title: Anupriya Goenka

text: Goenka moved to Mumbai in 2009. Goenka was intrigued with theater and tried to juggle between a career in acting and the corporate sector. She started doing commercials and first became known in 2013 as the face of UPA government's "Bharat Nirman" ad campaign and for playing a lesbian character in India's first ever lesbian ad for the brand Myntra in 2015. Goenka has appeared in various television commercials for brands including Coke, Garnier, Stayfree, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Pepperfry, and Vodafone. She also worked as an Anchor / Show Host in a Home Shopping Channel called ShopCJ for more than one year. She portrayed the role of nurse Poorna in the 2017 action-thriller "Tiger Zinda Hai". She garnered critical acclaim for the portrayal of the role of Queen Nagmati in the 2018 epic film "Padmaavat" opposite Shahid Kapoor. She is best known for her role of Agent Aditi in the action film "War".


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: PewDiePie vs T-Series was an online rivalry between two YouTube channels, PewDiePie (run by Felix Kjellberg) and T-Series (run by an Indian record company of the same name) for the title of the most-subscribed YouTube channel. T-Series has held the title of most-viewed YouTube channel since February 2017, and PewDiePie had been the most-subscribed YouTube channel since August 2013. The rivalry between the two YouTube channels began when T-Series' subscriber count began to near PewDiePie's in late 2018.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: Many YouTubers voiced their support for PewDiePie, including Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, MrBeast, DanTDM, KSI, H3h3Productions and Logan Paul. Many of his fans made efforts to gain subscribers for his YouTube channel in numerous ways, including organised marches and supportive YouTube videos. Supporters of PewDiePie often used the slogan "Subscribe to PewDiePie". The activism of some supporters extended beyond legal grounds; vandalism, hacking of websites, social media accounts, personal devices and the creation of malware had taken place to urge people to subscribe. "Bitch Lasagna", a diss track by PewDiePie against T-Series, and the use of anti-Indian remarks by some of his fans (which PewDiePie would later criticize), led to several prominent Indian Youtubers publicly opposing PewDiePie and backing T-Series with YouTube videos and response diss tracks.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: T-Series temporarily overtook PewDiePie in subscribers on numerous occasions in 2019. On 28 April 2019, PewDiePie released a video calling for his supporters to end their efforts to keep him as the most subscribed YouTube channel, and with the significant lead now held by T-Series, the competition is generally presumed to have ended with T-Series winning.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: Felix Kjellberg, better known online as PewDiePie, is a Swedish YouTuber who makes comedic videos. He has traditionally been known for his Let's Play videos, and his channel was the most subscribed on YouTube from 15 August 2013 until 22 February 2019, when he was surpassed by T-Series, although PewDiePie took back the title shortly after approximately 8 minutes. His fan base at the time of the competition was generally known as the "9-year-old army".


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: T-Series is an Indian music record label and film production company. On YouTube, it has a multi-channel network consisting of 29 channels (excluding Lahari Music), run by a team of 13 people. The main T-Series channel primarily contains Indian music videos (Bollywood music and Indi-pop) as well as Bollywood film trailers, and releases several videos every day, having uploaded over 13 thousand videos as of August 2019.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: The competition between the two channels began after T-Series began to near PewDiePie in subscribers in late 2018. T-Series temporarily overtook PewDiePie in subscribers on numerous occasions in early 2019, and on 27 March 2019, it became the most subscribed YouTube channel for five consecutive days, before PewDiePie regained the lead. PewDiePie then held the lead for 2 weeks, before T-Series passed him permanently, reaching 100 million subscribers on 29 May 2019.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: The first prominent YouTuber to support PewDiePie was MrBeast, who bought billboards and radio advertisements in North Carolina urging people to subscribe to PewDiePie's channel. He also created a video of himself saying "PewDiePie" 100,000 times in a period of over 12 hours. MrBeast and his friends attended Super Bowl LIII, wearing T-shirts reading "Sub 2 PewDiePie". The group was prominently displayed in an ESPN tweet after Stephen Gostkowski had missed a field goal during the first quarter.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: Other prominent YouTubers such as Markiplier, Jacksepticeye and Logan Paul made videos or tweets announcing their support for PewDiePie in the competition, often under the slogan "Subscribe to PewDiePie". YouTuber Justin Roberts, a member of the group Team 10, bought a billboard in New York's Times Square reading the same. Markiplier made a tongue-in-cheek live stream titled "I literally won't shut up until you subscribe to PewDiePie" urging his viewers to subscribe to PewDiePie's channel. Jacksepticeye ran a live stream with the same purpose, jokingly threatening to delete his channel if T-Series surpassed PewDiePie.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: Smaller YouTubers also promoted PewDiePie. In reaction to MrBeast's advertising campaign, Saimandar Waghdhare, an independent Indian YouTuber with the channel "Saiman Says", responded to MrBeast's advertising campaign by posting a sarcastic video in which he pretends to support T-Series, later releasing a video in which he instead declares his support to PewDiePie.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: "", the 2018 video edition of the annual "YouTube Rewind" series, became the most-disliked video on the platform after heavy backlash. One of the cited reasons for the criticism was the lack of coverage of the competition between PewDiePie and T-Series. YouTuber Jaiden Animations, however, had contributed to the video, and her animation included several hidden icons and objects related to PewDiePie.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: A hacker under the pseudonym "HackerGiraffe" sent print jobs to around 50,000 vulnerable printers in November, and another hacker under the pseudonym "j3ws3r" did the same to around 80,000 printers in December. Messages were printed out saying "PewDiePie is in trouble and he needs your help to defeat T-Series!" and urged printer users to subscribe to PewDiePie, unsubscribe from T-Series, and fix their printer's security settings. HackerGiraffe claimed that he had discovered more than 800,000 vulnerable printers using the search engine Shodan used for finding vulnerable devices. In January 2019, more than 65,000 of Google's Chromecast streaming dongles were hacked by HackerGiraffe and j3ws3r, displaying a message on smart TVs urging people to subscribe to PewDiePie and adjust their security settings. However, despite positive feedback from some people, one of the hackers anonymously revealed to the BBC that he suffered a breakdown due to the prospect of facing jail time and angry messages urging him to commit suicide, but did not regret lowering the number of vulnerable personal devices. Also in January, dozens of Nest cameras were compromised by a hacker under the pseudonym "SydeFX" using credential stuffing, who spoke to victims through the cameras, demanding they subscribe to PewDiePie.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: Hacking was not limited to hardware. In December 2018, one of "The Wall Street Journal" websites was hacked to display a message apologizing for articles accusing PewDiePie of antisemitism and to tell readers to subscribe to his YouTube channel. The hacker j3ws3r also took down T-Series' website with a denial-of-service attack. In February 2019, Bob Buckhorn, the mayor of Tampa, Florida, had his Twitter account hacked to post malicious tweets, one of these encouraging users to subscribe to PewDiePie. On 22 March 2019, a user on the PewDiePie subreddit developed ransomware by the name PewCrypt that encrypted files on Microsoft Windows machines. The attacker claimed he would release an encryption key when PewDiePie hit the 100 million subscriber milestone, however, the author claimed that if T-Series claimed that goal first, the decryption tool would be deleted permanently.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: On 4 November 2018, a group of young fans began to hand out posters in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, which PewDiePie acknowledged in a YouTube video. On 27 February 2019, Basketball Club Žalgiris based in Kaunas, Lithuania, had cheerleaders performing "Bitch Lasagna" during a time-out.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: Several marches were held in support of PewDiePie. On 27 February 2019, a parade was held in Tallinn, Estonia in support of PewDiePie. Up to several hundreds of people took part in the march, which went through Tallinn's Old Town and other busy areas of the city centre. During the 2019 India–Pakistan standoff, T-Series removed the music of Pakistani pop artists from its channel. In response, there was a march in Pakistan where protesters held signs reading "Unsubscribe T-Series" and expressed their support for PewDiePie. On 10 March 2019, a rally was held in Moscow for internet freedom, coordinated by the Libertarian Party of Russia. During the rally protesters played "Bitch Lasagna" and held signs which read "Sub to PewDiePie".


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: On 12 March 2019, indie game developer Thomas Brush released a video game on itch.io based on PewDiePie vs T-Series called "Zero Deaths", which takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting where PewDiePie must defend Marzia Bisognin, his wife, from fake YouTube subscribers known as "sub bots".


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: On 29 April 2019, a plane flew over New York City with a banner attached saying "Subscribe to PewDiePie". More than 21,000 people watched PewDiePie's live stream on DLive showing the plane with its banner fly over the city. During the live stream, PewDiePie said that the event (which happened after his request to end efforts against T-Series) was "a nice little wrap up" to the Subscribe to PewDiePie meme. The flight and banner, which cost more than $4,500, were crowdfunded by PewDiePie's fanbase.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: The right-wing populist UK Independence Party announced their support for PewDiePie in a tweet. In an October 2019 interview with Kevin Roose of "The New York Times", Kjellberg said of UKIP's support that "It's kind of funny how a political party would post about a meme" but that "it's also kind of like, Ehh, don't drag me into your politics."


