title: Restaurant

text: In the United States, it was not until the late 18th century that establishments that provided meals without also providing lodging began to appear in major metropolitan areas in the form of coffee and oyster houses. The actual term "restaurant" did not enter into the common parlance until the following century. Prior to being referred to as "restaurants" these eating establishments assumed regional names such as "eating house" in New York City, "restorator" in Boston, or "victualling house" in other areas. Restaurants were typically located in populous urban areas during the 19th century and grew both in number and sophistication in the mid-century due to a more affluent middle class and to urbanization. The highest concentration of these restaurants were in the West, followed by industrial cities on the Eastern Seaboard.<ref name="http://digital.library.unlv.edu/collections/menus/early-restaurants-america"></ref>


title: Restaurant

text: When Prohibition went into effect in 1920, restaurants offering fine dining had a hard time making ends meet because they had depended on profits from selling wine and alcoholic beverages. Replacing them were establishments offering simpler, more casual experiences such as cafeterias, roadside restaurants, and diners. When Prohibition ended in the 1930s, luxury restaurants slowly started to appear again as the economy recovered from the Great Depression.


title: Restaurant

text: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed segregation based on race, color, religion, or national origin in all public accommodations engaged in interstate commerce, including restaurants. "Katzenbach v. McClung", 379 U.S. 294 (1964), was a decision of the US Supreme Court which held that Congress acted within its power under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution in forbidding racial discrimination in restaurants as this was a burden to interstate commerce.


title: Restaurant

text: In the 1970s, there was one restaurant for every 7,500 persons. In 2016, there were 1,000,000 restaurants; one for every 310 people. The average person eats out five to six times weekly. 3.3% of the nation's workforce is composed of restaurant workers. According to a Gallup Poll in 2016, nearly 61% of Americans across the country eat out at a restaurant once a week or more, and this percent is only predicted to increase in future years. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, The National Restaurant Association estimated restaurant sales of $899 billion in 2020. The association now projects that the pandemic will decrease that to $675 billion, a decline of $274 billion over their previous estimate.


title: Restaurant

text: In Brazil, restaurant varieties mirror the multitude of nationalities that arrived in the country: Japanese, Arab, German, Italian, Portuguese and many more.


title: Restaurant

text: The word "piquete" can be used to refer to a common Colombian type of meal that includes meat, yuca and potatoes, which is a type of meal served at a piqueteaderos. The verb form of the word piquete, piquetear, means to participate in binging, liquor drinking, and leisure activities in popular areas or open spaces.


title: Restaurant

text: In Peru, many indigenous, Spanish, and Chinese dishes are frequently found. Because of recent immigration from places such as China, and Japan, there are many Chinese and Japanese restaurants around the country, especially in the capital city of Lima.


title: Restaurant

text: Restaurant guides review restaurants, often ranking them or providing information to guide consumers (type of food, handicap accessibility, facilities, etc.). One of the most famous contemporary guides is the Michelin series of guides which accord from 1 to 3 stars to restaurants they perceive to be of high culinary merit. Restaurants with stars in the Michelin guide are formal, expensive establishments; in general the more stars awarded, the higher the prices.


title: Restaurant

text: The main competitor to the Michelin guide in Europe is the guidebook series published by Gault Millau. Its ratings are on a scale of 1 to 20, with 20 being the highest.


title: Restaurant

text: In the United States, the Forbes Travel Guide (previously the Mobil travel guides) and the AAA rate restaurants on a similar 1 to 5 star (Forbes) or diamond (AAA) scale. Three, four, and five star/diamond ratings are roughly equivalent to the Michelin one, two, and three star ratings while one and two star ratings typically indicate more casual places to eat. In 2005, Michelin released a New York City guide, its first for the United States. The popular Zagat Survey compiles individuals' comments about restaurants but does not pass an "official" critical assessment.


title: Restaurant

text: Nearly all major American newspapers employ food critics and publish online dining guides for the cities they serve. Some news sources provide customary reviews of restaurants, while others may provide more of a general listings service.


title: Restaurant

text: More recently Internet sites have started up that publish both food critic reviews and popular reviews by the general public.


title: Restaurant

text: There are 86,915 commercial food service units in Canada, or 26.4 units per 10,000 Canadians. By segment, there are:


title: Restaurant

text: Fully 63% of restaurants in Canada are independent brands. Chain restaurants account for the remaining 37%, and many of these are locally owned and operated franchises.


title: Restaurant

text: The EU-27 has an estimated 1.6m businesses involved in 'accommodation & food services', more than 75% of which are small and medium enterprises.


title: Restaurant

text: The Indian restaurant industry is highly fragmented with more than 1.5 million outlets of which only around 3000 of them are from the organised segment. The organised segment includes quick service restaurants; casual dining; cafes; fine dining; and pubs, bars, clubs, and lounges.


title: Restaurant

text: As of 2006, there are approximately 215,000 full-service restaurants in the United States, accounting for $298 billion in sales, and approximately 250,000 limited-service (fast food) restaurants, accounting for $260 billion. Starting in 2016, Americans spent more on restaurants than groceries.


title: Restaurant

text: In October 2017, "The New York Times" reported there are 620,000 eating and drinking places in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics. They also reported that the number of restaurants are growing almost twice as fast as the population.


title: Restaurant

text: One study of new restaurants in Cleveland, Ohio found that 1 in 4 changed ownership or went out of business after one year, and 6 out of 10 did so after three years. (Not all changes in ownership are indicative of financial failure.) The three-year failure rate for franchises was nearly the same.


title: Restaurant

text: Restaurants employed 912,100 cooks in 2013, earning an average $9.83 per hour. The waiting staff numbered 4,438,100 in 2012, earning an average $8.84 per hour.


title: Restaurant

text: Jiaxi Lu of the "Washington Post" reports in 2014 that, "Americans are spending $683.4 billion a year dining out, and they are also demanding better food quality and greater variety from restaurants to make sure their money is well spent."


title: Restaurant

text: Dining in restaurants has become increasingly popular, with the proportion of meals consumed outside the home in restaurants or institutions rising from 25% in 1950 to 46% in 1990. This is caused by factors such as the growing numbers of older people, who are often unable or unwilling to cook their meals at home and the growing number of single-parent households. It is also caused by the convenience that restaurants can afford people; the growth of restaurant popularity is also correlated with the growing length of the work day in the US, as well as the growing number of single parent households. Eating in restaurants has also become more popular with the growth of higher income households. At the same time, less expensive establishments such as fast food establishments can be quite inexpensive, making restaurant eating accessible to many.


title: Restaurant

text: The restaurant industry in the United States is large and quickly growing, with 10 million workers. 1 in every 12 U.S. residents work in the business, and during the 2008 recession, the industry was an anomaly in that it continued to grow. Restaurants are known for having low wages, which they claim are due to thin profit margins of 4-5%. For comparison, however, Walmart has a 1% profit margin.


title: Restaurant

text: As a result of these low wages, restaurant employees suffer from three times the poverty rate as other U.S. workers, and use food stamps twice as much.


title: Restaurant

text: Restaurants are the largest employer of people of color, and rank as the second largest employer of immigrants. These workers statistically are concentrated in the lowest paying positions in the restaurant industry. In the restaurant industry, 39% of workers earn minimum wage or lower.


title: Restaurant

text: In many countries, restaurants are subject to inspections by health inspectors to maintain standards for public health, such as maintaining proper hygiene and cleanliness. The most common kind of violations of inspection reports are those concerning the storage of cold food at appropriate temperatures, proper sanitation of equipment, regular hand washing and proper disposal of harmful chemicals. Simple steps can be taken to improve sanitation in restaurants. As sickness is easily spread through touch, restaurants are encouraged to regularly wipe down tables, door knobs and menus.


title: Restaurant

text: Depending on local customs, legislation and the establishment, restaurants may or may not serve alcoholic beverages. Restaurants are often prohibited from selling alcoholic beverages without a meal by alcohol sale laws; such sale is considered to be activity for bars, which are meant to have more severe restrictions. Some restaurants are licensed to serve alcohol ("fully licensed"), or permit customers to "bring your own" alcohol (BYO / BYOB). In some places restaurant licenses may restrict service to beer, or wine and beer.


title: Restaurant

text: Food service regulations have historically been built around hygiene and protection of the consumer's health. However, restaurant workers face many health hazards such as long hours, low wages, minimal benefits, discrimination, high stress, and poor working conditions. Along with the COVID-19 pandemic, much attention has been drawn to the prevention of community transmission in restaurants and other public settings. To reduce airborne disease transmission, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention recommends reduced dining capacity, face masks, adequate ventilation, physical barrier instalments, disinfection, signage, and flexible leave policies for workers.


title: Bill Bixby

text: Wilfred Bailey Everett Bixby III (January 22, 1934 – November 21, 1993) professionally known as Bill Bixby, was an American actor, director, producer, and frequent game-show panellist.


title: Bill Bixby

text: Bixby's career spanned more than three decades, including appearances on stage, in films, and on television series. He is known for his roles in the CBS sitcom "My Favorite Martian" as Tim O'Hara, in the ABC sitcom "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" as Tom Corbett, in the NBC crime drama series "The Magician" as stage Illusionist Anthony Blake, and the CBS science-fiction drama series "The Incredible Hulk" as Dr. David Banner.


title: Bill Bixby

text: An only child, Bixby was born Wilfred Bailey Everett Bixby III, a fourth-generation Californian of English descent, on January 22, 1934, in San Francisco, California. His father, Wilfred Bailey Everett Bixby II, was a store clerk. His mother, Jane (née McFarland) Bixby, was a senior manager at I. Magnin & Co. In 1942, when Bixby was eight years old, his father enlisted in the Navy during World War II and traveled to the South Pacific. While in the seventh grade, Bixby attended Grace Cathedral and sang in the church's choir. In one notable incident, he shot the bishop using a slingshot during a service and was kicked out of the choir. In 1946, his mother encouraged him to take ballroom dance lessons and from there he started dancing all around the city. While dancing, he attended Lowell High School, where he perfected his oratory and dramatic skills as a member of the Lowell Forensic Society. Though he received average grades, he also competed in high-school speech tournaments regionally.


