title: History of the Montreal Canadiens

text: In November 1909, industrialist Ambrose O'Brien of Renfrew, Ontario, was in Montreal to purchase supplies for a railway contract. At the request of the Renfrew Creamery Kings hockey team, he attended the Eastern Canada Hockey Association (ECHA) meetings, held at the Windsor Hotel, to represent Renfrew in its application to join the league. At the meeting, the ECHA team owners rejected Renfrew's application. Later that day the ECHA's owners chose to disband their league and form the Canadian Hockey Association (CHA) in a bid to exclude the Montreal Wanderers, who had upset the other owners when they moved into a smaller arena that would reduce the visiting team's share of gate receipts. In the lobby of the hotel, O'Brien met Jimmy Gardner, manager of the Wanderers, and discussed forming a new league which would include Renfrew, the Wanderers, and two teams that O'Brien owned in the Ontario mining towns of Cobalt and Haileybury. Gardner suggested that O'Brien start a team of francophone players based in Montreal, forming a rivalry with the Wanderers. As a result, the National Hockey Association (NHA) was founded on December 2, 1909, and Les Canadiens were created two days later, initially financed by O'Brien with the intent of transferring ownership to francophone sportsmen in Montreal as soon as possible.


title: History of the Montreal Canadiens

text: The NHA met its demise in the winter of 1917 following several long-running disputes between Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone and the league's other four teams over who owned the rights to various players. Kennedy especially disliked Livingstone, and the two nearly came to blows numerous times during league meetings. However, the Canadiens, Wanderers, Senators and Quebec Bulldogs discovered that while they were united in their distaste for Livingstone, the league constitution didn't allow them to simply vote him out. To solve this problem, on November 26 they created a new league, the National Hockey League (NHL), and didn't invite Livingstone to join them. They nominally remained members of the NHA and had enough votes to suspend the league's operations, effectively leaving Livingstone in a one-team league. Kennedy was the dominant force in the new league; he not only owned the Canadiens, but had loaned Tommy Gorman the money he used to buy the Senators. However, the four teams still desired to have a team from Toronto in their league. They also needed a fourth team to balance the schedule after financial difficulties forced the Bulldogs to suspend operations . With this in mind, they granted a "temporary" franchise to the Toronto Arena Company, which eventually evolved into the Canadiens' rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs.


title: History of the Montreal Canadiens

text: The Montreal Forum, which in later decades became synonymous with the Canadiens, was opened in 1924 to house the expansion Montreal Maroons, one of two new teams in the NHL that season. The Canadiens were invited to inaugurate the arena as the natural ice surface at the Mount Royal Arena was not ready to host NHL games. The team played the first game in Forum history on November 29, 1924, a 7–1 victory over the Toronto St. Patricks. The Canadiens took residence at the Forum in 1926, sharing it with the Maroons until the latter ceased operations in 1938. Only nine days after their first NHL regular season game at the Forum, on December 8, 1924, what would become the new NHL's longest running rivalry was initiated as the Canadiens played "the other" expansion team for the 1924–25 season for the very first time: the United States-based Boston Bruins, whom the visiting Canadiens, playing for their first-ever NHL regular season game in the United States, defeated in a 4–3 comeback victory at the Boston Arena.


title: History of the Montreal Canadiens

text: Led by the "Punch Line" of Richard, Toe Blake and Elmer Lach, the Habs won their fifth Stanley Cup in 1944, losing only five games in the regular season. In 1944–45, the team won 38 games and lost only eight, and Richard was the focus of the media and fans as he attempted to be the first player in league history to score 50 goals in a 50-game season. Richard set a single-game scoring record, recording five goals and three assists in a 9–1 victory over Detroit on December 28, 1944. He later broke Joe Malone's goal scoring record when he scored his 45th goal, after which opposing teams did all they could to prevent him from reaching the 50-goal mark. He was slashed, elbowed and held as no team wanted to be known as the one that gave up the milestone goal. Richard finally scored his 50th goal in Boston at 17:45 of the third period of Montreal's final game of the season. The record, previously considered nearly impossible to achieve, elevated Richard to the status of provincial hero in Quebec.


title: History of the Montreal Canadiens

text: In March 1955, Richard was suspended for the remainder of the season, including the playoffs, after he received a match penalty for slashing Boston's Hal Laycoe and subsequently punching a linesman who intervened. The suspension touched off a wave of anger toward league president Clarence Campbell, who was warned not to attend a scheduled game in Montreal after receiving numerous death threats, mainly from French-Canadians accusing him of anti-French bias. Campbell dismissed the warnings, and attended the March 17 game as planned. His presence at the game was perceived by many fans as a provocation and he was booed and pelted with eggs and fruit. An hour into the game, a fan lobbed a tear-gas bomb in Campbell's direction, causing fire officials to clear the building. Fans leaving the Forum were met by a growing mob of angry demonstrators who overwhelmed the 250 police officers on the scene and rioted outside of the Forum. Seventy people were arrested, 37 people injured, 50 stores were looted and $100,000 in property damage was reported as a result of the melee, which became known as l'affaire Richard, or the Richard Riot. The incident highlighted the growing cultural gap between French Quebec and English Canada and the riot is often described as an early manifestation of Quebec's Quiet Revolution.


title: History of the Montreal Canadiens

text: Goaltender Jacques Plante had been wearing a mask during practices for some time, but did not wear it during games due to the objections of Blake and Selke who held the traditional view that players should not wear facial protection. That changed on November 1, 1959, after he was struck in the face early in a game at Madison Square Garden. As teams did not dress backup goaltenders during this time, the game was delayed 20 minutes while doctors frantically stitched Plante up. When Blake asked him if he was ready to return to play, Plante refused to return to the ice unless he was allowed to wear a mask. Blake was livid, but agreed only if Plante removed the mask when his face was healed. Wearing the mask, Plante led the Canadiens on an 18-game unbeaten streak. He finally removed the mask at Blake's urging and promptly lost the next game. Defeated, Blake relented. Plante's mask became a permanent fixture as he led the Canadiens to their fifth consecutive Stanley Cup. Other goalies followed Plante's lead soon after.


title: History of the Montreal Canadiens

text: The Canadiens' dominance in the late 1970s was due in part to the presence of the rival World Hockey Association (WHA) — the Canadiens were far more successful compared to other NHL teams in resisting WHA efforts to lure away top talent. The Canadiens played a central role in the 1979 merger with the WHA, which added the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets to the NHL. After years of talks, a merger agreement was reached between the two leagues, but the NHL's governors rejected the deal by one vote. Most of the NHL's American teams were in favour of the merger in part because they thought it would help them challenge Montreal's dominance, whereas against the deal were the Canadiens, who, along with the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs, opposed splitting Hockey Night in Canada television revenues six ways instead of three. Upon hearing the result of the vote, fans in Edmonton, Quebec and Winnipeg launched a massive boycott of products sold by Molson, owners of the Canadiens since 1978. The boycott, along with pressure from the House of Commons of Canada, led Montreal and Vancouver to reverse their positions when a re-vote was held on March 22, 1979, allowing the merger to pass.


title: History of the Montreal Canadiens

text: Gainey explained the changing fortunes of the franchise following their playoff defeat at the hands of the Nordiques in 1982: "We can't put on our sweaters anymore and expect to win." The Canadiens' mystique had been broken by consecutive playoff losses to the upstart Minnesota North Stars, the Oilers and the Nordiques. The loss to Quebec in 1982 was the culmination of a vicious series where the players attempted to hurt and intimidate their opponents, while the media argued over which team better represented francophone Quebec. Montreal's growing rivalry with Quebec peaked two years later in 1984 when they eliminated the Nordiques in six games, but not before the Good Friday Massacre made headlines. A hit by Quebec's Dale Hunter on Montreal goaltender Steve Penney sparked a bench-clearing brawl at the end of the second period. A second brawl, including some players who were ejected as a result of the first, erupted before the start of the third period. Ten players were ejected from the game, and 198 penalties in minutes were handed out as a result of the incidents, which proved a turning point in the game as Montreal scored five third period goals to win.


title: History of the Montreal Canadiens

text: The Stanley Cup celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1993, returning again to Canada with the Canadiens' 24th Stanley Cup victory, the most recent NHL championship won by a Canadian team. After losing the first game of their Adams Division semi-final to the Quebec Nordiques in overtime, the Canadiens won ten overtime games en route to the title, setting an NHL record for most consecutive overtime victories in a playoff year. As with the 1986 championship, the team was led by Roy, who won his second Conn Smythe Trophy. The defining moment of the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals occurred in the second game, with less than two minutes to play and Montreal trailing the series 1–0 and the game 2–1. Attempting to gain an advantage for his team, head coach Jacques Demers called for a measurement of Los Angeles Kings forward Marty McSorley's stick. Referee Kerry Fraser determined that the blade had an illegal curve, and assessed a penalty against McSorley. Montreal scored on the power play to tie the game, and then won in overtime 3–2, to tie the series. Montreal also won Games 3 and 4 in overtime before eliminating the Kings in Game 5, 4–1. The celebration was marred by one of the worst riots in Montreal history, as fans rioted through downtown Montreal causing over $2.5 million in property damage and 168 injuries.


title: History of the Montreal Canadiens

text: Prior to the 2001–02 season, the club announced that captain Saku Koivu had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and would miss the entire season. Koivu managed to return with three games left in the regular season, and along with goaltender Jose Theodore, who would win the Hart Trophy that year, led the Canadiens into the playoffs for the first time in four seasons. The eighth-seeded Canadiens upset the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs, and Koivu led the team in playoff scoring with 10 points in 12 games. In recognition of his tenacity in returning from cancer treatment, the league voted Koivu as the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy winner for dedication and perseverance. However, in the second round of the playoffs, the team was defeated by the Carolina Hurricanes in six games. The Canadiens finished fourth in the Northeast Division in the 2002–03 season, missing the playoffs by six points. After the Habs finished with a record of 18–19–5–4 in the first 48 games of the 2002–03 season, the team replaced Therrien with Claude Julien.


