title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: On November 29, 2017, Trump re-tweeted three videos posted by Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of the far-right nationalist Britain First party. One of the videos, titled 'Muslim immigrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches', was subsequently discredited by the Dutch embassy in the United States. The spokesperson for the Prime Minister said that what the President had done was 'wrong' and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said that 'hate speech had no place in the UK'. In response, Trump tweeted at the Prime Minister suggesting that she worry about immigration in her own country rather than whom he chose to retweet. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said that the President attempted to start a conversation about immigration.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: May was the first foreign leader to visit Trump after his inauguration, and she invited him to make a return visit. More than 1.8 million UK citizens signed a petition to rescind the invitation, and Parliament debated a nonbinding resolution to that effect in February 2017. The visit was tentatively planned for late February 2018, and would include a ceremonial opening of the new American embassy in Nine Elms. However, on January 11, 2018, he cancelled the visit and denounced the new embassy in a tweet saying: This was despite the official reason for relocating the embassy due to the security, as the Grosvenor Square site couldn't accommodate the requirements for being away from the street, and the fact that the move was decided by Obama's predecessor Bush, who approved the relocation in 2008. It was speculated that the real reason for cancelling the visit was due to Trump's unpopularity and the possibility of large protests against him in London.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Trump made a second visit in June 2019, this time as guests of the Queen and to hold talks with May. Thousands protested his visit, just like they did when he made his first trip.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: On July 7, 2019, secret diplomatic cables from Ambassador Kim Darroch to the British government, dating from 2017 to 2019, were leaked to "The Mail on Sunday". They included Darroch's unflattering assessments of the Trump administration, e.g. that it was "inept and insecure". In response, Nigel Farage said Darroch was "totally unsuitable" for office, and Trump tweeted that Darroch was "not liked or well thought of within the US" and that "we will no longer deal with him". The Prime Minister, Theresa May, expressed support for Darroch and ordered a leak inquiry. On July 10, Darroch resigned as Ambassador to the United States. He wrote that "the current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like". Previously, Boris Johnson, the frontrunner in the election to replace May, had declined to publicly back Darroch. Consensus among political commentators in the UK was that this made Darroch's position untenable. May and the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, praised Darroch's service in the House of Commons and deplored that he had to resign under pressure from the US.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: In 2017 Trump appointed pharmaceutical heir Woody Johnson, a financial supporter of his campaign, as ambassador 2017–2021. Johnson advocated for more agricultural trade and the deregulation of US food exports to Britain. In March 2019, Johnson wrote an article in the "Daily Telegraph" promoting American chlorinated chicken as safe, and stating that health fears over hormone-fed beef were "myths". This came after he urged the UK to open up to the US agriculture market after the British exit from the European Union and ignore the "smear campaign" of those with "their own protectionist agenda". Johnson was criticised by several British agriculture standard boards, such as the Red Tractor Assurance whose CEO, Jim Moseley stated the UK's food standards were "now under threat from ... the United States food lobby". Minette Batters, president of the UK National Farmers Union, agreed with Johnson's claims that chlorine-rinsed chicken was safe for consumption, but stated that factors such as animal welfare and environmental protection also had to be considered. George Eustace, former British agriculture minister told the press:Agriculture in the US remains quite backward in many respects...Whereas we have a 'farm to fork' approach to managing disease and contamination risk throughout the supply chain through good husbandry, the US is more inclined to simply treat contamination of its meat at the end with a chlorine or similar wash.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: In 2020 while the UK was planning to invest in new 5G mobile telecommunications equipment, Washington was openly lobbying and pressuring the British government, to prevent allowing the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from installing its equipment in the UK. This was over allegations it will allow the Chinese to espionage in the country, and this might be a break in the Five Eyes intelligence programme. Already since 2003 the UK did allow its telecoms operators such as the incumbent BT to install Huawei equipment in its infrastructure backbone. To prevent any concerns about possible hacking after reports of unusual activity in the Huawei equipment, in 2010 Huawei jointly created with the British intelligence agency GCHQ an equipment investigate centre in the outskirts of Banbury called the "Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre" which is also known by its nickname ""the Cell"". In July 2020 after American pressure, the British government announced that it has banned adding any new Huawei telecoms equipment into the British landline and mobile networks, and request that all companies replace the existing equipment by 2027.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Biden's first overseas trip and first face-to-face meeting with a British Prime Minister was at the 2021 G7 Summit, hosted in Cornwall, England in June. Johnson stated "there's so much that [the US] want to do together" with us. The first meeting between the two leaders included plans to re-establish travel links between the US and UK, which had been banned by the US since the start of the pandemic and to agree a deal (the New Atlantic Charter), which commits the countries to working together on "the key challenges of this century - cyber security, emerging technologies, global health and climate change". President Biden explicitly "affirmed the special relationship". The revitalized Atlantic Charter would build "on the commitments and aspirations set out eighty years ago" and also "reaffirm" the "commitment to work together to realise our vision for a more peaceful and prosperous future."


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and fall of Kabul in August 2021 had a negative impact on United Kingdom–United States relations, with the British government briefing media against the American government.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: On September 15, 2021, the leaders of the US, the UK and Australia announced "AUKUS":a new security partnership in the Indo-Pacific, building on the longstanding alliance between the three to share intelligence, deepen cooperation and help Australia build a new nuclear-powered submarine to counter China.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: On September 21, 2021, Boris Johnson stated that he would not commit to a new trade agreement by 2024, stating that President Biden has "a lot of fish to fry."


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The United States accounts for the United Kingdom's largest single export market, buying $57 billion worth of British goods in 2007. Total trade of imports and exports between the United Kingdom and the United States amounted to the sum of $107.2 billion in 2007.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The United States and the United Kingdom share the world's largest foreign direct investment partnership. In 2005, American direct investment in the United Kingdom totaled $324 billion while British direct investment in the United States totaled $282 billion.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: In a press conference that made several references to the special relationship, US Secretary of State John Kerry, in London with UK Foreign Secretary William Hague on September 9, 2013, said:


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: We are not only each other's largest investors in each of our countries, one to the other, but the fact is that every day almost one million people go to work in America for British companies that are in the United States, just as more than one million people go to work here in Great Britain for American companies that are here. So we are enormously tied together, obviously. And we are committed to making both the U.S.-UK and the U.S.-EU relationships even stronger drivers of our prosperity.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: More than 4.5 million Britons visit the United States every year, spending $14 billion. Around 3 million people from the United States visit the United Kingdom every year, spending $10 billion. With the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, international tourism in both countries collapsed in 2020.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: All three major American airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Airlines fly directly between the US and the UK, principally between London and New York, although all three fly to Heathrow Airport from a number of hubs, as well as to other major UK airports such as Manchester Airport, Edinburgh Airport and Glasgow Airport. Additionally, Delta codeshares with the UK's Virgin Atlantic which it owns a 49% stake in. Low-cost carriers JetBlue and Southwest Airlines fly between the eastern US and the British overseas territories of Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and the Turks & Caicos Islands, with JetBlue also flying between London and New York.  The British flag carrier British Airways flies to over twenty destinations in the US. Also the main British charter airline, TUI Airways fly to the US although principally to the holiday destinations of Florida and California.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Both American Airlines and BA are founders of the airline alliance, Oneworld. BA, TUI Airways and Virgin Atlantic are major purchasers of American-made Boeing aircraft. Flying between the US and UK is at the moment in 2019 supported by the US-EU Open Skies Agreement which came about in 2008, which allows any airline from both countries to fly between each other.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport is the most popular international destination for people flying out of Heathrow Airport. Approximately 2,802,870 people on multiple daily non-stop flights flew from Heathrow to JFK in 2008. Concorde, British Airways flagship supersonic airliner, began trans-Atlantic service to Washington Dulles International Airport in the United States on May 24, 1976. The trans-Atlantic route between London's Heathrow and New York's JFK in under 3½ hours, had its first operational flight between the two hubs on October 19, 1977, and the last being on October 23, 2003.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The two main American intercity bus carriers; Greyhound Lines and during the period from 1999 to 2019 Coach USA, plus their subsidiaries are each owned by a major British transportation company FirstGroup with Greyhound and Stagecoach with Coach USA. Coach USA's budget brand Megabus which started in 2006, itself is a copycat of the British version of the discount coach company that started in 2003.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: In 2022, Britain announced that it would cease flights to the US over the problems with 5G network towers. It appears that the towers can interfere with the aircraft systems.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: In the 20th century, there were 78 formal and informal summits bringing together the president and the prime minister to deal with an agreed-upon agenda. The first was 1918, the second in 1929. The rest began in 1941, which marked the decline of ambassadors as the key transmitters of policy discussions. In three out of four of the summits, the British delegation traveled to America. Summits have become much less important in the 21st century, with its new communication modes.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: State visits involving the head of state have been made over the years by four presidents and two monarchs. Queen Elizabeth II has met all the presidents since Truman except Johnson. In addition, the Queen made three private visits in 1984, 1985, and 1991 to see stallion stations and stud farms.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The "Strategic Alliance Cyber Crime Working Group" is an initiative by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and headed by the United States as a "formal partnership between these nations dedicated to tackling larger global crime issues, particularly organised crime". The cooperation consists of "five countries from three continents banding together to fight cyber crime in a synergistic way by sharing intelligence, swapping tools and best practices, and strengthening and even synchronising their respective laws".