title: Bill Bixby

text: After graduation from high school in 1952, against his parents' wishes, he majored in drama at City College of San Francisco.


title: Bill Bixby

text: During the Korean War, Bixby was drafted shortly after his 18th birthday. Rather than report to the United States Army, Bixby joined the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He served primarily in personnel management with Marine Attack Squadron 141 (VMA-141) at Naval Air Station Oakland, and attained the rank of private first class before his 1956 discharge.


title: Bill Bixby

text: Later, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, his parents' alma mater, and left just a few credits short of earning a degree. He then moved to Hollywood, California, where he had a string of odd jobs that included bellhop and lifeguard. He organized shows at a resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and in 1959 was hired to work as a model and to do commercial work for General Motors and Chrysler.


title: Bill Bixby

text: In 1961, Bixby was in the musical "The Boy Friend" at the Detroit Civic Theater, returning to Hollywood to make his television debut on an episode of "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis". He became a highly regarded character actor and guest-starred in many television series, including "Ben Casey", "The Twilight Zone", "The Andy Griffith Show", "Dr. Kildare", "Straightaway", and "Hennesey". He also joined the cast of "The Joey Bishop Show" in 1962. In 1963, he played a sailor with a Napoleon tattoo in the movie "Irma La Douce", a romantic comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, directed by Billy Wilder based on the 1956 French musical. During the 1970s, he made guest appearances on television series such as "Ironside", "Insight", "Barbary Coast", "The Love Boat", "Medical Center", four episodes of "Love, American Style", "Fantasy Island", and two episodes each of "The Streets of San Francisco" and Rod Serling's "Night Gallery".


title: Bill Bixby

text: Bixby took the role of young reporter Tim O'Hara in the 1963 CBS sitcom, "My Favorite Martian", in which he co-starred with Ray Walston. By 1966, though, high production costs forced the series to come to an end after 107 episodes. After its cancellation, Bixby starred in four movies: "Ride Beyond Vengeance", "Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding!", and two of Elvis Presley's movies, "Clambake" and "Speedway". He turned down the role as Marlo Thomas's boyfriend in the successful "That Girl", though he later guest-starred in the show, and starred in two failed pilots.


title: Bill Bixby

text: In 1969, Bixby starred in his second high-profile television role, as Tom Corbett in "The Courtship of Eddie's Father", a comedy drama on ABC. The series concerned a widowed father raising a young son, managing a major syndicated magazine, and at the same time trying to re-enter the dating scene. This series was in the vein of other 1960s and 1970s sitcoms that dealt with widowerhood, such as "The Andy Griffith Show" and "My Three Sons". Eddie was played by novice actor Brandon Cruz. The pair developed a close rapport that translated to an off-camera friendship, as well. The core cast was rounded out by Academy Award-winning actress Miyoshi Umeki, who played the role of Tom's housekeeper, Mrs. Livingston, James Komack (one of the series' producers) as Norman Tinker, Tom's pseudo-hippie, quirky photographer, and actress Kristina Holland as Tom's secretary, Tina. One episode of the series co-starred Bixby's future wife, Brenda Benet, as one of Tom's girlfriends.


title: Bill Bixby

text: Bixby was nominated for the Emmy Award for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 1971. The following year, he won the Parents Without Partners Exemplary Service Award for 1972.


title: Bill Bixby

text: Bixby made his directorial debut on the sitcom in 1970, directing eight episodes. ABC cancelled the sitcom in 1972 at the end of season three.


title: Bill Bixby

text: After the show was cancelled, Bixby and Cruz remained in contact, with Cruz making a guest appearance on Bixby's later series "The Incredible Hulk". The death of Bixby's only child, in 1981, drew Bixby and Cruz closer still. The two remained in touch until Bixby's death in 1993. In 1995, Cruz named his own son Lincoln Bixby Cruz.


title: Bill Bixby

text: Brandon Cruz said of the show that developed a professional father-son relationship, compared to that of "The Andy Griffith Show", "We dealt with issues that were talked about, but were never brought up on television. Bill wasn't the first actor to portray a single widowed father, but he became one of the popular ones, because of his easy-going way of this crazy little kid." Prior to Bixby's promotion to director, Brandon said, "He was looking for the best dolly grip, along with the boom operator that if something was called specifically and failed, Bill could be easily angry." On the kind of relationship Bill had wanted with his co-star, Brandon also said, "Bill would never speak down to me. Bill treated me as an equal. He made sure that we had a lot of time together, just so he could kinda crawl inside my head and see what actually made a kid tick." Upon the death of Bill's real-life father in 1971, Cruz stated, "He had that type of mentality that the show must go on, thinking it was just a great TV show, after he broke down weeping."


title: Bill Bixby

text: In a 2011 interview with Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith about how Bill Bixby's fame was supposed to posthumously honor him for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Cruz said, "When I found out they were putting this out, I thought, 'It's about time.' Bill Bixby had an amazing body of work, not only "Courtship of Eddie's Father," but "My Favorite Martian," "The Magician," "The Incredible Hulk", and so many other things, as an actor, as a director — and he never got an Emmy. He's never been recognized posthumously by the Academy. And he doesn't have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That is criminal... There are people who have stars that, not to be blunt, but I wouldn't bother spitting on their stars. Bill's talent would take a couple of blocks of stars compared to them. It really demeans the whole thing that Bill is not included."


title: Bill Bixby

text: In 1973, Bixby starred in "The Magician". The series was well liked, but lasted for only one season. An accomplished amateur magician himself, he hosted several TV specials in the mid-1970s which featured other amateur magicians, and was a respected member of the Hollywood magic community, belonging to The Magic Castle, an exclusive club for magicians. During the show's popular, although short-lived, production, Bixby invited a few old friends along to co-star such as Pamela Britton (in her final role), Kristina Holland, and Ralph O'Hara.


title: Bill Bixby

text: Also in 1973, he starred in "Steambath", a play by author Bruce Jay Friedman, on PBS with Valerie Perrine and Jose Perez.


title: Bill Bixby

text: Bixby became a popular game-show panelist, appearing mostly on "Password" and "The Hollywood Squares". He was also a panelist on the 1974 revival of "Masquerade Party", which was hosted by Richard Dawson. He had also appeared with Dawson on "Cop-Out". In 1974–1975, he directed four episodes of the eighth season of "Mannix", guest-starring as Mannix's friend-turned-villain in one of the episodes.


title: Bill Bixby

text: In 1975, he co-starred with Tim Conway and Don Knotts in the Disney movie "The Apple Dumpling Gang", which was well received by the public.


title: Bill Bixby

text: Returning to television, Bixby worked with Susan Blakely on "Rich Man, Poor Man", a highly successful television miniseries in 1976. He played a daredevil stunt pilot in an episode of the short-lived 1976 CBS adventure series "Spencer's Pilots", starring Gene Evans. In 1977, he co-starred in the pilot for the television series "Fantasy Island"; starred in "No Way Out", the final episode of the NBC anthology series "Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected" (known in the United Kingdom as "Twist in the Tale"); and appeared with Donna Mills, Richard Jaeckel, and William Shatner in the last episode, "The Scarlet Ribbon", of NBC's Western series "The Oregon Trail", starring Rod Taylor and Andrew Stevens. Bixby directed two episodes of "The Oregon Trail".


title: Bill Bixby

text: In 1976, he was honored with two Emmy Award nominations, one for Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in Drama or Comedy for "The Streets of San Francisco" and the other for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in Comedy or Drama Series for "Rich Man, Poor Man".


title: Bill Bixby

text: Bixby starred in the role of Dr. David Banner in the pilot movie, "The Incredible Hulk", based on the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Marvel characters. Kenneth Johnson, the creator, director, and writer, said that Bixby was his only choice to play the part. Although, reportedly, when Bixby was offered the role, he declined it – until he read the script and discussed it with Johnson. The success of the pilot (coupled with some theatrical releases of the film in Europe) convinced CBS to turn it into a weekly series, which began airing in the spring of 1978. The pilot also starred Susan Sullivan as Dr. Elaina Marks, who tries to help the conflicted and widowed Dr. Banner overcome his "problem", and falls in love with him in the process. In a retrospective on "The Incredible Hulk", Glenn Greenberg declared Bixby's performance to be the series's "foremost" strength, elaborating that he "masterfully conveyed the profound loneliness and tragedy of Dr. Banner while also bringing to the role an abundance of warmth, intelligence, humor, nobility, likability, and above all else, humanity."


title: Bill Bixby

text: During the series' run, Bixby invited two of his longtime friends, Ray Walston and Brandon Cruz, to guest-star with him in different episodes of the series. He also worked on the series with his friend, movie actress Mariette Hartley, who later starred with Bixby in his final series, "Goodnight, Beantown", in 1983. Hartley appears in the well-regarded double-length episode "Married", and subsequently won an Emmy Award for her guest appearance. Future star Loni Anderson also guest-starred with Bixby during the first season. Bixby directed one episode of the series, "Bring Me the Head of the Hulk", in 1980 (original airdate: January 9, 1981). The series was cancelled after the following season, but leftover episodes aired as late as the next June. Bixby later executive-produced and reprised the role in three television movies – "The Incredible Hulk Returns", "The Trial of the Incredible Hulk", and "The Death of the Incredible Hulk" – the last two of which he also directed, and the first of which he has been said to have unofficially co-directed.


