title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: The roster was selected internally by NetherRealm Studios with input from DC Comics. The main goal during the selection process, which took around three to four months, was to create a cast featuring a wide variety of characters. Characters were chosen based on criteria such as size, ability, gender, popularity, and how well they fit within the "Injustice" storyline. The addition of each playable hero and villain required about six weeks of development. The characters were designed with the intent to make each fighter unique, and fighting styles and movesets were tailored to the lore and personality of each character. Ed Boon stated that DC Comics had given NetherRealm a large amount of freedom with their properties, allowing them to put their own spin on characters. Several other characters from the DC Universe, such as Darkseid, Scarecrow, Metallo and Gorilla Grodd, also appear as non-player characters, making cameo appearances in story cutscenes, stages and other game modes. Outside of the DC universe, Scorpion from NetherRealm's "Mortal Kombat" series appears as a downloadable guest character.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: Additionally, several characters are playable as alternate skins for existing characters. They include:


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: "Injustice: Gods Among Us" was first announced on May 31, 2012. According to Ed Boon, the main goal heading into "Injustice" was to create a game outside of the "Mortal Kombat" series that was dramatically different within the fighting game genre. Producer Hector Sanchez stated that NetherRealm Studios did not feel constrained by the parameters of "Mortal Kombat", allowing the developers to take more design risks with "Injustice", such as removing "Mortal Kombat"s traditional dedicated block button. Similar to Boon's previous DC-related title, "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe", the use of the DC Comics license implied restrictions to the amount of violence in the game; however, Boon intended to push the "Teen" rating by replacing violence with "crazy, over-the-top action." When questioned if the studio's past experience with "Mortal Kombat" and its characteristic violence would influence "Injustice", Boon replied that he wanted to keep the two titles as separate entities.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: The online mode in "Injustice" was built upon the foundation laid from "Mortal Kombat". Due to complaints about severe lag in the online multiplayer portion of "Mortal Kombat", Boon reported that the development team had looked back upon their past mistakes and created a "new, more elaborate system" for an improved online experience. Senior Producer Adam Urbano stated NetherRealm Studios spent two years of development focusing on netplay. During development, NetherRealm shared their idea for an automated system to push "Injustice" downloadable content to all users' consoles. The game would connect to the Internet during use and automatically download the information required for players who have bought DLC characters to play against others who have not. The system also allows NetherRealm to quickly send hotfixes to patch noticeable glitches.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: Like "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe" and "Mortal Kombat", "Injustice" runs on the Unreal Engine 3, which was modified to suit fighting games. In the first "Injustice" development diary, NetherRealm Studios proclaimed that several technical advancements had been made since the release of "Mortal Kombat" in 2011. Sanchez stated that their "KoreTech team" had pushed the boundaries on their graphics engine. Urbano added that the game features a revamped lighting solution, enabling more dynamic lighting in terms of characters and environments. A new "character material" system was created to portray characters with increased graphical detail. "Injustice" also utilizes a multi-threaded rendering engine, allowing the game to display approximately three times the amount of objects on screen at a single time than "Mortal Kombat".


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: Prior to the game's release, Warner Bros. Interactive and DC Entertainment launched a 10-week-long online marketing campaign called the "Injustice Battle Arena". The web series, hosted by Taryn Southern, featured weekly match-ups between the playable cast in a tournament-style format. Each week, the arena was updated with different versus scenarios. Fans could vote for their favorite characters, and a video, depicting the winner of each round, would be released following each voting period. Videos detailing the skills and strengths of the combatants, including vox pop and celebrity interviews, were released alongside each new pair of challengers. Voters could redeem free rewards, ranging from Xbox Live avatar accessories to a downloadable character skin based on Green Arrow's appearance in the television series "Arrow". Participating fans based in the United States were also eligible to win weekly prizes.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: A demo version of the game was released as a download for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on April 2, 2013, in North America, and April 3, 2013, in Europe. The demo showcased Batman, Wonder Woman, and Lex Luthor, in the Gotham City stage, with Doomsday as an unplayable boss.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: "Injustice: Gods Among Us" was released on April 16, 2013, in North America, April 17 in Australia, and April 19 in Europe for the PlayStation 3, Wii U, and Xbox 360. Certain Australian retailers, including JB Hi-Fi and EB Games, broke the street date, selling copies on April 15, 2013. The release of the Wii U version of "Injustice" was delayed in the United Kingdom until April 26, 2013. The game was released later in Japan on June 9, 2013, for the PlayStation 3 and Wii U. It was also added to the Xbox One's library of backward compatible Xbox 360 games in December 2016.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: An album featuring music from several artists including Rise Against, Depeche Mode, MSTRKRFT, Awolnation, Minus the Bear, and Zeus, was released by WaterTower Music. Titled "Injustice: Gods Among Us - The Album", the album was made available at digital retailers on April 16, 2013, to coincide with the release of the game. The collection was later released on CD on April 23, 2013.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: Warner Bros. Interactive partnered with several retail outlets on a pre-order incentive. Pre-orders from EB Games, GameStop, and Game gave players access to the "Red Son Pack", a DLC pack inspired by the "" comic book limited series, containing alternate "Red Son" skins for Superman, Wonder Woman, and Solomon Grundy, and 20 additional missions set within the "Red Son" storyline. Pre-orders from Walmart carried the " Skin Pack", containing downloadable costumes for Batman, Catwoman, and the Joker, and a bonus copy of "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe". Pre-orders from Best Buy and Amazon Germany included the "Blackest Night DLC Pack", which featured an alternate Batman skin, based on his Black Lantern design from the "Blackest Night" storyline, and an exclusive "zombie mode", which transforms all characters into the undead.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: In addition to the standard edition, the "Collector's Edition" was made available for purchase for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which included a steelbook case, a collectible figurine, a digital download code for the animated film "", the first issue of the "Injustice" comic book series, and three exclusive costumes for Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman based on their appearances in The New 52. The North American and European versions of the bundle offered different figurines. The North American release offers a 13-inch (33 cm) statue featuring Wonder Woman fighting Batman, while the European release offers a smaller 9-inch (23 cm) statue of the two. The "Battle Edition", exclusive to GameStop and EB Games, included a light weight fight stick controller and the three DLC skins. In the United Kingdom and Australia, the "Special Edition" was available, exclusively through Game and EB Games respectively, containing the steelbook case and the "Red Son Pack".


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: A Season Pass available to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 users granted access to the "Flashpoint Skin Pack", featuring alternate skins for Aquaman, Deathstroke, and Wonder Woman, along with the first four downloadable characters at an overall discounted price. To prevent conflicts between online players who purchased DLC and those who did not, free compatibility packs containing additional character skins were released alongside them. On April 17, 2013, Lobo was officially revealed as the first DLC character during the "Injustice Battle Arena" finale. Lobo was released on May 7, 2013. On May 3, 2013, Batgirl was revealed as the second DLC character, becoming available for download on May 21, 2013. Scorpion, a recurring character from the "Mortal Kombat" series, was revealed as the third DLC character on June 3, 2013, and became available for download on June 11, 2013. Scorpion's appearance in "Injustice" featured a new costume design by comic book artist Jim Lee. The final character in the Season Pass, General Zod, was revealed on June 12, 2013, on an episode of the late-night talk show "Conan". Zod was released on July 2, 2013. S.T.A.R. Labs missions for the first four DLC characters were also released as part of the Season Pass. The four DLC characters became available for Wii U owners on July 3, 2013.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: On June 6, 2013, Ed Boon announced that at least one additional DLC character would be created for the game due to fan demand. Boon had previously held a poll on his Twitter to determine which DC Comics characters "Injustice" fans would like to see added to the game. Martian Manhunter, who had been left off the polls due to having the strongest fan demand, was revealed as the fifth DLC character during a special "Injustice" presentation at the 2013 Evolution Championship Series despite what happened to him in the prequel comics. Martian Manhunter was released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on July 30, 2013, bundled together with John Stewart as an alternate skin for Green Lantern. Shortly before the release, Boon revealed on Twitter that there were further plans to develop downloadable content, with the sixth DLC character being a "big fan favorite request". On August 5, 2013, the character was revealed to be Zatanna, who placed first in the Twitter poll according to Boon. She was bundled with a new skin for Superman based on Cyborg Superman, released on August 13, 2013.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: Prior to the game's release, NetherRealm Studios developed a free-to-play mobile app of "Injustice: Gods Among Us", which was released for iOS devices on April 3, 2013. It was ported to Android systems on November 21, 2013. The app utilizes a collectible card-based battle system, and can be used to unlock bonuses in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game. The app also puts players into a group of 3 combatants to challenge famous D.C. characters.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: The Wii U version does not support this feature. Multiplayer functionality was added to the iOS version in an update on April 24, 2014.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: The "Injustice: Gods Among Us" comic book series was announced by Ed Boon on October 5, 2012, during the EB Games Expo. The series serves as a prequel detailing the events leading up to the game, as well as those that happen in the interval between Superman's murder of the Joker and the discovery of the primary universe. The series was first written by Tom Taylor and illustrated by a number of artists, including Jheremy Raapack, Mike S. Miller, Bruno Redondo, Tom Derenick, and others. The comic was released digitally beginning on January 15, 2013. The series was later issued in regular comic book form, and eventually a collected edition. In December 2014, Tom Taylor announced that he would be leaving the series and left after writing "Injustice: Year Three #14", with Brian Buccellato replacing him by continuing the story into "Year Four" and "Five". The final chapter of the series was released in September 2016, leaving the story incomplete; another comic book series, titled "Injustice: Ground Zero", followed afterwards, which picked up the story and concluded the retelling of the game's events from Harley Quinn's perspective.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: On October 7, 2013, Warner Bros. Interactive announced the "Ultimate Edition", which includes all previously released downloadable content for "Injustice: Gods Among Us". The "Ultimate Edition" was released on November 12, 2013, in the United States, November 27, 2013, in Australia, and November 29, 2013, in Europe for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. The American release was also bundled with the game's official soundtrack. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this version was released for free for a limited time to Steam (PC), PlayStation Store (PS4), and Microsoft Store (Xbox 360 Standard Edition).


