Luisa Miller

Luisa Miller is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play "Kabale und Liebe" ("Intrigue and Love") by the German dramatist Friedrich von Schiller.
Verdi's initial idea for a new opera – for which he had a contract going back over several years – was rejected by the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. He attempted to negotiate his way out of this obligation and, when that failed, Cammarano came up with the idea of adapting the Schiller play, with which Verdi was familiar. The process was set in motion, with Verdi still living and working on initial ideas from Paris, where he had been living for almost two years before moving back to his home town of Busseto in the summer of 1849. It was from there that he wrote the music and traveled to Naples for rehearsals. The first performance was given on 8 December 1849.
This was Verdi's 15th opera and it is regarded as the beginning of the composer's "middle period".
Composition history.
In August 1848, Verdi had written to the Naples opera house cancelling his contract of three years previous, in which he had agreed to write an opera for them. However, the management held him to it by threatening his librettist for failing to provide a libretto, and Verdi relented, encouraging Cammarano to develop "a brief drama with plenty of interest, action and above all feeling – which would make it easier to set to music"
In Verdi's mind, he had the perfect subject, to be based on the novel "L'assedio di Firenze" ("The Siege of Florence") by Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi, which glorified the life of the 16th Century Florentine soldier Francesco Ferruccio. This new subject was also a patriotic piece: Verdi had taken to heart the admonitions of the poet Giuseppe Giusti, who had pleaded with him after "Macbeth" and after Milan's political turmoil of March 1848 and its aftermath to "do what you can to nourish the [sorrow of the Italian people], to strengthen it, and direct it to its goal".
Attempting to get a new libretto underway, Verdi approached Francesco Maria Piave, found him engaged as a soldier for the new Venetian republic, and so contacted Cammarano in Naples with the idea of "L'assedio". But, as it turned out, Cammarano had to tell Verdi that the Naples censors rejected the outline of a subject which had interested Verdi very much since the time he prepared his previous opera, "La battaglia di Legnano". His inability to continue to develop the project came as a blow. Verdi's biographer Julian Budden notes that "next to "Re Lear" ("King Lear"), this was to be the most fascinating of Verdi unrealized subjects"; another biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz adds that she regards "L'assedio di Firenze" as "one of Verdi's most important uncomposed works."
Cammarano advised the composer to avoid a story which had any sort of revolutionary tinge, and he came back with an idea which Verdi himself had once proposed in 1846 when he was recovering from his illness and in the company of Andrea Maffei (who was writing the libretto for "I masnadieri"): to adapt Schiller's "Kabale und Liebe". Therefore, he sent a synopsis of "Luisa Miller" (which he called "Eloisa Miller") to Verdi on 14 May 1849.
Verdi's reply to Cammarano on 17 May outlines some of his concerns; these revolved around the shift of some elements (especially in act 2) and the addition of a duet for Walter and Wurm. As Budden notes, "the only one of these points on which Verdi got his way was the new duet" (because the librettist raised various objections regarding the conditions at the San Carlo and various others), but Budden emphasizes the "spirit of give and take" which prevailed through their relationship. One example regarded the ending of act 1 where Verdi emphasized that there should no stretta, and the librettist agreed provided that "the act did not end in slow tempo but should quicken towards an animated finish."(See "Music" below).
Cammarano moved the action from a princely court (in the 18th century) to a Tyrolean village (in the 17th century), and shifted the characters away from the princely intrigues which preoccupied Schiller. He therefore moved the focus much more toward the "Liebe" (Love) and away from the "Kabale" (Intrigue) aspects of the play.
With the idea of "Luisa Miller" agreed upon, from Paris Verdi approached the Naples management, trying to obtain a delay or, at least, to allow the new opera to be presented in his absence. When this approach was rejected, the composer made plans for both himself and his companion Giuseppina Strepponi to leave Paris; Verdi went to his native Busseto, arriving about 10 August, and took up residence in the Palazzo Orlandi (also referred to as the Palazzo Cavalli, after its architect) which he had bought in 1845; Strepponi joined him there a month later, for what was to be a difficult period in both their lives.
It was from Busseto that Verdi then began work on the score of this opera, having received the libretto from Cammarano on 13 August. In October he left for Naples, accompanied by Antonio Barezzi, whom he continued to refer to as his "father-in-law".
Distinctive elements of the libretto.
When music writer Charles Osborne describes the libretto as "inadequate as an adaptation of Schiller's excellent play [but] Cammarano's "Luisa Miller" is, in its own right, a very fine libretto", he continues by comparing it with Cammarano's previous libretto for "La battaglia di Legnano", which contrasts:
Baldini makes a similar point when he comments in his 1970 book "The Story of Giuseppe Verdi" that the opera
"is in every sense a bourgeois tragedy [and] it feeds on the extraordinary fascination we have for everyday violent crimes. Nothing so far written by Verdi comes close to the concept of realism" and he also comments on the essentially "private" nature of the opera; before "Luisa", "something had always been raging, striving beyond the limits of private interests,"
Performance history.
19th century.
The premiere, on 8 December 1849, was well received, although for Verdi, the experience of dealing with the authorities at the San Carlo Opera in Naples caused him to vow never to produce another opera there. In fact, he never did, in spite of having initially written "Un ballo in maschera" for that house.
In Italy following the premiere, "Luisa" was given in Rome in 1850 and in Venice, Florence and Milan again up to 1852. The US premiere was staged by the Caroline Richings Company at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia on 27 October 1852 with Caroline Richings in the title role. This was followed on 3 June 1858 by the first UK presentation at Her Majesty's Theatre in London.
20th century and beyond.
While not as popular as the most often performed of Verdi's works such as "Rigoletto", "La Traviata" or "Aida", "Luisa Miller" is fairly often seen on the stages of the world's opera houses.
Following its initial six performances during the 1929/30 season at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the opera was not given there again until 1968 under Thomas Schippers. The Luisa was Montserrat Caballé, the Rodolfo Richard Tucker, the Miller Sherrill Milnes, the Walter Giorgio Tozzi, and the Wurm Ezio Flagello. The Met has revived the work numerous times since then.
Notable revivals include those featuring Caballé at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in January 1972 and at the Teatro alla Scala in May 1976. Katia Ricciarelli sang the title role along with Luciano Pavarotti several times in those years, particularly in San Francisco and again in Turin along with José Carreras. In 1978 the opera was presented at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, also with Ricciarelli in the title role. Luciano Pavarotti sang the role of Rodolfo in the original run; later seasons saw Ricciarelli reprising the title role with tenor José Carreras, followed by Plácido Domingo and then Carlo Bergonzi
Three opera companies, which plan to present all of Verdi's operas, have given this opera: the Sarasota Opera in 1999 as part of its "Verdi Cycle"; the Teatro Regio di Parma in October 2007 as part of their ongoing "Festival Verdi"; and the ABAO in Bilbao, Spain, in 2012 as part of its "Viva Verdi" series.
The Paris Opéra at the Bastille Opera presented the work with Ana Maria Martinez and Ramón Vargas as Luisa and Rodolfo respectively on 8 March 2008.
In April–May 2010, a new production of the Zurich Opera House included Barbara Frittoli as Luisa, Fabio Armiliato as Rodolfo and Leo Nucci as Miller. In 2012, productions were seen in three German cities including Berlin, Stuttgart, and Munich, as well as Malmo in Sweden. In 2013, the opera was presented by the Israeli Opera company in Tel Aviv, by the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Duisburg and Düsseldorf, and in Budapest. The San Francisco Opera opened their 93rd season in September 2015 by performing the opera.
Synopsis.
Act 1.
"Scene 1: A village"
On Luisa's birthday, the villagers have gathered outside her house to serenade her. She loves Carlo, a young man she has met in the village ("Lo vidi e 'l primo palpito" /"I saw him and my heart felt its first thrill of love") and looks for him in the crowd. Luisa's father, Miller, is worried by this mysterious love since Carlo is a stranger. Carlo appears and the couple sing of their love (Duet: "t'amo d'amor ch'esprimere" / "I love you with a love that words can only express badly"). As the villagers leave to enter the nearby church, Miller is approached by a courtier, Wurm, who is in love with Luisa and wishes to marry her. But Miller tells him that he will never make a decision against his daughter's will ("Sacra la scelta è d'un consorte" / "The choice of a husband is sacred"). Irritated by his reply, Wurm reveals to Miller that in reality Carlo is Rodolfo, Count Walter's son. Alone, Miller expresses his anger ("Ah fu giusto il mio sospetto" / "Ah! My suspicion was correct").
"Scene 2: Count Walter's castle"
Wurm informs the Count of Rodolfo's love for Luisa and is ordered to summon the son. The Count expresses his frustration with his son ("Il mio sangue la vita darei" / "I would give my life's blood"). When Rodolfo enters, the Count tells him that it is intended that he marry Walter's niece Federica, the Duchess of Ostheim.
When Rodolfo is left alone with Federica, he confesses that he loves another woman, hoping that the duchess will understand. But Federica is too much in love with him to understand (Duet: "Deh! la parola amara perdona al labbro mio" / "Pray forgive my lips for the bitter words").
"Scene 3: Miller's house"
Miller tells his daughter who Rodolfo really is. Rodolfo arrives and admits his deception but swears that his love is sincere. Kneeling in front of Miller he declares that Luisa is his bride. Count Walter enters and confronts his son. Drawing his sword, Miller defends his daughter and Walter orders that both father and daughter be arrested. Rodolfo stands up against his father and threatens him: if he does not free the girl, Rodolfo will reveal how Walter became count. Frightened, Walter orders Luisa to be freed.
Act 2.
"Scene 1: A room in Miller's home"
Villagers come to Luisa and tell her that her father has been seen being dragged away in chains. Then Wurm arrives and confirms that Miller is to be executed. But he offers her a bargain: her father's freedom in exchange for a letter in which Luisa declares her love for Wurm and states that she has tricked Rodolfo. Initially resisting ("Tu puniscimi, O Signore" / "Punish me, o Lord"), she gives way and writes the letter at the same time being warned that she must keep up the pretense of voluntarily writing the letter and being in love with Wurm. Cursing him ("A brani, a brani, o perfido" / "O perfidious wretch"), Luisa wants only to die.
"Scene:2: A room in Count Walter's castle"
At the castle Walter and Wurm recall how the Count rose to power by killing his own cousin and Wurm reminds the Count how Rodolfo also knows of this. The two men realize that, unless they act together, they may be doomed (Duet: "L'alto retaggio non ho bramato" / "The noble inheritance of my cousin"). Duchess Federica and Luisa enter. The girl confirms the contents of her letter.
"Scene 3: Rodolfo's rooms"
Rodolfo reads Luisa's letter and, ordering a servant to summon Wurm, he laments the happy times which he spent with Luisa ("Quando le sere al placido" / "When at eventide, in the tranquil glimmer of a starry sky"). The young man has challenged Wurm to a duel. To avoid the confrontation the courtier fires his pistol in the air, bringing the Count and his servants running in. Count Walter advises Rodolfo to revenge the offense he has suffered by marrying Duchess Federica. In despair, Rodolfo abandons himself to fate ("L'ara o l'avello apprestami" / "Prepare the altar or the grave for me").
Act 3.
"A room in Miller's home"
In the distance echoes of the celebration of Rodolfo and Federica's wedding can be heard. Old Miller, freed from prison, comes back home. He enters his house and embraces his daughter, then reads the letter she has prepared for Rodolfo. Luisa is determined to take her own life ("La tomba è un letto sparso di fiori" / "The grave is a bed strewn with flowers"), but Miller manages to persuade her to stay with him. (Duet: "La figlia, vedi, pentita" / "Your child, see, repentant"). Alone now, Luisa continues praying. Rodolfo slips in and unseen pours poison into the water jug on the table. He then asks Luisa if she really wrote the letter in which she declared her love for Wurm. "Yes," the girl replies. Rodolfo drinks a glass of water and passes a glass to Luisa, inviting her to drink. Then he tells her that they are both condemned to die. Before she dies, Luisa has time to tell Rodolfo the truth about the letter (Duet: "Ah piangi; il tuo dolore" / "Weep; your sorrow is more justified"). Miller returns and comforts his dying daughter; together the three say their prayers and farewells (Trio, Luisa: "Padre, ricevi l'estremo addio" / "Father, receive my last farewell"; Rodolfo: "Ah! tu perdona il fallo mio" / "Oh, forgive my sin"; Miller: "O figlia, o vita del cor paterno" / "Oh, child, life of your father's heart"). As Luisa dies, the peasants enter with Count Walter and Wurm. Rodolfo runs his sword through Wurm's breast, declaring to his father "La pena tua mira" / "Look on your punishment" before he dies.
Orchestration.
"Luisa Miller" is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, 2 clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, four offstage horns, two trumpets, three trombones, one cimbasso, one harp, timpani, a bell representing a church bell, a bell representing the castle clock, bass drum and cymbals, organ and strings.
Music.
Julian Budden provides a summary of the strengths of this opera and demonstrates how it takes on many new dimensions based on several things: the relatively longer time-frame for completing the piece, the fact that Verdi did make sketches of some of the music in advance, the opportunity "to allow the newly-acquired Parisian elements to become assimilated into his Italian style" – resulting in "the best of it set[ting] a new standard in Verdian opera." He demonstrates how in act 3, "the sensitive scoring, the flexibility of the musical forms, the growing importance of the role which Verdi assigned to the orchestra ... permits him to write two lengthy dialogue recitatives (Luisa and Miller; Luisa and Rodolfo). Of these two duets, David Kimball notes that they "best illustrate Verdi's habit of fashioning the musical forms to match the dramatic purpose", although Parker slightly qualifies this by stating that he sees the opera's importance amongst those written pre-"Rigoletto" as being not so much "for its formal experiments as for its control of conventional musical forms, especially the grand duet." In that regard, he sees it as resembling "Il trovatore".
As to the overall importance of "Luisa", Baldini goes as far as to state that:
Another musical example has been noted by Budden (See "Composition history" above): that Verdi was unwilling to set a conventional stretta to end act 2 (but, at the same time, he accommodated the librettist who wanted the act to conclude with music that "should quicken towards an animated finish"). In musical terms, Budden notes that Verdi agreed and:
References.
Notes
Cited source
Other sources