title: Bill Bixby

text: Bixby was executive producer and co-star of the short-lived sitcom "Goodnight, Beantown" (1983–84). He also directed three episodes of the series. During the same time, Bixby directed several episodes of another short-lived television series, "Wizards and Warriors", which aired in 1983. From 1983 to 1984, he hosted a documentary series for Nickelodeon entitled "Against the Odds". The series, which was cancelled after only two seasons, consists of short biographies of famous people throughout history. From 1986 to 1987, he hosted the syndicated weekday anthology series "True Confessions". In 1987, he directed eight episodes of the satirical police sitcom "Sledge Hammer!", including the episode "Hammer Hits the Rock" in season two, where he made an uncredited appearance as Zeke.


title: Bill Bixby

text: Bixby hosted two specials regarding Elvis conspiracy theories and his alleged sightings: "The Elvis Files" (1991) and "The Elvis Conspiracy" (1992).


title: Bill Bixby

text: He finished his career by directing 30 episodes (in seasons two and three) of the NBC sitcom "Blossom".


title: Bill Bixby

text: Bixby's first marriage was to actress Brenda Benet. They were married in 1971, and she gave birth to their son, Christopher, in September 1974. They divorced in 1980. A few months later, in March 1981, six-year-old Christopher died while on a skiing vacation at Mammoth Lakes with Benet. He went into cardiac arrest after doctors inserted a breathing tube when he suffered acute epiglottitis. Benet committed suicide the following year.


title: Bill Bixby

text: Bixby met Laura Michaels, who had worked on the set of one of his "Hulk" movies, in 1989. They married a year later in Hawaii. In early 1991, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent treatment. He was divorced in the same year.


title: Bill Bixby

text: In late 1992, friends introduced Bixby to the artist Judith Kliban, widow of the cartoonist B. Kliban. He married her in October 1993, just six weeks before he collapsed on the set of "Blossom".


title: Bill Bixby

text: In early 1993, after rumors began circulating about his health, Bixby went public with his illness, and made several appearances on shows such as "Entertainment Tonight", "Today", and "Good Morning America", among others.


title: Bill Bixby

text: On November 21, 1993, seven days after his final assignment on "Blossom", Bixby died of complications from prostate cancer in Century City, Los Angeles. He was 59 years old.


title: The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

text: The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion () is a 2018 South Korean science fiction action horror film written and directed by Park Hoon-jung. A sequel, "", was released on 15 June 2022.


title: The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

text: A young girl escapes from a mysterious laboratory after a violent incident that leaves many dead. Two members that run the lab, Dr. Baek and Mr. Choi, considered her dead. The girl collapses on a farm, where she is discovered by the owner, Mr. and Mrs. Goo. His wife nurses the girl back to health and adopts her.


title: The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

text: 10 years later, the girl, named Ja-yoon, is living a normal life without any memory of her past. Her family is struggling financially, her mother is showing early signs of dementia, and Ja-yoon is suffering periodic bouts of migraines. In an effort to earn money, she decides to audition for a national singing contest that promises a large reward. She impresses the judges with her special talent - the telekinetic ability to make the microphone levitate. This makes Dr. Baek and Mr Choi realize that Ja-yoon is the girl that escaped and send men to recapture her.


title: The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

text: On her way to Seoul for the second round of the audition, Ja-yoon is approached by a man named Nobleman, who claims to know her. After the audition, she avoids an abduction by Dr. Baek's men. A group of armed men barge into her home and hold her family at gunpoint. Entering a trance, Ja-yoon dispatches the men with superhuman strength and speed. She is left shaken, not understanding either her superhuman or psionic abilities. Nobleman demands that she accompany him or he will kill her parents. She agrees and is taken to the laboratory, where she is restrained.


title: The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

text: Dr. Baek explains that she created Ja-yoon, genetically modifying her to have superpowers. Ja-yoon's headaches are a symptom of a disease that will kill her without proper treatment. She has her injected with a blue serum that will stop the disease for a month, leaving Ja-yoon dependent on new doses. After the injection, Ja-yoon's demeanor changes and she reveals the truth - she never lost her memory and has always known what she is. After visiting a doctor by herself, and being told that without a bone marrow transplant by a blood relative, she only has a few months left to live, she decided to track down Dr. Baek for the cure. Not knowing how to find her, she purposefully revealed her abilities during the audition to draw the attention of her creators.


title: The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

text: With the serum restoring her to full strength, Ja-yoon escapes her bonds and kills her guards. Holding Dr. Baek at gunpoint she demands to know where the serum is produced. It is around this time that Mr. Choi comes, having heard about Ja-yoon, but she kills him with ease. She defeats Nobleman but Dr. Baek is killed during the chaos. Ja-yoon burns the building down and visits her parents, providing her father with some of the serum to give her mother to help slow the spread of her dementia. Her father alludes to always having known what Ja-yoon could do.


title: The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

text: Three months later, Ja-yoon appears in the home of Dr. Baek's twin sister. She gives her more vials of the serum. A mysterious young woman, whose face is covered in scars, approaches Ja-yoon but Ja-yoon threatens to kill her if she touches her and the screen goes to black.


title: The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

text: In June 2018, it was reported that Kim Da-mi, Jo Min-su, Choi Woo-shik and Park Hee-soon were starring for the film. Kim Da-mi was selected from 1,500 candidates to play the role.


title: The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of .


title: The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

text: Elizabeth Kerr of "The Hollywood Reporter" gave a positive review and wrote, "An ever-so-delicate twist on the Korean revenge thriller. By Korean action standards "The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion" is lean at two hours, but in cramming so much into the narrative it stumbles over itself on more than one occasion; it very often forgets its own internal logic and drags the final showdown out to the breaking point."


title: The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

text: Rafael Motamayor of "Flickering Myth" rated the film 4/5 and wrote, "Despite trying to cram too much plot, the film's atmospheric score, action sequences and visuals keep you invested in the story and what comes next."


title: The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

text: The film opened in South Korea on June 27, 2018. During its debut weekend, the film finished in first place, ending "The Accidental Detective: In Action" 2-week box office reign. It sold more than 735,000 tickets from 1,117 screens from Friday to Sunday, with gross during its opening weekend. In its second weekend, the film finished at second behind "Ant-Man and the Wasp", dropping 40% from the last weekend with gross from 451,113 tickets sold. Grossing on its third weekend, the film finished third behind "Ant-Man and the Wasp" and newcomer "Skyscraper". As of August 23, the film attracted 3,189,092 moviegoers, and earned .


title: Happiness (South Korean TV series)

text: Happiness () is a South Korean television series starring Han Hyo-joo, Park Hyung-sik, and Jo Woo-jin, produced by Studio Dragon. It is an apocalyptic thriller that takes place in a time in which infectious diseases have become the new norm. It premiered on tvN on November 5, 2021 and aired every Friday and Saturday at 22:40 (KST) for 12 episodes. It is also available for streaming on Viki, Viu, Netflix, and iQIYI in selected territories.


title: Happiness (South Korean TV series)

text: Happiness takes place in the near future, where the release of a failed treatment drug "Next" has caused a worldwide pandemic known as the Lytta Virus, a.k.a. "mad person disease". Those infected by lytta experience short bouts of insanity and bloodlust, before completely regressing into a zombie-like state. The South Korean Military and Police forces are trying to contain the spread of lytta and Next through extensive investigation and authoritative quarantine measures, while civil rights groups protest against them, believing the infected are still capable of normal human interaction.


title: Happiness (South Korean TV series)

text: Yoon Sae-bom encounters a trainee at the Special Operations Unit who is infected by mad person disease. In the struggle to subdue the trainee, she is scratched, leading her to meet Han Tae-seok at a research facility. The facility houses many of the "patients" who are kept under observation in order to understand and cure the disease. It is revealed that the symptoms of mad person disease are first accompanied by unabated thirst, followed by the pupil turning white, and then thirst for human blood. The disease is not airborne, but spreads through scratches and bites, with Yoon Sae-bom seemingly immune to the disease. Some of those who contracted the disease is ultimately able to return to their former selves temporarily. Yoon Sae-bom makes a deal with Han Tae-seok which leads her to secure an apartment in a newly constructed building, however in order to do so, she must be married. She asks her high school friend Jung Yi-hyun, a former star baseball player but now a police detective, and he agrees to be her fake husband. The building is luxurious and highly stratified, with the public rentals consisting of the lower five floors, and the upper floors for those who own their apartment. Class discrimination is evident where the upper floor resident Oh Yeon-ok struggles to be the apartment representative while keeping everyone in check. Yoon Sae-bom meets many interesting and strange residents, forming a close attachment to her neighbor's young daughter.


title: Happiness (South Korean TV series)

text: Through Jung Yi-hyun's detective work, he encounters a diseased person who he believes became this way due to a failed pneumonia drug called Next, which has been widely circulated in order to promote attentiveness and strength. This assumption is later confirmed when a resident member who consumed the drug, secretly sold to her in the building's gym, ultimately became infected with the mad person's disease and succumbed to the illness. This begins the outbreak in the building. In an effort to protect the residents in his building, Jung Yi-hyun and Yoon Sae-bom establishes quarantine rules, while securing the building from the outside with the help of his Captain, Kim Jung-guk. Jung Yi-hyun conflicts with building resident Oh Joo-hyung who seems to encourage destructive behavior in the building. The question of humanity and whether to view those infected with mad person disease as human beings forms a psychological battle for Sae-bom, Yi-hyun and Tae-seok.


title: Happiness (South Korean TV series)

text: Han Tae-seok initially tries to keep the mad person disease a secret, but with more cases progressing and people getting panicked, it is revealed to the public. With the increasing number of people getting infected, Han Tae-seok along with his military team are struggling to determine whether to preserve these people, or to kill them off. Han Tae-seok ordered the complete quarantine of the new building complex where Yoon Sae-bom and Jung Yi-hyun lives, offering them a chance to leave the building before it becomes completely sealed to anyone going in or out of the complex area, however they decline the offer. Yoon Sae-bom's blood contains antibodies that could hold the cure for the disease, which Han Tae-seok seeks to exploit. It is revealed that Han Tae-seok's pregnant wife was bitten by the president of the pharmaceutical company that supplied Next, and ultimately became infected with the disease. His search for the cure is in part motivated to find a cure for his wife and to save his unborn child.


