title: Wilfrid Brambell

text: In 2002, Channel 4 broadcast a documentary film, "When Steptoe Met Son", about the off-screen life of Brambell and his relationship with Corbett. The film claimed that the two men detested each other and were barely on speaking terms after the Australian tour. The rift was apparently caused in part by Brambell's alcoholism, and led to the pair leaving the country on separate planes. This claim is disputed by the writers of "Steptoe and Son", Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, who were unaware of any hatred or conflict. Corbett's nephew released a statement in which he claimed that the actors did not hate each other: "We can categorically say they did not fall out. They were together for nearly a year in Australia, went on several sightseeing trips together, and left the tour at the end on different planes because Harry was going on holiday with his family, not because he refused to get on the same plane." They continued to work together after the Australian tour on radio and adverts, with it being generally accepted that the relationship between the two actors was under its greatest strain during the tour, though Brambell and Corbett soon settled their differences "fairly amicably", and in the spring of 1978 performed a short BBC radio sketch entitled "Scotch on the Rocks".


title: Wilfrid Brambell

text: Brambell was a gay man at a time when male homosexual acts were illegal in England and Wales until 1967. In 1962, he was arrested in a toilet in Shepherd's Bush for persistently importuning and given a conditional discharge.


title: Wilfrid Brambell

text: He was married to Mary "Molly" Josephine Hall from 1948 to 1955. The relationship ended in divorce after she gave birth to their lodger's baby in 1955.


title: Wilfrid Brambell

text: Brambell died of cancer at his home in Westminster, London, aged 72 on 18 January 1985. He was cremated on 25 January 1985 at Streatham Park Cemetery, where his ashes were scattered. Just six people attended his funeral; his brother, his partner, Galton and Simpson, a BBC representative, and Maureen Corbett, the widow of Harry H. Corbett.


title: Wilfrid Brambell

text: "The Curse of Steptoe", a BBC television play about Brambell and his co-star Harry H. Corbett, was broadcast on 19 March 2008 on digital BBC channel BBC Four, featuring Phil Davis as Brambell. The first broadcast gained the channel its highest audience figures to date, based on overnight returns.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: 2022 Pakistan Super League (also known as PSL 7, or for sponsorship reasons HBL PSL 2022) was the seventh season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league which was established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 2015. Played between six teams in a double round robin format with strict COVID-19 protocols, the league began on 27 January 2022 with the first phase taking place in Karachi. The second phase including the playoffs took place in Lahore, with the Final played on 27 February where Lahore Qalandars beat Multan Sultans by 42 runs to win their maiden PSL title.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: HBL Pakistan retained the title sponsorship, and the broadcast partners are PTV Sports and A Sports, while Daraz is the livestreaming partner.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: The players' draft took place on 12 December 2021, while a replacement draft took place on 8 January 2022.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: From Quetta Gladiators, Shahid Afridi was supposed to play his farewell season. However, on 13 February, he withdrew from the league due to injury and pain. Also, James Faulkner was banned by PCB on 19 February due to inappropriate behavior, while he also resigned himself.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: On 24 July 2021, PCB announced that the seventh season of PSL will be held in January and February 2022 with all matches taking place in Pakistan. The National Stadium, Karachi, would host 15 matches, while the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, would host 19 matches including the playoffs.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: On 30 December 2021, National Command and Operation Center issued that only fully vaccinated people will be allowed to gather at the stadiums, after potentially lifting the restrictions of COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan. Tickets sale started from 11 January 2022.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: On 19 January 2022, NCOC banned the entry for kids under age of 12 as they were not eligible for vaccination yet, and issued that only 25 percent crowd will be allowed in the Karachi phase. On 7 February, it was issued that 50 percent crowd will be allowed in the Lahore phase initially, and then full crowd including children will be allowed from 16 February.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: On 5 January, it was reported that all matches will be played as per schedule under strict standard operating procedures, though the officials were worried about a surge in SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, as they neither wanted to shift the league to UAE, nor wanted to postpone due to a packed international schedule of Pakistan cricket team.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: Therefore, a pool of about 19 local players was reserved in isolation; these could be used in replacement in case of any emergency, like if more than 8 players out of 22 from any team test COVID-19 positive. If the whole league got struck then the winner would have been announced on playing conditions instead.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: The PCB regulated three distinct bubbles with different protocols. The main bubble had all the teams, staff, and officials. Each franchise was not allowed to meet within the hotel premises. The two other bubbles were set at separate hotel, comprising production crew and ground staff respectively. The bubbles were also not allowed to interact, and every individual should follow health and safety guidelines. Any violation might result in fines or expulsion from the league.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: On 2 February, PCB suspended umpire Faisal Afridi from next five matches due to breaching the bubble, and he had been fined 50% of his fees from next match.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: On 17 January, PCB announced the list of officials for league stage matches; this includes 3 Elite Panel of ICC Umpires out of 12, and 2 Elite Panel of ICC Referees out of 5, while others are from PCB's Elite Panels.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: The season's logo variant was unveiled on 6 January with the hashtag #HBLPSL7 also being used on social media.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: Since the previous deals concluded in 2021 after a three-year run, HBL renewed the title sponsorship rights for four more years with a 55% increase from the previous deal. PCB signed a new two-year broadcast deal on 10 January 2022 with a consortium of Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) and ARY Digital Network; their bid was 50% more than the previous deal. Daraz signed for the livestreaming rights on 22 January; they won the bid on 26 December with a 175% increase.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: In response to the broadcast rights, Aitzaz Ahsan told that Lahore High Court dismissed the petitions filed by Geo TV; one against PCB's bidding process and the other against PTV-ARY joint venture. Ten Sports also broadcast this season after a gap of three years.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: PCB announced two-year partnership with TikTok on 21 January. The anthem titled "Agay Dekh", sung by Atif Aslam and Aima Baig, was released on 24 January. This season featured a low-scale curtain raiser in Karachi on 27 January.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: PCB also revealed the following names of media personnels on 22 January, they will be presenting in both languages; English and Urdu.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: The curtain closer took place on 27 February, where trophy was revealed by Red Bull drift driver Abdo Feghali, and Hadiya Hashmi performed Qaumi Taranah.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: Each team will play every other team twice in the league stage of the tournament in a double round robin. Following the group stage, the top four teams will qualify for the playoff stage of the tournament.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: The defending champions Multan Sultans got off to a winning start in game one, beating Karachi by 7 wickets. Peshawar also got off to a winning start in game two, as Hussain Talat's 52 help them beat Quetta by 5 wickets. Khushdil Shah hit four boundaries in the final over of game three as the Sultans beat the Qalandars by 5 wickets. On the same day, Naseem Shah took 5 wickets to help Quetta to an 8 wicket win over Karachi. The next day Islamabad started their tournament with a 9 wicket win over Peshawar. This was largely down to Alex Hales, who scored an unbeaten 82 in the victory. Fakhar Zaman scored the first century of the season in game six, helping the Lahore Qalandars to a 6 wicket win over Karachi. In game seven, Multan were looking to continue their winning start against Quetta. They did this with a half century from Shan Masood propelling them to a 6 run win. Shadab Khan's 91 was in vain in game eight, as Multan beat Islamabad by 20 runs. In game nine, Fakhar Zaman scored 66 to help Lahore to a 29 run win over Peshawar.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: Shadab Khan led from the front in game ten, he took 5 wickets as Islamabad beat Quetta by 43 runs. Shoaib Malik gave Peshawar their second win of the season in game eleven. He scored 52 as Peshawar defeated Quetta by 9 runs. The next day, Zaman Khan bowled an economical last over, conceding four as Lahore beat Islamabad by 8 runs. On the same day, Tim David scored the second fastest half century in PSL history, as Multan beat Peshawar by 57 runs. Match 14 saw another loss for the Karachi Kings, this time by 42 runs to Islamabad United. In the last game of the Karachi leg, Jason Roy scored the highest score of the tournament. He scored 116 as Quetta chased down 204 to beat Lahore by 7 wickets.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: The Lahore leg started with another win for the Multan Sultans, this time by 42 runs over Peshawar, which later meant they qualified for the play-offs. Multan's unbeaten run came to an end the next day, as Lahore led by Fakhar Zaman's 60, inflicted a 52 run loss on them. Sarfaraz Ahmed led from the front in game eighteen, he scored an unbeaten half century to steer Quetta to a 5 wicket win over Islamabad. Hazratullah Zazai scored 52 in game nineteen to help Peshawar to a 55 run win over Karachi. On the same day, Kamran Ghulam scored 55 to help Lahore to an 8 wicket win over Quetta. Karachi Kings were eliminated as a result of game twenty one. Waqas Maqsood took 2 wickets in the final over and ran out Chris Jordan to give Islamabad United a 1 run win. Will Smeed was out on 99 in game twenty two, as Peshawar beat Quetta by 24 runs. The next day, Mohammad Rizwan scored 76 to give Multan a 7 wicket win and hand Karachi their eighth consecutive loss.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: Mohammad Haris scored his first PSL half century in game twenty four, helping Peshawar to a 10 run win over Islamabad. Multan scored the highest total of the tournament in game twenty five, resulting in a 117 run win over Quetta. As a result, both Peshawar and Lahore qualified for the play-offs. The Karachi–Lahore derby brought a change in fortunes for the kings. They beat the Qalandars by 22 runs to get their only win of the season, on their ninth attempt. Harry Brook's century helped Lahore beat Islamabad by 66 runs in game twenty seven. Despite beating Karachi by 23 runs, Quetta were pretty much out of the PSL in game twenty eight. They would now require Islamabad to loose by 156 runs in their final game. Islamabad did loose their final game to Multan. However their 6 wicket loss was enough to send them to the playoffs at Quetta's expense. Shaheen Shah Afridi's cameo of 39 with the bat sent the final game of the league stage to a super over against Peshawar. His opposing captain Wahab Riaz bowled an economical super over though, conceding 5 runs to help Peshawar Zalmi finish the league stage off with a win.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: The qualifier meant the top two teams on the table, Multan and Lahore, would face off. Lahore won the toss and chose to field. Shan Masood fell cheaply for Multan, however his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan scored an unbeaten 53. Rizwan was supported at the other and by Aamer Azmat, who scored 33, and Rilee Rossouw who finished his innings on 65. Mohammad Hafeez was the pick of the bowlers for Lahore with 1/16 from his four overs. In Lahore's innings the only batsman to really get going was Fakhar Zaman with his 63, as no other batsman got past 30 due to good bowling from Multan, namely Shahnawaz Dahani with 3/19 from his four overs. As a result, the Sultans' won by 28 runs sending them into their second consecutive final and Lahore into Eliminator 2.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: The first Eliminator meant the teams at three and four on the table, Peshawar and Islamabad, would play each other. The toss was won by Peshawar who chose to bat. Kamran Akmal scored his first half century of the season for Zalmi, while Mohammad Haris was dismissed for 12. Yasir Khan was next in and was dismissed quickly bringing Shoaib Malik to the crease, Malik continued his good form and scored his third half century of the tournament before getting out. Hasan Ali was the pick of the bowlers for Islamabad with 3/30 from his four overs. In response for United, Alex Hales, scored 62 off 49 to anchor Islamabad's chase. He was supported by the Islamabad middle order who chipped away at Peshawar's score. In the last over, Liam Dawson hit two consecutive boundaries off Benny Howell to seal a 5 wicket win for Islamabad. For Peshawar, the pick of the bowlers was Salman Irshad, who took 3/31 from his 4 overs. The result meant Islamabad were through to the second Eliminator, where they would face Lahore, and Peshawar were out.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: The second eliminator meant the winner of the first Eliminator would face the looser of the Qualifier—Islamabad and Multan respectively. The toss was won by Lahore who chose to bat. Abdullah Shafique stabilised Lahore's innings, after the early wickets of their openers, and he finished on 52. Shafique was supported by contributions from Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hafeez and David Wiese which allowed Lahore to finish on 168/7. Liam Dawson had the best bowling figures in the match for Islamabad with his 2/24. In response for United, despite loosing wickets often in their chase, Alex Hales's 38 and Azam Khan's 40 got them close to the target. However 2 wickets in the final over meant Islamabad fell short by 6 runs. The pick of the bowlers for Lahore was Haris Rauf, who had figures of 2/31. This result meant that Islamabad were eliminated from the tournament and Lahore were through to the final.


