Shehzad Tanweer

Shehzad Tanweer (15 December 1982 – 7 July 2005) was one of four Al Qaeda terrorists who detonated explosives in three trains on the London Underground and one bus in central London during the 7 July 2005 London bombings. 56 people were killed and over 700 wounded in the attacks.
Tanweer was named by Scotland Yard as the man who detonated a bomb while travelling eastbound on the Circle Line between Liverpool Street and Aldgate, killing both himself and seven of the 56 killed in the attacks. The other three men were identified as Hasib Hussain, Germaine Lindsay, and Mohammad Sidique Khan. All four homegrown terrorists were killed in the explosions.
Biography.
Tanweer was born in St Luke's maternity hospital, Bradford to Parveen Akhtar, whose husband, Mohammed Mumtaz Tanweer, was originally from the Faisalabad region of Pakistan. In 1984, the family moved to the Beeston area of Leeds, then to Colwyn Road (also in Beeston) when Tanweer was seven. Known as Kaka (little one) by his family, he attended Wortley High School, where he was described as politically moderate by his friends, who knew him as an outstanding sportsman, excelling at cricket, triple jump, long-distance running, football, and ju-jitsu. He then attended Leeds Metropolitan University, where he studied sports science before leaving for Pakistan in 2004 to attend a course in Islamic studies.
At the time of his death, Tanweer is believed to have worked occasionally in his father's fish and chip shop. His father had previously owned a curry takeaway and a butcher's shop and was respected locally as a prominent businessman.
Tanweer attended several mosques including Bengali and Stratford Street mosque in Beeston, where two of the other London bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan and Hasib Hussain, are also believed to have worshipped. He also frequented the Hamara Youth Access Point, a drop-in centre for teens, alleged to have been used as a recruitment centre by Khan.
Police have confirmed that Khan and Tanweer went on a two-hour rafting trip together on 4 June 2005 at the National Whitewater Centre in Snowdonia National Park in Wales. Forensic evidence found in rucksacks after the abortive 21 July London attacks has linked those attacks to a second group of young men of Asian appearance who booked a rafting trip there on the same day as Tanweer and Khan
Relatives in Pakistan have said that Tanweer had boasted of wanting to die as a "holy warrior" and that he was enamoured with Osama bin Laden. They noted that incidents such as the Qur'an desecration controversy of 2005 had "always been in his mind". Tanweer's body was buried at the shrine of a local Islamic saint in Tanweer's ancestral village in Samundari, Pakistan on 27 October 2005.
Trip to Pakistan.
After completing the hajj earlier in the year, Tanweer travelled to Pakistan for a course in Islamic studies at a madrasa. The Pakistani government has released footage of Tanweer arriving at Karachi International Airport with Mohammad Sidique Khan, believed to be the ringleader of the London bombers, on Turkish Airlines Flight TK 1056 on 19 November 2004. Tanweer and Khan stayed in Pakistan until 8 February, then flew back to London together. The youngest of the London cell, Hasib Hussain, arrived in Karachi from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 15 July 2004 on Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight SV 714.
Intelligence sources say the school was located in Muridke, Pakistan, 20 miles outside Lahore, named Jamia Manzoorul Islam and is believed to be connected with Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, a banned militant Islamist group. The madrasa has denied any connection with Tanweer.
It is believed there was a meeting in Faisalabad between Tanweer and Osama Nazir, a suspected member of Jaish-e-Mohammed, who has since been arrested for his role in a grenade attack on a church in Islamabad that killed five. Investigators also believe that Tanweer may have met Zeeshan Siddiqui, who is associated with a number of militant groups and who was arrested in Pakistan two months ago.
London bombing.
A few days before the bombing, Tanweer rented a red Nissan Micra from a local car-rental agency, and at around the same time, dyed his hair and eyebrows light brown, according to friends; this was due to the strong bleaching effect given off by the bombs' ingredients .
On 7 July, Tanweer, Khan, Hussain, and Lindsay are believed to have picked up the bombs from a house in the Burley area of Leeds, hiding them in large rucksacks, then to have driven to Luton, Bedfordshire in the red Nissan, which he left parked in Luton railway station car park.
In Luton, the men boarded the 07.48 Thameslink train, arriving at King's Cross in London at 08.20 hours, where they went their separate ways and detonated their bombs.
London Underground Ltd has confirmed that the three underground bombs exploded within 60 seconds of each other at 8:50 a.m.
Tanweer travelled eastbound on the Circle line from Kings Cross, detonating his bomb on train number 204 between Liverpool Street and Aldgate stations, also killing at least seven people. He was identified from body parts found in the carriage he blew up.
After the bombings, police found 16 other bombs in Tanweer's car, several of them so-called "initiators" for the rucksack bombs: plastic bottles turned into nail bombs, containing a detonator attached to an electrical cable. Felt-roofing nails were fixed to the outside of the bottles with their tips pointing outwards, apparently intended to cause maximum soft-tissue damage. The devices would then have had cakes of high explosive packed around them.
Video statement.
On 6 July 2006, a video statement by Tanweer was broadcast by Al-Jazeera. In the video, which included remarks by al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, Tanweer said:
"What have you witnessed now is only the beginning of a string of attacks that will continue and become stronger until you pull your forces out of Afghanistan and Iraq. And until you stop your financial and military support to America and Israel." Tanweer argued that the non-Muslims of Britain deserve such attacks because they voted for a government which "continues to oppress our mothers, children, brothers and sisters in Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and Chechnya"
Tanweer's statement was therefore clearer in making this link with British foreign policy than that of Mohammad Sidique Khan, the presumed lead bomber. The video has also served to solidify speculation that both Khan and Tanweer had contact with Ayman Al-Zawahiri and other senior figures in the Al-Qaeda organisation while in Dubai.
The video also featured a segment by Adam Yahiye Gadahn.
Assets.
Tanweer left behind £121,000, but left no will. A spokesman for the probate department at the High Court said: “The net amount figure of £121,000 is the realisable figure which is what is left after taxes and debts on the estate have been deducted."
Girlfriend.
Tanweer's religious credentials as a serious Islamic extremist were cast in a questionable light when, in 2011, evidence emerged that he had a 'secret girlfriend' with whom he had been intimately involved until the very end, for a period of three years beginning in 2002. This evidence seems to cast Tanweer in a somewhat contradictory light, as sex outside of marriage is deeply frowned upon in even the most liberal Islamic circles, being assigned the label of a in traditional Islamic Jurisprudence."


Megalopolis, Greece

Megalopoli () is a town in the southwestern part of the regional unit of Arcadia, southern Greece. It is located in the same site as ancient Megalopolis (). When it was founded in 371 BC, it was the first large urbanization in rustic Arcadia. Its theater had a capacity of 20,000 visitors, making it one of the largest ancient Greek theaters.
Today Megalopoli has several schools, shops, churches, hotels and other services. The population of Megalopoli in 2011 was 5,779 residents.
Geography.
Megalopoli is situated in a wide valley, surrounded by mountains: the Taygetus to the south, the Mainalo to the north, the Tsemperou to the southeast and the Lykaion to the west. Its elevation is 430 m above sea level. The river Alfeios flows through this valley, coming from the east and flowing to the north, passing south and west of the town. Its tributary Elissonas passes north of the town. The large lignite deposits around Megalopoli are being exploited by open-pit mining. The Megalopoli Power Plant, 3 km northwest of the town centre, has produced electricity from this lignite since 1969.
The A7 motorway connects Megalopoli with Kalamata and Tripoli, replacing the Greek National Road 7. The Greek National Road 7 connects Megalopoli with Pyrgos via Karytaina and Andritsaina. The railway from Corinth to Kalamata passes 4 km south of the town. Megalopoli is 24 km southwest of Tripoli, 41 km north of Kalamata, 45 km northwest of Sparti and 68 km southeast of Pyrgos.
History.
Megalopolis is known for its ancient ruins situated northwest of the town centre, on both banks of the river Elisson. The ruins include an ancient theatre that used to hold up to 20,000 people and was tall. Other landmarks include the Thersileon with 67 pillars and a temple (). Herodotus reported the ancient belief that the Megalopolis area was a battleground of the Titanomachy. The foundation for this apparently was the presence of lignite deposits, which are prone to catch fire in summer and can smoulder and scorch the earth for weeks (Zeus is supposed to have slain the Titans with lightning bolts; see also below), coupled with the presence of fossil bones of prehistoric elephants and rhinoceroses. Herodotus informs his readers that the bones of "Titans" were exhibited in various places in the surrounding area at least since the 5th century BC.
The city was founded through a synodical of twenty to forty neighbouring communities between 371 and 368 BC by the Arcadian League in an attempt to form a political counterweight to Sparta. Megalopolis was a member of the Arcadian League after its foundation until the dissolution of the federation in 362 BC. In 331 BC, Megalopolis was invaded by the Spartans and there was a battle with the Macedonians that came to Megalopolis' help. In 317 BC at the start of the Second War of the Diadochi, Polyperchon, the new Regent of the Macedonian Empire, besieged Megalopolis which had sided with his enemy Cassander. The siege failed. In the 270s BC, Aristodamos the Good managed to take control over the city as a tyrant backed by Macedon. In 235 BC, the second tyrant of the city, Lydiades, gave up control over the polis and the city became a member of the Achaean League. In 222 BC, the Spartan king Cleomenes III burnt down the city but it was rebuilt in the years after the destruction. As a member of the Achaean League, Megalopolis had a profound influence on the federal politics and it was the hometown of several notable Achaean figures such as Philopoemen, Lykortas and Polybius. The city remained populated under the Romans but by the 6th century it was almost completely abandoned. During the Byzantine era, and later also the Ottoman, the town on the same place was called Sináno (Σινάνο). It was renamed Megalopoli after the Greek War of Independence.
Megalopoli retained a rural character until the early 1960s, when with the help of Megalopoli-born Prof. Leonidas Zervas (then Minister of Industry) the Greek Public Power Corporation started mining lignite in the Megalopoli Mine and the construction of the Megalopoli Power Plant followed soon. The town was struck by the massive Arcadia earthquake of 5 April 1965, in which 17 inhabitabts were killed and 80% of residences were demolished or rendered uninhabitable.
Municipality.
The municipality Megalopoli was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following three former municipalities, that became municipal units:
The municipality has an area of 722.629 km2, the municipal unit 331.498 km2.
Subdivisions.
The municipal unit of Megalopoli is subdivided into the following communities (villages within the community in brackets):
Province.
The province of Megalopoli () was one of the provinces of the Messenia Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipality Megalopoli, except the municipal unit Gortyna. It was abolished in 2006.