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: "Injustice: Gods Among Us" received positive reviews from critics. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Wii U version 82/100, the Xbox 360 version 81/100, and the PlayStation 3 version 78/100. The "Ultimate Edition" was given 80/100 for the PlayStation 4, and 79/100 for Microsoft Windows. The iOS mobile app received mixed reviews, with 69/100.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: IGN's Vince Ingenito labeled the game as "both a very good brawler and a big old sloppy love letter to fans". Ingenito praised the story mode, unique fighting game mechanics, and the overall use of the DC license, but criticized rough cutscene graphics, stating that bland textures and poorly modeled buildings eroded their visual impact. "Game Informer"'s Andrew Reiner considered the game as "a finely tuned fighter" that "nails the spectacle of a superhero brawl". Reiner praised NetherRealm Studios for delivering a "great fighting game experience", claiming that the NetherRealm Studios' appreciation for the DC universe blended nicely with their "Mortal Kombat" formula.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: "Eurogamer"s Matt Edwards praised the rich amount of single-player content, highlighting the S.T.A.R. Labs mode, but was concerned about the game's online stability, writing that improvements made over "Mortal Kombat" to reduce latency issues "[appeared] to be marginal rather than game changing". GameSpot's Maxwell McGee felt that while "Injustice" provided "a complex fighter with some unique twists", the game fell short when compared to its contemporaries. McGee was critical of the story, describing the premise as "so ridiculous it borders on parody", and lamented the lack of instructional features for new players and replay support.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: Mikel Reparaz of "Official Xbox Magazine" praised "Injustice" for its "fast, destructive, and extremely accessible" gameplay, calling the game "one of the most enjoyable 2D fighters in years". "Electronic Gaming Monthly"'s Ray Carsillo awarded the game a near-perfect score, praising the story, gameplay mechanics, and collectibles, while faulting its long and frequent load times. Brett Molina of "USA Today" gave the game 3.5 stars out of 4, stating that "NetherRealm [had] created an impressive video game package with "Injustice", combining superheroes and villains comic book fans can appreciate with a fighting style that should appeal to players at any level."


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: "Injustice: Gods Among Us" won the award for "Best Fighting Game" of E3 2012 by the Game Critics Awards. The game also received "Fighting Game of the Year" awards in 2013 from IGN, GameTrailers, Game Informer, the VGX, and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' D.I.C.E. Awards. At the 2013 National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers (NAVGTR) awards "Injustice: Gods Among Us" won "Game, Franchise Fighting". At the 2014 SXSW Gaming Awards, "Injustice: Gods Among Us" won the Excellence in Convergence Award.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: "Injustice: Gods Among Us" was the highest selling game in the United States during its release month of April, 2013. It sold 424,000 copies as reported by industry analysts Cowen and Company, the only game released during that month to sell more than 250,000 copies. According to the NPD group, the game would later continue to stay as the top selling game in the US charts into May and stayed within the top 10 in June. "Injustice" would also top the all-format game charts in the UK following its week of release.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: The game was temporarily banned in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. Originally, the title of the game was rebranded as "Injustice: The Mighty Among Us" for promotional uses in those areas. It is speculated that "Injustice" was banned because of the inclusion of the word "Gods" in the title (as referring to God in the plural is against the shahada), the cleavage exposed in the outfits of some female characters, and overall bloodiness. There is also a chance that the global tagline of the game itself may have been thought as a violation or inconsideration for Islamic morals in the United Arab Emirates. Eventually, the ban in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait was lifted.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: On June 8, 2016, "Injustice 2" was announced by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and NetherRealm Studios, released on May 16, 2017, for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The sequel continues the story established in "Injustice: Gods Among Us", with the alternate universe Batman and his Insurgents working to prevent a new threat while stopping the remnants of Superman's Regime who seek to restore his rule. Various gameplay mechanics from the first installment return, including super moves, character traits, stage transitions, and clashes. "Injustice 2" introduces a loot-dropping system, known as the "Gear System", which provides character-specific costume pieces and equipment; players are able to customize the look of their characters and upgrade their abilities, such as increasing their speed, strength, or health.


title: Injustice: Gods Among Us

text: On May 19, 2021, it was announced that an animated "Injustice" movie was in the works as part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line. The film stars a different voice cast separate from the games itself, with the story of the movie being based on the . The film was released on digital on October 12, 2021, and on DVD and Blu-ray on October 19, 2021.


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: The Big Chill is a 1983 American comedy-drama film directed by Lawrence Kasdan, starring Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, and JoBeth Williams. The plot focuses on a group of baby boomers who attended the University of Michigan, reuniting after 15 years when their friend Alex dies by suicide. Kevin Costner was cast as Alex, but all scenes showing his face were cut. It was filmed in Beaufort, South Carolina.


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: The soundtrack features soul, R&B, and pop-rock music from the 1960s and 1970s, including tracks by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, the Rolling Stones, and Three Dog Night. The music from the motion picture was composed and conducted by Bill Conti.


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: "The Big Chill" was adapted for television as the short-lived series "Hometown". Later, it influenced the TV series "thirtysomething" and "A Million Little Things".


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: After Alex Marshall commits suicide, his fellow University of Michigan alumni and close friends attend his funeral at the Tidalholm plantation in Beaufort, South Carolina. During the visit, everyone stays with Sarah and Harold Cooper.


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: The other friends; Sam Weber, a television actor; Meg Jones, once a public defender and now a real estate attorney; Michael Gold, a journalist for "People" magazine; former talk-radio psychologist Nick Carlton, an impotent Vietnam vet perpetually either stoned or high on drugs; and Karen Bowen, an unfulfilled writer unhappily married to Richard, a stuffy advertising executive. Also present is Chloe, Alex's younger girlfriend of four months.


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: While out jogging early the next morning, Harold, violating SEC rules, tells Nick that a large corporation is about to buy his small company, which will make him rich and triple the value of the stock. He told Alex, making it possible for him to buy property in the area. Harold suggests Nick use the tip to get into a new line of work. During their conversation, it is revealed that Sarah and Alex had a brief affair five years earlier, which all the friends knew about. Nick comforts Harold by saying she didn't marry Alex. Harold, Sarah, and Alex moved past it, but Sarah tells Karen her friendship with Alex was harmed by the affair.


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: Richard goes home the next day, but Karen stays. Harold, Nick, Michael, and Chloe drive out to see the old house that Chloe and Alex were renovating. Meanwhile, Meg tells Sarah she is fed up with failed relationships and intends to have a child on her own. Believing she is ovulating, she plans to ask Sam to be the father of her child. (She approaches Nick first, thus becoming the last to know about his war wound.) Michael, who continually flirts with Chloe, needs investors for a New York nightclub. At dinner, Sarah becomes tearful and wonders if their fervent '60s idealism was "just fashion." Later that night, Meg approaches Sam, but he declines, feeling fatherhood is too great a responsibility as he already has an estranged child. Nick shares his drugs, with varying effects.


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: The next day, Harold buys running shoes for everyone. Nick goes to the old house and sits on the porch for hours, missing the Michigan football game. Michael offers to sire Meg's child, alluding to their one time encounter in college.


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: During a half-time game of touch football, a local police officer escorts a sullen Nick back to the house after he runs a red light and becomes belligerent. Recognizing Sam, the officer offers to drop charges if he will hop into Nick's Porsche 911 the way his J.T. Lancer character does on TV. Sam tries and fails, injuring himself slightly. Nick angers Harold by accusing him of being friendly with cops. Harold chastises Nick, reminding him that this is his home and Nick's recklessness could put his reputation in danger.


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: Karen tells a surprised Sam that she is in love with him and wants to leave Richard. He tells her his first marriage failed because of boredom and he doesn't want her to make the same mistake. Feeling led on, Karen angrily stomps off.


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: Meg tells Sarah that Michael is the wrong choice. Sarah observes the warm phone conversation between her young daughter and Meg. Later, the group, confused over Alex's death, regrets losing touch with him. To everyone but Sam, it seems that Alex withdrew deliberately. Nick is particularly cynical and bitter about life, love, and friendship. Karen follows Sam outside to mollify him, and they have sex. Sarah pulls Harold aside, embracing him, telling him she has a favor to ask: "It's about Meg..." Meg goes to him and they make love, tenderly. Chloe asks Nick to spend the night in the room she shared with Alex.


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: The next morning, Harold announces that Nick and Chloe will stay on to renovate the old house. Karen packs to return home to Richard. Michael ditches his nightclub plans. Nick shows everyone an old column that Michael wrote about Alex declining a prestigious fellowship. As the friends prepare to depart, Michael jokingly tells the Coopers they have taken a secret vote: They are never leaving.


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: Lawrence Kasdan and Barbara Benedek began writing "The Big Chill" in September 1980 after seeing "Return of the Secaucus 7". They wrote the screenplay as a semi-autobiographical story inspired by their optimistic political activism while attending university in the 1960s and then their disillusionment at society in the 1970s. They wrote the screenplay while Kasdan was directing "Body Heat", and many of the cast members from that film agreed to appear in "The Big Chill" if it was completed. Kasdan first pitched the story to The Ladd Company but was rejected. Richard Fischoff unsuccessfully tried to convince Paramount Pictures to film the screenplay after reading it in the summer of 1982. When this failed he turned the screenplay to Marcia Nasatir, who had recently departed her executive positions at United Artists and Orion Pictures to cofound Carson Productions with Johnny Carson. Fischoff convinced Nasatir to finance the film as the studio's first production, and took over as supervising producer after she left the studio to work at 20th Century Fox.


