title: Moby

text: The success of "Everything Is Wrong" had Moby reach a new peak in critical acclaim. The "Los Angeles Times" thought the 29-year-old Moby was "poised for greatness [...] to make that big crossover" from a respected underground artist to a mainstream dance and rock musician. "Billboard" declared him "King of techno" and "Spin" named him "the closest techno comes to a complete artist." In 1995, Moby was approached by Courtney Love to produce the next Hole album, but he declined. He directed the music video for "Young Man's Stride" by Mercury Rev. In 1995 and 1996, Moby put out a number of "self-indulgent dance" singles under the pseudonyms Lopez and DJ Cake on Trophy Records, his own Mute imprint, so he could release material that he was interested in without concern for its commercial impact. In 1996, Moby contributed "Republican Party" to the AIDS benefit album "" produced by the Red Hot Organization and released his second Voodoo Child album, "The End of Everything".


title: Moby

text: While touring "Everything Is Wrong", Moby had grown bored with the electronic scene and felt the press had failed to understand his records and take them seriously. This marked a major stylistic change for his next album, "Animal Rights", combining guitar-driven rock songs with Moby on lead vocals and softer ambient tracks. Upon completing the album Moby said that it was "weird, long, self-indulgent and difficult". Its lead single is a cover version of "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" by post-punk group Mission of Burma. "Animal Rights" was released in September 1996 in the UK, where it peaked at No. 38, and in February 1997 in the US. It was poorly received by his dance fan base who felt Moby had abandoned them, creating doubts as to what kind of artist Moby really was. Moby pointed out that he had not abandoned his electronic music completely and had worked on dance and house mixes and film scores while making "Animal Rights".


title: Moby

text: After "Animal Rights", Moby's manager recalled: "We found ourselves struggling for even the slightest bit of recognition. He became a has-been in the eyes of a lot of people in the industry". Despite the hit in sales and critical response, Moby promoted the album with a European tour with Red Hot Chili Peppers and Soundgarden, and headlined the Big Top tour with other dance and electronic DJs. He returned to the genre after liking the house music that a friend and DJ had played at a party. In October 1997, Moby displayed his range of music styles with the release of "I Like to Score", a compilation of his film soundtrack work with some re-recorded tracks. Among them are updated version of the "James Bond Theme" used for "Tomorrow Never Dies", music used in "Scream", and a cover of "New Dawn Fades" by Joy Division, an instrumental version of which appeared in "Heat". Late 1997 saw Moby start his first US tour in two years.


title: Moby

text: In 1998, Elektra granted Moby's request to be released from his deal on the condition that he paid to leave, which amounted to "quite a lot". He felt Elektra did little to capitalise on the critical success of "Everything Is Wrong", and that it was only interested in radio friendly hits. Left without an American distributor, his only deal remained with the UK-based Mute Records. Moby considered himself an artist that did not belong to a major label as his music did not fit with the genres that they promoted.


title: Moby

text: Moby's fifth album, "Play", was released by Mute and V2 Records, founded by Richard Branson three years prior, in May 1999. The project originated when a music journalist introduced Moby to the field recordings of Alan Lomax from the compilation album "Sounds of the South: A Musical Journey From the Georgia Sea Islands to the Mississippi Delta". Moby took an interest in the songs and formed samples from various tracks which he used to base new tracks of his own. Upon release in May 1999, "Play" had moderate sales but eventually sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Moby toured worldwide in support of the album which lasted 22 months. Every track on "Play" was licensed to various films, advertisements, and television shows, as well as independent films and non-profit groups. The move was criticised and led to some to consider that Moby had become a sellout, but he later maintained that the licenses were granted mostly to independent films and non-profit projects, and agreed to them due to the difficulty of getting his music heard on the radio and television in the past. In 2007, "The Washington Post" published an article about a mathematical equation dubbed the "Moby quotient" that determined to what degree had a musical artist sold out. It was named in reference to his decision to license music from "Play".


title: Moby

text: In 2000, Moby contributed "Flower" to "Gone in 60 Seconds". He co-wrote "Is It Any Wonder" with Sophie Ellis-Bextor for her debut solo album, "Read My Lips". "Moby: Play - The DVD", released in 2001, features the music videos produced for the album, live performances, and other bonus features. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video. In 2001, Moby founded the Area:One Festival which toured the US and Canada across 17 shows that summer with a range of artists. The set included Outkast, New Order, Incubus, Nelly Furtado, and Paul Oakenfold, with Moby headlining.


title: Moby

text: Moby started on the follow-up to "Play" in late 2000. Prior to working on tracks for "18", he got friends to search for records with vocals that he could use and make samples from and went on to write over 140 songs for the album. At the same time, Moby familiarised himself with the ProTools software and made "18" with it. Released in May 2002, "18" went to No. 1 in the UK and eleven other countries, and No. 4 in the US. It went on to sell over four million copies worldwide. Moby toured extensively for both "Play" and "18", playing over 500 shows in the next four years. The tour included the Area2 Festival in the summer of 2002, featuring a line-up of Moby, David Bowie, Blue Man Group, Busta Rhymes, and Carl Cox. In December 2002, during a tour stop at Paradise Rock Club in Boston, Moby was punched in the face and sprayed with mace by two or three assailants while signing autographs outside the venue. The incident left him with multiple bruises and cuts.


title: Moby

text: In February 2002, Moby performed at the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics. That month he hosted the half-hour MTV series "Señor Moby's House of Music", presenting a selection of electronic and dance music videos. His song "Extreme Ways" was used in all five of the "Bourne" films, from 2002 to 2016. Moby said that after it was used for the first, the producers originally sought a different artist for the second but they had too little time to secure someone, leading them to pick "Extreme Ways" for the entire series. In 2002, rapper Eminem mocked Moby in his song "Without Me" and its music video, dressing up like him and calling him an "old baldheaded fag" and his techno music outdated. Eminem had also shot a mock figure of Moby on stage. Moby put the attack down to Eminem having "this unrequited crush on me."


title: Moby

text: In 2003, Moby headlined the Glastonbury Festival on the final day. He co-wrote and produced "Early Mornin'" for Britney Spears' album "In the Zone" released that year. Moby returned to his dance and rave roots with the release of "Baby Monkey", the third album under his Voodoo Child moniker, in 2004. Later that year, he collaborated with Public Enemy on "Make Love Fuck War", a protest song against the Iraq War.


title: Moby

text: Moby's seventh album, "Hotel", was released in March 2005. The album contains little use of samples, which Moby reasoned to using different audio recording software which had a sampling function that was too difficult to learn, "so it was me just being lazy". He nonetheless said that "Hotel" is a more satisfying album as a result. The instruments were recorded live by Moby except for the drums, for which he enlisted his longtime live drummer Scott Frassetto. The album features vocals from six other performers, including Laura Dawn and Shayna Steele. In 2013, Moby looked back on the album as his least favourite of his career, pointing out that it was the only one not recorded at his home studio. The singles "Lift Me Up" and "Slipping Away" became top-10 hits across Europe. Early copies of the album included a bonus CD of remixes and ambient music entitled "Hotel: Ambient" that was released on its own in 2014.


title: Moby

text: In 2006, he accepted an offer to score the soundtrack for Richard Kelly's 2007 movie "Southland Tales", because he was a fan of Kelly's previous film, "Donnie Darko". In 2007, Moby also started a rock band, The Little Death with his friends Laura Dawn, Daron Murphy, and Aaron A. Brooks. Following the dissolution of V2 Records in 2007, Moby signed a new deal with Mute Records to handle his American distribution. In 2007 Moby produced and performed on a remake of "The Bulrushes" by The Bongos that appeared on the special anniversary edition of the group's debut album "Drums Along the Hudson", on Cooking Vinyl Records. From 2007 to 2008 he ran a series of New York club events titled "Degenerates".


title: Moby

text: In 2008, Moby released "Last Night", an electronic dance album inspired by a night out in his New York City neighborhood. The album was recorded in Moby's home studio and features various guest vocalists, including Wendy Starland, MC Grandmaster Caz, Sylvia of Kudu, MC Aynzli, and the Nigerian 419 Squad. The singles from "Last Night" include "Alice" and "Disco Lies".


title: Moby

text: Moby wished for the follow-up to "Last Night" to be emotional, personal, and melodic. He felt creatively inspired by a David Lynch speech at the BAFTA Award ceremony in the UK which prompted him to write new material that he liked with little regard to its mainstream commercial success. He decided against recording in a professional studio as he wanted to record the entire album at home, and chose to have the album mixed using analogue equipment. "Wait for Me" was released on June 30, 2009. Moby and Lynch discussed the recording process of "Wait for Me" on Lynch's online channel, David Lynch Foundation Television Beta. The video to the first single, "Shot in the Back of the Head", offered as a free download, was directed by Lynch.


title: Moby

text: Moby held a user-generated content competition to have fans create a video for "Wait for Me", the last single from the album, which was to be used as the official video. The winning entry was written and directed by Nimrod Shapira of Israel, and portrays the story of a girl who decides to invite Moby into her life. She attempts to do so by using a book called "How to Summon Moby, A Guide for Dummies", putting herself through bizarre and comical steps, each is a tribute to a different Moby video. The single was released in May 2010.


title: Moby

text: The "Wait for Me" tour featured a full band. Moby raised over $75,000 from three shows in California to help those affected by domestic violence after funding for the state's domestic violence program had been cut. The tour also saw Moby headline the Falls Festival in Australia and various Sunset Sounds festivals. An ambient version "Wait for Me" was released in late 2009 as "", which Moby did not produce.


title: Moby

text: In 2010, Moby enlisted vocalist Phil Costello as a songwriting partner for a new heavy metal band, Diamondsnake. After writing 13 songs, they recruited guitarist Dave Hill and a drummer named Tomato to complete the line-up. They recorded their self-titled debut album in one day and released it for free on their website. It was promoted with a series of gigs in New York City and Los Angeles. Moby contributed four songs to the soundtrack of "The Next Three Days", including the single "Mistake".


