title: Duvet

text: A duvet (, ; ), usually called a comforter or ("down-filled") quilt in US English, and a doona in Australian English, is a type of bedding consisting of a soft flat bag filled with either down, feathers, wool, cotton, silk, or a synthetic alternative, and is typically protected with a removable cover, analogous to a pillow and pillow case. The term "duvet" is mainly British, especially in reference to the bedding; when rarely used in US English, it often refers to the cover. Sleepers often use a duvet without a top bed sheet, as the duvet cover can readily be removed and laundered as often as the bottom sheet. Duvets originated in rural Europe and were filled with the down feathers of ducks or geese. The best quality feathers are taken from the eider duck, which is known for its effectiveness as a thermal insulator.


title: Duvet

text: The word duvet is of French origin, meaning "down". Its first known mention in English came in 1759, when Samuel Johnson used it in one of The Idler series of essays. Duvets are often more commonly known by other names outside of Europe.


title: Duvet

text: Originally called a "continental quilt", duvets are commonly referred to in Australia by the generic trademark "doona". The Doona brand of duvets were originally manufactured by the Melbourne-based textile company Kimptons and became popular in the 1970s, with the brandname eventually becoming a generic term in Australian English. After a series of mergers and acquisitions, Tontine Group has held the Doona trademark since 1991.


title: Duvet

text: In American English, duvets may be called a "comforter"; however a comforter is generally used to refer to a slightly different type of bedding that is not as thick, does not have a cover, and is often used over a top sheet.


title: Duvet

text: Records show the earliest duvets were made in China, around 3000 B.C. From Viking times, duvets of eider down were used by people on the northern coast of Norway. In the 15th century, featherbeds (mattresses) were used by rich monarchs in continental Europe and in England, though not by their courtiers. From the 16th century, wealthy people all over continental Europe began buying and using feather duvets.


title: Duvet

text: Feather duvets came late to England. Samuel Pepys slept under one on 9th September 1665 while visiting his friend Captain George Cocke, whose wife was from Danzig. Paul Rycaut was among the first to try and promote the duvet in England. Around 1700, he sent six-pound bags of down to his friends with instructions, warning that "the coverlet must be quilted high and in large panes, or otherwise it will not be warme". He also tried to sell them without success.


title: Duvet

text: In the mid-18th century, Thomas Nugent, an Englishman on a grand tour then passing through Westphalia, observed with surprise:


title: Duvet

text: Feather coverings came to be used in England in the mid-19th century, just as feather mattresses became common, and were unsurprisingly known as "continental quilts". They were not, however, universal. Of a British traveller in Germany in the 1930s, it was said that "She even learned to like feather quilts ('they don't seem to know about blankets – perhaps they didn't have them in the middle ages')". Duvets remained uncommon in Britain until the 1960s.


title: Duvet

text: Duvets are the most common form of bed covering, especially in northern Europe. They became popular throughout the world in the late 20th century.


title: Duvet

text: A modern duvet, like a sleeping bag, may be filled with down or feathers of various quality and cost, or silk, wool, cotton, or artificial fibers such as polyester batting.


title: Duvet

text: Duvets can reduce the complexity of making a bed, as they can be used without a top sheet, blankets or quilts or other bed covers. Duvets can be made warmer than blankets without becoming heavy. The duvet itself fits into a specially made cover, usually of cotton or a cotton-polyester blend. The duvet cover can be removed and laundered as often as the bottom sheet and pillow cases. The duvet itself may be cleaned much more rarely, and depending on its contents, may require specialist dry cleaning.


title: Duvet

text: While a comforter is fundamentally the same as a duvet in terms of construction, it is used somewhat differently. In the United States, comforters are used on top of the flat sheet, often without a cover.


title: Duvet

text: Manufacturers rate the performance of their duvets in togs, a measurement of thermal insulation. This enables the purchaser to select a duvet appropriate to the season: the higher the tog rating, the warmer the duvet.


title: Duvet

text: A few manufacturers have marketed combined duvet set consisting of one 4.5 tog and one 9.0 tog. The light-weight one is for summer and the medium one for spring and autumn; snapped together, 13.5 togs is designed for winter. Manufacturers may also offer up to 15 tog duvets.


title: Duvet

text: In some countries, such as France, the warmth of a duvet is rated in grams per square metre (g/m) instead of togs. The two systems are incompatible because, for example, a 250 g/m polyester filling and a 250 g/m feather filling have the same weight but offer different levels of thermal insulation and therefore different tog ratings. However, typical all-season sets are sold as a pair of 200 g/m and 300 g/m duvets, creating a combined 500 g/m winter duvet, which would therefore be expected to match 13.5 togs.


title: Duvet

text: In the story "The Princess and the Pea", published in 1835, H.C. Andersen wrote about a princess lying on ten eiderdown duvets.


title: Duvet

text: The term "duvet day" is used in some countries to describe an allowance of one or more days a year when employees can simply phone in and say that they are not coming in to work, even though they have no leave booked and are not ill. The provision of this benefit became fashionable in the late 1990s with many larger companies in the UK.


title: Duvet

text: In the 1999 American film "Fight Club", Tyler Durden regards duvets as pretentious blankets:Do you know what a duvet is? [...] It’s a blanket. It’s just a blanket. Then why do guys like you and I know what a duvet is? Is this essential to our survival in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word? No.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: The Xbox Wireless Controller is the primary game controller for the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S home video game consoles, also commercialized for its use in Windows-based PCs, and compatible with other operating systems such as macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. The controller maintains the overall layout found in the Xbox 360 controller, but with various tweaks to its design, such as a revised shape, redesigned analog sticks, shoulder buttons, and triggers, along with new rumble motors within the triggers to allow for directional haptic feedback.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: It has had three revisions with several changes to the controller's design and functionality. Microsoft also markets the Elite Wireless Controller, a premium version geared towards professional gamers, including interchangeable parts and programmability features. In turn, each of the aforementioned variations has been offered in various color schemes, some featuring special designs tying into specific games. The Xbox Series X and Series S introduced an updated version of the controller, with further refinements to its shape and ergonomics.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: The Xbox One controller retains roughly the same layout as the Xbox 360 controller, including four main face buttons, two shoulder bumpers, two analog triggers, two analog sticks and a digital D-pad. The "Start" and "Back" buttons are replaced by "Menu" and "View" buttons, while the Guide button now consists of a white backlit Xbox logo, and does not feature the "ring of light" that served as an indicator for the controller's assigned number (1 to 4).


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: Microsoft invested over $100 million into refining the controller design for the Xbox One; internal designers had created prototypes with various tweaks and refinements to the design over the Xbox 360 controller, along with those including unorthodox features such as embedded screens and speakers (which were rejected due to their effects on battery life, and redundancy to the main display and sound system), and the ability to emit odors.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: The Xbox One controller maintains the overall layout found in the Xbox 360 controller's design, but with enhancements such as redesigned grips, a smoother build, and the removal of the protruding battery compartment. The controller also contains light emitters that allow it to be tracked and paired using Kinect sensor, and to detect when it is not being held to automatically enter a low-power state. The controller contains a micro USB port, enabling wired use of the controller with the console or on computers running Windows 7 or later with drivers, and firmware updates. For communication, the controller uses a new proprietary protocol with a greater bandwidth than the wireless protocol used by the Xbox 360 controller, reducing latency and allowing for higher quality headset audio. Up to eight controllers can be connected wirelessly to the console at the same time; if controllers also are supporting wireless chat audio via the Chat Headset, four controllers can be connected simultaneously, and if the controllers are providing wireless chat and stereo in-game audio via the Stereo Headset, two controllers can be connected simultaneously.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: The analog sticks feature a new textured rim, while the D-pad was changed to use a more traditional 4-way design rather than the circular 8-way design of the 360 controller. This change was made partially due to criticism by players of fighting games who, despite the use of "sweeps" across the D-pad in these games being part of the motivation for the 8-way design, felt that the Xbox 360's D-pad performed poorly in that type of game. The updated 4-way design is also better suited for use as individual keys in games that use them for item selection. The design of the face buttons was revised to improve their legibility, using a three-layer design consisting of a black background, colored letter, and a clear covering intended to make the letter appear to "hover" inside it. The buttons themselves are also spaced slightly closer together.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: The bumpers and trigger buttons were overhauled with a new curved shape to improve their ergonomics, as the user's fingers now naturally lie at an angle upon them unlike the straighter design on Xbox 360 controllers. The bumpers were also made flush with the triggers. The triggers themselves now have a smoother feel, and were made more accurate. Each trigger features independent rumble motors called "Impulse Triggers", which allows developers to program directional vibration. One trigger can be made to vibrate when firing a gun, or both can work together to create feedback that indicates the direction of an incoming hit.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: After 2016, when Bluetooth connectivity was introduced with the second controller revision (Model 1708) alongside the Xbox One S, Microsoft rebranded its proprietary connection protocol as "Xbox Wireless". Xbox Wireless uses a higher frequency than Bluetooth (2.4 GHz), improving bandwidth and lag. Starting in 2017, Microsoft began working with third-party manufacturers to produce additional accessories using Xbox Wireless, with the first class being headsets.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: With a firmware update that began rolling out in September 2021, controllers with Bluetooth are able to pair with devices using both wireless protocols, allowing those controllers to switch connections by double-tapping the pairing button.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: The original controller launched with the Xbox One console in November 2013 was black, with colored face buttons. A commemorative white variant was issued to Microsoft employees at launch, but was not available to the public until almost a year later, initially bundled with a matching white console and "Sunset Overdrive".