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: Production on the film began on November 8, 1982, in Atlanta. Filming primarily took place at the Edgar Fripp House (called "Tidalholm") in downtown Beaufort, South Carolina, where the film was set. JoBeth Williams later recalled filming a scene flashing back to the characters in 1968. "It was just wonderful to shoot", she said. "They rented this big house in Atlanta and installed bead curtains, rock posters, incense, 1968 "Life" magazines—it was a real time warp." Williams says that, in the scene, her character was living with William Hurt's character and ignoring Tom Berenger's. The Alex character, played by Kevin Costner "looking like a scruffy James Dean", was also in the scene. "That turned out to be the problem... Nobody could live up to that role after the build-up through the film, and audiences said they didn't want to see anybody try. So the last 10 minutes of the film were just cut out." Filming concluded on February 7, 1983.


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: On "Rotten Tomatoes", the film has an approval rating of 71% based on reviews from 41 critics, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads ""The Big Chill" captures a generation's growing ennui with a terrific cast, a handful of perceptive insights, and one of the decade's best film soundtracks". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on reviews from 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: At the time, Richard Corliss of "Time" described "The Big Chill" as a "funny and ferociously smart movie", stating:


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" wrote that the film was a "very accomplished, serious comedy" and an "unusually good choice to open this year's [New York Film Festival] in that it represents the best of mainstream American film making."


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film two and a half stars out of four, observing ""The Big Chill" is a splendid technical exercise. It has all the right moves. It knows all the right words. Its characters have all the right clothes, expressions, fears, lusts, and ambitions. But there's no payoff and it doesn't lead anywhere. I thought at first that was a weakness of the movie. There also is the possibility that it's the movie's message."


title: The Big Chill (film)

text: Ten of the songs from the film were released on the soundtrack album; four additional songs not from the film were added to the original CD release as "additional classics from the era". The rest of the film's songs (aside from the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want"), as well as the "additional classics" from the original soundtrack CD were released in 1984 on a second soundtrack album, titled "More Songs from the Big Chill". Both albums were re-mastered in 1998; the track list of the first album mirrored the original LP, without the "additional classics". In 2004, Hip-O Records released a Deluxe edition, containing 16 of the 18 songs from the film (again excluding "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and newly omitting "Quicksilver Girl" by the Steve Miller Band) and three additional film instrumentals. A second "music of a generation" disc of 19 additional tracks was included as well. Some of those tracks had appeared on the "More Songs" release.


title: Harare

text: Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km (371 mi) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan area in 2019. Situated in north-eastern Zimbabwe in the country's Mashonaland region, Harare is a metropolitan province, which also incorporates the municipalities of Chitungwiza and Epworth. The city sits on a plateau at an elevation of above sea level and its climate falls into the subtropical highland category.


title: Harare

text: The city was founded in 1890 by the Pioneer Column, a small military force of the British South Africa Company, and named Fort Salisbury after the UK Prime Minister Lord Salisbury. Company administrators demarcated the city and ran it until Southern Rhodesia achieved responsible government in 1923. Salisbury was thereafter the seat of the Southern Rhodesian (later Rhodesian) government and, between 1953 and 1963, the capital of the Central African Federation. It retained the name Salisbury until 1982, when it was renamed Harare on the second anniversary of Zimbabwean independence from the United Kingdom.


title: Harare

text: Long the commercial capital of Zimbabwe, Harare has seen economic ups and downs since the 2000s. It remains an important centre of commerce, government, finance, real estate, manufacturing, healthcare, design, education, art, culture, tourism, agriculture, mining and regional affairs. Harare has the second-highest number of embassies in Southern Africa and serves as the location of the African headquarters of the World Health Organization, which it shares with Brazzaville.


title: Harare

text: Harare has hosted multiple international conferences and events, including the 1995 All-Africa Games and the 2003 Cricket World Cup. In 2018, Harare was ranked as a Gamma world city. The city's marquee festival is the Harare International Festival of the Arts, modelled on the Edinburgh Festival and one of the largest arts festivals in the southern hemisphere. It is also home to Dynamos FC, the club with the most titles in Zimbabwean football.


title: Harare

text: The Pioneer Column, a military volunteer force of settlers organised by Cecil Rhodes, founded the city on 12 September 1890 as a fort. They originally named the city Fort Salisbury after The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and it subsequently became known simply as Salisbury. The Salisbury Polo Club was formed in 1896. It was declared to be a municipality in 1897 and it became a city in 1935.


title: Harare

text: The area at the time of founding of the city was poorly drained and earliest development was on sloping ground along the left bank of a stream that is now the course of a trunk road (Julius Nyerere Way). The first area to be fully drained was near the head of the stream and was named Causeway as a result. This area is now the site of many of the most important government buildings, including the Senate House and the Office of the Prime Minister, now renamed for the use of the President after the position was abolished in January 1988.


title: Harare

text: Salisbury was the capital of the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia from 1923, and of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland from 1953 to 1963. Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front government declared Rhodesia independent from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965, and proclaimed the Republic of Rhodesia in 1970. Subsequently, the nation became the short-lived state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, it was not until 18 April 1980 that the country was internationally recognised as independent as the Republic of Zimbabwe.


title: Harare

text: In the immediate years after World War II, Salisbury expanded rapidly, its growth boosted by its designation as the capital of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, which ushered in a wave of liberalism, investment and developmentalism from 1953 to 1963, transforming the city's skyline in the process. This was accompanied by significant post-war immigration, primarily from Great Britain, across Southern Africa and to a lesser extent, Southern Europe. The rapid rise of motor vehicle ownership and the investment in road development greatly accelerated the outward suburban sprawl and saw the development of suburbs such as Alexandra Park and Mount Pleasant. At the same time mostly black suburbs such as Highfield suffered from overcrowding as the population boomed.


title: Harare

text: The optimism and prosperity of this period proved to be short-lived, as the Federation collapsed, which hindered the city's prosperity.


title: Harare

text: The city initially boomed under a wave of optimism and investment that followed the country's independence in 1980. The name of the city was changed to Harare on 18 April 1982, the second anniversary of Zimbabwean independence, taking its name from the village near Harare Kopje of the Shona chief Neharawa, whose nickname was "he who does not sleep". Prior to independence, "Harare" was the name of the black residential area now known as Mbare.


title: Harare

text: Significant investment in education and healthcare produced a confident and growing middle class, evidenced by the rise of firms such as Econet Global and innovative design and architecture, exemplified by the Eastgate Centre. A notable symbol of this era in Harare's history is the New Reserve Bank Tower, one of the city's major landmarks.


title: Harare

text: However, by 1992, Harare began to experience an economic downturn and the government responded by enacting neoliberal reforms, which led to a boom in banking, finance and agriculture, while leading to significant job losses in manufacturing, thereby greatly increasing unemployment and income inequality. Domestic firms struggled to compete with foreign imports leading to the collapse of several institutions, particularly in the textile industry.


title: Harare

text: In the early twenty-first century, Harare has been adversely affected by the political and economic crisis that is plaguing Zimbabwe, after the contested 2002 presidential election and 2005 parliamentary elections. The elected council was replaced by a government-appointed commission for alleged inefficiency, but essential services such as rubbish collection and street repairs rapidly worsened, and are now virtually non-existent in poorer parts of the city. In May 2006, the Zimbabwean newspaper the "Financial Gazette", described the city in an editorial as a "sunshine city-turned-sewage farm". In 2009, Harare was voted to be the toughest city to live in according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's livability poll. The situation was unchanged in 2011, according to the same poll, which is based on stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.


title: Harare

text: In May 2005, the Zimbabwean government demolished shanties, illegal vending sites, backyard cottages in Harare, Epworth and the other cities in the country in Operation Murambatsvina ("Drive Out Trash"). It was widely alleged that the true purpose of the campaign was to punish the urban poor for supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and to reduce the likelihood of mass action against the government by driving people out of the cities. The government claimed it was necessitated by a rise of criminality and disease. This was followed by Operation Garikayi/Hlalani Kuhle (Operation "Better Living") a year later, which consisted of building concrete housing of poor quality.


title: Harare

text: In late March 2010, Harare's Joina City Tower was finally opened after fourteen years of delayed construction, marketed as "Harare's new Pride". Initially, uptake of space in the tower was low, with office occupancy at only 3% in October 2011. By May 2013, office occupancy had risen to around half, with all the retail space occupied.


title: Harare

text: The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Harare as the world's least liveable city out of 140 surveyed in February 2011, rising to 137th out of 140 in August 2012.


title: Harare

text: In March 2015, Harare City Council planned a two-year project to install 4,000 solar street lights, at a cost of $15,000,000 starting in the central business district.


title: Harare

text: In November 2017, the biggest demonstration in the history of the Republic of Zimbabwe was held in Harare, which led to the forced resignation of the long-serving 93-year-old President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, an event which was part of the first successful coup in Zimbabwe.


title: Harare

text: Since 2000, Harare has experienced periods of spectacular decline, particularly in the 2000s, but since the Great Recession it has stabilised and experienced significant population growth, along with uneven economic growth. Despite this volatility (or perhaps because of it), there has been substantial international investment and speculation in the city's financial and property markets. Major development has occurred on the urban fringes of the city has occurred in areas such as Borrowdale, Glen Lorne, The Grange, Mount Pleasant Heights, and the new suburbs of, Hogerty Hill, Shawasha Hills, Bloomingdale and Westlea resulting in urban sprawl into nearby Mount Hampden, Ruwa and Norton. In addition, inner city areas such as Avondale, Eastlea, Belgravia, Newlands and Milton Park have seen increased gentrification driven by speculation from expat Zimbabweans that has also attracted other foreign buyers, resulting in high property prices and widespread rent increases. Harare sustained the highest population increase and urban development of any major Zimbabwean city since 2000, with other cities such as Bulawayo, Gweru and Mutare largely stagnating during the same period.