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Within this initiative, there is increased information sharing between the United Kingdom's National Crime Agency and the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation on matters relating to serious fraud or cyber crime.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The UK–USA Security Agreement is an alliance of five English-speaking countries; Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, for the sole purpose of sharing intelligence. The precursor to this agreement is essentially an extension of the historic BRUSA Agreement which was signed in 1943. In association with the ECHELON system, all five nations are assigned to intelligence collection and analysis from different parts of the world. For example, the United Kingdom hunts for communications in Europe, Africa, and European Russia whereas the United States has responsibility for gathering intelligence in Latin America, Asia, Asiatic Russia, and northern mainland China.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Since English is the main language of both the British and the Americans, both nations belong to the English-speaking world. Their common language comes with (relatively minor) differences in spelling, pronunciation, and the meaning of words.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The American legal system is largely based on English common law. The American system of local government is rooted in English precedents, such as the offices of county courts and sheriffs. Although the US remains more highly religious than Britain, the largest Protestant denominations emerged from British churches brought across the Atlantic, such as the Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists and Episcopalians.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Britain and the United States practice what is commonly referred to as an Anglo-Saxon economy in which levels of regulation and taxes are relatively low, and government provides a low to medium level of social services in return.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Independence Day, July 4, is a national celebration which commemorates the July 4, 1776, adoption of the Declaration of Independence from the British Empire. American defiance of Britain is expressed in the American national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner", written during the War of 1812 to the tune of a British celebratory song as the Americans beat off a British attack on Baltimore.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: It is estimated that between 40.2 million and 72.1 million Americans today have British ancestry, i.e. between 13% and 23.3% of the US population. In the 1980 US Census, 61,311,449 Americans reported British ancestry reaching 32.56% of the US population at the time which, even today, would make them the largest ancestry group in the United States.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Particular symbols of the close relationship between the two countries are the JFK Memorial and the American Bar Association's Magna Carta Memorial, both at Runnymede in England.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Both the United States and the United Kingdom share the similarity that a majority of their populations state that their belief is Christian, at 70.4% in the US and 59.5% in the UK. Also, in both countries the majority of Christian followers are members of the mainline Protestant group of churches, rather than the Roman Catholic Church, although the Catholic church is relatively sizeable in both countries. Many of these mainline Protestant churches in the United States have their origins in the United Kingdom or their founders were British. This includes Episcopal (Anglican), Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational, and Quaker.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Nevertheless, there are some three big disparities between the two nations in the role of religion and faith. Firstly, the United Kingdom has an established church in two of the four nations of the country; the Anglican Church of England, where the head of state is the head of the church in one, and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland which plays a notable role of the other. The United States on the other hand requires a strict separation of church and state, as stated in the First Amendment.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Another sizable difference between the US and the UK is the piety of followers, as the UK is much more secular than the US. A Gallup poll in 2015 reported that 41% of Americans said they regularly attend religious services, compared to just 10% of Britons. Thirdly, a preeminent distinction amidst the two countries is the declaration of faith. In the United Kingdom, religion, especially those that follow the mainstream Protestant churches, is rarely discussed and the country is a secular society. However, in the US, religion and faith are seen as a major part of the personal being and declarations are much more stronger.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The United Kingdom also has a large number of those possessing no faith or are agnostic with 25.7% saying they are irreligious, compared with just 10% in the United States who say that they don't believe in a God. Many notable British atheists including Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens are known in the US. The Atheist Bus campaign which started in London in 2008 by Ariane Sherine, was copied by local atheists in America and put on buses in Washington, D.C. and the Bloomington, Indiana.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The differing attitudes towards the religion among the US and the UK causes a large schism between the two nations, and much of the general attitude of the society as a whole on fundamental social issues including abortion, minority rights, blasphemy, the role of church and the state in society, etc.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Both the United States and the United Kingdom share a number of followers of other minority faiths, although the numbers and type of faith practice in both countries differ wildly due to the ethnic and cultural makeup of both countries. The other minority faiths that are practiced in both countries include Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Paganism and Buddhism.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Many classic dishes or foods from American cuisine such as hamburgers, hot dogs, barbecue chicken, southern fried chicken, deep-pan pizza, chewing gum, tomato soup, chilli-con-carne, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate brownies, soft-scoop ice cream and donuts are popular in the United Kingdom. Drinks like cola, milkshakes and bourbon are also popular. A number of major American food trends and fads have also been popular and influential in the British palate, for example weight management diets and craft beer.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Some American foods, like cornflakes, baked beans and crisps (known as potato chips in the United States), have become so entrenched in the UK's food culture that they have completely lost their American roots and are considered part of British cuisine. Breakfast cereals like corn flakes, bran flakes and puffed rice came from the US to the UK in the beginning of twentieth century, and virtually changed the perception of breakfasts locally.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Some British foods have been just as nativised in the US such as apple pie, macaroni and cheese and sandwiches. British cuisine was a major influence on the cuisine of the Southern United States, including fried chicken. British foods like fish and chips, shepherd's pie, Sunday Roast, Afternoon Tea and gingerbread are also entrenched in American food culture. Drinking culture in the US has been heavily influenced by Britain, especially the introduction of whisky and certain styles of beer in the colonial period. By the late 20th Century, British cuisine was sometimes stereotyped as being unappealing in the United States, although British cuisine is commonly eaten there. This reputation has been attributed to the impact that WWII rationing had on British cuisine in the mid-20th Century.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Many major American food and fast moving consumer goods companies have British operations including Molson Coors, McCormick & Company, Kellogg's, Campbell's, Kraft-Heinz, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola & Mondelez The major British food manufacturers that operate in the United States are Unilever, Associated British Foods and Diageo. The purchase of the British food company Cadbury's by the American company Kraft Foods in 2010, caused a storm on whether the company would change the recipe for its signature chocolate and the conditions at Cadbury's food factories.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Additionally, there are several American restaurant and café chains like McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Domino's Pizza, Pizza Hut, Krispy Kreme, and Starbucks that have enterprises on the other side of the Atlantic. A small number of British chains like Pret a Manger, YO! Sushi and Itsu have operations in the US, principally around New York City. The British catering company Compass Group has several catering contracts in the States, including for the federal government and US military.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Since the 2016 EU referendum, there has been growing concern about whether in a possible UK–US free trade agreement would lead to changes in food practices and laws in the UK. The concern is that American food standards laws are much more looser than the UK, such as rules governing cleanliness, the use of antibiotics and pesticides, animal welfare conditions and the use of genetically modified food. Much of these concerns have been symbolised by the production process of American poultry, often known as "chlorinated chicken".