title: History of the Montreal Canadiens

text: On November 4, 2016, goaltender Al Montoya allowed 10 goals in a 10–0 Canadiens road loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets; the Habs later scored 10 goals in a 10–1 home win over the Colorado Avalanche on December 10, 2016. While the team started the 2016–17 season with a record of 13–1–1 in their first 15 games, they only went 18–18–7 in next 41 games but would remain in first place in the Atlantic Division through the first 56 games of the season. As a result, the Habs fired Therrien and replaced him with Claude Julien on February 14, 2017; this was the second time that Julien (who was fired by the Bruins on February 7) replaced Therrien as head coach in the history of the Canadiens franchise. On March 30, 2017, the Canadiens qualified for the playoffs after a 6–2 home victory against the Florida Panthers; they would clinch the Atlantic Division title a few days later. Despite winning their second division title in the past three seasons, the Habs would ultimately lose their first round playoff series to the Rangers in six games.


title: History of the Montreal Canadiens

text: For the 2020–21 NHL season, the Canadiens were paired with the other six Canada-based squads in the North Division, a temporary set-up while the league operated its season amidst the health crisis. In the midst of the season, Julien was fired on February 24, 2021, and was replaced by assistant coach Dominique Ducharme. Montreal took the last of four playoff spots in the North, facing their top-seeded rivals from Toronto in the first round. It was the first playoff matchup between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs since 1979. Toronto jumped out to a 3–1 series lead, but the Canadiens responded with three consecutive victories, the first two coming in overtime. Montreal swept the third-seeded Winnipeg Jets in four games, earning the last victory on an overtime goal by Tyler Toffoli. In the following round, Montreal defeated the Vegas Golden Knights with a game six overtime goal by Artturi Lehkonen, advancing to its first Stanley Cup Finals appearance since 1993. The Canadiens also became the first Canadian team to advance to the finals since 2011. The run would end however with the Canadiens losing in the Finals to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.


title: Midalam

text: The population of the village according to the 2011 census of India is 8,625 with male population of 4279 and female population of 4346. There are 2204 households in the census town and an average 4 persons live in every family. Sex ratio in general caste is 1017, in schedule caste is 971 and in schedule tribe is 667. There are 977 girls under 6 years of age per 1000 boys of the same age in the census town. Schedule Caste (SC) constitutes 1.60% while Schedule Tribe (ST) were 0.06% of total population in Midalam. Literacy rate of Midalam city is 89.20% higher than state average of 80.09%. In Midalam, Male literacy is around 90.59% while female literacy rate is 87.84%.Total 6838 people in the census town are literate, among them 3437 are male and 3401 are female. Literacy rate (children under 6 are excluded) of Midalam is 89%. 91% of male and 88% of female population are literate here. Christians contribute 82% of the total population and are the largest religious community in the census town followed by Hindus which contribute 17% of the total population.. Female Sex ratio per 1000 male in Christians are 1025 in Hindus are 977. Tamil and Malayalam are the local languages here.


title: Environmental impact of paper straw production

text: Paper straws are in demand as a sustainable alternative to plastic straws, and they are made by a different manufacturing process. Plastic straws are typically made from polypropylene, but paper straws are made from layers of food-grade paper bonded together with water-based or hot melt adhesives, using gum powder and packing materials. This uses special machines and hand tools., to ensure efficient production. The paper rolls are mounted onto the machine's roller stand, and then fed through rollers, glued, and precisely stitched together to create straws of varying diameters. They are cut to the desired length, packed, and distributed for use in diverse settings, including homes, parties, and food service establishments. Their manufacture is encouraged by the escalating demand for sustainable packaging materials and the global initiative to reduce the consumption of single-use plastics. The financial feasibility of paper straw production is assessed, considering profitability and the cost of capital. This needs to justify the economic and environmental sustainability of paper straws.


text: The health ramifications of paper straws are intertwined with the pervasive presence of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food contact materials (FCMs). PFAS, synthetic pollutants with known potential harm to wildlife, humans, and the environment, are commonly found in FCMs, including reusable plastics. As a shift away from plastic, paper and other plant-based materials are increasingly utilized in commercial settings, including the production of drinking straws, purportedly to mitigate plastic pollution. However, the manufacture of these materials often involves the addition of PFAS to confer water-repellent properties. This practice, combined with potential contamination from raw materials, results in the presence of PFAS in the majority of examined straws, particularly those made from plant-based materials like paper and bamboo. Notably, stainless steel straws appeared free of PFAS. The pervasiveness of PFAS in plant-based straws challenges assumptions of their biodegradability and implicates them in human and environmental PFAS exposure, underscoring the complex health implications associated with alternative materials in the fight against plastic pollution.


title: Tatooine

text: George Lucas originally envisaged filming the Utapau/Tatooine scenes in Algeria , Libya or Iran, but these locations were rejected by 20th Century Fox. When production began on Star Wars, production designers John Barry and Robert Watts scouted for filming locations in Morocco and Tunisia. Lucas, accompanied by producer Gary Kurtz visited the Tunisian island of Djerba with them and were impressed by the desert landscape and the unusual architecture, and selected Tunisia to provide the desert planet setting. Lucas was also keen to shoot at the Hotel Sidi Driss in Matmata, a decision which extended the shoot, and consequently the budget, by a day. Filming in Tunisia began on March 22, 1976, and immediately ran into difficulty: the region was experiencing its first heavy rainfall in seven years, which disrupted the setting of an arid desert planet. The Matmata hotel consisted of a troglodyte dwelling in a large hole in the ground. Combined with shots at Chott el Djerid, near Nefta, this formed the setting for the Lars homestead and moisture farm. The landing site for C-3PO and R2-D2's escape pod was filmed in sand dunes at La Grande Dune, near Nefta, and exterior shots of Mos Eisley spaceport were shot on Djerba. The name Tatooine is not actually mentioned in the final screenplay of Star Wars—Lucas was still working on his fourth draft while scouting locations, and adapted the name from a town in southern Tunisia called Tataouine (French spelling, or Tataween spelling in Tunisian Arabic).


title: Tatooine

text: Tatooine originally featured in the 1977 film Star Wars, and was the first planet to be seen in the film franchise. In the opening scene, the planet and two of its moons are seen in space against a sea of stars, forming the backdrop of a space battle which sets in motion the events of the film. Two robots, C-3PO and R2-D2, jettison in an escape pod from a captured spaceship, the Tantive IV, and land on the surface of Tatooine. The droids lose their way in a sparse desert and are captured by small scavenger creatures called Jawas. When the robots are sold on to human settlers, protagonist Luke Skywalker is introduced as a young man living with his aunt and uncle on a farm. The hostility of the arid desert environment is emphasised by the depiction of sandstorms and the heat of the binary stars, as Luke watches a twin sunset over the sand dunes. Humans are constantly threatened by violent bandit creatures called Tusken Raiders. As the film progresses, various leading characters are introduced to the story in scenes set on Tatooine: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo and Chewbacca. Later Tatooine scenes take place in Mos Eisley, a gritty bustling spaceport on the planet which is a centre of smuggling and organised crime. One of the most celebrated scenes in the Star Wars saga is in the Mos Eisley cantina, a shady saloon populated by exotic alien species. Composer John Williams wrote music for the alien band in this scene in the style of swing musician Benny Goodman, and arranged with unusual instrumentation to convey an other-worldly sound. Tatooine features once again in the 1983 film Return of the Jedi, in which the story's heroes return to Tatooine to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, a fearsome gangster who dominates the criminal underworld on Tatooine.


title: Tatooine

text: When the prequel trilogy revived the film franchise in 1999, the action returned to Tatooine for Episode I: The Phantom Menace as the setting for the childhood of Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker. Living as a slave in another spaceport, Mos Espa, Anakin competes in pod races, long-distance airborne races across the desert. The Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn meets Anakin after making an emergency landing on the planet, and helps him win his freedom. In Episode II: Attack of the Clones , an older Anakin returns to Tatooine to search for his mother, Shmi, who has been kidnapped by Tusken Raiders. The prequels depict a vast expanse of desert with jagged rock formations. Tatooine features once more in the final prequel film, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith ; in the closing scene, Obi-Wan Kenobi takes the infant Luke Skywalker and delivers him to his adoptive parents on the Tatooine moisture farm while he goes into hiding by residing in the Junland Wastelands which are in Tatooine's mountainous areas, thus explaining his first appearance in that location in Episode IV.


title: Tatooine

text: A small Imperial presence brings the planet an additional source of water, its most precious commodity. Though tasked to enforce the law, stormtroopers often overlook crime; an efficient black market also enables the procurement of illegal goods. Human settlers often become moisture farmers and live in subterranean dwellings in order to survive. Pipe systems distribute most of the harvested moisture to indoor crops supplying food for the farmers. Rare water sources such as springs in badlands (e.g. Beggar's Canyon) provide hydration for hermits and Tusken Raiders. The planet is dominated by the Hutts, a clan of gangsters and crime lords. Since Tatooine was beyond the reach of the Galactic Republic, the Hutts presided over the lawless planet with little outside interference. When the Galactic Empire subsumed the Old Republic, the new regime established only a token presence on Tatooine, which left Jabba the Hutt's reign unchallenged until his death during the events depicted in Return of the Jedi. In fact, during the reign of the Empire, some Tatooinians were skeptical that, should the Rebellion actually reach their planet, that the Empire would even bother to put up a fight to hold on to it. The planet gained notability in what is an unknown galaxy as the homeworld of Luke Skywalker.


title: Tatooine

text: The first settlement to be shown is Anchorhead where many human settlers on Tatooine pursue a difficult agrarian existence on remote "moisture farms" in the desert, collecting water vapor from the atmosphere to grow crops. Among these moisture farmers is the young hero of the film, Luke Skywalker, who resides with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru at the Lars Homestead. The region is dangerous, with kidnappings by Tusken Raiders being a major problem, as shown in Attack of the Clones , when Luke's father Anakin, lost his mother to Tusken Raiders. In the original film, Luke also mentions Tosche Station (or Toshi Station), which was a mechanical repair shop featured in scenes that were deleted from the final cut of the original 1977 film. In the deleted scenes, Luke meets his young friends and bids farewell to Biggs Darklighter, who is about to leave to the Imperial Academy. The Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi is also in self-imposed exile near that region, although his house is remote from other houses, as he is hiding under the alias Ben.