title: Harare

text: From 2006, the growth of the city extended into its northern and western fringes, beyond the city's urban growth boundary. Predictions of the metropolitan area reaching 4 to 5 million by 2025, have sparked concerns of unchecked sprawl and unregulated development. In addition, the concentration of real estate development in Harare has come at the expense of other cities such as Gweru, and Bulawayo, particularly the latter, which is increasingly characterized by stagnation and high unemployment due to the collapse of many of its heavy industries. Today, Harare's property market remains highly priced, more so than regional cities such as Johannesburg and Cape Town, with the top end of the market completely dominated by wealthier dual-citizen Zimbabweans (see Zimbabwean diaspora and Zimbabweans in the United Kingdom), Chinese and South African buyers and largely unaffordable to most locals. Such gentrification and speculation is especially jarring given the country's high unemployment. Additionally, in 2020, Harare was classified as a Gamma city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.


title: Harare

text: The population of Harare is 2,123,132 people. Over 90% of people in Harare are Shona-speaking people of African descent. Harare is also home to many Ndebele people and Kalanga people as well. Roughly 25,000 White Zimbabweans live in the Harare metro area as well.


title: Harare

text: The city sits on one of the higher parts of the Highveld plateau of Zimbabwe at an elevation of . The original landscape could be described as a "parkland". The soils of Harare are reddish brown granular clay in northern and central areas, while some of the southern part has greyish brown sand over pale loamy sand or sandy loam.


title: Harare

text: The Northern and North Eastern suburbs of Harare are home to the more affluent population of the city including former president Robert Mugabe who lived in Borrowdale Brooke. These northern suburbs are often referred to as 'dales' because of the common suffix -dale found in some suburbs such as Avondale, Greendale and Borrowdale. The dwellings are mostly low density homes of 3 bedrooms or more and these usually are occupied by families.


title: Harare

text: Harare is often referred to as Zimbabwe's garden or sunshine city for its abundant parks and outdoor amenities. There is an abundance of parks and gardens across town, many close to the CBD with a variety of common and rare plant species amid landscaped vistas, pedestrian pathways and tree-lined avenues. Harare's parks are often considered the best public parks in all of Zimbabwe's major cities. There are also many parks in the surrounding suburbs, particularly the affluent Northern suburbs of Borrowdale, Mount Pleasant and Glen Lorne, north east of the central business district. Several national parks have been designated around the urban area, including the Ewanrigg Botanical Gardens, Domboshava National Park, and Lake Chivero among others. The extensive area covered by Harare is formally divided into hundreds of suburbs, along with independent municipalities such as Epworth, Mount Hampden, Norton and Chitungwiza within the greater metropolitan area.


title: Harare

text: The central business district, is characterized by wide streets and a mix of historic, post-war and modern buildings. There are some colonial-era buildings like the Parliament buildings and Civic Centre, but the rest are unremarkable post war buildings. The district is also notable for a number of upmarket hotels such as the Meikles Hotel which are relatively luxurious but not particularly modern. Other downtown sights include, the Kopje Africa Unity Square, the Harare Gardens, the National Gallery, the August House parliamentary buildings and the National Archives. Causeway, a road and sub-neighbourhood of central Harare, is a busy workaday area that acts as the city's embassy row, (along with Belgravia to the north east), in which numerous embassies, diplomatic missions, research institutes, and other international organizations are concentrated. Additionally, many government ministries and museums such as the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences, are located here.


title: Harare

text: Rotten Row is a sub-district of downtown Harare that begins at the intersection of Prince Edward Street and Samora Machel Avenue and runs to the flyover where it borders Mbare on Cripps Road. Rotten Row was named after a road in London of the same name. The name "Rotten Row" is a corrupted form of the French phrase ‘Route du Roi’, the King's Road. It is best known as Harare's legal district home to The Harare Magistrate's Court, the city's central library and the ZANU-PF building, along with numerous law offices. The neighbourhood also lends its name of to the eponymous book by Petina Gappah published in 2016.


title: Harare

text: The adjacent Avenues area is most notable as the city's red light district but its image has improved as more young and relatively well-off residents have moved to the area partially gentrifying the inner suburb. However, the area remains somewhat unsafe at night.


title: Harare

text: These are generally densely populated, well-kept compact suburbs. Historically home to newly arrived immigrants and lower middle class residents the area now attracts young professionals, recent graduates and flat dwellers. Traditionally middle to lower-middle class, these neighbourhoods has become relatively more expensive and gentrified, beginning in the 1990s. The Inner East ranks among the most walkable suburbs in the City of Harare with attractive townhouses, and flats, along with mixed-use areas, making them extremely desirable not just to locals but outside investors who have fueled the city's real estate boom over the past decade. These suburbs are often considered a ‘middle-zone’ between affluent northern areas like Avondale West and Glen Lorne, and the grittier city centre. Houses in Eastlea and Greendale are increasingly being bought by small businesses due to lack of space in the downtown, and as one may find an IT company that has a swimming pool and garden. Highlands is also notable for its temperate micro-climate and being home of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, while Milton Park, Harare is an emerging, bohemian, mixed-use area with residential, commercial and entertainment venues.


title: Harare

text: Chisipite, Colne Valley, Borrowdale, Borrowdale Brooke, Glen Lorne, Gunhill, The Grange, Pomona, Umwimsidale, Hogarty Hill


title: Harare

text: The most affluent and developed part of the city, especially Borrowdale and Glen Lorne. Sprawling lawns, tennis courts and large mansions dot many a suburb. It is also the greenest part of Harare: with hills overlooking green Msasa trees and well-kept gardens. In recent years a number of building projects were started and stalled due to lack of money and the unpredictability of the Zimbabwean economy, which has left a number half-finished homes. Borrowdale in particular, is home to much of the country's elite, along with diplomats, business executives, expats and the second homes of wealthier members of the Zimbabwean diaspora. Much of city's Anglo African population tends to congregate here, along with the rest of the Northern suburbs. Shopping centres like Borrowdale Village and Sam Levy's Village, cater to the most affluent of the city's residents. Crime is low by international standards and at night, the area is home to various pubs, bars, restaurants and nightclubs.


title: Harare

text: Well-to-do suburbs with pretty tree-lined avenues and coffee shops tucked near gardens. These are among the more well-off areas of Harare, but not as wealthy as the North-East. Avondale Shopping Centre is the areas commercial heart, noted for its theatres, flea market and independent stores. Mount Pleasant is home to the University of Zimbabwe the country's leading tertiary and research institution, which gives the area an academic and bohemian atmosphere when school is in session. Unfortunately, a lack of funding from the government means that the area is unaffordable to students, hindering the development of a true student ghetto as most students have to commute to Mount Pleasant due to a lack of student housing. Another new building in Harare is the British Embassy built in 2008 and nearby Arundel office park houses the regional United Nations offices.


title: Harare

text: The city's North West is largely a leafy and residential upper middle class area best known for the outdoor mall at Westgate, home to numerous independent stores, movie theatres and other higher-end shopping. The area is also host to the new US embassy. Also, Saint Andrews Park is best known for the Warren Hills Golf Course as well as its proximity to the National Sports Stadium.


title: Harare

text: Nearby Emerald Hill is named so either due to the green colour of the hill due to the large number of trees or its Irish connections – many of the roads in the suburb have Irish names, such as Dublin, Belfast, Wicklow and Cork. The area is also notable for its Catholic institutions such as St. John's High School and the Dominican Convent. While the area was home to an Irish Catholic community they have largely been assimilated into the larger white Zimbabwean community or have joined the ranks of the Zimbabwean diaspora abroad. Other parts of the North West are leafy and quiet but have become slightly rough around the edges since the mid-2000s. The country's economic crisis in that decade led to thousands of local university-educated residents and professionals emigrating to the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, thus the area lacks much of the wealth and vibrancy it had in the nineties.


title: Harare

text: Notable suburbs include Arcadia, Hillside and Braeside, renowned for their historic Goffal (Coloured Zimbabwean) communities and Belvedere and Greendale, noted for their Asian residents of Indian descent.


title: Harare

text: Newlands was named by Colin Duff, the secretary for Agriculture in the 1920s, who had played for Western Cape Province before heading north. When Gerhardt Van der Byl retired back to the Cape Town in 1927, he sold his farm Welmoed to the Salisbury Real Estate Co, a property vehicle owned largely by Scots. Arlington is a newer residential settlement east of the capital adjacent to Harare International Airport. Owned by former mayor of Salisbury, Mayor Brown named his farm, Arlington. He was from Iowa and joined occupational forces to collect specimens for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.


title: Harare

text: Harare's big factories are here, producing clothing, soft drinks, bricks and vehicles. Once home to Southern European immigrants of Greek, Italian and Portuguese extraction, most residents today are working and lower middle class Shona people and the descendants of Zambian, Mozambique and Malawian immigrants. Willowvale, is perhaps best known for the 1988 Willowgate scandal implicated several members of the ZANU-PF party in a scheme where automobiles were illegally resold by various government officials.


title: Harare

text: These areas are a mixture of medium- and high-density areas, rarely visited by outsiders. Houses are generally smaller and more tightly packed together. Some of these townships were initially set up by the city government from the 1930s onwards. Highfield is second-oldest high-density suburb in Harare was established in 1930. It was established for black settlement during the United Federal Party government of Godfrey Huggins. Highfield was primarily set up by the colonial Government to provide labour to the Southerton and Workington industrial areas.


