title: Franz Halder

text: On 5 May 1945 Halder was arrested by the advancing American troops and was interned awaiting trial or release. He was relieved not to be part of the Nuremberg Trials; instead, he was tried in a German court on charges of aiding the Nazi regime. Halder denied any knowledge of the regime's atrocities and claimed to be outside the decision-making process; he was found not guilty.


title: Franz Halder

text: During the trial the prosecuting attorney gained access to Halder's personal diary which detailed his formulation of the Barbarossa Decree and Commissar Order so he was subsequently sent for retrial. Halder was working for the American Historical Division providing information on the Soviet Union, and the Americans refused to allow the retrial. It was dropped in September 1950.


title: Franz Halder

text: Halder played a key role in creating the myth of the clean "Wehrmacht". It was a false, mythic view of the Nazi-Soviet war in which the German army fought a "noble war". It denies the existence of, or disregards, German war crimes. The genesis for the myth was the "Generals' Memorandum" created in November 1945 and submitted to the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. The memorandum was titled "The German Army from 1920 to 1945". It was co-authored by Halder and former field marshals Walter von Brauchitsch and Erich von Manstein and other senior military figures. It aimed to portray the German armed forces as apolitical and largely innocent of the crimes committed by the Nazi regime. The strategy outlined in the memorandum was later adopted by Hans Laternser, the lead counsel for the defence at the High Command Trial of senior "Wehrmacht" commanders. The document was written at the suggestion of American General William J. Donovan, who later founded the CIA, and viewed the Soviet Union as a global threat to world peace. Donovan served as a deputy prosecutor at the International Military Tribunal; he and some other US representatives did not believe the trials should proceed. He believed America should do everything it could to secure Germany as a military ally against the Soviet Union in the growing Cold War.


title: Franz Halder

text: As the Cold War progressed, the military intelligence provided by the German section of US Army Historical Division became increasingly important to the Americans. Halder oversaw the German section of the research program which became known as the "Halder Group". His group produced over 2,500 major historical manuscripts from over 700 distinct German authors detailing World War II. Halder used the group to reinvent war-time history using truth, half-truth, distortion and lies. He set up a "control group" of trusted former Nazi officers who vetted all the manuscripts and, if necessary, required authors to change their content. Halder's deputy in the group was Adolf Heusinger who was also working for the Gehlen Organization, the United States military intelligence organisation in Germany. Halder expected to be addressed as "General" by the writing teams and behaved as their commanding officer while dealing with their manuscripts. His aim was to exonerate German army personnel from the atrocities they had committed.


title: Franz Halder

text: Halder laid down a version of history that all the writers had to abide by. This version stated that the army was the victim of Hitler, and they had opposed him at every opportunity. The writers had to emphasise the "decent" form of war conducted by the army and blame the SS for the criminal operations. He enjoyed a privileged position, as the few historians working on World War II history in the 1950s had to obtain historical information from Halder and his group. His influence extended to newspaper editors and authors. Halder's instructions were sent down the chain of command and were recorded by former field marshal Georg von Küchler. They said: "It is German deeds, seen from the German standpoint, that are to be recorded; this will constitute a memorial to our troops", "no criticism of measures ordered by the leadership" is allowed and no one is to be "incriminated in any way," instead the achievements of the "Wehrmacht" were to be emphasised. The military historian Bernd Wegner, examining Halder's work, wrote: "The writing of German history on the Second World War, and in particular on the Russian front, was for over two decades, and in part up to the present day—and to a far greater extent than most people realize—the work of the defeated." Wolfram Wette wrote, "In the work of the Historical Division the traces of the war of annihilation for which the Wehrmacht leadership was responsible were covered up".


title: Franz Halder

text: Halder sought to distance himself and the German army from Hitler, Nazism and war crimes. He claimed to have been against the Russian campaign and that he had warned Hitler against his "adventure" in the East. He omitted any mention of the Barbarossa Decree that he had helped formulate or the Commissar Order which he had supported and disseminated. Halder also claimed implausibly that the invasion of the Soviet Union was a defensive measure.


title: Franz Halder

text: The Americans were aware the manuscripts contained numerous apologia. However, they also contained intelligence that the Americans viewed as important in the event of a war between the US and the Soviet Union. Halder had coached former Nazi officers on how to make incriminating evidence disappear. Many of the officers he coached such as Heinz Guderian went on to write best-selling biographies that broadened the appeal of the apologia. Halder succeeded in his aim of rehabilitating the German officer corps, first with the US military, then widening circles of politics and finally millions of Americans.


title: Franz Halder

text: In 1949 Halder wrote "Hitler als Feldherr" which was translated into English as "Hitler as Commander" and published in 1950. The work contains the central ideas behind the myth of the clean "Wehrmacht" that were subsequently reproduced in countless histories and memoirs. The book describes an idealised commander who is then compared to Hitler. The commander is noble, wise, against the war in the East and free of any guilt. Hitler alone is responsible for the evil committed; his complete immorality is contrasted with the moral behaviour of the commander who has done no wrong.


title: Franz Halder

text: Halder's myth-making was not concentrated solely on absolving himself and the German army from war crimes; he also created two strategic and operational myths. The first is that Hitler alone was responsible for the military blunders during the invasion of the Soviet Union. The second myth is that the blitzkrieg campaign he so strongly advocated would have resulted in the capture of Moscow and won the war for Germany. The historians Ronald Smelser and Edward J. Davies writing in "The Myth of the Eastern Front" said "Franz Halder embodies better than any other high German officer the dramatic difference between myth and reality as it emerged after World War II".


title: Franz Halder

text: Halder's work with the Historical Commission drew to a close at the end of the 1950s, and he received praise from The Pentagon. Rear Admiral Walter Ansel who had worked with Halder while researching Operation Sealion, the planned Invasion of England, recommended he become an associate of the United States Naval Institute. In 1961 he was awarded the Meritorious Civilian Service Award for this work. This award was bestowed by Major General Edgar C. Doleman on behalf of President John F. Kennedy. Halder thus became the only German to be decorated by both Adolf Hitler and an American president. (He had received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross from Hitler in 1939.)


title: Franz Halder

text: During the 1960s, Halder became akin to a "historical icon", fielding questions from historians and general public alike. Halder died in 1972 in Aschau im Chiemgau, Bavaria. The praise he received was in stark contrast to the reality of his actual military career—in particular, the atrocities on the Eastern Front.


title: People's Defense Units

text: The People's Defense Units (YPG), also called People's Protection Units, is a mainly-Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).


title: People's Defense Units

text: The YPG mostly consists of ethnic Kurds, but also includes Arabs and foreign volunteers; it is closely allied to the Syriac Military Council, an Assyrian militia. The YPG was formed in 2011. It expanded rapidly in the Syrian Civil War and came to predominate over other armed Syrian Kurdish groups. A sister militia, the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), fights alongside them. The YPG is active in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava), particularly in its Kurdish regions.


title: People's Defense Units

text: In early 2015, the group won a major victory over the so-called Islamic State (IS) during the siege of Kobanî, where the YPG began to receive air and ground support from the United States and other Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve militaries. Since then, the YPG has primarily fought against IS, as well as on occasion fighting other Syrian rebel groups and the Turkish Armed Forces. In late 2015, the YPG became part of the SDF, an umbrella group intended to better incorporate Arabs and minorities into the war effort. In 2016–2017, the SDF's Raqqa campaign led to the liberation of the city of Raqqa, the Islamic State's "de facto" capital. Several western sources have described the YPG as the "most effective" force in fighting IS in Syria. Finland and Sweden’s alleged support for the YPG, is one of the points which caused Turkey to oppose Finland and Sweden’s NATO accession bid.


title: People's Defense Units

text: According to Turkey, and Qatar the YPG is a terrorist organization, closely associated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization. The flag of the YPG is also a banned symbol in Germany as per Strafgesetzbuch section 86a, although the organization itself is not recognised as terrorist. The Turkish terror classification is not shared by key international bodies in the fight against the Islamic State in which the YPG takes part. Due to this Turkish view, US Army Special Operations Commander General Raymond Thomas suggested the YPG to change their name, after which the name of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was found.


title: People's Defense Units

text: A light infantry force, the YPG has limited military equipment and few armoured vehicles. According to the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency, the US military provided US$715 millions in weapons and equipment aid to the political party Democratic Union Party (PYD) and YPG. Amongst the heavy weaponry provided are TOW American anti-tank missiles.


title: People's Defense Units

text: Kurdish youth attempted to unify themselves following the 2004 Qamishli riots. The riots began as clashes between rivaling football fans before taking a political turn, with Arab fans raising pictures of Saddam Hussein while the Kurdish fans reportedly proclaimed "We will sacrifice our lives for Bush". This resulted in clashes between the two groups who attacked each other with sticks, stones and knives. Government security forces entered the city to quell the riot, firing at the crowds. The riots resulted in around 36 dead, most of them Kurds.


title: People's Defense Units

text: The self-defence committees that were to become the YPG were formed in July and August 2011 as the Self Protection units (YXG).


title: People's Defense Units

text: Existing underground Kurdish political parties, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdish National Council (KNC), joined to form the Kurdish Supreme Committee (KSC) and established the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia to defend Kurdish-inhabited areas in northern Syria, i.e. Syrian Kurdistan and the Kurdish enclave of Sheikh Maqsood in Aleppo. Originally a wholly Kurdish force, the YPG began to recruit Arabs from at least 2012.


title: People's Defense Units

text: In July 2012, the YPG had a standoff with Syrian government forces in the Kurdish city of Kobanî and the surrounding areas. After negotiations, government forces withdrew and the YPG took control of Kobanî, Amuda, and Afrin.


title: People's Defense Units

text: By December 2012, it had expanded to eight brigades, which were formed in Qamishlo, Kobanî, and Ras al-Ayn (Serê Kaniyê), and in the districts of Afrin, al-Malikiyah, and al-Bab.


title: People's Defense Units

text: The YPG did not initially take an offensive posture in the Syrian Civil War. Aiming mostly to defend Kurdish-majority areas, it avoided engaging Syrian government forces, which still controlled several enclaves in Kurdish territory. The YPG changed this policy when Ras al-Ayn was taken by the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front. At first the YPG conquered the surrounding government-controlled areas: al-Darbasiyah (Kurdish: Dirbêsî), Tel Tamer and al-Malikiyah (Kurdish: Dêrika Hemko). The subsequent Battle of Ras al-Ayn started in earnest when on 19 November 2012, the al-Nusra Front and a second al-Qaeda affiliate, Ghuraba al-Sham, attacked Kurdish positions in the town. The battle ended with a YPG victory in July 2013.


