of Carrara marble executed by the Italian sculptor Romanelli. The gardens also host fountains, urns, stairways, guarding lions, marble paths and other decorative pieces.  Peleș Castle shelters a painting collection of almost 2,000 pieces. Angelo de Gubernatis (1840–1913) was an Italian writer who arrived in 1898 in Sinaia as a guest of the Royal Family:

Museum.

Public visits are made within guided tours. One of the tours is limited to the ground floor, another adds the first floor and the complete tour includes the second floor. Admission is charged, and there is an additional photography fee. The visiting hours are from 9 am to 5 pm. Wednesday through Sunday. On Tuesdays the hours are 11 am to 5 pm. The castle is closed on Mondays. These visiting hours are subject to change by the Romanian Culture Ministry. The castle is closed in November each year for maintenance and cleaning.  The most notable grand rooms are:  Holul de Onoare (The Hall of Honour) was finished completely only in 1911, under the guidance of Karel Liman. It spreads over three floors. Walls are dressed in exquisitely carved woodwork, mostly European walnut and exotic timbers. Bas-reliefs, alabaster sculptures, and retractable stained glass panels complete the decor.  Apartamentul Imperial (The Imperial Suite) is believed to be a tribute to the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I, who visited the palace as a friend of the Romanian Royal Family. Hence, decorator Auguste Bembe preferred the sumptuous Austrian Baroque in style of Empress Maria Theresa. A perfectly preserved five-hundred-year-old Cordoban tooled leather wall cover is the rarest of such quality.  Sala Mare de Arme (The Grand Armory or The Arsenal) is where 1,600 of the 4,000 pieces of weaponry and armor reside. One of Europe's finest collection of hunting and war implements, timelined between 14th and 19th century, are on display. The king added pieces used in his victory against the Ottoman Turks during the War of Independence. Famous are the complete Maximilian armor for horse and rider and a 15th-century German "nobles only" decapitation broadsword. Also on display are a wide array of polearms (glaives, halberds, lances, hunting spears), firearms (muskets, blunderbusses, snaphaunces, flintlocks, pistols), axes, crossbows, and swords (rapiers, sabers, broadswords, and many others).  Sala Mică de Arme (The Small Armory) is where predominantly Oriental (mostly Indo-Persian, Ottoman and Arab) arms and armor pieces are on exhibit, many of them made of gold and silver, and inlaid with precious stones. Included are chainmail armor, helmets, scimitars, yataghans, daggers, matchlocks, lances, pistols, shields, axes, and spears.  Sala de Teatru (The Playhouse) is decorated in Louis XIV style, with sixty seats and a Royal Box. Architectural decoration and mural paintings are signed by Gustav Klimt and Frantz Matsch.  Sala Florentină (The Florentine Room) combines revived elements of the Italian Renaissance, mostly from Florence. Most impressive are the solid bronze doors executed in Rome; ateliers of Luigi Magni; and the Grand Marble Fireplace executed by Paunazio with Michelangelo motifs.  Salonul Maur (The Moorish Salon) was executed under the guidance of Charles Lecompte de Nouy, and is meant to embody elements of North-African and Hispanic Moorish style. Mother-of-pearl inlaid furniture, fine Persian Sarouk and Ottoman Isparta rugs, and Oriental weapons and armor are perhaps the most expressive elements. The salon has an indoor marble fountain.  Salonul Turcesc (The Turkish Parlor) emulates an Ottoman "joie de vivre" atmosphere—a room full of Turkish Izmir rugs and copperware from Anatolia and Persia. It was used as a smoking room for gentlemen. Walls are covered in hand-made textiles like silk brocades from the Siegert shops of Vienna.  In something remarkable in comparison to most recent-era royal families, the monarchs shared a bedroom.

Present day.

A personal property of the Royal Family from the beginning, Peleș Castle was nationalized after King Michael was forced to abdicate and leave the country by the communist government in 1947. In 1997 the castle was returned to the Royal Family after a long judicial case that has been finalised in 2007. However, the former king expressed his desire that the castle should continue to shelter the Peleș National Museum, as well as being occasionally used for public ceremonies organised by the former royal family.  On 10 May 2016, on the occasion of Romania's Independence Day marking 150 years of existence of the Romanian Royal Dynasty, the personal standard of Princess Margareta was flown on Peleș Castle, for the first time since 1947.

Peleș Castle ( ) is a Neo-Renaissance castle in the Carpathian Mountains, near Sinaia, in Prahova County, Romania, on an existing medieval route linking Transylvania and Wallachia, built between 1873 and 1914. Its inauguration was held in 1883. It was constructed for King Carol I.

Le château de Peleș ( ) est situé au nord-ouest de la ville de Sinaia, en Roumanie, à de Brașov et à de Bucarest. Sa construction a duré dix ans, de 1873 à 1883 et les travaux d'aménagements se sont poursuivis jusqu'en 1914.


Early life and career.

Godley was born to Jewish parents in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. His father was a solicitor, and his mother was a magistrate. He grew up near Watford, Hertfordshire, and went to Rickmansworth School.  He began his acting career at the age of 9, in a BBC radio production of Hemingway's "My Old Man". His first stage role came at age 11, as Prince Giovanni in "The White Devil" at The Old Vic. His childhood career also included work at the National Theatre, in Lillian Helman's "Watch on the Rhine", and "Close of Play", directed by Harold Pinter. Godley achieved national prominence after playing the lead in the 1984 BBC TV adaptation of J. Meade Falkner's "Moonfleet".

Stage career.

In 1986 Godley joined Alan Ayckbourn's theatre company in Scarborough, where he stayed for three seasons. Productions included "June Moon" and "The Revengers' Comedies", both of which transferred to the West End, and "Mr A's Amazing Maze Plays", which transferred to the National Theatre.  He spent one season as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before creating the role of Cliff in Sam Mendes's production of "Cabaret" at the Donmar Warehouse. Several major productions followed, including "Mouth to Mouth" at the Royal Court, "The Front Page" at the Donmar, and "The Rivals" in the West End. after which Godley went on to create a series of roles at the National, including Kenneth Williams in "Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick"; Michal, in Martin McDonagh's "The Pillowman", and the title role in Howard Davies' production of "Paul". He played Jack Worthing in the West End production of "The Importance of Being Earnest" and Victor in both the West End and 2001 Broadway production of Noël Coward's "Private Lives". He played Lord Evelyn Oakleigh in Roundabout Theatre's multi-award-winning Broadway revival of "Anything Goes", and played Raymond Babitt in the West End production of "Rain Man" opposite Josh Hartnett. He was most recently seen in the lead role in a new adaptation by Dennis Kelly of Georg Kaiser's 1912 German expressionist masterpiece, "From Morning to Midnight", at the National Theatre. He also played one of the three Lehman brothers in the National Theatre's "The Lehman Trilogy".