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Both the US and UK are considered "cultural superpowers", with both countries having a large scale influence around the world in film, music, literature, and television.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Literature is transferred across the Atlantic Ocean, as evidenced by the appeal of British authors such as William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, J. R. R. Tolkien, Jackie Collins, and J. K. Rowling in the United States, and American authors such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King and Dan Brown in Britain. Henry James moved to Britain and was well known in both countries, as was T. S. Eliot. Eliot moved to England in 1914 and became a British subject in 1927. He was a dominant figure in literary criticism and greatly influenced the Modern period of British literature.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: In the UK, many noted American novels including "The" "Catcher in the Rye", "Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry""," "Of Mice & Men", & "The Color Purple" are frequently used texts for British secondary-level education English and English Literature exams as set by the main examination boards.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: In area of press, connections between the US and the UK in terms of print content there is slight, however it is strong in online content. Until 2016, a condensed version of "The New York Times" was inside "The Observer" newspaper. In some newsagents in the UK, you can find international editions of "USA Today", "The New York Times International Edition", the Europe edition of "Time", "Newsweek", "The New Yorker", "New York" magazine and "Foreign Affairs". While in the US you would be able to find the international edition of "The Economist" and in New York City, the "Financial Times". After Rupert Murdoch's purchase of the "New York Post" in November 1976, he redesigned the newspaper into a populist right-wing tabloid, likewise his earlier relaunch of the British "Sun" newspaper as a down-market tabloid from 1969.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: In magazine publishing, the two big American magazine publishing houses of Hearst and Condé Nast have operations in the UK, with British editions of "Good Housekeeping", "GQ", "Men's Health", "Cosmopolitan", "Vogue", "National Geographic" and "Wired" among others. On occasions, some of the American editions are also available for purchase usually next to the local edition or in the international section. In British magazines in the US, Northern & Shell has since 2005 created an American version of "OK!" magazine.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: There are a number of Americans and British in each other countries' press corp, including editors, correspondents, journalists and columnists. Individuals born in the United States active in the British press corp include the "FT"s news editor Peter Spiegel, "Daily Telegraph" columnist Janet Daley, and "Guardian" columnists Tim Dowling and Hadley Freeman. Originally from the UK were Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) and the current editor of Vogue, Anna Wintour. The current CEO of The New York Times Company is the former Director-General of the BBC (effectively a CEO), Mark Thompson. The current editor-in-chief of the London-based "Guardian" since 2015, Katharine Viner was previously the editor of "The Guardian"s American website between 2014 and 2015.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: In terms of online content, three newspaper-online sites have American editions, TheGuardian.com, Mail Online and "The Independent". BBC News Online is a frequently visited by Americans. The American online news sites BuzzFeed, Breitbart News and "HuffPost" (formerly "The Huffington Post") all possess British-based editions.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: There is much crossover appeal in the modern entertainment culture of the United Kingdom and the United States. For example, Hollywood blockbuster movies made by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have had a large effect on British audiences in the United Kingdom, while the James Bond and Harry Potter series of films have attracted high interest in the United States. Also, the animated films of Walt Disney as well as those of Pixar, DreamWorks, Don Bluth, Blue Sky, Illumination and others have continued to make an indelible mark and impression on British audiences, young and old, for almost 100 years. Films by Alfred Hitchcock continuously make a lasting impact on a loyal fan base in the United States, as Alfred Hitchcock himself influenced notable American filmmakers such as John Carpenter, in the horror and slasher film genres.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Production of films are often shared between the two nations, whether it be a concentrated use of British and American actors or the use of film studios located in London or Hollywood.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Broadway theatre in New York City has toured London's West End theatre over the years, with notable performances such as "The Lion King", "Grease", "Wicked", and "Rent". British productions, such as "Mamma Mia!" and several of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals, including "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", "Cats" and "The Phantom of the Opera" have found success on Broadway. For over 150 years, Shakespeare's plays have been overwhelmingly popular with upscale American audiences.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Both the United Kingdom and the United States have television shows which are similar, as they are either carried by the other nations' networks, or are re-created for distribution in their own nations. Some popular British television programmes that were re-created for the American market in more recent years include "House of Cards", "The Office", "Pop Idol" ("American Idol"), "Strictly Come Dancing" ("Dancing with the Stars)", "Top Gear", "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", "Weakest Link" and "The X Factor". Some American television shows re-created for the British market in more recent years include "The Apprentice" and "Deal or No Deal". Many American television shows have been popular in the United Kingdom.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The BBC airs two networks in the United States, BBC America and BBC World News. The American network PBS collaborates with the BBC and rebroadcasts British television shows in the United States such as "Doctor Who", "Keeping Up Appearances", "Masterpiece Theatre", "Monty Python's Flying Circus", "Nova". The BBC also frequently collaborates with American network HBO, showing recent American mini-series in the United Kingdom such as "Band of Brothers", "The Gathering Storm", "John Adams", and "Rome". Likewise, the American network Discovery Channel has partnered with the BBC by televising recent British mini-series in the United States such as "Planet Earth" and "The Blue Planet", the latter popularly known as "The Blue Planet: Seas of Life" in the American format. The United States' public affairs channel C-SPAN, broadcasts Prime Minister's Questions every Sunday.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: On some British digital television platforms, it is also possible to watch American television channels that are tailored for British audiences such as CNBC Europe, CNN International, ESPN Classic, Comedy Central, PBS America and Fox. The Super Bowl, the National Football League's championship tournament of American football which occurs every February, has been broadcast in the United Kingdom since 1982. Conversely, the Premier League has been shown on NBC Sports Network in the United States. Until 2017, Formula One television coverage in the United States has used an American-based team but the announcers are British; from 2018 Sky Sports has taken over Formula One coverage through ESPN2.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Compared to music and television broadcasting, radio broadcasting is limited between both sides of the pond. There are several reasons for this. The major one is that the majority of radio broadcasting in the United States is commercial and funded by advertising and the small network of public radio stations are supported by donations, compared to the United Kingdom where the national public broadcaster, the BBC is the major player which funded by the obligatory television licence. This leads to a completely different structure of number and type of radio stations and its broadcasting schedules.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Other factors include differing technical standards of radio broadcasting. This is influenced by their countries' broadcasting authorities which shapes over-the-air radio. In the UK, it is influenced by authorities of Ofcom and the EBU which are working towards DAB and DRM. While in the United States, it influenced by FCC which is working towards HD Radio.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The British international broadcasting station, the BBC World Service is syndicated on various major city public radio stations in the United States such as WNYC, and on SiriusXM satellite radio, through the broadcaster American Public Media. The American international broadcaster, Voice of America has no remit in be needed to be heard in the UK, so it doesn't broadcast there and none of its programmes is relayed on domestic stations. In a resource-saving exercise between the two international broadcasters, Voice of America shares its transmission towers with the BBC World Service to help of shortwave transmissions in remote areas.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Internet radio and streaming services are growing in popularity in both countries, however listening to each other's feeds are hampered by the countries' broadcasting rights. This causes the internet radio feeds of American and British radio stations are sometimes blocked or on restricted bandwidth. For example, BBC Radio 2 is on a 128 kbit/s AAC domestic stream, while internationally it's on a 48 kbit/s AAC+ stream. However both the American and the British international broadcasters Voice of America and the BBC World Service is fully accessible online in each other's countries. Streaming services that are popular in both countries include the American TuneIn, Apple Music and Swedish-owned Spotify. The other major services in the US like Pandora Radio and Radio.com don't operate in the UK, and are inaccessible.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: In the past before the Second World War, connections between the United States and the United Kingdom in the radio industry was virtually unheard of. Radio in the UK was not influenced by the US, due to the vast distance, and the only regular services that were heard was the BBC and the "pirate" station Radio Luxembourg.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: When the Americans joined the war as part of the Allies, some soldiers were billeted in the UK in which the BBC provided programming for these people. So the Forces Programme, broadcast many popular American variety shows such as "Charlie McCarthy", "The Bob Hope Show", and "The Jack Benny Program." As the Forces Programme, and the subsequent General Forces Programme, was easily available for civilians they were also heard by domestic audiences.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: After the War in 1946 on the Home Service, the BBC started to broadcast the factual programme "Letter from America", which was presented by Alistair Cooke, bring informing about the States to British audiences until Cook's death in 2004. It was one of the BBC's longest-running radio programmes, broadcasting on the Home Service, and continuing on BBC Radio 4. It was also relayed on the BBC World Service. The programme itself was based on a similar programme by Alistair Cooke in the 1930s for American listeners about life in the UK on the NBC Red Network. After Letter from America, the BBC continued with a factual programme about the States in "Americana" from 2009 to 2011, presented by the resident American correspondent.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: As of 2019, the BBC co-produced with Public Radio International and WGBH Boston, a weekly factual programme called "The World", which is broadcast on various American public radio stations. Parts of the show are put together for a shorter programme called "Boston Calling", which is available on Radio 4 and the domestic feed of the World Service. There have been attempts in the past to bring British formats to American audiences, such as the News Quiz USA. From 2005 to 2011, a time-shifted version of BBC Radio 1 was available on Sirius satellite radio. While in the UK, "A Prairie Home Companion" (called Garrison Keillor's Radio Show) was available weekly from 2002 on BBC7 to 2016, on BBC Radio 4 Extra.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: There has been a number of American personalities that have been on British airwaves including music journalist Paul Gambaccini, disc jockey Suzi Quattro and comedians Rich Hall and Greg Proops. While New Zealand-born disc jockey Zane Lowe, who spent much of career in the UK was recruited to Apple's Beats 1 station in the United States.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: American artists such as Whitney Houston, Madonna, Tina Turner, Cher, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Guns N' Roses, Diana Ross, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Frank Sinatra, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, are popular in the United Kingdom. British artists such as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Sting, The Who, Queen, Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Rod Stewart, the Spice Girls, the Bee Gees, Amy Winehouse, KT Tunstall, Leona Lewis, Elton John (Elton John recorded "Candle in the Wind" which, to date, is the best ever selling single worldwide), Coldplay and Adele have achieved much success in the large American market. Undoubtedly, the popular music of both nations has had a strong sway on each other.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: In the United Kingdom, many Hollywood films as well as Broadway musicals are closely associated and identified with the musical scores and soundtracks created by famous American composers such as George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Henry Mancini, John Williams, Alan Silvestri, Jerry Goldsmith, and James Horner.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The Celtic music of the United Kingdom has had a dynamic effect upon American music. In particular, the traditional music of the Southern United States is descended from traditional Celtic music and English folk music of the colonial period, and the musical traditions of the South eventually gave rise to country music and, to a lesser extent, American folk.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The birth of jazz, swing, big band, and especially rock and roll, all developed and originating in the United States, had greatly influenced the later development of rock music in the United Kingdom, particularly British rock bands such as The Beatles and Herman's Hermits, The Rolling Stones, while its American precursor, the blues, greatly influenced British electric rock.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Despite sports being a major cultural interest in both the United States and the United Kingdom, there is little overlap in their most popular sports. The most popular team sports in the UK are football (soccer), rugby union, rugby league and cricket, while the most popular sports in the US are [American] football, baseball, ice hockey and basketball. The most popular sports in each country are considered minor sports in the other, with growing interest. Both nations are among the strongest in the world in all time sporting success, with the United States being the most successful sports nation in the world.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: In the current 2019-2020 season, three Americans are in the FA's top-tier Premier League: Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), and DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United). All three players play for the U. S. national team, although only Pulisic is on the current team, while the others are in reserve. The current team also has two more players from the second tier EFL Championship, Tim Ream (Fulham) and Matt Miagza (Reading).


