title: Sébastien Loeb

text: On 29 February 2016 it was officially revealed that Loeb is going to join the factory backed Swedish Team Peugeot-Hansen to participate in all 12 rounds of the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship, together with his Swedish teammate Timmy Hansen. On 2 October, Loeb took his maiden victory in the Latvian round of the world championship. With four podiums and six top fives, he finished fifth in the Supercar class drivers standings. In the next season, he scored six podiums but no wins and finished fourth overall. In his final season, he scored his last win at the World RX of Belgium. He scored seven podiums in total and again finished fourth overall, with 15 more points than the previous season.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: In 2020 Loeb Signed with Lewis Hamilton's Team X44 for competing in the Extreme E Championship alongside Spanish driver Cristina Gutiérrez. They finished the season in 2nd behind Rosberg X Racing's Johan Kristoffersson and Molly Taylor. The teams were level on points but RXR were ahead on virtue of their 3 wins to X44's one win.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: A few days after the 2022 Monte Carlo Rally it was announced that Team X44 retained their lineup of Loeb and Gutiérrez for the 2022 Extreme E Championship.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: At the Energy X-Prix, Gutiérrez crashed and had to change the chassis, resulting in a penalty. Nonetheless, X44 won the crazy race, enabling them to race the final. Their rivals Rosberg X Racing did not make it to the final. X44 scored five crucial points in the Continental Traction Challenge, and ran fourth during the race, but were promoted to third due to the car ahead getting a Switch Zone speeding penalty. They therefore won the title by two points over RXR.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: Loeb announced he would make a one-off appearance for AlphaTauri AF Corse alongside Felipe Fraga in the DTM Series at their 2022 season opener at the Algarve International Circuit.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: Loeb was replacing Nick Cassidy who had to race in Formula E. Loeb finished 16th in Race 1 and 18th in Race 2.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: In April 2013, Loeb tested a Peugeot 208 T16 at Mont Ventoux. Loosely based on the shape and design of the production 208, the T16 is a lightweight vehicle that uses the rear wing from the Peugeot 908, and has a 3.2-litre, twin-turbo V6 engine, developing with the aim of competing at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Loeb won the event with a time of 8:13.878, smashing the previous record by a minute and a half.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: Loeb's record was broken by nearly 15 seconds by Romain Dumas, driving the Volkswagen I.D. R in 2018.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: Loeb earned the title "Champion of Champions" by beating Marcus Grönholm in the final of the Race of Champions.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: Loeb alongside Jean Alesi Won the Nations Cup for France at the 2004 Race of Champions. Heikki Kovalainen defeated Loeb in the Individuals' Final. Loeb was also defeated in a special "World Champions Challenge" by Michael Schumacher.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: After being surprised by the young event rookie Heikki Kovalainen last year, he beat Tom Kristensen in the final to claim his second title.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: Loeb won the individual 2008 Race of Champions, becoming the second driver after compatriot Auriol to win the event more than twice.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: Loeb drove for Team France alongside four-time Formula One World Champion Alain Prost. In the individual event, he made it to the final for the seventh time but lost to surprise winner Filipe Albuquerque.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: At the 2022 Race of Champions Loeb defeated 4 time Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel 3–1 in the Final to win the event. He equals fellow French World Rally Champion Didier Auriol's record to win 4 Races of Champions.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: In July 2012, Loeb debuted in the X Games in Los Angeles (X Games XVIII), facing his old rival Marcus Grönholm. Grönholm was hospitalised due to an accident in practice, and Loeb won the rallycross category gold medal well ahead of Ken Block, who was hampered for half the way to the finish line by a puncture.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: Loeb provided technical input to the off-road sections of the video game "Gran Turismo 5", and in 2016, Milestone released the game "Sébastien Loeb Rally Evo". In 2016, Loeb also played as a celebrity contestant in the French game show "Fort Boyard".


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: Loeb was born in Haguenau, Alsace, France, the only child of Guy and Ingrid Loeb (who died in 2005 and 2012, respectively) and grew up in Oberhoffen-sur-Moder.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: Loeb was married to Séverine Meny, who ran the Loeb Events hospitality area during most rallies and also often replaced Daniel Elena as co-driver for non-championship races. The couple have a daughter named Valentine. In 2019 Loeb and Meny reportedly separated.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: Currently, Loeb's partner is Laurène Godey, who at times co-drives for him. They won the 2019 Rallye du Var. Godey is seen accompanying Loeb at many events.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: Loeb was made knight of the Légion d'honneur on 2009, by French president Nicolas Sarkozy. He is a member of the "Champions for Peace" club, a group of 54 elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organisation.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: Loeb provisionally won the Monte Carlo event in 2002 but was later docked two minutes for an illegal tyre change and demoted to second place. He also provisionally won the 2009 Rally Australia, but was penalised one minute to second place as his car was fitted with a non-regulation part.


title: Sébastien Loeb

text: Loeb's win at the 2010 Rallye Deutschland was his eighth victory in a row there, marking a record for consecutive wins in a WRC event. He was the only driver to win the rally from its 2002 introduction to the WRC calendar, until 2011, when he was second and Sébastien Ogier won. Loeb was the first non-Nordic rally driver to win Rally Sweden (in 2004).


title: Pamban Bridge

text: Pamban Bridge is a railway bridge that connects the town of Mandapam in mainland India with Rameswaram on Pamban Island. Opened on 24 February 1914, it was India's first sea bridge, and was the longest sea bridge in India until the opening of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in 2010. The rail bridge is, for the most part, a conventional bridge resting on concrete piers but has a double-leaf bascule section midway, which can be raised to let ships and barges pass through. Until 1988, the Pamban bridge was the only surface transport that connected Tamil Nadu's island of Rameswaram to the mainland. In December 2018, the bascule of this bridge was damaged, which suspended transportation on the bridge for 3 months. Rail movement was again restored on 27 February 2019.


title: Pamban Bridge

text: In 1988, a road bridge was also constructed parallel to the rail bridge. This road bridge is also known as Annai Indira Gandhi Road Bridge. The Annai Indira Gandhi Road Bridge connects the National Highway (NH 49) with the Rameswaram island. It stands on the Palk Strait and between the shores of Mandapam (a place on the Indian mainland) and Pamban (one of the fishing towns on Rameswaram island). It was inaugurated by then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 2 October 1988. This 2.345 km long bridge took close to 14 years to be completed.


title: Pamban Bridge

text: The Pamban railway bridge spans a 2.06 km wide strait between the Indian mainland and Rameswaram Island. The mainland end of the bridge is located at . The bridge is located in a corrosive marine environment, making its maintenance a challenging job. The location is also a cyclone-prone high wind velocity zone.


title: Pamban Bridge

text: The railway bridge is located above sea level and is long. The bridge consists of 143 piers and has a double-leaf bascule section with a Scherzer rolling type lift span that can be raised to let ships pass. Each half of the lifting span weighs . The two leaves of the bridge are opened manually using levers.


title: Pamban Bridge

text: Plans for a bridge to connect to mainland was suggested in 1870 as the British Administration sought ways to increase trade with Ceylon. The construction began in August 1911 and was opened on 24 February 1914. The adjacent road bridge was opened in 1988. As of 5 December 2018, the bridge was closed due to a crack in the bridge and the maintenance work is going on. The Indian Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced that a new railway bridge will be constructed near the old Pamban Bridge at a cost of 250 crores. This new dual track bridge is planned to be constructed in automotive mode, allowing two ships to pass this bridge at the same time.


title: Pamban Bridge

text: The bridge was damaged during the 1964 Rameswaram cyclone and required repair work. Strengthening work was carried out on the bridge under the supervision of E. Sreedharan in 2009 to enable it to carry goods trains. On 13 January 2013, the bridge required repair work to the piers after suffering minor damage from a naval barge. In 2016, the Ministry of Railways sanctioned to replace the existing long rolling type span with a long single truss span which could be opened automatically. All train movement was stopped from 5 December 2018 when a fissure was noticed on 4 December 2018.


title: Pamban Bridge

text: The railway bridge carried metre gauge trains connecting Mandapam on mainland India to Pamban. Indian Railways upgraded the bridge to carry broad gauge trains and the work was completed on 12 August 2007. From Pamban, the railway line bifurcated, one line towards Rameshwaram about up and another branch line of terminating at Dhanushkodi. The Boat mail express runs from Chennai Egmore to Rameswaram. The train ran up to Dhanushkodi until 1964 when the metre-gauge branch line from Pamban to Dhanushkodi was destroyed during the 1964 Dhanushkodi cyclone.


title: Pamban Bridge

text: The construction works of Annai Indira Gandhi Road Bridge was commenced on 17 November 1974 by the Indian Highway department and contracted to M/S Neelakandan Brothers Engs, Madras.


title: Pamban Bridge

text: After the 1978 cyclone the work was carried out slowly, and few years later the contract was given to the New Gammon India Ltd. The Government sanctioned 16.6514 crore by 1986. The work was completed in 1988.


title: Pamban Bridge

text: On 23 December 1964, an estimated storm surge struck the island, overturning the Pamban-Dhanuskodi passenger train killing more than 200 passengers on board. On 13 January 2013, the bridge suffered minor damage when a naval barge drifted into it.