Personal life.

Godley married actress Alex Belcourt in 1999; they divorced in 2004. He lives in Los Angeles with his partner, the writer Jon Hartmere.

Adam Godley (born 22 July 1964) is an English actor. He is a Tony Award nominee and has been nominated four times for the Olivier Award.

Adam Godley, né le à Amersham, est un acteur britannique qui a été nommé trois fois pour le Laurence Olivier Awards.


History.

The title of the ruler of Bourbonnais between 913 and 1327, was Sire de Bourbon (or Seigneur de Bourbon).  The first lord of Bourbonnais known by name was Adhémar (or ). Aymon's father was Aymar (894-953), sire of Souvigny, his only son with Ermengarde. Aymar lived during the reign of Charles the Simple who, in 913, gave him fiefs on the Allier River in which would become Bourbonnais. He acquired the castle of Bourbon (today Bourbon-l'Archambault). Almost all early lords took the name d'Archambaud, after the palace, but later the family became known as the "House of Bourbon".  The first House of Bourbon ended in 1196, with the death of Archambault VII, who had only one heir, Mathilde of Bourbon. She married Guy II of Dampierre, who added Montlucon to the possessions of the lords of Bourbon. The second house of Bourbon started in 1218, with Archambault VIII, son of Guy II and Mahaut, and brother of William II of Dampierre. He was followed by his son Archambaut IX, who died in Cyprus in 1249, during a crusade. The House of Burgundy then acquired Bourbonnais.  In 1272, Beatrice of Burgundy (1258-1310), Lady of Bourbon, married Robert de France (1256-1318), Count of Clermont, son of king Louis IX (Saint-Louis). Thus began the long-lasting House of Bourbon, which would provide the kings of France from Henry IV in 1589 to Louis-Phillipe in 1848, when France abolished its monarchy.  The Bourbons had concluded an alliance with the royal power. They put their forces at the service of the king, thus benefitting from the geographic position of Bourbonnais, located between the royal domains and the duchies of Aquitaine and Auvergne. This alliance, as well as the marriage of Béatrix de Bourgogne and Robert de France, aided the rise and prosperity of the province. In 1327, King Charles ("le Bel") elevated Bourbonnais to the status of a duchy.

Bourbonnais was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponds to the modern "département" of Allier, along with part of the "département" of Cher. Its capital was Moulins.

Le duché de Bourbon, plus communément nommé Bourbonnais, est une région historique et culturelle française. Cette ancienne province a pour chef-lieu Moulins et son territoire correspond approximativement au département de l'Allier, mais certaines portions se trouvent réparties dans des départements voisins, comme le Puy-de-Dôme et le Cher (arrondissement de Saint-Amand-Montrond).


Surgical augmentation.

In contrast to the explicit ornaments, the following procedures are primarily not meant to be exposed "per se", but rather function to augment another part of the body, like the skin in a subdermal implant.

Removal or split.

Nipple cutting:  Nullification involves the voluntary removal of body parts. Body parts that are commonly removed by those practicing body nullification are: penis, testicles, clitoris, labia and nipples. Sometimes people who desire a nullification may be diagnosed with gender dysphoria, body integrity identity disorder or apotemnophilia.  Tongue cutting:

Applying long-term force.

Body modifications occurring as the end result of long term activities or practices

Controversy.

"Disfigurement" and "mutilation" (regardless of any appreciation this always applies objectively whenever a bodily function is gravely diminished or lost) are terms used by opponents of body modification to describe certain types of modifications, especially non-consensual ones. Those terms are used fairly uncontroversially to describe the victims of torture, who have endured damage to ears, eyes, feet, genitalia, hands, noses, teeth, and/or tongues, including amputation, burning, flagellation, piercing, skinning, and wheeling.  Some surgical procedures that modify human genitals are performed with the informed consent of the patient, using anesthesia. The phrase "Genital mutilation" is sometimes used to describe procedures that individuals are forced to undergo without their informed consent, or without anesthesia or sterilised surgical tools. The phrase has been applied to involuntary castration, male circumcision, and female genital mutilation. Intersex campaigners say that childhood modification of genitals of individuals with intersex conditions without their informed consent is a form of mutilation.  Many use body modification and self-mutilation interchangeably. In many ways self-mutilation is very different than body-modification. Body modification gives one the feeling of pride and excitement, giving one something to show off to others. Alternately, those who self-mutilate typically are ashamed of what they've done and want to hide any evidence of harm. Body modification is explored for adornment, self-expression, and an array of many other positive reasons, while self-mutilation is inflicted because of mental or emotional stress and the inability to cope with psychological pain. Those who self-mutilate do so in order to punish themselves, express internal turmoil, and reduce severe anxiety.

Body modification (or body alteration) is the deliberate altering of the human anatomy or human physical appearance. It is often done for aesthetics, sexual enhancement, rites of passage, religious beliefs, to display group membership or affiliation, in remembrance of lived experience, traditional symbolism such as axis mundi and mythology, to create body art, for shock value, and as self-expression, among other reasons. In its broadest definition it includes plastic surgery, socially acceptable decoration ("e.g.", common ear piercing in many societies), and religious rites of passage (e.g., circumcision in a number of cultures), as well as the modern primitive movement.

Une modification corporelle est une transformation, localisée ou étendue, réversible ou non, du corps d'un individu, au moyen d'une pratique et dans un but ayant un caractère culturel. Si des phénomènes naturels tels que la croissance, la grossesse, la vieillesse, ou certaines maladies, ou encore des traitements médicaux ou chirurgicaux entrainent des modifications du corps, l'expression est utilisée en anthropologie pour désigner plus spécifiquement les modifications corporelles artificielles, contrôlées et délibérées, excluant les mutilations punitives et les auto-mutilations relevant de troubles psychiatriques.


History.