title: Happiness (South Korean TV series)

text: "Happiness" is helmed by director Ahn Gil-ho and writer Han Sang-woon, who worked together on the 2019 OCN series, "Watcher". Ahn Gil-ho has worked on numerous hits such as "Record of Youth", "Memories of the Alhambra" and "Stranger", while writer Han Sang-woon has also penned "The Good Wife", the Korean remake of the 2016 American TV series.


title: Happiness (South Korean TV series)

text: It is the first acting project of Park Hyung-sik since his discharge from military service on January 4, 2021.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has played at its home ground, The Hawthorns, since 1900.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Albion was a founder member of the Football League in 1888, the first professional football league in the world. The club has spent the majority of its existence in the top tier of English football, where it has played for 82 seasons. The club has been champions of England once, in 1919–20, and has been runners-up twice. Albion have reached ten FA Cup finals and won the Cup on five occasions. The first win came in 1888, the year the league was founded, followed by wins in 1892, 1931, 1954 and most recently in 1968, the club's last major trophy. Albion also won the Football League Cup at the first attempt in 1966, and have reached a further two finals. The club's longest continuous period in the top division spanned 24 years between 1949 and 1973, and from 1986 to 2002 it spent its longest ever spell out of the top division.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: The team has played in navy blue and white stripes for most of the club's history, and the club badge features a throstle perched on a hawthorn branch. Albion has long-standing rivalries with other West Midlands clubs, with its traditional rivals being Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Albion contests the Black Country derby with the latter.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: The club was founded as West Bromwich Strollers in 1878 by workers from George Salter's Spring Works in West Bromwich, in the Black Country. They were renamed West Bromwich Albion in 1880, becoming the first team to adopt the "Albion" suffix; Albion was a district of West Bromwich where some of the players lived or worked, close to what is today Greets Green. The club joined the Birmingham & District Football Association in 1881 and became eligible for their first competition, the Birmingham Cup. They reached the quarter-finals, beating several longer-established clubs on the way. In 1883, Albion won their first trophy, the Staffordshire Cup. Albion joined the Football Association in the same year; this enabled them to enter the FA Cup for the first time in the 1883–84 season. In 1885 the club turned professional, and in 1886 they reached the FA Cup final for the first time, losing 2–0 to Blackburn Rovers in a replay. They reached the final again in 1887, but lost 2–0 to Aston Villa. In 1888 the team won the trophy for the first time, beating strong favourites Preston North End 2–1 in the final. As FA Cup winners, they qualified to play in a Football World Championship game against Scottish Cup winners Renton, which ended in a 4–1 defeat.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: In March 1888, William McGregor wrote to what he considered to be the top five English teams, including Albion, informing them of his intention to form an association of clubs that would play each other home and away each season. Thus when the Football League started later that year, Albion became one of the twelve founder members. Albion's second FA Cup success came in 1892, beating Aston Villa 3–0. They met Villa again in the 1895 final, but lost 1–0. The team suffered relegation to Division Two in 1900–01, their first season at The Hawthorns. They were promoted as champions the following season but relegated again in 1903–04. The club won the Division Two championship once more in 1910–11, and the following season reached another FA Cup Final, where they were defeated by Second Division Barnsley in a replay.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Albion won the Football League title in 1919–20 for the only time in their history following the end of World War I, their totals of 104 goals and 60 points both breaking the previous league records. The team finished as Division One runners-up in 1924–25, narrowly losing out to Huddersfield Town, but were relegated in 1926–27. In 1930–31, they won promotion as well as the FA Cup, beating Birmingham 2–1 in the final. The "double" of winning the FA Cup and promotion has not been achieved before or since. Albion reached the final again in 1935, losing to Sheffield Wednesday, but were relegated three years later. They gained promotion in 1948–49, and there followed the club's longest unbroken spell in the top flight of English football, a total of 24 years.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: In 1953–54, Albion came close to being the first team in the 20th century to win the League and Cup double. They succeeded in winning the FA Cup, beating Preston North End 3–2, but injuries and a loss of form towards the end of the season meant that they finished as runners-up to fierce rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers in the league. Nonetheless, Albion became known for their brand of fluent, attacking football, with the 1953–54 side being hailed as the "Team of the Century". One national newspaper went so far as to suggest that the team be chosen "en masse" to represent England at the 1954 FIFA World Cup finals. They remained one of the top English sides for the remainder of the decade, reaching the semi-final of the 1957 FA Cup and achieving three consecutive top five finishes in Division One between 1957–58 and 1959–60.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Although their league form was less impressive during the 1960s, the second half of the decade saw West Brom establish a reputation as a successful cup side. Albion entered the Football League Cup for the first time in 1965–66 and, under manager Jimmy Hagan, won the final by defeating West Ham United 5–3 on aggregate. That was the last two-legged final and, the following year, Albion reached the final again, the first played at Wembley. They lost 3–2 to Third Division Queens Park Rangers after being 2–0 up at half-time. Albion's cup form continued under Hagan's successor Alan Ashman. He guided the club to their last major trophy to date, the 1968 FA Cup, when they beat Everton in extra time thanks to a single goal from Jeff Astle. Albion reached the FA Cup semi-final and European Cup Winners Cup quarter-final in 1969, and were defeated 2–1 by Manchester City in the 1970 League Cup Final.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: The club were less successful during the reign of Don Howe, and were relegated to Division Two at the end of 1972–73, but gained promotion three years later under the guidance of player-manager Johnny Giles. Under Ron Atkinson, Albion reached the 1978 FA Cup semi-final but lost to Ipswich Town. In May of that year, Albion became the first English professional team to play in China, going unbeaten on their five-game trip. In 1978–79, the team finished third in Division One, their highest placing for over 20 years, and also reached the UEFA Cup quarter-final, where they were defeated by Red Star Belgrade. The team around this time was notable for simultaneously fielding three black players: Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson; and is considered to be an integral part of the acceptance of black footballers in the English leagues. In his second spell as manager, Ronnie Allen guided the team to both domestic cup semi-finals in 1981–82. The mid-1980s saw the start of Albion's longest and deepest decline. They were relegated in 1985–86 with the worst record in the club's history, beginning a period of 16 years outside the top flight. Five years later, the club were relegated to the Third Division for the first and only time.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Albion had spent the majority of their history in the top-flight of English football, but when the Premier League was founded in 1992 the club found themselves in the third tier, which had been renamed Division Two. In 1992–93, Albion finished fourth and entered the play-offs for the first time. Albion's first appearance at Wembley for over 20 years – and their last at the original stadium – saw them beat Port Vale 3–0 to return to the second level – now renamed the First Division. Manager Ossie Ardiles then joined Tottenham Hotspur, however, and a succession of managers over the next few seasons saw Albion consolidate their Division One status without ever mounting a serious promotion challenge.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: The appointment of Gary Megson in March 2000 heralded an upturn in the club's fortunes. Megson guided Albion to Division One safety in 1999–2000, and to the play-offs a year later. He went on to lead the club to promotion to the Premier League in 2001–02. After being relegated in their first Premier League season, they made an immediate return to the top flight in 2003–04. In 2004–05, Megson's successor, former Albion midfielder Bryan Robson, led the team to a last-day "Great Escape", when Albion became the first Premier League club to avoid relegation having been bottom of the table at Christmas, as well as bottom on the final day of the season. They failed to avoid the drop the following season, and Robson was replaced by Tony Mowbray in October 2006. The club competed in the Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium on 28 May 2007, but lost 1–0 to Derby County. The following season, Mowbray led the Baggies to Wembley again, this time in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they lost 1–0 to Portsmouth. One month later, Albion were promoted to the Premier League as winners of the Championship, but were relegated at the end of the 2008–09 campaign. Mowbray left the club and was replaced by Roberto Di Matteo, who led the club back to the Premier League at the first attempt, but was dismissed in February 2011 and replaced by Roy Hodgson.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Hodgson guided Albion to an 11th-place finish for the 2010–11 season. Then followed an eight-season continuous run in the Premier League. It included an 8th-place finish in 2012–13 under Steve Clarke, and 10th-place finishes under Roy Hodgson in 2011–12 and Tony Pulis in 2016–17. On 5 August 2016, it was announced that long-term owner Jeremy Peace had sold the club to a Chinese investment group headed up by Lai Guochuan. By this time, the club had begun to fall into a state of torpor, and were relegated at the end of the 2017–18 season, ending their eight-year Premier League stay. Pulis and his replacement Alan Pardew were both sacked during the season. Albion finished fourth in their first season back in the Championship under the management of Darren Moore and caretaker manager James Shan, losing the Championship play-off semi-final against Aston Villa on penalties. Slaven Bilić took over as boss on 13 June 2019, and led Albion to automatic promotion back to the Premier League during the 2019–20 season. Back in the Premier League, Bilić was controversially sacked on 16 December 2020, with Sam Allardyce named as his replacement the same day. After Albion were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2020–21 season, Allardyce resigned from his position. The club appointed Valérien Ismaël as replacement ahead of the following season, but he was sacked on 2 February 2022, with the team falling out of the play-off places. Steve Bruce was appointed Manager the following day. After a bad run of form in the 22/23 season, which saw West Brom go bottom of the table, Bruce was sacked after many protests from supporters. Richard Beale the took charge, gaining a win against reading in one of his three games. He was then replaced with Marcelo Bielsa’s former understudy and former Huddersfield manager Carlos Corberán. He lost his first game in charge against Sheffield United but then embarked on a 6 game winning run picking up wins against the likes of Coventry, Rotherham and Sunderland. Which as of writing takes them away from the relegation zone and up towards the playoff places.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Albion's main club badge dates back to the late 1880s, when club secretary Tom Smith suggested that a throstle (song thrush) sitting on a crossbar be adopted for the badge. The badge has been subject to various revisions since then. It has always featured a throstle, usually on a blue and white striped shield, although the crossbar was replaced with a hawthorn branch at some point after the club's move to the Hawthorns. The throstle was chosen because the public house in which the team used to change kept a pet thrush in a cage. It also gave rise to Albion's early nickname, "the Throstles". The hawthorn bush is also a favourite bush of throstles, which were regularly seen on the pre-stadium estate and local area. As late as the 1930s, a caged throstle was placed beside the touchline during matches and it was said that it only used to sing if Albion were winning. In 1979, an effigy of a throstle was erected above the half-time scoreboard of the Woodman corner at the Hawthorns, and was returned to the same area of the ground following redevelopment in the early 2000s.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: In 1975, a version of the badge (on a roundel rather than a shield) was granted by the College of Arms to the Football League for licensing to the club. The badge was described in heraldic blazon as, "On a roundel paly of thirteen argent and azure a mistle thrush perched on a raspberry branch leaved and fructed proper." This is the only known occasion on which the branch has been described as a raspberry branch rather than a hawthorn branch: Rodney Dennys, the officer of arms responsible, may have been imperfectly briefed.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: The badge was re-designed in 2006, incorporating the name of the club for the first time. The new design aimed to safeguard and consolidate the club's identity. Prior to this, the main club badge rarely coincided with that worn on the first team strip. No badge appeared on the kit for most of the club's history, although the Stafford knot featured on the team jerseys for part of the 1880s. The West Bromwich town arms were worn on the players' shirts for the 1931, 1935 and 1954 FA Cup finals. The town's Latin motto, ""Labor omnia vincit"", translates as "labour conquers all things" or "work conquers all". The town arms were revived as the shirt badge from 1994 until 2000, with the throstle moved to the collar of the shirts.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Albion's first regular shirt badge appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s where it was blue. Although it featured the throstle, it did not include the blue and white striped shield of the club badge. A similar design was also used during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the mid-1970s, a more abstract version of the throstle was used on the club's shirts, while in the late 1970s through to the mid-1980s, an embroidered WBA logo was displayed, a common abbreviation of the club's name in print. Not until the early 21st century did the full club badge appear on the team's shirts.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: West Brom have played in navy blue and white striped shirts for the majority of their existence, usually with white shorts and white socks. The team is occasionally referred to as "the Stripes" by supporters. A number of different colours were trialled during the club's formative years however, including cardinal red and blue quarters in 1880–81, yellow and white quarters in 1881–82, chocolate and blue halves in 1881–82 and 1882–83, red and white hoops in 1882–83, chocolate and white in 1883–84 and cardinal red and blue halves in 1884–85. The blue and white stripes made their first appearance in the 1885–86 season, although at that time they were of a lighter shade of blue; the navy blue stripes did not appear until after the First World War. For the regional leagues played during the Second World War, Albion were forced to switch to all-blue shirts, as rationing meant that striped material was considered a luxury.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Like all football clubs, Albion sport a secondary or "change" strip when playing away from home against a team whose colours clash with their own. As long ago as the 1890s, and throughout much of the club's early history, a change strip of white jerseys with black shorts was worn. The away shirt additionally featured a large 'V' during the First World War. In the 1935 FA Cup Final, however, when both of Albion and Sheffield Wednesday's kits clashed, a switch was made to plain navy blue shirts. An all-red strip was adopted at the end of the 1950s, but was dropped following defeat in the 1967 League Cup Final, to be replaced by the all-white design that was worn during the club's FA Cup run of 1967–68. Since then the away strip has changed regularly, with yellow and green stripes the most common of a number of different designs used. In the 1990s and 2000s a third kit has occasionally been introduced.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Albion players – along with those of other Football League teams – first wore numbers on the back of their shirts in the abandoned season of 1939–40, and names on the back of their shirts from 1999–2000. Red numbers were added to the side of Albion players' shorts in 1969.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: BSR Housewares became the club's first shirt sponsor during the 1981–82 season. The club's shirts have been sponsored for the majority of the time since then, although there was no shirt sponsor at the end of the 1993–94 season, after local solicitors Coucher & Shaw were closed down by the Law Society of England and Wales. Unusually for a Premier League club, Albion were again without a shirt sponsor for the start of the 2008–09 campaign, as negotiations with a new sponsor were still ongoing when the season began. The longest-running shirt sponsorship deal agreed by the club ran for seven seasons between 1997 and 2004 with the West Bromwich Building Society. Today the club's principal sponsor is Ideal Boilers. Other sponsors have included T-Mobile (2004–08), Homeserve (2010–11), Bodog (2011–12), Zoopla (2012–14), Intuit Quickbooks (2014–15), Tlcbet (2015–16), K8 group (2016–2017), and Palm Eco-Town Development (2017–18).