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: In the current Major League Soccer 2019 season, there are eight English players playing; Mo Adams (Atlanta United), Jack Elliott (Philadelphia Union), Michael Mancienne (New England Revolution), Luke Mulholland (Real Salt Lake), Nedum Onuoha (Real Salt Lake), Dion Pereira (Atlanta United), Jack Price (Colorado Rapids), and Bradley Wright-Phillips (New York Red Bulls). There are also four Scottish players playing in the 2019 season; Gary Mackay-Steven (New York City FC), Sam Nicholson (Colorado Rapids), Johnny Russell (Sporting Kansas City) & Danny Wilson (Colorado Rapids). Only Johnny Russell currently plays for the Scottish national team, while none of the English players play for their national team. The most noted former English players are former national team captains David Beckham, who played from 2007 to 2012 for the LA Galaxy, and Wayne Rooney, who played from 2018 to 2020 for DC United.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The men's national teams of England and the US played at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The match ended in a 1–1 draw. They also recently played in the 2022 World Cup, with their match ending in a 0-0 draw. Along with the 1950 World Cup win for the US over England, the US has played England at the World Cup 3 times and remains undefeated against them. The Premier League can be watched in the United States on NBC Sports, while a few MLS games can be watched in the UK on Sky Sports.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Five US Women's National Team players currently play in the Football Association Women's Super League: Alex Morgan (Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Women), Christen Press (Manchester United W.F.C.), Tobin Heath (Manchester United W.F.C.), Rose Lavelle (Manchester City W.F.C.), and Samantha Mewis (Manchester City W.F.C.).


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The National Women's Soccer League currently hosts two English players, Rachel Daly (Houston Dash), and Jodie Taylor (OL Reign), as well as two Scottish players, Rachel Corsie (Utah Royals FC), and Claire Emslie (Orlando Pride), and one Welsh player, Jess Fishlock (OL Reign).


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The last competitive match between the women's national teams of England and the US was during the 2020 SheBelieves Cup in Orlando, Florida, on March 5, 2020. The United States women's national soccer team won by 2 goals, with one goal from Christen Press, and the other from Carli Lloyd. The England women's national football team did not score. The United States women's national soccer team went on to win the title, defeating the Japan women's national football team in the final.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Gridiron football, which is known in the United Kingdom as American football, originated from two British sports, association football and rugby union football. It came about in the later part of the 19th century due to the development into a separate code and led to becoming a separate sport from the other codes of football. Gridiron was in the past only known and played in UK by visiting American servicemen; firstly in 1910, by navy crews from "USS Georgia, USS Idaho" and "USS Vermont", and then in the Second World War by UK-based service personnel. (The other gridiron code, Canadian football, is hardly known in UK.)


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: It was not until the TV network Channel 4 started showing the highlights of the American NFL in 1982, that the sport became acknowledged by the British sporting world. Due to unfamiliarity of the sport, television guides and newspapers had printed out guides explaining the sport. A year later, the first match between two British teams the London Ravens and the Northwich Spartans was played, in that game the Ravens won. Later in the 1980s, the sport grew and rival teams started to play, which was helped by support from various American players, coaches and sponsors like Coca-Cola & Budweiser. In 1986, the first ever official NFL game to play at the home of English sport, Wembley between the Chicago Bears and the Dallas Cowboys.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: However, by the early 1990s due to the recession, Channel 4 stopping regular showings of the NFL in 1997 and falling interest, it lost its popularity. Nevertheless, the Super Bowl has continued been regularly shown on British television and the NFL has been broadcast by other broadcasters including ITV, Channel 5, ESPN UK, British Eurosport and the current broadcaster, Sky Sports.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: In 2007 the NFL returned to Wembley with a regular season game between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants. There has been a further games played at Wembley since with an average attendance of well over 80,000. Due to this, there has also been growing interest to set up a resident NFL franchise in London, with Jacksonville Jaguars being the most likely team to relocate to the city. As of 2019, noted currently playing British gridiron players are Carolina Panthers defensive end, Nigerian-born Efe Obada and Atlanta Falcons tight end, Alex Grey.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The first recorded writings about a sport called ""base-ball"" came in the mid-18th century when a version of the sport played indoors in 1748 in London, where it was played by then Prince of Wales, George III, and played outside in 1755 in the southern English town of Guildford. It was later brought over to the United States by British immigrants, where it developed in the modern version of the sport in the early 19th century in the creation and fountain of the modern baseball rule book, the Knickerbocker Rules in 1845. Eventually, it suppressed the popularity of the other notable ball-and-bat sport which was played in the US at the time which was cricket, by the end of the 19th century.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Baseball was first brought over to the United Kingdom end of the 19th century, by Francis Ley, a Derby man who had 'discovered' the game on a trip to the United States, and Albert Goodwill Spalding, an American former star player and sporting goods businessman who saw opportunities to expand his business across the Atlantic. This continued with the establishment of the National Baseball League of Great Britain and Ireland in 1890, with many of current famous football teams like Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Derby County were also baseball teams.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: Like the other noted American sport of gridiron, during the First World War visiting US service personnel from the US Army and Navy did a demonstration game at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge in 1918. This was received to a crowd of 38,000 people which even included the king George V. This led to into a growing interest in the game across the Atlantic, and baseball teams were created during the inter-wars. This led to a peak in 1938 when there was a victory by Great Britain over the United States in the 1938 Amateur World Series which was held in England, which is considered the first World Cup of Baseball.


title: United Kingdom–United States relations

text: The popularity of baseball in the United Kingdom diminished during and after the Second World War by other sports and today, baseball isn't widely played among Britons. Notwithstanding, Major League Baseball and the show "Baseball Tonight are" available to watch the United Kingdom on the BT Sport ESPN channel. On a growing back of interest in American sports, in 2018 Major League Baseball agreed a two-year deal to field four games a year during the 2019 and 2020 seasons at the London Stadium under the name 2019 MLB London Series. The games are between the four big teams; the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago Cubs and the St Louis Cardinals. These games are available to watch not just on BT Sport, but also the BBC. John Spinks, leader of rock band The Outfield, was a notable British fan of baseball, whose terminology he used to name his band.


title: Ahmed Best

text: Ahmed Best (born August 19, 1973) is an American actor, comedian and musician. He is known for providing motion capture and the voice of the character of Jar Jar Binks in the "Star Wars" franchise.


title: Ahmed Best

text: Best likewise collaborated with director George Lucas in three films and seven episodes of the cartoon show, "". He won the Annie Award for Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production for lampooning Jar Jar Binks in "".


title: Ahmed Best

text: Ahmed Best was born in New York City on August 19, 1973. Born in Roosevelt Hospital, he lived the majority of his formative years in the Soundview section of the Bronx, before moving to Maplewood, New Jersey in 1984. He attended Columbia High School, graduating in 1991. He then studied percussion at the Manhattan School of Music.


title: Ahmed Best

text: He is the younger brother of Dunia Best Sinnreich, lead singer and co-founder of Brave New Girl, Dubistry and Agent 99 and formerly with The Slackers.


title: Ahmed Best

text: In 1994, Best joined the acid jazz group The Jazzhole. He contributed to the success of the group for two years. He co-wrote and co-produced three albums for the group including "The Jazzhole", "And the Feeling Goes Around", and "The Beat is the Bomb". In 1995, he co-wrote and co-produced "Escape" by Bill Evans.


title: Ahmed Best

text: In 1995, he joined the Obie Award winning cast of "Stomp". He toured with the cast of "Stomp" throughout the US and Europe.


title: Ahmed Best

text: In 1997, after casting director Robin Gurland had observed his flexible, athletic movements in "Stomp," Ahmed was cast as Jar Jar Binks in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy (1999–2005). He reprised the role on the (as well as ), "", and on an episode of Stephen Colbert's "The Colbert Report". Best said he put a lot of himself into the character, so when Jar Jar drew hostility from audiences, it sometimes extended toward the actor or he otherwise interpreted it personally. The character of Jar Jar Binks was so disliked that Best considered suicide. Best later appeared with fellow "Star Wars" alumni Dee Bradley Baker, James Arnold Taylor, and Daran Norris on the TV show "Big Time Rush".


title: Ahmed Best

text: In 2008, he also wrote, directed, and produced the pilot for a television show called "This Can't Be My Life".


title: Ahmed Best

text: In late May 2020, Lucasfilm announced that Best would be starring as Jedi Master Kelleran Beq in a game-show called "", with a scheduled release date of June 3, 2020. It was later reported that "Jedi Temple Challenge" release date had been delayed until June 10 as a result of the unrest surrounding George Floyd's murder.


title: Kim Hunter

text: Kim Hunter (born Janet Cole; November 11, 1922 – September 11, 2002) was an American theatre, film, and television actress. She achieved prominence for portraying Stella Kowalski in the original production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire", which she reprised for the 1951 film adaptation, and won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.


title: Kim Hunter

text: Decades later, she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for her work on the soap opera "The Edge of Night". She also portrayed the chimpanzee Zira in "Planet of the Apes" (1968), and its sequels "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" (1970) and "Escape from the Planet of the Apes" (1971).


title: Kim Hunter

text: Hunter was born in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Grace Lind, who was trained as a concert pianist, and Donald Cole, a refrigeration engineer. She was of English and Welsh descent. Hunter attended Miami Beach High School.