Santo André was founded on September 18, 1967, by people that wanted to have a team in their city representing the professional football of the Municipality.  The first Santo André directorship was elected on October 4, 1967, and was composed by the following members: Newton Brandão, the President; Wigand dos Santos, Antonio Ferreira dos Santos and Hildebrando Mota Carneiro, the vice-presidents; Nelson Cerchiari and Durval Daniel, secretaries; Matheus Guimarães Jr. and João Manha, the treasurers.  The first official match of the club took place on April 8, 1968, at Américo Guazzelli stadium in a friendly match against Santos. Pelé did not play, but watched the game and participated in the festivities. Santo André won 2 - 1.  In 1984 Santo André were invited to play in Série A based on their State Championship performance. The team reached the third round (ranked 10th overall), but were not invited to compete the following year as the criteria changed.  Santo André next made headlines in 2003 when the team finished as runners-up to Ituano in Série C and thus were promoted to Série B.  In 2004, Santo André won their first national title when they defeated Flamengo in the Copa do Brasil final, gaining the right to compete in the following year's Copa Libertadores de América. Their first season in Série B was over before it started as the team was docked 12 points for playing an ineligible player. This meant at the time of the Copa do Brasil success their point tally on the local tournament was negative. The team recovered to comfortably avoid relegation.  In 2008 Santo André were runners-up to Corinthians in the Série B and thus earned promotion to Série A. After a hard-fought campaign Santo André were relegated back to Série B on the last day of the season.  The 2010 Paulista State Championship proved to be a highly successful campaign. The team finished second in the table behind Santos after a mid season seven match winning streak put them in a commanding position. In the playoffs Santo André overcame Grêmio Prudente, before facing the all conquering Santos team who had scored nearly 100 goals already in all competitions. The first game ended in a 3-2 victory for Santos despite Santo André having a man sent off. The second match on May 2, 2010, proved to be an epic encounter as Santo André leveled the tie in the first minute, before being pegged back. A thrilling game finally ended 3-2 to Santo André (5-5 on aggregate) and saw three red cards given to Santos, and one to Santo André. Despite hitting the post twice, Santo André could not break down a professional Santos rear guard action. Santos thus won the title due to their superior overall record.  Santo André slipped into free fall and were relegated to Série C in 2010 and almost relegated to the Série D in 2011.

Stadium.

Santo André's stadium is Estádio Bruno José Daniel, inaugurated in 1969, with a maximum capacity of 18,000 people.

Esporte Clube Santo André, also known as Santo André, is a Brazilian football team from Santo André, São Paulo state.

Le Esporte Clube Santo André est un club brésilien de football basé à Santo André dans l'État de São Paulo.


Geography.

The Banteay Kdei, one of the many Angkor temples, is located in the Angkor Archaeological Park of area. The ancient city of Angkor during the Khmer Empire extended from Tonle Sap to the Kulen hills covering a vast area of. The temple is approached from the east gopura of Ta Prohm along a path. This path leads to the west gate entrance gopura of Banteay Kdei. It is east of Angkor Thom.

History.

The name Banteay Kdei originates from an earlier name, Kuti, which is mentioned in the Sdok Kak Thom. This stele describes the arrival of Jayavarman II to the area, "When they arrived at the eastern district, the king bestowed an estate and a village called Kuti upon the family of the royal chaplain." This royal chaplain was the Brahman scholar Sivakaivalya, his chief priest for the Devaraja cult.  The Khmer Empire lasted from 802 to 1431, initially under Hindu religious beliefs up to the end of the 12th century and later under Buddhist religious practices. It was a time when temples of grandeur came to be built and reached a crescendo during the reign of Suryavarman II until 1145/1150, and later in the 12th–13th centuries, under Jayavarman VII. Many Buddhist temples were built, including the Banteay Kdei, from middle of the 12th century to early 13th century. Though Jayavarman VII was credited with building many temples, he was also accused of squandering money on extravagant temple building projects at the expense of society and other duties. He built Buddhist temples in which Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was the main deity. This temple built, conforming to the style of the Ta Prohm and Preah Khan temples in the vicinity during the same period by Jayavarman VII, but of a smaller size, was built as a Buddhist monastic complex on the site of a 10th-century temple built by Rajendravarman. Some small inscriptions attest to the building of this temple by Jayavarman VII and the royal architect, Kavindrarimathana.  Jayavarman VII had come to power at the age of 55 after defeating Chams who had invaded Angkor and subjected it to devastation. His "prodigious activity" resulted in the restoration of Cambodia from its ruins. He was chiefly the architect of the rebuilt capital at Angkor Thom and was called a "Great Builder". He was responsible for building many temples, which apart from Banteay Kdei, included the central temple of the Bayon, Prah Khan, Ta Prohm and many others, and also many rest houses for pilgrims. The reasons for building this temple at its present site is not known. However, it is established that the temple is a contemporary of the Angkor Wat as many similarities have been identified between the two, and also with Phimai temple in Thailand. It is reported to be the first temple built by Jayavarman VII in 1181 AD, opposite to the Srah Srang reservoir.  In the 13th century, most of the temples built by Jayavarman were vandalised. However, some of the Mahayana Buddhist frontons and lintels are still seen in good condition. It is also the view of some archaeologists that the temple was built by Jayavarman II in honour of his religious teacher.  The temple, which for several centuries after the Khmer reign ended, remained neglected and covered with vegetation. It was exposed after clearing the surrounding overgrowth of vegetation in 1920–1922. This work was carried out under the guidance of Henri Marchal (then Conservator of Angkor) and Ch. Battuer, by adopting a conservation principle which was known as "the principle of anastylosis, which was being employed very effectively by the Dutch authorities in Indonesia". It was partially occupied by Buddhist monks till the 1960s.  For ten years till March 2002, Sophia University Mission or the Sophia Mission of Japan carried out several Archaeological research at the Banteay Kdei temple. During these investigations, a cache of fragments of 274 Buddhist statues made in sandstone, along with a few metal art pieces, were unearthed, in 2001. Plans to build a storage room to house the statues was also planned.

Layout.