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Since July 2018, West Brom's kit has been manufactured by Puma. Previous manufacturers have included Scoreline (1989–91), Influence (1991–92), Pelada (1993–95), Patrick (1995-2002), Diadora (2003–2006), Umbro (1974–89, 2006–11) and Adidas (2011–18).


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: The speed with which the club became established following its foundation is illustrated by the fact that it outgrew four successive grounds in its first seven years. The first was Cooper's Hill, where they played from 1878 to 1879. From 1879 to 1881, they appear to have alternated between Cooper's Hill and Dartmouth Park. During the 1881–82 season, they played at Bunn's Field, also known as the Birches. This had a capacity of between 1,500 and 2,000, and was Albion's first enclosed ground, allowing the club to charge an entrance fee for the first time. From 1882 to 1885, as the popularity of football increased, Albion rented the Four Acres ground from the well-established West Bromwich Dartmouth Cricket Club. But they quickly outgrew this new home and soon needed to move again. From 1885 to 1900, Albion played at Stoney Lane; their tenure of this ground was arguably the most successful period in the club's history, as they won the FA Cup twice and were runners-up three times.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: By 1900, when the lease on Stoney Lane expired, the club needed a bigger ground yet again and so made its last move to date. All of Albion's previous grounds had been close to the centre of West Bromwich, but on this occasion they took up a site on the town's border with Handsworth and Smethwick. The new ground was named The Hawthorns, after the hawthorn bushes that covered the area and were cleared to make way for it. Albion drew 1–1 with Derby County in the first match at the stadium, on 3 September 1900. The record attendance at the Hawthorns was on 6 March 1937, when 64,815 spectators saw Albion beat Arsenal 3–1 in the FA Cup quarter-final. The Hawthorns became an all-seater stadium in the 1990s, in order to comply with the recommendations of the Taylor Report. Its capacity today is 26,850, the four stands being known respectively as the Birmingham Road End, Smethwick End, East Stand and West Stand (Halfords Lane). At an altitude of 551 feet (168 m) above sea level, the Hawthorns is the highest of all the 92 Premier League and Football League grounds.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: The Hawthorns is certificated under the highest UEFA pitch surfaces which means it is ready to host almost any competition if required. The stadium's West Stand has the potential to be developed over the Halfords Lane at the back of the stand to allow for an upper tier, bringing the capacity of The Hawthorns to around 30,000.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: West Bromwich Albion own retail outlets around The Hawthorns, including its Stadium Megastore and seasonally a club store in West Bromwich town centre. They also own the former Hawthorns Pub, a Grade II listed building behind the West Stand on the corner of Halfords Lane and the Birmingham Road. This has served as the official club fanzone with licensed bars, live music, fan favourites – such as mascots and children activities – as well as being shared with a high street food outlet. The pub competes with The Vine pub in Roebuck Lane, a popular destination for visiting and home football fans year-round.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: The official West Bromwich Albion Supporters Club was founded on 4 October 1951. In the years since then, over 30 branches have been established throughout the United Kingdom, and internationally in Jersey, Ireland, Spain, Malta, Croatia, USA, UAE, India, Thailand and Australia. There are also supporters groups for those with disabilities, for mental health support, Punjabi supporters, supporters in the emergency services and armed forces, and LGBT people.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Albion's "club anthem" is "The Lord's my Shepherd", a setting of Psalm 23. Supporters of the team celebrate goals by bouncing up and down and chanting "Boing Boing". This dates back to the 1992–93 season, when the team was promoted from the new Second Division. "The Liquidator" instrumental by the Harry J. Allstars has also been popularly used in the stadium since the late 1960s. The reggae song "West Bromwich Albion" by Ray King is another club anthem popularly played before matches. In recent years fans of the team have celebrated the end of each season by adopting a fancy dress theme for the final away match, including dressing as Vikings in 2004 in honour of Player of the Season Thomas Gaardsøe.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: In 2002–03 Albion's fans were voted the best in the Premier League by their peers, while in the BBC's 2002 "national intelligence test" "Test the Nation", they were found to be "more likely to be smarter than any other football supporters, registering an average score of 138".


