title: Roman dictator

text: In the pursuit of his "causa", the dictator's authority was nearly absolute. However, as a rule he could not exceed the mandate for which he was appointed; a dictator nominated to hold the "comitia" could not then take up a military command against the wishes of the Senate. Dictators could carry out functions which fell outside the scope of their initial appointments, but only at the direction of the Senate; this included the drawing of funds from the public treasury, which a dictator could only do with the Senate's authorisation.


title: Roman dictator

text: The "imperium" of the other magistrates was not vacated by the nomination of a dictator. They continued to perform the duties of their office, although subject to the dictator's authority, and continued in office until the expiration of their year, by which time the dictator had typically resigned. Dictatorial power also did not override that of the tribunes. While some sources assert there was no appeal to the tribunes from a dictator's actions, other sources document the extent of a dictator's powers within the , appeals against dictatorial action, and threats by tribunes to veto elections held by dictators.


title: Roman dictator

text: Most authorities hold that a dictator could not be held to account for his actions after resigning his office. However, there are cases where this is asserted in the literary sources and the surviving text of the "lex repetundarium" implies the dictator and his magister equitum could be prosecuted after their terms ended. Rather, some modern scholars hold the position that unaccountability is a "legalistic illusion".


title: Roman dictator

text: Some sources, both ancient and modern in summaries of the office, assert that the dictator was limited to a term for six months, but this is contradicted by recorded practice and Livy has a dictator object to a six-month limitation explicitly as objectionably unorthodox.


title: Roman dictator

text: Before the First Punic War starting in 264 BC, when Rome established hegemony over Italy, dictators were overwhelmingly appointed to conduct military campaigns and also appointed regularly. However, these dictators were not given the best commands—they rarely won triumphs: only five of some 75 triumphs between 363 and 264 BC—suggesting that they functioned as substitutes for the ordinary magistrates. The middle Republic also shows significant use of the dictatorship to hold elections in place of consuls: this occurred twelve times during the First Punic War and eight times during the following Second. "Magistri equitum" had a knack of winning elections when held by dictators, which may explain why this limited dictatorship also fell into abeyance.


title: Roman dictator

text: In domestic affairs, the dictators were at times—according to tradition—appointed to resolve issue between the patricians and the plebeians during the so-called Conflict of the Orders. In this role, the dictators always took the side of the plebs, implying that the later tradition of the dictatorship as a tool of patrician tyranny is a post-Sullan anachronism. Their efforts may have been decisive in that legislation passed in the Assemblies called by dictators did not need the approval of the Senate, serving to break impasses between an obstinate patrician-heavy Senate and popular demands.


title: Roman dictator

text: After the Second Punic War and the Third Macedonian War, all major wars were then conducted by promagistrates and usually lasted several years, making the short term of the dictatorship unsuitable. Moreover, the fact that these conflicts occurred far from Rome radically limited the possibility of panicked tumult that could result in a dictatorial appointment. The rise of prorogation also meant that the Romans had, by jettisoning the annual term, more generals in the field than they had in the past. These promagistrates resembled archaic dictators as well, being exempt from normal consular responsibilities while being assigned a limited task—"provincia"—to complete.


title: Roman dictator

text: At the same time, the new promagistrates also meant the consuls could spend more time in Rome, meaning it became less necessary to appoint dictators to conduct elections. During the various wars of the 140s BC, the ability to have more commanders under praetorian or proconsular leadership meant it was possible to keep at least one consul in Rome while the other fought abroad. Even when the Senate wanted to act against men such as Tiberius Gracchus or Gaius Gracchus, dictators were not appointed: in the former, the consul refused to act, precluding a dictatorial nomination, and in the latter, the Senate authorised the consul to use force via the so-called "senatus consultum ultimum".


title: Roman dictator

text: The religious purpose of the dictatorship in undertaking rituals to appease the gods in cases of pestilence or other disasters also was replaced. Dictators appointed to appease the gods was highly reactive but, over time, the accumulation of precedent formalised a spiritual process. Instead of an ad hoc approach, the Senate would advise—in moments of need—consultation of the Sibylline Books and direct implementation of the Books' recommendations.


title: Roman dictator

text: The new dictatorships of Sulla and Caesar differed greatly from the traditional dictatorship. The long period of abeyance in which the dictatorship had lain meant that men like Sulla and Caesar were no longer bound by the chains of centuries of tradition requiring any man appointed to the dictatorship—traditionally a man trusted by all Romans—to act for all Romans, resolve the issue to which he was appointed, and then immediately resign.


title: Roman dictator

text: Following Sulla's civil war, Lucius Cornelius Sulla had the dictatorship revived. In 82 BC the consuls were absent from the city, he induced the "comitia centuriata", called by Lucius Valerius Flaccus as "interrex", to pass a law directly appointing Sulla as dictator to write laws and reconstitute the state (); he was also given immunity for all actions (including those past and future)


title: Roman dictator

text: After significant changes to the laws and proscriptions, he completed this task on 1 January 79 BC and resigned to take up an ordinary consulship. This dictatorship aligned with one aspect of the archaic dictatorship—restoring stability—as the state was, in fact, in a shambles after the domination and proscriptions of Lucius Cornelius Cinna, Gaius Marius, and Gnaeus Papirius Carbo. "Sulla never aimed at permanent tyranny"; wishing his settlement to succeed, and conceiving of it in quasi-republican terms, he resigned the dictatorship in place of ordinary magistrates. Sulla's reforms and proscriptions did stabilize a republic—albeit on radically reformed grounds with Sulla as a "law-giver" who gave Rome "a new constitution that would put an end to political and social strife"—and restore somewhat free elections for the next few decades, at an enormous cost. But the precedent that he set by twice marching on Rome with his armies would prove an equally destabilizing influence.


title: Roman dictator

text: After Sulla's dictatorship, there are a few cases where a dictatorship was supposedly considered as a means of effecting regime change.


title: Roman dictator

text: One version of the supposed First Catilinarian conspiracy (which itself is now held in modern scholarship to be fictitious) related by Suetonius would have had the creation of a dictatorship led by Marcus Licinius Crassus with Julius Caesar as magister equitum. Suetonius' version of events may be anachronistic, with Crassus and Caesar's involvement being an embellishment. Regardless, the suggestion of a dictatorship "belongs, perhaps to a late-republican school of thought that saw the antiquated office of the consulship as an ineffective path to the mastery of Rome" with the dictatorship as an "obvious tool for republican regime change" informed by Sulla's proscriptions and reforms. The phraseology of how Crassus would supposedly have been elevated to the dictatorship also suggests it was seen as an available instrument for ambitious factional leaders to force through self-serving change.


title: Roman dictator

text: The later consulship of Pompey in 52 BC also is reported to have been initially intended as a dictatorship; it was, however, aborted by his election as sole consul (without colleague) to restore order. Scholars disagree as to the reasons why Pompey was made sole consul: ancient sources (Appian, Dio, and Plutarch) all believed this occurred to deny him a dictatorship; "recent scholarship has emphasised Pompey’s consulship rather as a means of resolving a political impasse". If this were an abortive dictatorship, it would have been "a final echo of the archaic dictators" with the sole goal of restoring order to the city.


title: Roman dictator

text: Julius Caesar, during his civil war, also revived the dictatorship, first to hold elections (in which he was returned as consul for the next year) and eight later times between late October 48 BC and his eventual death in 44. It is greatly unclear which of Caesar's specific acts were undertaken under his overlapping dictatorial, proconsular, consular, or private authority. The dictatorship, however, offered Caesar a position—unlike the consulship which was constrained by hundreds of years of precedent—which gave him uncircumscribed powers by virtue of its "separat[ion] from its foundations by 120 years of disuse" and by way of Sulla's example. His dictatorship built on that of Sulla's as well—he too changed the number of magistracies and reformed the state—but his was administrative rather than one given up at the completion of a task. To that end, Caesar had himself appointed "dictator perpetuo", i.e., in a dictatorship that automatically renewed every year, allowing Caesar to remove the need to renew the dictatorship. This new and transformed dictatorship, endowed with a kingly power, is where it fell into the dustbin of history.


title: Roman dictator

text: After Caesar's death, it became unlawful to propose, vote for, or accept any dictatorship. Any person who became dictator also could be summarily executed. Essentially, the title was cursed and excised from the republican constitution. Curiously, the person who did this was not one of the "liberatores" but rather, Caesar's own former magister equitum, Mark Antony. Antony's supporters lionised him for having rid the Republic of this instrument of tyranny.


title: Roman dictator

text: The need for the dictatorship—especially as an instrument of pseudo-royal power—was clearly already gone: in 22 BC, a senatorial delegation begged Augustus to accept the dictatorship, and Augustus refused, knowing that the title would bring only hatred, and that his own informal authority, "encumbered by neither ancient nor recent precedent", would be sufficient.


title: Roman dictator

text: The dictator's lieutenant was the "magister equitum", or "master of the horse". The first act of a dictator was to choose this lieutenant, usually at his own discretion. It was customary for the dictator to nominate a magister equitum, even if he were appointed for a non-military reason.


title: Roman dictator

text: The magister equitum was also a curule magistrate, with powers to summon the Senate and perhaps also powers to summon the Assembly; however, he had only six lictors, symbolizing his subordination to the dictator, and his expectation of quickly vacating office. The magister equitum was necessarily subordinate to the dictator, although this did not always prevent the two from disagreeing.