The sacred temple complex is cloistered and packed in a space of with three enclosures within a large compound wall of size, made of laterite stones. The entry is from the east facing gopura, which is in a cruciform embellished with Lokesvara images. The temple is a treasure house of sculptures in the architectural styles of the Bayon and also of the Angkor Wat. The complex is on a single level.  The external enclosure with four concentric walls, has four gopuras similar to the Ta Prohm temple, and all are in some degree of preserved status. At the four corners, the gopuras have a fascia of Lokesvara (Buddhist deity, Avalokitesvara) mounted over Garuda images (it is also mentioned that the smiling faces are of King Jayavarman II, similar to those seen in the Beyan temple). The east facing gopura, in particular, has well-preserved garuda images on its corners. Two hundred meters from the west entrance of this enclosure leads to a moat, which is decorated with statues of lions and naga-balustrades mounted on garudas. The moat itself has in its precincts the third enclosure which measures, also enclosed with laterite walls. The Buddha image at the entrance to the moat, near the second interior gate, is well preserved, considering the fact that most of the other statues have been destroyed or stolen.  The third enclosure has a gopura which has a cruciform plan. It has pillars which are crossed by vaults. There are three passages in this enclosure, two on either side are independent, with laterite walls. The niches here have small figurines, and large apsara devatas in single poses or in pairs of dancing poses. Large Buddha images, in an internal courtyard of this enclosure, have been defaced by vandals. A paved access from here leads to the main shrine, which comprises two galleried enclosures. At the entrance to these enclosures, from the eastern end, is the "Hall of Dancers", which has four open courtyards and the pillars have fine carvings of apsaras.  The second enclosure, which is part of the main temple, measures. It has a gopura on its eastern side and also subsidiary gopura on the west. Entrance doors are at the northern and southern ends. The gopura is built like a gallery with one exterior wall and double row of pillars which open into a courtyard and which has mostly shored up walls with small openings at the bottom to allow air circulation. The niches here are decorated with images of apsaras, and a Buddha statue in the central hall has been defaced by vandals. Bayon style architectural features built-in are the "balustered false windows with lowered blinds and devatas with headdresses in the form of small flaming discs set in a triangle." The vaults built in sandstone and laterite have collapsed at several locations of the gallery. The inner enclosures contain library building to its north and south and also a central sanctuary.  The inner enclosure of the main temple is built on a layout plan. This enclosure has four corner towers abutted by small gopuras. Galleries running along an axis link these towers to the main sanctuary. The towers at the north-east and south-east are linked with the second gallery where a Buddha statue in a sitting posture is seen, in the backdrop of an open sky line. The sanctum which is square enclosure has some traces of statues of deities. This entire enclosure, however, is not built in Bayon style and hence conjectured to be of an earlier period. Remnants of wooden ceiling are also seen here. The entrance to the sanctum is flanked by dvarapalas surrounded by apsaras.  Srah Srang or "The royal bathing pool" or "pool of ablutions" to the east of Banteay Kdei, which was dug to dimensions of x during the reign of Rajendraverman in the 10th century, was beautified by Jayavarman VII with well laid out steps of laterite stones with external margin of sandstone, on the banks of the pond facing the Sun. It is set amidst large trees and has turquoise blue waters all the year round. The approaching steps to the water edge are flanked by two stone statues of lions with ornamented Nāga-balustrades. The pond was reserved for use by the king and his wives. A stone base seen at an island in the centre of the pond once housed a wooden temple where the king did meditation. At the lily filled lake, watching sunset reflections in the lake is quite an experience. The water from the lake is now used for rice cultivation by farmers of the area.

Architectural features.

Some specific architectural features which evolved with the Bayon style are clearly discerned in this temple. The roof is supported on free-standing pillars in the eastern and western pavilions in the third enclosure, built in a cruciform plan with the inner row of pillars supporting the roof. The pillars are also tied to the wall by a tie beam using a "mortise–and–tenon join" patterned on wooden structures. Other features noted are of the four central pillars in the western pavilion which have been strengthened with temporary supports of laterite stone block pillars. Carvings of Buddha are seen on all these pillars but mostly defaced. The temporary support system provided to the roof built on free standing pillars is indicative of problems of design seen in the temples built during this period.

Restoration.

Laser scans and imaging of the Banteay Kdei and Angkor Wat Western Causeway were performed within a project launched in March 2004 by the University of California and Sophia University of Tokyo, in partnership with the nonprofit CyArk. The obtained information has facilitated restoration and reconstruction of these structures, which is funded by the Sophia University, and much publicly accessible data from the project is hosted on the CyArk Website. The APSARA Authority has achieved significant improvements in conservation and preservation of monuments in Angkor. Some of the towers and corridors are under restoration and as a result some locations have been cordoned off. Strengthening measures are seen in some parts of the interior temple area where structures in danger are tied together with cables.

Banteay Kdei (; Prasat Banteay Kdei), meaning "A Citadel of Chambers", also known as "Citadel of Monks' cells", is a Buddhist temple in Angkor, Cambodia. It is located southeast of Ta Prohm and east of Angkor Thom. Built in the mid-12th to early 13th centuries AD during the reign of Jayavarman VII (who was posthumously given the title "Maha paramasangata pada"), it is in the Bayon architectural style, similar in plan to Ta Prohm and Preah Khan, but less complex and smaller. Its structures are contained within two successive enclosure walls, and consist of two concentric galleries from which emerge towers, preceded to the east by a cloister.

Le Banteay Kdei (, littéralement « la citadelle des cellules monastiques ») est un temple d'inspiration bouddhique édifié par Jayavarman VII vers 1185 sur le site d'Angkor au Cambodge. Il est situé à à l'est d'Angkor Thom, au sud du baray oriental.


Description.

Sexual dimorphism in this species is small; males range from 49–72 cm and females from 46–57 cm long. The males weigh 5.4-9 kg, while females weigh 4.2–7 kg. It has a long prehensile tail of 49–75 cm. The tail is covered with fur except for the last third of the underside, which allows it to grab branches. The color of both males and females is a deep reddish-brown, and the color shade changes with age. Their faces are surrounded by fur and they have stubby noses.  The jawbone of the red howler monkey is large, especially the body of the mandible. The position of the foramen magnum is very posterior to make way for the expanded jaw and enlarged hyoid bone. Howler monkeys also have an inflated bulla, which is the bony encasement of the middle ear. This makes them an exception among other New World monkeys.  The diurnal "Alouatta seniculus" is an arboreal primate, so it spends much of its time high in the canopy. Its preferred method of locomotion is quadrupedal walking with minimal leaping. Its long, prehensile tail also assists it by providing both support and grasping abilities. In addition, its hands and feet have a grasping pattern that allows it to better move about in the trees. This can be seen by the wide separation of the second and third digits of the hand.

Social interactions.