title: Harare

text: Residents are mainly poor and working-class, although there are more lower middle class members who have bigger properties: the townships are varied and each has its own personality, and were home to famous musicians such as Oliver Mtukudzi and Thomas Mapfumo. They are also home to a number of small industries, however, the region also has the highest unemployment and poverty rate in the city. The poor state of the area has been exacerbated by neglect from city government, leading to a lack of adequate electric, water and sanitary services in the area. These poor conditions have led to many former residents to choose to move south to Johannesburg and other cities in South Africa, but they are quickly replaced by the internal migration of rural Zimbabweans seeking opportunity in the city.


title: Harare

text: Under the Köppen climate classification, Harare has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen "Cwb"), an oceanic climate variety. Because the city is situated on a plateau, its high altitude and cool south-easterly airflow cause it to have a climate that is cooler and drier than a tropical or subtropical climate.


title: Harare

text: The average annual temperature is , rather low for the tropics. This is due to its high altitude position and the prevalence of a cool south-easterly airflow.


title: Harare

text: There are three main seasons: a warm, wet summer from November to March/April; a cool, dry winter from May to August (corresponding to winter in the Southern Hemisphere); and a warm to hot, dry season in September/October. Daily temperature ranges are about in July (the coldest month), about in October (the hottest month) and about in January (midsummer). The hottest year on record was 1914 with and the coldest year was 1965 with .


title: Harare

text: The average annual rainfall is about in the southwest, rising to on the higher land of the northeast (from around Borrowdale to Glen Lorne). Very little rain typically falls during the period May to September, although sporadic showers occur most years. Rainfall varies a great deal from year to year and follows cycles of wet and dry periods from 7 to 10 years long. Records begin in October 1890 but all three Harare stations stopped reporting in early 2004.


title: Harare

text: The climate supports a natural vegetation of open woodland. The most common tree of the local region is the Msasa "Brachystegia spiciformis" that colours the landscape wine red with its new leaves in late August. Two introduced species of trees, the jacaranda and the flamboyant from South America and Madagascar respectively, which were introduced during the colonial era, contribute to the city's colour palette with streets lined with either the lilac blossoms of the jacaranda or the flame red blooms from the flamboyant. They flower in October/November and are planted on alternative streets in the capital. Also prevalent is bougainvillea. Some trees from Northern Hemisphere middle latitudes are also cultivated, including American sweetgum, English oak, Japanese oak and Spanish oak.


title: Harare

text: Harare has been the location of several international summits such as the 8th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (6 September 1986) and Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1991. The latter produced the Harare Declaration, dictating the membership criteria of the Commonwealth. In 1998, Harare was the host city of the 8th Assembly of the World Council of Churches.


title: Harare

text: In 1995, Harare hosted most of the sixth All-Africa Games, sharing the event with other Zimbabwean cities such as Bulawayo and Chitungwiza. It has hosted some of the matches of 2003 Cricket World Cup which was hosted jointly by Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Several of the matches were also held in Bulawayo. Harare also hosted the ICC Cricket 2018 World Cup Qualifier matches in March 2018.


title: Harare

text: The city is also the site of one of the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), which has featured such acclaimed artists as Cape Verdean singer Sara Tavares.


title: Harare

text: Harare is Zimbabwe's leading financial, commercial, and communications centre, as well as an international trade centre for tobacco, maize, cotton, and citrus fruits. Manufacturing, including textiles, steel, and chemicals, are also economically significant, as is the trade of precious minerals such as gold, diamonds, chrome and platinum. It has also experienced a real estate boom recently, particularly in the wealthy Northern suburbs, with prices rising dramatically over the last decade, despite challenges in other sectors of the economy. This boom has largely been fueled by members of the Zimbabwean diaspora and speculation, with investors hedging against the local currency. However the once booming market has begun to cool off due to a 2019 hike in interest rates and the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving a number of projects unfinished.


title: Harare

text: Harare has been the location of several international summits such as the 8th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (6 September, 1986) and Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1991. The latter produced the Harare Declaration, dictating the membership criteria of the Commonwealth. In 1998, Harare was the host city of the 8th Assembly of the World Council of Churches.


title: Harare

text: While it may have seemed the economy was finally making a recovery, early investor optimism following the inauguration of the Mnangagwa government has largely subsided due to the slow pace of reforms to improve the business environment. The economy suffered high inflation and frequent power outages in 2019, which further hampered investment. A lack of implementation of adequate monetary reforms to complement the government's efforts to reduce the budget deficit also undermined investor confidence in the financial sector. Although the government has repeatedly stressed its focus on improving transparency, the ease of doing business, and fighting corruption, progress remains limited under the Mnangagwa administration.


title: Harare

text: Another challenge to Harare's economy is the persistent emigration of highly educated and skilled residents to the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, the Ireland and New Zealand, largely due to the economic downturn and political unrest. The city's brain drain, almost unprecedented compared to other emerging markets, has led to the decline of a local entrepreneurial class, an overstretched and declining middle class and a dearth of employment opportunities outside the informal and public sector. In addition, the city's working class residents are increasingly moving to nearby South Africa and Botswana, though they are readily replaced by less well off rural migrants. However, despite over a decade of neglect, the city's infrastructure and human capital still compares favorably with cities in other parts of Africa, and Latin America. It remains to be seen whether the current government can entice its young, diverse and well educated Zimbabwean diaspora numbering some 4 to 7 million people, to invest in the economy, let alone consider returning.


title: Harare

text: Locally produced art, handicrafts and souvenirs can be purchased at Doon Estate, Uwminsdale, Avondale Market and Mbare Musika. Msasa Park and Umwinsdale in particular, host a number of galleries that produce, high-quality Shona soapstone sculptures and textiles such as Patrick Mavros studios, which has another gallery in Knightsbridge, London. International brands are generally less common in Harare than in European cities, however conventional and luxury shopping can be found on Fife Avenue, Sam Nujoma (Union) Avenue, Arundel Village, Avondale, Borrowdale, Eastgate and Westgate. Virtually all luxury shopping is concentrated in the wealthier Northern suburbs, particularly Borrowdale with stores that command higher prices than most visitors would expect. The Borrowdale and Borrowdale Brooke neighborhoods are regarded among the most sophisticated places in town, with upscale shopping, restaurants and amenities.


title: Harare

text: Harare also has a good choice of supermarkets including Le Bon Marche, Pick n Pay, TM and Spar. Greater variety and independent stores tend to be concentrated in the North, Northeast and Northwest suburbs along with, surprisingly, Newlands and Greendale Avenue in Greendale.


title: Harare

text: Harare is a relatively young city, which sprawled during the country's post-Federation and post-independence booms and was segregated along racial and class lines until 1980, resulting in a mostly low density urban area geared towards private motorists, lacking a convenient public transportation system. Very little investment has been made to develop an effective and integrated public transportation system, leaving a significant number of the city's residents dependent on the city's informal minibus taxis. The rise of local ridesharing apps such as GTaxi and Hwindi, has partly eased pressure on the city's transportation system, however they are still prices out of the range of most working people. In addition, bus services are also available but they are mostly geared towards intercity travel and recreation than journeys within Harare itself.


title: Harare

text: Public transport system within the city includes both public and private sector operations. The former consist of ZUPCO buses and National Railways of Zimbabwe commuter trains. Privately owned public transport comprised licensed station wagons, nicknamed "emergency taxis" until 1993, when the government began to replace them with licensed buses and minibuses, referred to officially as "commuter omnibuses". Harare has two kinds of taxis, metered taxis and the much more ubiquitous share taxis or 'kombis'. Unlike many other cities, metered taxis generally do not drive around the city looking for passengers and instead must be called and ordered to a destination. The minibus "taxis" are the de facto day-to-day and essential form of transport for the majority of the population.


title: Harare

text: The National Railways of Zimbabwe operates a daily overnight passenger train service that runs from Harare to Mutare and another one from Harare to Bulawayo, using the Beira–Bulawayo railway. Harare is linked by long-distance bus services to most parts of Zimbabwe.


title: Harare

text: The city is crossed by Transafrican Highway 9 (TAH 9), which connects it to the cities of Lusaka and Beira.


title: Harare

text: The University of Zimbabwe is located in Harare. Founded in 1952, the university is the country's oldest and largest, offering a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs. The student population stands at 20,399, with 17,718 undergraduate students and 2,681 postgraduate students.


title: Harare

text: Harare has long been regarded as Zimbabwe's sporting capital due to the role it has played in the development of Zimbabwean sport, the range and quality of its sporting events and venues, and its high rates of spectatorship and participation. The city is also home to more professional sports teams competing at the national and international level, than any other Zimbabwean city. Football is most popular sport in Harare, with the city producing many footballers who have gone on to play in the English Premier League and elsewhere.


title: Harare

text: Harare is also home to Harare Sports Club ground, which hosts many Test, One Day Internationals and T20I Cricket matches. It was also the one of the host cities for the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Harare is home to the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League clubs, Dynamos F.C.,Black Rhinos F.C. and CAPS United F.C.


title: Harare

text: The following table shows the sports teams in the Harare area, sorted primarily by attendance in the most recent season for which data is available.


title: Harare

text: Football is the most popular sport in Harare, particularly among working-class residents. Cricket and rugby are also popular sports with those from middle-class backgrounds. Harare is home to Harare Sports Club ground. It has hosted many Test, One Day Internationals and T20 Cricket matches. The city successfully hosted most of the sixth All-Africa Games and several matches in the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup at Harare Sports Club. Harare is also home to the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League clubs Dynamos F.C., Harare City, Black Rhinos F.C. and CAPS United F.C.