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: Although PewDiePie told his fans not to do "anything illegal" in their activism, some supporters committed criminal acts of vandalism to spread the "Subscribe to PewDiePie" meme. In March 2019, the Brooklyn War Memorial was vandalized with graffiti reading "Subscribe to PewDiePie". The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation said that they would remove it. PewDiePie later condemned the action, and stated that he had made a donation to the park. Another vandalism case occurred two days prior when "SUB 2 pewdiepie" was written on a school's property in Oxford, United Kingdom.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: In the moments leading up to the 15 March 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, the perpetrator said, "Remember lads, subscribe to PewDiePie", as he live-streamed the shootings.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: The rivalry between PewDiePie and T-Series received more attention in India due to controversial actions by PewDiePie and his fans. PewDiePie's "Bitch Lasagna" diss track contained some derogatory lyrics about Indian people that some Indians found offensive. Many of PewDiePie's fans had engaged in negatively spamming and trolling the T-Series channel, which included swarming T-Series' videos with PewDiePie-related comments, disliking videos, and flagging their videos with false reports. A number of PewDiePie's fans and supporters had also been making anti-Indian remarks and using racial slurs.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: The actions of such fans led to several independent Indian YouTubers announcing their opposition to PewDiePie and support for T-Series. In November 2018, Indian-Canadian comedian and YouTuber Jus Reign uploaded a video called "In Defense of T-Series", where he talks about T-Series, mentions his childhood listening to their music, and shows a short music video at the end celebrating T-Series. In response to PewDiePie's "Bitch Lasagna" diss track, several Indian YouTubers responded with their own Hindi-language diss tracks against PewDiePie. Tatva K released his diss track "Pew Ki Pie" in November 2018, followed by Asif Bantaye releasing his diss track "PENDUBHAI" in December 2018. On 1 January 2019, Indian YouTuber CarryMinati, released a diss track called "Bye PewDiePie", which garnered nearly 5million views in 24 hours.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: In August 2018, PewDiePie posted a video titled "this channel will overtake PewDiePie" in which he jokingly rallied his fans against T-Series. The video also referenced the KSI vs. Logan Paul YouTube boxing match, which similarly involved a rivalry between two major YouTubers. On 5 October 2018, PewDiePie, in collaboration with musician Party In Backyard, posted a diss track against T-Series, titled "Bitch Lasagna". The title of the song is in reference to a viral Facebook Messenger screenshot, in which an Indian man, in broken English, demands nude photos of a Western woman, and when his requests remain unanswered, refers to her as "bitch lasagna". In the song, he insults T-Series and their video contents, makes references to contemporary Indian stereotypes and accuses the company of using sub bots to gain false subscriptions.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: After he was asked about his "serious opinions" about the situation, PewDiePie said: "I don't really care about T-Series, I genuinely don't, but I think if YouTube does shift in a way where it does feel more corporate, [then] something else will take its place. I think people enjoy this connection so much, I think something else will just show up, if it feels too corporate." He also blamed YouTube for a lack of support toward individual YouTubers. Speaking to "Metro" in November 2018, PewDiePie said that he was "surprised no one has stepped up sooner", referring to T-Series competing for the most-subscribed spot.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: In December 2018, PewDiePie made a video calling on his viewers to support the Indian non-governmental organization Child Rights and You, in response to some of his fans' anti-Indian sentiment. In the video, Kjellberg says "No more 'f*ck India', let's (instead) help India." He raised , including a donation by "Minecraft" creator Markus Persson, and also ran a charity live stream the next day.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: On 3 February 2019, PewDiePie live-streamed himself playing "Fortnite" on YouTube in an attempt to stop T-Series from surpassing him. He later ran two more live streams for the same purpose, playing "Roblox" on one occasion"," and minigames in "Minecraft" on another.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: On 27 March 2019, T-Series surpassed PewDiePie. Following this, PewDiePie suggested through Twitter that the "winner" of the competition would be whoever reached 100 million subscribers first. On 31 March, he posted another diss track: an upbeat synth-pop/hip-hop music video with YouTubers RoomieOfficial and Boyinaband, titled "Congratulations", which sarcastically congratulated T-Series for surpassing him. In the music video, PewDiePie mocks how T-Series sent him a cease and desist letter alleging that his actions and lyrics of "Bitch Lasagna" were defamatory. The video also criticizes T-Series for alleged tax evasion and the fact that the company was founded through the selling of pirated songs. Following PewDiePie's upload of the song, he regained the number one spot.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: On 28 April 2019, PewDiePie requested in a video that his viewers end the "Subscribe to PewDiePie" meme, stating that it "started out of love and support, so let's end it with that." He also discussed the mental toll the Christchurch shooter's mention of his name had on him, stating "to have my name associated with something so unspeakably vile has affected me in more ways than I've let shown. I just didn't want to address it right away, and I didn't want to give the terrorist more attention. I didn't want to make it about me, because I don't think it has anything to do with me. To put it plainly, I didn't want hate to win ... But it's clear to me now the 'Subscribe to PewDiePie' movement should have ended then."


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: PewDiePie tweeted that he felt "sickened" to have his name uttered by the attacker, and expressed his condolences to the victims' loved ones. Those who had helped to popularize the meme, like Ethan Klein, were repulsed that the phrase had been used as a call to arms by the attacker, and urged people to stop spreading the meme, hoping that it would die out. The perpetrator of the 27 April 2019 Poway synagogue shooting also mentioned PewDiePie, claiming without evidence that the shooting was planned and financed by PewDiePie.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: Following the 2019 Christchurch shootings, Kevin Roose of "The New York Times" wrote that the perpetrator's goal behind saying "subscribe to PewDiePie" during his livestream of the attack "may have been to pull a popular internet figure into a fractious blame game and inflame political tensions everywhere." News18 reported a tweet cautioning that the shooter's intended consequence was that haters of PewDiePie would be inclined to blame PewDiePie rather than the shooter in order to "further [the accusers'] political agenda."


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: In September 2018, T-Series president and head of its digital division Neeraj Kalyan said "It's a matter of pride for all Indians that an Indian YouTube Channel will soon be world's biggest channel on YouTube". He also addressed PewDiePie fans, stating "No amount of spamming will be able to hold back the power of good music." Kalyan further added that the channel's overseas viewership had increased as a result of the subscriber race, stating that "people in the West, or in the East as far as Japan were not even aware of us. They now know about us because of all that controversy."


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: T-Series chairman and managing director Bhushan Kumar, son of late founder Gulshan Kumar, told the BBC in December 2018 that he had never heard of PewDiePie until "a few months ago". He stated he was "really not bothered about this race" and voiced his confusion as to why PewDiePie was "taking this so seriously", adding that they were "not competing with him." In February 2019, Kumar was reported by "The Washington Post" to have said that "Everybody knows T-Series across the world now. If we had become number one on our own, nobody would have known about us."


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: On 6 March 2019, Kumar tweeted "We're on the brink of becoming the world's biggest @YouTube channel. We can make history. We can make India win. Subscribe to @TSeries", posting a video encouraging Indians to subscribe to T-Series' channel. In the video, he stated "this is a historic movement for all of us, so let's come together and subscribe to T-Series' YouTube channel and make India proud."


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: In April 2019, T-Series sought a court order from the Delhi High Court to remove PewDiePie's diss tracks from YouTube. Despite PewDiePie's statement that these diss tracks were "done in good fun", the court issued a temporary injunction in favour of T-Series on 8 April 2019. The complaint against Kjellberg claimed that his songs were "defamatory, disparaging, insulting, and offensive," and noted that comments on the videos were "abusive, vulgar, and also racist in nature." Access to the diss tracks on YouTube was blocked in India. In August 2019, it was reported that T-Series and PewDiePie had settled their legal disputes outside of court.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: In an May 2019 interview with Sangeeta Tanwar from Quartz India, when asked the question "What does being the number one channel on YouTube mean to you? Does it help business?" Kumar said:


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: Referring to T-Series' rise to prominence on YouTube, YouTube Asia Pacific's managing director Gautam Anand told "The New York Times": "As more and more of India came along, video became the way that they were interacting with the internet", mentioning that 85 percent of Indian internet users used YouTube. He furthered, "Even if you're not literate, you still enjoy watching video", and mentioned: "India is a really great bright spot. It's one of the fastest-growing markets even within Asia."


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: On 13 December 2018, YouTube removed a large number of bot and inactive subscribers from the platform. The change affected the subscriber count of both channels in the competition: PewDiePie lost over 40,000 subscribers and T-Series lost more than 200,000 subscribers from its main channel.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: Anthony Cuthbertson of "The Independent" described the rivalry as a shift in how established media companies viewed YouTube. "The Guardian"s Nosheen Iqbal described T-Series as "a challenger from the streets of Delhi", referring to the origins of its founder Gulshan Kumar, who was a fruit juice seller when he founded the company.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: "Vox"'s Aja Romano noted that the competition represented the growing divide of subcultures on YouTube—on one side were the creators who had developed their own channels over the course of YouTube's history, and on the other side corporations who used YouTube as a platform to advertise their shows from external platforms.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: Patricia Hernandez of "The Verge" compared the rivalry to the KSI vs Logan Paul boxing match. She described PewDiePie's antagonism as "all for show" and stated that "rivalries play a huge role on YouTube because they give viewers narratives where pseudo-heroes and villains exist with low (if any) stakes."


