title: Antichrist (film)

text: Post-production was primarily located in Warsaw, Poland, and Gothenburg, Sweden. Over the time of two months, the Poles contributed with about 4,000 hours of work and the Swedes 500. The film features 80 shots with computer-generated imagery, provided by the Polish company Platige Image. Most of these shots consist of digitally removed details such as the collar and leash used to lead the deer, but some were more complicated. The scene where the fox utters the words "chaos reigns" was particularly difficult to make. The mouth movements had to be entirely computer-generated in order to synchronize with the sound. The sex scene in Chapter Three during which numerous hands emerge from the roots of a tree was subsequently adapted into the principal promotional art for the film.


title: Antichrist (film)

text: The aria "Lascia ch'io pianga" from Handel's opera "Rinaldo" is used as the film's main musical theme. The aria has previously been used in other films such as "Farinelli", a 1994 biographical film about the castrato singer Farinelli, and was used again by Von Trier in "Nymphomaniac" during a scene referencing the sequence showing Nic approaching the open window. Recorded in January 2009 at the Kastelskirken (Citadel Church) in Copenhagen, the film's versions of "Lascia ch'io pianga" were performed by (violin), Tuva Semmingsen (mezzo-soprano), Karina Gauvin (soprano) and Tempo Rubato ensemble.


title: Antichrist (film)

text: Kristian Eidnes Andersen composed the unconventional ambient "score". Until 2019, it was Eidnes Andersen's only credit for a film's composition—aside from television or documentary work—though he had previously collaborated with von Trier as a sound designer on several films. The musician and critic Robert Barry described the score as the film's "in-between bits, the judders and rumbles and low howls drifting somewhere undecidable between composed music and sound design ... the un-music, the audiable, the hum of the world."


title: Antichrist (film)

text: A decade after the film's theatrical run, its soundtrack saw a limited-edition vinyl release, issued on 6 September 2019 by the English record label Cold Spring. The soundtrack album features both versions of "Lascia ch'io pianga" and selected extracts from Eidnes Andersen's score. Its runtime is relatively brief: only the first side of the vinyl LP has audio, while the other blank side is etched with the words "nature is satan's church" in a "Gothic" typeface.


title: Antichrist (film)

text: The film premiered during the Competition portion of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival to a polarized audience response. The film prompted several walkouts and at least four people fainted during the preview due to the explicit violence. At the subsequent press conference, Trier was asked by a journalist from the "Daily Mail" to justify why he made the film, to which the director responded that he found the question strange since he considered the audience as his guests, "not the other way around." He then claimed to be the best director in the world. Gainsbourg won the festival's award for Best Actress. The ecumenical jury at the Cannes festival gave the film a special "anti-award" and declared the film to be "the most misogynist movie from the self-proclaimed biggest director in the world." Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux responded that this was a "ridiculous decision that borders on a call for censorship" and that it was "scandalous coming from an 'ecumenical' jury". The "talking fox" was nominated for the Palm Dog, but lost to Dug from "Up".


title: Antichrist (film)

text: Two versions were available for buyers at the Cannes film market, nicknamed the "Catholic" and "Protestant" versions, where the former had some of the most explicit scenes removed while the latter was uncut. The uncut version was released theatrically to a general audience on 20 May 2009 in Denmark. It was acquired for British distribution by Artificial Eye and American by IFC Films. In the United Kingdom, it had a limited release beginning on 24 July 2009, and in the United States on 23 October 2009. The film was not submitted to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and released unrated in the United States, as the filmmakers knew the graphic violence and sex would get an NC-17 rating. In both Ireland and the United Kingdom, "Antichrist" was also released uncut, bearing an 18 certificate. David Cooke of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) commented on the decision to leave the film uncut, saying:


title: Antichrist (film)

text: The British Advertising Standards Authority received seven complaints about the poster, which was based on the original poster and shows the couple as they are having sexual intercourse. The organization decided to approve the poster, finding it to not be pornographic since its "dark tone" made it "unlikely to cause sexual excitement". An alternative poster, featuring only quotes from reviews and no image at all, was used in outdoor venues and as an alternative for publishers who desired it.


title: Antichrist (film)

text: In 2016, seven years after original release, the film was rated 18+ in France when the Catholic traditionalist group, Promouvoir, campaigned for a ratings reclassification of it. The ruling French court deemed the culture ministry's original decision to release the film as 16+ "a mistake."


title: Antichrist (film)

text: In Denmark, the film quickly became successful with both critics and audiences. "Politiken" called it "a grotesque masterpiece," giving it a perfect score of 6 out of 6, and praised it for being completely unconventional while at the same time being "a profoundly serious, very personal ... piece of art about small things like sorrow, death, sex and the meaninglessness of everything." "Berlingske Tidende" gave it a rating of 4 out of 6 and praised the "peerless imagery," and how "cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle effectively switches between Dogme-like hand-held scenes and wonderful stylized tableaux." An exception was Claus Christensen, editor of the Danish film magazine "Ekko". Christensen accused the other Danish critics of overrating the film, himself calling it "a master director's failed work." Around 83,000 tickets were sold in Denmark during theatrical run, the best performance by a Von Trier film since "Dogville". The film was nominated by Denmark for The Nordic Council Film Prize, which it won. "Antichrist" went on to sweep the Robert Awards, Denmark's main national film awards, by winning in seven categories: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematographer, Best Editing, Best Lighting Design and Best Special Effects.


title: Antichrist (film)

text: However, "Antichrist" polarized critical opinion in the United States. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 54% based on 179 reviews, and an average rating of 5.60/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Gruesome, explicit and highly controversial; Lars von Trier's arthouse-horror, though beautifully shot, is no easy ride." On Metacritic, the film has an average weighted score of 49 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying:


title: Antichrist (film)

text: In a blog post, he expanded on this, discussing the film's symbolism, imagery and Trier's intentions, calling him "one of the most heroic directors in the world" and "Antichrist" "a powerfully-made film that contains material many audiences will find repulsive or unbearable. The performances by Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg are heroic and fearless. Trier's visual command is striking. The use of music is evocative; no score, but operatic and liturgical arias. And if you can think beyond what he shows to what he implies, its depth are frightening."


title: Antichrist (film)

text: Betsy Sharkey of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote: "The story of "Antichrist" is a tangled mess of sex, evil and death, with Von Trier making a stab at allegory and old-fashioned horror, but ultimately failing on both fronts...  You might think, given the He, She, Eden, etc., that the film is allegory. It is not. "Antichrist" never rises to the symbolic; instead, it looks like nothing more than a reflection of one man's unresolved issues with the sexual liberation of women." Duane Dudek of the "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel" called "Antichrist" "Trier's most visually lush and technically rigorous film; it captures things at a molecular level and in a slow motion that all but brings the world to a halt... But paradoxically, this is his most unwatchable film, and many will find its violence and cruelty, including scenes of genital mutilation, repellent. I cannot recommend "Antichrist", but in a culture that hemorrhages death and torture nightly on shows like "24" or "", I can understand it."


title: Antichrist (film)

text: Arguments for censorship were common in the British press, with much criticism rooted in the EU funding the film received. Despite some controversy, the film was critically well-received in the British film magazine "Empire", where film critic Kim Newman gave the film four stars out of five. He noted that "Trier's self-conscious arrogance is calculated to split audiences into extremist factions, but "Antichrist" delivers enough beauty, terror and wonder to qualify as the strangest and most original horror movie of the year."


title: Antichrist (film)

text: Australia's "The Monthly" critic Luke Davies viewed it as "a bleak but entrancing film that explores guilt, grief and many things besides ... that will anger as many people as it pleases", describing Trier's "command of the visually surreal" as "truly exceptional". Davies described the film as "very good and very flawed", conceding "it is not easy to understand the meaning or intention of specific images and details of the film" but still concludes that "there's something neurotic and reactionary in the controversy and near-hysteria surrounding the film."


title: Antichrist (film)

text: Film director John Waters hailed "Antichrist" as one of the ten best films of 2009 in "Artforum", stating "If Ingmar Bergman had committed suicide, gone to hell, and come back to earth to direct an exploitation/art film for drive-ins, ["Antichrist"] is the movie he would have made."


title: Antichrist (film)

text: The film won the award for Best Cinematographer at the 2009 European Film Awards, shared with "Slumdog Millionaire" as both films were shot by Anthony Dod Mantle. It was nominated for Best Director and Best Actress but the awards lost to Michael Haneke for "The White Ribbon" and Kate Winslet for "The Reader" respectively. In a 2016 international poll by BBC, critics Stephanie Zacharek and Andreas Borcholte ranked "Antichrist" among the greatest films since 2000.


title: Antichrist (film)

text: The film was given a DVD release in Australia in early 2010; sale of the DVD was strictly limited in South Australia due to new laws that place restrictions on films with an R18+ classification. A notable feature of the Australian release was the creation of a critically acclaimed poster that made prominent use of a pair of rusty scissors that had the actor's faces fused into the handles. The poster received much international coverage at the end of 2009 and was used as the local DVD cover. And it was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States through The Criterion Collection on 9 November 2010.