title: Élisabeth Cibot

text: Born into an artistic family, collectors of Italian Renaissance bronzes, Élisabeth Cibot has been surrounded by sculpture ever since her birth. She studied art form at France's major art school, the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA) under the direction of great sculptors such as Etienne Martin, Léopold Kretz and CESAR. From 1981 to 1983, she worked with painter Riccardo Licata at Centro Internazionale di Grafica in Venice. She was also guest artist at the Harvey Littleton Glass School at Spruce Pine, USA in 1983. Since then she has developed a strong interest in glass and mixed media furniture design. In parallel to her artistic creation, she studied art history, presenting her first thesis, on Roman Archeology, in 1984 which was followed by a DEA (Diploma in Specialist Studies) in the History of Techniques in 1990. In 1993, she returned to bronze statuary and monumental work. Since 1997 she lives and works near Paris. She claims "Art is a support for our questioning about the world and the meaning of life, a path of self-knowledge that makes us capable of opening up to others. On this road, I seek while building."


title: Impunity laws (Argentina)

text: Convened by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, human rights organizations and extra-parliamentary leftist parties, the march was supported by revolutionary Peronists and the General Confederation of Labor (Confederación General del Trabajo. CGT). Only cases of kidnapping of newborns, children of political prisoners destined to disappear, who were generally adopted by the military, who concealed their true biological identity, were outside the scope of the law. The Full Stop Law was enacted on December 24, 1986, by then President Raúl Alfonsín, and established the suspension of judicial proceedings against those accused of being criminally responsible for having committed the crime of forced disappearance of persons during the dictatorship. Months later it was complemented by the Due Obedience Law (23,521) also enacted by Alfonsín on June 4, 1987, and established a presumption iuris et de iure (i.e., which did not admit any legal proof to the contrary) that crimes committed by members of the Armed Forces were not punishable.


title: Impunity laws (Argentina)

text: In 2003, the Chamber of Deputies approved the nullity of the Due Obedience and Full Stop, the deputies of the Justicialist party and those of the center-left and left-wing parties voted for the nullity of the law. The legislators of the right-wing parties voted against, with the deputy of the Republican Force Ricardo Bussi at the head, accompanied by Union of the Democratic Centre, followers of Cavallo and followers of Ricardo López Murphy. Meanwhile, Radicalism, a former promoter of the Full Stop law, decided to abstain. With the approval of the constitutional rank for the UN Convention on the imprescriptibility of war crimes and crimes against humanity, ratified by then President Néstor Kirchner the day before. Meanwhile, in the Senate, the nullity, pushed by the Justicialist Party bloc and resisted by the Radical Civic Union, meant for the senators a clear alignment with President Néstor Kirchner, who was seeking this result to enable the trial of military personnel in Argentina and not abroad. Minutes before 2:00 am, the Chamber approved by 43 votes to 7 the nullity of the Due Obedience and Full Stop laws. The majority of the radicals voted against, Luis Falcó, Raúl Baglini and the head of the block Carlos Maestro were among those who made long speeches against repealing the laws.


title: Impunity laws (Argentina)

text: On May 3, 2017, the Supreme court issued a ruling admitting that criminals convicted of crimes against humanity may double compute the time they were detained before being convicted, starting from two years of pretrial detention. The sentence was handed down in the case "Bignone, Reynaldo Benito Antonio and others extraordinary appeal" and benefited Luis Muiña, guilty of five crimes against humanity and sentenced in 2011 to thirteen years in prison, after having been in pretrial detention since 2007. The Court considered Article 7 of Law No. 24,390, known as the Two for One Law, which was in force between 1994 and 2001, applicable to the case. The ruling was issued by three votes in favor (Elena Highton de Nolasco, Carlos Rosenkrantz and Horacio Rosatti) and two votes against (Ricardo Lorenzetti and Juan Carlos Maqueda). The sentence was questioned by human rights organizations and a broad spectrum of national and international organizations and personalities, who considered it an impunity act, associating it with the so-called impunity laws, passed during the governments of Raúl Alfonsín and Carlos Menem, triggering several criminal complaints against its authors and requests for impeachment.


title: Rory Maguire (soldier)

text: Alongside his older brother, Connor Maguire, he was a prime mover in the conspiracy which led to the outbreak of rebellion in Ireland on 23 October 1641. Maguire was tasked with securing County Fermanagh for the rebels, but was only partially successful, with several key fortresses in the county, including Enniskillen Castle, remaining under Protestant settler control. His attempt to murder Sir William Cole immediately prior to the rising failed, but the landowner Arthur Champion was killed in one of the first actions of the rebellion. In November 1641 he joined Felim O'Neill of Kinard at Newry to issue a proclamation in which the rebels claimed they were acting in defence of King Charles and Catholicism. In December 1641, the Fermanagh army under Maguire slaughtered many of the garrison and refugees in Tully Castle, apparently in retaliation for the killing of the garrison of a Maguire castle which had been taken by assault some days previously. He also destroyed Castle Archdale and its neighbouring settler village, and killed eight Protestants settlers at Monea castle. In early 1642, he was expelled from the Irish Parliament and in the summer of the same year he was made a colonel in Owen Roe O'Neill's army in Ulster.


title: Singularity (video game)

text: Destructoid praised the Xbox 360 version, stating that "Singularity is a game that manages to feel like its own thing despite being pieced together from previous FPS games, and if you want a great Summer shooter full of violent toys and silly super powers, then you won't get much better than this. Quite possibly the best new FPS of the year so far." IGN was not so enthusiastic, and said that while "the gunplay is solid and there are a few memorable set pieces", the game is "ultimately limited by a lack of imagination where a neat time-manipulation idea is handcuffed to a by-the-numbers first-person shooter". Some reviewers criticized the game for similarities to other games, such as BioShock. In Japan, where the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were ported and published by Square Enix on September 22, 2010, Famitsu gave both console versions each a score of 29 out of 40, while Famitsu Xbox 360 gave its Xbox 360 version a score of one eight, one seven, and two eights for a total of 31 out of 40.


title: Singularity (video game)

text: The A.V. Club gave the Xbox 360 version a B+ and said that "for a game released to little fanfare, one that's innovative only in an additive sense, Singularity is worth playing for its canny incorporation of the best ideas from the last decade of first-person shooters, and for providing a suitably chilling atmosphere in which to enjoy them." The Escapist similarly gave it four stars out of five and called it "a solid and entertaining effort that you'll probably enjoy more than you think you will." The Daily Telegraph gave it seven out of ten and said of the game, "With its varied combat, ridiculous story and outlandish weapons it's a fun and engaging title and it's a real pity that that Activision haven't given it the attention it deserves. If you're willing to overlook its shortcomings and enjoy old school running-and-gunning, Singularity is an immensely satisfying romp." Metro UK similarly gave it seven out of ten and said it was "A little undercooked, but this is still an enjoyable attempt to create a more cerebral shooter in the vein of BioShock and Half-Life 2." Edge gave the game a score of six out of ten and said, "For all Raven's efforts with temporal gimmicks, this is a game which is stuck in the FPS past – but, perversely, in its gun-metal and gore, in its most archaic respects, Raven proves it can just about stand the test of time."


title: David M. Gonzales

text: He was pinned down with his company. As enemy fire swept the area, making any movement extremely hazardous, a 500-pound bomb smashed into the company's perimeter, burying 5 men with its explosion. Pfc. Gonzales, without hesitation, seized an entrenching tool and under a hail of fire crawled 15 yards to his entombed comrades, where his commanding officer, who had also rushed forward, was beginning to dig the men out. Nearing his goal, he saw the officer struck and instantly killed by machinegun fire. Undismayed, he set to work swiftly and surely with his hands and the entrenching tool while enemy sniper and machinegun bullets struck all about him. He succeeded in digging one of the men out of the pile of rock and sand. To dig faster he stood up regardless of the greater danger from so exposing himself. He extricated a second man, and then another. As he completed the liberation of the third, he was hit and mortally wounded, but the comrades for whom he so gallantly gave his life were safely evacuated. Pfc. Gonzales' valiant and intrepid conduct exemplifies the highest tradition of the military service.


title: David M. Gonzales

text: In 1999, David Gonzales, Jr. and his wife Bea attended a ceremony for war heroes in Santa Ana, California. There, they discovered that the picture the Army was sending out to military ceremonies was not of his father, but of someone else. Gonzales Jr. wrote to the Army in Washington, D.C. to tell them of their mistake, but did not receive a response. He then wrote to Congressman Howard Berman, who in turn referred the letter to his aide Fred Flores. Flores, who was also from Pacoima, California, immediately called Pentagon officials and had them correct the mistake. However, Flores found out that the family had only been presented with a Medal of Honor and a duplicate Purple Heart — the original one was stolen – and he realized that Gonzales had earned many other medals. During a November 7, 2002, ceremony at Los Angeles Mission College, Congressman Berman presented David Gonzales, Jr. the following medals earned by his father: the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the World War II Victory Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two Bronze Service Stars, the Philippine Liberation Medal, the World War II Honorable Service Lapel Button, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Expert Rifle Badge. Finally, he presented the Gold Star Lapel Button, which identifies the next of kin of members of the military who lost their lives while engaged in action.


title: Renault Frégate

text: The sales performance of the car was regarded as disappointing. Some were content to blame the excessive number of teething troubles in the early models, the car's lack of power and, especially during the second half of the decade, the superior attractions of the Citroën offerings: but some commentators also draw attention to a very French political dimension. The manufacturer was nationalised directly after the war and the death in 1944 of Louis Renault took place under circumstances that were and have remained controversial. Many members of the (still relatively small) haute-bourgeoisie class able to afford such a car were simply more comfortable buying from a private manufacturer, especially after the Peugeot 403 was added to the Frégate's competitors. At the end of the decade Charles de Gaulle returned to power as president in 1958, and he was an unapologetically partisan fan of the Citroën DS, as newsreels of the period attest. Only a single long-wheelbase "presidential special" Renault Frégate exists.


title: Thea Queen

text: Thea begins the season in Corto Maltese receiving combat training from Malcolm, though she soon decides to return to Starling with Oliver. She also reopens her nightclub after Malcolm secretly buys the foundry from Queen Consolidated for her. She learns Oliver's secret identity as the Arrow when he shows her his hideout under the nightclub and begins to distrust Malcolm after learning that he already knows about Oliver's secret. She has a one-night stand with her club DJ, but he turns out to be a league of assassin spy. Thea is told that her father used her as a pawn against both Oliver and Ra's al Ghul by drugging and manipulating her into killing Sara Lance, she arranges for him to be captured by the League in retaliation. She reconciles with Roy but is nearly killed by Ra's and is brought back to life in the Lazarus Pit in exchange for Oliver joining the League of Assassins. Thea blames herself for letting her brother join the League. Roy breaks up with her when he leaves Starling City after faking his death, hoping that Thea can make a life of her own without him. He also leaves her his red costume which she wears to become a vigilante herself as his successor.


