title: Tomorrow Never Dies

text: The original UK release received various cuts in scenes of violence and martial arts weaponry, to reduce the impact of sound effects and to receive a more box-office-friendly 12 certificate. Further cuts were made to the video/DVD release to retain this rating. These edits were restored for the Ultimate Edition DVD release in the UK, which was consequently upgraded to a 15 certificate. However, upon the release of the Blu-ray in 2012, it was rated back down to a 12 uncut.


title: Tomorrow Never Dies

text: In the wake of its original release, critics and audiences have praised "Tomorrow Never Dies" for its prescience. The website "Den of Geek", on the film's twentieth anniversary, observed of the film's plot: "It's an improbable set-up which was likely intended as a satire of Murdoch's unaccountable media empire, but the risks of such technological manipulation have since proved to be frighteningly plausible." "Den of Geek" also highlights that "technology wasn't the only modern danger to be pre-empted by "Tomorrow Never Dies"—it also offers a revealing peek into the confused state of the British national psyche, which might help to explain the country's ongoing Brexit debates."


title: Tomorrow Never Dies

text: Similarly, "HeadStuff" highlighted its relevance in 2020, noting that "some modern critics argue that Carver's emphasis on traditional journalism date the film and that if the Internet existed to such an extent as it does twenty years later, his plan would be instantly foiled... not really sure those people have been following current events over the past two years." "Far Out Magazine" highlighted Brosnan's performance, when his Bond happens upon the deceased Paris Carver in his hotel room: "There's more substance here in a four-minute encounter than Brosnan found over four whole films."


title: Tomorrow Never Dies

text: The American Film Institute nominated the film in 2001 for AFI's 100 Years of Thrills and David Arnold's score in 2005 for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores.


title: Tomorrow Never Dies

text: Andrew Heritage mentions "Tomorrow Never Dies" in his book, "100 Years Of Great Movies" alongside the likes of "Goldfinger" and "From Russia with Love".


title: Tomorrow Never Dies

text: "Tomorrow Never Dies" was the first of three Bond films to be adapted into books by then-current Bond novelist Raymond Benson. Benson's version is expanded from the screenplay including additional scenes with Wai Lin and other supporting characters not in the film. The novel traces Carver's background as the son of media mogul Lord Roverman, whom Carver blackmails into suicide, later taking over his business. The novel also attempts to merge Benson's series with the films, particularly by continuing a middle-of-the-road approach to John Gardner's continuity. Notably it includes a reference to the film version of "You Only Live Twice" where he states that Bond was lying to Miss Moneypenny when he said he had taken a course in Asian languages. "Tomorrow Never Dies" also mentions Felix Leiter, although it states that Leiter had worked for Pinkertons Detective Agency, which is thus exclusive to the literary series. Subsequent Bond novels by Benson were affected by "Tomorrow Never Dies", specifically Bond's weapon of choice being changed from the Walther PPK to the Walther P99. Benson said in an interview that he felt "Tomorrow Never Dies" was the best of the three novelisations he wrote.


title: Tomorrow Never Dies

text: The film was also adapted into a third-person shooter PlayStation video game, "Tomorrow Never Dies". The game was developed by Black Ops and published by Electronic Arts on 16 November 1999. Game Revolution described it as "really just an empty and shallow game", and IGN said it was "mediocre".


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, first published in 1989, is a business and self-help book written by Stephen R. Covey. Covey presents an approach to being effective in attaining goals by aligning oneself to what he calls "true north" principles based on a character ethic that he presents as universal and timeless.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: Covey defines effectiveness as the balance of obtaining desirable results with caring for that which produces those results. He illustrates this by referring to the fable of the "goose that laid the golden eggs". He further claims that effectiveness can be expressed in terms of the P/PC ratio, where "P" refers to getting desired results and "PC" is caring for that which produces the results.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: This best-known book of Covey has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide since its first publication. The audio version became the first non-fiction audio-book in U.S. publishing history to sell more than one million copies. Covey argues against what he calls "the personality ethic", that he sees as prevalent in many modern self-help books. He promotes what he labels "the character ethic": aligning one's values with so-called universal and timeless principles. In doing this, Covey distinguishes principles and values. He sees "principles" as external natural laws, while "values" remain internal and subjective. Our values govern our behavior, while principles ultimately determine the consequences. Covey presents his teachings in a series of habits, manifesting as a progression from dependence through independence on to interdependence.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: Covey introduces the concept of paradigm shift and helps the reader understand that different perspectives exist, i.e. that two people can see the same thing and yet differ from each other.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: Covey also introduces the "maturity continuum". These are three successive stages of increasing maturity: "dependence", "independence", and "interdependence". At birth, everybody is dependent, and characteristics of dependence may linger; this is the first and lowest stage of maturity.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: Each of the first three habits is intended to help achieve independence. The next three habits are intended to help achieve interdependence. The final, seventh habit is intended to help maintain these achievements. Each of the seven habits has a chapter of the book (or a section of the videotape or DVD) devoted to it:


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: Proactivity is about taking responsibility for one's reaction to one's own experiences, taking the initiative to respond positively and improve the situation. He postulates that "between stimulus and response lies your ability to choose" how to react, and that nothing can hurt you without your consent. Covey discusses recognizing one's "circle of influence" and "circle of concern". Covey discusses focusing one's responses and focusing on the center of one's influence.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: Covey discusses envisioning what one wants in the future (a personal mission statement) so one can work and plan towards it, and understanding how people make important life decisions. To be effective one needs to act based on principles and constantly review one's mission statements, says Covey. He asks: Are you—right now—who you want to be? What do you have to say about yourself? How do you want to be remembered? If habit 1 advises changing one's life to act and be proactive, habit 2 advises that "you are the programmer". Grow and stay humble, Covey says.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: Covey says that all things are created twice: Before one acts, one should act in one's mind first. Before creating something, measure twice. Do not just act; think first: Is this how I want it to go, and are these the correct consequences?


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: Covey talks about what is important versus what is urgent. Priority should be given in the following order (in brackets are the corresponding actions from the Eisenhower matrix, which Dwight D. Eisenhower attributed to a former college president):


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: The order is important, says Covey: after completing items in quadrant I, people should spend the majority of their time on II, but many people spend too much time in III and IV. The calls to delegate and eliminate are reminders of their relative priority.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: If habit 2 advises that "you are the programmer", habit 3 advises: "write the program, become a leader". Keep personal integrity by minimizing the difference between what you say versus what you do, says Covey.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: Seek mutually beneficial win–win solutions or agreements in your relationships, says Covey. Valuing and respecting people by seeking a "win" for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten their way. Thinking win–win isn't about being nice, nor is it a quick-fix technique; it is a character-based code for human interaction and collaboration, says Covey.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: Use empathetic listening to genuinely understand a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to be influenced. This creates an atmosphere of caring, and positive problem-solving.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals that no one could have done alone, Covey exhorts.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: The final habit is that of continuous improvement in both the personal and interpersonal spheres of influence.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: Covey says that one should balance and renew one's resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. He primarily emphasizes exercise for physical renewal, good prayer, and good reading for mental renewal. He also mentions service to society for spiritual renewal.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: Covey explains the "upward spiral" model. Through conscience, along with meaningful and consistent progress, an upward spiral will result in growth, change, and constant improvement. In essence, one is always attempting to integrate and master the principles outlined in "The 7 Habits" at progressively higher levels at each iteration. Subsequent development on any habit will render a different experience and one will learn the principles with a deeper understanding. The upward spiral model consists of three parts: learn, commit, do. According to Covey, one must be increasingly educating the conscience in order to grow and develop on the upward spiral. The idea of renewal by education will propel one along the path of personal freedom, security, wisdom, and power, says Covey.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" has sold more than 40 million copies in 40 languages worldwide, and the audio version has sold 1.5 million copies, and remains one of the best selling nonfiction business books in history. In August 2011 "Time" listed "7 Habits" as one of "The 25 Most Influential Business Management Books".


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: U.S. President Bill Clinton invited Covey to Camp David to counsel him on how to integrate the book into his presidency.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: Covey coined the term "abundance mentality", or "abundance mindset", a way of thinking in which a person believes there are enough resources and successes to share with others. He contrasts it with the "scarcity mindset" (i.e., destructive and unnecessary competition), which is founded on the idea that if someone else wins or is successful in a situation, it means "you lose", because you are not considering the possibility of all parties "winning" in some way or another in a given situation. Individuals having an abundance mentality reject the notion of zero-sum games and are able to celebrate the success of others, rather than feel threatened by them. The author contends that the abundance mentality arises from having a high self-worth and security (see habits 1, 2, and 3), and leads to the sharing of profits, recognition and responsibility. Similarly, organizations may also apply an abundance mentality when doing business.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: After "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" was published, the business press have discussed the idea.


title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

text: Sean Covey, Stephen's son, has written a version of the book for teens, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens", which simplifies the 7 Habits for younger readers to make them easier to understand. In September 2006, Sean Covey published "The 6 Most Important Decisions You Will Ever Make A Guide for Teens", which highlights key times in the life of a teen and gives advice on how to deal with them. In September 2008, Covey published "The 7 Habits of Happy Kids", a children's book illustrated by Stacy Curtis which further simplifies the 7 Habits for children and teaches them through stories with anthropomorphic animal characters.


title: Yung Lean

text: Jonatan Aron Leandoer Håstad (born 18 July 1996), known professionally as Yung Lean, is a Swedish rapper, singer and songwriter. Widely cited as one of the most influential figures in the early cloud rap era, Yung Lean rose to prominence in 2013 with his song "Ginseng Strip 2002", which went viral on YouTube. Later that same year, he released his debut mixtape, "Unknown Death 2002," and the following year, he released his debut studio album, "Unknown Memory." In 2016, Yung Lean released his second mixtape, "Frost God," and his second studio album, "Warlord". In 2017, he released his third studio album, "Stranger", followed by his third mixtape, "Poison Ivy", in 2018. Yung Lean's fourth studio album, "Starz", was released in 2020. He then released his fourth mixtape, "Stardust", in 2022.