title: Harare

text: Virtually all first class and international cricket matches are hosted at Harare Sports Club, with most domestic tours occurring in spring and summer. This city is also home to the Mashonaland Eagles in the domestic Logan Cup tournament. The Eagles are coached by renowned former Zimbabwe national cricket team batsman Grant Flower. The team are one of the country's strongest sides and last won the Logan Cup in the 2015–16 Logan Cup season.


title: Harare

text: The city is also the heartland of rugby union in Zimbabwe, rivaling Windhoek in Namibia as the strongest rugby region in Africa beyond South Africa. The governing Rhodesia Rugby Football Union was founded here in 1895, becoming the Zimbabwe Rugby Union in 1980. The union and national sides are based in the northern suburb of Alexandra Park. Harare is home to four of the country's national Super Six Rugby League (SSRL) clubs – Harare Sports Club, Old Georgians, Old Hararians and Old Miltonians. Additionally, the Zimbabwe Rugby Academy, the national development side which plays in the second division of the Currie Cup is largely made up of players from the city. International rugby test matches tend to be hosted at Harare Sports Club, the Police Grounds and at Hartsfield in Bulawayo with a particularly strong rivalry with the Namibia national rugby union team. Traditionally the city hosted tours by the British and Irish Lions, Argentina and the All-Blacks on their respective tours of South Africa, however, this is no longer the case due to the end of traditional rugby tours and the Zimbabwe national rugby union team's decline in the international rugby rankings. Indeed, Wales were the last major country to tour Harare back in 1993.


title: Harare

text: High school teams are generally of a high standard with Prince Edward School, St. George's College, St. John's College all ranking among the country's leading teams and sending their first XV sides to compete against well-known South African high schools during Craven Week. Unfortunately after high school, the city's best players tend to move on to South Africa or the United Kingdom, due to a lack of professionalism and greater educational and earning opportunities abroad, thus depleting the strength of the rugby union in Zimbabwe. Notable internationals hailing from Harare include Tendai Mtawarira, Don Armand and Brian Mujati amongst numerous others.


title: Harare

text: Harare is host to some of Zimbabwe's leading media outlets. Despite accusations of government censorship and intimidation, the city maintains a robust press, much of which is defiantly critical of the current government. In print media, the most famous paper internationally, is the "Herald", the city's oldest newspaper, founded in 1893 and former paper of record prior to its purchase by the government. The paper is best noted for its heavy censorship during the Rhodesian Front government from 1962 to 1979, with many of its articles appearing as redacted- with black boxes marking the words removed by government censors- before its forced purchase. Today it is largely seen as little more than a government mouthpiece by residents and overwhelmingly supports the government line.


title: Harare

text: In contrast, private newspapers continue to adopt a more independent line and enjoy a more diverse and vibrant readership, unmatched by most other African cities. These include the Financial Gazette, the high brow, financial paper of record, nicknamed 'the Pink Press', for its tradition of printing on a pink broadsheet. Other newspapers are the "Zimbabwe Independent", a centre-left newspaper and "de facto" paper of record, noted for its investigative journalism; the "Standard", a centre—left Sunday paper; "NewsDay", a left-wing tabloid; H-Metro, a mass-market tabloid; the "Daily News", a left wing opposition paper and "Kwayedza", the leading Shona language newspaper in Zimbabwe.


title: Harare

text: Online media outlets include ZimOnline, ZimDaily, the Zimbabwe Guardian and NewZimbabwe.com amongst others.


title: Harare

text: The state-owned ZBC TV maintains a monopoly on free to air TV channels in the city, with private broadcasters, such as the defunct Joy TV, coming and going based on the whims of the government. As a response, the majority of the households that can afford to, subscribe to the satellite television distributor, DStv for entertainment, news and sport from Africa and abroad.


title: Harare

text: Harare is also well served by radio, with a number of the country's leading radio stations, maintaining a presence in the city. There are currently four state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp. channels (SFM, Radio Zimbabwe, Power FM and National FM); and private national commercial free-to-air stations, Star FM, Capital 100.4 FM and ZiFM. In addition, Channel Zim, an alternative satellite channel, and VOA Zimbabwe also broadcast via inexpensive free-to air decoders. Eight newly licensed local commercial stations have been commissioned, but were not yet on air as of 2020.


title: Harare

text: Commercial stations tend to show similar trends in programming, with high percentages of music, talk radio or phone-in programs and sports over infrequent news bulletins. Also despite the country's 16 official languages, virtually all broadcasts occur in English, Shona and Ndebele.


title: Harare

text: The arts are thriving in Harare, despite an economic and political crisis, whose effects have offered opportunities for satire, experimentation and reinvention. While authors and musicians such as Doris Lessing, Petina Gappah and Thomas Mapfumo have been long criticized the corruption and shortcomings of the Smith and Mugabe governments, the emergence of protest and critical theatre since 2000 has invigorated the local arts scene. Actors, directors and artists have joined musicians and writers in criticizing political maleficence and audiences have rallied behind them, making the local theatre and art scene one of the most vibrant in the southern hemisphere.


title: Harare

text: Among the places of worship, they are predominantly Christian churches and temples: Assemblies of God, Baptist Convention of Zimbabwe (Baptist World Alliance), Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (World Communion of Reformed Churches), Church of the Province of Central Africa (Anglican Communion), Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Harare (Catholic Church).


title: Ocean's 11

text: Ocean's 11 is a 1960 American heist film directed and produced by Lewis Milestone from a screenplay by Harry Brown and Charles Lederer, based on a story by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell. The film stars five of the Rat Pack: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. Centered on a series of Las Vegas casino robberies, the film also stars Angie Dickinson, Richard Conte, Cesar Romero, Patrice Wymore, Akim Tamiroff, and Henry Silva. It includes cameo appearances by Shirley MacLaine, Red Skelton, and George Raft.


title: Ocean's 11

text: "Ocean's 11" premiered in Las Vegas on August 3, 1960, and was theatrically released in the United States on August 10, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics. It originated the "Ocean's" film series.


title: Ocean's 11

text: World War II veterans Danny Ocean and Jimmy Foster recruit nine comrades from their unit in the 82nd Airborne Division to simultaneously rob five Las Vegas casinos: the Sahara, the Riviera, the Desert Inn, the Sands, and the Flamingo.


title: Ocean's 11

text: The gang plans the elaborate New Year's Eve heist with the precision of a military operation. Josh Howard takes a job as a sanitation worker driving a garbage truck while others get jobs at the various casinos. Sam Harmon entertains in one of the hotel's lounges. Demolition charges are planted on a local electric power transmission tower and the backup electrical systems are covertly rewired in each casino. At midnight on New Year's Eve, the tower is blown up and the Las Vegas Strip goes dark, as the men sneak into the money cages, hold up the cashiers, and dump their collection bags into the hotels' garbage bins. A garbage truck driven by Josh picks up the bags and passes through the police blockade. Everything appears to have gone off without a hitch.


title: Ocean's 11

text: The gang's electrician, Tony Bergdorf, drops dead of a heart attack in the middle of the Strip. This raises police suspicions, who wonder if there is any connection to the thefts. Reformed mobster Duke Santos offers to recover the casino bosses' money for a percentage. As the robbery was well organized, he assumes that it was a Mafia operation until his underworld connections deny any involvement. Duke is engaged to Foster's mother, who casually mentions that Foster and Ocean, having fought together in the army, are both unexpectedly in Las Vegas. Duke also learns about Bergdorf's military record from the police. By the time that Bergdorf's body arrives at the mortuary, Duke has pieced it all together.


title: Ocean's 11

text: Duke confronts the thieves, demanding half of their take. In desperation, they hide the money in Bergdorf's coffin, setting aside $10,000 for his widow. The group plans to take back the rest, making no payoff to Duke, after the coffin is shipped to San Francisco. Their plan backfires when the funeral director talks Bergdorf's widow into having the funeral in Las Vegas. She has the body and coffin cremated along with all of the hidden cash.


title: Ocean's 11

text: Peter Lawford was first told of the film's basic premise by director Gilbert Kay, who had heard the idea from a filling station attendant. Lawford bought the rights in 1958, envisioning William Holden in the lead. Frank Sinatra became interested in the idea, and a variety of writers worked on the project. When Lawford first told Sinatra of the story, Sinatra joked, "Forget the movie, let's pull the job!"


title: Ocean's 11

text: The animated title sequence was designed by Saul Bass. The film's closing shot shows the main cast walking away from the funeral home, with the Sands Hotel marquee behind them, listing their names as headliners.


title: Ocean's 11

text: The Las Vegas portion of the film was shot on location at the Flamingo, Sands, Desert Inn, Riviera, and Sahara hotels. One segment was also filmed at the former Las Vegas Union Pacific station.


title: Ocean's 11

text: Two Beverly Hills locations were used: the opening barber shop scene was filmed at 9740 Wilshire Boulevard and the scenes at Spyros Acebos's house were filmed at 230 Ladera Drive, which belonged to Hollywood agent Kurt Frings.


title: Ocean's 11

text: The film received mixed reviews from critics. Bosley Crowther of "The New York Times" disliked the film because "there is no built-in implication that the boys have done something wrong. There is just an ironic, unexpected and decidedly ghoulish twist whereby they are deprived of their pickings and what seems their just desserts. This is the flaw in the picture — this and the incidental fact that a wholesale holdup of Las Vegas would not be so easy as it is made to look".


title: Ocean's 11

text: "Variety" wrote that the film was "frequently one resonant wisecrack away from turning into a musical comedy. Laboring under the handicaps of a contrived script, an uncertain approach and personalities in essence playing themselves, the Lewis Milestone production never quite makes its point, but romps along merrily unconcerned that it doesn't". Leo Sullivan of "The Washington Post" called the film "nothing more than a whopping sick joke in Technicolor ... It's a completely amoral tale, told for laughs".