title: People's Defense Units

text: While many rebel groups clashed with the YPG, jihadist and Salafist groups did so the most often. The YPG proved to be the only Kurdish militia able to effectively resist the fundamentalists. While the YPG protected the Kurdish communities it was able to extract a price: it prevented the emergence of new, rival militias and forced existing ones to cooperate with or join the YPG forces on its terms. This was how the Islamist attacks enabled the YPG to unite the Syrian Kurds under its banner and caused it to become the de facto army of the Syrian Kurds.


title: People's Defense Units

text: In October 2013, YPG fighters took control of al-Yaarubiyah (Til Koçer) following intense clashes with IS. The clashes lasted about three days, with the Til Koçer border gate to Iraq being taken in a major offensive launched on the night of 24 October. PYD leader Salih Muslim told Stêrk TV that this success created an alternative against efforts to hold the territory under embargo, referring to the fact that the other border crossings with Iraq led to areas controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government, while al-Yaarubiyah led to areas controlled by the Iraqi central government.


title: People's Defense Units

text: In 2014, the Syriac Military Council, a group of Assyrian units, was formally integrated into the YPG's command structure.


title: People's Defense Units

text: The inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War led to open war between the Free Syrian Army and IS in January 2014. The YPG collaborated with FSA groups to fight IS in Raqqa province; the group also formed an operations room with multiple FSA factions, called Euphrates Volcano. However, the general outcome of this campaign was a massive advance by IS, which effectively separated the eastern part of Rojava from the main force of FSA rebels. IS followed up on its success by attacking the YPG and the FSA in Kobanî Canton in March and fighting its way to the gates of the city of Kobanî in September. The actual siege of Kobanî approximately coincided with an escalation in the American-led intervention in Syria. This intervention had started with aiding the FSA against the government, but when the FSA was getting defeated by IS in eastern Syria, it escalated to bombing IS on Syrian territory.


title: People's Defense Units

text: With the world fearing another massacre in Kobanî, American support increased substantially. The US gave intense close air support to the YPG, and in doing so, started military cooperation with one of the factions. While it expected that IS would quickly crush the YPG and the FSA, this alliance was not considered a problem for the US. The YPG won the battle in early 2015.


title: People's Defense Units

text: Meanwhile, the situation had been stable in Afrin and Aleppo. The fight between the FSA and IS had led to a normalization in the relations between FSA and YPG since the end of 2013. In February 2015, the YPG signed a judicial agreement with the Levant Front in Aleppo.


title: People's Defense Units

text: The YPG was able and willing to offensively engage and put pressure on IS and had built up a track record as a reliable military partner of the US. In 2015, the YPG began its advance on Tel Abyad, a move they have planned for since November 2013. With American close air support, offensives near Hasakah and from Hasakah westward culminated in the conquest of Tell Abyad, linking up Kobanî with Hasakah in July 2015. With the capture of Tell Abyad, the YPG has also broken a major supply route of fighters and goods for the Islamic State.


title: People's Defense Units

text: With these offensives, the YPG had begun to make advances into areas that did not always have a Kurdish majority. When the YPG and the FSA entered the border town of Tell Abyad in June 2015, parts of the population fled the intense fighting and the airstrikes.


title: People's Defense Units

text: The Syrian Democratic Forces was established in Hasakah on 11 October 2015. It has its origins in the YPG-FSA collaboration against IS, which had previously led to the establishment of the Euphrates Volcano joint operations room in 2014. Many of the partners are the same, and even the logo / flag with the Blue Euphrates symbol has common traits with that of Euphrates Volcano. The primary difference is that Euphrates Volcano was limited to coordinating the activities of independent Kurdish and Arab groups, while the SDF is a single organisation made up of Kurds, Arabs, and Assyrians.


title: People's Defense Units

text: The first success of the SDF was the capture of the strategic ethnically Arab town of al-Hawl from IS during the al-Hawl offensive in November 2015. This was followed in December by the Tishrin Dam offensive. The dam was captured on 26 December. Participating forces included the YPG, the FSA group Army of Revolutionaries, the tribal group al-Sanadid Forces and the Assyrian Syriac Military Council. The coalition had some heavy weapons and was supported by intense US led airstrikes. The capture of the hydroelectric dam also had positive effects on the economy of Rojava.


title: People's Defense Units

text: In February, the YPG-led SDF launched the al-Shaddadi offensive, followed by the Manbij offensive in May, and the Raqqa and Aleppo offensives in November. These operations extended SDF-controlled territory, usually at IS's expense.


title: People's Defense Units

text: On 7 April 2016, the Kurdish neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsood in Aleppo was shelled with mortars that may have contained chemical agents (160 killed or wounded). Spokesperson for the YPG said that Saudi Arabia-backed Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) rebel group has attacked the Kurdish neighborhood of Aleppo with "forbidden weapons" many times since the war's start.


title: People's Defense Units

text: The Women's Protection Units (YPJ), also known as the Women's Defense Units, is the YPG's female brigade, which was set up in 2012. Kurdish media have said that YPJ troops became vital during the siege of Kobanî. Consisting of approximately 20,000 fighters, they make up around 40% of the YPG.


title: People's Defense Units

text: In 2017, the YPG began to form units called regiments in translation, though they are smaller than comparable units in standard militaries:


title: People's Defense Units

text: The YPG relies heavily on snipers and backs them by suppressing enemy fire using mobile heavy machine guns. It also uses roadside bombs to prevent outflanking maneuvers, particularly at night. Its lines have generally held when attacked by Islamic State (IS) forces who have better equipment, including helmets and body armor.


title: People's Defense Units

text: The YPG and People's Defense Forces (HPG) have also trained and equipped more than 1,000 Yazidis, who operate in the Mount Sinjar area as local defense units under their supervision.


title: People's Defense Units

text: A 20-year-old female YPJ fighter named Zlukh Hamo (Nom de guerre: Avesta Khabur) was reported to have carried out a suicide attack towards Turkish troops and a tank during the early phase of the Afrin Offensive, killing herself and several soldiers in the process. The attack was commended by pro-SDF sources as a courageous attack against a tank using explosives, which killed her in the process.


title: People's Defense Units

text: Compared to other factions engaged in the Syrian Civil war, the YPG has not received significant foreign assistance in the form of weapons and military equipment. According to the YPG, circumstances led to their capture of less equipment from the Syrian Army than other opposition groups did. The figures are estimates only based on the balance sheet that the YPG regularly publishes of its activities.


title: People's Defense Units

text: Ex–U.S. Army soldier Jordan Matson was among the first foreign volunteers of the YPG. Injured by an IS suicide bomb, he developed the "Lions of Rojava" recruitment campaign for foreign volunteers, launched on 21 October 2014 on Facebook. More than 400 volunteers from Europe, the Americas and Australia have joined the YPG , including at least ten U.S. volunteers, three of which were U.S. Army veterans. People from both China and the Chinese diaspora have also joined.


title: People's Defense Units

text: Other prominent foreign volunteers have included Brace Belden, Macer Gifford, Ryan Lock, Michael Israel, Nazzarno Tassone, Dean Evans, Jac Holmes, Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, Anna Campbell, Lorenzo Orsetti and Haukur Hilmarsson.


title: People's Defense Units

text: Dozens of non-Kurdish Turks (from both Turkey and the European diaspora) have also joined. The Turkish Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) has been sending volunteers to fight in the YPG since 2012. At least four have been killed in battle as of February 2015—one during the Battle of Ras al-Ayn and three during the siege of Kobanî. The party released a video in late January 2015 showing several Spanish- and German-speaking volunteers from Europe among its ranks in Jazira Canton; they were reorganised into the International Freedom Battalion on 10 June 2015.


title: People's Defense Units

text: During the fight against IS and the defense of Afrin against the Turkish state, several of the international volunteers were wounded and killed. The Icelandic Haukur Hilmarsson, aged 31, was killed on 24 February 2018 in an artillery attack by the Turkish army in the village of Mabeta, Afrin. As a YPJ fighter, the British woman Anna Campbell, 26, from Lewes in East Sussex, was killed in a Turkish airstrike in Afrin on 15 March 2018. In the battle of Al-Baghuz Fawqani, an Italian man fighting for the YPG, Lorenzo Orsetti, was killed on Sunday, 17 March 2019.


title: People's Defense Units

text: While most countries do not object in principle to their citizens joining the ranks of the YPG, Turkey has been vocal against YPG's foreign recruits.


title: People's Defense Units

text: Several Australians, including former trade unionist and politician Matthew Gardiner, have been involved with the YPG despite threats by Australia to prosecute any citizens involved in the Syrian Civil War. Under Australian law it is a criminal offence to fight with any side in a foreign conflict.


title: People's Defense Units

text: In 2017, Turkish court sentenced two Czech nationals to more than six years in prison for their reported ties to the YPG. In Germany, the YPG leads to controversies as it is up to the police to begin a prosecution for showing a YPG flag. In the state of Bavaria, fines for showing a YPG flag were issued, while the federal government declares that the YPG is not forbidden.


title: People's Defense Units

text: Because the YPG operates in a landlocked territory, rival opposition groups as well as the Turkish and Syrian government were able to physically prevent foreign aid from reaching it. The YPG's seizure of Til Koçer in October 2013 (cf. above) created an overland connection to more or less friendly groups in Iraq, but could not change the even more fundamental problem, that the YPG had no allies willing to provide equipment.


title: People's Defense Units

text: In August 2014 Mazlum Kobanî led negotiations with the US in Sulaymaniya, which led to a military alliance against IS. The United States provided the YPG with air support during the siege of Kobanî and during later campaigns, helping the YPG defend territory against attacks by the Islamic State. Turkey has criticised US support.


title: People's Defense Units

text: The YPG also received 27 bundles totalling 24 tons of small arms and ammunition and 10 tons of medical supplies from the United States and Iraqi Kurdistan during the siege of Kobanî.