Morton M. McCarver

"General" Morton Matthew McCarver (January 14, 1807 – April 17, 1875) was an American politician and pioneer in the West. A native of Kentucky, he helped found cities in Iowa, Oregon, and Washington while also involved in the early government of California. He served in the Provisional Legislature of Oregon, including as the first speaker of that body, and also fought in the Rogue River Wars.
Early years.
Morton Matthew McCarver was born on January 14, 1807, to Joseph and Betsy McCarver (née Morton) in Lexington, Kentucky. His father died during Morton's youth, and the younger McCarver left home at the age of 14. McCarver headed south and spent a few years in Texas and Louisiana before returning to Kentucky. He moved to Illinois in 1829 where he married Marry Ann Jennings on May 6, 1830, at Monmouth, Illinois, and the couple had two children before her death in 1846. In 1832, he fought with the Illinois militia in the Black Hawk War.
After moving to what would become Iowa, he helped found Burlington, Iowa, in 1833 and 1834. He had established a ferry across the Mississippi River in 1833, but his settlement was twice burned out as a trespasser on land then owned by Native Americans. Once the Black Hawk Purchase was complete in June 1833 he rebuilt his cabin in what was then the Iowa Territory. While in Iowa he served as commissary general of Iowa, earning him the nickname of general. In 1843, he joined the Great Migration and traveled the Oregon Trail west to the Oregon Country, arriving at the Willamette Valley in November of that year.
In the West.
Once in Oregon, McCarver settled along the Columbia River in what is now Portland, Oregon. He made a land claim and founded Linnton in 1843, which is now part of Portland. On June 18, 1844, he was selected as the speaker of the Legislative Committee, the forerunner to the Oregon House of Representatives. In 1845, he was again elected to the Provisional Legislature of Oregon from Tuality District and was selected as the speaker of the then renamed House of Representatives, the first to hold that position. The next year he started an orchard near Oregon City after buying the land claim next to that city. In 1848, he married Julia Backalow, and they had five children; Thomas J., Jennie, Mary A., Naomi, Julia, Elizabeth, and Dollie.
McCarver left Oregon for the California Gold Rush in August 1848, but left his family in Oregon City to hold the land claim. In 1849, he claims to have helped to found Sacramento, where he constructed housing to rent out. McCarver was then elected to a legislature designed to govern the city on April 30, 1849. He was also elected to serve at the Constitutional Convention of 1849 that was held in Monterey, as one of eight people representing the Sacramento district.
Also in 1849, along with some others, he purchased three passenger ships, including the "Ocean Bird". The "Ocean Bird" was then put into service between San Francisco Bay and Milwaukie, Oregon. Due to flooding and fires, McCarver decided to return to Oregon aboard the "Ocean Bird", bringing with him a house that had been cut in Boston.
This Aladdin House was then constructed in 1849 on his farm near Oregon City. His farm became known as the Locust Farm. During the Rogue River Wars of 1855 to 1856 McCarver served as commissary general and set up his base at Roseburg in Southern Oregon. McCarver also participated in a gold rush in Idaho in 1862, setting up a company in what became Idaho City.
In March 1868, McCarver then moved north and helped found Tacoma, Washington. He first went to Olympia, capital of the then Washington Territory, and procured a map to study the area and consider the most likely terminus of the then planned transcontinental railroad. On April 1, 1868, McCarver arrived at Commencement Bay, a likely railroad terminus on Puget Sound due to its proximity to Snoqualmie Pass, and then purchased the land of Job Carr. He continued buying up available land along Commencement Bay in anticipation of the railroad. McCarver also convinced Hanson, Ackerson & Company to build a sawmill in the area while he platted a town site and sold-off lots. McCarver wanted to call the city Commencement City, but after a suggestion by Philip Ritz of the Northern Pacific Railroad, McCarver changed his mind. Anthony Carr, Job's son, had already filed a plat for "Tacoma" on November 30, 1869. McCarver chose to call his neighboring plat "Tacoma City" when he filed his plat map on December 3, 1869. The word "Tacoma" may be the purported Native American name for nearby Mount Rainier. Alternatively, it may have been used by Native Americans in the Puget Sound region to describe all snow-topped peaks in the region, and was not specific to Mount Rainier.
Tacoma City was official recognized by Pierce County on May 21, 1874 and incorporated by the territorial legislature on November 12, 1875.
Death and legacy.
Morton Matthew McCarver died on April 17, 1875, at the age of 68. He was buried at Tacoma Cemetery, the first adult buried at that cemetery. McCarver had also selected that site for a cemetery not long before he died. In November 1926, a Tacoma school was named in his honor. His former home in Oregon City was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and a Liberty Ship built during World War II was also named in his honor.
In 1877, McCarver's daughter Virginia married the newspaper proprietor and historian , who later wrote a biography, "McCarver and Tacoma" (1906).


Die-in

A die-in, sometimes known as a lie-in, is a form of protest in which participants simulate being dead. Die-ins are actions that have been used by a variety of protest groups on topics such as animal rights, anti-war, against traffic violence, human rights, AIDS, gun control, and environmental issues. Often, protestors occupy an area for a short time instead of being forced to leave by the police.
In the simplest form of a die-in, protesters simply lie down on the ground and pretend to be dead, sometimes covering themselves with signs or banners. The point of a die-in is to disrupt the flow of people on a street or sidewalk to grab the attention of passers-by.
In more complex forms, fake blood or blood-stained bandages are sometimes used, as well as simulated death throes and writhing from the protesters in an attempt to make the deaths appear more realistic. In other cases, protesters have surrounded the "bodies" in chalk outlines reminiscent of the troped outlines around murder victims. This has been done as an attempt to symbolize that the organization being protested against has "murdered" people. Sometimes, part of the protesting group makes speeches about what is being protested while the rest of the group lies on the ground.
Examples.
On 22 April 2006, thousands of protesters lay in the Francisco de Miranda avenue in Caracas, Venezuela, to protest against crime and insecurity during Hugo Chávez's government in a protest by Movimiento Estudiantil called "Acuéstate por la vida" (Lie Down for Life).
On September 15, 2007, several thousand protested the Iraq war at the Capitol at Washington D.C. Hundreds "sprawled on the ground" on the Capitol lawn at the die-in. Over 190 were arrested, including ten veterans of the Iraq war.
The die-in has been used to protest police brutality in the United States. It has been used by organizers in Ferguson, Missouri to protest the St. Louis Police Department's handling of Michael Brown's fatal shooting case in 2014, in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area to protest the killing of Eric Garner, and in Chicago to protest the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
On December 15, 2018, more than 100 members of the Cambridge division of the international social movement Extinction Rebellion staged a die-in in the Cambridge city centre, to call upon the official county and city authority declaration of a climate emergency.
On June 5, 2020, a die-in was staged outside Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Chief Adviser Dominic Cummings' house in London to protest the Dominic Cummings scandal. Many people had called for Cummings to resign from his role of the PM's chief adviser due to this, but Cummings did not resign.


Dmitry Shakhovskoy

Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Shakhovskoy (1861, Tsarskoye Selo – 1939, Moscow) was a Russian liberal politician.
Life.
Active participant in zemstvo congresses, 1904–1905; one of the organizers of the Union of Liberation.
One of the founders and permanent member of the Central Committee of the Constitutional Democratic Party. Member and secretary of the Cadet group in the First State Duma.
In May–July 1917 he was Minister of Social Welfare in the Russian Provisional Government.
After the Bolshevik revolution he was active in Soviet cooperative institutions, 1930. He was arrested by the NKVD and executed on 15 April 1939.


Serbian National Renewal

The Serbian National Renewal (; abbr. СНО or SNO) was a nationalist political party in Serbia that existed in the first half of the 1990s.
It was established on 6 January 1990, by Mirko Jović and Vuk Drašković. Drašković left the party soon after to form Serbian Renewal Movement with Vojislav Šešelj. In 1992, the party already had around 30,000 registered members in Serbia and Montenegro. Besides Serbia and Montenegro, SNO also operated in Republika Srpska and Republic of Serbian Krajina. In 1996, the party was merged into Radovan Karadžić's Serb Democratic Party (SDS). The party has been linked to the Dušan Silni paramilitary group and some of its members have been found guilty of war crimes related to the Lovas massacre.