title: 2022 Pakistan Super League

text: At the end of the season, the player with most runs will be awarded with a Green cap and the Hanif Mohammad Award, and the player with most wickets will be awarded with Maroon cap and the Fazal Mahmood Award.


title: Puttin' On the Ritz

text: "Puttin' On the Ritz" is a song written by Irving Berlin. He wrote it in May 1927 and first published it on December 2, 1929. It was registered as an unpublished song August 24, 1927 and again on July 27, 1928. It was introduced by Harry Richman and chorus in the musical film "Puttin' On the Ritz" (1930). According to "The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin", this was the first song in film to be sung by an interracial ensemble. The title derives from the slang expression "to put on the Ritz", meaning to dress very fashionably. This expression was in turn inspired by the opulent Ritz Hotel in London.


title: Puttin' On the Ritz

text: Hit phonograph records of the tune in its original period of popularity of 1929–1930 were recorded by Harry Richman and by Fred Astaire, with whom the song is particularly associated. Every other record label had their own version of this popular song (Columbia, Brunswick, Victor, and all of the dime store labels). Richman's Brunswick version of the song became the number-one selling record in America.


title: Puttin' On the Ritz

text: The song received renewed popularity in 1982 when Taco, a Dutch musician, recorded and released a new version of the song. Taco's version was accompanied by a music video, which aired on MTV and other music video networks and programs.


title: Puttin' On the Ritz

text: Kenny Yarbrough also recorded a cover of the song; this version was used as theme music for the short-lived 1991 sitcom "Top of the Heap".


title: Puttin' On the Ritz

text: The song is in AABA form, with a verse. According to John Mueller, the central device in the A section is the "use of delayed rhythmic resolution: a staggering, off-balance passage, emphasized by the unorthodox stresses in the lyric, suddenly resolves satisfyingly on a held note, followed by the forceful assertion of the title phrase." The marchlike B section, which is only barely syncopated, acts as a contrast to the previous rhythmic complexities. According to Alec Wilder, in his study of American popular song, for him, the rhythmic pattern in "Puttin' On the Ritz" is "the most complex and provocative I have ever come upon."


title: Puttin' On the Ritz

text: The original version of Berlin's song included references to the then-popular fad of flashily dressed but poor black Harlemites parading up and down Lenox Avenue, "Spending ev'ry dime / For a wonderful time". In the United Kingdom, the song was popularized through the BBC's radio broadcasts of Joe Kaye's Band performing it at The Ritz Hotel, London restaurant in the 1930s. The song was featured with the original lyrics in the 1939 film "Idiot's Delight", where it was performed by Clark Gable and chorus, and this routine was selected for inclusion in "That's Entertainment" (1974). Columbia released a 78 recording of Fred Astaire singing the original lyrics in May 1930 (B-side – "Crazy Feet", both recorded on March 26, 1930). For the film "Blue Skies" (1946), where it was performed by Fred Astaire, Berlin revised the lyrics to apply to affluent whites strutting "up and down Park Avenue". This second version was published after being registered for copyright on August 28, 1946.


title: Puttin' On the Ritz

text: In 1982, singer Taco released a synth-pop cover version of "Puttin' On the Ritz" as a single from his album "After Eight", released in Europe on Polydor and by RCA in the US. The single was accompanied by a music video, the original version of which contains characters in blackface and has since been banned from many networks. An alternative version eliminates many shots of the blackface characters, though some remain.


title: Puttin' On the Ritz

text: The cover also musically references other Irving Berlin songs, such as "There's No Business Like Show Business", "Alexander's Ragtime Band", and "White Christmas".


title: Puttin' On the Ritz

text: The single was a global hit, reaching No. 1 on "Cash Box" as well as No. 4 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, making Irving Berlin, then 95, the oldest ever living songwriter to have one of his compositions enter the top ten. It was certified gold by the RIAA for selling over one million copies. It was Taco's only hit in the United States. This version of the song was ranked No. 53 in VH1's "100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s" special.