title: Moby

text: In January 2010, Moby announced that he had started work on a new album. He later summarised its style as: "Broken down melodic electronic music for empty cities at 2 a.m." The album was promoted with an EP containing three tracks from the album, given free to those who had signed up to Moby's mailing list, entitled "Be the One", in February 2011. The album, "Destroyed", was released in May 2011. A same-titled book of Moby's photography was released around the time of the album. Moby took to an online poll to decide the next single from "Destroyed"; the fans picked "Lie Down in Darkness". This was followed by "After" and "The Right Thing", both influenced as to what fans had picked. A limited edition remixed version of "Destroyed" was released in 2012 as "Destroyed Remixed" and includes new remixes by David Lynch, Holy Ghost! and System Divine, and a new 30-minute ambient track named "All Sides Gone".


title: Moby

text: Moby toured worldwide throughout 2013, completing acoustic and DJ sets at various concerts and festivals. His DJ set at Coachella was produced in collaboration with NASA with various images from space projected onto screens during the performance. On Record Store Day in 2013, Moby released a 7-inch record, "The Lonely Night", featuring Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan. The track was subsequently released as a download with remixes by Moby, Photek, Gregor Tresher, and Freescha.


title: Moby

text: In October 2013, Moby released "Innocents". He had worked on the album for the previous 18 months and hired Spike Stent to produce it. Moby used several guest vocalists on the album, and picked Neil Young and "Broken English" by Marianne Faithfull as the biggest influences to the musical style on the album. As with "Destroyed", the photography used for the artwork were all shot by Moby. The first single from the album was "A Case for Shame", followed by "The Perfect Life", which featured Wayne Coyne. A casting call for its video asked "for obese Speedo-sporting bikers, nude rollerskating ghosts, and an S&M gimp proficient in rhythmic gymnastics". Moby promoted the album with three shows at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, following his decision to undergo little touring from 2014. He wrote: "Pretty much all I want to do in life is stay home and make music. So, thus: a 3 date world tour."


title: Moby

text: Six of Moby's songs are feature in "Charlie Countryman" (2013). His music set the tone to "Cathedrals of Culture" (2014), a 3D documentary film about the soul of buildings, directed by Wim Wenders. In December 2014, Moby performed three shows of ambient music at the Masonic Lodge in Hollywood Forever Cemetery to support the release of "Hotel: Ambient". The performances were accompanied by visuals created by himself and with David Lynch.


title: Moby

text: After "Innocents", Moby proceeded to make a new wave dance album with a choir, but realised the difficulty in recording a full choir in his home studio and resorted to multi-tracking vocals performed by himself and guests. He then decided against the new wave album and opted for one made by himself and seven guest vocalists he named the Void Pacific Choir. "These Systems Are Failing" was announced in September 2016 and coincided with the first single release, "Are You Lost In The World Like Me?". Its video, by animator Steve Cutts, addresses smartphone addiction which won a Webby Award. "These Systems Are Failing" was released on October 14, 2016. Moby's sole live performance of 2016 was at Circle V, a vegan food and music festival that he founded that took place on October 23 at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles. A second album with the Void Pacific Choir name followed in June 2017, entitled "More Fast Songs About the Apocalypse", influenced by the results of the 2016 United States presidential election. Released for free online, it was marketed from a spoof website using elected President Donald Trump's alleged PR alter-ego, John Miller.


title: Moby

text: Moby announced his fifteenth studio album, "Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt", in December 2017. The announcement coincided with the release of the first single, "Like a Motherless Child". In contrast to the politically inspired and punk nature of the two Void Pacific Choir records, the album explores themes of spirituality, individuality, and humanity. The album was released on March 2, 2018. The second single, "Mere Anarchy", was described by Moby as "post apocalypse, people are gone, and my friend Julie and I are time traveling aliens visiting the empty Earth." "This Wild Darkness" was the third single, released in February 2018. Moby described the song as "an existential dialog between me and the gospel choir: me talking about my confusion, the choir answering with longing and hope." Moby promoted the album with three live shows in March 2018 with a full band, one at The Echo in Los Angeles and two at Rough Trade in New York City. All profits from the album and gigs were donated to animal rights organizations.


title: Moby

text: In 2018, Moby was a guest performer on "A$AP Forever" by American rapper A$AP Rocky which samples "Porcelain". This resulted in Moby's second ever appearance on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 singles chart, having previously charted for "Southside", 17 years prior. Moby contributed several songs to the comedy "Half Magic" (2018) directed by Heather Graham.


title: Moby

text: In January 2020, Moby announced that his new studio album "All Visible Objects" will be released on May 15. The first single, "Power is Taken" featuring D. H. Peligro, was released on the same day as the announcement. All profits from the album will be given to charity.


title: Moby

text: In December 2020, Moby released another ambient album, "Live Ambients – Improvised Recordings Vol. 1". It features tracks recorded under three conditions that he set himself: improvise with nothing written beforehand, no editing of the pieces after recording, and that every part of the process was to be "calming". The album was released on digital streaming platforms, followed by videos of Moby performing each track on December 30 on his YouTube channel.


title: Moby

text: A documentary titled "Moby Doc" on Moby's life and career was released digitally and theatrically in May 2021. The film was produced by his production company Little Walnut. Moby's latest album, "Reprise", was also released that month on Deutsche Grammophon. It features orchestral versions of his greatest hits with multiple guest artists. The album charted in 16 countries and includes vocals by Gregory Porter, Kris Kristofferson, Jim James and more.


title: Moby

text: Although he no longer owns Little Pine, the vegan restaurant he opened in Los Angeles in 2015, he released “The Little Pine Cookbook,” featuring recipes from the award-winning restaurant in September 2021.


title: Moby

text: In May, 2022, Moby released “Reprise Remixes” via Deutsche Grammophon, featuring remixes of tracks from the “Reprise” album from Topic, Anfisa Letyago, Planningtorock, Biscuits, and more.


title: Moby

text: On June 1, 2022, Moby launched his new record label, always centered at night. "The goal for the label is to do something uncompromising,” says Moby. "Part of my job, in addition to writing music, is doing whatever I have to, to find voices I love. Whether it’s Spotify, Soundcloud, YouTube, just as I used to dig through record bins, I’m obsessively looking for unique and extraordinary talent. Always Centered At Night is a place for an emerging and fascinating variety of singers to join with me in making music they might not have been able to make elsewhere." The first single, “Medusa,” features Grammy-nominee Aynzli Jones.


title: Moby

text: Moby has collaborated live with many of his heroes while on tour or at fundraisers. He has performed "Walk on the Wild Side" with Lou Reed, "Me and Bobby McGee" with Kris Kristofferson, "Heroes" and "Cactus" with David Bowie, "Helpless" with Bono and Michael Stipe, "New Dawn Fades" with New Order, "Make Love, Fuck War" with Public Enemy, "Whole Lotta Love" with Slash, and "That's When I Reach For My Revolver" with Mission of Burma.


title: Moby

text: He has performed two duets with the French singer Mylène Farmer ("Slipping Away (Crier la vie)" in 2006 and "Looking for My Name" in 2008) and produced seven songs on her eighth album, "Bleu Noir", released on December 6, 2010.


title: Moby

text: In 1992 he contributed vocals to song "Curse" on Recoil's "Bloodline" (Alan Wilder's solo project, he was Depeche Mode member at time of that recording). Moby arguably later used this inspiration for his breakthrough 1999 album, Play, for which he used several old field recordings by Alan Lomax, much as Wilder had used a 1937 recording of White's "Shake 'Em On Down".


title: Moby

text: In 2013, Moby was responsible for the soundtrack of the documentary "The Crash Reel", who tells the story of snowboarder Kevin Pearce.


title: Moby

text: On October 16, 2015, Jean Michel Jarre released his compilation album "", which included the track "Suns have gone" co-produced by Jarre and Moby.


title: Moby

text: On September 24, 2016, Moby announced the release of an album titled "These Systems Are Failing", released under the name Moby & Void Pacific Choir. The followed the release of two singles from Moby & The Void Pacific Choir in 2015, "Almost Loved" & "The Light Is Clear In My Eyes".


title: Moby

text: Starz aired a special episode of "Blunt Talk," the Patrick Stewart comedy which involved Moby. He had been friends with Jonathan Ames for a long time, and "when we both lived in NY we did a lot of really strange, cabaret, vaudeville type shows together, and we just sort of stayed friends over the years. I guess when he and the other writers were writing "Blunt Talk" one of them thought it would be funny to include me as Patrick Stewart’s character's ex-wife’s current boyfriend."


title: Moby

text: Moby was one of the first musicians to have an episode on Netflix's new music documentary series titled "Once In a Lifetime Sessions"; where he records, discusses, and performs his music.


title: Moby

text: Starting in around 2001, Moby launched a series of co-owned business ventures, with the two most prominent being the Little Idiot Collective—a New York City, U.S. bricks-and-mortar clothing store, comics store, and animation studio that sold the work of an "illustrators collective". In May 2002, Moby launched a small raw and vegan restaurant and tea shop called TeaNY in New York City with his then girlfriend Kelly Tisdale. In 2006, Moby said he had removed himself from any previous business projects.


title: Moby

text: In November 2015, Moby opened the Vegan restaurant Little Pine in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The restaurant serves organic, vegan, Mediterranean-inspired dishes and has a retail section with art and books, curated by Moby himself. All profits are donated to animal welfare organizations; in May 2016, Moby estimated the year's donations at $250,000. In December 2019, Moby launched the Little Pine lifestyle range of products and merchandise, with all profits donated to six charities.


title: Moby

text: On August 23, 2016, Moby announced the inaugural Circle V Festival along with the official video for 'Don't Leave Me' by Moby & The Void Pacific Choir. The event took place at LA's Fonda Theatre and featured Blaqk Audio & Cold Cave on the bill amongst others in the evening and talks and vegan food stalls in the afternoon. Moby described Circle V as "the coming together of my life’s work, animal rights and music. I couldn’t be more excited about this event and am so proud to be head-lining."