title: Prototype

text: A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to evaluate a new design to enhance precision by system analysts and users. Prototyping serves to provide specifications for a real, working system rather than a theoretical one. In some design workflow models, creating a prototype (a process sometimes called materialization) is the step between the formalization and the evaluation of an idea.


title: Prototype

text: A prototype can also mean a typical example of something such as in the use of the derivation 'prototypical'. This is a useful term in identifying objects, behaviours and concepts which are considered the accepted norm and is analogous with terms such as stereotypes and archetypes.


title: Prototype

text: The word "prototype" derives from the Greek , "primitive form", neutral of , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος "protos", "first" and τύπος "typos", "impression" (originally in the sense of a mark left by a blow, then by a stamp struck by a die (note "typewriter"); by implication a scar or mark; by analogy a shape i.e. a statue, (figuratively) style, or resemblance; a model for imitation or illustrative example - note "typical").


title: Prototype

text: In general, the creation of prototypes will differ from creation of the final product in some fundamental ways:


title: Prototype

text: Engineers and prototype specialists attempt to minimize the impact of these differences on the intended role for the prototype. For example, if a visual prototype is not able to use the same materials as the final product, they will attempt to substitute materials with properties that closely simulate the intended final materials.


title: Prototype

text: Engineers and prototyping specialists seek to understand the limitations of prototypes to exactly simulate the characteristics of their intended design.


title: Prototype

text: It is important to recognize that by their very nature, prototypes represent some compromise from the final production design. This is due to not just the skill and choices of the designer(s), but the inevitable inherent limitations of a prototype due to the "map-territory relation". Just as a map is a reduced abstraction representing far more detailed "actual" territory, or "the menu represents the meal" but cannot capture all the detail of the actual delivered food: a prototype is a necessarily inexact and "limited" approximation of a "real" final product.


title: Prototype

text: Further, prototypers make both deliberate and unintended choices and tradeoffs for reasons ranging from cost/time savings to what they consider "important" vs. "trivial" aspects to focus design attention and execution on. Due to differences in materials, processes and design fidelity, it is possible that a prototype may fail to perform acceptably although the production design may have been sound. Conversely, and somewhat counter-intuitively: prototypes may actually perform acceptably but the production design and outcome may prove unsuccessful, as prototyping materials and processes may actually outperform their production counterparts.


title: Prototype

text: In general, it can be expected that individual prototype costs will be substantially greater than the final production costs due to inefficiencies in materials and processes. Prototypes are also used to revise the design for the purposes of reducing costs through optimization and refinement.


title: Prototype

text: It is possible to use prototype testing to reduce the risk that a design may not perform as intended, however prototypes generally cannot eliminate all risk. There are pragmatic and practical limitations to the ability of a prototype to match the intended final performance of the product and some allowances and engineering judgement are often required before moving forward with a production design.


title: Prototype

text: Building the full design is often expensive and can be time-consuming, especially when repeated several times—building the full design, figuring out what the problems are and how to solve them, then building another full design. As an alternative, rapid prototyping or rapid application development techniques are used for the initial prototypes, which implement part, but not all, of the complete design. This allows designers and manufacturers to rapidly and inexpensively test the parts of the design that are most likely to have problems, solve those problems, and then build the full design.


title: Prototype

text: This counter-intuitive idea—that the quickest way to build something is, first to build something else—is shared by scaffolding and Thomson's telescope rule.


title: Prototype

text: In technology research, a technology demonstrator is a prototype serving as proof-of-concept and demonstration model for a new technology or future product, proving its viability and illustrating conceivable applications.


title: Prototype

text: In large development projects, a testbed is a platform and prototype development environment for rigorous experimentation and testing of new technologies, components, scientific theories and computational tools.


title: Prototype

text: With recent advances in computer modeling it is becoming practical to eliminate the creation of a physical prototype (except possibly at greatly reduced scales for promotional purposes), instead modeling all aspects of the final product as a computer model. An example of such a development can be seen in Boeing 787 Dreamliner, in which the first full sized physical realization is made on the series production line. Computer modeling is now being extensively used in automotive design, both for form (in the styling and aerodynamics of the vehicle) and in function—especially for improving vehicle crashworthiness and in weight reduction to improve mileage.


title: Prototype

text: The most common use of the word prototype is a functional, although experimental, version of a non-military machine (e.g., automobiles, domestic appliances, consumer electronics) whose designers would like to have built by mass production means, as opposed to a mockup, which is an inert representation of a machine's appearance, often made of some non-durable substance.


title: Prototype

text: An electronics designer often builds the first prototype from breadboard or stripboard or perfboard, typically using "DIP" packages.


title: Prototype

text: However, more and more often the first functional prototype is built on a "prototype PCB" almost identical to the production PCB, as PCB manufacturing prices fall and as many components are not available in DIP packages, but only available in SMT packages optimized for placing on a PCB.


title: Prototype

text: In electronics, prototyping means building an actual circuit to a theoretical design to verify that it works, and to provide a physical platform for debugging it if it does not. The prototype is often constructed using techniques such as wire wrapping or using veroboard or breadboard, with the result being a circuit that is electrically identical to the design but not physically identical to the final product.


title: Prototype

text: Open-source tools like Fritzing exist to document electronic prototypes (especially the breadboard-based ones) and move toward physical production. Prototyping platforms such as Arduino also simplify the task of programming and interacting with a microcontroller. The developer can choose to deploy their invention as-is using the prototyping platform, or replace it with only the microcontroller chip and the circuitry that is relevant to their product.


title: Prototype

text: A technician can quickly build a prototype (and make additions and modifications) using these techniques, but for volume production it is much faster and usually cheaper to mass-produce custom printed circuit boards than to produce these other kinds of prototype boards. The proliferation of quick-turn PCB fabrication and assembly companies has enabled the concepts of rapid prototyping to be applied to electronic circuit design. It is now possible, even with the smallest passive components and largest fine-pitch packages, to have boards fabricated, assembled, and even tested in a matter of days.


title: Prototype

text: Prototype software is often referred to as alpha grade, meaning it is the first version to run. Often only a few functions are implemented, the primary focus of the alpha is to have a functional base code on to which features may be added. Once alpha grade software has most of the required features integrated into it, it becomes beta software for testing of the entire software and to adjust the program to respond correctly during situations unforeseen during development.


title: Prototype

text: Often the end users may not be able to provide a complete set of application objectives, detailed input, processing, or output requirements in the initial stage. After the user evaluation, another prototype will be built based on feedback from users, and again the cycle returns to customer evaluation. The cycle starts by listening to the user, followed by building or revising a mock-up, and letting the user test the mock-up, then back. There is now a new generation of tools called Application Simulation Software which help quickly simulate application before their development.


title: Prototype

text: Extreme programming uses iterative design to gradually add one feature at a time to the initial prototype.


title: Prototype

text: In many programming languages, a "function prototype" is the declaration of a subroutine or function (and should not be confused with software prototyping). This term is rather C/C++-specific; other terms for this notion are "signature", "type" and "interface". In prototype-based programming (a form of object-oriented programming), new objects are produced by cloning existing objects, which are called prototypes.


title: Prototype

text: Continuous learning approaches within organizations or businesses may also use the concept of business or process prototypes through software models.


title: Prototype

text: The concept of prototypicality is used to describe how much a website deviates from the expected norm, and leads to a lowering of user preference for that site's design.


title: Prototype

text: A "data prototype" is a form of "functional "or "working" prototype. The justification for its creation is usually a data migration, data integration or application implementation project and the raw materials used as input are an instance of all the relevant data which exists at the start of the project.


title: Prototype

text: To achieve this, a data architect uses a graphical interface to interactively develop and execute transformation and cleansing rules using raw data. The resultant data is then evaluated and the rules refined. Beyond the obvious visual checking of the data "on-screen" by the data architect, the usual evaluation and validation approaches are to use Data profiling software and then to insert the resultant data into a test version of the target application and trial its use.


title: Prototype

text: When developing software or digital tools that humans interact with, a prototype is an artifact that is used to ask and answer a design question. Prototypes provide the means for examining design problems and evaluating solutions.


title: Prototype

text: In the field of scale modeling (which includes model railroading, vehicle modeling, airplane modeling, military modeling, etc.), a prototype is the real-world basis or source for a scale model—such as the real EMD GP38-2 locomotive—which is the prototype of Athearn's (among other manufacturers) locomotive model. Technically, any non-living object can serve as a prototype for a model, including structures, equipment, and appliances, and so on, but generally prototypes have come to mean full-size real-world vehicles including automobiles (the prototype 1957 Chevy has spawned many models), military equipment (such as M4 Shermans, a favorite among US Military modelers), railroad equipment, motor trucks, motorcycles, and space-ships (real-world such as Apollo/Saturn Vs, or the ISS).


title: Prototype

text: As of 2014, basic rapid prototype machines (such as 3D printers) cost about $2,000, but larger and more precise machines can cost as much as $500,000.


title: Prototype

text: In architecture, prototyping refers to either architectural model making (as form of scale modelling) or as part of aesthetic or material experimentation, such as the "Forty Wall House" open source material prototyping centre in Australia.


