title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: During their time in government, Ireland became the first country to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: Labour supported the repeal of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland in 2018 to legalise abortion, and canvassed for a Yes vote in that referendum.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: Alan Kelly sponsored a bill in 2020 that called for all workers to receive a legal right to sick pay, as well as paid leave for employees whose children have to stay home from school due to COVID-19 measures. The government amended this bill to delay it for six months, a decision that senator Marie Sherlock branded as "unacceptable".


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: In 2020, Labour TD Aodhán Ó Riordáin successfully campaigned for Ireland's free school meals campaign to be extended across summer.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: Labour have called for all primary education to be made free by providing grants for books, uniforms and students, and ending the two tier pay system for teachers and secretaries.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: In 2020, Labour proposed building 80,000 social and affordable houses, investing €16 billion into housing and freezing rents. In 2021, they called for a three-year rent freeze and a tax to be placed on vacant houses, as well as investment into student housing and preventing student housing from being converted to short term rentals.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: In their 2020 manifesto, Labour proposed spending an additional 1 billion euro per year on health and delivering free GP care for all under 18s.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: In 2021, Labour proposed nationalising two hospitals - one in Dublin and one in either Galway or Cork.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: In their climate manifesto in 2020, the party called for halving the country's emissions by 2030, supporting farms transitioning to more environmental forms of farming, restoring peatlands and bogs, banning offshore drilling and supporting a just transition.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: In 2017, Labour leader Brendan Howlin became the first traditional party leader to back the full decriminalisation of cannabis in Ireland. This came after a motion endorsed by Aodhán Ó Riordáin supporting the legalisation of cannabis for recreational usage was passed at Labour conference. Ó Riordáin had previously voiced his support for the decriminalisation of all drugs, stating that "About 70 per cent of the drugs cases that are before our courts at the moment are for possession for personal use, which to be honest is a complete waste of garda time and criminal justice time", saying that someone suffering from addiction "is fundamentally a patient, who should be surrounded by compassion, not somebody who should be sitting in a court room."


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: The previous party leader Alan Kelly has stated that he supports the legalisation of cannabis in Ireland on both medicinal and recreational grounds, and current party leader Ivana Bacik has also spoken in support of the legalisation of cannabis.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: In their 2020 manifesto, Labour called for expanding public access to anti-overdose drugs such as Naloxone, and ending criminalisation for possession of small amounts of drugs, but focusing on punishing drug trafficking.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: The party has called for a campaign to promote the usage of spoken Irish, funding outreach initiatives for minorities and marginalised communities and creating a fund for artists.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: The Labour Party donated its archives to the National Library of Ireland in 2012. The records can be accessed by means of the call number: MS 49,494. Subsequently, the records of Democratic Left were also donated to the library and can be access via the call number: MS 49,807.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: The Labour Party is a membership organisation consisting of Labour (Dáil) constituency councils, affiliated trade unions and socialist societies. Members who are elected to parliamentary positions (Dáil, Seanad, European Parliament) form the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP). The party's decision-making bodies on a national level formally include the executive board (formerly known as the National Executive Committee), Labour Party Conference and Central Council. The executive board has responsibility for organisation and finance, with the Central Council being responsible for policy formation – although in practice the Parliamentary leadership has the final say on policy. The Labour Party Conference debates motions put forward by branches, constituency councils, party members sections and affiliates. Motions set principles of policy and organisation but are not generally detailed policy statements.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: For many years Labour held to a policy of not allowing residents of Northern Ireland to apply for membership, instead supporting the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The National Conference approved the establishment of a Northern Ireland Members Forum but it has not agreed to contest elections there.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: As a party with a constitutional commitment to democratic socialism founded by trade unions to represent the interests of working class people, Labour's link with unions has always been a defining characteristic of the party. Over time this link has come under increasing strain, with most craft based unions based in the public sector and Irish Congress of Trades Unions having disaffiliated since the 1950s. The remaining affiliated unions are primarily private sector general unions. Currently affiliated unions still send delegates to the National Conference in proportion to the size of their membership. Recent constitutional changes mean that in future, affiliated unions will send delegations based on the number of party members in their organisation.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: The Irish Labour Party constitution makes provision for both Trade Unions and Socialist Societies to affiliate to the party. There are currently seven Trade Unions affiliated to the Party:


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is the section of the party that is made up of its members of the Houses of the Oireachtas and of the European Parliament. As of July 2021 there are 11 members of the PLP: 7 TDs and 4 Senators.


title: Labour Party (Ireland)

text: At the 2014 local elections Labour lost more than half of local authority seats; 51 councillors were elected - this result led to the resignation of party leader, Eamon Gilmore. Following the 2019 Irish local elections, the party had 57 local representatives.


title: Matt Stokoe

text: Matthew Joseph Stokoe (born 13 January 1989) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as Alex in the Channel 4 series "Misfits", crime boss Luke Aikens in the thriller "Bodyguard", teacher Gerard Eyre in "The Village," Captain Marcheaux in series 3 of "The Musketeers" for the BBC, and as James Read in the Sky 1 series "Jamestown". In 2020, he played Gawain in the Netflix original series Cursed.


title: Matt Stokoe

text: Stokoe is engaged to actress Sophie Rundle, whom he met on the set of "Jamestown". Stokoe and Rundle welcomed their first child, a son, in April 2021.


title: SIM swap scam

text: A SIM swap scam (also known as port-out scam, SIM splitting, Smishing and simjacking, SIM swapping) is a type of account takeover fraud that generally targets a weakness in two-factor authentication and two-step verification in which the second factor or step is a text message (SMS) or call placed to a mobile telephone.


title: SIM swap scam

text: The fraud exploits a mobile phone service provider's ability to seamlessly port a phone number to a device containing a different subscriber identity module (SIM). This mobile number portability feature is normally used when a phone is lost or stolen, or a customer is switching service to a new phone.


title: SIM swap scam

text: The scam begins with a fraudster gathering personal details about the victim, either by use of phishing emails, by buying them from organised criminals, or by directly socially engineering the victim.


title: SIM swap scam

text: Armed with these details, the fraudster contacts the victim's mobile telephone provider.  The fraudster uses social engineering techniques to convince the telephone company to port the victim's phone number to the fraudster's SIM. This is done, for example, by impersonating the victim using personal details to appear authentic and claiming that they have lost their phone. In some countries, notably India and Nigeria, the fraudster will have to convince the victim to approve the SIM swap by pressing 1.


title: SIM swap scam

text: Once this happens, the victim's phone will lose connection to the network, and the fraudster will receive all the SMS and voice calls intended for the victim. This allows the fraudster to intercept any one-time passwords sent via text or telephone calls sent to the victim and thus allows them to circumvent many two-factor authentication methods of accounts (be it their bank accounts, social media accounts, etc.) that rely on text messages or telephone calls. Since so many services allow password resets with only access to a recovery phone number, the scam allows criminals to gain access to almost any account tied to the hijacked number. This may allow them to directly transfer funds from a bank account, extort the rightful owner, or sell accounts on the black market for identity theft.


title: SIM swap scam

text: A number of high-profile hacks have occurred utilizing SIM swapping, including some on the social media sites Instagram and Twitter. In 2019, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's Twitter account was hacked via this method.


title: SIM swap scam

text: In May 2020, a lawsuit was filed against an 18 year old Irvington High School senior in Irvington, New York, Ellis Pinsky, who was accused with 20 co-conspirators of swindling digital currency investor Michael Terpinthe founder and chief executive officer of Transform Groupof $23.8 million in 2018, when the accused was 15 years old, through the use of data stolen from smartphones by SIM swaps. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in White Plains, New York and asked for triple damages.


title: SIM swap scam

text: In early 2022, the US FBI reported a sharp increase in money losses to consumers in 2021, and continuing into 2022, from this type of fraud. The losses in 2021 alone were five times larger than the three prior years summed: “The FBI says that victims lost $68 million to this SIM-card based scam in 2021, compared to just $12 million in the three-year period between 2018 and 2020.” The FBI received 1,600 complaints about SIM-swapping in 2021, a sharp increase from the three previous years. The swaps happen quickly once the scammers have sufficient information to persuade a mobile phone carrier to assign a stolen phone number to their phone; the thefts of money happen when the thieves then receive the two-factor codes sent to the proper owner of the phone number.


title: Soulcalibur VI

text: Soulcalibur VI is a fighting game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Dimps and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows in 2018. It is the seventh main installment in the "Soulcalibur" series.


title: Soulcalibur VI

text: Following the tradition of prior installments of the "Soulcalibur" series, "Soulcalibur VI" gameplay involves two weapons-wielding combatants battling against one another using a 3D system. The game kept many of the familiar gameplay elements including 8-Way Run, Guard Impact, and character creation, but adds to the traditional formula by introducing new mechanics such as Reversal Edge and the newly revamped Soul Charge. The Reversal Edge allows players to defend against an oncoming attack and quickly strike back, alongside a slow-motion effect, enabling more defensive options for the players.


title: Soulcalibur VI

text: "Soulcalibur VI" contains a base roster consisting of 21 fighters. Additional characters are added through DLC after the game's launch. There are also 100 slots for custom characters. New characters introduced in "Soulcalibur VI" are marked in italics.


title: Soulcalibur VI

text: "Soulcalibur VI" serves as a sequel and a reboot to the series, taking place during the 16th century to revisit the events of the first "Soulcalibur" game/second "Soul" series game entry to "uncover hidden truths". It takes place after the events of "Soulcalibur V" (which is during the Soul Chronicles of Cassandra, Amy and Zasalamel's stories) where Cassandra from the original timeline tells her past self about the grim future of the Alexandra family, Amy's original future-self is revealed to be Viola, and Zasalamel receives a vision from his future self that causes him to abandon his plan to seek death and decide to lead humanity to a brighter future.


