title: Tevin Campbell

text: Campbell added the rainbow flag emoji to his Twitter profile in 2019, along with a Scorpio symbol and a bald eagle emoji. Campbell later opened up speculation about his sexuality on Twitter on March 8, 2022 by responding to a Twitter user who was talking about what they said their mother thought about the sexuality of some well-known musicians; Campbell responded with the words “Tevin is”, a rainbow flag, and a chill emoji. The singer later deleted the tweet. On August 17, 2022, Campbell came out as gay in an interview with the "People Every Day" podcast.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He introduced the currency of the rupee. An ethnic Pashtun ruler, Sher Shah took control of the Mughal Empire in 1540 CE. After his accidental death in 1545 CE, his son Islam Shah became his successor.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: He first served as a private before rising to become a commander in the Mughal army under Babur and then the governor of Bihar. In 1537, when Babur's son Humayun was elsewhere on an expedition, Sher Shah overran the state of Bengal and established the Suri dynasty. A brilliant strategist, Sher Shah proved himself as a gifted administrator as well as a capable general. His reorganization of the empire laid the foundations for the later Mughal emperors, notably Akbar, son of Humayun.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: During his five-year rule from 1540 to 1545, he set up a new economic and military administration, issued the first "Rupiya" from "Tanka" and organized the postal system of the Indian Subcontinent.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: Some of his strategies and contributions were later idolized by the Mughal emperors, most notably Akbar. Suri further developed Humayun's "Dina-panah" city and named it Shergarh and revived the historical city of Pataliputra, which had been in decline since the 7th century CE, as Patna.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: He extended the Grand Trunk Road from Chittagong in the frontiers of the province of Bengal in northeast India to Kabul in Afghanistan in the far northwest of the country. The influence of his innovations and reforms extended far beyond his brief reign; his arch foe, Humayun, referred to him as “Ustad-I-Badshahan”, teacher of kings. In the seven years of his reign he never lost a battle.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: His grandfather Ibrahim Khan Sur, who started out as a horse trader, became a landlord (Jagirdar) in Narnaul area (present-day Haryana), representing his patron Jamal Khan Lodi Sarangkhani, who assigned him a few villages in Hissar. Sikandar Lodi appointed Sarangkhani, who supported Sikandar's struggle to the throne, as governor of Jaunpur area (present-day Uttar Pradesh) after its conquest. Jamal's son and successor Khan-i-Azam Ahmad Khan Sarangkhani, with a rank of 20,000 sawars, further appointed Ibrahim Sur's son Hasan, a leader of Afghan freebooters, to the "iqta" of Sasaram and Khawaspur-Thanda with a rank of 500 sawars.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: Historian Satish Chandra writes that, "We do not know precisely when and where Farid, later Sher Shah, was born. The consensus of opinion among modern scholars is that he was born in Narnaul in 1486 or so, during the reign of Bahlol Lodi." However, the online "Encyclopædia Britannica" states that he was born in Sasaram (Bihar), in the Rohtas district.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: He was one of eight sons of Hassan Khan. Farid came to Jaunpur, where he studied literature, poetry, and history.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: During his early age, Farid was given a village in Fargana, Delhi (comprising present-day districts of Bhojpur, Buxar, Bhabhua of Bihar) by Omar Khan Sarwani, an ethnic Pashtun himself, the counselor and courtier of Bahlul Khan Lodi. Farid Khan and his father, a jagirdar of Sasaram in Bihar, who had several wives, did not get along for a while so he decided to run away from home. When his father discovered that he fled to serve Jamal Khan, the governor of Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, he wrote Jamal Khan a letter that stated: Jamal Khan had advised Farid to return home but he refused. Farid replied in a letter:


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: His surname 'Suri' was taken from his Pashtun Sur tribe. He was a distant kinsman to Babur's brother-in-law, Mir Shah Jamal, who remained loyal to Humayun. The name "Sher" (means "lion" or "tiger" in the older pronunciation of Persian) was conferred upon him for his courage, when as a young man, he killed a tiger that leapt suddenly upon the king of Bihar.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: Farid Khan started his service under Bahar Khan Lohani, the Mughal Governor of Bihar. Because of his valour, Bahar Khan rewarded him the title "Sher Khan" ("Lion Lord"). After the death of Bahar Khan, Sher Khan became the regent ruler of the minor Sultan, Jalal Khan. Later sensing the growth of Sher Shah's power in Bihar, Jalal sought the assistance of Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah, the independent Sultan of Bengal. Ghiyasuddin sent an army under General Ibrahim Khan. But, Sher Khan defeated the force at the battle of Surajgarh in 1534 after forming an alliance with Ujjainiya Rajputs under Gajpati Ujjainia and other local chiefdoms. Thus he achieved complete control of Bihar.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: In 1537, Sher Khan attacked Bengal and defeated Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah. But he could not capture the kingdom because of the sudden expedition of Emperor Humayun. On 26 June 1539, Sher Khan faced Humayun in the Battle of Chausa and defeated him. Assuming the title "Farīd al-Dīn Shēr Shah", he defeated Humayun once again at Kannauj in May 1540 and forced him out of India.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: After the death of Bahadur Shah of Gujarat in 1537, Qadir Shah became the new ruler of Malwa Sultanate. He then turned for support towards the Rajput and Muslim noblemen of the Khilji rule of Malwa. Puran Mal and Bhupat Rai, sons of Raja Silhadi, accepted service under the regime of Malwa in recognition of their interest in the Raisen region. By 1540, Bhupat Rai had died and Puran Mal had become the dominant force in eastern Malwa. In 1542, Sher Shah conquered Malwa without a fight and Qadir Shah fled to Gujarat. He then appointed Shuja'at Khan as the governor of Malwa who reorganised the administration and made Sarangpur the seat of Malwa's government. Sher Shah then ordered Puran Mal to be brought before him. Puran Mal agreed to accept his lordship and left his brother Chaturbhuj under Sher Shah's service. In exchange Sher Shah vowed to safeguard Puran Mal and his land.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: The Muslim women of Chanderi, which Sher Shah had taken under his rule, came to him and accused Puran Mal of killing their husbands and enslaving their daughters. They threatened to denounce Sher Shah on the Day of Resurrection if he did not avenge them. Upon reminding them of his pledge to safeguard Puran Mal, they told him to consult his ulema. The ulema issued a "fatwa" declaring that Puran Mal deserved death. Sher Shah later had his troops encircle Puran Mal's camp. Upon seeing this, Puran Mal beheaded his wife and ordered the other Rajputs to kill their families too. Nizamuddin Ahmad writes that 4,000 Rajputs of importance were there. `Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni puts the number of Rajputs at 10,000.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: Historian Abbas Sarwani describes a scene of the battle thus, "While the Hindus were employed in putting their women and families to death, the Afghans on all sides commenced the slaughter of the Hindus. Puran Mal and his companions... failed not to exhibit valour and gallantry, but in the twinkling of an eye all were slain." Only a few women and children survived. Puran Mal's daughter was given to minstrels to be a dancing girl while his three nephews were castrated. As an excuse for the treachery, Sher Shah claimed it as a revenge for enslavement of Muslim women and that he had once, when seriously ill, pledged to wipe out the Rajputs of Raisen.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: In 1543, Sher Shah Suri with a force of 80,000 cavalry set out against Maldeo Rathore, the Rajput king of Marwar. Maldeo Rathore with an army of 50,000 cavalry advanced to face Sher Shah's army. Instead of marching to the enemy's capital Sher Shah halted in the village of Sammel in the pargana of Jaitaran, ninety kilometres east of Jodhpur. After one month of skirmishing, Sher Shah's position became critical owing to the difficulties of food supplies for his huge army. To resolve this situation, Sher Shah resorted to a cunning ploy. One evening, he dropped forged letters near the Maldeo's camp in such a way that they were sure to be intercepted. These letters indicated, falsely, that some of Maldeo's army commanders were promising assistance to Sher Shah. This caused great consternation to Maldeo, who immediately (and wrongly) suspected his commanders of disloyalty. Maldeo left for Jodhpur with his own men, abandoning his commanders to their fate.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: After that Maldeo's innocent generals Jaita and Kumpa fought with just a few thousand men against an enemy force of 80,000 men and cannons. In the ensuing battle of Sammel (also known as battle of Giri Sumel), Sher Shah emerged victorious, but several of his generals lost their lives and his army suffered heavy losses. Sher Shah is said to have commented that "for a few grains of bajra (millet, which is the main crop of barren Marwar) I almost lost the entire kingdom of Hindustan."