title: Yung Lean

text: Håstad was born on 18 July 1996, in Minsk to Kristoffer Leandoer, a Swedish poet, fantasy author, and translator of French literature who owned a book publishing company and Elsa Håstad, a former human rights activist who worked with LGBT groups in Russia, Vietnam, and South America, since 2019 serving as the Swedish ambassador to Albania. His maternal grandfather was British-Jewish playwright Arnold Wesker.


title: Yung Lean

text: Håstad spent his early childhood in Minsk, Belarus, where his mother moved the family so Håstad could have a similar childhood to her. The family returned to Sweden and settled in Stockholm when Håstad was somewhere between the ages of three and five. He was raised in the city's Södermalm district. In between, Håstad was a student at UNIS Hanoi from 6th to 10th grade. During his time in high school, Håstad often got in trouble for doing drugs or writing graffiti. He also had a job at a local McDonald's. When he was 15, he was put on probation for smoking cannabis. Håstad began to develop an interest in hip hop music, mentioning 50 Cent's "Get Rich or Die Tryin'", The Latin Kings's "Mitt Kvarter" and Nas's "Illmatic" as his early influences.


title: Yung Lean

text: In 2012, Håstad met Yung Sherman and Gud in a local Stockholm park and they struck up a friendship, discovering they enjoyed much of the same music. Another group of Stockholm artists who would later form the group Drain Gang were also member of Hasch Boys.


title: Yung Lean

text: When many of the other members of Hasch Boys began to lose interest in the group, Håstad, Sherman and Gud broke off and formed the group "Sad Boys" as a trio. By 2012, Yung Gud and Yung Sherman were producing and mixing music while Håstad had begun writing lyrics and recording vocals in a makeshift studio in his basement. They shared the music they made on the platforms SoundCloud and Tumblr, where Lean began to generate a large following. Sad Boys performed their first show in Gothenburg, Sweden on 5 May 2013.


title: Yung Lean

text: Yung Lean became widely known when the music video for his track "Ginseng Strip 2002" went viral, exceeding 73 million views on YouTube as of September 2022. Later in 2013, he put out his first official releases: "Unknown Death 2002" and an EP titled "Lavender" which includes the track "Ginseng Strip 2002" along with other songs that were cut from "Unknown Death 2002".


title: Yung Lean

text: Consequence of Sound placed "Ginseng Strip 2002" at number 44 on their "Top 50 Songs of 2013", while "Vibe" included "Unknown Death 2002" in their list, "The 10 Most Overlooked Debut Rap Mixtapes of 2013", describing it as "a natural progression from the freely associative, often nonsensical rhymes of Lil' B with a keener sense of melody".


title: Yung Lean

text: In 2013, Yung Lean and Sad Boys toured throughout Europe. Later that same year, "Acclaim Magazine" had Yung Lean as their guest for a Q&A "smalltalk" segment, where they asked him about a wide variety of miscellaneous things, including his favourite hangover cure and his desktop wallpaper.


title: Yung Lean

text: In 2014, Yung Lean and Sad Boys embarked on the White Marble Tour, playing in 24 cities across Europe. Shortly after the conclusion of this tour Sad Boys announced a further Black Marble Tour, which would include several performances in cities across North America. The first of these shows took place in July at the Webster Hall in New York City, and was well received by writers for publications such as "XXL", and "The New York Times".


title: Yung Lean

text: Yung Lean starred on "Studio PSL" in May 2014 and was also one of five final nominees for the 2014 P3 Guld in the Hip Hop/Soul category.


title: Yung Lean

text: Yung Lean released his debut full-length album, titled "Unknown Memory" on 23 September 2014. The album was accompanied with North American and European tours, beginning on 1 December in New York with a nearly sold-out show on Webster Hall's main ballroom stage.


title: Yung Lean

text: Yung Lean released his second full-length album, "Warlord", on 25 February 2016; he also released a line of clothing, "Sad Boys Entertainment". Håstad modelled for Calvin Klein's July 2016, AW16 Campaign. During his Warlord American tour, his tour bus in Pennsylvania was shot at. Håstad was also featured on Frank Ocean's critically acclaimed "Blonde" where he provided backup vocals on the songs "Godspeed" and "Self Control". According to Håstad, his part on the project was recorded when he was seventeen in Ocean's apartment in London.


title: Yung Lean

text: Yung Lean released a surprise track on 25 November 2016 titled "Hennessy & Sailor Moon (feat. Bladee)". On 14 December 2016 he released the mixtape "Frost God" containing eight tracks including "Hennessy & Sailor Moon" and "Crystal City" which featured A$AP Ferg.


title: Yung Lean

text: Håstad released his third studio album "Stranger" on 10 November 2017, with the singles "Red Bottom Sky", "Hunting My Own Skin", and "Skimask", through Stockholm label YEAR0001.


title: Yung Lean

text: In an interview with Complex in January 2018, Håstad announced he was writing several film scripts, including one based around Swedish serial killer John Ausonius, best known as "The Laser Man". In February 2018, Yung Lean released the single "King Cobra" with Thaiboy Digital, as well as a collaboration with Converse that consisted of a shoe and several items of clothing titled "One Star Toxic."


title: Yung Lean

text: On 2 November 2018, Håstad released his third mixtape Poison Ivy with the single "Happy Feet" released on 24 October 2018. The album, a collaboration with Whitearmor, a member of Drain Gang with whom Håstad frequently collaborates, debuted at number 44 on the Sweden Albums Charts, the Sverigetopplistan.


title: Yung Lean

text: On 25 January 2019, Yung Lean released his first full-length album under Jonatan Leandoer96 "Nectar", with the singles "Wooden Girl", "Nectar" and "Tangerine Warrior". The album strays away from Leandoer's sad hip-hop roots and goes for a blend of indie rock and neofolk.


title: Yung Lean

text: On 26 February 2020, Yung Lean released the single "Boylife in EU," produced by frequent collaborator Whitearmor. On 27 March 2020 Yung Lean uploaded a 44-second teaser featuring a mix of songs from his upcoming fourth-studio album "Starz". Owing to the global COVID-19 pandemic the Starz tour which was due to begin in late March was cancelled, and on 2 April 2020 Yung Lean streamed a 45-minute concert from the back of a truck in an undisclosed location, the stream featuring a mix of songs from previous works, as well as newly released "Boylife in EU." On 14 April 2020 the second single from Starz was released, "Violence + Pikachu." Starz was released on 15 May 2020, the album being produced by Whitearmor and Yung Sherman and featuring Ariel Pink on the album's title track.


title: Yung Lean

text: On 9 November 2020, Yung Lean announced the release of his second full-length Jonatan Leandoer96 album, "Blodhundar & Lullabies". The 16-track album eventually released a month later on 21 December.


title: Yung Lean

text: On 27 November 2020, the documentary "Yung Lean: In My Head" premiered in cinemas. Directed by music documentarian Henrik Burman, the documentary charts Leandoer's early career up until the release of "Stranger". This includes reflections on the events that occurred in Miami from Leandoer, fellow artist Bladee and additional persons including manager Oskar Ekman, former associate Steven Machat and journalists from a variety of outlets including The Fader and Pitchfork. The documentary was originally scheduled to premiere at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It released digitally and in a limited number of cinemas in the fall of the same year instead.


title: Yung Lean

text: On 8 April 2022, Yung Lean released a 12-track mixtape titled "Stardust" containing features from FKA twigs, Skrillex, Drain Gang and Ant Wan.


title: Yung Lean

text: "XXL magazine" included him in their 2014 list of "15 European Rappers You Should Know". "Fact" magazine viewed the "Unknown Death 2002" mixtape as "a logical continuation of Clams Casino and Beautiful Lou's innovative techniques, emerging with thick, melancholy numbers that drip with a rare and earnest allure." In 2013, "Fact" published another article titled "Rise of the Sad Boys: from Kompakt to Yung Lean, a history of how electronic musicians have worn their sadness on their sleeves", which claimed that "[Yung Lean]'s mixtape Unknown Death 2002 is the epitome of sad rap".


title: Yung Lean

text: Yung Lean was described by "Entertainment Weekly" as "loosely affiliated" with the cloud rap movement. According to music website HighClouds, part of Yung Lean's appeal is "the production provided by Yung Gud and Yung Sherman who combine the cloud rap of "Clams Casino" with electronic music touches".


title: Yung Lean

text: Yung Lean is also the vocalist for the post-punk band Död Mark, along with fellow Sad Boys member Gud. The duo's debut album, "Drabbad av Sjukdom" was released in 2016 through Stockholm label YEAR0001.


title: Yung Lean

text: Yung Lean credits SpaceGhostPurrp, Lil B, Three 6 Mafia, The Latin Kings, 50 Cent, The Fall, No Doubt, Young Thug, Chief Keef and Nas as influences.


title: Yung Lean

text: Outside of music, Håstad is writing a screenplay about a "strange gangster drama" and a rock opera about John Ausonius, a Swedish serial killer. Håstad has aspirations to become an actor.


title: Yung Lean

text: Håstad has several hobbies, including reading, ceramics, painting, writing and playing piano. Håstad began painting following his release from a mental health hospital as a way to relax. In a 2019 interview, Håstad told Kaleidoscope magazine that he has bipolar disorder. He was diagnosed with it in 2017 and takes medication for his condition.


title: Yung Lean

text: While recording his second studio album "Warlord", Håstad lived in Miami Beach, Florida, US. During this time, Håstad became addicted to Xanax, lean and cocaine. On 7 April 2015, Håstad overdosed and was hospitalized in Mount Sinai Medical Center & Miami Heart Institute. Håstad's overdose and subsequent hospitalization coincided with the death of his manager and close personal friend, Barron Machat. After the incident, Håstad moved back to Sweden to live with his family.


title: Yung Lean

text: In 2019, Yung Lean was awarded the Bram Stoker Medal of Cultural Achievement by the University Philosophical Society at Trinity College, Dublin.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369), commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berber Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, largely in the Muslim world. He travelled more than any other explorer in pre-modern history, totalling around , surpassing Zheng He with about and Marco Polo with . Over a period of thirty years, Ibn Battuta visited most of southern Eurasia, including Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, China, and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, he dictated an account of his journeys, titled "A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling", but commonly known as "The Rihla".