title: Soulcalibur VI

text: The plot of "Soulcalibur VI" begins from a remake of the second "Soul" game entry, taking place from 1583 to 1590. In addition, the story is divided into two separate modes. The Soul Chronicle is the main plot of the story, concerning the main characters and the immediate threat of Nightmare. In this mode, the story is told similar to a visual novel with illustrated, voiced cut scenes telling the plot and are broken up by matches acting as significant battles in-story. The first main story is centered around the character of Kilik as he ventures out to confront the Soul Edge and Nightmare and takes place mostly in Europe. In addition, every character is also given an individual story line detailing their backstories or serving as side stories to the main plot, one of the characters’ story timeline chapters takes place after the first main story, a year before the events of the original trilogy.


title: Soulcalibur VI

text: The second story mode, named the Libra of Soul, takes place shortly after the Evil Seed event of 1583 wherein Siegfried acquired the Soul Edge and became Nightmare. In this mode, the player creates a custom character that serves as the protagonist. Mostly centered in Asia, the player must go through a journey to prevent Azwel from recreating the Evil Seed all the while dealing with their own malfestation. This runs concurrently with the main plot in the Soul Chronicle and on occasion the player character will encounter other characters from the main story.


title: Soulcalibur VI

text: In 1584, about a year after the Evil Seed ravaged the world, the hero (dubbed the Conduit) awakens from a violent nightmare involving Soul Edge and a mysterious realm. Zasalamel appears before them and explains that the energy of the Evil Seed has linked their soul to the realm, Astral Chaos, and unless they absorb the energy from astral fissures that have been appearing as of late, their soul will be shredded from the pressure, resulting in their death. Zasalamel then trains the Conduit on how to absorb the energy of the fissures and gives them a special scale called the Libra of Soul.


title: Soulcalibur VI

text: After closing several fissures with the help of Maxi and Mitsurugi, the Conduit is approached by Groh, Dion, and Natalie, members of the mysterious Aval Organization tasked with hunting down rogue Aval scientist Azwel and his cult-like followers, the Qualifiers. Knowing only that Azwel has taken an interest in the astral fissures as well as the circumstances behind the Evil Seed, Groh conscripts the Conduit into their group as they're the only one capable of closing the fissures. However, Azwel manages to gain the energy of the fissures and reveals his intention to create a similar Evil Seed event he calls the "Ultimate Seed" in order to protect humanity from its own self destructive tendencies. Groh, who was partially corrupted by Soul Edge's evil due to Azwel's meddling, gives in to the evil and tackles Azwel off a cliff to no avail.


title: Soulcalibur VI

text: Knowing only that Azwel intends to use Nightmare's former base at Ostrheinsburgh Castle, the Conduit seeks out Zasalamel to figure out what to do. Zasalamel informs the Conduit that, even though their absorption of the fissures has made them stronger and stopped Astral Chaos' hazardous effect on them, only Soul Edge and Soul Calibur have the power to stop Azwel, but both have been sealed away inside Astral Chaos and the Conduit needs to draw upon their power through combat with people connected to the blades (Kilik, Xianghua, and Siegfried for Soul Calibur and Taki, Sophitia, and Cervantes de Leon for Soul Edge). Once they gather enough strength, the Conduit confronts Azwel and, despite Azwel's attempts to use them as the last piece of the Ultimate Seed, kills him.


title: Soulcalibur VI

text: However, before they can rest, the Conduit is contacted by the Aval Organization and informed that Groh survived his encounter with Azwel but must be killed due to his malfestation. After tracking him to Scandinavia, the Conduit once again draws on the Soul swords to confront him.


title: Soulcalibur VI

text: The ending of Libra of Souls is based on the player's alignment during the game. Should it be aligned toward darkness, the Conduit draws on Soul Edge and strikes down Groh before burying him. Should it align toward the light, the Conduit will draw on Soul Calibur and purge Groh of his malfestation, who then continues his work with the Aval Organization from a distance.


title: Soulcalibur VI

text: "Soulcalibur VI" was announced during The Game Awards 2017. Development on the game began over three years earlier. Producer Motohiro Okubo called the game a celebration of the franchise's 20th anniversary. Bandai Namco focused more on story elements than in the previous games in the series. It runs on Unreal Engine 4 like Bandai Namco's previous fighting game, "Tekken 7". According to Okubo, the title's code name was "Luxor" due to the team's intentions on making the game feel brighter like it was in the first "Soulcalibur". Additional mechanics were introduced to help players with the game's learning curve.


title: Soulcalibur VI

text: The game was released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows on October 19, 2018. Its Collectors Edition came with an art book, a soundtrack, a Sophitia statue, and a metal case. A series of season passes for the game each include four additional characters and more items for character customization.


title: Soulcalibur VI

text: "Soulcalibur VI" received generally positive reviews. "Game Informer" and "EGM" both praised the story modes. VideoGamer.com praised the environments, while "Destructoid" praised the music and the character roster. Game Revolution reviewer opined it was "one of the most enjoyable fighting games I’ve ever played." IGN summarised it: "The new mechanics add new layers of strategy and mind games while the one-two punch of Libra of Soul and Soul Chronicle will provide hours upon hours of fantastic single-player content." 4Players praised the netcode, while "HobbyConsolas" praised the character creation. GameSpot's Tamoor Hussain said it was "both intuitive and deep". "Dead or Alive 6" director and producer Yohei Shimbori commented he could not understand why his series is being criticized so much for the fan service content while "Soulcalibur VI" "can do it and doesn't get a beating over it."


title: Soulcalibur VI

text: The game reached number 5 in the UK sales chart. In Japan, it sold 24,049 copies within its first week on sale, reaching number 3. It reached number 8 in Australia and number 7 in New Zealand. In the US, it was the 8th most downloaded game of October on the PlayStation Store. Sales were reported to be up from "Soulcalibur V" and compared to "Soulcalibur III", "Soulcalibur" and "Soul Blade", but still lower than "Soulcalibur II" and "Soulcalibur IV". In 2019, Namco reported the launch as "successful". As of July 2021, the game has sold over two million copies worldwide.


title: Len (band)

text: Len is a Canadian alternative rock duo based in Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of siblings Marc Costanzo (vocals, guitar) and Sharon Costanzo (vocals, bass) and a revolving lineup of touring and studio musicians.


title: Len (band)

text: Marc Costanzo began recreationally recording music at the age of 13 years old. These recordings were predominately helmed by Marc, although his older sister Sharon sometimes contributed vocals to the recordings. In 1991, Marc began to produce music under the pseudonym of Len as a solo project. The name was taken from a high school friend of Marc's named Lenny. Sharon officially joined this project a year later, thus marking Len's first iteration as a duo. Len began as a punk rock band, with pop music influences. Between 1992 and 1997, the brother-sister duo independently released a self-titled extended play and two studio albums, "Superstar" (1995) and "Get Your Legs Broke" (1997). Marc estimated both albums sold around 10-15,000 units each. While these two albums received minimal attention in Canada, the duo found difficulty in attracting attention from major record labels. The band had their first taste of success when they received retroactive acclaim for the song "Candy Pop".


title: Len (band)

text: Len released a more hip-hop oriented album, "You Can't Stop the Bum Rush", in 1999; a song from the album, "Steal My Sunshine", based on the old disco hit "More, More, More" by the Andrea True Connection, was also released that year, and climbed the popular charts both in Canada and the United States and became Len's biggest hit. Len was nominated for a 2000 Juno Award as best new group, and the album was nominated as Best Alternative Album.


title: Len (band)

text: After the song, Len's fame dropped, but they continued to release albums until 2005, followed by a seven-year hiatus. In 2008, Marc announced the group's disbandment in a MySpace message. He stated: "[I]t looks like we[']re not gonna make another [L]en record. Just couldn't get it ( and everyone ) together." He still, however, announced he and Sharon would still record another album together. Despite this, Len returned with Marc and Sharon in October 2012, in which they released their fifth studio album "It's Easy If You Try". The album was promoted with one single, "It's My Neighborhood", which had a music video featuring scenes of Toronto residents lip syncing to the song.


title: Tank Girl

text: Tank Girl is a British comic book character created by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, and first appeared in print in 1988 in the British comics magazine "Deadline". After a period of intense popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Tank Girl inspired a 1995 feature film. After a long hiatus, the character returned to comics in 2007 and has appeared regularly in the years since.


title: Tank Girl

text: Originally written by Martin and drawn by Hewlett, the character has also been drawn by Philip Bond, Glyn Dillon, Ashley Wood, Warwick Johnson-Cadwell, Jim Mahfood, Brett Parson, Jonathan Edwards, Craig Knowles, Rufus Dayglo, Andy Pritchett, and Mike McMahon.


title: Tank Girl

text: Tank Girl (Rebecca Buck – later revealed to have been born as Fonzie Rebecca Buckler) drives a tank, which is also her home. She undertakes a series of missions for a nebulous organization before making a serious mistake and being declared an outlaw for her sexual inclinations and her substance abuse. The comic centres on her misadventures with her boyfriend, Booga, a mutant kangaroo. The comic's irreverent style is heavily influenced by punk visual art, and strips are frequently deeply disorganized, anarchic, absurdist, and psychedelic. The strip features various elements with origins in surrealist techniques, fanzines, collage, cut-up technique, stream of consciousness, and metafiction, with very little regard or interest for conventional plot or committed narrative.


title: Tank Girl

text: The strip was initially set in a futuristic Australia, although it drew heavily from contemporary British pop culture.


title: Tank Girl

text: Martin and Hewlett first met in the mid-1980s in Worthing, while studying at The West Sussex College of Art and Design (WSCD, later renamed Northbrook College). Martin was in the college band The University Smalls with fellow comics enthusiast Philip Bond. One of their songs was called "Rocket Girl". They had started adding the suffix 'girl' to everything habitually after the release of the "Supergirl" movie, but "Rocket Girl" was a student at college on whom Bond had a crush and who apparently bore a striking resemblance to a "Love and Rockets" character. Martin and Hewlett began collaborating on a comic/fanzine called "Atomtan", and while working on this, Hewlett had drawn:


title: Tank Girl

text: The image was published in the fanzine as a one-page ad, but the "Tank Girl" series first appeared in the debut issue of "Deadline" (1988), a UK magazine intended as a forum for new comic talent, and it continued until the end of the magazine in 1995.