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: According to Mughal historian Badauni, Sher Shah's use of elephant troops helped him defeat the Rajput army.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: After this victory, Sher Shah's general Khawas Khan Marwat took possession of Jodhpur and occupied the territory of Marwar from Ajmer to Mount Abu in 1544.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: The system of tri-metalism which came to characterise Mughal coinage was introduced by Sher Shah. While the term "rūpya" had previously been used as a generic term for any silver coin, during his rule the term "rūpee" came to be used as the name for a silver coin of a standard weight of 178 grains, which was the precursor of the modern rupee. "Rupee" is today used as the national currency in India, Indonesia, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka among other countries. Gold coins called the "Mohur" weighing 169 grains and copper coins called Paisa were also minted by his government. According to numismatists Goron and Goenka, it is clear from coins dated AH 945 (1538 AD) that Sher Khan had assumed the royal title of Farid al-Din Sher Shah and had coins struck in his own name even before the battle of Chausa.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: Sher Shah was responsible for greatly rebuilding and modernizing the Grand Trunk Road, a major artery which runs all the way from modern day Bangladesh to Afghanistan. Caravanserais (inns) and mosques were built and trees were planted along the entire stretch on both sides of the road to provide shade to travelers. Wells were also dug, especially along the western section. He also established an efficient postal system, with mail being carried by relays of horse riders.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: Sher Shah built several monuments including Rohtas Fort (now a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Pakistan), many structures in the Rohtasgarh Fort in Bihar, the Sher Shah Suri Masjid in Patna, the Qila-i-Kuhna mosque inside the Purana Qila complex in Delhi, and the Sher Mandal, an octagonal building also inside the Purana Qila complex, which later served as the library of Humayun. He built a new city, Bhera, in present-day Pakistan in 1545, including within it a grand masjid named after him.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: Sher Shah is generally viewed as tolerant of Hindus, except in the massacre following the surrender of Raisen.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: "Tarikh-i-Sher Shahi" ("History of Sher Shah"), written by Abbas Khan Sarwani, a "waqia-navis" under later Mughal Emperor, Akbar around 1580, provides a detailed documentation about Sher Shah's administration.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: Sher Shah started the siege of Kalinjar in 1543 and was killed on 22 May 1545 during the siege of Kalinjar fort. When all tactics to subdue this fort failed, Sher Shah ordered the walls of the fort to be blown up with gunpowder, but he was seriously wounded as a result of the explosion of a mine when the Rajput garrison of the fort attacked his encampment at night. He was succeeded by his son, Jalal Khan, who then continued the siege and slaughtered the whole Rajput garrison of Kalinjar fort and took the title of Islam Shah Suri. His mausoleum, the Sher Shah Suri Tomb (122 ft high), stands in the middle of an artificial lake at Sasaram, a town on the Grand Trunk Road.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: Sher Shah suri is accused by ʽAbd al-Qadir Badayuni and other Muslim historians for destroying old cities while founding new ones on their ruins after his own name. Shergarh is one of the prime examples, representing a deserted town with a fort in ruins, which, in old times, used to be a thriving place where Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism co-existed peacefully. This can be evidently derived from the various inscriptions found in the area. Sher Shah is also said to have destroyed Dinpanah, which Humayun was constructing as the "sixth city of Delhi". The new city, Shergarh, built by him, was itself destroyed in 1555 after Humayun re-conquered the territory from the Surs. Tarikh-i-Da'udi states, however, that he destroyed Siri. Abbas Sarwani states that he had the older city of Delhi destroyed. Tarikh-i-Khan Jahan states that Salim Shah Suri had built a wall around Humayun's imperial city.


title: Sher Shah Suri

text: "Sher Khan" (1962) an Indian Hindi-language action film by Radhakant starring Kamaljeet in the titular role along with Kumkum is ostensibly based on the emperor's life. "Shershah Suri", a television show about the emperor aired on Doordarshan, the Indian national public broadcaster.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from December 2004 to September 2014. He previously served as Chairman of the Afghan Interim Administration from December 2001 to July 2002. He is the chief ("khān") of the Popalzai Durrani tribe of Pashtuns in Kandahar Province.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Born in Kandahar, Karzai graduated from Habibia High School in Kabul and later received a master's degree in India in the 1980s. He moved to Pakistan where he was active as a fundraiser for the Afghan rebels during the Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989) and its aftermath. He briefly served as Deputy Foreign Minister in the Islamic State of Afghanistan government. In July 1999, Karzai's father was assassinated and Karzai succeeded him as head of the Popalzai tribe. In October 2001 the United States invasion of Afghanistan began and Karzai led the Pashtun tribes in and around Kandahar in an uprising against the Taliban; he became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001. During the December 2001 International Conference on Afghanistan in Germany, Karzai was selected by prominent Afghan political figures to serve a six-month term as chairman of the Interim Administration.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: He was then chosen for a two-year term as interim president during the 2002 loya jirga (grand assembly) that was held in Kabul, Afghanistan. After the 2004 presidential election, Karzai was declared the winner and became President of Afghanistan. He won a second five-year term in the 2009 presidential election; this term ended in September 2014, and he was succeeded by Ashraf Ghani.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: During his presidency, Karzai was known in the international community for his charisma, his tribal robe and lambskin hat, and for being an alliance builder between Afghanistan's communities. In later years, his relationship with NATO and the United States became increasingly strained, and he has been accused several times of corruption. He called the Taliban his brothers and warned that the heavy-handed counterinsurgency in Afghanistan would only revive the Taliban insurgency against the former Afghan government, urging the US to instead focus on bringing Pakistan's support for the Taliban leadership to heel, but the US largely ignored his requests. After the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 2021, Karzai stated the Taliban did not capture the city by force, but rather were invited by him in order to prevent chaos. He said that in order to gain international recognition, the new Taliban government needed internal legitimacy, which could be achieved through a general election or "loya jirga".


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai was born on 24 December 1957 in the Karz area of Kandahar City in southern Afghanistan. He is an ethnic Pashtun descended from the khans, or traditional chiefs, of the Popalzai Pashtun tribe. His father, Abdul Ahad Karzai, served as the Deputy Speaker of the Afghan Parliament during the 1960s. His grandfather, Khair Mohammad Khan, had fought in the 1919 Third Anglo-Afghan War and was the Deputy Speaker of the Senate. The Karzai family were monarchists and remained strong supporters of Mohammed Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan. His uncle, Habibullah Karzai, served as the Afghan representative at the UN and is said to have accompanied King Zahir to the United States in the early 1960s for a special meeting with U.S. President John F. Kennedy.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Hamid Karzai attended Mahmood Hotaki Primary School in Kandahar and Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani School in Kabul. He graduated from Habibia High School in Kabul in 1976. After graduating, he went to India as an exchange student in 1976, and studied for a master's degree in international relations and political science at Himachal Pradesh University, obtaining his degree in 1983. Karzai then moved to Pakistan and worked as a fundraiser for the anti-communist Afghan rebels during their 1980s uprising against the rule of Soviet-backed Afghan Mohammad Najibullah.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Hamid Karzai returned to Afghanistan in early October 1988, late in the war, to assist in the rebel victory in Tarinkot. He assisted in mobilizing the Popalzai and the other Durrani tribes and helped to drive Najibullah's regime from the city. Karzai also helped negotiate the defection of five hundred of Najibullah's soldiers. When Najibullah's pro-Soviet government collapsed in 1992, the Peshawar Accords agreed upon by the Afghan political parties established the Islamic State of Afghanistan and appointed an interim government to be followed by general elections. Karzai accompanied the first mujahideen leaders into Kabul after President Najibullah stepped down in 1992. He served as Deputy Foreign Minister in the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani. Karzai was arrested, however, by Mohammad Fahim (who would later become Karzai's Vice President) on charges of spying for Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in what Karzai claimed was an effort to negotiate between Hekmatyar's forces and Rabbani's government. Karzai fled from Kabul in a vehicle provided by Hekmatyar and driven by Gul Rahman.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: When the Taliban emerged in the mid-1990s, Karzai initially recognized them as the legitimate government because he thought that they would stop the violence and corruption in the country. He was requested by the Taliban to serve as their ambassador, but refused, telling friends that he felt Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was wrongly using them. Karzai then wanted to represent the Taliban government for the UN, but the Taliban leader did not trust Karzai due to him having many links with westerners. Karzai lived in the Pakistani city of Quetta among many other Afghan refugees, where he worked to reinstate former Afghan king Zahir Shah, meeting the king in Italy several times. He also visited the western embassies including the U.S. embassy in Islamabad several times, talking with UN diplomat Norbert Holl, and attempted to gain American support for "modern, educated Afghans" to weaken the Taliban's views. Karzai's father was reportedly annoyed with him for not making clear-cut choices and wanting to be friends with everyone.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In July 1999, Karzai's father, Abdul Ahad Karzai, was shot dead early in the morning while returning home from a mosque in Quetta. Reports suggest that the Taliban carried out the assassination. Following this incident, Karzai took over as khan of the tribe and decided to work closely with the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, which was led by Ahmad Shah Massoud.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In 2000 and 2001, he travelled to Europe and the United States to help gather support for the anti-Taliban movement. "Massoud and Karzai warned the United States that the Taliban were connected with al Qaeda and that there was a plot for an imminent attack on the United States, but their warnings went unheeded. On September 9, 2001, two days before the September 11 attacks in the US, Massoud was assassinated by al Qaeda agents in a suicide bombing." As the U.S. Armed Forces were preparing for a confrontation with the Taliban in September 2001, Karzai began urging NATO states to purge his country of al-Qaeda. He said in a BBC interview, "These Arabs, together with their foreign supporters and the Taliban, destroyed miles and miles of homes and orchards and vineyards ... They have killed Afghans. They have trained their guns on Afghan lives ... We want them out."