It lives in groups of three to 9 individuals (usually five to seven). The groups are polygynous, with only one or two males and the rest females and their offspring. One male is the usually dominant monkey of the group, the alpha male, and he is responsible for leading them to new food sites and defending them. The females of the group are in charge of the offspring. Venezuelan red howlers are most active in the morning, when the group is on the move to find another feeding spot. These howlers are famous for their “dawn chorus”. These roaring and howling calls are performed mostly by the males in the group. The roars can be heard up to 5 km away in the forest, and make their presence known in the area. This is also used to prevent confrontations between groups, which will prevent energy loss by avoiding physical fighting. Because of their low-sugar diets, conservation of energy is key. The calls also help in the scattering of the groups and lessens the competition over food.

Diet and dentition.

"A. seniculus" monkeys are folivores, which means their diets mainly consist of leaves, but they also rely on nuts, small animals, fruits, seeds, and flowers for important nutrients. These foods provide sugar necessary for growth and energy. The most important part of their diets is leaves, which they cannot live without for more than a week. They eat both older and younger leaves; however, the older leaves provide more nutrition. These howler monkeys are able to eat the fibrous leaves due to the structural aspects of their dentition. Narrow incisors aid in the ingestion of the leaves, and molars with sharp, shearing crests help them to better chew their food. In addition, they have complex stomachs to aid in the digestive process. Their hindguts and large intestines also help with digestion. The hindgut contains bacteria that digest leaves and makes up a third of the Venezuelan red howler’s total body volume.  Like other New World monkeys, the Venezuelan red howler's dental formula (maxilla and mandible) is two incisors, one canine, three premolars, and three molars.

Reproduction.

The fierce sexual competition between males is due to an unbalanced sex ratio. A female attracts males by moving her tongue around to initiate mating. If the male does not respond, she moves on to another mate. The average gestation period is 190 days. The infant will stay with the mother for 18–24 months. After males reach sexual maturity, they are expelled from their natal group. The male must then invade a foreign group. There, the male kills off the other leader and whatever offspring the first leader sired. By doing this, the male is killing any possible competition. Less than 25% of offspring survive male invasions.

Subspecies.

Traditionally, three subspecies of this howler are listed, though Stanyon "et al." (1995) concluded the number of chromosomal differences between "A. s. sara" and "A. s. arctoidea" (which resulted in "A. s. sara" being a considered a full species) was on a similar scale to that found between "A. s. sara" and "A. s. seniculus" by Minezawa "et al." (1986).  "A. s. juara" has been described as a different species "Alouatta juara".

The Venezuelan red howler ("Alouatta seniculus") is a South American species of howler monkey, a type of New World monkey, found in the western Amazon Basin in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. The population in the Santa Cruz Department in Bolivia was split off as a separate species, the Bolivian red howler, in 1986, and more recently, splitting off the population in northeastern South America and Trinidad as the Guyanese red howler has occurred. All howler monkeys belong to the family Atelidae and the infraorder Platyrrhini (New World monkeys).

Le Hurleur roux (Alouatta seniculus) est une espèce de primate néotropical. Son nom générique vient de la puissance de ses cris qui peuvent être entendus jusqu'à..


Taxonomy.

"Rhinoceros unicornis" was the scientific name used by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 who described a rhinoceros with one horn. As type locality, he indicated Africa and India.  The one-horned rhinoceros is monotypic. Several specimens were described since the end of the 18th century under different scientific names, which are all considered synonyms of "Rhinoceros unicornis" today:

Etymology.

The genus name "Rhinoceros" is a combination of the ancient Greek words ῥίς (ris) meaning 'nose' and κέρας (keras) meaning 'horn of an animal'. The Latin word ūnicornis means one-horned.

Evolution.

Ancestral rhinoceroses first diverged from other perissodactyls in the Early Eocene. Mitochondrial DNA comparison suggests the ancestors of modern rhinos split from the ancestors of Equidae around 50 million years ago. The extant family, the Rhinocerotidae, first appeared in the Late Eocene in Eurasia, and the ancestors of the extant rhino species dispersed from Asia beginning in the Miocene.  Fossils of "R. unicornis" appear in the Middle Pleistocene. In the Pleistocene, the genus "Rhinoceros" ranged throughout South and Southeast Asia, with specimens located on Sri Lanka. Into the Holocene, some rhinoceros lived as far west as Gujarat and Pakistan until as recently as 3,200 years ago.  The Indian and Javan rhinoceroses, the only members of the genus "Rhinoceros", first appear in the fossil record in Asia during the Early Pleistocene. The Indian Rhinoceros is known from Early Pleistocene localities in Java, South China, India and Pakistan. Molecular estimates suggest the species may have diverged much earlier, around 11.7 million years ago. Although belonging to the type genus, the Indian and Javan rhinoceroses are not believed to be closely related to other rhino species. Different studies have hypothesised that they may be closely related to the extinct "Gaindatherium" or "Punjabitherium". A detailed cladistic analysis of the Rhinocerotidae placed "Rhinoceros" and the extinct "Punjabitherium" in a clade with "Dicerorhinus", the Sumatran rhinoceros. Other studies have suggested the Sumatran rhinoceros is more closely related to the two African species. The Sumatran rhino may have diverged from the other Asian rhinos as long as 15 million years ago.

Characteristics.

The Indian rhinoceros has a thick grey-brown skin with pinkish skin folds and one horn on its snout. Its upper legs and shoulders are covered in wart-like bumps. It has very little body hair, aside from eyelashes, ear fringes and tail brush. Males have huge neck folds. Its skull is heavy with a basal length above and an occiput above. Its nasal horn is slightly back-curved with a base of about by that rapidly narrows until a smooth, even stem part begins about above base. In captive animals, the horn is frequently worn down to a thick knob.  The rhino's single horn is present in both males and females, but not on newborn calves. The horn is pure keratin, like human fingernails, and starts to show after about six years. In most adults, the horn reaches a length of about, but has been recorded up to in length and weight.  Among terrestrial land mammals native to Asia, the Indian rhinoceros is second in size only to the Asian elephant. It is also the second-largest living rhinoceros, behind only the white rhinoceros. Males have a head and body length of with a shoulder height of, while females have a head and body length of and a shoulder height of. The male, averaging about is heavier than the female, at an average of about.  The rich presence of blood vessels underneath the tissues in folds gives it the pinkish colour. The folds in the skin increase the surface area and help in regulating the body temperature. The thick skin does not protect against bloodsucking "Tabanus" flies, leeches and ticks.  The largest sized specimens range up to.

Distribution and habitat.