Desjardins Canal disaster

The Desjardins Canal disaster was a train accident that killed 59 people and occurred near Hamilton, Canada West, British North America. The train wreck occurred at 6:15p.m. on when a train on the Great Western Railway crashed through a bridge over the Desjardins Canal, causing the train and its passengers to fall 60 feet into the ice below.
Recovery and rescue.
The train had ninety passengers. Most in the last train car survived but others on the train either drowned or succumbed to injury. Locomotive lamps and fires were built to illuminate the scene to aid in rescue efforts. Ropes and ladders were lowered to bring the dead and wounded out of the train cars. One car, partially submerged, was accessed with axes by rescuers.


Ty Rauber

Louis Joseph "Ty" Rauber (September 8, 1905 – January 29, 1949) was a college football player, Navy Commander, and special agent with the FBI.
Early years.
Rauber was born on September 8, 1905 in Wellsville, New York to John Rauber and Catherine Shaughnessy. He attended Central High School of Washington, D. C. and was captain of its 1923 football team.
Washington & Lee.
Football.
Rauber was a prominent fullback for the Washington & Lee Generals of Washington & Lee University. He was the first Generals player to make an All-East team, and the first All-American.
1925.
Against Princeton in 1925, Ty once punted the ball from his end zone into a gale of wind which blew the ball right back into his arms. The Tigers then threw him for a safety.
1926.
Rauber received All-Southern selections in 1926; receiving the third most votes of any player just behind Hoyt Winslett and Bill Spears. He received a third-team All-American vote from the "Associated Press".
Navy.
Rauber was a Commander with the Navy, serving as legal officer in charge of the land division, called to active duty in 1939. He later went overseas with naval intelligence.
Later years.
Rauber died in Guam of a heart attack after having fallen off a boat.


Mary (slave)

Mary (died August 11, 1838) was a teenage American slave who was hanged for the murder of Vienna Brinker, a two-year-old girl she was babysitting. Her case was notable both for her youth and for the extended legal process that preceded her execution. Although her exact age is unknown, it is generally agreed that she is the youngest person to have been put to death in Missouri.
Background.
Mary was originally enslaved by Abraham Brinker, who had settled in Potosi, Missouri, in the 1810s. She was described as "mulatto", though it is unclear if she had any genetic relation to the Brinker family. Abraham was killed by Native Americans in 1833, and the people he enslaved were inherited by his son John. His first child, Vienna Jane Brinker, was born on May 25, 1835, and Mary was tasked with babysitting her. In February 1837, the family and those they enslaved moved into what would become known as the Snelson-Brinker House, a single-story log cabin near Steelville.
Death of Vienna Brinker.
On May 14, 1837, the body of Vienna Brinker was discovered in a stream on the Brinker property. She had suffered blunt trauma to her right temple. John Brinker's wife Sarah had asked Mary to gather firewood, and she took Vienna with her. She later returned to the house without Vienna, and claimed not to know where she was. John Brinker gathered two of his neighbors, William Blackwell and Thomas Shirley, to help search for his daughter. They eventually followed Mary's footsteps down to the stream, where Shirley found her body. Some sources have speculated that Mary killed Vienna because her father was planning to sell her.
Trials and execution.
After the discovery of the body, Mary was tied to a log by William Blackwell and threatened with a whipping. She subsequently admitted to throwing Vienna in the stream and then beating her body with a stick to stop it surfacing. She later made a similar confession to Simeon Frost, a local justice of the peace. Mary was charged with first-degree murder and placed in the Potosi jail. Her trial began on August 16, 1837, and she was provided with three court-appointed attorneys. She was found guilty two days later, and subsequently sentenced to be hanged at Steelville on September 30.
Mary appealed the verdict to the Missouri Supreme Court. The presiding judge, Mathias McGirk, reversed the decision of the Crawford County circuit court, citing numerous irregularities in both her indictment and the trial process. Mary was re-indicted and a new trial was scheduled. It was originally supposed to be held in Gasconade County, but was later shifted back to Crawford County. The second trial returned the same verdict as the first, and Mary was hanged at Steelville on August 11, 1838.
Contemporary newspapers reported Mary's age as either 13 or 14, while a later account in a history of Crawford County gave it as 16. The trial judge, James Evans, had instructed the jury to consider whether Mary was above the age of criminal responsibility (14), or whether she was below that age but "had sufficient mind to know what act would be a crime". In any case, Mary is generally considered to be the youngest person to have been executed by the state of Missouri.