title: Thea Queen

text: Thea works with Oliver and his friends in the fight against the terrorist organization H.I.V.E. By Oliver's request, the team refers to her in the field as "Speedy" (over her insistence to be called "Red Arrow"). Despite the enjoyment of being a vigilante, Thea's behaviour has become increasingly volatile and reckless when in the field, which Oliver realizes is a side effect of being in the Lazarus Pit. In addition, Thea helps Laurel to bring Sara back from the death in hopes of making amends towards the Lance family. Because of this, Thea is telepathically linked with Sara after her resurrection upon the Lazarus Pit. It is also revealed that Thea's Lazarus Pit side effect is able to counterattack Damien Darhk's life force drain in addition relieving her bloodlust temporarily. Thea is dying as the result of the Pit's restorative effect waning. With Tatsu Yamashiro's help, Nyssa al Ghul gives Oliver the 'Lotus', an elixir used by the Crescent Order that permanently reverses the effects of the Lazarus Pit, saving her life. She helps Oliver to become a new candidate for mayor and meets a new boyfriend Alex Davis. Damien Darhk's wife, Ruvé Adams, eventually brainwashes her boyfriend into kidnapping her to a miniaturized H.I.V.E. facility built from stolen technology belonging to Oliver's ally Ray Palmer.


title: Thea Queen

text: When Oliver heads to Nanda Parbat to gain more information on the Monitor from Talia al Ghul, he reunites with Thea and fills her in on his impending death. Oliver, Thea, and Talia plan to retrieve an ancient textbook, but are ambushed by Athena and the League of Assassins. The trio narrowly manage to escape and eventually find the book; learning that the Monitor may actually be causing the oncoming crisis rather than preventing it. With Athena and her League allies now dead, Thea, as the new Ra's al Ghul, suggests to Talia that they should rebrand the League to become heroes instead of assassins. She then offers Talia the opportunity to build this new League alongside her. Talia initially refuses Thea's proposal due to her several betrayals but Thea dismisses those as mistakes, making Talia accept her offer. Following the events of the crisis, which saw Oliver sacrifice himself to stop the Anti-Monitor, a new reality is formed in which Thea accepts Roy's marriage proposal and Moira was not killed. When attending Oliver's funeral, Thea and Moira meet Oliver's other half-sister Emiko Adachi where they welcome her into the family.


title: Thea Queen

text: In February 2012, it was announced that Willa Holland was joining Arrow as Oliver Queen's "bratty younger sister Thea", beating Melissa Benoist for the part. Although Thea is an original creation for the series, Oliver's nickname for her and later hero persona ("Speedy"), her middle name of Dearden and the alias "Mia" she used during her time at Corto Maltese, are easter egg connections to one of Green Arrow's sidekicks in the comics, Mia Dearden. Thea was significantly absent during the fifth season, and showrunner Marc Guggenheim explained that Holland was only contracted to appear in 14 of the 23 episodes for the season. He later revealed that Holland signed a similar contract for the sixth season, but declined to reveal how many episodes of the season she was contracted to appear in. Holland left the series in 2018 after her contract expired, her final appearance being "The Thanatos Guild". She returned for a guest appearance on the 150th episode "Emerald Archer" in season seven, and as a recurring character for the eighth and final season.


title: Battle of Windsor

text: The schooner Ann was seized by the Patriots on January 8 and sailed to Gibraltar, Michigan. The governor of Michigan, Stevens T. Mason, along with a detachment of 200 militiamen, pursued them in two steamships. A hundred Canadian militia also followed in the steamer Alliance. Mason met with the Patriot leaders at Gibraltar, but the captured steamship Ann continued on to near Fort Malden on the Canadian shore. On January 9, the Patriots began shelling Malden and the town of Amherstburg from the Ann. The Canadian militia took up positions in the town while the Patriots moved 300 men onto the Canadian Bois Blanc Island opposite the town. The Canadian militia opened fire on the schooner when it tried to reach the island. The Canadians shot several of the ship crew and damaged the sails and rigging. The ship drifted until it ran aground, at which point the Canadian militia boarded it, encountered no resistance and captured the Patriot crew. The remaining Patriot forces quit Bois Blanc for the safety of the American side of the river. Several of the Patriots were wounded, a few killed, and the Canadians captured 300 muskets, two cannon, 10 kegs of gunpowder and various accoutrements.


title: Nauta

text: "Take all possible measures for the Cocama tribe to move to the Mouth of the Ucayali, at the point named Nauta, to establish a town there. This is because Chief Manuel Pacaya has offered to do so in this Subprefecture. Always consult the order of the population in its streets, houses, and the best position that can be beneficial for the conservation and propagation of the new founders and their descendants. Provide that the population is established in an apparent place with good entrances and exits. When it is necessary to be by the riverbank, bear in mind that the title of the formation of this new town is that of a separate government, subject to the spiritual jurisdiction of the parish of San Regis. Its name should be according to the will of the aforementioned chief who has committed to founding it. He will remain, for now, while obtaining jurisdiction over his associates in civil and domestic matters. Still, always subject to the Government of Misiones, which will proceed to issue the corresponding permit following this office, which will be delivered to Don Manuel Pacaya so that he can carry out the new settlement without any hindrance. You will try to assist him as much as possible and conducive to the same purpose. It is your duty to report to this Subprefecture within the term of the state in which the population and its inhabitants are found, by means of which the chief will be informed, within the same period granted to him, to resolve what is convenient. May God protect you. Damian Najar."


title: Mountain Lake Wilderness Cluster

text: The original route to Mountain Lake was a turnpike completed in 1859 that followed the present VA 700 to the lake. The turnpike continued past the lake, along present VA 613, on the western side of Salt Pond Mountain, crossed Potts Mountain dropping down into the Big Stony Creek watershed, continued to cross over Peters Mountain, passed by Salt Sulphur Springs, West Virginia and finally ended at Union, West Virginia. From there stage coaches took travelers to various springs in the area.: 20 Route 700 still serves as a good means to reach the lake. A tour through the cluster is obtained by continuing along Va 613 to the point where it begins to ascend Peters Mountain. At this point, the road, called the Salt Sulphur Turnpike, deteriorates as it ascends Peters Mountain. The present condition of the Peters Mountain section is probably similar to the days when it was traveled by stage. The road is now best used by high-clearance 4-wheel drive vehicles, hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders.


title: Materials with memory

text: The study of these materials arises from the pioneering articles of Ludwig Boltzmann and Vito Volterra, in which they sought an extension of the concept of an elastic material. The key assumption of their theory was that the local stress value at a time t depends upon the history of the local deformation up to t. In general, in materials with memory the local value of some constitutive quantity (stress, heat flux, electric current, polarization and magnetization, etc.) at a time t depends upon the history of the state variables (deformation, temperature, electric and magnetic fields, etc.). The hypothesis that the remote history of a variable has less influence than its values in the recent past, was stated in modern continuum mechanics as the fading memory principle by Bernard Coleman and Walter Noll. This assumption was implicit in the pioneer works: when restricted to cyclic hystories, it traces back to the closed cycle principle stated by Volterra, which leads to a constitutive relation of integral convolution type. In the linear case, this relation takes the form of a Volterra equation.


title: Ulysses and the Sirens (Draper)

text: Ulysses and the Sirens is a 1909 oil painting by Herbert James Draper measuring 69.25 in × 84 in (175.9 cm × 213.4 cm). It is held at the Ferens Art Gallery in Kingston upon Hull, England. The gallery purchased the painting from Draper in 1910 for £600. Draper also painted a reduced replica that is housed at the Leeds Art Gallery. The subject of the painting is an episode in the epic poem Odyssey by Homer in which Ulysses is tormented by the voices of Sirens, although there are only two Sirens in Homer's poem and they stay in a meadow. The painting depicts Ulysses tied to the mast and forcibly attendant to the Sirens' seductions. Although the Sirens were depicted in ancient Greek art as scary, ugly creatures, Draper maintains the spirit but not the content of the story by transferring the Sirens' seductiveness from their song to a visible form, depicting the Sirens as beautiful mermaids who invade Ulysses' ship. The Sirens are nude or nearly so and their tails disappear as they board the ship. Draper's conflation of Sirens with mermaids and his sexualization of these figures are consistent with other artwork of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Norwegian social theorist Jon Elster used the name of Draper's painting as the title for his 1979 book about rationality and precommitment.


title: Karl Gustav von Baggovut

text: Even so, in 1792, when the Polish–Russian War of 1792 broke out, Baggehufwudt rejoined the army as a volunteer. Very quickly his courage enabled him to rejoin the Russian army officially at his old rank of first-major, in his old regiment, the Siberian Grenadier Regiment. After the outbreak of the Kościuszko Uprising, during the so-called Warsaw Uprising, Baggovut took part in the intense city fights against the Polish garrison of the city and the populace of Warsaw. As the commanding officer of the 2nd battalion of Siberian Grenadier Regiment he was to secure the area of the Saxon Square and Mirów in case of an armed encounter with Polish troops, but his forces were forced to flee the city during the first hours of the battle. He then convinced General Ivan Novitski to organise a relief force and re-enter the city later that day, but this attempt was also defeated by a much smaller Polish force armed with a single gun, and Baggovut was forced to flee the city the second time when his soldiers declined to follow his orders.


title: Frostburg Mining Journal

text: It was founded by J. R. Grove and J. Benson Oder; the latter had previously served in the Confederate army under Stonewall Jackson. On February 25, 1872, C. H. Walker took over for Grove until Oder purchased his interest and assumed sole proprietorship of the paper in 1873. He continued his role as editor until the paper was sold and renamed in 1913, even while being elected to Maryland's House of Delegates in 1877. After the newspaper's publishing company failed in 1913, Peter L. Livengood bought its printing plant and subscription list and commenced publishing that September under the new name The Frostburg Spirit, which was considered the successor to the Mining Journal. Livengood announced in 1915 that he had sold the Spirit to Lawrence Hitchens, with J. Benson Oder returning as editor, and that the publication would resume its former name of Frostburg Mining Journal. He published an announcement in the January 28, 1915, issue of the Spirit stating, "My only reason for selling The Spirit can be summed up in two words—poor health." The second iteration of the Mining Journal would only run for a few short years before stopping publication in June 1917.