2009 G20 Pittsburgh summit

The 2009 G20 Pittsburgh Summit was the third meeting of the G20 heads of state/heads of government to discuss financial markets and the world economy.
The G20 is the premier forum for discussing, planning and monitoring international economic
cooperation.
The summit was held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States on September 24–25, 2009. Announced shortly after the April 2009 G20 London summit, U.S. President Barack Obama volunteered to host this summit, initially planning to hold it in New York City and coordinating it with the opening of the United Nations General Assembly. However, due to coordination issues, on May 28, 2009, the Obama Administration announced a change of venue to Pittsburgh in order to highlight the city's economic recovery following the collapse of its manufacturing sector in the latter half of the 20th century. In response to the Global credit crisis, a G20 summit in one year was proposed shortly after the London summit in April 2009.
Amongst the issues discussed was a proposal to radically reform the International Monetary Fund (IMF). French President Nicolas Sarkozy also suggested that there would be an evaluation of measures already taken.
The primary venue of the summit was the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, which was at one point the largest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified building in the world. A working dinner for world leaders was held at the Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, chosen to highlight its environmentally friendly features including an earth-sheltered welcome center and a Tropical Forest Conservatory described as the world’s most energy efficient. Other venues used around the city include The Andy Warhol Museum, the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and Rosemont, the working farm of Teresa Heinz Kerry.
Preparations.
In the weeks leading up to the conference, many measures were taken to prepare Pittsburgh for the conference. Many streets in Downtown Pittsburgh were re-paved and a pre-season National Hockey League hockey game for the Pittsburgh Penguins at nearby Mellon Arena was rescheduled. During the week of the G20, many streets were closed, and traffic patterns were adjusted. Many public schools, universities and nearby businesses were closed, canceling classes or working remotely for the duration of the conference. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl also attempted to alleviate problems by meeting beforehand with some of the groups expected to protest during the event.
Security.
Thousands of protesters were expected during the week of the Summit, which was classified as a National Special Security Event. Security was coordinated by the United States Secret Service, working in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Police. It is estimated that 4,000 police officers were requested, and the city only had 900 police officers at the time of the event. The Pennsylvania State Police committed more than 1,000 officers for the downtown event, including SWAT, helicopter, mounted, undercover, bicycle and motorcycle officers. Allegheny County had 75 officers specifically trained by and embedded into the Pittsburgh Police Bureau for the event since June. New York City and Baltimore also committed some officers, as well as Pittsburgh suburbs. Some officers from Chicago traveled to assist, taking vacation days from their department. All officers, regardless of department, were under the command of the Secret Service for the event days.
Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters, armored Humvees and crews of U.S. Army soldiers, as well as 10 25-foot boats with M240 machine guns from the Coast Guard, were on hand in the event of large-scale violent protests or a terrorist attack.
Attendance.
G20 leaders began gathering in Pittsburgh on September 24, 2009. On the evening of September 24, the leaders attended a reception at Phipps Conservatory in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
The Summit proper began on the morning of September 25 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, downtown.
Core participants.
The following participants of the Pittsburgh summit represented the core members of the G20, which includes 19 countries and the European Union which is represented by its two governing bodies, the European Council and the European Commission.
Protests.
After numerous denials of permits for groups such as Code Pink and Three Rivers Climate Convergence to assemble peaceful demonstrations, the ACLU of Pennsylvania successfully sued to force the city of Pittsburgh to allow demonstrations around the G20 Summit.
Participants in the protests surrounding the summit included peace, environmental, labor and social justice organizations.
The first of the alternate events was a Peoples' Summit, involving an all-day session of speakers, panels and workshops on September 19, the Saturday before the G20 Summit, drawing about 500 participants, and continuing on Monday and Tuesday evenings, each drawing between 100 and 200. The Peoples' Summit included outright opponents of the G20 (such as radical historian Howard Zinn, who addressed the gathering via special video) as well as some who hoped to influence it in what they considered to be "progressive" directions. The Pittsburgh City Council proclaimed "that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby commend the Peoples’ Summit, all associated institutions and organizations, and the citizen volunteers who worked tirelessly to make it a success. Their outstanding efforts are certain to create a greater understanding about the challenges we face, the solutions we should explore and the social dialogue that is necessary for the realization of a better world. Furthermore, the citizens of our region are encouraged to seize the opportunity to participate in this significant and historic event." The Peoples’ Summit itself advanced some of the themes that surfaced in protests when the G20 Summit actually met: "We envision a world in which basic rights—freedom of expression, freedom of thought and religion, freedom from fear, and freedom from want—are enjoyed by all people. This is not the reality of our world today. Yet, in our diversity and plurality of orientations, inspired by mutual respect and the spirit of solidarity, we share the conviction that another world is possible."
This was followed by a number of tent cities, demonstrations and other summits. There was also an alternative conference on Tuesday called the "Freedom Conference 2009," stressing conservative grassroots solutions and free-market approaches.
At around 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, September 23, Greenpeace activists hung a banner, warning of the dangers of increased CO2 emissions, from the deck of the West End Bridge facing downtown Pittsburgh over the Ohio River. While traffic was held up for a period, all eight activists were placed under arrest after surrendering peacefully.
On Thursday, September 24, the Pittsburgh G20 Resistance Project held a march and a day of direct action at Arsenal Park in the city's Lawrenceville neighborhood. Police fired pepper spray at a crowd of an estimated 500 demonstrators to disperse a protest march a few hours before the start of the Summit.
Police also used a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) to remove protesters from an area after warning them several times to disperse. This was believed by city officials to be the first time that an LRAD had been used to disperse protesters within the United States. Since then, LRADs have been used to peacefully disperse crowds on several occasions.
Later in the evening, another small crowd gathered in Schenley Plaza, as world leaders met that evening at the Phipps Conservatory nearby for a working dinner. Hundreds of police swarmed and encircled the peaceful crowd, which spilled over onto Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard near the Cathedral of Learning. An estimated 300 riot police lined the sidewalk behind the William Pitt Union, with 200 more officers blocking Forbes Avenue nearby to contain the protesters. However, the crowd quickly grew to about 500 as nearby University of Pittsburgh students—evident by shouts of "Let's Go Pitt!" heard—curious about the sirens and police presence, joined the crowd. Police shot several rounds of pepper spray into the crowd. Nearby businesses along Forbes Avenue and Craig Street were also vandalized after the police attempted to break up the demonstration. The University of Pittsburgh alerted students via text message that, "Conditions may be deteriorating in Oakland. Students are advised to remain near their residences."
The Pittsburgh G20 Resistance Project called for "Everywhere Protests" at various locations and businesses (mostly banks and large corporations) throughout the city Friday morning (September 25). These were not very large scale protests. Some protesters wore black and twirled hula hoops at Forbes Avenue and Atwood Street in the Oakland neighborhood. There was also a small gathering of protesters at a Starbucks Coffee on Centre Avenue in the city's East Liberty neighborhood as well.
Yet Friday also saw massive actions involving a broad coalition headed by the pacifist-oriented Thomas Merton Center. As one speaker emphasized at the action’s start, said, "I remind you, this is a peaceful, permitted march. We're confronting G20 policies, not police." This "Peoples' March" (linked in the minds of many with issues raised in the earlier Peoples' Summit) was punctuated by three rallies (following the route of the march, in Oakland, in downtown Pittsburgh on the steps of City Hall, and on Pittsburgh's North Side), with an estimated 5000 to 8000 participants. The demonstration was quite diverse, including religious and community activists, anarchists, socialists, environmentalists, human rights advocates, opponents of war, trade unionists, veterans, and others. The mood of the action tended to be uncompromisingly critical of the G20, of big corporations, and of capitalism as such. “We’re rallying here just a few miles from where the corporate robber barons have settled down to divide up the planet, that group of bankers, financiers and political leaders who have wreaked havoc upon our world,” proclaimed one of the speakers, urging listeners to “fight for another world, put people before profits.” The crowd roared with approval, and others spoke in a similar vein, but the assembly was completely free from violence and arrests.
Much of the news media tended to minimize peaceful protests, however, and gave greater attention to arrests. These included controversial police actions of Friday evening, after the G20 Summit and the organized protests had ended. Taking place in Schenley Plaza and at the nearby University of Pittsburgh campus, they involved more sweeping arrests, and more charges of police violence, than had been the case the night before.
According to police accounts, about 4,500 people participated in protests throughout the city, with 190 arrests being made. Approximately $50,000 worth of damage was caused to area businesses, with $15,000 worth being attributed to one individual, David Japenga of California, accused of breaking 20 windows and doors in Oakland on Thursday night.
New York City activist Elliott "Smokey" Madison used Twitter to report an order to disperse message from the Pittsburgh police during the protests. Police raided Madison's hotel room, and one week later Madison's New York home, Tortuga House, was raided by FBI agents. Police claim Madison and a co-defendant used computers and a radio scanner to track police movements and then passed on that information to protesters using cell phones and the social networking site Twitter. Madison was charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility, and possession of instruments of crime. All protesters that were arrested were processed and held at the State Correctional Institution - Pittsburgh.
Response.
Dozens of University of Pittsburgh students who say they were wrongfully arrested and subjected to heavy-handed police tactics during the G20 meeting called for an investigation into the police actions.
Outcome.
One of the first major announcements to come out of the meeting was that the group will become the new permanent council for international economic cooperation. This means that the much larger G20 meeting will essentially replace the smaller G8, which will continue to meet on major security issues but will carry reduced influence. This decision will help to include major developing nations – such as China, India and Brazil – which were originally not included in the G8.


Battle of Mantinea (362 BC)

The Second Battle of Mantinea was fought on July 4, 362 BC between the Thebans, led by Epaminondas and supported by the Arcadians and the Boeotian league against the Spartans, led by King Agesilaus II and supported by the Eleans, Athenians, and Mantineans. The battle was to determine which of the two alliances would dominate Greece. However, the death of Epaminondas and his intended successors coupled with the impact on the Spartans of yet another defeat weakened both alliances, and paved the way for Macedonian conquest led by Philip II of Macedon.
Background.
After the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC had shattered the foundations of Spartan hegemony, Thebes' chief politician and general Epaminondas attempted to build a new hegemony centered on his city. Consequently, the Thebans had marched south, into the area traditionally dominated by the Spartans, and set up the Arcadian League, a federation of city-states of the central Peloponnesian plateau, to contain Spartan influence in the Peloponnese and thereby maintain overall Theban control. In years prior to the Battle of Mantinea, the Spartans had joined with the Eleans (a minor Peloponnesian people with a territorial grudge against the Arcadians) in an effort to undermine the League. When the Arcadians miscalculated and seized the Pan-Hellenic sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia in Elis, one of the Arcadian city-states, Mantinea, detached itself from the League. The Spartans and Eleans joined the Mantineans in a military attack on the Arcadian League. Athens decided to support the Spartans, as she resented the growing Theban power. The Athenians also recalled that at the end of Peloponnesian War, the Thebans had demanded that Athens be destroyed and its inhabitants enslaved; the Spartans had resisted these demands. An Athenian army was sent by sea to join the Spartan-led forces, in order to avoid being intercepted on land by Theban forces. Epaminondas then led a Theban army into the Peloponnese to restore order and re-establish Theban/Arcadian hegemony there.
Battle.
The two armies met near Mantinea in 362 BC. The Spartans, Athenians, Eleans and Mantineans were led by the Spartan king, Agesilaus II, who was assisted by Podares of Mantinea and Cephisodorus of Marathon, the commander of the Athenian cavalry. The Theban army also included contingents from city-states of the pro-Theban Boeotian League. Epaminondas' Thebans were assisted by the Arcadians loyal to the League, principally those from the city-states of Megalopolis (founded by the Thebans when they were last in the Peloponnese, as the Arcadian federal capital) and Tegea (the traditional leading city-state of the Arcadians). Though both generals were highly competent, Epaminondas prevailed at Mantinea. Using a modified version of the tactics he had successfully pioneered at Leuctra, he organised the Boeotian troops on the left wing of his army into an unusually deep column of hoplites. This formation of troops, in conjunction with the echelon, sought to establish local superiority of numbers while delaying the battle on the weaker center and right side. This tactic allowed the large, dense section of the line to force its way through the thinner classical phalanx. Epaminondas personally led this column from the front line. Xenophon ("Hellenika" 7.5.23) described the left wing of that Theban army as "like a trireme, with the spur of the prow out in front."
The Theban cavalry and light infantry drove off the enemy cavalry. The Theban hoplites marched in a column across the face of the enemy line, then performed a smart wheel and crashed into the enemy right, where the Mantineans were positioned. The Mantinean leader Podares offered heroic resistance, but when he was killed the Mantinean hoplites fled the field. However, in the thick of the fighting, Epaminondas was mortally wounded when facing the Spartan phalanx by a man variously identified as Anticrates, Machaerion, or Gryllus, son of Xenophon. The Theban leaders Iolaidas and Daiphantus, whom he intended to succeed him, were also killed.
According to Polyaenus after the battle the Mantineians wanted to send heralds to the Thebans, in order to make an agreement about carrying off the dead. But Cineas persuade them against such an action.
Aftermath.
On his deathbed, Epaminondas, upon hearing of the deaths of his fellow leaders, instructed the Thebans to make peace, despite having won the battle. Without his leadership, Theban hopes for hegemony faded. The Spartans, however, having again been defeated in battle, were unable to replace their losses. The ultimate result of the battle was to pave the way for the Macedonian rise as the leading force who subjugated the rest of Greece, by exploiting the weakness of both the Thebans and the Spartans.