The Indian rhinoceros once ranged across the entire northern part of the Indian Subcontinent, along the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra River basins, from Pakistan to the Indian-Myanmar border, including Bangladesh and the southern parts of Nepal and Bhutan. It may have also occurred in Myanmar, southern China and Indochina. It inhabits the alluvial grasslands of the Terai and the Brahmaputra basin. As a result of habitat destruction and climatic changes its range has gradually been reduced so that by the 19th century, it only survived in the Terai grasslands of southern Nepal, northern Uttar Pradesh, northern Bihar, northern West Bengal, and in the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam.  The species was present in northern Bihar and Oudh at least until 1770 as indicated in maps produced by Colonel Gentil. On the former abundance of the species, Thomas C. Jerdon wrote in 1867: Today, its range has further shrunk to a few pockets in southern Nepal, northern West Bengal, and the Brahmaputra Valley. In the 1980s, rhinos were frequently seen in the narrow plain area of Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan. Today, they are restricted to habitats surrounded by human-dominated landscapes, so that they often occur in adjacent cultivated areas, pastures, and secondary forests.  The Indian rhinoceros is regionally extinct in Pakistan.

Populations.

In 2006, the total population was estimated to be 2,575 individuals, of which 2,200 lived in Indian protected areas: In 2000, about 2,000 rhinos were estimated in Assam. Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary shelters the highest density of Indian rhinos in the world — with 84 individuals in 2009 in an area of. By 2014, the population in Assam increased to 2,544 rhinos, an increase by 27% since 2006, although more than 150 individuals were killed by poachers during these years.  The population in Nepal increased by 111 individuals from 2011 to 2015, increasing by 21%. The latest rhino count was conducted from 11 April to 2 May 2015 and revealed 645 individuals living in Parsa National Park, Chitwan National Park, Bardia National Park, Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve and respective buffer zones in the Terai Arc Landscape.  In Pakistan's Lal Suhanra National Park, two rhinos from Nepal were introduced in 1983 but have not bred so far.

Ecology and behaviour.

Adult males are usually solitary. Groups consist of females with calves, or of up to six subadults. Such groups congregate at wallows and grazing areas. They are foremost active in early mornings, late afternoons and at night, but rest during hot days. They bathe regularly. The folds in their skin trap water and hold it even when they exit wallows.  They are excellent swimmers and can run at speeds of up to for short periods. They have excellent senses of hearing and smell, but relatively poor eyesight. Over 10 distinct vocalisations have been recorded. Males have home ranges of around that overlap each other. Dominant males tolerate other males passing through their territories except when they are in mating season, when dangerous fights break out. Indian rhinos have few natural enemies, except for tigers, which sometimes kill unguarded calves, but adult rhinos are less vulnerable due to their size. Mynahs and egrets both eat invertebrates from the rhino's skin and around its feet. "Tabanus" flies, a type of horse-fly, are known to bite rhinos. The rhinos are also vulnerable to diseases spread by parasites such as leeches, ticks, and nematodes. Anthrax and the blood-disease sepsis are known to occur. In March 2017, of a group of four tigers consisting of an adult male, tigress and two cubs killed a 20-year-old male Indian rhinoceros in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.

Diet.

Indian rhinoceros are grazers. Their diet consists almost entirely of grasses, but they also eat leaves, branches of shrubs and trees, fruits, and submerged and floating aquatic plants. They feed in the mornings and evenings. They use their semi-prehensile lips to grasp grass stems, bend the stem down, bite off the top, and then eat the grass. They tackle very tall grasses or saplings by walking over the plant, with legs on both sides and using the weight of their bodies to push the end of the plant down to the level of the mouth. Mothers also use this technique to make food edible for their calves. They drink for a minute or two at a time, often imbibing water filled with rhinoceros urine.

Social life.

The Indian rhinoceros forms a variety of social groupings. Males are generally solitary, except for mating and fighting. Females are largely solitary when they are without calves. Mothers will stay close to their calves for up to four years after their birth, sometimes allowing an older calf to continue to accompany her once a newborn calf arrives. Subadult males and females form consistent groupings, as well. Groups of two or three young males will often form on the edge of the home ranges of dominant males, presumably for protection in numbers. Young females are slightly less social than the males. Indian rhinos also form short-term groupings, particularly at forest wallows during the monsoon season and in grasslands during March and April. Groups of up to 10 rhinos may gather in wallows—typically a dominant male with females and calves, but no subadult males.  The Indian rhinoceros makes a wide variety of vocalisations. At least 10 distinct vocalisations have been identified: snorting, honking, bleating, roaring, squeak-panting, moo-grunting, shrieking, groaning, rumbling and humphing. In addition to noises, the rhino uses olfactory communication. Adult males urinate backwards, as far as 3–4 m behind them, often in response to being disturbed by observers. Like all rhinos, the Indian rhinoceros often defecates near other large dung piles. The Indian rhino has pedal scent glands which are used to mark their presence at these rhino latrines. Males have been observed walking with their heads to the ground as if sniffing, presumably following the scent of females. In aggregations, Indian rhinos are often friendly. They will often greet each other by waving or bobbing their heads, mounting flanks, nuzzling noses, or licking. Rhinos will playfully spar, run around, and play with twigs in their mouths. Adult males are the primary instigators in fights. Fights between dominant males are the most common cause of rhino mortality, and males are also very aggressive toward females during courtship. Males will chase females over long distances and even attack them face-to-face. Unlike African rhinos, the Indian rhino fights with its incisors, rather than its horns.

Reproduction.

Captive males breed at five years of age, but wild males attain dominance much later when they are larger. In one five-year field study, only one rhino estimated to be younger than 15 years mated successfully. Captive females breed as young as four years of age, but in the wild, they usually start breeding only when six years old, which likely indicates they need to be large enough to avoid being killed by aggressive males. Their gestation period is around 15.7 months, and birth interval ranges from 34–51 months.  In captivity, four rhinos are known to have lived over 40 years, the oldest living to be 47.

Threats.