Rina Lazarus

Rina Lazarus is a fictional character in a series of mystery novels by Faye Kellerman.
Rina, an Orthodox Jew, is the daughter of Holocaust survivors from Hungary. She married a yeshiva scholar when she was 17, lived in Israel with him for a time and had two sons. During the First Lebanon War she helped care for wounded Israeli soldiers, gaining a medical skill useful in her later American life. At that time she resided in the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba in the West Bank, and - as she clearly expresses in "A Stone Kiss" - retained a positive attitude towards the Israeli settlers. Her husband died of a brain tumour and she went to a US college to finish her degree in mathematics. She is living and teaching at a yeshiva school when she meets her second husband, Los Angeles police sergeant (later lieutenant) Peter Decker, in "The Ritual Bath". Decker, though raised a Baptist by his adoptive parents in Florida, discovered as an adult that his birth parents were Jewish, which makes him officially Jewish as well. After meeting Rina during his investigation of a rape at the yeshiva, he is compelled to explore the religion for himself and eventually to become a religiously observant Orthodox Jew.
Religion is a central part of Rina's identity. Though loving Peter, she would never have married him had he not been ready to become a Jew - not only by the accident of birth, but also by a conscious decision to become a practising Orthodox Jew with all that involves. Rina strictly keeps the dress code and behaviour appropriate to a "frum" Orthodox Jewish woman. Still, there are some exceptions.
In "Prayers For the Dead" it is revealed that, at one moment of her life, Rina had been deeply involved with Bram Sparks, a Roman Catholic priest, as deeply committed to Catholic Christianity as Rina was to Orthodox Judaism. Though probably not physically consummated (that point is left a bit ambiguous), the two of them deeply loved each other - even though such a love was clearly contradictory to the behaviour dictated by both their religions. Moreover, she retains some of her feelings for Bram even when already married to Peter - which makes Peter very jealous.
All of the books that follow in the series are rooted in Jewish themes. Major characters in the series include Rina's two sons, Jacob and Samuel Lazarus; Cindy Decker, Peter's daughter from his first marriage; Rina and Peter's daughter Hannah Decker; and Peter's partner Marge Dunn. Decker's daughter from his first marriage, Cindy Decker, a teenager in the earliest books, eventually follows her father into the police force and is the main character of two of the later books, "Stalker" and "Street Dreams".
Critical reception.
Analyst Dorothea Fischer-Hornung states that the character of Rina was used to teach the reader about Orthodox Judaism, even while she "breaks the rules set out for her as an Orthodox Jewish wife", serving "to counterbalance the stereotypical view of traditional Jewish women's roles". Laurence Roth adds that Rina's relationship with the "assimilated American Jewish male", Decker, presents a "solution" to "the bane of American Jewish life during the 1990s". Roth also suggests that Rina's surname, Lazarus, "signifies the contemporary perception that Jewish tradition is being resurrected".


Ip Man 3

Ip Man 3 is a 2015 Hong Kong biographical martial arts film directed by Wilson Yip, produced by Raymond Wong and written by Edmond Wong with action choreography by Yuen Woo-ping. It is the third in the "Ip Man" film series based on the life of the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man and features Donnie Yen reprising the title role. Ip Man's pupil Bruce Lee is portrayed by Danny Chan and Ip Man's fellow Wing Chun expert and rival Cheung Tin-chi (張天志), also known as Sum Nung, is portrayed by Zhang Jin. The film also features Mike Tyson. Principal photography commenced in March 2015 and ended in June of that year.
The premiere of the film was released in Hong Kong on 16 December 2015, and officially released in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia on 24 December 2015. It opened in Taiwan on 31 December 2015, New Zealand and United Kingdom on 15 January 2016 and one week later in Australia. It was released in the United States on 22 January 2016, and was released in mainland China on 4 March 2016. The film received positive reviews and eight Hong Kong Film Award nominations, including Best Film and Best Director, and won in the Best Editing category. It also won Best Action Choreography, Best Director and Best Picture at the 2016 Shanghai International Film Festival.
Plot.
In 1959, Ip Man settles into his low-profile life in Hong Kong. His elder son, Ip Chun, has returned to Foshan to study, leaving Ip with his younger son, Ip Ching, and his wife, Cheung Wing-sing, in Hong Kong. Bruce Lee visits Ip and asks to become one of his students. After Lee demonstrates his speed, Ip neither accepts nor rejects him, but insinuates for him to leave by opening the door.
After Ip Ching gets into a fight with his schoolmate Cheung Fong, their teacher, Miss Wong, asks the parents to come to the school, though only the Ips arrive. As an apology, the Ip family invite Fong to their home for dinner. At Ip's house, Fong displays rudimentary yet impressive Wing Chun skills. When asked who his mentor is, Fong says that it is his father, Cheung Tin-chi, who shows up to collect his son shortly after. Although Tin-chi interacts cordially with Ip, he secretly envies and seeks to surpass him.
Tin-chi participates in underground fights organized by Ma King-sang, a local triad leader who works for Frank, an American property developer and highly proficient boxer. Frank orders Ma to acquire the land occupied by the school where Ip Ching and Cheung Fong study. When Ip goes to collect his son from school, he witnesses Ma and his men beating the school principal after he refuses to sell. Ip interferes and restrains Ma, but is forced to release him. Ip seeks help from his close friend Fat Po, a local police sergeant. Po agrees to help, but says that he lacks the manpower and influence to protect the school every day. Ip then decides to guard the school alongside his students.
That night, Ma's men set fire to the school and attempt to kidnap the principal. Tin-chi happens to be passing by, and helps fight off Ma's thugs. Tin-chi's skills impress Ip, and he thanks Tin-chi for his help. Tin Ngo-san, a local martial arts master and Ma's former mentor, is enraged by Ma's unscrupulous acts and confronts Ma at a Hong Kong shipyard, humiliating him in front of his men. Ma wanted to retaliate with a hidden knife, but Ip stops him. Po arrives and keeps tensions from escalating further. Ma offers Tin-chi a large sum of money to get revenge against Ngo-san on his behalf. Desperate for money, and wanting to open his own martial arts school, Tin-chi accepts the offer and attacks Ngo-san, hospitalizing him.
Ip receives a call from the hospital and visits Ngo-san. Upon learning that Ngo-san did not call him, Ip realizes it was a set-up by Ma to lure him away from the school, where Ma's gang have abducted some of the students. Ip arrives alone at Ma's shipyard, where Ma holds Ip Ching at knife point and threatens to sell the children into slavery if the principal refuses to sell the school. Tin-chi is allowed to leave with Fong due to being an associate, but after his son tells him that they still have his friends, he returns and fights alongside Ip. Ip and Cheung are able to hold their own until a troop of policemen led by Po arrives to arrest the gang. Frank dismisses Ma for his failures and sends a Thai boxer after Ip instead.
Returning home, Ip learns that Wing-sing has been diagnosed with cancer. On their way home from a medicine shop, Ip and Wing-sing are attacked in an elevator by the Thai boxer, who Ip defeats before the elevator reaches the ground floor. Po tells Ip about Frank, who wants to eliminate Ip at all costs for obstructing his plans. Ip confronts Frank in his office, where Frank promises to leave the school alone if Ip can last an entire three minute fight. Initially overwhelmed by Frank's muscle and sheer force, Ip turns the tide by attacking Frank's lower half. They fight to a draw after the three minutes pass; seemingly impressed, Frank keeps his promise.
Tin-chi opens his martial arts school with the money he obtained from Ma, and claims that his Wing Chun is genuine while Ip's is not. He publicly challenges Ip to a battle that will decide who is the true Grandmaster of Wing Chun. However, Ip instead spends more time with his ailing wife, ashamedly feeling that he has neglected her. Wanting to dance with his wife, Ip is taught how to dance by Lee, whom Ip finally accepts as a student. Tin-chi is declared the winner because of Ip's failure to attend but feels unsatisfied. Despite being happy about Ip's decision to accompany her, Wing-sing makes arrangements with Tin-chi for another match on her husband's behalf, correctly guessing that Ip would have attended if not for her deteriorating health. Wing-sing accompanies Ip to the fight where Ip eventually overpowers Tin-chi with a one-inch punch. Tin-chi accepts defeat, and destroys the banner proclaiming himself to be the Grandmaster. Ip tells him that spending time with their closest ones is more important than competing with others.
A closing onscreen text states that Wing-sing passed away in 1960, and that Ip helped make Wing Chun well known internationally thus leaving a legacy.
Production.
Development.
Donnie Yen, who played the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in two films, initially expressed no interest in appearing in a third film, feeling that, "Because "Ip Man 2" will incontrovertibly become a classic, bettering the first. I believe it's best to end something when it's at perfection, and leave behind a good memory." Before the release of "Ip Man 2", he stated he would no longer be involved in a film based on Ip Man's life due to the proliferation of Ip Man films produced by different studios following the success of the first "Ip Man" film. While both Yen and Raymond Wong were not initially keen on making a third "Ip Man" film, director Wilson Yip had expressed interest in making one that would focus on the relationship between Ip Man and Bruce Lee. While "Ip Man 2" very briefly shows Lee as a child, Wilson Yip hoped to find a suitable actor to portray Lee as an adult for the third instalment. In March 2014, "Variety" announced that "Ip Man 3" would be shot in early 2015, and would be released in 3D during Chinese New Year that year, with Wilson Yip, Yen, and Wong reprising their duties. In December 2015, regarding the decision to make "Ip Man 3" five years after "Ip Man 2", Wong said there were numerous unrelated Ip Man films being made such as ', ' and "The Grandmaster", so they wanted to wait till all that ended.
Casting.
In March 2015, "The Hollywood Reporter" announced that Mike Tyson would also be starring as a street fighter and property developer. This marks the first time Tyson appears in film or television as a substantial character other than himself. They also noted that because the team could not find an actor who could portray Bruce Lee's intensity onscreen, they decided to use CGI to portray Lee. In the same month, Kris Storti, the COO of Bruce Lee Enterprises (BLE), said that BLE, which is the sole owner of all worldwide rights relating to Lee, including his name, image and likeness, was "justifiably shocked" over Pegasus Motion Pictures' decision to include Lee in their film, which Storti said was "completely unauthorized" by BLE. "To state it in no uncertain terms, BLE intends to seek all remedies available to it to stop Pegasus from including the computer-generated version of Bruce Lee in "Ip Man 3"," he added. However, Pegasus asserted that Bruce Lee's brother Robert Lee, who worked as a consultant on "Ip Man 3", owns the intellectual property rights of Lee, a claim which was denied by BLE. "The Guardian" noted that plans to use a CGI Bruce Lee were dropped as a result, though Lee did appear in the film, portrayed by Danny Chan, who had previously portrayed Lee in the 2008 TV series, "The Legend of Bruce Lee".
Yen said that, despite initial reluctance, he agreed to return to the role of Ip Man because "no matter where I go, nobody knows me as Donnie Yen. They call me Ip Man. So I decided to play the role one more time to fulfil everyone's wishes", and implied that "Ip Man 3" could be his final martial arts film. Lynn Hung reprised her role as Ip Man's wife from the first two films. In November 2015, it was revealed on the website of music composer Kenji Kawai (who scored the series' first two films) that he had returned to work on the soundtrack of "Ip Man 3".
Filming.
Principal photography began in Shanghai on 25 March 2015. While filming an action sequence with Yen, Tyson's finger was fractured.
Despite Yuen Woo-ping being credited as the action choreographer of the film, both Yuen and Yen have revealed during interviews that many scenes are actually choreographed by Yen himself as he often improvised on the set and add new actions and sequences while filming. This is especially evident in the fight scene against Tyson where Yen wanted to include some MMA and physics theory, targeting the lower body of Tyson. Principal photography wrapped in June 2015. Yen has gone uncredited in action choreography many times, and his improvisation and contribution includes many Hong Kong Film Award winners such as the previous two "Ip Man" films, "Bodyguards and Assassins" and "".
Release.
"Ip Man 3" was released in Hong Kong on 24 December 2015, as well as in Malaysia and Singapore. Earlier, it was scheduled for a 2016 release. The film had a limited release in New Zealand on 25 December 2015, followed by a wide release in Taiwan on 31 December 2015, and a limited release in the United States on 22 January 2016. It was released in mainland China on 4 March. It was released in Sri Lanka in March 2016.
Critical reception.
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 78% of critics have given "Ip Man 3" a positive review based on 51 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads, ""Ip Man 3" isn't the most tightly plotted biopic a kung fu fan could ask for, but the fight scenes are fun to watch — and at times, the drama is even genuinely poignant." Another review aggregator, Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 57 out of 100 based on 14 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Clarence Tsui of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote, "Bolstered by Yuen Woo-ping's exhilarating action choreography and some stunt casting in the shape of Mike Tyson and Zhang Jin (the breakout star in Wong Kar-wai's rival Ip Man biopic "The Grandmaster"), Yen and Yip have managed to wring a serviceable film out of a pedestrian plot riddled with erroneous period details." Tsui called it "a fitfully effective finale to the franchise." James Marsh of "Screen International" stated, ""Ip Man 3" trades the crowd-pleasing intensity of its predecessors for a more introspective portrait of its central character." However, Marsh added, "Yen has always portrayed Ip Man as a modest beacon of calm and restraint, which has added to the enigmatic nature of the character, but he struggles here when called upon to express grander emotions. As expected, Mike Tyson fails to convince in his role of Frank, whose origins are never revealed in the film, and whose motivation is simply greed."
Edmund Lee of "South China Morning Post" gave the film a 3.5/5 rating and commented, "A respectable action drama that doesn't try to replicate the pleasure of its predecessors, instead admirably turning to contemplate Ip's priorities in life, "Ip Man 3" will reward those who come in with no preconceptions about what an Ip Man biopic headed by Donnie Yen should be like. For the character has irreversibly mellowed and it's left to audiences to respond in kind." Andrew Chan of "Film Critics Circle of Australia" commented "Rarely do a trilogy of films, gets better with age and this one provides us with plenty of the evergreen Yuen Woo Ping inspired fight sequences one after another."
Hans David Tampubolon of "The Jakarta Post" called the film a "messy patchwork of stitched-together plotlines" that was an "action-packed but ultimately disappointing finale of the Wing Chun trilogy" and concluded, "Well, judging by the atrocious script and character development in "Ip Man 3", there is a very large possibility that Donnie is regretting his final decision to portray the legendary grandmaster for the third time."
Box office.
According to Box Office Mojo, "Ip Man 3" has earned in Hong Kong and $2,679,437 in the United States. In China, it made US$24.1 million on its opening day, debuting at No. 1 and US$28.7 million on its second day for a two-day total of $52.4 million. In its opening weekend, it topped the box office with an estimated US$71.2 million from 191,400 screenings and 10.4 million admissions. Internationally, the film earned $154,165,316, bringing its worldwide total to $156,844,753.
Home media.
"Ip Man 3" Blu-ray was released on 10 March 2016 in Hong Kong and on 25 April 2016 in United Kingdom.
Sequel.
While many sources suggested that "Ip Man 3" could be the final film in the franchise, Patrick Brzeski of "The Hollywood Reporter" stated that due to the film's strong commercial performance, he "wouldn't be surprised" if a sequel was made. Raymond Wong had expressed interest in making a fourth "Ip Man" film, which Donnie Yen stated was possible if there was a good script, and if reaction to "Ip Man 3" warranted it. On 30 September 2016, Yen announced via Facebook that he and Wilson Yip would continue the franchise with "Ip Man 4". Filming began in April 2018, and this final film was released on 20 December 2019.