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Famous fans include Goalkeepers Aaron Ramsdale and Ben Foster, comedian Frank Skinner, TV presenter Adrian Chiles, One Direction singer Liam Payne, comedian Lenny Henry, actress Julie Walters, The Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, tennis player Goran Ivanišević, television presenter Cat Deeley, DJ Dave Haslam, boxers Richie Woodhall and Tommy Langford, and guitarist Eric Clapton.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: The club has published an official matchday programme for supporters since 1905. The publication was entitled "Albion News" for many years, but was renamed "Albion" from the 2002–03 season until the close season of 2013, when it was renamed back to "Albion News". It won Premier League Programme of the Year in 2002–03 and Third Division Programme of the Year in 1991–92. In 2007–08, it was awarded Championship Programme of the Year by both Programme Monthly and the Football Programme Directory. The programme has a circulation in excess of 8,000 copies. The first West Bromwich Albion fanzine, "Fingerpost", was published from 1983 until 1992, and was followed by several others, most notably "Grorty Dick" (1989–2005) and "Last Train to Rolfe Street" (1992–1995). Since "Grorty Dick" ceased publication in 2005, the club now only has one fanzine dedicated to it; 'Baggie Shorts' which is produced by the West Bromwich Albion Supporters' Club London Branch.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Although known in their early days as ""the Throstles"", the club's more popular nickname among supporters came to be "the Baggies", a term which the club itself looked down upon for many years but later embraced. The phrase was first heard at the Hawthorns in the 1900s, but its exact origins are uncertain. One suggestion is that the name was bestowed on Albion supporters by their rivals at Aston Villa, because of the large baggy trousers that many Albion fans wore at work to protect themselves from molten iron in the factories and foundries of the Black Country. Club historian Tony Matthews, however, suggests that it derives from the "bagmen", who carried the club's matchday takings in big leather bags from the turnstiles to the cash office on the halfway line. Other theories relate to the baggy shorts worn by various players during the club's early years. The official club mascots are named "Baggie Bird" and "Albi"; both are based on the throstle depicted on the club crest.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Historically, Albion's greatest rivals were Aston Villa from nearby Birmingham. The two clubs contested three FA Cup Finals between 1887 and 1895 (Villa winning two and Albion one). More recently, however, some Albion fans tend to see Wolverhampton Wanderers as their main rivals, particularly as between 1989 and 2002 Albion and Villa were never in the same division, but Albion were in the same division as Wolves for 11 out of 14 seasons. This had led to Aston Villa supporters now considering Birmingham City to be their fiercest rivals. A less-heated rivalry also exists with Birmingham City, with whom Albion contested the 1931 FA Cup final, as well as a semi-final in 1968.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: A number of hooligan firms associate themselves with Albion, including Section 5, Clubhouse and the Smethwick Mob.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Albion and Wolves contest the Black Country derby, one of the longest standing derbies in world football. It is considered one of the fiercest rivalries in English football. A 2008 survey found it to be the most intense rivalry in the country, with one in four fans from both clubs claiming that their rivalry went much deeper than football. The two sides have played each other 160 times, with their first major clash being an FA Cup tie in 1886. Both Albion and Wolves were founding members of the Football League in 1888, making the derby the joint oldest in English league football. The rivalry came to prominence when the two clubs contested the league title in 1953–54, and during the 1990s it intensified to new heights among supporters, with both clubs languishing in Division One for much of the decade and only local pride at stake. Moreover, in 2002 Albion came from being 11 points adrift to overhaul Wolves to gain promotion. The rivalry was further heightened after the sides met in the play-offs in 2007. A 2004 survey by Planetfootball.com confirmed that the majority of both Albion and Wolves supporters consider the other to be their main rival. In February 2012 the Baggies beat Wolves 5–1 away from home, with Peter Odemwingie scoring a hat-trick. The game became known as the 'demolition derby', and remains the highest scoring Black Country derby of the 21st century. Despite their geographical location, fellow Black Country club Walsall are seen as lesser rivals, having played in a lower division than Albion for most of their history.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Ranked by "The Daily Telegraph" in 2010 as the most fierce in the region alongside the Black Country derby and the Second City derby, games between Aston Villa and West Brom are particularly fierce. The two first met on 9 December 1882, in the second round of the Staffordshire Cup: Villa hosted a 3–3 draw in front of 13,900 fans, while in the replay West Brom won by a single goal with an attendance of 10,500. On 3 January 1885, they met for the first time in the third round of the FA Cup: a goalless draw at West Brom was followed by a 3–0 victory for them away at Villa. The following year, both teams became founder members of the Football League. They met first in a league fixture on 19 January 1889, Villa winning 2–0 at home, before a draw the next week ending 3–3. The two teams met in two further FA Cup finals in the 19th century, a 3–0 win for West Brom in 1892 and a 1–0 win for Aston Villa in 1895.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Birmingham City were relegated from the Premier League in 2011 and Wolverhampton Wanderers a season later, leaving Aston Villa and West Brom as the only West Midlands teams in England's top division. Without their respective main rivals and with Albion finishing above their nearest rivals for the second season in a row, the historic rivalry was rekindled to pre-1990s competitiveness. At the end of the 2015–16 season, Aston Villa were relegated, leaving West Brom as the only West Midlands team in the top flight for the 2016–17 season. After Albion's relegation at the end of the 2017–18 Premier League, the teams faced each other in the Championship. In the 2018–19 EFL Championship play-off semi-finals, Villa knocked out West Brom on penalties, after Albion had two men sent-off over both legs.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: In the club's formative years, West Bromwich Albion were run by a seven-man playing committee, and funded by each member contributing a weekly subscription of 6d (six pence) (2p). Albion's first chairman was Henry Jackson, appointed in 1885, with the club becoming a limited company in June 1891. Other early chairmen of Albion included Jem Bayliss and Billy Bassett, both of whom had earlier played for the club. Indeed, from 1878 to 1986 there was always an Albion player or ex-player on the club's committee or board of directors. Bassett became an Albion director in 1905, following the resignation of the previous board in its entirety. The club was in deep financial trouble and had had a writ served upon them by their bank, but Bassett and returning chairman Harry Keys rescued the club, aided by local fund-raising activities. Bassett became chairman in 1908, and helped the club to avoid bankruptcy once more in 1910 by paying the players' summer wages from his own pocket. He remains Albion's longest-serving chairman, having held the position until his death in 1937. The club's longest-serving director was Major H. Wilson Keys, during the period 1930–1965, including 15 years as chairman. He became vice-president of the Football Association in 1969.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Sir Bert Millichip served as Albion chairman from 1974 to 1983, after which he chose to concentrate on his role as chairman of the Football Association. In 1996, the club became a public limited company, issuing shares to supporters at £500 and £3,000 each, under the Chairmanship of Paul Thompson. The shares were quoted on the Alternative Investment Market, but the club withdrew from the stock exchange in order to become a private company again in 2004. The name of the company thus reverted from West Bromwich Albion plc to West Bromwich Albion Limited, the latter becoming a subsidiary of West Bromwich Albion Holdings Limited. Jeremy Peace took up the post in 2002, after a rift between previous chairman Paul Thompson and manager Gary Megson forced Thompson to quit the club.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: In September 2007, Peace acquired additional shares in West Bromwich Albion Holdings Limited, taking his total stake in the company to 50.56%. This triggered a requirement, under the Takeover Code, for him to make a mandatory cash offer for the remaining shares in both WBA Holdings Ltd and WBA Ltd. Later that year, Michelle Davies became Albion's first female director. She stepped down in 2010. Jeremy Peace announced in June 2008 that he was looking for a major new investor for the club, but no firm proposals were received by the 31 July deadline.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: On 24 July 2015, Jeremy Peace announced that his sale exclusivity deal was now off after a potential buyer was unable to fulfil the terms of sale.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: In July 2016, Peace announced that he had found a buyer in the form of a Chinese investment group headed by Lai Guochuan. The figure agreed upon is believed to have been in the region of £175 million – £200 million. The takeover was successfully completed ahead of schedule on 15 September the same year. John Williams was originally appointed chairman of the club before Lai replaced him with associate Li Piyue after the club's relegation in the 2017–18 season. Lai himself took over as chairman on 2 February 2022.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: As part of the club's 125th anniversary celebrations in 2004, a survey was commissioned via the official West Bromwich Albion website and the "Express & Star" newspaper to determine the greatest West Brom players of all time. A modern-day, 16-man squad was compiled from the results; all selected players are depicted on a commemorative mural displayed at The Hawthorns. Fourteen of the sixteen players are English-born, with a fifteenth, Cyrille Regis, a French Guiana-born full England international. The list of 16 is as follows:


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Other notable honours bestowed upon West Brom players include the PFA Young Player of the Year award, which was presented to Cyrille Regis in 1979. In 1998, Billy Bassett and Bryan Robson were named among the list of Football League 100 Legends, along with Arthur Rowley, Geoff Hurst and Johnny Giles. Bryan Robson was also an inaugural inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002, to be joined two years later by Geoff Hurst. Bobby Robson, a player with Albion, has also been inducted, although this was for his achievements as a manager. In 1919–20, Fred Morris became the first Albion player to finish as top goalscorer in Division One, a feat which has since been repeated by Ronnie Allen, Derek Kevan, Jeff Astle and Tony Brown. Brown, who holds the club records for goals and appearances, was voted into the PFA Centenary Hall of Fame in July 2007.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: The following managers have all led West Bromwich Albion to at least one of the following achievements while in charge of the club: winning a major trophy or reaching the final, achieving a top three league finish in the top flight, winning promotion or reaching the quarter-finals of a major European competition.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: West Bromwich Albion's record victory was their 12–0 league win against Darwen on 4 April 1892. This is still the widest margin of victory for a game in the top-flight of English football, although the record was equalled by Nottingham Forest when they beat Leicester Fosse by the same scoreline in 1909. Albion's biggest FA Cup victory came when they beat Chatham 10–1 on 2 March 1889. The club's record league defeat was a 3–10 loss against Stoke City on 4 February 1937, while a 0–5 defeat to Leeds United on 18 February 1967 represents Albion's heaviest FA Cup loss.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Tony Brown holds a number of Albion's club records. He has made the most appearances overall for the club (720), as well as most appearances in the league (574), FA Cup (54) and in European competition (17). Brown is the club's top scorer in the league (218), the FA Cup (27) and in Europe (8). He is also the club's record scorer overall, with 279 goals. W. G. Richardson scored 328 goals for the club, but this includes 100 during World War II, which are not normally counted towards competitive totals. Richardson holds the club record for most league goals in a single season, scoring 39 times in 1935–36.


title: West Bromwich Albion F.C.