title: Kim Hunter

text: Hunter's first film role was in the 1943 film noir "The Seventh Victim", and her first starring role was in the 1946 British fantasy film "A Matter of Life and Death". In 1947, she was Stella Kowalski on stage in the original Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." Recreating that role in the 1951 film version, Hunter won both the Academy and Golden Globe awards for Best Supporting Actress. In the interim, however, in 1948, she had already joined with "Streetcar" co-stars Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, and 47 others, to become one of the first members accepted by the newly created Actors Studio.


title: Kim Hunter

text: Hunter was blacklisted from film and television in the 1950s, amid suspicions of communism in Hollywood, during the era of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).


title: Kim Hunter

text: In 1956, with the HUAC's influence subsiding, she co-starred in Rod Serling's Peabody Award-winning teleplay on "Playhouse 90", "Requiem for a Heavyweight". The telecast won multiple Emmy Awards, including Best Single Program of the Year. She appeared opposite Mickey Rooney in the 1957 live CBS-TV broadcast of "The Comedian," another drama written by Rod Serling and directed by John Frankenheimer. In 1959, she appeared in "Rawhide" in "Incident of the Misplaced Indians" as Amelia Spaulding. In 1962, she appeared in the NBC medical drama "The Eleventh Hour" in the role of Virginia Hunter in the episode "Of Roses and Nightingales and Other Lovely Things". In 1963, Hunter appeared as Anita Anson on the ABC medical drama "Breaking Point" in the episode "Crack in an Image". In 1964 Hunter appeared in the 'Alfred Hitchcock Hour' episode "The Evil of Adelaide Winters" in the title role. In 1965, she appeared twice as Emily Field in the NBC TV medical series "Dr. Kildare." In 1967, she appeared in the pilot episode of "Mannix". On February 4, 1968, she appeared as Ada Halle in the NBC TV Western series "Bonanza" in the episode "The Price of Salt".


title: Kim Hunter

text: Her other major film roles include the love interest of David Niven's character in the film "A Matter of Life and Death" (1946), and Zira, the sympathetic chimpanzee scientist in the 1968 film "Planet of the Apes" and two sequels. She also appeared in several radio and TV soap operas, most notably as Hollywood actress Nola Madison in ABC's "The Edge of Night," for which she received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1980. In 1979, she appeared as First Lady Ellen Axson Wilson in the serial drama "Backstairs at the White House."


title: Kim Hunter

text: Hunter starred in the controversial TV movie "Born Innocent" (1974) playing the mother of Linda Blair's character. She also starred in several episodes of the "CBS Radio Mystery Theater" during the mid-1970s. In 1971, she appeared in an episode of "Cannon." In the same year, she starred in a "Columbo" episode "Suitable for Framing". In 1973, she appeared twice on Lorne Greene's short-lived ABC crime drama "Griff," including the episode "The Last Ballad", in which she portrayed Dr. Martha Reed, a physician held by police in the death of a patient. In 1974, she appeared on Raymond Burr's "Ironside". In 1977, she appeared on the NBC Western series "The Oregon Trail" starring Rod Taylor, in the episode "The Waterhole", which also featured Lonny Chapman.


title: Kim Hunter

text: Hunter's last film role in a major motion picture was in Clint Eastwood's 1997 film, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil". In it, Hunter portrayed Betty Harty, legal secretary for real-life Savannah lawyer Sonny Seiler.


title: Kim Hunter

text: Hunter was married twice, first to William Baldwin, a Marine Corps pilot, in 1944. The couple had a daughter, Kathryn Deirdre (b. 1944), before divorcing two years later. She wed Robert Emmett in 1951. They had a son, Sean Robert, in 1954. Hunter and Emmett would occasionally perform together in stage plays; he died in 2000.


title: Kim Hunter

text: Hunter was a lifelong progressive Democrat. She died in New York City on September 11, 2002, of a heart attack at the age of 79. Her ashes were given to her daughter—an attorney, civic leader, and former judge in Connecticut—after cremation.


title: Kim Hunter

text: Hunter received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures at 1615 Vine Street and a second for television at 1715 Vine Street.


title: ISO 639-1

text: ISO 639-1:2002, "Codes for the representation of names of languages—Part 1: Alpha-2 code", is the first part of the ISO 639 series of international standards for language codes. Part 1 covers the registration of two-letter codes. There are 183 two-letter codes registered as of June 2021. The registered codes cover the world's major languages.


title: ISO 639-1

text: Many multilingual web sites—such as Wikipedia—use these codes to prefix URLs of specific language versions of their web sites: for example, en.Wikipedia.org is the English version of Wikipedia. See also IETF language tag. (Two-letter country-specific top-level-domain code suffixes are often different from these language-tag prefixes).


title: ISO 639-1

text: ISO 639, the original standard for language codes, was approved in 1967. It was split into parts, and in 2002 ISO 639-1 became the new revision of the original standard. The last code added was codice_1, representing Haitian Creole on 2003-02-26. The use of the standard was encouraged by IETF language tags, introduced in RFC 1766 in March 1995, and continued by RFC 3066 from January 2001 and RFC 4646 from September 2006. The current version is RFC 5646 from September 2009. Infoterm (International Information Center for Terminology) is the registration authority for ISO 639-1 codes.


title: ISO 639-1

text: New ISO 639-1 codes are not added if an ISO 639-2 code exists, so systems that use ISO 639-1 and 639-2 codes, with 639-1 codes preferred, do not have to change existing codes.


title: ISO 639-1

text: If an ISO 639-2 code that covers a group of languages is used, it might be overridden for some specific languages by a new ISO 639-1 code.


title: Electron configurations of the elements (data page)

text: This page shows the electron configurations of the neutral gaseous atoms in their ground states. For each atom the subshells are given first in concise form, then with all subshells written out, followed by the number of electrons per shell. Electron configurations of elements beyond hassium (element 108) have never been measured; predictions are used below.


text: As an approximate rule, electron configurations are given by the . However there are numerous exceptions; for example the lightest exception is chromium, which would be predicted to have the configuration , written as , but whose actual configuration given in the table below is .


text: Note that these electron configurations are given for neutral atoms in the gas phase, which are not the same as the electron configurations for the same atoms in chemical environments. In many cases, multiple configurations are within a small range of energies and the irregularities shown below do not necessarily have a clear relation to chemical behaviour. For the undiscovered eighth-row elements, mixing of configurations is expected to be very important, and sometimes the result can no longer be well-described by a single configuration.


text: This website is also cited in the CRC Handbook as source of Section 1, subsection Electron Configuration of Neutral Atoms in the Ground State.


text: This book contains predicted electron configurations for the elements up to 172, as well as 184, based on relativistic Dirac–Fock calculations by B. Fricke in


title: Brian Thompson

text: Brian Earl Thompson (born August 28, 1959) is an American actor. His career began with a small role in the 1984 film "The Terminator". He played the villainous "Night Slasher" in the 1986 film "Cobra". His first named role was on "Werewolf", a horror series that ran during Fox's inaugural broadcasting year of 1987–1988. Thompson has played several characters in the "Star Trek" franchise—the most notable being the Klingon Lieutenant Klag in which he informed Riker that “Gagh is always best when served live”< https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/d87b428c-f27c-455e-9377-348f2c9265b1>, the Alien Bounty Hunter on "The X-Files", and Eddie Fiori on "". In 2014, he produced, wrote and starred in the B movie parody "The Extendables".


title: Brian Thompson

text: Thompson was born in Ellensburg, Washington, and raised in Longview. He attended Central Washington University, where he studied business management, played football, and appeared in many school productions. He then moved to California and earned a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Irvine. He initially trained and pursued a career in musical theater, performing at Riverside Civil Light Opera's production of "The King and I", Long Beach Civic Light Opera's "Bittersweet", and several other musicals. In 1982, he was a resident actor at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.


title: Brian Thompson

text: Thompson's athletic build and unique facial structure were key in the initial roles he was offered. He has stated that it has occasionally been a double-edged sword when it comes to auditioning for roles, but it has provided him with consistent work. Thompson said, "If you're very physical in stature, you're gonna get hired for action movies. The star's always going to be chasing someone so they need an equal adversary. I'm never going to play a nebbish geek."


title: Brian Thompson

text: Thompson was cast in "The Terminator" while still in school. He and Bill Paxton had minor roles as punk thugs.


title: Brian Thompson

text: He followed that up with roles on "Moonlighting", "Otherworld", "Street Hawk" and "Knight Rider" before landing the role in the Sylvester Stallone vehicle, "Cobra" (1986). Although the film was critically panned, it was a commercial success. "The New York Times" wrote of Thompson's portrayal, "the archvillain, a character that is a cross between a James Bond fantasy villain such as Jaws and a raging psychopath, delivers a scorching monologue – a feat of linguistic sophistication that Cobra would have a hard time matching."


title: Brian Thompson

text: In 1993, Thompson landed another comedic role on the large ensemble series "Key West" which was filmed on location in the Florida Keys. The series lasted for 13 episodes. He played a "new-age sheriff", which Thompson stated was the favorite role of his career. The character uttered the introductory line, "I'm Sheriff Cody Jeremiah Jefferson. I'm a direct descendant of Wyatt Earp and the Lone Ranger. My personal heroes are Ted Nugent, Buddha and Davy Crockett. I am the last real lawman and the first peace officer of the 21st century."