title: Prototype

text: Architects prototype to test ideas structurally, aesthetically and technically. Whether the prototype works or not is not the primary focus: architectural prototyping is the revelatory process through which the architect gains insight.


title: Prototype

text: In the science and practice of metrology, a prototype is a human-made object that is used as the standard of measurement of some physical quantity to base all measurement of that physical quantity against. Sometimes this standard object is called an artifact. In the International System of Units (SI), there remains no prototype standard since May 20, 2019. Before that date, the last prototype used was the international prototype of the kilogram, a solid platinum-iridium cylinder kept at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (International Bureau of Weights and Measures) in Sèvres France (a suburb of Paris) that by definition was the mass of exactly one kilogram. Copies of this prototype are fashioned and issued to many nations to represent the national standard of the kilogram and are periodically compared to the Paris prototype. Now the kilogram is redefined in such a way that the Planck constant is prescribed a value of exactly


title: Prototype

text: Until 1960, the meter was defined by a platinum-iridium prototype bar with two marks on it (that were, by definition, spaced apart by one meter), the international prototype of the metre, and in 1983 the meter was redefined to be the distance in free space covered by light in 1/299,792,458 of a second (thus "defining" the speed of light to be 299,792,458 meters per second).


title: Prototype

text: In many sciences, from pathology to taxonomy, "prototype" refers to a disease, species, etc. which sets a good example for the whole category. In biology, "prototype" is the ancestral or primitive form of a species or other group; an archetype. For example, the Senegal bichir is regarded as the prototypes of its genus, "Polypterus".


title: Blunderbuss

text: The blunderbuss is a firearm with a short, large caliber barrel which is flared at the muzzle and frequently throughout the entire bore, and used with shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity or caliber. The blunderbuss is commonly considered to be an early predecessor of the modern shotgun, with similar military and defensive use. It was effective only at short range, lacking accuracy at long distances. A blunderbuss in handgun form was called a "dragon", and it is from this that the term "dragoon" evolved.


title: Blunderbuss

text: The term "blunderbuss" is of Dutch origin, from the Dutch word "donderbuis", which is a combination of "donder", meaning "thunder", and "buis", meaning "pipe" (Middle Dutch: "busse", box, tube, from Late Latin, "buxis", box, from Ancient Greek "pyxίs" (πυξίς), box: esp. from boxwood).


title: Blunderbuss

text: The transition from "donder" to "blunder" is thought by some to be deliberate; the term "blunder" was originally used in a transitive sense, synonymous with "to confuse", and this is thought to describe the stunningly loud report of the large-bore, short-barreled blunderbuss. The term "dragon" is taken from the fact that early versions were decorated with a carving in the form of a mythic dragon's head around the muzzle; the muzzle blast would then give the impression of a fire-breathing dragon.


title: Blunderbuss

text: The flared muzzle is the defining feature of the blunderbuss, differentiating it from large caliber carbines; the distinction between the blunderbuss and the musketoon is less distinct, as musketoons were also used to fire shot, and some had flared barrels. The muzzle (and often the bore) was flared with the intent not only to increase the spread of the shot, but also to funnel powder and shot into the weapon, making it easier to reload on horseback or on a moving carriage; modern experiments corroborated the dramatic improvement in shot spread, going from a diameter from a straight barrel to an average of spread at .


title: Blunderbuss

text: Blunderbusses were typically short, with barrels under in length, at a time when a typical musket barrel was over long. One source, describing arms from the early to middle 17th century, lists the barrel length of a wheel lock dragon at around , compared to a length for a blunderbuss.


title: Blunderbuss

text: The blunderbuss could be considered an early shotgun, and served in similar roles. While various old accounts often list the blunderbuss as being loaded with various scrap iron, rocks, or wood, resulting in damage to the bore of the gun, it was typically loaded with a number of lead balls smaller than the bore diameter. Barrels were made of steel or brass.


title: Blunderbuss

text: The blunderbuss, and especially the dragon, was typically issued to troops such as cavalry, who needed a lightweight, easily handled firearm. The dragon became so associated with cavalry and mounted infantry that the term "dragoon" became synonymous with mounted infantry. In addition to the cavalry, the blunderbuss found a use for other duties in which the shotgun-like qualities were desirable, such as for guarding prisoners or defending a mail coach, and its use for urban combat was also recognized. Blunderbusses were also commonly carried by officers on naval warships, privateers and by pirates for use in close-quarters boarding actions. The Portuguese Marines used it widely in the 17th century. Many types of ammunition, including gravel and sand, could be shot in a pinch, but most of the time they were shot using traditional lead balls.


title: Blunderbuss

text: The blunderbuss used by the British Royal Mail during the period of 1788–1816 was a flintlock with a long flared brass barrel, brass trigger guard, and an iron trigger and lock. A typical British mail coach would have a single postal employee on board, armed with a blunderbuss and a pair of pistols, to guard the mail from highwaymen. One 18th century "coaching blunderbuss" in another British collection had a brass barrel long, flaring to at the muzzle; it was also provided with a spring-loaded bayonet, which was held along the barrel by a catch and would spring forward into place when released. Spring-loaded bayonet blunderbusses were also used by the Nottingham City Police after its formation around 1840.


title: Blunderbuss

text: While the blunderbuss is often associated with the Plymouth Colony Pilgrims of 1620, evidence suggests that the blunderbuss was relatively scarce in the American colonies. After the Battle of Lexington in 1775, British General Thomas Gage occupied Boston, Massachusetts, and upon negotiating with the town committee, Gage agreed to let the inhabitants of Boston leave town with their families and effects if they surrendered all arms. While most of the residents of Boston stayed, those who left under the agreement surrendered 1,778 long arms, 634 pistols, 273 bayonets, and only 38 blunderbusses. The blunderbuss did still have its civilian applications, however; the Lewis and Clark Expedition carried a number of blunderbusses, some of which were mounted and used as small swivel guns on the pirogues.


title: Blunderbuss

text: Crude tripwire activated blunderbusses, known as alarm guns, spring guns and cemetery guns, were set up in graveyards and country estates to scare away poachers and resurrection men, and alert the gamekeeper or sexton to their presence.


title: Blunderbuss

text: By the middle of the 19th century, the blunderbuss was replaced for military use by the carbine, but still found use by civilians as a defensive firearm.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 17 January 2010. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a run-off election was held between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych on 7 February.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 14 February Yanukovych was declared President-elect and winner with 48.95% of the popular vote. According to , the President had to be sworn into office within 30 days of the official declaration of the results. Parliament subsequently scheduled Yanukovych's inauguration for 25 February.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 17 February, the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine suspended the results following an appeal by Tymoshenko. The court suspended the Central Election Commission's ruling that announced that Yanukovych won the election, but did not postpone or cancel his inauguration. On 20 February, Tymoshenko withdrew her appeal.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Early-vote returns from the first round of the election held on 17 January showed Yanukovych in first place with 35.8% of the vote. He faced a 7 February 2010 runoff against Tymoshenko, who finished second (with 24.7% of the vote).


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Analysts predicted a slight advantage for Tymoshenko in the second (and final) round as she was more likely to attract voters from the other 16 candidates who did not proceed to the second round. Yanukovych refused to hold debates with his opponent before the second round of voting, saying Tymoshenko should either take responsibility for every word as prime minister, or go to the kitchen. After all ballots were counted, the Ukrainian Central Election Commission declared that Yanukovych won the election with 48.95% of the vote compared with 45.47% for Tymoshenko. Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc members immediately claimed that there was systematic and large-scale vote rigging in this run-off.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 10 February 2010, Yanukovych called on Tymoshenko to abandon her protests and resign as Prime Minister. On 9 February 2010, Yanukovych had stated that Borys Kolesnykov was his preferred next Prime Minister of Ukraine. According to him pre-term parliamentary elections will be imminent if the Ukrainian parliament would not work effectively. Yanukovych also stated that, as the largest faction in the parliament at the time, his party was entitled to nominate the premier. On 15 February, Yanukovych stated "I do not rule out the candidature of Tigipko (as next Prime Minister). Tigipko is on the list which, in my opinion, will be discussed next week in parliament".


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 16 February 2010, Ukraine's parliament had fixed 25 February 2010 for the inauguration of Yanukovych as president. On 17 February 2010, "the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine", suspended the results of the election on Yulia Tymoshenko's appeal.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 20 February 2010, Tymoshenko withdrew her appeal after "the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine" rejected her petition to scrutinize documents:


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: — about falsification in the election in the eastern regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv region, Crimea, etc.) — fixed by law-enforcement officials.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Tymoshenko stated, "I and my political party will never recognize Yanukovych as the legitimately elected president of Ukraine", and "an honest court will assess that Yanukovych was not elected President of Ukraine, and that the will of the people had been rigged".