title: Antichrist (film)

text: According to a June 2009 article in the Danish newspaper "Politiken", a video game called "Eden", based on the film, was in the works. It was to start where the film ended. "It will be a self-therapeutic journey into your own darkest fears, and will break the boundaries of what you can and can't do in video games," said video game director Morten Iversen. , Zentropa Games are out of business and "Eden" has been cancelled.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Belal Muhammad (born July 9, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently competing in the UFC welterweight division. A professional since 2012, he has also competed for Bellator and Titan FC. As of October 24, 2022, he is #4 in the UFC welterweight rankings.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, to Palestinian parents. He has four siblings: an older brother, older sister and two younger brothers. He wrestled at Bogan High School and attended, but did not complete a degree, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Shortly after a TKO victory over Steve Carl to become the Titan Fighting Championships Welterweight Champion, and push his record to 9–0, Muhammad signed with the UFC in 2016.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: On July 7, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 90, Muhammad made his UFC debut, as a short-notice replacement, against Alan Jouban. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Both participants were awarded "Fight of the Night" honors for their performances.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad next faced Augusto Montaño on September 17, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 94. He won the fight via TKO in the third round.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad was expected to face Lyman Good on November 12, 2016 at UFC 205. However, on October 24, Good was pulled from the card after being notified by USADA of a potential anti-doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition drug test sample collected ten days earlier. He was replaced by Vicente Luque. Muhammad lost the fight via knockout in the first round.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad was a short notice replacement and stepped in to face Randy Brown on February 11, 2017 at UFC 208. He won the fight by unanimous decision.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad was expected to face Jesse Taylor on November 19, 2017 at . However, on September 13, it was announced that Taylor was pulled from the card after being notified by USADA of a potential doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition drug test conducted on August 22. He was replaced by Tim Means. Muhammad won the fight via split decision.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad was expected to face Niko Price on June 1, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 131. However, Price was removed from the bout on May 22 for undisclosed reasons and replaced by promotional newcomer Chance Rencountre.<ref name="Muhammad/Rencountre"></ref> Muhammad won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad was scheduled to meet Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos on September 22, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 137. However, on September 14, 2018 Muhammad was pulled from the bout and he was replaced by newcomer Luigi Vendramini.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad faced Geoff Neal on January 19, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 143. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad faced Curtis Millender on April 13, 2019 at UFC 236. He won the fight by unanimous decision.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad faced Takashi Sato on September 7, 2019 at UFC 242. He won the fight via a rear-naked choke submission in the third round. This win earned Muhammad his first "Performance of the Night" award.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad was expected to face Lyman Good on April 18, 2020 at UFC 249. However on April 4, Good pulled out due to COVID-19 infection. The bout was rebooked and eventually took place on June 20, 2020 at . He won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad was expected to face Sean Brady on December 19, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 183. However in late October, Brady had a broken nose and had to pull out of their bout, and he was replaced by Dhiego Lima. Subsequently, Muhammed was diagnosed with COVID-19 during the week leading up to the event and the bout was scrapped from the card and the bout was rescheduled to February 13, 2021 at UFC 258 Muhammad won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad faced Leon Edwards on March 13, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 187. During the second round, Edwards poked Muhammad in the eye rendering him unable to continue. The fight was declared a no contest.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad faced Demian Maia on June 12, 2021 at UFC 263. Muhammad won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad faced Vicente Luque in a rematch on April 16, 2022 at UFC on ESPN 34. He won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad faced Sean Brady on October 22, 2022 at UFC 280. He won the bout via TKO stoppage at the end of the second round. UFC Hall of Famer and former UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was one of his cornermen for this fight. He received his second "Performance of the Night" bonus.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: Muhammad is an outspoken supporter of Palestine. He displays the Palestinian flag during his octagon entrance and post-fight results. He has denounced the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, showing support for Palestinians while also condemning any anti-Semitic responses from protesters.


title: Belal Muhammad

text: On June 1, 2020, businesses owned by Muhammad's father and cousins in Chicago were looted and destroyed as a result of the George Floyd unrest.


title: Irish Free State

text: The Irish Free State (, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between the forces of the Irish Republic – the Irish Republican Army (IRA) – and British Crown forces.


title: Irish Free State

text: The Free State was established as a dominion of the British Empire. It comprised 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland. Northern Ireland, which was made up of the remaining six counties, exercised its right under the Treaty to opt out of the new state. The Free State government consisted of the Governor-General – the representative of the king – and the Executive Council (cabinet), which replaced both the revolutionary Dáil Government and the Provisional Government set up under the Treaty. W. T. Cosgrave, who had led both of these administrations since August 1922, became the first President of the Executive Council (prime minister). The Oireachtas or legislature consisted of Dáil Éireann (the lower house) and Seanad Éireann (the upper house), also known as the Senate. Members of the Dáil were required to take an Oath of Allegiance to the Constitution of the Free State and to declare fidelity to the king. The oath was a key issue for opponents of the Treaty, who refused to take it and therefore did not take their seats. Pro-Treaty members, who formed Cumann na nGaedheal in 1923, held an effective majority in the Dáil from 1922 to 1927 and thereafter ruled as a minority government until 1932.


title: Irish Free State

text: In 1931, with the passage of the Statute of Westminster, the Parliament of the United Kingdom relinquished nearly all of its remaining authority to legislate for the Free State and the other dominions. This had the effect of granting the Free State internationally recognised independence.


title: Irish Free State

text: In the first months of the Free State, the Irish Civil War was waged between the newly established National Army and the Anti-Treaty IRA, which refused to recognise the state. The Civil War ended in victory for the government forces, with its opponents dumping their arms in May 1923. The Anti-Treaty political party, Sinn Féin, refused to take its seats in the Dáil, leaving the relatively small Labour Party as the only opposition party. In 1926, when Sinn Féin president Éamon de Valera failed to have this policy reversed, he resigned from Sinn Féin and led most of its membership into a new party, Fianna Fáil, which entered the Dáil following the 1927 general election. It formed the government after the 1932 general election, when it became the largest party.


title: Irish Free State

text: De Valera abolished the oath of allegiance and embarked on an economic war with the UK. In 1937, he drafted a new constitution, which was adopted by a plebiscite in July of that year. The Free State came to an end with the coming into force of the new constitution on 29 December 1937, when the state took the name "Ireland".


title: Irish Free State

text: The Easter Rising of 1916 and its aftermath caused a profound shift in public opinion towards the republican cause in Ireland. In the December 1918 General Election, the republican Sinn Féin party won a large majority of the Irish seats in the British parliament: 73 of the 105 constituencies returned Sinn Féin members (25 uncontested). The elected Sinn Féin MPs, rather than take their seats at Westminster, set up their own assembly, known as Dáil Éireann (Assembly of Ireland). It affirmed the formation of an Irish Republic and passed a Declaration of Independence. The subsequent War of Independence, fought between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and British security forces, continued until July 1921 when a truce came into force. By this time the Parliament of Northern Ireland had opened, established under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, presenting the republican movement with a "fait accompli" and guaranteeing the British presence in Ireland. In October negotiations opened in London between members of the British government and members of the Dáil, culminating in the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921.


title: Irish Free State

text: The Treaty allowed for the creation of a separate state to be known as the Irish Free State, with dominion status, within the then British Empire—a status equivalent to Canada. The Parliament of Northern Ireland could, by presenting an address to the king, opt not to be included in the Free State, in which case a Boundary Commission would be established to determine where the boundary between them should lie. Members of the parliament of the Free State would be required to take an oath of allegiance to the king, albeit a modification of the oath taken in other dominions.


title: Irish Free State

text: The Dáil ratified the Treaty on 7 January 1922, causing a split in the republican movement. A Provisional Government was formed, with Michael Collins as chairman.


title: Irish Free State

text: The Treaty, and the legislation introduced to give it legal effect, implied that Northern Ireland would be a part of the Free State on its creation. Whether the legislation had the legal effect under United Kingdom law of making Northern Ireland a part of the Irish Free State is a point legal writers have disagreed on. One writer has argued that the terms of the Treaty applied only to the 26 counties, and the government of the Free State had neither "de facto" nor "de jure" power in Northern Ireland. Another writer has argued that on the day it was established the jurisdiction of the Free State was the island of Ireland. A 1933 court decision in Ireland showed that Irish law took the latter view. The "de facto" position was that Northern Ireland was treated as at all times being within the United Kingdom.


title: Irish Free State

text: The Treaty was given legal effect in the United Kingdom through the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922. That act, which established the Free State, allowed Northern Ireland to "opt out" of it. Under Article 12 of the Treaty, Northern Ireland could exercise its option by presenting an address to the king requesting not to be part of the Irish Free State. Once the Irish Free State Constitution Act was passed on 5 December 1922, the Houses of Parliament of Northern Ireland had one month (dubbed the "Ulster month") to exercise this option during which month the Government of Ireland Act continued to apply in Northern Ireland.


title: Irish Free State

text: Realistically it was always certain that Northern Ireland would opt out of the Free State. The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Sir James Craig, speaking in the Parliament in October 1922 said that "when 6 December is passed the month begins in which we will have to make the choice either to vote out or remain within the Free State". He said it was important that that choice be made as soon as possible after 6 December 1922 "in order that it may not go forth to the world that we had the slightest hesitation". On the following day, 7 December 1922, the Parliament resolved to make the following address to the king so as to opt out of the Free State:


title: Irish Free State

text: Discussion in the Parliament of the address was short. Prime Minister Craig left for London with the memorial embodying the address on the night boat that evening, 7 December 1922. The king received it the following day, "The Times" reporting:


title: Irish Free State

text: If the Parliament of Northern Ireland had not made such a declaration, under Article 14 of the Treaty Northern Ireland, its Parliament and government would have continued in being but the Oireachtas would have had jurisdiction to legislate for Northern Ireland in matters not delegated to Northern Ireland under the Government of Ireland Act. This, of course, never came to pass.


title: Irish Free State

text: On 13 December 1922 Prime Minister Craig addressed the Parliament informing them that the king had responded to its address as follows:


title: Irish Free State

text: The Treaty established that the new state would be a constitutional monarchy, with the Governor-General of the Irish Free State as representative of the Crown. The "Constitution of the Irish Free State" made more detailed provision for the state's system of government, with a three-tier parliament, called the Oireachtas, made up of the king and two houses, Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann (the Irish Senate).