title: Brian Thompson

text: The following year, Thompson began his tenure on "The X-Files" and followed that with roles in the science fiction-fantasy series "Seven Days", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Charmed". Between these, Thompson made dozens of appearances in other series and films. In 1996, he appeared in "Dragonheart" as Brok, the commander of the armies of David Thewlis' villainous king, Einon. The fantasy film, starring Dennis Quaid and Sean Connery, was a moderate success.


title: Brian Thompson

text: Thompson then returned to the big screen as lead antagonist Shao Kahn in the film adaptation of "". "The New York Times" called it "colossal compendium of logic-defying martial arts, noisy, hyperactive special effects..." In 2014, Thompson released "The Extendables", a film he produced, wrote, and starred in. A parody of movies like "The Expendables", Thompson stated that it contained true-to-life instances from his own career. It was released via iTunes.


title: Brian Thompson

text: In 1989, Thompson landed his first "Star Trek" role on "". His size worked against him at first, because the producers were originally looking to cast someone who could fit in a certain costume. He was able to convince them to give him a try: "That was the first of five auditions that I've had for "Star Trek" and they've hired me every time." Thompson played a Klingon in the episode "A Matter of Honor". In 1993 and 1996, he appeared in episodes of "" as different characters. In 1994, he appeared in the feature film "Star Trek Generations".


title: Brian Thompson

text: In 2005, Thompson was cast as Admiral Valdore in three episodes of "". Thompson has since participated in Star Trek fandom, giving narrative DVD extras and appearing at conventions.


title: Brian Thompson

text: Thompson is a stand up paddle surfing, windsurfing and kitesurfing enthusiast and studies hapkido. He has two children, Daphne and Jordan.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: The federative units of Brazil () are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy (self-government, self-regulation and self-collection) and endowed with their own government and constitution, which together form the Federative Republic of Brazil. There are 26 states (') and one federal district ('). The states are generally based on historical, conventional borders which have developed over time. The states are divided into municipalities, while the Federal District assumes the competences of both a state and a municipality.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: The government of each state of Brazil is divided into executive, legislative and judiciary branches.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: The state executive branch is headed by a state governor and includes a vice governor, both elected by the citizens of the state. The governor appoints several secretaries of state (each one in charge of a given portfolio) and the state attorney-general.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: The state legislative branch is the legislative assembly, a unicameral body composed of deputies elected by the citizens of the state.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: The judiciary in each of the states is composed of judges of law, who constitute the courts of first instance, and a Court of Justice, which is the court of second instance of the state and is composed of judges called "desembargadores". Judges qualify through exams or are appointed.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: The states are divided into municipalities, which have different competences and are considered autonomous from the states. Municipalities have a mayor, vice mayor and a chamber of aldermen, all elected by the citizens of the municipality, but do not have a separate judiciary.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: The Federal District has the same executive, legislative and judiciary organization as a state, but it cannot be divided into municipalities, which is why its territory is composed of several administrative regions. These regions are directly managed by the government of the Federal District, which exercises constitutional and legal powers that are equivalent to those of the states, as well as those of the municipalities, thus simultaneously assuming all the obligations arising from them.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: Fernando de Noronha is not a municipality, but a state district of Pernambuco (the only state district in the country). It is governed by an administrator-general, appointed by the governor of Pernambuco, and a council whose members are elected by the citizens of the district.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: All states and the Federal District are represented in the national congress, each with three senators and between eight and 70 deputies, depending on their population. The citizens of all states and the Federal District vote for these national representatives and for president and vice president.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: The present states of Brazil trace their history directly to the captaincies established by Portugal following the Treaty of Tordesillas which divided the World between Portugal and Spain.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: The first administrative divisions of Brazil were the hereditary captaincies ("capitanias hereditárias"), stretches of land granted by the Portuguese Crown to noblemen or merchants with a charter to colonize the land. The first such captaincy was the island of São João, granted in 1504 to Fernão de Loronha. The continental land was divided into captaincies in 1534, generally following lines of latitude, although some followed meridians or diagonal lines. Each of the holders of these captaincies was referred to as a captain donatary ("capitão donatário"). The captaincies were to be inherited by the holders' descendants, but the Crown retained the power to reacquire them.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: In 1549, the Portuguese Crown appointed Tomé de Sousa as the first governor-general of the vast Portuguese dominion in South America, known as the State of Brazil ("Estado do Brasil"). In 1621, the northern part of the dominion was detached, becoming a separate entity known as the State of Maranhão. However, captaincies continued existing under both states as regional administrations.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: During the Iberian Union (1580–1640), which allowed Portuguese settlers to enter Spanish domains, the territory of Portuguese colonial domains in South America was more than doubled, with both states of Brazil and Maranhão greatly expanding westward. After the union ended, Portugal asserted its territorial claims, which Spain eventually accepted with the Treaty of Madrid in 1750. Several captaincies were created or merged during this period, in both the original and western domains, and some were returned to the Crown, becoming royal captaincies.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: The government of the Marquis of Pombal (1750–1777) significantly centralized the administration of the Portuguese colonies. By 1759, all captaincies had been returned to the Crown, with captains becoming appointed rather than recognized by inheritance. Some captaincies were designated as captaincies-general, to which other captaincies were subordinated. In addition, the State of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro and the State of Maranhão and Piauí, which had been split from the State of Maranhão, were reincorporated into the State of Brazil in 1775, under a single governor-general. This centralization later helped to keep Brazil as a unified nation-state, avoiding fragmentation similar to that of the Spanish domains.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: The captaincies became provinces in 1821, during the final years of the Kingdom of Brazil (united with Portugal), and maintained that designation after independence in 1822 under the Empire of Brazil. Most internal boundaries were kept unchanged from the end of the colonial period, generally following natural features such as rivers and mountain ridges. Some changes were made to suit domestic politics (transferring the Triângulo Mineiro from Goiás to Minas Gerais, transferring the south bank of the São Francisco River from Pernambuco to Minas Gerais and later to Bahia, separating the capital city of Rio de Janeiro as a Neutral Municipality outside of any province, splitting Amazonas from Pará, and splitting Paraná from São Paulo), as well as international border adjustments resulting from diplomatic settlement of territorial disputes. The Cisplatine Province was annexed into Brazil in 1821, declared independence as Uruguay in 1825, and was recognized by the Treaty of Montevideo in 1828.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: When Brazil became a republic in 1889, all provinces became states, and the Neutral Municipality became the Federal District. In 1903, Brazil acquired the territory of Acre from Bolivia with the Treaty of Petrópolis.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: In 1942–1943, with the entrance of Brazil into World War II, the Vargas regime detached six strategic territories from the borders of the country in order to administer them directly: the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha (from Pernambuco), Amapá (from Pará), Rio Branco (from Amazonas), Guaporé (from Mato Grosso and Amazonas), Ponta Porã (from Mato Grosso) and Iguaçu (from Paraná and Santa Catarina). Shortly after the war, the Brazilian constitution of 1946 returned Ponta Porã and Iguaçu to their original states. Guaporé was renamed Rondônia in 1956, and Rio Branco was renamed Roraima in 1962, while remaining territories along with Amapá and Fernando de Noronha. Acre became a state in 1962.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: In 1960, the rectangular-shaped Distrito Federal was carved out of Goiás to contain the new capital, Brasília. The previous federal district became the state of Guanabara, but in 1975 it was reincorporated into its original state of Rio de Janeiro, becoming its capital as the city of Rio de Janeiro.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: In 1977, the southern part of Mato Grosso became the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. In 1981, Rondônia became a state. The Brazilian constitution of 1988 created the state of Tocantins from the northern portion of Goiás, established Amapá and Roraima as states, and returned the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha to Pernambuco. The constitution thus ended all remaining territories, although it maintained the possibility of creating others in the future.


title: Federative units of Brazil

text: On 11 December 2011, a consultative referendum was held in the state of Pará about creating two new states from parts of it (Tapajós and Carajás, with the rest of the state remaining as Pará). Both proposals were rejected by about 66% of statewide voters, but reflecting a strong geographic split with over 90% approval by voters in the proposed breakaway regions and over 90% disapproval by those in the rest of the state.


title: Travertine

text: Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot spring or in a limestone cave. In the latter, it can form stalactites, stalagmites, and other speleothems. It is frequently used in Italy and elsewhere as a building material. Similar (but softer and extremely porous) deposits formed from ambient-temperature water are known as tufa.


title: Travertine

text: Travertine is a sedimentary rock formed by the chemical precipitation of calcium carbonate minerals from fresh water, typically in springs, rivers, and lakes; that is, from surface and ground waters. In the broadest sense, travertine includes deposits in both hot and cold springs, including the porous, spongy rock known as tufa, and also the cave features known as speleothems (which include stalactites and stalagmites). Calcrete, which is calcium minerals deposited as a horizon in the soil profile, is not considered a form of travertine.