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Public opinion polls predicted the Party of Regions and Viktor Yanukovych's win in the presidential election in February 2010. According to an article in "Kyiv Post" in November 2009, Yanukovych's popularity in the Donbas was fading and Donbas voters voted mainly for Yanukovych to keep Tymoshenko from power.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: In Ukraine, the previous two presidential first-round ballots have traditionally occurred in October.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: According to the , regular elections of the President of Ukraine are held on the last Sunday of the last month of the fifth year of the term of authority of the President of Ukraine. In the event of pre-term termination of authority of the President of Ukraine, elections of the President of Ukraine are held within ninety days from the day of termination of the authority.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Early presidential elections can be held in case of presidential resignation, ill-health, impeachment or death.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The President of Ukraine is elected by the citizens of Ukraine for a five-year term, on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage, by secret ballot.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: A candidate seeking election must be a citizen of Ukraine who has attained the age of thirty-five, has the right to vote, has resided in Ukraine for the past ten years prior to the day of elections, and has command of the state language as required by .


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 1 April 2009, the Verkhovna Rada designated 25 October 2009, as the date for the first round of voting. Within a week, President Yushchenko filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court against Verkhovna Rada's 25 October date. The President's appeal argued that his inauguration on 23 January 2005, was the commencement of his five-year term of office and as such the next presidential election must be set for the last Sunday before 23 January 2010, in accordance with Article 103.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 13 May 2009, the court ruled in Yushchenko's favor, striking out the 25 October date for the elections. On 14 May 2009, the Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych stated that the presidential elections should now be held on 17 January 2010.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 23 June 2009, the Parliament rescheduled the date for the election for Sunday, 17 January 2010, with 399 lawmakers out of 442 lawmakers registered in the session hall voted "for" the resolution "On appointing of regular election of President of Ukraine".


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko said on 21 September 2009 that he believes that the lists of voters at this presidential election will be more qualitative and more "clear" than it was at previous elections because "double names" were removed from the list. The same day the Party of Regions complained about a lot of mistakes in that list and that the number of voters fell in the Southern Ukraine and Eastern Ukraine and increased by 0.5–1% in Western Ukraine. It is the first time the state register of voters will be used in a Ukrainian election.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Ukraine's president is elected by a two-round first-past-the-post voting system. The first round of voting was held on 17 January 2010. As no candidate in the first-round ballot had 50% or more votes the two highest polling candidates faced off in a second-round ballot which was held on 7 February 2010. Victor Yanukovych received the highest vote (48.96%) and was expected to be declared the winner. Under Ukrainian law presidents elect must take the oath within 30 days of the declaration of the poll, which must be made before 17 February 2010.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 24 July 2009, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) amended the law on presidential elections reducing the official presidential campaign from 120 to 90 days.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Maryna Stavniychuk, deputy head of the presidential secretariat and the President's spokesperson on legal matters, stated ""It is obvious that there are no serious political or legal grounds to consider the issue of the possible disruption of the presidential elections in Ukraine.""


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The amended law on the presidential elections required candidates to pay a ₴2,500,000 (~308,000 USD) nomination deposit which will only be refunded to the two highest polling candidates that progressed to the second round of voting.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 19 October 2009, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine formed the 225 territorial election districts needed for carrying out the election.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: 20 October 2009, Ukraine's Constitutional Court announced its ruling declaring unconstitutional five aspects of the new law of the presidential election. Voters abroad will no longer have to be registered with the Ukrainian consulate in order to cast a vote. The courts will retain the right to consider without limitations any application or appeal in respect to a candidate's registration or the conduct of the election. The cancellation of absentee ballots remains as does the 90-day election period and the ₴2.5 million deposit. The ruling of the Constitutional Court is not expected to impact seriously on the election as the amended legislation remains in place.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The Central Election Commission has estimated the budget of the holding of regular presidential elections in Ukraine at ₴1.5 billion, (approximately 200 million US dollars) with additional costs required by candidates to fund their campaigns.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Each candidate is required to pay an election deposit of ₴2.5 million (Approximately US$300,000) The deposit will be refunded to the two highest polling candidates who progress to the second round of elections.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 26 November, the Central Election Commission stated a total of ₴1.314 billion is required to hold the presidential election, including 192.2 million in 2009 and 1.122 billion in 2010.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Assessments by political analysts show that each presidential candidate will have to spend at least US$150–200mn to promote himself; this includes buying story lines in the media, visual advertising, canvassing, printing political material and, work with electoral commissions.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Chairman of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, Oleksandr Chernenko, also commented that presidential candidates will spend 1 billion US dollars on the election campaign


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Ukraine's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has set the following timetable for the conduct of the election:


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: CEC provides certified copies of the voters list to all candidates. Within Three days of registration Candidates must provide a statement of assets and income. Candidates allowed to commence official campaign one day after registration is finalized.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: As no single candidate had 50% or more of the total recorded vote the two highest polling candidates faced off in a second-round ballot. The candidate with the highest vote in the second round will win the election.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: According to Article 104 of Ukraine's Constitution the President-elect within 30 days of the declaration of the poll must be sworn into office before Ukraine's parliament


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The following candidates nominated for the presidential elections (in ballot paper order) A total of 18 candidates ran for president.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: All together the Central Election Commission had rejected sixteen applications for candidate registration.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The Central Election Commission refused to register Oleksandr Hordiichuk, Olena Osnach, Oleksandr Luzan, Hanna Kostiv, Oleksandr Vaschenko, Oleksandr Ohorodnikov, Vasyl Handula, Yurii Petlevana, Petro Rekalo, Anatolii Polischuk, Mykhailo Hamaniuk, Oleksandr Vretyk, Artem Polezhaka, Oleh Omelchenko, Natalia Vitrenko, Mykola Melnychenko, Serhii Martyian and Serhiy Schetinin. The reason stated was due to errors in their documentation, qualifications or failure to pay the required ₴2.5 million nomination deposit.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Nominations closed on 9 November 2009. The Central Election Commission had until 11 November to process nomination documentations and to 13 November to finalize the election list.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The official presidential campaign commenced on 19 October 2009, with nominations opening on 20 October through to 6 November. The "unofficial" campaign had already started during the summer of 2009 with tents of Front for Change distributing campaign material for Arseniy Yatsenyuk Front for Changes and large scale and billboards stating "Others make problems. She Works" (in the colors and letter type of Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko), and photos of Sergei Tigipko displayed in most Ukrainian towns and TV-adds of Yulia Tymoshenko and Volodymyr Lytvyn shown on national TV. According to Tymoshenko the "She Works" billboards were paid for by the Fatherland Party, and therefore they were also "social". Party of Regions deputy Andry Paruby officially requested that the prosecutor-general's office investigates the sources of financing of Tymoshenko's advertisements. He suggested that public money might have been used.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Ukraine has proven more than once the degree to which the success of an election campaign depends on the level of professionalism and political spin techniques applied in election campaigns.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The most popular candidates are former prime minister and leader of the Opposition party Viktor Yanukovych and current prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Incumbent president Viktor Yushchenko's support has slumped from a high of 52% in 2004 to below 3% in Ukrainian public opinion polls. Most political commentators regard him as a heavy underdog who stands little chance of being re-elected to a second term of office. A recent public opinion poll indicated that 83% of Ukrainians will not vote for Yushchenko.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 5 April 2009, Arseniy Yatseniuk, former chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, announced his intention to run in the election. His popularity has slowly risen to around 12–14% and is now in third place behind Yanukovych and Tymoshenko.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: According to Oxford Analytica the working relationship between President Yushchenko and his Prime Minister Tymoshenko will be further complicated by the search of Yushchenko for partners other than Tymoshenko's Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko who will ensure his re-election. Since Yushchenko dismissed Tymoshenko as Prime Minister on 8 September 2005, the relations between Tymoshenko and Yushchenko, including the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine, have been hostile. In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of 11 February 2009 Tymoshenko said her recent conflict with the President is a political competition and not ideological antagonisms and she emphasized that the "election struggle for the next presidential elections has virtually begun." During a visit to Brussels on 10 February 2009, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Lytvyn seconded that. In late February 2009, President Yushchenko called on all Ukrainian politicians to "stop the presidential election campaign until July 1."


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 16 June 2009, Tymoshenko accused Yushchenko, Yatseniuk and Yanukovych of having the same campaign headquarters financed by (businessman and) RosUkrEnergo owner Dmytro Firtash.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Tymoshenko stated on 22 June 2009 that "There is a team work on solving these issues between the President and the Prime Minister. Professional advice and support of the President will help the government during difficult times".