title: Roman dictator

text: In theory, the magister equitum was commander of the cavalry, but he was not limited to that role. The dictator and magister equitum did not always take the field together; in some instances the magister equitum was assigned the defense of the city while the dictator took an army into the field, while on other occasions the dictator remained at Rome to see to some important duty, and entrusted the magister equitum with an army in the field.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: Operation Polo was the code name of the Hyderabad "police action" in September 1948, by the then newly independent Dominion of India against Hyderabad State. It was a military operation in which the Indian Armed Forces invaded the Nizam-ruled princely state, annexing it into the Indian Union.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: At the time of Partition in 1947, the princely states of India, who in principle had self-government within their own territories, were subject to subsidiary alliances with the British, giving them control of their external relations. With the Indian Independence Act 1947, the British abandoned all such alliances, leaving the states with the option of opting for full independence. However, by 1948 almost all had acceded to either India or Pakistan. One major exception was that of the wealthiest and most powerful principality, Hyderabad, where the Nizam, "Mir" Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, a Muslim ruler who presided over a largely Hindu population, chose independence and hoped to maintain this with an irregular army. The Nizam was also beset by the Telangana rebellion, which he was unable to subjugate.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: In November 1947, Hyderabad signed a standstill agreement with the Dominion of India, continuing all previous arrangements except for the stationing of Indian troops in the state. Claiming that it feared the establishment of a Communist state in Hyderabad, India invaded the state in September 1948, following a crippling economic blockade, and multiple attempts at destabilizing the state through railway disruptions, the bombing of government buildings, and raids on border villages. Subsequently, the Nizam signed an instrument of accession, joining India.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: The operation led to massive violence on communal lines, at times perpetrated by the Indian Army. The Sunderlal Committee, appointed by Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, concluded that between 30,000-40,000 people had died in total in the state, in a report which was not released until 2013. Other responsible observers estimated the number of deaths to be 200,000 or higher.<section end=Lead />


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: After the Siege of Golconda by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1687, the region was renamed as "Deccan Subah" (due to its geographical proximity in the Deccan Plateau) and in 1713 Qamar-ud-din Khan (later known as "Asaf Jah I" or "Nizam I") was appointed its Subahdar and bestowed with the title of "Nizam-ul-Mulk" by the Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar. Hyderabad's nominal independence is dated to 1724, when the Nizam won a military victory over a rival military appointee. In 1798, Hyderabad became the first Indian princely state to accede to British protection under the policy of Subsidiary Alliance instituted by Arthur Wellesley, and was thus named as the State of Hyderabad.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: The State of Hyderabad under the leadership of its 7th Nizam, "Mir" Sir Osman Ali Khan, was the largest and most prosperous of all the princely states in India. With annual revenues of over Rs. 9 crore, it covered of fairly homogenous territory and comprised a population of roughly 16.34 million people (as per the 1941 census) of which a majority (85%) was Hindu. The state had its own army, airline, telecommunication system, railway network, postal system, currency and radio broadcasting service. Hyderabad was a multi-lingual state consisting of peoples speaking Telugu (48.2%), Marathi (26.4%), Kannada (12.3%) and Urdu (10.3%). In spite of the overwhelming Hindu majority, Hindus were severely under-represented in government, police and the military. Of 1765 officers in the State Army, 1268 were Muslims, 421 were Hindus, and 121 others were Christians, Parsis and Sikhs. Of the officials drawing a salary between Rs. 600 and 1200 per month, 59 were Muslims, 5 were Hindus and 38 were of other religions. The Nizam and his nobles, who were mostly Muslims, owned 40% of the total land in the state.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: When the British departed from the Indian subcontinent in 1947, they offered the various princely states in the sub-continent the option of acceding to either India or Pakistan, or staying on as an independent state. As stated by Sardar Patel at a press conference in January 1948, "As you are all aware, on the lapse of Paramountcy every Indian State became a separate independent entity." In India, a small number of states, including Hyderabad, declined to join the new dominion. In the case of Pakistan, accession happened far more slowly. Hyderabad had been part of the calculations of all-India political parties since the 1930s. The leaders of the new Dominion of India were wary of a Balkanization of India if Hyderabad was left independent.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: Hyderabad state had been steadily becoming more theocratic since the beginning of the 20th century. In 1926, Mahmud Nawazkhan, a retired Hyderabad official, founded the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (also known as Ittehad or MIM). Its objectives were to unite the Muslims in the State in support of Nizam and to reduce the Hindu majority by large-scale conversion to Islam. The MIM became a powerful communal organisation, with the principal focus to marginalise the political aspirations of the Hindus and moderate Muslims.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: "Mir" Sir Osman Ali Khan, Nizam of Hyderabad, initially approached the British government with a request to take on the status of an independent constitutional monarchy within the Commonwealth of Nations. This request was, however, rejected by the last Viceroy of India, The 1st Viscount Mountbatten of Burma.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: At the time of the British withdrawal from India, the Nizam announced that he did not intend to join either new dominion, and proceeded to appoint trade representatives in European countries and to begin negotiations with the Portuguese, seeking to lease or buy Goa to provide his state with access to the sea.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: B.R.Ambedkar, the Law Minister in the first independent Indian government considered the state of Hyderabad to be "a new problem which may turn out to be worse than the Hindu-Muslim problem as it is sure to result in the further Balkanisation of India"


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: According to the writer A. G. Noorani, Indian Prime Minister Nehru's concern was to defeat what he called Hyderabad's "secessionist venture", but he favoured talks and considered military option as a last resort. In Nehru's observation, the state of Hyderabad was "full of dangerous possibilities". Sardar Patel of the Indian National Congress, however, took a hard line, and had no patience with talks.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: Accordingly, the Indian government offered Hyderabad a standstill agreement which made an assurance that the status quo would be maintained and no military action would be taken for one year. According to this agreement India would handle Hyderabad's foreign affairs, but Indian Army troops stationed in Secunderabad would be removed. In Hyderabad city there was a huge demonstration by Razakars led by Syed Qasim Razvi in October 1947, against the administration's decision to sign the Standstill Agreement. This demonstration in front of the houses of the main negotiators, the Prime Minister, the Nawab of Chattari, Sir Walter Monckton, advisor to the Nizam, and Minister Nawab Ali Nawaz Jung, forced them to call off their Delhi visit to sign the agreement at that time.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: Hyderabad violated all clauses of the agreement: in external affairs, by carrying out intrigues with Pakistan, to which it secretly loaned 15 million pounds; in defence, by building up a large semi-private army; in communications, by interfering with the traffic at the borders and the through traffic of Indian railways. India was also accused of violating the agreement by imposing an economic blockade. It turned out that the state of Bombay was interfering with supplies to Hyderabad without the knowledge of Delhi. The Government promised to take up the matter with the provincial governments, but scholar Lucien Benichou states that it was never done. There were also delays in arms shipments to Hyderabad from India.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: Muhammad Ali Jinnah was reported to have warned the then Viceroy Lord Mountbatten "If Congress attempted to exert any pressure on Hyderabad, every Muslim throughout the whole of India, yes, all the hundred million Muslims, would rise as one man to defend the oldest Muslim dynasty in India." According to Taylor C. Sherman, "India claimed that the government of Hyderabad was edging towards independence by divesting itself of its Indian securities, banning the Indian currency, halting the export of ground nuts, organising illegal gun-running from Pakistan, and inviting new recruits to its army and to its irregular forces, the Razakars." The Hyderabadi envoys accused India of setting up armed barricades on all land routes and of attempting to economically isolate their nation.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: In the summer of 1948, Indian officials, especially Patel, signalled an intention to invade; Britain encouraged India to resolve the issue without the use of force, but refused the Nizam's requests to help.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: In late 1945, there started a peasant uprising in the Telangana area, led by communists. The communists drew their support from various quarters. Among the poor peasants, there were grievances against the jagirdari system, which covered 43% of land holding. Initially they also drew support from wealthier peasants who also fought under the communist banner, but by 1948, the coalition had disintegrated. According to the Indian intelligence Bureau Deputy Director, the social and economic programs of the communists were "positive and in some cases great...The communists redistributed land and livestock, reduced rates, ended forced labour and increased wages by one hundred percent. They inoculated the population and built public latrines; they encouraged women's organisations, discouraged sectarian sentiment and sought to abolish untouchability."


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: Initially, in 1945, the communists targeted zamindars and even the Hindu Deshmukhs, but soon they launched a full-fledged revolt against the Nizam. Starting in mid-1946, the conflict between the Razakars and the Communists became increasingly violent, with both sides resorting to increasingly brutal methods. According to an Indian government pamphlet, the communists had killed about 2,000 people by 1948.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: In the 1936–37 Indian elections, the Muslim League under Muhammad Ali Jinnah had sought to harness Muslim aspirations, and had won the adherence of MIM leader Nawab Bahadur Yar Jung, who campaigned for an Islamic State centred on the Nizam as the Sultan dismissing all claims for democracy. The Arya Samaj, a Hindu revivalist movement, had been demanding greater access to power for the Hindu majority since the late 1930s, and was curbed by the Nizam in 1938. The Hyderabad State Congress joined forces with the Arya Samaj as well as the Hindu Mahasabha in the State.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: Noorani regards the MIM under Nawab Bahadur Yar Jung as explicitly committed to safeguarding the rights of religious and linguistic minorities. However, this changed with the ascent of Qasim Razvi after the Nawab's death in 1944.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: Even as India and Hyderabad negotiated, most of the sub-continent had been thrown into chaos as a result of communal Hindu-Muslim riots pending the imminent partition of India. Fearing a Hindu civil uprising in his own kingdom, the Nizam allowed Razvi to set up a voluntary militia of Muslims called the 'Razakars'. The Razakars – who numbered up to 200,000 at the height of the conflict – swore to uphold Islamic domination in Hyderabad and the Deccan plateau in the face of growing public opinion amongst the majority Hindu population favouring the accession of Hyderabad into the Indian Union.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: According to an account by Mohammed Hyder, a civil servant in Osmanabad district, a variety of armed militant groups, including "Razakars" and "Deendars" and ethnic militias of Pathans and Arabs claimed to be defending the Islamic faith and made claims on the land. "From the beginning of 1948 the Razakars had extended their activities from Hyderabad city into the towns and rural areas, murdering Hindus, abducting women, pillaging houses and fields, and looting non-Muslim property in a widespread reign of terror." "Some women became victims of rape and kidnapping by Razakars. Thousands went to jail and braved the cruelties perpetuated by the oppressive administration. Due to the activities of the Razakars, thousands of Hindus had to flee from the state and take shelter in various camps". Precise numbers are not known, but 40,000 refugees were received by the Central Provinces. This led to terrorising of the Hindu community, some of whom went across the border into independent India and organised raids into Nizam's territory, which further escalated the violence. Many of these raiders were controlled by the Congress leadership in India and had links with extremist religious elements in the Hindutva fold. In all, more than 150 villages (of which 70 were in Indian territory outside Hyderabad State) were pushed into violence.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: Hyder mediated some efforts to minimise the influence of the Razakars. Razvi, while generally receptive, vetoed the option of disarming them, saying that with the Hyderabad state army ineffective, the Razakars were the only means of self-defence available. By the end of August 1948, a full blown invasion by India was imminent.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: Nehru was reluctant to invade, fearing a military response by Pakistan. India was unaware that Pakistan had no plans to use arms in Hyderabad, unlike Kashmir where it had admitted its troops were present. "Time" magazine pointed out that if India invaded Hyderabad, the Razakars would massacre Hindus, which would lead to retaliatory massacres of Muslims across India.<section end=prior />