title: Puttin' On the Ritz

text: The song topped the charts in Sweden and New Zealand, and entered the top 5 in numerous countries including Australia, Norway, Austria, and Canada.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: Willem de Kooning (; ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. He was born in Rotterdam and moved to the United States in 1926, becoming an American citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married painter Elaine Fried.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: In the years after World War II, de Kooning painted in a style that came to be referred to as abstract expressionism or "action painting", and was part of a group of artists that came to be known as the New York School. Other painters in this group included Jackson Pollock, Elaine de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Franz Kline, Arshile Gorky, Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Nell Blaine, Adolph Gottlieb, Anne Ryan, Robert Motherwell, Philip Guston, Clyfford Still, and Richard Pousette-Dart. De Kooning's retrospective held at MoMA in 2011–2012 made him one of the best-known artists of the 20th century.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: Willem de Kooning was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on April 24, 1904. His parents, Leendert de Kooning and Cornelia Nobel, were divorced in 1907, and de Kooning lived first with his father and then with his mother. He left school in 1916 and became an apprentice in a firm of commercial artists. Until 1924 he attended evening classes in Rotterdam at the (Academy of Fine Arts and Applied Sciences), now the Willem de Kooning Academie.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: In 1926 de Kooning traveled to the United States as a stowaway on the "Shelley", a British freighter bound for Argentina, and on August 15 landed at Newport News, Virginia. He stayed at the Dutch Seamen's Home in Hoboken, New Jersey, and found work as a house painter. In 1927 he moved to Manhattan, where he had a studio on West Forty-fourth Street. He supported himself with jobs in carpentry, house painting and commercial art.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: De Kooning began painting in his free time, and in 1928 he joined the art colony at Woodstock, New York. He also began to meet some of the modernist artists active in Manhattan. Among them were the American Stuart Davis, the Armenian Arshile Gorky and the Russian John Graham, whom de Kooning collectively called the "Three Musketeers". Gorky, whom de Kooning first met at the home of Misha Reznikoff, became a close friend and, for at least ten years, an important influence. Balcomb Greene said that "de Kooning virtually worshipped Gorky"; according to Aristodimos Kaldis, "Gorky was de Kooning's master". De Kooning's drawing "Self-portrait with Imaginary Brother", from about 1938, may show him with Gorky; the pose of the figures is that of a photograph of Gorky with Peter Busa in about 1936.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: De Kooning joined the Artists Union in 1934, and in 1935 was employed in the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration, for which he designed a number of murals including some for the Williamsburg Federal Housing Project in Brooklyn. None of them were executed, but a sketch for one was included in "New Horizons in American Art" at the Museum of Modern Art, his first group show. Starting in 1937, when De Kooning had to leave the Federal Art Project because he did not have American citizenship, he began to work full-time as an artist, earning income from commissions and by giving lessons. That year de Kooning was assigned to a portion of the mural "Medicine" for the "Hall of Pharmacy" at the 1939 World's Fair in New York, which drew the attention of critics, the images themselves so completely new and distinct from the era of American realism.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: De Kooning met his wife, Elaine Fried, at the American Artists School in New York. She was 14 years his junior. Thus was to begin a lifelong partnership affected by alcoholism, lack of money, love affairs, quarrels and separations. They were married on December 9, 1943. De Kooning worked on his first series of portrait paintings: standing or sedentary men like "Two Men Standing", "Man", and "Seated Figure (Classic Male)", even combining with self-portraits as with "Portrait with Imaginary Brother" (1938–39). At this time, de Kooning's work borrowed strongly from Gorky's surrealist imagery and was influenced by Picasso. This changed only when de Kooning met the younger painter Franz Kline, who was also working with the figurative style of American realism and had been drawn to monochrome. Kline, who died young, was one of de Kooning's closest artist friends. Kline's influence is evident in de Kooning's calligraphic "black images" of this period.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: During the late forties and early fifties, de Kooning joined other fellow contemporary artists including Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline, in their struggle to break free from common artistic movements of the era including Cubism, Surrealism and Regionalism. Their emotive gestures and abstract pieces were a result of their attempt to abandon the other movements. This movement was later called 'Abstract Expressionism' sometimes known as 'Action Painting' and the 'New York School'.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: Between 1948 and 1953, De Kooning became more well known for his artistic techniques but he tried not to repeat himself.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: In the late 1950s, de Kooning's work shifted away from the figurative work of the women (though he would return to that subject matter on occasion) and began to display an interest in more abstract, less representational imagery. He became a US citizen on March 13, 1962, and in the following year moved from Broadway to a small house in East Hampton, a house which Elaine's brother Peter Fried had sold to him two years before. He built a studio near by, and lived in the house to the end of his life.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: It was revealed that, toward the end of his life, de Kooning had begun to lose his memory in the late 1980s and had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for some time. This revelation has initiated considerable debate among scholars and critics about how responsible de Kooning was for the creation of his late work.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: Succumbing to the progression of his disease, de Kooning painted his final works in 1991. He died in 1997 at the age of 92 and was cremated.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: Elaine had admired Willem's artwork before meeting him; in 1938 her teacher introduced her to de Kooning at a Manhattan cafeteria when she was 20 and he 34. After meeting, he began to instruct her in drawing and painting. They painted in Willem's loft at 143 West 21st Street, and he was known for his harsh criticism of her work, "sternly requiring that she draw and redraw a figure or still life and insisting on fine, accurate, clear linear definition supported by precisely modulated shading." He even destroyed many of her drawings, but this "impelled Elaine to strive for both precision and grace in her work". When they married in 1943, she moved into his loft and they continued sharing studio spaces.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: Elaine and Willem de Kooning had what was later called an open marriage; they both were casual about sex and about each other's affairs. Elaine had affairs with men who helped further Willem's career, such as Harold Rosenberg, who was a renowned art critic, Thomas B. Hess, who was a writer about art and managing editor for ARTnews, and Charles Egan, owner of the Charles Egan Gallery.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: Willem had a daughter, Lisa de Kooning, in 1956, as a result of his affair with Joan Ward. He also had a romance with Ruth Kligman after her affair with Jackson Pollock ended with his death in a car crash in 1956.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: Elaine and Willem both struggled with alcoholism, which eventually led to their separation in 1957. While separated, Elaine remained in New York, struggling with poverty, and Willem moved to Long Island and dealt with depression. Despite bouts with alcoholism, they both continued painting. Although separated for nearly twenty years, they never divorced, and ultimately reunited in 1976.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: De Kooning's paintings of the 1930s and early 1940s are abstract still-lifes characterised by geometric or biomorphic shapes and strong colours. They show the influence of his friends Davis, Gorky and Graham, but also of Arp, Joan Miró, Mondrian and Pablo Picasso. In the same years de Kooning also painted a series of solitary male figures, either standing or seated, against undefined backgrounds; many of these are unfinished.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: By 1946, de Kooning had begun a series of black and white paintings, which he would continue into 1949. During this period he had his first one-man show at the Charles Egan Gallery in 1948 consisting largely of black and white works, although a few pieces have passages of bright color. De Kooning's black paintings are important to the history of abstract expressionism owing to their densely impacted forms, their mixed media, and their technique.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: De Kooning painted women regularly in the early and late 1940s, but it was not until 1950 that he began to explore the female subject exclusively. His well-known "Woman" series, begun in 1950 and culminating in "Woman VI", owes much to Picasso, not least in the aggressive, penetrative breaking apart of the figure, and the spaces around it. Picasso's late works show signs that he, in turn, saw images of works by Pollock and de Kooning.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: De Kooning led the 1950s art world into a new movement known as American abstract expressionism. "From 1940 to the present, Woman has manifested herself in de Kooning's paintings and drawings as at once the focus of desire, frustration, inner conflict, pleasure, … and as posing problems of conception and handling as demanding as those of an engineer." The female figure is an important symbol for de Kooning's art career and his own life. The "Woman" painting is considered as a significant work of art for the museum through its historical context about the post-World War II history and American feminist movement. Additionally, the medium (oil, enamel, and charcoal on canvas) of this painting makes it different from others of de Kooning's time.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: The painter is noted for his paintings: "Woman III" (1953), "Woman VI" (1953), "Interchange" (1955), and "Police Gazette" (1955). Some notable sculptures are "Clamdigger" (1972/1976) and "Seated Woman on a Bench" (1972/1976).


title: Willem de Kooning

text: Some of de Kooning's paintings have been sold in the 21st century for record prices. In November 2006, the American business magnate David Geffen sold his oil painting "Woman III" to hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen for $137.5 million, just below the record at the time of $140 million, which involved the same people in the same month for Jackson Pollock's "No. 5, 1948". A month earlier Cohen had already paid Geffen $63.5 million for "Police Gazette" by de Kooning. In September 2015, Geffen sold de Kooning's oil painting "Interchange" to hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin for ca. $300 million, the highest price paid for a painting at the time. It held the record until November 15, 2017, when the da Vinci "Salvator Mundi" sold for $450 million at Christie's in New York. In November 2016, "Untitled XXV" sold for $66.3 million at Christie's in New York. This was a record price for a de Kooning piece sold at public auction.


title: Willem de Kooning

text: The artist was featured in a number of solo exhibitions from 1948 to 1966, many in New York but also nationally and internationally. Specifically, he had fourteen separate exhibitions and even had two exhibitions per annum in the years 1953, 1964, and 1965. He was featured at the Egan Gallery, the Sidney Janis Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Arts Club of Chicago, the Martha Jackson Gallery, the Workshop Center, the Paul Kantor Gallery, the Hames Goodman Gallery, the Allan Stone Gallery, and the Smith College Museum of Art. Most of the exhibitions lasted for 3 weeks to one month. Most recent exhibition, De Kooning: Five Decades, took place in Mnuchin Gallery, New York City from April 19 till June 15, 2019.


title: Onna-musha

text: Onna-musha (女武者) is a term referring to female warriors in pre-modern Japan. These women fought in battle alongside samurai men. They were members of the "bushi" (warrior) class in feudal Japan and were trained in the use of weapons to protect their household, family, and honour in times of war. They also have an important presence in Japanese literature, with Tomoe Gozen and Hangaku Gozen as famous and influential examples representing "onna-musha".


title: Onna-musha

text: There were also , female guards of the harems and residences of the wives and concubines of daimyō and clan leaders.


title: Onna-musha

text: The Genpei War (1180–1185) marked the war between the Taira (Heike) and Minamoto (Genji) clans, two very prominent Japanese clans of the late-Heian period. The epic "The Tale of the Heike" was composed in the early 13th century in order to commemorate the stories of courageous and devoted samurai. Among those was Tomoe Gozen, servant of Minamoto no Yoshinaka of the Minamoto clan. She assisted Yoshinaka in defending himself against the forces of his cousin, Minamoto no Yoritomo, especially during the Battle of Awazu in 1184.


title: Onna-musha

text: Tomoe Gozen was not always accredited as a historical figure. However, she has impacted much of the warrior class, including many traditional Naginata schools. Her actions in battle received much attention in the arts, such as the Noh play "Tomoe" and various ukiyo-e.


title: Onna-musha

text: Another famous female general of the Genpei War was Hangaku Gozen. While Tomoe Gozen was an ally of the Minamoto clan, Hangaku allied with the Taira clan. The existence of these two prominent female generals confirms that the status of women during this time was still less unequal than in future periods.


title: Onna-musha

text: In ages past, it was more common to see women become empresses, but this would change in the future during the Meiji restoration. Throughout Japanese history, women, while not generally becoming "de jure" chiefs of a samurai clan, "de facto" ruled their clans in several instances.


title: Onna-musha

text: Chancellor Tōin Kinkata (1291–1360) makes mention in his journal "Entairyaku" (園太暦) of a "predominately female cavalry""", but without further explanation. With limited details, he concludes: "there is a lot of female cavalries." As he noted that they were from western Japan, it is possible that women from the western regions far from the big capital cities were more likely to fight in battles. Women forming cavalry forces were also reported during the Sengoku period (c. 1467 – c. 1600).


title: Onna-musha

text: During the Ashikaga Shogunate, due to tensions between the shogunate retainers, Japan went to war again. In 1460, when shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa abdicated his position to his younger brother Ashikaga Yoshimi, Hino Tomiko (Yoshimasa's wife) was strongly against this decision. Tomiko sought political and military support to rule as regent until the birth of her son, securing the support of Yamana Sōzen and other leaders of powerful samurai clans. Then she went to war against Yoshimasa and his supporters, especially the Hosokawa clan. This dispute for succession started the Ōnin War (1467–1477) and led to the beginning of the Sengoku period.


title: Onna-musha

text: In the Azuchi–Momoyama period, when several daimyō took charge of their own affairs and fought against each other by territory, women of noble clans and even peasant women members of Ikkō-ikki, Ikkō-shu, Saika Ikki and others Ikki sects went to the battlefields. In 1569, when a Mori family retainer from western Japan went absent from a campaign, his wife Ichikawa no Tsubone assumed responsibility for the defense of Kōnomine Castle with her armed ladies-in-waiting. Attacks on yamashiro (山城; mountaintop castles), the characteristic fortress of the daimyō, have provided many unwanted opportunities for women to engage in defense and suffer the ultimate sacrifice if the castle falls.


title: Onna-musha

text: Women participated in battles until the unification of Japan by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1591 several women defended Kunohe Castle even when it was on fire in the Kunohe Rebellion. After Hideyoshi's death, his concubine Yodo-dono took over the "de facto" leadership of the Toyotomi clan, and in 1614 she and her son, Hideyori, fought the ascendant Tokugawa shogunate. In 1615, when Tokugawa Ieyasu attacked Osaka castle again, Yodo-dono and her son committed suicide in the flames of Osaka castle. Suicide inside a burning castle may have been the last act of loyalty to a samurai-class woman.


title: Onna-musha

text: During the Sengoku period there are several accounts of women fighting actively on the battlefield, such as the cases of Myōrin, who inspired the people to fight against 3,000 Shimazu soldiers, Kaihime, who fought against the Toyotomi clan in the siege of Oshi (1590), Onamihime, who became the representative leader of the Nikaidō clan and fought in various battles against her nephew Date Masamune, and Akai Teruko, who became famous for fighting until she was 76 years old and became known as <nowiki>"The Strongest Woman in the Warring States Period"</nowiki>. The actions of Ōhōri Tsuruhime earned her the title of <nowiki>"</nowiki>Joan of Arc of Japan<nowiki>"</nowiki>, and established her as one of the most recognizable female warriors in Japanese history.