title: Irish Free State

text: Executive authority was vested in the king, with the Governor-General as his representative. He appointed a cabinet called the Executive Council to "aid and advise" him. The Executive Council was presided over by a prime minister called the President of the Executive Council. In practice, most of the real power was exercised by the Executive Council, as the Governor-General was almost always bound to act on the advice of the Executive Council.


title: Irish Free State

text: The office of Governor-General of the Irish Free State replaced the previous Lord Lieutenant, who had headed English and British administrations in Ireland since the Middle Ages. Governors-General were appointed by the king initially on the advice of the British Government, but with the consent of the Irish Government. From 1927, the Irish Government alone had the power to advise the king whom to appoint.


title: Irish Free State

text: As with all dominions, provision was made for an Oath of Allegiance. Within dominions, such oaths were taken by parliamentarians personally towards the monarch. The Irish Oath of Allegiance was fundamentally different. It had two elements; the first, an "oath to the Free State, as by law established", the second part a promise of "fidelity, to His Majesty, King George V, his heirs and successors". That second fidelity element, however, was qualified in two ways. It was to the King "in" Ireland, not specifically to the King of the United Kingdom. Secondly, it was to the king explicitly in his role as part of the Treaty settlement, not in terms of pre-1922 British rule. The Oath itself came from a combination of three sources, and was largely the work of Michael Collins in the Treaty negotiations. It came in part from a draft oath suggested prior to the negotiations by President de Valera. Other sections were taken by Collins directly from the Oath of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), of which he was the secret head. In its structure, it was also partially based on the form and structure used for 'Dominion status'.


title: Irish Free State

text: Although 'a new departure', and notably indirect in its reference to the monarchy, it was criticised by nationalists and republicans for making any reference to the Crown, the claim being that it "was" a direct oath to the Crown, a fact arguably incorrect by an examination of its wording, but in 1922 Ireland and beyond, many argued that the fact remained that as a dominion the King (and therefore the British) was still Head of State and that was the practical reality that influenced public debate on the issue. The Free State was not a republic. The Oath became a key issue in the resulting Irish Civil War that divided the pro and anti-treaty sides in 1922–23.


title: Irish Free State

text: The compromises contained in the agreement caused the civil war in the 26 counties in June 1922 – April 1923, in which the pro-Treaty Provisional Government defeated the anti-Treaty Republican forces. The latter were led, nominally, by Éamon de Valera, who had resigned as President of the Republic on the treaty's ratification. His resignation outraged some of his own supporters, notably Seán T. O'Kelly, the main Sinn Féin organizer. On resigning, he then sought re-election but was defeated two days later on a vote of 60–58. The pro-Treaty Arthur Griffith followed as President of the Irish Republic. Michael Collins was chosen at a meeting of the members elected to sit in the House of Commons of Southern Ireland (a body set up under the Government of Ireland Act 1920) to become Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State in accordance with the Treaty. The general election in June gave overwhelming support for the pro-Treaty parties. W. T. Cosgrave's Crown-appointed Provisional Government effectively subsumed Griffith's republican administration with the death of both Collins and Griffith in August 1922.


title: Irish Free State

text: Michael Collins described the Treaty as "the freedom to achieve freedom". In practice, the Treaty offered most of the symbols and powers of independence. These included a functioning, if disputed, parliamentary democracy with its own executive, judiciary and written constitution which could be changed by the Oireachtas. Although an Irish republic had not been on offer, the Treaty still afforded Ireland more internal independence than it had possessed in over 400 years. However, a number of conditions existed:


title: Irish Free State

text: The Statute of Westminster of 1931, embodying a decision of an Imperial Conference, enabled each dominion to enact new legislation or to change any extant legislation, without resorting to any role for the British Parliament that may have enacted the original legislation in the past. It also removed Westminster's authority to legislate for the Dominions, except with the express request and consent of the relevant Dominion's parliament. This change had the effect of making the dominions, including the Free State, "de jure" independent nations—thus fulfilling Collins' vision of having "the freedom to achieve freedom".


title: Irish Free State

text: The Free State symbolically marked these changes in two mould-breaking moves soon after winning internationally recognised independence:


title: Irish Free State

text: When Éamon de Valera became President of the Executive Council (prime minister) in 1932 he described Cosgrave's ministers' achievements simply. Having read the files, he told his son, Vivion, "they were magnificent, son".


title: Irish Free State

text: The Statute of Westminster allowed de Valera, on becoming President of the Executive Council (February 1932), to go even further. With no ensuing restrictions on his policies, he abolished the Oath of Allegiance (which Cosgrave intended to do had he won the 1932 general election), the Seanad, university representation in the Dáil, and appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.


title: Irish Free State

text: One major policy error occurred in 1936 when he attempted to use the abdication of King Edward VIII to abolish the crown and governor-general in the Free State with the "Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act". He was advised by senior law officers and other constitutional experts that, as the crown and governor-generalship existed separately from the constitution in a vast number of acts, charters, orders-in-council, and letters patent, they both still existed. A second bill, the "Executive Powers (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1937" was quickly introduced to repeal the necessary elements. De Valera retroactively dated the second act back to December 1936.


title: Irish Free State

text: The new state continued to use the Pound sterling from its inception; there is no reference in the Treaty or in either of the enabling Acts to currency. Nonetheless and within a few years, the Dáil passed the Coinage Act, 1926 (which provided for a "Saorstát" [Free State] coinage) and the Currency Act, 1927 (which provided "inter alia" for banknotes of the Saorstát pound). The new Saorstát pound was defined by the 1927 Act to have exactly the same weight and fineness of gold as was the sovereign at the time, making the new currency pegged at 1:1 with sterling. The State circulated its new national coinage in 1928, marked "Saorstát Éireann" and a national series of banknotes. British coinage remained acceptable in the Free State at an equal rate. In 1937, when the Free State was superseded by Ireland ("Éire"), the pound became known as the "Irish pound" and the coins were marked "Éire".


title: Irish Free State

text: According to one report, in 1924, shortly after the Free State's establishment, the new dominion had the "lowest birth-rate in the world". The report noted that amongst countries for which statistics were available (Ceylon, Chile, Japan, Spain, South Africa, Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Australia, United States, Britain, New Zealand, Finland and the Irish Free State), Ceylon had the highest birth rate at 40.8 per 1,000 while the Irish Free State had a birth rate of just 18.6 per 1,000.


title: Irish Free State

text: Irish society during this period was extremely Roman Catholic, with Roman Catholic thinkers promoting anti-capitalist, anti-communist, anti-Protestant, anti-Masonic and anti-Semitic views in Irish society. Through the works of priests such as Edward Cahill, Richard Devane and Denis Fahey, Irish society saw capitalism, individualism, communism, private banking, the promotion of alcohol, contraceptives, divorce and abortion as the pursuits of the old 'Protestant-elite' and Jews, with their efforts combined through the Freemasons. Denis Fahey described Ireland as "the third most Masonic country in the world" and saw this alleged order as contrary to the creation of an independent Irish State.


title: Irish Free State

text: In 1937 the Fianna Fáil government presented a draft of an entirely new Constitution to Dáil Éireann. An amended version of the draft document was subsequently approved by the Dáil. A plebiscite was held on 1 July 1937, which was the same day as the 1937 general election, when a relatively narrow majority approved it. The new Constitution of Ireland ("Bunreacht na hÉireann") repealed the 1922 Constitution, and came into effect on 29 December 1937.


title: Irish Free State

text: The state was named Ireland (Éire in the Irish language), and a new office of President of Ireland was instituted in place of the Governor-General of the Irish Free State. The new constitution claimed jurisdiction over all of Ireland while recognising that legislation would not apply in Northern Ireland (see Articles 2 and 3). Articles 2 and 3 were reworded in 1998 to remove jurisdictional claim over the entire island and to recognise that "a united Ireland shall be brought about only by peaceful means with the consent of a majority of the people, democratically expressed, in both jurisdictions in the island".


title: Irish Free State

text: The 1937 Constitution saw a notable ideological slant to the changes of the framework of the State in such a way as to create one that appeared to be distinctly Irish. This was done so by implementing corporatist policies (based on the concepts of the Roman Catholic Church, as Catholicism was perceived to be deeply imbedded with the perception of Irish identity). A clear example of this is the model of the reconstituted Seanad Éireann (the Senate), which operates based on a system of vocational panels, along with a list of appointed nominating industry bodies, a corporatist concept (seen in Pope Pius XI’s 1931 encyclical Quadragesimo anno). Furthermore, Ireland’s main political parties; Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Labour, all had an inherently corporatist outlook. The government was the subject of intense lobbying by leading Church figures throughout the 1930s in calling for reform of the State’s framework. Much of this was reflected in the new 1937 Constitution.


title: Uriel

text: Uriel or Auriel ( "ʾŪrīʾēl", "El/God is my flame"; "Oúriēl"; "Ouriēl"; ; Geʽez and Amharic: or ) is the name of one of the archangels who is mentioned in the post-exilic rabbinic tradition and in certain Christian traditions. He is well known in the Russian Orthodox tradition and in folk Catholicism (in both of which he is considered to be one of the seven major archangels) and recognized in the Anglican Church as the fourth archangel. He is also well known in European esoteric medieval literature. Uriel is also known as a master of knowledge and archangel of wisdom.


title: Uriel

text: In apocryphal, kabbalistic, and occult works, Uriel/Auriel has been equated (or confused) with Urial, Nuriel, Uryan, Jeremiel, Vretil, Sariel, Suriel, Puruel, Phanuel, Jacob, Azrael, and Raphael.


title: Uriel

text: In the Secret Book of John, an early Gnostic work, Uriel is placed in control over the demons who help Yaldabaoth create Adam.


title: Uriel

text: Uriel or Auriel (male) / Urielle or Eurielle (female) is also a name assimilated by the Celtic Brittanic culture, because of (7th century), sister of the Breton king Judicael, who popularised the name.