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta is a patronymic literally meaning "son of the duckling". His most common full name is given as Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battuta. In his travelogue, "the Rihla", he gives his full name as Shams al-Din Abu’Abdallah Muhammad ibn’Abdallah ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf Lawati al-Tanji ibn Battuta.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: All that is known about Ibn Battuta's life comes from the autobiographical information included in the account of his travels, which records that he was of Berber descent, born into a family of Islamic legal scholars in Tangier, known as qadis in the Muslim tradition in Morocco, on 24 February 1304, during the reign of the Marinid dynasty. His family belonged to a Berber tribe known as the Lawata. As a young man, he would have studied at a Sunni Maliki "madhhab" (Islamic jurisprudence school), the dominant form of education in North Africa at that time. Maliki Muslims requested Ibn Battuta serve as their religious judge as he was from an area where it was practised.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: In June 1325, at the age of twenty-one, Ibn Battuta set off from his home town on a "hajj", or pilgrimage, to Mecca, a journey that would ordinarily take sixteen months. He was eager to learn more about far-away lands and craved adventure. No one knew that he would not return to Morocco again for twenty-four years.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: He travelled to Mecca overland, following the North African coast across the sultanates of Abd al-Wadid and Hafsid. The route took him through Tlemcen, Béjaïa, and then Tunis, where he stayed for two months. For safety, Ibn Battuta usually joined a caravan to reduce the risk of being robbed. He took a bride in the town of Sfax, but soon left her due to a dispute with the father. That was the first in a series of marriages that would feature in his travels.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: In the early spring of 1326, after a journey of over , Ibn Battuta arrived at the port of Alexandria, at the time part of the Bahri Mamluk empire. He met two ascetic pious men in Alexandria. One was Sheikh Burhanuddin, who is supposed to have foretold the destiny of Ibn Battuta as a world traveller and told him "It seems to me that you are fond of foreign travel. You must visit my brother Fariduddin in India, Rukonuddin in Sind, and Burhanuddin in China. Convey my greetings to them". Another pious man Sheikh Murshidi interpreted the meaning of a dream of Ibn Battuta that he was meant to be a world traveller.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: He spent several weeks visiting sites in the area, and then headed inland to Cairo, the capital of the Mamluk Sultanate and an important city. After spending about a month in Cairo, he embarked on the first of many detours within the relative safety of Mamluk territory. Of the three usual routes to Mecca, Ibn Battuta chose the least-travelled, which involved a journey up the Nile valley, then east to the Red Sea port of Aydhab. Upon approaching the town, however, a local rebellion forced him to turn back.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta returned to Cairo and took a second side trip, this time to Mamluk-controlled Damascus. During his first trip he had encountered a holy man who prophesied that he would only reach Mecca by travelling through Syria. The diversion held an added advantage; because of the holy places that lay along the way, including Hebron, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem, the Mamluk authorities spared no efforts in keeping the route safe for pilgrims. Without this help many travellers would be robbed and murdered.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: After spending the Muslim month of Ramadan in Damascus, he joined a caravan travelling the south to Medina, site of the Mosque of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. After four days in the town, he journeyed on to Mecca while visiting holy sites along the way; upon his arrival to Mecca he completed his first pilgrimage and he took the honorific status of "El-Hajji". Rather than returning home, Ibn Battuta decided to continue travelling, choosing as his next destination the Ilkhanate, a Mongol Khanate, to the northeast.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: On 17 November 1326, following a month spent in Mecca, Ibn Battuta joined a large caravan of pilgrims returning to Iraq across the Arabian Peninsula. The group headed north to Medina and then, travelling at night, turned northeast across the Najd plateau to Najaf, on a journey that lasted about two weeks. In Najaf, he visited the mausoleum of Ali, the Fourth Caliph.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Then, instead of continuing to Baghdad with the caravan, Ibn Battuta started a six-month detour that took him into Iran. From Najaf, he journeyed to Wasit, then followed the river Tigris south to Basra. His next destination was the town of Isfahan across the Zagros Mountains in Iran. He then headed south to Shiraz, a large, flourishing city spared the destruction wrought by Mongol invaders on many more northerly towns. Finally, he returned across the mountains to Baghdad, arriving there in June 1327. Parts of the city were still ruined from the damage inflicted by Hulagu Khan's invading army in 1258.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: In Baghdad, he found Abu Sa'id, the last Mongol ruler of the unified Ilkhanate, leaving the city and heading north with a large retinue. Ibn Battuta joined the royal caravan for a while, then turned north on the Silk Road to Tabriz, the first major city in the region to open its gates to the Mongols and by then an important trading centre as most of its nearby rivals had been razed by the Mongol invaders.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta left again for Baghdad, probably in July, but first took an excursion northwards along the river Tigris. He visited Mosul, where he was the guest of the Ilkhanate governor, and then the towns of Cizre (Jazirat ibn 'Umar) and Mardin in modern-day Turkey. At a hermitage on a mountain near Sinjar, he met a Kurdish mystic who gave him some silver coins. Once back in Mosul, he joined a "feeder" caravan of pilgrims heading south to Baghdad, where they would meet up with the main caravan that crossed the Arabian Desert to Mecca. Ill with diarrhoea, he arrived in the city weak and exhausted for his second "hajj".


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta remained in Mecca for some time (the "Rihla" suggests about three years, from September 1327 until autumn 1330). Problems with chronology, however, lead commentators to suggest that he may have left after the 1328 "hajj".


title: Ibn Battuta

text: After the "hajj" in either 1328 or 1330, he made his way to the port of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast. From there he followed the coast in a series of boats (known as a jalbah, these were small craft made of wooden planks sewn together, lacking an established phrase) making slow progress against the prevailing south-easterly winds. Once in Yemen he visited Zabīd and later the highland town of Ta'izz, where he met the Rasulid dynasty king ("Malik") Mujahid Nur al-Din Ali. Ibn Battuta also mentions visiting Sana'a, but whether he actually did so is doubtful. In all likelihood, he went directly from Ta'izz to the important trading port of Aden, arriving around the beginning of 1329 or 1331.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: From Aden, Ibn Battuta embarked on a ship heading for Zeila on the coast of Somalia. He then moved on to Cape Guardafui further down the Somalian seaboard, spending about a week in each location. Later he would visit Mogadishu, the then pre-eminent city of the "Land of the Berbers" (بلد البربر "Balad al-Barbar", the medieval Arabic term for the Horn of Africa).


title: Ibn Battuta

text: When Ibn Battuta arrived in 1332, Mogadishu stood at the zenith of its prosperity. He described it as "an exceedingly large city" with many rich merchants, noted for its high-quality fabric that was exported to other countries, including Egypt. Ibn Battuta added that the city was ruled by a Somali sultan, Abu Bakr ibn Sayx 'Umar, who was originally from Berbera in northern Somalia and spoke both Somali (referred to by Battuta as "Mogadishan", the Benadir dialect of Somali) and Arabic with equal fluency. The sultan had a son and heir apparent, Hamza, who was a revered military strategist and the first Somali to visit mainland China, establishing ties with the Ming Dynasty of the 14th century. The sultan claimed lineage to the Prophet through Abu Taleb, and his son Aqeel. A retinue of wazirs (ministers), legal experts, commanders, royal eunuchs, and assorted hangers-on served the sultan in his day-to-day affairs.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta continued by ship south to the Swahili Coast, a region then known in Arabic as the "Bilad al-Zanj" ("Land of the Zanj"), with an overnight stop at the island town of Mombasa. Although relatively small at the time, Mombasa would become important in the following century. After a journey along the coast, Ibn Battuta next arrived in the island town of Kilwa in present-day Tanzania, which had become an important transit centre of the gold trade. He described the city as "one of the finest and most beautifully built towns; all the buildings are of wood, and the houses are roofed with "dīs" reeds".


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta recorded his visit to the Kilwa Sultanate in 1330, and commented favourably on the humility and religion of its ruler, Sultan al-Hasan ibn Sulaiman, a descendant of the legendary Ali ibn al-Hassan Shirazi. He further wrote that the authority of the Sultan extended from Malindi in the north to Inhambane in the south and was particularly impressed by the planning of the city, believing it to be the reason for Kilwa's success along the coast. During this period, he described the construction of the Palace of Husuni Kubwa and a significant extension to the Great Mosque of Kilwa, which was made of coral stones and was the largest Mosque of its kind. With a change in the monsoon winds, Ibn Battuta sailed back to Arabia, first to Oman and the Strait of Hormuz then on to Mecca for the "hajj" of 1330 (or 1332).


title: Ibn Battuta

text: After his third pilgrimage to Mecca, Ibn Battuta decided to seek employment with the Sultan of Delhi, Muhammad bin Tughluq. In the autumn of 1330 (or 1332), he set off for the Seljuk controlled territory of Anatolia to take an overland route to India. He crossed the Red Sea and the Eastern Desert to reach the Nile valley and then headed north to Cairo. From there he crossed the Sinai Peninsula to Palestine and then travelled north again through some of the towns that he had visited in 1326. From the Syrian port of Latakia, a Genoese ship took him (and his companions) to Alanya on the southern coast of modern-day Turkey.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: He then journeyed westwards along the coast to the port of Antalya. In the town he met members of one of the semi-religious "fityan" associations. These were a feature of most Anatolian towns in the 13th and 14th centuries. The members were young artisans and had at their head a leader with the title of "Akhil". The associations specialised in welcoming travellers. Ibn Battuta was very impressed with the hospitality that he received and would later stay in their hospices in more than 25 towns in Anatolia. From Antalya Ibn Battuta headed inland to Eğirdir which was the capital of the Hamidids. He spent Ramadan (June 1331 or May 1333) in the city.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: From this point his itinerary across Anatolia in the "Rihla" becomes confused. Ibn Battuta describes travelling westwards from Eğirdir to Milas and then skipping eastward past Eğirdir to Konya. He then continues travelling in an easterly direction, reaching Erzurum from where he skips back to Birgi which lies north of Milas. Historians believe that Ibn Battuta visited a number of towns in central Anatolia, but not in the order in which he describes.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: When Ibn Battuta arrived in Iznik, which had just been conquered by Orhan, Sultan of the nascent Ottoman Empire. Orhan was away and his wife was in command of the nearby stationed soldiers, Ibn Battuta gave this account of Orhan's wife: "A pious and excellent woman. She treated me honourably, gave me hospitality and sent gifts."