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: The Nizam was in a weak position as his army numbered only 24,000 men, of whom only some 6,000 were fully trained and equipped. These included Arabs, Rohillas, North Indian Muslims and Pathans. The State Army consisted of three armoured regiments, a horse cavalry regiment, 11 infantry battalions and artillery. These were supplemented by irregular units with horse cavalry, four infantry battalions (termed as the Saraf-e-khas, paigah, Arab and Refugee) and a garrison battalion. This army was commanded by Major General El Edroos, an Arab. 55 per cent of the Hyderabadi army was composed of Muslims, with 1,268 Muslims in a total of 1,765 officers as of 1941.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: In addition to these, there were about 200,000 irregular militia called the Razakars under the command of civilian leader Kasim Razvi. A quarter of these were armed with modern small firearms, while the rest were predominantly armed with muzzle-loaders and swords.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: On 6 September an Indian police post near Chillakallu village came under heavy fire from Razakar units. The Indian Army command sent a squadron of The Poona Horse led by Abhey Singh and a company of 2/5 Gurkha Rifles to investigate who were also fired upon by the Razakars. The tanks of the Poona Horse then chased the Razakars to Kodad, in Hyderabad territory. Here they were opposed by the armoured cars of 1 Hyderabad Lancers. In a brief action the Poona Horse destroyed one armoured car and forced the surrender of the state garrison at Kodad.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: On receiving directions from the government to seize and annex Hyderabad, the Indian army came up with the Goddard Plan (laid out by Lt. Gen. E. N. Goddard, the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Command). The plan envisaged two main thrusts – from Vijayawada in the East and Solapur in the West – while smaller units pinned down the Hyderabadi army along the border. Overall command was placed in the hands of Lt. Gen. Rajendrasinghji, DSO.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: The attack from Solapur was led by Major General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri and was composed of four task forces:


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: The attack from Vijayawada was led by Major General Ajit Rudra and comprised the 2/5 Gurkha Rifles, one squadron of the 17th (Poona) Horse, and a troop from the 19th Field Battery along with engineering and ancillary units. In addition, four infantry battalions were to neutralise and protect lines of communication. Two squadrons of Hawker Tempest aircraft were prepared for air support from the Pune base.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: The date for the attack was fixed as 13 September, even though General Sir Roy Bucher, the Indian chief of staff, had objected on grounds that Hyderabad would be an additional front for the Indian army after Kashmir.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: Indian forces entered the state at 4 a.m. The first battle was fought at Naldurg Fort on the Solapur Secundarabad Highway between a defending force of the 1st Hyderabad Infantry and the attacking force of the 7th Brigade. Using speed and surprise, the 7th Brigade managed to secure a vital bridge on the Bori river intact, following which an assault was made on the Hyderabadi positions at Naldurg by the 2nd Sikh Infantry. The bridge and road secured, an armoured column of the 1st Armoured Brigade – part of the Smash force – moved into the town of Jalkot, 8 km from Naldurg, at 0900 hours, paving the way for the Strike Force units under Lt. Col Ram Singh Commandant of 9 Dogra (a motorised battalion) to pass through. This armoured column reached the town of Umarga, 61 km inside Hyderabad by 1515 hours, where it quickly overpowered resistance from Razakar units defending the town.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: Meanwhile, another column consisting of a squadron of 3rd Cavalry, a troop from 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry, a troop from 9 Para Field Regiment, 10 Field Company Engineers, 3/2 Punjab Regiment, 2/1 Gurkha Rifles, 1 Mewar Infantry, and ancillary units attacked the town of Tuljapur, about 34 km north-west of Naldurg. They reached Tuljapur at dawn, where they encountered resistance from a unit of the 1st Hyderabad Infantry and about 200 Razakars who fought for two hours before surrendering. Further advance towards the town of Lohara was stalled as the river had swollen. The first day on the Western front ended with the Indians inflicting heavy casualties on the Hyderabadis and capturing large tracts of territory. Amongst the captured defenders was a British mercenary who had been tasked with blowing up the bridge near Naldurg.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: In the East, forces led by Lt. Gen A.A. Rudra met with fierce resistance from two armoured car cavalry units of the Hyderabad State Forces. equipped with Humber armoured cars and Staghounds, namely the 2nd and 4th Hyderabad Lancers, but managed to reach the town of Kodar by 0830 hours. Pressing on, the force reached Munagala by the afternoon.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: There were further incidents in Hospet – where the 1st Mysore assaulted and secured a sugar factory from units of Razakars and Pathans – and at Tungabhadra – where the 5/5 Gurkha attacked and secured a vital bridge from the Hyderabadi army.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: The force that had camped at Umarga proceeded to the town of Rajeshwar, 48 km east. As aerial reconnaissance had shown well entrenched ambush positions set up along the way, the air strikes from squadrons of Tempests were called in. These air strikes effectively cleared the route and allowed the land forces to reach and secure Rajeshwar by the afternoon.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: The assault force from the East was meanwhile slowed by an anti-tank ditch and later came under heavy fire from hillside positions of the 1st Lancers and 5th Infantry 6 km from Suryapet. The positions were assaulted by the 2/5 Gurkha – veterans of the Burma Campaign – and were neutralised, with the Hyderabadis taking severe casualties.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: At the same time, the 3/11 Gurkha Rifles and a squadron of 8th Cavalry attacked Osmanabad and took the town after heavy street combat with the Razakars who determinedly resisted the Indians.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: A force under the command of Maj. Gen. D.S. Brar was tasked with capturing the city of Aurangabad. The city was attacked by six columns of infantry and cavalry, resulting in the civil administration emerging in the afternoon and offering a surrender to the Indians.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: There were further incidents in Jalna where 3 Sikh, a company of 2 Jodhpur infantry and some tanks from 18 Cavalry faced stubborn resistance from Hyderabadi forces.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: Leaving a company of 3/11 Gurkhas to occupy the town of Jalna, the remainder of the force moved to Latur, and later to Mominabad where they faced action against the 3 Golconda Lancers who gave token resistance before surrendering.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: At the town of Surriapet, air strikes cleared most of the Hyderabadi defences, although some Razakar units still gave resistance to the 2/5 Gurkhas who occupied the town. The retreating Hyderabadi forces destroyed the bridge at Musi to delay the Indians but failed to offer covering fire, allowing the bridge to be quickly repaired. Another incident occurred at Narkatpalli where a Razakar unit was decimated by the Indians.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: The task force under Lt. Col. Ram Singh moved towards Zahirabad at dawn, but was slowed by a minefield, which had to be cleared. On reaching the junction of the Bidar road with the Solapur-Hyderabad City Highway, the forces encountered gunfire from ambush positions. However, leaving some of the units to handle the ambush, the bulk of the force moved on to reach 15 kilometres beyond Zahirabad by nightfall in spite of sporadic resistance along the way. Most of the resistance was from Razakar units who ambushed the Indians as they passed through urban areas. The Razakars were able to use the terrain to their advantage until the Indians brought in their 75 mm guns.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: In the early hours of 17 September, the Indian army entered Bidar. Meanwhile, forces led by the 1st Armoured regiment were at the town of Chityal about 60 km from Hyderabad, while another column took over the town of Hingoli. By the morning of the 5th day of hostilities, it had become clear that the Hyderabad army and the Razakars had been routed on all fronts and with extremely heavy casualties. At 5 pm on 17 September, the Nizam announced a ceasefire, thus ending the armed action.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: On 16 September, faced with imminent defeat, Nizam "Mir" Sir Osman Ali Khan summoned his Prime Minister, "Mir" Laiq Ali, and requested his resignation by the morning of the following day. The resignation was delivered along with the resignations of the entire cabinet.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: On the noon of 17 September, a messenger brought a personal note from the Nizam to India's Agent General to Hyderabad, K. M. Munshi, summoning him to the Nizam's office at 1600 hours. At the meeting, the Nizam stated "The vultures have resigned. I don't know what to do". Munshi advised the Nizam to secure the safety of the citizens of Hyderabad by issuing appropriate orders to the Commander of the Hyderabad State Army, Major-General El Edroos. This was immediately done.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: It was Nizam "Mir" Sir Osman Ali Khan's first visit to the radio station. The Nizam of Hyderabad, in his radio speech on 23 September 1948, said "In November last [1947], a small group which had organized a quasi-military organization surrounded the homes of my Prime Minister, the Nawab of Chhatari, in whose wisdom I had complete confidence, and of Sir Walter Monkton, my constitutional Adviser, by duress compelled the Nawab and other trusted ministers to resign and forced the Laik Ali Ministry on me. This group headed by Kasim Razvi had no stake in the country or any record of service behind it. By methods reminiscent of Hitlerite Germany it took possession of the State, spread terror ... and rendered me completely helpless."