title: Caregiver

text: Home care providers (e.g. spouses, children of elderly parents and parents) themselves contribute a huge sum in the national economy. In most parts, the economic contribution or quantification of home care providers is not accounted for. However, along with the unseen and unaccounted for economic contribution, the work toll and the loss of opportunity and the physical and mental burnout is also substantial. Sometimes to provide for sick individuals proves to be both a huge physical and mental strain. In the case of professional caregivers, it has been well researched and documented in last few decades that this mental strain is much higher than those providing care for family members. Care provided for family members - especially partners who are intellectually disabled or have non-physical disorders, the degree of mental strain are high to the point of the caregivers themselves at risk of being psychologically damaged due to the high demanding situations both of physical toll complicated with non-professional work environment (lack of institutional care-giving equipment – both in terms of work-safety equipment and care providing equipment), safety concerns and behavioral issue .


title: Nissan GT-R variants

text: Due to larger turbochargers from the GT3 race car, revised ignition timing and an upgraded fuel pump, the power output was increased to 600 PS (441 kW; 592 hp) at 6,800 rpm and 652 N⋅m (481 lb⋅ft) of torque at 3,200–5,800 rpm. The revised front end featured a larger front splitter and enhanced brake cooling ducts. The larger diffuser, carbon-fibre wing and cooling ducts in the rear completes the enhanced aero package. It contributed 100 kg (220 lb) more downforce at 300 km/h (186 mph) compared to the standard version, without altering the original drag coefficient. The Nismo tuned suspension system featured stiffer springs and re-valved Bilstein adaptive dampers. Revisions were made to the geometry up front to optimize wheel positioning under high g-force, while the rear gets a stiffer and hollow 17.3 mm (0.68 in) stabilizer bar. Nismo-spec Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT 600 DSST CTT run-flat tyres provided more grip, along with lighter Rays 20-inch forged alloys wheels. The standard aluminium boot lid, bonnet and bumpers were replaced with full carbon-fibre panels. Additional spot welds increased chassis rigidity by 8 percent. Including a titanium exhaust system with additional heatsinks, the weight of the car was reduced to 1,730 kg (3,814 lb). Recaro bucket seats, instrument binnacle and steering wheel covered with Alcantara synthetic suede can be found in the interior. The active noise control in the Bose stereo system was removed, and red colour accents can be found in the gauge meter.


title: Nissan GT-R variants

text: Nissan unveiled the updated GT-R Nismo at the 2019 New York Auto Show, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the GT-R brand. The car featured a revised "R mode" gear setting, with quicker gear shifts. Turbochargers were upgraded to improve acceleration. Lighter wheels with revised Dunlop tyres and a re-tuned suspension setup improved grip. GT3-inspired fender vents improved downforce. The car featured a carbon-fibre roof, front fenders and carbon-ceramic brakes. It used the largest brake rotors to be ever fitted to a Japanese production car. In an interview with Motor Trend, chief product specialist, Hiroshi Tamura said the acceleration from 0 to 80 km/h (0 to 50 mph) was quicker by 2.4 m (8 ft), and the Nürburgring Nordschleife lap time was 5 seconds quicker compared to the previous model year, making a potential lap time of 7:03 minutes due to a 5 percent improvement in cornering force and braking performance. Overall weight of the car was reduced by 25 kg (55 lb), to 1,750 kg (3,858 lb). According to Nissan, the upgraded version was 2.5 seconds quicker than the previous model year around their test track.


title: Nissan GT-R variants

text: The N-Attack Package is a special post-production performance package, which consisted of the performance upgrades used to set the lap times at the Nürburgring. It featured a re-programmed ECU for enhanced power distribution. Changes were made to stiffer suspension springs and shock absorbers, anti-roll bars, front brake pads, front and rear limited-slip differentials for improved handling. It provided more downforce using carbon-fibre front fenders with aerodynamic flics, larger front splitter and rear wing with two height and 12 angle adjustment options. Carbon-fibre intercooler pipes, Recaro full-carbon bucket seats and a carbon-fibre bulkhead replacing the back seats reduced weight by 64 kg (141 lb) over the standard GT-R Nismo. It also contained competition-only components, the bonnet gurney and six-point harness seat belt which were offered as optional parts and could not be used on public roads. The package was offered for the 2017 model year GT-R Nismo as well. The upgrades were offered in two trim levels, A kit and B kit. The A kit included all of these, but the B kit only featured the suspension setup, brake system, stabilizer bars, carbon-fibre rear wing, front fenders and splitter, both ESM and TCM, and a driver only bucket seat. In Japan, installation was handled by the Nismo Omori factory. In North America and the United Kingdom, the conversion was handled by Stillen and JR Motorsports respectively.


title: Nissan GT-R variants

text: Nissan introduced the T-spec variant, inspired by the words "Trend Maker" and "Traction Master" used to represent the first GT-R concept back in 2001. This model is a high-performance variant with exclusive upgrades and changes over the standard GT-R, similar to the GT-R Track Edition. It was offered with the iconic Millennium Jade and Midnight Purple exterior colours, used exclusively in the Skyline GT-R R34. Exclusive gold and black engine cover, T-spec badging, carbon-fibre rear spoiler and Rays wheels finished in bronze colour completes the cosmetic changes. Performance upgrades, such as carbon ceramic brakes, air ducts, wider front fenders, increased wheel-rim width, exclusive carbon-fibre roof (boot lid for the Track Edition T-spec) and suspension weight reduction below the springs provided smoother and improved handling, and reduced weight as well. The interior featured a plenty of leather and Alcantara suede finished in Mori Green. The T-spec trim was offered for both the standard and GT-R Track Edition trims. Orders were open from 15 to 29 September 2021. Deliveries began in the second half of October along with the GT-R Nismo Special Edition in 2021 . The GT-R T-Spec was re-introduced in 2023, for the 2024 model year, replacing the GT-R Track Edition for the North American market.


title: Nissan GT-R variants

text: Nissan introduced the GT-R SpecV ("V" stands for "Victory") at the 2009 Tokyo Auto Salon. A high-performance version with significant performance upgrades over the standard car. It used carbon fibre rear spoiler, front grille, brake ducts, Recaro bucket seats, and had no rear seats. Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes, lightweight aluminium wheels and a titanium exhaust system was used to further reduce its weight by 60 kg (132 lb), to be rated at 1,680 kilograms (3,704 lb) – making it the lightest GT-R ever built. Its stylish exterior featured an exclusive body colour, the LAC Black Opal matching the blacked-out wheels, which were wrapped up with Bridgestone Potenza RE070R street tyres with stiffer side walls, providing more grip. Although it featured no improvements in engine power, an over boost button on the steering wheel was added, which could over boost the engine using its larger turbochargers, for up to 80 seconds and increase mid-range torque to 609 N⋅m (449 lb⋅ft) at 3,500 to 5,000 rpm. Its fixed Bilstein dampers were 20 percent stiffer than the standard car.


title: Nissan GT-R variants

text: In order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the GT-R brand, Nissan announced the high-performance, limited production GT-R50. Built in collaboration with Italdesign, as the former celebrating its 50th anniversary as well in 2018. The car was limited to a total of 50 units. It borrowed its powertrain from the GT-R Nismo, with a higher-rated power out put of 720 PS (530 kW; 710 hp) and 780 N⋅m (575 lb⋅ft) of torque. Achieved by large diameter turbochargers, heavy-duty crankshaft, pistons, connecting rods, modified intake system and an upgraded exhaust system. A recalibrated gearbox, reinforced differential, Bilstein continuously variable dampers and carbon-ceramic brakes were added to further improve performance. The car was featured 21-inch carbon-fibre wheels and Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres. Construction of the bodywork was mainly made out of aluminium and carbon-fibre. Nissan delayed production of the GT-R50 until 2020 due to the car needing slight modifications to make it road legal.


title: Nissan GT-R variants

text: The GT-R Nismo Special Edition (known as the "GT-R Nismo SV" in Japan and Australia), is a limited production, built-to-order variant offered in 2021, for the 2022 model year. It was originally limited to 300 units worldwide. The car featured a Nismo-exclusive Stealth Gray body colour. Its clear-coated carbon-fibre bonnet, derived from the Skyline GT-R R34 V-Spec N1 models, reduced 100g of weight. The Rays aluminium wheels with red accents, matches existing accents around the body. It was the first GT-R variant to adorn the new Nissan logo, introduced on the Nissan Ariya. The car used high-precision weight-balanced engine components, such as the piston rings, connecting rods, flywheel, crank pulley and valve springs dialed in with tighter tolerances. Delivering snappier revs and quicker turbo spooling. The typical Takumi certification plate, placed on the engine was replaced with an exclusive red colour. By August 6, The car was sold out and Nissan concluded accepting orders. It was re-introduced in 2023 but only in Japan.


title: Nissan GT-R variants

text: Various one-off editions of the GT-R were built throughout the years. In 2012, "Usain Bolt" one-off GT-R, named after the athlete Usain Bolt, was built and auctioned off to raise funds for charity. A display model was held in Tokyo, Japan. In 2016, a heavily modified GT-R Nismo set a Guinness World Record for the Fastest Drift, with a trap speed of 304.96 km/h at a 30-degree angle drift. It was driven by Masato Kawabata at the Fujairah International Airport. Three attempts were undertaken by the team of Nissan Middle East, to set the record. The GT-R Predzilla was exclusively built and donated to the Nashville Predators Foundation. The car was based on a standard 2016 GT-R, and it was the main attraction in the Predators Foundation fundraising auction. It was custom-painted in Preds' official colours and graphics. The one-off Tomica 50th Anniversary GT-R, was built to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Tomica. Based on the 2016 GT-R, it was wrapped up with the iconic red and black "Tomica Skyline Turbo Super Silhouette" livery, symbolises the relationship between Tomica and Nissan. On April 15, 2021, Nissan unveiled a one-off special version of the GT-R Nismo, wrapped in a gold body colour, built in collaboration with McDonald's in Japan. A toy model GT-R Nismo was offered with the "Tomica Happy Set" meal. It was on sale for a limited time in Japan, began on April 30.