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: On June 9, 2015, Microsoft unveiled a revised version of the standard controller, with model 1697. Its shoulder buttons were redesigned for improved responsiveness, a 3.5 mm headphone jack was added near the controller's expansion port, and support for wireless firmware updates was added.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: Externally, few changes were made; the main distinguishing feature of the 2015 revision (Model 1697) compared with the original (Model 1537) is the presence of the headphone jack on the bottom of the controller.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: A second revision of the controller, model 1708, was introduced alongside the Xbox One S, an updated model of the Xbox One console unveiled in June 2016. It features textured grips, and additionally supports Bluetooth for use with compatible PCs and mobile devices. Users can also custom-order this controller revision via the "Xbox Design Lab" service, with their choice of colors, and an optional inscription of their Xbox Live screen name for an additional fee.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: The second revision can be distinguished from prior revisions by the color and texture of the plastic surrounding the lit Xbox/guide button. Prior controller models (1537 and 1697) have a separate piece of black glossy plastic, with the Model 1698 "Elite" also having a separate piece in black, dark red, or white. In the second revision (Model 1708) the front shell of the controller is a single piece, and the part surrounding the Xbox button now matches the texture and color of the controller. It has been made available in white, black, red, and blue colors, as well as other limited edition colors.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: A third revision of the controller was released in November 2020, bundled with Xbox Series X and Series S, while still backwards compatible with existing Xbox One consoles. It has a refined build with a slightly smaller body, a "Share" button on the center of the controller below the "View" and "Menu" buttons, a circular dished D-pad similar to the Elite Controller, and a USB-C connector instead of USB Micro-B. The controller also supports Bluetooth Low Energy, and can be paired to a Bluetooth device and an Xbox device simultaneously. The controller also includes Dynamic Latency Input, sending controller information to the console more frequently and in time with the current framerate as to reduce the latency between user input and reaction in the game. Starting in September 2021 through the Xbox Insider program, Microsoft started rolling out the improved Bluetooth and latency features from these newer controllers to its official Xbox One controllers, including the Xbox Adaptive Controller.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: Microsoft announced in June 2021 that the Xbox Design Lab will continue with the Series X/S controllers, allowing users to create their own custom designs.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: All of the controllers in this table are fully compatible with any of the Xbox One consoles, up to Series X/S.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: Besides standard colors, "special" and "limited edition" Xbox Wireless Controllers have also been sold by Microsoft with special color and design schemes, sometimes tying into specific games.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: On June 13, 2016 Microsoft launched the Xbox Design Lab (XDL) service, initially restricted to the US, which made custom color combinations available for the Xbox One S controller (Model 1708) at extra cost. Initially, clients could choose one of fifteen colors for each of five different sections of the controller (body, back, bumpers, triggers, D-pad); one of eight colors for the thumbsticks; five choices for face (ABXY) buttons; and four choices for the View/Menu buttons, which according to Microsoft, allowed for approximately eight million distinct possible combinations. Additionally, customers could request laser-engraved text up to 16 characters for an additional fee.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: Over time, more design choices have been progressively added, and the service was extended to clients in Europe.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: In November 2017, Microsoft made each of the 32 NFL team logos available as an option for the front of the controller, printed on a Robot White background.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: Also in 2017, Xbox partnered with McCann London to launch the "Xbox Design Lab Originals" program; the program, which McCann called "The Fanchise Model", allows consumers to earn a portion of the sales by creating and marketing their custom designs through Xbox Design Lab. Social media influencers began advertising the service on April 1, 2017, and a feature that allowed consumers to "claim [their] design" was added to the store on May 1, with retail support commencing on May 30. The program was credited with increasing controller sales by 350%. It was awarded the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2018 by the Creative eCommerce Lions and Clio Awards in multiple categories, including public relations and games.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: Starting October 14, 2020, the XDL service was suspended temporarily to June 17, 2021, when it restarted using the newest controller (Model 1914) introduced with the Series X/S.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: In June 2022, alongside four new pastel colors and five camouflage patterns, a Pride design was added to the Design Lab. a Pride-themed controller previously had been sent to key influencers and media in 2021, but the 2021 controller was not initially available for purchase.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: In October 2022, the Elite Series 2 was added as an option for the Xbox Design Lab, and custom colors can now be selected for the thumbstick base and rings.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: On June 15, 2015, during its E3 2015 press conference, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One Elite Wireless Controller, a new controller which Xbox division head Phil Spencer described as being "an elite controller for the elite gamer". It features a steel construction with a soft-touch plastic exterior, along with interchangeable rear paddle buttons (with either short or long forms), analog stick tops (original Xbox One stick, a convex dome, and an extended version for increased accuracy), and directional pad designs (either the traditional four-way design, or a concave disc-like design), and "hair trigger locks" for the triggers that allow users to reduce the amount of distance required to register a press. Through software, users can customize button and paddle mappings and adjust the sensitivity of the triggers and analog sticks. Two button profiles can be assigned to a switch on the controller for quick access. The Elite Controller was released on October 27, 2015.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: A special "Gears of War 4"-themed limited edition variant of the Elite controller was unveiled during Microsoft's E3 2016 press conference. It features a rustic, dark red color scheme with a blood splatter effect and the series emblem on the rear of the controller, and a D-pad disc with weapon symbols corresponding to the in-game weapons bound to these controls.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: A White Special Edition of the controller was announced on August 29, 2018. Although a revised Elite controller was leaked early in 2018 incorporating functional changes, the White Special Edition was another cosmetic variant of the original Elite.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: Plans for a revised version of the Elite controller were leaked in January 2018, with a number of new features, including USB-C connector, and other hardware improvements such as three-level Hair Trigger Locks, adjustable tension for the thumbsticks, revised rubber grips, three user-defined profile settings, and Bluetooth connectivity, which had been introduced with the revised Xbox One S controller in 2016.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: At E3 2019, Microsoft announced they would begin taking pre-orders for the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2; the controller would be available starting on November 4, 2019.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: In general, accessories (such as the thumbsticks and paddles) are not interchangeable between the Series 2 and Series 1 Elite controllers. The case bundled with the Elite 2 included a removable charging dock (Model 1924) for the controller's built-in battery and a pass-through to connect a USB-C cable with a port on the dock.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: Preorders for the Elite Series 2 Core controller were opened in September 2022 at a discounted price; the controller is the same as the Elite Series 2, but the plastic body and buttons of the Core version are white and the Core does not include the interchangeable thumbsticks and paddles accessories. The "Complete Component Pack" can be purchased separately, adding the carrying case, charging dock, and interchangeable accessories, which makes the Core + Component Pack equivalent to the standard Elite Series 2. Like the regular Elite 2, the face button centered between the View and Menu buttons is a profile select button, not the Capture/Share button on the standard Xbox Wireless Controller (2020 revision, Model 1914).


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: Drivers were released in June 2014 to allow Xbox One controllers to be used over a USB connection on PCs running Windows 7 or later. The Xbox One Wireless Adapter for Windows is a USB dongle that allows up to eight controllers to be used at once wirelessly.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: Per a partnership between Microsoft and Oculus VR, the Oculus Rift CV1 virtual reality headset initially included an Xbox One controller, up until the launch of the Oculus Touch motion controllers.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: On Windows 10, support for the controller is built-in, including support for wireless audio when using the wireless dongle or USB cable (it is not supported over Bluetooth). The controller is also manageable via the Xbox Accessories app, whose features include button remapping (for both the regular and Elite controller), input tests, and firmware update. On Windows 7 or 8.1, drivers are required, and the aforementioned features are not available.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: Microsoft also supports Bluetooth-enabled Xbox One controllers on Android, specifically listing support for "Minecraft: Gear VR Edition" on certain Samsung Galaxy devices.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: On Linux, Xbox One controllers are supported by the xpad USB driver. There also exists an alternative xpadneo driver, which supports some controller revisions that are not supported by the xpad driver, as well as additional features. Some of these additional features, such as driver support for the trigger rumble motors, aren't even supported on Windows 10.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: In June 2019, Apple announced support for Bluetooth-enabled Xbox One controllers in iOS 13, macOS Catalina and tvOS 13, which became available in the fall of 2019.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: The Xbox One Wired Chat Headset (Model 1564) is a single-ear headset with a boom microphone permanently wired to an adapter that plugs into the rectangular expansion port on the bottom edge of the Xbox One controller; it also engages the two round holes flanking the expansion port with plastic alignment prongs for stability. There are three buttons on the adapter, which allow the player to adjust chat volume and mute the microphone. A version of the Chat Headset was later available with a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack instead of the adapter; on the updated version, the controls were on a small plastic pod inline with the cable.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: The original Xbox One Wireless Controller (Model 1537) has a 2.5 mm monaural headset jack on the bottom edge of the controller. The Xbox One Stereo Headset Adapter (Model 1626) allows the use of stereo headsets with 3.5 millimeter headphone jacks using the rectangular expansion port on the bottom center of all Microsoft Xbox One controllers, including the original (Model 1537). An adapter for 2.5 mm headphone jacks is also included. Using the monaural headset jack on the original controller only provides chat audio, not in-game audio (music and sounds); the Stereo Headset Adapter routes both chat and in-game audio to the headset instead. The Stereo Headset Adapter includes five buttons which allow the player to balance chat and in-game audio output levels, adjust overall volume, and mute the chat microphone. It was available both separately and in a bundle with the Xbox One Stereo Headset (Model 1610).