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: According to the records maintained by the Indian Army, General Chaudhari led an armoured column into Hyderabad at around 4 p.m. on 18 September and the Hyderabad army, led by Major General El Edroos, surrendered.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: There were reports of looting, mass murder and rape of Muslims in reprisals by Hyderabadi Hindus. Jawaharlal Nehru appointed a mixed-faith committee led by Pandit Sunder Lal to investigate the situation. The findings of the report (Pandit Sunderlal Committee Report) were not made public until 2013 when it was accessed from the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: The Committee concluded that while Muslim villagers were disarmed by the Indian Army, Hindus were often left with their weapons. The violence was carried out by Hindu residents, with the army sometimes indifferent, and sometimes participating in the atrocities. The Committee stated that large-scale violence against Muslims occurred in Marathwada and Telangana areas. It also concluded: "At a number of places members of the armed forces brought out Muslim adult males from villages and towns and massacred them in cold blood." The Committee generally credited the military officers with good conduct but stated that soldiers acted out of bigotry. The official "very conservative estimate" was that 27,000 to 40,000 died "during and after the police action." Other scholars have put the figure at 200,000, or even higher. Among Muslims some estimates were even higher and Smith says that the military government's private low estimates [of Muslim casualties] were at least ten times the number of murders with which the Razakars were officially accused.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: Patel reacted angrily to the report and disowned its conclusions. He stated that the terms of reference were flawed because they only covered the part during and after the operation. He also cast aspersions on the motives and standing of the committee. These objections are regarded by Noorani as disingenuous because the commission was an official one, and it was critical of the Razakars as well.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: According to Mohammed Hyder, the tragic consequences of the Indian operation were largely preventable. He faulted the Indian army with neither restoring local administration, nor setting up their own military administration. As a result, the anarchy led to several thousand "thugs", from the camps set up across the border, filling the vacuum. He stated "Thousands of families were broken up, children separated from their parents and wives, from their husbands. Women and girls were hunted down and raped."


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: According to the communist leader Puccalapalli Sundarayya, Hindus in villages rescued thousands of Muslim families from the Union Army's campaign of rape and murder.<section end=communalLater/>


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: The Indian military detained thousands of people during the operation, including Razakars, Hindu militants, and communists. This was largely done on the basis of local informants, who used this opportunity to settle scores. The estimated number of people detained was close to 18,000, which resulted in overcrowded jails and a paralysed criminal system.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: The Indian government set up Special Tribunals to prosecute these. These strongly resembled the colonial governments earlier, and there were many legal irregularities, including denial or inability to access lawyers and delayed trials – about which the Red Cross was pressuring Nehru.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: The viewpoint of the government was: "in political physics, Razakar action and Hindu reaction have been almost equal and opposite." A quiet decision was taken to release all Hindus and for a review of all Muslim cases, aiming to let many of them out. Regarding atrocities by Muslims, Nehru considered the actions during the operation as "madness" seizing "decent people", analogous to experience elsewhere during the partition of India. Nehru was also concerned that disenfranchised Muslims would join the communists.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: The government was under pressure to not prosecute participants in communal violence, which often made communal relations worse. Patel had also died in 1950. Thus, by 1953 the Indian government released all but a few persons.


title: Annexation of Hyderabad

text: Junior officers from neighbouring Bombay, CP and Madras regions were appointed to replace the vacancies. They were unable to speak the language and were unfamiliar with local conditions. Nehru objected to this "communal chauvinism" and called them "incompetent outsiders", and tried to impose Hyderabadi residency requirements: however, this was circumvented by using forged documents.


"Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" (also known as "Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World") is a medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World", recorded by Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwoʻole. First released on the 1990 album "Ka ʻAnoʻi", an acoustic rendition of the medley became notable after its release on his 1993 album "Facing Future".


title: Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World

text: In 2020, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


text: The song was originally recorded in a spur-of-the-moment demo session in 1988. Israel called the recording studio at 3am, and was given a 15-minute deadline to arrive by recording engineer Milan Bertosa. Bertosa recalled, “Israel was probably like 500 pounds. And the first thing at hand is to find something for him to sit on." The building security found Israel a large steel chair. "Then I put up some microphones, do a quick sound check, roll tape, and the first thing he does is 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow.' He played and sang, one take, and it was over."


text: At the time, copies of the acoustic recording were made only for Kamakawiwoʻole himself and Bertosa. The song was re-recorded as an "upbeat Jawaiian version" for Kamakawiwoʻole's debut album "Ka ʻAnoʻi", listed as "Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World." In 1993, five years after the original recording, Bertosa played the acoustic version for producer Jon de Mello while the two were completing work on "Facing Future", and de Mello decided to include it on the album as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World".


text: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" reached number 12 on "Billboard"'s Hot Digital Tracks chart the week of January 31, 2004 (for the survey week ending January 18, 2004).


text: According to the Israel Kamakawiwoʻole website, Universal Studios first became interested in using the song in the movie and on the soundtrack for "Meet Joe Black" after director Martin Brest became interested in it. Kamakawiwoʻole's recording of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" has been used on other soundtracks as well, including the soundtracks for "Finding Forrester;" "50 First Dates;" "Fred Claus;" "Happy, Happy;" "Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School;" "The Healer"; and "IMAX: Hubble 3D". It was also featured on TV series like "Charmed", "ER", "Scrubs", "Cold Case", "Glee," the UK original version of "Life On Mars," and more.


text: Other artists have recorded the medley as well. Néstor Torres recorded a jazz flute arrangement on his 1994 album "Burning Whispers." Cliff Richard recorded his own version of the medley, released as a single from the 2001 album "Wanted", which peaked at number 11 on the UK Official Charts in 2001.


text: Aselin Debison recorded the medley for her 2002 album "Sweet Is the Melody". Elisabeth von Trapp included her interpretation of the medley in her album "Poetic License", released in June 2004.


text: During season seven of "American Idol", Jason Castro performed a cover of the song for his "Top 8" performance. Maddie Poppe and Caleb Lee Hutchinson performed the song as a duet during the grand finale of season sixteen of "American Idol".


text: In the fifth season of the NBC television show "Scrubs", a cappella band The Blanks performed a rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". The rendition was later released on their album "Riding The Wave".


title: 2022 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles

text: Three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated Nick Kyrgios in the final, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6 to win the gentlemen's singles tennis title at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. It was his seventh Wimbledon title and 21st major singles title overall. Djokovic became the fifth man in the Open Era to record a streak of at least four consecutive titles at one major. By reaching his 32nd men's singles major final, he surpassed the all-time record he had jointly held with Roger Federer. Djokovic also became the first player (male or female) to win 80 matches at all four majors with his first-round win over Kwon Soon-woo. Because no ranking points were awarded for the tournament in response to its banning Russian and Belarusian players, Djokovic dropped out of the top five in ATP rankings after the tournament.


text: Kyrgios became the first unseeded man to reach a major final since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the 2008 Australian Open, the first Australian man to reach a major final since Lleyton Hewitt at the 2005 Australian Open, and the first unseeded or Australian man to reach the Wimbledon final since Mark Philippoussis in 2003.


text: Rafael Nadal was attempting to complete the first three components of a Grand Slam, but withdrew before his scheduled semi-final match against Kyrgios due to a torn abdominal muscle. It was the first time a man had withdrawn from Wimbledon before a semi-final or final since Frank Shields in 1931. Cameron Norrie became the fourth British man in the Open Era (after Roger Taylor, Tim Henman, and Andy Murray) to reach the semi-finals. It was the first time two left-handed men (Norrie and Nadal) had reached the semi-finals since John McEnroe and Goran Ivanišević in 1992, and to the semi-finals of any major since Nadal and Jürgen Melzer at the 2010 French Open.


text: This was the first edition of Wimbledon to feature a champions tie-break (10-point tie-break), when the score reaches six games all in the fifth set, and the third edition to feature a final set tie-break. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina defeated Hubert Hurkacz in the first round in the first main-draw 10-point tie-break at Wimbledon. It was also the first Wimbledon since the introduction of the ATP rankings in 1973, and the first major since the 1999 Australian Open, where both the reigning world No. 1 and No. 2 (Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, respectively) did not compete. Medvedev was prohibited from playing due to his Russian nationality, while Zverev had an ankle injury. This marked the first edition of Wimbledon since 1998 not to feature record eight-time champion Roger Federer. Feliciano López made his 81st main-draw major appearance, tying Federer's all-time record. John Isner broke Ivo Karlović's world record of 13,728 career aces on the ATP Tour in his third-round match against Jannik Sinner.


text: The following are the seeded players. Seedings are based on ATP rankings as of 20 June 2022. Rankings and points are as before 27 June 2022.


text: As a result of special ranking adjustment rules due to the COVID-19 pandemic, players are defending the higher of (i) their points from the 2021 tournament or (ii) the remaining 50% of their points from the 2019 tournament. Those points were not mandatory and are included in the table below only if they counted towards the player's ranking as of 27 June 2022. Note that this is a different rankings adjustment system than the one that the WTA is using for the women's tournament.


text: The ATP is removing ranking points from the 2022 tournament as a result of the All England Club's decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from the tournament. Points dropping from the 2021 or 2019 tournaments will accordingly be replaced by the player's next best result, regardless of his performance at Wimbledon in 2022.


text: † This column shows the higher of the player's points from the 2021 tournament or 50% of his points from the 2019 tournament. Only ranking points counting towards the player's ranking as of 27 June 2022 are reflected in the column.<br>


text: ‡ Because the ATP is removing ranking points from the 2022 tournament, 2021 or 2019 points will be replaced by the player's next best result instead.<br>


text: § The player had no points from either the 2021 or 2019 tournaments counting towards his ranking on 27 June 2022. Accordingly, no points will be replaced.


text: The following players would have been seeded, but were not permitted to enter the tournament due to the decision to ban players from Russia and Belarus.


text: The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club declined entries from Russian and Belarusian players to 2022 Wimbledon Championships, stating that "in the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players with The Championships".