Xue Ju

Xue Ju () (died 618), formally Emperor Wu (武皇帝, "Martial"), was the founding emperor of a short-lived state of Qin at the end of the Chinese dynasty Sui Dynasty, whose state was eventually destroyed by the Tang Dynasty. He rose against Sui rule in 617 and soon controlled modern eastern Gansu, but while he had some successes against Tang forces, was not able to push toward the Tang capital Chang'an before dying of illness in 618. His son Xue Rengao inherited his throne, but was soon defeated and killed by the Tang general Li Shimin, ending the state that Xue Ju established.
As hegemonic prince of Western Qin.
Xue Ju's clan was originally from Hedong Commandery (河東, roughly modern Yuncheng, Shanxi), but his father Xue Wang () moved the family to Jincheng (金城, in modern Lanzhou, Gansu). Xue Ju was said to be brave and strong, and because his family was wealthy, he was able to use the wealth to establish relationships with other people, making himself an influential member of the gentry, eventually becoming a commander of the local militia.
In 617, there were many agrarian rebellions in modern eastern Gansu. Hao Yuan (), the county magistrate of Jincheng, thus invited people to join the military, and he gathered several thousand men and gave them to Xue Ju to command. in summer 617, after Hao distributed armor and weapons to the soldiers and set out a feast to send them off, Xue Ju, his oldest son Xue Rengao, and 13 other cohorts took Hao captive and announced that they were rebelling against Sui Dynasty. Xue Ju arrested the local officials and opened the food storages to aid those who were poor. He claimed the title of "Hegemonic Prince of Western Qin" (), perhaps echoing Xiang Yu's title of "Hegemonic Prince of Western Chu." To signify a break with Sui, he also changed the era name from Emperor Yang of Sui's "Daye" () to "Qinxing" (). He created Xue Rengao the Duke of Qi and a younger son, Xue Renyue () the Duke of Jin. He also gathered the local agrarian rebels to fall under his command in pillaging the Sui governmental grazing ranches. One of those rebel leaders, Zong Luohou () became a key general for Xue Ju, and Xue Ju created him the Duke of Yixing. Soon, much of the territory in modern eastern Gansu had surrendered to Xue Ju. He promoted Xue Rengao, Xue Renyue, and Zong to princes.
As emperor.
In fall 617, Xue Ju claimed the title of Emperor of Qin. He created his wife Lady Ju empress, and he created Xue Rengao crown prince. Xue Rengao subsequently captured Tianshui, and Xue Ju moved his capital to Tianshui. As Xue Rengao was fierce but often overly cruel to those he captured, Xue Ju often warned him, "You are capable of great things, but you are strict and cruel, with no grace to others. One day you will surely destroy the state I established and our clan." According to traditional historical accounts, however, Xue Ju himself was also cruel, often killing soldiers he captured, and also often cut off their tongues and noses, and therefore did not gain as much following as he hoped. When he sent Xue Renyue south to try to capture lands in modern Sichuan, Xue Renyue was blocked by Xiao Yu the governor of Hechi Commandery (河池, in modern Baoji, Shaanxi) and unable to advance. He also sent his general Chang Zhongxing () west of the Yellow River to attack Li Gui, who had by then seized the territory west of the Yellow River. Chang, however, was defeated by Li Gui's general Li Yun (), and the entire army was captured by Li Gui, although Li Gui released them back to Xue Ju.
Around the new year 618, Xue Ju sent Xue Rengao to attack Fufeng Commandery (扶風, also in modern Baoji), but Xue Rengao was blocked by the rebel leaders Li Hongzhi (), who had claimed the title of Emperor of Chu, and Tang Bi (), who had claimed the title of Prince of Tang under Li. Xue Ju sent messengers to persuade Tang to submit, and Tang killed Li and then offered to surrender. Instead, Xue Rengao attacked Tang and seized his troops. Xue Ju then proceeded himself to Fufeng, intending to next attack the Sui capital Chang'an, which had been captured by the Sui general Li Yuan, who declared Emperor Yang's grandson Yang You the Prince of Dai emperor (as Emperor Gong). Li Yuan sent his son Li Shimin against Xue Rengao, and Li Shimin dealt Xue Rengao a major defeat. Xue Ju, in fear, asked his officials, "Since ancient times, were there emperors who surrendered?" Chu Liang () cited the examples of Zhao Tuo, Liu Shan, and Xiao Cong. However, Hao Yuan, by this point serving under Xue Ju, immediately stated:
Xue Ju saw the fallacy in asking the question, and he greatly rewarded Hao and made Hao his chief strategist. Subsequently, when Li Yuan sent his generals Jiang Mo (), Dou Gui (), and Liu Shirang () against Xue Ju, Xue Ju defeated them and captured Liu, and Jiang and Dou withdrew. Subsequently, under Hao's suggestion, Xue sought to enter a three-way alliance with Eastern Tujue's forces and those of another rebel leader, Liang Shidu the Emperor of Liang, to try to capture Chang'an. However, Li Yuan's general Zhang Changsun () then warned the Tujue general Ashina Duobi that he was aware of their three-way pact, and Ashina Duobi chose to renege and not assist either Xue Ju or Liang. (Soon, after hearing that Emperor Yang had been killed in a coup led by Yuwen Huaji in Jiangdu (江都, in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), Li Yuan had Yang You yield the throne to him, establishing Tang Dynasty as its Emperor Gaozu.)
In summer 618, Xue Ju launched an attack on Tang's Jing Prefecture (涇州, roughly modern Pingliang, Gansu), and Tang's Emperor Gaozu sent Li Shimin to resist Xue Ju. Li Shimin established his defenses and refused to engage Xue Ju to try to wear Xue Ju out, but at that time, he was afflicted with malaria, and he let his associates Liu Wenjing and Yin Kaishan () take command, ordering them not to engage Xue Ju. Liu and Yin, however, did not take Xue Ju seriously, and Xue Ju ambushed them at Qianshui Plain (淺水原, in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi), crushing Tang forces and inflicting 50%-60% casualties. Li Shimin was forced to withdraw back to Chang'an, and Liu and Yin were removed from their posts. Hao then suggested to Xue Ju that he should attack Chang'an at once, and Xue Ju agreed, but he then grew ill and died. Xue Rengao succeeded him as emperor, and honored him with the posthumous name of Wu (武, "martial"), but was defeated by and forced to surrender to Li Shimin three months later, even before he could properly bury Xue Ju.


Sagarmatha Sambaad

Sagarmatha Sambaad () is a multi-stakeholder, permanent global dialogue forum initiated by the Government of Nepal. It is scheduled to be held biennially in Nepal.
The Sambaad (dialogue) is named after the world's tallest mountain Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) which is also a symbol of friendship and is meant to promote the notions of common good and collective well-being of humanity. Sagarmatha, being the highest natural landmark on the earth, is also the tallest witness of the unfolding global events.
The first episode of the Sambaad was scheduled from 2 to 4 April 2020. by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Nepal), in collaboration with the Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA), Nepal and Policy Research Institute, a government policy think tank. The theme of the first Sambaad is "Climate Change, Mountains and the Future of Humanity."
Sambaad 2020.
The first-ever Sambaad was to be held in Kathmandu, Nepal on 2–4 April 2020 but given the pandemic the future date will be fixed by coordination diplomatic missionaries. The dialogue is on the topic of "Climate Change, Mountains, and the Future of Humanity" focusing mainly on the impacts of climate change that Nepal and a number other countries around the world are facing. Deliberations on this theme is expected to contribute to identifying effective responses to combat climate change, by contributing to the sustainable development and complementing existing multilateral processes.
Discussions will also dwell upon the ‘organic link’ between mountains, oceans and many other ecosystems. Largely, the dialogue will be an opportunity to devise on the actions needed to realize the Sustainable Development Goals and commitment made under the Paris Agreement to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 °C to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Participants.
Invitations for the first Sagarmatha Sambaad are being sent out to around 250 invitees from over 70 countries, representing a cross-section of stakeholders including heads of state, ministers, senior government officials; heads of UN agencies; noted climate scientists, experts, scholars, and researchers; entrepreneurs; influential media persons, celebrities, and activists; emerging youth, women, and community leaders; and heads of INGOs and civil society organizations.
Keynote speakers and other speakers will address the inaugural and closing sessions according to their respective protocol categories in alphabetical order. Moderators and panelists for thematic sessions will speak in the open format, without protocol precedence.
Participation is by invitation only. Invited participants are requested to confirm their participation and register by writing an email to Sagarmatha Sambad Secretariat.
Venues for 2020.
The inaugural session will be held at Hotel Soaltee Crowne Plaza in Kathmandu on 2 April. The thematic plenary and parallel sessions and the closing session will be held at Chandragiri Hills Resort, Thankot, Kathmandu, on 3 and 4 April.
Hotel Soaltee Crowne Plaza
Tahachal Marg, Kalimati, Kathmandu
News.
Ambassador Invites UNWTO general in Sagarmatha Sambad
Muscat Regarding Sagarmatha Samba