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: The Microsoft Chatpad keyboard attachment (Model 1676), similar to the Xbox 360 Messenger Kit, was unveiled at Gamescom on August 4, 2015. The Chatpad also includes the functions of the Stereo Headset Adapter and was bundled with the updated version of the Chat Headset terminating in a 3.5 mm headphone jack. In addition, the Chatpad features two dedicated programmable keys; the default behavior allowed the player to record screenshots (X1) and gameplay clips (X2) without using a software menu, if that functionality is enabled in the Xbox Dashboard settings.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: Similar to the Xbox 360 version, the Play and Charge Kit (Model 1556/1727) is the official rechargeable battery pack for Xbox One controllers; it includes both the battery, which is installed in the existing battery compartment, and a charging cable, which allows players to charge the controller while playing a game. The cable is a standard USB-A to micro-USB cable long, equipped with an indicator light that provides state of charge information, glowing orange while charging and green or white when complete. The bundled Xbox One Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery has a 1400 mAh capacity at 3.0 V (4.2 Wh).


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: The Play and Charge Kit was renamed to the Xbox Rechargeable Battery + USB-C Cable and released for the Series X/S controllers in 2020. The rechargeable battery pack is physically identical to the older version, and the update to the kit is limited to the bundled cable, which is now a USB-A to USB-C cable instead of micro USB. The indicator light has been dropped from the updated cable.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: The Xbox Wireless Adapter for Windows (Model 1713) is a USB-A dongle with a single button that allows computers using the Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating system to connect with Xbox controllers, headsets, and similar accessories via the proprietary Xbox Wireless protocol rather than Bluetooth. It was announced in June 2015 and began shipping in October of that year. Support for Windows 7 and 8.1 was added through new drivers in December 2015. It is equipped with a single white LED to indicate pairing and wireless connection status.


title: Xbox Wireless Controller

text: A revised version, now named the Xbox Wireless Adapter for Windows 10 (Model 1790) was introduced in August 2017 with a smaller size, reducing the risk of obstructing adjacent USB ports. The revised Model 1790 drops support for Windows 7 and 8.1.


title: Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits

text: The (Montreux) Convention regarding the Regime of the Straits, often known simply as the Montreux Convention, is an international agreement governing the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits in Turkey. Signed on 20 July 1936 at the Montreux Palace in Switzerland, it went into effect on 9 November 1936, addressing the long running Straits Question over who should control the strategically vital link between the Black and Mediterranean seas.


text: The Montreux Convention regulates maritime traffic through the Turkish Straits. It guarantees "complete freedom" of passage for all civilian vessels in times of peace. In peacetime, military vessels are limited in number, tonnage and weaponry, with specific provisions governing their mode of entry and duration of stay. If they want to pass through the Strait, warships must provide advance notification to the Turkish authorities, which, in turn, must inform the parties to the Convention. In wartime, if Turkey is not involved in the conflict, warships of the nations at war may not pass through the Straits, except when returning to their base. When Turkey is at war, or feels threatened by a war, it may take any decision about the passage of warships as it sees fit.


text: While it was designed for a particular geopolitical context, and remains unchanged since its adoption, the Montreux Convention has endured as a "solid example of a rules-based international order", since most of its terms are still followed.


text: The convention was one of a series of agreements in the 19th and 20th centuries that sought to address the long-running Straits Question of who should control the strategically vital link between the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea. In 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne had demilitarised the Dardanelles and opened the Straits to unrestricted civilian and military traffic under the supervision of the International Straits Commission of the League of Nations.


text: By the late 1930s, the strategic situation in the Mediterranean had altered with the rise of Fascist Italy, which controlled the Greek-inhabited Dodecanese islands off the west coast of Turkey and had constructed fortifications on Rhodes, Leros and Kos. The Turks feared that Italy would seek to exploit access to the Straits to expand its power into Anatolia and the Black Sea region. There were also fears of Bulgarian rearmament. Although Turkey was not legally permitted to refortify the Straits, it nonetheless did so secretly.


text: In April 1935, the Turkish government dispatched a lengthy diplomatic note to the signatories of the Treaty of Lausanne proposing a conference to agree a new regime for the Straits and requested that the League of Nations authorise the reconstruction of the Dardanelles forts. In the note, Turkish Foreign Minister Tevfik Rüştü Aras explained that the international situation had changed greatly since 1923. Europe had then been moving towards disarmament and an international guarantee to defend the Straits. The Abyssinia Crisis of 1934–1935, the denunciation by Germany of the Treaty of Versailles and international moves towards rearmament meant that "the only guarantee intended to guard against the total insecurity of the Straits has just disappeared in its turn". Indeed, Aras said that "the Powers most closely concerned are proclaiming the existence of a threat of general conflagration". The key weaknesses of the present regime were that the machinery for collective guarantees were too slow and ineffective, and there was no contingency for a general threat of war and no provision for Turkey to defend itself. Turkey was therefore prepared to enter into negotiations with a view to arriving in the near future at the conclusion of agreements for regulations of the regime of the Straits under the conditions of security which are indispensable for the inviolability of Turkey's territory, in most liberal spirit, for the constant development of commercial navigation between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.


text: The response to the note was generally favourable; Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Japan, Romania, the Soviet Union, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Yugoslavia attended negotiations at Montreux, Switzerland, which began on 22 June 1936. Two major powers were notably absent: Italy, whose aggressively expansionist policies had prompted the conference, refused to attend, and the increasingly isolationist United States declined even to send an observer.


text: Turkey, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union each put forward their own set of proposals, each aimed chiefly at protecting the proponent's own interests. The British favoured the continuation of a relatively restrictive approach, the Turks sought a more liberal regime that reasserted their control over the Straits and the Soviets proposed a regime that would guarantee absolute freedom of passage. The British, supported by France, sought to exclude the Soviet fleet from the Mediterranean Sea, where it might threaten the vital shipping lanes to India, Egypt and the Far East. In the end, the British conceded some of their requests, but the Soviets succeeded in ensuring that the Black Sea countries, including the Soviet Union, were given exemptions from the military restrictions imposed on non-Black Sea nations. The agreement was ratified by all of the conference attendees with the exception of Germany, which had not been a signatory to the Treaty of Lausanne, and with reservations by Japan, and came into force on 9 November 1936; it was registered with the "League of Nations Treaty Series" on 11 December 1936.


text: Britain's willingness to make concessions has been attributed to a desire to avoid Turkey being driven to ally itself with or to fall under the influence of Adolf Hitler or Benito Mussolini. It was thus the first in a series of steps by Britain and France to ensure that Turkey would either remain neutral or tilt towards the Western Allies in the event of any future conflict with the Axis.


text: As mentioned in its preamble, the Convention replaced the terms of the Lausanne Treaty of 1923 as regards the Straits. This had dictated the demilitarisation of the Greek islands of Lemnos and Samothrace, along with the demilitarisation of the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus, and the Turkish islands of İmroz, Bozcaada and Tavşan.


text: The Convention consists of 29 Articles, four annexes and one protocol. Articles 2–7 consider the passage of merchant ships. Articles 8–22 consider the passage of war vessels. The key principle of freedom of passage and navigation is laid out in articles 1 and 2. Article 1 provides, "The High Contracting Parties recognise and affirm the principle of freedom of passage and navigation by sea in the Straits". Article 2 states, "In time of peace, merchant vessels shall enjoy complete freedom of passage and navigation in the Straits, by day and by night, under any flag with any kind of cargo".


text: The International Straits Commission was abolished, thereby allowing the full resumption of Turkish military control over the Straits and the refortification of the Dardanelles. Turkey was authorised to close the Straits to all foreign warships during a war or when it was threatened by aggression. Also, Turkey was authorised to refuse transit from merchant ships belonging to countries at war with it.


text: A number of highly specific restrictions in Article 14 and 18 were imposed on what type of warships are allowed passage. Non-Black Sea powers wishing to send a vessel must notify Turkey 15 days prior to the requested passing, and Black Sea states must notify 8 days prior to passage. Also, no more than nine foreign warships, with a total aggregate tonnage of 15,000 tons, may pass at any one time. Furthermore, no single ship heavier than 10,000 tonnes can pass. An aggregate tonnage of all non-Black Sea warships in the Black Sea must be no more than 45,000 tons, with no one nation exceeding 30,000 tons at any given time, and they are permitted to stay in the Black Sea for at most 21 days. Only Black Sea states may transit capital ships of any tonnage, escorted by no more than two destroyers. Any revision to articles 14 and 18 requires 3/4 majority of signatory countries and must include Turkey.


text: Under Article 12, Black Sea states are also allowed to send submarines through the Straits with prior notice as long as the vessels have been constructed, purchased or sent for repair outside the Black Sea. The less restrictive rules applicable to Black Sea states were agreed as effectively a concession to the Soviet Union, the only Black Sea state other than Turkey with any significant number of capital ships or submarines. The passage of civil aircraft between the Mediterranean and the Black seas is permitted only along routes authorised by the Turkish government.


text: In time of war, Turkey not being belligerent, warships of belligerent Powers shall not pass, except i.a. to return to their base. (art. 19)


text: The terms of the Convention were largely a reflection of the international situation in the mid-1930s. They largely served Turkish and Soviet interests by enabling Turkey to regain military control of the Straits and assuring Soviet dominance of the Black Sea. Although the Convention restricted the Soviets' ability to send naval forces into the Mediterranean Sea, which satisfied British concerns about Soviet intrusion into what was considered a British sphere of influence, it also ensured that outside powers could not exploit the Straits to threaten the Soviet Union. That was to have significant repercussions during World War II when the Montreux regime prevented the Axis powers from sending naval forces through the Straits to attack the Soviet Union. The Axis powers were thus severely limited in naval capability in their Black Sea campaigns and relied principally on small vessels that had been transported overland by rail and canal networks.