title: Travertine

text: Travertine is often defined in a more narrow sense as dense rock, sometimes massive but more commonly banded or with a fibrous internal structure, deposited in hot springs. In this more narrow sense, travertine is distinct from speleothems and tufa. Travertine is sometimes also defined by its mode of origin, as rock formed by inorganic precipitation of calcium carbonate minerals onto a surface following exchange of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and groundwater. Calcrete, lake marls, and lake reefs are excluded from this definition, but both speleothems and tufa are included.


title: Travertine

text: Fresh travertines vary widely in their porosity, from about 10% to 70%. Ancient ones may have porosities as low as 2% due to crystallization of secondary calcite in the original pore spaces, while some of the fresh aragonite travertine at Mammoth Hot Springs has a porosity greater than 80%. A porosity of about 50% is typical for cold spring travertine while hot spring travertines have a mean porosity of about 26%. Speleothems have low porosities of less than 15%.


title: Travertine

text: The word 'travertine' is derived from the Italian , itself a derivation of the Latin meaning 'of Tibur', now known as Tivoli, near Rome, Italy.


title: Travertine

text: The formation of travertine begins when ground water () containing an elevated concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide () comes in contact with limestone or other rock containing calcium carbonate (). The dissolved carbon dioxide acts as a weak acid, carbonic acid, which dissolves some of the limestone as soluble calcium bicarbonate ():


title: Travertine

text: This is a reversible reaction, meaning that as the concentration of dissolved calcium bicarbonate builds up, the calcium bicarbonate begins to revert to calcium carbonate, water, and carbon dioxide. So long as there is nowhere for the carbon dioxide to go, chemical equilibrium is reached where dissolution of calcium carbonate is balanced by precipitation of calcium carbonate.


title: Travertine

text: If the groundwater moves into an environment with a lower concentration of carbon dioxide (as measured by its partial pressure, pCO), some of the carbon dioxide will escape into the environment, disturbing the equilibrium and allowing net precipitation of calcium carbonate to take place:


title: Travertine

text: The calcium carbonate most readily precipitates onto solid surfaces bathed by the groundwater, eventually building up thick deposits of travertine. Because of the role of in dissolving and transporting calcium carbonate, it is sometimes described as the "carrier CO" or simply as the "carrier."


title: Travertine

text: The most important sources of elevated carbon dioxide concentration in groundwater are soil and volcanic activity. Water passing through soil picks up carbon dioxide from plant roots and decaying organic matter. This is described as "meteoric carrier" and the travertine formed by this mechanism as "meteogene travertine". This is the principal mechanism for formation of speleothems. Groundwater with an enhanced concentration of absorbed from soil infiltrates underlying limestone, dissolving some of the limestone. When this groundwater then emerges into a cave with a lower concentration of , some of the escapes, allowing calcium carbonate to precipitate and build up stalactites, stalagmites, and other speleotherms.


title: Travertine

text: Volcanic activity is the source of carbon dioxide in ground water that emerges from hot springs. When the water reaches the mouth of the spring, it rapidly loses carbon dioxide to the open air and precipitates calcium carbonate around the spring mouth. Travertine formed this way is described as "thermogene travertine". This can form spectacular deposits of travertine, such as those of Pamukkale or Mammoth Hot Springs. The carbon dioxide may come from sources deep in the Earth, such as metamorphism of deeply buried rock. The carbon dioxide is carried to the surface by magma and is a major component of volcanic gases. Carbon dioxide may also be generated by magma bodies heating solid rock near the surface, through thermal decomposition of organic matter or by reactions of quartz or other silica minerals with carbonate minerals.


title: Travertine

text: Precipitation may be enhanced by factors leading to a reduction in pCO, for example increased air-water interactions at waterfalls may be important, as may photosynthesis.


title: Travertine

text: Rarely, travertine may form from highly alkaline water containing dissolved calcium hydroxide () produced during serpentinization of ultramafic rock. When this alkaline water reaches the surface, it absorbs carbon dioxide from the air to precipitate calcium carbonate:


title: Travertine

text: While water carbonated by volcanic activity is usually associated with hot springs, such water occasionally cools to near ambient temperature before emerging at the surface. Likewise, water carbonated by passage through soil will occasionally have circulated to sufficient depths that it is quite warm when it reemerges at the surface. Water carbonated by volcanic activity will nonetheless tend to have a higher content of dissolved calcium bicarbonate and will generally be more enriched in the heavier C isotope.


title: Travertine

text: Both of the major calcium carbonate minerals, calcite and aragonite, are found in hot spring travertines; aragonite is preferentially precipitated when temperatures are high, while calcite dominates when temperatures are lower. When pure and fine, travertine is white, but often it is brown to yellow due to impurities.


title: Travertine

text: Travertine is found in hundreds of locations around the world. Only a sampling of notable occurrences are listed here.


title: Travertine

text: Travertine is found at Tivoli, east of Rome, where the travertine has been mined for at least two thousand years. The travertine here was deposited in a body in area and thick along a north-trending fault near the dormant Colli Albani volcano. The Guidonia quarry is also located in this deposit of travertine. The ancient name for this stone was "lapis tiburtinus", meaning "tibur stone", which was gradually corrupted to "travertino" (travertine). Detailed studies of the Tivoli and Guidonia travertine deposits revealed diurnal and annual rhythmic banding and laminae, which have potential use in geochronology. Deposits of travertine are found in about 100 other locations in Italy, including Rapalino near Pisa. The port of Paestum was built on a sheet of tufa.


title: Travertine

text: Cascades of natural lakes formed behind travertine dams can be seen in Pamukkale, Turkey, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other places with such cascades include Huanglong in Sichuan Province of China (another UNESCO World Heritage Site), the Mammoth Hot Springs in the USA, Egerszalók in Hungary, Mahallat, Abbass Abad, Atash Kooh, and Badab-e Surt in Iran, Band-i-Amir in Afghanistan, Lagunas de Ruidera, Spain, Hierve el Agua, Oaxaca, Mexico and Semuc Champey, Guatemala.


title: Travertine

text: In Central Europe's last post-glacial palaeoclimatic optimum (Atlantic Period, 8000–5000 BC), huge deposits of tufa formed from karst springs. On a smaller scale, these karst processes are still working. Important geotopes are found at the Swabian Alb, mainly in valleys at the foremost northwest ridge of the cuesta; in many valleys of the eroded periphery of the karstic Franconian Jura; and at the northern Alpine foothills.


title: Travertine

text: Travertine has formed sixteen huge, natural dams in a valley in Croatia known as Plitvice Lakes National Park. Clinging to moss and rocks in the water, the travertine has built up over several millennia to form waterfalls up to in height.


title: Travertine

text: In the US, the most well-known place for travertine formation is Yellowstone National Park, where the geothermal areas are rich in travertine deposits. Wyoming also has travertines in Hot Springs State Park in Thermopolis. Oklahoma has two parks dedicated to this natural wonder. Turner Falls, the tallest waterfall in Oklahoma, is a cascade of spring water flowing over a travertine cave. Honey Creek feeds this waterfall and creates miles of travertine shelves both up and downstream. Many small waterfalls upstream in the dense woods repeat the travertine-formation effect. The city of Davis now owns thousands of acres of this land and has made it a tourist attraction. Another travertine resource is in Sulphur, Oklahoma, east of Turner Falls. Travertine Creek flows through a spring-water nature preserve within the boundaries of the Chickasaw National Recreation Area.


title: Travertine

text: In Texas, the city of Austin and its surrounding "Hill Country" to the south is built on limestone. The area has many travertine formations, such as those found at Gorman Falls within Colorado Bend State Park.


title: Travertine

text: Hanging Lake in Glenwood Canyon in Colorado was formed by travertine dams across a spring-fed stream. Travertine beds in the area are as much as thick. Rifle Falls State Park in Colorado features a triple waterfall over a travertine dam.


title: Travertine

text: The Soda Dam Hot Spring system of the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico have been intensively investigated because of its connection to the geothermal system of the Valles caldera. Here hot groundwater from the caldera has moved along the Jemez fault, and mixed with cooler groundwater before emerging at the surface. Radiometric dating of the travertines show that deposition began almost immediately after the Valles caldera eruption, and that the area is now experiencing a further episode of deposition that began 5000 years ago. A new species of the extremophile green alga "Scenedesmus" was first isolated from the travertine of Soda Dam.


title: Travertine

text: In Arizona, on the south side of the Grand Canyon there is the Havasupai Reservation. Flowing through it is Havasu Creek, which has extensive travertine deposits. Three major waterfalls, Navajo Falls, Havasu Falls, and Mooney Falls, are all located downstream from the town of Supai. There are numerous smaller cataracts formed by travertine dams. These features are located about from Supai Village (on the floor of the canyon), and are accessible by foot or horseback.


title: Travertine

text: In Iceland, the Hvanná river, located at the north flank of the Eyjafjallajökull, was heavily charged with CO following the 2010 eruptions. Travertine precipitated along the river.


title: Travertine

text: In South East Sulawesi, Indonesia is the Wawolesea Karst. A notable feature of this area is a pond several meters from the beach, formed by a salty, hot water fountain extant since the Neogene period.


title: Travertine

text: Travertine is often used as a building material. It typically lacks planes of weakness, and its high porosity makes it light in weight for its strength, gives it good thermal and acoustic insulating properties, and makes it relatively easy to work. Dense travertine makes excellent decorative stone when polished.