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: "The Washington Post" reported that the success of T-Series represented the fast growth of Internet in India, with an increase from 20 million Indians with Internet access in 2000 to 560 million in 2018. "The Post" noted that India became the second-largest mobile phone market in 2018, and highlighted mobile data plans in India, noting the importance of voice technology because of the low rate of literacy in India. Journalist Ravi Agrawal said that India quickly progressed to cheap mobile phones by skipping slower initial technological advances in the west. "Vice" reported that T-Series' success lay in focusing on regional audiences and having no competitors in online music in India.


title: PewDiePie vs T-Series

text: As of November 2022, T-Series currently remains the most subscribed YouTube channel with more than 228 million subscribers. Meanwhile, PewDiePie is currently the fifth most subscribed YouTube channel, having been passed by Sony Entertainment Television's YouTube channel, MrBeast and Cocomelon.


title: Tripti Dimri

text: Tripti Dimri (born 23 February 1994) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She made her acting debut with the comedy "Poster Boys" (2017) and had her first leading role in the romantic drama "Laila Majnu" (2018). Dimri earned critical acclaim and won a Filmfare OTT Award for her role in "Bulbbul" (2020). She was featured by "Forbes Asia" in their 30 Under 30 list of 2021.


title: Tripti Dimri

text: Dimri made her acting debut with Shreyas Talpade's directorial debut, the 2017 comedy "Poster Boys", starring Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol and Talpade in lead roles. An official remake of the Marathi film "Poshter Boyz", it featured her as Talpade's love interest. Dimri next appeared in a leading role in Imtiaz Ali's 2018 Romantic drama "Laila Majnu", opposite Avinash Tiwary. In her review for "Firstpost", Anna M. M. Vetticad noted that she "imbue[d] her Laila with an edge that made the character's constant flirtations with danger believable".


title: Tripti Dimri

text: Dimri achieved her breakthrough as the protagonist in Anvita Dutt's 2020 supernatural thriller "Bulbbul", also starring Rahul Bose, Paoli Dam, Avinash Tiwary and Parambrata Chatterjee. Produced by Anushka Sharma, the film opened to positive reception from critics and the audience with particular praise for its stand on feminism, and performance of the leads, especially Dimri. Namrata Joshi of "The Hindu" wrote, "From the vulnerable and the innocent to the transformation into the mysterious tease, Dimri is a stunner who speaks volumes with her eyes. And the audience can do little but stay enraptured." Her performance earned her the Filmfare OTT Award for Best Actress in a web original film.


title: Tripti Dimri

text: Dimri next reunited with the team of "Bulbbul" for their next home production "Qala". She has started filming for director Anand Tiwari's yet untitled film co-starring Vicky Kaushal in March 2022. She will also star in Sandeep Reddy Vanga's "Animal" alongside Ranbir Kapoor.


title: Tripti Dimri

text: Dimri was featured by "Forbes Asia" in their 30 Under 30 list of 2021. She ranked 8th in Rediff.com's list of Bollywood Best Actresses of 2020. She ranked 20th in "The Times of India"'s 50 Most Desirable Women List of 2020.


title: Eustachian tube

text: In anatomy, the Eustachian tube, also known as the auditory tube or pharyngotympanic tube, is a tube that links the nasopharynx to the middle ear, of which it is also a part. In adult humans, the Eustachian tube is approximately long and in diameter. It is named after the sixteenth-century Italian anatomist Bartolomeo Eustachi.


title: Eustachian tube

text: In humans and other tetrapods, both the middle ear and the ear canal are normally filled with air. Unlike the air of the ear canal, however, the air of the middle ear is not in direct contact with the atmosphere outside the body; thus, a pressure difference can develop between the atmospheric pressure of the ear canal and the middle ear. Normally, the Eustachian tube is collapsed, but it gapes open with swallowing and with positive pressure, allowing the middle ear's pressure to adjust to the atmospheric pressure. When taking off in an aircraft, the ambient air pressure goes from higher (on the ground) to lower (in the sky). The air in the middle ear expands as the plane gains altitude, and pushes its way into the back of the nose and mouth; on the way down, the volume of air in the middle ear shrinks, and a slight vacuum is produced. Active opening of the Eustachian tube (through actions like swallowing or the Valsalva maneuver) is required to equalize the pressure between the middle ear and the ambient atmosphere as the plane descends. A diver also experiences this change in pressure, but with greater rates of pressure change; active opening of the Eustachian tube is required more frequently as the diver goes deeper, into higher pressure.


title: Eustachian tube

text: The Eustachian tube extends from the anterior wall of the middle ear to the lateral wall of the nasopharynx, approximately at the level of the inferior nasal concha. It consists of a bony part and a cartilaginous part.


title: Eustachian tube

text: The bony part () nearest to the middle ear is made of bone and is about 12 mm in length. It begins in the anterior wall of the tympanic cavity, below the septum canalis musculotubarius, and, gradually narrowing, ends at the angle of junction of the squamous and the petrous parts of the temporal bone, its extremity presenting a jagged margin which serves for the attachment of the cartilaginous part.


title: Eustachian tube

text: The vestibule of the Eustachian tube is known as the "protympanum", The protympanum is also known as the anterior part of the bony part of the tube.


title: Eustachian tube

text: The cartilaginous part of the Eustachian tube is about 24 mm in length and is formed of a triangular plate of elastic fibrocartilage, the apex of which is attached to the margin of the medial end of the bony part of the tube, while its base lies directly under the mucous membrane of the nasal part of the pharynx, where it forms an elevation, the torus tubarius or cushion, behind the pharyngeal opening of the auditory tube.


title: Eustachian tube

text: The upper edge of the cartilage is curled upon itself, being bent laterally so as to present on transverse section the appearance of a hook; a groove or furrow is thus produced, which is open below and laterally, and this part of the canal is completed by fibrous membrane. The cartilage lies in a groove between the petrous part of the temporal bone and the great wing of the sphenoid; this groove ends opposite the middle of the medial pterygoid plate. The cartilaginous and bony portions of the tube are not in the same plane, the former inclining downward a little more than the latter. The diameter of the tube is not uniform throughout, being greatest at the pharyngeal opening, least at the junction of the bony and cartilaginous portions, and again increased toward the tympanic cavity; the narrowest part of the tube is termed the isthmus.


title: Eustachian tube

text: The position and relations of the pharyngeal opening are described with the nasal part of the pharynx. The mucous membrane of the tube is continuous in front with that of the nasal part of the pharynx, and behind with that of the tympanic cavity; it is covered with ciliated pseudostratified columnar epithelia and is thin in the osseous portion, while in the cartilaginous portion it contains many mucous glands and near the pharyngeal orifice a considerable amount of adenoid tissue, which has been named by Gerlach the tube tonsil.


title: Eustachian tube

text: The tube is opened during swallowing by contraction of the tensor veli palatini and levator veli palatini, muscles of the soft palate.


title: Eustachian tube

text: More recently, two developments have enhanced our understanding of the anatomy of the eustachian tube: Valsalva computerized tomography and endoscopic ear surgery.


title: Eustachian tube

text: The Eustachian tube is derived from the dorsal part of the first pharyngeal pouch and second endodermal pouch, which during embryogenesis forms the tubotympanic recess. The distal part of the tubotympanic sulcus gives rise to the tympanic cavity, while the proximal tubular structure becomes the Eustachian tube. It helps transformation of sound waves.


title: Eustachian tube

text: Under normal circumstances, the human Eustachian tube is closed, but it can open to let a small amount of air through to prevent damage by equalizing pressure between the middle ear and the atmosphere. Pressure differences cause temporary conductive hearing loss by decreased motion of the tympanic membrane and ossicles of the ear. Various methods of ear clearing such as yawning, swallowing, or chewing gum may be used to intentionally open the tube and equalize pressures. When this happens, humans hear a small popping sound, an event familiar to aircraft passengers, scuba divers, or drivers in mountainous regions. Devices assisting in pressure equalization include an "ad hoc" balloon applied to the nose, creating inflation by positive air pressure.


title: Eustachian tube

text: Some people learn to voluntarily 'click' their ears, together or separately, performing a pressure equalizing routine by opening their Eustachian tubes when pressure changes are experienced, as in ascending/descending in aircraft, mountain driving, elevator lift/drops, etc. Some are even able to deliberately keep their Eustachian tubes open for a brief period, and even increase or decrease air pressure in the middle ear. The 'clicking' can actually be heard by putting one's ear to another's while performing the clicking sound. This voluntary control may be first discovered when yawning or swallowing, or by other means (above). Those who develop this ability may discover that it can be done deliberately without force even when there are no pressure issues involved.


title: Eustachian tube

text: The Eustachian tube also drains mucus from the middle ear. Upper respiratory tract infections or allergies can cause the Eustachian tube, or the membranes surrounding its opening to become swollen, trapping fluid, which serves as a growth medium for bacteria, causing ear infections. This swelling can be reduced through the use of decongestants such as pseudoephedrine, oxymetazoline, and phenylephrine. Ear infections are more common in children because the tube is horizontal and shorter, making bacterial entry easier, and it also has a smaller diameter, making the movement of fluid more difficult. In addition, children's developing immune systems and poor hygiene habits make them more prone to upper respiratory infections.


title: Eustachian tube

text: Otitis media, or inflammation of the middle ear, commonly affects the Eustachian tube. Children under 7 are more susceptible to this condition, one theory being that this is because the Eustachian tube is shorter and at more of a horizontal angle than in the adult ear. Others argue that susceptibility in this age group is related to immunological factors and not Eustachian tube anatomy.


title: Eustachian tube

text: Barotitis, a form of barotrauma, may occur when there is a substantial difference in air or water pressure between the outer and the middle ear – for example, during a rapid ascent while scuba diving, or during sudden decompression of an aircraft at high altitude.


title: Eustachian tube

text: Some people are born with a dysfunctional Eustachian tube that is much slimmer than usual. The cause may be genetic, but it has also been posited as a condition in which the patient did not fully recover from the effects of pressure on the middle ear during birth (retained birth compression). It is suggested that Eustachian tube dysfunction can result in a large amount of mucus accumulating in the middle ear, often impairing hearing to a degree. This condition is known as otitis media with effusion.


title: Eustachian tube

text: A patulous Eustachian tube is a rare condition in which the Eustachian tube remains intermittently open, causing an echoing sound of the person's own heartbeat, breathing, and speech. This may be temporarily relieved by holding the head upside down.


title: Eustachian tube

text: Smoking can also cause damage to the cilia that protect the Eustachian tube from mucus, which can result in the clogging of the tube and a buildup of bacteria in the ear, leading to a middle ear infection.


title: Eustachian tube

text: Recurring and chronic cases of sinus infection can result in Eustachian tube dysfunction caused by excessive mucus production which, in turn, causes obstruction to the openings of the Eustachian tubes.