title: Moby

text: The second Circle V event took place on November 18 this time at The Regent Theatre in Los Angeles. Moby headlined the event for the second year with artists Waka Flocka Flame, Dreamcar and Raury featuring on the bill.


title: Moby

text: Moby lived in New York City for 21 years. From 1996 to 2010, he lived in an apartment on Mott Street where he also recorded his albums. He then relocated to the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles, spending almost $4 million to purchase a castle known as Wolf's Lair (built in 1927 by developer L. Milton Wolf), spending an additional $3.5 million to restore it. He also owns an apartment in Little Italy, Manhattan. In 2014, Moby sold the castle and downsized to a smaller home in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles.


title: Moby

text: In June 2013, Moby and numerous other celebrities appeared in a video showing support for Chelsea Manning. In January 2018, he stated that he was approached by friends in the CIA and told to post and spread content on the Trump–Russian collusion allegations through social media.


title: Moby

text: Moby identifies himself as heterosexual and cisgender and had felt "disappointed" to be straight. He claimed in a book to have had a brief relationship with actress Natalie Portman, though she has denied this, calling Moby's account "disturbing" (as she was barely 18 at the time), with Natalie further describing their interactions as "a much older man being creepy with me". He does date, but has stated that he feels more comfortable alone than in a relationship. In 2016, he was in an eight-month relationship, his first in ten years. He has no children.


title: Moby

text: Moby practices meditation and has explored different types, including transcendental, Mettā, and Vipassanā.


title: Moby

text: In 1984, Moby was inspired to become a vegetarian by a cat named Tucker that he had found at a dump in Darien, Connecticut. "My mom and I, with the help of George the dachshund, took care of Tucker and he grew up to be the happiest, healthiest cat I'd ever known". In November 1987, while playing with Tucker, "I decided that just as I would never do anything to harm Tucker, or any of our rescued animals, I also would never do anything to harm any animal, anywhere", and became a vegan. He is a strong supporter of animal rights, and described it as his "day job" other than musical projects.


title: Moby

text: In March 2016, Moby supported the social media campaign #TurnYourNoseUp to end factory farming in association with the nonprofit organization Farms Not Factories.


title: Moby

text: In 2019, Moby had "Vegan for life" tattooed on his neck by his friend, tattoo artist Kat Von D. That November, he had "Animal rights" tattooed on his arms to commemorate the 32nd anniversary of being a vegan. He also had "VX" tattooed next to his right eye, the "V" standing for vegan and the "X" for straight edge, referencing his sobriety.


title: Moby

text: From 1987 to 1995, Moby described his life as a "very clean" one and abstained from drugs, alcohol, and "for the most part", sex. After taking LSD once at nineteen, he started to suffer from panic attacks which he continued to experience but learned to deal with them more effectively. Shortly after his mother died from lung cancer in 1997, Moby recalled that he had "an epiphany" and experimented with alcohol, drugs, and sex which continued for four years after the commercial success of "Play". He became a self-confessed "old-timey alcoholic". During his "18" tour in 2002 he found himself being argumentative and alienating close friends. At the end of the year he wished to make amends and live a healthier lifestyle and promised a girlfriend that he would quit alcohol for one month; he lasted two weeks. Moby continued to drink to excess and would ask audiences at concerts to give him drugs. Matters culminated shortly after he turned 43 when he attempted suicide; he had his last drink on October 18, 2008, and has since attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. In 2016, he said of his sobriety: "Since I stopped and reoriented myself towards things that have meaning, everything has gotten a million times better".


title: Moby

text: Moby has adopted different faiths throughout his life. He identified himself as an atheist when he was growing up, followed by agnostic, then "a good eight or ten years of being quite a serious Christian", during which time he taught Bible studies. Around 1985, he read the teachings of Christ, including the New Testament and the Gospels and "was instantly struck by the idea that Christ was somehow divine. When I say I love Christ and love the teachings of Christ, I mean that in the most simple and naïve and subjective way. I'm not saying I'm right, and I certainly wouldn't criticize anyone else's beliefs."


title: Moby

text: In the liner notes of "Animal Rights" (1996), Moby wrote: "I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a Christian in the conventional sense of the word, where I go to church or believe in cultural Christianity, but I really do love Christ and recognize him in whatever capacity as I can understand it as God. One of my problems with the church and conventional Christianity is it seems like their focus doesn't have much to do with the teachings of Christ, but rather with their own social agenda". In 2014, Moby pointed out that if he needed to label himself, it would be as a "Taoist–Christian–agnostic quantum mechanic." In 2019, Moby said that he is not a Christian, "but my life is geared towards God [...] I have no idea who or what God might be."


title: Moby

text: Moby is an advocate for a variety of causes, working with MoveOn.org, The Humane Society, and Farm Sanctuary, among others. He created MoveOn Voter Fund's Bush in 30 Seconds contest along with singer and MoveOn Cultural Director Laura Dawn and MoveOn Executive Director Eli Pariser. The music video for the song "Disco Lies" from "Last Night" has heavy anti-meat industrial themes. He also actively engages in nonpartisan activism and serves on the Board of Directors of Amend.org, a nonprofit organization that implements injury prevention programs in Africa.


title: Moby

text: Moby is a member of the board of directors of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function (IMNF), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing scientific inquiry on music and the brain and to developing clinical treatments to benefit people of all ages. He has also performed on various benefit concerts to help increase awareness for music therapy and raise funds for the institute. In 2004, he was honored with the IMNF's Music Has Power Award for his advocacy of music therapy and for his dedication and support to its recording studio program.


title: Moby

text: He is an advocate of net neutrality and he testified before United States House of Representatives committee debating the issue in 2006.


title: Moby

text: In 2007, Moby launched MobyGratis.com, a website of unlicensed music for filmmakers and film students for use in an independent, non-commercial, or non-profit film, video, or short. If a film is commercially successful, all revenue from commercial licence fees granted via Moby Gratis is donated to Humane Society of the United States.


title: Moby

text: In 2008, he participated in "Songs for Tibet", an album to support Tibet and the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso. In a 2021 interview, he discussed the experience and defined the Dalai Lama "a wonderful inspired and inspiring man".


title: Moby

text: In April 2009, Moby spoke about his personal experiences of Transcendental Meditation at the David Lynch Foundation benefit concert Change Begins Within benefit concert in New York City. In April 2015, Moby performed "Go" at The Evening of David Lynch tribute event at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, which highlighted the work of the David Lynch Foundation and raised funds to teach Transcendental Meditation to local youth.


title: Moby

text: In April 2018, Moby auctioned over 100 pieces of musical equipment via Reverb.com to raise funds for the non-profit organisation Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, thinking it was better to sell it for a good cause rather than in storage. Moby held a second sale for the organisation in June 2018 consisting of his personal record collection, including records that he used to use for DJ sets in his early career and his own personal copy of his albums. A third was held in October 2018 that included the sale of almost 200 analog drum machines, 100 instruments, and his entire vinyl collection.


title: Moby

text: In 2018, Moby participated in Al Gore's 24-hour broadcast on climate change and environmental issues.


title: Moby

text: Moby is an advocate for Best Friends; he was part of the No-Kill Los Angeles (NKLA) launch celebration and directed a lyric video for his song “Almost Home" which features dogs and cats from the Best Friends Pet Adoption and Spay/Neuter Center in Mission Hills, California.


title: Moby

text: Moby developed an interest in photography at age ten when his uncle, a photographer for "The New York Times", gave him a Nikon F camera. He cites Edward Steichen as a major early influence. At 17 he set up a darkroom in his basement and pursued photography while at university. Moby kept his photography private until 2010, when he put some of his work on public display at the Clic Gallery and the Brooklyn Museum in New York City. In May 2011, Moby released a photography book containing pictures that were taken during the "Wait for Me" tour in 2010 named "Destroyed". It was released in conjunction with his same-titled album, and pictures from it were also put on display. From October to December 2014, Moby showcased his Innocents collection of large-scale photographs at the Fremin Gallery, featuring a post-apocalyptic theme and a cast of fictitious cult members wearing masks.


title: Moby

text: In March 2010, Moby and animal activist Miyun Park released "Gristle: From Factory Farms to Food Safety (Thinking Twice About the Meat We Eat)", a collection of ten essays by various people in the food industry that they edited to detail "unbiased, factual information about the consequences of animal production" and factory farming.


title: Moby

text: In 2014, Moby announced his decision to write an autobiography covering his life and career from his move to New York City in the late 1980s to the recording of "Play" in 1999. He enjoyed the experience, and wrote approximately 300,000 words before cutting it by half to reach a rough edit of the book. "" was released on May 17, 2016, by Penguin Press. Moby put out the compilation album "Music from Porcelain" to coincide the book's release, featuring his own tracks and a mixtape of tracks by other artists.


title: Moby

text: In October 2018, Moby announced his second memoir, "Then It Fell Apart". It was released on May 2, 2019, and covers his life and career from 1999 to 2009. To promote the book, Moby embarked upon a book tour which included book signings, interviews, and live performances. Moby has expressed a wish to write a third.


title: Patrick Fabian

text: Patrick Fabian (born December 7, 1964) is an American film, stage, and television actor. He is known for his role as attorney Howard Hamlin in "Better Call Saul" (2015–2022). His film roles include "End Game" (2006), "The Last Exorcism" (2010), "Pig" (2011) and "Jimmy" (2013).


title: Patrick Fabian

text: Patrick Fabian is the son of Tom and Mary Lou Fabian. He was born in Pittsburgh, and grew up in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. His father worked for the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA). He attended Penn State University and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performance. He moved to California, where he earned a master's degree from California State University, Long Beach.


title: Patrick Fabian

text: One of Fabian's earliest prominent roles was as Professor Jeremiah Lasky on NBC's "" (1993–1994). He was in the main cast of the short-lived television series "Valentine" (2008–2009), "Working Class" (2011), and "Special" (2019–2021). He had recurring roles on "Joan of Arcadia", "Veronica Mars", "Gigantic", and "Big Love".