Sport hunting became common in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Indian rhinos were hunted relentlessly and persistently. Reports from the middle of the 19th century claim that some British military officers in Assam individually shot more than 200 rhinos. By 1908, the population in Kaziranga had decreased to around 12 individuals. In the early 1900s, the species had declined to near extinction.  Poaching for rhinoceros horn became the single most important reason for the decline of the Indian rhino after conservation measures were put in place from the beginning of the 20th century, when legal hunting ended. From 1980 to 1993, 692 rhinos were poached in India. In India's Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary, 41 rhinos were killed in 1983, virtually the entire population of the sanctuary. By the mid-1990s, poaching had rendered the species extinct there.  In 1950, Chitwan’s forest and grasslands extended over more than and were home to about 800 rhinos. When poor farmers from the mid-hills moved to the Chitwan Valley in search of arable land, the area was subsequently opened for settlement, and poaching of wildlife became rampant. The Chitwan population has repeatedly been jeopardised by poaching; in 2002 alone, poachers killed 37 animals to saw off and sell their valuable horns.  Six methods of killing rhinos have been recorded:  Poaching, mainly for the use of the horn in traditional Chinese medicine, has remained a constant and has led to decreases in several important populations. Apart from this, serious declines in quality of habitat have occurred in some areas, due to: The species is inherently at risk because over 70% of its population occurs at a single site, Kaziranga National Park. Any catastrophic event such as disease, civil disorder, poaching, or habitat loss would have a devastating impact on the Indian rhino's status. However, small population of rhinos may be prone to inbreeding depression.

Conservation.

"Rhinoceros unicornis" has been listed in CITES Appendix I since 1975. The Indian and Nepalese governments have taken major steps towards Indian rhinoceros conservation, especially with the help of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and other non-governmental organisations. In the early 1980s, a rhino translocation scheme was initiated. The first pair of rhinos was reintroduced from Nepal's Terai to Pakistan's Lal Suhanra National Park in Punjab in 1982.

In India.

In 1910, all rhino hunting in India became prohibited. In 1984, five rhinos were relocated to Dudhwa National Park — four from the fields outside the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and one from Goalpara.

In Nepal.

In 1957, the country's first conservation law ensured the protection of rhinos and their habitat. In 1959, Edward Pritchard Gee undertook a survey of the Chitwan Valley, and recommended the creation of a protected area north of the Rapti River and of a wildlife sanctuary south of the river for a trial period of 10 years. After his subsequent survey of Chitwan in 1963, he recommended extension of the sanctuary to the south. By the end of the 1960s, only 95 rhinos remained in the Chitwan Valley. The dramatic decline of the rhino population and the extent of poaching prompted the government to institute the "Gaida Gasti" – a rhino reconnaissance patrol of 130 armed men and a network of guard posts all over Chitwan. To prevent the extinction of rhinos, the Chitwan National Park was gazetted in December 1970, with borders delineated the following year and established in 1973, initially encompassing an area of. Since 1973, the population has recovered well and increased to 645 animals in 2015. To ensure the survival of rhinos in case of epidemics, animals were translocated annually from Chitwan to the Bardia National Park and the Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve since 1986.

In captivity.

The Indian rhinoceros was initially difficult to breed in captivity. The first recorded captive birth of a rhinoceros was in Kathmandu in 1826, but another successful birth did not occur for nearly 100 years. In 1925, a rhino was born in Kolkata. No rhinoceros was successfully bred in Europe until 1956. On September 14, 1956, Rudra was born in Zoo Basel, Switzerland. In the second half of the 20th century, zoos became adept at breeding Indian rhinoceros. By 1983, nearly 40 babies had been born in captivity. As of 2012, 33 Indian rhinos were born at Zoo Basel alone, meaning that most captive animals are related to the Basel population. Due to the success of Zoo Basel's breeding program, the International Studbook for the species has been kept there since 1972. Since 1990, the Indian rhino European Endangered Species Programme is also being coordinated there, with the goal of maintaining genetic diversity in the global captive Indian rhinoceros population. As of 2010, 174 rhinos are kept in zoos worldwide.  In June 2009, an Indian rhino was artificially inseminated using sperm collected four years previously and cryopreserved at the Cincinnati Zoo’s CryoBioBank before being thawed and used. She gave birth to a male calf in October 2010. The calf died 12 hours after birth.  In June 2014, the first "successful" live-birth from an artificially inseminated rhino took place at the Buffalo Zoo in New York. As in Cincinnati, cryopreserved sperm was used to produce the female calf, Monica.

In culture.

The Rhinoceros Sutra is an early text in the Buddhist tradition, found in the Gandhāran Buddhist texts and the Pali Canon, as well as a version incorporated into the Sanskrit Mahavastu. It praises the solitary lifestyle and stoicism of the Indian rhinoceros and is associated with the eremetic lifestyle symbolized by the Pratyekabuddha.  In the 3rd century, Philip the Arab exhibited an Indian rhinoceros in Rome. In 1515, Manuel I of Portugal obtained an Indian rhinoceros as a gift, which he passed on to Pope Leo X, but which died on the way from Lisboa to Rome. Three artistic representations were prepared of this rhinoceros: a woodcut by Hans Burgkmair dated to 1515, a drawing and a woodcut by Albrecht Dürer, also dated 1515. Latter is known as 'Dürer's Rhinoceros'. In about 1684, the first presumably Indian rhinoceros arrived in England. George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys spread the rumour that his chief rival Francis North, 1st Baron Guilford had been seen riding on it. In 1739, a rhinoceros exhibited in London was drawn and engraved by two English artists. It was then brought to Amsterdam, where Jan Wandelaar made two engravings that were published in 1747. In the subsequent years, the rhinoceros was exhibited in several European cities. In 1748, Johann Elias Ridinger made an etching of it in Augsburg, and Petrus Camper modelled it in clay in Leiden. In 1749, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon drew it in Paris. In 1751, Pietro Longhi painted it in Venice.  A steatite seal, popularly known as Pashupati Seal (around 2350–2000 BC) was discovered at the Mohenjo-daro archaeological site in 1928–1929 of the Indus Valley Civilisation. It has a human figure at the centre seated on a platform and the human figure is surrounded by four wild animals: an elephant and a tiger to its one side, and a water buffalo and a rhinoceros on the other. Rhinoceros is Vahana of the Hindu goddess Dhavdi. There is a temple dedicated to Maa (Mother) Dhavdi in Dhrangadhra, Gujarat.  In China's classic novel "Journey to the West", three Indian Rhinoceros demons, King of Cold Protection (辟寒大王), King of Heat Protection (辟暑大王) and King of Dust Protection (辟塵大王) were based in Xuanying Cave (玄英洞), Azure Dragon Mountain (青龍山) in Jinping Prefecture (金平府). They disguise themselves as Taoist deities and steal aromatic oil from lamps in a temple, tricking worshippers into believing that the "deities" have accepted the oil offered to them.  Many the mythological stories e.g. a boy named Rishyasringa with the horns of a deer, Karkadann, unicorn may be inspired by Indian rhinoceros.