title: Law of Return

text: The Law of Return (, "ḥok ha-shvūt") is an Israeli law, passed on 5 July 1950, which gives Jews, people with one or more Jewish grandparent, and their spouses the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli citizenship. Section 1 of the Law of Return declares that "every Jew has the right to come to this country as an "oleh" [immigrant]". In the Law of Return, the State of Israel gave effect to the Zionist movement's "credo" which called for the establishment of Israel as a Jewish state. In 1970, the right of entry and settlement was extended to people with at least one Jewish grandparent and a person who is married to a Jew, whether or not they are considered Jewish under Orthodox interpretations of Jewish law.


title: Law of Return

text: On the day of arrival in Israel, or occasionally at a later date, a person who enters Israel under the Law of Return as an "oleh" would receive a certificate confirming their "oleh" status. The person then has three months to decide whether they wish to become a citizen and can renounce citizenship during this time. The right to an "oleh" certificate may be denied if the person is engaged in anti-Jewish activity, is a hazard to the public health or security of the state, or has a criminal past that may endanger public welfare.


title: Law of Return

text: The Law of Return was passed unanimously by the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, on 5 July 1950. The date chosen so that it would coincide with the anniversary of the death of Zionist visionary Theodor Herzl. It declared:


title: Law of Return

text: In a declaration to the Knesset, the then Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion asserted that the law did not bestow a right but rather reaffirmed a right Jews already held:


title: Law of Return

text: Originally, the rights under the Law of Return applied only to Jews. However, due to an inability on the lawmakers to agree on a definition of who is a Jew, the Law did not define the term, relying instead on the issue to resolve itself over time. As a result, the Law relied in effect on the traditional halakhic definition. But, the absence of a definition of who is a Jew, for the purpose of the Law, resulted in divergent views of the various streams of Judaism competing for recognition.


title: Law of Return

text: Those who immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return are immediately entitled to citizenship in Israel. However, differences of opinion have arisen as to whether a person who claims citizenship under the Law of Return should be automatically registered as "Jewish" for census purposes. According to the halakhic definition, a person is Jewish if his or her mother is Jewish, or if he or she converts to Judaism. Orthodox Jews do not recognize conversions performed by Reform or Conservative Judaism. However, the Law provides that any Jew regardless of affiliation may migrate to Israel and claim citizenship.


title: Law of Return

text: The Law of Return was amended in 1970 to extend the right of return to some non-Jews. Amendment number 2, 4a, states:


title: Law of Return

text: The 1970 amendment was induced by the debate on "Who is a Jew?". Until then the law did not refer to the question. There are several explanations for the decision to be so inclusive. One is that as the Nuremberg Laws did not use a "halakhic" definition in its definition of "Who is a Jew", the Law of Return definition for citizenship eligibility is not "halakhic" either. Another explanation is the 1968 wave of immigration from Poland, following an antisemitic campaign by the government. These immigrants were very assimilated and had many non-Jewish family members.


title: Law of Return

text: A second explanation is that in order to increase immigration levels so as to offset the "demographic threat" posed by the growth of the Arab population, the law expanded the base group of those eligible to immigrate to Israel.


title: Law of Return

text: A third explanation promoted by religious Jews is that the overwhelmingly secular leadership in Israel sought to undermine the influence of religious elements in Israeli politics and society by allowing more secular Jews and their non-Jewish spouses to immigrate.


title: Law of Return

text: The Israeli Rabbinate is a purely Orthodox body that is far more strict in defining 'who is a Jew'. This creates a situation in which thousands of immigrants who are eligible for citizenship under the Law of Return's criteria, are ineligible for Jewish marriage by the Israeli Rabbinate.


title: Law of Return

text: Hundreds of thousands of people who do not have Jewish status under Orthodox Jewish interpretations of Halacha received Israeli citizenship, as the law confers citizenship to all offspring of a Jew (including grandchildren) and their spouses.


title: Law of Return

text: Section 2(b) of the Law of Return empowers the Minister of Interior to deny Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return on a number of grounds. For example, an applicant may be denied citizenship if he or she is considered a threat to the security of the State of Israel (e.g. treason against the Jewish State), or who has a past criminal record involving a serious crime, such as murder, and poses a danger to the well-being of the State of Israel; or, for example, may be a fugitive in another country for any felony (unless they are persecution victims); or such persons who, by virtue of their illness, may pose a serious public health risk to the people of Israel; as also any person who may be actively engaged in any campaign that vociferously speaks out against the Jewish people and undermines their cause (such as demagoguery).


title: Law of Return

text: This provision has been used to exclude applicants a handful of times since Israel's establishment. Notable cases include Robert Soblen, an American Communist who spied for the Soviet Union and fled to Israel in an attempt to escape a life sentence; Meyer Lansky, an American mobster who was initially granted entry to Israel but was expelled two years later; and Victor Vancier, an American Kahanist activist convicted of involvement in a series of bombings.


title: Law of Return

text: In 1962 the case of Oswald Rufeisen, born a Polish Jew and later a Catholic convert, came before the Israeli Supreme court. The Supreme Court decided that "no one can regard an apostate as belonging to the Jewish people".


title: Law of Return

text: The granting of citizenship under the Law of Return does not prevent a person being extradited back to another country under an extradition treaty with that other country.


title: Law of Return

text: The Supreme Court of Israel ruled in 1989 that Messianic Judaism constituted another religion, and that people who had become Messianic Jews were not therefore eligible for Aliyah under the law.


title: Law of Return

text: On April 16, 2008, the Supreme Court ruled in a case brought by a number of people with Jewish fathers and grandfathers whose applications for citizenship had been rejected on the grounds that they were Messianic Jews. The argument was made by the applicants that they had never been Jews according to halakha, and were not therefore excluded by the conversion clause. This argument was upheld in the ruling, and the government agreed to reprocess their applications. Despite this, Messianic Jews are considered to be eligible for the law if they can claim Jewish ancestry (having a Jewish father or grandfather).


title: Law of Return

text: Palestinians and advocates for Palestinian refugee rights criticize the Law of Return, which they compare with the Palestinian claim to a Palestinian right of return. These critics consider the Law, as contrasted against the denial of the right of return, offensive and institutionalized ethnic discrimination.


title: Law of Return

text: A report by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) slammed the Law of Return, "conferring on Jews worldwide the right to enter Israel and obtain Israeli citizenship regardless of their countries of origin and whether or not they can show links to Israel-Palestine, while withholding any comparable right from Palestinians, including those with documented ancestral homes in the country," as a policy of "demographic engineering" meant to uphold Israel's status as "the Jewish state". The report was later withdrawn following controversy.


title: Law of Return

text: On June 10, 2011, the Law of Return was tested when a gay male couple, one Jewish and one Catholic, made Aliyah to Israel. This couple was the first same-sex, different religion married couple to request joint Aliyah status, although opposite sex married couples of different religions receive joint Aliyah as a matter of course. The Jewish man quickly received citizenship but the decision of citizenship for his husband was delayed by the Ministry of the Interior despite the clause in the law saying the spouse of the Jewish returnee must also be granted citizenship. On August 10, 2011, the Ministry of the Interior granted citizenship to the non-Jewish husband as required by The Law of Return.


title: Law of Return

text: In 2014, Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced that Jews in same-sex relationships who got married abroad but wished to immigrate to Israel were allowed to do so under the Law of Return, even with a non-Jewish spouse, and that both spouses would receive Israeli citizenship.


title: Law of Return

text: Supporters of the law say that it is very similar to those in many European states, which also employ an ethnic component.


title: Law of Return

text: Among Israeli Jews, continued Jewish immigration enjoys strong support. According to a 2016 poll conducted by Pew Forum 98% of all Jewish Israelis wanted the law to continue to allow Jewish immigration. However, some argue that the law permits the entry of too many non-Jews, undermining its purpose.


title: Law of Return

text: Support for the law among Israeli Arabs is much less. According to a poll overseen by Haifa University sociologist Sammy Smooha among 700 Jews and 700 Arabs conducted in 2017 only 25.2% "accepted" the Law of Return, down from 39% in 2015.


title: Law of Return

text: In September 2007, the discovery of a violent Israeli Neo-Nazi cell (Patrol 35) in Petah Tikva, made up of teenage immigrants from the former Soviet Union, led to renewed calls amongst politicians to amend the Law of Return. Effi Eitam of the National Religious Party and the National Union, which represent the religious Zionist movement and have previously attempted to advance bills to amend the Law of Return, stated that Israel has become "a haven for people who hate Israel, hate Jews, and exploit the Law of Return to act on this hatred." On the other end of the political spectrum, MK Ahmed Tibi of United Arab List and Ta'al criticized the system's double standard, stating that "people immigrated to Israel and received automatic citizenship under the Law of Return, while citizens of Nazareth and Tayibe are not allowed to visit their own relatives merely due to the fact that they are Arabs."


title: Law of Return

text: Thirty-seven percent of Israelis polled said that deeper background checks on new immigrants would amount to racism against Jews from Russian-speaking countries.


title: Law of Return

text: Amongst those who are in favor of retaining the Law, controversy exists over its wording. The Law's definition of a "Jew" and "Jewish people" are subject to debate. Israeli and Diaspora Jews differ with each other as groups and among themselves as to what this definition should be for the purposes of the Law of Return. Additionally, there is a lively debate over the meaning of the terms "Jewish State" and "State of the Jews".


title: Law of Return

text: It is not only the Knesset, however, which has been repeatedly obliged to directly or indirectly address these issues. Over the years, many of Israel's interior ministers have examined the issue of the Law of Return and wavered as to how to apply it. The judiciary has also been called upon to express an opinion on matters relating to the Law. This burning and recurrent question in the country's political dialogue not only reveals but also exacerbates differences of opinion between Israelis.


title: Law of Return

text: One central issue is who has the authority over determining the validity of conversions to Judaism for purposes of immigration and citizenship. For historical reasons, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, under the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs, made this determination, but this arrangement is in question. This practice has met opposition among non-Orthodox religious leaders both within Israel and in the diaspora. Several attempts have been made to resolve the issue, the most recent being the Ne'eman Commission, but an impasse persists.