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai had been a US CIA contact, and was well regarded by the CIA. After the 7 October 2001 launch of Operation Enduring Freedom, the United Front (Northern Alliance) worked with teams of U.S. special forces and together they overthrew the Taliban regime and mustered support for a new government in Afghanistan. Karzai and his group were in Quetta, where they began a covert operation. Later, many would claim that at this moment the US decided that Karzai should be the next leader of Afghanistan. Before entering Afghanistan, he warned his fighters:


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai gather several hundred fighters from his tribe, but were attacked by the Taliban. Karzai barely survived, and used his contacts with the CIA to call for an airlift. On 4 November 2001, American special operation forces flew Karzai out of Afghanistan for protection. On 5 December 2001, Hamid Karzai and his group of fighters survived a friendly fire missile attack by U.S. Air Force pilots in southern Afghanistan. The group suffered injuries and was treated in the United States; Karzai received injuries to his facial nerves, as can sometimes be noticed during his speeches.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In December 2001, political leaders gathered in Germany to agree on new leadership structures. Under 5 December Bonn Agreement, they formed an Interim Administration and named Karzai Chairman of a 29-member governing committee. He was sworn in as the leader on 22 December. The loya jirga of 13 June 2002 appointed Karzai as Interim President of the new position as President of the Afghan Transitional Administration. Former members of the Northern Alliance remained extremely influential, most notably Vice President Mohammed Fahim, who also served as the Defense Minister.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai re-enacted the original coronation of Ahmad Shah Durrani at the shrine of Sher-i-Surkh outside Kandahar, where he had leaders of various Afghan tribes, including a descendant of the religious leader (Sabir Shah) who originally selected Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747, as key players in this event. Further evidence that Karzai views himself fulfilling a Durrani monarch's role arises from statements furnished by close allies within his government. His late brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, made statements to a similar effect.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: As part of his efforts to unite Afghanistan's ethnicities, Karzai favored an Afghan dress that combines traditional design features from the various ethnics – Pashtun-style long shirt and loose trousers, an outer robe popular among the Tajiks and Uzbeks, and most distinctively a "karakul" hat worn by highlanders from the valley of Panjshir. In 2002 designer Tom Ford, who worked at the time for Gucci, was quoted calling Karzai "the most chic man in the world".


title: Hamid Karzai

text: After Karzai was installed into power, his actual authority outside the capital city of Kabul was said to be so limited that he was often derided as the "Mayor of Kabul". The situation was particularly delicate since Karzai and his administration have not been equipped either financially or politically to influence reforms outside of the region around Kabul. Other areas, particularly the more remote ones, have historically been under the influence of various local leaders. Karzai has been, to varying degrees of success, attempting to negotiate and form amicable alliances with them for the benefit of Afghanistan as a whole, instead of aggressively fighting them and risking an uprising.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In 2004, he rejected an international proposal to end poppy production in Afghanistan through aerial spraying of chemical herbicides, fearing that it would harm the economic situation of his countrymen. Moreover, Karzai's younger brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai – who partially helped finance Karzai's presidential campaign – was rumored to be involved in narcotic deals. James Risen of "The New York Times" and others stated that Ahmed Wali Karzai may have been involved in the Afghan opium and heroin trade. This was denied by Karzai, who called the charges political propaganda and stated he was a "victim of vicious politics".


title: Hamid Karzai

text: When Karzai was a candidate in the October 2004 presidential election, he won 21 of the 34 provinces, defeating his 22 opponents and becoming the first democratically elected leader of Afghanistan.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Although his campaigning was limited due to fears of violence, elections passed without significant incident. Following an investigation by the United Nations of alleged voting irregularities, the national election commission in early November declared Karzai winner, without a runoff, with 55.4% of the vote. This represented 4.3 million of the total 8.1 million votes cast. The election took place safely in spite of a surge of insurgent activity.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai was sworn in as President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on 7 December 2004, at a formal ceremony in Kabul. Many interpreted the ceremony as a symbolically important "new start" for the war-torn nation. Notable guests at the inauguration included the country's former King, Zahir Shah, three former U.S. presidents, and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: After winning a democratic mandate in the 2004 election, it was thought that Karzai would pursue a more aggressively reformist path in 2005. However, Karzai has proved to be more cautious than was expected. After his new administration took over in 2004, the economy of Afghanistan began growing rapidly for the first time in many years. Government revenue began increasing every year, although it is still heavily dependent on foreign aid.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: During the first term in Karzai's presidency, public discontent grew about corruption and the civilian casualties in the 2001–14. In May 2006, an anti-American and anti-Karzai riot took place in Kabul which left at least seven people dead and 40 injured. In May 2007, after as many as 51 Afghan civilians were killed in a bombing, Karzai asserted that his government "can no longer accept" casualties caused by U.S. and NATO operations.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In September 2006, Karzai told the United Nations General Assembly that Afghanistan has become the "worst victim" of terrorism. Karzai said terrorism is rebounding in his country, with militants infiltrating the borders to wage attacks on civilians. He stated, "This does not have its seeds alone in Afghanistan. Military action in the country will, therefore, not deliver the shared goal of eliminating terrorism." He demanded assistance from the international community to destroy terrorist sanctuaries inside and outside Afghanistan. "You have to look beyond Afghanistan to the sources of terrorism", he told the UN General Assembly, and "destroy terrorist sanctuaries beyond" the country, dismantle the elaborate networks in the region that recruit, indoctrinate, train, finance, arm, and deploy terrorists. These activities are also robbing thousands of Afghan children of their right to education, and prevent health workers from doing their jobs in Afghanistan. In addition, he promised to eliminate opium-poppy cultivation in his country, which is possibly helping fuel the ongoing Taliban insurgency. He has repeatedly demanded that NATO forces take more care to avoid civilian casualties when conducting military operations in residential areas. In a September 2006 video broadcast, Karzai stated that if the money wasted on the Iraq War had been actually spent on rebuilding Afghanistan, his country would "be in heaven in less than one year".


title: Hamid Karzai

text: On the eve of 20 August presidential election, Karzai seemed at once deeply unpopular but also likely to win the majority of the votes. He was blamed by many for the failures that plagued the reconstruction of Afghanistan after the toppling of the Taliban government in 2001, from the widespread corruption and the resurgence of the (neo-)Taliban to the explosion of the poppy trade. His unpopularity and the likelihood of his victory formed an atmosphere with a kind of national demoralization, which could discourage many Afghans from voting and dash hopes for substantial progress after the election.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In this second presidential election, Karzai was announced to have received over 50% of the votes. The election was tainted by lack of security, low voter turnout and widespread ballot stuffing, intimidation, and other electoral fraud.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Two months later Karzai accepted calls for a second round run-off vote, which was scheduled for 7 November 2009. On 2 November 2009, Karzai's run-off opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from the race and election officials announced the cancellation of the run-off race. Karzai, the only remaining contender, was declared the winner a short time later.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai presented his first list of 24 cabinet nominees to the Afghan parliament on 19 December 2009; however, on 2 January 2010, the parliament rejected 17 of these. According to the parliament, most of the nominees were rejected due to having been picked for reasons other than their competency. A member of parliament said that they had been picked largely based on "ethnicity or bribery or money".


title: Hamid Karzai

text: On 16 January 2010, the Afghan parliament rejected 10 of the Karzai's 17 replacement picks for the cabinet. MPs complained that Karzai's new choices were either not qualified for their posts or had close connections to Afghan warlords. Despite the second setback, by mid-January Karzai had 14 out of the 24 ministers confirmed, including the most powerful posts at foreign, defense and interior ministries. Shortly afterward, the parliament began its winter recess, lasting until 20 February, without waiting for Karzai to select additional names for his cabinet. The move not only extended the political uncertainty in the government but also dealt Karzai the embarrassment of appearing at the London Conference on Afghanistan with nearly half of his cabinet devoid of leaders.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Since late 2001 Karzai has been trying for peace in his country, going as far as pardoning militants that lay down weapons and join the rebuilding process. However, his offers were not accepted by the militant groups. In April 2007, Karzai acknowledged that he spoke to some militants about trying to bring peace in Afghanistan. He noted that the Afghan militants are always welcome in the country, although foreign insurgents are not. In September 2007, Karzai again offered talks with militant fighters after a security scare forced him to end a commemoration speech. Karzai left the event and was taken back to his palace, where he was due to meet visiting Latvian President Valdis Zatlers. After the meeting, the pair held a joint news conference, at which Karzai called for talks with his Taliban foes. "We don't have any formal negotiations with the Taliban. They don't have an address. Who do we talk to?" Karzai told reporters. He further stated: "If I can have a place where to send somebody to talk to, an authority that publicly says it is the Taliban authority, I will do it."


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In December 2009 Karzai announced to move ahead with a Loya Jirga (large assembly) to discuss the Taliban insurgency in which the Taliban representatives would be invited to take part in this Jirga. In January 2010, Karzai set the framework for dialogue with Taliban leaders when he called on the group's leadership to take part in the jirga to initiate peace talks. A Taliban spokesman declined to talk in detail about Karzai's offer and only said the militants would make a decision soon. In April 2010, Karzai urged Taliban insurgents to lay down their arms and air their grievances while visiting a violent northern province, adding that foreign forces would not leave the country as long as fighting continued. In July 2010, Karzai approved a plan intended to win over Taliban foot soldiers and low-level commanders. In mid-August 2013, Attorney General Mohammad Ishaq Aloko was said to have been fired after meeting with Taliban officials in the U.A.E. after being told not to meet with them. However, unnamed senior cabinet officials tried to persuade Karzai to not fire him, while an official in Aloko's office denied the dismissal saying instead that he was at the Presidential Palace "celebrating Independence Day".


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai's relations with NATO countries was strong, especially with the United States, due to the fact that it was the leading nation helping to rebuild war-torn Afghanistan. Karzai enjoyed a very friendly and strong strategic partnership with the United States, despite various disagreements. The U.S. had supported him since late 2001 to lead his nation. He has made many important diplomatic trips to the United States and other NATO countries. In August 2007, Karzai was invited to Camp David in Maryland, USA, for a special meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush. The United States has set up a special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, which is headed by Marc Grossman. His task is to serve as a mediator and solve issues between the three nations.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: However, in later years the relations between U.S. and Karzai had become strained, particularly Karzai had been very critical of U.S. military because of their high-level of civilian casualties. In 2019 he described a "major fight" he had with American military officials back in 2007, when Karzai repeatedly told them: "If you want to fight terrorism and bad people, I won't stop you, but please leave the Afghan people alone". In a retrospective interview, Karzai claimed he felt that he was being used as a tool by the United States.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Further strain in relations with the United States resulted in 2014, when Afghanistan, joined Cuba, Nicaragua, North Korea, Syria, and Venezuela as the only countries to recognize the Russian annexation of Crimea. The United States, European countries, and most other nations wholeheartedly condemned the Russian takeover, as well as the validity of the subsequent Crimean Referendum on its annexation to Russia. Citing "the free will of the Crimean people", the office of President Hamid Karzai said, "We respect the decision the people of Crimea took through a recent referendum that considers Crimea as part of the Russian Federation."