text: Albion's most capped international player, taking into account only those caps won whilst at the club, is Chris Brunt. He appeared 55 times for Northern Ireland as an Albion player, earning 65 caps in total before retiring from international football in 2017. Jesse Pennington is the club's most capped England international, with 25 caps. The highest transfer fee paid by the club is £15 million to RB Leipzig for Oliver Burke on 25 August 2017. The record transfer fee received by Albion from another club was for the transfer of Salomón Rondón to Dalian Yifang in July 2019 for £16.5 million.


title: Arab League

text: The Arab League (, ' ), formally the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, Eastern Africa, and Western Asia. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan (renamed Jordan in 1949), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a member on 5 May 1945. Currently, the League has 22 members, but Syria's participation has been suspended since November 2011.


title: Arab League

text: The League's main goal is to "draw closer the relations between member states and co-ordinate collaboration between them, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty, and to consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab countries". The organization has received a relatively low level of cooperation throughout its history.


title: Arab League

text: Through institutions, notably the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) and the Economic and Social Council of its Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU), the League facilitates political, economic, cultural, scientific, and social programmes designed to promote the interests of the Arab world. It has served as a forum for the member states to coordinate policy, arrange studies of and committees as to matters of common concern, settle inter-state disputes and limit conflicts such as the 1958 Lebanon crisis. The League has served as a platform for the drafting and conclusion of many landmark documents promoting economic integration. One example is the "Joint Arab Economic Action Charter", which outlines the principles for economic activities in the region.


title: Arab League

text: Each member state has one vote in the Council of the Arab League, and decisions are binding only for those states that have voted for them. The aims of the league in 1945 were to strengthen and coordinate the political, cultural, economic and social programs of its members and to mediate disputes among them or between them and third parties. Furthermore, the signing of an agreement on "Joint Defence and Economic Cooperation" on 13 April 1950 committed the signatories to coordination of military defence measures. In March 2015, the Arab League General Secretary announced the establishment of a Joint Arab Force with the aim of counteracting extremism and other threats to the Arab States. The decision was reached while Operation Decisive Storm was intensifying in Yemen. Participation in the project is voluntary, and the army intervenes only at the request of one of the member states. Heightened military arsenal in many member states and, in a small minority, civil wars as well as terrorist movements were the impetuts for the JAF, financed by the rich Gulf countries.


title: Arab League

text: In the early 1970s, the Economic Council put forward a proposal to create the Joint Arab Chambers of Commerce across European states. That led, under its decree K1175/D52/G to the setting up of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce, mandated to promote, encourage and facilitate bilateral trade between the Arab world and significant trading partner, the United Kingdom.


title: Arab League

text: Following adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944, the Arab League was founded on 22 March 1945. The official headquarters of the League was the Boustan Palace in Cairo. It aimed to be a regional organisation of Arab states with a focus to developing the economy, resolving disputes and coordinating political aims. Other countries later joined the league. Each country was given one vote in the council. The first major action was the joint intervention, allegedly on behalf of the majority Arab population being uprooted as the state of Israel emerged in 1948 (and in response to popular protest in the Arab world), but a major participant in this intervention, Transjordan, had agreed with the Israelis to divide up the Arab Palestinian state proposed by the United Nations General Assembly, and Egypt intervened primarily to prevent its rival in Amman from accomplishing its objective. It was followed by the creation of a mutual defence treaty two years later. A common market was established in 1965.


title: Arab League

text: The Arab League has achieved relatively low levels of cooperation throughout its history. According to Michael Barnett and Etel Solingen, the design of the Arab League reflects Arab leaders' individual concerns for regime survival: "the politics of Arab nationalism and a shared identity led Arab states to embrace the rhetoric of Arab unity in order to legitimize their regimes, and to fear Arab unity in practice because it would impose greater restrictions on their sovereignty." The Arab League was "specifically designed to fail at producing the kind of greater collaboration and integration that might have weakened political leaders at home."


title: Arab League

text: The Arab League member states cover over and straddles two continents: Africa and Asia. The area largely consists of arid deserts, such as the Sahara. Nevertheless, it also contains several highly fertile lands like the Nile Valley, the Jubba Valley and Shebelle Valley in the Horn of Africa, the Atlas Mountains in the Maghreb, and the Fertile Crescent that stretches over Mesopotamia and the Levant. The area comprises deep forests in southern Arabia and parts of the world's longest river, the Nile.


title: Arab League

text: The Charter of the Arab League, also known as the Pact of the League of Arab States, is the founding treaty of the Arab League. Adopted in 1945, it stipulates that "the League of Arab States shall be composed of the independent Arab States that have signed this Pact."


title: Arab League

text: Initially, in 1945, there were only six members. Today, the Arab League has 22 members, including three African countries among the largest by area (Sudan, Algeria and Libya) and the largest country in Western Asia (Saudi Arabia).


title: Arab League

text: There was a continual increase in membership during the second half of the 20th century. , there are 22 member states:


title: Arab League

text: and 5 observer states (note: the below observer states have been invited to participate during select Arab League sessions, but do not hold voting privileges):


title: Arab League

text: On 26 March 1979, Egypt was suspended from the Arab League due to the Egypt–Israel peace treaty; it was later readmitted on 23 May 1989.


title: Arab League

text: Libya was suspended on 22 February 2011, following the start of the Libyan Civil War. The National Transitional Council, the partially recognised interim government of Libya, sent a representative to be seated at the Arab League meeting on 17 August to participate in a discussion as to whether to readmit Libya to the organisation.


title: Arab League

text: Syria was suspended on 16 November 2011. On 6 March 2013, the Arab League gave the Syrian National Coalition Syria's seat in the Arab League. On 9 March 2014, secretary general Nabil al-Arabi said that Syria's seat would remain vacant until the opposition completes the formation of its institutions.


title: Arab League

text: The Arab League is a political organization which tries to help integrate its members economically, and solve conflicts involving member states without asking for foreign assistance. It possesses elements of a state representative parliament while foreign affairs are often conducted under UN supervision.


title: Arab League

text: The Charter of the Arab League endorsed the principle of an Arab homeland while respecting the sovereignty of the individual member states. The internal regulations of the Council of the League and the committees were agreed in October 1951. Those of the Secretariat-General were agreed in May 1953.


title: Arab League

text: Since then, governance of the Arab League has been based on the duality of supra-national institutions and the sovereignty of the member states. Preservation of individual statehood derived its strengths from the natural preference of ruling elites to maintain their power and independence in decision making. Moreover, the fear of the richer that the poorer may share their wealth in the name of Arab nationalism, the feuds among Arab rulers, and the influence of external powers that might oppose Arab unity can be seen as obstacles towards a deeper integration of the league.


title: Arab League

text: Mindful of their previous announcements in support of the Arabs of Palestine the framers of the Pact were determined to include them within the League from its inauguration. This was done by means of an annex that declared:


title: Arab League

text: At the Cairo Summit of 1964, the Arab League initiated the creation of an organisation representing the Palestinian people. The first Palestinian National Council convened in East Jerusalem on 29 May 1964. The Palestinian Liberation Organization was founded during this meeting on 2 June 1964. Palestine was shortly admitted in to the Arab League, represented by the PLO. Today, State of Palestine is a full member of the Arab League.


title: Arab League

text: At the Beirut Summit on 28 March 2002, the league adopted the Arab Peace Initiative, a Saudi-inspired peace plan for the Arab–Israeli conflict. The initiative offered full normalisation of the relations with Israel. In exchange, Israel was required to withdraw from all occupied territories, including the Golan Heights, to recognise Palestinian independence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as a "just solution" for the Palestinian refugees. The Peace Initiative was again endorsed at 2007 in the Riyadh Summit. In July 2007, the Arab League sent a mission, consisting of the Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers, to Israel to promote the initiative. Following Venezuela's move to expel Israeli diplomats amid the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict, Kuwaiti member of parliament Waleed Al-Tabtabaie proposed moving Arab League headquarters to Caracas, Venezuela. On 13 June 2010, Amr Mohammed Moussa, Secretary-General of the Arab League, visited the Gaza Strip, the first visit by an official of the Arab League since Hamas' armed takeover in 2007.


title: Arab League

text: The Arab League is a member of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF), which was formed in 2004. CASCF is the Arab League's earliest participation in a cooperation forum with another country or region. CASCF is the primarily multi-lateral coordination mechanism between the Arab states and China and within CASCF the Arab League represents its member states as a relatively unified force. The Arab League's coordination allows Arab states to negotiate actively for collective projects involving multiple states, such as railway projects, nuclear power projects, and Dead Sea initiatives.


title: Arab League

text: In 2015, the Arab League voiced support for Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen against the Shia Houthis and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was deposed in the 2011 uprising.


title: Arab League

text: On 15 April 2018, in response to the Turkish invasion of northern Syria aimed at ousting U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds from the enclave of Afrin, the Arab League passed a resolution calling on Turkish forces to withdraw from Afrin.


title: Arab League

text: In September 2019, the Arab League condemned Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to annex the eastern portion of the occupied West Bank known as the Jordan Valley.


title: Arab League

text: The Arab League met in Cairo on 12 October 2019 to discuss Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria. Upon meeting, its member states voted to condemn the Turkish offensive, dubbing it both an 'invasion' and an 'aggression' against an Arab state, adding that the organization saw it as a violation of international law.


title: Arab League

text: On 9 September 2020, the Arab League refused to condemn the UAE's decision to normalize ties with Israel. Nevertheless, "The goal all our Arab countries seek, without exception, is to end the occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital," Abul Gheit said.


title: Arab League

text: The Joint Defence Council of the Arab League is one of the Institutions of the Arab League. It was established under the terms of the Joint Defence and Economic Co-operation Treaty of 1950 to coordinate the joint defence of the Arab League member states.


title: Arab League

text: The Arab League as an organisation has no military Force, similar to the UN, but at the 2007 summit, the Leaders decided to reactivate their joint defence and establish a peacekeeping force to deploy in South Lebanon, Darfur, Iraq, and other hot spots.