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 11 August 2009, Russian President Medvedev in an open letter directed at Viktor Yushchenko, raised a number of issues of concern related to the perceived "anti-Russian position of the current Ukrainian authorities". The Russian President's comments were considered by analysts and others including the President of Ukraine as Russia's interference in Ukraine's domestic affairs.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 12 September 2009, a tour called "With Ukraine in Heart" in support of Yulia Tymoshenko kick-started on Kyiv's Maidan Nezalezhnosti. The most popular singers and bands of Ukraine took part in the tour.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 14 September 2009, the Communist Party of Ukraine, the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united), the Justice Party and the Union of Leftists signed an agreement on creating the bloc of leftists and center-leftists and a unitary participation in the presidential election.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The Pechersky district court in Kyiv on 22 September 2009, banned "any unfair advertisement" against Tymoshenko in response to a video (allegedly made by the Party of Regions), which claimed that Tymoshenko does not deliver on her promises. The video reportedly mocked Tymoshenko's main campaign slogan "She Works," which is frequently used in her advertisements.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: In October 2009 representatives of the Western Ukrainian intelligentsia called upon the candidates Yushchenko, Yatseniuk, Hrytsenko and "other representatives of national democratic forces" to withdraw in favour of Tymoshenko.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 6 October 2009, the incumbent President Yushchenko warned that there may be attempts to use regional television and radio companies to create advantages for the government in the election campaign.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 17 October 2009, The Social-Democratic Party of Ukraine has backed a decision to create the bloc of left and center-left political forces and supported the leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine Petro Symonenko as a single candidate for the post of the Ukrainian president from left political forces


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: 20 October candidate nomination registration opens. Oleh Riabokon first candidate to officially nominate.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 20 October, Ukrainian Parliament voted to amend Ukraine's Constitution (390 out of 438 in favor) to remove provision related to Parliamentary immunity that prevents a member of parliament from being criminally liable, detained or arrested without the consent of the Verkhovna Rada. An earlier proposal to only remove immunity from the Parliament was defeated. The proposed new provisions also limits presidential immunity. The president can not be detained or arrested without the consent of the parliament however on conviction of an offense the President automatically loses office. The proposed amendments have been forwarded to Ukraine's Constitutional Court for review and will need to be reaffirmed by the parliament in February 2010.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Political Analyst and senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, Andrew Wilson, has cast doubt on Arseny Yatseniuk, currently Ukraine's third most popular candidate, ability to maintain his meteoritic rise following a decline in his ratings dropping from a high of 13% in August to 9% in October. ""Yatseniuk must look to plan B""


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 6 November the nominations were closed. The same day a Viktor Yushchenko aide amidst concern over the recent flu outbreak which claimed 97 lives has proposed the cancellation of the January election until May 2010 which would extend the President's term of office a further six months. The World Health Organization has stated that they expect a second and third wave of infections to occur in Spring (April to June) bringing into further doubt Yushchenko's proposed cancellation. Under Ukraine's the elections can be canceled if a State of Emergency is declared. Also on 6 November 2009, the Emergencies Ministry stated it saw no grounds to introduce a state of emergency in Ukraine due to the flu epidemic. On 9 November President Yushchenko said the same.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Serhy Lutsenko, the deputy head of the People's Self-Defense party expressed on 11 November 2009 concern that Viktor Yushchenko will support his past rival, Viktor Yanukovych, in a run-off election between Yanukovych and Tymoshenko.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 3 December 2009, the Ukrainian National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting complained that certain TV channels did not give equal conditions to all presidential candidates.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 11 December 2009, the European People's Party EPP called on "Ukraine's democratic forces" to unite around the most democratic candidate who will win through to the presidential run-off. All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland", the Our Ukraine People's Union, and the People's Movement of Ukraine (Rukh) are the EPP's partners in Ukraine.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 11 December 2009, candidate Viktor Yanukovych stated that his Party of Regions possesses information that "government representatives are currently "motivating" the chairmen of election commissions and seeking options for victory in every possible way" and called for his supporters go to the Maidan Nezalezhnosti in case of election fraud.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko proposes a referendum on the format of Constitutional reform - Parliamentary versus Presidential system of governance.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The first-round ballot was held on 17 January and was internationally widely recognized as meeting democratic standards.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: As no single candidate had received 50% or more votes in the first-round ballot the two highest polling candidates, Viktor Yanukovych (35.32%) and Yulia Tymoshenko (25.05%) progressed to the second final run-off ballot which was held on 7 February 2010.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Ukraine's incumbent president, Viktor Yushchenko, with 5.45% support, came in fifth place behind Serhiy Tihipko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk who had each respectively received 13.05% and 6.69% of the vote.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Peter Simonenko, Volodymyr Lytvyn, Oleh Tyahnybok and Anatoliy Hrytsenko all scored between 4 and 1% of the votes. The remaining nine candidates for the presidency gained less than 1% of the votes.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The second round of voting between Viktor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko took place on 7 February 2010. Exit polls indicated that Yanukovych had been elected, with the National Election Poll placing him first at 48.7% of the vote to Tymoshenko's 45.5%.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: With 100% of the ballots counted, the tally was 12,481,268 votes for Yanukovich (48.95%) and 11,593,340 votes for Tymoshenko (45.47%), giving Yanukovich a lead of 3.48%. There were 1.19% invalid votes and 4.36% of voters chose to vote "Against all" (candidates). In Kyiv, the number of voter choosing "Against all" was close to 8%. 25.5 million Ukrainians voted in the second round.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The Ukrainian Central Election Commission and international observers found no evidence of significant electoral fraud and said that the voting and counting was fair. Tymoshenko's party said that it would challenge the result in 1,000 of the country's 30,000 ballot boxes (as many as 900,000 ballots – enough to make a difference in the outcome), claiming that the counting process was unfair. Violations cited by Tymoshenko's camp included home voting and the busing of voters to polling stations, which was explicitly permitted by law.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Yanukovich's party activists rallied outside the buildings of the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine and the Kyiv Administrative Court of Appeals the days after the second round of the election.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: A few days after the election, Yanukovich received congratulations from the leaders of Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Moldova, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tajikistan, Turkey the United Kingdom, the United States, Uzbekistan, NATO and the European Union. Still, Tymoshenko refused to concede defeat, and Tymoshenko's party promised to challenge the result. On 17 February 2010, the Administrative Court of Ukraine, suspended the results of the election on Yulia Tymoshenko's appeal. The court suspended the Central Election Commission of Ukraine ruling that announced that Viktor Yanukovych won the election. Tymoshenko withdrew her appeal on 20 February 2010, after the Higher Administrative Court in Kyiv rejected her petition to scrutinize documents from election districts in Crimea and also to question election and law-enforcement officials. The same day (20 February) Tymoshenko announced that she will not challenge the results of the second round of the presidential election in the Supreme Court of Ukraine since she believed there were no legal provisions for such an appeal, although Tymoshenko also stated "an honest court will assess that Yanukovych wasn't elected President of Ukraine, and that the will of the people had been rigged".


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Voting analysis showed that during the election creases started to emerge across the traditional geographical voters patterns. Tymoshenko made inroads in Yanukovych's traditional east and south Ukraine base of support, whereas Yanukovych did the same in Tymoshenko's traditional west and central Ukraine base of support. More women voted for Yanukovych than for Tymoshenko.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: All exit polls conducted during the final round of voting reported a win for Viktor Yanukovych over Yulia Tymoshenko.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: According to the Director of the Penta Center for Political Studies Volodymyr Fesenko there were only small differences in the election programs of the various candidates.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: According to all international organizations observing the election, allegations of electoral fraud in relation to the first-round ballot were unfounded; they declared that the conduct of the elections was within internationally recognized democratic standards and a testament to the will of the people of Ukraine.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: A December 2009 poll found that 82 percent of Ukrainians expected vote rigging, those fears were shared by some election observers, both international and domestic. The latter also fearing the lack of an independent exit poll; which they see as essential to deterring vote fraud.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's Prime-minister and one of the main candidates who sought election in the poll stated that: "We will not challenge any election returns to avoid tremors, which may bring about instability in this country. If the people elect their president, and this is not Yulia Tymoshenko, I will take this choice easy, for sure"


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Former President Leonid Kuchma also excluded the possibility of a third-round ballot. According to Kuchma, "during the election campaign in 2004 the decision about holding the third round was political and it will not be repeated. The 2004 decision was an exclusion from a rule".


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Candidates Victor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko both accused the other of intending to use vote rigging to win the election during the election campaign. Early January 2010 Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko warned that there is a real threat of "administrative pressure" being applied during the counting of votes at the presidential election. Viktor Yushchenko without providing any details has alleged that the highest threat of falsification in the first round will be applied by Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc; "because candidate Viktor Yanukovych will enter the second round in any case".


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Allegations were made that Viktor Yushchenko had made a deal with Viktor Yanukovych in order to secure a number of political positions for members of his team in exchange for supporting Viktor Yanukovych's campaign Concern has been expressed that Viktor Yushchenko had tried to prevent news of the deal from being published by declaring it a State Secret.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: A joint poll conducted by Democratic Initiatives and Ukrainian Sociology Service of January 2010 showed that less than 5% of the polled believed that the presidential election would be fair with 41.4% of respondents that believed that the election results could be manipulated and 15.7% being certain that the entire vote would be rigged. According to the same poll 5.8% of those polled stated they were ready to sell their votes if the sum suited them and 1.9% of the respondents were ready to sell their votes for any presidential candidates and for any funds.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: A voter casting more than one ballot, or selling their vote, could have faced as much as two years jail time.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: 2 January 2010 was the beginning of the 15-day media blackout on reporting of election polls before the 17 January first-round election.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: A poll released 15 December 2009 by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems has indicated that Viktor Yanukovych (31%) as the most likely to win the presidential election in a contest with Yulia Tymoshenko (19%). All other candidates were below 5% with Victor Yushchenko on 3.5% with a negativity rating of 83%. The survey also indicated that Ukrainians are pessimistic about the socio-political situation in the country. Seventy-four percent believe Ukraine is on a path toward instability and more than nine in ten Ukrainians are dissatisfied with the economic (96%) and political situation (92%) in the country.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: According to other recent opinion polls, the Party of Regions candidate Viktor Yanukovych (25.0% to 33.3%) was placed first among viable presidential candidates, with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko (15.5% to 18.4%) coming in second, and Front for Change candidate Arseniy Yatsenyuk (6.7% to 14.5%) in third place. Incumbent President, Viktor Yushchenko (2.0% to 3.8%) following his decline in popularity with the Ukrainian public comes in at a distant sixth place behind leader of the Communist Party Petro Symonenko (3.4% to 4.5%) and Parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn (1.4% to 5.8%).