title: Patrick Fabian

text: Fabian has appeared in a number of films including "The Last Exorcism", and has had a number of guest appearances on high-profile TV shows including "Will & Grace" and "Friends". More recently, Fabian was cast to play Howard Hamlin, a main role in the AMC television series, "Better Call Saul".


title: Patrick Fabian

text: Fabian's theatre work in New York includes "The Food Chain" by Nicky Silver, "Humpty Dumpty" by Eric Bogosian, "Six Degrees of Separation" (national tour), and, in Los Angeles, "Diva" by Howard Gould, and "Dinner With Friends" by Donald Margulies, as well as two seasons at LA's Shakespeare Festival.


title: Patrick Fabian

text: Fabian has been a member of SAG-AFTRA's National and Los Angeles Local Board of Directors, running under the Unite for Strength slate.


title: Patrick Fabian

text: In mid 2022 Fabian opened a Cameo account. After a request from a fan, Fabian was asked to say a number of "Better Call Saul" injokes and internet memes, one of which was, "The One Piece, The One Piece is real!", which itself became a viral internet video meme, intercut with characters from "One Piece" and Kanye West's Dark Fantasy.


title: Piranha

text: A piranha or piraña (, , or ; or , ) is one of a number of freshwater fish in the family Serrasalmidae, or the subfamily Serrasalminae within the tetra family, Characidae in order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs. Although often described as extremely predatory and mainly feeding on fish, their dietary habits vary extensively, and they will also take plant material, leading to their classification as omnivorous.


title: Piranha

text: The name originates from the indigenous Tupi people and their respective Tupi language. It is formed from two words, meaning fish and meaning tooth; the same word is used by Indians to describe a pair of scissors. Another possible derivation is from , probably literally "biting-fish". In the mid 18th century the Portuguese merged the word into . Finally, the word may also come from the combination of meaning fish and meaning cut (which also meant "bad" or "devil" in Tupi-Guarani).


title: Piranha

text: Piranhas belong to the subfamily Serrasalminae, which includes closely related omnivorous fish such as pacus. Traditionally, only the four genera "Pristobrycon", "Pygocentrus", "Pygopristis", and "Serrasalmus" are considered to be true piranhas, due to their specialized teeth. However, a recent analysis showed, if the piranha group is to be monophyletic, it should be restricted to "Serrasalmus", "Pygocentrus", and part of "Pristobrycon", or expanded to include these taxa plus "Pygopristis", "Catoprion", and "Pristobrycon striolatus". "Pygopristis" was found to be more closely related to "Catoprion" than the other three piranha genera.


title: Piranha

text: The total number of piranha species is unknown and contested, and new species continue to be described. Estimates range from fewer than 30 to more than 60.


title: Piranha

text: Piranhas are indigenous to the Amazon basin, in the Orinoco, in rivers of the Guianas, in the Paraguay–Paraná, and the São Francisco River systems, but there are major differences in the species richness. In a review where 38–39 piranha species were recognized, 25 were from the Amazon and 16 from Orinoco, while only three were present in Paraguay–Paraná and two in São Francisco. Most species are restricted to a single river system, but some (such as the red-bellied piranha) occur in several. Many species can occur together; for example, seven are found in Caño Maporal, a stream in Venezuela.


title: Piranha

text: Aquarium piranhas have been unsuccessfully introduced into parts of the United States. In many cases, however, reported captures of piranhas are misidentifications of pacu (e.g., red-bellied pacu or "Piaractus brachypomus" is frequently misidentified as red-bellied piranha or "Pygocentrus nattereri"). Piranhas have also been discovered in the Kaptai Lake in southeast Bangladesh. Research is being carried out to establish how piranhas have moved to such distant corners of the world from their original habitat. Some rogue exotic fish traders are thought to have released them in the lake to avoid being caught by antipoaching forces. Piranhas were also spotted in the Lijiang River in China.


title: Piranha

text: Depending on the exact species, most piranhas grow to between long. A few can grow larger, with the largest living species, the red-bellied, reaching up to . There are claims of São Francisco piranhas at up to , but the largest confirmed specimens are considerably smaller. The extinct "Megapiranha" which lived 8–10 million years ago reached about long, and possibly even .


title: Piranha

text: "Serrasalmus", "Pristobrycon", "Pygocentrus", and "Pygopristis" are most easily recognized by their unique dentition. All piranhas have a single row of sharp teeth in both jaws. The teeth are tightly packed and interlocking (via small cusps) and are used for rapid puncture and shearing. Individual teeth are typically broadly triangular, pointed, and blade-like (flat in profile). The variation in the number of cusps is minor. In most species, the teeth are tricuspid with a larger middle cusp which makes the individual teeth appear markedly triangular. The exception is "Pygopristis", which has pentacuspid teeth and a middle cusp usually only slightly larger than the other cusps.


title: Piranha

text: Piranhas have one of the strongest bites found in bony fishes. Relative to body mass, the black piranha ("Serrasalmus rhombeus") produces one of the most forceful bites measured in vertebrates. This extremely powerful and dangerous bite is generated by large jaw muscles (adductor mandibulae) that are attached closely to the tip of the jaw, conferring the piranha with a mechanical advantage that favors force production over bite speed. Strong jaws combined with finely serrated teeth make them adept at tearing flesh.


title: Piranha

text: Piranhas vary extensively in ecology and behavior depending on exact species. Piranhas, especially the red-bellied ("Pygocentrus nattereri"), have a reputation as ferocious predators that hunt their prey in schools. Recent research, however, which "started off with the premise that they school as a means of cooperative hunting", discovered they are timid fish that schooled for protection from their own predators, such as cormorants, caimans, and dolphins. Piranhas are "basically like regular fish with large teeth". A few other species may also occur in large groups, while the remaining are solitary or found in small groups.


title: Piranha

text: Although popularly described as highly predatory and primarily feeding on fish, piranha diets vary extensively, leading to their classification as omnivorous. In addition to fish (occasionally even their own species), documented food items for piranhas include other vertebrates (mammals, birds, reptiles), invertebrates (insects, crustaceans), fruits, seeds, leaves and detritus. The diet often shifts with age and size. Research on the species "Serrasalmus" aff. "brandtii" and "Pygocentrus nattereri" in Viana Lake in Maranhão, which is formed during the wet season when the Pindaré River (a tributary of the Mearim River) floods, has shown that they primarily feed on fish, but also eat vegetable matter. In another study of more than 250 "Serrasalmus rhombeus" at Ji-Paraná (Machado) River, 75% to 81% (depending on season) of the stomach content was fish, but about 10% was fruits or seeds. In a few species such as "Serrasalmus serrulatus", the dietary split may be more equal, but this is less certain as based on smaller samples: Among 24 "S. serrulatus" from flooded forests of Ji-Paraná (Machado) River, there were several with fish remains in their stomachs, but half contained masticated seeds and in most of these this was the dominant item. Piranhas will often scavenge, and some species such as "Serrasalmus elongatus" are specialized scale-eaters, feeding primarily on scales and fins of other fish. Scale- and fin-eating is more widespread among juvenile and sub-adult piranhas.


title: Piranha

text: Piranhas lay their eggs in pits dug during the breeding season and swim around to protect them. Newly hatched young feed on zooplankton, and eventually move on to small fish once large enough.


title: Piranha

text: Piranha teeth are often used as tools themselves (such as for carving wood or cutting hair) or to modify other tools (such as sharpening of darts). This behavior has been documented among several South American tribes including the Camayura and Shavante in Brazil and the Pacahuara in Bolivia. Piranhas are also popular as food. They are often considered a nuisance by fishers since they steal bait, eat catches, damage fishing gear and may bite when accidentally caught.


title: Piranha

text: Piranhas can be bought as pets in some areas but they are illegal in many parts of the United States and in the Philippines where importers face six months to four years in jail and the piranhas destroyed to prevent proliferation in the latter.


title: Piranha

text: The most common aquarium piranha is "Pygocentrus nattereri", the red-bellied piranha. Piranhas can be bought fully grown or as young, often no larger than a thumbnail. It is important to keep "Pygocentrus" piranhas alone or in groups of four or more, not in pairs, since aggression among them is common, not allowing the weaker fish to survive, and is distributed more widely when kept in larger groups. It is not uncommon to find individual piranhas with one eye missing due to a previous attack.


title: Piranha

text: Although often described as extremely dangerous in the media, piranhas typically do not represent a serious risk to humans. However, attacks have occurred, especially when the piranhas are in a stressed situation such as the dense groups that may occur when the water is lower during the dry season and food is relatively scarce. Swimming near fishermen may increase the risk of attacks due to the commotion caused by struggling fish and the presence of bait in the water. Splashing attracts piranhas and for this reason children are more often attacked than adults. Being in the water when already injured or otherwise incapacitated also increases the risk. There are sometimes warning signs at high-risk locations and beaches in such areas are sometimes protected by a barrier.


title: Piranha

text: Most piranha attacks on humans only result in minor injuries, typically to the feet or hands, but they are occasionally more serious and very rarely can be fatal. Near the city of Palmas in Brazil, 190 piranha attacks, all involving single bites to the feet, were reported in the first half of 2007 in an artificial lake which appeared after the damming of the Tocantins River. In the state of São Paulo, a series of attacks in 2009 in the Tietê River resulted in minor injuries to 15 people. In 2011, another series of attacks at José de Freitas in the Brazilian state of Piauí resulted in 100 people being treated for bites to their toes or heels. On 25 December 2013, more than 70 bathers were attacked at Rosario in Argentina, causing injuries to their hands or feet. In 2011, a drunk 18-year-old man was attacked and killed in Rosario del Yata, Bolivia. In 2012, a five-year-old Brazilian girl was attacked and killed by a shoal of "P. nattereri". In February 2015, a six-year-old girl died after being attacked by piranhas when her grandmother's boat capsized during a vacation in Brazil. Whereas fatal attacks on humans are rare, piranhas will readily feed on bodies of people that already have died, such as drowning victims.


title: Piranha

text: Various stories exist about piranhas, such as how they can skeletonize a human body or cattle in seconds. These legends refer specifically to the red-bellied piranha.


title: Piranha

text: A common falsehood is that they can be attracted by blood and are exclusively carnivores. A Brazilian legend called "piranha cattle" states that they sweep the rivers at high speed and attack the first of the cattle entering the water allowing the rest of the group to traverse the river. These legends were dismissed through research by Hélder Queiroz and Anne Magurran and published in "Biology Letters".


title: Piranha

text: When former US President Theodore Roosevelt visited Brazil in 1913, he went on a hunting expedition through the Amazon Rainforest. While standing on the bank of the Amazon River, he witnessed a spectacle created by local fishermen. After blocking off part of the river and starving the piranhas for several days, they pushed a cow into the water, where it was quickly torn apart and skeletonized by a school of hungry piranhas. Roosevelt later described piranhas as vicious creatures in his 1914 book "".