title: Ocean's 11

text: Philip K. Scheuer of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that the film "has a pretty good surprise twist at the finish and is, of its type, a pretty good comedy-melodrama". A mixed review in "The Monthly Film Bulletin" called it "an overlong, intermittently amusing picture full of surface effects and private jokes ... Despite Milestone's efforts, the first third tends to drag, due mainly to desultory characterisation, but when the raid begins both situations and dialogue improve considerably".


title: Ocean's 11

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, "Ocean's 11" holds a rating of 48%, based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 5.33/10. The critical consensus reads: "Easygoing but lazy, "Ocean's Eleven" blithely coasts on the well-established rapport of the Rat Pack royalty".


title: Ocean's 11

text: "Ocean's 11" was released on videocassette by Warner Home Video on February 9, 1983, as part of its "A Night At the Movies" series, featuring a Hearst Metrotone Newsreel, a Warner Bros. animated short, and a coming-attractions trailer for films of 1960. The film was released as a 50th-anniversary Blu-ray disc on November 9, 2010. The disc's bonus features include:


title: Fast inverse square root

text: Fast inverse square root, sometimes referred to as Fast InvSqrt() or by the hexadecimal constant 0x5F3759DF, is an algorithm that estimates formula_1, the reciprocal (or multiplicative inverse) of the square root of a 32-bit floating-point number formula_2 in . This operation is used in digital signal processing to normalize a vector, such as scaling it to length 1. For example, computer graphics programs use inverse square roots to compute angles of incidence and reflection for lighting and shading. Predated by similar video game algorithms, this one is best known for its implementation in 1999 in "Quake III Arena", a first-person shooter video game heavily based on 3D graphics. The algorithm only started appearing on public forums between 2002 and 2003. Computation of square roots usually depends upon many division operations, which for floating point numbers are computationally expensive. The fast inverse square generates a good approximation with only one division step.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: The algorithm accepts a 32-bit floating-point number as the input and stores a halved value for later use. Then, treating the bits representing the floating-point number as a 32-bit integer, a logical shift right by one bit is performed and the result subtracted from the number 0x5F3759DF (in decimal notation: 1,597,463,007), which is a floating-point representation of an approximation of formula_3. This results in the first approximation of the inverse square root of the input. Treating the bits again as a floating-point number, it runs one iteration of Newton's method, yielding a more precise approximation.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: The algorithm was often misattributed to John Carmack, but in fact the code is based on an unpublished paper by William Kahan and K.C. Ng circulated in May 1986. The original constant was produced from a collaboration between Cleve Moler and Gregory Walsh, while they worked for Ardent Computing in the late 1980s.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: With subsequent hardware advancements, especially the x86 SSE instruction codice_1, this method is not generally applicable to general purpose computing, though it remains an interesting example both historically and for more limited machines, such as low-cost embedded systems. However, more manufacturers of embedded systems are including trigonometric and other math accelerators such as CORDIC, avoiding the need for such algorithms.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: The inverse square root of a floating point number is used in calculating a normalized vector. Programs can use normalized vectors to determine angles of incidence and reflection. 3D graphics programs must perform millions of these calculations every second to simulate lighting. When the code was developed in the early 1990s, most floating point processing power lagged the speed of integer processing. This was troublesome for 3D graphics programs before the advent of specialized hardware to handle transform and lighting.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: The length of the vector is determined by calculating its Euclidean norm: the square root of the sum of squares of the vector components. When each component of the vector is divided by that length, the new vector will be a unit vector pointing in the same direction. In a 3D graphics program, all vectors are in three-dimensional space, so formula_4 would be a vector formula_5.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: which relates the unit vector to the inverse square root of the distance components. The inverse square root can be used to compute formula_11 because this equation is equivalent to


title: Fast inverse square root

text: At the time, floating-point division was generally expensive compared to multiplication; the fast inverse square root algorithm bypassed the division step, giving it its performance advantage.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: The following code is the fast inverse square root implementation from "Quake III Arena", stripped of C preprocessor directives, but including the exact original comment text:


title: Fast inverse square root

text: At the time, the general method to compute the inverse square root was to calculate an approximation for formula_1, then revise that approximation via another method until it came within an acceptable error range of the actual result. Common software methods in the early 1990s drew approximations from a lookup table. The key of the fast inverse square root was to directly compute an approximation by utilizing the structure of floating-point numbers, proving faster than table lookups. The algorithm was approximately four times faster than computing the square root with another method and calculating the reciprocal via floating-point division. The algorithm was designed with the IEEE 754-1985 32-bit floating-point specification in mind, but investigation from Chris Lomont showed that it could be implemented in other floating-point specifications.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: The advantages in speed offered by the fast inverse square root trick came from treating the 32-bit floating-point word as an integer, then subtracting it from a "magic" constant, . This integer subtraction and bit shift results in a bit pattern which, when re-defined as a floating-point number, is a rough approximation for the inverse square root of the number. One iteration of Newton's method is performed to gain some accuracy, and the code is finished. The algorithm generates reasonably accurate results using a unique first approximation for Newton's method; however, it is much slower and less accurate than using the SSE instruction codice_1 on x86 processors also released in 1999.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: As an example, the number formula_15 can be used to calculate formula_16. The first steps of the algorithm are illustrated below:


title: Fast inverse square root

text: Reinterpreting this last bit pattern as a floating point number gives the approximation formula_17, which has an error of about 3.4%. After one single iteration of Newton's method, the final result is formula_18, an error of only 0.17%.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: According to the C standard, reinterpreting a floating point value as an integer by removing the pointer to it is considered unexpected behavior (undefined behavior). Another way would be to place the floating point value in an anonymous union containing an additional 32-bit unsigned integer member, and accesses to that integer provides a bit level view of the contents of the floating point value. However, type punning through a union is also undefined behavior in C++.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: In C++ the usual method for implementing this function's casts is through C++20's codice_3. This also allows the function to work in codice_4 context:


title: Fast inverse square root

text: Since this algorithm relies heavily on the bit-level representation of single-precision floating-point numbers, a short overview of this representation is provided here. To encode a non-zero real number formula_2 as a single precision float, the first step is to write formula_2 as a normalized binary number:


title: Fast inverse square root

text: where the exponent formula_26 is an integer, formula_27, and formula_28 is the binary representation of the "significand" formula_29. Since the single bit before the point in the significand is always 1, it need not be stored. From this form, three unsigned integers are computed:


title: Fast inverse square root

text: If formula_1 were to be calculated without a computer or a calculator, a table of logarithms would be useful, together with the identity formula_45, which is valid for every base formula_46. The fast inverse square root is based on this identity, and on the fact that aliasing a float32 to an integer gives a rough approximation of its logarithm. Here is how:


title: Fast inverse square root

text: where formula_52 is a free parameter used to tune the approximation. For example, formula_53 yields exact results at both ends of the interval, while formula_54 yields the optimal approximation (the best in the sense of the uniform norm of the error). However, this value is not used by the algorithm as it does not take subsequent steps into account.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: It then appears that formula_57 is a scaled and shifted piecewise-linear approximation of formula_60, as illustrated in the figure on the right. In other words, formula_60 is approximated by


title: Fast inverse square root

text: Using the approximation of the logarithm above, applied to both formula_2 and formula_66, the above equation gives:


title: Fast inverse square root

text: from which it can be inferred that formula_71. The second term, formula_72, is calculated by shifting the bits of formula_57 one position to the right.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: With formula_66 as the inverse square root, formula_75. The approximation yielded by the earlier steps can be refined by using a root-finding method, a method that finds the zero of a function. The algorithm uses Newton's method: if there is an approximation, formula_76 for formula_66, then a better approximation formula_78 can be calculated by taking formula_79, where formula_80 is the derivative of formula_81 at formula_76. For the above formula_81,


title: Fast inverse square root

text: By repeating this step, using the output of the function (formula_78) as the input of the next iteration, the algorithm causes formula_66 to converge to the inverse square root. For the purposes of the "Quake III" engine, only one iteration was used. A second iteration remained in the code but was commented out.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: As noted above, the approximation is very accurate. The single graph on the right plots the error of the function (that is, the error of the approximation after it has been improved by running one iteration of Newton's method), for inputs starting at 0.01, where the standard library gives 10.0 as a result, and InvSqrt() gives 9.982522, making the relative difference 0.0017478, or 0.175% of the true value, 10. The absolute error only drops from then on, and the relative error stays within the same bounds across all orders of magnitude.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: William Kahan and K.C. Ng at Berkeley wrote an unpublished paper in May 1986 describing how to calculate the square root using bit-fiddling techniques followed by Newton iterations. In the late 1980s, Cleve Moler at Ardent Computer learned about this technique and passed it along to his coworker Greg Walsh. Greg Walsh devised the now-famous constant and fast inverse square root algorithm. Gary Tarolli was consulting for Kubota, the company funding Ardent at the time, and likely brought the algorithm to 3dfx Interactive circa 1994.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: Jim Blinn demonstrated a simple approximation of the inverse square root in a 1997 column for "IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications". Reverse engineering of other contemporary 3D video games uncovered a variation of the algorithm in Activision's 1997 Interstate '76.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: Quake III Arena, a first-person shooter video game, was released in 1999 by id Software and used the algorithm. Brian Hook may have brought the algorithm from 3dfx to id Software. Copies of the fast inverse square root code appeared on Usenet and other forums as early as 2002 or 2003. Speculation arose as to who wrote the algorithm and how the constant was derived; some guessed John Carmack. Quake III's full source code was released at QuakeCon 2005, but provided no answers. The authorship question was answered in 2006.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: In 2007 the algorithm was implemented in some dedicated hardware vertex shaders using field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA).