title: Eustachian tube

text: In severe cases of childhood middle ear infections and Eustachian tube blockage, ventilation can be provided by a surgical puncturing of the eardrum to permit air equalization, known as myringotomy. The eardrum would normally naturally heal and close the hole, so a tiny plastic rimmed grommet is inserted into the hole to hold it open. This is known as a tympanostomy tube. As a child grows, the tube is eventually naturally expelled by the body. Longer-lasting vent grommets with larger flanges have been researched, but these can lead to permanent perforation of the eardrum.


title: Eustachian tube

text: More recently, dilation of the eustachian tube using balloon catheter has gained attention as a method of treating eustachian tube obstruction. There are two methods of performing this procedure depending on the route of the catheter introduction and the area of the Eustachian tube to be dilated. Dennis Poe popularized the transnasal introduction and the dilation of the nose side of the eustachian tube. Muaaz Tarabichi pioneered the transtympanic (ear) introduction of the balloon catheter and the dilatation of the proximal part (the ear side) of the cartilaginous eustachian tube.


title: Eustachian tube

text: In the equids (horses) and some rodent-like species such as the desert hyrax, an evagination of the Eustachian tube is known as the guttural pouch and is divided into medial and lateral compartments by the stylohyoid bone of the hyoid apparatus. This is of great importance in equine medicine as the pouches are prone to infections, and, due to their intimate relationship to the cranial nerves (VII, IX, X, XI) and the internal and external carotid artery, various syndromes may arise relating to which is damaged. Epistaxis (nosebleed) is a very common presentation to veterinary surgeons and this may often be fatal unless a balloon catheter can be placed in time to suppress bleeding.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: Tribhuvan International Airport (Nepali: त्रिभुवन अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय विमानस्थल) (, colloquially referred to as TIA) is an international airport located in Kathmandu, Bagmati, Nepal. It is operating with a tabletop runway, one domestic and an international terminal. As a main international airport, it connects Nepal to over 40 destinations in 17 countries.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: The airport is a hub for two international airlines, the flag carrier Nepal Airlines and Himalaya Airlines, along with multiple domestic carriers. The airport is considered as a starting point for Mount Everest international tourists, with several daily flights to Lukla. Several airlines also offer Everest sightseeing flights out of Kathmandu.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: Due to heavy traffic congestion, winter fog and the airport running out of its full capacity, the Government of Nepal


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: promoted Gautam Buddha International Airport as an alternative airport in case of necessary diversions.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: The airport was originally named "Gauchaur Airport", after the area of Kathmandu where it was situated. In Nepali, "Gauchaur" refers to a place where cows graze. The formal beginning of aviation in Nepal occurred in 1949, with the landing of a Beechcraft Bonanza carrying the Indian ambassador. However, there are claims that there is evidence that Simara Airport existed in some form as early as 1946 and would therefore be the oldest airport in Nepal – this is, however, disputed.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: The first charter flight took place between Gauchaur and Calcutta, in a Himalayan Aviation Dakota on 20 February 1950.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: On 20 February 1950, an Indian registered Dakota DC-3 commenced the first ever scheduled service, linking Kathmandu to Patna, Kolkata and Delhi.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: In 1950, King Tribhuvan took refuge at the Indian embassy in an attempt to overthrow the Rana dynasty. Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah, the four-year-old grandson of Tribhuvan was crowned the new king. On 10 November 1950, two Indian planes landed at Gauchaur Airport and carried the young king along with his grandfather to Delhi. After the Delhi Accord, the Rana regime ended and King Tribhuvan landed at Gauchaur Airport as the monarch on 18 February 1951, bringing the waves of democracy in Nepal.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: In 1952, the first scheduled domestic flights commenced to Bhairahawa, Biratnagar, Pokhara and Simara.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: On 15 June 1955, the airport was inaugurated by King Mahendra and renamed Tribhuvan Airport in memory of the king's father. The airport was again renamed to "Tribhuvan International Airport" in 1964.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: In 1957, the original grass runway 16/34 was re-laid in concrete. In 1964, the former runway 16/34 was abandoned for a newer runway 02/20. The new runway was extended from to with the joint effort of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the OPEC in 1975. The runway was re-strengthened in 1981.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: In 1961, Queen Elizabeth II landed in a Dakota plane for her first visit to Nepal, one of the most high-profile arrivals at the airport.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: In 1967, Tribhuvan International Airport witnessed its first jet aircraft, a Lufthansa Boeing 707 and 1972, the Nepali flag carrier, Royal Nepal Airlines commenced jet operations from the airport with a Boeing 727. The same year, Nepali personnel took over air traffic services from the Indian personnel.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: In 1985, the extension apron of the runway 02/20 was overlaid. Similarly, the development of the terminal building was commenced in the same year. In 1987, the construction of the Airlines Operation and Control Tower building was completed and the taxiway was overlaid. In the same year, on 11 October, Nepal witnessed the first ever landing of Concorde. In 1989, the construction of the terminal building was completed and on 18 February 1990, the newly built TIA complex were officially inaugurated by King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: In 1992, Necon Air, Nepal's first private airline commenced the domestic operations from TIA with Hawker Siddeley HS 748.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: In 1995, works started to expand the domestic terminal. Likewise, Amplitude modulation signalling system (AMSS) and very-small-aperture terminal (V-SAT) were also installed at the airport.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: In 1997, airport surveillance radar (ASR) and secondary surveillance radar (SSR) came into the operation. The installation of radar surveillance was proposed by Japan in 1994, following the crash of Thai Airways Flight 311 and Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268 in 1992, which claimed the lives of 280 people altogether; including the 17 high-level Japanese diplomats. On 9 September 1998, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala officially inaugurated the radars.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: In May 2007, Austrian Airlines discontinued its flight to Vienna, Nepal's last direct air link to Europe. In September 2013, Turkish Airlines launched direct flights from Istanbul to Kathmandu, re-establishing Nepal's connection with continental Europe.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: In August 2013, the airport's only runway had to be closed for wide-body aircraft because the runway, which was in disrepair, could no longer withstand their weight.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: In 2016, a new domestic terminal of 6300 m (67,813 sq. ft.) was opened, replacing the old terminal building of 2200 m (23,681 sq. ft.). The new facility is a temporary structure, and it cost Rs. 119.8 million to house passengers and office space for 15 local airlines.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: In 2020, the runway was extended to , the departure hall was expanded to accommodate 1500 more passengers, the arrival area was extended to a lower level and the immigration hall was facelifted.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: In 2022, the airport extended its domestic terminal, with the new section of the building being exclusively used by Buddha Air.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: The international apron at TIA can handle up to 17 aircraft, although only three can support wide-body category aircraft. There is also a bay at the eastern side of the airport that can hold two wide-body and two ATR 72 or similar type of aircraft. The eastern bay is used solely to park disabled or non-operational airplanes.With the completion of the construction of the two apron the parking capacity has increased to 17 aircraft.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: The aprons at the domestic terminal have been accommodating up to 35 aircraft, despite its allowable capacity of only 17. The helipad at TIA can handle up to 17 helicopters.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: The airport has a single runway with a slope of 1.2% oriented at 02/20. There is no instrument landing system available. The bitumen runway with the strength of PCN 54F/A/W/T has the markings of the centerline, edge, touchdown zone and the threshold. It has a 60 meters Runway Strip and 240 meters Runway End Safety Area (RESA). The runway has five intersections with the taxiways. The taxiway G runs parallel to the runway but it doesn't connect the thresholds.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: There are two non-precision approach available at the Kathmandu Airport; VHF omnidirectional range along a distance measuring equipment (VOR/DME) and Required Area Navigation (RNAV/RNP). Due to mountainous terrain VOR/DME system are installed at Kathmandu and Bhattedanda for a better communication. A high intensity extended centerline lights are installed at the southern end of the airport to assist with the approach. The runway is equipped with high intensity centerline lights, bidirectional raised edge lights, the threshold lights and the runway end lights. Precision approach path indicator (PAPI) lights (3°) are installed as landing aids for the two runways 02/20. There is however no ILS system installed in the airport.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: There are two public terminals at the airport, one for international traffic and one for domestic traffic. The international terminal can handle up to 1350 departing passengers per hour, though it has been handling 2200 per hour at peak hours to suit the increasing demand of passengers.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: A terminal for VIP guests is also operated by the Government of Nepal, where international state guests are welcomed. There are plans to construct a separate terminal for helicopter transportation.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: Radisson Hotel Kathmandu operates an executive lounge for first and business class passengers for several airlines and Thai Airways operates a Royal Thai Silk lounge for its business-class passengers, as well as Star Alliance Gold card holders.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: There is a duty-free shop in the departure area, and tea, coffee, and confectionery outlets that serve international travellers including A.B.P. Mart, Karki Multiple Trade and Suppliers. There are also baggage help desk, senior citizens and mother room, banking services and pre-paid taxi services to assist the travelling passengers at the terminal building.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: The domestic terminal is located to the northern side of the airport, can be accessed using Free Shuttle Service from the airport main gate. In its temporary building, the domestic terminal has set aside 289 square metres for airline offices, 282 square metres for restaurants, and 58 square metres for lavatories. The terminal has a capacity of 765 passengers per hour.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: Nepal Airlines operates a large hangar between the international and domestic terminals. There are plans to upgrade and move this facility to the eastern side of the airside. Buddha Air operates a closed door hangar facility, which can accommodate narrow-body aircraft at the eastern side of the airport.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: Tribhuvan International Airport is located from Pashupatinath Temple and east of the city center and main tourist area Thamel. The nearest hotel is Airport Hotel located about from the airport gate.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: It is in the middle of the junction of three ancient cities namely Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan. The airport is connected to major parts of Kathmandu valley by the ring road.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at Tribhuvan International Airport


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: Buddha Air, Yeti Airlines, and Sita Air also provide daily mountain sightseeing flights or Mount Everest sightseeing flights out of Tribhuvan International Airport. They usually depart from the domestic terminal in the early morning hours and return to the airport one hour later.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: The helicopter operators Air Dynasty, Manang Air, Prabhu Helicopter, Simrik Air, Shree Airlines and Fishtail Air offer helicopter operations out of their respective hubs at Tribhuvan International Airport.