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai's relations with neighboring Pakistan were good, especially with the Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). He often describes his nation and Pakistan as "inseparable twin brothers", a reference to the disputed Durand Line border between the two states, despite the many border skirmishes that occurred during his presidency. In December 2007, Karzai and his delegates traveled to Islamabad, Pakistan, for a usual meeting with Pervez Musharraf on trade ties and intelligence sharing between the two Islamic states. Karzai also met and had a 45-minute talk with Benazir Bhutto on the morning of 27 December, hours before her trip to Liaquat National Bagh, where she was assassinated after her speech. After Bhutto's death, Karzai called her his sister and a brave woman who had a clear vision "for her own country, for Afghanistan, and for the region – a vision of democracy, prosperity, and peace". In September 2008, Karzai was invited on a special visit to witness the swearing-in ceremony of Asif Ali Zardari, who became the President of Pakistan. Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have improved after the PPP party took over in 2008. The two nations often make contacts with one another concerning the war on terrorism and trade. Pakistan even allowed NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan to launch attacks on militant groups in Pakistan. This was something strongly opposed by the previous government of Pakistan. The two states finally signed into law long-awaited Afghanistan–Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement in 2011, intended to improve trade. Karzai acknowledges Pakistan's meddling in Afghanistan's wars, but said in a 2015 interview that Afghanistan wants a "friendly relationship but not to be under Pakistan's thumb".


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai believed that Iran is a friend although the U.S. often claims that neighboring Iran is meddling in Afghanistan's affairs.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In 2007, Karzai said that Iran, so far, had been a helper in the reconstruction process. He acknowledged in 2010 that the Government of Iran had been providing millions of dollars directly to his office. In October 2007, Karzai again rejected Western accusations against Iran, stating, "We have resisted the negative propaganda launched by foreign states against the Islamic Republic, and we stress that aliens' propaganda should not leave a negative impact on the consolidated ties between the two great nations of Iran and Afghanistan." Karzai added, "The two Iranian and Afghan nations are close to each other due to their bonds and commonalities, they belong to the same house, and they will live alongside each other for good."


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Some international criticism has centered around the government of Karzai in early 2009 for failing to secure the country from Taliban attacks, systemic governmental corruption, and widespread claims of electoral fraud in the 2009 Afghan presidential election. Karzai staunchly defended the election balloting, stating that some statements criticizing the balloting and vote count were "totally fabricated". He told the media that, "There were instances of fraud, no doubt ... There were irregularities ... But the election as a whole was good and free and democratic." He further went on to say that, "Afghanistan has its separate problems and we have to handle them as Afghanistan finds it feasible ... This country was completely destroyed ... Today, we are talking about fighting corruption in Afghanistan, improved legal standards ... You see the glass half empty or half full. I see it as half full. Others see it as half empty." A 2019 "Washington Post" report described Karzai as ruling a "corrupt" government that was tolerated by the United States.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In June 2010, Karzai travelled to Japan for a five-day visit where the two nations discussed a new aid provided by the hosting nation and the untapped mineral resources recently announced. Karzai invited Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi and others to invest in Afghan mining projects. He told Japanese officials that Japan would be given priority in the bid to explore its resources. He stated, "morally, Afghanistan should give access as a priority to those countries that have helped Afghanistan massively in the past few years." While in Japan, Karzai also made his first visit to Hiroshima to pray for the atomic bomb victims. Japan has provided billions of dollars in aid to Afghanistan since the beginning of 2002.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: On 16 July 2014, President Karzai held a special cabinet meeting where he condemned the Israeli attacks on Gaza and the killings of civilians while pledging $500,000 USD in aid to Gaza.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Relations between Karzai and India have always been friendly; he attended university there. Afghanistan–India relations began getting stronger in 2011, especially after the death of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. In October 2011, Karzai signed a strategic partnership agreement with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. During his speech at the "RK Mishra Memorial" in New Delhi, Karzai told the audience that "The signing of the strategic partnership with India is not directed against any country. It is not directed against any other entity. This is for Afghanistan to benefit from the strength of India."


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Many people have plotted to assassinate Karzai in the last decade, especially the Taliban's Quetta Shura and the Taliban-allied Haqqani network which allegedly receives support and guidance from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy network. As recent as October 2011, while Karzai was visiting India to sign an important strategic partnership agreement with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Afghan agents of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) arrested 6 people in Kabul for planning to assassinate Karzai. Among those involved in the assassination plot were four Kabul University students and one of its professors, Dr. Aimal Habib, as well as Mohibullah Ahmadi who was one of the guards outside the Presidential Palace in Kabul. The alleged group of assassins were associates of al Qaida and the Haqqani network, and were paid $150,000 by Pakistani-based Islamic terrorists. A U.S. official said that "Our understanding is that the threat against President Karzai was real, was credible, but it was only in the early stages of planning." The following is a list of other failed assassination attempts:


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In a 2013 interview with Al Jazeera, Karzai called the Taliban his 'brothers'. He claimed that the Afghan government and Afghan people did not want to eliminate the Taliban, but rather reintegrate the Taliban into society. It was not the first time he called the Taliban his brothers. Previously he called them brothers during his victory speech in 2009, a day after he was declared president.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: On 14 September 2015, provincial police chief Gen. Daud Ahmadi claimed that Hamid Karzai had stopped an attack on a Taliban training camp in Logar province of Afghanistan. The camp was used as a launching pad and a military operation was being planned to deal with the camp. However, Karzai stopped them from attacking the camp. Ahmadi further claimed there were around 200 militants who were being trained at the camp at that time.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: After the 2017 Nangarhar airstrike, Karzai condemned his successor, President Ashraf Ghani, labeling him a traitor.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Following the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Taliban on 17 August 2021, the leader of the Taliban-affiliated Hezb-e-Islami party Gulbuddin Hekmatyar met with Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation and former chief executive, in Doha, seeking to form an interim government with the Taliban.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In February 2022, Karzai condemned the Biden administration's decision to unfreeze $7 billion of Da Afghanistan Bank's assets and to divide the money between humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Karzai labelled the decision as an "atrocity" and, while saying that Afghans sympathized with the victims of 9/11, the money belonged to the Afghan people, who had also suffered from the attacks' consequences.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai has been critical of the Taliban government's failure to fulfill promises regarding women's rights, and has asked the Taliban to reopen schools for girls. In an interview with CNN, he has also decried the demand for women to wear a burqa and cover their faces.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In 1999, Hamid Karzai married Zeenat Quraishi, a gynaecologist by profession who was working as a doctor with Afghan refugees living in Pakistan. They have a son, Mirwais, who was born in January 2007, a daughter, Malalai, born in 2012 and another daughter, Howsi, born in March 2014 in Gurgaon, India. He became a father once again at the age of 58 when another daughter was born in September 2016 in Apollo Hospital, New Delhi. According to a declaration of his assets by an anti-graft body, Karzai earns $525 monthly and has less than $20,000 in bank accounts. Karzai does not own any land or property.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai has six brothers, including Mahmood Karzai and Qayum Karzai, as well as Ahmed Wali Karzai, deceased, who was the representative for the southern Afghanistan region. Qayum is also the founder of the "Afghans for a Civil Society". Karzai has one sister, Fauzia Karzai. The family owns and operates several Afghan restaurants on the East Coast of the United States and in Chicago.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In initial biographical news reporting, there was confusion regarding his clan lineage; it was written that his paternal lineage derived from the Sadduzai clan. This confusion might have arisen from sources stating he was chosen as the tribal chief of the Popalzai. Traditionally, the Popalzai tribe has been led by members of the Sadozais. The first King of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Durrani, was the leader of the Sadozais, and the Sadozai lineage continued to rule Afghanistan until 1826 when the Barakzais ascended to the throne.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai is believed to be from the Shamizai subtribe of the Popalzais. His grandfather, Khair Muhammad Karzai, was a head of the Popalzai tribe from Kandahar who relocated to Kabul and ran the business of a guest house. This allowed Karzai's father Abdul Ahad, to gain a foothold in the royal family, and subsequently, the parliament. These actions and upwards movement within the Popalzai tribal system, led to the Karzai family furnishing a viable Shamizai clan alternative to Sadozai leadership in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion when the Sadozai clan failed to provide a tribal leader. He is often seen wearing a Karakul hat, something that has been worn by many Afghan kings in the past.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Following the Fall of Kabul in 2021, Karzai decided to remain in Kabul with his daughters and he appealed to the Taliban to respect his life and that of his family as well as the civilians in Afghanistan. While he met with Hekmatyar to discuss the formation of a future Afghan government, it is unclear whether Karzai will serve any role in such.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: On 27 August 2021, prominent activist Fatima Gailani criticized him whereas the United States urged the Taliban to include him in the new government along Abdullah Abdullah.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: On 1 September 2021, sources close to the Taliban said that it was "unlikely" for Karzai to be part of the new government, with a spokesperson for the group saying that the group was "ready to recruit them", referring also to Abdullah Abdullah but added that the Taliban did not want "old horses" in apparent reference to Karzai.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Over the years Hamid Karzai has become a well recognized figure. He has received a number of awards and honorary degrees from famous government and educational institutions around the world. The following are some of his awards and honoraria.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In August 2011, Karzai pardoned dozens of child would-be suicide bombers, and in February 2012 some of the pardoned children were re-arrested attempting to commit suicide bombings in Kandahar Province.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai has been accused of nepotism, corruption, electoral fraud, and being involved with his late half brother Ahmed Wali Karzai in the drug trade.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In 2009, Karzai antagonized the women's movement and NATO leaders by signing a draconian Shia Personal Status Law seen as legalizing marital rape within Afghanistan's minority Shia Muslim community.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Under Karzai's administration, electoral fraud was so apparent that Afghanistan's status as a democratic state came into question. Furthermore, a special court set up personally by Karzai in defiance of constitutional norms sought to reinstate dozens of candidates who were removed for fraud in the 2010 parliamentary elections by the Independent Electoral Commission.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: On 28 April 2013, "The New York Times" revealed that from December 2002 up to the publication date, Karzai's presidential office was funded with "tens of millions of dollars" of black cash from the CIA in order to buy influence within the Afghan government. The article stated that "the cash that does not appear to be subject to the oversight and restrictions." An unnamed American official was quoted by "The New York Times" as stating that "The biggest source of corruption in Afghanistan was the United States."