title: Tank Girl

text: "Tank Girl" became quite popular in the politicized indie counterculture zeitgeist as a cartoon mirror of the growing empowerment of women in punk rock culture. Posters, shirts, and underpants began springing up everywhere, including one especially made for the Clause 28 march against Margaret Thatcher's legislation. Clause 28 stated that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship." "Deadline" publisher Tom Astor said, "In London, there are even weekly lesbian gatherings called 'Tank Girl nights.'"


title: Tank Girl

text: With public interest growing, Penguin, the largest publishing company in Britain, bought the rights to collect the strips as a book, and before long, "Tank Girl" had been published in Spain, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, Argentina, Brazil and Japan, with several United States publishers fighting over the licence. Finally Dark Horse Comics won, and the strips were reprinted beginning in 1991, with an extended break in '92, and ending in September '93. A graphic novel-length story named "Tank Girl: The Odyssey" was also published in 1995 (released in four issues by Vertigo Comics), written by Peter Milligan and loosely inspired by Homer's "Odyssey", Joyce's "Ulysses", and a considerable quantity of junk TV. This was followed by another four issue series, "Tank Girl: Apocalypse", written by Alan Grant and published by Vertigo from November 1995 to February 1996.


title: Tank Girl

text: After the 1995 film, Hewlett went on to create the band Gorillaz with Blur's Damon Albarn. Martin has also played in various bands, and written various screenplays and scripts.


title: Tank Girl

text: After a long publishing hiatus, the character returned in 2007 in "Tank Girl: The Gifting", a four-issue limited series written by Martin and illustrated by Australian artist Ashley Wood, which was published by IDW Publishing. This was the first new Tank Girl comic material since the final two issues of the four issue series "Tank Girl: Apocalypse" in 1996. The four-issue limited series "Tank Girl: Visions of Booga", by Martin and artist Rufus Dayglo, was released in 2008 by IDW, as was "Tank Girl: Armadillo and a Bushel of Other Stories", a Tank Girl novel authored by Martin and published by Titan Books.


title: Tank Girl

text: Since then, Tank Girl has appeared on a regular basis in various one-shots and limited series, published by IDW, Image Comics, and Titan Comics. The regular creative team is Alan Martin and Brett Parson.


title: Tank Girl

text: Titan Books released "The Hole of Tank Girl" on 28 September 2012, which encompasses the original Hewlett and Martin material, as well as additional content.


title: Tank Girl

text: Martin and artist Warwick Johnson-Cadwell have also created a kid-friendly spin-off called "Young Tank Girl", published in the digital anthology "Moose Kid Comics".


title: Tank Girl

text: In 2019, Titan Comics debuted "Tank Girl", publicized as Tank Girl's first ongoing series, with an indicia listing the book as "Tank Girl Ongoing". From January to May 2019, the first four issues were cover-titled "Tank Girl: Action Alley", and from July to December 2019, the next four issues were cover-titled "Tank Girl Forever".


title: Tank Girl

text: Tank Girl has been collected into a number of trade paperbacks over the years. The entire back catalogue was reprinted by Titan Books in 2002 and these books were "re-mastered" in anniversary editions, stripped of their subsequently-added computer colouring and line work repaired. In 2018 the entire Hewlett and Martin back catalogue was once again reprinted under the "Tank Girl Colour Classics" banner, this time as collectible hardbacks, with all-new colouring and extra material.


title: Tank Girl

text: The comic was also adapted into a critically and financially unsuccessful film, albeit with a small cult following. The film featured Lori Petty as Tank Girl and Naomi Watts as Jet Girl. Martin and Hewlett are known for speaking poorly of the experience, with Martin calling it "a bit of a sore point" for them.


title: Tank Girl

text: In September 2019, a "Tank Girl" reboot movie was reported to be in development with Margot Robbie's production company LuckyChap Entertainment optioned rights from MGM, Robbie co-produce with her partners Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara, Mallory Westfall writing and Miles Joris-Peyrafitte directing.


title: Suchitra Sen

text: Suchitra Sen ( ; born as Roma Dasgupta (; 6 April 1931 – 17 January 2014) was an Indian actress who worked in Bengali and Hindi cinema. The movies in which she was paired opposite Uttam Kumar became classics in the history of Bengali cinema.


title: Suchitra Sen

text: Sen was the first Indian actress to receive an award at an international film festival when, at the 1963 Moscow International Film Festival, she won the Silver Prize for Best Actress for "Saat Pake Bandha". In 1972, she was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India. From 1979 on, she retreated from public life and shunned all forms of public contact; for this she is often compared to Greta Garbo. In 2005, she refused the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest cinematic award in India, to stay out of the public eye. In 2012, she was conferred the West Bengal Government's highest honour: Banga Bibhushan. Her first official release was Sukumar Dasgupta's "Saat Number Kayedi" (1953). She was catapulted to stardom after she was cast as Vishnupriya by Devaki Kumar Bose in his "Bhagaban Shree Krishna Chaitanya" (1953).


title: Suchitra Sen

text: Suchitra Sen was born on 6 April 1931, in a Bengali Baidya-brahmin family of Bhanga Bari village of Belkuchi Upazila, now in Sirajganj District. Her father, Korunamoy Dasgupta was a headmaster in a local school in Pabna. Her mother, Indira Devi was a homemaker. Sen was their fifth child and second daughter. She was a granddaughter of the poet Rajonikant Sen. She received her formal education in Pabna Government Girls High School. The violence of Partition in 1947 brought her family to West Bengal, which was comparably a safe zone for Hindus. Here she married Dibanath Sen, son of wealthy industrialist Adinath Sen, in 1947, at the age of 15 years. She had one daughter, Moon Moon Sen, who is a former actress. Suchitra's father-in-law, Adinath Sen, was supportive of her acting career in films after her marriage. Her industrialist husband invested greatly in her career and supported her.


title: Suchitra Sen

text: Sen had made a successful entry into Bengali films in 1952, and then a less successful transition into the Hindi movie industry. According to persistent but unconfirmed reports in the Bengali press, her marriage was strained by her success in the film industry.


title: Suchitra Sen

text: Suchitra Sen made her debut in films with "Shesh Kothaay" in 1952, but it was never released. The following year saw her act opposite Uttam Kumar in "Sharey Chuattor", a film by Nirmal Dey. It was a box-office hit and is remembered for launching Uttam-Suchitra as a leading pair. They went on to become the icons for Bengali dramas for more than 20 years, becoming almost a genre unto themselves. She has acted in 30 of her 60 films with Uttam Kumar. She received a Best Actress Award nomination for the film "Devdas" (1955), which was her first Hindi movie. Her Bengali melodramas and romances, especially with Uttam Kumar, made her the most famous Bengali actress ever.


title: Suchitra Sen

text: Her films ran through the 1960s and '70s. Her husband died in 1970 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Suchitra went on to act in films such as in the Hindi film "Aandhi" (1974). "Aandhi" was inspired by India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Sen received a Filmfare Award nomination as Best Actress, while Sanjeev Kumar, who played the role of her husband, won the Filmfare as Best Actor.


title: Suchitra Sen

text: One of her best known performances was in "Deep Jwele Jaai" (1959). She played in a character named Radha Mitra, a hospital nurse employed by a progressive psychiatrist, Pahadi Sanyal, who is expected to develop a personal relationship with male patients as part of their therapy. Sanyal diagnoses the hero, Basanta Choudhury, as having an unresolved Oedipal dilemma. He orders Radha to play the role though she is hesitant as in a similar case she had fallen in love with the patient. She finally agrees and bears up to Choudhury's violence, impersonates his mother, sings his poetic compositions and in the process falls in love again. In the end, even as she brings about his cure, she suffers a nervous breakdown. The film is noted for its partly lit close-ups of Sen, which set the tone of the film. Asit Sen remade the film in Hindi as "Khamoshi" (1969), with Waheeda Rehman in the Suchitra Sen role.


title: Suchitra Sen

text: Suchitra Sen's other landmark film with Asit Sen was "Uttar Falguni" (1963). She plays the dual role of a courtesan, Pannabai, and her daughter Suparna, a lawyer. Critics note that she brought a great deal of poise, grace and dignity to the role of a fallen woman determined to see her daughter grow up in a good, clean environment.


title: Suchitra Sen

text: Suchitra Sen's international success came in 1963, when she won the best actress award at the Moscow International Film Festival for the movie "Saat Paake Bandha", becoming the first Indian actress to receive an international film award.


title: Suchitra Sen

text: A film critic summed up Suchitra Sen's career and continuing legacy as "one half of one of Indian cinema's most popular and abiding screen pairs, Suchitra Sen redefined stardom in a way that few actors have done, combining understated sensuality, feminine charm and emotive force and a no-nonsense "gravitas" to carve out a persona that has never been matched, let alone surpassed in Indian cinema".


title: Suchitra Sen

text: Suchitra Sen refused Satyajit Ray's offer due to a scheduling problem. As a result, Ray never made the film "Devi Chaudhurani", based on the novel written by Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhya. She also refused Raj Kapoor's offer for a film under the RK banner.


title: Suchitra Sen

text: Sen continued to act after her husband's death in 1970, but called it a day when "Pronoy Pasha" flopped, and retired from the screen in 1978 after a career of over 25 years to a life of quiet seclusion. She was to do a film project; "Nati Binodini", also starring Rajesh Khanna, but the film was shelved mid-way after shooting when she decided to quit acting.


title: Suchitra Sen

text: She assiduously avoided the public gaze after her retirement and devoted her time to the Ramakrishna Mission.


title: Suchitra Sen

text: Suchitra Sen was admitted to the hospital on 24 December 2013 and was diagnosed with a lung infection. She was reported to have been recovering well in the first week of January. But her condition turned worse later and she died at 8.25 am on 17 January 2014, due to a heart attack. She was 82 years old.