title: Uriel

text: The angels mentioned in the older books of the Hebrew Bible (aka the Tanakh) are without names. Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish of Tiberias (230–270) even asserted that all of the specific names for the angels were brought back by the Jews from Babylonian knowledge. Of the seven archangels in the angelology of post-exilic Judaism, only two of them, the archangels Michael and Gabriel, are mentioned by name in the canonized Jewish scriptures, in the Book of Daniel in particular, which is one of the youngest books in the Tanakh.


title: Uriel

text: Raphael features prominently in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit. The Book of Tobit is accepted as canonical by the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Oriental Orthodox Church.


title: Uriel

text: Where a fourth archangel is added to the named three, to represent the four cardinal points, Uriel is generally the fourth. Uriel is listed as the fourth angel in Christian Gnostics (under the name Phanuel). However, it is debated whether the Book of Enoch refers to the same angel by two different names. Uriel means "God is my flame", whereas Phanuel means "God has turned". Uriel is the third angel listed in the "Testament of Solomon", the fourth being Sabrael.


title: Uriel

text: Uriel appears in the "Second Book of Esdras" found in the Biblical apocrypha (called Esdras IV in the Vulgate) in which the prophet Ezra asks God a series of questions and Uriel is sent by God to instruct him. According to the Revelation of Esdras, the angels that will rule at the end of the world are Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Gabuthelon, Beburos, Zebuleon, Aker, and Arphugitonos. The last five listed only appear in this book and nowhere else in apocryphal or apocalyptic works.


title: Uriel

text: In Christian apocryphal gospels Uriel plays a role, differing between the sources, in the rescue of Jesus' cousin John the Baptist from the Massacre of the Innocents ordered by King Herod. He carries John and his mother Saint Elizabeth to join the Holy Family after their Flight into Egypt. Their reunion is depicted in Leonardo da Vinci's "Virgin of the Rocks".


title: Uriel

text: Uriel is often identified as a cherub and the angel of repentance. He "stands at the Gate of Eden with a fiery sword", or as the angel "who is over the world and over Tartarus. In the "Apocalypse of Peter" he appears as the angel of repentance, who is graphically represented as being as pitiless as any demon. In the "Life of Adam and Eve", Uriel is regarded as the spirit (i.e., one of the cherubs) of the third chapter of Genesis. He is also identified as one of the angels who helped bury Adam and Abel in Eden.


title: Uriel

text: He checked the doors of Egypt for lamb's blood during the plague. He also holds the key to the Pit during the End Times, and led Abraham to the west.


title: Uriel

text: In modern angelology, Uriel is identified variously as a seraph, cherub, regent of the sun, flame of God, angel of the divine presence, presider over Tartarus (hell), archangel of salvation, and, in later scriptures, identified with Phanuel ("God has turned"). He is often depicted carrying a book or a papyrus scroll representing wisdom. Uriel is a patron of the arts.


title: Uriel

text: In the Byzantine Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, Uriel is commemorated together with the other archangels and angels with a feast day of the "Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers" on November 8 of the liturgical calendar (for those churches which follow the Julian Calendar, 8 November falls on 21 November of the modern Gregorian Calendar), and is regarded as the patron saint of the arts and sciences. In addition, every Monday throughout the year is dedicated to the angels. The Anglicans and Coptic Christians of Ethiopia and Eritrea venerate archangel Uriel. According to the latter, 11 July is his feast day. In the Ethiopian Homily on the Archangel Uriel, he is depicted as one of the great archangels, and as the who has interpreted prophecies to Enoch and Ezra, and the helper of both of them. According to the Homily, at the time of the Crucifixion of Jesus, Uriel dipped his wing in the blood and water flowing from Christ's flank and filled a cup with it. Carrying the cup, he and the Archangel Michael rushed into the world and sprinkled it all over Ethiopia, in every place where a drop of blood fell a church was built. Thus Uriel is often depicted carrying a chalice filled with the blood of Christ in Ethiopian Orthodox iconography.


title: Uriel

text: In Thomas Heywood's "Hierarchy of Blessed Angels" (1635), Uriel is described as an angel of the earth. Heywood's list is actually of the angels of the four winds: Uriel (south), Michael (east), Raphael (west) (serving also a governor of the south, with Uriel), and Gabriel (north). He is also listed as an angel of the four winds in the medieval Jewish "Book of the Angel Raziel" which lists him as Usiel (Uzziel); according to it, this book was inscribed on a sapphire stone and handed down from Seraph to Metatron and then to Adam.


title: Uriel

text: At the Council of Rome of 745, Pope Zachary, intending to clarify the church's teaching on the subject of angels and curb a tendency toward angel worship, condemned obsession with angelic intervention and angelolatry, but reaffirmed the approval of the practice of the reverence of angels. This synod struck many angels' names from the list of those eligible for veneration in the church of Rome, including Uriel. Only the reverence of the archangels mentioned in the recognised Catholic canon of scriptures, namely Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, remained licit. In the 16th century, archangel Uriel appeared before the Sicilian friar Antonio Lo Duca and told him to build a church in the Termini area. Lo Duca told pope Pius IV about the apparition, the pope then asked Michelangelo to design the church. It is the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, located at the Esedra Plaza.


title: Uriel

text: In the first half of the 11th century, Bulgarian followers of the dualist heresy called Bogomilism, who lived in the dukedom of Ahtum in present-day Banat, invoked Uriel in rituals. This is witnessed by Gerard of Csanád, the Catholic bishop of the area after 1028. Uriel was also named in a small exorcism in the 15th century, reported by Robert Ambelain in "Arabic Astrology" on page 18, without indication of date, place of origin etc.: "".


title: Uriel

text: In Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Golden Legend", Uriel is one of the angels of the seven planets. Uriel is the angel of Mars. He is also listed as such in Benjamin Camfield's "A Theological Discourse of Angels" (1678).


title: Uriel

text: In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.


title: Uriel

text: The Book of Enoch, which presents itself as written by Enoch, mentions Uriel in many of its component books. In chapter IX, which is part of "The Book of the Watchers" (2nd century BCE), only four angels are mentioned by name. Those angels are Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel (though some versions have a fifth angel: Suryal or Suriel). However, the later chapter XX lists the names and functions of seven angels. Those angels are "Uriel, one of the holy angels, who is over the world and over Tartarus", Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqâêl, Gabriel, and Remiel.


title: Uriel

text: The Book of the Watchers as a whole tells us that Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel were present before God to testify on behalf of humankind. They wish to ask for divine intervention during the reign of the fallen grigori (fallen watchers). These fallen take human wives and produced half-angel, half-human offspring called the nephilim. Uriel is responsible for warning Noah about the upcoming great flood.


title: Uriel

text: Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spoke, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, and said to him: "<Go to Noah> and tell him in my name 'Hide thyself!' and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come upon the whole earth, and will destroy all that is on it."


title: Uriel

text: After judgment has been brought upon the nephilim and the fallen ones ("see" The Book of Giants), including the two main leaders Samyaza and Azazel, Uriel discusses their fates:


title: Uriel

text: And Uriel said to me: "Here shall stand the angels who have connected themselves with women, and their spirits assuming many different forms are defiling mankind and shall lead them astray into sacrificing to demons 'as gods', (here shall they stand,) till 'the day of' the great judgment in which they shall be judged till they are made an end of. And the women also of the angels who went astray shall become sirens.' And I, Enoch alone, saw the vision, the ends of all things; and no man shall see as I have seen."


title: Uriel

text: Uriel then acts as a guide for Enoch for the rest of the Book of Watchers. He fulfills this capacity in many of the other books that make up Enoch.


title: Uriel

text: In the traditions and hagiography of the Episcopal and other Anglican churches, Uriel is mentioned as an archangel. He is recognized as the patron saint of the sacrament of confirmation. In some Episcopal churches, Uriel is also regarded as the keeper of beauty and light, and regent of the sun and constellations; in iconography he is shown holding in his right hand a Greek Ionic column which symbolizes perfection in aesthetics and man-made beauty, in his left hand a staff topped with the sun. He is celebrated in the Anglican liturgical calendars on the Feast of the Archangels. The Church of St. Uriel the Archangel in Sea Girt, New Jersey is a testimony to Anglicans' devotion to Uriel.


title: Uriel

text: <poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh holy Saint Uriel, intercede for us that our hearts may burn with the fire of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.


title: Uriel

text: Obtain for us the grace to use the sword of truth to pare away all that is not in conformity to the most adorable


title: Uriel

text: The longstanding motto of the University of Oxford, ("The Lord is my light") is a translation into Latin of Uriel's name.


title: Uriel

text: In Hermetic Qabalah, Uriel's name is commonly spelled Auriel. He is regarded as the archangel of the North, and of the element of Earth.


title: Uriel

text: According to the teaching of the modern Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Uriel is the archangel of North and of Earth, and is thus associated with the vegetation of the Earth. In iconography he is depicted holding stems of ripened wheat and wearing robes of citrine, russet, olive, and black.


title: Uriel

text: In the modern Essenian esoteric movement, Ouriel is regarded as the archangel of Summer and the element of Fire.


title: Cargill

text: Cargill, Incorporated, is a privately held American global food corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and incorporated in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded in 1865, it is the largest privately held corporation in the United States in terms of revenue. If it were a public company, it would rank, as of 2015, number 15 on the Fortune 500, behind McKesson and ahead of AT&T. Cargill has frequently been the subject of criticism related to the environment, human rights, finance, and other ethical considerations.