title: Onna-musha

text: Japanese women were educated solely to become wives and mothers. Although most women knew about politics, martial arts, and diplomacy, they were not allowed to succeed clan leadership. However, there were exceptions. Ii Naotora took over the clan leadership after the death of all men of the Ii family; her efforts as a leader made her clan independent, and she became a daimyō. There were many noblewomen with great political influence in their clans, even to the extent they became "de facto" leaders. An acceptable example of women who became known as "<nowiki>"onna daimyō"</nowiki>" (female lords) are Jukei-ni and Toshoin. Both women acted for a long period as rulers of their respective domains, even though they were not considered heirs.


title: Onna-musha

text: In the 16th century, there were combat units consisting only of women, as was the case of Ikeda Sen, who led 200 women musketeers (Teppo unit) in the Battle of Shizugatake and Battle of Komaki-Nagakute. Otazu no kata fought alongside 18 armed maids against Tokugawa Ieyasu's troops. Ueno Tsuruhime led thirty-four women in a suicidal charge against the Mōri army. Tachibana Ginchiyo, leader of the Tachibana clan, fought with her female troops in the Kyushu Campaign (1586), and in the siege of Yanagawa (1600) she organized a resistance formed by nuns against the advance of the Eastern Army.


title: Onna-musha

text: In 1580, a woman from the Bessho clan joined a rebellion against Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the siege of Miki. Her husband Bessho Yoshichika was one of the leaders of the rebellion, and she played a key role during the siege, allying herself with the Mori clan. The rebellion lasted three years, until Bessho Nagaharu surrendered the castle to Hideyoshi. Lady Bessho committed suicide shortly after. In 1582, Oda Nobunaga launched a final attack on the Takeda clan in a series of battles known as the Battle of Tenmokuzan. Oda Nobutada (son of Nobunaga) led 50,000 soldiers against 3,000 Takeda allies during the siege of Takato castle. During this battle, it is recorded in the compilation of chronicles from the Oda clan, Shinchō kōki, that a woman from the Suwa clan defied Nobutada's forces.


title: Onna-musha

text: During this era, the existence of female ninja (kunoichi) is recorded. Their training differed from that of male ninja, although they also had a core in common as they trained in taijutsu, kenjutsu, ninjutsu skills. A historically accepted example is Mochizuki Chiyome, a 16th-century noble descendant who was commissioned by warlord Takeda Shingen to recruit women to create a secret network of hundreds of spies.


title: Onna-musha

text: It is believed that many more women participated in battles than have been documented in historical records. For example, DNA tests on 105 bodies excavated from the Battle of Senbon Matsubaru between Takeda Katsuyori and Hojo Ujinao in 1580 revealed that 35 of them were women. Other excavations were made in areas where battles took place away from castles. Japanese archeologist Suzuki Hiroatsu explains that although it is common to find bones of women or children where castle sieges took place, since they usually participated in the defense, the absence of a castle at the Senbon Matsubaru site led him to conclude that "these women came here to fight and to die""", and could have been part of the army. According to these studies, 30% of battle corpses discovered away from castle sites were those of women. Excavations conducted on other battle sites across Japan gave similar results. According to Stephen Turnbull, the details of the excavation confirm the onna-musha were certainly present on the battlefield.


title: Onna-musha

text: Because of the influence of Edo neo-Confucianism (1600–1868), the status of the onna-musha diminished significantly. The function of onna-musha changed in accordance with that of their husbands. Samurai were no longer concerned with battles and war, but became bureaucrats. Women, specifically daughters of most upper-class households, were soon pawns to dreams of success and power. The roaring ideals of fearless devotion and selflessness were gradually replaced by quiet, passive, civil obedience.


title: Onna-musha

text: Travel during the Edo period was demanding and unsettling for many female samurai due to tight restrictions. They always had to be accompanied by a man, since they were not allowed to travel by themselves. Additionally, they had to possess specific permits establishing their business and motives. Samurai women also received much harassment from officials who manned inspection checkpoints.


title: Onna-musha

text: The onset of the 17th century marked a significant transformation in the social acceptance of women in Japan. Many samurai viewed women purely as child bearers; the concept of a woman being a fit companion for war was no longer conceivable. The relationship between a husband and wife could be correlated to that of a lord and his vassal. According to Ellis Amdur, "husbands and wives did not even customarily sleep together. The husband would visit his wife to initiate any sexual activity and afterwards would retire to his own room".


title: Onna-musha

text: Although women learned exclusively naginata handling techniques, some women broke tradition and learned different techniques, such as "Kenjutsu." Sasaki Rui, Chiba Sanako and Nakazawa Koto are examples of women who became prominent swordswomen in Edo period. During this time, female-led "kenjutsu" schools become commonplace, although traditionally the leadership of these schools is passed down patrilineally.


title: Onna-musha

text: In 1868, during the Battle of Aizu in the Boshin War, Nakano Takeko, a member of the Aizu clan, was recruited to become leader of a female corps "Jōshitai" (娘子隊 "Girls' Army"), which fought against the onslaught of 20,000 soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army of the Ōgaki Domain. Highly skilled at the naginata, Takeko and her corps of about 20 joined 3000 other Aizu samurai in battle. The Hōkai-ji in Aizubange, Fukushima province contains a monument erected in her honor. Less-celebrated but no less remarkable would be the efforts of Yamamoto Yaeko, Matsudaira Teru and Yamakawa Futaba, who served as fighter defending Aizuwakamatsu Castle during the Battle of Aizu. Yaeko would later be one of the first civil leaders for women's rights in Japan.


title: Onna-musha

text: The end of the Edo period was a time of great political turmoil that continued into the Meiji period (1868–1912). A revolt against policies of the new Meiji government was led by samurai of the Satsuma domain (called the Satsuma Rebellion) in 1877. Over the nearly 1,000 years of the samurai class's existence, women have proved to be the last resistance during a military siege. The last records of women of the samurai class participating in battles were during the Satsuma Rebellion. Several women were said to have fought in battle in defense of the city of Kagoshima. The rebellion also effectively ended the samurai class, as the new Imperial Japanese Army built of conscripts without regard to social class had proven itself in battle, ending here the history of the onna-musha.


title: Onna-musha

text: The most popular weapon-of-choice of onna-musha is the naginata, which is a versatile, conventional polearm with a curved blade at the tip. The weapon is mainly favored for its length, which can compensate for the strength and body size advantage of male opponents.


title: Onna-musha

text: The naginata has a niche between the katana and the yari, which is rather effective in close quarter melee when the opponent is kept at bay, and is also relatively efficient against cavalry. Through its use by many legendary samurai women, the naginata has become the iconic armament of the woman warrior. During the Edo period, many schools focusing on the use of the naginata were created and perpetuated its association with women.


title: Onna-musha

text: Additionally, as most of the time their primary purpose as onna-musha was to safeguard their homes from marauders, emphasis was laid on ranged weapons to be shot from defensive structures.


title: Onna-musha

text: The image of samurai women continues to be impactful in martial arts, historical novels, books, and popular culture in general. Like kunoichi (female ninja) and geisha, the onna-musha's conduct is seen as the ideal of Japanese women in movies, animations and TV series. In the West, the onna-musha gained popularity when the historical documentary "Samurai Warrior Queens" aired on the Smithsonian Channel. Several other channels reprised the documentary. The 56th NHK taiga drama, , was the first NHK drama where the female protagonist is the head of a samurai clan. The 52nd NHK taiga drama, Yae no Sakura, focuses on Niijima Yae, a woman warrior who fought in Boshin War. This drama portrays Nakano Takeko, Matsudaira Teru, and other onna-musha. Another taiga dramas that portrays the famous onna-musha Tomoe Gozen is the Yoshitsune (TV series), broadcast in 2005.


title: Onna-musha

text: In Japan, Tomoe Gozen and Nakano Takeko influenced naginata schools and their techniques. Whether formed by men or women, these schools usually revere the onna-musha. During the annual Aizu Autumn Festival, a group of young girls wearing hakama and shiro headbands take part in the procession, commemorating the actions of Nakano and the "Jōshitai" ("Girls' Army"). Other important examples are Yamakawa Futaba and Niijima Yae, who become symbols of the struggle for Japanese women's rights. Some of the onna-musha have become symbolic of a city or prefecture. Ii Naotora and Tachibana Ginchiyo are often celebrated at the Hamamatsu and Yanagawa festivals respectively. The warrior nun Myōrin is celebrated in the Tsurusaki region of the Ōita city, and Ōhōri Tsuruhime is the protagonist in local folklore and festivals on Ōmishima island. Several other samurai-class women are celebrated in pop culture, commerce, and folklore.


title: Brent Smith

text: Brent Stephen Smith (born January 10, 1978) is an American singer best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Shinedown.


title: Brent Smith

text: Prior to fronting the rock band Shinedown, Smith had a high school band named Blind Thought and later was the lead singer in a band called Dreve, which Atlantic Records had signed. Atlantic Records forced Brent to either find another band or lose his record deal. He then went to Los Angeles, California to record with well-known producer Desmond Child. Shortly after returning home to Knoxville, Tennessee, Atlantic dropped the band but retained Smith. He put together Shinedown shortly after. He was soon given a developmental contract by Atlantic Records. Smith moved to Jacksonville, Florida and began working on the project in 2001.


title: Brent Smith

text: The first member he recruited was bassist Brad Stewart through local Jacksonville music producer Pete Thornton. Smith and Stewart began recording demos together in a small local studio, whose owner recommended they meet with her fiancé, guitarist Jasin Todd, who Smith brought in as the third member. The original lineup was rounded out by drummer Barry Kerch, who was the seventh drummer the band had auditioned for the spot. The four worked together on creating demos, and submitted their work-in-progress material to Atlantic, who approved of the material and green-lighted a full-length album. The band's debut album, "Leave a Whisper" was released May 27, 2003. The album was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA in the United States, indicating sales of over one million. Shinedown has since released six more studio albums: "Us and Them" (2005), "The Sound of Madness" (2008), "Amaryllis" (2012), "Threat to Survival" (2015), "Attention Attention" (2018), and "Planet Zero" (2022). In 2014, Smith and Zach Myers started an acoustic side project called Smith & Myers.