title: People's Defense Units

text: On 11 October 2015, the US began an operation to airdrop 120 tons of military supplies to the YPG and its local Arab and Turkmen allies to fight IS north of Raqqa. The first airdrop consisted of 112 pallets of ammunition and "other items like hand grenades", totaling 50 tons. However, statements from the US that the aid did not contain TOW's or anti-aircraft weapons made it clear that the U.S. continued to have serious regard for the interests of Turkey, which has warned against continued US support for the YPG. On the other hand, the US also supported Islamist rebel groups who fought the YPG. During the Battle of Aleppo, the US-backed Mountain Hawks Brigade battled the YPG and the Army of Revolutionaries for control of the village of Maryamin.


title: People's Defense Units

text: US aid to the YPG continued in late October with the deployment of up to 50 US special forces to assist the YPG, and an enhanced air campaign to support the YPG and local militia groups in their fight against IS. Some of these special forces participated in the al-Shaddadi offensive (2016) and coordinated airstrikes against IS.


title: People's Defense Units

text: During the Battle of Tabqa (2017), YPG special forces were equipped with US-supplied combat helmets, AN/PVS-7 night vision devices, flashlights, and were armed with M4 carbines equipped with AN/PEQ-2 laser sights, holographic weapon sights, and STANAG magazines.


title: People's Defense Units

text: On 9 May 2017, it was announced by the Pentagon that American President Donald Trump approved of a plan that would have the United States directly provide heavy armaments to the major SDF component group, the YPG; the plan comes before a planned final offensive to capture Raqqa from IS.


title: People's Defense Units

text: With Russia's entrance into the war in late 2015 backing the Syrian government, some reports have reported that the YPG coordinated with or received weapons from Russia, with rival opposition groups stating that the timing and targeting of Russian airstrikes were "suspiciously advantageous" to the Kurdish militias.


title: People's Defense Units

text: Despite this, YPG officials have said they did not cooperate with Russia. However, in July 2019, Rashid Abu Khawla the head of the Syrian Democratic Forces' Deir ez-Zor Military Council stated that the Syrian Democratic Forces had cooperated with Russia.


title: People's Defense Units

text: Russia's position towards the YPG is not clear, and the US actively supports it, but their diplomatic relations with the PYD are the opposite. In January 2016 Russia pushed for the inclusion of the PYD in the Geneva talks. The YPG would like to open a representative branch in the US, but in March 2016 interview its leader implied that it was not allowed to do so.


title: People's Defense Units

text: In February, 2018, USA's Director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration described YPG as the Syrian wing of PKK in its new report.


title: People's Defense Units

text: The YPG's press office media operation has been a particular focus of its opponents, with Turkey bombing its premises in Cizire Canton in April 2017, and the Islamic State (IS) singling out its premises in Raqqa for a raid during the late stages of the Battle of Raqqa in September 2017.


title: People's Defense Units

text: In June 2015 the Turkish government stated that the YPG was carrying out an ethnic cleansing as part of a plan to join the Jazira and Kobanî cantons into a single territory.


title: People's Defense Units

text: In October 2015, Amnesty International published a report with reports that the YPG had driven at least 100 families from northern Syria and that in the villages of Asaylem and Husseiniya it had demolished resident homes. The report was made by Amnesty visiting the area contained in the report. It made local observations of destruction, and collected testimonies from former and actual residents of al-Hasakeh and Raqqa governorates. It found cases of YPG fighters forcibly displacing residents and using fire and bulldozers to raze homes and other structures.


title: People's Defense Units

text: In a report published by the United Nations' Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic on 10 March 2017, the Commission refuted Amnesty International's reports of ethnic cleansing, stating that "'though allegations of 'ethnic cleansing' continued to be received during the period under review, the Commission found no evidence to substantiate reports that YPG or SDF forces ever targeted Arab communities on the basis of ethnicity." Forced displacement of civilians and destruction of civilian property is not a war crime per se. These acts only become a war crime when there is no "imperative military necessity" for them. Amnesty International stated the report documents cases in which there was no such justification. It furthermore states that "the circumstances of some of these displacements suggested that they were carried out in retaliation for people's perceived sympathies with, or family ties to, suspected members of IS or other armed groups", thus constituting "collective punishment, which is a violation of international humanitarian law".


title: People's Defense Units

text: In interviews, YPG spokespersons acknowledged that a number of families were in fact displaced. However, they placed the number at no more than 25, and stated military necessity. They stated that the family members of terrorists maintained communications with them, and therefore had to be removed from areas where they might pose a danger. They further stated that IS was using civilians in those areas to plant car bombs or carry out other attacks on the YPG. By describing the events in Hammam al-Turkman before the village was evacuated, the Amnesty International report itself inadvertently supports these YPG reports of military necessity.


title: People's Defense Units

text: In June 2014, Human Rights Watch criticized the YPG for accepting minors into their ranks, picking up on multiple earlier reports of teenage fighters serving in the YPG, with a report by the United Nations Secretary General stating that 24 minors under age of 18 had been recruited by YPG, compared to 124 having been recruited by the Free Syrian Army and 5 by the Syrian Arab Army. In response, the YPG and YPJ signed the Geneva Call "Deed of Commitment" protecting children in armed conflict, prohibiting sexual violence and against gender discrimination in July 2014. Kurdish security forces (YPG and Asayish) began receiving human rights training from Geneva Call and other international organizations with the YPG pledging to demobilize all fighters under 18 within a month and began to enact disciplinary measures against commanders of the units that had involved in corruption and accepting recruit under age of 18 to their ranks. In October 2015 the YPG demobilized 21 minors from the military service in its ranks.


title: People's Defense Units

text: According to the annual UN report of 2018, there were 224 cases of child recruitment by the YPG and its women's unit, the YPJ, in 2017, an almost fivefold increase from the previous year. This sparked immediate conversations with the anti-child-recruitment NGO Geneva Call which resulted in a broad new military directive strictly prohibiting all recruitment of persons under 18, ordering that any such persons within SDF be immediately removed from the payroll and transferred to the custody of the civilian Authority For Education, mandating the appointment of an ombudsman in each military service to receive and investigate reports of child recruitment, and ordering punitive measures by military police and by the SDF's Military Discipline Department against anyone found to be responsible for child recruitment. Geneva Call immediately praised the SDF's wide-ranging initiative to eliminate and prevent child recruitment throughout all of SDF's military organizations.


title: People's Defense Units

text: In June 2020, United Nations reported the YPG/YPJ as the largest faction in the Syrian civil war by the number of recruited child soldiers with 283 child soldiers followed by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham with 245 child soldiers.


title: People's Defense Units

text: On 15 July 2020, SDF issued a new military order prohibiting child recruitment. The NGO "Fight For Humanity" conducted multiple training sessions with hundreds of SDF commanders about the UN-SDF Action Plan To Prevent Child Recruitment, and distributed informational posters and flyers about it written in both Arabic and Kurdish, as part of an ongoing educational process. Syria-based researcher Thomas McClure observed that “SDF are less likely to engage in such practices than any of the other forces in Syria, but seek to hold themselves to a higher standard of accountability and human rights.”


title: People's Defense Units

text: On 29 August 2020, SDF announced the creation of a new system that anyone can use to confidentially report to specialized Child Protection offices any suspected case of child recruitment, in accordance with the action plan that the SDF signed with the United Nations in the summer of 2019.


title: People's Defense Units

text: On 23 April 2021, the UN released its third report on child recruitment in Syria, noting that the SDF's action plan had resulted in a significant decrease in child recruitment (from 216 cases in early 2019 to only 41 cases in early 2020), but that elsewhere in Syria, child recruitment continued to be systematic and widespread within Syrian government and non-government armed forces.


title: Epson

text: Seiko Epson Corporation, or simply known as Epson, is a Japanese multinational electronics company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of computer printers and information- and imaging-related equipment. Headquartered in Suwa, Nagano, Japan, the company has numerous subsidiaries worldwide and manufactures inkjet, dot matrix, thermal and laser printers for consumer, business and industrial use, scanners, laptop and desktop computers, video projectors, watches, point of sale systems, robots and industrial automation equipment, semiconductor devices, crystal oscillators, sensing systems and other associated electronic components. The company has developed as one of manufacturing and research & development companies (formerly known as Seikosha) of the former Seiko Group, a name traditionally known for manufacturing Seiko timepieces since its founding. Seiko Epson was one of the major companies in the Seiko Group, but is neither a subsidiary nor an affiliate of Seiko Group Corporation.


title: Epson

text: The roots of Seiko Epson Corporation go back to a company called Daiwa Kogyo, Ltd. which was founded in May 1942 by Hisao Yamazaki, a local clock shop owner and former employee of K. Hattori, in Suwa, Nagano, Japan. Daiwa Kogyo was supported by an investment from the Hattori family (founder of the Seiko Group) and began as a manufacturer of watch parts for Daini Seikosha (currently Seiko Instruments). The company started operation in a renovated miso storehouse with 22 employees.


title: Epson

text: In 1943, Daini Seikosha established a factory in Suwa for manufacturing Seiko watches with Daiwa Kogyo. In 1959, the Suwa Factory of Daini Seikosha was split up and merged into Daiwa Kogyo to form Suwa Seikosha Co., Ltd: the forerunner of the Seiko Epson Corporation. The company has developed many timepiece technologies. In particular, it developed the world's first portable quartz timer (Seiko QC-951) in 1963, the world's first quartz watch (Seiko Quartz Astron 35SQ) in 1969, the first automatic power generating quartz watch (Seiko Auto-Quartz) in 1988 and the Spring Drive watch movement in 1999.


title: Epson

text: The watch business is the root of the company’s high-precision and micromechatronics technologies and still one of the major businesses for Seiko Epson today although it accounts for a few percent of total revenues. The watches made by the company are sold through the Seiko Watch Corporation, a subsidiary of Seiko Group Corporation. The watch brand of Orient Watch/Orient Star are owned by Epson since 2009 (fully integrated into the company in 2017).


title: Epson

text: In 1961, Suwa Seikosha established a company called Shinshu Seiki Co. as a subsidiary to supply precision parts for Seiko watches. When the Seiko Group was selected to be the official time keeper for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, a printing timer was required to time events, and Shinshu Seiki started developing an electronic printer.