title: Hamid Karzai

text: On 17 June 2013, Senator Bob Corker put a hold on $75 million intended for electoral programs in Afghanistan after his inquiries of 2 May, 14 May and 13 June to the Obama Administration regarding the CIA "ghost money" remained unanswered.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai also admitted that his office received millions of dollars in cash from the Iranian government. Karzai stated that the money was given as gifts and intended for renovating his Presidential Palace in Kabul. "This is transparent. This is something that I've even discussed while I was at Camp David with President Bush."


title: Hamid Karzai

text: According to "The New York Times", many members of the Karzai family have mixed their personal interests with that of the state, and become hugely influential and wealthy by murky means. In 2012 Afghanistan was tied with Somalia and North Korea at the bottom of Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, and it ranked 172/175 in 2014.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Mahmoud Karzai, the brother of President Karzai, was implicated in the 2010 Kabul Bank crisis. Mahmud Karzai was the 3rd largest shareholder in the bank with a 7% stake. Kabul Bank incurred huge losses on its investments in villas in Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. The real estate investments were registered in the name of Kabul Bank chairman, Sherkhan Farnood. Mahmud Karzai bought one such villa from Farnood for 7 million dirhams using money borrowed from Kabul Bank and in a matter of months sold it for 10.4 million dirhams. Mahmud Karzai's purchase of the 7% stake in Kabul Bank was also financed entirely through money lent by Kabul Bank with the shares as collateral.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai has admitted that there is widespread corruption in Afghanistan, but has blamed the problem largely on the way contracts are awarded by the international community, and said that the "perception of corruption" is a deliberate attempt to weaken the Afghan government.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: There has been much debate over Karzai's alleged consultant work with Unocal (Union Oil Company of California since acquired by Chevron in 2005). In 2002, when Karzai became the subject of heavy media coverage as one of the front runners to lead Afghanistan, it was reported that he was a former consultant for them. Spokesmen for both Unocal and Karzai have denied any such relationship, although Unocal could not speak for all companies involved in the consortium. The original claim that Karzai worked for Unocal originates from a 6 December 2001 issue of the French newspaper "Le Monde", Barry Lane UNOCAL's manager for public relations states in an interview on the website Emperor's Clothes that, "He was never a consultant, never an employee. We've exhaustively searched through all our records." Lane however did say that Zalmay Khalilzad, the former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, was a Unocal consultant in the mid-1990s.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In October 2013, Karzai's administration and the Afghan Intelligence agency were found to be communicating with the Pakistani Taliban about the shifting of power that was expected to occur if the U.S. Forces withdrew in 2014. Karzai himself was in London at the time of the discovery, to participate in talks with Pakistan and the U.S. on the possible location of Taliban leader Mullah Baradar. At the time, it was unknown if Karzai was directly involved or even knew of such communications.


title: Hamid Karzai

text: In May 2021, Karzai spoke with German newspaper "Der Spiegel", where he expressed his sympathy with the Taliban, criticized the role of the United States in Afghanistan and praised the role of the European Union, at the same time, saying that the future of Afghanistan relies heavily on neighbor Pakistan. He also considered the Taliban "victims of foreign forces" and said that Afghans were being used to be "each against the other". In November 2021, he told Yalda Hakim of "BBC News" that he considered the Taliban as "brothers".


title: Hamid Karzai

text: Karzai, during an interview with Voice of America, claimed that ISIS in Afghanistan is a tool for the United States. He further claimed that he does not differentiate at all between ISIS and the United States. During an interview with Fox News, Karzai claimed that ISIS in Afghanistan is a product of the United States. He claimed that he routinely received reports regarding unmarked helicopters dropping supplies to support the terror faction. He asked for an explanation from the United States regarding the unmarked helicopter flights. He also claimed that the United States had made Afghanistan a testing ground for its weapons. Later on during an interview with Al Jazeera, Karzai again criticized the United States. He accused the United States of working with ISIS in Afghanistan. Moreover, he said that the United States government had allowed ISIS to flourish in Afghanistan and that it had used ISIS as an excuse to drop the GBU-43 (Mother of all Bombs) in Afghanistan.


title: Dead man's switch

text: A dead man's switch (see alternative names) is a switch that is designed to be activated or deactivated if the human operator becomes incapacitated, such as through death, loss of consciousness, or being bodily removed from control. Originally applied to switches on a vehicle or machine, it has since come to be used to describe other intangible uses, as in computer software.


title: Dead man's switch

text: These switches are usually used as a form of fail-safe where they stop a machine with no operator from a potentially dangerous action or incapacitate a device as a result of accident, malfunction, or misuse. They are common in such applications in locomotives, aircraft refuelling, freight elevators, lawn mowers, tractors, personal watercraft, outboard motors, chainsaws, snowblowers, tread machines, snowmobiles, amusement rides, and many medical imaging devices. On some machines, these switches merely bring the machines back to a safe state, such as reducing the throttle to idle or applying brakes while leaving the machines still running and ready to resume normal operation once control is reestablished.


title: Dead man's switch

text: Dead man's switches are not always used to stop machines and prevent harm; such switches can also be used as a fail-deadly, since a spring-operated switch can be used to complete a circuit, not only to break it. This allows a dead man's switch to be used to activate a harmful device, such as a bomb or IED. The switch that arms the device is only kept in its "off" position by continued pressure from the user's hand. The device will activate when the switch is released, so that if the user is knocked out or killed while holding the switch, the bomb will detonate. The Special Weapons Emergency Separation System is an application of this concept in the field of nuclear weapons. A more extreme version is Russia's Dead Hand program, which allows for automatic launch of nuclear missiles should a number of conditions be met, even if all Russian leadership were to be killed.


title: Dead man's switch

text: A similar concept is the handwritten letters of last resort from the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to the commanding officers of the four British ballistic missile submarines. They contain orders on what action to take if the British government is destroyed in a nuclear attack. After a prime minister leaves office the letters are destroyed unopened.


title: Dead man's switch

text: This concept has been employed with computer data, where sensitive information has been previously encrypted and released to the public, and the "switch" is the release of the decryption key, as with Vault 7.


title: Dead man's switch

text: Interest in dead man's controls increased with the introduction of electric trams (streetcars in North America) and especially electrified rapid transit trains. The first widespread use came with the introduction of the mass-produced Birney One-Man Safety (tram) Car, though dead-man equipment was fairly rare on US streetcars until the successful PCC streetcar, which had a left-foot-operated dead man's pedal in conjunction with the right-foot-operated brake and power pedals. This layout has continued to be used on some modern trams around the world. In conventional steam railroad trains, there was always a second person with the engineer, the "fireman", who could almost always bring the train to a stop if necessary. For many decades two people were assigned to electric and diesel locomotives as well, even though a single person could theoretically operate them.


title: Dead man's switch

text: With modern urban and suburban railway systems, the driver is typically alone in an enclosed cab. Automatic devices were already beginning to be deployed on newer installations of the New York City Subway system in the early 20th century. The Malbone Street Wreck on the Brooklyn Rapid Transit system in 1918, though not caused by driver incapacitation, did spur the need for universal deployment of such devices to halt trains in the event of the operator's disability. According to a Manhattan borough historian, there have been at least three instances where the dead man's switch was used successfully – in 1927, 1940, and 2010.


title: Dead man's switch

text: The status and operation of both vigilance and dead man's switch may be recorded on the train's event recorder (commonly known as a "black box").


title: Dead man's switch

text: Many dead man's switches are mounted in the control handle of a vehicle or machine and engage if the operator ever loses their grip.


title: Dead man's switch

text: Handle switches are still used on modern trams and trains. Pneumatically or electrically linked dead man's controls involve relatively simple modifications of the "controller handle", the device that regulates traction power. If pressure is not maintained on the controller, the train's emergency brakes are applied. Typically, the controller handle is a horizontal bar, rotated to apply the required power for the train. Attached to the bottom of the handle is a rod that when pushed down contacts a solenoid or switch inside the control housing. The handle springs up if pressure is removed, releasing the rod's contact with the internal switch, instantly cutting power and applying the brakes.


title: Dead man's switch

text: Though there are ways that this type of dead man's control could conceivably fail, in practice they have proven highly reliable. On some earlier equipment, pressure was not maintained on the entire controller, but on a large button protruding from the controller handle. This button also had to be pressed continuously, typically with the palm of the hand so that the button was flush with the top of the handle. Another method used, particularly with some lever-type controllers, which are rotated rather than pushed or pulled, requires that the handle on the lever be turned through 90 degrees and held in that position while the train is in operation. Some dead man's controls only work in the mid position and not with full pressure (see pilot valve).


title: Dead man's switch

text: In modern New York City Subway trains, for example, the dead man's switch is incorporated into the train's speed control. On the R142A car, the train operator must continually hold the lever in place in order for the train to move.


title: Dead man's switch

text: An example of a passenger vehicle using a dead man's switch is on Tesla electric vehicles. When the driver has engaged the semi-autonomous driving system "Autopilot", they must keep their hands on the steering wheel. If the driver takes their hands off the steering wheel for more than 30 seconds, a loud alarm will sound inside the car to wake sleeping drivers, if the driver leaves their hands off for more than a minute, then the car will engage its hazard warning lights, and bring the car to a stop. This is done because the Autopilot system is not capable of full-self driving, and requires that the driver be able to take over operation of the vehicle without warning, should the car encounter a problem it doesn't know how to solve. This system uses a torque sensor on the steering wheel of the vehicle: when a driver is simply holding the wheel, they are still applying a small amount of torque to the wheel, confirming for the car that the driver is being attentive; if the driver turns the wheel with more force, all vehicle controls are handed back to the driver immediately.