title: Suchitra Sen

text: Suchitra Sen's death was condoled by many leaders, including the President of India Pranab Mukherjee, the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, and BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. A gun salute was given before her cremation, upon the orders of Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal.


title: Suchitra Sen

text: Respecting her fierce desire for complete privacy, her last rites were performed at Kolkata's Kaioratola crematorium, barely five and half hours after she died, with her coffin reaching the crematorium in a flower-decked hearse with dark-tinted windows. Despite being Bengal's greatest star, referred to as "Mahanayika", she had consciously chosen to step into oblivion and she remained an enigma till her last, although thousands of fans had converged at the crematorium to catch one last glimpse of their idol. Her entire medical treatment had also been done in seclusion and secrecy.


title: Suchitra Sen

text: Sen received 10 awards during her lifetime. In 1963, she became the first Indian actress to receive an international award.


title: Steve Francis

text: Steven D'Shawn Francis (born February 21, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected with the second overall pick of the 1999 NBA draft and was named co-NBA Rookie of the Year (along with Elton Brand) in his first season. He was a three-time NBA All-Star while playing for the Houston Rockets. Francis also played for the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks, finishing his career with the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association. He was known for his crossover dribble, driving ability, and flashy dunks. He was given the nickname Stevie Franchise.


title: Steve Francis

text: Francis was born and raised in Takoma Park, Maryland. He was nicknamed "Wink" as a child. After his mother (Brenda) died of cancer in 1995, his grandmother became a parent figure to him. He stopped playing basketball after his mother died. His father served 20 years in federal prison for bank robbery. Francis later described his stepfather, a garbage collector, as his best friend. As a youth, Francis received food stamps and lived in an apartment with 18 people.


title: Steve Francis

text: Francis began working for drug dealers at ten years old and began selling crack cocaine on the street as a teenager during the American crack epidemic. He attended six high schools and played in a total of two high school basketball games. He dropped out of school at 18 years old after his mother died. Francis completed his GED after receiving an offer to play college basketball for San Jacinto College, whose coaches had noticed him at an Amateur Athletic Union tournament.


title: Steve Francis

text: Francis attended San Jacinto College in 1996–97, and the Allegany College of Maryland in 1997–98. Francis became the first player to take two unbeaten teams into the National Junior College Tournament. In a game for Allegany, Francis recorded a quadruple double against Shawn Marion and Vincennes University.


title: Steve Francis

text: Francis transferred to Maryland in 1998 for his junior season. The addition of Francis helped propel the Terrapins to a #5 preseason ranking. Francis made an instant impact as Maryland's starting shooting guard, scoring 17 points in the season opener against Western Carolina. Francis and the Terps gained national attention with impressive showings in the Puerto Rico Shootout and a 62–60 win over #5 Stanford in the BB&T Classic. The Terps climbed to a #2 national ranking by early December.


title: Steve Francis

text: The Terrapins finished second in the ACC and Francis was named to the All-ACC first team and the All ACC Tournament team. The Terrapins were a number 2 seed in the NCAA tournament but were defeated by St. John's in the Sweet 16. Under Francis's leadership, Maryland finished with a school record 28 wins and only 6 losses and were ranked #5 in the final Associated Press poll.


title: Steve Francis

text: Francis finished the season averaging 17 points per game, 4.5 assists per game, and 2.8 steals per game. He was a consensus second-team All-American and was named a finalist for the Wooden and Naismith Player of the Year Awards. Although he stated he was "99% sure" he would return to Maryland for his senior season, he opted to enter the NBA draft.


title: Steve Francis

text: While a member of the Terrapins, Francis met Idan Ravin, who at the time was coaching youth basketball. Francis soon began attending Ravin's workouts and recommended Ravin as trainer to fellow college players, including Elton Brand. Ravin subsequently became a well-known trainer for a number of NBA players.


title: Steve Francis

text: Francis was selected second in the 1999 NBA draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies. He publicly announced that he did not want to play for the Grizzlies, citing the distance from his Maryland home, taxes, endorsements, and "God's will". Heavily criticized for his antics, especially in Vancouver, he relented and briefly considered joining the Grizzlies before contentious negotiations and an incident at Vancouver International Airport convinced Francis that he needed to go elsewhere.


title: Steve Francis

text: Francis got his wish, being traded before the 1999–2000 season began to the Houston Rockets in a three-team, 11-player deal that brought Michael Dickerson, Othella Harrington, Antoine Carr and Brent Price, plus first- and second-round picks to the Grizzlies. It was the largest trade in NBA history at that time (in terms of the number of players and picks involved).


title: Steve Francis

text: Though Francis shared Rookie of the Year honors with Elton Brand and finished as runner-up to Vince Carter in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest, the Rockets finished the season with a 34–48 record.


title: Steve Francis

text: The next season, the Rockets improved to 45–37 but still missed the playoffs. In his third season, Francis was chosen by fans to start the 2002 NBA All-Star Game, but ended up playing only 55 games due to a foot injury and recurring Ménière's-induced migraines. As a result, the Rockets posted a dismal 28–54 record, landing them into the lottery, where they selected 7'6" Chinese center Yao Ming with the first pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. Francis and Yao gelled their first season together, and were selected as 2003 NBA All-Star Game starters. Francis scored a career-high 44 points in a nationally televised home win against the Los Angeles Lakers on January 17, 2003. The team went 43–39, again missing the playoffs.


title: Steve Francis

text: Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich stepped down in 2003, and the team selected ex-New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy as his successor. Van Gundy's coaching style did not fit Francis's style of play. Even though Francis made the All-Star game for a third straight year his stats declined in 2003–04, dropping from 21.0 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 6.2 APG to 16.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 6.2 APG. The Rockets, however, made the playoffs for the first time since 1999, which would be Francis's only postseason experience. Despite his averaging 19.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg, and 7.6 apg, the Rockets lost to the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers in five games.


title: Steve Francis

text: As Francis's relationship with Van Gundy deteriorated it was apparent that the Rockets wanted to go in a different direction. While the coach sought to focus the team's offense on Yao Ming, the Rockets ended up trading Francis, along with his best friend on the team, Cuttino Mobley, as well as Kelvin Cato, for Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue, and Reece Gaines.


title: Steve Francis

text: During Francis's first tenure in Houston, he averaged 19.3 points, 6.4 assists, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.63 steals in 374 games (372 starts).


title: Steve Francis

text: At first, Francis was unhappy with the trade to Orlando, but he adapted to his new environment. Francis flourished in the run n' gun offense of interim head coach Chris Jent. After posting a career-low 16.6 points per game the previous year with the Rockets, Francis averaged 21.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game in his first season with the Magic. The Magic started out the year fast in the 2004–05 season, with Francis hitting several game-winning shots early in the season. In the middle of the season, Mobley was traded to the Sacramento Kings, which upset Francis. The Magic slumped late and missed the playoffs.


title: Steve Francis

text: The following season, a disgruntled Francis was suspended for conduct detrimental to the team. On February 5, 2006, there were rumors that he could be traded to the Denver Nuggets for Earl Watson but GM Otis Smith publicly announced that he would not trade Francis. Still, rumors persisted that Francis would be traded to the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets or even back to his former team the Houston Rockets.


title: Steve Francis

text: On February 22, 2006, one day before the NBA's trade deadline, Francis was traded to the New York Knicks for small forward Trevor Ariza and the expiring contract of shooting guard Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway. Prior to the trade, the Nuggets reportedly offered both Watson and Kenyon Martin for Francis, but the deal never took place. He wore jersey #1 with the Knicks as his usual #3 was already assigned to Stephon Marbury. Francis has endured a recurring injury, tendinitis in his right knee, and as a result began the 2006–07 season averaging only 11.3 ppg, as opposed to his career 18.4 ppg. On 2007 draft night, June 28, the Knicks traded Francis and Channing Frye to the Portland Trail Blazers for Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau, and Fred Jones; Portland then bought out the remaining two years of Francis's contract for a reported $30 million, making him an unrestricted free agent.


title: Steve Francis

text: The Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and the L. A. Clippers pursued Francis. On July 20, he chose the Rockets, signing a two-year $6 million contract with them, although the Heat offered the most money. But he failed to make Rick Adelman's rotation coming out of the preseason. He averaged 5.5 points and 3 assists in ten games before undergoing season-ending surgery stemming from an earlier left quadriceps tendon injury.


title: Steve Francis

text: Francis used his contract option to come back to the Houston Rockets for the 2008–09 NBA season. He lost 15 pounds for training camp, but was not able to play in the beginning of the season due to the recovery period of his injury.


title: Steve Francis

text: On December 24, 2008, the Houston Rockets traded Francis back to the team that had originally drafted him, the Grizzlies, except now the team was in Memphis. This trade was for a 2011 conditional draft pick. The move allowed the Rockets to drop under the luxury tax threshold. On January 27, 2009, it was reported that Francis was waived by the Grizzlies, without having appeared in a game for them. No other NBA teams expressed an interest in Francis.


title: Steve Francis

text: In November 2010, Francis signed with the Beijing Ducks of China. He averaged 0.5 points and 0.7 rebounds over four games, playing 14 minutes, before leaving the team in late December of the same year to return to the United States.


title: Steve Francis

text: On September 27, 2001, a tornado struck the University of Maryland, College Park campus, killing two students and displacing 700 more from their dormitory. Francis, who was on campus at the time, arranged to sponsor a dinner for the displaced students before he flew back to Houston for his third season with the Rockets. He said, "I remember all of the people here supporting me while I was a Maryland student, and this is just a small way that I can give back to those who have helped me."


title: Steve Francis

text: On February 17, 2002, Francis's #23 jersey was honored by Maryland in a ceremony preceding the game against the #1 ranked Duke Blue Devils. Francis sat on the team's bench during the game and cheered as the Terrapins upset the Blue Devils 87–73.


title: Steve Francis

text: On election day 2008, Francis supported presidential candidate Barack Obama by wearing a red velvet sports jacket with "Barack Obama" spelled on the back in sequins. Francis said he had followed the presidential race closely.