text: Auxiliary vessels and armed merchant ships occupied a grey area, however, and the transit of such vessels through the straits led to friction between the Allies and Turkey. Repeated protests from Moscow and London led to the Turkish government banning the movements of "suspicious" Axis ships with effect from June 1944 after a number of German auxiliary ships had been permitted to transit the Straits.


text: Although the Montreux Convention is cited by the Turkish government as prohibiting aircraft carriers from transiting the Straits, the treaty actually contains no explicit prohibition on aircraft carriers. However, modern aircraft carriers are heavier than the 15,000-ton limit imposed on warships, which makes it impossible for non-Black Sea powers to transit modern aircraft carriers through the Straits.


text: Under Article 11, Black Sea states are permitted to transit capital ships of any tonnage through the straits, but Annex II specifically excludes aircraft carriers from the definition of capital ship. In 1936, it was common for battleships to carry observation aircraft. Therefore, aircraft carriers were defined as ships that were "designed or adapted primarily for the purpose of carrying and operating aircraft at sea". The inclusion of aircraft on any other ship does not classify it as an aircraft carrier.


text: The Soviet Union designated its "Kiev"-class and "Kuznetsov"-class ships as "aircraft-carrying cruisers" because the ships were armed with P-500 and P-700 cruise missiles, which also form the main armament of the "Slava"-class cruiser and the "Kirov"-class battlecruiser. The result was that the Soviet Navy could send its aircraft-carrying cruisers through the Straits in compliance with the Convention, but at the same time, the Convention denied access to NATO aircraft carriers, which exceeded the 15,000-ton limit. While the Soviet Union built its aircraft-carrying cruisers in the Black Sea, neither the Soviet Union nor Russia has ever based them in the Black Sea.


text: Turkey chose to accept the designation of the Soviet aircraft carrying cruisers as aircraft cruisers, as any revision of the Convention could leave Turkey with less control over the Straits, and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea had already established a more liberal passage through other straits. By allowing the Soviet aircraft-carrying cruisers to transit the Straits, Turkey could leave the more restrictive Montreux Convention in place.


text: If it comes to fruition, the long-proposed Kanal Istanbul (Istanbul Canal) project could circumvent the Montreux Convention in the 21st century and allow greater Turkish autonomy with respect to the passage of military ships, which are limited in number, tonnage, and weaponry, from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. The canal project would involve building a artificial waterway through Thrace to connect the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea. That route would run nearly parallel to the Bosporus, but ships transiting it would arguably not be subject to the terms of the Montreux Convention. Currently, the Dardanelles is heavily congested with shipping and there are long waits to pass through the Bosporus. The Kanal project's stated purposes are to speed up shipping and boost revenue by providing an alternate maritime route.


text: In January 2018, the Turkish Prime Minister and a former Transport Minister, Binali Yıldırım, announced that the Kanal would not be subject to the terms of the Montreux Convention. That announcement was received negatively by the Russian media and government, and many have disputed the Turkish government's interpretation of the convention'.


text: The Convention was repeatedly challenged by the Soviet Union during World War II and the Cold War. As early as 1939, Joseph Stalin sought to reopen the Straits Question and proposed joint Turkish and Soviet control of the Straits, complaining that "a small state [Turkey] supported by Great Britain held a great state by the throat and gave it no outlet". After the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was signed by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov informed his German counterparts that the Soviet Union wished to take military control of the Straits and to establish its own military base there.


text: The Soviets returned to the issue in 1945 and 1946, demanding a revision of the Montreux Convention at a conference excluding most of its signatories; their demands included a permanent Soviet military presence and joint control of the Straits. These demands were firmly rejected by Turkey, despite an ongoing Soviet "strategy of tension". For several years after World War II, the Soviets exploited the restriction on the number of foreign warships by ensuring that one of theirs was always in the Straits, thus effectively blocking any state other than Turkey from sending warships through the Straits. Soviet pressure expanded into a full demand to revise the Montreux Convention, which led to the 1946 Turkish Straits crisis and Turkey abandoning its policy of neutrality. In 1947, Turkey became the recipient of US military and economic assistance under the Truman Doctrine of containment and joined NATO along with Greece, in 1952.


text: The United States has not signed the convention but has generally complied with it. The passage of US warships through the Straits has also raised controversy, as the convention forbids the transit of non-Black Sea nations' warships with guns of a calibre larger than eight inches (203 mm). In the 1960s, the US sent warships carrying 420 mm calibre ASROC missiles through the Straits, prompting Soviet protests. The Turkish government rejected Soviet complaints, pointing out that guided missiles were not guns and that, since such weapons had not existed at the time of the Convention, they were not restricted.


text: According to Jason Ditz of Antiwar.com, the Montreux Convention is an obstacle to a US naval buildup in the Black Sea because of the stipulations regulating warship traffic by nations not sharing a Black Sea coastline. The US thinktank Stratfor has suggested that those stipulations place Turkey's relationship to the US and its obligations as a NATO member in conflict with Russia and the regulations of the Montreux Convention.


text: The Convention annulled the terms of the earlier Lausanne Treaty on the Straits, including the demilitarisation of the Greek islands of Lemnos and Samothrace. Turkey recognised Greece's right to militarise them via a letter sent to the Greek Prime Minister on 6 May 1936 by the Turkish Ambassador in Athens, Ruşen Eşref. The Turkish government reiterated this position when the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Rüştu Aras, in his address to the Turkish National Assembly on the occasion of the ratification of the Montreux Treaty, recognised Greece's legal right to deploy troops on Lemnos and Samothrace with the following statement: "The provisions pertaining to the islands of Lemnos and Samothrace, which belong to our neighbour and friendly country Greece and were demilitarised in application of the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, were also abolished by the new Montreux Treaty, which gives us great pleasure".


text: As the relationship between Greece and Turkey deteriorated over the following decades, Turkey denied that the treaty affected the Greek islands and sought to bring back into force the relevant part of the Lausanne Treaty on the Straits.


text: The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which entered into force in November 1994, has prompted calls for the Montreux Convention to be revised and adapted to make it compatible with UNCLOS's regime governing straits used for international navigation. However, Turkey's longstanding refusal to sign UNCLOS has meant that Montreux remains in force without further amendments.


text: The safety of vessels passing through the Bosporus has become more of a concern in recent years as the volume of traffic has increased greatly since the Convention was signed: from 4,500 ships passing through in 1934 to 49,304 by 1998. As well as the obvious environmental concerns, the Straits bisect the city of Istanbul, with over 14 million people living on its shores, and so maritime incidents in the Straits pose a considerable risk to public safety. The Convention does not, however, make any provision for the regulation of shipping for the purposes of safety or environmental protection. In January 1994, the Turkish government adopted new "Maritime Traffic Regulations for the Turkish Straits and the Marmara Region" to introduce a new regulatory regime "to ensure the safety of navigation, life and property and to protect the environment in the region" but without violating the Montreux principle of free passage. The new regulations provoked controversy when Russia, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Ukraine and Bulgaria raised objections. However, they were approved by the International Maritime Organisation on the grounds that they were not intended to prejudice "the rights of any ship using the Straits under international law". The regulations were revised in November 1998 to address Russian concerns.


text: After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the Ukrainian government appealed to Turkey to exercise its authority under the Montreux Convention to limit the transit of Russian warships from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. At least six Russian warships and a submarine had crossed the Turkish straits in February. After initial reluctance, attributed to the country's close ties with both Russia and Ukraine, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced on 27 February that his government would legally recognise the Russian invasion as a "war", which provides grounds for implementing the Convention with respect to military vessels. This blockage of naval vessels also applies to NATO powers who cannot now move their vessels from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. However, Çavuşoğlu reiterated that pursuant to the terms of the agreement, Turkey cannot block Russian warships based in the Black Sea from returning to their registered base. Around February 27–28, Turkey refused permission for three out of four Russian warships to enter the Black Sea as their home base was not on the Black Sea.


text: Up until 2022, Russia had deployed its "Kilo"-class submarines from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, arguing that these vessels were ultimately destined for "maintenance" at facilities in the Baltic Sea. There was criticism of this since the submarines would then remain deployed in the Mediterranean for an extensive period of time. Since this was becoming more difficult to justify, one analysis in May 2022 suggested that the Russians may have found a work-around to the problem, potentially using the country's internal waterways to permit transit to vessels up to the size of the "Kilo"-class boats between the Black Sea and the Baltic. The right to use the internal waterways to facilitate such a transit has yet to be confirmed.