title: Nissan GT-R variants

text: The GT-R/C was built to celebrate the release of the Gran Turismo Sport video game, and also to mark 20 years of Nissan's involvement in the Gran Turismo gaming series. It was extensively modified to be driven entirely by a DualShock 4 controller. It was controlled by the Nismo athlete and GT Academy winner, Jann Mardenborough around in a cockpit of a helicopter at the Silverstone Circuit. Mardenborough's fastest lap time was 1:17.47 minutes, averaging 122 km/h and reached a top speed of 211 km/h. The GT-R/C was fitted with four robots to operate the steering, transmission, brakes, and throttle. Six computers mounted in the rear of the car to update the controls up to 100 times per second. The unmodified Dual-Shock 4 connects to a micro-computer that interprets the joystick and button signals and transmits them to its onboard systems. The wireless operation had a primary control range of one kilometre. To help Mardenborough judge the vehicle's speed through the corners, a Racelogic Vbox Motorsport sensor was installed to relay speed data to an LCD display in the helicopter cockpit. The car was fitted with two independent safety systems operating on different radio frequencies in order to allow two additional operators to apply full ABS braking and cut the engine in the event of the main operator losing control of the vehicle. In 2018, the GT-R/C was used in a tour of primary and secondary schools in the United Kingdom to promote future careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) subjects.


title: List of current places of worship in Wealden

text: Historic England or its predecessor English Heritage have awarded listed status to more than 60 current and former church buildings in Wealden. A building is defined as "listed" when it is placed on a statutory register of buildings of "special architectural or historic interest" in accordance with the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, a Government department, is responsible for this; English Heritage, a non-departmental public body, acts as an agency of the department to administer the process and advise the department on relevant issues. There are three grades of listing status. Grade I, the highest, is defined as being of "exceptional interest"; Grade II* is used for "particularly important buildings of more than special interest"; and Grade II, the lowest, is used for buildings of "special interest". As of February 2001, there were 47 Grade I-listed buildings, 106 with Grade II* status and 2,020 Grade II-listed buildings in Wealden.


text: The oldest surviving church features in the district are from the Saxon era, found in a string of churches on the edges of the South Downs or in the flat plains around the River Cuckmere: at Arlington, East Dean, Friston and Jevington. Norman work survives in the churches at Alciston, Berwick, Hellingly, Herstmonceux, Isfield, Litlington, Little Horsted, Rotherfield (whose original church was founded in 792), Westdean, Westham and Wilmington. A rare Norman-era piscina survives at East Hoathly in an otherwise largely Victorian church, and at Hartfield a mostly late medieval church retains Norman masonry in one wall. Several Norman features survive at Maresfield but were moved around during Victorian restoration. Wadhurst's church was added to throughout the medieval era, but its Norman tower survives; and part of the Norman chancel survives at Pevensey in an otherwise mostly 13th-century church. Churches largely or wholly of that century—some of which replaced earlier buildings—can be found at Buxted, Chalvington, Chiddingly, Fletching (although Pevnser describes its tower as Norman), Folkington, Framfield (rebuilt in the 16th century after a fire), Lullington and Waldron. Features from the 13th century also survive at Hooe, Laughton, Ripe, Warbleton, Wartling and Willingdon, which were rebuilt or extended later in the medieval era, and at Ninfield in a church subjected to extensive 19th-century rebuilding. At Alfriston, the original Anglo-Saxon church was replaced in the 1360s by the vast cruciform "Cathedral of the Downs", whose flintwork is "some of the best in England". Also from that century is the church at Old Heathfield. Mayfield's ancient church (founded by Dunstan, the saint to which it is dedicated) is mostly 15th-century. English Anglican churches wholly of the 17th and 18th centuries are rare, but Withyham and Crowborough are represented in the district.


text: The 19th century was characterised by "an unprecedented upsurge" in the provision of new Anglican churches and the expansion of existing buildings, prompted by an increase in the competing attractions of Nonconformist denominations, a "quickening of religious feeling" in general and the huge increase in the population of towns. In some cases vast rural parishes were subdivided; in others, chapels of ease were provided in outlying rural areas distant from their parish church. Victorian restoration of old churches took place across the district and was particularly extensive at Hailsham, Selmeston and Uckfield, where the buildings are now essentially 19th-century. The era of large-scale churchbuilding (as opposed to restoration) in Wealden began in the late Georgian era with the opening of a new church in Frant, built between 1819 and 1822. The year 1836, just before Victoria's reign started, was significant: William Moseley was responsible for new churches in Forest Row and Hadlow Down that year ; and Danehill, a main-road village in Fletching parish, also received its first chapel of ease in 1836. The present church of 1892 is by Bodley and Garner. It is the Victorian era that is most associated with the increase in churchbuilding activity, though. A church in the outlying part of Withyham parish close to the growing town of Crowborough opened in 1839. Four years later, a church was completed at Upper Dicker in Arlington parish; and prolific architect Richard Cromwell Carpenter's church at Nutley dates from 1845. The churches at Eridge and Tidebrook date from 1852 and 1856 respectively. James Piers St Aubyn designed a chapel of ease at Cross-in-Hand, the main settlement in Waldron parish, in 1863–64. A former school was converted into a chapel of ease in Mark Cross, part of Rotherfield parish, in 1873, although it was soon granted its own parish. A year later, work began on a church for the rapidly growing village of Polegate, and a church was built to serve the village of Horam in 1890. Endowments by rich benefactors allowed churches to be built at High Hurstwood and Hammerwood . The wealthy Vicar of Brighton Arthur Wagner, who had a house in Buxted and established a convent there, also paid for the construction of a second church for the village in 1885–86. Fairwarp's church, designed in 1881 by Major Rohde Hawkins, was substantially extended in the 20th century, funded by the Eckstein baronets. Churches continued to be built throughout the 20th century. Examples include Blackham , Jarvis Brook , Colemans Hatch , Heathfield town , Bodle Street Green , Stone Cross , Alderbrook , Broad Oak , Lower Willingdon and Pevensey Bay . In the east of Uckfield a tin tabernacle erected in 1904 was replaced by a combined church and sheltered housing development in 1971.


text: Much of the southern and central part of present-day Wealden was covered by the vast Roman Catholic parish of the Our Lady of Ransom Church, Eastbourne. The strength of Protestant Nonconformism in the East Sussex countryside led to anti-Catholic feeling locally, and it was difficult to find suitable premises outside Eastbourne to celebrate Mass for the small number of Catholics in the area. Eastbourne's parish priest founded a Mass centre in Hailsham in 1917, and numbers of worshippers grew to the extent that the rented premises (the hay-loft of a brewery's stables) were swapped for a purpose-built church in 1922. The present St Wilfrid's Church dates from 2015. A church was also built in Polegate in 1938; St George's Church is now part of a joint parish with St Wilfrid's. The area around Uckfield has supported two Catholic churches since the late 19th century, in the town itself and at Heron's Ghyll; they are also joined as one parish. St John the Evangelist Church at Heron's Ghyll dates from 1896–97, but a Catholic mission was founded there 30 years earlier by poet Coventry Patmore. Frederick Walters, its architect, also designed Uckfield's first Catholic church; it was replaced by the present distinctive concrete-framed Church of Our Lady Immaculate and St Philip Neri, completed in 1958. Crowborough's church opened in 1911 and was enlarged in 1922. In Mayfield, an oratory dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury in the convent school at the Old Palace was used for public Masses from 1932, although it was not formally registered for worship until 1946 and for marriages the following year. A permanent church of the same dedication was completed in 1957 to the design of prolific local architect Henry Bingham Towner. Catholic worship in the Wadhurst area was focused on the chapel at The Mount Novitiate House of Fathers of Charity, originally founded by Rosminians, but they built the present Church of the Sacred Heart in 1929 for use by the general public. St Catherine's Church was built in 1953 to serve Heathfield, but it has been demolished and local Catholics now worship at the chapel of a Benedictine convent in nearby Cross-in-Hand. Churches were also opened in Forest Row in 1958 and both Pevensey Bay and Rotherfield in 1963 .


text: The Methodist Statistical Returns published in 1947 recorded the existence of 17 Methodist chapels, all of Wesleyan origin, in present-day Wealden. Chapels at Blacknest, Gamelands and Hailsham were part of the Eastbourne Circuit; the St Leonards and Bexhill Circuit looked after chapels at Lower Ninfield (Russell's Green) and Upper Ninfield; chapels at Boarshead, Crowborough, Groombridge, Hartfield and Rotherfield were in the Tunbridge Wells Circuit; and the Sussex Mission was responsible for the chapels at Blackboys, Buxted, Cross-in-Hand, East Hoathly, Laughton, Ridgewood, East Sussex and Uckfield. Those at Buxted, Cross-in-Hand, Gamelands, Hailsham and Upper Ninfield are still used for Methodist worship, and Methodist congregations still worship in Crowborough and Uckfield but share the United Reformed Church buildings in both towns. Another joint United Reformed and Methodist church exists in Lower Willingdon: originally built for Wesleyan Methodists, it was closed at the time of the Statistical Returns survey. Only one separate United Reformed church exists in the district, at Polegate . A Congregational chapel built in 1811 in Herstmonceux declined to join the United Reformed Church when that denomination was formed in 1972 (incorporating most English Congregational chapels) and instead is part of the independent Congregational Federation; and the present Hailsham Free Church (now Evangelical) was originally registered for Congregationalists.


text: Churches with a Calvinistic character, whether independent or aligned with the doctrines of the Strict and Particular Baptists, have thrived since the 18th century. (The term "Strict Baptist" to describe a distinctively Calvinist interpretation of Baptist view developed in the 19th century "with the purpose of organising a range of Calvinistic Baptist causes within a denominational identity".) Sussex, and the east of the county in particular, is "particularly well endowed with wayside chapels" supporting these principles: such buildings are typically "modest in scale, neat ... restrained", with a "quiet and unassuming elegance". The 800-capacity Zoar Strict Baptist Chapel at Lower Dicker, built in 1837, is the most prominent example; it was founded by members of nearby Golden Cross Chapel , who had met locally for small-scale meetings of a Calvinist character since the late 18th century. Both chapels are still in use. Thomas Dicker, a member of a long-established local family, founded Five Ash Down Independent Chapel in 1784; his son was involved with the Strict Baptist churches at Uckfield and Hailsham. A member of Zoar left to take up the pastorate at Ebenezer Chapel at Bodle Street Green and changing its doctrines to Strict Baptist. Many Strict Baptist chapels in the district have closed, but others still in use—often for congregations established long before they were built—include the chapels at Blackboys , Broad Oak , Jarvis Brook , Mayfield , Pick Hill and Rotherfield .