title: Fast inverse square root

text: It is not known precisely how the exact value for the magic number was determined. Chris Lomont developed a function to minimize approximation error by choosing the magic number formula_91 over a range. He first computed the optimal constant for the linear approximation step as , close to , but this new constant gave slightly less accuracy after one iteration of Newton's method. Lomont then searched for a constant optimal even after one and two Newton iterations and found , which is more accurate than the original at every iteration stage. He concluded by asking whether the exact value of the original constant was chosen through derivation or trial and error. Lomont said that the magic number for 64-bit IEEE754 size type double is , but it was later shown by Matthew Robertson to be exactly .


title: Fast inverse square root

text: Jan Kadlec reduced the relative error by a further factor of 2.7 by adjusting the constants in the single Newton's method iteration as well, arriving after an exhaustive search at


title: Fast inverse square root

text: A complete mathematical analysis for determining the magic number is now available for single-precision floating-point numbers.


title: Fast inverse square root

text: Intermediate to the use of one vs. two iterations of Newton's method in terms of speed and accuracy is a single iteration of Halley's method. In this case, Halley's method is equivalent to applying Newton's method with the starting formula formula_92. The update step is then


title: P.O.D.

text: P.O.D., an initialism for Payable on Death, is an American Christian metal band formed in 1992 and based in San Diego, California. The band's line-up consists of drummer and rhythm guitarist Wuv Bernardo, vocalist Sonny Sandoval, bassist Traa Daniels, and lead guitarist Marcos Curiel. They have sold over 12 million records worldwide.


title: P.O.D.

text: Over the course of their career, the band has received three Grammy Award nominations, contributed to numerous motion picture soundtracks and toured internationally. With their third studio album, "The Fundamental Elements of Southtown", they achieved their initial mainstream success; the album was certified platinum by the RIAA in 2000. Their following studio album, "Satellite", continued the band's success with the singles, "Alive" and "Youth of the Nation", pushing it to go triple platinum.


title: P.O.D.

text: In 1991, friends Wuv Bernardo and Marcos Curiel engaged in jam sessions, with Bernardo playing the drums and Curiel covering guitar with no vocalist. Calling themselves "Eschatos", they started playing at keg parties doing Metallica and Slayer cover songs.


title: P.O.D.

text: After his mother's fatal illness, Sonny Sandoval converted to Christianity and was asked by Bernardo, his cousin, to join the band as a way to keep his mind straight as mentioned on their DVD, "Still Payin' Dues". They then recruited bassist Gabe Portillo and eventually changed their name to P.O.D.


title: P.O.D.

text: After recording a demo tape, Traa Daniels joined the band in 1994 when they needed a bassist for some shows to replace Portillo. P.O.D. signed with Rescue Records, a label created by Bernardo's father, Noah Bernardo Sr., who was also the band's first manager. Between 1994 and 1997, they released three albums under the label, "Snuff the Punk", "Brown" and "Payable on Death Live". Longtime manager Tim Cook was first introduced to the band when he booked them to play his club The Where-House in Bartlesville, Oklahoma following strong local word of mouth support. He later described their performance by saying: "I stood at the back of the venue with tears in my eyes – it was the greatest thing I had ever seen." By that point, Bernardo Sr. was looking for someone else to take P.O.D.'s career further and so Cook took over as manager.


title: P.O.D.

text: Shortly after the release of "Payable on Death Live", Essential Records offered P.O.D. a $100,000 recording contract, but on behalf of the band Sandoval told band manager Tim Cook to decline the offer because, "God has a bigger plan for P.O.D." When, in 1998, Atlantic Records A&R John Rubeli first came across P.O.D.'s demo he "didn't quite get it", as he later told HitQuarters. It was only when he saw them play live at The Roxy on the Sunset Strip and witnessed not just an enthusiastic audience singing every word but the center of a vibrant youth movement that he became convinced by the band. The band was quickly signed to a major-label deal. P.O.D. soon released "The Warriors EP", a tribute EP to their loyal fans as a transitional album from Rescue Records to Atlantic Records.


title: P.O.D.

text: P.O.D.'s third studio album, 1999's "The Fundamental Elements of Southtown", spawned the hits "Southtown" and "Rock the Party (Off the Hook)", which was their first video to reach No. 1 on MTV's "Total Request Live". The song "School of Hard Knocks" was featured on the soundtrack for "Little Nicky" while both "Southtown" and "Rock the Party" appeared in the movie. All three music videos endured heavy play on MTV2 and the songs were rock radio hits. The album went on to become RIAA certified platinum.


title: P.O.D.

text: On September 11, 2001 P.O.D. released their fourth studio album, "Satellite". The album's first single, "Alive", went on to become one of MTV's and MTV2's top played videos of the year. The video's popularity, as well as the song's positive message, helped the song become a huge modern rock radio hit and it was Grammy nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2002. Also in 2002, the band contributed the song "America" to Santana's album "Shaman".


title: P.O.D.

text: The album's second single, "Youth of the Nation", was influenced in part by the school shootings at Santana High School, Columbine High School, and Granite Hills High School. It was Grammy nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2003. The 2002 singles, "Boom" and "Satellite", also became quite popular. In addition, the concluding track of the album, "Portrait," was Grammy nominated for Best Metal Performance in 2003. It was used in the comedy film "Here Comes the Boom", starring Kevin James.


title: P.O.D.

text: "Satellite" went on to become RIAA-certified triple platinum. The author of "Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music" has described P.O.D. as "One of the biggest success stories in recent Christian music."


title: P.O.D.

text: On February 19, 2003, guitarist Curiel left the band due to his side project, "The Accident Experiment", and "spiritual differences." However, Curiel claimed that he was actually kicked out of the band. Curiel was replaced by Jason Truby, former member of Christian metal band Living Sacrifice, and assisted with the recording of "Sleeping Awake", from "The Matrix Reloaded" . In an interview with Yahoo! Music, Sandoval stated that Truby is the reason why the group is still together. On November 4, 2003, P.O.D. released their fifth studio album, "Payable on Death", which saw the group shift from their well-known rapcore sound to a darker, more melodic metal sound. The album was hit with controversy due to its "occult" cover, which led as many as 85% of Christian bookstores across the United States to ban the album. With the help of the album's hit single "Will You" and "Change the World", it went on to sell over 520,000 copies and was certified Gold. Sometime after the tsunami in Asia, many singers, musicians, and actors/actresses, including Sandoval and Bernardo, participated in the recording of, "Forever in Our Hearts", with all proceeds going to benefit the tsunami relief.


title: P.O.D.

text: P.O.D.'s sixth studio album "Testify" was slated for a December 2005 release, but was pushed back to January 24, 2006. On November 15, 2005, P.O.D. released "The Warriors EP, Volume 2", which featured demos from the upcoming album, to help build up the fans' anticipation for the pending January release. The album's first single, "Goodbye for Now" (with a vocal tag by a then-unknown Katy Perry) went on to become a No. 1 video on MTV's TRL, along with having a solid radio presence, it also became the band's unprecedented 4th number one video on Total Request Live. The second single off the album, "Lights Out" was a minor hit, but was featured as the official theme song to WWE's Survivor Series 2005. In another contribution to WWE, they performed fellow San Diego native Rey Mysterio's theme song "Booyaka 619" at "WrestleMania 22". To promote their latest album, P.O.D. went on a nationwide tour called the "Warriors Tour 2: Guilty by Association", which began in April, and included the bands Pillar, The Chariot and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster.


title: P.O.D.

text: On September 16, 2006, P.O.D. announced that they had teamed up with Rhino Records to release a greatest hits record simply titled, "", which was released on November 21, 2006. They shot a music video for their single "Going In Blind", one of the two new songs they included in the tenth album, and they had meetings with various record labels to begin working on new material for an album they hoped to release in mid-2007.


title: P.O.D.

text: In a statement made by the band's manager on their MySpace page, it was officially announced, on December 30, 2006, that Jason Truby had left the band. They had said "God worked it out because Truby decided to leave the band the same day Curiel asked to rejoin." Curiel performed with the band for the first time since his departure on the 2006 New Year's Eve episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!.


title: P.O.D.

text: On June 1, 2007, at the Rockbox in San Diego, the band performed and revealed a new song entitled "Condescending", along with another new song performed on June 16, 2007, at the Journeys Backyard BBQ tour entitled "Addicted". They also revealed the title of their new album to be "When Angels & Serpents Dance". On August 4, 2007, the band played at Angel Stadium of Anaheim's annual Harvest Crusade for a crowd of 42,000, where they revealed a new song, "I'll Be Ready", originally thought to be titled "When Babylon Come for I".


title: P.O.D.

text: The album cover was officially revealed on December 10, 2007. The title track was released for free download on their site in January 2008. The first single "Addicted" was released on February 19 and peaked at No. 30 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The album was released on April 8, 2008, entitled "When Angels & Serpents Dance". On July 28, 2008, the group played a free public performance at the Orange County Choppers headquarters in Newburgh, NY, with OCC The Band opening. The band also played on August 16, 2008, at the Angel Stadium of Anaheim's annual Harvest Crusade. During September 2008 P.O.D played alongside Redline, Behind Crimson Eyes, Alter Bridge, and Disturbed as part of the Music As a Weapon tour 2008 in Australia.


title: P.O.D.

text: The band headlined the first annual Spring Jam Fest in May 2011. They appeared on the Rock of Allegiance tour later that summer. On July 25, 2011, the band released a demo of the song "On Fire" as a free download on their official website.


title: P.O.D.

text: In October 2011, P.O.D. announced a multi-album artist deal with Razor & Tie. On April 5, 2012, the song "Eyez" became a free download on the band's website for a limited time. Shortly after, an article on their website stated that "Lost in Forever" would be the first single from the new album, entitled "Murdered Love".