text: In October 2022, two Russian Federation ships, that had been refused permission for nine months, the missile cruiser Varyag, the flagship of the Russian Pacific Fleet, and Admiral Tributs, a large anti-submarine destroyer, left the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (, ; ; ; ) is an autonomous region of Italy, located in the northern part of the country. The region has a population of 1.1 million, of whom 62% speak Italian as their mother tongue, 30% speak South Tyrolean German and several foreign languages are spoken by immigrant communities. Since the 1970s, most legislative and administrative powers have been transferred to the two self-governing provinces that make up the region: the Province of Trento, commonly known as Trentino, and the Province of Bolzano, commonly known as South Tyrol ("Alto Adige" in Italian). In South Tyrol, German remains the sizeable majority language.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: From the 9th century until 1801, the region was part of the Holy Roman Empire. After being part of the short-lived Napoleonic Republic of Italy and Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, the region was part of the Austrian Empire and its successor Austria-Hungary from 1815 until its 1919 transfer to Italy in the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye at the end of World War I. Together with the Austrian state of Tyrol, it is part of the Euroregion Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: In English language, the region is known as Trentino-South Tyrol or by its Italian name Trentino-Alto Adige.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: The Romans conquered the region in 15 BC. After the end of the Western Roman Empire, it was divided between the invading Germanic tribes in the Lombard Duchy of Tridentum (today's Trentino), the Alamannic Vinschgau, and the Bavarians (who took the remaining part). After the creation of the Kingdom of Italy under Charlemagne, the Marquisate of Verona included the areas south of Bolzano, while the Duchy of Bavaria received the remaining part.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: From the 11th century onwards, part of the region was governed by the prince-bishops of Trent and Brixen, to whom the Holy Roman Emperors had given extensive temporal powers over their bishoprics. Soon, they were overruled by the Counts of Tyrol and Counts of Görz, who also controlled the Puster Valley: in 1363 its last titular, Margarete, Countess of Tyrol ceded the region to the House of Habsburg. The regions north of Salorno were largely Germanized in the early Middle Ages, and important German poets like Arbeo of Freising and Oswald von Wolkenstein were born and lived in the southern part of Tyrol.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: The two bishoprics were secularized by the Treaty of Lunéville of 1803 and given to the Habsburgs. Two years later, following the Austrian defeat at Austerlitz, the region was given to Napoleon's ally Bavaria (Treaty of Pressburg, 1805). The new rulers provoked a popular rebellion in 1809, led by Andreas Hofer, a landlord from St. Leonhard in Passeier; this rebellion was crushed the same year. At the resulting Treaty of Paris (28 February 1810), Bavaria ceded the southern part of Tyrol (Trentino and the city of Bolzano) to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. During French control of the region, it was called officially "Haut Adige" (literally "High Adige", Italian: "Alto Adige"; German: "Hochetsch") in order to avoid any reference to the historical County of Tyrol. After Napoleon's defeat, in 1815, the region returned to Austria.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: Under Austrian rule the territory of today's province of South Tyrol was called "südliches Tirol" or "Deutschsüdtirol", but was occasionally also referred to as "Mitteltirol", i.e. Middle Tyrol, due to its geographic position, while "Südtirol" (), i.e. South Tyrol, indicated mostly today's province of Trentino. Trentino was also called ' ("Romance Tyrol", ) or ' ("Romance South Tyrol", ). Sometimes "Südtirol" also indicated the whole of the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: During the First World War, major battles were fought high in the Alps and Dolomites between Austro-Hungarian Kaiserjäger and Italian Alpini, for whom control of the region was a key strategic objective. The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian war effort enabled Italian troops to occupy the region in 1918 and its annexation was confirmed in the post-war treaties, which awarded the region to Italy under the terms of the Treaty of Saint-Germain.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: Under the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, the Fascist dictator of Italy (ruled 1922–1943), the German population was subjected to an increased forced programme of Italianization: all references to old Tyrol were banned and the region was referred to as "Venezia Tridentina" between 1919 and 1947, in an attempt to justify the Italian claims to the area by historically linking the region to one of the Roman Regions of Italy (Regio X "Venetia et Histria"). Hitler and Mussolini agreed in 1938 that the German-speaking population would be transferred to German-ruled territory or dispersed around Italy, but the outbreak of the Second World War prevented them from fully carrying out the relocation. Nevertheless, thousands of people were relocated to Nazi Germany and only with great difficulties managed to return to their ancestral land after the end of the war.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: In 1943, when the Italian government signed an armistice with the Allies, the region was occupied by Germany, which reorganised it as the Operation Zone of the Alpine Foothills and put it under the administration of Gauleiter Franz Hofer. The region was "de facto" annexed to the German Reich (with the addition of the province of Belluno) until the end of the war. This status ended along with the Nazi regime and Italian rule was restored in 1945.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: Italy and Austria negotiated the Gruber-De Gasperi Agreement in 1946, put into effect in 1947 when the new republican Italian constitution was promulgated, that the region would be granted considerable autonomy. German and Italian were both made official languages, and German-language education was permitted once more. The region was called "Trentino-Alto Adige/Tiroler Etschland" between 1947 and 1972.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: However, the implementation of the agreement was not seen as satisfactory by neither the German-speaking population nor the Austrian government. The issue became the cause of significant friction between the two countries and was taken up by the United Nations in 1960. A fresh round of negotiations took place in 1961 but proved unsuccessful, partly because of popular discontent and a campaign of terrorism and bombings by German-speaking autonomists and separatists led by the South Tyrolean Liberation Committee.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: The issue was resolved in 1971, when a new Austro-Italian treaty was signed and ratified. It stipulated that disputes in South Tyrol would be submitted for settlement to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, that the province would receive greater autonomy within Italy, and that Austria would not interfere in South Tyrol's internal affairs. The new agreement proved broadly satisfactory to the parties involved and the separatist tensions soon eased. Matters were helped further by Austria's accession to the European Union in 1995, which has helped to improve cross-border cooperation.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: In May 2006, senator-for-life Francesco Cossiga introduced a bill that would allow the region to hold a referendum, in which the local electorate could decide whether to stay within the Italian Republic, become fully independent or return to Austria. All parties, including the separatists, rejected this measure as potentially causing a revival of ethnic tensions.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: The region is bordered by East and North Tyrol (Austria) to the north-east and north respectively, by Graubünden (Switzerland) to the north-west, and by the Italian regions of Lombardy to the west and Veneto to the south and south-east. It covers . It is extremely mountainous, covering a large part of the Dolomites and the southern Alps.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: Trentino has an area of , most of it mountainous land (20% is over and 70% over 1,000 m) and covered by vast forests (50% of the territory). The climate is various through the province, from an alpine climate to subcontinental one, with warm and variable summers and cold and quite snowy winters. The region has always been a favourite destination for tourists, both in winter for skiing in the high mountains and in summer to visit the wide valleys and many lakes (the largest being Lake Garda).


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: South Tyrol has an area of , all of it mountainous land and covered by vast forests. The climate is of the continental type, owing to the influence of the many mountain ranges which stand at well over above sea level and the wide valleys through which flow the main river, the Adige, from north to south and its numerous tributaries. In the city of Bolzano, capital of the province, the average air temperature stands at and the average rainfall at . The lowest pass across the Alps, the Brenner Pass, is located at the far north of the region on the border with Austria.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: The region is divided into two autonomous provinces: Trentino (Autonomous Province of Trento) and South Tyrol (Autonomous Province of Bolzano). The Italian Republic recognised a certain degree of autonomy for the region and its two constituent provinces, which was the result of the Gruber–De Gasperi Agreement of 1946, as well as of the special status of autonomy approved by constitutional law in 1948. This statute gave the region the right to initiate its own laws on a wide range of subjects and to carry out respective administrative functions.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: In 1972, the introduction of the second Statute of Autonomy, which was in the centre of the discussions between the Italian and Austrian governments, meant the transfer of the main competencies from the region to the two provinces. The autonomy recognized by the special statute covers the political, legislative, administrative, and fiscal institutions. The second statute turned the region "de facto" into a loose commonwealth with devolved powers to the two autonomous provinces, with very limited legislative or executive competencies left.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: The capital city is Trento, although the two provincial capitals alternate biennially (the other being Bolzano) as the site of the regional assembly.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: The region's fertile valleys produce wine, fruit, dairy products, and timber, while its industries include paper, chemical and metal production. The region is a major exporter of hydroelectric power. The most important features of the region's economic structure are the strength of tourism and the special system of co-operation between agriculture and industry. In the last decade, tourism became a very important component of the province's economy. The region, which is a staging-post between the countries of northern Europe and central and southern Italy, has found its true vocation in this leading branch of the services sector with all its spin-offs. The region has a higher concentration of hotels than any other region (6,178 establishments in 2001 with 236,864 hotel beds). The total accommodation capacity of the region counts for 651,426 beds available in hotels and other establishments.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: The region has a population of about 1,072,276 people (541,098 in Trentino and 531,178 in South Tyrol). The population density in the region is low compared to Italy as a whole. In 2008, it equalled to , whereas the average figure for Italy was . The population density in Trentino was , slightly higher than the one registered in South Tyrol that was equal to . , the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 90,321 foreigners lived in the region altogether, equal to 8.55% of the total regional population.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: The main language groups are Italian and German, with small minorities speaking Ladin, Lombard, Mòcheno and Cimbrian. The latter two are Bavarian dialects.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: In Trentino the majority language is Italian, although there are Cimbrian minorities in the municipality of Luserna and four Mòcheno municipalities in the Mòcheni Valley. There are also Ladin-speaking minorities living in the Fassa Valley and in Non Valley (3.5% of the population). While in Fassa Valley Ladin already enjoys official status, in Non Valley it still does not, despite there being more Ladin speakers in the latter than in the former. Sole Valley also historically belongs to the Ladin area.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: In South Tyrol the majority language is German (62% of the population), although in the capital city Bolzano 73% of the population speaks Italian as its maternal language due to internal immigration from other regions of Italy. Italian speakers are also a significant component in other major urban centres of the province, such as in Merano (49% Italian as the mother language) and Brixen (26% mother language). More than 90% of the 120,000 Italian speakers live in Bozen/Bolzano, Merano, Leifers and Brixen, and the greater part of the rest in the small towns south of the capital just north of the border with Trentino or scattered about in very small numbers throughout the rest of the province. The Italian language is a majority in 5 of 116 municipalities. Italian is the first language of 26% of the population (down from 35% in 1960) of the population of 453,000 recorded in the 2011 census, not counting the 51,000 who listed Language as 'Other' who are immigrants. Ladin is the additional official language in some municipalities and a majority in 8. According to the census of 2001, 103 out of 116 communes have a majority of German native speakers, eight of Ladin speakers and five of Italian. Today both German and Italian have the status of co-official languages in South Tyrol.