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta had also visited Bursa which at the time was the capital of the Ottoman Beylik, he described Bursa as "a great and important city with fine bazaars and wide streets, surrounded on all sides with gardens and running springs".


title: Ibn Battuta

text: He also visited the Beylik of Aydin. Ibn Battuta stated that the ruler of the Beylik of Aydin had twenty Greek slaves at the entrance of his palace and Ibn Battuta was given a Greek slave as a gift. His visit to Anatolia was the first time in his travels he acquired a servant; the ruler of Aydin gifted him his first slave. Later, he purchased a young Greek girl for 40 dinars in Ephesus, was gifted another slave in Izmir by the Sultan, and purchased a second girl in Balikesir. The conspicuous evidence of his wealth and prestige continued to grow.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: From Sinope he took a sea route to the Crimean Peninsula, arriving in the Golden Horde realm. He went to the port town of Azov, where he met with the emir of the Khan, then to the large and rich city of Majar. He left Majar to meet with Uzbeg Khan's travelling court ("Orda"), which was at the time near Mount Beshtau. From there he made a journey to Bolghar, which became the northernmost point he reached, and noted its unusually short nights in summer (by the standards of the subtropics). Then he returned to the Khan's court and with it moved to Astrakhan.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta recorded that while in Bolghar he wanted to travel further north into the land of darkness. The land is snow-covered throughout (northern Siberia) and the only means of transport is dog-drawn sled. There lived a mysterious people who were reluctant to show themselves. They traded with southern people in a peculiar way. Southern merchants brought various goods and placed them in an open area on the snow in the night, then returned to their tents. Next morning they came to the place again and found their merchandise taken by the mysterious people, but in exchange they found fur-skins which could be used for making valuable coats, jackets, and other winter garments. The trade was done between merchants and the mysterious people without seeing each other. As Ibn Battuta was not a merchant and saw no benefit of going there he abandoned the travel to this land of darkness.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: When they reached Astrakhan, Öz Beg Khan had just given permission for one of his pregnant wives, Princess Bayalun, a daughter of Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos, to return to her home city of Constantinople to give birth. Ibn Battuta talked his way into this expedition, which would be his first beyond the boundaries of the Islamic world.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Arriving in Constantinople towards the end of 1332 (or 1334), he met the Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. He visited the great church of Hagia Sophia and spoke with an Eastern Orthodox priest about his travels in the city of Jerusalem. After a month in the city, Ibn Battuta returned to Astrakhan, then arrived in the capital city Sarai al-Jadid and reported the accounts of his travels to Sultan Öz Beg Khan (r. 1313–1341). Then he continued past the Caspian and Aral Seas to Bukhara and Samarkand, where he visited the court of another Mongol khan, Tarmashirin (r. 1331–1334) of the Chagatai Khanate. From there, he journeyed south to Afghanistan, then crossed into India via the mountain passes of the Hindu Kush. In the "Rihla", he mentions these mountains and the history of the range in slave trading. He wrote,


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta and his party reached the Indus River on 12 September 1333. From there, he made his way to Delhi and became acquainted with the sultan, Muhammad bin Tughluq.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Muhammad bin Tughluq was renowned as the wealthiest man in the Muslim world at that time. He patronized various scholars, Sufis, qadis, viziers, and other functionaries in order to consolidate his rule. As with Mamluk Egypt, the Tughlaq Dynasty was a rare vestigial example of Muslim rule after a Mongol invasion. On the strength of his years of study in Mecca, Ibn Battuta was appointed a "qadi", or judge, by the sultan. However, he found it difficult to enforce Islamic law beyond the sultan's court in Delhi, due to lack of Islamic appeal in India.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: It is uncertain by which route Ibn Battuta entered the Indian subcontinent but it is known that he was kidnapped and robbed by rebels on his journey to the Indian coast. He may have entered via the Khyber Pass and Peshawar, or further south. He crossed the Sutlej river near the city of Pakpattan, in modern-day Pakistan, where he paid obeisance at the shrine of Baba Farid, before crossing southwest into Rajput country. From the Rajput kingdom of Sarsatti, Battuta visited Hansi in India, describing it as "among the most beautiful cities, the best constructed and the most populated; it is surrounded with a strong wall, and its founder is said to be one of the great non-Muslim kings, called Tara". Upon his arrival in Sindh, Ibn Battuta mentions the Indian rhinoceros that lived on the banks of the Indus.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: The Sultan was erratic even by the standards of the time and for six years Ibn Battuta veered between living the high life of a trusted subordinate and falling under suspicion of treason for a variety of offences. His plan to leave on the pretext of taking another "hajj" was stymied by the Sultan. The opportunity for Battuta to leave Delhi finally arose in 1341 when an embassy arrived from the Yuan dynasty of China asking for permission to rebuild a Himalayan Buddhist temple popular with Chinese pilgrims.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta was given charge of the embassy but en route to the coast at the start of the journey to China, he and his large retinue were attacked by a group of bandits. Separated from his companions, he was robbed, kidnapped, and nearly lost his life. Despite this setback, within ten days he had caught up with his group and continued on to Khambhat in the Indian state of Gujarat. From there, they sailed to Calicut (now known as Kozhikode), where Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama would land two centuries later. While in Calicut, Battuta was the guest of the ruling Zamorin. While Ibn Battuta visited a mosque on shore, a storm arose and one of the ships of his expedition sank. The other ship then sailed without him only to be seized by a local Sumatran king a few months later.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Afraid to return to Delhi and be seen as a failure, he stayed for a time in southern India under the protection of Jamal-ud-Din, ruler of the small but powerful Nawayath sultanate on the banks of the Sharavathi river next to the Arabian Sea. This area is today known as Hosapattana and lies in the Honavar administrative district of Uttara Kannada. Following the overthrow of the sultanate, Ibn Battuta had no choice but to leave India. Although determined to continue his journey to China, he first took a detour to visit the Maldive Islands where he worked as a judge.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: He spent nine months on the islands, much longer than he had intended. When he arrived at the capital, Malé, Ibn Battuta did not plan to stay. However, the leaders of the formerly Buddhist nation that had recently converted to Islam were looking for a chief judge, someone who knew Arabic and the Qur'an. To convince him to stay they gave him pearls, gold jewellery, and slaves, while at the same time making it impossible for him to leave by ship. Compelled into staying, he became a chief judge and married into the royal family of Omar I.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta took on his duties as a judge with keenness and strived to transform local practices to conform to a stricter application of Muslim law. He commanded that men who did not attend Friday prayer be publicly whipped, and that robbers' right hand be cut off. He forbade women from being topless in public, which had previously been the custom. However, these and other strict judgments began to antagonize the island nation's rulers, and involved him in power struggles and political intrigues. Ibn Battuta resigned from his job as chief qadi, although in all likelihood it was inevitable that he would have been dismissed.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Throughout his travels, Ibn Battuta kept close company with women, usually taking a wife whenever he stopped for any length of time at one place, and then divorcing her when he moved on. While in the Maldives, Ibn Battuta took four wives. In his "Travels" he wrote that in the Maldives the effect of small dowries and female non-mobility combined to, in effect, make a marriage a convenient temporary arrangement for visiting male travellers and sailors.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: From the Maldives, he carried on to Sri Lanka and visited Sri Pada and Tenavaram temple. Ibn Battuta's ship almost sank on embarking from Sri Lanka, only for the vessel that came to his rescue to suffer an attack by pirates. Stranded onshore, he worked his way back to the Madurai kingdom in India. Here he spent some time in the court of the short-lived Madurai Sultanate under Ghiyas-ud-Din Muhammad Damghani, from where he returned to the Maldives and boarded a Chinese junk, still intending to reach China and take up his ambassadorial post.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: He reached the port of Chittagong in modern-day Bangladesh intending to travel to Sylhet to meet Shah Jalal, who became so renowned that Ibn Battuta, then in Chittagong, made a one-month journey through the mountains of Kamaru near Sylhet to meet him. On his way to Sylhet, Ibn Battuta was greeted by several of Shah Jalal's disciples who had come to assist him on his journey many days before he had arrived. At the meeting in 1345 CE, Ibn Battuta noted that Shah Jalal was tall and lean, fair in complexion and lived by the mosque in a cave, where his only item of value was a goat he kept for milk, butter, and yogurt. He observed that the companions of the Shah Jalal were foreign and known for their strength and bravery. He also mentions that many people would visit the Shah to seek guidance. Ibn Battuta went further north into Assam, then turned around and continued with his original plan.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: In 1345, Ibn Battuta traveled to Samudra Pasai Sultanate (called "al-Jawa") in present-day Aceh, Northern Sumatra, after 40 days voyage from Sunur Kawan. He notes in his travel log that the ruler of Samudra Pasai was a pious Muslim named Sultan Al-Malik Al-Zahir Jamal-ad-Din, who performed his religious duties with utmost zeal and often waged campaigns against animists in the region. The island of Sumatra, according to Ibn Battuta, was rich in camphor, areca nut, cloves, and tin.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: The "madh'hab" he observed was Imam Al-Shafi‘i, whose customs were similar to those he had previously seen in coastal India, especially among the Mappila Muslims, who were also followers of Imam Al-Shafi‘i. At that time Samudra Pasai marked the end of Dar al-Islam, because no territory east of this was ruled by a Muslim. Here he stayed for about two weeks in the wooden walled town as a guest of the sultan, and then the sultan provided him with supplies and sent him on his way on one of his own junks to China.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta first sailed for 21 days to a place called "Mul Jawa" (island of Java) which was a center of a Hindu empire. The empire spanned 2 months of travel, and ruled over the country of Qaqula and Qamara. He arrived at the walled city named Qaqula/Kakula, and observed that the city had war junks for pirate raiding and collecting tolls and that elephants were employed for various purposes. He met the ruler of Mul Jawa and stayed as a guest for three days.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta then sailed to a state called Kaylukari in the land of Tawalisi, where he met Urduja, a local princess. Urduja was a brave warrior, and her people were opponents of the Yuan dynasty. She was described as an "idolater", but could write the phrase Bismillah in Islamic calligraphy. The locations of Kaylukari and Tawalisi are disputed. Kaylukari might referred to Po Klong Garai in Champa (now southern Vietnam), and Urduja might be an aristocrat of Champa or Dai Viet. Filipinos widely believe that Kaylukari was in present-day Pangasinan Province of the Philippines. The thriump over the Mongol indicated 2 possible locations: Japan and Java (Majapahit). In modern times, Urduja has been featured in Filipino textbooks and films as a national heroine. Numerous other locations have been proposed, ranging from Java to somewhere in Guangdong Province, China. However, Sir Henry Yule and William Henry Scott consider both Tawalisi and Urduja to be entirely fictitious. (See Tawalisi for details.)