title: Brent Smith

text: In early 2016, the band started recording their sixth album, as they revealed in an interview with Wes Styles of the 97.7 WQLZ radio station. The album, "Attention Attention", was released on May 4, 2018. The first single off the album, titled "Devil", was released on March 7, 2018. On August 28th, 2022 Brent was presented with a key to Knox County at a concert in his hometown Knoxville, Tennessee by former wrestler and current Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs.


title: Brent Smith

text: Smith has a son, Lyric Santana Smith, with his ex-fiancé, Ashley Smith Marshall. For years, Smith struggled with both drug and alcohol addiction and weight management. Following an intervention from his then-girlfriend, Smith eventually lost weight through exercise and a healthier diet, including quitting drinking.


title: Brent Smith

text: Smith says that his former girlfriend, Teresa, his son, and his fans inspired him to lose weight and become healthier.


title: Beverley Owen

text: Beverley Owen (née Ogg; May 13, 1937 – February 21, 2019) was an American television actress, best known for having played the original role of Marilyn Munster on the sitcom "The Munsters" before the role was taken over by Pat Priest.


title: Beverley Owen

text: Beverley Jane Ogg was born on May 13, 1937, in Ottumwa, Iowa. She was the first born child of Wallace E. Ogg and Charlotte M. Vander Ploeg. She grew up in Ames, Iowa, where her father was a professor of agricultural economics at Iowa State University. Her mother died in 1953.


title: Beverley Owen

text: In 1956, Owen appeared in her first TV role in "As the World Turns". Owen appeared on the shows "The Doctors", "Kraft Mystery Theatre", "The Virginian", "Wagon Train", and "Another World", and in the 1964 feature film "Bullet for a Badman", starring Audie Murphy, after which she got the role of Marilyn Munster on "The Munsters". In 1972, she played Dr. Paula McCrea for nine months in the soap opera "Another World".


title: Beverley Owen

text: Owen left "The Munsters" after 13 episodes to marry future "Sesame Street" writer and producer Jon Stone in Newfane, Vermont on June 27, 1964. They were married for 10 years until 1974. She had two daughters, Polly and Kate. After her divorce in 1974, she continued to pursue her studies in early American history and earned a master's degree in 1989.


title: Beverley Owen

text: Owen's daughter Polly confirmed that the actress died of ovarian cancer on February 21, 2019, at the age of 81. Butch Patrick, her co-star on "The Munsters", released a Facebook statement on February 24, 2019, stating, "Beautiful Beverly Owen has left us. What a sweet soul. I had the biggest crush on her. RIP Bev and thanks for your 13 memorable Marilyn Munster episodes."


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: Velaikkaran () is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Mohan Raja. Produced by R. D. Raja under his banner 24AM Studios. The film stars Sivakarthikeyan, Fahadh Faasil, Nayanthara, Sneha and Prakash Raj in lead roles. Mahesh Manjrekar, Sathish, Thambi Ramaiah, RJ Balaji, Vijay Vasanth, Robo Shankar and Rohini play supporting roles. The film's music is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, with cinematography by Ramji. The film is based on a sales executive named Arivazhagan (Sivakarthikeyan) who fights against food adulteration committed by high-class companies.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: The film was released on 22 December 2017 to highly positive reviews with praise for Sivakarthikeyan and Fassil's performances, story, social message, screenplay, cinematography, Anirudh's soundtrack and background score.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: Arivazhagan aka Arivu hails from Kolaikkara Kuppam a.k.a. Cooliekkara Kuppam, a slum area in Chennai. He is one such responsible youth who focuses on working for the betterment of his fellow beings, and he works hard for the same. Arivu starts Kuppam FM 90.8, a local radio channel with the help of the area gangster, Kasi. In reality, Arivu tries to free the people of the area from the atrocities of Kasi, who is deliberately preventing them from becoming independent, so that he may continue to dominate the area.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: Arivu succeeds in turning the people of the area against Kasi, thus destroying his support. Later, Arivu joins a leading FMCG company called Saffron and joins its sales department under Stella Bruce. He manages to bring his friend Bhagya out of Kasi's gang and gets him a job in Saffron. He meets Aadhi, Saffron's brand manager, who teaches him how to progress by doing smart work, and Arivu considers him as his inspiration.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: On the night of 1 April, Kasi and his gang attack and stab Bhagya in Saffron's warehouse, whereupon he dies in Arivu's hands. Arivu, filled with rage, tries to attack Kasi, but Kasi's rival Doss attacks and stabs Kasi in retaliation for their previous encounter. Arivu admonishes Kasi for being a paid henchman. Kasi reveals to Arivu that he killed Bhagya on a contract given by Jayaram, the President of Saffron. The motive was that Bhagya tried to help Kasthuri, who filed a case claiming Saffron's products to be adulterated, due to which she lost her son.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: Arivu is addressed by Kasi as being a worse hitman than he himself is. Arivu then saves Kasi, who tells Arivu that all products manufactured by Saffron are adulterated. Arivu takes up a mission to fight such malpractices not only in Saffron, but in all the other five major food companies, including the one owned by Madhav Kurup. Arivu shares all of his plans with Aadhi. Meanwhile, is revealed that Aadhi is actually Adhiban Madhav, Madhav's son. He joined Saffron to know their trade secrets and merge the company with his father's company.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: Arivu manages to convince his company's staff to manufacture products as per government regulations for two days. At the same time, he convinces the staff of the other companies to wear a kerchief on their dresses for the next two days, thus tricking the owners into believing that their workers have turned against them. However, Aadhi manages to foil Arivu's plan and coerces the other owners to write over the major shares of their company to Madhav, thus making him the deciding authority of all their companies.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: Aadhi manages to turn the employees against Arivu by tricking them into believing that Arivu worked as a spy for Madhav. Stella Bruce then slaps and humiliates Arivu, while Aadhi pretends to defend Arivu, claiming that he is innocent and that it is the new president who conspired all these. After this, Arivu reveals to Aadhi that Stella Bruce was his ally, and he now knows that Aadhi is the true traitor. Aadhi then burns down the godown containing the unadulterated products and reveals to Arivu that he is Madhav's son and will be the next CEO of the company.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: Aadhi also convinces the staff through his clever tactics and makes them propose his name as the new CEO, also revealing to Arivu that he will make them manufacture adulterated products without their knowledge, now that he commands their loyalty, support, and trust. Arivu goes to the Radio Mirchi radio station on the night before 1 May. He reveals that after the fire, one of the injured department heads of Saffron, Karpaga Vinayagam, called him into the ambulance and told him that he followed the regulations on the third day too.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: Arivu learned from the other Saffron team workers - Kennedy, Vinoth, Ansari, and Sivaranjani - that after manufacturing quality products for two days, they could not bring themselves to manufacture adulterated products on the next day. They confirm they all followed government regulations, thus manufacturing quality products on the next day. Aadhi, now the CEO, hears the workers say that they will rebel against him and depose him if he tries to revert to manufacturing adulterated products.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: Arivu adds that the loyalty of all the employees in every field should not be wasted by showing it towards unethical employers. Aadhi then vents his frustration about the failure of his plan. All the people in the city show their support to Arivu, who celebrates his success with his love interest Mrinalini, friends, family, the people of his slum, and the people of the city as the film ends.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: In December 2015, an official press announcement from producer R. D. Raja revealed that director Mohan Raja and Sivakarthikeyan would collaborate for his second production venture. A launch event for the film was held on 11 March 2016, with the team announcing their intentions of starting the shoot in late 2016.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: Nayanthara signed the film in April 2016, in collaboration with Sivakarthikeyan, while Malayalam actor Fahadh Faasil was also brought in to appear in a pivotal role in the film, marking his debut in Tamil cinema. Prior to the start of shoot, several actors were finalised for supporting roles including Sneha, Prakash Raj, Rohini and Thambi Ramaiah. RJ Balaji, Sathish also joined the cast. Anirudh Ravichander, Vivek Harshan and T. Muthuraj joined the team as the music composer, editor and art director respectively. Likewise Anal Arasu was selected as the stunt choreographer, while Vishnu Govind and Sree Shankar were put in charge of sound editing and mixing. In a turn of events, editor Ruben replaces Vivek Harshan, which is evident on the latest film poster released for Deepavali season.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: Production started with the film as yet untitled in November 2016, in T Nagar, Chennai. The shoot continued throughout January at Prasad Studios in Chennai where art director Muthuraj had erected a large set resembling Chennai's slums. In February 2017, Behindwoods reported that the film tentatively being given the title of "Velaikkaran." This was after the team bought the title rights from Vijay Vasanth who had registered it for a future film. Behindwoods also reported that Fahadh Faasil would dub himself in Tamil in this movie, a first for him.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: The soundtrack album and background score of this film were composed by Anirudh Ravichander. The album consists of five songs with Madhan Karky and Vivek penning one song, and the rest of the songs were penned by Viveka.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: The album was released by Sony Music India. The first single track "Karuthavanlaam Galeejaam" sung by Anirudh and written by Viveka was released on 28 August 2017, which picturises the life of the slum people, and also notes, that the lyrics intent to celebrate the working class and their contribution towards the development of the city. The song is filmed, in a huge set erected at Prasad Labs, Chennai for a slum like concept. The second single was released on 2 November 2017. The combined single track "Iraiva + Uyire" sung by Anirudh and Jonita Gandhi consists of two songs "Iraiva" and "Uyire" which deals about love and life respectively. The song genres in these two of these, were alternatively different. While "Iraiva" is a solo number which consists of a slow melody with rock beats in between, "Uyire" is a slow enhancing duet, with beats involved in it. Sivakarthikeyan and Nayanthara went to Georgia in September 2016, to shoot this duet in the picturesque locations of the country.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: The tracklist was released on 2 December 2017, through the official Twitter account of the production house. The audio launch event for the film was held on 3 December 2017 at ITC Grand Chola Hotel in Chennai where Sivakarthikeyan, Mohan Raja and Anirudh Ravichander along with other cast and crew, were present at the venue, while Nayanthara and Fahadh Faasil did not attend the audio launch. The event was streamed live on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. The songs were released simultaneously in other digital streaming platforms. Later, the audio launch was telecasted on Star Vijay on 10 December 2017.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: The album received positive reviews from critics. Behindwoods rated the album 3 out of 5 stars, with a quote "Variety is the name of the game, and Anirudh is one of its best players!" Hindustan Times gave positive reviews stating "Anirudh Ravichander delivers a box full of surprises". Studioflicks rated 3.5 out of 5 and gave a verdict "Sivakarthikeyan-Anirudh duo strikes gold again" stating that "Velaikkaran strikes spectacularly with three instant hits that includes Idhayane, Karuthavanlaam Galeejaam, and Iraiva. The other tracks sounding like signature songs will definitely gain its impact with the visuals."