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pakistan, having served a total of more than 9 years across three tenures. Each term has ended in his ousting.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Born into the upper-middle-class Sharif family in Lahore, Nawaz is the son of Muhammad Sharif, the founder of Ittefaq and Sharif groups. He is the elder brother of Shehbaz Sharif, who also became the prime minister of Pakistan in 2022. According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, Nawaz is the one of the wealthiest men in Pakistan, with an estimated net worth of at least . Most of his wealth originates from his businesses in steel construction.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Before entering politics in the mid-1980s, Nawaz studied business at Government College and law at the University of Punjab. In 1981, Nawaz was appointed by President Zia as the minister of finance for the province of Punjab. Backed by a loose coalition of conservatives, Nawaz was elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab in 1985 and re-elected after the end of martial law in 1988. In 1990, Nawaz led the conservative Islamic Democratic Alliance and became the 12th prime minister of Pakistan.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: After being ousted in 1993, when President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dissolved the National Assembly, Nawaz served as the leader of the opposition to the government of Benazir Bhutto from 1993 to 1996. He returned to the premiership after the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) was elected in 1997, and served until his removal in 1999 by military takeover and was tried in a plane hijacking case which was argued by Barrister Ijaz Husain Batalvi, assisted by Khawaja Sultan senior Advocate, Sher Afghan Asdi and Akhtar Aly Kureshy Advocate. After being imprisoned and later exiled for more than a decade, he returned to politics in 2011 and led his party to victory for the third time in 2013.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: In 2017, Nawaz was removed from office by the Supreme Court of Pakistan regarding revelations from the Panama Papers case. In 2018, the Pakistani Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz from holding public office, and he was also sentenced to ten years in prison by an accountability court. , Nawaz is in London for medical treatment on expired bail.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz was born in Lahore, Punjab, on 25 December 1949. The Sharif family are Kashmiris of Punjab. His father, Muhammad Sharif, was an upper-middle-class businessman and industrialist whose family had emigrated from Anantnag in Kashmir for business. They settled in the village of Jati Umra in Amritsar district, Punjab, at the beginning of the twentieth century. His mother's family came from Pulwama. After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Nawaz's parents migrated from Amritsar to Lahore. His father followed the teachings of the Ahl-i Hadith. His family owns Ittefaq Group, a multimillion-dollar steel conglomerate, and Sharif Group, a conglomerate with holdings in agriculture, transport and sugar mills. He has two younger brothers: Shehbaz Sharif and the late Abbas Sharif, both politicians by profession.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz went to Saint Anthony High School. He graduated from the Government College University (GCU) with an art and business degree and then received a law degree from the Law College of Punjab University in Lahore.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz suffered financial losses when his family's steel business was appropriated under the nationalisation policies of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Nawaz entered politics as a result, initially focused on regaining control of the steel plants. In 1976, Nawaz joined the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), a conservative front rooted in the Punjab province.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: In May 1980, Ghulam Jilani Khan, the recently appointed military governor of Punjab and a former Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was seeking new urban leaders; he quickly promoted Nawaz, making him finance minister. In 1981, Nawaz joined the Punjab Advisory Council under Khan.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: During the 1980s, Nawaz gained influence as a supporter of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's military government. Zia-ul-Haq agreed to return the steel industry to Nawaz, who convinced the general to denationalise and deregulate industries to improve the economy. Within Punjab, Nawaz privatised government-owned industries and presented development-oriented budgets to the military government. These policies raised financial capital and helped increase the standard of living and purchasing power in the province, which in turn improved law and order and extended Khan's rule. Punjab was the richest province and received more federal funding than the other provinces of Pakistan, contributing to economical inequality.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz invested his wealth in Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Arab countries to rebuild his steel empire. According to personal accounts and his time spent with Nawaz, American historian Stephen Philips Cohen states in his 2004 book "Idea of Pakistan": "Nawaz Sharif never forgave Bhutto after his steel empire was lost [...] even after [Bhutto's] terrible end, Nawaz publicly refused to forgive the soul of Bhutto or the Pakistan Peoples Party."


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: In 1985, Khan nominated Nawaz as Chief Minister of Punjab, against the wishes of Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo. With the backing of the army, Nawaz secured a landslide victory in the 1985 elections. Because of his popularity, he received the nickname "Lion of the Punjab". Nawaz built ties with the senior army generals who sponsored his government. He maintained an alliance with General Rahimuddin Khan, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Nawaz also had close ties with Lieutenant-General (retired) Hamid Gul, the Director-General of ISI.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: As chief minister, Nawaz stressed welfare and development activities and the maintenance of law and order. Khan beautified Lahore, extended military infrastructure, and silenced political opposition, while Nawaz expanded economic infrastructure to benefit the army, his own business interests, and the people of Punjab. In 1988, General Zia dismissed the government of Junejo and called for new elections. However, Zia retained Nawaz as the Chief Minister of Punjab, and until his death, continued to support Nawaz.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: After General Zia's death in August 1988, his political party – Pakistan Muslim League (Pagara Group) – split into two factions. Nawaz led the Zia-loyalist Fida Group against the Prime Minister's Junejo's Pakistan Muslim League (J). The Fida Group later took on the mantle of the PML while the Junejo Group became known as the JIP. The two parties along with seven other right-wing conservative and religious parties united with encouragement and funding from the ISI to form the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI). (The IJI received  million from Zia loyalists in the ISI, with a substantial role played by Nawaz's ally Gul.) The alliance was led by Nawaz and Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi and opposed Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the elections. The IJI gained a majority in Punjab, and Nawaz was re-elected as the chief minister.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: In December 1989, Nawaz decided to remain in the provincial Punjab Assembly rather than hold a seat in the National Assembly. In early 1989, the PPP government attempted to unseat Nawaz through a no-confidence motion in the Punjab Assembly, which they lost by a vote of 152 to 106.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: The conservatives first came to power in a democratic Pakistan under Nawaz's leadership. Nawaz Sharif became the 12th prime minister of Pakistan on 1 November 1990, succeeding Benazir Bhutto. He also became head of IJI. Sharif had a majority in the assembly and ruled with considerable confidence, having disputes with three successive army chiefs.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz had campaigned on a conservative platform and vowed to reduce government corruption. Nawaz introduced an economy based on privatisation and economic liberalisation to reverse the nationalisation by Zulfikar Bhutto, notably for banks and industries. He legalised foreign money exchange to be transacted through private money exchangers. His privatisation policies were continued by both Benazir Bhutto in the mid-1990s and Shaukat Aziz in the 2000s. He also improved the nation's infrastructure and spurred the growth of digital telecommunication.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz continued the simultaneous Islamization and conservatism of Pakistan society, a policy begun by Zia. Reforms were made to introduce fiscal conservatism, supply-side economics, bioconservatism and religious conservatism in Pakistan.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz intensified Zia's controversial Islamization policies, and introduced Islamic laws such as the Shariat Ordinance and Bait-ul-Maal (to help poor orphans, widows, etc.) to drive the country on the model of an Islamic welfare state. Moreover, he gave tasks to the Ministry of Religion to prepare reports and recommendations for steps taken toward Islamization. He ensured the establishment of three committees:


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz extended membership of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) to all Central Asian Muslim countries, to unite them into a Muslim Bloc. Nawaz included environmentalism in his government platform, and established the Environmental Protection Agency in 1997.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Following the imposition and passing of Resolution 660, 661, and 665, Nawaz sided with the United Nations on the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Nawaz's government criticised Iraq for invading the fellow Muslim country, which strained Pakistan's relationships with Iraq. This continued as Pakistan sought to strengthen its relations with Iran. This policy continued under Benazir Bhutto and Pervez Musharraf until the removal of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Nawaz raised the issue of Kashmir in international forums and worked toward a peaceful transfer of power in Afghanistan to curb the rampant trading of illicit drugs and weapons across the border.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz challenged former Chief of Army Staff General Mirza Aslam Beg over the 1991 Gulf War. Under the direction of Beg, Pakistan Armed Forces participated in Operation Desert Storm and the Army Special Service Group and the Naval Special Service Group were deployed to Saudi Arabia to provide security for the Saudi royal family.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz faced difficulty working with the PPP and the Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM), a potent force in Karachi. The MQM and the PPP opposed Nawaz due to his focus on beautifying Punjab and Kashmir while neglecting Sindh, and the MQM also opposed Nawaz's conservatism. Although the MQM had formed the government with Nawaz, the political tensions between liberalism and conservatism erupted into conflict by renegade factions in 1992.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: To end the fighting between PML-N and MQM, Nawaz's party passed a resolution to launch a paramilitary operation under command of Chief of Army Staff General Asif Nawaz Janjua. Violence erupted in Karachi in 1992 and brought the economy to a halt. During this time, Benazir Bhutto and the centre-left PPP remained neutral, but her brother Murtaza Bhutto exerted pressure which suspended the operation. The period of 1992–1994 is considered the bloodiest in the history of the city, with many people missing.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz had campaigned on a conservative platform and after assuming office announced his economic policy under the National Economic Reconstruction Programme (NERP). This programme introduced an extreme level of the Western-styled capitalist economics.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Unemployment had limited Pakistan's economic growth and Nawaz believed that only privatisation could solve this problem. Nawaz introduced an economy based on privatisation and economic liberalisation, notably for banks and industries. According to the US Department of State, this followed a vision of "turning Pakistan into a [South] Korea by encouraging greater private saving and investment to accelerate economic growth."