title: Law of Return

text: On March 31, 2005, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled 7–4 that all conversions performed outside of Israel would be recognized by the authorities under the Law of Return, notwithstanding the Ne'eman Commission's view that a single body should determine eligibility for immigration. The court had already ruled in 1989 that conversions performed outside of Israel were valid for the Law of Return (regardless of whether they were Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform). The 2005 ruling extended this, finding that overseas conversions were still valid even if the individuals did the preparatory work for the conversions while residing in Israel.


title: Charles Gray (actor)

text: Charles Gray (born Donald Marshall Gray; 28 August 1928 – 7 March 2000) was an English actor and voice artist who was well known for roles including the arch-villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film "Diamonds Are Forever"; Dikko Henderson in a previous Bond film, "You Only Live Twice"; Sherlock Holmes's brother Mycroft Holmes in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes"; and The Criminologist in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show".


title: Charles Gray (actor)

text: Gray was born in Bournemouth, Hampshire, the son of surveyor Donald Gray (died 1975), who had served as a Captain in the Royal Engineers, and Maude Elizabeth (née Marshall). Gray attended Bournemouth School alongside Benny Hill, whose school had been evacuated to the same buildings, during the Second World War. Some of his friends remember that his bedroom walls were plastered with pictures of film stars.


title: Charles Gray (actor)

text: By his mid-twenties, Gray had left his first job as a clerk for an estate agent to become an actor. He began his stage experience at the theatre club next to the Palace Court Hotel in Bournemouth, where he was a last-minute cast replacement in "The Beaux' Stratagem". Gray surprised everyone, including himself, with the quality of his performance. He moved away from Bournemouth in the late 1950s, but his parents remained at the family home until their deaths.


title: Charles Gray (actor)

text: On becoming a professional actor he had to change his name, as there was already an actor named Donald Gray. He chose Charles Gray partly because Charles was the name of his maternal grandfather, partly because he had a close friend named Charles, and partly because he thought it sounded nice. For his first appearance on Broadway, in the 1961 musical "Kean", he went under the name Oliver Gray.


title: Charles Gray (actor)

text: Charles Gray distinguished himself in theatrical roles, in the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, London, at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-Upon-Avon and at the Old Vic. He received his vocal training at the RSC and became noted for his imposing presence.


title: Charles Gray (actor)

text: During the 1960s, Gray established himself as a successful character actor and made many appearances on British television. Work in this period included "Danger Man", with Patrick McGoohan, and "Maigret". Gray also appeared opposite Laurence Olivier in the film version of "The Entertainer" (1960) as a reporter. He played Jack Baker that same year in the "Perry Mason" episode, "The Case of the Bullied Bowler".


title: Charles Gray (actor)

text: His breakthrough year was 1967, when he starred with Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif in the Second World War murder-mystery film "The Night of the Generals". The same year, he played Dikko Henderson, a British intelligence officer assigned to their Embassy in Tokyo, in the Bond film "You Only Live Twice" (1967). Four years later, he appeared as Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971), both films starring Sean Connery as James Bond.


title: Charles Gray (actor)

text: Gray's most prolific work as an actor was between 1968 and 1979, when he appeared in more than forty major film and television productions. From this period, he is perhaps best known for portraying the Criminologist (the narrator) in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and a similar character, Judge Oliver Wright, in its sequel "Shock Treatment" (1981). This more expansive role is said to be the same character (the Criminologist in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" is not named). In 1973, he played Lord Seacroft in the television series "The Upper Crusts" opposite Margaret Leighton, and in 1983, he starred alongside Coral Browne and Alan Bates in the award-winning made-for-TV film "An Englishman Abroad". In 1985, he starred in an episode of the BBC-TV detective series "Bergerac", entitled "What Dreams May Come?". Other well-known film work includes "The Devil Rides Out", "Mosquito Squadron", "Cromwell" and "The Beast Must Die". In 1991, Gray co-starred with Oliver Tobias in the science-fiction film "Firestar – First Contact" for Ice International Films.


title: Charles Gray (actor)

text: Gray portrayed Mycroft Holmes in both the film "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution" (1976) and opposite Jeremy Brett's Sherlock in four episodes of the Granada Television series "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1984). In two episodes of the final Brett series, "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes", he had leading roles as Mycroft, the first because Edward Hardwicke, who played Doctor Watson, was busy on another project and the second as a result of Brett's illness.


title: Charles Gray (actor)

text: Other television appearances included roles in Dennis Potter's "Blackeyes", "The New Statesman", "Thriller", "Upstairs, Downstairs", "Bergerac", "Porterhouse Blue" plus a range of Shakespearean roles, such as Caesar in "Julius Caesar" and Pandarus in "Troilus and Cressida". He dubbed for Jack Hawkins in the film "Theatre of Blood" and others after Hawkins's larynx was removed to combat throat cancer.


title: Flying wing

text: A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no definite fuselage, with its crew, payload, fuel, and equipment housed inside the main wing structure. A flying wing may have various small protuberances such as pods, nacelles, blisters, booms, or vertical stabilizers.


title: Flying wing

text: Similar aircraft designs, that are not technically flying wings, are sometimes casually referred to as such. These types include blended wing body aircraft and lifting body aircraft, which have a fuselage and no definite wings.


title: Flying wing

text: A pure flying wing is theoretically the lowest drag design configuration for a fixed wing aircraft. However, because it lacks conventional stabilizing surfaces and the associated control surfaces, in its purest form the flying wing suffers from being unstable and difficult to control.


title: Flying wing

text: The basic flying wing configuration became an object of significant study during the 1920s, often in conjunction with other tailless designs. In the Second World War, both Nazi Germany and the Allies made advances in developing flying wings. Military interest in the flying wing waned during the 1950s with the development of supersonic aircraft, but was renewed in the 1980s due to their potential for stealth technology. This approach eventually led to the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. There has been continual interest in using it in the large transport roles for cargo or passengers. Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, and Armstrong Whitworth have undertaken design studies on flying wing airliners; however, no such airliners have yet been built.


title: Flying wing

text: The flying wing concept is mostly suited to subsonic aircraft. No supersonic flying wing has ever been built.


title: Flying wing

text: A flying wing is an aeroplane that has no definite fuselage or tailplane, with its crew, payload, fuel, and equipment housed inside the main wing structure. A flying wing may have various small protuberances such as pods, nacelles, blisters, booms, or vertical stabilizers.


title: Flying wing

text: A clean flying wing is sometimes presented as theoretically the most aerodynamically efficient (lowest drag) design configuration for a fixed wing aircraft. It also would offer high structural efficiency for a given wing depth, leading to light weight and high fuel efficiency.


title: Flying wing

text: Because it lacks conventional stabilizing surfaces and the associated control surfaces, in its purest form the flying wing suffers from the inherent disadvantages of being unstable and difficult to control. These compromises are difficult to reconcile, and efforts to do so can reduce or even negate the expected advantages of the flying wing design, such as reductions in weight and drag. Moreover, solutions may produce a final design that is still too unsafe for certain uses, such as commercial aviation.


title: Flying wing

text: Further difficulties arise from the problem of fitting the pilot, engines, flight equipment, and payload all within the depth of the wing section. Other known problems with the flying wing design relate to pitch and yaw. Pitch issues are discussed in the article on tailless aircraft. The problems of yaw are discussed below.


title: Flying wing

text: A wing that is made deep enough to contain the pilot, engines, fuel, undercarriage and other necessary equipment will have an increased frontal area, when compared with a conventional wing and long-thin fuselage. This can actually result in higher drag and thus lower efficiency than a conventional design. Typically the solution adopted in this case is to keep the wing reasonably thin, and the aircraft is then fitted with an assortment of blisters, pods, nacelles, fins, and so forth to accommodate all the needs of a practical aircraft.


title: Flying wing

text: The problem becomes more acute at supersonic speeds, where the drag of a thick wing rises sharply and it is essential for the wing to be made thin. No supersonic flying wing has ever been built.


title: Flying wing

text: Flying wings lack anywhere to attach an efficient vertical stabilizer or fin. Any fin must attach directly on to the rear part of the wing, giving a small moment arm from the aerodynamic centre, which in turn means that the fin is inefficient and to be effective the fin area must be large. Such a large fin has weight and drag penalties, and can negate the advantages of the flying wing. The problem can be minimized by increasing the wing sweepback and placing twin fins outboard near the tips, as for example in a low-aspect-ratio delta wing, but given the corresponding reduction in efficiency many flying wings have gentler sweepback and consequently have, at best, marginal stability.


title: Flying wing

text: The aspect ratio of a swept wing as seen in the direction of the airflow depends on the yaw angle relative to the airflow. Yaw increases the aspect ratio of the leading wing and reduces that of the trailing one. With sufficient sweep-back, differential induced drag resulting from the tip vortices and crossflow is sufficient to naturally re-align the aircraft.


title: Flying wing

text: A complementary approach uses twist or wash-out, reducing the angle of attack towards the wing tips, together with a swept-back wing planform. The Dunne D.5 incorporated this principle and its designer J. W. Dunne published it in 1913. The wash-out reduces lift at the tips to create a bell-shaped distribution curve across the span, described by Ludwig Prandtl in 1933, and this can be used to optimise weight and drag for a given amount of lift.


title: Flying wing

text: Another solution is to angle or crank the wing tip sections downward with significant anhedral, increasing the area at the rear of the aircraft when viewed from the side. When combined with sweepback and washout, it can resolve another problem. With a conventional elliptical lift distribution the downgoing elevon causes increased induced drag that causes the aircraft to yaw out of the turn ("adverse yaw"). Washout angles the net aerodynamic vector (lift plus drag) forwards as the angle of attack reduces and, in the extreme, this can create a net forward thrust. The restoration of outer lift by the elevon creates a slight induced thrust for the rear (outer) section of the wing during the turn. This vector essentially pulls the trailing wing forward to cause "proverse yaw", creating a naturally coordinated turn. In his 1913 lecture to the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, Dunne described the effect as "tangential gain". The existence of proverse yaw was not proved until NASA flew its Prandtl-D tailless demonstrator.