title: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol

text: The coat of arms quarters the arms of Trentino (black eagle) and the arms of South Tyrol (red eagle).


title: Q clearance

text: Q clearance or Q access authorization is the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) security clearance required to access Top Secret Restricted Data, Formerly Restricted Data, and National Security Information, as well as Secret Restricted Data. Restricted Data (RD) is defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and covers nuclear weapons and related materials. The lower-level L clearance is sufficient for access to Secret Formerly Restricted Data (FRD) and National Security Information, as well as Confidential Restricted Data, Formerly Restricted Data, and National Security Information. Access to Restricted Data is only granted on a need-to-know basis to personnel with appropriate clearances.


title: Q clearance

text: A Q Clearance is equivalent to a U.S. Department of Defense Top Secret clearance. "...the Q access authorization corresponds to the background investigation and administrative determination similar to what is completed by other agencies for a Top Secret National Security Information access clearance."


title: Q clearance

text: Anyone possessing an active Q clearance is always categorized as holding a National Security Critical-Sensitive position (sensitivity "Level 3"). Additionally, most Q-cleared incumbents will have collateral responsibilities designating them as "Level 4:" National Security Special-Sensitive personnel. With these two designations standing as the highest-risk sensitivity levels, occupants of these positions hold extraordinary accountability, having the potential to cause "exceptionally grave" or "inestimable" damage to the national security of the United States.


title: Q clearance

text: In addition to classification levels, three categories of classified matter are identified: Restricted Data (RD), Formerly Restricted Data (FRD), and National Security Information (NSI), as well as a class of access-restricted materials: special nuclear material (SNM). The employee must have a security level clearance consistent with their assignment. Common combinations are reflected in the table on the right.


title: Q clearance

text: Much of the DOE information at this level requires access to Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information (CNWDI, pronounced "SIN-widee"). Such information bears the page marking Top Secret//RD-CNWDI and the paragraph marking (TS-N) or (TS//RD-CNWDI). The DOE security clearance process is overseen by the Department of Energy Office of Hearings and Appeals.


title: Q clearance

text: DOE clearances apply for access specifically relating to atomic or nuclear related materials ("Restricted Data" under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954). The clearance is issued predominantly to non-military personnel. In 1946, U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps Major William L. Uanna, in his capacity as the first Chief of the Central Personnel Clearance Office at the newly formed Atomic Energy Commission, named and established the criteria for the Q Clearance. The security clearance process at the DOE is adjudicated by the DOE Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA), where an individual whose security clearance is at issue may seek to appeal a security clearance decision to an administrative judge, and subsequently, to an appeal panel.


title: Q clearance

text: , Q Clearances required a single-scope background investigation of the previous ten years of the applicant's life by both the Office of Personnel Management and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and , cost $5,596.


title: Q clearance

text: In "Nellis", episode 7 of season 6 of the television show "Archer", Sterling Archer uses a Q clearance to gain access to Area 51 after landing illegally on the airstrip.


title: Q clearance

text: In Robert Heinlein's 1956 novel "The Door Into Summer", the narrator says his pre-1960 Q clearance let him "soak up" much classified technology.


title: Q clearance

text: In the 2022 movie "Moonfall" actress Halle Barry who plays Jocinda Fowler is given Q clearance by the director of NASA (Albert Hutchings) who gives her his ID access badge once he determines that collision with the Moon is imminent.


title: Q clearance

text: The QAnon conspiracy theory is named such because the 4chan and 8chan poster, who in 2017 created the persona behind the conspiracy, claims to be an individual with Q level security clearance.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: Mujhse Dosti Karoge! () is a 2002 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age romance comedy film directed by Kunal Kohli and produced by Yash Chopra for his banner, Yash Raj Films. The film stars Rani Mukherji, Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor in lead roles, with Uday Chopra in a cameo appearance. Based on the 1996 American romantic comedy "The Truth About Cats & Dogs", it follows the love triangle of 3 childhood friends: Pooja Sahani (Mukherji), Raj Khanna (Roshan) and Tina Kapoor (Kapoor). The film marked the first and only collaboration between Mukherji and Roshan.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: "Mujhse Dosti Karoge!" marked the directorial debut of Kohli, who also wrote the dialogue and co-wrote the screenplay and story with Aditya Chopra. The film's cinematography was jointly handled by Ravi K. Chandran and Gopal Shah, while Rahul Sharma served as the soundtrack composer.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: Made on a budget of , "Mujhse Dosti Karoge!" was released on 9 August 2002. Despite much hype due to its A-list star-cast, it failed to attract an audience, grossing , and received mixed reviews from critics upon release.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: For her portrayal of Tina, Kapoor was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 4th IIFA Awards, the only nomination for the film.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: Pooja Sahani, Raj Khanna and Tina Kapoor are childhood friends. While Raj has always been attracted to Tina, he is unaware that Pooja is secretly in love with him. Raj's father decides to move to London with his family because of his work. Before leaving, Raj makes Tina promise to keep in touch with him via e-mail. Tina, who is fun-loving and distracted, does not want the responsibility, so instead of her Pooja writes to Raj, signing the emails as "Tina" instead of her own name so that Tina can keep her promise to Raj. Over the years, they become close while exchanging e-mails to each other.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: 15 years later, Raj returns to India for a vacation. By now, he is in love with the girl he has been writing to and believes he will recognise her at first sight. So they both decide not to exchange their photographs before his arrival. When the three meet, Raj walks past Pooja, not recognising her as he said he would, but recognises Tina, becoming smitten with her and thinking she wrote him the e-mails all these years. He does not notice that the real Tina is completely different from the Tina he knew from the e-mails. Tina later introduces Pooja, and they become friends again. Tina, despite being aware of the fact that she is not the one who Raj has been talking to for years and is also not the one he really loves, gives into his flirting and courting and falls in love with him. Their parents gladly announce their engagement. Heartbroken by this, Pooja decides to never disclose her feelings to anyone.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: Raj returns to London, where Pooja travels for an interview. Raj takes Pooja to his favorite church and she accidentally hums the tune of a song he wrote for her many years ago. Hearing this, Raj instantly realises that Pooja is the one who had been writing to him all those years, and remembers all the little things he had shared in the e-mails that she knows about. He tells her she is the one he truly loves and the two decide to get married. Back in India, Tina's father dies, leaving her all alone. His last wish was that Tina would marry Raj, and Pooja's parents said that they will perform all the rituals in absence of Tina's parents. Seeing that Tina is alone now, Pooja refuses to marry Raj. Raj is against this and insists on telling his parents the truth but Pooja stops him. He angrily vows that he will only marry Tina if Pooja marries someone else on the same day.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: The families travel to London for Raj and Tina's marriage. Rohan Verma, a friend of Raj, meets Pooja during the engagement party of Raj and Tina, and is instantly attracted to her. Pooja agrees to marry Rohan to satisfy Raj's ultimatum and ensure Tina's happiness. On the day of the marriage, Tina realises that Raj is in love with Pooja, as she sees that Raj's ancestral family bracelets were a better fit for Pooja's wrist than hers. At the altar, Tina confronts Raj and Pooja, saying that she is not alone and is glad to have such great friends who are willing to sacrifice their love for her. The film ends with Pooja and Raj getting married.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: "Mujhse Dosti Karoge!" marked Kunal Kohli's directorial debut in Hindi Cinema. The media reported that the film was based on the 1996 American romantic comedy "The Truth About Cats & Dogs", but Kohli explained that "not one scene from it is the same. There is a track dealing with mistaken identity, but it isn't a rip-off." It was produced by Yash Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films, and Aditya Chopra co-wrote the story and screenplay with Kohli. The dialogue was written by Kohli. Neil Nitin Mukesh served as the assistant director.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: Rani Mukherji, Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor were cast as the leads; it marked the latter two's third collaboration, after "Yaadein" (2001) and "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham..." (2001).


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: Mukherji, who features as Pooja Sahani, said that she "loved every moment of working" on "Mujhse Dosti Karoge!", and described the film as a "privilege" for her.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: Roshan portrays Raj Khanna, a part that he compared with his role in "Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai" (2000). He spoke of his rapport with Mukherji, claiming that it "was a pleasure working with her. She is very professional, very friendly and easygoing. She leaves all negativity behind when she comes on the sets." Interviewed by "Rediff.com", he said that "Mujhse Dosti Karoge!" was "a very, very intense film", adding, "The second half is propelled forward by the intensity of my character." He further stated that the film "more [...] about 3 friends than a love triangle".