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: On the first day of the film's shoot, the producer R. D. Raja revealed that the film would have a theatrical release on 25 August 2017. In April 2017, the production house has announced that the release date is postponed to 29 September 2017. Due to delays in post production, the film's release date was shifted to the Christmas season, 22 December 2017.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: The first look poster was initially slated to release on 1 May 2017, coinciding with the Labour Day. But it was released on 5 June 2017, which features Sivakarthikeyan as a marketing executive, with a bag in one hand and a knife in another hand. The second look poster of the film was released on 8 August 2017, on actor Fahadh Faasil's birthday, which features Sivakarthikeyan and Fahadh Faasil. Following this, the teaser of the film was released on 14 August 2017. A motion poster, describing the film's cast was released on 6 December 2017.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: The film is dubbed in Hindi as "Ghayal Khiladi" and released on YouTube on 6 January 2019 by Goldmines Telefilms.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: The film collected in Tamil Nadu and close to in overseas. The film collected over at the worldwide box office and was declared a box office success.


title: Velaikkaran (2017 film)

text: Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion wrote "The addressing of class in Tamil films is nothing new – and we know slum-resident Arivu (Sivakarthikeyan) is going to run a scratch across these rich men’s lives – but the dignity in this film is. It wants to be a crowd-pleaser, but with class."


title: Psalm 91

text: Psalm 91 is the 91st psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." In Latin, it is known as 'Qui habitat". As a psalm of protection, it is commonly invoked in times of hardship. Though no author is mentioned in the Hebrew text of this psalm, Jewish tradition ascribes it to Moses, with David compiling it in his Book of Psalms. The Septuagint translation attributes it to David.


title: Psalm 91

text: In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 90.


title: Psalm 91

text: The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. The complete psalm and selected verses have often been set to music, notably by Heinrich Schütz and Felix Mendelssohn, who used verses for his motet "Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen". The psalm has been paraphrased in hymns.


title: Psalm 91

text: Kirkpatrick notes that the use of the first person in this verse and the first part of verse 9, followed in each case by the second person, is "somewhat perplexing". Many commentators argue that the text is corrupt and amend it. Kirkpartick argues that "The two occurrences of the first person mutually support one another. If the interpretation suggested above is adopted [that the text is addressed to Israel], Psalm 91:1-2 [and] Psalm 91:9a will be the profession of the Psalmist’s faith, on the strength of which he addresses to Israel the comforting words of Psalm 91:3 ff. [and] Psalm 91:9b ff."


title: Psalm 91

text: The Midrash states that Psalm 91 was composed by Moses on the day he completed the building of the Tabernacle in the desert. The verses describe Moses' own experience entering the Tabernacle: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty". Midrash Tehillim and Zohar teach that Moses composed this psalm while ascending into the cloud hovering over Mount Sinai, at which time he recited these words as protection from the angels of destruction.


title: Psalm 91

text: In Jewish thought, Psalm 91 conveys the themes of God's protection and rescue from danger. The Talmud ("Shevu'ot" 15b) records opinions calling this psalm the "song of evil spirits" and the "song of plagues" ("shir shel pega'im" and "shir shel nega'im," respectively), for "one who recites it with faith in God will be helped by Him in time of danger". Since the times of the Geonim, this psalm was recited to drive away demons and evil spirits. According to midrashim, the psalm references many types of demons that threaten man, including the "Terror", "Arrow", "Pestilence", and "Destruction" mentioned in verses 5–6. The psalm was written in amulets by both Jews and Christians from the Late Antique period. According to the Talmud (Shevu'ot 15b), the subsequent verse, verse 7 ("A thousand shall fall at your side," etc.) is a reference to the demons which would perish upon recitation of this psalm. In the same vein, Psalm 91 was included as one of the "Four Psalms Against Demons" in Dead Sea Scroll 11QapocrPs, the other three psalms being previously unknown, which are thought to have been used by the Qumran community for exorcisms.


title: Psalm 91

text: Modern-day Christians see the psalm as a source of comfort and protection, even in times of suffering. Commentator Alexander Kirkpatrick holds that


title: Psalm 91

text: Verse 13, in the King James Version "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet", was the origin of the iconography of Christ treading on the beasts, seen in the Late Antique period and revived in Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon art.


title: Psalm 91

text: Psalm 91 is prominent in Jewish liturgy and ritual. It is recited during the Pesukei Dezimra in the Shabbat, Yom Tov, and - in many communities - on Hoshana Rabbah morning services. It is also recited after the evening prayer on Motza'ei Shabbat and during the nightly Bedtime Shema. In each of these prayers, verse 16 is said twice. According to Machzor Vitry, the verse is doubled to complete the spelling of a name of God.


title: Psalm 91

text: Psalm 91 is recited seven times during a burial ceremony. As the casket bearers approach the grave, they stop every few feet, repeating the psalm. In the case of the burial of a woman, the casket bearers do not stop the procession, but they do repeat the psalm seven times.


title: Psalm 91

text: Verse 11 of the psalm is recited after the liturgical poem "Shalom Aleichem" at the Friday night meal.


title: Psalm 91

text: The psalm forms part of the Benedictine rite of the daily evening prayer Compline. After the Reform of the Roman Breviary by Pope Pius X it was only used on Sundays and Solemnities. In the Liturgy of the Hours it is part of Compline on the eve of Sunday and Solemnities.


title: Psalm 91

text: In the Revised Common Lectionary (Year C) the psalm is appointed for the first Sunday in Lent, linking it to the temptation of Christ, where the devil quotes this psalm.


title: Psalm 91

text: In Eastern Orthodoxy it is used in the prayers of the Sixth Hour, at Great Compline, and also in the Memorial Service for the departed (Pannikhida).


title: Psalm 91

text: The 1972 hymn in German, "Wer unterm Schutz des Höchsten steht", is a paraphrase of Psalm 91. "On Eagle's Wings" is a hymn composed by Michael Joncas in 1979, loosely based on this psalm.


title: Psalm 91

text: Dmitry Bortniansky set Psalm 91 as Concerto No. 21 of his Choruses in Old Church Slavonic, "Zhyvyi v pomoshshi Vyshnjago" ("He That Dwelleth"). Felix Mendelssohn composed an eight-part motet based on verse 11 in German, "Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen", and included it in his 1846 oratorio "Elijah". Movement 9 of Benjamin Britten's "The Company of Heaven", a major choral composition with soloists and orchestra first aired in 1937, sets verses 1, 9–13 for a cappella choir. with the densest vocal texture within the work for eight voices.


title: Psalm 91

text: Polish composer Józef Elsner set the three last verses of as an offertorio, "Quoniam in me speravit", Op.30, published c. 1829.


title: Psalm 91

text: Psalm 91 is known as the Soldier's Psalm or Soldier's Prayer. Camouflage bandanas imprinted with the psalm are often distributed to US troops.


title: Psalm 91

text: Sinéad O'Connor's debut album "The Lion and the Cobra" includes a recitation of verses 11–13 in Irish by singer Enya on the song "Never Get Old".


title: Psalm 91

text: Canadian metal band Cryptopsy references verses 5–8 of the psalm in their song "The Pestilence That Walketh in Darkness" on their 2005 album "Once Was Not".


title: Psalm 91

text: Brazilian-American metal band Soulfly recited the psalm in Portuguese on the bonus track "Salmo-91" on their fifth album "Dark Ages".


title: Forced orgasm

text: A forced orgasm is consensual BDSM or kinky sexual play whereby a person consents to be forced to orgasm in a way that is beyond their control. The person being brought to involuntary orgasm would typically be put in physical restraints to deprive them of the ability to control the onset and intensity of orgasm, and to increase the feeling of helplessness, a situation which some people find sexually arousing.


title: Forced orgasm

text: The practice of forced orgasm may also be combined with other orgasm control plays, such as orgasm denial, edging, or ruined orgasms.


title: Forced orgasm

text: With the consenting partner restrained and unable to stop being sexually stimulated, the active partner would stimulate their genitals and other erogenous zones until the bound partner is brought to orgasm, and sometimes beyond. The bound partner is open to a wide range of sexual stimulation, including vaginal, oral, or anal sex. Forced orgasms may be induced with manual stimulation of the genitals (in the form of a handjob or fingering). The stimulation may involve the use of vibrating sex toys, such as a vibrator, typically a wand vibrator.


title: Forced orgasm

text: The most common way of achieving orgasm in men is by physical sexual stimulation of the penis. For women, the most common way to achieve orgasm is by direct sexual stimulation of the clitoris (meaning consistent manual, oral or other concentrated friction against the external parts of the clitoris). General statistics indicate that 70–80% of women require direct clitoral stimulation to achieve orgasm.


title: Chicago Justice

text: Chicago Justice is an American legal drama television series that aired on NBC from March 1 to May 14, 2017. The series was created by Dick Wolf and is the fourth installment of Wolf's "Chicago" franchise. A backdoor pilot aired on May 11, 2016, as part of the third season of "Chicago P.D." before being ordered to series. The show follows the prosecutors and investigators at the Cook County State's Attorney's Office as they navigate their way through Chicago area politics, the legal arena, and media coverage while pursuing justice.