title: Ibn Battuta

text: In the year 1345, Ibn Battuta arrived at Quanzhou in China's Fujian province, then under the rule of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. One of the first things he noted was that Muslims referred to the city as "Zaitun" (meaning olive), but Ibn Battuta could not find any olives anywhere. He mentioned local artists and their mastery in making portraits of newly arrived foreigners; these were for security purposes. Ibn Battuta praised the craftsmen and their silk and porcelain; as well as fruits such as plums and watermelons and the advantages of paper money.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: He described the manufacturing process of large ships in the city of Quanzhou. He also mentioned Chinese cuisine and its usage of animals such as frogs, pigs, and even dogs which were sold in the markets, and noted that the chickens in China were larger than those in the west. Scholars however have pointed out numerous errors given in Ibn Battuta's account of China, for example confusing the Yellow River with the Grand Canal and other waterways, as well as believing that porcelain was made from coal.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: In Quanzhou, Ibn Battuta was welcomed by the head of the local Muslim merchants (possibly a fānzhǎng or "Leader of Foreigners" ) and Sheikh al-Islam (Imam), who came to meet him with flags, drums, trumpets, and musicians. Ibn Battuta noted that the Muslim populace lived within a separate portion in the city where they had their own mosques, bazaars, and hospitals. In Quanzhou, he met two prominent Iranians, Burhan al-Din of Kazerun and Sharif al-Din from Tabriz (both of whom were influential figures noted in the "Yuan History" as "A-mi-li-ding" and "Sai-fu-ding", respectively). While in Quanzhou he ascended the "Mount of the Hermit" and briefly visited a well-known Taoist monk in a cave.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: He then travelled south along the Chinese coast to Guangzhou, where he lodged for two weeks with one of the city's wealthy merchants.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: From Guangzhou he went north to Quanzhou and then proceeded to the city of Fuzhou, where he took up residence with Zahir al-Din and met Kawam al-Din and a fellow countryman named Al-Bushri of Ceuta, who had become a wealthy merchant in China. Al-Bushri accompanied Ibn Battuta northwards to Hangzhou and paid for the gifts that Ibn Battuta would present to the Emperor Huizong of Yuan.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta said that Hangzhou was one of the largest cities he had ever seen, and he noted its charm, describing that the city sat on a beautiful lake surrounded by gentle green hills. He mentions the city's Muslim quarter and resided as a guest with a family of Egyptian origin. During his stay at Hangzhou he was particularly impressed by the large number of well-crafted and well-painted Chinese wooden ships, with coloured sails and silk awnings, assembling in the canals. Later he attended a banquet of the Yuan administrator of the city named Qurtai, who according to Ibn Battuta, was very fond of the skills of local Chinese conjurers. Ibn Battuta also mentions locals who worship the Solar deity.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: He described floating through the Grand Canal on a boat watching crop fields, orchids, merchants in black silk, and women in flowered silk and priests also in silk. In Beijing, Ibn Battuta referred to himself as the long-lost ambassador from the Delhi Sultanate and was invited to the Yuan imperial court of Emperor Huizong (who according to Ibn Battuta was worshipped by some people in China). Ibn Batutta noted that the palace of Khanbaliq was made of wood and that the ruler's "head wife" (Empress Qi) held processions in her honour.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta also wrote he had heard of "the rampart of Yajuj and Majuj" that was "sixty days' travel" from the city of Zeitun (Quanzhou); Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb notes that Ibn Battuta believed that the Great Wall of China was built by Dhul-Qarnayn to contain Gog and Magog as mentioned in the Quran. However, Ibn Battuta, who asked about the wall in China, could find no one who had either seen it or knew of anyone who had seen it.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta travelled from Beijing to Hangzhou, and then proceeded to Fuzhou. Upon his return to Quanzhou, he soon boarded a Chinese junk owned by the Sultan of Samudera Pasai Sultanate heading for Southeast Asia, whereupon Ibn Battuta was unfairly charged a hefty sum by the crew and lost much of what he had collected during his stay in China.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Battuta claimed that the Emperor Huizong of Yuan had interred with him in his grave six slave soldiers and four girl slaves. Silver, gold, weapons, and carpets were put into the grave.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: After returning to Quanzhou in 1346, Ibn Battuta began his journey back to Morocco. In Kozhikode, he once again considered throwing himself at the mercy of Muhammad bin Tughluq in Delhi, but thought better of it and decided to carry on to Mecca. On his way to Basra he passed through the Strait of Hormuz, where he learned that Abu Sa'id, last ruler of the Ilkhanate Dynasty had died in Iran. Abu Sa'id's territories had subsequently collapsed due to a fierce civil war between the Iranians and Mongols.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: In 1348, Ibn Battuta arrived in Damascus with the intention of retracing the route of his first "hajj". He then learned that his father had died 15 years earlier and death became the dominant theme for the next year or so. The Black Death had struck and he stopped in Homs as the plague spread through Syria, Palestine, and Arabia. He heard of terrible death tolls in Gaza, but returned to Damascus that July where the death toll had reached 2,400 victims each day. When he stopped in Gaza he found it was depopulated, and in Egypt he stayed at Abu Sir. Reportedly deaths in Cairo had reached levels of 1,100 each day. He made hajj to Mecca then he decided to return to Morocco, nearly a quarter of a century after leaving home. On the way he made one last detour to Sardinia, then in 1349, returned to Tangier by way of Fez, only to discover that his mother had also died a few months before.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: After a few days in Tangier, Ibn Battuta set out for a trip to the Muslim-controlled territory of al-Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula. King Alfonso XI of Castile and León had threatened to attack Gibraltar, so in 1350, Ibn Battuta joined a group of Muslims leaving Tangier with the intention of defending the port. By the time he arrived, the Black Death had killed Alfonso and the threat of invasion had receded, so he turned the trip into a sight-seeing tour ending up in Granada.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: After his departure from al-Andalus he decided to travel through Morocco. On his return home, he stopped for a while in Marrakech, which was almost a ghost town following the recent plague and the transfer of the capital to Fez.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: In the autumn of 1351, Ibn Battuta left Fez and made his way to the town of Sijilmasa on the northern edge of the Sahara in present-day Morocco. There he bought a number of camels and stayed for four months. He set out again with a caravan in February 1352 and after 25 days arrived at the dry salt lake bed of Taghaza with its salt mines. All of the local buildings were made from slabs of salt by the slaves of the Masufa tribe, who cut the salt in thick slabs for transport by camel. Taghaza was a commercial centre and awash with Malian gold, though Ibn Battuta did not form a favourable impression of the place, recording that it was plagued by flies and the water was brackish.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: After a ten-day stay in Taghaza, the caravan set out for the oasis of Tasarahla (probably Bir al-Ksaib) where it stopped for three days in preparation for the last and most difficult leg of the journey across the vast desert. From Tasarahla, a Masufa scout was sent ahead to the oasis town of Oualata, where he arranged for water to be transported a distance of four days travel where it would meet the thirsty caravan. Oualata was the southern terminus of the trans-Saharan trade route and had recently become part of the Mali Empire. Altogether, the caravan took two months to cross the of desert from Sijilmasa.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: From there, Ibn Battuta travelled southwest along a river he believed to be the Nile (it was actually the river Niger), until he reached the capital of the Mali Empire. There he met "Mansa" Suleyman, king since 1341. Ibn Battuta disapproved of the fact that female slaves, servants, and even the daughters of the sultan went about exposing parts of their bodies not befitting a Muslim. He wrote in his "Rihla" that black Africans were characterised by "ill manners" and "contempt for white men", and that he "was long astonished at their feeble intellect and their respect for mean things." He left the capital in February accompanied by a local Malian merchant and journeyed overland by camel to Timbuktu. Though in the next two centuries it would become the most important city in the region, at that time it was a small city and relatively unimportant. It was during this journey that Ibn Battuta first encountered a hippopotamus. The animals were feared by the local boatmen and hunted with lances to which strong cords were attached. After a short stay in Timbuktu, Ibn Battuta journeyed down the Niger to Gao in a canoe carved from a single tree. At the time Gao was an important commercial center.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: After spending a month in Gao, Ibn Battuta set off with a large caravan for the oasis of Takedda. On his journey across the desert, he received a message from the Sultan of Morocco commanding him to return home. He set off for Sijilmasa in September 1353, accompanying a large caravan transporting 600 female slaves, and arrived back in Morocco early in 1354.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta's itinerary gives scholars a glimpse as to when Islam first began to spread into the heart of west Africa.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: After returning home from his travels in 1354, and at the suggestion of the Marinid ruler of Morocco, Abu Inan Faris, Ibn Battuta dictated an account in Arabic of his journeys to Ibn Juzayy, a scholar whom he had previously met in Granada. The account is the only source for Ibn Battuta's adventures. The full title of the manuscript may be translated as "A Masterpiece to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling" (, "Tuḥfat an-Nuẓẓār fī Gharāʾib al-Amṣār wa ʿAjāʾib al-Asfār"). However, it is often simply referred to as "TheTravels" (, "Rihla"), in reference to a standard form of Arabic literature.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: There is no indication that Ibn Battuta made any notes or had any journal during his twenty-nine years of travelling. When he came to dictate an account of his experiences he had to rely on memory and manuscripts produced by earlier travellers. Ibn Juzayy did not acknowledge his sources and presented some of the earlier descriptions as Ibn Battuta's own observations. When describing Damascus, Mecca, Medina, and some other places in the Middle East, he clearly copied passages from the account by the Andalusian Ibn Jubayr which had been written more than 150 years earlier. Similarly, most of Ibn Juzayy's descriptions of places in Palestine were copied from an account by the 13th-century traveller Muhammad al-Abdari.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Scholars do not believe that Ibn Battuta visited all the places he described and argue that in order to provide a comprehensive description of places in the Muslim world, he relied on hearsay evidence and made use of accounts by earlier travellers. For example, it is considered very unlikely that Ibn Battuta made a trip up the Volga River from New Sarai to visit Bolghar and there are serious doubts about a number of other journeys such as his trip to Sana'a in Yemen, his journey from Balkh to Bistam in Khorasan, and his trip around Anatolia.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta's claim that a Maghrebian called "Abu'l Barakat the Berber" converted the Maldives to Islam is contradicted by an entirely different story which says that the Maldives were converted to Islam after miracles were performed by a Tabrizi named Maulana Shaikh Yusuf Shams-ud-din according to the Tarikh, the official history of the Maldives.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Some scholars have also questioned whether he really visited China. Ibn Battuta may have plagiarized entire sections of his descriptions of China lifted from works by other authors like "Masalik al-absar fi mamalik al-amsar" by Shihab al-Umari, Sulaiman al-Tajir, and possibly from Al Juwayni, Rashid al din, and an Alexander romance. Furthermore, Ibn Battuta's description and Marco Polo's writings share extremely similar sections and themes, with some of the same commentary, e.g. it is unlikely that the 3rd Caliph Uthman ibn Affan had someone with the identical name in China who was encountered by Ibn Battuta.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: However, even if the "Rihla" is not fully based on what its author personally witnessed, it provides an important account of much of the 14th-century world. Concubines were used by Ibn Battuta such as in Delhi. He wedded several women, divorced at least some of them, and in Damascus, Malabar, Delhi, Bukhara, and the Maldives had children by them or by concubines. Ibn Battuta insulted Greeks as "enemies of Allah", drunkards and "swine eaters", while at the same time in Ephesus he purchased and used a Greek girl who was one of his many slave girls in his "harem" through Byzantium, Khorasan, Africa, and Palestine. It was two decades before he again returned to find out what happened to one of his wives and child in Damascus.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta often experienced culture shock in regions he visited where the local customs of recently converted peoples did not fit in with his orthodox Muslim background. Among the Turks and Mongols, he was astonished at the freedom and respect enjoyed by women and remarked that on seeing a Turkish couple in a bazaar one might assume that the man was the woman's servant when he was in fact her husband. He also felt that dress customs in the Maldives, and some sub-Saharan regions in Africa were too revealing.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Little is known about Ibn Battuta's life after completion of his "Rihla" in 1355. He was appointed a judge in Morocco and died in 1368 or 1369.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ibn Battuta's work was unknown outside the Muslim world until the beginning of the 19th century, when the German traveller-explorer Ulrich Jasper Seetzen (1767–1811) acquired a collection of manuscripts in the Middle East, among which was a 94-page volume containing an abridged version of Ibn Juzayy's text. Three extracts were published in 1818 by the German orientalist Johann Kosegarten. A fourth extract was published the following year. French scholars were alerted to the initial publication by a lengthy review published in the "Journal de Savants" by the orientalist Silvestre de Sacy.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Three copies of another abridged manuscript were acquired by the Swiss traveller Johann Burckhardt and bequeathed to the University of Cambridge. He gave a brief overview of their content in a book published posthumously in 1819. The Arabic text was translated into English by the orientalist Samuel Lee and published in London in 1829.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: In the 1830s, during the French occupation of Algeria, the Bibliothèque Nationale (BNF) in Paris acquired five manuscripts of Ibn Battuta's travels, in which two were complete. One manuscript containing just the second part of the work is dated 1356 and is believed to be Ibn Juzayy's autograph. The BNF manuscripts were used in 1843 by the Irish-French orientalist Baron de Slane to produce a translation into French of Ibn Battuta's visit to the Sudan. They were also studied by the French scholars Charles Defrémery and Beniamino Sanguinetti. Beginning in 1853 they published a series of four volumes containing a critical edition of the Arabic text together with a translation into French. In their introduction Defrémery and Sanguinetti praised Lee's annotations but were critical of his translation which they claimed lacked precision, even in straightforward passages.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: In 1929, exactly a century after the publication of Lee's translation, the historian and orientalist Hamilton Gibb published an English translation of selected portions of Defrémery and Sanguinetti's Arabic text. Gibb had proposed to the Hakluyt Society in 1922 that he should prepare an annotated translation of the entire "Rihla" into English. His intention was to divide the translated text into four volumes, each volume corresponding to one of the volumes published by Defrémery and Sanguinetti. The first volume was not published until 1958. Gibb died in 1971, having completed the first three volumes. The fourth volume was prepared by Charles Beckingham and published in 1994. Defrémery and Sanguinetti's printed text has now been translated into number of other languages.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: The German Islamic studies scholar Ralph Elger views Battuta's travel account as an important literary work but doubts the historicity of much of its content, which he suspects to be a work of fiction being compiled and inspired from other contemporary travel reports. Various other scholars have raised similar doubts.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: Ross E. Dunn in 1987 has similarly expressed doubts that any evidence would be found to support the narrative of the "Rihla", but in 2010 Tim Mackintosh-Smith completed a multi-volume field study in dozens of the locales mentioned in the "Rihla", in which he reports on previously unknown manuscripts of Islamic law kept in the archives of Al-Azhar University in Cairo that were copied by Ibn Battuta in Damascus in 1326, corroborating the date in the "Rihla" of his sojourn in Syria.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: The largest themed mall in Dubai, UAE, the Ibn Battuta Mall is named for him and features both areas designed to recreate the exotic lands he visited on his travels and statuary tableaus depicting scenes from his life history.