title: Cargill

text: Some of Cargill's major businesses are trading, purchasing and distributing grain and other agricultural commodities, such as palm oil; trading in energy, steel and transport; raising of livestock and production of feed; and producing food ingredients such as starch and glucose syrup, vegetable oils and fats for application in processed foods and industrial use. Cargill also has a large financial services arm, which manages financial risks in the commodity markets for the company. In 2003, it split off a portion of its financial operations into Black River Asset Management, a hedge fund with about $10 billion of assets and liabilities. It owned two-thirds of the shares of The Mosaic Company (sold off in 2011), one of the world's leading producers and marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients.


title: Cargill

text: Cargill reports revenues of $114.695 billion and earnings of $3.103 billion in 2018. Employing over 166,000 employees in 66 countries, it is responsible for 25% of all United States grain exports. The company also supplies about 22% of the US domestic meat market, importing more product from Argentina than any other company, and is the largest poultry producer in Thailand. All the eggs used in US McDonald's restaurants pass through Cargill's plants. It is the only US producer of Alberger process salt, which is used in the fast-food and prepared food industries.


title: Cargill

text: Cargill remains a family-owned business, as the descendants of the founder (from the Cargill and MacMillan families) own over 90% of it. Gregory R. Page succeeded former CEO Warren Staley in mid-2007, as Staley reached Cargill's mandatory retirement age of 65, and was CEO and chairman until 2013, when he in turn was succeeded by Dave MacLennan.


title: Cargill

text: Cargill was founded in 1865 by William Wallace Cargill when he bought a grain flat house in Conover, Iowa. A year later William was joined by his brother Sam, forming W. W. Cargill and Brother. Together, they built grain flat houses and opened a lumberyard. In 1875, Cargill moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and their brother James joined the business. La Crosse was strategically located on the Mississippi near the junctions of the La Crosse River, Dubuque, and Southern Minnesota divisions of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad.


title: Cargill

text: Sam Cargill left La Crosse in 1887 to manage the office in Minneapolis, an important emerging grain center. Three years later, the Minneapolis operation incorporated as Cargill Elevator Co.; some years after that the La Crosse operation incorporated as W. W. Cargill Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin. In 1898, John H. MacMillan Sr., and his brother, Daniel, began working for W. W. Cargill. MacMillan then married William Cargill's eldest daughter, Edna.


title: Cargill

text: Upon Sam Cargill's death in 1903, William Cargill became the sole owner of the La Crosse office. John MacMillan was named general manager of Cargill Elevator Company and moved his family to Minneapolis. William Cargill died in 1909, creating a fiscal crisis for the company. MacMillan worked to resolve the credit issues and to force his brother-in-law William S. Cargill out of the company. The current owners are descended from John MacMillan's two sons, John H. MacMillan Jr., and Cargill MacMillan Sr., and his youngest brother-in-law, Austen S. Cargill I.


title: Cargill

text: John MacMillan ran the company until his retirement in 1936. Under his leadership Cargill grew several fold, expanding out of the Midwest by opening its first East coast offices, in New York, in 1923. He was also the architect of the company's strategy of internationalism. He opened the company's first Canadian, European and Latin American offices in 1928, 1929 and 1930. He was also noted for his involvement in the controversial commercial rapprochement between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. During this time, Cargill saw both record profits and major cash crunches.


title: Cargill

text: The first of the crises was the debt left by the death of William W. Cargill. The company issued $2.25 million in Gold Notes, backed by Cargill stock, to pay off its creditors. The Gold Notes were due in 1917, but thanks to record grain prices caused by World War I all debts were paid by 1915.


title: Cargill

text: As World War I continued into 1917, Cargill made record earnings and faced criticisms of war profiteering. Four years later, as a fallout from the financial crash of 1920, Cargill posted its first loss.


title: Cargill

text: One of the biggest criticisms of the company has been its perceived arrogance (see, for example, Brewster Kneen in the "Ecologist" and also Greg Muttitt in the same journal). The MacMillans' aggressive management style led to a decades-long feud with the Chicago Board of Trade. It began in 1934, when the Board denied membership to Cargill. The US government overturned the Board's ruling and forced it to accept Cargill as a member. The 1936 corn crop failed and with the 1937 crop unavailable until October, the Chicago Board of Trade ordered Cargill to sell some of its corn. Cargill refused to comply.


title: Cargill

text: The US Commodity Exchange Authority and Chicago Board of Trade accused Cargill of trying to corner the corn market. In 1938, the Chicago Board suspended Cargill and three of its officers from the trading floor. When the Board lifted its suspension a few years later, Cargill refused to rejoin, instead trading through independent traders. During World War II, MacMillan Jr., continued to expand the company, which boomed as it stored and transported grain and built T1 tankers and Towboats ships for the United States Navy. In 1962, Cargill rejoined the Chicago Board of Trade, two years after MacMillan's death.


title: Cargill

text: In 1960, Erwin Kelm became the first non-family chief executive. Aiming for expansion into downstream production, he led the company into milling, starches and syrups. As the company grew, it developed a market intelligence network as it coordinated its commodities trading, processing, freight, shipping and futures businesses. In the decades before email, the company relied on its own telex-based system for internal communication.


title: Cargill

text: When the Soviet Union entered the grain markets in the 1970s, demand grew to unprecedented levels, and Cargill benefitted. In 1963, Cargill had already negotiated a $40 million wheat deal with the USSR, establishing a relationship that later involved a series of larger deals. When Whitney MacMillan, nephew of John Jr., took over the company from Kelm in 1976, revenue approached $30 billion. US government put pressure on big grain exporters with allegations of manipulating the market, and Cargill was a major target, but it emerged without any major changes.


title: Cargill

text: In 1978 Cargill purchased the large Leslie Salt refining company in Newark, California, from Schilling.


title: Cargill

text: In 1979, Cargill entered the meat-processing business with the purchase of beef processor MBPXL (later Excel). The division expanded into turkey, food service and food distribution businesses and is now known as Cargill Meat Solutions.


title: Cargill

text: In 1986 Cargill started operations in Venezuela through a partnership with the Possenti family's Mimesa C.A. to form Agroindustrial Mimesa in Maracaibo, dedicated to the manufacturing of flour and pasta. Expansion followed thereafter.


title: Cargill

text: Tensions arose with the company's private shareholders, as Cargill typically put 80% of earnings back into the business. By the early 1990s, members of the Cargill and MacMillan families became upset that their shares in the company were yielding mediocre dividends. Demands rose for an initial public offering to turn the company public. The company responded with an employee stock ownership plan, and in 1993 reportedly purchased 17% of the firm for $730 million from 72 Cargills and MacMillans. It used that stake to begin the employee stock plan. The company's board of directors was reorganized to reduce the number of relatives to six, alongside six independents and five managers.


title: Cargill

text: Ernest Micek took over as chief executive in August 1995. Cargill underwent turmoil in the following years; its financial unit lost hundreds of millions of dollars in 1998 when Russia defaulted on debt and developing countries began to have financial issues. The commodities and ingredients business, which was 75% of Cargill's total revenue, suffered from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Revenues fell by double-digit percentages for two years in a row, from $55.7 billion in 1997 to $51.4 billion in 1998 and $45.7 billion in 1999, while net income fell from $814 million in 1997 to $468 million in 1998 and $220 million in 1999. By 1999, the company had $4 billion in debt. After a reduction in previously strong bond credit rating, Micek announced he would step down a year early.


title: Cargill

text: In 2002 Cargill acquired European-based starch manufacturer Cerestar from Montedison for $1.1 billion.


title: Cargill

text: By 2002, Cargill had over $50 billion in annual sales, twice the amount of its closest rival, Archer Daniels Midland, and had 97,000 employees running more than 1,000 production sites in 59 countries.


title: Cargill

text: Cargill Meat Solutions acquired Milwaukee Emmpak in 2003 and merged it with Taylor Packing Co. (purchased in 2001). In 2006, Cargill Meat purchased Fresno Meats. The three main brands of beef are Circle T Beef, Valley Tradition, and Meadowland Farms.


title: Cargill

text: Cargill's quarterly profits exceeded $1 billion for the first time during the quarter ending on February 29, 2008 ($1.03 billion); the 86% rise was credited to global food shortages and the expanding biofuels industry that, in turn, caused a rise in demand for Cargill's core areas of agricultural commodities and technology.


title: Cargill

text: In October 2011, the U.S. Justice Department announced that a biotech specialist at Cargill had pleaded guilty to stealing information from Cargill and Dow AgroSciences. Kexue Huang, a Chinese national, was discovered to be passing trade secrets back to China.


title: Cargill

text: In November 2011, Cargill completed the acquisition of Provimi, a global animal nutrition company for €1.5 billion ($2.1 billion US).


title: Cargill

text: On April 1, 2012, Cargill completed a purchase of a cat and dog food plant in Emporia, Kansas. It was previously owned by American Nutrition.


title: Cargill

text: In 2015, Cargill wound down its Black River Asset Management division by shutting down four hedge funds, folding two agriculture and energy funds into Cargill, and spinning off three fund businesses to employees to create the hedge fund Proterra Investment Partners, emerging markets debt specialist Argentem Creek Partners and private equity firm Garda Capital Partners.


title: Cargill

text: In 2016, Cargill announced that it would move its Protein Group headquarters from older buildings in downtown Wichita, Kansas, and consolidate into a new building in Wichita's nearby Old Town area. The new $60 million building will be built on the site of the building that formerly housed The Wichita Eagle, following the old building's demolition.


title: Cargill

text: In 2016, Cargill completed the commissioning of a feed plant in Bathinda, Punjab, India, and manufactures dairy cattle feed under the Purina brand name.


title: Cargill

text: In February 2018, Cargill completed the purchase of Pro Pet, a pet food manufacturing company. Pro Pet had three manufacturing facilities, one in Owatonna, Minnesota, one in Kansas City, Kansas, and one in St. Marys, Ohio.


title: Cargill

text: In 2018, Cargill made a $25 million investment in Puris, a supplier of pea protein used in Beyond Meat products. In 2019, Cargill invested an additional $75 million.