List of Roman dictators

A list of all of the Roman dictators and magistri equitum known from ancient sources. In some cases the names or dates have been inferred by modern historians.
Key to Latin terms and phrases.
Roman dictators were usually appointed for a specific purpose, or "causa", which limited the scope of their activities. The chief "causae" were "rei gerundae" (a general purpose, usually to lead an army in the field against a particular enemy), "clavi figendi" (an important religious rite involving the driving of a nail into the wall of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus), and "comitiorum habendorum" (the holding of the "comitia" to elect magistrates, when the consuls were unable to do so).
Other "causae" included "ludorum faciendorum", holding the "Ludi Romani" (Roman games), an important religious festival; "ferarium constituendarum" (establishing a religious festival in response to serious prodigies); "seditionis sedandae" (quelling sedition); and in one remarkable case, "senatus legendi" (filling up the ranks of the Senate after the Battle of Cannae).
The "causa" given at the very end of the Republic for the dictatorships of Sulla and Caesar are completely novel, as the powers granted greatly exceeded those traditionally accorded a Roman dictator. By "legibus faciendis et rei publicae constituendae causa", Sulla was empowered to rewrite the laws and revise the constitution of the Roman state; by "dictator perpetuo rei publicae constituendae causa", Caesar was appointed dictator in perpetuity, and given the power to revise the constitution.
The various "causae" may not have been legally distinguished from one another prior to 368 BC, when Publius Manlius Capitolinus was appointed dictator "seditionis sedandae et rei gerundae causa". The precise formula of each "causa" later reported by ancient historians may only date to Manlius' dictatorship, in which case the "causae" attributed to earlier dictators must be later additions.
Other phrases.
Roman numerals given following a name indicate that the dictator or magister equitum for that year previously held the same magistracy. The "causae" listed in the table are based largely on T. R. S. Broughton's "The Magistrates of the Roman Republic", reporting those given in ancient sources. For cases in which no "causa" is given, "rei gerundae" may usually be inferred.


Pleasant M. Armstrong

Pleasant M. Armstrong (1810-August 24, 1853) was an American pioneer in Oregon Country in an area that would become the state of Oregon, United States. He helped build a ship that was sailed to California to exchange for cattle, and voted at the May 2, 1843, Champoeg Meeting.
Oregon Country.
Armstrong immigrated to the Oregon Country in 1840. In 1842, he settled a farm in the Yamhill Valley, in what is now Yamhill County, Oregon. During this time he helped build the "Star of Oregon" along with Felix Hathaway, John Canan, Ralph Kilbourne, Henry Woods, George Davis, Jacob Green, and later Joseph Gale. The ship was then sailed to California where it was sold in a three-way deal where the Oregon pioneers received cattle. Armstrong and the others then drove 1,250 head of cattle, 600 horses and mules, and 3,000 sheep overland back to Oregon, arriving in early 1843.
On May 2, 1843, Pleasant Armstrong attended the meetings held at Champoeg, Oregon, where the pioneer settlers voted on whether to form a government. Armstrong voted for the creation of a government, and that faction won with a vote of 52-50, creating the Provisional Government of Oregon. Then in 1845 he married fellow Champoeg participant Alvin T. Smith’s daughter, Jane Smith.
When troubles in Southern Oregon led to the Rogue River Wars, Armstrong volunteered. On August 24, 1853, he was killed in action at Pleasant Creek in Jackson County, which now is named in his memory. His body was never recovered.


List of pressure groups in the United Kingdom

There are many pressure groups around the world. This is a list of pressure groups in the United Kingdom. Based on their relationship with United Kingdom policy makers, they can be divided into insider groups, who have high degree of involvement and influence and outsider groups, who have little or no direct involvement or influence.
Cause.
"Cause", "promotional" or "attitude" groups aim to change opinions and attitudes.


International Conference for Women Leaders

The International Conference for Women Leaders is a biennial conference established in 1961 and held by MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation—at Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through MASHAV Carmel Training Center (MCTC), in Haifa and Jerusalem. It focuses on development themes of current interest for women in both developing and industrialized countries, often on topics declared by the United Nations to be of international concern.
History.
The conferences have been taking place for the past 54 years, since the founding of MCTC in 1961 by former Prime Minister Ms. Golda Meir, then Minister of Foreign Affairs. To date, 28 such conferences have been held in cooperation with various international organizations such as UNESCO, IOM, UNIFEM, UNDP, and OSAGI.
Conference participants are key players in the political, economic, and social arenas from around the world, including Ministers, Members of Parliament, and Heads of national and international governmental and non-governmental organizations. The conference program comprises panel discussions, professional study visits, working groups, and official visits to the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) and the Residence of the President of the State of Israel.
Each conference’s conclusions and recommendations form a document known as the Haifa Declaration, stating future concrete steps to be taken. A Draft Declaration is handed to the President of the State of Israel at the end of the Conference.
Recent conferences.
The 25th Conference, held in 2007 in cooperation with UNESCO, dealt with the subject of Women’s Leadership for Sustainable Development. In 2009, The Global Financial Crisis – Implications for Women was the topic of the joint conference with the UN’s Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI; later merged into UN Women).
MCTC’s Jubilee Conference in 2011 on Science, Technology and Innovation: Education and Training for Women and Girls was, once again, held in cooperation with UNESCO.
In 2013 MCTC hosted the 28th Conference in the series, this time on the subject of The Post-2015 and Sustainable Development Goals Agenda: Ensuring the Centrality of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in the Next Framework, in cooperation with UN-Women and UNDP.
The 29th International Conference for Women Leaders will be held in October 2015, addressing the issue of Promoting Gender Equality through Economic Empowerment: Implementing the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
It will be the first conference to take place after the United Nations Summit in September, in which the post-2015 development agenda was adopted, and will address the measurable targets and indicators needed to be developed in order to promote economic growth and employment.


Monarch (comics)