title: Ibn Battuta

text: A giant semblance of Battuta, alongside two others from the history of Arab exploration, the geographer and historian Al Bakri and the navigator and cartographer Ibn Majid, is displayed at the Mobility pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai in a section of the exhibition designed by Weta Workshop.


title: GB News

text: GB News is a British free-to-air television and radio news channel. The channel is available on Freeview, Freesat, Sky, YouView, Virgin Media and via the internet. Since 4 January 2022, an audio simulcast of the station is available on DAB+ radio.


title: GB News

text: Announced in September 2020 and launched in June 2021 from studios at Paddington Basin, London (and later, also with a studio on Albert Embankment with views towards Westminster and the Houses of Parliament, used by Nigel Farage and Mark Steyn), the channel became Britain's first television news start-up for more than 30 years, since the launch of Sky News in 1989. It was set up with the aim of broadcasting "original news, opinion and debate", with a mix of news coverage and opinion-based content. GB News is described as right-leaning on political issues.


title: GB News

text: GB News is owned by "All Perspectives Ltd", which is a holding company, headquartered in London. , All Perspectives Ltd is controlled by three significant shareholders, all of whom work for Christopher Chandler's Dubai-based investment firm Legatum. The CEO of GB News is Australian Angelos Frangopoulos, who formerly ran Sky News Australia.


title: GB News

text: Andrew Neil left the BBC in 2020 to become the channel's chairman and present a prime-time evening programme. However, he resigned from his roles at the channel on 13 September 2021, three months after its official launch, and was replaced as a presenter by Colin Brazier. Other hosts of shows on the channel include Alastair Stewart, Dan Wootton, Nigel Farage, Mark Steyn, Eamonn Holmes, Neil Oliver, Gloria De Piero, Patrick Christys,


title: GB News

text: All Perspectives Ltd was founded as the holding company of GB News in September 2019, and was granted a licence to broadcast by Ofcom in January 2020. GB News was founded by Andrew Cole and Mark Schneider, two executives associated with the chairman of Liberty Global, John C. Malone. By August 2022, Cole and Schneider had resigned as directors after their holdings in the company were purchased by backers Sir Paul Marshall and Legatum.


title: GB News

text: On 25 September 2020, it was announced that Andrew Neil, who had presented live political programmes on the BBC for 25 years, would leave the corporation after leading its coverage of the 2020 United States presidential election. He said that he had been in discussions to continue working on the BBC in a new format after the cancellation of his programme "The Andrew Neil Show", but that these talks had "not come to fruition" and he had accepted the post of chairman of a new television news channel. On the same day, he was announced as the presenter of a prime-time evening programme on the channel, due to launch early the next year. In a statement, Neil said that the channel would "champion robust, balanced debate and a range of perspectives on the issues that affect everyone in the UK, not just those living in the London area", and GB News was addressing a perceived gap in the market for "the vast number of British people who feel underserved and unheard by their media".


title: GB News

text: In December 2020, Paul Marshall, a hedge-fund manager, was in talks to invest £10 million into GB News. On 6 January 2021, GB News reached its £60 million fundraising aim, which it said was oversubscribed. The majority of the £60 million came from the Dubai-based investment firm Legatum, Marshall, who said he was investing in a personal capacity, and American multinational Discovery, Inc., whose stake in the company was bought out by the other backers in August 2022 as part of an additional capital injection of £60 million.


title: GB News

text: Prior to its launch, GB News said it would recruit 140 staff, including 120 journalists, and would also launch "streaming, video-on-demand and audio services". Since then, CEO Angelos Frangopoulos reported that the channel had employed over 200 journalists.


title: GB News

text: The recruitment drive began on 25 January 2021. The first presenters and journalists announced in the recruitment drive were Dan Wootton, Colin Brazier, Darren McCaffrey, Tom Harwood, Michelle Dewberry, Inaya Folarin Iman and Alex Phillips. Following Piers Morgan's departure from "Good Morning Britain" on 9 March, Neil expressed interest in Morgan joining GB News instead. However, Neil later said that talks were affected by a disagreement: "he's [Morgan] got his own idea of what he is worth and we [GB News] have a slightly different idea of what he's worth". Later staff announced as joining the channel prior to its launch were Liam Halligan, Andrew Doyle, Rosie Wright, Simon McCoy, Kirsty Gallacher, Alastair Stewart, Neil Oliver, Gloria De Piero, Mercy Muroki and Isabel Webster.