title: Cargill

text: On April 8, 2020, Cargill closed its Hazleton, Pennsylvania meatpacking facility because "an unspecified number of Cargill employees at the plant [had] tested positive for COVID-19." The county had the "highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the area with 982", of which 849 were in Hazelton.


title: Cargill

text: On April 20, 2020, Cargill temporarily closed its High River, Alberta, plant because "the operation was linked to nearly 500 cases of COVID-19". All 2,100 employees were recommended for virus testing. This plant was responsible for about 36% of Canada's beef producing capacity. On May 6, the plant was connected with 1,560 cases of COVID-19. United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW) Union Local 401 has recommended the plant's closure since 38 cases were known.


title: Cargill

text: The public health authority of Quebec did not shut down a Cargill plant in Chambly south of Montreal on May 10, 2020. A total of 64 employees, about 13% of the workforce, had COVID-19. The workers are represented by the UFCW. The public health department for the Montérégie region had been working with Cargill since April 25 to deal with the outbreak. Cargill closed the plant on its own.


title: Cargill

text: On May 11, a CBC journalist wrote, "The Cargill plant in Alberta, where there have been about 1,000 reported cases [of human COVID-19], is now considered the largest single-site outbreak in North America." Meanwhile, the Agriculture Union of CFIA's embedded inspectors at slaughterhouses said that management is "threatening disciplinary action against employees who refuse to be reassigned to work at COVID-19-infected meat plants", while Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland said, "those who feel unsafe won't be forced back to work."


title: Cargill

text: Also on May 11, the Alberta government disclosed that a second worker from the Cargill plant there had died that day.


title: Cargill

text: On 3 June 2020, Cargill announced that it would no longer publish quarterly results, stopping the disclosures that the company had provided since 1996. Cargill canceled its third-quarter earnings release in March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Cargill

text: Algeria, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.


title: Cargill

text: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.


title: Cargill

text: Starting operations in 1987, Cargill now has a foods business unit called Cargill Foods India which processes, refines and markets a wide range of both indigenous and imported edible oils, fats and blends to the food industry including Sweekar, Nature Fresh, Gemini, Rath and Shakti brands of edible oil. In 2012 it launched Chakki Fresh Atta in India under the brand name "Sampoorna". Its customers are in the retail, food service sector and beverage industry.


title: Cargill

text: Apart from sugar and cotton, Cargill India is also one of India's largest originators and marketers of food and coarse grains. It has its own Trade and Structured Finance arm, which also operates the Cargill Capital and Financial Services India Private Limited. Its Cargill Energy, Transport and Metals BU is active across ocean freight, coal, iron ore and steel trading. It bought Sunflower Oil Brand From Wipro In December 2012.


title: Cargill

text: After the government of India, Cargill is India's second-largest buyer of food grain. It has been buying grains and oilseeds in India since 1998. It also has the largest producer of potash, Mosaic.


title: Cargill

text: Cargill started doing business in Pakistan in 1984. Cargill Pakistan Holdings was incorporated on January 25, 1990. In the 1980s, Cargill sold hybrid safflower seeds extensively in Pakistan. Today, Cargill imports palm oil and palm oil products from Malaysia and Indonesia into Pakistan, selling them in the local market. It also buys raw cotton bales from producers in Pakistan and sells them to China, Thailand and Vietnam. Cargill also deals in animal feed, agriculture commodities, cotton, grain and oilseeds, metals, palm and sugar business in Pakistan.


title: Cargill

text: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.


title: Cargill

text: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.


title: Cargill

text: As a private company, Cargill is not required to release the same amount of information as a publicly traded company and, as a business practice, keeps a relatively low profile.


title: Cargill

text: In 2019 the NGO Mighty Earth released a 56-page report on Cargill. Mighty Earth chair and former U.S. Congressman Henry A. Waxman called Cargill "the worst company in the world" and said it drives "the most important problems facing our world" (deforestation, pollution, climate change, exploitation) "at a scale that dwarfs their closest competitors."


title: Cargill

text: In 2019, the Swiss NGO Public Eye also criticized Cargill in various contexts in a report on agricultural commodity traders in Switzerland.


title: Cargill

text: In 2005, the International Labor Rights Fund filed suit against Cargill, Nestlé, and Archer Daniels Midland in federal court on behalf of children who said they were trafficked from Mali into Côte d'Ivoire and forced to work on cocoa bean plantations 12 to 14 hours a day with no pay, little food and sleep, and frequent physical abuse.


title: Cargill

text: Even more recent evidence stems from a 2019 TV program on French channel France 2 about cocoa illegally harvested from protected areas in Côte d’Ivoire. The report found child labor to be widespread on the plantations investigated: every third worker was a child. Instances of child trafficking from neighboring Burkina Faso were also reported. Cargill, which buys from the plantations under investigation, at first denied that it was buying cocoa from protected areas, but was forced to admit that its traceability system had not reached these areas, and therefore that it could not fully trace the origins of its cocoa. Swiss-based food giant Nestlé is one of Cargill's biggest customers of cocoa sourced from Côte d'Ivoire, as later reported by Swiss TV channel RTS 1.


title: Cargill

text: In 2021, eight former child slaves from Mali named Cargill in a class action lawsuit, alleging that it aided and abetted their enslavement on cocoa plantations in Côte d'Ivoire. The suit accused Cargill, along with Nestlé, Barry Callebaut, Mars, Incorporated, Olam International, The Hershey Company, and Mondelez International, of knowingly engaging in forced labor, and sought damages for unjust enrichment, negligent supervision, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.


title: Cargill

text: Cargill was a major buyer of cotton in Uzbekistan, despite the industry prevalence of uncompensated workers and possible human rights abuses, and admissions by two representatives that the company is aware of the possible use of child labor in the production of its crops. Their concerns have been public since 2005, but no action has been taken on labor violations in Cargill's Uzbek operations. The company has not traded any Uzbek cotton in several years.


title: Cargill

text: In February 2018, several employees of Cargill's Dayton, Virginia plant held protests. Their grievances included poor health benefits, bad working conditions, and Cargill's allegedly firing employees who organized to create a union. The protests led to nine people's arrest for trespassing on company property.


title: Cargill

text: During the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, a single meat processing plant in High River, Canada, was linked to over 358 cases of infection. United Food and Commercial Workers Canada Union Local 401 president Thomas Hesse said, "It's a tragedy. We asked days and days ago for that plant to be closed temporarily for two weeks, send all of the workers home with pay to isolate. That was when we were aware of 38 cases. That was before they set up a dedicated testing facility in the area." Reports of employees being denied personal protective equipment also surfaced around the same period. As of May 3, 2020, 917 of the plant's 2,000 workers had tested positive, and the plant was linked to 1,501 total cases.


title: Cargill

text: The NGO Oxfam has documented an illustrative case of land grabbing. Between 2010 and 2012 Cargill brought huge areas of land in Colombia under its control despite legal restrictions on the acquisition of state land. To accomplish this, Cargill set up no fewer than 36 mailbox companies, which enabled it to exceed the legally prescribed maximum size of land ownership. With more than 50,000 hectares of land, Cargill thus acquired more than 30 times the land legally permitted for a single owner.


title: Cargill

text: In 1971, Cargill sold 63,000 tons of seed treated with a methylmercury-based fungicide that eventually caused a minimum of 650 deaths when it was eaten. The fumigated seed grain was provided by Cargill at the specific request of Saddam Hussein and was never intended for direct human or animal consumption prior to planting.


title: Cargill

text: Cargill's grain—which was dyed red and labeled with warnings in Spanish and English as well as a skull and crossbones design following a previous incident of mercury-treated seed being sold as food in Iraqi markets in 1960—was distributed too late for much of the 1971 planting season, causing many farmers to sell their excess product in the public markets at very low prices; this attracted many poor Iraqis who either could not understand the warnings or disregarded them, causing thousands of cases of mercury poisoning. The long latency period before developing symptoms and cattle's greater tolerance of mercury poisoning also contributed to the mistaken impression the surplus seed grain was safe to eat.


title: Cargill

text: In October 2007, Cargill announced the recall of nearly 850,000 frozen beef patties produced at its packing plant in Butler, Wisconsin that were suspected of being contaminated with "E. coli". The beef was sold mainly at Walmart and Sam's Club stores.


title: Cargill

text: In March 2009, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) temporarily suspended Cargill Australia's license to export meat to Japan and the US after "E. coli" was detected in Cargill's export containers from its Wagga Wagga plant. In late April 2009, AQIS lifted Cargill Australia's suspension on its export license.


title: Cargill

text: In August 2011, the USDA and Cargill jointly announced the recall of 36 million pounds of ground turkey produced at Cargill's Springdale, Arkansas, plant due to salmonella fears. The meat recalled was produced from February 20 to August 2. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the particular strain of salmonella found was resistant to commonly prescribed antibiotics. One death and 76 illnesses from 26 states were reported. Some 25 types of ground turkey produced under various brand names were affected, and all of the packages in question contained the code "Est. P-963."


title: Cargill

text: In September 2011, Cargill announced a second, immediate and voluntary Class One recall of 185,000 pounds of 85% lean, fresh-ground turkey products because of possible contamination from Salmonella Heidelberg. The turkey was produced at the company's Springdale, Arkansas, facility on August 23, 24, 30 and 31.


title: Cargill

text: In July 2012, the Vermont Department of Public Health said that 10 people in the state had become sick from ground beef being recalled by Cargill Beef. The 10 became sick between June 6 and 26. Three were hospitalized, and all recovered, according to health officials. Hannaford Supermarkets alerted consumers that Cargill Beef was voluntarily recalling 29,339 pounds of ground beef that might contain salmonella. The 85%-lean ground beef was produced at Cargill's plant in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, on May 25, 2012, and repackaged for sale to consumers by customers of the Kansas-based company.