Monarch is the name of three fictional DC Comics supervillains. The first Monarch is Hank Hall, formerly Hawk, who later renames himself for the ' crossover event. The second Monarch is Nathaniel Adam"', a U.S. Air Force Captain. The third Monarch is Captain Atom, a former superhero retroactively revealed to be a "quantum field" duplicate of Nathaniel Adam. Monarch was created by Archie Goodwin, Denny O'Neil, and Dan Jurgens and first appeared in "Armageddon 2001" #1, cover-dated October (1991).
Hank Hall.
Monarch is an oppressive tyrant from a bleak, dystopian Earth in the year A.D. 2030. The people are unhappy with his rule, particularly a scientist named Matthew Ryder, an expert on temporal studies, who is convinced he can use his technology to travel back in time and prevent the maniacal ruler from ever coming to power. He learns that, in 1991, one of Earth's heroes eventually turned evil, eliminated the other superheroes of Earth, and became Monarch, who would conquer the world 10 years later.
"Armageddon 2001".
Chosen by Monarch to take part in a time-travel experiment, Matthew Ryder travels back to the DC Universe of 1991. Ryder decides to find out who Monarch really was and, if possible, kill him before he can rise to power. As he travels through the rift, his body mutates into a form of living temporal energy, and upon arriving at his destination, he takes the name Waverider.
Although Waverider uses his abilities to look into the possible future(s) of various characters, he cannot pinpoint who will become Monarch. Eventually, however, he accidentally comes into physical contact with Captain Atom, unleashing a storm of temporal energy that opens a gate to the future through which Monarch emerges. Monarch, it seems, has been monitoring Waverider's every move in the past ever since he left the future, and was waiting for the perfect time to travel back and stop Waverider from erasing Monarch from existence.
In a subsequent battle with the Justice League, Monarch retreats, taking Dawn Granger, the current Dove, with him. Hank Hall follows and catches up to him just in time to see Dawn killed in front of his eyes. Being created as two beings whose natures were supposed to be in balance, Hank becomes enraged when his partner's pacifist nature can no longer contain his warlike spirit. He beats the Monarch to death, only to learn the horrible truth: "he" is the one who will be the Monarch of the future.
Upon seeing Monarch's dead body and the device he is building to enslave humanity, Hank Hall muses that the Earth will need someone to keep the balance, so he puts on Monarch's armor and continues building his machine. Eventually, the Justice League finds him and Captain Atom, feeling guilty that he let Monarch slip through the timestream in the first place, decides to fight him one-on-one. The battle causes Atom's energy and Monarch's suit to clash, creating a portal that sends them both back in time to the Age of Dinosaurs. In the past, Hank and Atom finish the fight. Hank wins by becoming enraged that he is stuck in the past and there is no way either of them can get back. After the fight, Hawk goes into a deep sleep, waiting to wake up in his own timeline.
The reveal of Hank Hall as Monarch led to some controversy amongst the fan community; Monarch was originally intended to be revealed as Captain Atom, with clues in the story pointing towards this which had to be discarded when it was changed at the last minute. This change was due to the premature leaking of Monarch's identity. While Monarch was always supposed to be Captain Atom, this was supposed to be a secret. When Monarch's identity was prematurely leaked, DC decided to preserve the surprise of the story by switching Monarch's identity to that of Hank Hall.
As many fans pointed out, "Hawk and Dove Annual" #2 had Hank Hall fighting Monarch face to face in 2001 with Hawk being the destroyer of Monarch. Dove allowed Waverider to see a multitude of futures and realize Hawk is Monarch.
"Armageddon: The Alien Agenda".
After being thrown back to the middle of the Triassic Era, Monarch and Captain Atom encounter hostile aliens who attempt to enlist each one separately and without the other's knowledge, to assist them in destroying the Milky Way Galaxy for their own ends. The two defeat the aliens' plans, and Captain Atom eventually returns to the present, while Monarch's fate is unknown.
"Extreme Justice".
In an experiment in the 1960s, Nathaniel Adam is housed in a shell of alien metal, under which an atomic bomb is detonated, propelling him into the "quantum field". There, the metal fuses with him, allowing him to survive in the void and giving him a connection to the quantum field. Meanwhile, however, the excess metal forms into a replica of him, which re-enters the timestream in the mid 1980s as Captain Atom, unaware that it is not the original Adam.
In the quantum field, the real Adam meets the original Monarch, Hank Hall, who is revealed to have become trapped there after the events of "Armageddon: The Alien Agenda". Adam trains Hall to manipulate the quantum field, enough to allow Hall to gain powers of time travel and escape back into the timestream. In return for helping him escape, Hall sends the Monarch armor back to Nathaniel Adam in the quantum field.
"Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!".
In the "Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!" miniseries, Monarch joins forces with renegade Green Lantern Hal Jordan (at this time known as Parallax), in a bid to reshape the timeline of the entire universe. He confronts Waverider and absorbs him and most of his time-warping abilities, giving him the power to travel through time as he pleases, and renames himself Extant. In the course of the battle against Earth's heroes, Extant kills three veteran members of the Justice Society of America: the Atom (Al Pratt), the Hourman (Rex Tyler), and Doctor Mid-Nite (Charles McNider) by ageing them to death.
Some time after "Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!", Extant returns to mount a new attempt to remake reality, by acquiring the fragments of the infinite power of the Worlogog, which was initially entrusted to the android Hourman before he spread it out across time, as its power was too dangerous. Despite Extant remaking the universe, he is defeated when the fragment of the Worlogog Hourman kept for himself creates a subtle flaw in Extant's power, allowing Hourman to share his 'Hour of Power' with the JSA and Metron and tear the Worlogog out on Extant. With his power weakened, Extant is killed while trying to escape when the Atom Smasher, with the aid of Metron, swaps Extant with the Atom Smasher's mother, who had been killed in a plane crash, the weakened Extant dying in the crash and thus keeping the number of bodies found in the aftermath the same as before while saving Rothstein's mother. Some time later, Rex Tyler's death is reversed when the android Hourman takes his place in the timestream and is destroyed instead.
Nathaniel Adam.
"Extreme Justice" (continued).
In the 1990s, Adam uses the Monarch armor to escape the quantum field as the new Monarch. This Monarch claims to be a hero, much to the annoyance of Captain Atom, and is very popular. He is assisted by Justice League International's former UN liaison, Catherine Cobert, with whom Captain Atom once had a relationship.
It is eventually revealed that Monarch's true plan is to control the world via genetic implants he inserts into people under the guise of healing them. This plan is prevented when Booster Gold's future biology proves resistant to the implants. What became of this version of Monarch is unknown.
Captain Atom.
In "Superman/Batman" #6, Captain Atom is blasted to the Wildstorm Universe for the "Captain Atom: Armageddon" storyline. He returns to the DC Universe during "Infinite Crisis", in the "Superman/Batman" series, and at the end of the miniseries.
During the time period of the 2006 "One Year Later" storylines, Atom is revealed to be contained by the modern day Atomic Knights inside a secret S.H.A.D.E. facility in Blüdhaven, and used to administer radiation treatments to metahumans. Later, in 2008's "Countdown", it was revealed that the changes that were to befall Captain Atom in this period were due to the actions of Solomon, one of the newly-born Monitors who attacks Captain Atom almost as soon as he arrives back to New Earth from the Wildstorm Universe and damages his alien metal shell, causing him to leak dangerous amounts of radiation.
The Knights fit Atom with an updated version of the Monarch armor in order to contain the radiation leaking from his breached skin. Captain Atom awakens and breaks free of the facility. He then apparently kills the rampaging Major Force by absorbing his energy, and, after the city has been evacuated, triggers a vast explosion, completely obliterating what was left of Blüdhaven. His mental condition is unknown at this time.
Found by Kyle Rayner in the Bleed, a slightly paranoid Captain Atom, still in the Monarch armor, is currently traveling the Bleed to avoid the Monitors' gaze and expand his knowledge of the apparently rediscovered multiverse.
Captain Atom is first referred to as Monarch by Dan DiDio in an interview for "Wizard" magazine.
"Countdown".
Monarch appears in the last panel of "Countdown" #45. He appears to be observing Forerunner. In his weekly interview on "Newsarama.com", Mike Marts revealed that "Countdown" #44 bears a cover by Ed Benes with the Monarch armor, as in the same issue Monarch manages to sway Forerunner to his side, turning her against the Monitors.
Since then, Monarch has played a substantial role in "Countdown". In the Bleed, he has gathered a colossal army of potentially millions of soldiers from across the Multiverse in order to battle the Monitors. It was revealed in "Countdown to Final Crisis" #26 that he wishes to unleash a crisis wave which will destroy the multiverse and leave there only one unified reality, ruled by him. Currently, besides foot-soldiers, his army consists at the very least of the Crime Society of Earth-3, and the JLAx of Earth-10. Initially, he used Forerunner to both train his army and recruit new warriors, but he later abandoned her. He approached Lord Havok of Earth-8 to be his second in command, and while the warlord initially said no, he later appeared to change his mind as he was seen leading Monarch's armada. One of many "Countdown" spin-offs, the miniseries "Lord Havok and the Extremists" chronicled this.
The miniseries "" features Monarch arranging battles between alternate versions of characters throughout the Multiverse to compile the strike team for his new Multiverse army; specifically, one Superman, one Batman, a Wonder Woman, a Green Lantern, a Flash, a Blue Beetle, a Nightshade, a Starman, a Ray and a 10th battle. During the "Arena" battle, Monarch is attacked by the Captain Atom Brigade, composed of every version of Captain Atom in the Multiverse. After Monarch destroys the Captain Atom Brigade, he absorbs their power and takes his newly formed army to war with the Monitors. In "Countdown to Final Crisis" #16, he attacks the Monitors gathered on Earth-51. In #14, he is confronted by Superman-Prime. In #13, Superman-Prime fights with Monarch, becoming slightly injured after Monarch exposes part of his suit. In a fit of rage, Superman-Prime redoubles his attack on Monarch and, while his temporarily Oan Guardian-boosted powers begin to fade, he rips open the chest plate of Monarch's containment armor, resulting in a huge explosion of quantum energy that devastates the entire universe of Earth-51. While Superman-Prime was later found lost in time by the Time Trapper and sent to the 31st century, the status of Monarch remained unknown. An amnesiac Captain Atom has resurfaced some time later in "Superman's Pal: Jimmy Olsen Special" #2 (2009); "Action Comics" #880 establishes he has no memories of his actions during "Countdown" and has to confront a resurrected Major Force in #883. He subsequently embarks on a path of redemption.
Powers and abilities.
The version of Nathaniel Adam/Monarch depicted in the "Countdown" series was one of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe and was capable of engaging and defeating even vastly powerful foes, such as the Universal Monitors. Monarch's powers stem from his ability to manipulate the quantum field, and he has demonstrated the powers of flight, teleportation (even between different realities), vastly powerful energy projection, manipulation and absorption abilities, vast superhuman strength and invulnerability (Superman's punches did not even faze him), matter absorption and manipulation abilities and vast though vaguely defined awareness.
So far, the only people that have ever been able to injure Monarch are the Earth-16 Chris Kent (who died after performing such a massive attack) and Superboy-Prime. After absorbing Major Force and every version of Captain Atom in the Multiverse, Monarch's powers are exceedingly strong. He was able to beat three versions of Superman and Wonder Woman at one time in "Countdown: Arena" with one blow, go toe to toe with a Guardian-charged Superboy-Prime, incinerate Lobo and defeat all of his counterparts, with ease, within a few minutes. Besides his battles with the Guardian-charged Superboy-Prime and the Monitors, Monarch only had the combined power of himself and Major Force when he defeated all of his other opponents. After he absorbed all of his Captain Atom counterparts, his power level did not seem to rise, as he was already vastly powerful.


West Papua Liberation Organization

The West Papua Liberation Organisation (WPLO) is an organisation promoting the self-determination of West Papuans.
History.
The WPLO was first established by students at the University of Paradise, Youth West Papua at the initiative of John Anari, ST on July 22, 2002 using the name of Youth and Student Association Natives West Papua (West Papuan Indigenous Students and Youth, AWPISY). This was changed in 2008 to WPIO (West Papuan Indigenous Organization) and then again in 2009 to WPLO (West Papua Liberation Organisation).
The WPLO officially declared simultaneously an International Day of Indigenous Peoples (Indigenous Peoples) on August 9, 2009 through an event in Church Worship Lahai Roi, Mansinam Island, led by the Chairman of the Congregation for the support Mansinam Island village head Mansinam Mr. Rumbrawer and Chief Arfak Mountains, Mr. Keliopas Meidodga.
The WPLO officially registered as a CSO (Civil Society Organization) in the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (United Nations Economic and Social Council) in December 2010. It works together with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Organization of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) at the UN Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. In addition, WPLO promotes self-determination annually at the UN Permanent Forum Session on Indigenous Populations (United Nations Permanent on Indigenous Issues) at United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA, as well as the General Assembly of the United Nations High Commissioner for Periodic Human Rights (Universal periodic Review of the UN OHCHR) at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
The WPLO seeks to promote the self-determination of West Papuans by the International Covenant on Civil Rights and Political Section 1 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as Article 3 of Law No. 12 In 2005 of the Republic of Indonesia on the Ratification of the International Covenant on Civil Rights and Politics.


Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus

Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus was a political figure in the Roman Republic, serving as consular tribune in 438 BC and dictator three times in 437, 434, and 426 BC.
Prior to gaining the imperium Aemilius was, in 446 BC, elected Quaestor together with Lucius Valerius Potitus. They were, according to Tacitus, the first elected quaestors of the Republic.
His first and third dictatorships involved wars against the Veintines and Fidenates. He was victorious both times, capturing Fidenae in 426 BC.
His second dictatorship in 434 BC was occasioned by fear of an impending war with Etruria, but that war never materialized. Aemilius Mamercinus instead used his office to propose cutting the term of the censors from five years to eighteen months. This change was vigorously opposed by the senate but loved by the people, so he submitted the "lex Aemilia de censura minuenda" to the Tribal Assembly, which approved it. In retaliation, the censors used the power of their office to strike him from his tribe, increase his tax burden eight-fold, and brand him an aerarian.