title: Steve Francis

text: "It's important that there is an African-American candidate running", Francis said. "I never thought I'd see the day that would happen. Right now, we're at a pivotal point. It's a great feeling for me."


title: Steve Francis

text: Francis has suffered from Ménière's disease, which causes episodes of vertigo, tinnitus, and aural fullness.


title: Steve Francis

text: Francis has ventured into several entrepreneurial projects, including a construction company, boxing promotions, a barbershop and clothing line (We R One), as well as a hip-hop record label, Mazerati Music.


title: Steve Francis

text: After Francis left professional basketball and his stepfather committed suicide, he began drinking heavily. In November 2016, Francis was arrested in Houston for driving under the influence and a felony charge of threatening a public servant. In December 2016, he turned himself into Manatee County, Florida police who issued a warrant for his arrest on burglary charges following an incident in which he allegedly broke into a woman's car. In March 2017, he was granted a conditional discharge and sentenced to 50 hours of community service plus a fine of $7,300.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: The 38(t), originally known as the ČKD LT vz. 38, was a tank designed during the 1930s, which saw extensive service during World War II. Developed in Czechoslovakia by ČKD, the type was adopted by Nazi Germany following the annexation of Czechoslovakia. With the German Army and other Axis forces, the type saw service in the invasions of Poland, France and the USSR. Production ended in 1942, when its main armament was deemed inadequate. In all, over 1,400 Pz. 38(t)s were manufactured. The chassis of the Pz. 38(t) continued to be produced for the Marder III (1942–1944) with some of its components used in the later Jagdpanzer 38 (1944–1945) tank destroyer and its derivative vehicles.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: The (t) stands for , the German word for Czech; the Czechoslovak military designation was LT vz. 38 (, Light Tank model 38). Manufacturer's designations included TNH series, TNHPS, LTP and LTH. The special vehicle () designation for the tank in Germany was Sd. Kfz. 140.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: The Panzer 38(t) was a conventional inter-war tank design, with riveted armour. The armour varied in thickness from 10 mm to 25 mm in most versions. Later models (Ausf. E on) increased this to 50 mm by bolting on an additional 25 mm armour plate to the front portion of the hull. The sides received an additional 15 mm increase of armour from Ausf. E production runs onward.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: The two-man turret was centrally located, and housed the tank's main armament, a 37 mm Skoda A7 gun with 90 rounds of ammunition. In addition, a 7.92 mm machine gun was in a ball mount to the right of the main gun. This machine gun could be trained on targets independently of the main gun, or coupled to the main gun for use as a conventional coaxial machine gun. The driver was in the front right of the hull, with the radio operator seated to the driver's left. The radio operator manned the hull-mounted 7.92 mm machine gun in front in addition to operating the radio on his left.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: Minor adjustments, such as adjustable seats for the driver and firmer footing for the commander/gunner and loader, were provided in German service. A total of 2,550 rounds were carried for the bow and turret machine guns. The driver could also fire the hull machine gun with a trigger fitted on the left tiller bar.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: In German service, a loader position was added to the turret by reducing the ammunition capacity by 18 rounds. All future Panzer 38(t) tanks were rebuilt according to this specification and those already in service were modified accordingly. The commander had to aim and fire the main gun in addition to his role as commander.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: The engine was mounted in the rear of the hull and powered the tank through a transmission at the front of the hull with five forward gears and one reverse gear. The track ran under four rubber-tyred road wheels and back over a rear idler and two track return rollers. The wheels were mounted on a leaf-spring double-bogie mounted on two axles.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: In 1935, the Czechoslovak tank manufacturer ČKD was looking for a replacement for the LT-35 tank they were jointly producing with Škoda Works. The LT-35 was complex and had shortcomings, and ČKD felt there would be orders both from the expanding Czechoslovak army and for export.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: ČKD decided to use a leaf-spring suspension with four large wheels for their new tank with an export success under the name "TNH". With small variations for each customer, 50 were exported to Iran (TNHP), 24 each to Peru (LTP) and Switzerland (LTH). Lithuania also ordered some (LTL). The British Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) had one trial model delivered on 23 March 1939 to Gunnery School at Lulworth. A report stated that "the (bow) gunner could not sit back comfortably as the wireless set was in the way of his left shoulder". The report also stated that, due to the shudder while the vehicle was on the move, it was impossible to lay the gun. Even at the speed of , accuracy was poor. As a result, the British did not purchase the LT-35 and the trial model was returned.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: In the fall of 1937, the Czechoslovak Armed Forces launched a contest for a new medium tank; Škoda, ČKD and Tatra competed. Škoda Praga submitted the existing joint production export model mentioned above. ČKD also entered a prototype separate from the above, the interesting V-8-H (later called the ST vz. 39), which proved to have numerous mechanical problems. Tatra, known mostly for its smaller, wheeled armoured cars, submitted a paper entry that was a very novel concept that completely changed the layout of a tank, which concept they patented in 1938. On 1 July 1938, Czechoslovakia ordered 150 of the TNHPS model, although none had entered service by the time of the German occupation (March 1939).


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: After the takeover of Czechoslovakia, Germany ordered continued production of the model as it was considered an excellent tank, especially compared to the Panzer I and Panzer II that were the 's main tanks at the outset of World War II. It was first introduced into German service under the name LTM 38; this was changed on 16 January 1940 to 38(t).


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: The relatively small turret of the Panzer 38(t) could not accommodate a cannon powerful enough to defeat more heavily armoured tanks such as the T-34, so production of the Pz. 38(t) halted in June 1942 when more than 1,400 had been built. Other examples of the Pz. 38(t) were also sold to a number of other Axis nations, including Hungary (102), Slovakia (69), Romania (50), and Bulgaria (10, known as "Praga").


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: The main advantages of the Panzer 38(t), compared to other tanks of the day, were high reliability and sustained mobility. In one documented case, a regiment was supplied with tanks driven straight from the factory in 2.5 days instead of the anticipated week, without any mechanical breakdowns. In the opinion of the crews, the drive components of the Pz. 38(t) – engine, gear, steering, suspension, wheels and tracks – were perfectly in tune with each other. The Pz. 38(t) was also considered to be very easy to maintain and repair.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: After production of the Pz. 38(t) ceased, the chassis was used for tank destroyer designs, which were produced in greater numbers than the original Pz. 38(t). In 1942–1944, about 1,500 Marder IIIs were produced. The Marder was replaced by the 38(t) (Hetzer), based on a modified Panzer 38(t) chassis, of which approximately 2,800 were produced. The Panzer 38(t) chassis was also the basis for an anti-aircraft gun carrier, the Flakpanzer 38(t), of which about 140 were produced. The 38(t) (designation Sd.Kfz.140/1) was a reconnaissance vehicle based on a 38(t) tank fitted with a open-topped turret with mesh covers (20 mm KwK 38 L/55 gun and a coaxial MG 42 – adapted from the Sd.Kfz. 222 armoured car); a support version armed with a 75 mm KwK 37 L/24 (and MG 42) gun mounted in the modified superstructure was also designed. Seventy 38(t) with a 20 mm gun were built in February and March 1944; just two 38(t) with a 75 mm gun were built in 1944.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: Since the 90 PzKpfw 38(t) Ausf. S built for Sweden to be delivered in March 1940 were confiscated with the invasion of Czechoslovakia, negotiations with for the blue-prints needed for license production commenced and an agreement was reached at the end of 1940, which included the upgrades for the TNHP-S. The riveted construction was seen as a drawback, but since redrawing the blueprints for a welded construction was estimated to delay production by almost a year, no changes were made to the 116 m/41 ordered from Scania-Vabis in June 1941. Deliveries started in December 1942 and were completed in August 1943, no less than three years behind the original plan.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: While clearly outdated, the need for a 10-ton light tank was so pressing that another order was placed in mid 1942. Since Scania-Vabis had reached the production ceiling, the 122 tanks had to be complemented by some 80 strv m/40. The second batch had the frontal armour upgraded to 50 mm bringing the weight to 11 tonnes, and to deal with the increased weight the 145 hp Scania-Vabis typ 1664 was replaced by a more powerful 160 hp Scania-Vabis typ 603. Due to the larger size, the hull had to be made 65 mm longer causing a wider gap between the second and third roadwheel. This enabled the fueltanks to be upgraded from 190 litres to 230 litres. Only 104 got delivered when production ended in March 1944; the last 18 chassis were built as the assault gun Stormartillerivagn m/43 instead. Another 18 Sav m/43 were purpose built.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: At the end of the 1950s, 220 SI & SII were converted to Pansarbandvagn 301 armoured personnel carriers and the turrets used for airbase defences.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: The Panzer 38(t) performed well in the invasion of Poland in 1939 and the Battle of France in 1940. It was better armed than the Panzer I and Panzer II tanks. It was on a par with most light tank designs of the era, although it was unable to effectively engage the frontal armour of medium, heavy and infantry tank designs.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: It was also used in the German invasion of the Soviet Union from 1941 onwards in German and Hungarian units but, like other Axis tanks, was outclassed by Soviet tanks such as the T-34. Some ex-German units were issued to the Romanians in 1943, after the loss of many of the Romanian R-2 tanks. By then, it had become largely obsolete, though the chassis was adapted to a variety of different roles with success. Notable variations include the Sd.Kfz. 138 Marder III mobile anti-tank gun, the Sd.Kfz. 138/1 Grille mobile howitzer, Flakpanzer 38(t) and the Jagdpanzer 38(t) "Hetzer" tank destroyer. Small numbers were also used for reconnaissance, training and security duties, such as deployment on armoured trains.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: The German tank commander Otto Carius, who was credited with over 150 'kills', described an action in a 38(t) on 8 July 1941:


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: The above report highlights the reason why the 38(t) was pulled out of front lines in favour of heavier Panzer III, IV and StuG IIIs. Panzer 38(t) continued to serve after 1941 as a reconnaissance vehicle and in anti-partisan units for some time. Several captured examples were refitted with Soviet DTM machineguns and employed by the Red Army.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: At the start of Operation Barbarossa, the Germans found Soviet T-34 tanks to be superior, as the German 37 mm Pak 36 anti-tank gun proved incapable of penetrating the T-34's armour. To neutralize the T-34, the Germans mounted a captured Soviet 76.2 mm gun on the chassis of the 38(t) model as a stop-gap measure and called it the Marder III. Crews of early Marder III models fought exposed on top of the engine deck.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: A Peruvian mission went to Europe in 1935 and looked at tanks from several major manufacturers before settling on the Czech LTL. Peru bought 24 of them. They were delivered in 1938–1939 and designated " 38" (then " 39"). This small armoured force of two tank companies was complemented by truck-mounted infantry and artillery pulled by tractors (the Czech ČKD). Peruvian doctrine was influenced by the French military mission operating in Peru at the time, and emphasized the use of tanks to support infantry attacks rather than in independent mobile columns (as in the German Blitzkrieg).