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: A survey conducted by U.S.-based International Foundation for Electoral Systems and financed by the United States Agency for International Development (21–29 November) lists Viktor Yushchenko as the highest negativity rating (83%) and Viktor Yanukovych with the most positive rating (42%)


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: An opinion poll conducted by FOM-Ukraine in September/October 2009 expected the turnout to be at least 85.1%. The poll carried out by the Oleksandr Yaremenko Institute for Social Research in December 2009 predicted (at least) a 70% turnout.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Media were prohibited by Ukrainian law from reporting the results of public opinion polls for the election (starting) from 2 January until election day on 17 January 2010.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry expected (in November 2009) that some 600 international observers would be monitoring the elections. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will send around 60 long-term and 600 short-term observers to Ukraine to monitor the presidential elections, Ukraine had submitted an invitation to the OSCE to monitor the elections.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: This electoral observation mission is headed by Portuguese politician João Soares, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The OSCE/ODIHR long term observation mission was officially opened on 26 November 2009. On 12 January 2009, the OSCE where not satisfied with the level of funding for salaries and transport services.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The European Union member-states will send over 700 observers to monitor the elections. The Canada Ukraine Foundation (a Canadian NGO) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will also send observers. The PACE delegation is led by Hungarian politician Mátyás Eörsi. Late November the PACE delegation was sceptical the elections would meet the organization's standards. On 8 December 2009, Renate Wohlwend, co-rapporteur of PACE stated that PACE might continue to monitor Ukrainian politics after the country's presidential election. Wohlwend had also called on the Ukrainian parliament to amend a law on the presidential elections as soon as possible. Wohlwend expressed concern over the inclusion of a provision in Ukraine's electoral legislation giving the election commission the right to amend the electoral rolls on the day of the ballot. She expressed concern this could allow the rigging of the election results.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The Polish European Center of Geopolitical Analysis did send 20 observers to monitor signs of xenophobia during the presidential election campaign.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 9 December 2009, candidate Victor Yanukovych at a meeting with an OSCE election observation mission stated that he is afraid Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko might rig the presidential election.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: A total of 450 official observers from the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) will monitor the elections.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Paweł Kowal lead the delegation of the European Parliament's observers; this delegation included ten people, who cooperated closely with the delegations of observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of Europe, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: A total of 3,149 international observers did monitor the 17 January presidential election in Ukraine.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: On 18 January 2010, the OSCE announced it would send same number of observers to monitor Ukraine's second round of the election as in the first round. At the same time it called for bringing Ukraine's election laws in line with international norms but nevertheless it endorsed the first round of the Ukrainian presidential poll, saying it was of "high quality" and demonstrated "significant progress".


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: After the second round of the election international observers and the OSCE called the election transparent and honest.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: According to Serhiy Paskhalov, the head of presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko's main campaign office in Dnipropetrovsk, international observers were physically unable to register mass irregularities in the second round of the presidential election. According to Paskhalov six foreign observers had monitored the run-off presidential election at 469 polling stations in six electoral districts in Dnipropetrovsk region.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: Nominations by parties and candidates to run in the election closed on 6 November 2009. Eighteen candidates in all have been nominated. The Central Election Committee had until 11 November 2009 to process documentation and finalize the election list.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The first round of the election was held on 17 January 2010. Voter turnout was approximately 67 percent, compared to 75 percent at the 2004 presidential election. Incumbent president Viktor Yushchenko was defeated having received only 5.45% of the vote. Viktor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko finished first and second in the first round and faced each other in the second-round ballot held on 7 February. Voter turnout in the second round was approximately 69%. On 14 February, with all second round votes counted, Yanukovich was officially declared a winner of the election with 48.95%, compared to Tymoshenko's 45.47%.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: The election has been widely recognized and endorsed as being fair and an accurate reflection of voters' intentions by all international agencies observing the election including the OSCE and PACE.


title: 2010 Ukrainian presidential election

text: "Note: The above maps are based on the percentage of the national vote and as such is an accurate representation of the results of the election as each region is shown in relation to the overall result".


title: Winter Is Coming

text: "Winter Is Coming" is the series premiere of the HBO medieval fantasy television series "Game of Thrones". The first episode of the first season, it was written by series creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, in an adaptation of the first chapters of George R. R. Martin's book "A Game of Thrones". The episode was directed by Tim Van Patten, redoing the work done by director Tom McCarthy in an unaired pilot.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: As the first episode of the series, it introduces the setting and the main characters of the show. The episode centers on the Stark family, and how Ned Stark gets involved in the court politics after the king chooses him to replace his recently deceased chief administrator ("Hand of the King"). The episode received largely positive reviews, and was seen initially by 2.2 million viewers. A week before the episode first aired, HBO made the first 15 minutes available as an Internet preview.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: The title of the episode is the motto (referred to as "House Words" in-universe) of House Stark, which is spoken several times in the episode and the series.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: On the continent of Westeros, rangers of the Night's Watch scout the forest beyond the Wall, the massive ice barrier to the north, and discover demonic White Walkers and wildlings turned to undead wights. Will, the sole surviving ranger, flees South.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: Watching as the corpse of Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, is tended to, Jaime Lannister assures his twin sister, Queen Cersei Lannister, that if Arryn had spoken to anyone about them, they would already have been executed.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: Exiled prince Viserys Targaryen plots to reclaim his father's throne from King Robert Baratheon, and brokers a marriage between his sister Daenerys and Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo. As wedding gifts, Daenerys is given books of the Seven Kingdoms from Ser Jorah Mormont, an exiled knight loyal to the Targaryens, and three petrified dragon eggs from Magister Illyrio Mopatis, who helped arrange the marriage.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: The Starks of Winterfell are introduced: Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark, his wife Lady Catelyn, their children – heir Robb, elder daughter Sansa, younger daughter Arya, ten-year-old son Bran, youngest son, Rickon, Ned's bastard son Jon Snow and ward Theon Greyjoy.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: Ned takes his sons to witness Will's execution for desertion. Ignoring Will's warning of the White Walkers, Ned beheads him, insisting Walkers are long extinct. The Starks find a dead stag, sigil of House Baratheon, and a dead direwolf, sigil of the Starks, whose pups are taken in by the children.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: News arrives of the death of Lord Arryn, Eddard's friend and Catelyn's brother-in-law. Winterfell receives the royal court, including King Robert, his wife Queen Cersei, their children – heir Prince Joffrey, Princess Myrcella, and Prince Tommen – as well as Jaime, a member of the Kingsguard, and his and Cersei's younger brother Tyrion Lannister, a dwarf known as "The Imp". Robert pays respects to Lyanna Stark, his late fiancée and Ned's sister, appoints Ned the new Hand of the King, and suggests Sansa be betrothed to Joffrey. Catelyn receives a message from her sister Lysa, Arryn's widow, who suspects her husband was murdered by the Lannisters. Ned reluctantly accepts the position of Hand of the King.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: Bran climbs an abandoned tower, and discovers Cersei and Jaime having sex. To hide their incestuous and extramarital affair, Jaime shoves Bran out of the window.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: A number of Hollywood studios had contacted George R. R. Martin about possibly adapting his book series "A Song of Ice and Fire" into a film. However, Martin expressed the opinion the books could not be made into a film as too much would have to be cut from the books, but thought it could be made into a television series. In January 2006, David Benioff happened to speak to Martin's literary agent, and the agent sent the first four books of "A Song of Ice and Fire" to David Benioff. Benioff read a few hundred pages of the first book in the series, "A Game of Thrones", called D. B. Weiss and said: "Maybe I'm crazy, but I haven't had this much fun reading anything in about 20 years. So take a look because I think it might make a great HBO series." Weiss, who then read the first book in two days, was very enthusiastic about a possible television project based on the books. They arranged a meeting with Martin, who asked them if they knew who Jon Snow's real mother might be, and was satisfied with their answer.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: In March 2006, a few weeks after meeting Martin, Benioff and Weiss pitched the show to Showtime and then Carolyn Strauss of HBO, the latter of whom accepted their proposal. HBO acquired the rights to the novels to turn them into a television series, with Benioff and Weiss as writers and executive producers of the series. The series went into development in January 2007. The series would begin with the first book from 1996, "A Game of Thrones", with the intention that each novel in the series would form the basis for a season's worth of episodes. However, Benioff and Weiss had to resubmit a proposal after Carolyn Strauss stepped down as president of HBO in 2008. The first and second drafts of the pilot script, written by Benioff and Weiss, were submitted in August 2007 and June 2008 respectively. While HBO found both drafts to their liking, a pilot was not ordered until November 2008.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: Scripted by the show creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, the first episode includes the plot of the book's chapters 1–9 and 12 (Prologue, Bran I, Catelyn I, Daenerys I, Eddard I, Jon I, Catelyn II, partial Arya I, Bran II, Daenerys II). Changes in the adaptation include the sequence of events in the prologue (in the books it is Gared and not Will who survives and is beheaded by Eddard afterwards, and Arya's material is set before the arrival of the royal family), new scenes showing the Lannister twins' perspective, and Daenerys's wedding night showing Drogo not waiting for her to consent to sex.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: Tom McCarthy was chosen to direct the pilot episode, shot between October 24 and November 19, 2009 on location in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Morocco. However, the pilot was deemed unsatisfactory and had to be reshot.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: The new first episode was filmed in 2010 by new director Tim Van Patten, and several actors appearing in the original pilot did not return for the series. Tamzin Merchant was replaced as Daenerys Targaryen by Emilia Clarke, and Jennifer Ehle was replaced as Catelyn Stark by Michelle Fairley. Additionally, Ian McNeice was replaced as Magister Illyrio by Roger Allam, Richard Ridings as Gared by Dermot Keaney, and Jamie Campbell Bower as Ser Waymar Royce by Rob Ostlere.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: Another difference is that the original pilot featured scenes shot in Scotland and scenes in Pentos were shot in Morocco, but in the aired series, Winterfell was filmed in a combination of locations in Northern Ireland, while scenes from Pentos were from Malta. The Doune Castle in Scotland was originally used to recreate Winterfell, and its great hall was used for some interior shots. Some scenes survived, but as it was not practical to return to Scotland for the reshoot, an exact replica of Doune's great hall was recreated in the soundstage in Belfast for the series. Castle Ward in Northern Ireland was used in the reshoot to film King Robert's entourage entry into Winterfell castle. A car park stood in for the Winterfell castle's courtyard and a wine cellar for the Stark family crypt. The Tollymore Forest Park was used for the opening scene of the encounter with the White Walkers.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: All the scenes shot in Morocco were reshot in Malta. The original pilot reused the sets of "Kingdom of Heaven" in Morocco to stand in for Pentos and the site of Drogo and Daenerys's wedding. In Malta, the Verdala Palace, the 16th century summer palace of the president of Malta, was used for the exterior scenes at Illyrio's mansion. The Azure Window was used as the backdrop for the wedding. Filming at the Azure Window, however, caused some controversy when a protected ecosystem was damaged by a subcontractor.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: In the sex scene from the pilot, the then-pregnant Lena Headey was substituted by a body double. In the scene in which the Starks encounter a stag killed by a dire wolf as they return from the execution, an actual animal was used rather than a prop. As the stag had been dead for two days, it stank so much that the actors had to take much care not to let it show on their faces. Some scenes filmed were unaired, for example a flashback to the deaths of Eddard Stark's brother and Jon Arryn.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: The original pilot from 2009 was poorly received in a private viewing with friends, one of whom, Craig Mazin, said to Benioff and Weiss, "You guys have a massive problem", and said "change everything" when asked for ideas. It was so disliked that Kit Harington joked that when he annoys Benioff and Weiss, they threaten to release the episode on YouTube. Weiss said of the viewing: "Watching them watch the pilot was a deeply humiliating, painful experience, because these are very smart individuals, and it just clearly wasn’t working for any of them on a very basic level." For example, it was never established that Jaime and Cersei Lannister were in fact brother and sister, a major plot point.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: HBO did not make a decision for four months after the pilot was delivered. In March 2010, HBO's decision to greenlight the series was announced, with the production of the series scheduled to start June 2010. HBO however demanded the first episode be reshot, and wanted all the scenes from Morocco scrapped. A cameo appearance by George R.R. Martin as a Pentoshi nobleman at Daenerys's wedding filmed in Morocco was therefore also cut. Around 90 percent of the pilot was re-shot in 2010, with some cast changes and a different director.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: The original pilot remains unaired, although some footage from it was used in the first aired episode. This includes Sansa's scenes with Catelyn (Michelle Fairley's footage as Catelyn was inserted over Jennifer Ehle's performance), Will's ride through the woods (retained though also portrayed by a different actor), most of the feast at Winterfell, and Ned and Robert's scene in the crypt. That scene is one of a few to be filmed on 35 mm film, and consequently slight film grain can be seen in the HD version of the episode.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: On April 3, 2011, two weeks before the series premiere aired, the first 15 minutes of "Winter Is Coming" were released as a preview on HBO's website. "Wired"'s Dave Banks called the preview "much better than anticipated." Scott Stinson of Toronto's National Post noted that "you know you aren’t watching a network drama when there have been two beheadings in the first 15 minutes."