title: Epson

text: In September 1968, Shinshu Seiki launched the world's first mini-printer, the EP-101 ("EP" for Electronic Printer,) which was soon incorporated into many calculators. In June 1975, the name Epson was coined for the next generation of printers based on the EP-101 which was released to the public. The name EPSON was coined by joining the initials EP, meaning Electronic Printer, and the word “son”, making EPSON mean “Electronic Printer’s Son”. In April of the same year Epson America Inc. was established to sell printers for Shinshu Seiki Co.


title: Epson

text: In June 1978, the TX-80 (TP-80), eighty-column dot-matrix printer was released to the market, and was mainly used as a system printer for the Commodore PET Computer. After two years of further development, an improved model, the MX-80 (MP-80), was launched in October 1980. It was soon described in the company's advertising as the best selling printer in the United States.


title: Epson

text: In July 1982, Shinshu Seiki officially named itself the Epson Corporation and launched the world's first handheld computer, HX-20 (HC-20), and in May 1983 the world's first portable color LCD TV was developed and launched by the company.


title: Epson

text: In November 1985, Suwa Seikosha Co., Ltd. and the Epson Corporation merged to form Seiko Epson Corporation.


title: Epson

text: The company developed the Micro Piezo inkjet technology, which used a piezoelectric crystal in each nozzle and did not heat the ink at the print head while spraying the ink onto the page, and released Epson MJ-500 inkjet cartridge (Epson Stylus 800 printer) in March 1993. Shortly after in 1994, Epson released the first high resolution color inkjet printer (720×720 dpi was considered as a high resolution), the Epson Stylus Color (P860A) utilizing the Micro Piezo head technology. Newer models of the Stylus series employed Epson’s special DURABrite ink. They also had two hard drives. The HD 850 and the HD 860 MFM interface. The specifications are reference The WINN L. ROSCH Hardware bible 3rd addition SAMS publishing.


title: Epson

text: In 1994 Epson started outsourcing sales reps to help sell their products in retail stores in the United States. The same year, they started the Epson Weekend Warrior sales program. The purpose of the program was to help improve sales, improve retail sales reps' knowledge of Epson products and to address Epson customer service in a retail environment. Reps were assigned on weekend shift, typically around 12–20 hours a week. Epson started the Weekend Warrior program with TMG Marketing (now Mosaic Sales Solutions), later with Keystone Marketing Inc, then to Mosaic, and now with Campaigners INC. The Mosaic contract expired with Epson on June 24, 2007 and Epson is now represented by Campaigners, Inc. The sales reps of Campaigners, Inc. are not outsourced as Epson hired "rack jobbers" to ensure their retail customers displayed products properly. This frees up their regular sales force to concentrate on profitable sales solutions to VAR's and system integrators, leaving "retail" to reps who did not require sales skills.


title: Epson

text: Starting in 1983, Epson entered the personal computer market with the QX-10, a CP/M-compatible Z80 machine. By 1986, the company had shifted to the growing PC compatible market with the Equity line. Epson withdrew from the international PC market in 1996. The company still produces and sells PCs in Japan as of 2022.


title: Epson

text: In June 2003, the company became public following their listing on the 1st section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Since 2017 the company is a constituent of the Nikkei Stock Average index. Although Seiko Group Corporation (f/k/a K. Hattori, Hattori Seiko, Seiko Holdings) and the key members of the Hattori family still hold approximately 10% of the outstanding shares of Seiko Epson, the company is managed and operated completely independently from Seiko Group.


title: Epson

text: Seiko Watch Corporation, a division of Seiko Group Corporation, produces Seiko timepieces in-house through its subsidiaries as well as delegates the manufacture of some of its high-end watches (Seiko Astron, Grand Seiko, Credor, etc) to Epson. The company makes some of the Seiko's highest grade watches at the Micro Artist Studio inside its Shiojiri Plant in Shiojiri, Nagano. Beside the Seiko timepieces, Epson develops, designs, manufactures, markets, and sells watches under its own brands such as Trume, Orient, and Orient Star.


title: Epson

text: In 2004, Epson introduced their R-D1 digital RangeFinder Camera, which supports Leica M mount and Leica screw mount M39 lenses with an adapter ring. This camera is the first digital rangefinder on the market. Because its sensor is smaller than that of the standard 35 mm film frame, lenses mounted on the R-D1 have the field view 1.53 times as long as that of the standard 35 mm camera. As of 2006 the R-D1 has been replaced by the R-D1s. The R-D1s is less expensive but its hardware is identical. Epson has released a firmware patch to bring the R-D1 up to the full functionality of its successor—the first digital camera manufacturer to make such an upgrade available for free.


title: Epson

text: In September 2012, Epson introduced a printer called the Epson Expression Premium XP-800 Small-in-One. It has the ability to print wirelessly. Furthermore, the name "Expression" has followed various models of scanners.


title: Epson

text: In September 2015 Epson debuted a printer, the Epson ET-4550 which instead of print cartridges, enables the user to pour the ink into separate inkwells from ink bottles. In the third quarter of 2012, Epson's global market share in the sale of printers, copiers and multifunction devices amounted to 15.20 percent.


title: Epson

text: Epson is also involved in the smartglasses market. Since 2016 the company has three different models. First up was the Epson Moverio BT-100 which was followed up by the Epson Moverio BT-200. In 2016 the company also released the Moverio Pro BT-2000 which is an enterprise oriented, upgraded version of the BT-200 with stereoscopic cameras. The company also was the first to release consumer smart glasses with see through optics that made them very popular under drone pilots for being able to get a first person view while still being able to see the drone in the sky.


title: Epson

text: 2016 Epson presented the SureColor SC-P10000 ink printer: it prints with inks in ten colours and up to 44 inch (1,11 m).


title: Epson

text: To control its printers, Epson introduced a printer control language, the "Epson Standard Code for Printers" or ("ESC/P"), which became a "de facto" industry standard for controlling print formatting during the era of dot matrix printers; whose popularity was initially started by the Epson MX-80.


title: Epson

text: Epson Robots is the robotics design and manufacturing department of Epson. Seiko Epson produces some microcontrollers, such as the S1C63. In 1980 Epson started the production of robots.


title: Epson

text: In July 2003, a Dutch consumer association advised its 640,000 members to boycott Epson inkjet printers. The Netherlands-based organisation alleged that Epson customers were unfairly charged for ink they could never use. Later that month, however, the group retracted its call for a nationwide boycott of Epson products and issued a statement conceding that residual ink left in Epson cartridges was necessary for the printers to function properly.


title: Epson

text: Epson designed ink to be left in the cartridges (and in fact they have done so ever since they developed the piezo-electric head) due to the way the capping mechanism worked. If the capping mechanism dries out, then the heads risk getting clogged, and thus an expensive repair will be necessary. The reason that the Dutch consumer association retracted their statement was that, as pointed out, Epson had made a statement regarding how many pages (at usually a 5% coverage of an A4 sheet of paper) each cartridge could sustain for printing.


title: Epson

text: Nonetheless, Epson America, Inc. settled a class action lawsuit brought before the Los Angeles Superior Court. It did not admit guilt, but they agreed to refund $45 to anyone who purchased an Epson inkjet printer after April 8, 1999 (at least $20 of which must be used at Epson's E-Store).


title: Epson

text: According to IDG News Service, Epson filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in February, 2006, against 24 companies that manufactured, imported, or distributed Epson-compatible ink cartridges for resale in the U.S. On March 30, 2007, ITC judge Paul Luckern issued an initial determination that the ink cartridges in question did infringe upon Epson's patents. The judge also recommended those companies and others to be barred from manufacturing, importing, or reselling Epson cartridges in the U.S., said Epson.


title: Epson

text: In 2015 it emerged that Epson printers reported that cartridges are empty when in fact 20% of their ink remains.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: The Ritz Paris is a hotel in central Paris, overlooking the Place Vendôme in the city's 1st arrondissement. A member of the Leading Hotels of the World marketing group, the Ritz Paris is ranked among the most luxurious hotels in the world.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: The hotel was founded in 1898 by the Swiss hotelier César Ritz in collaboration with the French chef Auguste Escoffier. The hotel was constructed behind the façade of an eighteenth-century townhouse. It was among the first hotels in Europe to provide an en suite bathroom, electricity, and a telephone for each room. It quickly established a reputation for luxury and attracted a clientele that included royalty, politicians, writers, film stars, and singers. Several of its suites are named in honour of famous guests of the hotel including Coco Chanel, and the cocktail lounge Bar Hemingway pays tribute to writer Ernest Hemingway.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: Beginning in 2012, the 159-room hotel underwent a four-year, multimillion-euro renovation, reopening on 6 June 2016. While the hotel has not applied for the 'Palace' distinction from the French ministry of economy, industry and employment, its "Suite Impériale" has been listed by the French government as a national monument.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: Because of its status as a symbol of high society and luxury, the hotel is featured in many notable works of fiction including novels (F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Tender Is The Night" and Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises"),


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: a play (Noël Coward's play "Semi-Monde"), and films (Billy Wilder's 1957 comedy "Love in the Afternoon" and William Wyler's 1966 comedy "How to Steal a Million").