Political funding in the United Kingdom

Political funding in the United Kingdom has been a source of controversy for many years. Political parties in the UK may be funded through membership fees, party donations or through state funding, the latter of which is reserved for administrative costs. The general restrictions in the UK were held in "Bowman v United Kingdom" to be fully compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, article 10.
History.
The first effort to regulate the financial dimension of political competition was the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883. Although this landmark legislation was concerned with constituency candidates, their campaign expenses and their agents only, all other efforts to create a political finance regime started from here.
Edward 16
The next legislative step to deal with the subject was the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925 that sought to end the selling of titles in exchange for donations to political parties.
In August 1976 the Committee on Financial Aid to Political Parties, chaired by Lord Houghton of Sowerby, proposed that financial aid to political parties should be given in two forms:
(a) general grants to the central organisations for their general purposes and
(b) a limited reimbursement of election expenses to parliamentary and local government candidates.
Starting in 2006, political funding came under scrutiny as concerns grew that the largest British political parties were too dependent on a handful of wealthy donors. Furthermore, during the Cash for Honours scandal, concern grew even more. A concern of the 1970s had been that the major parties were unable to raise sufficient funds to operate successfully.
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) was an act that established the Electoral Commission and required all political parties to register with it, set down accounting requirements for political parties, and introduced controls on donations.
2006 Sir Hayden Phillips inquiry.
In March 2006, former civil servant Sir Hayden Phillips was charged with setting up an inquiry to come up with proposal for reform. It reported a year later. He recommended capping individual donations at £50,000 and capping spending for political campaigns. He also suggested increasing state funding by £25m and expanding its reach.
2008 Ministry of Justice report.
In June 2008, the Ministry of Justice released a white paper analyzing party finance and expenditure. The paper proposed to tighten controls on spending by parties and candidates, substantially strengthen the powers of the Electoral Commission, and increase the transparency of donations.
2011 Committee on Standards in Public Life report.
In November 2011 the Committee on Standards on Public Life, chaired by Sir Christopher Kelly, published a Report on "Political Party Finance. Ending the big donor culture". It is their 13th report, Cm. 8208. The report made five main recommendations: (a) Contribution limit of GBP10,000 per donor, party and year; (b) this limit should not apply to affiliated trade union affiliation fees if such fees are raised by an "opt in"; (c) existing limits for campaign spending should be cut by about 15 per cent; (d) in addition to the present "policy development grant" eligible parties should be granted public funding at the rate of GBP3.00 per vote in Westminster elections and GBP 1.50 per vote in devolved and European elections; (e) income tax relief should be available for donations up to GBP 1,000 and membership fees to political parties.
Membership subscriptions.
Membership subscriptions ("subs") provide one source of funding for political parties. However, in recent times membership has declined and campaign costs have grown.
The Green Party is the only major political party in the UK which receives the majority of its funding through membership fees and these are what cover the running costs of the organisation. Membership subs have become a more significant source in income for both the SNP and Labour in recent years, as both have seen substantial increases in membership.
Donations.
The Conservative Party relies on donations mostly from individuals and companies; as well as these sources the Labour Party receives a significant portion of its donations from trade unions. For example, in the third quarter of 2009, eighteen political parties reported donations totalling £9,532,598 (excluding public funds). The Conservative Party received £5,269,186, the Labour party received £3,045,377 and the Liberal Democrats received £816,663. Donations typically peak before elections. Between 6 April and 6 May 2010 (a general election campaign month) the Conservatives took £7,317,602, Labour £5,283,199 and the Liberal Democrats £724,000.
State funding.
Opposition parties receive state funding to pay administration cost; Short Money in the House of Commons starting in 1975, and Cranborne Money in the House of Lords starting in 1996 however, there is no state funding available to parties for campaign purposes.
In addition there is a general policy development grant available to parties with two MPs or one MP and one MEP.
Transparency.
Donations worth over £7,500 to national parties must be declared, as must be donations worth £1,500 or more to local associations. Donations to members' associations – groups whose members are primarily or entirely members of a single political party – also need to be declared above £7,500. This produces a loophole where donors can donate larger sums to local candidates while remaining anonymous, by channeling those donations through a members' association such as the United and Cecil Club.
For a while, as a loophole, loans did not have to be declared.
Northern Ireland political parties are exempt from revealing the identity of party donors due to security reasons.


Mato Grosso Province


Liberal League (United Kingdom)

The Liberal League was a grouping within the British Liberal Party from 1902 until 1910, with Lord Rosebery as its president and H. H. Asquith, Edward Grey and Henry Fowler as its vice-presidents. It consisted largely of Liberal Imperialists and its purpose was to give unity to those Liberals who disliked the policies of the Liberal leader, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman.
A Liberal League candidate won the 1902 Leeds North by-election, turning a Unionist majority of over 2,500 into a Liberal majority of nearly 800.
By 1908 the League was almost moribund but on 12 March of that year Rosebery tried to revive it by delivering a speech in which he urged the League to rally to a programme of anti-socialism, anti-Home Rule, imperialism, free trade and reform of the House of Lords. One member present said it was "the most dismal gathering he had ever attended; Lord Rosebery's audience was obviously ill at ease"; Rosebery himself wrote in his diary that his speech was "even worse than usual, partly from a clammy afternoon audience, partly from my being out of touch with politics".
The Liberal government's revolutionary People's Budget of 1909 caused a storm of controversy. At League meetings of 25 and 28 June, members of the League were suspicious of following Rosebery in condemning the Budget due to his indecisive character and failure to lead. On 9 September 1909 Rosebery resigned the presidency of the League. The next day, he delivered a greatly anticipated speech in Glasgow in which he condemned the Budget as the "negation of faith, of family, of property, of monarchy, of Empire". Asquith wrote to him the day after the speech, declaring that it was impossible to serve under his presidency, not realising Rosebery had already resigned it. The League was formally dissolved in May 1910.


Ramble Inn attack

The Ramble Inn attack was a mass shooting at a rural pub on 2 July 1976 near Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is believed to have been carried out by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary organisation. Six civilians were killed in the attack—five Protestants and one Catholic—and three others were wounded.
Background.
The mid-1970s was one of the deadliest periods of the Troubles. From February 1975 until February 1976, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and British Government observed a truce. This, however, marked a rise in sectarian tit-for-tat killings. Ulster loyalist paramilitaries, fearing they were about to be forsaken by the British Government and forced into a united Ireland, increased their attacks on Irish Catholics and nationalists. Under orders not to engage British forces, some IRA units concentrated on tackling the loyalists. The fall-off of regular operations had caused serious problems of internal discipline and some IRA members engaged in revenge attacks also. The tit-for-tat killings continued after the truce ended. On 5 June 1976, the UVF shot dead three Catholics and two Protestants in an attack on the Chrlorane Bar. This was claimed as revenge for the killing of two Protestants in a pub earlier that day.
On 25 June 1976, gunmen opened fire inside a Protestant-owned pub in Templepatrick, County Antrim. Three Protestant civilians died. The attack was claimed by the "Republican Action Force", which was believed to be a covername used by some members of the IRA.
Attack.
The Ramble Inn lies just outside Antrim, on the main A26 Antrim to Ballymena dual carriageway, near the village of Kells. The pub was owned by Catholics but in a rural area of County Antrim which is mostly Protestant. Most of its customers were Protestants from the surrounding area.
On the night of Friday 2 July 1976, a three-man UVF unit consisting of a driver and two gunmen stole a car from a couple parked in nearby Tardree Forest. The couple were gagged and bound before the men made off in the car. At about 11, just before closing time, two masked gunmen in boiler suits entered the pub and opened fire with machine guns, hitting nine people. Three died at the scene and a further three died later.
The victims were Frank Scott (75), Ernest Moore (40), James McCallion (35), Joseph Ellis (27) and James Francey (50), all Protestants, and Oliver Woulahan (20), a Catholic. Four of them—Scott, Moore, McCallion and Woulahan—died on 2 July while Ellis died of his wounds on 7 July and Francey surviving until 14 July. Scott and Moore were both from Creavery Terrace in Antrim, Francey from Lisnevenagh Road in the town, McCallion and Ellis from Cullybackey and Woulahan—who was celebrating his 20th birthday on the night of that attack—from the Old Cushendun Road in Newtown Crommelin.
Aftermath.
On 3 July at 12:30, an anonymous caller to "The News Letter" claimed the attack was in retaliation for the earlier attack in Templepatrick. It is widely believed that the UVF carried out the Ramble Inn attack. A relative of one of the victims later said: "The strong contention remains that it was the one of the main Protestant paramilitary groups and that they remained silent when it transpired that most of the victims came from the Protestant community". In the weeks that followed a number of people were interviewed by police in relation to the shooting but were subsequently released without charge. To date, no one has been convicted of the attack.
In 2012 the Historical Enquiries Team (HET), a body which had been set up in Northern Ireland to re-investigate unsolved murders of the Troubles, met with the family of James McCallion to deliver their findings. The probe concluded that the then Northern Ireland police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), had conducted a thorough investigation and the detectives working on the case did their best to bring the killers to justice.
In April 1999 the dissident Loyalist paramilitary group the Orange Volunteers exploded a pipe bomb outside the Ramble Inn pub, damaging several cars. Nobody was hurt in the attack.


Song Hye-rim

Song Hye-rim (; 24 January 1937 18 May 2002) was a North Korean actress, best known for being the one-time favored mistress of Kim Jong-il.
Early life and education.
Song was born in Changnyeong when Korea was under Imperial Japanese rule. She entered Pyongyang Movie College in 1955, but left the following year to give birth to a daughter. She later re-enrolled and graduated, having her film debut in 1960. She became a popular actress in the 1960s, appearing in movies including "Onjŏngryŏng" () and "Baek Il-hong" ().
Most accounts of Song are drawn from the memoirs of her sister, Song Hye-rang. Her former friend Kim Young-soon published her memoir "I Am Song Hye-rim's friend", and revealed that she and her family were sent to a concentration camp for ten years after she found out Hye-rim's secret (namely, that she was Kim Jong-il's mistress, a fact that was hidden at the time even from Kim Il-sung), which resulted in the death of her children and parents and her husband being taken away and never seen again before she managed to defect to South Korea in 2003.
Personal life.
Song began dating Kim Jong-il in 1968, after divorcing her first husband; she is believed to have been his first mistress. In 1971, she gave birth to Kim Jong-nam, who at one time was believed to be favoured to succeed Kim Jong-il. The birth of her son is said to have been kept secret from Kim Il-sung until 1975.
Defection and death.
Starting in the early 1980s, Song travelled to Moscow frequently for medical care. In 1996, Song was reported to have defected to the West, but intelligence officials in South Korea denied the story. She is reported to have died on 18 May 2002. Some reports say she died in Moscow.