title: Winter Is Coming

text: The first episode of "Game of Thrones" obtained 2.2 million viewers in its premiere airing, with an additional 2 million viewers in the reruns that aired during the same night. The day after the premiere HBO aired the episode six additional times, adding another 1.2 million to the viewer's figures. Reruns aired during the following week upped the total viewership to 6.8 million.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: The show premiered on HBO Canada at the same time as its U.S. premiere. On April 18, 2011, the show premiered in the United Kingdom and Ireland through Sky Atlantic, gathering 750,000 viewers, a ratings record for the network. The series was broadcast throughout Latin America beginning on May 8, 2011. New Zealand's "Dominion Post" noted in an article on copyright laws that the popular series was downloaded via file sharing service regularly before its release to that market. In Australia, the July 17 premiere of the series was largely overshadowed by the release of "A Dance with Dragons", but according to "The Sydney Morning Herald" was successful "especially with women, who aren't seen as a target market for sword-fighting sagas".


title: Winter Is Coming

text: The critical response to the first episode of the series was positive. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 15 reviews of the episode and judged 100% of them to be positive with an average score of 8.5 out of 10. The website's critical consensus reads, Winter is Coming' is an introduction to a wonderfully bleak journey that honors its source material with stellar execution and an impressive cast." James Poniewozik from "Time" considered it an "epic win", and Jace Lacob from "The Daily Beast" deemed it "unforgettable". HitFix's Alan Sepinwall wrote that while it was too early to say if "Game of Thrones" belonged to the HBO pantheon with shows like "The Sopranos" or "The Wire", it had many things in common with those shows. IGN's Matt Fowler wrote that the episode "effortlessly takes us along, faithfully, through the book, but it also manages to capture the majestically morbid spirit of Martin's pages and turn them into thrilling television".


title: Winter Is Coming

text: Much praise was given to the production values and the acting: Scott Meslow from "The Atlantic" states that "the show's immense cast is almost universally strong, and the fantasy land of Westeros feels lived-in, and looks terrific". Alan Sepinwall also qualifies the casting as "really exceptional", and states that the show is "feast for the eyes", with all the different locations having their own memorable looks. The opening sequence, with an aerial view of the world where the series takes place with the different settings emerging from it, was also acclaimed.


title: Winter Is Coming

text: On April 19, less than two days after the initial airing, HBO announced that the series had been renewed for a second season. In a press teleconference, HBO executives announced their satisfaction with initial ratings, which they compared favorably to "True Blood".


title: Hunger (Marvel Comics)

text: Hunger (Loxias Crown) is a fictional character appearing in the American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in "" #76 (January 1997) and was created by Howard Mackie. He is an enemy of Spider-Man, Blade, and Morbius, the Living Vampire.


title: Hunger (Marvel Comics)

text: Matt Smith portrayed a composite character partially inspired by Hunger named Milo whose real name is Lucien Crown in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) film "Morbius" (2022).


title: Hunger (Marvel Comics)

text: Loxias Crown was an agent of Hydra equipped with armor that manipulates darkforce. After killing the armor's creator, William Fields, Crown takes Empire State University's staff and students as hostages to locate Fields' notes on his armor's technology, but is defeated by Spider-Man and S.H.O.C. Crown next abducted Morbius, the Living Vampire to perform experiments alongside Dr. Andrea Janson for Don Fortunato. Crown threatened Peter Parker until Todd Fields (now known as Neil Aiken) surrendered, teleporting the two youths to his secret base. But after Hammerhead killed his love and captured his three hostages, Crown took Hydra's airship to get revenge. He fought both Spider-Man and S.H.O.C. and prepared to overload the latter's armor to kill everyone, but Morbius attacked and drained him dry while disappearing in the process.


title: Hunger (Marvel Comics)

text: Crown next lived in New York City's sewers as a "Living Vampire" known as Hunger, an enforcer of Senator Stuart Ward. He abducted innocent civilians and the Morlocks' leader Callisto to his lair beneath the streets. The "Daily Bugle" went to investigate but Hunger knocked Parker out and took Betty Brant hostage. Spider-Man teamed up with Marrow to free the prisoners, much to Hunger's annoyance. Flash Thompson distracted Hunger, resulting in his defeat by Spider-Man and Marrow but escapes in energy form. Hunger later attacked a clandestine meeting between the Kingpin and the Maggia, and turned a number of gangsters into his own small army of living vampires. Blade and Spider-Man tracked Hunger down to an abandoned Roxxon plant, fighting the two superheroes until he fled after his horde's deaths.


title: Hunger (Marvel Comics)

text: Initially, Loxias Crown wore an armor similar to S.H.O.C. which gave him the ability to channel negative energy and fire energy blasts.