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: The Place Vendôme was started by the Marquis de Louvois and abandoned due to a lack of funds. After Louvois' death the site was bought by king Louis XIV, but finances ran low and the project was bought and completed by John Law.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: Lot number 15, Place Vendôme site was purchased in 1705 by Antoine Bitaut de Vaillé, advisor to the Grand Council, nominee of Jeanne Baillet de La Cour, widow of Nicolas Baillet de La Cour and acting on behalf of his daughter Anne. Jeanne bequeathed it in 1710 to her daughter, Anne, wife of Duke Antoine de Gramont. Anne, a chambermaid to the first doctor of Louis XIV, Daquin, then to Louis Sanguin, Marquis de Livry, married the Duke Antoine Charles IV of Gramont who left his name to the hôtel particulier Hôtel de Gramont which was built on the site. In 1721, the Duchesse de Gramont, who had become a widow, sold it to Daniel François de Gelas of Voisin (1686–1762), knight of Amber and count of Lautrec, who lived there for thirty years. It was sold in 1750 to Charles de la Villette, treasurer of the extraordinary wars, who rented it to the Prince of Andorra, Spanish ambassador. From 1775 it belonged to Claude Darras, secretary of the king, and then was occupied from 1788 by the Direction of the liquidation of the public debt and then from 1792 by the Mortgage credit.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: The façade was designed by the royal architect Jules Hardouin Mansart. In 1854 it was acquired by the Péreire brothers, who made it the head office of their "Crédit Mobilier" financial institution.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: In 1888, the Swiss hotelier César Ritz and the French chef Auguste Escoffier opened a restaurant in Baden-Baden, and the two were then invited to London by Richard D'Oyly Carte to become the first manager and chef of the Savoy Hotel, positions they held from 1889 until 1897. The Savoy under Ritz was an immediate success, attracting a distinguished and moneyed clientele, headed by the Prince of Wales. In 1897, Ritz and Escoffier were both dismissed from the Savoy, when Ritz was implicated in the disappearance of over £3400 worth of wine and spirits. Before their dismissal, customers at the Savoy had reportedly urged them to open a hotel in Paris. Aided by Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle, Ritz purchased the palace and transformed the former Hôtel de Gramont building into a 210-room hotel. He stated that his purpose for the hotel was to provide his rich clientele with "all the refinement that a prince could desire in his own home." He engaged the architect Charles Mewès to update the original 1705 structure. Ritz's innovative standards of hygiene demanded a bathroom for every suite, the maximum possible amount of sunlight, and the minimum of curtains and other hangings. At the same time he furnished the hotel with all the old-fashioned appeal of an English or French gentleman's house, in order to make clients feel at home.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: The hotel opened on 1 June 1898 to a "glittering reception". Together with the culinary talents of his junior partner Escoffier, Ritz made the hotel synonymous with opulence, service, and fine dining, as embodied in the term "ritzy." It immediately became fashionable with Parisian socialites, hosting many prestigious personalities over the years, such as Marcel Proust, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, King Edward VII, and the couturier Coco Chanel, who made the Ritz her home for more than thirty years. Many of the suites in the hotel are named after their famous patrons. Hemingway once said, "When in Paris the only reason not to stay at the Ritz is if you can't afford it".


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: In 1904 and 1908, the Ritz garden café was painted by the Swiss artist, Pierre-Georges Jeanniot. Proust wrote parts of "Remembrance of Things Past" here from around 1909. The building was extended in 1910, and César Ritz died in 1918, succeeded by his son, Charles Ritz. Queen Marie of Romania stayed at the Ritz Hotel with her two eldest daughters, Elisabeth (of Greece) and Maria (of Yugoslavia) in 1919 while campaigning for Greater Romania at the Paris Peace Conference. Many other prominent royal figures and heads of state slept and dined at the hotel over the years. Edward VII reportedly once got stuck in a too-narrow bathtub with his lover at the hotel. August Escoffier died in 1935.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: After the death of Charles Ritz in 1976, the hotel went into a period of slow decline. As it lost its luster, its clientele diminished, and for the first time in its existence, it began to lose money. It was rescued, however, in 1979 by Egyptian businessman, Mohamed Al-Fayed, who purchased the hotel for $20 million and installed a new managing director, Frank Klein. Klein, in turn, put Guy Legay, the former chief of the three-star Ledoyen, in charge of the kitchen. Al-Fayed renovated it completely over several years without stopping its operation; this was achieved by annexing two townhouses, joined by an arcade with many of Paris's leading boutiques. The renovation of the hotel was headed by the architect Bernard Gaucherel from 1980 to 1987. The entire ten-year renovation cost a total of $250 million. The restaurants were given a new look, and a swimming pool, health club, and spas were created in the basement. The Little Bar was renamed the Hemingway Bar. In 1988, the Ritz-Escoffier School of French Gastronomy was established in honour of Auguste Escoffier.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: On 1 August 2012, the Ritz closed for the first time in its history for an extensive restoration. It was scheduled to reopen in late 2015, but this date was later changed to March 2016. At 07:00 local time on 19 January 2016, a major fire broke out in the roof of the building. Fifteen fire engines and 60 firefighters responded. The Ritz reopened on 6 June 2016 after a major four-year, multimillion-dollar renovation.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: In the 21st century, the Ritz is ranked among the most luxurious hotels in the world and the most expensive in Paris. It is referred to by some as the best hotel in Europe and one of the world's most famous hotels. It is one of "The Leading Hotels of the World".


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: During the summer of 1940, the Luftwaffe, the air forces of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, set up their headquarters at the Ritz, with their chief Hermann Göring.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: Ernest Hemingway, who stayed at the hotel many times after World War II, was there when he learned his third wife, Martha Gellhorn, wanted a divorce. He reacted to the news by throwing her photo into a Ritz toilet and then shooting the photo and the toilet with his pistol.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: On 22 April 1955, the Duke and Duchess of Parma hosted a coming out ball for their daughter, Princess Cécile Marie of Bourbon-Parma, at the hotel. On 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales and Al-Fayed's son Dodi Al-Fayed, and their chauffeur Henri Paul, dined in the Imperial Suite of the hotel before leaving the hotel with bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, only to have a fatal car accident in the Pont de l'Alma underpass. During 10 January 2018 five men stole millions of euros worth of jewellery from within the hotel, three were subsequently caught before escaping.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: The palace and the square are masterpieces of classical architecture from the end of the reign of Louis XIV. The façade was designed by the royal architect Mansart in the late 17th century before the plot was bought and construction began in 1705. The Hôtel Ritz comprises the Vendôme and the Cambon buildings with rooms overlooking the Place Vendôme, and, on the opposite side, the hotel's garden.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: The Ritz was among the first hotels in Europe to provide a bathroom "en suite", a telephone and electricity for each room. The Hôtel Ritz Paris is 4 floors high, including the mansard roof, and as of 2011 offers 159 rooms, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant, two bars and a casual dining restaurant.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: In the 1970s a travel publication "Holiday" wrote, "Practically every royal head of state has snoozed under down quilts on the finest linen sheets, beneath fifteen-foot-high () ceilings in rooms looking out, through huge double windows, on the elegant Place Vendôme." Frommer's, which calls the Ritz "Europe's greatest hotel", describes the furnishings as follows: "The public salons are furnished with museum-calibre antiques. Each guest room is uniquely decorated, most with Louis XIV or Louis XV reproductions; all have fine rugs, marble fireplaces, tapestries, brass beds, and more. Ever since Edward VII got stuck in a too-narrow bathtub with his lover, the tubs at the Ritz have been deep and big." The bathrooms contain unique golden swan taps, and peach-coloured towels and robes, believed to be more flattering than white to a woman's complexion.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: The Ritz may be the most expensive hotel in Paris, employing a staff of over 600, the rooms as of 2011 started at €850 a night. Suites start at €3,650 and up to €20,000 a night for the most lavish ones (Suite Impériale being the most expensive). These finest suites are known as the "Prestige suites", ten in total, which according to the Ritz are "a world for aesthetes where 18th century panelling echoes allegorical ceilings, old masters and priceless antique furniture. Each suite is unique and each seems to still breathe the spirit of the illustrious guests who once stayed there." The Vendôme Suite is one of the most spacious of the hotel, containing Louis XIV furnishings, with a red and ivory theme and grand windows overlooking the square. The César Ritz Suite overlooks the square and contains Louis XV furniture and a portrait of Ritz himself. The room is decorated in shades of green and light yellow with a canopied bed in one room and silk floral pattern in the second. The doors of the sitting room of the suite are edged in gold leaf. The Elton John Suite, decorated in strawberry pink and cream, contains two bedrooms, a thick pink carpet and attic windows. John reportedly hired the entire floor for his 42nd birthday. The Windsor Suite contains tapestries and gilded mouldings and portraits of the Duke (Edward VIII) and Duchess of Windsor. They are decorated with Louis XVI furniture and colours such as almond green, salmon and pearl grey. The master bedroom is decorated in pearl grey in a shade which the Ritz calls "Wallis blue", a favourite of Wallis, Duchess of Windsor. The Coco Chanel Suite where Coco Chanel lived for some 35 years consists of two bedrooms and a living room and features Coromandel lacquers, Chinese furniture, baroque mirrors and oversized sofas with quilting created by Grande Mademoiselle.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: The Imperial Suite ("Suite Impériale") is the finest suite of the hotel and is listed as a National Monument of France in its own right. The Imperial Suite is located on the first floor and consists of two bedrooms, a grand salon, and a dining room. The suite features ceilings, great chandeliers and windows overlooking the Place Vendôme, a massive long gold framed Baroque mirror between the windows, red and gold upholstery and a four-poster bed said to be identical to that in Marie Antoinette's bedroom in the Palace of Versailles. The other bedroom is in the style of Louis XVI, with a baldachin bed and columns. The suite is lavishly decorated in French art, bas-reliefs and 18th-century paneling which is protected under the suite's historic monument status. The bathroom is a former boudoir overlooking the Vendôme garden, with 18th-century paneling and a Jacuzzi bath and steam-bath shower, and has its own plasma television and cosmetics fridge. As well as facilities such as a DVD player, high-speed internet, and fax, the suite features a Porsche Design kitchenette with Chroma knives near the salon and has its own small personal wine cellar filled with a variety of French wines. Over the years the suite has hosted some of the world's most prestigious guests from the Shah of Iran to George H. W. Bush. The suite was Hermann Göring's choice of residence during the Second World War and it was where Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al-Fayed ate their last meal. The World Travel Awards of 2007 selected the Imperial Suite as "Europe's Leading Suite".