SS Picton

The SS "Picton" was a British steamship, chiefly known for its involvement in the events of the Halifax Explosion.
History.
At the time of the Halifax explosion, "Picton" was moored next to the sugar refinery wharf, having earlier run aground and damaged her stern post and rudder. Her cargo (food-stuffs and explosives) was being removed by a party of 80 longshoremen so that she might be safely repaired. They had gotten as far as her ballast, 1,500 tons of fused shells, when the blast happened. She was only a hundred feet away from the SS "Mont-Blanc" when the fire began. The superintendent foreman, Frank Carew, realised the danger and, along with his men, had the hatch covers closed and secured when the "Mont-Blanc" went up. Carew, his two assistants and 68 of the men were killed and stripped by the blast. A 1-ton boulder, presumably lifted from the harbour bottom by the blast, landed on the ship. Only ten of the crew survived, in varying conditions of hurt. A party of blue-jackets removed the survivors ashore.
As for the condition of the ship, the superstructure was wrecked and an apparatus for producing a smoke screen was wrecked and the cartridges scattered on deck. The cartridges contained a good proportion of phosphorus and produced a thick black smoke on ignition.
Capt. James W. Harrison, Marine Supt. of Furness Withy Co., recognised the danger of the ballast exploding, and made his way to the ship with help from his son, Lt Leslie Harrison. He commandeered the tug "Weatherspoon" and ordered its captain take him to the "Picton".
The "Picton" was at that time seen to be giving off smoke and steam from the after part of the bridge. The force of the explosion had blown the hatch covers back open. The smoke was from burning debris from the wharf and adjacent sheds which, along with the sugar refinery, was ablaze. Harrison extinguished the fire.
He then set to work to cut the wire and manila cables, and the tug attached a line to the bow of the "Picton". After an hour's work, he succeeded. Unable to raise the anchor, they enlisted two more tugs and dragged the "Picton" into the "stream" and secured her with another anchor, finishing at 4:00.
The gale during the blizzard on Friday pulled the vessel to and fro, endangering other ships which were also wandering.
On Saturday, the Admiralty instructed the Furness Withy people to remove "Picton" from the harbour and beach her in the Eastern Passage. Capt. Harrison supervised this being done. A patrol vessel was anchored nearby and a guard from the 63rd Halifax Rifles was stationed at Crow's Point to prevent thieves and the curious from stripping her. Some youths were later arrested for trying this.
It is possible that they stepped on some of the errant cartridges and caused the fire that was reported aboard the ship on Sunday morning. Upon seeing the flames, residents of nearby homes fled in the pouring rain. The guard swiftly boarded her and extinguished the flames in about 20 minutes. The "Picton" was once more towed out into the stream, bursting into flames as this was being done. After the fire was out, the guards went back on board to confirm that the ammunition was still on board, even extinguishing a small fire in the packing straw.
Nothing further happened until 29 January, when an ammunition box caught fire as it was being unloaded at the Ocean Terminals pier. The phosphorus that had leaked from the damaged cartridges had mixed with cordite, causing a box to ignite as it was being dragged across a bench. The small blaze was speedily extinguished, but caused panic in the nearby community. Schools and houses in the South End emptied. The panic did eventually die down, and the ship was forgotten.
Final years.
The ship was quietly sold off in 1927 to Williams & Mordey Ltd., Cardiff and her name changed to SS "Seven Seas Transport". In 1929 the ship changed hands to Reederei and Wilhelm Kunstmann, Stettin, as SS "Heinz W. Kunstmann". She was last sold in 1938 to Fritzen Johs. & Sohn, Emden, as SS "Hertha Engeline Fritzen". She ran aground under that name on 26 October 1941, near the Nieuwe Waterweg entrance of Europoort.


Luisa Sala

Luisa Sala (7 July 192316 June 1986) was a distinguished actress of stage, film and television from the 1950s until her death.
She was born on 7 July 1923 in Madrid, Spain. She was the New York Times' "Critic's Pick" in 1965 for her performance in the film "Aquella jóven de blanco", also known in Spain as "El Milagro de Lourdes", for her performance in the role of the mother of 'Bernardita de Lourdes' ('St. Bernadette').
She died at her home in Madrid on 16 June 1986 by choking to death while eating at her own table in the presence of her family.


Fred C. Kelly

Fred Charters Kelly (1882–1959) was an American humorist, newspaperman, columnist and author.
Kelly was born in 1882 in Xenia, Ohio and studied at the University of Michigan (1900–1902). He began his newspaper career in 1896 as a local correspondent for a small town newspaper and wrote a humor column for "The Plain Dealer" (Cleveland, Ohio) for five years. His "Statesmen, Real and Near" column (1910–1918) was the first Washington, D.C. news column to be syndicated. During World War I, Kelly served briefly as special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
After the war Kelly bought and operated a farm in Peninsula, Ohio where he continued to support himself as a free-lance writer. In addition to his journalistic work, he was the official biographer of the Wright brothers, and worked to bring the original 1903 Wright Flyer home to the U.S. from the Science Museum in London, to which Orville Wright lent it during his long feud with the Smithsonian Institution over credit for the first flight.