text: All Anglican churches in Wealden are part of the Diocese of Chichester, whose cathedral is at Chichester in West Sussex, and most are in the Archdeaconry of Lewes and Hastings—one of three subdivisions which make up the next highest level of administration. In turn, this archdeaconry is divided into eight deaneries. The churches at Hooe and Ninfield are in the Rural Deanery of Battle and Bexhill. Those at Bodle Street Green, Broad Oak, Cross-in-Hand, Hailsham, Hawkswood, Heathfield, Hellingly, Herstmonceux, Horam, Old Heathfield, Upper Dicker, Waldron, Warbleton and Wartling are part of the Rural Deanery of Dallington. East Dean, Friston, Jevington, Pevensey, Pevensey Bay, Polegate, Stone Cross, Westham and Willingdon's churches are in the Eastbourne Rural Deanery. The churches at Alciston, Alfriston, Arlington, Berwick, Chalvington, Folkington, Laughton, Litlington, Lullington, Ripe, Selmeston, West Dean and Wilmington are in the Rural Deanery of Lewes and Seaford. Those at Blackham, Coleman's Hatch, Crowborough (three churches), Eridge Green, Five Ashes, Frant, Groombridge, Hartfield, Jarvis Brook, Mark Cross, Mayfield, Rotherfield, Tidebrook, Wadhurst and Withyham are in Rotherfield Rural Deanery. Buxted's two churches and those at Chelwood Gate, Chiddingly, Danehill, East Hoathly, Fairwarp, Fletching, Framfield, Hadlow Down, High Hurstwood, Isfield, Little Horsted, Maresfield, Nutley and Uckfield are part of the Rural Deanery of Uckfield. Three churches in the north of the district—at Forest Row, Hammerwood and Holtye Common (now redundant)—are part of the Rural Deanery of East Grinstead in the Archdeaconry of Horsham.


title: Colley Wobbles Power Station

text: The soils in the Mbhashe catchment are naturally prone to erosion, which has been exacerbated by overgrazing, When it was commissioned in 1984 the lake behind the dam had a design storage of nine million cubic metres. By 1989 this had dropped to 7.5 million cubic metres and within three years of being commissioned it had silted up by 25%, and by 2011 it had dropped to 0.5 million cubic metres. As well as reducing the storage capacity the silt particles entering the tunnel and passing through increase wear and tear on the turbines. As a result, it is necessary to drain the reservoir at least twice a year to scour the silt. The power station operates with a 70% utilisation, of which 100% is in the wet summer season, and 30% during the dry winter season (with the rest in regulating voltage). Since so much storage capacity has been lost due to siltation, the power station normally operates around-the-clock during summer, but in winter there is sufficient storage to allow two of the three generating units to operate over the morning and evening peak periods.


title: Western High-Speed Diameter

text: The Western High-Speed Diameter (ЗСД, ZSD, ‹See Tfd›Russian: Западный скоростной диаметр) is a toll motorway in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The first section of the road open to traffic was an eight-lane motorway connecting the southern section of the A118 beltway with two junctions at the Kirovsky and Moskovsky Districts, respectively. Other sections of the highway were under construction and eventually formed a corridor through the western districts of St. Petersburg to cross the northern portion of the A118 beltway in Yuntolovo and to meet the E-18/M-10 route at the Beloostrov junction. A new 4-km-long section of the highway was slated to open in late 2011. It connects the northern terminus of the first open segment with the industrial western part of the Kirovsky district which hosts the port of St. Petersburg. A 25-km-long section running from Beloostrov to the Primorsky District was scheduled to open in late 2012. The overall length of the Western High-Speed Diameter highway was projected at 47 km (29 mi) upon the scheduled completion in 2013 - 2014. A discount is given during the overnight hours (11 pm - 7 am) and for the vehicles equipped with a transponder. WHSD cost 210 billion rubles. In December, 2016 the whole motorway was open for traffic.


title: Horizon (video game series)

text: The story is set in a post-apocalyptic United States, between the states of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, California, and Nevada in the 31st century. Humans live in scattered, primitive tribes with varying levels of technological development. Their technologically advanced predecessors are remembered as the "Old Ones". Large robotic creatures, known as "machines", dominate the Earth. For the most part, they peacefully coexist with humans, who occasionally hunt them for parts. A phenomenon known as the "Derangement" has caused machines to become more aggressive towards humans, and larger and deadlier machines have begun to appear. There are four tribes that are prominently featured: the Nora, the Banuk, the Carja, and the Oseram. The Nora are fierce hunter-gatherers who live in the mountains and worship nature as the "All-Mother". The Carja are desert-dwelling city builders who worship the Sun. The Banuk consists of wandering clans made up of hunters and shamans who live in snowy mountains and worship the machines and their "songs". The Oseram are tinkerers and salvagers known for their metalworking, brewing, and talent as warriors.


title: Nervosa

text: The album and included booklet tell the story of a woman named Nervosa who begins her story by taking a job at The 120 Days Of Sodom (named from the controversial novel of the same name by Marquis de Sade) which is a combination strip club and slaughterhouse. The 120 Days Of Sodom has two floors, a killing floor and a dance floor above it. The dance floor features a transparent bottom so that visitors to the strip club can see through to the killing floor where animals are being slaughtered. Like her sister Anorexia, Nervosa's story takes place within two texts. The first section of each chapter tells Nervosa's story in a more stylized, fairy tale-esque and metaphorical manner. Within this text, Nervosa spends the story laboring to dig a hole as deeply as possible, which parallels her quest to reach the depths of human depravity. The subsequent text in each chapter is narrated by Nervosa herself, and takes place in real time in the actual world. One evening while giving a private dance, Nervosa is assaulted, beaten and raped. She later learns she has become pregnant as a result of the rape and seeks an unsafe abortion. At this point in the story, the real time narrative ceases and the remaining chapters are carried exclusively through metaphorical means. Nervosa, broken and dying within her deep hole she has dug, wakes in a sunlit field and finds that she has been carried to safety by a small lamb who died in the process of rescuing her. The lamb however, resurrects and explains that he had given his life to save Nervosa simply to fulfill his lifelong desire to be with her.


title: Paul-Émile Pissarro

text: By the 1920s Paul-Émile Pissarro was established as a neo-impressionist painter. In this period he shared a studio in Paris with the artist Kees van Dongen. With him and the painters Maurice de Vlaminck, André Dunoyer de Segonzac and Raoul Dufy he travelled and painted in summer, spending winter in Paris. In 1924 he bought a house in Lyons-la-Forêt, a small village near Éragny, whose garden (designed by Monet) and surroundings offered him subjects for paintings, in particular the pastures, meadows and hills through which the river Epte peacefully flows. In the late 1920s and early 1930s Paul-Émile finally found his person style and reached the summit of his artistic development. In 1930, on the recommendation of Raoul Dufy, he travelled for the first time in the Suisse Normande where the river Orne, runs through the valley between Clécy and Le Vey. The blue hills, green meadows and peaceful waters of the river provided Pissarro with a new environment for his artistic work. He set up a studio in a houseboat – a converted rowing boat in his garden on the banks for the Orne – in which he could concentrate on his favourite subject, reflections in still waters. In this period he abandoned unmixed colours and deployed a palette with many mixed colours until finally he used brushes less and less and palette knives more and more.


title: Deewani

text: Parth and Meera becomes friends, breaking her mother's rules. Meanwhile, Meera learns that Payal had an illicit affair with a man named Tarun and she confronts Payal about this but she taunts her. At the celebration at Parth's house, Meera spots Payal again and she tries to confront her again but she and her friends lock her in their family's bakery where Parth is and he misunderstands her and confronts Meera. Where Meera confesses Payal's truth to Parth to his surprise, but the entire family except Meera's parents blames Parth and Meera as Chhaya blames Parth because she believes Parth had kidnapped her. Then they confine Meera, but she escapes. After learning about Payal's truth, Parth goes to her house during the holi celebration where Parth chases Payal and he confronts her. Payal calls him a ruffian and reveals how she used him by loving Tarun as she doesn't love him. Due to their altercation, Parth's brother, Garv accidentally pushes Payal, killing her. To save the family and avoid Garv's arrest, Parth takes the blame and is sentenced to seven years imprisonment. Meera is surprised to hear this as she believes that Parth is innocent and she tries to meet him, but her parents prevent this. Parth and they emotionally blackmails Meera. She promises to prove Parth's innocence to everyone.


title: Steven Laffoley

text: Laffoley has been lauded for his signature cinematic retelling of historical events by interweaving himself into the story as a writer/detective character. Critic Thomas Hodd from the Telegraph-Journal wrote that Laffoley injects "first person, post-modern narrative as he recounts his investigative process and offers reflections on the facts as they reveal themselves." Another critic from The Coast applauded him for his mastery in weaving together "the main story" and "contemporaneous scenes" in his books that make for "intriguing context". Laffoley often chooses stories lesser known to the public, predominantly Canadian in subject, and almost always set around the turn of the 20th century. When asked about the inspiration behind his book Shadowboxing, he said he was fascinated with the fact that George Dixon, who seemed so influential in the boxing and wider communities of Canada and the United States, had not yet had a biography written. According to a review by fellow writer Jenna Conter, Laffoley is the "Stephen King of Halifax" because his unique writing style gives his works a cinematic quality, both vivid and imaginative.


title: Atlas Publications

text: The company achieved a major success with its 1948 series Captain Atom drawn by Arthur Mather and written largely by Jack Bellew under the pen name "John Welles". Captain Atom (no relation to the later American superhero Captain Atom) was one of the few original Australian comic heroes to have his own merchandising and fan club. The comic was originally published entirely in colour, but Atlas followed their chief rival, K.G. Murray, and switched to black and white two years later when the cost of colour printing became prohibitive. Despite the switch to black and white, the Captain Atom series remained successful, running to 64 issues over the next six years. The majority of Atlas's comics publications were reprints of British or American comic strips or Australian versions of them, such as Sergeant Pat of the Radio Patrol (based on two characters of the American strip Radio Patrol) and Brenda Starr with illustrations by Yaroslav Horak, who like Arthur Mather and Andrea Bresciani became a regular artist for Atlas. However, Atlas was best known for its home-grown Australian comics—in addition to Captain Atom, it published Keith Chatto's The Lone Wolf and Terry Trowell's Grey Domino.