title: Dead man's switch

text: Handle-mounted dead man's switches are also used on many hand-held tools and lawn equipment, typically those that rotate or have blades such as saws, drills and lawn mowers. On saws for example, they incorporate a squeeze throttle trigger into the handle. If the user loses grip of the saw, the springs in the throttle trigger will push it back out to the off or idle setting, stopping the blade from spinning. Some tools go further and have a trigger guard built into the handle, similar to firearm safeties. Only when the user presses in the trigger guard first will it then release its lock on the trigger and allow the trigger to be pressed in. Typically, trigger guards can only be pressed in while the user has a firm grip of the handle.


title: Dead man's switch

text: Every walk-behind mower sold in the US since 1982 has a dead man's switch called an "operator-presence control", which by law must stop the blades within three seconds after the user releases the controls. Attached across the handle is a mechanical lever connected by a flexible cable to the kill switch on the engine. While mowing, the operator must always squeeze the lever against the handle. If the operator ever loses grip of the handle, the blade will disengage or the engine will stop, stopping the blades from spinning and (if equipped) any drive wheels from turning. On mowers where the engine stops, this switch configuration also acts as the engine's main kill switch; when the operator wants to stop the engine, he can release the dead man's switch intentionally.


title: Dead man's switch

text: On some vehicles, including the diesel-electric railway locomotives in Canada, and on Nottingham Express Transit vehicles, the tram's speed controller is fitted with a capacitive touch sensor to detect the driver's hand. If the hand is removed for more than a short period of time, the track brakes are activated. Gloves, if worn, have to be finger-less for the touch sensor to operate. A backup dead-man's switch button is provided on the side of the controller for use in the case of a failed touch sensor or if it is too cold to remove gloves.


title: Dead man's switch

text: A pedal can be used instead of a handle. While some pedal switches must simply be held down in order for the machine to function (this system is often found on amusement rides, where the operator is likely to remain in a standing position for a lengthy period of time while the ride is in motion), this method has some shortcomings. In the Waterfall train disaster, south of Sydney, Australia, in 2003, The driver slumped on his seat, keeping the pedal depressed when he died suddenly of a heart attack.


title: Dead man's switch

text: There are some solutions to this issue that are now used in modern pedal systems. The pedal can have a vigilance function built in, where drivers must release and re-press the pedal in response to an audible signal. This prevents it from being defeated by the above circumstances and is a standard feature on most British DSD systems.


title: Dead man's switch

text: Some types of locomotive are fitted with a three-position pedal, which must normally be kept in the mid position. This lessens the likelihood of accidentally defeating it, although it may still be possible to deliberately do so. Adding a vigilance function to this type of pedal results in a very safe system. However, isolation devices are still provided in case of equipment failure, so a deliberate override is still possible. These isolation devices usually have tamper-evident seals fitted for that reason.


title: Dead man's switch

text: The dead man's switch can also be located beneath the seat of a vehicle or machine and engages if the operator is not in the seat holding the switch down. On modern tractors, the switch will cut the engine while the transmission is engaged or the power take-off is spinning. On riding lawn mowers, the switch is often more extreme where the switch will cut the engine even if the mower is parked and the blades aren't spinning. Seat switches can also be used to keep small children from even starting the vehicle since they wouldn't weigh enough to completely hold down a switch adjusted to an adolescent's or adult's weight.


title: Dead man's switch

text: On recreational vehicles such as boats, personal watercraft and snowmobiles, and on the control panel of many amusement rides, the user or operator has a cord or lanyard attached to their wrist or life jacket, that is in turn attached to a key mounted on the dead man's switch. Should the rider fall off the vehicle or the operator at least move away from the controls, the cord will be pulled out of the dead man's switch, turning off the engine or setting the throttle position to "idle". On powered boats in particular this cord is often called a "kill cord" (for powered boats use around the wrist is not recommended, as it may slip off without cutting the engine). If the helmsman goes overboard or is forced away from the controls, the engine cuts out. This prevents the boat from continuing under power but out of control, risking injury to anyone in or out of the water including passengers who may have fallen out or may still be in the boat, and collision damage to any property in the path of this out of control boat; this in turn prevents or limits damage to the boat itself from striking other objects. It is a common and dangerous practice to defeat the kill cord by fixing it to part of the boat instead of the operator; for convenience. This has been the cause of accidents, some of which were fatal or caused limb loss.


title: Dead man's switch

text: Some luggage carts at airports and exercise treadmills have this feature. In the case of treadmills, the dead man's switch usually consists of an external magnet attached to a cord that clips to the user. If the user falls or walks away without turning off the treadmill, the switch cuts power to the treadmill belt.


title: Dead man's switch

text: In information security, kill cords are also used in computers to turn off the machine if the user is separated from it.


title: Dead man's switch

text: Strategic Air Command developed a dead man's switch for its nuclear bombers, known as Special Weapons Emergency Separation System (SWESS), that ensured the nuclear payload detonated in the event of the crew becoming incapacitated through enemy action. The purpose of this device, unlike other examples mentioned above, was fail-deadly rather than fail-safe. Once armed, the system would detonate the onboard nuclear weapons if the aircraft dropped below a predetermined level, typically due to being shot down.


title: Dead man's switch

text: The main safety failing with the basic dead man's system is the possibility of the operating device being held permanently in position, either deliberately or accidentally. Vigilance control was developed to detect this condition by requiring that the dead man's device be released momentarily and re-applied at timed intervals. There has also been a proposal to introduce a similar system to automotive cruise controls.


title: Dead man's switch

text: Software versions of dead man's switches are generally only used by people with technical expertise, and can serve several purposes, such as sending a notification to friends or deleting and encrypting data. The "non-event" triggering these can be almost anything, such as failing to log in for 7 consecutive days, not responding to an automated e-mail, ping, a GPS-enabled telephone not moving for a period of time, or merely failing to type a code within a few minutes of a computer's boot. An example of a software-based dead man's switch is one that starts when the computer boots up and can encrypt or delete user-specified data if an unauthorized user should ever gain access to the protected computer. Google's Inactive Account Manager allows the account holder to nominate someone else to access their services if not used for an extended period (the default is three months). Newer solutions available to the public utilize the growing market of mobile devices and instead of sending an automated e-mail, they will send a push notification directly to the mobile device and can alert family and friends in a much more convenient way.


title: Dead man's switch

text: Many spacecraft use a form of dead man's switch to guard against command system failures. A timer is established that is normally reset by the receipt of any valid command (including one whose sole function is to reset the timer). If the timer expires, the spacecraft enters a "command loss" algorithm that cycles through a predefined sequence of hardware or software modes (such as the selection of a backup command receiver) until a valid command is received. The spacecraft may also enter a safe mode to protect itself while waiting for further commands.


title: Dead man's switch

text: While having some similarities to a dead man's switch, this type of device (a command loss timer) is not actually a dead man's switch, because it aims to recover from a hardware failure rather than the absence of human operators. It is generally called a watchdog timer, and is also used extensively in nuclear power control systems. System components on a spacecraft that put it into a safe mode or cause it to execute default behaviors when no command is received within a predefined time window can be considered a dead man's switch, but hardware or software that attempts to receive a command from human operators through an alternate channel is an auto-recovering or adaptive communications system, not a dead man's switch. Voyager 2 recovered from a command receiver failure with a command loss timer.


title: Dead man's switch

text: In most trains, a basic level of protection is provided by a "dead man's handle" or pedal. If the driver is taken ill and releases this, the power will be shut off and an emergency brake application will be initiated to stop the train.


title: Dead man's switch

text: More recent safety standards do not consider this to be adequate, as the driver may slump over the dead man's handle and continue to hold it down even though they are not capable of controlling the train. Modern trains overcome this risk with the addition of a vigilance system to the dead man's system. A buzzer or bell sounds every minute or so in order to alert the motorman or engineer. If they do not respond by moving a controller, or releasing and then re-applying the dead man's handle, the system will automatically initiate an emergency brake application. Most major rail systems in the world use this equipment, both in their freight and passenger operations. It is also used on the R143 and other New York City Subway cars while under CBTC operation. In the US, older locomotives produced before 1995 do not carry this feature, but given the modular nature of the system it is not uncommon to find them retrofitted.


title: Dead man's switch

text: Some aeroplanes use vigilance control to minimize hypoxia, descending to lower altitude if the pilot is unresponsive.


title: Dead man's switch

text: In 2019, the Garmin G3000 became the first general aviation avionics suite capable of automatically diverting an aircraft to the nearest airport and landing it in the event a pilot fails to interact with the aircraft's controls or respond to system prompts. This automation capability has been made possible by advancements in computing, control, and navigation technologies and is of particular importance in a general aviation setting since private aircraft are often flown by only a single pilot.


title: Dead man's switch

text: The term "dead man's switch" is sometimes used to describe a form of defensive blackmail or insurance file in which the release of damaging material is threatened if anything happens to a person.


title: Conversations with Friends

text: Conversations with Friends is the 2017 debut novel by the Irish author Sally Rooney, about two young women who become involved with an older couple in Dublin's literary scene. The novel was published by Faber and Faber and received critical acclaim. A television adaptation, also called "Conversations with Friends", was released in 2022.


title: Conversations with Friends

text: The book was completed whilst Rooney was still studying to write and complete her master's degree in American literature. The book was subject to a seven-party auction for the publishing rights. Rights were eventually sold in 12 countries.


title: Conversations with Friends

text: The novel was published in June 2017 by Faber and Faber. It was nominated for the 2018 Dylan Thomas Prize and the 2018 Folio Prize.


title: Conversations with Friends

text: In Dublin, college students Frances (the narrator) and her best friend and ex-girlfriend Bobbi are noticed by Melissa, an essayist and photographer in her late thirties, when they are performing spoken-word poetry. Melissa invites them home, where they meet her husband, Nick, an actor. Their four lives become increasingly entangled as Frances begins an affair with Nick, and Bobbi and Melissa grow closer.