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: The Peruvian tank battalion played an important role in the 1941 Ecuadorian–Peruvian War, spearheading the attack across the Zarumilla River and at Arenillas. This was helped by the fact that the Ecuadorian Army had no modern anti-tank guns and their artillery was horse-drawn. Ultimately the last LTL tanks would see retirement from active service only in 1988.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: The T-38 was the local designation for the wartime deliveries of Panzer 38(t)s from Germany in 1943. T-38 served with the forces operating in Kuban within 2nd Tank Regiment and later the 54th Company attached to the HQ and the cavalry corps in Kuban and Crimea. T-38 tanks were still in action with the 10th Infantry Division and Cavalry Divisions in 1944.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: In the Slovak Army, this tank received the designation LT-38. Because of the first series of the LT-38 was not yet finished in March 1939, when Czechoslovakia dissolved, and as the first series was seized by Nazi Germany, the army of the Slovak State, which was a German ally in the Polish and Soviet campaigns, initially had only LT-35 tanks. In 1940 the Slovak Army ordered 10 tanks, which were used in Operation Barbarossa. All of them were used at the Eastern Front in the Fast division in the Battalion of Assault Vehicles. Two tanks were destroyed; the other 8 tanks later returned to Slovakia. After that, the Slovak Army ordered another 27 tanks, and when the Germans started withdrawing Panzer 38(t) tanks, the Slovak Army received another 37 tanks from Germany. Thirteen tanks of this type were used by Slovak insurgents during the Slovak National Uprising in 1944.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: The Slovak Army also used the LT-40, which was based on the same chassis as the LT-38, but it was smaller and had a different turret. These tanks were initially manufactured for Lithuania, but because it was occupied by USSR from 1940, the order had been not realised. Instead, these tanks were acquired by Slovakia. Yet in 1940, the Slovak Army received 21 tanks. They were delivered without guns, machine guns, radio stations or optics. Slovak army equipped them with machine guns and the tanks took part in the Slovak army's campaign in the USSR. During the battle near Lipovec, one tank was destroyed. Afterwards, the other machines were rearmed with Škoda A7 37 mm guns. Several tanks were used by the Slovak Army during the attack on the Caucasus, where some of them were lost in the fight. Remaining tanks were taken back to Slovakia, and some of them were used by Slovak Insurgent Army in the Slovak National Uprising in 1944.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: One complete LT-38 tank in Slovak camouflage and one LT-38 torso are displayed in the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising in Banská Bystrica. Tank 313, the torso of which can be seen in the museum, was the third tank of the first order and saw combat on the Eastern front. Later it was used for training because of its high mileage. During the Slovak National Uprising it was used by insurgents, but because its engine failed, it was abandoned.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: All strv m/41 SI were sent to P 3 in Strängnäs, who were the only regiment who painted the road-wheels in the same camouflage pattern as the hull against regulations prescribing field-grey to be used. Most of the m/41 SII went to P 4 in Skövde, with a small number allocated to P 2 in Hässleholm and the material reserve of P 3.


title: Panzer 38(t)

text: All tanks had been retired from active service in the mid-1950s and later rebuilt into Pansarbandvagn 301 armoured personnel carriers (APCs).


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: Cosmopolitan is an American monthly fashion and entertainment magazine for women, first published based in New York City in March 1886 as a family magazine; it was later transformed into a literary magazine and, since 1965, has become a women's magazine. "Cosmopolitan" is one of the best-selling magazines and is directed mainly towards a female audience. Jessica Pels is the magazine's current editor-in-chief.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: Formerly titled The Cosmopolitan and often referred to as Cosmo, throughout the years, "Cosmopolitan" has adapted its style and content. Its current incarnation was originally marketed as a woman's fashion magazine with articles on home, family, and cooking. Eventually, editor-in-chief Helen Gurley Brown changed its attention to more of a women empowerment magazine. Nowadays, its content includes articles discussing relationships, sex, health, careers, self-improvement, celebrities, fashion, horoscopes, and beauty.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: "Cosmopolitan" is published by New York City-based Hearst Corporation. The fashion magazines are located in the Hearst Tower, 300 West 57th Street or 959 Eighth Avenue, near Columbus Circle, Midtown Manhattan, neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City and market magazines are located in the 32 Avenue of the Americas, 32 Sixth Avenue, Tribeca, neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. "Cosmopolitan" has 64 international editions, including, Australia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latin America, Malaysia, the Middle East, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom and is printed in 35 different languages and distributed in over 110 countries.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: "Cosmopolitan" originally began as a family magazine, first published based in New York City in March 1886 by Schlicht & Field of New York as "The Cosmopolitan". The Magazine is aimed towards women.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: Paul Schlicht told his first-issue readers inside of the front cover that his publication was a "first-class family magazine", then adding, "There will be a department devoted exclusively to the concerns of women, with articles on fashions, on household decoration, on cooking, and the care and management of children, etc. There was also a department for the younger members of the family."


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: "Cosmopolitan" circulation reached 25,000 that year, but by November 1888, Schlicht & Field were no longer in business. Ownership was acquired by John Brisben Walker in 1889. That same year, he dispatched Elizabeth Bisland on a race around the world against Nellie Bly to draw attention to the magazine.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: Under John Brisben Walker's ownership, E. D. Walker, formerly with "Harper's Monthly", took over as the new editor, introducing color illustrations, serials and book reviews. It became a leading market for fiction, featuring such authors as Annie Besant, Ambrose Bierce, Willa Cather, Theodore Dreiser, Rudyard Kipling, Jack London, Edith Wharton, and H.G. Wells. The magazine's press run climbed to 100,000 by 1892.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: In 1897, "Cosmopolitan" announced plans for a free correspondence school: "No charge of any kind will be made to the student. All expenses for the present will be borne by the "Cosmopolitan". No conditions, except a pledge of a given number of hours of study." When 20,000 immediately signed up, Walker could not fund the school and students were then asked to contribute 20 dollars a year. Also in 1897, H. G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds" was serialized, as was his "The First Men in the Moon" (1900). Olive Schreiner contributed a lengthy two-part article about the Boer War in the September and October issues of 1900.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: In 1905, William Randolph Hearst purchased the magazine for US$400,000 () and brought in journalist Charles Edward Russell, who contributed a series of investigative articles, including "The Growth of Caste in America" (March 1907), "At the Throat of the Republic" (December 1907 – March 1908) and "What Are You Going to Do About It?" (July 1910 – January 1911).


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: Other contributors during this period included O. Henry, A. J. Cronin, Alfred Henry Lewis, Bruno Lessing, Sinclair Lewis, O. O. McIntyre, David Graham Phillips, George Bernard Shaw, Upton Sinclair, and Ida Tarbell. Jack London's novella, "The Red One", was published in the October 1918 issue (two years after London's death), and a constant presence from 1910 to 1918 was Arthur B. Reeve, with 82 stories featuring Craig Kennedy, the "scientific detective". Magazine illustrators included Francis Attwood, Dean Cornwell, Harrison Fisher, and James Montgomery Flagg.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: Hearst formed Cosmopolitan Productions (also known as Cosmopolitan Pictures), a film company based in New York City from 1918 to 1923, then Hollywood until 1938. The vision for this film company was to make films from stories published in the magazine.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: "Cosmopolitan" magazine was officially titled as "Hearst's International Combined with Cosmopolitan" from 1925 until 1952, but was simply referred to as "Cosmopolitan". In 1911, Hearst had bought a middling monthly magazine called "World To-Day" and renamed it "Hearst's Magazine" in April 1912. In June 1914 it was shortened to "Hearst's" and was ultimately titled "Hearst's International" in May 1922. In order to spare serious cutbacks at San Simeon, Hearst merged the magazine "Hearst's International" with "Cosmopolitan" effective March 1925. But while the "Cosmopolitan" title on the cover remained at a typeface of eight-four points, over time span the typeface of the "Hearst's International" decreased to thirty-six points and then to a barely legible twelve points. After Hearst died in 1951, the "Hearst's International" disappeared from the magazine cover altogether in April 1952.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: With a circulation of 1,700,000 in the 1930s, "Cosmopolitan" had an advertising income of $5,000,000. Emphasizing fiction in the 1940s, it was subtitled "The Four-Book Magazine" since the first section had one novelette, six or eight short stories, two serials, six to eight articles and eight or nine special features, while the other three sections featured two novels and a digest of current non-fiction books. During World War II, sales peaked at 2,000,000.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: The magazine began to run less fiction during the 1950s. Circulation dropped to slightly over a million by 1955, a time when magazines were overshadowed during the rise of paperbacks and television. The Golden Age of magazines came to an end as mass market, general interest publications gave way to special interest magazines targeting specialized audiences.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: Cosmopolitan's circulation continued to decline for another decade until Helen Gurley Brown became chief editor in 1965 and radically changed the magazine. Brown remodeled and re-invented it as a magazine for modern single career women, completely transforming the magazine into a racy, contentious, and successful magazine. As the editor for 32 years, Brown spent this time using the magazine as an outlet to erase stigma around unmarried women not only having sex, but also enjoying it. Known as a "devout feminist", Brown was often attacked by critics due to her progressive views on women and sex. She believed that women were allowed to enjoy sex without shame in all cases. She died in 2012 at the age of 90. Her vision is still evident in the current design of Cosmopolitan Magazine. The magazine eventually adopted a cover format consisting of a usually young female model (in recent years, an actress, singer, or another prominent female celebrity), typically in a low cut dress, bikini, or some other revealing outfit.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: The magazine set itself apart by frankly discussing sexuality from the point of view that women could and should enjoy sex without guilt. The first issue under Helen Gurley Brown, July 1965, featured an article on the birth control pill, which had gone on the market exactly five years earlier.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: This was not Brown's first publication dealing with sexually liberated women. Her 1962 advice book, "Sex and the Single Girl", had been a bestseller. Fan mail begging for Brown's advice on many subjects concerning women's behavior, sexual encounters, health, and beauty flooded her after the book was released. Brown sent the message that a woman should have men complement her life, not take it over. Enjoying sex without shame was also a message she incorporated in both publications.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: In Brown's early years as editor, the magazine received heavy criticism. In 1968 at the feminist Miss America protest, protestors symbolically threw a number of feminine products into a "Freedom Trash Can." These included copies of "Cosmopolitan" and "Playboy" magazines. "Cosmopolitan" also ran a near-nude centerfold of actor Burt Reynolds in April 1972, causing great controversy and attracting much attention. The Latin American edition of "Cosmopolitan" was launched in March 1973.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: In April 1978, a single edition of "Cosmopolitan Man" was published as a trial, targeted to appeal to men. Its cover featured Jack Nicholson and Aurore Clément. It was published twice in 1989 as a supplement to "Cosmopolitan".