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: Meanwhile, Kapoor stars as the fun-loving girl Tina Kapoor. She was initially reluctant to star in the film, because she was to play the film's second female lead after Mukherji. However, according to "The Times of India", Kohli and Chopra convinced her to accept it. She found the role to be "very glamorous, typical of what people would expect of me", and believed that her fans, especially male, would like it. She noted, "I play a loser, yet emerge the winner. This is not a goody-goody heroine who gets the hero. My role has better scope. I am the life of the film. The other characters are sad most of the time." To prepare for her introductory scene, the actress did not eat for 3-4 days (this was inconsistently reported) as she wanted to "look great as it involved exposing my midriff". Moreover, Kapoor confessed that her looks were the main priority while preparing for her role in the film.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: Made on a budget of , principal photography was handled by Ravi K. Chandran and Gopal Shah. The filming took place in Film City, London and other places in both Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Ahmed Khan was the choreographer, while Manish Malhotra and Rocky Star were the costume designers. While Anuj Mathur designed the sound, Sharmishta Roy served as the art director. After the filming ended, "Mujhse Dosti Karoge!" was edited by Ritesh Soni and V. Karnik.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: The soundtrack for "Mujhse Dosti Karoge!" was composed by the debutant Rahul Sharma; he accepted the offers in April 2001 when he was on a concert tour with his father Shivkumar Sharma. Rahul Sharma described its soundtrack as "young and fresh", adding, "[It] is about urban young people, so the music had to be romantic and soft." He used santoor, flute and an orchestra contains 60 violinists for the background score. In later years, he told "The Hindu" that composing the film's soundtrack was a "great" and "learning" experience. The lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi, with vocals performed by Alisha Chinai, Alka Yagnik, Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan, and Sonu Nigam. The soundtrack album was released on 12 July 2002 by Saregama.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: According to the film-trade website Box Office India, with around 1.2 million units sold, the soundtrack became the eleventh highest-selling music album of the year. The soundtrack received mixed reviews from music critics; Narendra Kusnur of "Mid-Day" called it "hummable", and wrote, "Rahul's orchestration style is youthful, and the use of guitars is interesting and innovative." Kusnur, however, felt that "some songs have that typical [Yash] Chopra['s] banner flavour that has become very predictable and hackneyed of late". In a review published in the entertainment portal "Bollywood Hungama", Joginder Tuteja believed that Sharma "does a superb job in churning out a number of melodies in one single package". "The Hindu" elaborated, "The title song ... is quite hummable. With quite a bit of Western tunes synthesized with Indian, this song is likely to hit the charts. A rather lengthy medley of various Hindi songs from old and new films is inserted."


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: Expectations for "Mujhse Dosti Karoge!" (one of the most-anticipated films of the year) were high, as the film was Kohli's debut as a film director, and due to its A-list star cast. It opened on 9 August 2002 and, conversely, emerged as a commercial failure. The film was released on 290 screens across India and grossed on its opening day. It collected in India and $2.6 million overseas. "Box Office India" estimated the film's total gross to be and concluded its final commercial performance with the verdict of "flop". The film's world television premiere took place on 7 November 2002 on Zee Cinema, while its DVD version was released on 11 November 2003 in a single-disc pack. It was available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video on 8 March 2017.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: "Mujhse Dosti Karoge!" opened to mixed reviews; critics were appreciative of the leads' performances, but harshly criticized its "predictable" plot.


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: Writing for Bollywood Hungama, Taran Adarsh gave the film a rating of 1 star, noting that it "clearly belongs to Mukherji, who has the meatiest role comparatively". He believed that Mukherji was "superb in a role that fits her like a glove", but thought that Kapoor was "relegated to the background completely". In a 2.5 star review, Subhash K. Jha saw that "Kohli tries hard to bring in his own touch to the [Yash] Chopra-esque ambience". Derek Elley of "Variety" said that Kapoor "largely reprises her pampered bimbo" from "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...", and praised Roshan for "proves a smart mover and good dance talent". Manish Gajjar of the BBC shared similar thoughts of Kapoor: "[She] as Tina looks ravishingly beautiful and shows great flair for comedy in this film. Although the audience will be reminded of her character of Poo from "Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham..."."


title: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

text: "Outlook" magazine's Namrata Joshi, who rated the film 1 star, declared it as "avoidable"; she was highly critical of Roshan, who she deemed "makes a poor parody of himself". Sukanya Verma opined, "First-time director Kohli is impressive. He keeps a tight grip of the plot and displays a keen attention to screenplay. Every character in the film is well-defined and sound. The film moves at a brisk pace and the audience is not left to pinpoint loopholes." Madhureeta Mukherjee of "The Times of India" claimed that Mukherji "scores almost full marks for her heart-rending performance", with "Empire" Omar Ahmed appreciated her for "saving" the film. Khalid Mohammed observed of Kapoor: "Of the cast, [She] is reliably spry and saucy but should take care not to repeat her hoity-toity act if she is to escape typecasting." S. Ramachandran from "Mid-Day" wrote that "Despite its numerous flaws, a fabulous performance by Roshan, an emotionally-powered role from Mukherji and a sporadically-intense act from Kapoor drive the film". "Stardust" hailed, "Though Kohli has handled some scenes with sensitivity and maturity he fails in many others, which gives the feeling of "déjà vu"."


title: David's Sling

text: David's Sling (), also formerly known as Magic Wand (), is an Israel Defense Forces military system being jointly developed by the Israeli defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the American defense contractor Raytheon, designed to intercept enemy planes, drones, tactical ballistic missiles, medium- to long-range rockets and cruise missiles, fired at ranges from 40 km (24.85 miles) to 300 km (186.41 miles). David's Sling is meant to replace the MIM-23 Hawk and MIM-104 Patriot in the Israeli arsenal.


title: David's Sling

text: The system's Stunner missile is designed to intercept the newest generation of tactical ballistic missiles at low altitude, such as the Russian Iskander and the Chinese DF-15 using an on-board dual CCD/IR seekers to distinguish between decoys and the actual warhead of the missile, in addition to tracking by Elta EL/M-2084 Active electronically scanned array multi-mode radar. The multi-stage interceptor consists of a solid-fuel rocket motor booster, followed by an asymmetrical kill vehicle with advanced steering for super-maneuverability during the kill-stage. A three-pulse motor provides additional acceleration and maneuverability during the terminal phase. David's Sling became operational in April 2017.


title: David's Sling

text: David's Sling is meant to bolster the second tier of Israel's theater missile defense system. The name David's Sling comes from the biblical story of David and Goliath. It will form one level of Israel's future multi-tiered missile defense system that Israel is developing, which will also include Arrow 2, Arrow 3, Iron Dome, and Barak 8 and Iron Beam from as early as 2020.


title: David's Sling

text: The interceptor is a two-stage missile, with two targeting and guidance systems installed in its nose-tip (a radar and an electro-optical sensor). In 2006 Rafael was awarded a contract to develop a defense system to counter the threat of medium- to long-range rockets with ranges between . In order to enable Israel to make use of the financial aid provided by the United States to further develop the system and to produce it, a partnership was established with Raytheon which developed the missile firing unit and overall logistic system and assisted Rafael with developing the interceptor. In some of Raytheon's publications, the interceptor is referred to as "Stunner". In November 2012, David's Sling was expected to enter operational service in 2013 or 2014. David's Sling owes much to the SPYDER programme's modified Python 5 and DERBY seeker technology.


title: David's Sling

text: In addition to the David's Sling system, which is designed to intercept medium- and long-range rockets, the Iron Dome system, a separate system with which it will be used in conjunction, designed to intercept short-range rockets (4–70 km), and the Arrow missile, a separate system designed to intercept ballistic missiles, are already in use.


title: David's Sling

text: On 25 November 2012, Israel successfully tested the Stunner interceptor missile. The David's Sling battery, stationed at an undisclosed desert location in Southern Israel, fired and destroyed the incoming missile with a two-stage interceptor.


title: David's Sling

text: In late November 2014, the IDF revealed that the David's Sling system would soon be deployed in various areas around Israel for a trial period before becoming operational. Initial trials will focus on its ability to intercept short and medium-range rockets and missiles with a range of coverage three times greater than Iron Dome. After that, the system needs to undergo two further trials, testing its ability to intercept aircraft and longer-range missiles and then cruise missiles. David's Sling will be linked up to the Home Front Command's command and control systems, as well as also having its own independent interception management center.


title: David's Sling

text: In February 2015, Israel asked the US Congress for $250M in additional assistance in producing David's Sling. US Companies that would be awarded contracts include Raytheon Co.; Arlington, Virginia-based Orbital ATK Inc.; and Falls Church, Virginia-based Northrop Grumman Corp. Other defense websites reported that Israel had requested US$150M in funding for the procurement phase, which will include two systems controlling multiple fire units, covering the entire area of Israel. Still other sources said development costs for David's Sling were capped to around $250M so far. The $150M request is for initial procurement of one or two batteries. Since two batteries can cover the whole territory of Israel it is clear that Israeli initial procurement will start with just two batteries.


title: David's Sling

text: David's Sling was planned to be deployed in 2015, but budget shortfalls for infrastructure for deployable missile batteries delayed its operational date to 2017.


title: David's Sling

text: On 21 December 2015, the David's Sling Weapon System (DSWS) demonstrated its ability to destroy salvos of heavy long-range rockets and short-range ballistic missiles, completing the first block of developmental tests. With the testing regimen completed, the system is slated for delivery to the Israeli Air Force in the first quarter of 2016. David's Sling will protect areas above the short-range Iron Dome and under the upper-atmospheric Arrow-2, particularly against threats like the Russian 9K720 Iskander tactical ballistic missiles, the Syrian Khaibar-1 302 mm rockets and the Iranian Fateh-110 used by Hezbollah, as well as the Scud-B.


title: David's Sling

text: On 2 April 2017, at a ceremony held at Hatzor Airbase attended by Israeli and United States dignitaries, two batteries of the David's Sling Weapon System were officially declared operational, activating the final component of the Israeli multi-tiered anti-missile defense array.