title: GB News

text: GB News commenced broadcasting at 20:00 BST on 13 June 2021. Neil launched the channel by saying "We are proud to be British – the clue is in the name", and after the opening night was said to be "jubilant" that his programme had "out-rated Sky News and BBC News Channel combined".


title: GB News

text: On 20 June, Nigel Farage and Dehenna Davison joined GB News as contributors to host the Sunday morning political discussion programme "The Political Correction".


title: GB News

text: It was reported by "The Guardian" in July that John McAndrew, director of news and programmes, formerly of Sky News and Euronews, had stood down from his role. Senior executive producer Gill Penlington, formerly of CNN, ITV and Sky News, also left the channel in early July. On 17 July it was announced that Nigel Farage, already a contributing presenter, would host "Farage", a prime-time evening show, from 19 July. Later that month, Mark Dolan joined the channel. The following month, Talkradio's Patrick Christys joined to present "To the Point" on weekday mornings alongside Mercy Muroki. The programme replaced "Brazier & Muroki".


title: GB News

text: On 10 August, the channel announced four political programmes to launch within weeks; "The Briefing: AM with Tom Harwood", "The Briefing: Lunchtime with Gloria De Piero", "The Briefing: PM with Darren McCaffrey", and "The Briefing: PMQs". The following month, political journalist Isabel Oakeshott joined to host a weekly show.


title: GB News

text: Neil was expected to have rejoined GB News in early September, but multiple news sources reported that his return had been postponed, with some speculating that this postponement might become indefinite. On 13 September he announced he was stepping down as chairman and would no longer be presenting on the channel. Later that month, on the BBC's "Question Time", he said that he had become a "minority of one" on the channel's board, due to disputes over its approach to journalism. Neil was replaced as a presenter by Colin Brazier in what "The Telegraph" described as a "fight back by swinging to the right". Neil had been on a contract worth £4 million and included stress among the reasons for departing GB News. In November 2021, Neil called his decision to lead the channel the "single biggest mistake" of his career, adding "The mistake was that I put my face on the tin and yet I quickly discovered that I really had no say over what was going into that tin".


title: GB News

text: In October, following the launch announcement of rival TalkTV, GB News introduced half-hourly news bulletins and "Sunday Express" editor Mick Booker joined as editorial director.


title: GB News

text: In late 2021, it was announced that Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster would present a Monday to Thursday breakfast show, "Breakfast with Eamonn and Isabel". Stephen Dixon and Anne Diamond would present this show Friday to Sunday. In January 2022, the channel announced it would play "God Save the Queen" at the start of live programming every day.


title: GB News

text: Camilla Tominey, Michael Portillo and Andrew Pierce were announced as new presenters in August 2022. Also, after the merger of AT&T’s WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc., the shares that Discovery had initially acquired in the channel's early days was put up for sale by new media group Warner Bros Discovery.


title: GB News

text: In early September 2022, in a shakeup of the channel's afternoon programming, it was announced that presenters Colin Brazier and Alex Phillips had left the channel. Shows removed from the schedule were "The Briefing: Lunchtime with Gloria De Piero", "On The Money" presented by Liam Halligan, "We Need To Talk About" presented by Alex Phillips, "The Briefing: PM with Darren McCaffrey" presented by Darren McCaffrey, and "Brazier" presented by Colin Brazier. De Piero presented a new lunchtime show with Mark Longhurst, and Patrick Christys was moved to an afternoon slot.


title: GB News

text: The channel presented its first ever overnight coverage, following the Death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022. In the days following the Queen's death, all regular programming was stopped and no advertisements were shown on the channel, with Alastair Stewart, Dan Wootton, Nigel Farage, Mark Longhurst and Patrick Christys presenting most of the coverage of the death of the Queen and Charles III's accession to the throne.


title: GB News

text: In September 2022, novelist and former Head of Daytime at ITV and Channel 4 Helen Warner was appointed Head of Television at GB News.


title: GB News

text: In October 2022, it was announced that actor and comedian John Cleese would be presenting his own show on GB News in the new year.


title: GB News

text: Following the cancellation of the weekday show "To the Point", in November 2022 Beverley Turner began hosting her own GB News show "Bev Turner Today". She had already been a stand-in presenter on the channel.


title: GB News

text: The channel's office headquarters are at Riverbank House in London, and it has studios at The Point building in the Paddington Basin area of the city. GB News employs around 120 journalists.


title: GB News

text: GB News is transmitted on digital terrestrial television in standard-definition and from the Astra 2F satellite in high-definition. The transmissions are available on the Freeview, YouView, Freesat (Channel 216 HD), Sky and Virgin Media platforms. The channel is also available live on the GB News iOS and Android application. Red Bee Media has provided playout services for GB News since the channel's launch.


title: GB News

text: Following the launch of its television channel, in July 2021, GB News announced its intention to launch a national 24-hour radio station, GB News Radio, on the Digital One digital radio multiplex. The radio station is an audio simulcast of the televised channel, rather than a separate production, and started test transmissions in December 2021. Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster were the first to be heard on the simulcast when their television breakfast show started on 4 January 2022.


title: GB News

text: Neil stated in January 2021 that the channel would be "a fresh approach to news in Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland". The channel plans to air 6,500 hours of "original news, opinion and debate" per year and it has hired 120 journalists. Neil has said that the channel would not provide rolling news, but would, in similarity with some US networks like MSNBC and Fox News, divide each day into "individual programmes, news-based programmes, built around very strong presenters". He said that it would aim to offer programming that would become "an appointment to view". CEO Angelos Frangopoulos added that it will be a "mix" of news coverage and opinion where it will be taking "a very different view on the regulatory environment" that is controlled by Ofcom. Instead of providing rolling news, the channel would be a mix of news, analysis, opinion and debate.


title: GB News

text: Five months before the channel launched, BBC News media editor Amol Rajan said GB News would be the first in the United Kingdom to be set up with an explicit political orientation. Other forecasters also said the channel would be right-leaning, and it was predicted by the "Financial Times", "The Guardian" and "City A.M." that it would be similar to Fox News. In "The New York Times", Neil was quoted as saying "In terms of formatting and style, I think MSNBC and Fox are the two templates we're following". He also told the "Evening Standard" that Fox News was "an easy, inaccurate shorthand for what we are trying to do. In terms of format we are like Fox but we won't be like Fox in that they come from a hard right disinformation fake news conspiracy agenda. I have worked too long and hard to build up a journalistic reputation to consider going down that route." BBC media editor Amol Rajan said that "it is not the first channel to be set up in Britain with a strong worldview ... But GB News is the first to be set up with an explicit political leaning". Rajan also stated that "the validity of [the Fox News] comparison is limited". GB News has not explicitly indicated a political allegiance, and UK news broadcasters are required by Ofcom to maintain "due impartiality".


title: GB News

text: In a March 2021 episode of BBC Radio 4's "The Media Show", Neil stated that his nightly news programme would contain segments such as "Wokewatch" and "Mediawatch". The channel's breakfast show, "The Great British Breakfast", initially had three co-anchors, in a similar style to Fox News' "Fox & Friends," but the format changed to two co-anchors from the second week of broadcasting. "Free Speech Nation", a current affairs show hosted by Andrew Doyle, airs once a week.


title: GB News

text: Comparisons in programming, format and political leanings have also been made between GB News and Sky News Australia, itself formerly led by GB News CEO Angelos Frangopoulos.


title: GB News

text: In May 2022, former GB News staff told the "New Statesman" that at times they were so desperate for guests, they had resorted to "booking their own parents".


title: GB News

text: GB News also produces comedy shows such as a weekly topical comedy panel show titled "Ministry of Offence", and a comedic newspaper review show "Headliners".


title: GB News

text: The channel launched to a mixed reception. Judith Woods, writing for "The Telegraph" two days after the channel's launch, described it as "unutterably awful; boring, repetitive and cheapskate", rating it one out of five stars. Chris Bennion of "The Telegraph" rated it four out of five stars, writing, "On launch night, the GB News message came through loud and clear – despite glitches." Jemima Kelly wrote for the "Financial Times", "GB News is so tedious, so lacking in nuance, so whiny and frankly so low-quality, it is actually making me more sympathetic to the cause of those they deem 'woke'."


title: GB News

text: In February 2021, four months before the station began broadcasting, the pressure group Stop Funding Hate called for advertisers to boycott the station, based on what they thought it would represent.


title: GB News

text: In June 2021, following the station's launch, several brands including Vodafone, IKEA, Kopparbergs Brewery, Grolsch, Nivea, Pinterest, Specsavers and Octopus Energy paused their advertising on the channel, expressing concerns over its content. Some of these advertisements had been placed on the brands' behalf without their knowledge, by Sky Media through their advertising opt-outs during GB News's schedule. The Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, criticised Stop Funding Hate and what he described as "a vocal Twitter minority" for calling for the advertising boycott.


title: GB News

text: 336,000 viewers tuned in to see the launch of GB News. The launch soon became the subject of ridicule due to the perceived poor production quality of the channel and frequent technical issues. The channel also became subject to a number of pranks, including prank calls and gag names such as "GBeebies", a pun on the preschool channel CBeebies.


title: GB News

text: Viewership fell following the launch of the channel. A month after its launch, its daily viewership of just over 1 million trailed Sky News' 2.5 to 3 million viewers. Audience figures subsequently fell further, and on 14 July, audience figures dropped so low they were reported as zero by the ratings measurement board BARB at least twice on the day, attributed to regular viewers boycotting the station after one of its presenters, Guto Harri, took a knee on-air in solidarity with the England football team. GB News suspended the presenter, describing the event as an "unacceptable breach of our standards"; Harri later confirmed that he had permanently left the channel. The first episode of Nigel Farage's show on 19 July attracted an average audience of 100,000.