The Static Speaks My Name

The Static Speaks My Name is an indie psychological horror video game created by Jesse Barksdale. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux.
Gameplay and synopsis.
The game takes place in a first-person perspective, and starts out in an indistinct black space, with a grey morphing blob; walking up to it displays a text about a person named Jacob Ernholtz who has committed suicide by hanging at the age of 31. The perspective then shifts to Ernholtz as he is waking up in his apartment; the player – as Ernholtz – must then perform a few menial tasks in the apartment, which is dimly lit with all the doors and windows boarded up. Exploring the apartment reveals that Ernholtz has developed an obsession with a painting of two palm trees and its painter Jason Malone, who a news article pinned to the refrigerator claims has disappeared. The player can also find a hidden doorway behind a bookcase finding Malone in a cage – the player is given the option to either unlock the cage or electrocute Malone. The player then must go to a final room and commit suicide by hanging; the perspective then shifts back to the black space with multiple grey blobs, each with another person's name and method of suicide.
Reception.
The game received positive reviews from both critics. "The Washington Post" stated that the game was relatively short, and that it highlighted Barksdale in "capturing the creeping unease that can come from wanting other people's lives to make too much sense." Patrick Klepek from Kotaku said that the game was highly disturbing, and that he "never played anything like "The Static Speaks My Name"." A reviewer from GameCritics also stated that he "had a lot of frustrations with "Static"" and that "while "Static" didn't work for me, it's short, it's free, and certain aspects of it are very much open to interpretation.
There is also a short film adaptation made by 3CMC Films.


Gary Kellgren

Gary Kellgren (April 7, 1939 – July 20, 1977) was an American audio engineer and co-founder of The Record Plant recording studios, along with businessman Chris Stone.
Career.
Engineering.
Kellgren was a successful and well respected audio engineer (and occasional record producer) during the 1960s and 1970s. He began working at Apostolic Studios, Scepter Studios, and Mayfair Studios with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, and Wes Farrell. "Mayfair Studios were the best in New York, and Kellgren was the king of the advanced eight-track board."
Kellgren was an early user of "phasing," a studio technique which simulates the sound of a jet engine. He is also credited with pioneering other "psychedelic" sound effects, such as "flanging," a sound which is sometimes confused with Automatic double tracking (ADT).
He worked with musicians such as John Lennon, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Mick Jagger, Ron Wood, Bill Wyman, Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Bobby Goldsboro, The Animals, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Frank Zappa, Sly and the Family Stone, Velvet Underground, CSNY, Rod Stewart, Ravi Shankar, Keith Moon, Barbra Streisand, and Neil Diamond. He also worked with producers such as Wes Farrell, Tom Wilson, Chas Chandler, Jack Douglas, Robert Margouleff, Phil Spector, and Bill Szymczyk.
He conceived of, and was responsible for, all the "Live at the Record Plant" recording sessions as well as the Jim Keltner Fan Club Hour; was sought out by George Harrison to record the Concert For Bangladesh which was recently ranked as being #9 of the 50 Greatest Moments at Madison Square Garden; he also did the remote concert recording starring James Brown for the Muhammad Ali/George Foreman fight, "Rumble in the Jungle," in Zaire in 1974. Kellgren also contributed spoken dialog to The Mothers of Invention's 1968 album "We're Only in It for the Money," which he engineered as well. "I was there when he recorded Barbra Streisand, Paul Anka," said his business partner, Chris Stone. "He recorded Anka for years. Everything he touched in the studio was a hit. Gary is remarkable in the studio. He really is... He has engineered and produced records for Ron Wood and Bill Wyman. Even if he had done nothing else in his life, Kellgren would be famous among musicians for a jam he produced in March 1975, a never-released song called "Too Many Cooks." Present for the session were John Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Billy Preston, Mick Jagger, Al Wilson, Harry Nilsson, Jim Keltner, Ringo Starr, and Danny Kootch. The song was aptly titled."
Design.
Kellgren began his recording career at the Dick Charles demo recording studios in 1964 in the legendary Brill Building in Manhattan. Studios at that time had no décor to speak of. They "were sterile, utilitarian places. Engineers wore jackets and ties (or even lab coats!), and musicians performed under fluorescent lights and acoustical tile ceilings while seated on folding chairs. Amenities - if any - consisted of bad coffee and a few ashtrays. Record Plant broke that mold in a style that is now the stuff of legend." And when Kellgren and his partner Chris Stone opened the Record Plant, it was Kellgren's concept to bring color, artistic design, hotel-like comforts and services to the world of recording studios along with state-of-the-art technology and acoustical design.
In an interview for "Mix" magazine, Stone stated:
"There are tales told by the campfire, where rock mythology is discussed, that say the atmosphere created in that first studio and the ones to follow was so close to a good home and a fine hotel that songs were written to immortalize that special state of mind... It is safe to surmise that no other 'facility' has ever lent so much of a creative edge to the works of art at hand."
Record Plant.
In 1967, Kellgren and Stone built the first of the three Record Plant Recording Studios in Manhattan. Kellgren was the creative and recording side, Stone the business side, and their third partner, Ancky Johnson, Revlon heiress, provided the financial backing. Kellgren had already been working with many of the top artists of the day, like Hendrix, so when he opened the Record Plant, they followed. Mitch Mitchell: "We went there [the Record Plant NY] because Gary Kellgren, who we'd worked with at Mayfair, had raised the money with a partner and managed to start the Record Plant." The NY Record Plant was booked solid for three months in advance at the time of the opening.
The very first album to come out of there was "Electric Ladyland" by Jimi Hendrix. Stone later said in an interview that "Gary, having worked all night, would very often be out cold on the couch, with Jimi still in the studio glaring through the haze at the speakers. They would sometimes go three and four days without stopping. Out of those sessions came 'Electric Ladyland', the Record Plant's first record. Other people have taken credit for the record, but about ninety percent of it was done in Studio A in New York with Gary and Jimi." One of the last to record there being John Lennon, who left the studio to go home the night he was murdered.
Almost two years after the launch of the New York Studio, Kellgren and Stone opened up the Los Angeles Record Plant. The first big mix session was for the Woodstock soundtrack. It was also where John Lennon and Paul McCartney played together for the last time during an all night jam session in 1974.
Record Plant Sausalito opened in 1972, where Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" was recorded as was Bob Marley & the Wailers' "Talkin' Blues" which was done live in a closed session for an in-studio broadcast from San Francisco radio station KSAN.
Death.
On July 20, 1977, Kellgren and his girlfriend/secretary Kristianne Gaines were found dead in the swimming pool at his residence in Hollywood. A business associate of Kellgren was in the house at the time; he called police and reported that Kellgren had recently been in surgery, and that he had been swimming in the deep end of the pool. Gaines, 34, a resident of Los Angeles, was last seen alive sitting on a raft in the pool; she could not swim. The incident was called "a double accidental drowning" by the police. Two days later, an investigator told reporters that there was no indication of "foul play". Guitarist Ronnie Wood wrote that Kellgren probably died from electric shock while trying to fix some underwater speakers in his pool, and that Gaines drowned trying to save him.
Kellgren was survived by his wife Marta, their two children Devon and Mark, his sister Aleda, and his mother Crystal.


Voice of Beslan

Voice of Beslan ( Golos Beslana) is a grassroots non-governmental organization created in the aftermath of the 2004 North Ossetian Beslan school siege, as a splinter group of more radical members of the Mothers of Beslan support and advocacy group of parents of children who were among the victims.
The group was created in response to what they see as the incompetence and excessive force used by the security services, especially with regard to the firing from tanks and flame throwers at the school. Voice of Beslan is chaired by sisters Ella Kesayeva and Emma Tagayeva. It has received funds from the US National Endowment for Democracy.
Activities.
Voice of Beslan have demanded an international investigation of the Beslan terrorist attack and in November 2005 called on the European Union and the European Parliament to help establish one, as well as on the United States leadership to publish satellite photographs of the school made during the siege. They have also asked private journalists with have any material on the attack to present them for an investigation.
Between February 9 and February 19, 2006, six members of Voice of Beslan held a 10-day hunger strike to draw attention to their claims that authorities were covering up the truth about the Beslan attack. On February 22, 2006, members of Voice of Beslan met with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour.
In 2007 members of the group erected a sign pointing at the ruins of the Beslan school reading "Putin's course". Same year, the Supreme Court of North Ossetia had obliged the court of the city of Beslan to consider the claim of the Voice of Beslan on appointing pensions to parents of the children who perished in the siege.
In February 2008 the group has filed a complaint against the actions of the investigatory group which was in charge of forensic medical examination of victims' bodies. The complaint was rejected the next month.
Split.
On August 28, 2007, a court in Vladikavkaz has ruled that a group must change leaders to those less critical of the Kremlin and register again.
On December 21, 2007, a supreme court of North Ossetia has ordered the Voice of Beslan to disband. In response, its activists started a protest hunger strike. "The decision was made by the authorities because our organization is fighting for the right to have a fair investigation of what happened in Beslan," group founder Ella Kesayeva said. The court refused to hear witnesses who said that the election of the new chairperson was falsified.
In February 2008 the group changed its name to Voice of Beslan All-Russian Public Organization of Terror Act Victims and decided it will not get registered again, saying that such form of public organization without registration is possible under the Russian federal law. Another group called Voice of Beslan continues to exist.
Infighting and internal strife occurred as a result of the politicized activities.
Persecution.
In January 2008 Russian prosecutors in Nazran, Ingushetia, laid extremism charges against campaigners over a 2005 appeal the group issued to politicians in Europe and the United States. After several Ingush public figures have come out strongly against the harassment of the organization, the trial was transferred to North Ossetia. The group could be banned if found extremist.
In a public appeal, Voice of Beslan asked the Russian president Vladimir Putin to stop prosecuting the organization. Putin answered that the issue is beyond his competence. After receiving a reply, Kesayeva has stated "the end of illusions" in relation to Putin. The group threatened to use a legal action brought by authorities against them to expose Putin's role in Beslan tragedy.
Several other charges against the group soon followed (the total of four cases as of February 2008). In one, the group was accused of beating up court bailiffs. The group said prosecutors are fabricating assault charges to punish them for seeking the truth about the siege.