title: Atlas Publications

text: In 1955, Atlas launched its science fiction magazine, Science Fiction Monthly, which ran for 18 issues and ended in 1957. Although it largely published stories reprinted from foreign magazines, including three by A. Bertram Chandler, Science Fiction Monthly also published some original stories such Wynne Whiteford's "Ancestral Home" and articles on the science fiction genre by Forrest J Ackerman. In the mid-1950s Warnecke and Bellew also bought out Frank Packer's interest in the women's magazine Family Circle and began publishing it under the Atlas imprint. Atlas's other publications included Miss Young Romance comics, Heart-Throb photo novels, novelettes of Western stories, a racing guide, and the men's magazines Zowie, Fun and Frolic. In 1954 all three men's magazines were banned from sale in Queensland by the Queensland Literature Board of Review for featuring sex and nudity. Through its associated imprint, Western & United Publishing, the company published reprints of books aimed at teenage girls such as its 1952 How To Get Along With Boys.


title: Trams in Belgrade

text: In 1894, the first strike occurred, which halted trams for several days. Employees had only 2 days off in a month and the bosses wanted to abolish that, too. In the end, the company raised wages for 10 dinars per month. Citizens often made official complaints to the city regarding trams. Main complaints were: that trams were getting late already at the start; general unreliability of the organized transportation; deliberate reducing of number of the cars by the Society, below the number of trams stipulated by the contract with the city; frequent stopping of the trams due to the voltage and ensuing fighting with the conductors which were supposed to refund the passengers in these cases but were refusing to do so; inadequacy of the "summer cars" and "winter cars". According to the archived complaints, a major problem was height of the kids. Children lower than a meter (3 feet 3.5 inches) weren't paying the ticket. The conductors had a special stick to measure the children, but the parents often claimed that their children were lower than the stick would show.


title: Trams in Belgrade

text: In the 2000s, funding for mass transit increased as the country slowly recovered. A number of cars arrived as a donation from Switzerland and, specifically, the city of Basel. In 2004, some 150 trams were in service. Widespread reconstruction was announced approaching the end of the decade. Between 2005 and 2010 tracks were completely reconstructed and modernised in following streets: Treći bulevar, Milentija Popovića, Savska, Nemanjina, Bulevar kralja Aleksandra (from Vukov spomenik to Cvetkova pijaca), Požeška, Pariska, Bulevar vojvode Mišića, Tadeuša Košćuškog. Also, tracks on Autokomanda are reconstructed as well as Old Sava Bridge (this bridge is used mostly by trams on lines connecting two parts of Belgrade). Vojvode Stepe, in the Voždovac neighboroughood, was also under reconstruction, including changing tracks and moving them to the street center. The reconstruction was completed in August 2015. During the mayoral tenure of Dragan Đilas, modern Spanish CAF trams were purchased, but they weren't fit for all the tracks.


title: Trams in Belgrade

text: In February 2020, the GSP announced new plans regarding the future of the tram grid. It included vast expansion, mostly extensions of the already existing routes: from Block 45 to Blocks 70 & 71 and Ledine (Vinogradska Street), from Banovo Brdo to Vidikovac, from Bogoslovija to Karaburma and Rospi Ćuprija (via Marijane Gregoran Street), from Konjarnik to Mali Mokri Lug, from New Belgrade to Tošin Bunar (via both Milutina Milankovića Street and Zoran Đinđić Boulevard), to Bežanijska Kosa (from both Tošin Bunar and Jurija Gagarina Street). It also includes dormant idea of Line No. 1 from Kalemegdan to Slavija Square, with connection from Terazije to Tašmajdan. New tram depots are planned in Ada Huja, Vidikovac and Galovica. However, despite the planned expansion, purchase of new trams wasn't planned. City planned to buy 158 various vehicles for public transportation, but only three tram trailer cars, while 10 trams and 4 trailers were planned for decommission. An average age of trams in 2020 was 34 years and the last serious purchase was back in 2010 when CAF trams arrived. The total planned expansion of the grid is 41.3 kilometres (25.7 mi), of which 31 kilometres (19 mi) is to be built by 2033.


title: Trams in Belgrade

text: In July 2019 works on the complete refurbishment of the Sava Square and the plateau in front of the Belgrade Main railway station began as part of the Belgrade Waterfront project. The officials claimed the changes in the traffic during the works will be minimal. However, the public transportation grid was changed already at the start of the works, while in January 2020 it was almost completely disrupted. This caused massive traffic jams, so the traffic was partially rerouted to the newly built, partially operational streets within Belgrade Waterfront (Woodrow Wilson Boulevard, Nikolay Kravtsov Street) but the clogging just spread here, too. On 29 February 2020 the square was completely shut down for traffic which led to the unprecedented disturbance in the tram lines grid: out of 11 lines, only one functioned properly (13), one used changed route (11), one was formed as sort of the "Frankenstein" line, serving parts of several other line's routes (12L), while the remaining 8 were completely shut down. This caused widespread traffic jams over the city and crowds of commuters.


title: Trams in Belgrade

text: From the New Belgrade side, the connection will be at the Đorđa Stanojevića Street, continuing over the embankment and the northern access road to the center of the bridge. On Čukarica side, it will connect to the existing route at the border of Banovo Brdo and Rakovica. Places for the future additional tram stations, right at the ending points of the bridge, are already allocated. Among the other additional works, the already existing elevated track across the Topčiderka river, will be removed but the pillars will be preserved and used for the new track bridge. Some preparatory works began in March 2018 and later that month city signed a contract with "Energoprojekt holding", which won the bidding. Construction should last for 420 days. Some citizens' associations suggested that the new tram lines from the new bridge should extend to Zemun, reestablishing the tram connection with Belgrade which was severed in 1941. That way, Zemun would be directly connected by tram to New Belgrade and the southern parts of Belgrade across the Sava.


title: Trams in Belgrade

text: In November 2018, Vesić, now a deputy mayor, confirmed that the tram line No. 1 will be conducted through downtown instead of electric buses. He announced that the laying of tracks will began soon and that the entire work, which would include the narrowing of the central city street, Kralja Milana, will be finished in two years. However, by 2020, nothing had been done, and even during the prolonged reconstruction of the Republic Square, where the route goes, the tracks were not laid. In the new plan for the future several years from February 2020, the line was kept as the project. Also in February 2020 city announced the reconstruction of the starting section of the proposed line, the Vasina Street, for 2021, but that it is unlikely the line will be introduced then. If introduced later, it would include the new digging of the 2020-2021 reconstructed Republic Square and Vasina Street. At this time, the line was described as the circular one, without the electric grid but with the "internal source" and the city claimed they contacted Siemens to construct the original streetcars as they were at the 1900s, which Siemens accepted.


title: Trams in Belgrade

text: Following the counting of the commuters in October and November 2014, in July 2015 city government announced that, when it comes to the trams, somehow it turned out that the biggest problem is the southwest section of the route of Dvojka. It was announced that the route will be shortened for one block, the one that reaches the Vukov Spomenik. Instead, it will pass next to the Faculty of Law. Slaven Tica, professor at the Faculty of Transport Engineering, who was involved in the counting and subsequent changes in the lines of public transportation, said that "Dvojka will be improved as it showed signs of certain illnesses in its functioning...the basic problem of Dvojka is the sharp decline in the number of passengers in the zone of Vukov Spomenik". He also added that all tram lines will be changed to some degree. It was also stated that Dvojka slows down the trams No. 3, 6, 7 and 12 and obstructs the Slavija-Dorćol connection. City government also reported that the citizens were interviewed and that they voted for the line to be shortened.


title: Trams in Belgrade

text: In the summer of 2017 a reconstruction of the Ruzveltova street began. As it is the street where Dvojka reaches Vukov Spomenik and turns, it is expected that when the reconstruction of that section starts, Dvojka will be temporarily shortened to the proposed route from 2015. Suspicions already appeared that the change will actually be final. Amidst the public debate, the historic route remained intact, and the tram resumed its circle in October 2017, though with some delay because of the prolonged works. However, due to the works in the Karađorđeva Street in the western section of the route, the line was shortened in November 2018 and temporarily renamed 2L. When the simultaneous reconstruction of the streets in the eastern section began in June 2019, the line, with few others, was shut completely. The works in the east were to be finished in December 2019 and in the west by January 2020, but both have been extended so the line will be closed at least until August 2020. The deadline was then extended to January and 22 February 2021, but the lines were not restored. The line was restored on 8 March 2021, after 633 days, instead of 180 days as originally planned.


title: Menhir of Patalou

text: The site is close to the road that leads from Nisa to the Póvoa dam. Work was carried out in the summer of 2015 and indications were that the base had moved a little from the site where it was originally erected. The work began with the general cleaning of the surrounding land, followed by a geo-radar study of the area. This was followed by excavation near the monolith's base. Small fragments of pottery were discovered initially but it proved impossible to identify their original shape. Deeper down in the implantation area the researchers identified a piece of stone, measuring 32 cm long, 14 cm wide and 10 cm thick, which they concluded had been used to dig the base into which the menhir was implanted. In the base a small piece of charred wood was also identified and radiocarbon dating put that at between 6290 and 6185 BP. Also in the base were identified five small granite blocks that were probably placed there to support the menhir while it was being erected. The archaeologists concluded that the menhir fell during prehistory, given the difference in the state of conservation of the exposed and unexposed sides. It was also concluded that the menhir had been transported to the site, rather than carved from a stone found in the area.


title: Péter Magyar

text: On 20 March 2024, Magyar testified for several hours at the Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office regarding the high-profile corruption case involving bribes President of the Court Bailiffs György Schadl paid to former Secretary of State for Justice Pál Völner. Shortly after his testimony, he announced in front of the press that he had proof in the form of audio recordings that Antal Rogán or his associates had manipulated documents in the case in order to hide evidence that would have incriminated Rogán. In a Facebook post a few days later, he promised to make the recordings public at 9 AM on 26 March 2024, the date of his next appointment to testify and present the evidence to the prosecutors. He stated that once this happened, Chief Prosecutor Péter Polt as well as the entire Orbán Government would have no choice but to resign. On 26 March 2024, Magyar released the recording to the public. It contains a two-minute discussion between himself and his ex-wife Judit Varga about the Schadl-Völner corruption case. Varga's comments implicate Cabinet Minister Antal Rogán in tampering with evidence by having his and/or his associates' names removed from documents associated with the case. He has turned the recording over to prosecutors.