title: Cargill

text: In 2003, Cargill completed a port for processing soya in Santarém in the Amazon region of Brazil, dramatically increasing soya production in the area and, according to Greenpeace, speeding up deforestation of local rain forest. In February 2006, the federal courts in Brazil gave Cargill six months to complete an environmental assessment (EA). Initially supported by job-seeking locals, public opinion turned against the port as jobs have not appeared. In July 2006, the federal prosecutor indicated they were close to shutting down the port.


title: Cargill

text: Greenpeace took its campaign to major food retailers and quickly won agreement from McDonald's along with UK-retailers Asda, Waitrose, and Marks & Spencer to stop buying meat raised on Amazonian soya. These retailers have, in turn, put pressure on Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, André Maggi Group, and Dreyfus to prove their soya was not grown on recently deforested land in the Amazon. In July 2006, Cargill reportedly joined other soy businesses in Brazil in a two-year moratorium on the purchase of soybeans from newly deforested land.


title: Cargill

text: In 2019 the six largest agricultural commodity traders, ADM, Bunge, Cargill, LDC, COFCO Int. and Glencore Agri, committed themselves to monitoring their soy supply chains in Brazil’s Cerrado.


title: Cargill

text: Cargill sells large volumes of palm oil, which is found in many processed foods, cosmetics and detergents. Most palm oil is obtained from plantations in Sumatra and Borneo, which have been heavily deforested to make way for them.


title: Cargill

text: On September 13, 2017 NGO Mighty Earth released a report documenting findings that Cargill purchases cocoa grown illegally in national parks and other protected forests in the Ivory Coast.


title: Cargill

text: The report accused Cargill of endangering the forest habitats of chimpanzees, elephants and other wildlife populations by purchasing cocoa linked to deforestation. As a result of cocoa production, 7 of the 23 Ivorian protected areas have been almost entirely converted to cocoa. Cargill was notified of the findings of Mighty Earth’s investigation and did not deny that the company sourced its cocoa from protected areas in the Ivory Coast.


title: Cargill

text: Data released in April 2019 by Global Forest Watch, an online platform providing data and tools for monitoring forests, showed that rates of tropical primary forest loss increased dramatically in 2018 in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, primarily due to cocoa farming and gold mining. In 2018 Ghana had the highest rate of increase (60%) in the world compared to 2017, with Côte d’Ivoire (26%) in second place.


title: Cargill

text: In 2005, the company settled with the Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency over Clean Air Act violations, including a plan to invest over $60 million in capital improvements for clean air controls, after a joint federal and state effort that included Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota and Ohio.


title: Cargill

text: In 2006, NatureWorks, a subsidiary in Nebraska, settled with the state over inadequate air pollution controls.


title: Cargill

text: In 2011 a case of transfer mispricing came to light in Argentina involving the world's four largest grain traders: ADM, Bunge, Cargill and LDC. Argentina's revenue and customs service began an investigation into the four companies when prices for agricultural commodities spiked in 2008 but very little profit for the four companies had been reported to the office. As a result of the investigation, it was alleged that the companies had submitted false declarations of sales and routed profits through tax havens or their headquarters. In some cases they were said to have used dummy corporations to buy grain and inflated costs in Argentina to reduce the recorded profits there. According to Argentina's revenue and customs service, the outstanding taxes amounted to almost USD 1 billion. The companies involved have denied the allegations. As of 2019, the Argentinian tax authorities have not replied to Swiss NGO Public Eye’s request as to the state of the case.


title: Cargill

text: In its 2018 annual report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bunge mentioned provisions that suggested the case was still ongoing: "[A]s of December 31, 2018, Bunge’s Argentine subsidiary had received income tax assessments relating to 2006 through 2009 of approximately 1,276 million Argentine pesos (approximately $34 million), plus applicable interest on the outstanding amount of approximately 4,246 million Argentine pesos (approximately $113 million)."


title: Vincent Kompany

text: Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (; ; born 10 April 1986) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back and is the current manager of EFL Championship club Burnley. He most notably played for Manchester City for eleven seasons, where he was captain for eight of them and became widely regarded as one of the league’s greatest ever centre backs. He also represented the Belgium national team for 15 years, seven as captain.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: Kompany began his professional career at Anderlecht; having graduated from their youth system, he was with the club for three seasons as a first team player before moving to Bundesliga club Hamburg in 2006. In the summer of 2008, he completed a transfer to Premier League club Manchester City, where he established himself as an integral part of the squad and was regarded as one of the bargain buys of the revolutionised City era, blossoming into one of the league's best centre-backs. In the 2011–12 season he was awarded the captaincy of City, leading his club to win the Premier League that season, their first league title in 44 years. Kompany was included in the Premier League Team of the Year for two years in a row in 2011 and 2012 as well as being included in the 2014 team, and won the Premier League Player of the Season in 2012, and is regarded as one of the best defenders in English football history.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: Kompany earned 89 caps for Belgium in a fifteen-year international career, having made his debut in 2004 at the age of 17. He was part of their squad that came fourth at the 2008 Olympics as well as going to the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018, coming a best-ever third at the latter. He served as captain from 2010.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: In 2019, when his contract expired after 11 years at City, Kompany returned to Anderlecht as player-manager. A year later, he announced his retirement from professional football and became the first-team manager. In 2022, he was hired by Burnley.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: Born in Uccle, Brussels, Kompany started his career at Anderlecht at the age of 17, winning several awards including the Belgian Golden Shoe and the Belgian Ebony Shoe. Although several top European sides immediately showed interest, the player and his entourage decided to first develop a few more years at Anderlecht. "Don't you worry, I will stay here," he told Berend Scholten at UEFA.com. "At the moment the zeros in my contract are not so important. If I wanted to leave, I would have been gone already."


title: Vincent Kompany

text: On 9 June 2006, however, it was announced that Kompany had been acquired by Hamburger SV for a fee of €10 million, as a replacement for fellow Belgian Daniel Van Buyten. In his debut season for Hamburg, he managed only six Bundesliga starts for the club before suffering an achilles injury in November that ruled him out for the rest of the season. Despite his lack of involvement in the season, he was selected in a 30-man provisional squad for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: On 22 August 2008, Premier League club Manchester City signed Kompany from Hamburg on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut two days later in a 3–0 home win against West Ham United, playing the entire match. On 28 September, Kompany scored his first goal in City's 2–1 away defeat by Wigan Athletic. During his early time at Manchester City, Kompany played as a defensive midfielder.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: On 19 October 2009, Kompany signed a new five-year deal with City that would keep him at the club until 2014. He scored his second league goal for the club in a 2–0 home win against Portsmouth and his third in a 6–1 win against Burnley at Turf Moor.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: Kompany was handed the number 4 jersey for the 2010–11 season after previous wearer Nedum Onuoha moved on loan to Sunderland. On 25 April, he again continued to captain the side in the absence of striker Carlos Tevez against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, playing the full 90 minutes alongside Lescott in an important 1–0 victory courtesy of a late 75th-minute strike from Edin Džeko. On 16 April, Kompany captained Manchester City's victory over main rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium; City won the game 1–0. Later that day, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year alongside teammate Tevez. In the 2011 FA Cup Final he started and finished the match, a 1–0 victory over Stoke City which delivered Manchester City's first major trophy for 35 years. At the end of the 2010–11 season, in which City qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time, manager Roberto Mancini praised Kompany's "incredible" season and claimed that with his attitude and mentality, Kompany can become one of the best defenders in Europe.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: He finished the season winning the club's Supporter's Player of the Year and Player's Player of the Year awards, and the Premier League Player of the Season for his outstanding performances throughout the campaign, clocking up 50 appearances in all competitions including 37 Premier League starts.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: Kompany was firmly installed as club captain for the 2011–12 season, with Tevez having expressed publicly his desire to leave the club. The opening fixture on 7 August 2011 was the Community Shield, which ended in a 3–2 defeat to rivals Manchester United despite City holding a two-goal lead at half-time.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: On 30 April 2012, Kompany scored a header from a David Silva corner in the Manchester derby; the game finished 1–0 to City and put them in first place ahead of Manchester United on goal difference with only two games of the season remaining. On 13 May, the final day of the Premier League season, Kompany led the team against Queens Park Rangers which ended in a dramatic 3–2 win, securing the league title for the club for the first time since 1968. QPR midfielder Joey Barton attempted to headbutt Kompany during the match. On 25 July, Kompany signed a six-year contract with Manchester City, the longest of its kind in the club's history.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: After winning the curtain-raising 2012 FA Community Shield 3–2 against Chelsea (Kompany lifting the trophy at the unfamiliar venue of Villa Park), the 2012–13 season was something of a disappointment for the club as they finished bottom of their Champions League group, placed second in the league (but far behind winners Manchester United) and lost the FA Cup Final 1–0 to Wigan Athletic. Kompany played in that final, but had missed part of the league campaign due to injury, with Mancini citing his absence as a major factor in the failure to retain the title.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: On 2 March 2014, Kompany captained the Manchester City team that won the League Cup Final, beating Sunderland 3–1. On 11 May, he scored Manchester City's second goal in a 2–0 win against West Ham United as the club won the 2013–14 Premier League title.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: During 2014–15, Kompany accumulated 33 appearances in all competitions, but the club could only finish runners-up in the league and were eliminated from the domestic and continental cups at early stages, also losing out in the Community Shield. In April 2015, he suffered a muscular injury during the Manchester derby which ended his campaign early, and this would prove to be the start of a long spell of recurring injuries (mainly muscular strains) for a player who had already endured a number of physical problems since his arrival in England.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: After scoring in the team's opening two Premier League fixtures, Kompany suffered a strain to his calf in the opening weeks of the 2015–16 season and lasted just minutes into his comeback match in December. in February 2016, he was fit to take part in the League Cup Final in which City defeated Liverpool, and was named man of the match; however in May he was again forced off in the early stages of the Champions League semi-final, finishing on 22 appearances and subsequently missing Euro 2016 with Belgium.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: Having returned to the first team in October 2016, on 9 November Kompany withdrew from international duty with discomfort, and on 22 November he sustained a knee injury. At that time, an analysis showed that he had suffered 37 injuries since joining Manchester City in 2008 and had missed over two years (878 days) in that eight-year period. By April 2017 he had recovered, and scored in a victory over Tottenham Hotspur, commenting on his issues that "The main thing is self-belief and experience". Manager Pep Guardiola kept Kompany in the team for the FA Cup semi-final, and he played the entirety of the match which went to extra time; City lost the tie to eventual winners Arsenal, finishing 2016–17 without a trophy. Kompany appeared just 15 times during the campaign, although his continued importance to the team was evidenced by the fact he would always return to the starting line-up as soon as he was fit.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: Kompany played in eight league matches for Manchester City during the first portion of 2017–18, suffering further strains during the period, before withdrawing minutes into an away fixture against Newcastle on 27 December; Guardiola's responses in the press conferences suggested he was losing patience with the situation. He returned to the team on 3 February 2018, completing the 90 minutes of a 1–1 draw away to Burnley while Aymeric Laporte, the club's new record signing in the same position, remained on the bench throughout. On 25 February, he scored Manchester City's second goal of a 3–0 victory over Arsenal in the 2018 EFL Cup Final, and was named man of the match. he eventually managed 17 league starts as Manchester City won the title with a record 100 points.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: On 6 May 2019, Kompany scored Manchester City's only goal during a 1–0 victory over Leicester City with his first goal from outside the box for the club. The result put the club one point ahead at the top of the 2018–19 Premier League table, and they retained the title by the same margin six days later. Kompany had already lifted the EFL Cup again in February 2019 after a penalty shootout victory over Chelsea. He played the whole of the 2019 FA Cup Final, a 6–0 victory over Watford as the club completed an unprecedented domestic treble (plus the Community Shield).