title: Flying wing

text: In some flying wing designs, any stabilizing fins and associated control rudders would be too far forward to have much effect, thus alternative means for yaw control are sometimes provided.


title: Flying wing

text: One solution to the control problem is differential drag: the drag near one wing tip is artificially increased, causing the aircraft to yaw in the direction of that wing. Typical methods include:


title: Flying wing

text: A consequence of the differential drag method is that if the aircraft maneuvers frequently then it will frequently create drag. So flying wings are at their best when cruising in still air: in turbulent air or when changing course, the aircraft may be less efficient than a conventional design.


title: Flying wing

text: Some types, such as the Northrop Flying Wing (NX-216H), still have a tail stabilizer mounted on tail booms, although they lack a fuselage.


title: Flying wing

text: Many hang gliders and microlight aircraft are tailless. Although sometimes referred to as flying wings, these types carry the pilot (and engine where fitted) below the wing structure rather than inside it, and so are not true flying wings.


title: Flying wing

text: An aircraft of sharply swept delta planform and deep centre section represents a borderline case between flying wing, blended wing body, and/or lifting body configurations.


title: Flying wing

text: Tailless aircraft have been experimented with since the earliest attempts to fly. Britain's J. W. Dunne was an early pioneer, his swept-wing biplane and monoplane designs displayed inherent stability as early as 1910. His work directly influenced several other designers, including G. T. R. Hill, who developed a series of experimental tailless aircraft designs, collectively known as the Westland-Hill Pterodactyls, during the 1920s and early 1930s. Despite attempts to pursue orders from the Aviation Ministry, the Pterodactyl programme was ultimately cancelled during the mid 1930s before any order for the Mk. VI was issued.


title: Flying wing

text: Germany's Hugo Junkers patented his own wing-only air transport concept in 1910, seeing it as a natural solution to the problem of building an airliner large enough to carry a reasonable passenger load and enough fuel to cross the Atlantic in regular service. He believed that the flying wing's potentially large internal volume and low drag made it an obvious design for this role. His deep-chord monoplane wing was incorporated in the otherwise conventional Junkers J 1 in December 1915. In 1919 he started work on his "Giant" JG1 design, intended to seat passengers within a thick wing, but two years later the Allied Aeronautical Commission of Control ordered the incomplete JG1 destroyed for exceeding postwar size limits on German aircraft. Junkers conceived futuristic flying wings for up to 1,000 passengers; the nearest this came to realization was in the 1931 Junkers G.38 34-seater "Grossflugzeug" airliner, which featured a large thick-chord wing providing space for fuel, engines, and two passenger cabins. However, it still required a short fuselage to house the crew and additional passengers.


title: Flying wing

text: The Soviet Boris Ivanovich Cheranovsky began testing tailless flying wing gliders in 1924. After the 1920s, Soviet designers such as Cheranovsky worked independently and in secret under Stalin. With significant breakthrough in materials and construction methods, aircraft such as the BICh-3, BICh-14, BICh-7A became possible. Men like Chizhevskij and Antonov also came into the spotlight of the Communist Party by designing aircraft like the tailless BOK-5 (Chizhevskij) and OKA-33 (the first ever built by Antonov) which were designated as "motorized gliders" due to their similarity to popular gliders of the time. The BICh-11, developed by Cheranovsky in 1932, competed with the Horten brothers H1 and Adolf Galland at the Ninth Glider Competitions in 1933, but was not demonstrated in the 1936 summer Olympics in Berlin.


title: Flying wing

text: In Germany, Alexander Lippisch worked first on tailless types before progressively moving to flying wings, while the Horten brothers developed a series of flying wing gliders through the 1930s. The H1 glider was flown with partial success in 1933, and the subsequent H2 flown successfully in both glider and powered variants.


title: Flying wing

text: In the United States, from the 1930s Jack Northrop and Cheston L. Eshelman independently worked on their own designs. The Northrop N-1M, a scale prototype for a long-range bomber, first flew in 1940. The Eshelman FW-5, which was commonly referred to as "The Wing", was an experimental cabin monoplane. Other 1930s examples of true flying wings include Frenchman Charles Fauvel's AV3 glider of 1933 and the American Freel Flying Wing glider flown in 1937. featuring a self-stabilizing airfoil on a straight wing.


title: Flying wing

text: During the Second World War, aerodynamic issues became sufficiently understood for work on a range of production-representative prototypes to commence. In Nazi Germany, the Horten brothers were keen proponents of the flying wing configuration, developing their own designs around it - uniquely for the time using Prandtl's birdlike "bell-shaped lift distribution". One such aircraft they produced was the Horten H.IV glider, which was produced in low numbers between 1941 and 1943. Several other late-war German military designs were based on the flying wing concept, or variations of it, as a proposed solution to extend the range of otherwise very short-range of aircraft powered by early jet engines.


title: Flying wing

text: The Horten Ho 229 jet fighter prototype first flew in 1944. It combined a flying wing, or "Nurflügel", design with a pair of Junkers Jumo 004 jet engines in its second, or "V2" (V for "Versuch") prototype airframe; as such, it was the world's first pure flying wing to be powered by twin jet engines, being first reportedly flown in March 1944. V2 was piloted by Erwin Ziller, who was killed when a flameout in one of its engines led to a crash. Plans were made to produce the type as the Gotha Go 229 during the closing stages of the conflict. Despite intentions to develop the Go 229 and an improved Go P.60 for several roles, including as a night fighter, no Gotha-built Go 229s or P.60s were ever completed. The unflown, nearly completed surviving "V3," or third prototype was captured by American forces and sent back for study; it has ended up in storage at the Smithsonian Institution.


title: Flying wing

text: The Allies also made several relevant advances in the field using a conventional elliptical lift distribution with vertical tail surfaces. During December 1942, Northrop flew the N-9M, a one-third scale development aircraft for a proposed long-range bomber; several were produced, all but one were scrapped following the bomber programme's termination. In Britain, the Baynes Bat glider was flown during wartime; it was a one-third scale experimental aircraft intended to test out the configuration for potential conversion of tanks into temporary gliders.


title: Flying wing

text: The British Armstrong Whitworth A.W.52G of 1944 was a glider test bed for a proposed large flying wing airliner capable of serving transatlantic routes. The A.W.52G was later followed up by the Armstrong Whitworth A.W.52, an all-metal jet-powered model capable of high speeds for the era; great attention was paid to laminar flow. First flown on 13 November 1947, the A.W.52 yielded disappointing results; the first prototype crashed without loss of life on 30 May 1949, the occasion being the first emergency use of an ejection seat by a British pilot. The second A.W.52 remained flying with the Royal Aircraft Establishment until 1954.


title: Flying wing

text: Projects continued to examine the flying wing during the postwar era. The work on the Northrop N-1M led to the YB-35 long-range bomber, with pre-production machines flying in 1946. This was superseded the next year by conversion of the type to jet power as the YB-49 of 1947. The design did not offer a great advantage in range, presented a number of technical problems and did not enter production. In the Soviet Union, the BICh-26, became one of the first attempts to produce a supersonic jet flying wing aircraft in 1948; aviation author Bill Gunston referred to the BICh-26 as being ahead of its time. However, the aeroplane was not accepted by the Soviet military and the design died with Cheranovsky.


title: Flying wing

text: Several other nations also opted to undertake flying wing projects. Turkey was one such country, the Turk Hava Kurumu Ucak Fabrikasi producing the THK-13 tailless glider during 1948. Multiple British manufacturers also explored the concept at this time. Early proposals for the Avro Vulcan, a nuclear-armed strategic bomber designed by Roy Chadwick, also explored several flying wing arrangements, although the final design had a fuselage.


title: Flying wing

text: There has been continual interest in the flying wing for large transport roles for cargo or passengers. Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, and Armstrong Whitworth have undertaken design studies on flying wing airliners; however, no such airliners have yet been built.


title: Flying wing

text: Following the arrival of supersonic aircraft during the 1950s, military interest in the flying wing was quickly curtailed, as the concept of adopting a thick wing that accommodated the crew and equipment directly conflicted with the optimal thin wing for supersonic flight.


title: Flying wing

text: Interest in flying wings was renewed in the 1980s due to their potentially low radar reflection cross-sections. Stealth technology relies on shapes that reflect radar waves only in certain directions, thus making the aircraft hard to detect unless the radar receiver is at a specific position relative to the aircraft—a position that changes continuously as the aircraft moves. This approach eventually led to the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, a flying wing stealth bomber. In this case, the aerodynamic advantages of the flying wing are not the primary reasons for the design's adoption. However, modern computer-controlled fly-by-wire systems allow for many of the aerodynamic drawbacks of the flying wing to be minimized, making for an efficient and effectively stable long-range bomber.


title: Flying wing

text: Due to the practical need for a deep wing, the flying wing concept is mostly adopted for subsonic aircraft. There has been continual interest in using it in the large transport role where the wing is deep enough to hold cargo or passengers. A number of companies, including Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, and Armstrong Whitworth, have undertaken design studies on flying wing airliners to date; however, no such airliners have yet been built as of 2020.


title: Flying wing

text: The bi-directional flying wing is a variable-geometry concept comprising a long-span subsonic wing and a short-span supersonic wing, joined in the form of an unequal cross. Proposed in 2011, the low-speed wing would have a thick, rounded airfoil able to contain the payload and a long span for high efficiency, while the high-speed wing would have a thin, sharp-edged airfoil and a shorter span for low drag at supersonic speed. The craft would take off and land with the low-speed wing across the airflow, then rotate a quarter-turn so that the high-speed wing faces the airflow for supersonic travel. NASA has funded a study of the proposal. The design is claimed to offer low wave drag, high subsonic efficiency and reduced sonic boom.