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: In its January 1988 issue, "Cosmopolitan" ran a feature claiming that women had almost no reason to worry about contracting HIV long after the best available medical science indicated otherwise. The piece claimed that unprotected sex with an HIV-positive man did not put women at risk of infection and went on to state that "most heterosexuals are not at risk" and that it was impossible to transmit HIV in the missionary position. This article angered many educated people, including AIDS and gay rights activists. The protests organised in response to the article's publication were turned into a 30-minute documentary titled "Doctors, Liars and Women: AIDS Activists Say NO to Cosmo" by two members of ACTUP, a New York City based collective of HIV/AIDS activists.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: One of the articles in its October 1989 issue, """The Risky Business of Bisexual Love," promoted the 'bisexual bridge' theory. The bisexual bridge theory suggests that heterosexual women are unknowingly put at risk for contracting HIV through sexual contact with bisexual men who covertly have sex with other men (colloquially described as being "on the down low"). The New York Area Bisexual Network performed a successful letter-writing campaign against "Cosmopolitan".


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: The magazine, and in particular its cover stories, have become increasingly sexually explicit in tone, and covers have models wearing revealing clothes. Kroger, the second largest grocery chain in the United States after Walmart, used to cover up "Cosmopolitan" at checkout stands because of complaints about sexually inappropriate headlines. The UK edition of "Cosmopolitan", which began in 1972, was the first Cosmopolitan magazine to be branched out to another country. It was well known for sexual explicitness, with strong sexual language, male nudity, and coverage of such subjects as rape. In 1999, "CosmoGIRL!", a spinoff magazine targeting a teenage female audience, was created for international readership. It shut down in December 2008.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: There are 64 worldwide editions of "Cosmopolitan", and the magazine is published in 35 languages, with distribution in more than 100 countries making "Cosmopolitan" the largest-selling young women's magazine in the world. Some international editions are published in partnerships, such as licenses or joint ventures, with established publishing houses in each local market. In October 2018, Bauer Media Group announced that after 45 years, publication of the Australian edition of "Cosmopolitan" would stop due to the commercial viability of the magazine no longer being sustainable. In March 2022 the Russian edition, "Cosmopolitan Russia", changed its title to "Voice" after Hearst revoked its affiliation following to the invasion of Ukraine.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: "Cosmopolitan" has since the 1960s been a women's magazine discussing such topics as sex, health, fitness, and fashion. The magazine also has a section called "Ask Him Anything" where a male writer answers readers' questions about men and dating.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: "Cosmopolitan" has found popularity in its newfound medium, the "discover" section on Snapchat. Cosmopolitan's "discover" has over 3 million readers a day.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: In its October 2018 issue, "Cosmopolitan" featured plus-sized model Tess Holliday on the cover. Some people, such as TV presenter Piers Morgan, criticized this choice, arguing that it amounted to promoting obesity. Editor of Cosmopolitan Farrah Storr called the cover choice a bold stance in favor of body positivity. In December 2020, actress Emma Roberts became the first pregnant celebrity to appear on the cover of the magazine.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: For over a decade, the February issue has featured this award. In 2011, Russell Brand received the magazine's Fun, Fearless Male of the Year Award, joining Kellan Lutz and Paul Wesley (2010), John Mayer (2008), Nick Lachey (2007), Patrick Dempsey (2006), Josh Duhamel (2005), Matthew Perry (2004), and Jon Bon Jovi (2003).


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: Nicole Scherzinger received the 2012 Fun, Fearless Female of the Year honor, a title that had been previously awarded to Kayla Itsines (2015), Mila Kunis (2011), Anna Faris (2010), Ali Larter (2009), Katherine Heigl (2008), Eva Mendes (2007), Beyoncé (2006), Ashlee Simpson (2005), Alicia Silverstone (2004), Sandra Bullock (2003), Britney Spears (2002), Debra Messing (2001), Jennifer Love Hewitt (2000), Shania Twain (1999), and Ashley Judd (1998)


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: "Cosmopolitan Men" releases a video on The Making of the World's Sexiest Calendar in 1994 followed by a stunning 14-month Cosmopolitan Men Calendar. Photographer Richard Reinsdorf shot the entire Calendar and helped direct the video.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: "Cosmopolitan" releases a Male Centerfold issue every few years that features hot male celebrities from the United States. Here is a partial list of the men that have appeared in Cosmopolitan's Centerfold Editions over the years: Burt Reynolds 1972, Jim Brown 1973, John Davidson 1975, Arnold Schwarzenegger 1977, Scott Brown 1982, David Hasselhoff 1990. Male super-model Tracy James was named Cosmopolitan's 25th Anniversary Centerfold in 1995: his centerfold garnered so much attention that Cosmo printed an extra 500,000 copies to meet demand. Cosmopolitan's Editor-in-Chief Helen Gurley Brown sat with James for interviews on America's Talking and on Oprah with Oprah Winfrey, on how the magazine's editors and scouts searched America over the course of a year, seeing thousands of men before deciding on underwear model James.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: "Cosmopolitan"'s November issue features the hottest bachelors from all 50 states. Pictures and profiles of all the bachelors are posted on www.cosmopolitan.com, where readers view and vote for their favorite, narrowing it down to six finalists. A team of "Cosmopolitan" editors then selects the Bachelor of the Year, who is announced at an annual party and media event in New York. The 50 bachelors generally appear on programs such as "The Today Show".


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: In the May 2006 issue of "Cosmopolitan", the magazine launched the Practice Safe Sun campaign, an initiative aimed at fighting skin cancer by asking readers to stop all forms of tanning other than tanning from a bottle. In conjunction with the campaign, "Cosmo's" editor-in-chief, Kate White, approached Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), known for her support of women's health issues, with concerns that women were not fully aware of the dangers of indoor tanning and the effectiveness of the current warning labels. After careful review, the Congresswoman agreed that it was necessary to recommend that the FDA take a closer look. She and Representative Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) introduced the Tanning Accountability and Notification Act (TAN Act – H.R. 4767) on February 16, 2006. President Bush signed the act in September 2007, and the new federal law requires the FDA to scrutinize the warning labels on tanning beds and issue a report by September 2008.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: Cosmopolitan UK launched the Cosmo Blog Awards in 2010. The awards attracted more than 15,000 entries and winning and highly commended blogs were voted for in several categories including beauty, fashion, lifestyle, and celebrity. The 2011 awards launched in August 2011 and nominations are open until August 31, 2011. All UK-based bloggers and blogs written by British bloggers abroad with a British perspective can be entered.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: In May 2015, Cosmopolitan UK announced they were launching their first ever fragrance. This is considered a first in the magazine industry. Named 'Cosmopolitan, The Fragrance', the perfume takes on the notion of their much-loved phrase 'Fun, Fearless Female' and was set to launch in September.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: "Cosmopolitan" played a role in passing the Seventeenth Amendment to the US Constitution, which allowed for the popular election of Senators. In 1906, William Randolph Hearst hired David Graham Phillips to write a series of articles entitled "The Treason of the Senate." These articles, which were largely sensationalized, helped galvanize public support for this cause.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: In September 2014, "Cosmopolitan" began endorsing political candidates. The endorsements are based on "established criteria" agreed upon by the magazine's editors. Specifically, "Cosmopolitan" will only endorse candidates that support equal pay laws, legal abortion, free contraceptives, gun control, and oppose voter identification laws. Amy Odell, editor of Cosmopolitan.com, has stated that under no circumstances will the magazine endorse a political candidate that is anti-abortion: "We're not going to endorse someone who is pro-life because that's not in our readers' best interest." According to Joanna Coles, the magazine's editor-in-chief, the endorsements of "Cosmopolitan" will focus on "candidates in swing states or candidates who are strongly in favor of issues like contraception coverage or gun control." In the 2014 U.S. elections, "Cosmopolitan" officially endorsed twelve Democratic candidates. However, only two of them won their respective political campaigns.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: Victoria Hearst, a granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst (founder of "Cosmopolitan"'s parent company) and sister of Patty Hearst, has lent her support to a campaign which seeks to classify "Cosmopolitan" as harmful under the guidelines of "Material Harmful to Minors" laws. Hearst, the founder of an evangelical Colorado church called Praise Him Ministries, states that "the magazine promotes a lifestyle that can be dangerous to women's emotional and physical well being. It should never be sold to anyone under 18". According to former model Nicole Weider, who is also part of this campaign, the magazine's marketing is subtly targeting children.