title: Conversations with Friends

text: "Conversations with Friends" received positive reviews. Overall, critics enjoyed Rooney's prose, clarity, and sharp characters. Writing for "The New Yorker", Alexandra Schwartz praises Rooney, noting that "she writes with a rare, thrilling confidence, in a lucid and exacting style uncluttered with the sort of steroidal imagery and strobe flashes of figurative language that so many dutifully literary novelists employ." Schwartz continues, "one wonderful aspect of Rooney's consistently wonderful novel is the fierce clarity with which she examines the self-delusion that so often festers alongside presumed self-knowledge." "The Guardian" similarly praised the author, noting how "Rooney writes so well of the condition of being a young, gifted but self-destructive woman, both the mentality and physicality of it. She is alert to the invisible bars imprisoning the apparently free." Reviewing for "Slate," Katy Waldman described how "Sally Rooney is a planter of small surprises, sowing them like landmines. They relate to behavior and psychology—characters zigging when you expect them to zag, from passivity to sudden aggression and back." Waldman further applauds the novel, noting that "Rooney herself is acute and sensitive—she may have pinned these fragile creatures to a board, but her eye is not cruel. Bobbi, Frances, Nick, and Melissa excel at endearing banter and hesitant, vulnerable disclosure. They are all thrillingly sharp, hyperverbal."


title: Conversations with Friends

text: After the success of the streaming adaptation of "Normal People" (2020), based on Rooney's second novel of the same name, Hulu/BBC Three announced their intention to develop a television adaptation of "Conversations with Friends". Director Lenny Abrahamson and writer Alice Birch were attached to the project, which was released in May of 2022. The cast includes Alison Oliver as Frances, Sasha Lane as Bobbi, Jemima Kirke as Melissa, and Joe Alwyn as Nick.


title: The Daily Beast

text: The Daily Beast is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008.


title: The Daily Beast

text: It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 2015 interview, former editor-in-chief John Avlon described the "Beast"s editorial approach: "We seek out scoops, scandals, and stories about secret worlds; we love confronting bullies, bigots, and hypocrites." In 2018, Avlon described the "Beast"s "strike zone" as "politics, pop culture, and power".


title: The Daily Beast

text: "The Daily Beast" began publishing on October 6, 2008. Its founding editor was Tina Brown, a former editor of "Vanity Fair" and "The New Yorker" as well as the short-lived "Talk" magazine. The name of the site was taken from a fictional newspaper in Evelyn Waugh's novel "Scoop".


title: The Daily Beast

text: In 2010, "The Daily Beast" merged with the magazine "Newsweek" creating a combined company, The Newsweek Daily Beast Company. The merger ended in 2013, when "Daily Beast" owner IAC sold "Newsweek" to IBT Media, owner of the "International Business Times". Brown stepped down as editor in September 2013.


title: The Daily Beast

text: John Avlon, an American journalist and political commentator as well as a CNN contributor, was the site's editor-in-chief and managing director from 2013 to 2018.


title: The Daily Beast

text: In September 2014, "The Daily Beast" reached a new record of 21 million unique visitors – a 60% year-over-year increase in readers, accompanied by a 300% increase in the overall size of its social media community.


title: The Daily Beast

text: In May 2018 Avlon departed from the "Beast" to become full-time Senior Political Analyst and anchor at CNN. Avlon was succeeded by executive editor Noah Shachtman.


title: The Daily Beast

text: In March 2017 former chief strategy and product officer Mike Dyer left for Intel. In May 2017, Heather Dietrick was appointed president and publisher.


title: The Daily Beast

text: In July 2021, Shachtman announced that he'd be moving from the Beast to Rolling Stone and that he will be succeeded by Tracy Connor.


title: The Daily Beast

text: In an April 2018 interview, Avlon described the publication's political stance as "non-partisan but not neutral": "what that means is we're going to hit both sides where appropriate, but we're not going for mythic moral equivalence on every issue." In April 2017, Avlon discussed the organization's approach on the Poynter Institute's podcast saying, "We're not going to toe any partisan line." In December 2017, NPR reported that "The Daily Beast"s editor-in-chief John Avlon had begun pairing reporters from both the right and left sides of the political spectrum to cover White House stories. Specifically, reporters Asawin Suebsaeng (formerly of "Mother Jones") and Lachlan Markay (formerly of The Heritage Foundation) were tasked with covering the Trump Administration.


title: The Daily Beast

text: "The Washington Post" media critic Erik Wemple stated in 2018 that "Pound for pound, ["The Daily Beast"] is an impressive operation. As I see it, they do a few things well: They bang the phones, they don't always follow the same story everyone else is doing, and they are fast."


title: The Daily Beast

text: Later in 2018, editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman characterized "The Daily Beast" as a "high-end tabloid" that embraces gonzo journalism.


title: The Daily Beast

text: According to Shachtman, "The Daily Beast"'s social media policy for journalists consists (as of 2018) of three main rules: "you're reporters, not cheerleaders" so don't be an open partisan; avoid hate speech and posts that could offend a group; and "don't get your fellow reporters in trouble".


title: The Daily Beast

text: A feature of "The Daily Beast" is the "Cheat Sheet", billed as "must reads from all over". Published throughout the day, the "Cheat Sheet" offers a selection of articles from online news outlets on popular stories. The "Cheat Sheet" includes brief summaries of the article, and a link to read the full text of the article on the website of its provider. It is found at www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet.


title: The Daily Beast

text: After the launch, the site introduced additional sections, including a video "Cheat Sheet" and "Book Beast". The site frequently creates encyclopedic landing pages on topical subjects such as President Obama's inauguration, the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, and the Iran uprising. In 2014, "The Daily Beast" became the majority on mobile and released an iOS app, which Nieman Lab described as "the dawn of the quantified news reader".


title: The Daily Beast

text: The illustrational style used at the top of every article has been described as, "jaunty collage and pop-art illustrations".


title: The Daily Beast

text: In May 2017, Pulitzer Prize–winning national security reporter Spencer Ackerman left "The Guardian" and joined "The Daily Beast".


title: The Daily Beast

text: In June 2017, "HuffPost" senior political editor Sam Stein announced he was joining "The Daily Beast" in the same capacity.


title: The Daily Beast

text: In early June 2014, Capital New York re-published a memo by outgoing CEO Rhona Murphy, stating that "The Daily Beast"s average unique monthly visitors increased from 13.5 million in 2013 to more than 17 million in 2014. By September 2014, the website reached a new record of 21 million unique visitors; it was a 60% year-over-year increase in readers, accompanied by a 300% increase in the overall size of its social media community.


title: The Daily Beast

text: In 2015, Ken Doctor, a news analyst for Nieman Lab, reported that "The Daily Beast" is "one of the fastest-growing news and information sites year-over-year in the 'General News' category".


title: The Daily Beast

text: During Avlon's leadership from 2013 to 2018, "The Daily Beast" doubled its traffic to 1.1 million readers a day and won over 17 awards for journalistic excellence.


title: The Daily Beast

text: "The Daily Beast" won a Webby Award for "Best News Site" in 2012 and 2013. Also in 2012 John Avlon won National Society of Newspaper Columnists' award for best online column in 2012 for "The Daily Beast".


title: The Daily Beast

text: In March 2012, "Book Beast" won a National Magazine Award for Website Department, which "honors a department, channel or microsite".


title: The Daily Beast

text: Anna Nemstova received the Courage in Journalism Award in 2015 from the International Women's Media Foundation. Also that year, Michael Daly won with the National Society of Newspaper Columnists award in the category of Online, Blog, Multimedia – Over 100,000 Unique Visitors.


title: The Daily Beast

text: In 2016, the Los Angeles Press Club nominated several of The Beast's writers including M. L. Nestel for Arts/Entertainment Investigative, Brandy Zadrozny and Ben Collins for best Celebrity Investigative, Malcolm Jones for best Obituary, Lizzie Crocker for Humor and Tim Teeman for Industry/ArtsHard News. Also nominated for best in field were Kevin Fallon for Industry/Arts Soft News and Melissa Leon for Industry/Arts Soft News.


title: The Daily Beast

text: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists or NLGJA nominated both Tim Teeman 2016 Journalist of the Year and Heather Boerner Excellence in HIV/AIDS Coverage. In 2017, NLGJA awarded Jay Michaelson for his coverage of GOP anti-LGBT legislation and Tim Teeman for reporting on ALS.


title: The Daily Beast

text: In 2017, the website won three New York Press Club Journalism Awards in the internet publishing categories of Entertainment News, Crime Reporting and Travel Reporting. In December, the Los Angeles Press Club's National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards announced the platform had won 4 awards for 2017 reporting including investigative articles about the Nate Parker rape case, comic Bob Smith's struggle with ALS, and remembering Bill Paxton.


title: The Daily Beast

text: In September 2009, "The Daily Beast" launched a publishing initiative entitled "Beast Books" that will produce books by "Beast" writers on an accelerated publishing schedule. The first book published by Beast Books was John Avlon's "Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America".


title: The Daily Beast

text: In January 2011, they published Stephen L. Carter's "The Violence of Peace: America's Wars in the Age of Obama". Also in 2011, Beast Books published Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee's memoir, "Mighty Be Our Powers".


title: The Daily Beast

text: In February 2010, Jack Shafer of "Slate" magazine reported that the chief investigative reporter for "The Daily Beast", Gerald Posner, had plagiarised five sentences from an article published by the "Miami Herald". Shafer also discovered that Posner had plagiarized content from a "Miami Herald" blog, a "Miami Herald" editorial, "Texas Lawyer" magazine and a health care journalism blog. Posner was subsequently dismissed from "The Daily Beast" following an internal review.