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: According to the CAAN Aviation Report – 2017, Tribhuvan International will undergo expansions under Transport Project Preparatory Facility funded partly by the Asian Development Bank. Major works include:


title: Tribhuvan International Airport

text: Sajha Yatayat buses connect the airport's international terminal to Kathmandu's city centre, and Lalitpur's city centre. Buses from other local companies stop in front of the airport's main gate, 500 meters in front of the terminal buildings. Meter and prepaid taxis are available at both terminals at all hours.


title: NRG Stadium

text: NRG Stadium, formerly Reliant Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. Construction was completed in 2002, at a cost of $352 million and has a seating capacity of 72,220. It was the first NFL facility to have a retractable roof.


title: NRG Stadium

text: The stadium is the home of the National Football League's Houston Texans, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the Texas Bowl, many of the United States men's national soccer team's matches, Mexico national football team friendlies where "El Tri" serves as the host, and other events. The stadium served as the host facility for Super Bowls XXXVIII (2004) and LI (2017), and WrestleMania 25 (2009).


title: NRG Stadium

text: NRG Stadium is part of a collection of venues (including the Astrodome), which are collectively called NRG Park. The entire complex is named for NRG Energy under a 32-year, $300 million naming rights deal in 2000.


title: NRG Stadium

text: The Houston NFL Holdings group came to Populous (then HOK Sport) to begin the schematic design for the first-ever NFL retractable roof football stadium in 1997. The intention was to create a football stadium to replace the Astrodome that would operate like an open-air facility but have the intimacy and comfort of an indoor arena. With the design for football and the square footage requirements of the rodeo, the building was designed in the range. Groundbreaking for the stadium was on March 9, 2000 and the building was officially topped off in October 2001. Construction was completed in 30 months.


title: NRG Stadium

text: The stadium opened on August 24, 2002, with a preseason game between the Miami Dolphins and Houston Texans which the Dolphins won 24–3. The stadium hosted its first regular season NFL football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Texans on September 8, 2002. The first rodeo was held in the stadium in February 2003.


title: NRG Stadium

text: During a Texans preseason game on August 30, 2012, against the Minnesota Vikings, an intoxicated fan fell to his death from an escalator.


title: NRG Stadium

text: On March 19, 2014, the stadium was renamed NRG Stadium, after NRG Energy, the parent company of Reliant Energy.


title: NRG Stadium

text: During the 2015 season, a permanent artificial surface was installed at NRG Stadium. The Texans had used a natural surface since the stadium opened, using a system of trays of sod similar to one used at Giants Stadium in its experiment with using a grass surface. In recent years, the stadium installed artificial turf to be used during high school and college games while keeping the grass for Texans games. After the Texans' home opener, complaints about the field conditions finally led to the installation of the artificial surface for Texans games. The surface brand is UBU Speed, which is part of Act Global.


title: NRG Stadium

text: In 2017, NRG Stadium selected Hellas Construction to install its Matrix Turf with Helix Technology at the stadium. The three year contract calls for a new turf field each year.


title: NRG Stadium

text: After hosting Super Bowl LI, further upgrades were made to keep NRG Stadium competitive with other new NFL venues. The stadium's first major renovation in 15 years modernized the office and team facilities.


title: NRG Stadium

text: On the night of September 12–13, 2008 the stadium sustained damage from Hurricane Ike forcing the Houston Texans home opener scheduled for September 14 to be postponed. Part of the roof cladding came off, and there was wind and water damage to other sections of the stadium. There were also large pieces of debris inside the stadium from the hurricane and the stadium authority declared that the stadium did not suffer significant structural damage except for the roof, and the Texans would be able to play all of their 8 home games at Reliant Stadium with the roof open.


title: NRG Stadium

text: The Texans' home opener against the Baltimore Ravens was initially postponed one day from Sunday, September 14, 2008 to Monday, September 15, but when the extent of the damage from Hurricane Ike became known, the NFL rescheduled the Texans-Ravens game to week 10 (November 9, 2008), which was to have been the bye week for the Ravens and the Texans' scheduled home game against the Cincinnati Bengals. That game was rescheduled to week 8 (October 26), which was to have been the bye week for both the Texans and Bengals. The Bengals bye week was moved from October 26 to November 9, originally scheduled for the Ravens. Both the Texans and Ravens took their unexpected bye week in week 2, the weekend Hurricane Ike hit East Texas and the Gulf Coast, despite the fact that both teams were preparing that whole week to play that game as scheduled.


title: NRG Stadium

text: The stadium reopened on October 5, 2008 when the Texans hosted the Indianapolis Colts and hosted three additional home games in October.


title: NRG Stadium

text: The stadium was repaired by Houston-based rope access inspection and construction firm Reel Group Americas on February 13, 2009.


title: NRG Stadium

text: The stadium was designed by the architectural firms of Hermes Reed Architects and Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam who were teamed to create the Houston Stadium Consultants (HSC). The architects of Populous (then HOK Sport) and the HSC worked together with engineers from Walter P Moore and Uni-Systems to design the stadium utilizing the principles of kinetic architecture. The facility offers a sense of transparency, with its fabric roof and expansive areas of glazing. At night, the building appears to glow from within. The extensive use of glass provides an open-air feel to the concourses, which are open to the field of play. NRG Stadium has over 7,000 club seats, 186 luxury suites, and multiple lounges and bars. The stadium can be configured to utilize a space for meetings, specialty functions, exhibits, and concerts.


title: NRG Stadium

text: One of the most notable aspects of the design is the stadium's retractable, fabric roof. The roof mechanization consists of two large panels that split apart at the 50 yard line, lying over and above each end zone when fully retracted. 10 parallel, tri-chord trusses ride on two parallel rails, each supported by a large, -long super-truss. Roof operation is controlled in the stadium press box via computer, containing live images of the travel path of each roof panel; plus, furnishing live feedback from all roof components throughout the operation. The roof panels can be opened or closed in as little as 7 minutes, moving at a speed of up to -per-minute.


title: NRG Stadium

text: One bleacher section behind the north end zone, called the "Bull Pen", is the designated fan section for the hometeam. The fans in the Bull Pen interact directly with the action on the field, helping to create and implement fan traditions, songs, chants, and other elements of the game-day experience for spectators all over the stadium. Fans in the Bull Pen are encouraged to stand throughout the game, sing, cheer, and otherwise support the team in an enthusiastic manner.


title: NRG Stadium

text: In December 2012, it was announced that, in order to help bring the Super Bowl back to Houston, the stadium's end zone displays would be replaced with the largest digital displays in any professional sports venue. The video screens were revealed August 16, 2013 and are the second largest of their kind, at a total of of screens. This tops the previous record of AT&T Stadium in Arlington. This has since been topped by the digital display boards located in TIAA Bank Field, the home of the Jacksonville Jaguars, now home to the largest digital display boards in any stadium in the world.


title: NRG Stadium

text: The Houston Texans have played their home games at NRG Stadium (formerly Reliant Stadium) since their inception in 2002. The annual calendar consists of 8 regular season and 1-2 pre-season games, plus any playoff games the Texans host. The first game played was on August 24, 2002, in front of 69,432 in attendance as the Texans hosted the Miami Dolphins in their first preseason game. The first regular season game was played on September 8 of that year, where the expansion Texans defeated the Dallas Cowboys 19–10 in front of 69,604. The first Monday Night Football game in Texans history was held on December 1, 2008 at Reliant Stadium. Playing in front of a then-franchise-record crowd of 70,809, the Texans defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 30–17. Since then that record crowd has been broken in the next 2 Texans home games of that season. Their December 7, 2008 home game against the Tennessee Titans saw a then-record crowd of 70,831 and the December 28, 2008 home finale against the Chicago Bears drew then a current franchise-crowd record of 70,838. That record was broken on November 23, 2009, when a record crowd of 71,153 was in attendance during the Texans' second ever Monday Night Football game against Houston's former NFL team, the Tennessee Titans. The Texans' home finale of the 2009 season against the New England Patriots on January 3, 2010 drew 71,029.


title: NRG Stadium

text: NRG Stadium has hosted 2 Super Bowls: Super Bowl XXXVIII (which was marred by a controversial halftime show) and Super Bowl LI (which was the first Super Bowl to go into overtime); both games pitted the New England Patriots against a team from the NFC South.


title: NRG Stadium

text: NRG Stadium hosted Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004 where the New England Patriots defeated the Carolina Panthers, 32–29 in front of 71,525 in attendance.


title: NRG Stadium

text: NRG Stadium hosted the Texans' first playoff game in franchise history on January 7, 2012, with Houston defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 31–10 in an AFC wild card game, drawing 71,725, the largest crowd ever to see a Texans game at Reliant Stadium.


title: NRG Stadium

text: NRG Stadium hosted Super Bowl LI in 2017, in which the New England Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history; it was also the first ever overtime game in Super Bowl history.


title: NRG Stadium

text: The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (or RodeoHouston) is a co-tenant of NRG Stadium. "The building is as much for the rodeo as it is for the National Football League," according to Leroy Shafer who is assistant general manager of the rodeo's marketing department. The rodeo is held three weeks in March, each year. During this time NRG Stadium also hosts an event on the Xtreme Bulls tour, the bull riding-only tour that is part of the PRCA, who also hosts the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.


title: NRG Stadium

text: The stadium includes a service area level to house rodeo livestock. The bulls, broncs, steers and roping calves are housed in the north end of the stadium under the lower bowl. Loading and unloading dock space to support the rodeo is located on the north end of the stadium. During rodeo performances, rolling doors will separate the dock into two receiving areas to isolate the food and concession deliveries from the rodeo equipment and livestock deliveries. A concert performance stage is located at the south end of the stadium during rodeo events and is moved into the center of the facility by a hydraulic drive system for rodeo concert performances.