Pedro Juan Caballero (politician)

Pedro Juan Caballero (; 1786–1821) was a leading figure of Paraguayan independence. He was born in Tobatí, a town located Cordillera Department of Paraguay which was then part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. He was one of the major leaders of the Revolution of May 14, 1811, despite being six years younger than the leading figure of Independence period Fulgencio Yegros and 20 years younger than the future dictator of Paraguay José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia. In 1820 he was accused of being involved in the conspiracy against Francia, and committed suicide in his cell on July 13, 1821. The Paraguayan city of Pedro Juan Caballero is named after him.
War of 1811.
Caballero participated in the Battle of Tacuarí and Battle of Paraguari against the army led by Manuel Belgrano. Paraguayan victory at the January 19, 1811 Battle of Paraguari forced Belgrano to retreat southward. On March 9, 1811, on the banks of River Tacuarí, while Belgrano awaited reinforcements from Buenos Aires, another battle was launched and won by Paraguayans. Belgrano called for capitulation, which was granted, and his troops left Province of Paraguay.
May 14 Revolution.
Military victories against the troops sent by the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata increased Paraguayan determination to create and safeguard their own state. Worried by the rumors that the last Spanish governor Velasco is about to ask for military protection from the Portuguese Brazil, local patriots started plotting against him. Initially they were planning to take action on May 25, a one-year anniversary of the May Revolution, but on Francia's advice decided to act sooner, without waiting for the arrival of troops led by Fulgencio Yegros.
In the evening of May 14, 1811, after the curfew had started, plotters led by Captain Pedro Juan Caballero went to the Governor's quarters located on the main square of Asuncion, where they were greeted by second lieutenant Mauricio Jose Troche, a supporter of plot, was on duty and in charge of the small garrison of 34 men from Curuguaty.
Governor's quarters became the center of the revolution; political prisoners were released, weapons prepared, security measures taken and emissaries sent to bring Fulgencio Yegros and Manuel Atanasio Cabañas to Asuncion. The Cathedral bells were rung and resonated throughout the city.
At midnight Vicente Ignacio Iturbe presented Governor Velasco with demands from plotters led by Caballero, which could be summarized as follows:
As Governor Bernardo de Velasco was reluctant to accept the conditions presented by plotters, additional revolutionary troops came to the square and settled eight cannons in front of the house of government; Vicente Ignacio Iturbe brought a new ultimatum, setting a short deadline for response. Governor Velasco was against any bloodshed, and came to the door to say: "If this is because of authority, I give up the command baton." This announcement was met with joy by the crowd. The flag was raised and 21 cannonballs fired.
On May 17 a public proclamation informed people that a ruling junta, consisting of Governor Velasco, Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia and Army captain Juan Valeriano de Zeballos has been created.
Junta Superior Gubernativa.
The new junta quickly convened a National Congress on June 17, 1811, which removed Velasco from all power and created a new five-man "Junta Superior Gubernativa" to which Caballero was appointed. Other members were Fulgencio Yegros as President, José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Francisco Xavier Bogarin, and Fernando de la Mora.
Junta's achievements:
The Congress of October 1813 disbanded the five-man junta and created a two-man Consulate. Caballero was a strong candidate for consulship, but in the end the more politically powerful Fulgencio Yegros and Francia were elected to be consuls.
Caballero, who was involved in the profitable yerba mate trade, was opposed to Francia's economic policies and together with Juan Manuel Gamarra and Jose Teodoro Fernandez created opposition group which unsuccessfully tried to get support of the Consul Fulgencio Yegros. He refused and together with Consul Francia on September 26, 1814 ordered Caballero's group to leave Asuncion and retire to their country estates. Just eight days later National Congress convened and elected Francia to be the Supreme dictator for a period of five years. During the next years Caballero did not participate in politics and turned his attention to yerba mate trade.
The plot of 1820.
Since 1814 José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia ruled alone as the Supreme dictator and in 1816 was elected by Congress to be Dictator for life. A conspiracy, which involved many leading men of the Independence era, to overthrow Francia, was planned for the last days of the Holy Week of 1820. Francia learned about the plot from two slaves that denounced their master for making gunpowder and from a confession of a conspirator to his priest on Holy Week and arrests started. All the heroes of Independence were arrested, even those who had voluntarily renounced any political activity, such as Fulgencio Yegros. Dr. Francia was relentless. Some of the prisoners (64 in ten days) were shot, and a period of persecution and repression began. Historically this is the start of "the Franciato", the period of Francia's absolute dictatorship. Pedro Juan Caballero was arrested six months after the discovery of the plot, and committed suicide in his cell on July 13, 1821 after learning that he was to be executed. He allegedly wrote a note on the wall of his cell: "I know that suicide is against the law of God and man, but the thirst of blood of the Tyrant of my homeland shall not be appeased with mine".


Denise Brown (UN official)

Denise Brown (born 1963 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian senior official with the UN World Food Programme (WFP). She currently serves as Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Mission in Central African Republic.
Career.
Her previous assignment was as Director of the Policy & Programme Division at the headquarters of the World Food Programme in Rome, Italy. Before that she was Regional Director of the World Food Programme for West Africa, located in Dakar (from 2013 to 2016), where she worked with WFP's response to the Ebola crisis.
Ms. Brown previously served as WFP Director in Niger (2011 to 2013).
She joined WFP in the late 1990s and has served in Iraq (1998 - 1999), Afghanistan (1999 - 2002), Kenya (2002–2007), and Somalia (2007 - 2009).
Denise Brown also served as Senior Liaison Officer for WFP in New York (2009 - 2011).
She started her career with non-governmental organizations in Cambodia and Haiti.
Education.
She is a graduate of the University of British Columbia and holds a Master's of Science in children's development from Purdue University.


Eldon Rudd

Eldon Dean Rudd (July 15, 1920February 8, 2002) was a U.S. Republican politician.
Early life.
Rudd was born in Camp Verde, Arizona. A 1939 graduate of Clarkdale High School in Clarkdale, Arizona, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1942 and served as a fighter pilot during World War II. After his discharge in 1946, he attended Arizona State College, from which he graduated in 1947, and the University of Arizona Law School in Tucson.
Years in FBI.
After a brief period in private practice, Rudd became a special agent for the FBI in 1950. As the only FBI field agent in Washington, D.C., fluent in Spanish in 1954, Rudd participated in the interrogation of the Puerto Rican nationalists involved in the attack on the US House of Representatives that year. His report impressed Director J. Edgar Hoover, who offered Rudd his next choice of assignment, which he received as U.S. legal attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, where he served from 1960 to 1970.
When assassin Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, Rudd was ordered by Hoover to collect from the Mexican government their law enforcement and intelligence files on Lee Harvey Oswald, including files relating to Oswald's connections to the pro-Fidel Castro Fair Play for Cuba Committee, Oswald's several trips to and from Cuba, and his arrest in Mexico City. Rudd obtained Oswald's file from the Mexican government and flew a Cessna aircraft from Mexico City to Dallas, Texas, to provide the documents to FBI officials in Dallas as Kennedy's body was on its way to Washington, D.C. with Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and widow Jacqueline Kennedy.
Political career.
After leaving the FBI in 1970, Rudd moved to Arizona, where he became involved in politics. He was elected to the board of supervisors for Maricopa County in 1972. Four years later, he won election to the House of Representatives for Arizona's 4th congressional district, which then comprised the entire northeastern portion of the state. However, the bulk of its population was in the northern portion of the Valley of the Sun.
He defeated Democrat Tony Mason by only 707 votes. While Mason carried four of the district's five counties, he could not overcome a 17,100-vote deficit in the district's share of Maricopa County, which had more people than the rest of the district combined. He was easily re-elected four times, each time with more than 60 percent of the vote, and in 1984, he was completely unopposed.
Rudd was a fiscal conservative, an orthodox Catholic, and a member of the important Appropriations Committee for five years; he opposed the expenditure of federal taxpayer dollars for abortions.
A staunch anticommunist, Rudd was a tireless supporter of US anticommunist efforts in Central and South America, and he was the last American to visit with Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle, who was killed by Sandinista forces.
During the 1980 presidential election, Rudd, with help from FBI colleagues with access to security officials at the White House, allegedly obtained debate preparation documents prepared for President Jimmy Carter for his election debates against Republican nominee Ronald Reagan and provided the so-called "Carter debate papers" to the Reagan presidential campaign in the Debategate scandal.
Later years.
Rudd retired from Congress in 1987 and took a position with the Salt River Project. Remaining active in Republican politics, he served as campaign manager for Doug Wead during Wead's unsuccessful 1992 run for Arizona's 6th congressional district. Rudd died in Scottsdale, Arizona; his remains were cremated, with the ashes interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona.
Further reading.
 Retrieved on 2009-02-12