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: The privatisation programme reversed the nationalisation by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the PPP in the 1970s. By 1993, around 115 nationalised industries were opened to private ownership, including the National Development Finance Corporation, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation, and Pakistan State Oil. This boosted the economy but a lack of competition in bidding allowed the rise of business oligarchs and further widened the wealth gap, contributing to political instability. Former science advisor Dr. Mubashir Hassan called Nawaz's privatisation "unconstitutional". The PPP held that nationalisation policy was given constitutional status by parliament, and that privatisation policies were illegal and had taken place without parliamentary approval.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz initiated several large-scale projects to stimulate the economy, such as the Ghazi-Barotha Hydropower Project. However, unemployment remained a challenge. In an attempt to counter this, Nawaz imported thousands of privatised Yellow-cab taxis for young Pakistanis, but few of the loans were repaid and Nawaz was forced to pay for them through his steel industry. Nawaz's projects were not evenly distributed, focusing on Punjab and Kashmir Provinces, the base of his support, with lesser efforts in Khyber and Balochistan provinces, and no benefits from industrialization in Sindh Province. After intense criticism from the PPP and MQM, Nawaz completed the Orangi Cottage Industrial Zone but this did not repair his reputation in Sindh. Opponents accused Nawaz of using political influence to build factories for himself and his business, for expanding the Armed Forces' secretive industrial conglomerate and bribing generals.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: While privatising industry, Nawaz took steps for intense government control of science in Pakistan, and placed projects under his authorisation. In 1991, Nawaz founded and authorised the Pakistan Antarctic Programme under the scientific directions of National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), with the Pakistan Navy's Weapons Engineering Division, and first established the Jinnah Antarctic Station and Polar Research Cell. In 1992, Pakistan became an associate member of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: On 28 July 1997, Nawaz declared 1997 a year of science in Pakistan and personally allotted funds for the 22nd INSC College on Theoretical Physics. In 1999, Nawaz signed the executive decree, declaring 28 May as the National Science Day in Pakistan.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz made the nuclear weapons and energy programme one of his top priorities. He expanded the nuclear energy program, and continued an atomic programme while following a policy of deliberate nuclear ambiguity.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: This resulted in a nuclear crisis with the United States which tightened its embargo on Pakistan in December 1990 and reportedly offered substantial economic aid to halt the country's uranium enrichment programme. Responding to US embargo, Nawaz announced that Pakistan had no atomic bomb, and would sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if India did as well. The embargo blocked plans for a French-built nuclear power plant, so Nawaz's advisors intensively lobbied the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which allowed China to establish CHASNUPP-I nuclear power plant and upgrade KANUPP-I.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz's nuclear policy was considered less aggressive towards India with its focus on public usage through nuclear power and medicine, viewed as a continuation of the US Atoms for Peace programme. In 1993, Nawaz established the Institute of Nuclear Engineering (INE) to promote his policy for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz suffered a major loss of political support from the co-operatives societies scandal. These societies accept deposits from members and can legally make loans only to members for purposes to the benefit of the membership. However, mismanagement led to a collapse affecting millions of Pakistanis in 1992. In Punjab and Kashmir, around 700,000 people lost their savings, and it was discovered that billions of rupees had been granted to the Ittefaq Group of Industries – Nawaz's steel mill. Although the loans were hurriedly repaid, Nawaz's reputation was severely damaged.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz had developed serious issues of authority with conservative President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who had raised Nawaz to prominence during the Zia dictatorship. On 18 April, ahead of the 1993 Parliamentary election, Khan used his reserve powers (58-2b) to dissolve the National Assembly, and with the support of the army appointed Mir Balakh Sher as interim prime minister. Nawaz refused to accept this act and raised a challenge at the Supreme Court of Pakistan. On 26 May, the Supreme Court ruled 10–1 that the presidential order was unconstitutional, that the president could dissolve the assembly only if a constitutional breakdown had occurred and that the government's incompetence or corruption was irrelevant. (Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was the only dissenting judge; he later became 13th Chief Justice of Pakistan.)


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Issues of authority continued. In July 1993, under pressure from the armed forces, Nawaz resigned under an agreement that also removed President Khan from power. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Shamim Allam and the Chief of Army Staff General Abdul Vahied Kakar forced Khan to resign from the presidency and ended the political standoff. Under the close scrutiny of the Pakistan Armed Forces, an interim and transitional government was formed and new parliamentary election was held after three months.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Following 1993 elections, the PPP returned to power under Benazir Bhutto. Nawaz offered his full co-operation as Leader of the Opposition but soon the PPP and PML-N held parliament locked in dispute. Bhutto found it difficult to act effectively in the face of opposition from Nawaz, and also faced problems in her political stronghold of Sindh Province from her younger brother Murtaza Bhutto.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz and Murtaza Bhutto formed the Nawaz-Bhutto axis and worked to undermine Benazir Bhutto's government, tapping an anti-corruption wave in Pakistan. They accused the government of corruption with major state corporations and slowing economic progress. In 1994 and 1995 they made a "train march" from Karachi to Peshawar, making critical speeches to huge crowds. Nawaz organised strikes throughout Pakistan in September and October 1994. The death of Murtaza Bhutto in 1996, which allegedly involved Benazir's spouse, led to demonstrations in Sindh and the government lost control of the province. Benazir Bhutto became widely unpopular across the country and was ousted in October 1996.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: By 1996, continuous large-scale corruption by the government of Benazir Bhutto had deteriorated the country's economy, which was nearing failure. In the 1997 parliamentary elections, Nawaz and the PML-N won an overwhelming victory, with an exclusive mandate from across Pakistan. It was hoped that Nawaz would deliver on promises to provide a stable conservative government and improve overall conditions. Nawaz was sworn as prime minister on 17 February.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz had formed an alliance with Altaf Hussain of the MQM which fell apart following the assassination of Hakim Said. Nawaz then removed the MQM from parliament and assumed control of Karachi while MQM was forced underground. This led Nawaz to claim an exclusive mandate, and for the first time Nawaz and the PML-N had the control of Sindh, Balochistan, Northwest Frontier, Kashmir and Punjab. With a supermajority, Nawaz's new government amended the constitution to restrict the powers of the president to dismiss governments. With the passing of the 14th amendment, Nawaz emerged as the most powerful elected prime minister in the country.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz's popularity peaked in May 1998 after conducting the country's first nuclear weapons tests in response to tests by India. When Western countries suspended foreign aid, Nawaz froze the country's foreign currency reserves and economic conditions worsened. The country became embroiled in conflicts on two borders and Nawaz's long-standing relationships with the military establishment fell apart, so that by mid-1999 few approved of his policies.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: During the 1997 elections, Nawaz promised to follow his policy of nuclear ambiguity while using nuclear energy to stimulate the economy. However, on 7 September, before a state visit to the US, Nawaz acknowledged in a STN News interview that the country had had an atomic bomb since 1978. Nawaz maintained that:


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: On 1 December, Nawaz told the "Daily Jang" and "The News International" that Pakistan would immediately become a party of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) if India signed and ratified it first. Under his leadership, the nuclear program had become a vital part of Pakistan's economic policy.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: In May 1998, soon after Indian nuclear tests, Nawaz vowed that his country would make a suitable reply. On 14 May, Leader of the Opposition Benazir Bhutto and MQM called for nuclear tests, followed by calls from the public. When India tested its nuclear weapons the second time, it caused a great alarm in Pakistan and pressure mounted on Nawaz. On 15 May, Nawaz put the armed forces on high-alert and called a National Security Council meeting, discussing the financial, diplomatic, military, strategic and national security concerns. Only Treasure Minister Sartaj Aziz opposed the tests, due to the economic recession, low foreign exchange reserves, and economic sanctions.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: and observed the international reaction to India's tests, where an embargo had no economic effect. Failure to conduct the tests would put the credibility of Pakistan's nuclear deterrence in doubt, which was emphasized when Indian Home Minister Lal Kishanchand Advani and Defence Minister George Fernandes gloated and belittled Pakistan, angering Nawaz.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: On 18 May, Nawaz ordered the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) to make preparation for the tests, and put military forces on high alert to provide support. On 21 May, Nawaz authorised nuclear weapon tests in Balochistan.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: On 27 May, the day before testing, the ISI detected Israeli F-16 fighters conducting exercises and received intelligence that they had orders to attack Pakistan's nuclear facilities on behalf of India. Nawaz scrambled the Pakistan Air Force and had nuclear bombs prepared for deployment. According to political scientist Shafik H. Hashmi, the US and other nations assured Nawaz that Pakistan was safe; the Israeli attack never materialized.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: On 28 and 30 May 1998, Pakistan successfully carried out its nuclear tests, codenamed Chagai-I and Chagai-II. Following these test, Nawaz appeared on national television and stated:


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz's political prestige reached its peak when the country went nuclear. Despite the intense international criticism and decline in foreign investment and trade, Nawaz's domestic popularity increased, as the tests made Pakistan the first Muslim country and seventh nation to become a nuclear power. Editorials were full of praise for the country's leadership and advocated the development of nuclear deterrence. Leader of the Opposition Benazir Bhutto congratulated Nawaz for his "bold decision" in spite of the economic outcomes, and felt that the tests erased doubts and fears which troubled the nation since the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971. In India, opposition leaders in parliament blamed the government for starting a nuclear arms race. Nawaz was awarded an Ig Nobel prize for his "aggressively peaceful explosions of atomic bombs".