title: NRG Stadium

text: On February 25, 2012, the PBR brought its premier bull riding tour, the Built Ford Tough Series, to Reliant Stadium for the first time ever. It was the first time that a PBR event was a part of RodeoHouston. In addition, it was their first event in Houston in 11 years, after having previously held an event at the Compaq Center annually between 1998 and 2001.


title: NRG Stadium

text: College football's Texas Bowl and Texas Kickoff are annually hosted at the stadium. The first-ever edition of the Texas Bowl featured a game between Rutgers University and Kansas State University, with Rutgers winning 37–10. The stadium hosted the Houston Bowl before the Texas Bowl's inception and also hosted both the 2002 and 2005 Big 12 Championship Games. The 2005 game featured Houston native Vince Young at quarterback for the University of Texas at Austin and led the Longhorns to a 70–3 rout of the University of Colorado in front of 71,107. In addition, the East–West Shrine Game was held there in 2007.


title: NRG Stadium

text: A Bayou Classic game between Grambling State and Southern was held here in November 2005 due to Hurricane Katrina damage at the rivalry's usual venue of the Superdome.


title: NRG Stadium

text: Each of the city's two Division I FBS schools, the University of Houston and Rice University, has played regular season home games at NRG Stadium in the past. The Houston–Rice football rivalry game, the Bayou Bucket Classic, was held there in 2004, and in 2011, the game was announced to be played at Reliant Stadium for the 2012 and 2013 seasons as well.


title: NRG Stadium

text: The stadium also hosts the "Battle of the Piney Woods" since 2010. It is one of the oldest football rivalries in Texas, featuring Division I FCS Sam Houston State University and Stephen F. Austin State University. The series was originally scheduled to run until 2013, before being extended to 2017, and finally in April 2015, the stadium was made the permanent home of the series.


title: NRG Stadium

text: The two largest historically black universities in Greater Houston, Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M University, each have played selected regular season home games at NRG Stadium as well.


title: NRG Stadium

text: In 2017, NRG Stadium was announced as a future site for the College Football Playoff National Championship game; it will host the event in January 2024 (ending the 2023 college football season).


title: NRG Stadium

text: NRG Stadium is regularly utilized by varsity football teams as a neutral site during the University Interscholastic League football playoffs.


title: NRG Stadium

text: NRG Stadium also hosts international soccer matches. The games are generally held in the spring and summer before the NFL season starts. The stadium hosted CONCACAF Gold Cup matches from 2005 to 2011. The Gold Cup matches in 2007 included Round 1 matches, and a quarterfinal doubleheader match. The venue's attendance record was set during a preparation match between the Mexico national team and the U.S. men's soccer team.


title: NRG Stadium

text: On February 6, 2008, USA–Mexico was held at Reliant Stadium to a capacity crowd of 70,103. The previous USA vs. Mexico match in Reliant Stadium drew a sellout crowd of 69,582 fans on May 8, 2003 and is the largest home crowd for the U.S. men's national team this decade, until the USA played Mexico for a capacity crowd of 79,156 fans in Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final.


title: NRG Stadium

text: Reliant Stadium hosted the 2010 MLS All-Star Game as 70,728 fans watched Manchester United defeat the MLS All-Stars 5–2.


title: NRG Stadium

text: On January 25, 2012, Venezuela played a friendly match with Mexico, with Mexico winning 3–1. On May 31, 2013, Mexico played another friendly, with Nigeria, which ended in a 2–2 draw.


title: NRG Stadium

text: In June 2016, NRG Stadium hosted two matches in the group stage and one semifinal in the Copa América Centenario. Costa Rica beat Colombia 3-2. Mexico and Venezuela drew 1-1. Argentina beat United States 4-0. Lionel Messi scored a free kick, making him Argentina's all-time leading scorer.


title: NRG Stadium

text: The stadium has hosted the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament several times, including the 2008, 2010 & 2015 South Regional semifinals and finals, and the Final Four in 2011 and 2016. It will host the Final Four again in 2023.


title: NRG Stadium

text: For the past eighteen years, NRG Stadium has played host to Monster Jam. Also, it has hosted a round of the AMA Supercross Championship since 2003, replacing the Astrodome which had been host since 1974.


title: NRG Stadium

text: The stadium is a regular concert venue and has featured performers such as The Rolling Stones, Metallica, Beyoncé, U2, Guns N' Roses, and Taylor Swift over the years.


title: NRG Stadium

text: Rice University uses executive offices in the stadium to teach a professional sports management class.


title: NRG Stadium

text: During the summer of 2019, the stadium hosted two international conventions of Jehovah's Witnesses, gathering thousands of delegates from around the world.


title: NRG Stadium

text: The stadium is used by some Houston area school districts for their annual high school graduation ceremonies from late-May to mid-June. Examples include Houston ISD, Fort Bend ISD, Galena Park ISD, Klein ISD, and Cypress Fairbanks ISD.


title: Shira Haas

text: Shira Haas (; born ) is an Israeli actress. She initially gained national prominence for her roles in local film and television, having won two Israeli Ophir Awards out of five nominations since 2014. In 2020, she gained international acclaim for her role in the Netflix miniseries "Unorthodox." For this performance, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In the same year, Haas won the Tribeca Film Festival Award for Best International Actress for her performance in the Israeli drama film "Asia" (2020)"."


title: Shira Haas

text: Haas was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to a secular Jewish family. Her parents, both Israeli-born Jews (also known as "Sabra"), are of Ashkenazi Jewish (Polish-Jewish, Hungarian-Jewish, and Czech-Jewish) descent. Her grandparents are both Holocaust survivors; her grandfather had been imprisoned in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. In Hebrew, her first name literally means either the noun "singing" or "her song". When she was one year old, her family moved to the city of Hod HaSharon, Israel, where she grew up with her older sister and brother. At age two, Haas was diagnosed with kidney cancer, and recovered two years later after a series of severe treatments. On 3 August 2022, her mother Ariela "Leah" Haas died of cancer, after weeks in hospice, at age 61.


title: Shira Haas

text: She attended the Thelma Yellin High School of Arts in Givatayim, Israel, majoring in theatre, before completing a short period of volunteer service in the Israel Defense Forces' military theatre. In late April 2020, she joined a virtual ceremony celebrating Israel's 72nd Independence Day, and sent birthday wishes to Israel with fellow Jewish actors Ben Platt and Josh Malina.


title: Shira Haas

text: At age 14, she began performing in plays at the Tel Aviv's Cameri Theater, such as "Ghetto" (2010) and "Richard III". She made her television debut as the role of Haredi girl Ruchami Weiss in the Israeli drama series "Shtisel" in 2013. While attending Thelma Yellin, Haas was approached by an Israeli casting director by the name of Esther Kling via Facebook message in 2014. She encouraged Haas to audition for the lead role in the Israeli film "Princess" (2014). After getting her debut role at the age of 16, Haas was praised by "The New York Times" for her "truly remarkable lead performance", and was admired by "The Hollywood Reporter" for fitting the part of a 12-year-old character with her "petite frame and baby-smooth complexion". The role won her the awards for Best Actress at both the Jerusalem Film Festival and the Peace & Love Film Festival, as well as a nomination for Best Leading Actress at the Israeli Ophir Awards.


title: Shira Haas

text: Haas made her first appearance in an international film when she played the role of young Fania in compatriot Natalie Portman's directorial-debut, "A Tale of Love and Darkness" (2015). Haas also appeared alongside Jessica Chastain in Niki Caro's "The Zookeeper's Wife" (2017), which led to her American talk show debut on "The Today Show" in 2016. Haas auditioned for the role over Skype call. She earned her second Israeli Ophir Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in "Foxtrot" (2017), which made the final shortlist for the 90th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.


title: Shira Haas

text: By the start of 2018, Haas had made a name for herself in many prime time Israeli drama television shows: "Shtisel" (2013–2020), "The Jeweler" (2015), "The Switch Principle" (2016), "Harem" (2017) and "The Conductor" (2018). At the 2018 Israeli Ophir Awards, Haas was nominated for both Best Leading Actress for "Broken Mirrors" (2018) and Best Supporting Actress for "Noble Savage" (2018), the latter of which she won. In 2018, she appeared as Leah in "Mary Magdalene", written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis. She made the Israeli "Forbes" list of 30 under 30 in February 2019, before appearing alongside Harvey Keitel in the second biblical film in her acting career, "Esau" (2019).


title: Shira Haas

text: Haas arrived in Berlin, Germany, two months ahead of the shooting of the 2020 German limited Netflix series "Unorthodox", in order to study the Yiddish language which would be primarily spoken in the series. Besides Yiddish lessons, Haas was required to shave her head and also completed both piano and singing lessons to prepare for the role of Esther "Esty" Shapiro, who runs away from her arranged marriage and Ultra-Orthodox community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City. The series is based on the true life story of Deborah Feldman, who wrote an autobiography of the same name.


title: Shira Haas

text: James Poniewozik of "The New York Times" described Haas as "a phenomenon, expressive and captivating." Brigid Delaney of "The Guardian" described her as "mesmerising" and "outstanding," noting, "physically tiny, like a child, the viewer is immediately protective of her." Sheena Scott of "Forbes" wrote that Haas "offers an incredible performance as Esty, full of subtlety, delicately revealing her character's inner struggle and happiness without needing to say a word." Hank Stuever of "The Washington Post" wrote that she "lends a grave and yet vulnerable luminescence to the role." At the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, Haas was nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Limited Series for this performance, becoming the first Israeli to be nominated for an acting Primetime Emmy Award.