Franz Karmasin

Franz Karmasin (2 September 1901 – 25 June 1970) was an ethnic German politician in Czechoslovakia, who helped found the Carpathian German Party. During World War II he was state secretary of German affairs in the Slovak Republic, and rose to the rank of SS-Sturmbannführer. Tried "in absentia" and sentenced to death, he fled to West Germany where until his death he was active in the "Witikobund", a right-wing extremist organization that claimed to represent Sudeten Germans.
Youth.
Karmasin was born on 2 September 1901 in Olomouc, a city formerly inhabited mostly by Germans, which only acquired a Czech majority after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. His father was a railway official from Brno. He attended the agricultural college in Děčín (1919–1923), and obtained an engineering degree. Karmasin did military service 1923–1924 at Hodonín and a military hospital in Olomouc. Between 1924 and 1926 he held different jobs in North Moravia and Bohemia.
DKV organizer.
In 1926 he moved to Slovakia, where he became increasing involved in organizational activities of the German community. Between April 1927 and 1930 he served as secretary of the (apolitical) German Cultural Union ("Deustche Kulturverband", DKV) and led the DKV Zips organization based in Kežmarok. Between 1930 and 1935 he worked as Gau Secretary of DKV in Slovakia, based in Bratislava.
Political activities.
Whilst he held posts in the apolitical DKV, Karmasin engaged in political activities on the side. In 1927 he was one of the co-founders of the "Karpatendeutsche Volksgemeinschaft", which soon evolved into the Carpathian German Party (KdP). Karmasin became a member of the Sudeten German "Kameradenschaftbund" (KB) and acted as a liaison between the KdP and the Sudeten German Party (SdP). In 1934 he founded the weekly "Deustche Stimmen" in Bratislava. However, as a DKV employee he could not hold any official leadership positions in KdP.
Parliamentarian.
Karmasin ended his role in DKV when he contested the 1935 Czechoslovak parliamentary election as a SdP candidate. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies from the Jihlava 10th electoral district. Having entered the political life openly he was included in the national leadership of KdP. And with the merger of SdP and KdP in November 1935, Karmasin was named as Konrad Henlein's deputy for Slovakia and Ruthenia.
The SdP was banned in the midst of the Sudeten Crisis. In Slovakia the German Party (DP) was founded as a successor organization on 8 October 1938, under Karmasin's leadership. Karmasin was one of six former SdP deputies who kept their parliamentary seats on 30 October 1938, and he became a member of the Club of German National Socialist Deputies formed on 7 November 1938 (see German People's Group in Czecho-Slovakia).
Karmasin was elected to the on 18 December 1938, as a candidate on the Slovak unity list.
Slovak Republic.
After World War II broke out and the Slovak Republic was formed, he was appointed state secretary for German affairs. In 1939 he spoke out against the Jews, arguing that one could not wait for the state to solve the problem of the anti-German enemies but that the people should take measures themselves. In 1940 he was appointed "Führer" of the German population in Slovakia. He founded a National Socialist research institute, the "Institut für Heimatforschung", in Kežmarok in 1941, whose aim was to strengthen Germanic roots in Slovakia and to collaborate with similar institutes in Prague and Vienna. Members of the institute's research council included Hans Joachim Beyer (of the Reinhard-Heydrich-Stiftung, and after 1945 professor in Flensburg), Josef Hanika, Bruno Schier, Walter Gierach, and Wilhelm Weizsäcker. Karmasin is thought to have contributed to the deportation of Jews and to the "purification" of the German population, cleansing (in his words) it from "racially inferior and anti-social elements". During the Eichmann trial he was accused of having urged Eichmann to hasten the deportation of Jews, and Allied documentation contains a report from November 1939 in which Karmasin argued for the introduction of anti-Jewish legislation.
Karmasin was appointed SA-Brigadeführer (1941), then SS-Hauptsturmführer (1943), and finally SS-Sturmbannführer (1944).
Post-war period.
After the end of the war he was tried "in absentia" and sentenced to death by the Czechoslovak government. He fled to West Germany where he settled under the alias Franz Didak. He joined the "Witikobund", an association of Sudeten Germans and served acting chairman of the organization. The "Wikitobund" continues to exist, on the extreme right wing of the Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft. Simultaneously he was a spy for Hungary.
He died in Steinebach am Wörthsee on 25 June 1970.


Coppong Daeng Rannu

Coppong Daeng Rannu (born 1920 in Gowa, South Sulawesi) is a master of Makassar ethnic-group dances. She is best known as "Rice Goddess" in performance I La Galigo.
Life.
She began learning dance when she was 10 years old, continued her family’s dancing-tradition. She was moved to become a dancer by her mother's words, "if you don’t learn to dance, then there are no one in our family who could carry on our dancing-generation." She learned dancing from her grandfather, Mosoa Daeng Olla, who taught her Pakarena and Salonreng. Pakarena is a dance performed in palace by 3 dancers, and salonreng is a ritual dance performed in certain events, such as in warding off misfortune ceremonies. She may be the only one who able to perform the near-extinct Salonreng.
She debuted as palace dancer of Balla Lompoa, Gowa Royal Palace.
For a three-month period in 2004, she performed for I La Galigo across Singapore, Europe, US, and Australia.
She died on 2 June 2010 from asthma.


Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri

Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri (; May 1950 – 21 May 1996) was the "nom de guerre" of Ali Amin al-Rashidi (علي أمين الرشيدي), one of the "most capable and popular leaders" of al-Qaeda.
When he drowned in a ferry accident on Lake Victoria in 1996, he was the head of al-Qaeda's African presence and second in command of the whole organization, below Osama bin Laden.
History.
Al-Banshiri was born in May 1950 in Cairo, and served as a policeman in Egypt before joining the anti-Soviet effort in Afghanistan, fighting alongside Ahmed Shah Massoud.
His brother had participated in the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat. Ayman al-Zawahiri, head of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, introduced al-Banshiri to Osama Bin Laden, who was so favorably impressed that he made al-Banshiri military commander of the Afghan Arabs. Al-Bashiri's second in command was Mohammed Atef. He was shot in the leg during the 1987 Battle of Jaji.
While still in Afghanistan, in August 1988, he attended the founding meeting of al-Qaeda, along with bin Laden, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, and others.
While in Kenya and Tanzania he was known by the aliases Adel Habib, Karim, and Jalal. He married a Kenyan woman and set up a business in Nairobi importing automobiles from the United Arab Emirates.
At some point al-Banshiri acquired either Dutch citizenship or forged Dutch papers. Prior to 1996, al-Bashiri, Mohammed Atef and Yaseen al-Iraqi aided Enaam Arnaout in purchasing AK-47s and mortar rounds from a Pashtun tribesman named Hajjji Ayoub, and they were subsequently delivered in large trucks to the Jawr and Jihad Wahl training camps.
Death.
When the news broke that the ferry had sunk in Lake Victoria, al-Qaeda sent Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Wadih el-Hage to the scene, to verify that al-Banshiri had drowned, and had not been murdered.
Al-Banshiri was succeeded as al-Qaeda's "military" commander by another Egyptian ex-policeman, Mohammed Atef, who had been considered his inseparable friend. Al-Banshiri's senior role in East Africa was taken over, at least in part, by Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah.
A poem entitled "Tears in the Eyes of Time" was written about al-Banshiri, commemorating him among the greatest of the "fallen mujahideen". al-Zawahiri recited the poem in his January 2006 internet broadcast.