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz built Pakistan's first major motorway, the M2 Motorway (3MM), called the Autobahn of South Asia. This public-private project was completed in November 1997 at a cost of US$989.12 million. His critics questioned the layout of the highway, its excessive length, its distance from important cities, and the absence of link roads with important towns. It also appropriated funds designated for the Peshawar–Karachi Indus Highway, benefiting Punjab and Kashmir at the cost of other provinces. There was particular dissatisfaction in Sindh and Balochistan Provinces, and Nawaz faced a lack of capital investment to finance additional projects. Nawaz loosened foreign exchange restrictions and opened Karachi Stock Exchange to foreign capital, but the government remained short of funds for investments.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Due to economic pressures, Nawaz halted the national space programme. This forced the Space Research Commission to delay the launch of its satellite, Badr-II(B), which was completed in 1997. This caused frustration among the scientific community who criticised Nawaz's inability to promote science. Senior scientists and engineers attributed this to "Nawaz's personal corruption" that affected national security.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: By the end of Nawaz's second term, the economy was in turmoil. The government faced serious structural issues and financial problems; inflation and foreign debt stood at an all-time high, and unemployment in Pakistan had reached its highest point. Pakistan had debts of US$32bn against reserves of little more than $1bn. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had suspended aid, demanding the country's finances be resolved. Nawaz continued to meddle with the stock exchange markets with devastating effects. By the time he was deposed, the country was heading for financial default.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: In February 1997, Nawaz met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Premier Li Peng to discuss economic cooperation. Two conferences were organised in Beijing and Hong Kong to promote Chinese investment in Pakistan.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: In 1997, Nawaz signed a trilateral free trade agreement with Malaysia and Singapore, which was followed by collaboration in defence. One of the core issues was Malaysia's agreement on sharing its space technology with Pakistan. Both Malaysia and Singapore assured their support for Pakistan to join Asia–Europe Meeting, though Pakistan and India were not parties to the treaty until 2008.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: In January 1998, Nawaz signed bilateral economic agreements with South Korean President Kim Young-sam. Nawaz urged North Korea to make peace and improve its ties with South Korea; causing a division in Pakistan–North Korean relations. In April 1998, Nawaz went on to visit Italy, Germany, Poland, and Belgium to promote economic ties. He signed a number of agreements to enlarge economic co-operation with Italy and Belgium, and an agreement with the European Union (EU) for the protection of intellectual, industrial and commercial property rights.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: However, Nawaz's diplomatic efforts seemed to have gone to waste after conducting nuclear tests in May 1998. Widespread international criticism brought Pakistan's reputation to a low since the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971. Pakistan failed to gather any support from its allies at the UN, and trade agreements were repealed by the US, Europe, and Asian bloc. Pakistan was accused of allowing nuclear proliferation. In June 1998, Nawaz authorised a secret meeting between Pakistan and Israel's ambassadors to the UN and US, and assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Pakistan would not transfer nuclear technology or materials to Iran or other Middle Eastern countries. Israel responded with concerns that Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi's visit to Pakistan shortly after the May 1998 nuclear weapons tests was a sign that Pakistan was preparing to sell nuclear technology to Iran.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: In 1998, India and Pakistan made an agreement recognising the principle of building an environment of peace and security and resolving all bilateral conflicts. On 19 February 1999, Indian Premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee paid a historic state visit to Pakistan, travelling on the inaugural Delhi–Lahore Bus connecting the Indian capital with Pakistan's major cultural city of Lahore. On 21 February, the prime ministers signed a bilateral agreement with a memorandum of understanding to ensure nuclear-free safety in South Asia, which became known as the Lahore Declaration. The agreement was widely popular in both countries, where it was felt that development of nuclear weapons brought added responsibility and promoted the importance of confidence-building measures to avoid accidental or unauthorised use of nuclear weapons. Some Western observers compared the treaty to the cold war Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: In late August 1998, Nawaz proposed a law to establish a legal system based on Islamic principles. His proposal came a week after the 10-year commemorations of the late president Zia ul-Haq. After his cabinet removed some of its controversial aspects, the National Assembly approved and passed the bill on 10 October 1998 by a vote of 151 to 16. With a majority in parliament, Nawaz reverted the semi-presidential system in favour of a more parliamentary system. With these amendments, Nawaz became the country's strongest freely-elected prime minister. However, these amendments failed to achieve a two-thirds majority in the Senate, which remained under the control of the PPP. Weeks later, parliament was suspended by a military coup and Legal Framework Order, 2002 (2002 LFO) returned the country to a semi-presidential system for another decade.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz's Fourteenth Amendment consolidated his power by preventing legislators and lawmakers from dissenting or voting against their own parties, and prohibited judicial appeal for offenders. Legislators from different parties challenged this with the Supreme Court, infuriating Nawaz. He openly criticised Chief Justice Sajad Alishah, inviting a notice of contempt. At the urging of the military and president, Nawaz agreed the solve the conflict amicably but remained determined to oust Alishah.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz manipulated the ranks of senior judges, deposing two judges close to Alishah. The deposed judges challenged Nawaz's orders on procedural grounds by filing a petition at Quetta High Court on 26 November 1997. Alishah was restrained by his fellow judges from adjudicating in the case against the prime minister. On 28 November, Nawaz appeared in the Supreme Court and justified his actions, citing evidence against the two deposed judges. Alishah suspended the decision of Quetta High Court, but soon the Peshawar High Court issued similar orders removing Alishah's closest judges. The associate chief justice of Peshawar High Court, Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, declared himself acting chief justice.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Alishah continued to assert his authority and persisted in hearing Nawaz's case. On 30 November, Nawaz's cabinet ministers and a large number of supporters entered the Supreme Court building, disrupting the proceedings. The chief justice requested the military police, and subsequently struck down the Thirteenth Amendment, restoring the power of the president. However, the military-backed Nawaz refused to obey the president's orders to remove him. Nawaz forced President Farooq Leghari to resign, and appointed Wasim Sajjad as acting president, then ousted Alishah to end the constitutional crisis.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: On 29 November 2006, Nawaz and the PML-N issued a formal apology for their actions to Alishah and Leghari. A written apology was presented to Alishah at his residence and later, his party issued a white paper in Parliament formally apologising for their wrongdoing.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz passed the controversial Anti-Terrorist Act on 17 August 1997, which established Anti-Terrorism Courts. The Supreme Court later rendered the Act unconstitutional. However, Nawaz made amendments and received the permission of the Supreme Court to establish these courts.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: From 1981 until 1999, Nawaz enjoyed extremely cordial relations with the Pakistan Armed Forces, and was the only senior civilian leader to have friendly relations with the military establishment during that period. However, when Chief of Army Staff General Jehangir Karamat advocated for a National Security Council, Nawaz interpreted this as a conspiracy to return the military to an active political role.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: In October 1998, three months before the end of his term, Karamat was forced to resign. This was controversial even within Nawaz's cabinet and was seen as the least-popular moment of Nawaz's administration. Military lawyers and civilian law experts saw this as unconstitutional and a violation of military justice code. However, Media Minister Syed Mushahid Hussain felt that Pakistan was "finally becoming a normal democratic society", not beholden to its military.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz promoted General Pervez Musharraf to replace Karamat, also making Musharraf Chairman of the Joint Chiefs despite his lack of seniority. Admiral Fasih Bokhari resigned as Chief of Naval Staff in protest. Bokhari lodged a protest against the Kargil debacle and called for the court-martial of Musharraf, who Nawaz said acted alone.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: In August, India shot down a Pakistan Navy reconnaissance aircraft in the Atlantique Incident, killing 16 naval officers, the greatest number of combat casualties for the navy since the Indo-Pakistani Naval War of 1971. Nawaz failed to gain foreign support against India for the incident, which newly appointed Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Abdul Aziz Mirza viewed as a lack of support for the navy in wartime. Nawaz further lost the confidence of the Marines for failing to defend the navy at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in September. Relations with the Air Force likewise deteriorated, when Chief of Air Staff General Parvaiz Mehdi Qureshi accused the prime minister of not consulting the air force in matters critical to national security.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Two months later, after steadily worsening relations with the Armed Forces, Nawaz was deposed by Musharraf and martial law was established throughout the country.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: The simultaneous conflicts in the Kargil war with India and Afghanistan's civil war, along with economical turmoil, turned public opinion against Nawaz and his policies. On 12 October 1999, Nawaz attempted to remove Musharraf for military failures and replace him with General Ziauddin Butt. Nawaz's mindset was to remove the Chairman Joint Chiefs and the Chief of Army Staff first, then depose the other armed forces chiefs who had destroyed his credibility. Musharraf, who was in Sri Lanka, attempted to return on a PIA commercial flight.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz ordered the Sindh Police Force to arrest Musharraf. Fearing a "coup d'état", he further ordered the Jinnah Terminal to be sealed to prevent the landing of the airliner. The A300 aircraft was ordered to land at Nawabshah Airport (now Shaheed Benazirabad Airport). There, Musharraf contacted top Pakistan Army generals who took over the country and ousted Nawaz's administration. Nawaz was taken to Adiala Jail for trial by a military judge. Musharraf later assumed control of the government as chief executive. A single protest was held by Sardar Mohsin Abbasi in front of the Supreme Court on 17 October on the first hearing of Nawaz.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, Sir Anjam Khan, Zafer Ali Shah and Sardar Mohsin Abbasi were the only supporters left after the first six months. Many of Nawaz's cabinet ministers and his constituents were divided during the court proceedings and remained neutral. Dissidents such as Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain remained quiet and later formed Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q), splitting Nawaz's party into small factions. The military police initiated massive arrests of the PML workers and party leaders, who were held in Sindh and Punjab police prisons.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: The military placed Nawaz on trial for "kidnapping, attempted murder, hijacking and terrorism and corruption". In a speedy trial, the military court convicted Nawaz and gave him a life sentence. Reports surfaced that Nawaz had nearly been sentenced to execution. His leading defence lawyer, Iqbal Raad, was gunned down in Karachi in mid-March. Nawaz's defence team blamed the military for providing inadequate protection. The military court proceedings were widely accused of being a show trial.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz was also tried for tax evasion on the purchase of a helicopter worth US$1 million. The Lahore High Court agreed to acquit him if he could prove his innocence, but Nawaz was unable to cite any substantial evidence. He was ordered to pay a fine of US$400,000 on grounds of tax evasion, and he was sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, under Nawaz and King Fahd, had enjoyed extremely close business and cultural relations that is sometimes attributed as a special relationship. Saudi Arabia was shocked at the news of the coup. Amid pressure by Fahd and US President Bill Clinton, the military court avoided a death sentence for Sharif. Fahd had expressed concern that the death sentence would provoke intense ethnic violence in Pakistan as had happened in the 1980s following the execution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Under an agreement facilitated by Saudi Arabia, Nawaz was placed in exile for the next 10 years, and agreed not to take part in politics in Pakistan for 21 years. He also forfeited property worth US$8.3 million (£5.7 million) and paid a fine of US$500,000. Musharraf wrote in that, without the intervention of Fahd, Sharif would have been executed. Nawaz travelled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he was taken to a residence managed and controlled by the Saudi government, and provided a Saudi loan to establish a steel mill.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: The Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled on 23 August 2007 that Nawaz and his brother, Shehbaz Sharif, were free to return to Pakistan. Both vowed to return soon. On 8 September, Lebanese politician Saad Hariri and Saudi intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdul-Aziz held an unprecedented joint press conference at Army Combatant Generals Headquarters (GHQ) to discuss how Nawaz's return would affect relations. Muqrin expressed hope that Nawaz would continue with the agreement to not return for 10 years, but said "these little things do not affect relations".