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: Although there was necessarily a hotel restaurant from the inception of the Ritz, the current hotel restaurant, L'Espadon (The Swordfish) was established in 1956 by Charles Ritz. He was a keen fishing enthusiast so named the restaurant after a fish. The restaurant is inspired by the legendary first chef of the hotel, Auguste Escoffier, serving "traditional French culinary style with contemporary overtones". The cuisine was by the award-winning chef Michel Roth, the ninth head chef of the hotel; the restaurant was awarded a second star by the 2009 edition of the influential Michelin Red Guide. He was the executive chef of the restaurant until its closing on 1 August 2012 for a complete renovation. The head chef was formerly Guy Legay, cited as one of Paris's greatest chefs, who had served from at least 1986 to beyond 1999. In 1999, "Esquire" magazine wrote, "the dining room, L'Espadon, down the long corridor of mirrors and display cases, has a glittering Regency formality that seems to swirl around you, and it's easy enough to imagine Hemingway sitting down with Dietrich to a dish of chef Guy Legay's buttery scrambled eggs..." The restaurant decor is described as "opulent with trompe l’oeil ceilings, swagged drapes, and views into the garden." The courtyard garden is rich in greenery and contains several statues and a fountain. The hotel hires five or so florists to provide fresh flowers.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: The hotel has several bars, namely the Ritz Bar, Bar Vendôme, Bar Hemingway and the Pool Bar. The Ritz Bar, just inside the Rue Cambon entrance on the left, gained a reputation over the years for its glamorous cocktail parties and the unique bartending skills of Frank Meier, a head barman from 1921 until his death in 1947. One of his best-known cocktails was the potent "Rainbow", consisting of anisette, mint, yellow chartreuse, cherry brandy, kümmel, green chartreuse and cognac. The Ritz Bar is designed in the Victorian style with red-velvet armchairs and bar furnishings, a marble fireplace and historic portraits. The Ritz Bar may have been the world's first hotel bar.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: Bar Hemingway was the favorite bar of Ernest Hemingway and is said by some to be the birthplace of the Bloody Mary cocktail which was invented for him. However, the claim is disputed as Fernand Petiot claimed to have invented the drink in 1921 while working at Harry's New York Bar, a frequent Paris hangout for Hemingway and other American expatriates, rather than in the bar in the Ritz itself. The bar has been restored to its original appearance, with rich wood paneling and leather upholstery and has 25 original photographs on the walls taken by the author of places and people that inspired him.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: Bar Vendôme is very popular with wealthy Parisians for afternoon tea and contains wood furnishings and a grand piano. During the summer months the doors are opened out onto the garden and terrace.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: The Ritz-Escoffier School of French Gastronomy was established in 1988 in honour of Auguste Escoffier. The ethos of the school is based on Escoffier's words, "Good cuisine is the foundation of true happiness."


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: This school is accessed through an entrance in the back of the hotel and offers training courses and workshops for amateur and professional cooks.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: The Ritz Health Club contains a swimming pool, the largest in all of the Parisian hotel palaces and billed by the Ritz as "the finest indoor pool in Paris". The pool's construction was inspired by the baths of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome and features reliefs on the ceilings and jet streams and underwater sounds in the pool. The health club boasts of of "hi-tech facilities" and offers a range of health treatments, from reflexology to Swedish massage and shiatsu.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: Because of its status as a symbol of wealth and luxury, the hotel has featured in many notable works of fiction.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: Many novels of the Lost Generation feature scenes in the Ritz, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Tender Is The Night" and Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises". Noël Coward's play "Semi-Monde" is perhaps the most notable work covering the hotel in detail, following the escapades of an extravagant, promiscuous fictional Paris elite between 1924 and 1926. In the Bret Easton Ellis novel "Glamorama", a group of supermodels turned terrorists plant a home-made bomb in the Ritz, resulting in its destruction. In "The Da Vinci Code", the protagonist, Robert Langdon, stays at the hotel while in Paris, as do Andrea Sachs and Miranda Priestly in Lauren Weisberger's "The Devil Wears Prada". The final chapter of Ian Fleming's James Bond novel "From Russia, with Love" is set at the hotel. The villain, Rosa Klebb, stays in room 204 and engages in a battle with Bond which results in her death. In Julian Fellowes' novel "Snobs" (2004), those attending Earl Broughton's pre-marriage bachelor party are accommodated at the Ritz.


title: Hôtel Ritz Paris

text: The hotel has featured in several films, three of which starred Audrey Hepburn. In Stanley Donen's 1957 film "Funny Face", Kay Thompson dances in the Ritz's entry driveway and in front of the hotel, accompanied by a group of dancers dressed as Ritz bellhops during the "Bonjour, Paris!" number. In Billy Wilder's 1957 comedy "Love in the Afternoon", Hepburn initiates her romance with Gary Cooper in his suite in the hotel and much of the film is set there. The hotel is again seen in the 1966 movie "How to Steal a Million", with a romantic scene between Hepburn and Peter O'Toole in the hotel's bar in which Hepburn wears an iconic Givenchy black lace eye mask and matching cocktail dress. In the Indian film "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom", Abhishek Bachchan meets his fictional love (played by Lara Dutta) at Hotel Ritz.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The Volvo 200 Series (or 240 and 260 Series) is a range of mid-size cars produced by Swedish company Volvo Cars from 1974 until 1993, with more than 2.8 million total units sold worldwide. Like the Volvo 140 Series (1966 to 1974), from which it was developed, it was designed by Jan Wilsgaard.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The series overlapped production of the Volvo 700 Series (1982 to 1992). As the 240 Series remained popular, only the 260 Series was displaced by the 700 Series, which Volvo marketed alongside the 240 for another decade. The 700 was replaced by the 900 Series in 1992, a year before the 240 was discontinued. Production of the 240 ended on 14 May 1993, after nearly 20 years.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The Volvo 240 and 260 series were introduced in the autumn of 1974, and was initially available as seven variations of the 240 Series (242L, 242DL, 242GT, 244DL, 244GL, 245L and 245DL) and two variations of the 260 Series (264DL and 264GL). The 240 Series was available in sedan (with two or four doors) or station wagon, however, the 260 Series was available as a coupé (262C Bertone), four-door sedan, or station wagon. The 200 looked much like the earlier 140 and 164, for they shared the same body shell and were largely the same from the cowl rearward. However, the 200 incorporated many of the features and design elements tried in the Volvo VESC ESV in 1972, which was a prototype experiment in car safety. The overall safety of the driver and passengers in the event of a crash was greatly improved with very large front and rear end crumple zones. Another main change was to the engines, which were now of an overhead cam design. The 260 series also received a V6 engine in lieu of the 164's inline-six.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The 200 Series had MacPherson strut-type front suspension, which increased room around the engine bay, while the rear suspension was a modified version of that fitted to the 140 Series. The steering was greatly improved with the installation of rack-and-pinion steering, with power steering fitted as standard to the 244GL, 264DL and 264GL, and there were some modifications made to the braking system (in particular the master cylinder).


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The front end of the car was also completely restyled with a "shovel nose" which closely resembled that of the ESV prototype vehicle – that being the most obvious change which made the 200 Series distinguishable from the earlier 140 and 160 Series. Other than all the changes mentioned above, the 200 Series was almost identical to the 140 and 160 Series from the bulkhead to the very rear end. In 1978, a facelift meant a redesigned rear end for sedans, with wraparound taillights and a trunk opening with a lower lip. The dashboard was derived from the safety fascia introduced for the 1973 model year 100 Series - the main change for the 200 Series was the adoption of slatted "egg crate" style air vents in place of the eyeball style vents used in the 140/160 and the square clock. All models were available with a choice of four-speed manual or a three-speed automatic transmission. Overdrive was also optional on the manual 244GL, while a five-speed manual gearbox was optional on the 264GL and 265GL.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: In the autumn of 1975 (for the 1976 model year in America), the 265 DL estate became available alongside the existing range, and this was the first production Volvo estate to be powered by a six-cylinder engine. The choice of gearboxes was also improved, with overdrive now available as an option in all manual models except the base-model 242L and 245L. As before, a three-speed automatic was optional in every model. The B21A engine gained three horsepower; a new steering wheel and gearknob were also introduced.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: At the 1976 Paris Motor Show Bertone first showed the stretched 264 TE, a seven-seat limousine on a wheelbase, although it had entered production earlier. The raw bodies were sent from Sweden to Grugliasco for lengthening, reinforcing, and finishing. Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden used one, as did much of East Germany's political leadership.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: For 1977 the B19A engine with replaced the B20A in most markets, although the old pushrod type soldiered on for another two years in some places. This is also the year that the sportier 242 GT arrived.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: In 1978 the grille was altered, now with a chrome surround. Rear view mirrors were now black, while the front seats were changed as were the emblems, while interval wipers were introduced. 1978 models were also the first 240s to receive a new paint formula, to help solve the severe rust problems in previous model years.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The 1979 model year brought a full facelift front and rear, the most obvious change being the adoption of flush fitting square headlamps in place of the recessed circular units, whilst the sedans received new wraparound rear lamp clusters and a restyled leading edge to the trunk lid, although the rear of the wagons remained unchanged. The GLE was added while the L was cancelled, and the six-cylinder diesel arrived late in the year. For 1980, the sporty GLT arrived, replacing the GT. For 1981 there was yet another new grille, while the station wagons received new, wraparound taillights. The B21A gained some four horsepower, now , while the carburetted B23A with was introduced in some markets. The Turbo arrived, while six-cylinder models now had a more powerful 2.8-liter engine. 1981 also saw the dashboard altered significantly, which a much larger binnacle in order to bring the radio and clock within the driver's line of sight. The instrument pod itself, which had been unaltered since the 1973 model year 100 Series, was also redesigned.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: Incremental improvements were made almost every year of the production run. One of the major improvements was the introduction of the oxygen sensor in North America in late 1976 (1977 models), which Volvo called Lambda Sond and developed in conjunction with Bosch. It added a feedback loop to the K-Jetronic fuel injection system already in use, which allowed fine-tuning of the air and fuel mixture and therefore produced superior emissions, drivability and fuel economy.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: For the 1983 model year, Volvo dropped the DL and GLE labels, selling the cars simply as 240s. In the domestic Swedish market, the 240 could be had with a 2.1 or 2.3-liter engine (more options were available in export), but the bigger engine always came coupled with a five-speed transmission and tinted windows. The 1983s also received wider side trim and all models had the larger taillights introduced on the previous year's GLT model. A B23E-engined GLE variant was also added (not available with two doors). Buyers protested against the lack of grades and they returned for 1984. A new manual gearbox also arrived for 1984, while a four-speed automatic option was available in the GL. The GLT and Turbo versions received a taller grille.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: About one-third of all 240s sold were station wagons, which featured very large cargo space of . They could be outfitted with a rear-facing foldable jumpseat in the passenger area, making the wagon a seven-passenger vehicle. The jumpseat came with three-point seat belts, and wagons were designed to have a reinforced floor section, protecting the occupants of the jumpseat in the event of a rear-end collision.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: A 1993 Volvo 240DL was driven by IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, who stopped driving it when he was told the car was too dangerous due to outdated safety design two decades later.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The last 200 produced was a blue station wagon built to the Italian specification and named the "Polar Italia", currently displayed at the Volvo World Museum.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The 200 series was offered with three families of engines. Most 240s were equipped with Volvo's own "red block", 2.0-2.3 litre four-cylinder engines. Both overhead valve and overhead cam versions of the red block engines were installed in 240s. The B20 was used only in the early years and subsequently replaced by the B19, a smaller version of the B21. Power of the carburetted versions increased for the 1979 model year. V6 engines were also available, first in the 260-models, but also later in the GLE- and GLT-versions of 240. Known as the PRV family, they were developed in a three-way partnership among Volvo, Peugeot and Renault, 240 diesel models are powered by diesel engines purchased from Volkswagen. In Greece and Israel the 1.8 liter B17 engine was available beginning with the 1980 model year (also as a luxuriously equipped 260). This hard working little twin-carb engine developed , and had considerably higher fuel consumption than even the turbocharged top version.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The 1974 240 series retained the B20A inline-four engine from the 140 Series in certain markets, with the new "B21A" engine available as an option on the 240 DL models. The new "B21" engine was a 2,127 cc, four-cylinder unit, which had a cast-iron block, a five-bearing crankshaft, and a belt-driven overhead camshaft. This engine produced for the B21A carburettor 242DL, 244DL and 245DL, and for the "B21E" fuel-injected 244GL. The carburetted B19A also produced , although at 5400 rpm, while the fuel injected B19E claimed .