title: Hunger (Marvel Comics)

text: As a "Living Vampire", Hunger does not possess all the powers of a supernatural vampire, nor is he subject to all the traditional limitations and weaknesses thereof. He possesses a variety of superhuman powers, some of which are similar to supernatural vampires within the Marvel Universe, such as superhuman strength and speed, as well as heightened senses including night vision and echolocation. Due to his vampire-like condition, Hunger is forced to ingest fresh blood on a regular basis to sustain his life and vitality. He does not possess any of the mystical vulnerabilities that supernatural vampires are subject to, such as garlic, holy water, crucifixes, or silver. He has a strong aversion to sunlight, thanks to his photo-sensitive skin which allows some protection from major sunburn, in contrast to "true" vampires that are incinerated by it, with the result that he can move in daylight, but his powers are diminished and he will stick to the shade if circumstances demand him to be active during the day.


title: Hunger (Marvel Comics)

text: A composite character partly inspired by Hunger along with and Vic Slaughter named Lucien "Milo" Crown, also known as Milo Morbius, appears in the live-action Sony's Spider-Man Universe film "Morbius" (2022), portrayed by Matt Smith as an adult, and Joseph Esson as a child. Lucien, nicknamed "Milo", is Michael Morbius's surrogate brother and best friend, having met under the care of Dr. Emil Nicholas as both are suffering from a rare blood disease which prevented their bodies from properly being able to create blood. Milo's family wealth is key to Morbius's research for a cure, but causes "pseudo-vampirism", with Morbius seeking to resist the resulting bloodlust while Milo embraces it. After Milo kills Nicholas and fatally injures Dr. Martine Bancroft, Morbius restrains Milo with an army of vampire bats and kills him with a vampire-antibody.


title: Southern Charm

text: Southern Charm is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on March 3, 2014. The series chronicles the personal and professional lives of several socialites who reside in Charleston, South Carolina.


title: Southern Charm

text: The show focuses on the Southern culture, along with the political history of the area, and has featured local historical places including Lewisfield Plantation and Mikell House. The show gives viewers an inside look at modern day aristocracy in Charleston, South Carolina.


title: Southern Charm

text: On July 14, 2014, "Southern Charm" was renewed for a second season, which premiered on March 16, 2015. Jenna King did not return. The second season featured Craig Conover, Shep Rose, Cameran Eubanks, Thomas Ravenel, and Whitney Sudler-Smith all returning, with Kathryn Calhoun Dennis and Landon Clements joining the main cast.


title: Southern Charm

text: The third season premiered on April 4, 2016. All cast members returned from the previous season. The fourth season was announced on February 16, 2017, and premiered on April 3. Sudler-Smith left the main cast after season three, and was featured in a recurring capacity in following seasons. Conover, Rose, Eubanks, Ravenel, Dennis and Clements all returned for season four, with Austen Kroll being added to the main cast.


title: Southern Charm

text: In February 2018, Bravo announced the fifth season and it premiered on April 5, 2018. Clements did not return, and Chelsea Meissner was promoted to the main cast for season five. In August 2018, Ravenel announced his departure from the show after five seasons due to sexual assault allegations against him, as well as claiming that the show "took advantage of him." Bravo confirmed his departure in September 2018 after Ravenel was arrested and charged with assault and battery. The sixth season premiered on May 15, 2019, with Eubanks, Rose, Conover, Dennis, Kroll, and Meissner all returning, with both Naomie Olindo and Eliza Limehouse added to the main cast.


title: Southern Charm

text: Season seven was announced on September 24, 2020, and premiered on October 29, 2020. Filming of the seventh season was paused in spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, it was confirmed that Cameran Eubanks, Naomie Olindo, and Chelsea Meissner would not be returning to the show for the seventh season. In August 2020, Eliza Limehouse confirmed that she too was departing the series ahead of season seven. Leva Bonaparte, Madison LeCroy, and John Pringle were introduced as series regulars, joining Conover, Rose, Dennis, and Kroll in the main cast.


title: Southern Charm

text: Season 8 premiered on June 23, 2022, with Olivia Flowers, Venita Aspen, Chleb Ravenell and Taylor Ann Green joining Conover, Rose, Dennis, Kroll, Bonaparte, and Olindo as part of the main cast. Madison LeCroy and John Pringle were reduced to recurring roles, while Marcie Hobbs was introduced as a friend of the cast. Filming for the season wrapped in December 2021, and the trailer dropped on May 16, 2022.


title: Southern Charm

text: On October 27, 2016, Bravo ordered a spin-off series to "Southern Charm", titled "Southern Charm Savannah". The series follows the same premise as its predecessor series but is set in Savannah, Georgia. The series is produced by Haymaker Production and Aaron Rothman, Irad Eyal, Sara Nichols, Luke Neslage and Jessica Chesler, Jason Weinberg, Bryan Kestner and Whitney Sudler-Smith serve as the series' executive producers. The series premiered on May 8, 2017.


title: Southern Charm

text: In April 2017, Bravo announced it was ordering two spin-offs, "Southern Charm New Orleans" and "RelationShep." "RelationShep" premiered on December 4, 2017, and followed the "Southern Charm" cast member as he looked for love. "Southern Charm New Orleans" premiered on April 15, 2018 and its second season premiered on June 2, 2019.


title: Southern Charm

text: In February 2021, main castmembers Craig Conover and Austen Kroll were involved in a joint spin-off of "Southern Charm" and "Summer House" titled "Winter House", in which Conover and Kroll join stars of "Summer House" for a trip to Stowe, Vermont. A preview of the spin-off aired after the fifth-season finale of "Summer House" in April 2021, and it premiered in October 2021. Conover and Kroll returned for the second season of "Winter House", which premiered on October 13, 2022.


title: Southern Charm

text: In May 2022, Bravo ordered a spin-off starring main cast member Leva Bonaparte titled "Southern Hospitality" that will follow Bonaparte and the staff of her Charleston restaurant, Republic Garden & Lounge. The series is expected to premiere on November 28, 2022.


title: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing

text: The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was a white supremacist terrorist bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday, September 15, 1963. Four members of a local Ku Klux Klan chapter planted 19 sticks of dynamite attached to a timing device beneath the steps located on the east side of the church.


title: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing

text: Described by Martin Luther King Jr. as "one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity," the explosion at the church killed four girls and injured between 14 and 22 other people.


title: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing

text: Although the FBI had concluded in 1965 that the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing had been committed by four known Klansmen and segregationists: Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr., Herman Frank Cash, Robert Edward Chambliss, and Bobby Frank Cherry, no prosecutions were conducted until 1977, when Robert Chambliss was tried and convicted of the first-degree murder of one of the victims, 11-year-old Carol Denise McNair.


title: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing

text: As part of a revival effort by states and the federal government to prosecute cold cases from the civil rights era, the state conducted trials in the early 21st century of Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. and Bobby Cherry, who were each convicted of four counts of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Future United States Senator Doug Jones successfully prosecuted Blanton and Cherry. Herman Cash had died in 1994, and was never charged with his alleged involvement in the bombing.


title: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing

text: The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing marked a turning point in the United States during the civil rights movement and also contributed to support for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by Congress.


title: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing

text: In the years leading up to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Birmingham had earned a national reputation as a tense, violent and racially segregated city, in which even tentative racial integration in any form was met with violent resistance. Martin Luther King Jr. described Birmingham as "probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States." Birmingham's Commissioner of Public Safety, Theophilus Eugene "Bull" Connor, led the effort in enforcing racial segregation in the city through the use of violent tactics.


title: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing

text: Black and white residents of Birmingham had access to different public amenities such as water fountains and places of public gathering such as movie theaters. The city had no black police officers or firefighters and most black residents could expect to find menial employment in professions such as cooks and cleaners. Black residents did not just experience segregation in the context of leisure and employment, but also in the context of their freedom and well-being. Given the state's disenfranchisement of most black people since the turn of the century, by making voter registration essentially impossible, few of the city's black residents were registered to vote. Bombings at black homes and institutions were a regular occurrence, with at least 21 separate explosions recorded at black properties and churches in the eight years before 1963. However, none of these explosions had resulted in fatalities. These attacks earned the city the nickname "Bombingham".


title: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing

text: Civil Rights activists and leaders in Birmingham fought against the city's deeply-ingrained and institutionalized racism with tactics that included the targeting of Birmingham's economic and social disparities. Their demands included that public amenities such as lunch counters and parks be desegregated, the criminal charges against demonstrators and protestors should be removed"," and an end to overt discrimination with regards to employment opportunities. The intentional scope of these activities was to see the end of segregation across Birmingham and the South as a whole. The work these Civil Rights activists were engaged in within Birmingham was crucial to the movement as the Birmingham campaign was seen as guidance for other cities in the South with regards to rising against segregation and racism.


title: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing

text: The three-story 16th Street Baptist Church was a rallying point for civil rights activities through the spring of 1963. When the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Congress on Racial Equality became involved in a campaign to register African Americans to vote in Birmingham, tensions in the city increased. The church was used as a meeting-place for civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, and Fred Shuttlesworth, for organizing and educating marchers. It was the location where students were organized and trained by the SCLC Director of Direct Action, James Bevel, to participate in the 1963 Birmingham campaign's Children's Crusade after other marches had taken place.