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Two days later, Nawaz returned from exile in London to Islamabad. He was prevented from leaving the aeroplane and he was deported to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, within hours. His political career appeared to be over.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Musharraf went to Saudi Arabia on 20 November 2007, the first time he left Pakistan since implementing the emergency rule. He attempted to convince Saudi Arabia to prevent Nawaz from returning until after the January 2008 elections. Nawaz had become more politically relevant after the return to Pakistan of Benazir Bhutto, who had also been exiled. Saudi Arabia suggested that if Pakistan had allowed a democratic-socialist woman leader, Bhutto, to return to the country, then the conservative Nawaz should be permitted to return as well.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz returned to Pakistan five days later. Thousands of supporters whistled and cheered as they hoisted Nawaz and his brother on their shoulders. After an 11-hour procession from the airport, he reached a mosque where he offered prayers as well as criticism against Musharraf. His return to Pakistan allowed only one day to register for elections, setting the stage for an overnight shift of the political scene.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz called for the boycott of the January 2008 elections because he believed the poll would not be fair, given a state of emergency imposed by Musharraf. Nawaz and the PML-N decided to participate in the parliamentary elections after 33 opposition groups, including Bhutto's PPP, met in Lahore but failed to reach a joint position. He campaigned for the restoration of the independent judges removed by emergency government decree and Musharraf's departure.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Bhutto's assassination led to the postponement of the elections to 18 February 2008. Nawaz condemned Bhutto's assassination and called it the "gloomiest day in Pakistan's history". As the elections approached, the country faced a rise in attacks by militants. Nawaz accused Musharraf of ordering anti-terror operations that had left the country "drowned in blood". Pakistan's government urged opposition leaders to refrain from holding rallies ahead of the elections, citing an escalating terrorist threat. The PML-N rejected this, accusing officials of campaign interference.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: On 25 January, Musharraf attempted British mediation to reconcile with the Nawaz brothers but failed. The elections were dominated by the PPP, boosted by the death of Bhutto, and PML-N. In the 342-seat National Assembly, PPP received 86 seats; the PML-N, 66; and the PML-Q, which backed Musharraf, 40.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz's party had joined a coalition with the PPP, led by its new leader Asif Ali Zardari, but the alliance was strained by differences. Nawaz won much public support for his uncompromising stand, and the coalition successfully forced Musharraf's resignation from the presidency. After the coalition's collapse, Nawaz pressured Zardari to reinstate the judges Musharraf removed during emergency rule. This led to the courts absolving Nawaz's criminal record so that he could re-enter parliament.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: In the June 2008 by-elections, Nawaz's party won 91 National Assembly seats and 180 provincial assembly seats in the Punjab. Election for the Lahore seat was postponed due to questions of Nawaz's eligibility to contest.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: The coalition government agreed on 7 August 2008 to impeach Musharraf. Zardari and Nawaz sent a formal request for him to step down. A charge sheet had been drafted and was to be presented to parliament. It included Musharraf's first seizure of power in 1999 and his second in November 2007, when he declared an emergency as a means of being re-elected president. The charge-sheet also listed some of Musharraf's contributions to the "war on terror".


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: The National Assembly was summoned four days later to discuss impeachment proceedings. On 18 August, Musharraf resigned as President of Pakistan due to mounting political pressure. On 19 August, Musharraf defended his nine-year rule in an hour-long speech.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz claimed that Musharraf was responsible for the crisis in the nation. "Musharraf pushed the country's economy 20 years back after imposing martial law in the country and ousting the democratic government".


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Musharraf had dismissed 60 judges and Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry under the state of emergency in March 2007, in a failed bid to remain in power. Sharif had championed the cause of the judges since their dismissal, and he and Zardari had supported the reinstatement of judges in their campaigns. However, the new coalition government had failed to restore the judges, leading to its collapse in late 2008. Zardari feared that Chaudhry would undo all edicts instated by Musharraf including an amnesty that Zardari had received from corruption charges.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: On 25 February 2009, the Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shehbaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of Punjab, from holding public office.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Zardari attempted to place Nawaz under house arrest, but the Punjab police left his residence after an angry crowd gathered outside. The police decision to lift his confinement was very likely in response to an army command. Nawaz, with a large contingent of SUVs, began leading a march to Islamabad but ended the march in Gujranwala. In a televised speech on 16 March, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani promised to reinstate Chaudhry after receiving pressure from Pakistan's army, American and British envoys, and internal protests. PPP made a secret agreement to restore the PML government in the Punjab. Nawaz then called off the "long march".


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: The PPP-led government continued to survive. A senior PML-N leader said "95% of the members of the PML(N) were against becoming part of the lawyers' movement, but after the [Supreme Court] verdict, the PML(N) had no other choice".


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: The 18th Amendment passed in Parliament on 8 April 2010, removing the bar which allowed prime ministers to serve a maximum of two terms in office. This made Nawaz eligible to again become prime minister, which he did in 2013.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Between 2011 and 2013, Nawaz and Imran Khan began to engage each other in a bitter feud. The rivalry between the two leaders grew in late 2011 when Khan addressed a large crowd at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore. The two began to blame each other for many political reasons.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: From 26 April 2013, in the run up to the 2013 elections, both the PML-N and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) vehemently criticised each other. Khan was accused of personally attacking Nawaz and was given notice by the Election Commission of Pakistan, though Khan denied it.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz campaigned on a promise to end loadshedding, construct motorways and Peshawar–Karachi high-speed rail. He also promised to construct a third port in Keti Bandar on the southern coast of Thatta District. Just prior to the election, Nawaz confirmed he had a long telephone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, suggesting a desire to improve diplomatic relations.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: The Election Commission of Pakistan announced that the PML-N had won 124 seats in Parliament. Needing 13 additional seats to form a majority, Sharif held talks with elected independent candidates to form a coalition. Eight days later, 18 independent candidates joined the party, allowing PML-N to form the government without the agreement of another political party. Nawaz stated that he wanted to take his oath as prime minister on 28 May, the fifteenth anniversary of the Chagai-I nuclear tests.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: On 27 June 2014, Khan announced that PTI would march on 14 August in protest of the government, alleging that the 2013 elections had been rigged. On 6 August 2014, Khan demanded the assemblies be dissolved and the resignations of the election commission and prime minister, claiming that the march would be the "biggest political protest in the history of the country." PTI began their march from Lahore on 14 August and reached Islamabad on 16 August. Khan accused Nawaz of plundering the national wealth, and called on the public to withhold taxes and payment of utility bills to force the government to resign. In protest of alleged election rigging, the PTI's lawmakers announced their resignation from the National Assembly, and the Punjab and Sindh assemblies. PML-N attempted to negotiate a settlement with Khan and his party's backers to break the political deadlock. On 22 August 2014, Khan and his fellow 33 PTI lawmakers resigned from the National Assembly. He called for a caretaker government to be formed of non-politicians, and for fresh elections.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: He faced numerous challenges, including bringing an end to US drone strikes and Taliban attacks while also tackling a crippled economy. Speculation was rife that the new government would need a bailout from the International Monetary Fund to restore economic stability.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz's third term moved from social conservatism to social centrism. In 2016, he called the future of Pakistan as one underpinned as an "educated, progressive, forward looking and an enterprising nation". In January 2016 he backed the Punjab government policy of banning Tablighi Jamaat from preaching in educational institutions and in February he enacted a law to provide a helpline for women to report domestic abuse, despite the criticism of conservative religious parties.


title: Nawaz Sharif

text: Nawaz's government hanged Mumtaz Qadri on 29 February 2016. Qadri had fatally shot Salman Taseer over his opposition to blasphemy laws. According to BBC News, the move to hang Qadri was an indication of the government's growing confidence in taming the street power of religious groups. To the disliking of religious conservatives, Nawaz promised that the perpetrators of honour killings would be 'punished very severely'. In March 2016, "The Washington Post" reported that Nawaz was defying Pakistan's powerful clergy by unblocking access to YouTube, pushing to end child marriage, enacting a landmark domestic violence bill, and overseeing the execution of Qadri. Sunni Tehreek led protests of nearly 2,000 Islamic fundamentist on 28 March 2016, staging a three-day sit-in at the D-Chowk in Islamabad, demanding that Nawaz implement Shariah and declare Qadri a martyr. In response, Nawaz addressed the nation, stating that those "fanning the fire of hatred" would be dealt with under the law.