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The OHV B20F engine was carried over to the new 200-Series when they went on sale in the United States and Canada for the 1975 and 1976 model years. No carbureted engines were available until 1977 when Canada went metric.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: With the tightening emission regulations in the United States, the new OHC B21F with fuel injection and EGR system replaced B20F for the 1976 model year. Lambda-Sond and the three-way catalytic converter became available in 1977 on California emissions vehicles only. In 1980, 49 state cars also received Lambda-Sond. The Canadian market had both carbureted B21A (again as a base engine from 1977 to 1984) and fuel-injected B21F engines. The B21F engine was revised with higher compression flat-top pistons in 1979 for increased output to 107 SAE hp or . The Bosch LH-Jetronic fuel injection system replaced the K-Jetronic on certain B21F engines in 1982, sharing less part commonality with the turbocharged B21FT engine.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The B21 was enlarged to 2.3 liters and renamed as B23E for the Canadian market only with a K grind camshaft in 1981 and B23F for both markets in 1983. The B23E with higher compression ratio used the mechanical K-Jetronic and wasn't fitted with catalytic converter. In 1983, the B23E received an A grind camshaft from the B21A engine and switched to the normal B21F style head from the higher performance 405 casting used on the older B23E engines. Compression ratio was bumped up from 10.0:1 to 10.3:1. Horsepower dropped to 115 SAE hp from 136 DIN hp (127 SAE). The B23F used LH-Jetronic system and catalytic converter. All early 1983 B23F engines had the same compression ratio as the 1983 B23E, but, due to Chrysler ignition system usage, provided only 107 hp. After the switch to a Bosch distributor and coil, horsepower went up to 114 hp for the high compression B23F. In mid-1983, a lower compression B23F was introduced that had less horsepower (111 hp), but more torque (136 ft.lbs versus 133 ft.lbs, produced at 2750 rpm, instead of 3500 rpm). That version was used on M46-equipped cars only.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: B21FT, the first turbocharged engine from Volvo, was added to the 200-Series in late 1980 for the 1981 model year. The output was increased to 126 SAE hp or . Like the european B21ET, the B21FT used the K-Jetronic mechanical fuel injection system, but with Lambda-Sond and catalytic converter added. In 1982, the horsepower was increased to 127 hp. With some modifications to the fuel system, horsepower was increased to 131 SAE in 1984. The turbocharged engine did not have the intercooler until 1983 when the optional extra-cost “intercooler boost system” (IBS) was offered. The IBS became standard equipment in mid-1984. Despite the introduction of the new B23 engine, B21FT engine was never enlarged to 2.3 liters.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: Starting in 1983, certain Canadian models received the same B23F engines fitted to the US models (49-state emission regulations) and the B21FT (conformed to the California emission regulations).


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: In 1985, the B21A was dropped, and the new B230F engine was introduced for use in all non-turbo 240s in both markets. Had a 9.8:1 compression ratio, instead of 10.3:1 for the earlier B23F in automatic and early 1983 manual form, or 9.5:1 for late 1983 through 1984 manual form. Had the higher horsepower number of the automatic B23F (114 SAE net HP) and the higher torque number of the low compression manual B23F (136 foot-pounds of torque). Fuel system was, again, LH-Jetronic, but updated to 2.2, which used a different mass airflow sensor and computers. It also was redesigned to be lower-friction than the earlier B21 and B23 engines with lighter weight connecting rods and pistons that had a shorter skirt. In 1989, the B230F received the Bosch LH-Jetronic version 2.4 fuel injection system, which added OBD-1 onboard diagnostics. The ignition system was similarly updated from the Volvo/Chrysler ignition system that used a Bosch coil and distributor to the Bosch EZK-116K system. Some manual 1990-93 B230F engines used the LH-Jetronic 3.1 system, which used a heated film mass airflow sensor, instead of the usual hot wire sensor.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The 260 models had a completely new 90-degree V6 "B27E" engine, sometimes called the "Douvrin". This engine was developed jointly by Peugeot, Renault and Volvo in collaboration, and is therefore generally known as the "PRV engine". This engine was unusual at the time, being composed of many small parts in a modular design (as opposed to a monolithic engine block and head). The "B27E" engine has a displacement of 2,664 cc, an aluminium alloy block, and wet cylinder liners. This engine produces for both the 264DL and 264GL. In fuel-injected form, the "B27F" was introduced to the US in the 1976 260 series. The two-door 262 DL and GL sedans, the 264DL saloon (sedan) and the new 265DL estate (station wagon) were offered outside North America with the "B27A" engine. Almost identical to the fuel-injected V6 "B27E" engine, it has an SU carburettor instead of fuel injection, and therefore it produces a lower output of .


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The PRV engine (B27E in 1980, B28E 1981–1984) was also used in 244/245 GLT6 on several markets as an option until 1984.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: Volvo increased engine displacement to 2.8 litres in 1980 with the introduction of the "B28E" and "B28F", which were prone to top-end oiling troubles and premature camshaft wear. Some export markets also received the lower output carburetted "B28A" engine with at 5,250 rpm, capable of running on lower-octane fuel. Volvo also installed the "B28" V6 in their new 760 model and the engine was used by numerous other manufacturers in the 1970s and 1980s. The updated "B280" engine used in the final years of the 760 and 780 models did not suffer from the same premature camshaft wear as the earlier PRV engines. In North America, the 260 series was only available with a three-speed automatic transmission or a five-speed manual transmission with electronic overdrive and the engine produces .


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: Announced at the 1978 Paris Auto Show, the Volvo 240 GL D6 was introduced in the spring of 1979. Volvo's new diesel engine was purchased from Volkswagen and was a six-cylinder iteration of the ones installed in diesel Volkswagen and Audi vehicles at the time. Production was initially low, with only around 600 built by the time of the introduction of the 1980 model year cars. A turbocharged diesel was never sold in the 200 series. At the time of introduction, the six-cylinder Volvo was one of the fastest as well as quietest diesels sold. These engines are all liquid-cooled, pre-combustion chamber, diesel engines with non-sleeved iron blocks and aluminum heads. A Bosch mechanical injection system is used that requires constant electrical input so that the fuel supply can be cut off when the ignition key is removed.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: A 2.4-litre inline-six (the "D24") and a 2.0-litre inline-five (the "D20") were available, producing and respectively. The lesser "D20" engine was the same as installed in the contemporary Audi 100; it was only sold in select markets where it was favoured by the tax structures. Most D5s went to Finland but it was also marketed in Italy between 1979 and 1981. By 1985 the D6 had replaced the D5 in Finland as well. The D5 was very slow, much slower than the D6 or the Audi 100 with the same five-cylinder engine, reaching 100 km/h from a standing start in 24.4 seconds. The D5 used the same four-speed manual transmission as the D6 but coupled to the lower-geared rear axle also used in 2-litre petrol cars; this meant that fuel consumption figures were only marginally better than those of the larger diesel while noise levels increased noticeably. In Finland, the price difference with the equal six-cylinder diesel was only just over two percent; owners expected to save money by being in much lower tax and insurance brackets.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The diesel had originally been intended to be sold North America first and foremost, but in actuality the "D24" only became available in the North American market beginning with the 1980 model year. After the US diesel market collapsed, sales decreased to ever smaller numbers and it was discontinued after the 1985 model year. No diesels were actually delivered during 1980 as Volvo had a hard time meeting the EPA's environmental standards. The federalized diesel developed a claimed , but was not certified for sale in California.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The 200-series cars were identified initially by badges on their trunk lid or rear hatch in a manner similar to the system used for previous models. The "4" and "6" codes soon lost their original meaning as signifying the number of cylinders with the introduction of "B17"-engined four-cylinder Volvo 260s for export to Greece and Israel in the late 1970s. There was also a six-cylinder 240 GLT in some markets, as well as both six- and five-cylinder diesels labelled "240". The second digit now only denoted how luxurious the car was. By June 1982, with the introduction of the model year 1983 Volvos, the third digit too lost its meaning and the 242/244/245 became simply the 240.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: Throughout the 200-series' production, different levels of luxury were available for purchase. The specific trim level designations ranged from the 240/244/245 DL, being the least expensive, to the highest specification 264/265 GLE saloon and estate models respectively. The actual equipment and availability of a particular trim level varied depending on the market. The letters normally appear on the trunk lid or rear hatch of the car (except for during MY1983) and had originally represented the following, although by the 1980s the letter codes had officially lost any underlying meaning:


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: Several trim levels were special offerings only available during certain years or for unique body styles:


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: Sometimes, the engine type of a car was also designated by badging. In some instances, these badges were omitted, replaced trim level badges, or even used in combination with them:


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: For 1980, the 240 GT and GLE were dropped from most markets, as well as the 265 GLE. In the UK and Australia the 265 GLE was available until 1985 (now badged "260"). The new GLT model which replaced GT and GLE had the GT's fuel injected 2.3-litre engine with manual transmission (sedan only), or the 260's 2.7-litre V6 with in station wagons or in automatic-equipped sedans.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: For 1981, the 260 estate was dropped but the new GLT and GLT Turbo models joined the lineup. The diesel engine was discontinued in 1984, but was still sold in the 1985 model year with a 1984 VIN and 1985 specs. The Turbo model was discontinued in early 1985.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: Volvo produced a prototype for a hatchback version in 1975, badged the "Volvo 263 GL", but it was not chosen for mass production and is now on display in the Volvo World Museum in Gothenburg, Sweden.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: Volvo also produced a prototype in 1978 called the "242 GTC Turbo", which had roof pillars similar to that of a 262 C, and a body design of a 242 GT. It also came with striping on the sides, close to the bottom of the car with the word "turbo" on it to make it seem lower than it actually was. It was originally planned to have two engine choices, a 16 valve I4 engine (made for racing), and a turbocharged version of the "B21 Redblock" I4 engine which was under construction.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: Despite its non-sporting image, the Volvo 240 was a successful competitor in touring car racing in the 1980s. In 1983 Volvo produced 505 evolution version of the 240 Turbo with a larger turbocharger and other performance modifications. All of these special cars were exported to the United States with the special equipment kit in the trunk of each car. 270 of these cars were retrofitted with the special equipment at Long Beach and further 240s were simultaneously fitted with the same kit on the East Coast at the Volvo Penta facility at Chesapeake Bay. All 500, except for one car which was returned to Sweden, were subsequently stripped of their GpA homologation equipment and sold as standard road cars. This was allowed under the Group A regulations, the cars only having to have been made and not necessarily sold. Nevertheless, it did lead to protests from other teams, until Volvo was able to produce proof that the 500 cars had indeed been manufactured.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: Nevertheless, the 240 Turbo proved a successful competitor, and in 1984 won the Zolder round of the European Touring Car Championship. In Group A racing form, the 240T weighed , and its turbocharged 2.1 litre engine produced approximately . Although it was a big car and lacked the agility of some of its competitors, and despite its boxy, un-aerodynamic appearance, it was fast in a straight line (approximately on faster circuits such as Monza, Hockenheim and Bathurst) and proved to be reliable. Volvo Motor Sport, VMS, did not run the cars directly, instead contracting the services of established teams to prepare and manage them, with technical assistance from VMS.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The Eggenberger Motorsport team was the most successful of these. Late in the 1984 European Touring Car Championship, Swedish team Sportpromotion won the EG Trophy race at Zolder circuit and followed that with second in the 500 km del Mugello. In 1985, Volvo signed Swiss engine guru Ruedi Eggenberger to run its works team. Eggenberger Motorsport, with team drivers Gianfranco Brancatelli and Thomas Lindström, won the 1985 ETCC outright, seeing off challenges from BMW (Schnitzer), and defending ETCC champions TWR who were running the V8-engined Rover Vitesse rather than the V12 Jaguar XJS that had dominated 1984 after Jaguar had decided to concentrate on Sports Car racing.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: Eggenberger moved to race Ford Sierras in 1986 and Volvo contracted Belgian based team RAS Sport to be its factory "works" team in the ETCC, with defending champion Lindström being joined by ex-Formula One and Grand Prix motorcycle racer Johnny Cecotto, as well as Ulf Granberg and Anders Olofsson in the second car. The team was competitive in 1986, taking wins at Hockenheim, Anderstorp, Brno, Österreichring and Zolder. However, the wins at Anderstorp and the Österreichring were taken away from the team due to illegal fuel. The disqualifications would see Lindström unable to defend his title, and Volvo AB quit GpA racing.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: Around the world, other teams were also running the Volvo 240T with fair degrees of success. New Zealand business man and racer Mark Petch had purchased an ex GTM Team car directly from VMS 240T and with drivers Robbie Francevic and Michel Delcourt won the Wellington 500 street race in New Zealand in January 1985 after starting from the rear of the grid due to the car not arriving in time to qualify. MPM, Mark Petch Motorsport took the car to Australia with financial assistance from Volvo Australia. Francevic then went on to finish 5th in the 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship (the first ATCC to be run under Group A rules), taking out right wins at Symmons Plains and Oran Park. Thomas Lindström joined Francevic to drive in the 1986 Wellington 500 and brought with him from Europe the latest engine and suspension upgrades for the car. Petch with the help of Bob Atkins, head of The Australian Volvo Dealer Council, formed the AVDT, Australian Volvo Dealer Team who purchased Petch's car and spares immediately following MPM's second back to back win at the opening two round of the 1986 ATCC. The Volvo Dealer Team expanded to two cars, for the fourth round of the ATCC at Adelaide with the new car RHD car, ex RAS, being for dual Australian Single Seater Drivers' Champion John Bowe who had driven with Francevic at the 1985 Bathurst 1000. Francevic won the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship the first and only time that the title had been won by a Volvo driver and the first time since its inception in 1960 that it had been won with a car powered by a turbocharged engine. Volvo GpA cars also won the Guia Race in Macau consecutively in 1985 and 1986.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: Volvo withdrew from the sport at the end of the 1986 season, partly because of the RAS team being found guilty of using non-approved race fuel, but primarily because the 240T had achieved what it set out to do. Volvo did not return to touring car racing until the advent of super touring racing in the early 1990s, with the 850 model.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: The 240 also enjoyed some success in other branches of motorsport. Although Volvo had pulled out of rallying in the early 1970s, the 240 Turbo did see action as a Group A rally car in the mid-1980s, but without works backing it met with only limited success. The normally aspirated version remained eligible for international competition until 1996, and to this day the 240 remains a popular clubman's rally car in Scandinavia. Its popularity has in recent years been boosted with the establishment of the Volvo Original Cup, or VOC. This is a championship for amateur rally drivers using Volvo 240s, 740s and 940s. In the interests of cost control, only very limited modifications are allowed to the cars. The series attracts large numbers of competitors, attracted by its low cost and by the Volvo's rear-drive handling and reliability.


title: Volvo 200 Series

text: Because it is cheap and robust, the 240 has also become very common in folkrace competitions. In the UK the 240 is popular for banger racing, due to its strength. The Volvo 240 is now a common choice alongside Ford Granadas and Jaguars for using at unlimited banger meetings. In the United States, 240s regularly appear in low-budget endurance racing series such as 24 Hours of LeMons, where the 240 reliability, durability, and easy parts availability are appreciated.


title: NU'EST

text: NU'EST (; short for New Establish Style Tempo) was a South Korean boy band formed and managed by Pledis Entertainment. The group consisted of five members: JR, Aron, Baekho, Minhyun and Ren. They debuted on March 15, 2012, with the single titled "Face". The group disbanded on March 15, 2022, after Aron, JR, and Ren left Pledis Entertainment upon the completion of their 10-year contract.


title: NU'EST

text: Prior to their debut, NU'EST made appearances in their labelmates' music releases. They were backup dancers for After School Blue's "Wonder Boy", and featured in their label's Christmas release "Love Letter". They also released their own music video for "Love Letter" as Pledis Boys. JR appeared in Orange Caramel's "Bangkok City" music video, and was also featured in Uee's solo song "Sok Sok Sok". Baekho appeared in After School's "Play Ur Love" music video, and Minhyun starred in Orange Caramel's "Shanghai Romance" music video.


title: NU'EST

text: JR, Minhyun, Aron, and Ren were also featured with After School's Lizzy in a commercial for New Balance. JR and Baekho appeared on the KBS television program "Hello Counselor" and were revealed by After School's Kahi as two members of the group. This drew attention from viewers and they became a topic of interest online. Pledis Boys, now dubbed "After School Boys", later performed with After School at the "SBS Gayo Daejeon". Minhyun and Ren also gained attention modeling for designer Park Yoon-so's F/W 2012–13 Seoul Fashion Week show, titled 'Big Park'.


title: NU'EST

text: NU'EST made their debut with their first single, "Face", on March 15, 2012. Their debut stage was on "M! Countdown" on the same day.


title: NU'EST

text: The group began airing their own reality show, "Making of a Star: NU'EST Landing Operation", during the promotional period.


title: NU'EST

text: They returned with their first EP, "Action", on July 11, and became ambassadors for Korea's Scout Association. During their promotional period and the rest of the year, NU'EST began to expand to the global market, holding events in Japan, Australia, other parts of Asia, and the United States, including performances at KCON. In December, NU'EST began endorsements with McDonald's.


title: NU'EST

text: Baekho and Ren made acting appearances in the drama "Jeon Woo-chi" alongside label mate Uee in January 2013. The group returned with their second EP, "Hello", on February 13. They held their first exclusive concert, "Show Time NU’EST Time," on the same day to commemorate the release. During the promotional period, they were cast for "SBS MTV Diary" along with their then-label mate Hello Venus. In March, NU'EST celebrated their first anniversary through a concert in Japan, "NU′EST Debut 1st Anniversary Live Show Time". On April 8, Aron became a DJ for Arirang's "Music Access".


title: NU'EST

text: On August 22, 2013, NU'EST released their third EP, "Sleep Talking," with the lead single of the same name.


title: NU'EST

text: To celebrate "Music Core"'s 400th episode in March 2014, Ren performed Girl's Day's "Something" alongside BtoB's Minhyuk, A-Jax's Seungjin, and VIXX's Hongbin.


title: NU'EST

text: On July 9, 2014, NU'EST released their first full album, "", with the lead single "Good Bye Bye". They made their Japanese debut on November 5, with the single "Shalala Ring".


title: NU'EST

text: NU'EST released the digital single "I'm Bad" on February 27, 2015, with a limited edition physical release on March 15 to celebrate their third anniversary. Baekho did not participate in the lead single as he was recovering from vocal cord polyps surgery, but he did contribute to the B-side track, "A Scene Without You." On April 2, Minhyun collaborated with Korean indie artist Fromm on the single "The Aftermath". On April 19, Aron ended his position as a DJ at Arirang's "Music Access". The group held their first solo showcase in North America in Dallas, put together by My Music Taste, on third May.


title: NU'EST

text: NU'EST released their second Japanese single, "Nanananamida", on May 20. On August 14, Aron took up a position as a DJ on SBS PopAsia with his own show "Aron's Hangout". NU'EST released their first Japanese studio album, "Bridge the World", on November 18, after pre-releasing the tracks "Bridge the World", "Cherry", "Access to You", and "Ame Nochi Eien". "Cherry" was used as the theme song to the film "Their Distance", which the members starred in as their Japanese film debut.