title: The Daily Beast

text: On August 11, 2016, "The Daily Beast" published an article entitled "I Got Three Grindr Dates in an Hour in the Olympic Village", written by Nico Hines, the site's London editor, who was assigned to cover the Olympic Games. Hines, a heterosexual married man, signed up for several gay and straight dating apps, including Tinder, Bumble and Grindr, and documented his experiences in the Olympic Village. While not specifically naming names, Hines provided enough detail in the article to identify individual athletes, leading to widespread criticism that this information could be used against closeted gay athletes, especially those living in repressive countries. Facing intense backlash online, "The Daily Beast" edited the piece to remove details that could allow athletes to be identified, and editor in chief John Avlon added a lengthy editor's note. Criticism challenging the value of the piece continued, and "The Daily Beast" eventually removed the article altogether and issued an apology. In March 2017, Hines issued a formal apology for his actions, and it was announced by the website's editor Hines would be returning to "The Daily Beast" "following a lengthy period of intense reflection".


title: The Daily Beast

text: Andrew M. Seaman, ethics committee chair for the Society of Professional Journalists, called the article "journalistic trash, unethical and dangerous". The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association stated "The reporting was unethical, extremely careless of individual privacy and potentially dangerous to the athletes". Vince Gonzales, professor of professional practice at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism wrote "I think this borders on journalistic malpractice". The president of GLAAD, Sarah Kate Ellis, wrote "How this reporter thought it was OK—or that somehow it was in the public's interest—to write about his deceitful encounters with these men reflects a complete lack of judgment and disregard for basic decency, not to mention the ethics of journalism".


title: The Daily Beast

text: In June 2019, "The Daily Beast" reporter Kevin Poulsen was accused of doxing Shawn Brooks, a 34-year-old Trump supporter living in the Bronx, when Poulsen revealed his identity for being the alleged creator and disseminator of a widely shared fake video, which showed American politician Nancy Pelosi speaking in a slurred manner. The fake video had been shared over 60,000 times on Facebook and had more than 4 million views, and also spread to Twitter and YouTube.


title: The Daily Beast

text: In response, Brooks denied creating the fake video, despite admitting to being one of the administrators of the group that originally posted the video, Politics WatchDog, and blamed a "female admin" of the group. Brooks also said that he would sue "The Daily Beast" and Poulsen for publishing "inaccurate trash", and created a GoFundMe page to raise money for legal costs, with a goal of raising $10,000. As of the morning of June 3, 2019, he had raised more than $4,400.


title: The Daily Beast

text: "The Intercept" co-founder Glenn Greenwald criticized "The Daily Beast" for revealing Brooks' identity, saying on Twitter that it was "repellent to unleash the resources of a major news outlet on an obscure, anonymous, powerless, quasi-unemployed citizen for the crime of trivially mocking the most powerful political leaders". "HuffPost" and "New York" contributor Yashar Ali also criticized "The Daily Beast" for revealing Brooks' identity, saying it "sets a really bad precedent when a private citizen has their identity publicly revealed simply because they made a video of a politician appearing to be drunk". "The Daily Wire" editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro said on Laura Ingraham's "The Ingraham Angle" on June 3 that "My impression was that if you are posting anonymously on Facebook, then it's not really within Facebook's purview to start handing that information to media outlets, but I guess that isn't true".


title: The Daily Beast

text: Other journalists who criticized "The Daily Beast" include freelance journalist and former "The Young Turks" journalist Michael Tracey, who said on Twitter that "No one on the planet ever thought "disinformation is the purview of Russia alone" other than self-aggrandizing, sleazy, click-chasing Daily Beast journalists", and media editor for "TheWrap" Jon Levine, who called the article a "hit job over a joke video that happened to go viral".


title: The Daily Beast

text: When "The Daily Beast" editor Noah Shachtman was asked about these criticisms by CNN media reporter Brian Stelter on his "Reliable Sources" show on June 2, 2019, Shachtman defended the article, noting that the fake video had reached "the highest levels of power, with Rudy Giuliani himself tweeting it out" and therefore, according to Shachtman, it was worth identifying the creator of the fake video. Shachtman said Poulsen spoke with Brooks in an on-the-record interview for an hour.


title: The Daily Beast

text: In August 2021, "The Daily Beast" published an article criticizing Mayim Bialik's appointment as the new host of "Jeopardy!", which described the Israel Defense Forces as "genocidal"; after human rights lawyers and members of the Jewish community objected, "The Daily Beast" removed the word and stated that it would review its editorial policy on the use of the term "genocide".


title: The Daily Beast

text: In January 2019, "The Daily Beast" staff writer Maxwell Tani published an article entitled "Gawker 2.0 Implodes as Its Only Reporters Quit," alleging the site's "editorial director Carson Griffith's offensive remarks about everything from race to penis size" caused the implosion. On February 27, 2020, journalist Carson Griffith announced she was suing "The Daily Beast", Tani and Noah Shachtman over a "defamatory and untruthful" article that contains allegations of offensive workplace comments from her former co-workers and former "Gawker" writers Maya Kosoff and Anna Breslaw. On March 24, 2021, a New York Supreme Court judge denied a motion by "The Daily Beast", Shachtman and Tani to dismiss Griffith's defamation lawsuit. "This Court finds that Plaintiff has sufficiently pled a cause of action for defamation," Justice Phillip Hom wrote in the ruling. On August 9, 2022, a New York Supreme Court judge denied another motion by "The Daily Beast," Shachtman and Tani pursuant of New York's anti-SLAPP amendment. The lawsuit will now advance towards discovery.


title: Chad Stahelski

text: Chad Stahelski (born September 20, 1968) is an American stuntman and film director. He is known for directing the 2014 film "John Wick" and directing its three sequels. Stahelski also doubled for Brandon Lee after the fatal accident involving Lee on the set of "The Crow" (1994) and replaced Lee in the film. He has worked as a stunt coordinator and second unit director on several films.


title: Chad Stahelski

text: Stahelski worked on Alex Proyas' "The Crow" (1994). Stahelski and fellow stuntman Jeff Cadiente served as stand-ins for the actor Brandon Lee. Previously on March 31, 1993, while filming"," Lee was accidentally wounded on set by defective blank ammunition and later died in hospital during surgery. Special effects were used to give them Lee's face. Their work paved the way for resurrecting actors to complete or have new performances, since pioneering CGI techniques were used to complete the film.


title: Chad Stahelski

text: He worked as a stunt double for his future "John Wick" star Keanu Reeves in "The Matrix" franchise, and later served as a stunt co-ordinator for the films. In 2009, Stahelski was second-unit director and stunt co-ordinator on "Ninja Assassin" along with David Leitch.


title: Chad Stahelski

text: In 2012, on the set of the film "The Expendables 2" for which Stahelski served as stunt coordinator, stuntman Kun Liu was killed by an explosion on set. Liu's family sued Stahelski following the accident.


title: Chad Stahelski

text: In 2014, Stahelski co-directed the action thriller film "John Wick" along with Leitch, based on the screenplay by Derek Kolstad. The film starred Keanu Reeves and Michael Nyqvist, and was released on October 24, 2014 by Summit Entertainment, grossing over $88 million.


title: Chad Stahelski

text: Stahelski acted as sole director for the film's 2017 sequel, "", and again for the third film, "" (2019).


title: Chad Stahelski

text: In November 2017, he was signed on to the reboot of the "Highlander" franchise, which he committed to making a trilogy of, ending with "The Gathering" of the immortals. It would be similar in thematic development with the original "Star Wars" trilogy, and similar to "John Wick" action, but with swords replacing gun-play. The reboot trilogy would still include the iconic music by Queen.


title: Chad Stahelski

text: In December 2017, it was announced that Stahelski would be directing a film adaptation of the comic book "Kill or Be Killed".


title: Chad Stahelski

text: In February 2018, it was announced that Stahelski would be directing a film adaptation of the "Sandman Slim" novels.


title: Chad Stahelski

text: In March 2021, it was announced that Stahelski would direct a film adaptation of "Ghost of Tsushima".


title: Chad Stahelski

text: Stahelski was married to fellow stunt performer Heidi Moneymaker, who worked as Scarlett Johansson's double as Black Widow. She also appeared on Stahelski's film "". Stahelski and Heidi Moneymaker have been divorced since 2018.


title: Bathsheba

text: Bathsheba ( or ; , "Baṯ-šeḇaʿ", Bat-Sheva or Batsheva, "daughter of Sheba" or "daughter of the oath") was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, according to the Hebrew Bible. She was the mother of Solomon, who succeeded David as king, making her the Gebirah (Queen mother). She is best known for the Biblical narrative in which she was summoned by King David, who had seen her bathing and lusted after her.


title: Bathsheba

text: Bathsheba was the daughter of Eliam (, Ammiel in ). An Eliam is mentioned in as the son of Ahithophel, who is described as the Gilonite. Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite.


title: Bathsheba

text: David's first interactions with Bathsheba are described in , and are omitted in the Books of Chronicles. David, while walking on the roof of his palace, saw a very beautiful woman bathing. He ordered enquiries and found out that she was Bathsheba, wife of Uriah. He desired her and later made her pregnant. David and Diana Garland regard David's action on Bathsheba as an example of rape in the Hebrew Bible.


title: Bathsheba

text: In an effort to conceal his sin, David summoned Uriah from the army (with whom he was on campaign) in the hope that Uriah would have sex with her and think that the child belonged to him. But Uriah was unwilling to violate the ancient kingdom rule applying to warriors in active service. Rather than go home to his own bed, he preferred to remain with the palace troops.


title: Bathsheba

text: After repeated efforts to convince Uriah to have sexual intercourse with Bathsheba failed, king David gave the order to his general, Joab, that Uriah should be placed on the front lines of the battle, where Uriah would be more likely to die. David had Uriah himself carry the message that led to his death (2 Samuel 11:6–15). After Uriah had been killed in the siege of Rabbah (2 Samuel 11:17), Bathsheba mourned Uriah, but then David took Bathsheba into his house and made her his wife, and she gave birth (2 Samuel 11:26–27).