title: Vincent Kompany

text: On 17 August 2020, Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak announced plans for a statue of Kompany at the Etihad Stadium, along with teammates Sergio Aguero and David Silva, to commemorate his "transformational" contribution at City. The statues of Kompany and Silva were unveiled on 28 August 2021.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: On 19 May 2019, it was announced that Kompany would be leaving Manchester City to become player-manager of his first club Anderlecht. With two defeats, two goalless draws, six goals conceded and three scored, the Brussels-based club had endured their worst opening start to a league campaign since the 1998–99 season. On 22 August, Kompany decided to step down managerial duties on the pitch, to focus primarily on being a player. Head coach Simon Davies would become in charge of tactical changes and substitutions, while Kompany would be given the captain's arm band.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: Kompany made his international debut for Belgium at the age of 17 on 18 February 2004, starting in a 2–0 home loss to France.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: The Royal Belgian Football Association called up Kompany to the 2008 Olympics. Initially, Hamburg decided not to let him go as the Olympics was not an official FIFA tournament. After a dispute, Hamburg decided to release him under the condition that he returned after Belgium's first two group games. The first game was against Brazil where he was sent off in a 1–0 loss, and as a consequence his tournament was over as the red card would rule him out of Belgium's second group game. Kompany decided against returning to Germany in hope of playing the last group game to help his country qualify for the knockout stages. Hamburg maintained their stance that he had to return, and the Belgian FA decided to release him. He later came on as a substitute in the opening game for Hamburg against Bayern Munich.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: In November 2009, Kompany fell out with the Belgium manager Dick Advocaat. Before the friendly match with Qatar, Kompany received permission to attend his grandmother's funeral as long as he returned to the team hotel before 6 pm that evening. He did not return until nearly midnight and Advocaat removed him from the squad altogether, although on 24 February 2010 he was recalled for the friendly against Croatia.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: On 19 May 2010, Kompany captained Belgium for the first time and scored his first international goal in the 90th minute for a 2–1 friendly win over Bulgaria at the King Baudouin Stadium. After 34 minutes of Belgium's 2–1 World Cup qualifier win against Serbia in June 2013, Kompany suffered concussion and facial injuries, including a broken nose and cracked eye-socket, in a collision with goalkeeper Vladimir Stojković. After receiving first aid on the touchline, he played out the remainder of the match.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: On 13 May 2014, Kompany was named in the Belgium squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He captained the Red Devils in their first World Cup match in 12 years, a 2–1 win against Algeria in Belo Horizonte. Injuries sustained during the season caused him to miss UEFA Euro 2016.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: At the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Kompany featured in five of his nation's seven matches, playing every minute in the knockout phase as they advanced to the semi-finals before losing to eventual champions


title: Vincent Kompany

text: Kompany has been described as one of the best defenders in world football, and in the history of the Premier League; he is recognised to be an intelligent and physically strong centre-back, with excellent aerial ability, mobility, and leadership qualities, as well as good technique and distribution. He is also a very accurate tackler, with strong positional sense, and excels at reading the game and anticipating his opponents. He initially played as a central or defensive midfielder before being moved to a centre-back role. Despite his ability, he often struggled with injuries throughout his career.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: On 17 August 2020, it was announced that Kompany would be the head coach at Anderlecht for the next four seasons, after retiring from professional football on the same day. He made his debut six days later in a 1–1 home draw with Mouscron, conceding the equaliser in added time. In the Belgian Cup, the team reached the semi-finals before a 2–1 elimination by Genk in March. The league campaign ended with qualification for the play-offs, in which they came fourth and made the UEFA Europa Conference League.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: In August 2021, Kompany's Violets were eliminated from the Conference League qualifiers 5–4 on aggregate by Dutch club Vitesse. The team did one round better in the cup than before, losing the final on penalties to Gent on 18 April, and came third in the league.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: On 14 June 2022, Kompany was appointed manager of EFL Championship club Burnley on a deal of undisclosed length, following the club's relegation from the Premier League. On his debut on 29 July, he won 1–0 at Huddersfield Town with a goal by debutant Ian Maatsen. An impressive October where his side picked up five wins and three draws in an unbeaten month, saw Kompany awarded the EFL Championship Manager of the Month award, finishing the month on top of the table.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: Kompany is an official FIFA ambassador for registered charity SOS Children. Of Congolese heritage, Kompany represents his father's native Congo, and has invested and engaged in projects which aim to provide an education and safe living accommodation for children living in poverty.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: In March 2013, Kompany bought the Belgian third division club FC Bleid as a "social commitment towards the youngsters of Brussels", with the intention of offering disadvantaged youngsters the opportunity to use sport as a vehicle for self-improvement.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: Kompany's father, Pierre, is a Congolese immigrant to Belgium and serves as his agent. In October 2018, Pierre was elected the mayor of Ganshoren, making him the first black mayor in Belgium. His late mother, Jocelyne, was Belgian. His brother, François Kompany, spent most of his career in the Belgian second tier, having earlier been on the books of Macclesfield Town. Kompany also has an older sister. Among his friends are former Chelsea goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay and former Manchester United defender Floribert N'Galula, both of whom he consulted about his move to England before joining Manchester City.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: Kompany married his Mancunian girlfriend, Carla Higgs, a lifelong Manchester City supporter on 11 June 2011 and together they have a daughter born in 2010, and two sons, born in 2013 and 2015.


title: Vincent Kompany

text: Kompany has a number of pastimes and interests which keep him occupied outside of football. He has an interest in politics and graduated with an MBA at Manchester Business School in 2018 after several years of study. Kompany has been characterized as "erudite" and "eloquent".


title: Vincent Kompany

text: In April 2014, Kompany opened two new sports bars in Belgium by the name of Good Kompany, one at the Grand Place in Brussels and the other at the Groenplaats in Antwerp. However, Kompany closed down both bars within a year of their opening. At the time of their closure, Kompany was quoted as saying "I regret this decision. We had enough customers, turnover was good, but not enough to cover the costs. So that's where it ends. Lesson 1 in business: investments are always a risk. You win some, you lose some."


title: Ram Dass

text: Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert; April 6, 1931 – December 22, 2019), also known as Baba Ram Dass, was an American spiritual teacher, guru of modern yoga, psychologist, and author. His best-selling 1971 book "Be Here Now", which has been described by multiple reviewers as "seminal", helped popularize Eastern spirituality and yoga in the West. He authored or co-authored twelve more books on spirituality over the next four decades, including "Grist for the Mill" (1977), "How Can I Help?" (1985), and "Polishing the Mirror" (2013).


title: Ram Dass

text: Ram Dass was personally and professionally associated with Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the early 1960s. Then known as Richard Alpert, he conducted research with Leary on the therapeutic effects of psychedelic drugs. In addition, Alpert assisted Harvard Divinity School graduate student Walter Pahnke in his 1962 "Good Friday Experiment" with theology students, the first controlled, double-blind study of drugs and the mystical experience. While not illegal at the time, their research was controversial and led to Leary's and Alpert's dismissal from Harvard in 1963.


title: Ram Dass

text: In 1967, Alpert traveled to India and became a disciple of Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba who gave him the name Ram Dass, meaning "Servant of Ram," but usually rendered as simply "Servant of God" for western audiences. In the coming years, he founded the charitable organizations Seva Foundation and Hanuman Foundation. He traveled extensively giving talks and retreats and holding fundraisers for charitable causes in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. In 1997, he had a stroke which left him with paralysis and expressive aphasia. He eventually grew to interpret this event as an act of grace, learning to speak again and continuing to teach and author books. After becoming seriously ill during a trip to India in 2004, he gave up traveling and moved to Maui, Hawaii, where he hosted annual retreats with other spiritual teachers until his death in 2019.