Sami Yusuf

Sami Yusuf (born 21 July 1980) is an Iranian-born British Muslim singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and humanitarian of Azerbaijani descent. Yusuf gained international attention with the release of his debut album, "Al-Mu`allim", in 2003. Now with over 34 million albums sold, he performs at venues around the world. His work and popularity were covered by most major media outlets, including BBC, CNN, Reuters, among others. As of 2020, Yusuf has released 8 studio albums, 5 live albums, 1 compilation album, and multiple singles throughout his career. His studio albums were mostly released by Andante Records, with the first two being released by Awakening Records.
Besides his native English, Sami has performed in Arabic, Azerbaijani, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu, sometimes in the same work, as was the case with his hit, "Hasbi Rabbi." His work is marked by blending different musical styles and genres, including elements from Sufi, folk, and Rock music. He used his multilingual and multi-instrumentalist style to address social, spiritual, and humanitarian issues. In recognition of his philanthropy, in 2014, Yusuf was appointed United Nations Global Ambassador for the World Food Programme.
Early life.
Sami Yusuf was born in 21 July 1980 in Tehran to Azerbaijani parents. His grandparents are from Baku, Azerbaijan, which they left to Iran when it was captured by the Bolsheviks after the First World War. And his parents arrived in Ealing, West London, in the early 1980s, after the Islamic Revolution in Iran. From an early age, Yusuf showed great interest in music. He was influenced by the wide range of musical genres available to him in his home town of Ealing in West London, immersing himself especially in Western classical music and Middle Eastern music. He learned the piano and violin as well as traditional instruments including the oud, setar, and tonbak. At the age of 16, Yusuf experienced a spiritual revival that made him become a "more committed Muslim". In 2003, although considering pursuing a career in law, he produced and released his first album. It quickly became an international success and launched Yusuf's professional music career. Yusuf studied music as a composition student at the prestigious Royal Academy, as well as at Salford University in north-west England.
Music career.
"Spiritique" is the name Yusuf has given to his unique musical style that blends elements of Western and Eastern sounds. The overarching theme of Yusuf's lyrics is one of an inclusive spirituality. His first album, Al-Mu’allim, in English with some Arabic lyrics, became a huge success especially across North Africa and the Middle East. It was followed by My Ummah, and together album sales quickly reached 10 million. Yusuf has performed across five continents. His concerts— including ones at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Wembley Arena in London, and the Velodrome in Cape Town, South Africa— sold out. 250,000 people came to hear him perform in Taksim Square in Istanbul. "Time" called Yusuf "Islam's Biggest Rock Star", while "The Guardian" wrote of him, "The Biggest Star in the Middle East is a Brit".
Albums.
2003 – 2014.
In 2003, Yusuf released his debut album, "Al-Mu`allim", an album that he produced, wrote, and performed. Its feature song, "Al-Mu'allim", became a hit in the Middle East, North Africa, and South-East Asia, topping the charts in Egypt and Turkey for twelve consecutive weeks, selling millions of copies worldwide and reaching a diverse audience. The last track of the album, "Supplication", was used in the Golden-Globe award-nominated film, "The Kite Runner".
Yusuf garnered increased worldwide recognition following the release of his second album, "My Ummah", in 2005. The album, using both Eastern and Western sounds, utilized wide-ranging musical instrumentation. Considered a breakthrough album, it sold over four million copies globally and was well received particularly by young people, who identified closely with the themes of Yusuf's lyrics.
"Wherever You Are", Yusuf's third official album, was released in March 2010. "Rolling Stone" called the album "beautifully produced". With its release, Yusuf welcomed what he termed a "new chapter" in his professional career and music.
Yusuf's fourth album, "Salaam", was released in December 2012. Within four months of its launch it achieved platinum status in Southeast Asia and was the best-selling album in the Middle East and North Africa. The album includes the song "Hear Your Call," composed by Yusuf to call attention to the situation of people who are affected by natural disasters.
2014 – "The Centre".
"The Centre" was released in 2014 and is a collection of 13 songs in which Yusuf hopes his listeners will find inspiration to seek their individual spiritual centres. It is a new sound that has multicultural influences, employing traditional as well as contemporary Middle Eastern, North African, and European poetry, instrumentation, and melodies.
2015 – "Songs of the Way".
Yusuf's sixth album, "Songs of the Way", was released in January 2015. All lyrics are by the noted philosopher Seyyed Hossein Nasr and are from his books of poetry, "Poems of the Way" and "The Pilgrimage of Life". Except for two tracks in Persian and Arabic, the songs are in English.
2016 – "Barakah".
"Barakah", Yusuf's seventh album, was released in February 2016 by Andante Records. It is the result of extensive research into the traditional music and poetry contained in the album. Yusuf said it is his musical response to the increasing chaos and noise of today's world, and his wish is that these music and lyrics offer a window onto an inner oasis of peace and harmony. The song "Mast Qalandar" from "Barakah" reached #1 on World Music charts on iTunes and BBC Music.
According to Yusuf, the new album aims "to respond to the growing extremism in our world with a call for a return to harmony and balance."
2018 – "SAMi" (EP).
Yusuf released his new EP "SAMi" as a side project by this prolific artist that grew out of his desire to explore his British musical roots.
The song collection, with its accessible sounds and direct lyricism, finds Yusuf's exploring the western sounds emanating from his childhood growing up in London.
"SAMi" has sold well and topped a number of iTunes charts since its release, and Yusuf says he is grateful and somewhat surprised that he wasn't criticised for the commercial nature of the project.
2020 - Azerbaijan: A Timeless Presence.
"Azerbaijan: A Timeless Presence" is a musical odyssey through a rich artistic and cultural heritage. The music was composed, arranged and directed by Sami Yusuf for the Opening Ceremony of the 43rd Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Baku on June 30, 2019.
Notable tours and concert performances.
Playing in Farum Arena, Denmark, Grugahalle in Germany, and De Doelen in the Netherlands, Yusuf introduced his forthcoming album, "Wherever You Are".
He performed in Azerbaijan for the first time in 2006, for the second time in 2015 (14-15 March), and 22 March 2017 in Heydar Aliyev Palace in Baku, 250,000 people attended his performance in Taksim Square in Istanbul to see Yusuf perform in 2013. Yusuf has played across four continents, packing venues such as Wembley Arena in London, Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and The Velodrome in Cape Town, South Africa. He sings in English, Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Azerbaijani, Malay and Urdu and is backed by a range of both classical and ethnic instruments. Yusuf also performed in Washington DC.
Yusuf performed in Dubai for the first time in December 2016. He premiered the song "Glorification", inspired by the poetry of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Humanitarian work.
Since early in his professional career, Yusuf has participated in humanitarian initiatives through performing benefit concerts, releasing charity singles, and acting on behalf of organizations working to relieve suffering and poverty. In response to the 2010 Pakistan floods that wreaked havoc in the country and affected 20 million lives in the summer of 2010, he promptly released a charity single entitled "Hear Your Call", performed in English and Urdu, to raise funds for the displaced Pakistanis in a joint-effort with the UN-sponsored charity organization Save the Children.
In 2014, he was appointed "UN Global Ambassador" for the World Food Programme.
Personal life.
Although a Shia Muslim by birth, Sami declared that he has embraced Sunni Islam while growing up. Sami spoke of his background as "diverse" and cited this as evidence for his "tendency to bring people together".
Sami Yusuf married in . His wife is of German origin and had converted to Islam before she met Yusuf.
Religious and political views.
Sami Yusuf has gained widespread popularity throughout the Muslim world for his spiritual music. But artists like him and Maher Zain have faced some opposition from conservative Muslims who deem music impermissible. In 2006, Yvonne Ridley, a British journalist and a convert to Islam, wrote a censurious article in opposition to what she perceived as a pop culture that demeans Islam. She considered Sami's open national affiliation to be lackadaisical about conflicts in the Islamic region in which Britain was participating, like the Iraq war. In response, Sami wrote an open letter extensively discussing his stance on music and the modern art industry in general from both an Islamic jurisprudence perspective and a social one. The response was commended by several commentators.
In a previous interview, Yusuf described himself as generally apolitical. Later in 2017, he wrote an open letter criticizing the Trump Muslim ban. Quoting the famous poem First they came, Yusuf emphasized solidarity between the Western and Muslim worlds and opposed Trumpism.
Honors and awards.
In 2009, Yusuf was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters in recognition of his "extraordinary contributions to the field of music" by Roehampton University, London. Silatech appointed him as their first Global Ambassador in the same year, later joining Ahmad Al Shugairi in the same position.
Widely regarded as the highest profile Muslim musician in the UK, Yusuf has appeared each year since 2010 on the list of the "World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims".
In 2014, the United Nations appointed him Global Ambassador Against Hunger, and in 2015 the UN appointed him as an "Elite Ambassador" for the UN World Interfaith Harmony Week.
In 2016, Yusuf received a Recognition Award for his contributions to promoting the message of peace and tolerance as part of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum World Peace Initiative.
In 2019, Yusuf received an honorary diploma from the First Vice President of Azerbaijan for his contributions to promote Azerbaijani music and culture.


Steve King (ambassador)

Stephen B. King (born July 4, 1941) is an American businessman and political activist who served as the United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he is the founder of King Capital LLC, an equity investment and real estate company. He previously worked at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as an agent and campaigned unsuccessfully in 1988 for his party's nomination for the U.S. Senate in Wisconsin.
Early life and education.
King was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and was raised in Chicago, Illinois. He received a Bachelor of arts in social science in 1963 and a master's degree in political science in 1966 from Western Illinois University. He worked as a social science teacher in Rushville, Illinois, from 1963 to 1966 and then as Assistant to the Superintendent of Schools in the same school district until 1967.
Career.
King joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1967. He investigated civil rights violations in Jackson, Mississippi, followed by racially motivated crimes, homicide, arson, bombing and bank robbery. Three times he received special commendations for excellent performance.
In 1970, King resigned to serve as legislative assistant to Republican Senator Edward Gurney of Florida. As Gurney's representative, he served on the staff of the United States Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, eventually becoming an investigator. In 1972, King was named Special Assistant to Earl Butz, the US Secretary of Agriculture.
In June 1972, at the time of the Watergate complex break-in, King was the security agent for the Committee for the Re-Election of the President assigned to abduct and hold Martha Mitchell, the wife of then United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell, in a hotel room in California, to prevent her from learning about the break-in. Mitchell contended that she had been held in her room against her will by King, during which time he used physical force to prevent her from speaking to the press and restrained her while she was injected with a sedative. The plot to hold Mrs. Mitchell was later confirmed by James McCord, one of the Watergate burglars. King has not denied his involvement in Mrs. Mitchell's confinement, but disputes parts of her story. Sean Bartlett, a spokesman for the Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said King was asked about the incident involving Mitchell as part of his United States Senate confirmation process to be the next United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic. "After questioning him, and measuring his other qualifications and responses to questions on a range of issues, staff did not believe there was evidence or reason to delay his nomination," Bartlett said. King's appointment was approved by the Senate without objection in a voice vote.
In 1976, King became director of development at his alma mater, Western Illinois University. A year later he started his career as a businessman. He moved to Whitewater, Wisconsin, to serve as general manager of the woodworking firm Carlson's Miniatures. In 1979, he became a part owner and manager of Tomah Products, a chemical manufacturer. In 1994, King led a management buy-out of Tomah. Since then, he has served as president and CEO of Tomah Products, Inc.
He served as a delegate to Wisconsin Republican state conventions and the first congressional district Republican caucus from 1978. King was elected chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin in 1985. In 1988, King resigned in order to launch a campaign for the U.S. Senate. He lost the Republican nomination to Susan Engeleiter, who was defeated by Democrat Herb Kohl in the general election.
From 1990 to 2006, King served as president at the Milton Industrial and Economic Corporation. In 2006, King founded King Capital LLC, an equity investment and real estate company. In 2007, King was elected to represent Wisconsin on the Republican National Committee, and he served until 2017.
Ambassador to the Czech Republic.
In July 2017, President Donald Trump nominated King to be the next United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic. This nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 5, 2017.
Personal life.
He is married to Karen. They have three children. Active in the Boy Scouts of America his entire life, Mr. King is the recipient of the Silver Buffalo Award, BSA's highest volunteer award for work at the national level.


Through the Night (novel)

Through the Night () is a 2011 novel by the Norwegian writer Stig Sæterbakken. It tells the story of a father who goes through the mourning process after his 18-year-old son commits suicide. It was Sæterbakken's last book.
The book was awarded P2-lytternes romanpris and Ungdommens kritikerpris in Norway. The English translation by Seán Kinsella was longlisted for the 2014 Best Translated Book Award.
Reception.
Ole Øyvind Sand Holth of "Dagbladet" reviewed the novel:
It is painful, but also rewarding to read, primarily because Sæterbakken writes enormously well. The language never becomes a shield or filter, quite the opposite, it drills into the darkness, with a precision and ingenuity in the use of images that paradoxically feels liberating[.] ... None of the simple constituents is particularly original, it is rather about playing with familiar motifs, but Sæterbakken shows that he masters classic, fear-inducing storytelling.
"Publishers Weekly" wrote about the English translation:
Saeterbakken's confident articulation of the myriad emotions and symptoms that make up Meyer's grief is a grand example of drawing universality from extreme specificity; the prose is evocative in a way that forces the reader to feel deeply the entire gamut of his particular sorrow and guilt while also being an observer of his wife divergent experience. ... Readers may lose the plot's thread in a surreal sequence towards the end, but it is not wholly disorienting. Though hardly uplifting, Saeterbakken last is notable for the beauty and heartbreak of its narration.