title: Chicago Justice

text: On May 22, 2017, NBC canceled the series after one season, making it the first series in the "Chicago" franchise to end. After the show ended, Philip Winchester's character became a regular on "" where Chernuchin became showrunner, while Jon Seda's character Antonio Dawson returned to "Chicago P.D." The show averaged a 1.5 rating (adults 18-49, Live+7) in comparison to 1.9 for "Chicago P.D." and "Chicago Med", with "Chicago Fire" receiving a 2.3 rating that season. Despite the show performing marginally better than "Shades of Blue" and "Taken", NBC executives stated it was canceled due to sustainability and real estate for other programs.


title: Chicago Justice

text: Set in Chicago, "Chicago Justice" follows the State's Attorney team of prosecutors and investigators who work to bring justice to victims.


title: Chicago Justice

text: The show was confirmed on January 21 during the 2016 Television Critics Association winter press tour, with the working title "Chicago Law". By March 11, the title was changed to "Chicago Justice". Filming began on March 28 for the backdoor pilot that aired on May 11 as the 21st episode of the third season of "Chicago P.D." The pilot is partially based on historical events and is based on a true story. On May 12, 2016, a day after the backdoor pilot aired on "Chicago P.D.", NBC gave the show a series order. The series premiered on March 1, 2017, concluding a crossover with "Chicago Fire" and "Chicago P.D." It then ran in its scheduled time slot beginning March 5, 2017.


title: Chicago Justice

text: Philip Winchester was the first to be cast on February 19, 2016, as Peter Stone, the prosecutor who put Voight in prison years ago. His father is Benjamin Stone, an assistant district attorney on the first four seasons of "Law & Order". Nazneen Contractor joined the series on March 11, 2016, and Joelle Carter on March 14, 2016. "Rocky" alum Carl Weathers joined the cast on March 19 as Cook County State's Attorney Mark Jefferies, while Ryan-James Hatanaka was added to the cast on March 24. Lorraine Toussaint reprised her role in the pilot as defense attorney Shambala Green, who appeared in seven episodes of "Law & Order". Contractor exited the show on July 7, 2016, to join the cast of the CBS police procedural drama "Ransom". On August 25, 2016, Monica Barbaro was added to the cast. On September 28, it was reported that Jon Seda's character Antonio Dawson would move from "P.D." to "Justice", where Antonio would become an investigator for the State's Attorney's office. With this move, Hatanaka departed the series. Richard Brooks reprised his "Law & Order" role of Paul Robinette in the episode "Uncertainty Principle". Tovah Feldshuh appeared on the premiere episode as her "Law & Order" character Danielle Melnick who has become a judge.


title: Chicago Justice

text: The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 70% approval rating, with an average rating of 5.21 out of 10 based on 10 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads: ""Chicago Justice"'s first season won't sway procedural nonbelievers, but for fans of the franchise, it marks another solid entry that should satisfy faithful viewers and newcomers alike." On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the show scored 57 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating generally "mixed or average reviews".


title: 1987 Cricket World Cup

text: The 1987 Cricket World Cup (officially known as the Reliance Cup 1987 for sponsorship reasons) was the fourth Cricket World Cup. It was held from 8 October to 8 November 1987 in India and Pakistan – the first such tournament to be held outside England. The one-day format was unchanged from the eight-team 1983 event except for a reduction in the number of overs a team played from 60 to 50, the current standard for all ODIs.


title: 1987 Cricket World Cup

text: The competition was won, for the first time, by Australia who defeated their arch-rivals England by seven runs in the second-most closely fought World Cup final to date in Kolkata's Eden Gardens stadium. The two host nations, India and Pakistan failed to reach the final, after both being eliminated in the semi-finals. The West Indies failed to live up to expectations and did not advance from the group stage.


title: 1987 Cricket World Cup

text: The format of the competition was two groups of four teams each team playing each other twice in 50-over matches. The top two teams from each group would advance to the semi-finals where the two winners would then advance to the final. All matches were played during daytime and– for the final time in the tournament's history– saw the teams appear in traditional white clothing and use traditional red balls as used in Test/First Class matches.


title: 1987 Cricket World Cup

text: The ICC decreed that all seven (eligible) countries holding Test status would automatically qualify for the tournament; One additional entry place would be awarded to the winners of the 1986 ICC Trophy; for the second time this was Zimbabwe, who defeated the Netherlands to earn the berth.


title: 1987 Cricket World Cup

text: Australia won the toss and chose to bat. The Australian batsmen got off to a very good start, and they scored fluently, with David Boon (65 from 91 balls, 4 fours) top scoring, and making an 82 run second-wicket partnership with DM Jones. Australia were looking to reach 300 with strong batting before Imran Khan took 3 wickets for 17 runs in 5 overs. Australia lost 4/31, but a high number of extras (34) from the Pakistani bowlers, as well as the solid batting from earlier on, brought Australia to 267 (6 wickets, 50 overs).


title: 1987 Cricket World Cup

text: Pakistan started badly, falling to 3/38. Imran Khan (58 from 84 balls, 4 fours) and Javed Miandad (70 from 103 balls, 4 fours) shared a partnership of 112 runs in 26 overs. However, with the required run rate at 7.87 runs when Miandad fell, there was just too much for the upcoming batsmen to do, and Pakistan lost 6/99 as they were bowled all out for 249 (all out, 49 overs). Earlier Steve Waugh scored 18 runs off the 50th over bowled by Saleem Jaffar and ironically Pakistan lost the match by 18 runs.


title: 1987 Cricket World Cup

text: India won the toss and chose to field. After reaching 2/79, Graham Gooch (115 from 136 balls, 11 fours) and captain Mike Gatting (56 from 62 balls, 5 fours) shared a partnership of 117 runs in 19 overs. After Gooch was finally stumped, 51 more runs were added, and England reached 254 (6 wickets, 50 overs).


title: 1987 Cricket World Cup

text: India made a bad start, falling to 3/73. The middle order scored fluently, with Mohammed Azharuddin, (64 from 74 balls, 7 fours) top scoring. Before Azharuddin was removed lbw by Eddie Hemmings, India were at 5/204, needing 50 runs from the last 10 overs, with 5 wickets in hand, and it looked like it would be a very close game. However, the middle and tailend order for India collapsed, as India lost 5/15. India were eventually bowled all out for 219 (all out, 45.3 overs), giving England both a berth in the final and a measure of revenge for the loss they suffered to India in the semi-final of the World Cup four years earlier in England.


title: 1987 Cricket World Cup

text: Australia won the toss and chose to bat. David Boon (75 from 125 balls, 7 fours) top-scored for Australia, whose batsmen scored fluently. Australia posted 253 (5 wickets, 50 overs). Mike Veletta (45 from 31 balls, 6 fours) cut loose late in the innings, as Australia scored 65 runs from the last six overs of their innings.


title: 1987 Cricket World Cup

text: In the English reply, opener Tim Robinson was out LBW for a first ball duck. Bill Athey (58 from 103 balls, 2 fours) top-scored, and England were almost on target, when captain Mike Gatting (41 from 45 balls, 3 fours, 1 six) handed back the initiative with the loss of his wicket, going for a reverse sweep which ended a growing partnership of 69 runs in 13 overs between him and Athey. Allan Lamb (45 from 55 balls, 4 fours) also posted a great innings, but it was in vain as the required run-rate for England began to rise. When England failed to score the last 17 runs from the final over, the cup went to Australia.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: Since the mid 1980s, the largest source of electricity in France is Nuclear power, with a generation of 379.5 TWh in 2019 and a total electricity production of . In 2018, the nuclear share was 71.67%, the highest percentage in the world.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: Since June 2020, it has 56 operable reactors totalling 61,370 MWe, one under construction (1630 MWe), and 14 shut down or in decommissioning (5,549 MWe). In May 2022, EDF reported that twelve reactors were shut down and being inspected for stress corrosion, requiring EDF to adjust its French nuclear output estimate for 2022 to 280-300 TWh; the estimate of the impact of the decrease in output on the Group's EBITDA for 2022 was assessed to be -€18,5 billion.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: Électricité de France (EDF)the country's main electricity generation and distribution company – manages the country's 56 power reactors. EDF is substantially owned by the French Government, with around 85% shares in government hands.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: Nuclear power was introduced in large quantities in France following the 1973 oil crisis according to the "Messmer plan". This was based on projections that large amounts of electric power would be required. In the end too much nuclear power capacity was installed, and this has led to relatively low production, load following, and high electricity exports. France exported of electricity to its neighbours in 2017. However, the country still becomes a net importer of electricity when demand exceeds supply, such as in cases of very inclement weather, like in February 2012 when "Germany powers France in cold despite nuclear u-turn" as "France heavily relies on electric heating", which "means that during cold snaps, French electricity demand goes through the roof, forcing the country to import".


title: Nuclear power in France

text: France has a long relationship with nuclear power, starting with Henri Becquerel's discovery of natural radioactivity in the 1890s and continued by famous nuclear scientists such as Pierre and Marie Skłodowska Curie.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: Before World War II, France had been mainly involved in nuclear research through the work of the Joliot-Curies. In 1945 the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF) created the "Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique" (CEA) governmental agency, and Nobel prize winner Frédéric Joliot-Curie, member of the French Communist Party (PCF) since 1942, was appointed high commissioner. He was relieved of his duties in 1950 for political reasons contingent upon the Cold War, and later was one of the 11 signatories to the Russell-Einstein Manifesto in 1955. The CEA was created by Charles de Gaulle on 18 October 1945. Its mandate is to conduct fundamental and applied research into many areas, including the design of nuclear reactors, the manufacturing of integrated circuits, the use of radionuclides for medical treatments, seismology and tsunami propagation, and the safety of computerized systems.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: Nuclear research was discontinued for a time after the war, owing to the instability of the Fourth Republic and the lack of finances available. However, in the 1950s a civil nuclear research program was started, a by-product of which was plutonium. A secret Committee for the Military Applications of Atomic Energy was formed in 1956, and a development program for delivery vehicles started. In 1957, soon after the Suez Crisis and the diplomatic tension with both the USSR and the United States, French president René Coty decided on the creation of the C.S.E.M. in what was then French Sahara, a new nuclear testing facility replacing the CIEES testing facility. See France and nuclear weapons.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: As a direct result of the 1973 oil crisis, on 6 March 1974 Prime Minister Pierre Messmer announced what became known as the 'Messmer Plan', a huge nuclear power program aimed at generating all of France's electricity from nuclear power. At the time of the oil crisis most of France's electricity came from foreign oil. Nuclear power allowed France to compensate for its lack of indigenous energy resources by applying its strengths in heavy engineering. The situation was summarized in a slogan: "In France, we do not have oil, but we have ideas."