The Indian rhinoceros ("Rhinoceros unicornis"), also called the greater one-horned rhinoceros and great Indian rhinoceros, is a rhinoceros species native to the Indian subcontinent. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as populations are fragmented and restricted to less than. Moreover, the extent and quality of the rhino's most important habitat, the alluvial Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands and riverine forest, is considered to be in decline due to human and livestock encroachment. As of 2008, a total of 2,575 mature individuals were estimated to live in the wild.

Le Rhinocéros indien (Rhinoceros unicornis) est une espèce de rhinocéros unicornes présente en Asie. C’est la plus grande et la moins rare des trois espèces que compte le continent. Ce mammifère vit plus particulièrement au nord de l’Inde et au Népal.


Origins.

The European Emergency Number Association, an organization of emergency services representatives and others, advocated for its introduction in the EU.  112 was first standardised by a recommendation by the CEPT in 1972 and later by a decision of the EU Council in 1991 and subsequently reaffirmed in 2002 by article 26 of the Universal Service Directive and its subsequent amendments.  This choice of number has been cited in logical terms as offering the following advantages:

Implementation.

The countries which use the 112 number for emergencies include:

South America.

In many countries, emergency numbers previously used also continue to be available; e.g. 061 and 112 in Spain, 999 and 112 both function in Ireland and the UK. In the United States, only some carriers, including AT&T will map the number 112 to its emergency number 9-1-1.

Adoption.

112 is managed and financed in the European Union by each member state (country), who also decide on the organization of the emergency call centres. The number is also adopted by candidates for EU accession and members of the EEA agreement.  The International Telecommunications Union recommends that member states selecting a primary or secondary emergency number choose either 911, 112 or both. 112 is one of two numbers (the other being the region's own emergency number) that can be dialed on most GSM phones even if the phone is locked.

E112.

E112 is a location-enhanced version of 112. The telecom operator transmits the location information to the emergency centre. The EU Directive E112 (2003) requires mobile phone networks to provide emergency services with whatever information they have about the location a mobile call was made. This directive is based on the FCC's Enhanced 911 ruling in 2001.  The "eCall" feature for automated emergency calls on crash, mandatory on European cars since April 2018, is based on E112.

European 112 Day.

The European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission signed a tripartite convention in 2009 in order to introduce an annual European 112 Day. It is supposed to raise awareness for the Europe-wide availability and the advantages of the European emergency call 112. They chose 11 February since the date includes the telephone number (11/2). A whole variety of events are taking place around Europe every year to celebrate European 112 Day.

Expert Group on Emergency Access (EGEA).

Getting 112 to work across the EU is a complex task. It requires in particular coordination between civil protection administrations (the emergency authorities who handle the call) and electronic communications administrations (who have to make sure that a 112 call reaches the emergency operator). That is why the Commission decided to act at European level and set up the Expert Group on Emergency Access (EGEA) at the end of 2005.  The objective of the group is to deal with practical issues Member States are facing to provide an efficient and effective 112 service to citizens. This group seeks practical solutions to problems experienced by the emergency services at local, regional or national levels and deals with issues related to the application of new technologies for communication with emergency services.  The European Commission decided that EGEA would not be renewed for the year 2014. The European Commission noted that in case the work by the working group would appear necessary during the course of this period, this work would be fully covered and dealt with during regular Communication Committee (COCOM) meetings, or if needed, the composition of any of these groups could be called for a dedicated meeting back to back with a regular COCOM meeting.

112 is a common emergency telephone number that can be dialed free of charge from most mobile telephones and, in some countries, fixed telephones in order to reach emergency services (ambulance, fire and rescue, police).

Le 112 est le numéro de téléphone réservé aux appels d’urgence et valide dans l’ensemble de l’Union européenne (il est aussi utilisé dans la plupart des autres pays européens, selon les opérateurs de télécommunications ou les législations locales).


Taxonomy and systematics.

Molecular evidence indicates that the East African Rift has served as a geographic barrier to isolate the taxon from the nominate subspecies, the North African ostrich "S. c. camelus", while ecological and behavioural differences have kept it genetically distinct from the neighbouring Masai ostrich "S. c. massaicus". An examination of the mitochondrial DNA of "Struthio" taxa, including the extinct Arabian ostrich "S. c. syriacus", has found that the Somali ostrich is phylogenetically the most distinct, appearing to have diverged from their common ancestor some 3.6 to 4.1 million years ago.

Description.

Though generally similar to other ostriches, the skin of the neck and thighs of the Somali ostrich is blue (rather than pinkish), becoming bright blue on the male during the mating season. The neck lacks a typical broad white ring, and the tail feathers are white. The females are slightly larger than the males and browner in plumage than other female ostriches. The Somali ostrich is similar in size to other ostriches so far as is known, perhaps averaging marginally smaller in body mass than some subspecies of common ostrich (at least the nominate race, "S. c. camelus"). Reportedly Somali ostriches in captivity weigh about but this may not be an accurate weight for wild birds as captive animals have feeding accesses not available to wild ostriches. It is thus one of the two largest extant bird species.

Distribution and habitat.

The Somali ostrich is mostly found in Horn of Africa, especially in north-eastern Ethiopia and across all of Somalia.

Behaviour and ecology.

The Somali ostrich is differentiated ecologically from the common ostrich, with which there is some range overlap, by preferring bushier, more thickly vegetated areas, where it feeds largely by browsing, whereas the latter is mainly a grazer on open savanna. There are also reports of interbreeding difficulties between the two taxa.

Status and conservation.

A report to the IUCN in 2006 suggests that the Somali ostrich was common in the central and southern regions of Somalia in the 1970s and 1980s. However, following the political disintegration of that country and the lack of any effective wildlife conservation, its range and numbers there have since been shrinking as a result of uncontrolled hunting for meat, medicinal products and eggs, with the bird facing eradication in the Horn of Africa. In Kenya it is farmed for meat, feathers and eggs.

The Somali ostrich ("Struthio molybdophanes"), also known as the blue-necked ostrich, is a large flightless bird native to the Horn of Africa. It was previously considered a subspecies of the common ostrich, but was identified as a distinct species in 2014.

L'Autruche de Somalie (Struthio molybdophanes ) est une espèce d'autruches considérée comme distincte de l'Autruche d'Afrique ("S. camelus") depuis les années 2000.