Alexander Zarudny

Alexander Sergeyevich Zarudny (, in Tsarskoye Selo, Russia – 30 November 1934 in Leningrad, Soviet Union) was a Russian lawyer and politician. In 1887 he was arrested regarding the assassination of Alexander II of Russia but was released due to lack of evidence. In 1902-1917 he worked as a lawyer and a judge. Soon he found that his conscience did not square well with the work of a prosecutor or a judge, and devoted himself to defense work in political cases involving miscarriage of justice, press censorship, or mistreatment of ethnic minorities. His colleague, Oskar Grusenberg, likened him to "a one-man rescue squad." Grusenberg recounts that Zarudny once compiled a list of 157 cases he handled all over Russia, from Eastern Siberia to the Caucasus and Moldavia, in the period 1885-1917, and then added, "there were also 265 other cases." He was one of several Russian lawyers who stepped forward gratis to defend Menahem Mendel Beilis, a Jew accused of ritual murder in the infamous Beilis trial. In 1917 he was the Minister for Justice in the Russian Provisional Government but resigned twice. After the October Revolution he was protected by his election as an honorary member of a prestigious Association of Political Convicts, and did some defense work, but soon stopped in frustration and made his living giving lectures throughout the Soviet Union about his courtroom career, to large, enthusiastic audiences.
In Petersburg society in the 1890s, Zarudny was known as "Zarudny furioso" because he was always the life of a party. He was briefly married and had one son, Sergey. Zarudny was remembered fondly by his niece, who recounts his visit to Harbin during a lecture tour. He was a wonderful sleight-of-hand magician, and a natural with young children.
When his son married, Zarudny gave the newlyweds his apartment and lived the rest of his life in housing devoted to former political prisoners.
Zarudny mentioned in a letter that he had written memoirs, but these memoirs have not yet been found.


Western Yan

The Western Yan (; 384-394) was a state of Xianbei ethnicity during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. It was founded by Murong Hong in 384 in the aftermaths of Former Qin's defeat by Jin Dynasty (265-420) at the Battle of Fei River, with the stated intent of permitting the Xianbei, whom Former Qin's emperor Fu Jiān had relocated to Former Qin's capital region after destroying Former Yan in 370. It initially also was intended to rescue the last Former Yan emperor Murong Wei, until he was executed by Fu Jiān in 385. It was a state that was characterized by extreme political instability and internal fighting, as all seven of its rulers (during a short span of 10 years) died of unnatural causes. After eviscerating Former Qin, the people of the state abandoned the Guanzhong region and headed east back toward their homeland, but eventually settled down in modern Shanxi. It was destroyed in 394 as Later Yan's emperor Murong Chui wanted to reunite the people formerly of Yan and conquered it.
Some rulers of the Western Yan declared themselves emperors while some declared themselves "wang" (translatable as either "king" or "prince").


Torquemada (comics)

Tomás de Torquemada is the fictional main villain in the comic strip "Nemesis the Warlock", published in the British comic anthology "2000 AD". He eventually appeared in 7 episodes of spin-off adventures of his own. He is named after and inspired by the real life Tomás de Torquemada.
Fictional character biography.
Originally the leader of The Tube Police, a fascist police force and quasi-religious order in the far future, he became the dictator of the entire human race from its base on Termight (planet Earth). His Empire wages a speciesist war against all alien species, whom Torquemada regards as "impure."
Torquemada's goal is to keep the human race united by their fear and hatred of all aliens. He is described as being totally evil and having absolutely no redeeming features whatsoever. In fact, late in the series, it was revealed (through the actions of Thoth, son of Nemesis the Warlock) that his previous incarnations have included Colonel John M. Chivington, Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins, Adolf Hitler and his namesake, the original Torquemada. (He is, however, also a dedicated family man – he is distressed when Nemesis kills his children while escaping the Terminators and loves his wife Candida to such an extent he consorts with aliens in an effort to prevent her from divorcing him.)
After an accident in a teleporter, Torquemada lost his physical body but continued to survive as a ghostly spirit. He then began possessing the bodies of volunteer Terminators to use for himself. The bodies would rot and die after a short time and have to be replaced. This eventually contributed to Candida's loss of sanity.
His catchphrase is "Be pure! Be vigilant! Behave!"
The Terminators.
Torquemada is served by a fanatical army of soldiers called Terminators, who are constantly at war with all alien races in the galaxy.
Death of a Tyrant.
Torquemada's evil reign ended when Candida mysteriously recovered from her madness. Upon hearing the news, he had his then current wife, Sister Sturn murdered and made preparations for his second marriage to Candida. The wedding ceremony ended disastrously when his foe Nemesis appeared with Candida willingly fleeing from the temple with him.
Humiliated on live TV, his evil regime quickly crumbled but he still had one last trick. Stealing Nemesis' Blitzspear, he fled to the Hypogeum to activate a "Generation Bomb" (which would destroy all alien DNA on Earth). Before he could even activate it, Nemesis managed to contaminate him with alien DNA with his claws before using his remaining powers to make sure Torquemada would perish with him. When the bomb exploded, both Nemesis, his Blitzspear and Torquemada were merged and fell into the timestream for all eternity.
Family.
Torquemada's family members who have been depicted include:
Publication.
As well as appearing in "Nemesis the Warlock" he has appeared in his own eponymous series:


Gnaeus Fulvius Maximus Centumalus

Gnaeus Fulvius Maximus Centumalus ( BC) was a military commander and politician from the middle period of the Roman Republic, who became consul in 298 BC. He fought in the final wars against the Etruscans and later led armies in the Third Samnite War. He was appointed dictator in 263 BC with responsibility for overseeing the start of the Roman ship building effort in the First Punic War.
Career.
A member of the plebeian, or lower class, "gens Fulvia", Centumalus is first mentioned in 302 BC as serving as a legate, an army commander, under the dictator Marcus Valerius Corvus in the war against the Etruscans.
Elected consul in 298 BC, he and his colleague Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus were dispatched to deal with the Samnites following the outbreak of the Third Samnite War. The accounts of that year’s fighting, however, are contradictory. According to Livy, while Scipio was dispatched northward to battle the Etruscans, Fulvius was sent south to fight on the Samnite front. He defeated a Samnite army outside of Bovianum, after which he advanced to the town and captured it after a short siege. Centumalus followed this up with the capture of the town of Aufidena. Returning to Rome, the Senate awarded him a triumph. However, the Fasti Triumphales have him awarded triumphs for victories in both Samnium and Etruria, while Frontinus states he was fighting at Lucania. To complicate matters further, his colleague Scipio’s epitaph states that it was Scipio who won victories in Samnium, most likely during this year. According to the historian S. P. Oakley, Livy was probably confused about the theatre of war, and it was in fact Centumalus who won victories against the Sabines.
In 295 BC, with the war still raging, Centumalus was one of a number of former consuls who were appointed propraetors, occupying the position as a "privatus" (a private citizen, or non-magistrate), and placed in charge of various armies. Centumalus and his legion were stationed on Faliscan territory, with orders to defend the passage along the Tiber River, and to keep communication lines open between the offensive armies and the capital. Problems in the field caused the consuls to issue orders to Centumalus to march with Lucius Postumius Megellus on Clusium as a tactic to force the Etruscans to withdraw their forces from Sentinum. While Megellus was sent back to Rome, Centumalus invaded Etruria and proceeded to ravage the land. When the towns of Clusium and Perusia sent out an army to put a stop to his destructive tactics, he swiftly defeated their combined forces. After this, and a Roman victory at the decisive Battle of Sentinum, Centumalus was recalled to Rome where his army was disbanded.
The final mention of Centumalus was his appointment in 263 BC as dictator. A dictator was given the full authority of the state for a limited period in order to deal with a military emergency or to undertake a specific duty. This was just after the outbreak of the First Punic War, and his task was to mobilise the resources of the state to bring about the creation of a navy, which the Romans would need to successfully take the war to Carthage.


Frankfurt Documents

The Frankfurt Documents were an important step towards the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany.
On July 1, 1948 the representatives of the Western allied occupation forces handed over a number of documents to the prime ministers and the two ruling mayors of the western zones of occupation. The documents contained recommendations for establishing a West German state. The main problem with the recommendations was that they did not provide an all-German solution but only a West German state. The Frankfurt Documents formed a working basis for the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. They were created at the London 6-Power Conference in early 1948.
The handover took place at the IG Farben Building in Frankfurt am Main, and the documents took the name of the city. The military governors Lucius D. Clay (United States), Marie-Pierre Koenig (France) and Sir Brian Robertson (UK) issued an order establishing a western German state. Present were Peter Altmeier (Rhineland-Palatinate), Karl Arnold (North Rhine-Westphalia), Lawrence Bock (Württemberg-Hohenzollern), Max Brauer (Hamburg), Hans Ehard (Bavaria), Wilhelm Kaisen (Bremen), Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf (Lower Saxony), Hermann Lüdemann (Schleswig-Holstein), Reinhold Maier (Württemberg-Baden), Christian Stock (Hessen) and Leo Wohleb (Baden).
A West German state was to be established under the following conditions:
The Frankfurt Documents prompted the prime minister to hold the Rittersturz Conference in Koblenz on the resolutions that had been passed.


Serbian Social Democratic Party (Kingdom of Serbia)

The Serbian Social Democratic Party (; abbr ССДП or SSDP) was a left-wing political party in Kingdom of Serbia that was formed in 1903. Prominent leaders included Dimitrije Tucović, Dragiša Lapčević, and Dušan A. Popović.
It ceased to exist after World War I with the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, when in 1919 the social democrats joined the new Socialist Workers' Party of Yugoslavia (of Communists) ("Socijalistička radnička partija Jugoslavije (komunista)"), the predecessor of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.
History.
The Serbian Social Democratic Party was founded on 2 August 1903 in Belgrade. The founding congress adopted a program modeled after the Erfurt Program of the German Social Democratic Party.
In 1903 a split emerged within the SSDP between the Marxists, led by Radovan Dragović and Dimitrije Tucović, and the so-called "opportunists", who insisted on the primacy of trade unionism over political struggle. In December 1904 the opportunists were expelled from the party.
In 1909 and 1910 the Marxist wing struggled against the anarcho-syndicalist wing.
The SSDP participated in the First Balkan Socialist Conference held on 7-9 January 1910 in Belgrade.
At the outbreak of World War I the Social Democratic deputies to the National Assembly refused to vote for war credits. The mobilization and the Austro-Hungarian occupation of the Kingdom of Serbia from October 1915 weakened the SSDP. During the revolutionary upswing that occurred in Serbia under the influence of the October Revolution, the SSDP merged with the Socialist Workers’ Party of Yugoslavia (of Communists) at the latter’s first (Unification) Congress, held in April 1919.