title: Flying wing

text: Since the end of the Cold War, numerous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) featuring the flying wing have been produced. Nations have typically used such platforms for aerial reconnaissance; such UAVs include the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel, the Northrop Grumman Tern, and the Nanning Huishi Flying wing. Civilian companies have also experimented with UAVs, such as the Facebook Aquila, as atmospheric satellites. Various prototype unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) have been produced, including the Dassault nEUROn, the Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B, and the BAE Systems Taranis.


title: Pretty Smart (TV series)

text: Pretty Smart is an American sitcom created by Jack Dolgen and Doug Mand. The series stars Emily Osment, Gregg Sulkin, Olivia Macklin, Cinthya Carmona, and Michael Hsu Rosen. The series premiered on October 8, 2021, on Netflix. In April 2022, the series was canceled after one season.


title: Pretty Smart (TV series)

text: On March 5, 2021, Netflix gave the production a series order consisting of ten episodes. The Untitled Dolgen/Mand/Kang Project is created by Jack Dolgen and Doug Mand who are expected to executive alongside Kourtney Kang and Pamela Fryman. Upon series order announcement, Emily Osment and Gregg Sulkin were cast to star. On March 29, 2021, Olivia Macklin, Michael Hsu Rosen, and Cinthya Carmona joined the main cast. The series was filmed at Sunset Bronson Studios in Hollywood, California. The series was later titled as "Pretty Smart" and it premiered on October 8, 2021. On April 27, 2022, Netflix cancelled the series after one season.


title: Pretty Smart (TV series)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 40% approval rating with an average rating of 4.8/10, based on 5 critic reviews.


title: The Man from Nowhere (2010 film)

text: The Man from Nowhere () is a 2010 South Korean action thriller film starring Won Bin and written and directed by Lee Jeong-beom. It was South Korea's highest-grossing film in 2010 and had 6.2 million admissions. The film follows the story of a mysterious and shady man who embarks on a bloody rampage when the only person who seems to understand him is kidnapped.


title: The Man from Nowhere (2010 film)

text: The film was released in the United States and Canada on October 1, 2010. "Rocky Handsome", an Indian remake starring John Abraham, was released in 2016.


title: The Man from Nowhere (2010 film)

text: Cha Tae-sik is a quiet man running a pawnshop. His only friend is a little girl, So-mi, who lives in the same neighborhood. So-mi's mother, Hyo-jeong, is a go-go dancer and opium addict. Instructed by her lover, Hyo-jeong steals a large pack of opium being sold at the bar where she works and hides it in a camera bag, which she pawns to Tae-sik for safe keeping. Hyo-jeong's action attracts the attention of crime lord Oh Myung-gyu, who tasks his subordinates, brothers Man-seok and Jong-seok, to retrieve the opium. Jong-seok locates Hyo-jeong, tortures her in front of So-mi, and forces her to reveal where the drugs are. His lackeys, Du-chi and Bear, go to Tae-sik's place to intimidate him, but he easily overpowers them.


title: The Man from Nowhere (2010 film)

text: Realizing Tae-sik has a soft spot for So-mi, Jong-seok kidnaps her and forces him to deliver opium to Oh Myung-gyu. Man-seok informs the police, leading to them swarming Myung-gyu's property. Myung-gyu escapes, while Tae-sik is arrested and discovers Hyo-jeong's body, with her organs harvested, in the back of the car he used to make the delivery. Tae-sik escapes from the police station, alarming them with his display of combat skills. Upon further investigation, the police officers discover he was a former covert operative for the South Korean Army Intelligence, with numerous commendations, but retired after he was wounded and his pregnant wife was killed by a hitman.


title: The Man from Nowhere (2010 film)

text: Following the lead from the burner phone he received from Jong-seok, Tae-sik tracks Du-chi to a nightclub. As he asks where the brothers are, Ramrowan walks in and shoots at Tae-sik, killing Du-chi in the crossfire. The two fight to a standstill and Tae-sik gets shot.


title: The Man from Nowhere (2010 film)

text: Bleeding out, Tae-sik finds his former partner, who performs emergency surgery to remove the bullet. Tae-sik recovers, asks his partner to help him acquire a gun, then goes back to the city. Tae-sik finds and frees several child slaves in a drug manufacturing plant, in the process killing off Jong-seok. He tracks down the elder brother, Man-seok, at the gang's condo, where a dozen gang members and Ramrowan are also waiting. Man-seok says that he has had So-mi killed and shows Tae-sik a container that has what he says are her eyes. He demands to know what happened to his younger brother.


title: The Man from Nowhere (2010 film)

text: Enraged, Tae-sik kills the gang members, including Ramrowan and Man-seok. As Tae-sik prepares to commit suicide out of grief a scared, dirty, but unscathed So-mi emerges from the darkness; she'd been saved by Ramrowan, who took pity on her because she had been kind to him - the eyes in the container belonged to the gangsters' surgeon, who had been killed off-camera by Ramrowan. The police allow Tae-sik and So-mi to ride together after Tae-sik's arrest, While she sleeps. Tae-sik asks them to drop at a small convenience store where he buys a backpack along with other school supplies. He tells So-mi that she's going to be on her own, as the police have to take him away. Before he goes, he asks her for a hug and breaks down in tears as they embrace.


title: The Man from Nowhere (2010 film)

text: During its August 6–8 opening weekend, the film recorded 712,840 admissions, taking the number 1 spot on the box office charts for five weeks straight. It had sold a total of 6,228,300 tickets when it finished its theatrical run on November 17, 2010. The film grossed a total of in South Korea. On October 1, 2010 CJ Entertainment gave the film a limited theatrical release to North American theaters where it grossed in 1 theater its opening weekend. After widening the release up to 19 theaters, the film grossed in the U.S. and Canada.


title: The Man from Nowhere (2010 film)

text: As of August 2013, six of six critics gave positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. One of those critics, Russell Edwards of "Variety", wrote, "Brutal violence dominates the dynamic Korean thriller "The Man From Nowhere". Local heartthrob Won Bin ("Mother", "Tae Guk Gui") transforms himself into an action hero in writer-helmer Lee Jeong-beom’s swift and blood-soaked yarn, about a mystery man who gets caught up in a gang war while trying to protect a child, recalling Luc Besson's ""."


title: The Man from Nowhere (2010 film)

text: In March 2012, Dimension Films acquired the rights to do an English-language remake of "The Man From Nowhere"; plans are to have Shawn Christensen, who wrote and directed the 2012 short film "Curfew", write the adaptation. On August 5, 2020, it was reported that the remake will be produced by John Wick director Chad Stahelski and Jason Spitz with a script provided by Derek Kolstad for New Line Cinema.


title: The Man from Nowhere (2010 film)

text: An Indian remake titled "Rocky Handsome", directed by Nishikant Kamat and starring John Abraham was released in March 2016.


title: Owensboro, Kentucky

text: Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Louisville, and is the principal city of the Owensboro metropolitan area. The 2020 census had its population at 60,183. The metropolitan population was estimated at 116,506. The metropolitan area is the sixth largest in the state as of 2018, and the seventh largest population center in the state when including micropolitan areas.


title: Owensboro, Kentucky

text: Evidence of Native American settlement in the area dates back 12,000 years. Following a series of failed uprisings with British support, however, the last Shawnee were forced to vacate the area before the end of the 18th century.


title: Owensboro, Kentucky

text: The first European descendant to settle in Owensboro was frontiersman William Smeathers or Smothers in 1797, for whom the riverfront park is named. The settlement was originally known as "Yellow Banks" from the color of the land beside the Ohio River. In 1817, Yellow Banks was formally established under the name Owensborough, named after Col. Abraham Owen. In 1893, the spelling of the name was shortened to its current Owensboro.


title: Owensboro, Kentucky

text: Several distillers, mainly of bourbon whiskey, have been in and around the city of Owensboro. The major distillery still in operation is the Glenmore Distillery Company, now owned by the Sazerac Company.


title: Owensboro, Kentucky

text: On August 14, 1936, downtown Owensboro was the site of the last public hanging in the United States. A 26 year old African American man, Rainey Bethea, was convicted and sentenced for the rape and murder of 70-year-old Lischa Edwards in a very short time (only 37 days lapsed between the crime and the execution). A carnival atmosphere was in place with vendors selling hotdogs, attended by a large crowd including children and many reporters. The execution was presided over by a female sheriff, Florence Shoemaker Thompson, who gained national media attention for her role in the process, although she declined to spring the trap. Before Bethea was dead, the crowd had already begun to tear at his clothes and even his body for souvenirs. The Kentucky General Assembly quickly abolished public executions after the embarrassment this caused.


title: Owensboro, Kentucky

text: The end of the Second World War brought civil engineering projects which helped turn Owensboro from a sleepy industrial town into a modern, expanding community by the turn of the 1960s. Many of the projects were set in motion by Johnson, Depp & Quisenberry, a firm of consulting engineers then engaged in a runway redesign at the County Airport; the "Depp" in question was a member of an old and prominent Kentucky family which includes the town's most famous son, actor Johnny Depp.


title: Owensboro, Kentucky

text: Pinkerton Tobacco produced Red Man chewing tobacco in Owensboro. Swedish Match continues to make Red Man in a plant outside city limits.


title: Owensboro, Kentucky

text: The Owensboro Wagon Company, established in 1884, was one of the largest and most influential wagon companies in the nation. With eight styles or sizes of wagons, the company set the standard of quality at the turn of the 20th century.


title: Owensboro, Kentucky

text: Frederick A. Ames came to Owensboro from Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1887. He started the Carriage Woodstock Company to repair horse-drawn carriages. In 1910, he began to manufacture a line of automobiles under the Ames brand name. Ames hired industrialist Vincent Bendix in 1912, and the company became the Ames Motor Car Company. Despite its product being called the "best $1500" car by a Texas car dealer, the company ceased production of its own model in 1915. The company then began manufacturing replacement bodies for the more widely sold Ford Model T. In 1922, the company remade itself and started to manufacture furniture under the name Ames Corporation. The company finally sold out to Whitehall Furniture in 1970.