title: GB News

text: In August 2021, seven weeks after GB News' launch, Ian Burrell wrote in the "Evening Standard": "This channel has been both lampooned and ignored, but critics need to get used to something: GB News isn't going away."


title: GB News

text: "The Daily Telegraph" reported that, in October 2021, "Nigel Farage remained the station's biggest draw, hauling in between 50,000 and 80,000 viewers while most of the channel's output remains firmly below 30,000." A "Daily Telegraph" report in December 2021 stated that Farage's nightly programme regularly gets around 150,000 viewers. In February 2022 Press Gazette published an article including statistics on the audience and social following for GB News compared with other channels. The article noted that GB News' four-week audience reach was slightly up in early January to 2.2 million, compared to a low point in November 2021.


title: GB News

text: In May 2022, figures published by Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR) showed GB News Radio had received an average audience of 239,000 listeners in its first three months of broadcasting. RAJAR figures for the second quarter of 2022 showed the channel's listenership grew by a further 16%, to 277,000 listeners, making it the second-fastest-growing radio channel in the UK (behind the BBC World Service). Subsequently, between July and September 2022, GB News Radio's weekly audience grew by 50%, to 415,000. The "Times" and "Press Gazette" reported that it was the only news radio channel to rise during this period.


title: GB News

text: According to an annual poll of 45,000 UK consumers by the market research company Savanta, in 2022 GB News was the nation's third 'most loved' news brand, behind The Guardian and Metro, the 17th most loved media brand among baby boomers, and the 61st most loved media brand in the UK overall.


title: GB News

text: On 7 November 2022, Ofcom announced its first finding against GB News, concluding that the channel breached its radio license in an episode of "To The Point" on 2 March 2022. Covering the Erdington by-election, GB News displayed a graphic listing all candidates as required by Rules 6.8 to 6.12 of the Code. However, the presenters did not finish reading out the whole list aloud, instead advising listeners on its radio simulcast that it was available on social media. All candidates’ names were therefore not read out in full for the channel’s audio simulcast as required by rule 6.10. Ofcom issued no sanction against the channel.


title: GB News

text: Within the channel's first year Ofcom were prompted to launch five separate investigations into its broadcasts.


title: GB News

text: Ofcom received 373 complaints relating to a monologue made on the opening night's edition of "Tonight Live with Dan Wootton" in which Wootton argued against the government's extension of the COVID-19-related lockdowns in the UK. Ofcom decided not to pursue any of the complaints, a spokesperson saying "Our rules allow for rigorous debate around the response to coronavirus ... consistent with the right to free expression".


title: GB News

text: A broadcast on 4 April 2022 was looked into for a potential breach of "fairness" regulations regarding Russian war crimes in Ukraine, but was cleared. Farage's 23 August 2021 broadcast was investigated for "offensive language" but was later cleared by the regulator.


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar riffs and classically influenced solos.


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: band Rainbow, which fused baroque music influences and elements of hard rock. Rainbow steadily moved to catchy pop-style mainstream rock. He later formed the traditional folk rock project Blackmore's Night along with his current wife Candice Night, shifting to vocalist-centred sounds.


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: As a member of Deep Purple, Blackmore was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2016. He is cited by publications such as "Guitar World" and "Rolling Stone" as one of the greatest and most influential guitar players of all time.


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: Blackmore was born at Allendale Nursing Home in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, as second son to Lewis J. Blackmore and Violet (née Short).


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: The family moved to Heston, Middlesex, when Blackmore was two. He was 11 when he was given his first guitar by his father on certain conditions, including learning how to play properly, so he took classical guitar lessons for one year.


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: In an interview with "Sounds" magazine in 1979, Blackmore said that he started the guitar because he wanted to be like British musician Tommy Steele, who used to just jump around and play. Blackmore loathed school and hated his teachers.


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: While at school, Blackmore participated in sports including the javelin. He left school at age 15 and started work as an apprentice radio mechanic at nearby Heathrow Airport. He took electric guitar lessons from session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan.


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: In 1960 he began to work as a session player for Joe Meek's music productions, and performed in several bands. He was initially a member of the instrumental band the Outlaws, who played in both studio recordings and live concerts. Otherwise, in mainly studio recordings, he backed singer Glenda Collins, German-born pop singer Heinz (playing on his top ten hit "Just Like Eddie" and "Beating Of My Heart"), and others. Thereafter, in mainly live concerts, he backed horror-themed singer Screaming Lord Sutch, beat singer Neil Christian, and others.


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: Blackmore joined a band-to-be called Roundabout in late 1967 after receiving an invitation from Chris Curtis. Curtis originated the concept of the band, but would be forced out before the band fully formed. After the line-up for Roundabout was complete in April 1968, Blackmore is credited with suggesting the new name Deep Purple, as it was his grandmother's favourite song. Deep Purple's early sound leaned on psychedelic and progressive rock, but also included cover versions of 1960s pop songs. This "Mark One" line-up featuring singer Rod Evans and bass player Nick Simper lasted until mid-1969 and produced three studio albums. During this period, organist Jon Lord appeared to be the leader of the band, and wrote much of their original material.


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: The first studio album from Purple's second line-up, "In Rock" (1970), signalled a transition in the band's sound from progressive rock to hard rock, with Blackmore and Lord having heard King Crimson's debut album.


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: This "Mark Two" line-up featuring rock singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover lasted until mid-1973, producing four studio albums (two of which reached No. 1 in the UK), and two live albums. During this period, the band's songs primarily came out of their jam sessions, so songwriting credits were shared by the five members. Blackmore later stated, "I didn't give a damn about song construction. I just wanted to make as much noise and play as fast and as loud as possible."


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: Famous guitarist Steve Vai was more complimentary about Blackmore's role in developing song ideas : "He was able to bring blues to rock playing unlike anybody else."


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: The third Deep Purple line-up featured David Coverdale on vocals and Glenn Hughes on bass and vocals. Songwriting was now more fragmented, as opposed to the band compositions from the Mark Two era. This "Mark Three" line-up lasted until mid-1975 and produced two studio albums. Blackmore quit the band to front a new group, Rainbow. In 1974, Blackmore took cello lessons from Hugh McDowell (of ELO). Blackmore later stated that when playing a different musical instrument, he found it refreshing because there is a sense of adventure not knowing exactly what chord he's playing or what key he is in.


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: Blackmore originally planned to make a solo album, but instead in 1975 formed his own band, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, later shortened to Rainbow. Featuring vocalist Ronnie James Dio and his blues rock backing band Elf as studio musicians, this first line-up never performed live. The band's debut album, "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow", was released in 1975. Rainbow was originally thought to be a one-off collaboration, but endured as an ongoing band project with a series of album releases and tours. Rainbow's music was partly inspired by elements of medieval and baroque music since Blackmore started to play cello for musical composition. During this period, Blackmore wrote a crucial part of Dio's basic melodies, particularly on their debut album. Shortly after the first album was recorded, Blackmore recruited new backing musicians to record the second album "Rising" (1976), and the following live album, "On Stage" (1977). "Rising" was originally billed as "Blackmore's Rainbow" in the US. After the next studio album's release and supporting tour in 1978, Dio left Rainbow due to "creative differences" with Blackmore, who desired to move in a more commercial sounding direction.


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: Blackmore continued with Rainbow, and in 1979 the band released a new album titled "Down To Earth", which featured R&B singer Graham Bonnet. During song composition, Bonnet says that he wrote his vocal melodies based upon the lyrics of bassist Roger Glover. The album marked the commercialisation of the band's sound and contained their first smash hit with the single "Since You Been Gone" (penned by Russ Ballard).


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: The next Rainbow album, "Difficult to Cure" (1981), introduced melodic vocalist Joe Lynn Turner. The instrumental title track from this album was an arrangement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with additional music. Blackmore once said, "I found the blues too limiting, and classical was too disciplined. I was always stuck in a musical no man's land." The album marked the further commercialisation of the band's sound with Blackmore describing at the time a liking for the AOR band, Foreigner. The music was consciously radio-targeted in a more AOR style, resulting in some degree of alienation with many of Rainbow's earlier fans. Rainbow's next studio album was "Straight Between the Eyes" (1982) and included the hit single "Stone Cold". It would be followed by the album "Bent Out of Shape" (1983), which featured the single "Street of Dreams". In 1983, Rainbow was also nominated for a Grammy Award for the Blackmore-penned instrumental ballad track "Anybody There". Rainbow disbanded in 1984. A then-final Rainbow album, "Finyl Vinyl", was patched together from live tracks and the B-sides of various singles.


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: In 1984, Blackmore joined a reunion of the former Deep Purple "Mark Two" line-up and recorded new material. This reunion line-up lasted until 1989, producing two studio albums and one live album. Although the reunion's first album "Perfect Strangers" (1984) saw chart success, the second studio album "The House of Blue Light" (1987) displayed a sound that was closer to Rainbow's music and did not sell as well. The album's musical style differed from the traditional Purple sound due to Blackmore's Rainbow background, which distinguished him from the other members.


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: The next Deep Purple line-up recorded one album titled "Slaves and Masters" (1990), which featured former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner. During song composition, Turner wrote his vocal melodies. Subsequently, the "Mark Two" line-up reunited for a second time in late 1992 and produced one studio album, "The Battle Rages On...". Overall, the traditional Deep Purple sound returned. During the follow-up promotional tour, Blackmore quit the band for good in November 1993. Prominent guitarist Joe Satriani was brought in to complete the remaining tour dates.


title: Ritchie Blackmore

text: Blackmore reformed Rainbow with new members in 1994. This Rainbow line-up, featuring hard rock singer Doogie White, lasted until 1997 and produced one album titled "Stranger in Us All" in 1995. It was originally intended to be a solo album but due to the record company pressures the record was billed as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. Though Doogie White wasn't as distinctive as previous Rainbow singers, the album had a sound dissimilar to any Rainbow of old. This was Rainbow's eighth studio album, made after a gap of 12 years since "Bent out of Shape", and is regarded as Blackmore's last hard rock album. A world tour including South America followed. Rainbow was disbanded once again after playing its final concert in 1997. Blackmore later said, "I didn't want to tour very much."