title: Arab League

text: The Arab League is rich in resources, such as enormous oil and natural gas resources in certain member states. Another industry that is growing steadily in the Arab League is telecommunications. Within less than a decade, local companies such as Orascom and Etisalat have managed to compete internationally.


title: Arab League

text: Economic achievements initiated by the League amongst member states have been less impressive than those achieved by smaller Arab organisations such as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Among them is the Arab Gas Pipeline, that will transport Egyptian and Iraqi gas to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey. As of 2013, a significant difference in economic conditions exist between the developed oil states of Algeria, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE, and developing countries like the Comoros, Djibouti, Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.


title: Arab League

text: The Arab League also includes great fertile lands in the southern part of Sudan. It is referred to as the food basket of the Arab World, the region's instability including the independence of South Sudan has not affected its tourism industry, that is considered the fastest growing industry in the region, with Egypt, UAE, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Jordan leading the way. Another industry that is growing steadily in the Arab League is telecommunications.


title: Arab League

text: Economical achievements within members have been low in the league's history, other smaller Arab Organizations have achieved more than the league has, such as the GCC, but lately several major economic projects that are promising are to be completed, the Arab Gas Pipeline is to end by 2010, Connecting Egyptian and Iraqi Gas to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, and then to Turkey thus Europe, a free trade Agreement (GAFTA) is to be completed by 1 January 2008, making 95% of all Arab Products tax free of customs.


title: Arab League

text: The Arab League is divided into five parts when it comes to transport, with the Arabian Peninsula and the Near East being entirely connected by air, sea, roads and railways. Another part of the League is the Nile Valley, made up of Egypt and Sudan. These two member states have started to improve the River Nile's navigation system to improve accessibility and thus foster trading. A new railway system is also set to connect the southern Egyptian city of Abu Simbel with the northern Sudanese city of Wadi Halfa and then to Khartoum and Port Sudan. The third division of the League is the Maghreb, where a 3,000 km stretch of railway runs from the southern cities of Morocco to Tripoli in Western Libya. The fourth division of the League is the Horn of Africa, whose member states include Djibouti and Somalia. These two Arab League states are separated by only ten nautical miles from the Arabian Peninsula by the Bab el Mandeb and this is quickly changing as Tarik bin Laden, the brother of Osama bin Laden, has initiated the construction of the ambitious Bridge of the Horns project, which ultimately aims to connect the Horn of Africa with the Arabian Peninsula via a massive bridge. The project is intended to facilitate and accelerate the already centuries-old trade and commerce between the two regions. The last division of the League is the isolated island of the Comoros located off the coast of East Africa, which is not physically connected to any other Arab state, but still trades with other Arab League members.


title: Arab League

text: In collecting literacy data, many countries estimate the number of literate people based on self-reported data. Some use educational attainment data as a proxy, but measures of school attendance or grade completion may differ. Because definitions and data collection methods vary across countries, literacy estimates should be used with caution. United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 2010. It is also important to note that the Persian Gulf region has had an oil boom, enabling more schools and universities to be set up.


title: Arab League

text: The Arab League is a culturally and ethnically one association of 22 member states, with the overwhelming majority of the League's population identified as Arab (on a cultural ethnoracial basis). As of 1 July 2013, about 359 million people live in the states of the Arab League. Its population grows faster than in most other global regions. The most populous member state is Egypt, with a population of about 100 million. The least populated is the Comoros, with over 0.6 million inhabitants.


title: Arab League

text: The majority of the Arab League's citizens adhere to Islam, with Christianity being the second largest religion. At least 15 million Christians combined live in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan and Syria. In addition, there are smaller but significant numbers of Druze, Yazidis, Shabaks and Mandaeans. Numbers for nonreligious Arabs are generally not available, but research by the Pew Forum suggests around 1% of people in the MENA region are "unaffiliated".


title: Arab League

text: The official language of the Arab League is Literary Arabic, based on Classical Arabic. However, several Arab League member states have other co-official or national languages, such as Somali, Afar, Comorian, French, English, Berber and Kurdish. In most countries, there is a dominant non-codified spoken Arabic dialect.


title: Arab League

text: The Pan Arab Games are considered the biggest Arab sporting event, which brings together athletes from all the Arab countries to participate in a variety of different sports.


title: Arab League

text: The Union of Arab Football Associations organises the Arab Cup (for national teams) and the Arab Club Champions Cup (for clubs). Arab sport federations also exist for several games, include basketball, volleyball, handball, table tennis, tennis, squash and swimming.


title: Lion (2016 film)

text: Lion is a 2016 Australian biographical drama film directed by Garth Davis (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Luke Davies based on the 2013 non-fiction book "A Long Way Home" by Saroo Brierley. The film stars Dev Patel, Sunny Pawar, Rooney Mara, David Wenham, and Nicole Kidman, as well as Abhishek Bharate, Divian Ladwa, Priyanka Bose, Deepti Naval, Tannishtha Chatterjee, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. It tells the true story of how Brierley, 25 years after being separated from his family in India, sets out to find them. It is a joint production between Australia and the United Kingdom.


title: Lion (2016 film)

text: The film, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2016, was given a limited release in North America on 25 November 2016, by The Weinstein Company before opening generally on 6 January 2017. It was released in Australia on 19 January 2017 and in the United Kingdom on 20 January 2017.


title: Lion (2016 film)

text: "Lion" was well-received by critics, with praise for the acting (particularly from Patel and Kidman), emotional weight, visuals, cinematography and screenplay; it received six Oscar nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Patel), Best Supporting Actress (Kidman), and Best Adapted Screenplay. It won two BAFTA Awards for Best Supporting Actor (Patel) and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film was also commercially successful, making $140 million worldwide, becoming one of the highest-grossing Australian films of all time.


title: Lion (2016 film)

text: In 1986, Saroo, a five-year-old boy, lives with his elder brother Guddu, his mother and his younger baby sister in Khandwa, India. Guddu and Saroo steal coal from freight trains to trade for milk and food. One night Saroo pesters his brother who is going to work overnight to let him come too. Guddu refuses at first yet finally relents, and they arrive at a nearby train station where Saroo is too tired to stay awake. Guddu places Saroo on a bench and tells him to wait for his return. Saroo promptly falls asleep and when he wakes up Guddu is not there. Saroo searches the station for Guddu and gets on an empty train looking for him. There he falls asleep again in one of the compartments, only to awake sometime later to find the train in motion and the doors locked. After several days the train arrives in faraway Calcutta where 5-year-old Saroo does not understand the local Bengali language. He stands at a ticket counter and tries to obtain a ticket home, but the attendant does not recognise the name of his village, which Saroo says is "Ganestalay". He spends the night in the station with some street children, but is then woken up and forced to run when a group of men try to kidnap them.


title: Lion (2016 film)

text: Saroo continues to wander around the city before coming across Noor, a seemingly friendly woman who takes him back to her apartment. She tells Saroo that a man named Rama will help him find his way home. Saroo runs away, sensing that Noor and Rama have sinister intentions, and escapes Noor when she chases after him. After two months of living near the Howrah Bridge, Saroo is taken to the police by a young man. Unable to trace his family, they put him in an orphanage. Three months later, Saroo is introduced to Mrs Sood, who tells him she has placed an advertisement about him in several local newspapers, but no one has responded. She then tells him that an Australian couple is interested in adopting him. She begins to teach Saroo basic English and he moves to Hobart, Tasmania in 1987, under the care of Sue and John Brierley, where he slowly starts to settle into his new adopted lifestyle. One year later, they adopt another boy, Mantosh, who has trouble adjusting to his new home and suffers from rage and self-harm.


title: Lion (2016 film)

text: Twenty years later Saroo is now a young man who moves to Melbourne to study hotel management. He starts a relationship with Lucy, an American student. During a meal with some Indian friends at their home, he comes across jalebi, a delicacy he remembers from his childhood. Saroo reveals that he is not from Calcutta and that he has been lost for more than twenty years, and his friends suggest he use Google Earth to search for his hometown in India. Saroo commences his search, but over time disconnects from Lucy and his family, overwhelmed by the thought of emotions his family must have gone through when he was missing.


title: Lion (2016 film)

text: Saroo visits his adoptive mother, Sue, whose health is deteriorating, and learns that she is not infertile, but had chosen to help others in need through adoption, believing that there were already too many people on Earth. After reconciling with Lucy, Saroo spends a long time searching fruitlessly for his hometown. One evening, while scanning Google Earth he notices the rock formations where his mother worked and then finds the area where he lived: the Ganesh Talai neighbourhood of the Khandwa district. He finally tells his adoptive mother about his search and she fully supports his efforts.


title: Lion (2016 film)

text: Saroo returns to his hometown and with the help of a local English speaker, has an emotional reunion with his biological mother and sister. He also learns the fate of his brother Guddu, who was hit and killed by an oncoming train the night of his separation. Saroo's mother never gave up hope nor moved away from the village as she believed that one day her missing son would return home. The film ends with captions about the real Saroo's return to India in February 2012. Photos of the real Australian family are shown, as well as footage of Saroo introducing Sue to his biological mother in India, who deeply appreciates Sue's care for her son. Saroo later learned that he had been mispronouncing his own name for all those years, which was actually Sheru, meaning "lion".


title: Lion (2016 film)

text: While writing the screenplay, Luke Davies acknowledged the challenges of adapting a book that is primarily about an online search:


title: Lion (2016 film)

text: "It was finding the right balance of the big cinema "no-no", which is that screens on screens is not good. Yet we felt very strongly that our situation was quite different from the usual procedural crime drama TV model, where there are a whole bunch of actors that are crammed with exposition-heavy dialogue pointing at computer screens. We felt that we were a million miles away from that. The relationship with the technology was instigated by a purely and deeply emotional drive and desire to make it to the end of the myth – to find wholeness with the reunification with the lost mother and to find out who you are."