title: Travertine

text: The Romans mined deposits of travertine for building temples, monuments, aqueducts, bath complexes, and amphitheaters such as the Colosseum, the largest building in the world constructed mostly of travertine. In Italy, well-known travertine quarries exist in Tivoli and Guidonia Montecelio, where the most important quarries since Ancient Roman times can be found. The Tivoli quarries supplied the travertine from which Gian Lorenzo Bernini selected material from which to build the famous Colonnade of St. Peter's Square in Rome () in 1656–1667. Michelangelo also chose travertine as the material for the external ribs of the dome of St Peter's Basilica. Travertine from Trivoli was used in the sculpting of the majority of the Trevi Fountain in Rome during the Baroque period.


title: Travertine

text: Travertine regained popularity as a building material in the Middle Ages. The central German town of Bad Langensalza has an extant medieval old town built almost entirely of local travertine. Twentieth century buildings using travertine extensively include the Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Paris, the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, and Shell-Haus in Berlin. The travertine used in the Getty Center and Shell-Haus constructions was imported from Tivoli and Guidonia.


title: Travertine

text: Travertine is one of several natural stones that are used for paving patios and garden paths. It is sometimes known as travertine limestone or travertine marble; these are the same stone, although travertine is classified properly as a type of limestone, not marble. The stone is characterised by pitted holes and troughs in its surface. Although these troughs occur naturally, they suggest signs of considerable wear and tear over time. It can also be polished to a smooth, shiny finish, and comes in a variety of colors from grey to coral-red. Travertine is also available in tile sizes for floor installations.


title: Travertine

text: Travertine is one of the most frequently used stones in modern architecture. It is commonly used for indoor home/business flooring, outdoor patio flooring, spa walls and ceilings, façades, and wall cladding. The lobby walls of the modernist Willis Tower (1970) (formerly Sears Tower) in Chicago are made of travertine. Architect Welton Becket frequently incorporated travertine into many of his projects. The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is clad with over 3 million pounds (about 1360 tonnes) of Ambra Light travertine from the Tivoli quarries. Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe used travertine in several of his major works, including the Toronto-Dominion Centre, S.R. Crown Hall, the Farnsworth House and the Barcelona Pavilion.


title: Travertine

text: The New Mexico State Capitol has its rotunda finished with travertine mined from a deposit west of Belen, New Mexico. Stone from this quarry is also used in buildings at the University of New Mexico.


title: Travertine

text: Until the 1980s, Italy had a near-monopoly on the world travertine market; now significant supplies are quarried in Turkey, Mexico, China, Peru, and Spain. US imports of travertine in 2019 were 17,808 metric tons, of which 12,804 were from Turkey.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song "1944" by Jamala.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC), the contest was held at the International Exhibition Centre and consisted of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May, and a final on 13 May 2017. The three live shows were presented by Ukrainian television presenters Oleksandr Skichko, Volodymyr Ostapchuk and Timur Miroshnychenko, being the first contest since the inaugural edition without a female host.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: Forty-two countries participated in the contest. and returned to the contest after a year's absence, while did not participate on financial grounds. had originally planned to participate, but later withdrew after its representative, Julia Samoylova, was banned from entering Ukraine by virtue of having travelled directly from Russia to Crimea, a region that was annexed by Russia in 2014, to give a performance, which is illegal under Ukrainian law.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: The winner was with the song "Amar pelos dois", performed by Salvador Sobral and written by his sister Luísa Sobral. This was Portugal's first victory in the contest – and first top-five placing – in 53 years of participation, the longest winless run by a country in Eurovision history. It was also the first winning song entirely performed in a country's native language since 's "Molitva" in , and the first winner written in triple metre since 's "Nocturne" in . Bulgaria, Moldova, Belgium and Sweden rounded out the top five. The top three countries – Portugal, Bulgaria and Moldova – all achieved their highest placings in their Eurovision history, while host country Ukraine received its worst placing to date, finishing 24th in the final. Out of the "Big Five" countries, only Italy, the pre-contest favourite, finished in the top ten, coming in sixth place.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: The EBU reported that 182 million viewers worldwide watched the contest, 22 million fewer than the 2016 record.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: The contest took place in the International Exhibition Centre in Kyiv, following Ukraine's victory at the 2016 contest with the song "1944", written and performed by Jamala. The International Exhibition Centre has a capacity of approximately 11,000 attendees and is the largest exhibition centre in Kyiv. Located in the western part of the Livoberezhna microdistrict, the centre was opened in October 2002, and its head since its construction was Anatoly Tkachenko.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: The Deputy Chief of host broadcaster Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC) and Head of Delegation for Ukraine, Viktoria Romanova, stated on 18 May 2016 that the first organisational meeting for the contest would take place before 8 June, during which the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and UA:PBC would go through the technical requirements for the contest, as well as any training required for the contest to take place in Ukraine. Romanova also announced that the venue for the contest would be announced over the summer.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: UA:PBC and the Ukrainian Government formally launched the bidding process for interested cities to apply to host the contest on 23 June. The selection of the host city was scheduled to be conducted in four stages:


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: Six cities submitted applications by the deadline of 8 July: Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Lviv and Odessa. Prior to the opening of the bidding process, the cities of Cherkasy, Irpin, Uzhhorod and Vinnytsia had declared their interest in hosting the contest, but did not submit a formal bid. Ukrainian Culture Minister Yevhen Nyshchuk stated on 30 June that an appropriate venue for the contest does not exist in Ukraine, suggesting that the construction of a new venue in Kyiv or Lviv should be considered.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: The six candidate cities were officially presented to the LOC on 20 July in a two-hour live discussion show titled "City Battle", broadcast from the UA:Pershyi studios in Kyiv and moderated by Timur Miroshnychenko, with radio commentary from Olena Zelinchenko. The show was broadcast on UA:Pershyi, Radio Ukraine and the UA:Pershyi YouTube channel with commentary in English and Ukrainian. During the show, a representative from each candidate city presented its bid in front of a live studio audience:


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: Members of the LOC, media representatives, Ukrainian musical experts and fans also participated in the discussion.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: UA:PBC announced on 22 July that the bids from Dnipro, Kyiv and Odessa had been shortlisted for further consideration.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: The EBU announced on 30 July that the host city would be announced "in due course", rather than on the previously stated date of 1 August, with Executive Supervisor of the contest Jon Ola Sand stating that the EBU "really want to take the time it takes to come up with the right decision". The Deputy General Director of UA:PBC, Oleksandr Kharebin, stated on 10 August that the host city would be announced on Ukrainian Independence Day, 24 August. The announcement was later scheduled to take place on 25 August; however, it was postponed at 14:00 EEST, one hour before it was due to take place, with NTU citing the need to further consider some fine details regarding the decision.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: After several delays in announcing the host city, UA:PBC announced on 8 September that they would be meeting with the Ukrainian Government and the LOC on 9 September and that a press conference to announce the host city was scheduled to take place at 13:00 EEST on the same day from the Government Press Centre in Kyiv. Kyiv was announced as the host city for the contest with the International Exhibition Centre selected as the venue.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: The Eurovision Village was the official Eurovision Song Contest fan and sponsors' area during the events week. There it was possible to watch performances by local artists, as well as the live shows broadcast from the main venue. Located at Independence Square in Kyiv, it was open from 4 to 14 May 2017.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: The EuroClub was the venue for the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants. Unlike the Eurovision Village, access to the EuroClub was restricted to accredited fans, delegates, and press. It was located at the Parkovy Congress and Exhibition Center.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: The "Red Carpet" event, where the contestants and their delegations are presented before the accredited press and fans, took place at Mariinskyi Palace in central Kyiv on 7 May 2017 at 19:00 CEST, followed by the Opening Ceremony at the Parkovy Congress and Exhibition Center.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: The preliminary dates for the contest were announced on 14 March 2016 at a meeting of Heads of Delegation in Stockholm, with the semi-finals expected to take place on 16 and 18 May and the final on 20 May 2017. These preliminary dates were chosen by the EBU to avoid the contest coinciding with any major television and sporting events scheduled to take place around that time.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: However, the EBU announced on 24 June that the preliminary dates for the contest had to be brought forward a week, with the semi-finals scheduled for 9 and 11 May and the final on 13 May. This was due to a request from UA:PBC, as the initial preliminary dates coincided with the Remembrance Day for the victims of the Deportation of the Crimean Tatars on 18 May. However, the current dates coincide with the second leg of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League semi-finals.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place at Column Hall on 31 January 2017, hosted by Timur Miroshnychenko and Nika Konstantinova. The thirty-seven semi-finalists had been allocated into six pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest's official televoting partner Digame. Drawing from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called "bloc voting" and increase suspense in the semi-finals.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: The theme of the contest, "Celebrate Diversity", was unveiled on 30 January 2017, with its visual design featuring imagery of stylized beads. The main logo used the beads to form a traditional Ukrainian neck amulet.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2017

text: The EBU announced on 27 February that the presenters for the contest would be Oleksandr Skichko, Volodymyr Ostapchuk and Timur Miroshnychenko, with Miroshnychenko also hosting the green room. It was the first time that the contest was presented by a male trio, and the second time that the contest did not feature a female presenter, after 1956. Miroshnychenko has previously co-hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in and .