title: Nuclear power in France

text: The announcement of the Messmer Plan was enacted without public or parliamentary debate. Concern over the government's action spread among the scientific community of France. The lack of consultation outside of political realms regarding the plan led to the formation of the "Groupement des scientifiques pour l'information sur l'énergie nucléaire" (Association of Scientists for Information on Nuclear Energy). 4,000 scientists signed a petition as a response, known as the "Appeal of the 400" after the 400 scientists who initially signed it.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: The reason that the Messmer Plan was enacted without public or parliamentary debate, was because that there was no tradition to do that with highly-technological and strategically-important decisions in the governments of France and the parliament did not have a scientific commission with sufficient technical means to handle such scientific and strategic decisions, just like the public does not have such means.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: France does not have any procedure of public inquiries to allow the assessment of major technological programmes. The plan envisaged the construction of around 80 nuclear plants by 1985 and a total of 170 plants by 2000. Work on the first three plants, at Tricastin, Gravelines, and Dampierre started the same year and France installed 56 reactors over the next 15 years.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: However by the mid 1980s it became clear that the Messmer plan had been overambitious. Nuclear power plants achieve their optimum economic value when run flat out, and the projected demand had not materialized. By 1988 France's nuclear power plants had a capacity factor of only around 60%, whereas other countries that had not invested in nuclear power so heavily were nearer 80-90%.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: Following the 2011 Fukushima I nuclear accidents, the head of France's nuclear safety agency said that France needed to upgrade the protection of vital functions in all its nuclear reactors to avoid a disaster in the event of a natural calamity, adding there was no need to close any plants. "There is a need to add a layer to protect safety mechanisms in reactors that are vital for the protection of the reactor such as cooling functions and electric powering", Jacques Repussard, head of the IRSN, said. Opinion polls showed support for atomic energy had dropped since Fukushima. Forty percent of the French "are 'hesitant' about nuclear energy while a third are in favor and 17 percent are against, according to a survey by pollster Ifop published November 13".


title: Nuclear power in France

text: In February 2012, President Sarkozy decided to extend the life of existing nuclear reactors beyond 40 years, following the Court of Audit decision that that would be the best option, for new nuclear capacity or other forms of energy would be more costly and available too late. Within ten years 22 out of the 58 reactors will have been operating for over 40 years. The court expects EDF's projected investment programme in existing plant, including post Fukushima safety improvements, will add between 9.5% and 14.5% to generation costs, taking costs to between 37.9 and . Generation costs from the new Flamanville European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) are estimated to be at least in the 70-to-90 EUR/MWh range, depending on construction outcome. Academics at Paris Dauphine University forecast that domestic electricity prices would rise by about 30% by 2020.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: Following François Hollande's victory in the 2012 presidential election, it was thought that there might be a partial nuclear phaseout in France. This followed a national debate in the run-up to the election, with President Nicolas Sarkozy backing nuclear power and François Hollande proposing a cut in nuclear power's electricity contribution by more than a third by 2025. It seemed certain that Hollande would at least order the closure of the Fessenheim Nuclear Power Plant by 2017 where there has been an ongoing closure campaign due to concerns about seismic activity and flooding.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: Active efforts by the French government to market the EPR have been hampered by cost overruns, delays, and competition from other nations, such as South Korea, which offer simpler, cheaper reactors.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: In 2015, the National Assembly voted that by 2025 only 50% of France's energy will be produced by nuclear plants. Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot noted in November 2017 that this goal is unrealistic, postponing the reduction to 2030 or 2035.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: In 2016, following a discovery at Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant, about 400 large steel forgings manufactured by Le Creusot Forge since 1965 were found to have carbon-content irregularities that weakened the steel. A widespread programme of reactor checks was started involving a progressive programme of reactor shutdowns, continued over the winter high electricity demand period into 2017. This caused power price increases in Europe as France increased electricity imports, especially from Germany, to augment supply. As of late October 2016, 20 of France's 58 reactors were offline. These steel quality concerns may prevent the regulator giving the life extensions from 40 to 50 years, that had been assumed by energy planners, for many reactors. In December 2016 the "Wall Street Journal" characterised the problem as a "decades long coverup of manufacturing problems", with Areva executives acknowledging that Le Creusot had been falsifying documents. The Le Creusot forge was out of operation from December 2015 to January 2018 while improvements to process controls, the quality management system, organisation and safety culture were made.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: In November 2018, President Macron announced the 50% nuclear power reduction target is being delayed to 2035, and would involve closing fourteen reactors. The two oldest reactors, units 1 and 2 at Fessenheim, were closed in 2020. EDF is planning an investment programme, called "Grand Carénage", to extend reactor lifespans to 50 years, to be largely completed by 2025.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: In 2020, Energy Minister Élisabeth Borne announced the government would not decide on the construction of any new reactors until Flamanville 3 started operation after 2022. In October 2021 president Macron announced plans for France to become a leader in low-carbon energy production using small modular reactors and green hydrogen. In October 2021 French grid operator RTE plans for construction of six new EPR reactors so that by 2050 France maintains 50 GW in low-carbon nuclear power. This has been described as the fastest and most certain path to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: In January 2022, junior environment minister Bérangère Abba said that plans for new nuclear EPR 2 reactors, to be operational between 2035 and 2037, should be submitted around 2023. The decision was accelerated by the impact of 2021 global energy crisis. In February 2022 president Macron added that the plan includes construction of 14 new large nuclear reactors and extension of life of existing reactors deemed safe and suitable beyond 50 years.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: On the 3rd of September 2022 amid energy uncertainties arising from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Energy Transition Minister, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, announced that EDF was committed to restarting all reactors in the coming winter.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: After scheduled maintenance during the summer of 2021, some power plants were not back in service in late 2021. In October, Stress corrosion cracking at Civaux Nuclear Power Plant led to the decision to shut down both blocks for long term repair. In December 2021, this was extended to both blocks of Chooz Nuclear Power Plant, as all four plants use the same type of reactor, N4, the most modern in operation, with grid connection in the late 1990s, commercial operation since early 2000s. By end of April 2022 it was reported that 28 of France’s 56 nuclear reactors were offline. French nuclear energy production has fallen to the lowest level since 1993 and it is expected to fall short by at least 25% compared to usual production levels in the winter of 2022/2023.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: On 19 May 2022, EDF adjusted its French nuclear output estimate for 2022 between 280 and 300 TWh, and with the expectation of checks and repairs to be completed, the 2023 French nuclear output estimate was not changed (300–330 TWh). Considering the overall control and repair program, nuclear generation for 2024 may be impacted.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: On 21 February 2022, S&P Global Ratings and Moody's downgraded the credit rating of EDF citing the technical issues at its nuclear power plants. In July 2022 the French government announced its plans to fully nationalize EDF.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: As of early September 2022, 32 of France's 56 nuclear reactors were shut down due to maintenance or technical problems. In 2022, Europe's driest summer in 500 years had serious consequences for power plant cooling systems, as the drought reduced the amount of river water available for cooling.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: Électricité de France (EDF)the country's main electricity generation and distribution companymanages the country's nuclear power plants. EDF is substantially owned by the French government, with around 85% of EDF shares in government hands. 78.9% of Areva shares are owned by the French public sector company CEA and are therefore in public ownership. EDF remains heavily in debt. Its profitability suffered during the recession which began in 2008. It made €3.9 billion in 2009, which fell to €1.02 billion in 2010, with provisions set aside amounting to €2.9 billion. The Nuclear industry has been accused of significant cost overruns and failing to cover the total costs of operation, including waste management and decommissioning.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: In 2001, nuclear construction and services company Areva was created by the merger of CEA Industrie, Framatome and Cogema (now Areva NC). Its main shareholder is the French owned company CEA, but the German federal government also holds, through Siemens, 34% of the shares of Areva's subsidiary, Areva NP, in charge of building the EPR (third-generation nuclear reactor).


title: Nuclear power in France

text: In 2010, as part of the progressive liberalisation of the energy market under EU directives, France agreed the "Accès régulé à l'électricité nucléaire historique" (ARENH) regulations that allowed third party suppliers access up to about a quarter of France's pre-2011 nuclear generation capacity, at a fixed price of €42/MWh from 1 July 2011 until 31 December 2025.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: As of 2015, France's household electricity price, excluding taxation, is the 12th cheapest amongst the 28 member European Union and the second-cheapest to industrial consumers. The actual cost of generating electricity by nuclear power is not published by EDF or the French government but is estimated to be between €59/MWh and €83/MWh.


title: Nuclear power in France

text: EDF said its third-generation nuclear reactor EPR project at its Flamanville, northern France, plant will be delayed until 2016, due to "both structural and economic reasons," which will bring the project's total cost to EUR8.5 billion. Similarly, the cost of the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant (EPR) to be built in Finland has escalated. Areva and the utility involved "are in bitter dispute over who will bear the cost overruns and there is a real risk now that the utility will default. EDF has suggested that if the political environment causes the EPR costs to overrun, the design would be replaced with a cheaper and simpler Franco-Japanese design, the Atmea for which the design will be completed by 2013, or the already operating Franco-Chinese design, the CPR-1000." In July 2018, EDF further delayed fuel loading to Q4 2019 and increased the project's cost estimate by a further €400 million (US$467.1 million). Startup is now scheduled to occur no earlier than Q2 2020 and EDF now estimates project costs at €10.9 billion (US$12.75 billion), three times the original cost estimates. Hot testing is currently planned to occur by the end of 2018


title: Nuclear power in France

text: In July 2015, EDF agreed to take a majority stake in Areva NP, following a French government instruction they create a "global strategic partnership".


title: Nuclear power in France

text: In 2016, the European Commission assessed that France's nuclear decommissioning liabilities were seriously underfunded, with only 23 billion euros of earmarked assets to cover 74.1 billion euros of expected decommissioning costs.