title: Shira Haas

text: Haas acted alongside Alena Yiv in the role of a daughter who becomes confined to a wheelchair in the Israeli film "Asia" (2020), which was premiered online at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The role earned Haas the award for Best International Actress at the festival. The jury wrote, "Her face is a never-ending landscape in which even the tiniest expression is heartbreaking; she's an incredibly honest and present actress who brings depth to everything she does." Her performance in the film also earned her the award for Best Supporting Actress at the 30th Israeli Ophir Awards. Haas was signed to Creative Artists Agency in June 2020.


title: Shira Haas

text: In September 2022, Marvel Studios officially announced that Haas will portray their Israeli superheroine of Sabra in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel film "", scheduled for release in 2024.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: House of Cards is a 1990 British political thriller television serial in four episodes, set after the end of Margaret Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It was televised by the BBC from 18 November to 9 December 1990, to critical and popular acclaim.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: The story tells the manipulative and sudden rise to power of the machiavellian Chief Whip of the Conservative Party, Francis Urquhart. Urquhart, on the party's classical extreme right, is frustrated over his lack of promotion in the wake of Thatcher's resignation and the moderate government that succeeds it. Thus, he plots an extremely calculated and meticulous plan to bring down the Prime Minister and replace him, in vein of Shakespeare's "Richard III" (which he often quotes). During this drawn-out, ruthless coup, his life is complicated by his relationship with young female reporter Mattie Storin, whom he uses to leak sensitive information in confidence. The question of whether the serial's ending is a tragedy (in vein of plays such as "Macbeth") is left to the viewer.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: Andrew Davies adapted the story from the 1989 novel of the same name by Michael Dobbs, a former chief of staff at Conservative Party headquarters. Neville Teller also dramatised Dobbs's novel for BBC World Service in 1996, and it had two television sequels ("To Play the King" and "The Final Cut"). The opening and closing theme music for this TV series is entitled "Francis Urquhart's March", by Jim Parker.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: "House of Cards" was ranked 84th in the British Film Institute list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes in 2000. In 2013, the serial and the Dobbs novel were the basis for a US adaptation set in Washington, D.C., commissioned and released by Netflix as the first ever major streaming service television show. This version was also entitled "House of Cards", and starred Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: The antihero of "House of Cards" is Francis Urquhart, a fictional Chief Whip of the Conservative Party, played by Ian Richardson. The plot follows his amoral and manipulative scheme to become leader of the governing party and, thus, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: Michael Dobbs did not envisage writing the second and third books, as Urquhart dies at the end of the first novel. The screenplay of the BBC's dramatisation of "House of Cards" differs from the book, and hence allows future series. Dobbs wrote two following books, "To Play the King" and "The Final Cut", which were televised in 1993 and 1995, respectively.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: "House of Cards" was said to draw from Shakespeare's plays "Macbeth" and "Richard III", both of which feature main characters who are corrupted by power and ambition. Richardson has a Shakespearean background and said he based his characterisation of Urquhart on Shakespeare's portrayal of Richard III.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: After Margaret Thatcher's resignation, the ruling Conservative Party is about to elect a new leader. Francis Urquhart (Ian Richardson), a Member of Parliament (MP) and the Government Chief Whip in the House of Commons, introduces viewers to the contestants, from which Henry "Hal" Collingridge (David Lyon) emerges victorious. Urquhart is secretly contemptuous of the well-meaning but weak Collingridge, but expects a promotion to a senior position in the Cabinet. After the general election, which the party wins by a reduced majority, Urquhart submits his suggestions for a reshuffle that includes his desired promotion. However, Collingridge – citing Harold Macmillan's political demise after the 1962 Night of the Long Knives – effects no changes at all. Urquhart resolves to oust Collingridge, with encouragement from his wife, Elizabeth (Diane Fletcher).


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: At the same time, with Elizabeth's blessing, Urquhart begins an affair with Mattie Storin (Susannah Harker), a junior political reporter at a Conservative-leaning tabloid newspaper called "The Chronicle". The affair allows Urquhart to manipulate Mattie and indirectly skew her coverage of the Conservative leadership contest in his favour. Mattie has an apparent Electra complex; she finds appeal in Urquhart's much older age and later refers to him as "Daddy". Another unwitting pawn is Roger O'Neill (Miles Anderson), the party's cocaine-addicted public relations consultant.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: Urquhart blackmails O'Neill into leaking information on budget cuts that humiliates Collingridge during the Prime Minister's Questions. Later, he blames party chairman Lord "Teddy" Billsborough (Nicholas Selby) for leaking an internal poll showing a drop in Tory numbers, leading Collingridge to sack him. As Collingridge's image suffers, Urquhart encourages ultraconservative Foreign Secretary Patrick Woolton (Malcolm Tierney) and "Chronicle" owner Benjamin Landless (Kenny Ireland) to support his removal. He also poses as Collingridge's alcoholic brother Charles (James Villiers) to trade shares in a chemical company about to benefit from advance information confidential to the government. Consequently, Collingridge becomes falsely accused of insider trading and is forced to resign.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: In the ensuing leadership race, Urquhart initially feigns unwillingness to stand before announcing his candidacy. With the help of his underling, Tim Stamper (Colin Jeavons), Urquhart goes about making sure his competitors drop out of the race: Health Secretary Peter MacKenzie (Christopher Owen) accidentally runs his car over a disabled protester at a demonstration staged by Urquhart and is forced by the public outcry to withdraw, while Education Secretary Harold Earle (Kenneth Gilbert) is blackmailed into withdrawing when Urquhart anonymously sends pictures of him in the company of a rent boy whom Earle had paid for sex.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: The first ballot leaves Urquhart to face Woolton and Michael Samuels, the moderate Environment Secretary supported by Billsborough. Urquhart eliminates Woolton by a prolonged scheme: at the party conference, he pressures O'Neill into persuading his personal assistant and lover, Penny Guy (Alphonsia Emmanuel), to have a one-night stand with Woolton in his suite, which Urquhart records via a bugged ministerial red box. When the tape is sent to Woolton, he is led to assume that Samuels is behind the scheme and backs Urquhart in the contest. Urquhart also receives support from Collingridge, who is unaware of Urquhart's role in his own downfall. Samuels is forced out of the running when the tabloids reveal that he backed leftist causes as a student at University of Cambridge.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: Stumbling across contradictions in the allegations against Collingridge and his brother, Mattie begins to dig deeper. On Urquhart's orders, O'Neill arranges for her car and flat to be vandalised in a show of intimidation. However, O'Neill becomes increasingly uneasy with what he is being asked to do, and his cocaine addiction adds to his instability. Urquhart mixes O'Neill's cocaine with rat poison, causing him to kill himself when taking the cocaine in a motorway service station lavatory on the M27 at Rownhams. Though initially blind to the truth of matters thanks to her relations with Urquhart, Mattie eventually deduces that Urquhart is responsible for O'Neill's death and is behind the unfortunate downfalls of Collingridge and all of Urquhart's rivals.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: Mattie looks for Urquhart at the point when it seems his victory is certain. She eventually finds him on the roof garden of the Houses of Parliament, where she confronts him. He admits to O'Neill's murder and everything else he has done. He then asks whether he can trust Mattie, and, though she answers in the affirmative, he does not believe her and throws her off the roof onto a van parked below. An unseen person picks up Mattie's tape recorder, which she had been using to secretly record her conversations with Urquhart. The series ends with Urquhart defeating Samuels in the second leadership ballot and being driven to Buckingham Palace to be invited to form a government by Elizabeth II.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: Before the series was reissued in 2013 to coincide with the release of the US version of "House of Cards", Dobbs rewrote portions of the novel to bring the series in line with the television series and restore continuity among the three novels. In the 2013 version:


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: The first installment of the TV series coincidentally aired two days before the Conservative Party leadership election. During a time of "disillusionment with politics", the series "caught the nation's mood".


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: Ian Richardson won a Best Actor BAFTA in 1991 for his role as Urquhart, and Andrew Davies won an Emmy for outstanding writing in a miniseries.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: The series ranked 84th in the British Film Institute list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: The Urquhart trilogy has been adapted in the United States as "House of Cards". The show stars Kevin Spacey as Francis "Frank" Underwood, the Majority Whip of the Democratic caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, who schemes and murders his way to becoming President of the United States. It is produced by David Fincher and Spacey's Trigger Street Productions, with the initial episodes directed by Fincher.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: The series, produced and financed by independent studio Media Rights Capital, was one of Netflix's first forays into original programming. Series one was made available online on 1 February 2013. The series is filmed in Baltimore, Maryland. The first series was critically acclaimed and earned four Golden Globe Nominations, including Best Drama, actor, actress and supporting actor, with Robin Wright winning best actress. It also earned nine Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning three, and was the first show to earn nominations that was broadcast solely via an internet streaming service.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: The drama introduced and popularised the phrase: "You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment". It was a non-confirmation confirmative statement, used by Urquhart whenever he could not be seen to agree with a leading statement, with the emphasis on either the "I" or the "possibly", depending on the situation. The phrase was even used in the House of Commons, House of Lords and Parliamentary Committees following the series. Prince Charles himself said the phrase in response to a provocative question from a journalist in 2014.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: A variation on the phrase was written into the TV adaptation of Terry Pratchett's "Hogfather" for the character Death, as an in-joke on the fact that he was voiced by Richardson.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: During the first Gulf War, a British reporter speaking from Baghdad, conscious of the possibility of censorship, used the code phrase "You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment" to answer a BBC presenter's question.