title: David's Sling

text: On 23 July 2018, David's Sling was used for the first time in a combat situation. According to Israeli sources, Israeli authorities said they initially feared that two Syrian OTR-21 Tochka missiles were headed for Israel. Ultimately the two Syrian short-range ballistic missiles—fired as part of the country's internal fighting and not deliberately aimed at Israel—did not clear the border and landed one kilometer inside Syria. One of the interceptors was detonated over Israel. In November 2019, Chinese media reports claimed that the Russians captured the other missile, which was transferred to them by Syria. The missile was found intact by Syrian military forces, as it did not explode on contact after being fired in July 2018.


title: David's Sling

text: On 17 November 2010, in an interview Rafael's Vice President Mr. Lova Drori confirmed that the David's Sling system has been offered to the Indian Armed Forces.


title: David's Sling

text: In October 2015, it became publicized that all six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) were interested in procuring the Israeli David's Sling missile defense system as a response to the Iranian missile threat. This comes after U.S. urging for GCC members to more closely cooperate on missile defense through joint procurement and information sharing. Any deal however would occur between Raytheon and other American companies, partly because of their involvement in the development of the system, and partly because of continuing local attitudes towards Israel.


title: David's Sling

text: In September 2018, the Swiss armaments procurement agency armasuisse announced its interest to receive proposals regarding the David's Sling system for the renewal of Switzerland's air defence capacities.


title: David's Sling

text: On 5 March 2022, the Finnish Defence Forces announced that the final two contenders for a future high-altitude air-defence system will be Rafael's David's Sling and Israel Aerospace Industries Barak-MX, with the final decision slated for early 2023.


title: David's Sling

text: In July 2013, Raytheon revealed it was working with international partners to develop a new air-defense missile system. The system is based on the AN/MPQ-53 radar from the MIM-104 Patriot, a Kongsberg/Raytheon Fire Direction Center, and the Rafael Stunner surface-to-air missile. According to Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, former director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, "We wanted a truly co-managed program because the United States will be very interested in this for our own purposes."


title: David's Sling

text: In August 2013, Raytheon and Rafael began to seek funding for a fourth-generation Patriot intercepting system, called the "Patriot Advanced Affordable Capability-4 (PAAC-4)". The system aims to integrate the Stunner interceptor from the jointly funded David's Sling program with Patriot PAC-3 radars, launchers, and engagement control stations. The two-stage, multimode seeking Stunner would replace single-stage, radar-guided PAC-3 missiles produced by Lockheed Martin. Government and industry sources claim the Stunner-based PAAC-4 interceptors will offer improved operational performance at 20 percent of the $2 million unit cost of the Lockheed-built PAC-3 missiles. The companies are seeking $20 million in U.S. government funding to demonstrate cost and performance claims through a prototype PAAC-4 system. Israeli program officials have said that a previous teaming agreement between Raytheon and Rafael would allow the U.S. company to assume prime contractor status, and produce at least 60 percent of the Stunner missile in the United States. The Missile Defense Agency has said that the U.S. Army is considering use of the Stunner as a potential solution to future U.S. military requirements.


title: David's Sling

text: In 2016 Raytheon announced that it had been authorised to bid SkyCeptor, a Stunner derivative, as part of its Patriot bid for the Polish government's medium-range air defence Wisła program. In March 2017 it was announced that the Raytheon bid had been successful, with Poland to acquire Patriot system in the first stage of the program. It was further announced that Poland would acquire only a small number of Patriot PAC-3 MSE missiles, with the majority of missiles deployed with the system being SkyCeptors. Ultimately, Poland did not acquire the SkyCeptor missiles in the second stage of the Wisła program in May 2022, replacing them with the construction of a new layer of short-range air defence under the separate Narew program, which will be integrated with Patriot batteries with an advanced IBCS battle command system. As part of the Narew program, Poland plans to acquire CAMM and CAMM-ER missiles. Polish government concluded an agreement with the British government opening the way for their production in the country which ends the discussion of possible acquisition of SkyCeptors.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: In BDSM, Master/slave, M/s or sexual slavery is a relationship in which one individual serves another in a consensual authority-exchange structured relationship. Unlike Dominant/submissive structures found in BDSM in which love is often the core value, service and obedience are often the core values in Master/slave structures. The participants may be of any gender or sexual orientation. The relationship uses the term "slave" because of the association of the term with ownership rights of a master to their slave's body, as property or chattel. While male "masters" will usually be referred to as "Master", whether or not female Masters are referred to as "Master" or "Mistress" may depend upon whether they identify as following the leather subculture or BDSM path, or simply preference.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: Sexual slavery in a BDSM context is both a sexual fantasy and sexual roleplay. The slave master or mistress might be any person or group, though the majority of such relationships are usually either one dominant, or a committed dominant couple, owning one or more slaves. A slave and the owner, and others involved in the relationship, can be of any gender, sexual identity, or orientation.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: The Master/slave (or Owner/property) relationship is consensual, without the legal force of historical or modern non-consensual slavery, which is forbidden by the laws of most countries.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: The term "slave" is used rather than "sex slave" because sex is not a necessary component of consensual slavery. In BDSM, a slave is a specific type of submissive. Not all submissives are slaves, though all slaves would normally be considered submissive in the relationship.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: However, some calling themselves "slave" may only be submissive within a sexual context/activity whilst others are also submissive within other or all aspects of the relationship, "sex-slave" or "slave" respectively.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: Outside the BDSM community, the relationship of Master/slave is sometimes regarded as a form of consensual sexual slavery. In BDSM, a slave is a specific type of submissive. The Master/slave relationship refers to the relationship between the individuals involved, and does not necessarily require any specific acts, sexual or otherwise, though sexual activity is usually an aspect of the relationship. The sexual aspect could be conventional, and not necessarily BDSM. A slave could also be a masochist or bottom, but this is not always the case.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: Some participants regard the relationship as sexual roleplay, while others enter into the relationship on the basis of a highly committed, long-term, submissive lifestyle.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: Various forms of symbolism are sometimes used to affirm the owner/slave relationship. These include wearing the owner's collar, being registered in a slave register, adopting (sometimes legally changing to) a name chosen by the owner, or engaging in a public declaration or ritualized ceremony of some type.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: Some people draw up a slave contract that defines the relationship in explicit detail. These contracts may also deal with domestic arrangements (such as cleanliness, home duties) and interpersonal relationship matters (such as issues of deference, language, etc.), besides the sexual arrangements. Typically, they would provide that the Master or Mistress has the exclusive authority in all matters relating to the body and behavior of the slave, including underwear and other clothing, social relations outside of the arrangement, etc. Although such contracts are not enforceable in the ways legal contracts are, they can be useful for defining in written form the limits of the arrangement between the signatories, and for documenting the consensual nature of the relationships they define between them.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: In some traditional rituals, after signing a slave contract, the commitment to the relationship is celebrated by a collaring ceremony, which can be simple or elaborate, often witnessed by invited friends. The slave then wears a collar to publicly declare the slave's subjugation and the Master's ownership. Such a collar may be a piece of neckwear, or may be a bracelet or other piece of jewelry that symbolizes slave status. Such a collar is generally not removed except for practical reasons such as medical or security requirements, unless or until the relationship is dissolved; however, a slave is sometimes permitted to wear a more subdued (or less obtrusive) one outside of the home — for example, during work or in social situations with people who may otherwise feel uncomfortable. Such a collar may also be locked onto the submissive by various means, such as a padlock, combination lock, etc., to further emphasize the ownership and control of the slave/submissive by their Master or Mistress.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: Slave training is a BDSM activity usually involving a consensual power exchange between two people taking on the roles of a Master or Mistress and a slave. The objective is to change the slave's behavior in a manner that is pleasing to the Master or Mistress, for example to train the slave to follow a set of rules or commands that the Master or Mistress has provided.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: Some Masters/Mistresses adopt a holistic approach to the maintenance and long-term development of their slave by using such models as Maslow's hierarchy of needs.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: Sexual slavery is a consensual exchange of power by the submissive to the dominant, though the scope of the surrender of discretion may be limited and may be withdrawn at any time.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: The types of activities that the slave may be expected to perform are usually defined in advance and sometimes spelled out in a slave contract, a document with social indications and value but without any real legal value that outlines the desires, limits, and expectations of the parties. The slave is often expected to perform sexually, though typically many relationship-oriented dynamics are also clearly negotiated, including clothing, diet, speech restrictions, household affairs and schedules, though the details may be left to the master or mistress. Typically outlined are clear expectations of whether the couple will be monogamous or polyamorous, and if there would be permission or expectation of sexual interaction with other people. Otherwise, a sex slave may be expected to perform many of the same functions that are expected of a slave/submissive, including wearing very revealing clothes, being shared, wearing a slave collar or leash, S&M activities, or bondage.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: A Master/slave "relationship" is often a long-term relationship, comparable in duration to vanilla relationships, whereas a Dominant/submissive "relationship" could also be of the same duration or shorter - even lasting only the duration of a scene, for example, which may range from a number of minutes to hours. Depending on their contract and if the slave is willing to not be monogamous, a slave may be traded by their Master/Mistress, facilitated by sex club events, personals in BDSM interest magazines, or internet based social networks. Commonly, a slave is also said to be "collared" if the relationship has become serious enough to the point where the slave has earned a collar in the eyes of their Master or Mistress. Though not every slave wears a physical slave collar, other jewelry may be worn as a token of their dedication and servitude to their Master/Mistress.


title: Master/slave (BDSM)

text: A slave who has satisfied the duration of the negotiated time of service is expected to be released, unless a new duration of service is negotiated. In a consensual Master/slave or Dominant/submissive relationship, a slave may withdraw their consent at any time, effectively nullifying the slave relationship.