title: Cosmopolitan (magazine)

text: In 2018, Walmart announced that "Cosmopolitan" would be removed from checkout lines after the anti-pornography organization National Center on Sexual Exploitation, formerly known as Morality in Media, labeled the magazine as "sexually explicit material".


title: Epidermis

text: The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and hypodermis. The epidermis layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the amount of water released from the body into the atmosphere through transepidermal water loss.


title: Epidermis

text: The epidermis is composed of multiple layers of flattened cells that overlie a base layer (stratum basale) composed of columnar cells arranged perpendicularly. The layers of cells develop from stem cells in the basal layer. The human epidermis is a familiar example of epithelium, particularly a stratified squamous epithelium.


title: Epidermis

text: The word epidermis is derived through Latin , itself and . Something related to or part of the epidermis is termed epidermal.


title: Epidermis

text: The epidermis primarily consists of keratinocytes (proliferating basal and differentiated suprabasal), which comprise 90% of its cells, but also contains melanocytes, Langerhans cells, Merkel cells, and inflammatory cells. Epidermal thickenings called Rete ridges (or rete pegs) extend downward between dermal papillae. Blood capillaries are found beneath the epidermis, and are linked to an arteriole and a venule.


title: Epidermis

text: The epidermis itself has no blood supply and is nourished almost exclusively by diffused oxygen from the surrounding air. Cellular mechanisms for regulating water and sodium levels (ENaCs) are found in all layers of the epidermis.


title: Epidermis

text: Epidermal cells are tightly interconnected to serve as a tight barrier against the exterior environment. The junctions between the epidermal cells are of the adherens junction type, formed by transmembrane proteins called cadherins. Inside the cell, the cadherins are linked to actin filaments. In immunofluorescence microscopy, the actin filament network appears as a thick border surrounding the cells, although the actin filaments are actually located inside the cell and run parallel to the cell membrane. Because of the proximity of the neighboring cells and tightness of the junctions, the actin immunofluorescence appears as a border between cells.


title: Epidermis

text: The epidermis is composed of 4 or 5 layers, depending on the region of skin being considered. Those layers from outermost to innermost are:


title: Epidermis

text: As a stratified squamous epithelium, the epidermis is maintained by cell division within the stratum basale. Differentiating cells delaminate from the basement membrane and are displaced outward through the epidermal layers, undergoing multiple stages of differentiation until, in the stratum corneum, losing their nucleus and fusing to squamous sheets, which are eventually shed from the surface (desquamation). Differentiated keratinocytes secrete keratin proteins, which contribute to the formation of an extracellular matrix that is an integral part of the skin barrier function. In normal skin, the rate of keratinocyte production equals the rate of loss, taking about two weeks for a cell to journey from the stratum basale to the top of the stratum granulosum, and an additional four weeks to cross the stratum corneum. The entire epidermis is replaced by new cell growth over a period of about 48 days.


title: Epidermis

text: Keratinocyte differentiation throughout the epidermis is in part mediated by a calcium gradient, increasing from the stratum basale until the outer stratum granulosum, where it reaches its maximum, and decreasing in the stratum corneum. Calcium concentration in the stratum corneum is very low in part because those relatively dry cells are not able to dissolve the ions. This calcium gradient parallels keratinocyte differentiation and as such is considered a key regulator in the formation of the epidermal layers.


title: Epidermis

text: Elevation of extracellular calcium concentrations induces an increase in intracellular free calcium concentrations. Part of that intracellular increase comes from calcium released from intracellular stores and another part comes from transmembrane calcium influx, through both calcium-sensitive chloride channels and voltage-independent cation channels permeable to calcium. Moreover, it has been suggested that an extracellular calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) also contributes to the rise in intracellular calcium concentration.


title: Epidermis

text: Epidermal organogenesis, the formation of the epidermis, begins in the cells covering the embryo after neurulation, the formation of the central nervous system. In most vertebrates, this original one-layered structure quickly transforms into a two-layered tissue; a temporary outer layer, the periderm, which is disposed once the inner basal layer or "stratum germinativum" has formed.


title: Epidermis

text: This inner layer is a germinal epithelium that gives rise to all epidermal cells. It divides to form the outer spinous layer ("stratum spinosum"). The cells of these two layers, together called the Malpighian layer(s) after Marcello Malpighi, divide to form the superficial granular layer ("Stratum granulosum") of the epidermis.


title: Epidermis

text: The cells in the stratum granulosum do not divide, but instead form skin cells called keratinocytes from the granules of keratin. These skin cells finally become the cornified layer ("stratum corneum"), the outermost epidermal layer, where the cells become flattened sacks with their nuclei located at one end of the cell. After birth these outermost cells are replaced by new cells from the stratum granulosum and throughout life they are shed at a rate of 30 - 90 milligrams of skin flakes every hour, or 0.720 - 2.16 grams per day.


title: Epidermis

text: The epidermis serves as a barrier to protect the body against microbial pathogens, oxidant stress (UV light), and chemical compounds, and provides mechanical resistance to minor injury. Most of this barrier role is played by the stratum corneum.


title: Epidermis

text: The ability of the skin to hold water is primarily due to the stratum corneum and is critical for maintaining healthy skin. Skin hydration is quantified using corneometry. Lipids arranged through a gradient and in an organized manner between the cells of the stratum corneum form a barrier to transepidermal water loss.


title: Epidermis

text: The amount and distribution of melanin pigment in the epidermis is the main reason for variation in skin color in "Homo sapiens". Melanin is found in the small melanosomes, particles formed in melanocytes from where they are transferred to the surrounding keratinocytes. The size, number, and arrangement of the melanosomes vary between racial groups, but while the number of melanocytes can vary between different body regions, their numbers remain the same in individual body regions in all human beings. In white and Asian skin the melanosomes are packed in "aggregates", but in black skin they are larger and distributed more evenly. The number of melanosomes in the keratinocytes increases with UV radiation exposure, while their distribution remain largely unaffected.


title: Epidermis

text: Laboratory culture of keratinocytes to form a 3D structure (artificial skin) recapitulating most of the properties of the epidermis is routinely used as a tool for drug development and testing.


title: Epidermis

text: In contract, hyperkeratosis is a thickening of the stratum corneum, and is not necessarily due to hyperplasia.


title: Mandate for Palestine

text: The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordan, both of which had been conceded by the Ottoman Empire following the end of World War I in 1918. The mandate was assigned to Britain by the San Remo conference in April 1920, after France's concession in the 1918 Clemenceau–Lloyd George Agreement of the previously-agreed "international administration" of Palestine under the Sykes–Picot Agreement. Transjordan was added to the mandate after the Arab Kingdom in Damascus was toppled by the French in the Franco-Syrian War. Civil administration began in Palestine and Transjordan in July 1920 and April 1921, respectively, and the mandate was in force from 29 September 1923 to 15 May 1948 and to 25 May 1946 respectively.


title: Mandate for Palestine

text: The mandate document was based on Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations of 28 June 1919 and the Supreme Council of the Principal Allied Powers' San Remo Resolution of 25 April 1920. The objective of the mandates over former territories of Ottoman Empire was to provide "administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone". The border between Palestine and Transjordan was agreed in the final mandate document, and the approximate northern border with the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was agreed in the Paulet–Newcombe Agreement of 23 December 1920.


title: Mandate for Palestine

text: In Palestine, the Balfour Declaration's "national home for the Jewish people" was to be established alongside the Palestinian Arabs, who composed the vast majority of the local population; this requirement and others, however, would not apply to the separate Arab emirate to be established in Transjordan. The British controlled Palestine for almost three decades, overseeing a succession of protests, riots and revolts between the Jewish and Palestinian Arab communities. During the Mandate, the area saw the rise of two nationalist movements: the Jews and the Palestinian Arabs. Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine ultimately produced the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine and the 1944–1948 Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine. The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was passed on 29 November 1947; this envisaged the creation of separate Jewish and Arab states operating under economic union, and with Jerusalem transferred to UN trusteeship. Two weeks later, Colonial Secretary Arthur Creech Jones announced that the British Mandate would end on 15 May 1948. On the last day of the Mandate, the Jewish community there issued the Israeli Declaration of Independence. After the failure of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, the 1947–1949 Palestine war ended with Mandatory Palestine divided among Israel, the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank and the Egyptian All-Palestine Protectorate in the Gaza Strip.


title: Mandate for Palestine

text: Transjordan was added to the mandate following the Cairo Conference of March 1921, at which it was agreed that Abdullah bin Hussein would administer the territory under the auspices of the Palestine Mandate. Since the end of the war it had been administered from Damascus by a joint Arab-British military administration headed by Abdullah's younger brother Faisal, and then became a no man's land after the French defeated Faisal's army in July 1920 and the British initially chose to avoid a definite connection with Palestine. The addition of Transjordan was given legal form on 21 March 1921, when the British incorporated Article 25 into the Palestine Mandate. Article 25 was implemented via the 16 September 1922 Transjordan memorandum, which established a separate "Administration of Trans-Jordan" for the application of the Mandate under the general supervision of Great Britain. In April 1923, five months before the mandate came into force, Britain announced its intention to recognise an "independent Government" in Transjordan; this autonomy increased further under a 20 February 1928 treaty, and the state became fully independent with the Treaty of London of 22 March 1946.


title: Mandate for Palestine

text: Immediately following their declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire in November 1914, the British War Cabinet began to consider the future of Palestine (at the time, an Ottoman region with a small minority Jewish population). By late 1917, in the lead-up to the Balfour Declaration, the wider war had reached a stalemate. Two of Britain's allies were not fully engaged, the United States had yet to suffer a casualty, and the Russians were in the midst of the October revolution. A stalemate in southern Palestine was broken by the Battle of Beersheba on 31 October 1917. The release of the Balfour Declaration was authorised by 31 October; the preceding Cabinet discussion had mentioned perceived propaganda benefits amongst the worldwide Jewish community for the Allied war effort.