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: A further variation was used by Nicola Murray, a fictional government minister, in the third series finale of "The Thick of It".


title: House of Cards (British TV series)

text: In the US adaptation, the phrase is used by Frank Underwood in the first episode during his initial meeting with Zoe Barnes, the US counterpart of Mattie Storin.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Relations between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine are shaped through the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). Ukraine is a priority partner within the Eastern Partnership and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The EU and Ukraine have been seeking an increasingly close relationship, going beyond co-operation, to gradual economic integration and deepening of political co-operation. On 23 June 2022, the European Council granted Ukraine the status of a candidate for accession to the European Union.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: The association agreement was initiated in 2012, but the Ukrainian government suspended preparations for signing the association agreement on 21 November 2013, during the presidency of pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych, who attended the EU summit in Vilnius on 28–29 November 2013, where the association agreement was originally planned to be signed but it was not. The decision to put off signing the association agreement led to the pro-EU Euromaidan movement. These led to the removal of Yanukovych and his government by parliament after the 2013–2014 Ukrainian revolution in February 2014.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: The political part of the Association Agreement was signed on 21 March 2014, by the new Prime Minister, Arsenii Yatseniuk. Meanwhile, the EU has attempted to stabilize Ukraine by freezing assets of allegedly corrupt Russians and Ukrainians and by granting financial aid to Ukraine. The economic part of the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement was signed on 27 June 2014, by the new president, Petro Poroshenko. On 1 January 2016, Ukraine joined the DCFTA with the EU. Ukrainian citizens were granted visa-free travel to the Schengen Area for up to 90 days during any 180-day period on 11 June 2017, and the Association Agreement formally came into effect on 1 September 2017. On 21 February 2019, the Constitution of Ukraine was amended, the norms on the strategic course of Ukraine for membership in the European Union and NATO are enshrined in the preamble of the Basic Law, three articles and transitional provisions. On 28 February 2022, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy officially signed an EU membership application for Ukraine. Prime Ministers Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland, Janez Janša of Slovenia and Petr Fiala of the Czech Republic, all being member states of the European Union, visited Kyiv and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to express their solidarity and support to Ukraine during the invasion.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Ukraine shares borders with four EU member states; Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania—that stretch about in total, with 33 border crossings by road, rail, ferry, and walking and bicycle path.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Ukraine has long been seen as a critical but a difficult political partner of the European Union. According to observers, this is due to such factors as the unwillingness of the EU to expand to the post-Soviet space, the poor performance of the Ukrainian economy, the lack of democracy (during the 1990s), and the internal instability (following the Orange Revolution). Also, some experts notice the importance of the Russian factor in Ukraine–EU relations.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Ukraine's desire to join the European Union dates back to 1993 when the government declared that integration to the EU is the main foreign policy objective. In reality, little was done since Kyiv had to take into account Russia, which remained its major trade partner and natural gas and fossil energy supplier.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: The political dialogue between the EU and Ukraine started in 1994 when the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) was signed. That document was focused on economic and social issues and the necessity of conducting public administration reforms and guaranteeing free press and civil rights. The framework set for political discussions was modest: a yearly meeting between EU Troika and Ukrainian leadership and some inter-ministerial consultations. The first EU–Ukraine summit took place in September 1997 in Kyiv. The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement of 1994 entered into force in 1998 and expired in 2008. During the second summit in October 1998 in Vienna, Ukraine–EU relations were defined as a "strategic and unique partnership" and Ukraine first declared its desire to acquire associate membership in the EU. None of the top-level meetings brought major changes to a reserved EU approach. Leaders focused chiefly on post-communism economic transition and human rights records as well as on issues connected to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and its containment.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: In 2002, EU Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen said that "a European perspective" for Ukraine does not necessarily mean membership within 10 to 20 years; however, it is a possibility. The same year Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma stated that Ukraine wanted to sign an association agreement with the EU by 2003–2004 and that his country would meet all EU membership requirements by 2007–2011.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: The Orange Revolution of late 2004 improved Ukraine's European prospects; the opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko hinted that he would press the EU for deeper ties and described a four-point plan: acknowledgment of Ukraine as a market economy, entry in the World Trade Organization, associate membership in the European Union, and, finally, full membership. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko asked Brussels mid-December 2004 for a clearer indication of Ukraine's prospects for membership, saying that "The approved Action Plan reflects only the level of Ukraine–EU relations that we could have reached before the presidential elections in 2004."


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 13 January 2005, the European Parliament almost unanimously (467 votes to 19 in favour) passed a motion stating the wish of the European Parliament to establish closer ties with Ukraine in view of the possibility of EU membership. Though there is still a long way to go before negotiations about EU membership can start, the European Commission has stated that future EU membership will not be ruled out. Yushchenko has responded to the apathetic mood of the commission by stating that he intends to send an application for EU membership "in the near future" and that he intends to scrutinise Ukraine's relationship with the Commonwealth of Independent States in order to assure that EU integration is possible, and, if not, to make it possible. Several EU leaders have already stated strong support for closer economic ties with Ukraine, but have stopped short of direct support for such a bid.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 21 March 2005, Polish Foreign Minister Adam Daniel Rotfeld noted that Poland will, in every way, promote Ukraine's desire to be integrated with the EU, achieve the status of a market-economy country, and join the World Trade Organization. He also said, "At the present moment, we should talk concrete steps in cooperation instead of engaging in empty talk about European integration". Three days later, a poll of the six largest EU nations conducted by a French research company showed that the European public would be more likely to accept Ukraine as a future EU member than any other country that is not currently an official candidate.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: In October 2005, Commission president José Manuel Barroso said that the future of Ukraine is "in" the EU. On 9 November 2005, however, the European Commission in a new strategy paper suggested that the current enlargement agenda (Croatia and in the future the other ex-Yugoslavian countries) could block the possibility of a future accession of Ukraine, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, and Moldova. Commissioner Olli Rehn said that the EU should avoid overexpansion, adding that the current enlargement agenda is already quite full.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: According to the Ukrainian authorities, the ENP is not an adequate political instrument, since joining the EU was one of principal objectives of all governments since 1993. After the Orange Revolution of 2004 that brought to power Viktor Yushchenko, the EU commission was very slow to react: little progress was made to put the largest European country on a path to eventual membership.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: In March 2007, the EU and Ukraine started talks about a new "wider agreement", aiming at offering a legal framework for a closer economic cooperation and a better political dialogue. It was agreed that Ukraine and the EU would start a parallel negotiation concerning setting up a free trade area. Later in 2007, it was announced that this issue would be incorporated into the draft agreement as a separate chapter.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Days before the summit, the Ministers of foreign affairs of Member States agreed during their meeting in Avignon (France) that association agreement to be signed with Ukraine will have nothing to do with the association agreements the EU signed with many Eastern European States (from Poland to Romania in the beginning of the 1990s, Western Balkans by the end of the 1990s). Media reported that the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany were strongly opposed to including "Ukraine is a European State" into EU legally binding documents. This was considered a failure of Kuchma-era politician Mr. Roman Shpek, then Ukrainian ambassador to Brussels. He was replaced by Mr. Andriy Veselovsky, a more experienced diplomat.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: A "Joint EU–Ukraine Action Plan" was endorsed by the European Council on 21 February 2005. It was based on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement of 1994 and provided, according to the European Commission, a comprehensive and ambitious framework for joint of work with Ukraine in all key areas of reform.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Talks on a free trade agreement between Ukraine and the European Union started on 18 February 2008 between the Ukrainian government and the EU Trade Commissioner.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 22 July 2008, it was announced that a "Stabilisation and Association" -type agreement would be signed between Ukraine and the EU on 8 September 2008 in Évian-les-Bains.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 2 October 2008, Ukraine President Yushchenko announced that the Association agreement between the country and the EU would be signed "within six-eight months". On that day, he met with the King of Sweden Charles XVI Gustav, who paid a state visit to Kyiv. According to Yushchenko, "the agreement is half-ready, and he hopes that there will be a possibility to finalise and sign it under Swedish presidency in the EU". He also welcomed the initiative of Eastern Partnership suggested earlier by Polish and Swedish Foreign Ministers.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 20–24 October 2008, the EU and Ukraine held a negotiation round on the free trade area chapter of the Association agreement. According to some Ukrainian media, the "EU promised to liberalise trade relations". Ukraine's representative told that one must not "focus too much" on negotiation since there is much to be done by the Ukrainian government to meet certain criteria. He also said, that "soon, the Balkans will enter into the European trade space and therefore Ukraine might lose these markets". This was seen as a reason for Ukraine to move forward as least as soon as Balkans, the EU did not comment on that perception.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 29 October 2008, the EU Commissioner Jacques Barrot and Ukrainian officials met in Brussels to launch negotiations on visa-free travel. Kyiv had been asking for a "road map" to visa lifting, including travel document security, irregular migration, public order and foreign relations. But the EU justice commissioner avoided to give any specific dates. Moreover, the Ukrainian side argued that the 2007 visa facilitation agreement is not fully implemented by the EU member states. The European Commission representative was quoted as saying that Brussels is ready to impose sanctions against those who do not respect the agreement. Spanish, Dutch, German and Belgian embassies were cited among the most active rule breakers. Making visa processing lengthy and expensive is one of the major agreement violations. On 28 October 2008, Belgian PM Yves Leterme told that Ukrainians need to avoid middlemen in visa procedures if they want to reduce their cost. The problem is that some consulates, including Belgian, oblige visa seekers to deal with a middleman.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: According to Ukrainian President Yushchenko, some embassies of EU countries often require Ukrainians to present documents, which had not been foreseen in the agreement on simplification of visa regulations. Around five per cent of Ukrainians willing to travel to the EU are denied visas, which, according to Yushchenko, "does not meet the standards of our agreements with the EU".


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 4 June 2009, some media outlets reported that Germany's Free Democratic Party openly stated in its programme that Ukraine has the right for the EU membership in the long term. This was the first major German political party to state this.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: In September 2009, high-ranking Ukrainian diplomats proposed that Ukraine apply for EU membership after the presidential election in January 2010, around March 2010, which would mean that the official response to the application would likely take place in early 2011 during the Polish presidency of the European Union. However, this has not happened.